Album Reviews: June 2013 Week 4

Brandon Patton - "How I Allegedly Bit A Man In Gloucestershire" 2011

A friend passed this along to me and said he thought I would really enjoy it, and he was definitely correct. I would put him in the same category of comedy rock as Stephen Lynch and Liam Lynch. He doesn't fall into the trap of a lot of comedy/music people do, where there's inevitably some cornier and low aiming material. Some of the songs are more just light-heartedly funny and not full on comedy, but that actually helps the overall feel of the album. It feels like the work of a good singer-songwriter instead of a circus seal stage act. At the same time, the raunchier moments on this album are downright gross, and I love it. My favorite song on this is probably the title track. It doubles as a good storytelling song and a drinking anthem. Also check out "Would You Take A Bullet For Me?", "Indier Than Thou", and this live version of "Munching The Cooch". (I couldn't find the studio version).

Knxwledge - "Hud.Dreems.Prt.1.5" 2013

This dude seems to be slowly but surely getting better, and he already was pretty dope. I like that someone like him exists, making all these quick beats firmly planted in between traditional hip hop sounds and the offbeat swing of the beat scene movement. It's almost like he's trying to get Madlib to pass the Loop Digga torch to him and run with it. I actually kinda like this EP a little more than a lot of the more recent stuff i've heard from him. You can purchase it for $1 or just listen to it here.

Otem Rellik - "Blood Bone Piano" 2012

Just another one of those blind downloads I end up with. I looked it up and he hails from Denver. This music reminds me a LOT of Astronautilis and to a lesser extent P.O.S., Sims and Ceschi as well, so if you enjoy those artists a lot and are looking for something else, you should give this dude a try. I feel like Otem Rellik's sound is a little more rock based than those other guys, but only barely. This is still what I would consider a mostly hip hop influenced sound. This isn't bad sounding music at all to me, but I do feel like there is a little something missing from the equation with this album. Maybe he just needs time to get more seasoned and tighten up his rapping style and vocals, but there is potential there. You can purchase this album for $4 or just listen to all the songs here.

Tomahawk - "Oddfellows" 2013

So, it's been a little while since the world has heard a proper rock album featuring Mike Patton as the vocalist. Pretty much since the last Tomahawk album and the Peeping Tom album, which was like 6-7 years ago at this point. In between that time he's been mostly working on soundtracks and scores, and collaborating with John Zorn, which has been fine and dandy, but i've been longing for him to return to writing rock or pop songs, or shit, just hear him sing. This album definitely supplies that, and is definitely a well put together LP, so it puzzles me that none of the songs seem to actually "move" me like I want them to, they just end up being "pretty cool" or "alright". It's possible that I might just need to spend some more time with this album as well. The sound of this album is almost reminiscent of Mr. Bungle - "California" in a way, and also more like the earlier Tomahawk albums than "Anonymous", the 2nd most recent one. Check out the Peeping Tom-esque "I.O.U.", this video for the title track, the video for "Stone Letter", and also "South Paw".

The Flaming Lips - "The Terror" 2013

Man, I was not prepared for how fucked up the overall sound of this album is. It's not fucked up like their last album was, where too often it dwelled in the experimental realms and not enough in the actual realm of awesomeness. Just being weird and jacked up for the sake of being weird and jacked up. The feel of this album seems more natural and focused, but at the same time more actually psychedelic, instead of just being noisy. This album is almost like an audio version of one of those "3D" pictures where you have to "relax your eyes" and the image pops out at you eventually (unless you're that dude in "Mallrats"). You definitely have to get your ears used to this, and then once you do, it sounds pretty damn sweet. Their best album since "At War With The Mystics", but definitely not on that level of greatness either. This sounds like Clams Casino doing experimental remixes of ELO, with maybe a slight touch of "Kid A" style Radiohead. Check out "The Sun Blows Up Today", "Try To Explain", "Turning Violent", and "Be Free, A Way".