The Italian ‘dance- punk’ group known as The Bloody Beetroots, fronted by the Venom Mask sporting Sir Bob Cornelius Rifo (a.k.a Simone Cogo), are most well known for their single Warp, in collaboration with Steve Aoki, a single which amassed international acclaim and currently has over 25 million music video views on YouTube. Sir Bob received the attention initially with the release in 2008 of the EP Cornelius, part of an art project including music, videos and fashion. Rifo also worked with Steve Aoki in 2009 on a hardcore punk project named Rifoki (surprisingly it this project was generally passable). The experimental nature of this group shines through when looking through the tracklist of their latest album Hide, which features a vast and hugely eclectic range of artists including the likes of Paul McCartney, Sam Sparro and even Peter Frampton. The prospects for this album are interesting to say the least.
This full length is not for everyone, there are high points and low points. The concept is admirably experimental, attempting to merge two very different styles of music with general success. The album is definitely not a favourite of mind and I would not go as far as to recommend it, but it is generally fine in my opinion.
Spank opens the album with the sound of bees, which dives straight into the sound of an ‘old skool’ game of the likes of Tetris. The track features Tai and B. More. The drop is big and drives with real energy for an opening track. This has all of the elements of a pure commercial house song, but is made somehow more interesting. Raw actually features Tommy Lee. The Tommy Lee, from Motley Crue. The song features distorted guitars and hard hitting dance music, with Tommy Lee slagging it off over the top, an interesting combination of influences, to be honest. Runaway has the potential to be ultimately very cheesy house but the drop corrects that fact. It isn’t the best EDM song out, but it is largely passable, featuring a large collection of sounds, but has a lack of commitment, essentially, to any one sound. Chronicles Of A Fallen Love is a slower track initially, before leaping into more commercial house. The track features Greta Svabo Bech, who has the perfect voice for commercial house and frankly the better parts of this track are the parts where she is given space. The rest of the track is fairly unimpressive. The Furious opens with a protest over black rights, before entering into another hard hitting drop, which is better than the majority of the previous tracks on the album. This track is pretty much destroyed, however, by the fact that I cannot decide if it is racist or not. Out Of Sight, featuring Paul McCartney and Youth, opens with a riff, flowing into some classic rock, then into an attempt at anthemic, bass-heavy dance music with children singing ‘la la las’ over the top. This is the most interesting track of the album so far. Albion featuring Junior has more of a nod back to older house music and electronic music, with a hugely house-y drop. Reactivated opens like a hardcore trance song with another house orientated drop characterising it. The track is essentially a very good house song. All The Girls opens with a slightly off key beat and has the feeling of a cheerful summer song. Theophilus London has a voice like Frank Ocean and altogether the song comes together like one of the more soulful Odd Future tracks, another interesting track. Please Baby is very much like a Daft Punk track, featuring P-Thugg and computerised voices over heavy, funky bass guitar. Glow In The Dark has the very welcome vocals of Sam Sparro, adding levels to the track. The song is much slower and soulful than others on the album, an interesting track. The Source starts with guitar again, and the hugely electronic drop drives the track, providing a complete wall of bass, demanding much head-nodding. The Beat, featuring Peter Frampton, has to be one of the weirdest collaborations I have ever seen. The song is good, but plays very disappointingly little on the talent Peter Frampton could have provided. Rocksteady opens tensely with a slow, progressive introduction. The first track featuring Gigi Barocco is the heaviest of the album so far and is essentially huge. Volevo Un Gatto Nero feels a bit like a musical turned electronic to be brutally honest, I am less keen on the second collaboration with Gigi Barocco on the album. The final track on this album is A Prayer, and the second collaboration with Penny Rimbaud and includes more spoken word and is slower again, a largely unremarkable end to the album.
Nilla Reviews 