Jagjaguar, 2007
Acquired: Love Garden Blowout Location, New, 2009
Price: $1 (originally $12)
I remember this being in KJHK spotlight rotation in Spring of 2007, and I remember it being the first experimental-ish record to be spotlighted since the bad old days when it was thought to be a good thing by forcing Djs to play 6 minutes of noise during their sets (fuck that noise). But this record is different. It's all over the place. The sticker on the front of the LP doesn't do the band any favors and effectively takes the wind out of their sails. It doesn't say why the record is great, it just rattles off a list of bands they're ripping off: Can, Faust, Arthur Russell, Terry Riley, Giorgio Moroder, Sparks, Dead C, and Big Thunder Mountain. Then they have the audacity to say “Alex Delivery does not sound like anything you've heard before.” Is that a joke? It sounds like ALL THESE THINGS, but mashed up. And it's pretty good! It wanders between proggy instrumental builds and electro-pop. Vocals come and go and whenever they show up they're always a welcome refrain from the occasional tedium of the longer tracks. It's ambitious, but it feels like they've still got some work to do. Blending pop with experimental-esque soundscapes is a fine idea, and hopefully they'll be able to work it all out by their next album.
We have a play copy of this at my work, but I've never listened to it. Although, every time I see it, I think "I wonder what that sounds like..."
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