Jesus... this is fucking terrible. I can't believe it, because I tend to like the stuff that this label releases, but this is one of the most annoying CD's I've ever received to review, and I'm finding this to be so irritating that I'm tempted to just say, "Whew, this fucking sucks!" and leave it at that. But... that's not my style, so let me describe why I hate this. This male/female duo combines electronic noise, electronic music, and bluesy swing/rockabilly type stuff to create a mishmash of eclectic sounds that tends towards the quirkily dark... but, see... I fucking despise any form of swing related music. Hate it. Can't stand it. I'm not a fan of the boppin' upright bass, I'm not a fan of the fairly simplistic, jazzy drum parts, and I fucking hate the melodies of the female vocal harmonies and shit. Not my thing. It's irritating. I mean, I guess this stuff is well done, for that style of music this is really creative, so fans of that stuff might be able to appreciate this as being some sort of twisted, avant-garde take on it... but I hate it. I can barely sit here and listen to it. To me this all sounds like a movie soundtrack to a weird musical or a cartoon set in many decades past. The CD comes in an interesting digpack with a matte finish and lots of abstract artwork. The sleeve folds open to reveal two pockets, one on each side, holding the CD on the right and a booklet on the left. The lyrics are rather strange, but I enjoy that. "The scum scam religion and the ratamatam a message from the broken bastard son of man deplete another virgin of the purest white drag her broken love into the darkest night skull skimming insults at the cream of the crops looking for survivors from that infamous head drop..." Fuck, I don't know. I'll give it a 2/10 because it's well recorded and it is creative, it's not an unprofessional hack job by any means, but for my ears most of this is pretty painful to listen to. Were it instrumental I would probably like some of it (parts of the music in tracks like "Interfude" are really cool), but I can't get into the bulk of this at all. Hey, it surprised the hell out of me... I'll say that much.
[Odd Halo]
Running time - 43:33, Tracks: 12
[Notable tracks: I'm not into any of 'em]
Odd Halo Recordings - http://www.oddhalo.com
