Reptile Palace Orchestra

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The Reptile Palace Orchestra^[1] is an eclectic worldbeat^[2] band based in Madison, Wisconsin which specializes in lounge, klezmer and other Eastern European music. It began in 1994 with a gig at the Club de Wash, and since that time has become a notable fixture in the Madison music scene. Membership has varied, but the current line-up consists of Anna Purnell, Biff Blumfumgagnge, Seth Blair, Bill Feeny, Robert Schoville, Greg Smith and Ed Feeny, and included Sigtryggur Baldursson^[3] of Sugarcubes/Björk fame on their first 2 Omnium releases, Iguana iguana and HWY X^[4]

Worldwide sources include their Greenman Review^[5], their Ink 19 interview by Holly Day ^[6], their Dirty Linen appearance^[7], their Inside World Music interview by Paula E. Kirman^[8], a 2003 cover story in Maximum Ink^[9] and an appearance in Snapshotmusic's FolkLib Index listing^[10]. They also appeared on Balkans Without Borders^[11] which benefitted the non-profit Doctors Without Borders organization.^[12]

Among the traditional Folk dance material, the group has a song dedicated to the Freshwater Drum. Boiled in Lead members Drew Miller and Robin Adnan Anders have both played with the Reptiles, and Biff has played with Boiled in Lead. The Reptiles also share membership (Greg, Anna) with Yid Vicious a notable Madison Klezmer band.

[edit] Discography

• Early Reptile, 1994, Boat Records
• On The Wings Of A Skink, 1995, Motile Music
• Hwy X. 1997, Omnium Records
• Live Field Recording, 1998, Beeftone Music
• Iguana Iguana, 1999, Omnium Records
• XOPO ! 2000, Beeftone Music
• Official Bootleg 2002, Beeftone Music
• We Know You Know, 2004, Omnium Records

[edit] External links

• Reptile Palace Orchestra homepage
• Reptiles on Myspace
• The Reptile Palace Orchestra entry in the FolkLib Index
• Discography on Music.com
• Reptiles on Northside/Omnium Records
• Reptiles on Allmusic

[edit] References

1. ^ decent introduction to RPO on this non-commercial music site
2. ^ RPO introduced and the source of the eclectic worldbeat quote
3. ^ Siggi documented as Reptile members in this non-trivial release of Omnium Records, part of RYKO
4. ^ List of Siggi's Collaberations - "HWY X" and "Iguana, iguana" Reptile Palace Orchestra albums documented
5. ^ Greenman Review of Reptile Palace documenting Biff, Siggi and the Omnium releases
6. ^ Ink 19 article
7. ^ Dirty Linen
8. ^ Paula Kirman interviews the RPO
9. ^ Maxink Reptiles Cover story by Andrew Frey
10. ^ Snapshotmusic lists Reptile Palace Orchestra as Bulgarian Folk music
11. ^ Balkans Without Borders
12. ^ Balkans Without Borders explained and Reptiles documented