Albert: James St Murder Laden Mitten Wonder Review

81/100

The snarling, angry set of wolf teeth that make up the inside picture on the vinyl should serve as a fair warning to anyone thinking about entering the twisted world of James St Murder Laden Mitten Wonder, the debut record from Minneapolis electronic artist Albert. The 10 song LP, put out recently by local label Totally Gross National Product, is a hypnotizing, murky mess of electronic dirges, synth soundscapes and spooky sound collages, the combination of which is a challenging, highly rewarding journey. While the album will be a little outside of the box for many, the layered mess of sounds will hit home for many, creating a confident and enveloping record that succeeds in creating a 4th dimension where the listener can lose themselves.

The A-Side, thee of snarly wolf teeth fame, is a jangled creation of convoluted beats and bait and switch mazes of sound. The songs, which seem to be forming, often disappear, replaced with twitching noises and distorted vocals. Left on in a dark empty house, the A-Side of James St. Murder… would lead most people to throw themselves out of a glass window to escape that torment. The B-Side picture is a much more welcoming set of teeth, possibly a fuzzy cat. These teeth, like the music on the side it covers, are much less imposing than the A-Side and find Albert stringing together ideas more fully and even developing songs and melodies to the point of making songs that could be considered electro-dance, albeit on the weirder end of the spectrum.

The whole record is dense and formidable and could easily be dismissed if not give the proper attention. The five songs on the A-Side are more provocative and discordant. While the B-Side material isn’t the Postal Service by any stretch, songs like “luke dragon’s weed k hi” and “which user is the best user on internet” are impressive in their own right and could attract listeners that would run for the hills listening to the more messy A-Side. The whole record is a boisterous and impressive, taking chances when needed and allowing for some material that is slightly easier to grasp to trickle through on the last half of the LP. The collection as a whole is impressive and is another feather in the cap of the great folks at the TGNP label.

Albert- murder laden indie finger (take a biff off)

Albert- luke dragon’s weed k hi

     -Josh

Buy the record at the TGNP site HERE