The Monsoon Bassoon were an English independent rock band active between 1995 and 2001, notable for their exceptionally complex and energetic music. During their lifespan, the band won the NME's Single Of The Week award three times (for three consecutive single releases). They were an integral part of the "London math-rock" scene of the late 1990s and had a passionate underground following, particularly inspiring other bands. Sound The Monsoon Bassoon's music (largely created by guitarists Kavus Torabi and Dan Chudley) can be described as psychedelic rock or math rock (the band themselves sometimes used the tongue-in-cheek term "lysergic funk"). Their music drew on a variety of other sources including British and American art rock, heavy metal, folk music, avant-garde music, New York minimalism and progressive rock. Although the results sounded chaotic or confusing to some ears, the music was in fact carefully planned. Bass player Laurie Osbourne has commented "every note was very worked out and there wasn't much repetition." Kavus Torabi asserts "The music was co-written (by me) with Dan Chudley, and although we pretty much knew how we wanted the tunes to go before they were presented to the rest of the group, the songs would always be open to a few arrangement changes when we all worked on them." The band were all highly skilled and disciplined musicians capable of precise and detailed performances, which enabled them to play highly complex material. Regular features of Monsoon Bassoon songs were male and female harmony vocals, swapping of the lead singer role, woodwind parts, polyrhythmic sections, time changes and unusual scales. At times, all of the band might appear to be playing in different timings, before locking into a crescendo. Another feature of the band was the use of stylistic shifts within songs and sudden changes in direction or mood. For example, their third single "The King of Evil" started as a gentle folk song, but ended with all three singers shouting in chorus over a death metal guitar part. The band cited a broad range of influences including Henry Cow, Cardiacs, Shudder To Think, XTC and Steve Reich. However, Osbourne has commented "we loved... all kinds of experimental rock; but we always really wanted to make pop music, experimental pop music." The band's output was notably melodic, and catchy enough for their singles to receive attention and outright praise. History Prehistory (1988–1993) Kavus Torabi and Dan Chudley (both