Anyways - because nothing says 'hip' like a hip-hop group that has one black guy, that is composed entirely of employees of a video game development company, and that's named after a neurotransmitter - I present: Oxytocin.
Awesome poster, isn't it?
Anyways, from the first moments of the pseudo-gothic intro to the first song, "Ludlow", you realize that this isn't going to be a typical hip-hop album. By the time the narrator is finished talking to an alien in the same track, you realize that, hey - this isn't just out of the ordinary, it's really frickin' cool.
Oxytocin - Ludlow
If there's one flaw to this album, it's that it's a little bit self-indulgent and near-schizophrenic... then again, the entire thing is available for free from the band's website, so it's not like they're costing themselves income. Case in point: the album's fifth track, 'Cathode Rays' which is done in 8-bit. WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT? I mean, it's pretty good as an 8-bit track - and it's definitely got some funk to it, but it doesn't, to me, fit the tone of the rest of the album. (note: if you've been reading AAH for a while, this isn't the first 8-bit track we've posted...)
Oxytocin - Cathode Rays
So... yeah. When Oxytocin stick to what they know, though, they do it really, really well - as evidenced by the final track I'm linking to this afternoon, "Do it for me", which spotlights Nay (AKA The Beatles: Rock Band Lead Producer Naoko Takamoto)'s vocals over a bugged-out, syncopated synth-orchestra beat, and which unequivocally kicks the stuffing out of a lot of more commercial work.
Oxytocin - Do It For Me
So there's a nice sampling of the sound that Oxytocin puts out in their self-titled debut album... if you like it, you can, as I've mentioned, get it for free off of their website. Hope you enjoy!
Have a great Thursday evening!
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