Customer Reviews

Maniac Meat

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

It just fits, this record. The beats, the tones, it's old but it's new. I probably shouldn't write a review for a record I've played once and haven't even finished yet, but screw it, that's alcohol and isolation for you. If you were interested enough to look this up, you should have bought this already. It is what it is, a dude bringing the 70's through the meat-grinder of the now. Ugly. I think some platinum artist appears on this. Screw him. Fodder for stickers on wrappers and pushed units. "AIR as the Toxic Avenger", how's that for sticker fodder?

Shut up, just shut up.

I don't even want to play any of my other CDs anymore. I just want to hear Maniac Meat. The drum breaks are a little slow but slam hard as f***, and every synth line makes me pump my fist. If you hate vocoder, then that's too bad, because it has never sounded more gross and sticky and rotten, fading between pitched-down meltyness and candy-robot layers. Pitchfork Media described the sounds on this album as being similar to Nintendo dirtbike sounds, and I would agree. It's like you are stuck in a Pole Position game and you suddenly start questioning if your really driving strait into hell. But, don't get confused, because this is a really poppy album and not doomy at all, however, the more you listen the more it's like some evil Willy Wonka s*** that leaves you hypnotized. I can't even describe this, because it's so punk like Death From Above, but so bubbly like Air, and it kills everything. Basically this is the best music ever! I would take this over a candy bar any day. Apparently, per Wikipedia, the artist claims this is inspired by old 80's aerobics VHS tapes. That's about right.

This is a grower, not a shower. First the Beck tracks appealed to me. Then "Lick the Witch". Etc. There are so many layers to this production that you will be constantly finding new favorites. Followers of 'Skinny Puppy' or SP side project 'Download' will appreciate this. In my opinion TOBACCO has grown well beyond the confines of 'black moth super rainbow'. TOBACCO is BMSR untethered, whipping and lashing tentacles in the sonic abyss. It's like slow seep of battery acid in a lobotomy crack to your brain.

It seems like I talk endlessly about this guy. If you haven't read anything on my website, let me sum up: Tobacco is an innovative electro experimentalist who is also a founding member of Black Moth Super Rainbow. After F****d Up Friends, Tobacco was going to have a bit of trouble following up something that off-the-wall, catchy, beat-heavy and altogether hard to understand. And thats exactly why I love this guy. I can't figure out exactly what he'll come up with next. But one thing is for certain: You'll know its Tobacco when you hear it. Seldom do you hear something thats as distinct as this. And with Beck guest-starring on 2 different tracks, you have yet another reason to explore this record and figure out exactly whats going on inside of this guy's head.

The beats in this album are friggen great. I haven't heard these kinds of sounds ever before. Try some of it on itunes or whatever. I love it, is all I can say.

Makes you want to dance and then immediately take a hot shower. Being unfamiliar with mastermind Tom Fec's main band, I have no basis for comparison and perhaps that's critical in objectively reviewing a piece of music this unique. The first couple of listens reveal this album as deceptively simple, a couple more listens later and I'm delighted by all the layered samples he's buried underneath Tobacco's apparent signature maelstrom of distorted basslines and vintage synth tones. I found myself hypnotized by the array of effects he employs here: manipulating his vocals in a more disturbing way than anything anyone in industrial music has done in years, escalating the pitch of noises until my ears thirst for what's coming next, utilizing clichés like the 808 drum machine in segue with warbled synth patterns that invert 80's pastiche nostalgia creatively. Best listened to during evening hours.

Im not sure how to categorize this album, primarily because i've never heard anything that sounds like it. Whether you are into it or not, NOTHING sounds like this.

I've heard some of the "BMSR" stuff and while i like that, i think he really pulls it together with the rhythms and melodies that he releases under his moniker "Tobacco", and specifically on this album.

I imagine if i experimented with hallucinogens, this would be the type of music i would want to hear. Trippy electronic music. I even like the way his voice sounds with the vocoder. I honestly have to admit that this is one of my favorite albums this year. I hope he decides to take this concept further.

I'm a painter and this is the perfect accompaniment to a night in the studio. I would recommend this to anyone who likes original sounding electronic music and isn't afraid of something a little different.

-author