MUSIC: The Tasty Sounds of Dr. Chicken Gristle
When you listen to music from artists who ventured beyond the naming quotidian, you know, at the very minimum, you are in for an interesting time: think The Tony Danza Tapdance Extravaganza, Butthole Surfers or, one of our fave's, Revolting Cocks. Amazing. Now add the name of Dr. Chicken Gristle to that list. The name is almost provocative - you have to take notice. And thankfully, we did because this is one doctor we are happy to endorse.
We are a bit late to the table on this one as the Melbourne-based producer has been making music for close to 10 years now - and yes, all of his releases are worthy of your attention.
However, his most recent release, the five-track 'Floating as a Lifeless Vessel Suspended in the Air', is precisely what you would expect from someone who named themselves after poultry cartilage. It's fascinating and eccentric in equal doses.
With its rumination on 'rat boys' and ‘carcasses of saints', the spoken word on the opening track 'Prologue' is legit weird. But there is a method to the Dr.'s madness, amongst the verbal flotsam and jetsam appears the phrase 'floating as a lifeless vessel suspended in the air', a portent of what's next. Enter 'Hentai Hours', a vintage electro cut featuring beguiling sounds best described as… wait for it… lifeless vessels suspended in the air. It builds assiduously towards an ominous breakdown, thick swathes of dark synths foreshadowing something ominous, something unwanted… then, like a courtyard jester, the doctor turns everything inside out with a vocal urging the listener to 'fuck this pussy, boy, fuck it'. Won't lie, that was the last item on my directions-this-track-could-take list.
The chaos continues on 'Heaven's Gallery', a demented spiral into fractured beats and lost melodies. It is loose, yet features enough backbone to keep from unravelling completely. Soothing proceedings are the choral choir/ambient inflection of 'Perceptions of Body', tying up what could possibly be the world's shortest concept album.
And if all of that sound too abstract for you, the Solar Suite remix of ‘Heaven's Gallery' should remedy that. Once again, the man voted Most Likely To Take Over The World With Prog Dance™️ delivers another burner that paints a neat trance hue on the original’s weirdness.
All in all: finger-licking good.