Here. Weirder than weird, freaky, funky, kinky? Maybe. Possibly even arousing. Not to me, but hey. If I was to explain the allegory the music portrays, it would be the time you were out digging in the garden and unearthed a fresh corpse of a house-pet. Stood there staring, with a rising feeling in your gut, but unable to turn away. Something enthralled you. The anxiety, fear, excitement, arousal, disgust. Everything and anything combined and put into voice; this album personifies these feelings. This album, in its entirety, in its existential eroticism, in its feelings, sight, name, everything, is not your average album. This album is a dead dog.
Beginning with Self Help Tapes, appropriately with a directional tape introduction, the blissful guitar really sets the wrong tone. Repetition of the snares gives a steady rhythm, and the sweet beat is accompanied by an off-kilter flute (?) sample that drives your ears mad. In contrast to this, the bass and guitar are in unison, and give you something you can hum along to. Somehow the flute blends in, although I suspect some wizardry as to how this works. The groove of the song is sick, although the vocals make the song quite odd. Odd to bits. The rhythm of the vocals really gets into a trance as the song continues. Reminiscent of Gorillaz. It's like walking the existential forest path high on some berries you just picked. It isn't exactly the kind of song I'd play at my club night, but that beat with the hollow snare really is great. With a fade out to just the flute, you're left wondering what the fuck just happened. A common thought throughout later features.
Everything Is The Way It's Supposed To Be is a nice beat. With a bit of talking, the strange breathy sounds in the background add a lot of space to the track. The heavily modulated vocals are down-pitched quite a lot, reminding me of Odd Future. In contrast to the introduction to the album, this one is a lot more industrial. The chorus is strange, actually pretty much everything is, but the vocal line is quite hard to discern. Laidback paranoia, that's where it's at.
Into Kill The Snake, the synth intro and splendid bass really set the groove. The heavy reverb on the vocals add depth, and that synth keeps drifting in and out, like some out-of-conscious presence. With slow modulation on the synth, we get very captivated in the relaxing atmosphere, then BAM. Out of nowhere there's this slam of a distorted guitar, slamming chords with perfect delivery. Then back to chill, and we're left holding our ball-sacks, wondering were we violated. Through the laid back section in no time at all, then slamming again into that blissful noise-guitar, it's a slammer. With the feedback fuzzier than 70s muff, you better recognize.
Born Out Of Science, including another unique bizarre guitar track and heavy (what I assume are) bongos, keeps the extraordinary vibes going. Those bongos add a very deep spatial aspect to the song, and it sounds shamanic, almost. Instead of run-of-the-mill lark, the guitar kicks in just strumming nothing, with so much distortion that Varg would be happy. Not expected, but the high synths add the only melodic feature to the track, I wouldn't be humming it walking down the street. Storming through a breakdown with the bongos and massive distortion, the song fades out to some manipulated jacks being fiddled around in sockets.
For anybody who doesn't like noise, Something To Dance To is what you've all been waiting for. The promising name delivers with a real funky beat, a bit of latin salsa guitar, some cheering in the background, and the mood of a fiesta. Ford style. It's the kind of song that you'd find washed up, malnourished, beaten down on Sesame Street. Just bouncing around with a smile on your face, but suicidal underneath. Listening to it, we're just waiting for shit to get seriously fucked up. The vocals aren't much but they suit the track perfectly. The existential forest path must have reached a clearing for a while, I can feel the sun on my face. Another few foreign words, and a bit of repetition of the verse, the song is a groovy funktastic piece of art. The Eddie Murphy samples at the end are so fucking appropriate. So appropriate. Goddamn genius, mudufaka.
A drop in groove, but by no means relaxing, Oh My God keeps the heavy vocals pitched down to subsonic frequencies and lets the momentum flow. Another outstanding performance from the odd flute thing, and the guitars and drums are just fucking about. The vocals are quite unusual, far-out maybe, and I can't really tell you what this song is about. It's cool though.
Mutha Fuckin' Nightmare, with an appearance from Jay Doolin, definitely has the old-school vibes. That introduction is sick, with a perfect kick sample, and just enough overdrive on the drums to not completely fuck them up. The scratching only adds to the feel, and the distorted bass keeps the rhythm funky. Always keep the funk up.
Beware/Nuclear War opens with some repeated vocals and a delightful synth line. The phazer vocals are a change after the previous installment, and they mix well. Although quite a chilled installment, there is still that feeling of anxiety, keeping the listener on edge. The chimes add a different dynamic to the tune, and are a bit more closer to the radio-friendly edge.
Although debatable if she does, She Wants More Pets showcases the talent of the producer, with the cleanliness of the guitar tracks shining through. The drums are pretty obviously recorded live, instead of the usual programmed fragments, and this really gives a different air compared to the album up to this point. The chords are relaxing, making it out to be a bit of an interlude.
With the usual down-pitched vocals, and a harder intro than Tiesto, Leave That Shit Behind is a Western classic. It sounds straight out of a Clint Eastwood feature. Deeper than my feelz for the Titanic, the breath in the background gives space. A real journey through the desert, the hard drums suit it perfectly.
The laughing from Leave That... leads seamlessly into I Can't Believe You Wanted To Be Crazy, and with a name longer than anything Manic Street Preachers ever produced, it remains a fair tongue twister. The chime (or ding) samples are a deep contrast to the previous uses of them, and they're a lot darker and more sinister. The beat is sweet as, sounding like a big build up. A build up to what I don't really know, but a build up all the same.
A working class anthem, I Got Bills To Pay reminded me of something out of Scooby Doo, with the creepy synths. Lots of hats, some breathy vocals with a lot of delay, lots of space; the song even features a guest appearance from hip-hop heavyweight Daffy Duck. You don't believe me? Check it.
First ideas about Mic Check, featuring Vinny McCann, were proved wrong, and it sounds like an old school classic straight out of a Dave Chappelle installment. The guitar has a perfect full-bodied sound, and the vocals are almost inaudible, which make them out to be more an instrument. Not a bad thing. The Western feel is present again here, and all things considering, and no offence to the artists affected, I don't think I'd play this at my club.
Stacy Remix keeps the old-school style. I can't verify if it's a remix of Stacy, but hey, it works. The synth is lovely, and the phazer really adds a wonderful component. At the end, however, she changes and it becomes fair haunting. Boo. Oh, ah.
The ending to the album sounds so promising, and bejesus it delivers. I got so startled. Raped By Demon Aliens is the one for the club, radio, nursery, wherever. It's more radio friendly than Avicii could ever aspire to be. The feedback intro and heavy chugging guitar are an excellent example of stoner doom; the only doom. With the ideal sample of a woman discussing some alien abduction stuff, the music appears to be getting faster. The guitar builds up, up, up, then drops back to the original riff. Harder drop than Martin Gherkins. Combined with the inharmonic squealing distortion sounds of the guitar, the fuzzy feedback and conversation about the occult are terrifying. Cymbals come through on the drum track, and the guitar changes a little, but that haunting chugging keeps going. Some phazer guitar plucking shines through, adding a new dimension. The guitar stops, and the woman describes being raped by demon aliens. A strange ending to an album. I'm so startled.
All in all, the album is a journey. Through what I don't exactly know. Maybe the existential forest of life, man. There is a lot more to hear in the tracks than just a few channels with drums, guitar, vocals, etc. The depth of tracks is incredible for such a homemade release. It's not simple one-hit wonder stuff. The vocals, as stated before, are much more an instrument in the sense that the lyrics don't really matter, as far as I can see. I can't make out what they're saying a lot of the time, so even if they do matter, they didn't to me. Links below. Bonus points as it's a free download. Always take free stuff. A wonderful feature, but I'm just so startled.
Averagity rating: Above average. Oh yeah.
Bandcamp: http://deepinthewoods66.bandcamp.com/album/deepinthewoods66
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