There's a crackling effect added to the second track that I guess is supposed to sound like the song is being played on a phonograph. The crackling is so loud and at just the right pitch to feel like pins and needles in my ears. I treat things like this as a bad omen and I'm often right.
This album is part free-form jazz, part big-beat techno, part "Revolution 9" (ugh), and all heavy handed. There are lots of sonic ideas crammed into this album but not all of it is what I'd call music. Every song has some form of haunting nature, like scratchy noises or a howling wind in the background. The jazz tunes are kinda nice. The techno songs offer nothing new. The expressionist tracks... ugh.
Most of the lyrics on this album are out of context clips of people having one-sided conversations. "Achieved in the Valley of Dolls" has some minimilist lyrics. "Vermillion Kisses" is a pretentious spoken word Grimm-style fairy tale sent to a dark synth backing track. "The Sweetest Embrace" sounds like a Nick Cave song, which I guess it could be. The overwrought style of this album is very reminiscient of Murder Ballads.
But unlike Murder Ballads I didn't hate Oedipus Schmoedipus. There was some really good music on here, but it was ruined a bit by digital noise that tried to make it more artistic. 2 stars.
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