Pilesar - Umbrella (Live)

Hear The Track Here

I am not sure which particular God of fate I have pissed off this month but come on!! Pilesar AND Richard Dunlap back-to-back?? What is this, some kind of endurance test? For those of an audially challenged nature presumably. I mean no one would be crazy enough to sit down and listen to two of Soundclick's weirdest whatevers out of choice would they? (ed: what? You mean like you?) So, first one up is the unstoppable force of nature known to all and sundry as Pilesar. Regular readers of these reviews will already be familiar with the exploits of this desperado, I've written about him more than just about any other looney (errrr, I mean artist). Still, as you are about to discover, he does it make it worth your while.

Pilesar, a world where experimental is a state of mind.

Out of the 133 tracks that reside on his page, you will find some of my favourite Pilesar moments; ie the live stuff. When I was a but a callow teenager (Ed: that'd be about 28,000BC then?) I had my mind tampered with in a musical manner by a band called (surprisingly enough) the Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band. In the age of guitar groups like the Beatles and The Stones (yep THAT long ago) they were the only band around that featured a tuba, saxaphone, sousaphone and trumpet although not always played together, or in time. Or tune. Or even on the same planet. They were, however, extremely good at what they did - create idiotically insane tracks that shouldn't have worked but did. That, my friends, is also the story of Pilesar's life; and on this track he even sounds like the BDDB! Forget fidelity of course, this is a live recording; and here's another telling point in Pilesar's favour.

It's easy enough to be experimental when you never leave your hovel, but try doing it live AND satisfying your audience. That's a tough, tough gig. This was recorded in Washington DC sometime or other and sounds suspiciously like it was recorded directly offf the mixing board, so don't expect much in the way of dynamics. It does show what's going on though, and this is a tight little band, everyone is working hard and it shows in the tracks momentum. There again this is a track that starts off sounding like the aforementioned BDDB and ends up sliced up with some of Frank Zappa's Hot Rats! As if that wasn't enough, it also features lyrics like wot I'd like 2 hav wrotten "I kinda sorta forgot my intentions, butcha didn't, so then I said: I mida shoulda broughta umbrella, but I didn't, so now i'm wet." No doubt about it, the man is an esspert mangler.

A slice of Pilesar history. Recommended weirdness.