Another oddball track from Max Graef. But this time, he’s brought a friend. (audio)
Despite the fact that Max Graef’s material has been rather hit and miss with me as of late, I still have to check in from time to time to see what the man has been up to. And as you might expect from someone like Max Graef, this new project with Julius Conrad entitled Ratgrave is just as quirky, irreverent, and just plain odd as you might expect. As if they were almost going out of their way to defy any and all categories, this track from their collaborative album “Ubi Hubi” is a mash up all of their favorite sounds and influences all jammed together in one beautiful, lo-fi, everything but the kitchen sink mess. Starting off with some the janky guitar work and some almost progressive rock sounding ambient synths, once the song actually kicks in it’s littered with rubbery bass lines, barely functioning drum machines that seem like they’re about to die, and warbly synths that are almost guaranteed to make you sick. What keeps this track from sounding like absolute garbage is that its actually masterfully arranged, with some delightful little twists and turns, on top of never, ever taking itself serious for half a second. It also helps that the track is funky as hell too. While I’m not sure if I could stomach a whole album of this, I am still curious to hear what else is on this crazy-sounding album.
Ratgrave’s debut album is out now on Apron Records!
Raw Select Music 