Largest Bird in the History of the Planet...Ever! [EP]

The second Pigeon Funk album, again a collaboration between Sutekh and Kit Clayton, finds the two merrily trashing all kinds of expectations of what dance music is supposed to be. The Largest Bird in the History of the Planet...Ever! seems almost perfectly timed with the re-release of the Greater Than One catalog; while there's little in the direct sense to connect them in terms of beats, both bands dedicate themselves to the extremes of sample use and collage in the name of demented pop. Arguably other forebears range from Foetus and Yello to even the Avalanches but the great strength of Pigeon Funk is how rapidly they approach a sui generis state, with songs like the opening "Mess Call" suggesting a '40s jazz sass gone through a beyond-postmodern blender, and the "The Blue Bus" with its brilliant Farfisa organ break suggesting a state of mind where everything happens just because the band wants it to rather than having to fit a preconception. As a result the key theme of the album is playfulness, from "Tufa" and its classic electro/funk gone caffeinated kick, to the equally hyperactive "Bacchanal," at once a pure and peppy slice of synth pop and an edited-to-the-millisecond combination of beats and chop-ups for a digital age. The occasional songs like "Alma Hueco," featuring vocals, though in a semi-distanced fashion, further add to the album's delight. ~ Ned Raggett