
Bobuck - Egg Booty [Klanggalerie - 2017]Egg Booty brings together a selection of mainly short ‘n’ quirky tracks from (Charles) Bobuck- aka former Residents songwriter Hardy Fox. The CD features seventeen tracks that originally appeared either as exclusive downloads, via Fox’s website, or email mail-outs throughout 2017. So really this is very much the proverbial mixed bag, coming off a bit like the recently reissued Resident comp Dot.com, which also collected together web-based tracks. The seventeen tracks featured here run between one & half, to just over four minutes- though most tracks hit the two-minute mark. In total, the release takes forty four minutes of music. And really this is the type of release for those already familiar with the Bobuck project- because as a release it does rather lack focus, continuity & overall satisfaction of Bobuck releases like Nineteen-Sixty-Nine, & Bobuck Plays The Residents - though there are some great & worthy moments here.
So a few of my favorite moments come in the form of the opening track “About it”, which is a sinister-to-slyly swinging blend of creepy ‘n’ angular blues guitar wonderings, wailing dramatic female vocals, occasional big beats, oh and seagull field recordings. The brooding & unsettling “Thanksgiving In Bed”- with Fox’s weedy & unsettling voice talking about a bizarre Donald Trump related dream, over a shifting mixing of a dusky taut, pared backbeats, wailing textures, and eerier wondering piano plods which suddenly burst into of angular funk-pop. The swaying & off-center groove of “Old man Lies”- which brings together sampled piano stabs, unwell techno-meets-world music synth horn & beat work, and Fox’s wavering singing voice chanting the track's title over & over. The just over minute & a half unease of "Sneak"-with it’s building synth choppiness & wondering piano strikes, and weedy/ creepy vocals from Fox talking about sneaking around.
Egg Booty was one of the last releases from the Bobuck brand. And really it feels like a bringing together of odds ‘n’ ends- some of it’s good, some is great, while other tracks are just ok…as I said early-on this is more of a release for those already tuned to Mr. Fox’s often unsettling genre-blending, and not a first buy purchase.      Roger Batty
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