MC TRACHIOTOMY

MC Trachiotomy's first album, Robot Alien or Ghost, was such an overwhelming work of genius, just coming anywhere near that level with the follow-up would have to be considered a triumph. Surely, there's no way the brilliance of that first album could be surpassed, right? Wrong. On his new album, w/Love From Tahiti, MC Trachiotomy has blown the lid off of something inconceivably great, knocking the proverbial ball out of the ballpark, into the stratosphere, and over a few dimensions.

While Robot Alien or Ghost was simply beyond words, MC Trachiotomy slows things down just enough on w/Love From Tahiti to allow a base description for what's going on musically. The recipe for most of these songs is: one driving beat, combined with a looped sample of some tasty old R&B/soul, and some random craziness thrown in, to taste. It sounds pretty simple, but that "random craziness" wild card makes it impossible to completely describe what this stuff sounds like. That's the thing that makes w/Love From Tahiti somehow more incredible than the first album--MC Trachiotomy has taken loop based music, typically a very linear approach, and made it more warped and angular than the human mind can comprehend. What's going on here isn't really a straight "point A-to-point B" proposition--and it's those wonderfully strange stuttering detours along the way which make this listening journey something to be cherished. All of this is even more amazing considering the fact that, when you program your CD player to repeat the entire album after the fifteenth and final track (before the bonus tracks kick in), the record becomes one endless loop. Probably the best base description for how this sounds, thanks to the laid-back samples used throughout, would be to say: if humans put Barry White on the turntable when they're feeling in the mood, extraterrestrials rock MC Trachiotomy's w/Love From Tahiti when it's time to get their freak on.

As usual, MC Trachiotomy delivers greatness, song after song. That being said, the middle part of w/Love From Tahiti's order brings his most incredible tunes to date. The two standout tracks, "Long To Hold You" and "Bareboat Blessing," can only be described as beautiful. "Long To Hold You" is especially hypnotic, with MC Trachiotomy's Beefheart-via-garabage disposal vocal delivery morphing into something that sounds like Bob Dylan after being powerbombed on a concrete floor--stunning.

Needless to say, this is something you really have to hear for yourself to understand. Even to say w/Love From Tahiti is the must-hear album of the year seems to sell it short--MC Trachiotomy is on a plateau all his own. If you act fast, the first pressing of this CD has five hidden bonus tracks presenting glimpses of MC Trachiotomy's past and future. For the record, the past was great, the future is bright, and the present is spectacular.

REVIEWS

TRACHIOTOMY, MC W/ Love from Tahiti (Bulb) cd The man they call MC Trachiotomy is a cohort of mad sonic scientist/organist Mr. Quintron from New Orleans. Certainly not to be confused with their ladyfriend and puppet wrangler Miss Pussycat! Such a mysterious, eccentric trio they make. You might've spotted them on Quintron's recent Drum Buddy tour. What is a Drum Buddy? Well, it's another Mr. Quintron invention, an amazing light beam triggered spinning instrument contraption thing that spews crazy drum beats and sounds, and it makes an appearance on this cd too! Anyways, back to the business at hand, "W/ Love From Tahiti" is Trachiotomy on his own, and yes, it was indeed recorded in Tahiti. You might find this cd in the hip hop section of many record shops, but we're not so sure if that's really the right place for him to be. His often incoherent mumbling sort of sounds like a cross between Tom Waits and Bill Cosby. This "rapping" is plopped over a jumble of shuffling beats (many I'm sure are courtesy of the aforementioned DB) and assorted samples. Quite haphazard and homespun, distorted and a bit murky. The sizeable sample of Steve Martin as Navin Johnson in the movie The Jerk on the track called "Valentine" (I think that's the title, but I can't really tell for sure 'cause the liner notes are in messy chicken scratch) perked up my ears, but that might be because it sticks out amid the tracks as a *somewhat* coherent voice. Note: there is a warning in the liner notes that states "this is 'THE' baby makin' music. NNUUUUUTTHIN' BUT SSLLOOOOWW JJJAAAAAAAAMMMMZZZZZ!" Hmmm, dunno 'bout that! But whether or not that's completely true, we do recommend proceeding with caution. Maybe it's just me, but I found this to be some pretty weird, swampy and a bit dirty stuff - especially the track called "Along Th' Coast" that's driven (ha ha! bad pun intended) by a play-by-play pitstop commentary of the changing of a Maserati's tires. Something's might be better experienced live and in the flesh. You might say "Yikes!" or you might say "Yum!" - Aquarius Records

MC Trachiotomy With Love from Tahiti Bulb This counts as a local merit and will be in the new local merit area above folk but below electronicEon Bulb records out of Michigan, this is the MC T we all know and love, so play it loud and proud and astonish your friends. - WTUL Site

"Robot, Alien or Ghost" won MOST BIZARRE RECORD AWARD of 2000 by the URBAN AMBIANCE JOURNAL "Super-distorted, way-hard-to-understand lyrics over unique hip-hop tracks. A sleeper."

MC Trachiotomy--Robot Alien or Ghost CD Rhinestone Records/Anal Log 1999 Some music is so original, creative, and brilliant, you can't believe it's of this Earth. Surely, the beings who created this music are of a more advanced form of intelligence. That definitely seems to be the case with MC Trachiotomy, making the title of his album, "Robot Alien or Ghost," all the more fitting.
MC Trachiotomy's music might be best described as Trout Mask Replica to a danceable beat--yes, it really is amazing enought to warrant this comparison. Beyond the fact that Robot Alien or Ghost is brilliant and far-out, MC Trachiotomy's voice does have that Beefheart soul and grit to it. This lends an amazing effect to the proceedings--adding more soul to the soulful sections and somehow making the humorous moments even funnier.
The tracks and beats which MC Trachiotomy lays his rhymes over are equally as amazing. These backing tracks are wonderfully warped collages of sound. It leaves the guys who put those tracks together coming off as some great no wave version of Public Enemy's famed Bomb Squad crew--another lofty comparison that is, indeed, well deserved.
Trying to pinpoint standout songs would be futile--all of these songs are amazing. Robot Alien or Ghost deserves to be appreciated in its entirety, anyway. It truly is one of the most special albums you're likely to ever hear--from this galaxy or beyond.

- Uncle Dan's House of Smut