Review Summary: Essentially a high-quality dose of pure weird fun.
Oh the things you find on the web. Sit in front of a monitor for long enough, and you will inevitably find the weirdest, most unexpected pieces of data you thought could never be created by anyone. Case in point: my overexposure to the Internet gave me permanently bloodshot eyes and the knowledge of Neil Cicierega. Having started back in the 90's as a creator of what he himself called "Animutations" (imagine a stoner being able to operate Flash and Photoshop), he would later go on to make a popular series of videos known as "Potter Puppet Pals", and in 2014 release two albums under his actual name. But somewhere in between he also started making music under the alias Lemon Demon. This project of his pretty much went under the radar, except for the viral "The Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny" and "BRODYQUEST", but nevertheless there is much more to this guy as a musician than I thought.
Clown Circus, like most of Lemon Demon's albums, contains music made largely with the help of emulated instruments, and while the bass may be too loud and the vocals too lo-fi for some, I'd say the production is decent for the first release, especially an online release, by a semi-profesional musician, in freakin' 2003. In most cases the lead instrument is the synthesizer, naturally, sometimes supported by a garbled electric guitar. The whole emulation deal gives a peculiar vibe to the tracks, like they are from a soundtrack to some old 3D platformer. Vocally, Neil Cicierega's rather deadpan delivery is enhanced with the help of a vast array of effects and filters that are also used to the atmospheric effect.
That atmosphere I'm talking about is quite a deranged one, and while that is something you would expect from an Internet musician, this not the annoying kind of crazy either. The tracks vary greatly in their style: here we have the Latin-influenced piano of "Error", the synth-rockers "Lemon Demon" and "Wrong", the reggae track "Pepper and Salt" and many other variations. Lyrically, there are many standouts as well: while some songs are complete gibberish, some have pretty entertaining lyrics. My personal favourite is "Fire Motif", a song about the many uses of fire as a metaphor that quckly turns into a pyromaniac's fantasy. There is even a song about the aforementioned Animutations called "Hyakugojuuichi 2003", and it is a rap song too, with a very catchy piano hook and a guest verse by an Internet personality Shmorky (that sounds like it was done in one take, but it just adds to the overall felling of a wacky house party the song creates).
All in all, this is definitely my favourite kind of weird. While nowadays a lot of people can and do make music and post it online, Lemon Demon shows us with this single album most if not all of the qualities of a good musician who is not afraid of experimentation and a bit of humour (and by that I mean actual humour and not what most Internet musicians do). Clown Circus may be a little unpolished, but it is a collection of tracks from someone who genuinely enjoys making music, and I say if you've got a catchy enough melody and a strange dream you would like to share, it would be a shame not to try combining the two.
