The latest album from the Pacific Northwest masters of sludge metal The Melvins is umm…not your typical Melvins record, if indeed there is such a thing. Chicken Switch is an album of remixes done by various experimental and avant-garde artists. The catch here is that unlike most conventional remix albums where the remixer is given a song to work with; on Chicken Switch each remixer was given an album's worth of material to construct their track. With such an abundant amount of material to choose from it's almost impossible to dissect what is what on these new creations, but that's half the fun as the music can be approached two ways. While the diehard Melvins fan can try to pick out the bits and pieces of their favorite songs lying within these fractured interpretations, someone who's new to the band may stumble upon it by accident and end up loving these wild sonic experiments just for what they are.
From the insanely jagged and heavy treatments of "Eggnog Trilogy"(Sonic Youth's Lee Ranaldo), "SNOW REM REM IBVZ (courtesy of Japanese noise man Merzbow) and the white noise assault of "4th Floor Hellcopter" ( Kawabata Makoto from Acid Mothers Temple) to the more minimalist, electronic atmospherics displayed on "Emperor Twaddle" (Christoph Heemann), "Prick Concrète / Revolution M (David Scott Stone) and "The Silky Apple Butter of Youth (from Sunroof! aka Matt Bower from Skullflower etc…) it all makes for one hell of an eclectic, and fucked up ride!
Let's be honest, Chicken Switch isn't the type of album designed to bring any new willing converts into the fold. What it will do however is offer you a completely different view into the wild and wacky world that is The Melvins. It's no wonder that Mike Patton's bizarre label Ipecac Recordings were the ones responsible for getting this wonderful mess out to the masses.
Track Listing
1) Washmachine SK8tronics – Eye Yamatsuka
2) Emperor Twaddle Remix – Christoph Heemann
3) She Chokes Her Dying Breath And Does It In My Face – V/VM
4) AAHHH… - John Duncan
5) Linkshander - Matmos
6) Eggnog Trilogy: i) She's Ivanhoe ii) Cancer iii) Inebriated – Lee Ranaldo
7) SNOW REM REM IBVZ - Merzbow
8) Prick Concrète / Revolution M – David Scott Stone
9) Queen (Electroclash Remix) - Panacea
10) The Silky Apple Butter of Youth – Sunroof!
11) 4th Floor Hellcopter – Kawabata Makoto
12) disp_tx_skel_mach_murx - Farmersmanual
13) Overgoat – Void Manes
14) ) Over From Under the Dog Girl & Boy Treatment - RLW
15) Hard Revenge Milly Bloody Battle VS. The Melvins Ozmatized Gore Police - $peedranch
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