Search - String Cheese Incident :: Carnival 99

Carnival 99
String Cheese Incident
Carnival 99
Genres: Country, Alternative Rock, Pop, Rock
 
  •  Track Listings (7) - Disc #1
  •  Track Listings (8) - Disc #2

This Boulder, Colorado, quintet does many things well, but nothing great. This double-CD set, culled from 13 different performances, shows off their breadth as they move from electro-bluegrass to fusion to funk to prog-roc...  more »

     
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CD Details

All Artists: String Cheese Incident
Title: Carnival 99
Members Wishing: 0
Total Copies: 0
Label: Sci Fidelity Records
Original Release Date: 2/1/2000
Release Date: 2/1/2000
Album Type: Live
Genres: Country, Alternative Rock, Pop, Rock
Styles: Bluegrass, Jam Bands, Bluegrass Jam Bands, Rock Jam Bands
Number of Discs: 2
SwapaCD Credits: 2
UPC: 662102100523

Synopsis

Amazon.com
This Boulder, Colorado, quintet does many things well, but nothing great. This double-CD set, culled from 13 different performances, shows off their breadth as they move from electro-bluegrass to fusion to funk to prog-rock like kiddies in a toy store. While they certainly have the chops to pull it off, they wind up playing away from their strengths too often. Everything from bluegrass stomps like "Shenandoah Breakdown" and Jimmy Martin's "Hold What You've Got" to jazz staples made famous by Dave Brubeck, Weather Report, and Miles Davis, to the Meters' "Hey Pocky Way" is fair game. There's an infectious energy and a lively experimental spirit at work, and their stylistic range keeps things interesting to say the least--especially over the course of a long live set. But without a bit more focus and some more compelling originals, there are too many low points to suffer through, especially for those of us listening at home without benefit of the live vibe. --Marc Greilsamer

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CD Reviews

What happened to this great live act?
jovaldo | 06/04/2000
(2 out of 5 stars)

"Having seen SCI more than dozen times since 1996 (although only once or twice in the last two years) I was disappointed to hear this album. Knowing what the band could do live and having witnessed it myself several times, this is almost unbelievable!The first disc is pretty solid, and includes some extremely talented improvisation & interplay between members (all of which are EXTREMELY gifted musicians.) On the 2nd disc though, things go extremely awry! It gets into this cheesy (no pun intended) light jazz that are only a few notches above MUZAK. I didn't care to much for their Round the Wheel album either.Their first live disc "A STRING CHEESE INCIDENT" has some of the most thoughful creative jamming I've ever heard on a live album and should be in the collection of any lover of "jam bands." I'm all for expanding the horizons of a band and for experimenting with different types of music, etc., but this is mostly just misguided noodling. Hopefully SCI can turn it back around and not become a casualty in the often over-indulgent jam band scene.I give it two stars because there are some fantastic jams that make up for the watered down jams, but not enough to make this worth having in my collection."
SCI fans Know this could be better
dkw27 | San Francisco | 02/03/2000
(3 out of 5 stars)

"When I received this CD from SCI online, I was very excited to rush home and pop it into my CD player. SCI is an amazing band, with talent, structure, and texture almost unmatched in the 'jam band' circles today. This CD however does not portray accurately the magic that SCI projects from their shows. Their previous live CD, A String Cheese Incident, was recorded from one night at the Fox Theatre in Colorado. This live CD took highlights of the spring 1999 tour and pieced them together to bring a single show feel. It fell drastically short. There is basically no flow to this live CD, unlike similar live 'moments' CDs such as Widespread Panic's 'Light Fuse' CD. Excluding the above problem, there are some fantastic moments within both these CD's. CD 1 opens with the lightening fingers of Michael Kang working the strings. Missin Me into Mauna Bowa is a great jam that explores many different realms. Barstool and Take Five are nice standard SCI jams, followed by the Funky Meters song Hey Pocky Way. The disc closes with one an old SCI favorite, Black Clouds, that leaves you thirsting for more. CD2 definately does not hold together very well. The Don't Say>Birdland has some moments, with the keyboards being the glue that holds this funky jam together. From here, CD 2 takes a downturn. Hold, Jellyfish, and Drums are all out of place. I would have liked to hear the jam that the drums came from rather than just this segment. Jellyfish projects the SCI humor, and their imaginative storytelling continues with Texas. This live issue from SCI is guaranteed to please both newbies and old SCI fans alike. I would just prefer to hear a show in its entirety, with both the ups and downs, than just a 'greatest hits' live CD that has inconsistant flow."
Carnival Magic - It is all gouda!
mjacobi | Pullman, WA United States | 01/11/2001
(5 out of 5 stars)

"I have to concur with Matt Smith's review. I also have a large collection of audience and soundboard recordings of this band and have had the pleasure of attending a good number of "Incidents", as SCI's live performances are known amongst us Friends of Cheese. I feel that Carnival '99 is a great representation of what an Incident is like and is also a very crisp sounding disc that features a good selection of songs. The opening of Shenandoah into Missin' Me floors me every time. From bluegrass to jamrock to Latin to reggae to jazz to folk - Cheese blends their influences into an infectious mix that gets my blood flowing and my hips a-spinnin'. Obviously, I am a huge fan of this band and therefore am admittedly biased, but I highly recommend this disc to anyone - and usually choose it for friends who want to hear SCI for the first time. These boys keep getting better and better and better - and the fan base and scene keep growin' and growin'. Pick this one up and experience the carnival magic of an Incident!"