CIRCUS CONTRAPTION: Grand American Traveling Dime Museum

Circus Contraption

Grand American Traveling Dime Museum

© 2005 Circus Contraption (628740768327)

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Imagine Danny Elfman's soundtrack for a 1900s curiosity museum. Featuring bombastic horns, warped crooners, old-time piano and a beer bottle orchestra. "Grandly kaleidoscopic."

notes

Circus Contraption is an honest-to-goodness, one-ring traveling circus based in Seattle, Washington. No circus worth its salt would venture out without a live band, and Circus Contraption has one of the best around, churning out loony-croony, quirky-jerky, gypsy carnival opera music. They create "grandly kaleidoscopic" music incorporating vocals, accordion, banjo, guitar, bass, clarinet, piano, saxophone, musical saw, trumpet, trombone, tuba, washboard, drums, beer bottles, rusty junk and elbow grease.

Grand American Traveling Dime Museum presents music from the show of the same name, which debuted in 2004. The show and its music earned glowing praise and sellout crowds in Seattle, New York, and San Francisco.
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How do others describe the band and its music?

"Wildly creative" - Seattle Times

"An amazing circus orchestra" - Bay Guardian

"Freakin' stellar" - East Bay Express

"A lurid hurdy-gurdy hybrid of Fellini movie soundtracks and Tom Waits." - The Stranger

"With amazing skill and versatility, Circus Contraption combines frolicking rhythms with sinister words and melodies." - Seattle P-I

reviews

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  • Splendid
    author: Pier Paolo Conconi

    Splendid

  • author: C. Smith

    This CD is fabulous, in every sense of the word. The relentless imagination of the Circus Contraption performers astounds at every turn. Whether it's a pickled fetus singing, "I want my mummy" or a crazed crooner promising his beloved, "I'd give you my mind... but it's already gone," this troupe never fails to amaze and delight.

  • Vividly Stupendous
    author: Johnny Z

    The music evokes the same over-the-big-top, grandiose theatricality of the live show. Excellent! Great production quality and presentation. Get the CD and SEE THE SHOW!

  • This music makes me dream of running away with the circus! OUTSTANDING!
    author: Lisa Saul

    I discovered this group of gifted performers while searching for the appropriate music for our Dark Carnival-themed Halloween party. I haven't taken it out of my CD player since then! They take circus music to a whole new level, blending lush musical mixes with biting and poignant lyrics of love, politics and religion!

  • Just amazing!!!
    author: ritxi

    I have bought the three albums of CIRCUS CONTRAPTION, and listen to them as a very long one, so I'm going to say the same for all of them. Absolutely amazing; meeting CIRCUS CONTRAPTION has been of my most important things in the last two years (talking about music!). A bizarre mixture of styles on their albums that has inspired me a lot to create my motion graphics pieces (to be seen on my site www.rtxcite.com). All that I can say is THANKS to CIRCUS CONTRAPTION for its quaility and THANKS to CDBABY for giving me the chance of gettinf the albums. A MUST HAVE!!!

  • author: Amanda

    Although this CD captures their quirky style very accurately, I would DEFINITELY recommend seeing the live show. Nothing in CD format could ever match the energy of the circus live. Absolutely incredible.

  • Love this!
    author: Laurel Masse

    Circus Contraption presents one of the most extraordinary shows I have ever seen, and this CD of original music beautifully evokes the flavor and thrills of the live performance with the added advantage of the clarity of the twisted and twisting lyrics. I love the CD, love the group. Highly recommended by this founding member of Manhattan Transfer (which started out as something of a circus in itself).

  • It's like taking too much wormwood at a circus!
    author: Lucien Desar

    This CD is like having too much wormwood placed in your tea late at night in a circus. Wonderful sounds of excess delights that the human soul can not possibly explain unless it is under the same spell!

  • Ahh - the weirdness
    author: lordh

    I wish I'd be able to see the original troupe at some point! This is probably not your best easy listening CD, but it has an extremely wacky, weirdo feel to it [not to mention the fantastically left-of-center lyrics ;)]. This CD would make a perfect soundtrack to various French movies I know [Delicatessen, anyone?]. Great stuff!

  • The Circus of your demented dreams
    author: cerberus

    Circus Contraption delivers a loony, sardonic carn-evil that's low-brow and high-brow in the same measure. This is their most varied, diverse and musically evolved cd. More members of the Circus are given voice, and the addition of Shmootzi the Clod is the "blow-off" out the back of the tent! Buy this and put something different in your head.

  • great weird backround music
    author: mikeb

    great music to just have on playing while you are doing something else. the sound quality is kinda bad, but i think thats only becasue it is a indie band and they probally didnt have the best equpitment ever... still worth it!

  • Fantastically warped
    author: Yvette

    This is dark carnival music that dreams, or nightmares are made of. It's macabre, it's hysterical, it's glorious! An amazing album from start to finish. No one who hears it remains unchanged!!!

  • I love this stuff!!
    author: Osiris

    We saw the circus show in New York, which was so good we went to see the band play at the Ace of Clubs the following Monday night, which was so good that we bought the CD straight away. A wonderful beautiful/ugly, dreamy/nightmarish swirling stew of an album, and very musical to boot.

  • Another great disk from those freaky Seattle-ites!
    author: Tyler Olsen

    They've done it again- I wild, ecclectic mix of circus music for the off-kilter circus music lover- great tunes, creative orchestrations, and killer instrumentals make this another Circus Contraption must-have CD!

  • Best package yet!
    author: Jason

    It's nice to see that they've filled this cd to the brim with great music! And, even better, it's got the songs by their newest and greatest addition, Shmootzi the Clod! "Charmed, I'm Sure" is the best song yet! Can't wait for the next album and show!

  • Best Yet!
    author: Circus Fan

    The third release from the Circus Contraption Band is their best yet. This CD takes you moment by moment through their rollicking show and if you have seen it live, you can relive the horrors,laughs and thrills, and it you haven't seen it live, one listen and you'll feel like you have!

  • author: mickdog

    Circus contraption is playing the music on this cd live in new york during the month of september, on the lower east side! This cd is packed with all kinds of goodness, and clocks in at 74 mins long. believe me, you get bang for your buck here. Since picking it up at the release party, I havent been able to put it down. The songs will get into your head, and have you humming and singing all day long. It doesnt get any better than this folks...

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