CULTURE REJECT PLAYS CINECYCLE (129 SPADINA AV) MAY 9.
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.