Random Album Review #7

Each week I am going to write a short (under 200 word) review for an album from my collection chosen at random by iTunes. You can expect anything from Slayer to Salmonella Dub to (Ravi) Shankar and that is all part of the fun. Enjoy.

Week 7: Estradasphere – Quadropus (2003)

Country: USA / Experimental, Art Rock, Prog Rock

 

When it comes to bands bending, breaking, and outright ignoring genre boundaries one tends to thinks of Mr Bungle and the volatile legacy they left behind. Many bands have tried to emulate the erratic stylistic changes they perfected to varying degrees of success. You can count Santa Cruz’s Estradasphere as one of the better ones to follow this lunatic muse. Quadropus is their third album and it covers a breath-taking range of music. It leaps giddily from Arabic jazz (‘Mekapses Yitonisa’) to beat-box dub (‘Dubways’) to mystical prog rock (‘Speck’) to pure white trash thrash metal (‘Bodyslam’). Every song bristles with manic energy, each played like they were a completely different song from the others. On Quadropus they never once repeat themselves. Moments of levity are carefully placed around the album, like the cinematic ‘King Crab Battle’ but even that drops into some seriously dirty lounge funk and down-tuned death metal territory. This album is not for the faint at heart but for those who get a kick out of Mr Bungle maddened modus operandi there is plenty here to love.

Rating: B

For fans of: Mr Bungle, John Zorn, Frank Zappa

Random Album Review #6

Each week I am going to write a short (under 200 word) review for an album from my collection chosen at random by iTunes. You can expect anything from Slayer to Salmonella Dub to (Ravi) Shankar and that is all part of the fun. Enjoy.

Week 6: Jamie Lidell – Compass (2010)

Country: UK / Funk, Neo-Soul, Alternative

 

Jamie Lidell had already made a name for himself as an auteur of 21^st century R&B with his albums before Compass came out, but this is the album that shows the true breadth of his potential. And what great range he shows. His customary soul heart-throb shtick is replaced with an earnest restlessness that forces him down some unusual avenues. The hyper-percussive funk of ‘The Ring’ is caked in a bluesy holler, ‘I Wanna Be Your Telephone’ verges on Jamiroquai territory, and ‘Enough Is Enough’ has a Motown sound that is cut into ribbons and rearranged. The real show stopper is the heartbreaking title track (as featured to devastating effect in the Rockstar video game Red Dead Redemption). Even though Compass the album is by-and-large a party record, ‘Compass’ the song is one of the most bittersweet songs in recent memory with Lidell sounding like Moby does a Jeff Buckley impression. Backing Lidell on the album are indie heavyweights Beck and Feist, as well as members of Grizzly Bear and Wilco. Compass is an eclectic album for funk and avant-garde music fans of all descriptions.

Rating: A-

For fans of: Gnarls Barkley, Moby, Beck