Le Millipede: Happy Planet Index

What the world needs is clearly more beardy white men playing children's toys as instruments, right? This should by all rights be really, really horrible, yet somehow it works - adding a sort of film noir jazz to an otherwise cutesy backdrop of tinkles and grunts. Basically a one-man operation led by trombonist Mathias Götz, the album has a sort of rolling, wayward charm, as if he simply got a few drunk mates round to flesh out his tunes at the last moment - an effect that is surprisingly pleasing, creating the sort of relaxed, folksy vibe that is all too often missing from work of this nature. It feels very much like the 'fun' side-project of an otherwise more 'serious' musician, and judging by the company the man keeps - both in terms of quality and quantity - it probably is. That's no bad thing however, as it is the combination of audible playfullness and compositional rigour that makes the album stand out from its peers, a result that is slightly silly and pristinely honed in equal measure.


Pick it up here - http://www.alientransistor.de/