First things first: I am a less-than-enticed Lambchop dabbler. Fans looking for fan reassurance would be advised to consult another review. That said, this EP is something of note for music lovers/dilettantes in general. It begins with a maudlin and contemplative ballad whose chiming, wordless refrain is a mellow treat. The vocal style is an acquired taste by itself, but what turns me off is how the singer's flat tones mix with his moist lipsmacking. Nonetheless, it's a pretty little song and a good start to the EP.
Collaborators Hands Off Cuba, an electronica duo whom I've never heard of up to this point, don't noticeably surface until the second track. And from then on, the feel of the first song (all but the strings and piano) goes more or less out the window. This isn't very Lambchop. It's like somber Lambchop interludes minced into a glitchy mist. When the aptly-titled "Blur" hits the four-minute mark, there's a beautiful, stately progression that then recedes for some warbly BoC-style string processing and wet digital farts for the outro.
Since most of the source material is Lambchop, one begins to wonder just where the sound of Hands Off Cuba begins. The electronica-free "Prepared" is based off of a Hands Off Cuba song, but the recording seems less like a collab and more like a re-appropriation. Actually, when listening to these suites, one could easily forget that it's a collaboration at all and approach it as your typical clicks, cuts, and minor chords IDM excursion. It's lovely and captivating, but I don't see fans of Lambchop's sober, country-tinged chamber pop feeling it. Then again, I don't know why not. After all, it's just an experimental EP, so why not let it work its shifty magic?
As far as I know, this is not a new direction for the group. It feels like a new Lambchop tune and some inspired, whimsical remixes. I'm guessing that the source material for the latter tracks weren't fully-formed songs””perhaps sort of just loose jam sessions. Despite all the confusion, I strongly recommend this to lovers of pastoral yet unbridled IDM, along with any open-eared Lambchoppers who might be out there.
1. Prepared
2. Blur
3. Women
4. Gus
More about: Hands of Cuba
