CD Odyssey Disc 1659: Wagakki Band

My brain is a bit fried after a hard day at work, but I’m also home slightly earlier (for me) than usual, so I’m going to take advantage of the extra time and squeeze in a review.

Disc 1659 is…Vocalo Zanmai 2

Artist: Wagakki Band

Year of Release: 2022

What’s up with the Cover?  A fairly classic Wagakki Band album cover, one you get to know them. Basically a group shot with some photo shopped art around them to make everyone look fancy.

The band came dressed in their finest which is a refreshing change from a lot of North American bands who seem to think it is cool to look slovenly. It is not.

Most of my Wagakki Band albums also include commemorative CDs and some of them have collectible playing cards of various band members. Vocalo Zanmai 2 comes with…Asa the bassist! Here’s a photo…

Collect them all!

How I Came To Know It: I have been a Wagakki Band fan for a number of years now but finding their albums has been devilishly hard, as they are not popular in North America, and not easy to order online either.

Then my friend Nick went to Japan earlier this year, armed with a list of albums I was looking for. He found every single one of them, including this one – which is their most recent release. Thanks, Nick!

How It Stacks Up: I have seven Wagakki Band albums. It is always hard to stack albums up when you listen to a glut of them in a short period of time, but since you didn’t read this category to watch me equivocate, I’ll put Vocalo Zanmai 2 in at #5.

Rating: 2 stars but almost 3

I’m not a big fan of new technology. I avoid most social media (this blog being the exception, I got a cell phone only when my work required it and you can just generally count me right out of the whole Chat GPT experience. With this background it is surprising that I enjoyed a record full of humans covering electronically created songs. And not just a record of this – but a sequel of a record doing this.

Wagakki Band occupy their own unique corner of music, combining anthemic metal, Japanese folk music, and J-pop. This confluence of odd influences was not enough for Wagakki Band, however. On “Vocalo Zanmai” and its sequel (and current topic) “Vocalo Zanmai 2” they take songs composed on the Vocaloid system and cover them with the aforementioned mix of styles.

If you don’t know what Vocaloid is, well – there is a lot to learn, and more than I can squeeze into this review. The Coles’ Notes version is that it is software that you can use to compose not only music, but original voice as well. So original that there are even unique AI voices pulled together from voice fragments and samples that are characters, some of whom (like Hatsune Miku) are famous in their own right.

I should not enjoy electronically created music but in the hands of Wagakki Band, with their multitude of masteries of instruments ancient and modern, I loved the remakes. The whole of the experience is tied together by lead singer Yuko Suzuhana who is ethereal and elfin as ever, and more otherworldly than usual covering this stuff. “Surges” and “Akahitoha (One Crimson Leaf)” are particularly awesome. One fast and adventurous, and the other mysterious and emotionally evocative.

Thus inspired, I decided to go and listen to these two favourites in their original Vocaloid style. However, after only a few bars it was evident that whatever magic Wagakki Band had pulled out of these songs, it was of their own creation. Stripped of the artful human instrumentation and Yuko’s enchanting vocals the emotion was lacking and without that, the whole experience felt hollow in comparison. Maybe Vocaloid is an acquired taste and I just didn’t put the time in, or maybe I just like how Wagakki Band does it better.

Apart from the marvelous realization (or maybe just confirmation of bias) that I preferred the human versions, the album has all the hallmarks of what I like in Wagakki Band. Yuko’s voice and the musicianship I’ve already noted, but the frenetic energy this band brings to their work is infectious. It is a lot to take in, but once you’re acclimate to it, it will fill you with a lot of joy.

Or it won’t. This stuff is a LOT for the north American ear. Some of the tunes have unexpected chord progressions, and the added undercurrent of bouncy techno beats (even when played organically) can make you feel like you’re in a video game. A really cool video game with a killer soundtrack, but still a video game.

I would not start someone’s journey into the wonders of Wagakki Band with “Vocalo Zanmai 2” but I liked it all the same.

Best tracks: Surges, Akahitoha (One Crimson Leaf)

CD Odyssey Disc 1639: Marina and the Diamonds

Having spent half my weekend working I returned to Victoria last night and recharged with a fine night of music listening with friends. Yeehaw!

Later I’ll be watching the Bruins in a do-or-die playoff Game 7 against the Florida Panthers. Yeehaw x2 - but only if we win.

Disc 1639 is…Electra Heart

Artist: Marina and the Diamonds

Year of Release: 2012

What’s up with the Cover?  Giant Head Cover alert! In this case Marina Diamandis’s giant head. She’s doing a bit of a Madonna thing here, which I suspect is deliberate.

How I Came To Know It: I learned about this record well after it came out through some online “best of” list. I don’t remember if it was a best of 2012, best indie pop or what – only that it was one of the albums noted and I gave it a chance.

After unsuccessfully trying to find it for a couple of years, I gave up and went to Amazon. I am sorry to have fallen so low, dear reader. In my defence I tried very hard before I hit the rock bottom of Amazon ordering.

How It Stacks Up: This is my only Marina album. I have vague recollections of trying out her other stuff and not loving it but can’t be sure. I may revisit those other records at some point and see if I still feel that way now that I’ve had a chance to immerse myself in this album.

Rating: 4 stars

With “Electra Heart” Welsh singer Marina Diamandis lands an art-piece composed of plastic and dance pop. It is the kind of modern art that I usually walk by on my way to some Romantic landscape or Renaissance chamber scene but this time I stopped. These tunes are infectious as hell, but they also have a whole lot to say about both the characters Marina inhabits, but about the society that helps create those characters.

Stylistically, expect a lot of drum machine thump mixed with sugary pop hooks and more than a little anthemic mystery. Think Florence + the Machine crossed with Lady Gaga, with more than a hint of early Madonna.

This record is accessible and fun on the surface, but don’t be fooled; it cuts deeper if you let it. It is at it’s best when exploring the meanness in all of us, at times from the angle of social commentary and at others jut through the deep-seated pathologies of the narrator. Marina is unafraid to explore this space which lies at the nexus of revelry, self-examination and the external influences that help create the terrifying phenomenon of the Mean Girl.

Marina wastes not time digging into the theme, opening with “Bubblegum Bitch” a song about that superficial dream girl, but not the manic pixie variety. This is all pin-up dresses, fancy drinks and candy-flavoured lipstick, or so she tells you. The tough girl you meet at a party who is full of sardonic quips, but that you can’t resist chatting up. You won’t get to know her well, and that’s by design.

These characters are nasty on the surface, but as you dig into the record you see them through the pressure of the society that made them. The crushing pressure of expectation that makes them into diamonds – beautiful and hard as hell. Sometimes the themes are just buried in the character for you to discover, such as on “Bubblegum Bitch” or “How to be a Heartbreaker”. Other times, (“Sex Yeah”) Marina is more overt about the societal values doing the damage. In both cases, you are given funky dance beats that get your feet moving. The chocolate coating makes it go down easier.

So many great characters showcase the theme, but my favourite is “Teen Idle”. The title alone is a well-placed play on words, but the tune’s exploration of a confused teen, trying to find herself in a world that feels like its shouting at her so loud about who she should be she can’t think it through for herself. Plenty of great lines, but I like this stanza best:

“I wanna drink until I ache
I wanna make a big mistake
I want blood, guts and angel cake
I’m gonna puke it anyway.”

Yeesh. The tune is like a pleasant pop anthem, but at every turn you get regretful sex, suicidal thoughts and – as is the case above – burgeoning eating disorders.

Marina’s vocals are bright and powerful, and she’s able to sing sweetly or with a staccato groove with equal ability. The record is pure dance pop, but within the genre it finds plenty of space, landing pining ballads, bangers and eighties-inspired pop hooks.

It is not a musical style I am typically drawn to, but like any great piece of art, it transcends expectations and cuts through with its excellence and thoughtful composition.

Best tracks: Bubblegum Bitch, Primadonna, Power & Control, Teen Idle, Hypocrates, How to be a Heartbreaker

CD Odyssey Disc 1589: Alex Cameron

I spent a lot of the past week on the road for work, and as a result I didn’t get a chance to review this next record until today. On the plus side, it meant I got to listen to it a lot. The worst part of the CD Odyssey is constantly having to bid adieu to a record and move on to the next, so I take a little extra exposure to a good record as a welcome accident.

Of course, I could technically listen to a record as long as I want, but then how would there be more reviews for you to read?

Disc 1589 is…. Jumping the Shark

Artist: Alex Cameron

Year of Release: 2013

What’s up with the Cover?  Alex Cameron, done up in his sleazeball failed actor persona. This picture screams, “I coulda bin somebody!” Yeah, and we’re going to hear all about it as we listen to the record…

How I Came To Know It: This was just me drilling backward through Alex Cameron’s discography after I discovered him through his 2019 release “Miami Memory”.

How It Stacks Up: I have four Alex Cameron albums, with “Jumping the Shark” landing at #3.

Ratings: 3 stars

On each successive record, Alex Cameron has added a bit of additional production or instrumentation but on his first, 2013’s “Jumping the Shark” you get Alex Cameron with no frills, bells or whistles. It is just him, a synthesizer and an organ.

This approach sets a very electronica type backdrop, and you’d feel like you were at some late-night club scene with a lot of flashing strobe lights if it weren’t for Cameron’s stellar lyrics, painting a story well beyond what your average minor dance tune might employ. It keeps your frontal lobes as interested in what’s going on as your amygdala grooves along with the fuzzy beats.

If anything it keeps your frontal lobes much more engaged overall, as the synth sounds on “Jumping the Shark” are very basic. For the most part, they are a loop of relatively few notes, designed to set a vibe and then withdraw to the back of the room so you can pay attention to Cameron’s tales of dirtbaggery and woe.

The best of these by a good measure is “Real Bad Lookin,” the first of Cameron’s brilliant exploration of the lowlifes and drunks you meet in cheap, rundown bars. This song featuring one woman who is decidedly not a paragon of virtue. I love this verse:

“My husband's at work, my baby's in a Daewoo sauna
I hold my breath when I check, just to see that she isn't a goner
The little dream sits there, she's like a fly in a jar
Yeah who the hell are they to tell me that I can't leave my kid in the car”

Earlier verses make it clear this is all happing mid-day while the woman gets drunk in the pub.

On “Gone South” his lyrics and delivery reminded me of something between Nick Cave and the Handsome Family. They are apocalyptic and teetering off the edge of sanity:

“I spent some time making bird calls
But none responded out of fear
I dug myself a spider's hole, and it was hungry work
And then I ate from my geo-stash”

Who is this semi-feral, disturbed character scrabbling in the dirt and creeping about in the back country? Cameron never fills you in completely, and you are left to imagine how they came to be there, digging holes. Later, they also build a bear trap.

The central character theme gets explored on “The Comeback” where our anti-hero complains about how he once had a hit TV show that was later cancelled. If you’ve ever had someone bend your ear at a pub about how they’ve been hard done by (the story usually involves a lawyer and a stack of documents stuffed in the pockets of a thread-worn blazer) then you’ve also met this guy.

Through all these tales, Cameron’s synthesizer sets a competent backdrop, but don’t expect any musical genius here. He’s more storyteller than composer, and if you need a complex melody to see you through, this music is not for you. Sometimes I longed for his later albums where the music is a bit more developed, but most of the time I was happy to be absorbed into the tales of woe he spins so artfully.

Best tracks: Gone South, Real Bad Lookin, The Comeback

CD Odyssey Disc 1575: Confidence Man

Is a hangover worse on a hot day? This morning, I’m going to say yes, but I admit I am not an impartial observer on the matter.

Disc 1575 is…. TILT

Artist: Confidence Man

Year of Release: 2022

What’s up with the Cover?  The band, all looking hip and stylish. The band makes the wise decision to give 80% of the face time to Janet Planet, no doubt on account of her being real good lookin’. No face time goes to DJs Clarence McGuffie and Reggie Goodchild. This is not because they lack in the looks department, it’s just tradition.

How I Came To Know It: I absolutely loved their previous album “Confident Songs for Confident People,” which was one of the best records of 2018. So good that I bought “TILT” having only heard one song.

How It Stacks Up: I have two Confidence Man albums ,and I think you already know which two. “TILT” is a distant second in the stacking game.

Ratings: 2 stars

Confidence Man’s 2018 debut is a whole lot of silly, empty fun, but it is very clever about how silly and empty it is. Unfortunately, “TILT” has all the emptiness, but lacks most of the silly, and all of the clever. This record isn’t terrible, but it is a disappointment given what I know they are capable of.

The basics are there once again, consisting of samples, hand claps, and breaks that combine to make up some catchy electronic dance music. According to the information encoded on the CD (which can be wrong) the particular mix of all this stuff is known as “breakbeat”. I had to read up on that, but it sounds about right.

Janet Planet remains the band’s greatest resource. She can sing, but she is best when she half sings, half jingles her way through a song. Her “coolest girl in the club” delivery reminds me favourably of the Shangri-Las. The other vocalist is Sugar Bones, and while he gets less time centre stage on this record, he has the same kind of party vibe to his singing.

It is Bones who takes the lead on the album’s best song, “What I Like,” although Janet Planet’s well-placed “woo!”s are a big part of the song’s fun. It is a song about dancing but deep down, they all are.

Confidence Man was never about narrative tales, but on their previous record you felt something that mattered was mixed in with the catch phrases, even if that something was playful fun. On “TILT” they go back to a purer dance beat vibe, and while there are some good lines, (my favourite is “Toy Boy’s” “With an ass like that/there’s no conversation”) it doesn’t have the same charm overall.  I found myself getting bored halfway though most of the songs. This is my usual reaction to electronica, but I expected more from you, Confidence Man!

The vibe of the record sounds very early oughts club sound, and often had me uncharitably thinking it was made for people who “like anything with a good beat”. I need a bit more chunk to my oatmeal, I’m afraid.

It was a little better on headphones, but most things are. I also played this in a convertible, with the top down and driving in the summer sunshine, which for music like this should be a guarantee of success. Instead I found myself at red lights wanting to shout, “Their other record is really good!” at passersby who cast sidelong glances that suggested they wanted to respond with, “you’re a vacuous douchebag”.

I did quite like “Angry Girl” which was mostly Janet Planet singing “So mad, I’m an angry girl/So what’s your problem?” but had a few other lines actually strung together to at least dig in a bit. The song is not at all angry, it is more a feigned anger for the sake of a little fun and drama at the club. It has all the joy and whimsy of Confidence Man’s earlier work and if there had been more of these, I might be finding a space on my shelves for this record. Instead, I will be bidding this record an early adieu.

Best tracks: What I Like, Toy Boy, Angry Girl

CD Odyssey Disc 1498: Torres

I took the day off today, and while it started with a less pleasant experience (going to the dentist) it is all good from here. I plan to get some tacos from my favourite taco joint, buy some new music, and then meet up with a friend for drinks.

Upon further review, even the dentist was fine; I love that fresh feeling after having my teeth cleaned.

Disc 1498 is…. Thirstier

Artist: Torres

Year of Release: 2021

What’s up with the Cover? Mackenzie Scott (aka Torres) reclines with her guitar between her legs. This cover reminded me of Liz Phair’s 2003 self-titled release although Liz is displaying a bit more wanton abandon, whereas Torres is going for “sexy, but also chill”. Sorry about the generic Liz Phair link – I haven’t reviewed that record yet.

How I Came To Know It: I was already a fan, so this was just me buying her latest when it came out and hoping for the best.

How It Stacks Up: When I last reviewed Torres I only had two of her albums and they were pretty much in a dead heat of awesome. Now I have four, with “Thirstier” in a two way tied with “Three Futures” for the top. The two albums are so different it is hard to separate them or pick one over the other. However, since you didn’t come here to read my equivocations, I’ll put this one in at #2. Tomorrow I may flip it, but that’s a decision for a future me.

Ratings: 4 stars

With each successive album Torres pushes her style and boundaries further. She’s a fearless innovator and – unlike some innovators – still ends up with songs that are beautiful and powerful. Note to songwriters: your song can be as new and different as you like, but it still has to be good.

After pressing the limits of electronica on her last couple of albums, Torres goes more traditional on “Thirstier”. Not quite radio friendly rock/pop, mind you. You can still expect atypical melodic structures and bending the use of traditional instruments to create novel soundscapes. What you can see is Torres taking more traditional forms and seeing what she can create within them. Think about someone locking themselves in a small white room, but then going apeshit painting colours and shapes all over the walls

After a couple of albums that were both erotic and dark, “Thirstier” is a markedly happier record. On “Don’t Go Puttin Wishes in My Head” and “Hug from a Dinosaur” I was left with the distinct impression that Torres has found love.

On “Don’t Go Puttin Wishes in My Head” the narrator lays the choice bare for her lover: if we’re staying together then get that ring on my finger and be quick about it. The upbeat driving club-feel of the tune tells you she gets a favourable answer from her ultimatum. On “Hug from a Dinosaur” she is positively giddy with love with lines like:

“What comprises all this joy I feel and where was it before?
Ancient and eternal and surreal as a hug from a dinosaur.”

The image is a bit cutesy, but that’s love in full flower, isn’t it? Full of pet names, playful hugs, and impromptu kitchen dancing.

“Hug from a Dinosaur” and “Are You Sleepwalking?” also show off Torres’ Camaro rock side, dropping in that fuzzy guitar sound that I appreciate in bands like Ex Hex and Tacocat. I appreciate it here as well, and both tracks are standout headbangers.

Despite the slightly poppier influences, the raw sexual side of Torres is still reflected on this record. “Drive Me” is a slow burner about taking your time in the bedroom, applying the driving imagery of 10 and 2 to other activities that might result in your hands being in those positions. Nudge-nudge, wink-wink, say no more (although Torres says plenty more).

And there is still sadness to go around as well. “Big Leap” is a heartbreaking tune about premature loss. The single guitar plucks away hauntingly as Torres sets the scene with:

“I was on my way to see you on the 14^th
The morning you fell thirty feet
Your body broken on concrete
Across the country in the Georgia heat.”

The song also features one of Torres’ best vocals performances on the record, showcasing her husky low range and sweet head voice in one song.

As is her nature, Torres drops a bit of electronica into the mix, this time with “Kiss the Corner”. I don’t love electronica, but Torres manages to make me appreciate it at least like it a bit, which is no mean feat.

On the title track she pulls all of the albums influences together. The song has soft introspective sections, where Torres’ vocals hold centre stage, plus a B section that rocks out with anthemic thump. The range and interest of the record, combined with her innovative use of rock traditions had me thinking favourably of St. Vincent and Liz Phair. Those are two of my favourite artists, and with the consistently great work Torres is putting out, she is fast putting herself on the same list.

Best tracks: Are You Sleepwalking?, Don’t Go Puttin Wishes in my Head, Drive Me, Big Leap, Hug From a Dinosaur, Thirstier

CD Odyssey Disc 1483: Tami T

Welcome back to the CD Odyssey! Let’s dig in, shall we?

Disc 1483 is…. High Pitched and Moist

Artist: Tami T

Year of Release: 2019

What’s up with the Cover? A painting of Tami T, sitting on a bed deep in thought. Based on the keyboard, I’m going to say she’s composing.

More interesting is the wide range of objects strewn around on the floor. We’ve got kitten figurines, a magazine, headphones, makeup, flowers. Oh, and a whole bunch of sex toys.

How I Came To Know It: My friend Patrick shared a song from this album a couple of years ago. I liked that as well as the full album. Unfortunately, it wasn’t released on my favourite format (CD) and a couple years ago I was still not comfortable purchasing music by download.

The pandemic helped me overcome that particular phobia by keeping me cooped up but still eager for new music. I eventually downloaded it a few months ago for around 100 Swedish Kroners (Tami T is Swedish). That’s about $15 CAD. Because I am a stubborn sonofabitch I burned it onto a CD and made a jewel case for it.

How It Stacks Up: Tami T only has one studio album that I know of, and this is it. Consequently there shall be no stacking up.

Ratings: 4 stars

“High Pitched and Moist” is a mix of sugar, sadness, and sex. Tami T’s particular blend of electronica and pop alternately makes you feel like you’re dancing in a club, being the heroine of an indie romantic comedy, or walking down a dark and dangerous street in a John Carpenter movie. And if you’re a wondering if the moistness in the title is from sex or crying, the answer is ‘a bit of both’.

The album is entirely electronic noises and keyboard, plus Tami T’s modulating voice that – like the cover – makes you wonder if she’s part anime character, or maybe an escapee from a video game.

This type of music is way outside my usual wheelhouse, but despite the artificial sounds (both music and voice) it held my attention in a way that most electronica albums do not; with the depth of emotion and honesty in its delivery. The music isn’t played on instruments, but the melodies still managed to pull on my heartstrings throughout. As for Tami T’s singing, it may sound artificial at a surface level, but her delivery and lyrics are heartfelt and poignant.

Tami T is trans, and throughout “High Pitched and Moist” she explores just what this means for her from the inside out. It is deeply personal, and powerful. It can also be filled with deep sorrow and even dread. On “Afraid” she recounts dark walks home, afraid of getting beat up again, with that “again” landing with a foreboding finality at the end of the line. On “Disgusted” she recounts the morning after a regrettable hook up with:

“Lucky you
I'm in this state
Low standards
Because of self-hate”

And on “Birthday” she has a drunken night out on the town, summed up with:

“Another year wasted on attempts at having fun
Another year of making mistakes you can’t undo
A sad birthday fit for a sad person like you”

Grim stuff, but it never feels self-indulgent, it just feels raw and real. Also, these moments are balanced well with songs like “Princess” that are filled with empowerment and defiance. On “Mucous Membrane” she turns the “Disgusted” theme on its head, reveling in the freedom of a consistently satisfying booty call where the two participants may not have much to say to each other but are still great in the sack.

“Face Riding” is a one of the album’s best moments, mixing an irresistible organ riff, well placed handclaps, and a dance club beat. There’s also a whole lot of consensual bondage and domination, in case you were wondering whether some of those objects on her bedroom floor were appearing randomly.

“Single Right Now” is the most danceable song on an album that has a lot of danceable songs. It also features a cleverly repeating chorus that characterizes the cycle of meeting someone, falling in love, finding out they are an asshole and then…doing it all over again. Like a lot of the songs on the record, it is a little sad, but a little playful as well.

My main issue with the record is that it needed to be edited down in the studio a bit more. There are 15 songs totaling almost an hour of music, and a number of them don’t need to be there, particularly dreary mood pieces like “Bad Temper.” I could also have lived without a couple of the aimless instrumental numbers (“Gullis”, “Den Ledsna Valen”). Tami T also employs a sound that mimics a Caribbean steel drum a few too many times for my liking.

The beats however are great overall. Danceable, groovy and organic enough that they still feel like complete compositions. Imagine something similar to that background music at a fashion show runway, only if it didn’t suck.

I often find electronica music comes up with a half-baked concept only to recycle it without ever completing the melody. Tami T has a good musical sense, and avoids this pitfall, making fully formed songs with beginnings, middles and ends.

I doubt I’m going to be converted to electronica music anytime soon, but I’m glad I was introduced to this little corner of that world.

Best tracks: Birthday, Princess, Face Riding, Mucous Membrane, Single Right Now, Disgusted, It’s Not Your Right To Know

CD Odyssey Disc 1323: Beck

After a week spent with a single artist (Matt Patershuk) I’m eager to get a few different flavours in this week. Like at a fancy restaurant when they give you three different sorbettos for dessert. First up…something sugary-sweet.

Disc 1323 is… Colors

Artist: Beck

Year of Release: 2017

What’s up with the Cover? The debut album from the New Wave band, “Colour the Hexagon”. Nope, still Beck.

How I Came to Know It: I like Beck so when this record came out and the first couple of singles were promising, I dove in without hesitation.

How It Stacks Up:  I have ten Beck Albums. I won’t be having 11 any time soon, though, as his latest record, “Hyperspace” failed to impress. “Colors” is not remotely the best, but still manages to land at #7, bumping the three records behind it all down a spot.

Here's a full accounting since the last review:

1. Guero: 5 stars (reviewed at Disc 538)
2. Sea Change: 4 stars (reviewed at Disc 520)
3. Midnite Vultures: 4 stars (reviewed at Disc 348)
4. Morning Phase: 4 stars (reviewed at disc 634)
5. Modern Guilt: 4 stars (reviewed at Disc 288)
6. Mellow Gold: 3 stars (reviewed at Disc 962)
7. Colors:  3 stars (reviewed right here)
8. Odelay: 3 stars (reviewed at Disc 789)
9. The Information: 2 stars (reviewed at Disc 150)
10. Mutations: 2 stars (reviewed at Disc 187)

Ratings: 3 stars

Beck’s got a great ear for music, but sometimes his records feel more like the work of a great producer than a great songwriter. If it sounds good that shouldn’t matter, and “Colors” has plenty of good songs. However, it also has moments that feels more like someone vainly playing with a soundboard to make a boring song more glamorous.

Beck shifts his style around a fair bit, and it is rare he goes somewhere stylistically that I won’t follow. On his previous record, “Morning Phase” he hearkened back to the pastoral sadness of “Sea Change,” with amazing results.

On “Colors” he digs into the club-inspired dance sounds of 1999’s “Midnite Vultures.” Beck has a natural feel for finding a club groove, and for the most part he succeeds, but unlike “Morning Phase” here he falls short of his earlier inspiration.

This is a good record for a sedate cocktail party, where there’s a small dance floor close to the speakers for those inclined. It would also work for a vodka commercial, where tall women wear sequined dresses and strappy heels, and bros have three-day stubble and rolled up sleeves. One of these parties where everyone does a lot of toothy smiling at one another and everyone gets hammered, but do it klassy.

First, the good news. Even the obvious and boring songs on “Colors” still have a good dance beat. There is nary a tune that is offensive to the ear and some are downright funky, particularly “I’m So Free”, with its mix of falsetto pop singing, fuzz guitar and some kind of late nineties boy-band rap styling. This is Beck at his best, taking a bunch of musical notions that shouldn’t go together and making each complementary to the others.

“Wow” is a song that captures the happy side of being gobsmacked; that moment where the glory of the now hits you smack dab in the face, and you like it. Really, it’s just a bunch of effects and lyrics. The effect is the same as listening to that very high dude giving his late-night theory of life on the back porch of a house party. This song reminds you that that dude can actually be entertaining in the right circumstances.

“Up All Night” is the radio hit pure and simple, and justifiably so. It is perfectly produced pop glory, good for dancing, driving or just that damned toffee-nosed vodka cocktail party you were at earlier. I was not at all surprise to learn it was number one on US alternative radio, whatever that is.

Unfortunately, a lot of the other tracks, while inoffensive, rely too heavily on the sound editing tricks of Beck (and co-producer Greg Kurstin) to stay afloat. It is masterfully done, but it didn’t feed my soul. “Dear Life” feeds off a latter career Beatles inspiration, but it comes across more as “Magical Mystery Tour” at its worst, than “Sgt. Pepper” at its best. “No Distraction” and “Dreams” both energy to spare, but the bones of the song didn’t hold my attention sufficient for me to enjoy all the liberally applied seasoning Beck and Kurstin later apply.

In the end, “Colors” was a good name for the record. Like the American spelling of the word, it is easy and balanced, but it can leave you wishing there were a bit more organic mystery behind all that convenience.

Best tracks: I’m So Free, Wow, Up All Night

CD Odyssey Disc 1318: Apotheosis

After my last selection walked the line between “new to me” and “from the stacks” I wasn’t sure how I was going to pick my next album.

I decided to go with a random roll from the stacks and was rewarded with this little amuse bouche to get me back on track; the CD equivalent of a 45 single on my road back to regularly scheduled programming.

Disc 1318 is… O Fortuna

Artist: Apotheosis

Year of Release: 1992

What’s up with the Cover? A smiling gal counts her fat stacks of counterfeit cash. You can tell it is counterfeit because the 5s are printed backwards. That winning smile isn’t getting those past the grocery clerk.

How I Came to Know It: This was a crowd favourite at my local dance club back in the day. I liked it so much I went and did something I almost never do. I bought a single.

How It Stacks Up:  This is my only Apotheosis album, so it can’t really stack up. Frankly, it isn’t even an album.

Ratings: 3 stars

In my wayward youth I spent many a night dancing at a place called Scandals; a dingy, cramped and altogether awesome alternative nightclub that was a big deal in Victoria back in the late eighties and early nineties. The apotheosis of my experience there was when the DJ would drop the needle on “O Fortuna”.

I used to go to Scandals at least once a week, and sometimes two or three times, but the best night was Alternative Tuesday, where they played the heavier stuff. This was the golden age of industrial dance music, before techno music became the exclusive realm of the shoe-gazers. This was the era of Ministry telling you how Jesus building their hot rod, and My Life With the Thrill Kill Kult turning you on like a tiger baby. For me, nothing compared with Apotheosis’ “O Fortuna.”

“O Fortuna” is mostly forgotten now, but back in 1992 it was a sure-fire way to fill the dance floor. It was basically a liberal sampling of the most hard-core sections of Orff’s “Carmina Burana” crossed with a thumping back beat, plus a bunch of other synthy sounds so your hands had something creative to do while the magic happened. There was no better way to waste five minutes of your life away; more if the DJ was feeling charitable and extended the experience.

My CD copy has all the variable versions you could desire. There is the “Apocalypse Choir Mix” (although all the versions feature the choir), the “7” Single Edit” which appears to just be shorter, but otherwise the same and the “Live Action Remix” which has…live action. I like the “Apocalypse Choir” version best but I’ll take whatever the DJ is slinging on a given night. I’m not picky when it comes to “O Fortuna”.

For most versions, “O Fortuna” starts off with a clanging, awkward set of notes, then a synth flourish. If you rushed the floor fast enough you would arrive in time to raise your fist in triumph as the full apocalypse choir from Carmina Burana blasted you with all the pomposity it could muster.

It isn’t too complicated from there. One of two things is going to happen. There is going to be a slammin’ mosh pit where you will lovingly shove – and be shoved – by strangers or you’re going to claim your 2 ½’ x 2 ½’ of floor space and protect it with the sheer awesomeness and ferocity of your dance moves.

I like to think I was pretty hot stuff on the dance floor back then. Not the best, but good enough to take a guest run as Speaker Dancer when the designated Speaker Dancer took a bathroom break or got a drink and left their post unattended. These bouts of glory always ended all-too-soon with a polite request for me to get off the speaker, right when I was (in my own mind) really killin’ it. But I digress…

The important thing was that “O Fortuna” never failed to fill me with joy. As it wound itself up in techno-ecstasy I would pull out all my signature dance moves. The Forward Hand Shuffle, The “My Hands Are Two Repelling Magnets” and my personal favourite, the “Two-Minute Hate” Arm Pump.  The latter move consists of engaging in the 1984 “X over the head” move from the Orwell novel (in time with the music, of course). This was designed to make it clear that while I was having a wicked good time, I was also aware of the ironic ramifications of my happiness. I was an early adopter of irony.

Anyway, there isn’t much more to be said about a single song. It came on, I danced, and under the flashing strobe lights of Scandals I got some much-needed oblivion from life's troubles. Anyone who thinks youth is wasted on the young has simply forgotten what makes youth so great in the first place.

Best tracks: Of the three versions of “O Fortuna” on the CD I’ll go with the “Apocalypse Choir Mix”. The B-Side, “The Volume Is Loud,” is also good.

CD Odyssey Disc 1310: Confidence Man

Sorry for my prolonged absence, dear readers. I’ve been busy as hell and putting in a lot of late nights. But enough of such mundanity. Let’s talk music.

My last review featured one of the top ten albums of 2017. This next record did not make my top 10 for 2018, but that’s only because I didn’t know it existed until a couple months ago.

Disc 1310 is… Confident Songs for Confident People

Artist: Confidence Man

Year of Release: 2018

What’s up with the Cover? Sugar Bones and Janet Planet sit in chairs composed of shadow people, likely the band’s other two members – Clarence McGuffie and Reggie Goodchild. Yes, you read that correctly – half the band perform under whimsical aliases. I’ll let you decide which half.

How I Came to Know It: I heard this through a clerk in a local record store. It was great stuff and so I started searching for the CD, finally locating it last month in Portland, Oregon.

How It Stacks Up:  This is the band’s debut album, so there is nothing to stack it up against.

Ratings: 4 stars but almost 5

An early hint of what to expect from Confidence Man is their Wikipedia listing, which indicates that co-band leaders Sugar Bones and Janet Planet are responsible for “vocals and dancing.” If you think that’s a sign that dancing is intrinsic to the music, well, it is.

Confidence Man is a mix of dance pop and electronica, with a healthy dose of live drum and keyboard thrown in. Not exactly my usual style of music but forget all that; this music is catchy as hell. You will want to dance. I’d be tempted to even challenge your ability to sit still while listen to this, but it just seems like a cruel dare.

Instead, I encourage you to get up and move as Mr. Bones and Ms. Planet regale you with groovy tales of sex, dancing and cool parties. That’s about the extent of the subject matter of these songs which are fun-filled romps through a carefree life. The worst thing that happens is an unfulfilled desire for bubblegum and a (soon-to-be) ex-boyfriend who doesn’t ‘reciprocate’. Take for that what you will.

Sugar Bones and Janet Planet (so fun to type these names) take turns on lead vocals, sometimes singing but often doing a groovy half-rap over top of the world’s best dance beats.  Sugar Bones channels Right Said Fred on “Don’t You Know I’m in a Band,” a song about how awesome it is to be in a band. Janet Planet has the sixties beatnik swagger of the Shangri-Las’ Mary Weiss. This is particularly true on “C.O.O.L. Party” a song that sounds like a modern update of the Shangri-Las classic “Sophisticated Boom Boom.” If you don’t know “Sophisticated Boom Boom” I encourage you to check it out, because it is one of the best party songs ever written – and so is “C.O.O.L. Party.”

“C.O.O.L. Party” lays out a detailed narrative of the party of the year, from the initial invite, to the search for beer and drugs, through to the inevitable dancing (first with coat on, then – when the party warms up – without.). On “All the Way” a couple meets, cheats, breaks up and then moves back in together because they can’t afford to live on their own. Don’t worry, though, Confidence Man makes even a tragic love affair into a lively adventure.

More often the songs eschew storytelling for great grooves structured loosely around a concept or image. “Catch My Breath” is about trying to do just that (replete with ‘aah-aah-aah’ sounds), and “Bubblegum” is a song about casual yearning, described by Janet Planet thusly:

“I wish I had a boy that talks so sweet
I wish I had a boy to let my parents meet
I wish I had a cotton candy beat
I wish I had a room with an ensuite

I wish I had…I wish…I had

Some bubblegum”

Lyrics aside, this album is a masterwork in beats and grooves. It is the kind of thing you want to hear at every party, or at every nightclub; its middle finger firmly up to anyone who’d rather listen to slow-building house beats while staring at the floor.

There is no shoegazing to be found on “Confident Songs for Confident People” – these are songs to throw your arms and hips into with enthusiasm. To see how its done, I encourage you to check the band out live on Youtube where they demonstrate that the whole “dance and vocals” claims on the bands Wiki page are not empty threats. These two can really cut a rug.

As fun as that experience is, you don’t need to see Confidence Man to enjoy the music. The songs are laden with an infectious natural energy that belies their sometimes techno-based production.

Because of my busy week I ended up listening to this record five or six times over before sitting down to review it tonight. I never got tired of the music. If anything, it helped let building stress slip into the background. This is fun record with its tongue planted firmly in cheek but make no mistake – this is some of the best damned dance music out there.

Best tracks: Try Your Luck, Don’t You Know I’m In a Band, Boyfriend, C.O.O.L. Party, Catch My Breath, Bubblegum, Better Sit Down Boy

CD Odyssey Disc 1154: Torres

On with the Odyssey!

Disc 1154 is… Three Futures

Artist: Torres

Year of Release: 2017

What’s up with the Cover? Torres sits splay-legged on a couch in some house the 1950s forgot. In the mirror you can see what has so thoroughly caught her attention, as a sexy woman stretches, wearing nothing but pantyhose.

I expect that last sentence will earn me some random Google searches.

How I Came To Know It: I discovered Torres through her 2015 album “Sprinter”. An early sampling of “Three Futures” went well so I took the plunge.

How It Stacks Up:  I have two Torres albums and they are both great, but only one can be #1. With this harsh reality, I must place “Three Futures” in first place, but it is a photo finish. Both albums are equally great.

Ratings:  4 stars

When I first heard Mackenzie Scott (aka Torres) I thought she was pretty out there; a bit on the experimental pop side and not at all my usual stuff. However, “Sprinter” was so brilliant that as long as she didn’t go any farther “out there” I would be OK. Then she released “Three Futures” which takes three giant strides further out there but is so evocative and brilliant you can’t deny its greatness.

“Three Futures” takes the experimental approach to “Sprinter” and infuses it with dark matter and electrical current. Torres embraces a heavy electronica sound, fusing it seamlessly with lyrics that express stark truths about sexuality, power and frailty. Drum machines, synthesizers and the drone of feedback set a soundscape that is immersive and yet incredibly stark. I shouldn’t like this stuff, but I couldn’t help myself.

Over this undulating ocean of sound, Torres’ voice casts a spell of seductive truth. Her vocals are powerful throughout her range, and she enunciates her words with the care of one who knows that good music is like poetry – every word matters. I was pleased to read Torres has a minor in English Literature – it gives hope for the rest of us.

Torres has many influences and I could hear the aggressive poetry of Patti Smith and the rich nineties dreamy ambience of Sarah McLachlan. There’s even a little early Enya, and the way that synth riff dances around on “Greener Stretch” sounds like some digital Celt marching to the sea.

“Three Futures” is laden with characters coming to terms with themselves and how people are drawn to one another. The whole of it drips with desire. On “Skim” she sings “There’s no unlit corner of the room I’m in” reminding you that nothing will be too personal to shine a light on. She invites you to take a dive with her into the deep end. No stone will be left unturned and no topic will be too uncomfortable or taboo.

On “Righteous Woman” she sings:

“I am not a righteous woman

I’m more of an ass man

And when I go to spread, I’m only

Squinting out a strip of land

From my panopticon.”

Lascivious twists on gender imagery strip away arbitrary boundaries, as Torres sings these lines like honey is dripping from her tongue. On top of all that, she taught me a new word: panopticon. It is a prison where a single guard can look in on any inmate at any time, but the inmates are never aware if they are under surveillance at any given moment. The voyeuristic element adds another layer to the grand seduction. We can only assume that like Torres artistic talent and fearless approach to her art, the individual rooms of her panopticon have no unlit corners.

For an album that is so laden with naked truths, there is a depth to the delivery that makes you realize that Torres didn’t come to these topics from some prurient crowd-pleasing place, but through a deep exploration of the nature of desire.

My only disappointment is the final track “To Be Given a Body”. The song has wonderful moments but at eight minutes is a bit too long, and features a lot of percussion that sounded like the speakers were turned on too loud.

It is a minor quibble on a record that otherwise thoroughly ensorcelled me. “Three Futures” was invigorating, sensual and provocative and makes me excited to see where Torres will go next with her prodigious talent.

Best tracks: Tongue Slap Your Brains Out, Skim, Three Futures, Righteous Woman, Bad Baby Pie

CD Odyssey Disc 699: Depeche Mode

Welcome back to the CD Odyssey! These albums won’t listen to themselves, so let’s get on with the show.

Disc 699 is…. Violator

Artist: Depeche Mode

Year of Release: 1990

What’s up with the Cover? Looks like a rose, but I’m not sure why it is glistening. Maybe it was coated in wax or maybe it just got all hot and bothered by all the sexy music on the album.

How I Came To Know It: Sheila introduced me to Depeche Mode and this is her album. I was dubious at first when I heard it was electronica but was quickly won over.

How It Stacks Up:  We have three Depeche Mode albums. Of the three, I had always planned to rank “Violator” first, but I very recently reviewed “Black Celebration” back at Disc 680 and I liked it a lot. It made for a tough choice, but I think I’ll still give the win to “Violator” by a hair.

Rating: 4 stars

“Violator” was the first Depeche Mode that I ever understood. Its techno-beats and synthesized sound shouldn’t have appealed to me, but it was done so well I couldn’t resist its siren’s call.

Siren’s call is appropriate, given the way Depeche Mode blends darkness and danger with seductive allure. Dave Gahan’s voice is low and lascivious, and drives these songs from under the melody, like an undertow during a change of the tide. Even the songs that aren’t about sex on this album sound like they are, and the double meaning provides a tension that is hard to resist.

It all begins with the music, which is driven first by bass and percussion, such as on the rhythmic “Personal Jesus” or “Halo.” These songs are OK, but for me the better songs are the ones that develop the songs more melodically, including “Waiting for the Night” and “Enjoy the Silence.” These songs bring in cool beats as well, but they ultimately support very interesting musical progressions in the melody.

The whole effect makes you want to move your hips suggestively in a dark night club. I listened to it in daylight on my walk to and from work, but thankfully managed to avoid any publicly inappropriate hip motions.

Yet for all this, many of the songs have other important themes they are exploring. On “Sweetest Perfection” this theme is addiction, which creeps forward slowly and inexorably as it build into ugly truths like:

“When I need a drug in me

And it brings out the thug in me

Feel something tugging me

Then I want the real thing not tokens.”

It is the draw of something bad for you that you can’t resist. It felt like the first half of the horror of drug addiction; that dreadful anticipation of the high that is to come, whatever the costs after it is over. For the half filled with regret and shame after the high, as the desire begins to dully grow again I recommend Tool’s “Sober.”

“Violator” has a lot of range and it knows how to build tension that is beautiful as well as dark. “Waiting for the Night” is the tension of waiting for release. The light tinkling of the organ in this song sounds a lot like Enya’s first album. It has that feeling of Celtic faerie magic, infused with the sharp angles of the modern world reflected in Depeche Mode’s electronica sound.

The second half of this record is where the gems reside. Right after “Waiting for the Night” at song five the boys kick it up a notch with the nightclub dance track “Enjoy the Silence.” This is a mix of a slow wanton melody over the top of a dance track that is so good it makes you almost forget just how bad most club music was in 1990. At over six minutes long, “Enjoy the Silence” really lets you enjoy its lack of silence, yet never drags.

Building off of that, we get the best song on the album with “Policy of Truth.” This song has it all; a danceable beat, an irresistible hook and compelling lyrics. The latter covers the realization that always blurting out the truth can sometimes be its own burden. As Gahan sings:

“Things could be so different now

It used to be so civilized

You will always wonder how

It could have been if you’d only lied.

It’s too late to change events

It’s time to face the consequence

For delivering the proof

In the policy of truth.”

The song seems clearly about infidelity, and not just because everything Depeche Mode feels suffused with sex. Here the song is stronger for what it doesn’t spell out, with only the implication of sin on lines like “never again is what you swore/the time before.” You can tell that one lover is unfaithful, and the other knows it full well. He just don’t want to be reminded of it in some guilt-ridden confessional. It is a troubled song about a relationship in crisis and a preference for a pretty lie over a sordid truth.

The whole record casts a spell of compromised ethics wrapped up in an erotic package of unfolding melody and haunting back beats. It is thoughtful and danceable, which is a pretty rare combination. If all electronica were this good I’d be a happy man – and that’s the truth.

Best tracks: Sweetest Perfection, Waiting for the Night, Enjoy the Silence, Policy of Truth

CD Odyssey Disc 680: Depeche Mode

Going from Iron Maiden to this next artist was definitely a jump in styles.

Disc 680 is…. Black Celebration

Artist: Depeche Mode

Year of Release: 1986

What’s up with the Cover? I can’t entirely tell. Definitely a cityscape, with what looks like giant tulips reflected against the glass walls. The tulip is one of my favourite flowers, but at that size they’d really throw the balance of a garden out. Also, it would be very hard to make a bouquet for your girl with tulips that big.

The black banners hanging down the side of the building (the ‘black celebration’?) are more troubling. It makes it feel like you are in some sort of totalitarian future, where Big Tulip has cornered the market on floral arrangements and taken over the world. Not good, but at least in a Depeche Mode future, you know there’ll be plenty of sex among the flowers.

How I Came To Know It: Sheila introduced me to Depeche Mode. She had this album on tape back when it came out, and I am told she played the living hell out of it.

How It Stacks Up:  We have three Depeche Mode albums (we used to have four but we sold “Exciter” shortly after I reviewed it back at Disc 244). Of the three, I put “Black Celebration” second, and a strong second at that. It may even finish first before this whole thing is over.

Rating: 4 stars

Back in 1986 when we small town metal-heads were listening to Iron Maiden’s “Somewhere in Time,” urban alternative folks like my future wife were having a black celebration of their own, with bands like Depeche Mode.

“Black Celebration” is an appropriate name for this record, which embraces the darkness around us and inside us, and channels that darkness into starkly industrial drum lines and hauntingly inspirational melodies.

Musically, Depeche Mode isn’t quite doing the computer-like work of bands like Kraftwerk, but there are definitely elements of what would eventually become electronica on “Black Celebration.” Ordinarily, I would consider this a bad thing, but the songs on this album have a purpose and direction that perfectly combines the slow anticipation of ‘what happens next’ from pop music and the ambient beat and rhythm that is so hypnotic in the best electronica.

While the progressions here are solidly pop, the song constructions are innovative and engaging. The strange gasping and voice samples at the beginning of “Fly on the Windscreen – Final” would ordinarily annoy me, but Depeche Mode works them seamlessly into the song that makes them not only add to the song’s groove, but be fundamental to it working.

As when I reviewed “Exciter,” Dave Gahan’s signature voice again impressed me. His voice is dramatic, with hints of pomp and sexual danger spilling off the sides of it. His range isn’t huge, but his voice is always strong whether he is singing at the top or the bottom of his register.

“Black Celebration” plays to Gahan’s strength, keeping him low and haunting most of the time, and occasionally rising up to hit a poignant point. On “A Question of Lust” this use of his higher voice adds just the right amount of tenderness into a darkly sexual song.

Lyrically and musically this album is sexy as hell. Not the ‘close your eyes and think of England’ variety of sexy either. These are songs where lovers willingly surrender to their basic desires; the ones whisper to one another only when they are feeling very bold, or it is very dark.

Gahan is perfect for such dark whispers. On “Stripped” when he sings…

“Let me hear you

Make decisions

Without your television

Let me hear you speaking

Just for me.

“Let me see you

Stripped down to the bone”

Don’t just take your clothes off, he says. Strip. And unlike “Exciter,” “Black Celebration” never loses its musical focus, letting each song build slowly and deliberately. “Stripped” starts off with a whimsical keyboard riff that feels like you are going for a friendly walk in the woods, but the woods get dark quickly as the song until the darkness soaks right into your bones. There’s a blackness, of course, but it is a cause for celebration, not concern.

Even a line like this little bit of self-pity from “Sometimes”…

“Sometimes

Only sometimes

I question everything

And I’m the first to admit

If you catch me in a mood like this

I can be tiring”

…weirdly works, because it is delivered with conviction and because we’ve all felt like this. It’s just nice that someone is admitting it for all of us.

There is even a brief foray into political discourse, with “New Dress” which juxtaposes all the inequities and injustices in the world with the public’s obsession in 1986 with what Princess Diana is wearing.

“Black Celebration” ends with the surprisingly upbeat “But Not Tonight” which brings a last minute warmth and optimism to the record, but not so much so as to feel jarring. It is the cup of coffee after a heavy meal, designed to pick you up and get you moving again.

This album was a pleasant surprise – so much so I’ve kept listening to it for three days straight, and I’ll be playing it a lot more often in future. Big Tulip wins again, I guess.

Best tracks (with artists): Fly on the Windscreen – Final, A Question of Lust, Sometimes, Stripped, Dressed in Black, New Dress, But Not Tonight

CD Odyssey Disc 656: Gorillaz

I haven’t reviewed this next band in over four years, which just shows how long I’ve been at this damned CD Odyssey.

Disc 656 is…. Plastic Beach

Artist: Gorillaz

Year of Release: 2010

What’s up with the Cover?  This is what would pass for an island resort in a post-apocalyptic garbage world. Not terribly nice, and likely infested with rats or cannibals, but that’s what you get for booking without reading trip reviews first.

How I Came To Know It:  Sheila likes the Gorillaz and one day when I was buying myself some albums, I thought it would be nice to bring something home she would like as well, even if it wasn’t my first choice. That’s how I roll, at least on my better days.

How It Stacks Up:  We have three Gorillaz albums, and I’d put this one in the middle. Also, as this is the last Gorillaz disc in my collection, here’s the recap of how they stack up against each other:

1. Demon Days: 3 stars (reviewed at Disc 138)
2. Plastic Beach: 2 stars (reviewed right here)
3. Self-Titled: 2 stars (reviewed at Disc 74)

Rating:  2 stars but almost 3

I tend to only enjoy electronica when it is sidling up to generic pop music, and I find the Gorillaz a relatively painless listen for this reason. On “Plastic Beach” they are even downright enjoyable at times – just not at regular enough intervals. Like the flooded, doomed planet they depict on the album cover, the places where my ear can find a welcoming harbor are few and far between.

The album uses a number of guest vocalists, most notably (to me) rapper Snoop Dogg, seventies soul crooner Bobby Womack and alt-rocker Lou Reed. The Gorillaz are clearly interested in exploring music’s origins in multiple directions, and I appreciate this. Unfortunately, the various styles don’t always work.

Snoop Dogg’s appearance on “Welcome to the World of the Plastic Beach” is one of the high points. The Gorillaz groove-based techno beats slide perfectly with Snoop’s rap style, and although I would have preferred this song with a real horn section, the way they use a synthesizer to get the same effect as a trumpet flourish works well enough.

Bobby Womack appears on a couple of tracks, to varying degrees of success. On “Stylo” he croons away over top of an undeniably cool beat. The beat on “Stylo” is so effective, the Gorillaz could’ve gotten away with just putting atmospheric sounds over top of it, and that’s pretty much what they do for the first half of the song. When Womack’s “110^th Street” power soul kicks in it gives the song a whole other facet. It is partly the pure and organic nature of Womack’s singing (and his understanding of how to slide on and off a perfect techno beat) that gives this song its spirit.

Unfortunately, later in the album the effect is slow and ponderous. On the wonderfully titled “Cloud of Unknowing” Womack attempts to deliver a heartfelt dirge, but the dead quality to the music sucks the life out of the performance, and left me wanting more.

As for Lou Reed – let’s just say this was not a match made in heaven. “Some Kind of Nature” just did not work. It felt like he was guesting on a digital version of the Muppet Show, minus a fun skit going on in the background. Even scratching his voice a bit near the end didn’t make it funky.

The best pure Gorillaz song is “Rhinestone Eyes” which has a great groove and (unlike most techno) thoughtful lyrics and may be the best song on the record.

Unfortunately, they can’t replicate this throughout. A lot of the songs feel like they never develop into anything, or worse they develop into an atmospheric collection of sound that had me glancing at my MP3 player 2-3 times for some songs wondering how much longer they were likely to go on. The worst offender, “Glitter Freeze” sounded like an electronica version of having your teeth drilled.

A much shorter album containing all my favourite tracks might have worked, but this record just takes too long to do what it wants to do. Ordinarily 16 tracks is two too many, but on “Plastic Beach” I’d say it is about six tracks too many. It isn’t that these songs are terrible, but they are too ordinary to be piled up to this height.

Thematically, I’ll give the Gorillaz credit for putting together what amounts to a concept album warning us about our society’s disposable culture and the reckoning that is coming when we become flooded in our own garbage. I love the effort, even if it didn’t fully deliver for me on the music front. This is at least in part because techno music doesn’t speak easily to me, so if you like techno beats, you will like this record more than I did. For all that, the songs I did like, I liked quite a bit.

Best tracks:  Welcome to the World of the Plastic Beach, Rhinestone Eyes, Stylo, On Melancholy Hill