Oddball, individualistic musical statements, (for which there is a plentiful and ever fortifying market in the Twenty First century), don't come much more oddball and individualistic than this. Baltimore, based composer and electronic composer Dan Deacon has quite a lot of form in this respect, having been putting out records and staging slightly eccentric events for the best part of twenty years since graduating from the Conservatory of Music at the State University of New York at Purchase.
I won't worry you with the man's whole back story. You have Wikipedia for that. I'll just direct you to his latest album, Mystic Familiar, which is worth bending your ear to. An exuberant and distinctly electronic yet deeply humane album, it might remind you of Arcade Fire and Sufjan Stevens sometimes but those are hardly off putting reference points.
This is a quite exhilarating record all told, ideal for those who feel they might be too old for rollercoasters but wouldn't mind a reminder of the sensations of riding on them. It's breathless and dizzying stuff, versed in Eno and Kraftwerk, but sounding up to speed and date too.
What the record is about I have no idea, but it certainly strains every sinew imaginable to maintain listening interest and did just that for me. Deacon is a highly prolific artist, having scored eight films since his last album proper. Not sure I'll be delving into that for the time being. This is more than enough to float my boat for now.
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