Customer Reviews

How to Operate With a Blown Mind

5 star:		(29)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(9)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

I remember the first time I popped the album into my CD player...it started up "Dear God...the paitents best intentions have sadly faltered. Despite the patients newly installed varnish brain, and being force fed gallons of viscus demented liquor, he is determined to obtain the new chrome spiders trophy...", well, we know how it sounds...or most of us do, I'd think by now. If you've heard the album. But anyhow, I was just like, "What in the hell?", and then it led into the song. BRILLIANT! The horns boomed in and the turntables were magnifcent in the scratching techniques...Coming from a fellow DJ, atleast. Then we go to "Kool Roc Bass". A seemless lead-in from "Warming Up the Brain Farm". Better that the previous track, in its respect. The 3rd track, "Kasrov's Revenge" was something of a treat, also. Almost like a good old rock song w/ some techno mixed in there. I loved the next 3 songs (I'd explain them, but I'm eager to talk about these next two songs...) Then we hit "Battleflag" (Yeah, I have to mention the one that got them fame in the states. The echo on the word 'Karma' is worth hearing the song everytime. Furthermore the Wrekked Train's screwed up lyrics. Lyrically they're upon the level of Beck...And suddenly we hit my favorite song on the album, if not one of my favorite songs ever...."Lazer Sheep Dip Funk". The name alone implies that it was going to be a ride, but then when the funk bassline gets going, as well as the guitar, you say to yourself "I like this! its, like, funk music.". And now the lyrics begin. I think I spent countless hours trying to figure out what he's saying through the voice filter. Its like an instrament w/in itself. I've figured out PARTS of it...Just not alot. "Will I Get Out of Jail" begins the descent into almost ambience music. soulful R&B almost meshed w/ loud drums and bass lines sounded incredible. And then we hit the 'epic' "Vision Incision"...I'll admit I didn't like this one the first time I heard it, but then I finally really listened to it. Now, save Lazer Sheep Dip Funk, its one of my favorites. You have to hear it to know what I mean. And then the last song, "Nitetime Story" was twice as good as the song prior to it. Almost like a synth piano in the backround, and a mournful woman crying out the lyrics. And then the 70 minutes of bliss ended..."I had no idea it would end in such tragedy", indeed...

The reason that a cd like this has garnered so many bad ratings is because people keep trying to classify it. They want to call it dance, dj, hip-hop...whatever. What makes this album great for me is that it defies classification. Its as if rap, trip-hop, house, techno, and disco had an orgy, and the Lo Fidelity All-Stars gave birth to the b-stard child of it all.

Yes, "Battleflag" is an incredible track, and it may be the best track the album has to offer, but its certainly not the only thing worth listening to. For people who just want straight forward dance tracks, there's "Kool Roc Bass", "Blisters On My Brain", and "Lazer Sheep Dip Funk" (which is still one of the funkiest tracks I've ever heard). For people with a desire to bump/grind, there is no better track than "Will I Get Out of Jail", which has a final minute and a half composed of orgasm noises. And "I Used To Fall In Love" is a slow-dance with an open-minded significant other. But with the changes in tone on the cd, it becomes painfully obvious that this doesn't work as just a background cd at a party.

Aside from "Battleflag", my two favorite tracks don't fit the idea of this as a party disc at all. The title track "How To Operate With A Blown Mind" is astounding. Minimal music for the first few minutes, while vocalist The Wrekked Train walks through the streets with a microphone and a bottle, ranting like a quiet maniac. You hear him cough, lose his place, f--- up the meter, and curse randomly, but its natural. It's real freestyling. Likewise the last track, "Nightime Story" has a sound more like Portishead than Chemical Brothers. While the All-Stars could have easily ended their cd with another funky dance hit, they instead sampled Three Degrees and made a somber lament which still plays well with the bass cranked to 11. Its a great end to a great, and vastly underrated cd.

Judging by the one-star reviews (in particular the one from the Toronto head below) merely confirms that, for the most part, when it comes to electronic music, the pop crowd is more interested in safe, club-ready, poppish grooves (for the record: The Chemicals are a shadow of their former selves, and Fatboy is steadily headed into repetition hell.) This is so deeply embedded into the pop psyche that when an artist/collective like the Lo-Fi All-Stars releases an album like this, it gets judged according to a flawed criterion.

Those that say it's not funky enough have barely scratched the surface of this album. The funk is there...under a bed of dj scratching and sampled instrumentation. Aside from the hit "Battleflag", there's the hard drum kicks of "Kasparov's Revenge" and "Blisters on the Brain". And let's not forget the zenith of the album, "Lazer Sheep Dip Funk", which hijacks the theme to "The Way We Were" and seamlessly blends it with the ol' skool stylings of UTFO, resulting in a helluva rump-shaker.

Those that complain about Wrekked Train's incoherence...well, it can be hard to swallow, considering how much Guiness he imbibed while recording it. But many times on the album, especially on the intro, he manages to come up with some of the wittiest word constructs on any album of any genre.

Admittedly, there are some tracks that take a while to find a groove (the title song, for example), but, all in all, this is a griity, fully-realized piece of sonic wizardry.

It's a recipe that really isn't that new--lay down driving breakbeats and loops, add psychedelica production sensibilities, and drop some bizzare hip-hop/poetic-type vocals--and you have "How to Operate..." Like the Chemical Brothers, Fat Boy Slim, and their big beat brethren, the lo-fidelity All Stars have been heavily influenced by hip-hop and electronic music. The beats generally lack the rave/arena style bombast (with the exception of "Laser Sheep Dip"), but they are complex and interesting. However, what sets this album apart are the vocals, which are at times funny, brutal, silly, preachy, over-the-top, and insane. It is clear that the lead vocalist with his snarling, slurring English drawl has done his fair share of intoxicants--so, it is hard to take him completely seriously. But this album is not going to change you life...rather, it's meant to bob that head, perk that hear, and shake that bum.

I loved battleflag the first time i heard it. The rest of the CD isn't as great as Battleflag but still worthy of 5 stars. The only other song i had a problem with was the 9th song (the one about jail). Anyway go buy this CD, let it sink in, write a review on it.

One of the most innovative dance albums of 1998, this album is weird, wacky, and rather brilliant. It's intelligent, and thoroughly classy. There are slamming breakbeat numbers (Warming Up The Brain Farm, Kool Roc Bass, Kasparov's Revenge), moodier numbers such as the super-fuzzed I Used To Fall In Love and the title track, , super-funk (of the Lazer Sheep Dip variety) which all builds up nicely to the epic Vision Incision. Since their insane vocalist the Wrekked Train has now left the group, don't expect to hear another album quite like this one ever, this is definitely worth it. Only one fault I can pick as a long-time Lo-Fis and Skint records fan: possibly the "Many Tentacles Pimping on the Keys" version of Blisters on My Brain might have been a better choice... it's a little funkier. Apart from that it's flawless, and one of the most innovative cross-over albums around. A classic.

I bought this CD the first time I heard Battleflag and it hasn't been out of my CD changer yet. You find new things in each one of their songs every time you listen to them. Every song on here is amazing. The best 3 are Blisters on My Brain, Battleflag and Kool Roc Bass. Buy this CD, you won't regret it.

Don't buy this cd if your expecting it full of songs like battleflag, or rather don't be dissapointed when you discover that the rest of the tracks are something very different indeed. Battleflag was and is a great song the rest of the tracks have a very different feel to them (I don't mean thats bad). The rest of the tracks sound much more disorganized.As opposed to Battleflag were you can seem to tell which dirrection the music is headed. The tracks on this cd sound more like a blender full of noises. Mixed up and spit out in no particular order. The effect is actualy quite mind blowing indeed. The cover of this cd has a very chaotic look. The music inside has a very chaotic feel. Even the slower songs such as "Will I Get Out of Jail" and "Nighttime Story" still present that sense pandamonium. "How to Operate with a Blown Mind" truly is a rollercoaster ride of a cd. It grabs your attention from the start and holds onto it till the final note. I highly recomend it to followers of all styles of music. Whether you like hip-hop, punk, electronica, or whatever you will enjoy "How to Operate with a Blown Mind" (or you'll complete hate it one of the two). For now this is my favorite cd (at least until "Surrender" comes out).

ALLSTARS TAKEN OVERRRRRRRRR

i heard the song battle flag on k rock in nyc. the song blew my mind. i couldn't really catch the name of the band and was desperately in search of info on this single. finally the album was advertised and trust me- "it's awesome"

it's gritty, it's breakbeat, it's dance, it's rock, it's punk, it's electro, it's raw. it's dancable and yet gritty like hard rock or industrial. this is undeniably a classic and the source of many commercial samplings. honestly, i can only listen in small doses though. it's not harmonistic but chaotic so be in the right mood when you play it. regardless, it's one that i continually revisit and love.