This CD has been played on the following radio stations:
WMFU, influential NJ radio station (?)
WNYU, NY University Radio Station, NYC
WYBC, Yale University Radio Station, New Haven CT
WMPG, Portland, ME

Reviews (I print 'em all, good or bad! Highest in list is most recent.)

L.E.G. Slurp - Foolfifingo! (Sergeant Dan's records) 1 bee Get funky! And add some extra cheese! The big gimmick of L.E.G. Slurp is that Leon Gruenbaum, the main guy behind this cd, invented an instrument called the "Samchillian Tip Tip Tip Cheeepeeeee" which he describes in the liner notes as "a patented musical keyboard device... this results in extremely rapid, rhapsodical riffs and spiraling patterns." Well, it sounds like cheesy '80s keyboards to me. This guy wishes he were Prince or Mr. Bungle or something, only it's worse than the Purple One even on a bad day. It's noodly, wanky, and cheesy crap.
- TB, "Temple of Sting"

L.E.G. Slurp, which is probably not how his friends know him, has "Smarty Pants" written all over himself in big, fat Magic Marker
letters. Slurp's quirky lyrics, nasal vocals and faux accordion backing give him a free pass to the house of nerdy Alternative, also
occupied by bands like TMBG and The Dead Milkmen.
- Kali H.
listen.com review

"...some bizarre computer-like machine formed sounds that modern music
can only dream of..."
- Jeanne Kalisieb, Review of Kosova Relief Concert at Bottom Line, Sept 24, 1999

I listen to your CD quite frequently, cause I really love it. Some sections remind me of one of my composer favorites, Frank Zappa (you got some conceptual continuity happening there). Others are just real interesting Pop-Songs, some cool electronic music and Drum'n'Bass. I am astonished, that nobody in New York City, the hometown of avantgarde- everything, falls for that music. The CD is not only fun to listen too, it also mangles all kind of musical styles (what music nowadays should be like). Plus it is very adventorous to be thrown from one vein into another one, and I do not mind the diversity at all, but the average joe shmoe radio station probably does. Coriander Glorbiton & All Join Hands are definite Hit Singles, Spidolene is one of my favorites. I think you just have to keep going, keep producing your music and do your thing.
- Gerhard Graml, Vienna
Gerhard's homepage

L.E.G SLURP - "FOOLIFINGO" (US private 98)
This c.d. demonstrates the capabilities of the oddly named "SAMCHILLIAN TIP TIP TIP CHEEEPEEEEE" which is basically a computer keyboard system whereby keystrokes are interpreted by a midi device that then plays musical tones generated by a synth. According to the leaflet that accompanied this disc it enables the musician to "Create improvisational flurries that test the limits of the imagination" My first thought on listening is that it was the ghost of 10cc with hints of They Might Be Giants taking turns at doing the vocals. Not a good thing for me but if you liked 10cc there you go. The tunes are actually a varied bunch, a nice double bass is evident on the track "Gloom and Doom" and the electronics of "Spidolene" are used to good effect to create a sparse and spooky sound. I feel that where this c.d. works for me its when its being more unequivocally experimental. Unfortunately the above named electronic device doesn't seem to make that much of an impact on me, perhaps if I was to hear a recording just made by this system its use and versatility would become more evident.
- Martin Jones, Acid Attack (http://freespace.virgin.net/martin.jones10/info.htm)

Gruenbaum Foolifingos around

Rock music needs more eccentrics, people who don't mind laying it on the line, without fear of seeming silly or pretentious or profound.

Earlier eras were loaded with talented crazies, from Captain Beefheart to Screamin' Jay Hawkins, from Jerry Lee Lewis to Toronto's Joe Hall, whoseband, The Continental Drift, was one of the great eccentric acts of all time.Then along came "alternative music", a tag that alluded to strange underground leanings but delivered - more often than not - conformist fodder for FM playlists.

Chances are you haven't heard New Yorker Leon Gruenbaum on your local radio, and more's the pity. In his current guise as L.E.G. Slurp, Gruenbaum performs cracked concertos and twitchy set pieces on an instrument of his own invention. It's called the Samchillian Tip Tip Tip Chee-Peeeee, and itenables the musically restless Gruenbaum to explore avenues closed off to less questing maestros. Essentially, his customized gizmo is a laptop keyboard that's been jury-rigged to produce computerized variations of a note, which split off andtransmogrify into other notes, which lead to an aural effect that's best described as gonzo cabaret, or to use the phrase of the New York critic Jim Knipfel, "alien bebop." Gruenbaum, classically trained on piano and clarinet, wryly notes that his L.E.G. Slurp adventures "have been compared to They Might Be Giants - they say I'm not as good." I'd say Foolifingo is more like Frank Zappa at the itchier fringes of the late guitarist's rock-jazz noodling, with a does of early Pink Floyd(circa Meddle) thrown in for good measure.

Alternating instrumental tracks with gliding, syncopated verse, Gruenbaum jars the listener with awful puns, beautiful melodies, recurring themes, atonal flights of fancy and weird contrapuntal riffs that sound likeBach on Denzedrene. On Banana Coroner, he laments the passing of a piece of fruit as if it were the death of Western Civilization. On Coriander Glorbiton, he sings ina cool Stevie Wonderish tenor that would be utterly touching if the wordsweren't an homage to cilantro. Underneath the jokes and japing, though, is a first-rate musical mind. (His solo career aside, Gruenbaum has earned notices for his work in a newband with Vernon Reid, the guitarist who used to front Living Colour.)

Foolifingo will never make it into the Top 40 and it's doubtful you'll find a copy of it in your local record store. But anyone who loves the ideaof music as a trip down a blind alley, this is the CD for you.

Samples can be heard at samchillian.com and Gruenbaum will take ordersat leon@samchillian.com for those who need a break from all that "alternative" music out there.
- Craig MacInnis, The Hamilton Spectator, CANADA

This album is basically from the mind of Leon Gruenbaum whose patented musical device, the Samchillian Tip Tip Tip Cheeepeeeee (a midi keyboard with interval pitches, rather than fixed) is featured heavily. Leon and his music are corny and pretty lovable. Quirky ditties about inanimate objectsand deep moods whirl and bounce about the length of this cd. Leon must havebeen bread on a heavy dose of Frank Zappa and Thomas Dolby. There are 19 technology-embracing cuts on this hour + cd. Apparently, L.E.G. Slurp performs often (with or without a venue) in New York City. I would like to see songs like "Erroneous Mom," Organic Guy" and "Banana Coroner" performed live. Maybe this will come to a Philadelphia venue soon. There are so few reasons here to go out anymore.
- Steve Anderson, Stain Magazine
(http://members.macconnect.com/users/a/anderson/)

If you're fan of Schoenberg, Frank Zappa, Daryl Hall, Stevie Wonder,Antonio Carlos Jobim and the Andrew Sisters then this brilliant entertaining new release (for freaks) is for you. Who would havethought that microtonal music would become so accessible?
- Adam Bernstein

OK, so a guy named Leon Gruenbaum invented a MIDI-controller based on a PC keyboard. Then his alter-ego, L.E.G. Slurp runs around performing music with it. If you're thinking Clark Kent/Superman right now, please stop! The music on Foolfingo doesn't sound like anything you might hear on Krypton! It's more like some kind of twisted, weird, happy jazz. But seriously folks, I'm not a big fan of this disc partly because it's just too self-concsiously weird. Weird I can take, but geeky, trying-to-be-hip weird is something I have difficulty with (e.g. "Banana Coroner", give her a whirl!). The biggest problem I have with Slurp's music though, is that he makes such a to do about how he's playing this modified PC keyboard, yet in the music itself I have a hard time hearing what difference this makes. Whatever advantage his contrived instrument affords him is only subtly audible at best!
- Noah Wane, Splendid E-zine

L.E.G. Slurp: FOOLIFINGO - If you've ever heard "Godley & Creme", you'll have a pretty good idea what (parts of) this sound like. Mr. Slurp performs vocals & plays a keyboard invention (of his) called a Samchillian Tip Tip Tip Cheeepeeeee (basically, a microprocessor controlled MIDI device). Nineteen awfully odd short to medium length pieces based on old-phashioned phunk - less th' rap. Spots where yer' might e'en think"Tiny Tim" was trolloping thru th' tulips. Some shades of "Stephen Bishop" in there, too! I've no doubt this is more than just a "passing fad". As we move into the 21st century, we need (more & more) music that's based purely on original interpretation and creativity - which comes in SPADES onthis CD. Th' improv purist won't like this, as it has a foundation of drummachine(s) & funk-likz', but those with some adventure in their blood (not to mention an active "funnybone") will find this VERY enjoyable, as did I. Definitely not mainstream, & not (really) in any (recognizeable) category. Gets a HIGHLY RECOMMENDED from this reviewer, 'specially for those in needof something "new".
- Dick Metcalf, aka Rotcod Zzaj
Perpetrator (& instigator), Improvijazzation Nation

it's great!. i found it a perfect blending of irony and sensitivity, of parody and originality, harshness and smoothness. paradoxically, instead of conflicting, the one aspect gives strength to the other.
- Giuseppina Nibbi

I still think that your cd is one of the better albums recorded this year!!!
- Bjoern Eichstaedt

...Fans of Ween, Beck, Frank Zappa, and other masters of the pop non sequitur may enjoy Slurp's uneasy mix of electronic yammering, funk, bossa nova, and Edward Lear. He makes up his own words (spidolene, glorbiton) and has invented his own instrument that no normal person can play. And he sings like a white Daryl Hall.
- P.J. Rieder