Review Summary: Wryly and wildly inconsistent.
The name Claude VonStroke (Barclay Crenshaw just doesn’t have the same ring to it) is well-known in the world of American house music; since the early 2000’s, he has built a considerable reputation as the owner of two labels (Mothership and Dirtybird ) and as a stellar live DJ. Following a fairly successful debut album and two very popular mixes for Fabric and Pete Tong’s Essential Mix, VonStroke released
Bird Brain, an album that is both wryly and wildly inconsistent.
For starters,
Bird Brain is overflowing with cheeky ideas, and the music absolutely oozes risible personality. Something as inane as the risqué shouts that pepper ‘The Greasy Beat’ (“Booty reportin’ for duty…Boot-zilla’s here!”) or the childish voices in ‘Big N Round’ (that punctuate the chant of “BOING BOING BOING” by declaring “TITS!”) just slaps a goofy smile on your face. However, some of Claude’s gags go too far. While I suppose that singling out any of them as annoying is an arbitrary exercise, many of these gimmicks are just plain irritating and overwhelm the actual song itself. ‘Beat Taht Bird’’s refrain of “Beat that bird with a bat” is looped, pitch shifted, and mutilated until it resembles a persistent and definitely un-musical burping sound, while the final thirty seconds of ‘Bay Area’ feature a mockery of central California colloquialisms that will literally cause a piece of your soul to die.
On the subject of ‘Bay Area’, another of
Bird Brain’s bizarre inconsistencies is its production. The aforementioned song boasts a piano line and a percussive structure that brings to mind a Brazzers video, and the overall effect is about as artistic as a cheap porno. Easily just as baffling, final track ‘Jaspers Baby Robot’ enters with simple and somber chords, only to absolutely muck it all with dissonant and erratic single synth tones, earning it a personal rechristening as ‘Helen Keller’s Keyboard Jamboree’. In complete contrast, tracks like ‘Aundy’ and ‘Storm on the Lake St. Claire’ feature tasteful melodies and modulating bass lines, the very personification of minimalist house. Standout ‘Vocal Chords’ builds a simple phrase from layers of choral tones, allowing the glowing notes to gather over a popping bass until they suddenly relax into a shimmering chord that resonates throughout the remaining track. Beautiful, and completely out of nowhere.
Overall,
Bird Brain has serious promise; it offers an abundance of personality in a genre where many artists struggle to develop it, and several of its more nuanced tracks are exceptionally realized. However, on future releases VonStroke should temper his tendency toward random humor, lest it overwhelm his musicality and render all of his releases a stylistic crapshoot.
