Archive for the experimental category
Dan Deacon
by teabog on June 6th, 2007
Dan Deacon
“Snake Mistakes” (From the album Spiderman of the Rings)
This is a very good album. It’s all trippy and shit. It’s electronic, but it’s hardly dancy even though it’s certainly not ambient or glitch or idm or anything like that. It’s more like some playful, experimental pop music that uses a computer for most of its instrumentation. Think of it as the Beach Boys on crack, only without the Beach Boys.
As far as I can tell from the lyrics, the song is first a guy saying he keeps making “snake mistakes” and then wishing some bees will leave him alone. Then there’s a computer voice chant about how the computer voice’s dad is the coolest dad there is.
Steroid Maximus
by teabog on April 11th, 2007
Steroid Maximus
“Chain Reaction” (From the album Ectopia)
Do you like the Venture Brothers? Of course you do, everyone does. But answer this one for me, Jackson: Do you like the music from the Venture Brothers? That orchestral, industrial stuff that sounds like a combination between the music from Raymond Watts, modern classical, and the music from old promotional films? Do you like that? Because that’s what this is.
Same dude. J.G. Thirlwell. He does Foetus, as well, and I’m not a huge fan of Foetus because of the vocals but everything done under the Steriod Maximus moniker is instrumental which makes it a lot better.
My girlfriend doesn’t like this music because she says it puts her on edge, like a stress headache. That’s why I like it. If you listen to this song while you’re driving you’ll do stupid things like ramming into people and flipping off cops. It’s just that kind of song.
Bent Bolt and the Nuts “Mechanical Man
by teabog on March 25th, 2007
Bent Bold and the Nuts
“Mechanical Man”
I picked this one off the WFMU blog awhile back, but I heard of it long before then. It was reference a whole bunch in 1999, when wacky rock critics were busy making their lists of the top XXX Worst songs of the millennium (which, oddly enough, were all recorded after 1950…). Anyhow, nearly all of those songs were easily downloadable on Napster and included some camp classics like “Pac Man Fever” and “Disco Duck,” both of which made their way into several of mix CDs.
Some of those songs—those that had never been released on a Dr. Demento Compliation–seemed lost to history, released only once on 45 RPM by novelty acts that wound up selling their recording equipment for heroine.
For the life of me, I can’t remember any of those songs. I should have written them down. But I know them when I see them. Inexplicably, Negativland’s (now easily found) “Car Bomb” was one of them. And another one was this little ditty by Bent Bolt and the Nuts.
I love this song, and not for any campy or perverse reasons. I think it’s good. It’s messed up—it completely and totally fucked, actually, but I’ll be damned if it hasn’t aged well.
Covox “Computer Love” (Kraftwerk rendered on a Nintendo)
by teabog on February 13th, 2007
Covox
“Computer Love” (8-bit Kraftwerk Cover)
This comes from an audio compilation titled “8 Bit Operators.” That compilation is nothing but covers of Kraftwerk songs done by contemporary electronics artists and performed entirely on 8-bit video game machines.
If this sounds like something that would interest you—if you’re already into either Kraftwerk or 8-bit music—then go ahead and download. You won’t be disappointed.
The rest of the disc is pretty damn good, but the vocals aren’t done in 8-bit and often distract from the rest of their respective tracks. I mean, it’s cool hearing the machine sounds of Kraftwerk sound so much more machiney, but the effect is greatly diminished when the music is set against vocals that sound much more human than the original voices did. I know that it’s extremely hard to emulate the human voice on pre-cd videogame hardware, though (“wise from yoar gwabe!”), and so it’s excusable.
Covox’s official website.
Buy the “8-Bit Operators” collection at Amazon.
The Residents “Fire”
by teabog on January 25th, 2007
The Residents
“Fire” (From the “Santa Dog” EP)
Santa Dog was the first release that The Residents ever spent money on and tried to go public with. It’s also the release that gave them their name, and most of the many copies that were returned opened were simply addressed to the “residents” of their home address. Get it?
I love this song for the same reason I love all of the Residents commercial releases: it’s good and it doesn’t quite sound like anything else. The tune starts with the singer repeating “Santa Dog’s a Jesus fetus, Santa Dog’s a Jesus fetus” in a combination of a sing-songy, kindergarten teacher voice and the huff of a child-molesting sailor. Then the screechy, sparse instrumentation kicks in (sounding very much like their commercial debut). The whole thing is surprisingly catchy and upbeat, and this track serves as a great introduction to the band.
Experimental
Sounds Like: Early Residents
Buy Residents Albums