#970 Tobacco - Maniac Meat

Is it too late to have Tobacco produce the next Beck record? Beck's two guest tracks on this album are certainly more exciting than anything he's put out on his own lately. It'd be a good fit: as on his albums with Black Moth Superrainbow, Tobacco uses warped, fractured electronic means to achieve perfectly catchy pop ends. At its best, it can be thrillingly toe-tapping and strange.

There're pacing issues that keep it from being great though: some of the songs run about 10 bpm too slow and about a minute too long, overextending their reach. Frankly, the album as a whole could cut at least a few songs and be better for it. But before it goes all Fruit Stripe on you, its a pretty tart little package 3.5/5