Black Mayonnaise/Chapeau "split" CD
[Brise-Cul]
I know nothing about either one of these projects, but it is apparently rumored that Chapeau is a Black Mayonnaise side project (according to this CD-R's insert), and here Black Mayonnaise covers six Chapeau songs, while Chapeau offers six originals. Black Mayonnaise starts off with a total of about 24 minutes of programmed drumbeats, thick, plodding bass, sludgy drones, and some sparse fucked up noises that sound like insanely detuned and manipulated voices or something. "Inherent Phobia" starts with a quick sample before diving into the most concrete riff of the disc, whereas "Crotch of a Tree" is basically just strange, spacey noises (a little goofy and not in keeping with the other songs). "Hercynia" layers the thickly distorted bass with some sort of radio dance/pop music that I don't recognize at all, also not quite along the lines of the first four tracks. Chapeau's half of the disc seems to also be made up of traditional instruments, but it's far more noisy and disharmonic, if not on the "wacky" side, complete with some "singing" (if you can call it that). Needless to say, I'm not into it. Hell, the track called "Inherent Phobia" on Chapeau's portion of the disc sounds nothing like the Black Mayonnaise rendition! Really this stuff sort of sounds like a semi talented toddler trying to play Sonic Youth songs or something like that. The CD-R comes in a xeroxed slipcase with some strange cover art that I sort of like, but the back cover and insert look more light hearted and less interesting to me. However, I must admit that Chapeau's side of the insert is fucking hilarious, detailing the project's "blakk" and "kvlt" plans to release a full-length LP straight to eBay. Black Mayonnaise's text is far more serious, outlining the decision to record the six cover songs and his sincere enjoyment of "unusual" and "obscure" music. To sum up: The first four Black Mayonnaise tracks = not so bad. Chapeau = total crap. I'm not sure why Brise-Cul decided to release this, but the bulk of it is a big step down compared to the level their other recent releases have been approaching. (3/10)
Running time - 48:20, Tracks: 12
[Notable tracks: Inherent Phobia (the Black Mayonnaise one)]
Brise-Cul Records - http://www.brise-cul-records.cjb.net

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