Even though there are tracks on every album he's released that drive me a bit batty, I still keep coming back to Kid 606. I think it's partially a mix of wondering just what in the heck now and the fact that he's kind of a brash artist who isn't afraid to make fun of anything, including himself. He's a merry prankster, and this newest release is one of the best ways to show his disregard and love of conventions at the same time. On one hand, this release is 7 tracks and just over 60 minutes of absolutely butchered music, replete with shards of sharp noise and crazy gabba rhythms. On the other hand, the genre that he's chosen to rework (for the most part) is the poppiest of pop music.
The Bangles, Missy Elliot, D12, Jay-Z, the Buggles, and A-Ha and Kylie Minogue all receive a thrashing, as well as Bikini Kill, Radiohead, Yello, and several others. As with other Kid 606 releases, there's also enough ear-splitting noise to drill a hole through the head of those hoping for a relatively smooth ride.
The disc opens with "Sometimes I Thank God I Can't Sing Because Than No One Can Blame Me For Anything" and it amounts to about three minutes of filtered non-discernable vocals and varying buzzing noises. Skipping ahead quickly, "MP3 Killed The CD Star" starts the disc ripping in earnest with an odd mixture of sped-up D12 (which makes the vocals of Eminem even more nasal-sounding), some harmonica, and a hopped-up jungle beat. Eventually, some classic rave orchestra stabs come in before slamming into the Buggles song which the title lampoons. Rumbling on for over 11 minutes, it and the awesome "Never Underestimate The Value Of A Holler (Vipee-pee Mix)" are easily the best tracks on the album. The latter slams along for over 14 minutes and starts with a spastic gabba mix of Missy Elliot before rolling through jumping through about 20 different tracks in the last half before closing out with A-Ha gone hardcore.
Much of the other tracks on the disc don't work nearly as well unfortunately. "Rebel Girl" trashes up a track by Bikini Kill by adding some thick ass beats and noise, but not a whole lot else while "Smack My Glitch Up" makes Kylie Minogue listenable, but actually ends up being far too nice to the original track (or maybe he just has a soft spot for short Aussie women). While "This Is Not My Statement" starts out with an absolutely silly and brilliant reworking of Radiohead's "Creep" into a barbershop quartet, the final 9 minutes of the long track are clipped static and fuzz which close out the release.
Like his other questionable copyright material (the recent Missy Elliot 'reworkings' FreakBitchLickFly), this release is put out by Violent Turd Records, which may or may not actually be based in New Zealand. It's yet another small ripple in the oddity of this release. With the advent and huge popularity of bootleg remixes, artists like Osomyso and Freelance Hellraiser have made big names for themselves with clever reworkings and huge word-of-mouth. Because of its timing, The Action Packed Mentalist Brings You The Fucking Jams may seem like the Kid is simply trying to throw his hat in the ring and grab some of the buzz, but he's been doing this for a long time already (as on his excellent cut-up of N.W.A.'s "Straight Outta Compton" on the Attitude remix release). Although this release doesn't always live up to what seems like the best knock-down drag-out combination in a long time, there are definitely some great moments, and as nearly any time pop gets chopped, it makes for at least amusing results.