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Monday, February 22, 2010

Tip I'll Give You a Break, Pt. 15: Pink Floyd's "Several Species of Small Furry Animals Gathered Together in a Cave and Grooving with a Pict"

Posted by Dave Segal on Mon, Feb 22, 2010 at 12:05 PM

[I’ll Give You a Break is a sporadic series of posts highlighting obscure (and not so obscure) breakbeats in unlikely places, so that they may be sampled by producers or just enjoyed for their own geeky purposes. NB: Don’t forget to clear all samples through the proper channels (cough).]

This is a really weird one, but bear with me. "Several Species of Small Furry Animals Gathered Together in a Cave and Grooving with a Pict" appears on Pink Floyd's Ummagumma. This 1969 double LP is the epitome of rock-god self-indulgence, with each member given spacious room to stretch out and squirt whatever mental effluvia they desired through the studio console—and a major label had no compunctions about releasing it. I fucking love it.

The band's bassist, Roger Waters, penned "Several Species of Small Furry Animals," and it's probably the strangest thing he's ever done, musically (yes, I've heard his collab with Ron Geesin, Music From the Body). Waters seemed to be channeling his ex-bandmate Syd Barrett during a particularly whimsical acid trip. Madcap laughs ensue.

For our purposes, sample the minute-long passage that starts around 1:20. It's a bizarre breathing exercise cum mantra with a (faux?) wolf howl and other animal emissions artfully arranged behind it. The "tah-oom haah" bit forms a dope proto-beatbox rhythm. I can imagine Edan or maybe DJ Nobody turning this hair-brained oddity into something of a magic-mushroom moment.