Introduction
Artist: Pandacetamol
Title / Release Page: Fluffy Inside 3
Release Date: 2014 Nov 27
Genre: Acid Electronica
License: CC BY-SA
Media: MP3
Pricing: Free / Donation
Label: Rec72
Rating: ★★★★★★★★
Pandacetamol’s Fluffy Inside 3 might be one of the most challenging releases I’ve reviewed yet. Why? Well, Pandacetamol has come up with something I don’t think I’ve heard before. Is that a good or a bad thing? You’ll have to read on to find out.
Pandacetamol’s Fluffy Inside 3
it can be a double or triple-edged sword to wander into an unexplored musical dimension. In some cases it can be very rewarding, while in some cases it can be confusing. In the worst cases it can be a disaster. Fortunately, I can say that Pandacetamol is definitely not in one of the worst case scenarios.
However, I seem to be the rewarding and confusing regions of this musical dimension with Fluffy Inside 3. There’s a lot of really great tracks on here, but then there are a few that make me scratch my head, like ‘Very Clever Indeed’. The reason, in this case, has to do with the attempt at impersonating the distorted, odd vocals of Aphex Twin. Honestly, the music is twisted and strange enough on it’s own, there wasn’t a need to add the vocal. In fact, I almost think the vocal works against the track, detracting from it’s overall twisted, dark beats by attempting to be an irreverent meta-statement about the music. And in that case, it goes to far up it’s own arse.
But fortunately, there are plenty of other tracks on this release that don’t have this issue. The first four tracks are the type of twisted, funky, dark mix of sounds that really grabs one’s attention and keeps it. These aren’t tracks you are going to sit around an know where they are going to go. You just can’t guess it because Pandacetamol seems to be taking a level of delight in mis-directing the listener’s focus.
Possibly the best example of this on the release is ‘Puss Demolition Expert’. What starts of sounding like a bit of chip-tune mixed with some glitch over solid beats stows many surprises. While the basic beat and parts of the tune remain the same, the track keeps transforming itself. I actually lost count after about the fourth transformation. It’s a glorious example of how surprising this release can be.
Conclusion
Despite my reservations about the vocals on a couple of tracks, especially ‘Very Clever Indeed’ I cannot deny the truly fascinating work that this release is. It’s not like anything I’ve heard before, and that is saying something. It’s surprising, it’s different and it’s fun. The levels of audio mis-direction that are employed are exceptional and will keep you listening for hours. Check out the example track below, and then grab the whole release from Rec72.
Pandacetamol – Puss Demolition Expert