JANUARY 2010 ONLINE EDITORIALS

Canned Kosher Beef – The Sounds of Digestion

album cover

By Molly McCowan

Warning: This album is not for those who don’t embrace all that is strange, surreal, and probably influenced by psychedelic drugs. After all, this Fort Collins duo describes their sound as “three strips of bacon slapping a high-hat drifting through space on an atomic muffin…with green peppers on the side.”
Although this album does get pretty weird (song titles like “Kyle Pooner” and “Sausage Appeal” are just the skin on the pudding) it also has a lot to offer. Just like Captain Beefheart, Ween, and The Residents before them, Canned Kosher Beef delights in making music that’s exceptionally weird and yet listenable, at least to those of us who delight in musical eccentricity.
Most of the songs have a cinematic quality to them – they seem to be narrating something, and if you have the gift of a great imagination (or means of attaining a great imagination) this album will take you places, man. The first song of the album, simply titled “Intro,” reminds me of Vangelis’ work on the Blade Runner soundtrack: It’s like theme music to a sci-fi western where everyone’s doped up on futuristic painkillers. The second song, “Meatwagon,” offers listeners a soothing carousel ride, albeit one complete with snap-crackle-pop guitar and trippy echoing voices.
In all sincerity, I greatly enjoyed Sounds of Digestion. To those of you out there who crane your necks at the sound of institutionally offbeat music, this one’s for you.
www.myspace.com/cannedkosherbeef