ARTISTS

Man Eating Sloth

Gabriel McFarland

Years Active: 2011-2014
Genre: Trip Hop / Ambient Electronic / IDM
Home: Richmond, Virginia, USA
Associated Acts: Jouwala Collective
For Fans Of: Boards of Canada, Cluster

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 Press Photos at bottom of page

Biography

Man Eating Sloth is the moniker for producer/sound designer/multi-instrumentalist Gabriel McFarland. The soundscapes he shapes are strongly influenced by things here on Earth: nature, culture, art, love and life; as well as things not so of this Earth: dreams, space, psychedelia, love and life. 

In May of 2012, Furious Hooves digitally released Man Eating Sloth’s debut EP ‘Schitzengigz’ for the world to hear. The EP premiered on Secret Decoder and “The Way (You Make Me Feel)” was included on the June 2012 BIRP!. It continued to climb in recognition with praise from Bandcamp Hunter and Hearing Gold.

Man Eating Sloth has also released songs on two releases in the Furhoof Halloween Split series.

Nowadays, McFarland finds himself in Richmond, VA as the guitarist in Jouwala Collective – creating a blend of Gnawa music, traditional African and spiritual songs characterized by trance inducing chants and rhythms, with modern influences of funk, jam, jazz, rock, soul, reggae, blues, chaabi and electronic. They have played alongside The Wailers, Turkuaz, Pimps of Joy Time, Dopapod, Toubab Krewe, and Tauk, to name a few.

Press & Accolades

• “The Way (You Make Me Feel)” from ‘Schitzengigz’ EP was included in BIRP!’s June 2012 Playlist.

“Constructed almost entirely out of sounds manipulated from samples or made from scratch, McFarland layers elaborate looped rhythms over synths, deliberately cultivating what he calls a ‘jungle on the moon’ vibe.”
– Secret Decoder, review of ‘Schitzengigz’ EP.

“Digging the Man Eating Sloth sound – chilled electronic explorations that remind me of Cluster at times. 10s all around.”
– Bandcamp Hunter, review of ‘Schitzengigz’ EP

“His song ‘Summer Morning Skytoucher,’ off his new ‘Schitzengigz’ EP, is so simple in its execution but so good. With an almost child-like sound to it and the captivating sounds of a flute carrying you along for the whole ride, it’s impossible not to get lost in this soothing soundscape.”
– Hearing Gold, Some Kind of Awesome feature.

“…number 2 in the [Furhoof Halloween Split] series is a behind the sofa quivering chiller headed up by Man Eating Sloth who better known to friends, family and the local record loving community of Virginia as Gabriel McFarland. ‘Depths’ is dark, disturbing and above all demonic, as though stumbling upon some satanic order wherein beasts convene and hatch out apocalyptic nightmare scenarios, this is brutal, unloved and deeply chilling, the ambient slithers hooked together by groans, deathly shimmers and dread headed drone recitals – not for night time listening.”
– The Sunday Experience, review of ‘Devil, Do You Dare Approach Me?’ split.

“‘Undead Space Ranger,’ (a Halloween single) is landscape music at its best. It starts off in the distance, where the sound becomes a moving horse, galloping toward you from over the dusty orange desert. The hooves of the horse become the percussion striking the ground in tune and in time.”
– Happy TV, review of “Undead Space Ranger” from a Man Eating Sloth feature.

Furhoof Discography

Audio/Video

Press Photos