Member:
Sean
(Profile)
(All Album Reviews by Sean)
Date:
2/16/2010
Format:
CD (Album)
Words fail me as I try to muster up my thoughts about Mike Keneally's newest CD Scambot 1. I wish I could wax as eloquent as the music at hand is. It deserves it, yet I am a bit befuddled in trying to gather my thoughts even two months later. The scope of this CD is staggering. Nevertheless, I shall saunter on and try.
If you are familiar with Mike's work what is presented here will surely feel like a visit from a familiar old friend. Yet one that has grown and matured since your last encounter. Scambot 1 was five years in the making and what we have here is arguably Mike's masterwork. A conceptual album that flows effortlessly from track to track and covers all the terrain you have come to expect and then some. It's as if his past works like Dancing, Wooden Smoke, Nonkertompf, Boil That Dust Speck and more all got tossed in the blender together, mixed with several years of artistic growth. The result is Scambot 1. All of those works were stunning, so to up the ante is saying something. And he does!
A plethora of bases are visited on this hour long journey- Dog/Dancing-esque progressive pop on tracks like "Hallmark", "Saturate" and "Tomorrow". Acoustic-tinged, Wooden Smoke styled pop on "Cold Hands" and "M". Avant meets pop inspired pieces crop up here and there along the way as well, "Cat Bran Sammich" comes to mind. Basically a two part sandwich with a filling of another tune, "You Named Me", an instrumental that oddly reminds me something like Steve Vai at his more adventurous meets a touch of 80s Pink Floyd about a minute and a half in. Yet it is purely Mike in the end, comparisons are a mere passing fancy.
One of my favorite cuts is the orchestral "Chee". I would love to hear a whole CD of this sort of thing sometime from Mike. It reminds me of some of Frank Zappa's best instrumental works and just carries me off to some far away place when I hear it. The last portion of this CD features some of the finest works of this kind Mike has penned yet. In fact, I'd have to say Mike is about the only person that immediately comes to mind that is capable of carrying on creating works with as much substance and depth as Zappa's. I am sure in all his modesty he would disagree, but I stand firm. This writing scratches a similar itch for me that I just don't get elsewhere. Maybe it will for you too.
Scambot 1 is a dense ride showing all the sides of this multi-faceted artist. It's definitely a work to be enjoyed in one sitting and bears many repeated listens before you really grok what is to offer here. Once it sinks in it becomes infectious in the best way. One of the top CDs from 2009, easily.
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