On Disc
Culture Reject
White Whale
BY Chris Bilton May 07, 2008 16:05
Michael O’Connell’s first release under his Culture Reject moniker blends acoustics, electronics and a myriad of odd instrumental combinations. The former Black Cabbage multi-instrumentalist plays the Caribou card on the self-titled disc, creating the bulk of the album’s wide-ranging sounds on his own (with a little help from folks including Jim Guthrie, Dave Clark and former bandmate/EYE WEEKLY writer Michael Barclay). Though rejected by culture (if we’re to take the name at face value), O’Connell is quite welcome to occupy the territory between folk-experimentalism and trip-hop, a sound that recalls the unbounded anti-tradition of Iceland’s Mugison. While first single “Inside the Cinema” boasts enough hand clapping and horn embellishments to give “Mushaboom” a run for its production values, Culture Reject’s strength comes from its ability to subvert any obvious conventions — even pop excursions such as “Oh Remain” and “Fireflies Are Fading” swirl and flutter with warbly falsetto harmonies and textured electronics that are as elusive as they are intriguing.
625 Church St, 6th Floor, Toronto M4Y 2G1
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