Family Average: 3/7

Are you feeling it now Mr. Crabs? Huh? Are ya feeling the Circus? Welcome back buddies it is time for another Family Review. It has been some time since we have tried an album that skews more towards the electronic side of the spectrum. Nevertheless we are here now and ready to get down to business with MMRYDRFT’s album Feeling Circus. Finally we can answer the age old question can you mix emotions with elephants jumping through hoops!

Listen along on Their Bandcamp and read on to find out:

Y’know how there was that rumor about the Lavender Town theme, how it was programmed with a frequency that could actually hurt people? This album feels kinda like that. It got to a point where I had to do something else while I was listening to it, because focusing just on the music was tweaking me out. Almost every song sounded like a stuck record that consisted of the most nonsensical cacophony of noises. “She Spoke” was probably the most prominent in this regard. I mean, I can listen to noise sometimes, you get used to that living with a a big family. But this noise in particular was just too grating and frustrating. I got lost trying to follow it.

I guess it’s like staring at the sun. You shouldn’t look directly at the sun.

3/7

Funny coming right off listening to astroworld, and here I am again at another amusement park themed album. I can get down with that. I need these kinds of warm experiences to get my mind through the bleak winter months. Now let's pop some corn, and sit on a hay bale the circus is about to begin. The sounds on this album for sure feel nice, and each track really takes its time coming into its own which I appreciate. I would say it is almost the opposite of the Tierra Whack album we jammed out to a few weeks ago. For those of you who haven’t read she turned about 15 song ideas into minute long songs. On this album however each track presents a kind of idea at first, and then steadily goes on allowing your brain to savor them sweet sweet sounds, and even with each track clocking in around three minutes I never felt like any of them overstayed their welcome. I think a lot of that can be attributed to the steady tempo this album keeps throughout. It’s never going so fast that it makes you anxious, or so slow that you feel impatient, the driving pace keeps you bobbing your head and moonwalking to the next subway car.

5/7    

I find instrumental electronic albums to be sometimes monotonous, but woah does this album have texture. It’s got enough variation and subtleties woven through that my interest remain piqued. This guy is definitely experimenting, and while the labor is evident it never felt forced. He really did create a “Circus” -- each song is a different act and a different story. It’s as engaging as it is at times strange. Some are more erratic, others more lulled, and while I was consistently pulled in different directions, it felt cohesive and consistent. And despite it being electronic, there is something that feels very organic about it all -- crafted even.  What's most notable perhaps is that I felt my heart rate literally drop as I listened. I was able to zone out and sort of sync up to it all. A very weird experience, honestly, but I enjoyed it.

4/7

This struck me as Techno and yet 80's. There was a lot of the same thing in every song so it never really grabbed my attention.  The fact that there were not many lyrics made it difficult to connect to what it was they were trying to do. Then I heard the song "On the Rise" and I had hope, however the lyrics did not help.  I am sure they have a specific audience, I just am not it. I bet they are probably pretty cool to see live, however on this album it just appeal to me.

2/7

Wow this has to be one of the worst ones yet. "Feel" sounded like a gun range I can only hope they were shooting at this album. "For You" Don't think so this certainly was not for me. "On The Rise" This one sounded like when you fall asleep and the needle continues to run across the album, hissing and skipping as it goes along. "Evelyn" I can only hope this one was written for his cat. It literally sounded like a cat scratching at the back door. Surprisingly the second to last track "Keep_On" was tolerable. However by the time I got to this song I was sufficiently irritated. Had it been the first track it may have set a completely different tone for the album. Then again I doubt it. This album does not speak to me. It would not even serve as background music.

1/7