April 9, 2012 • Ribbon Music
I owe a lot to Black Dice. Their debut Beaches and Canyons was the album solely responsible for getting me into more unusual music, especially noise—you could say it fundamentally changed the way I listened to music after I heard it. This makes it all the more heartbreaking when I consider how they've gotten steadily worse ever since, and I haven't really enjoyed anything else they've put out, aside from the just-okay Creature Comforts. Mr. Impossible, being their sixth album, unfortunately fits their downward trend all too well.
I think the biggest problem with this album is simply that they are trying to do too many things at once and are mediocre at all of them, instead of focusing on one thing and perfecting it. Clearly, they are aiming for some sort of heavily rhythmic loop-based sound—I guess they've always done the looping samples thing, but here it's more obnoxious than anything. None of the samples seem to fit together and there is always way too much going on at once; it's almost always barraging the listener with something new, as if to scream "Listen to me!!" nonstop. And the samples themselves are a mixed bag; some sound okay, but a lot are grating, especially when looped as they are—the processed vocal samples are the worst offenders (just listen to "Brunswick Sludge", man that is bad).
There are instances where Black Dice hit on something that works, and there are a few solid tracks—"Pinball Wizard", "Spy vs. Spy", "Carnitas"—and the occasional throwback to their better days, like the awesome vocals in "The Jacker" (sadly the only good part of that piece). Some of the rhythms and drum lines are pretty solid too, occasionally reminding me of a more electronic version of Raccoo-oo-oon.
But that's about it. Most of the tracks are just annoying. As much as I try to ignore my bias of what Black Dice "should" sound like, I can't enjoy this album. I can't even say it's a grower—after four listens it still sounds like it did on the first: bad.
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