Manitou is a potpourri of an album: a little drone here, a little rock there, some experimentalism, some dance music. One can’t glean the full picture from a single track; listening to half of the album only yields half of the clues. It’s hard to imagine every track appealing to any single listener, but it’s easy to imagine most single listeners liking something. But Chester Hawkins (Blue Sausage Infant) probably doesn’t care about mass appeal; he’s happy to stretch his boundaries, gleefully leaping from genre to genre like a hyperactive Pied Piper. And like the Pied Piper, he’s brought some followers, including Insect Factory’s Jeff Barsky.
The first and last tracks make a nice outer crust for the sounds they surround. “Afflicted by the Wind Disease” is a hard-strummed piece that sits upon a soft drone; “Abdominal Frost” is a slow-growing electronic piece with industrial overtones, aided by Chris Videll on bells and beer glass. (For these purposes a beer glass is considered an instrument, and is thus tax deductible.) The titles are a tad distracting, giving the impression that someone in the studio needs Rolaids. But there’s no arguing with the effectiveness of the sounds. Album centerpiece “Yggdrasil” (the World Tree of the cover) matches the mood of the previously-mentioned tracks. The spell cast by this piece and “Abdominal Frost” – the album’s longest selections – intimate that the extended form of Hawkins’ earlier works should not be deserted. But some of the shorter pieces work just as well; the club pounder “Hosebag” (something must be done about these titles) contains angry, buzzing synths and an amusing breakdown: “Later this physical attraction leads to the desire to – “. The repeated use of the word “Jesus” is somewhat obvious, but it doesn’t kill the track; after the sample, the song continues stomping like a footballer in army boots.
Unfortunately, the novelty of “How to Achieve Somnambulism” wears off after the first listen; there’s only so many times one wants to hear a 911 call about Bigfoot. A pair of rockier tracks sound out of place as well. While a pleasingly punk ethos is present in the yells of “Sodom is Risen”, few people will like this track and “Abdominal Frost”. The rock on “Catoctin” (featuring Barsky) is slower, better mixed and better developed; again, length is an asset. This is probably the album’s best track, but then again, it’s hard to be conclusive when making cross-genre comparisons. The biggest problem is presented by “Aphid’s Lament”, a noise track that would shine if surrounded by other noise tracks, but that seems stranded stuck between a beat-driven electronic piece and a surf guitar piece.
It’s frustrating to say that an album contains solid music, but fails to gel. There are no bad minutes to be found here, simply misplaced minutes. The label calls Manitou an “hour-long celebration of reckless experimentation”, but to these ears, it sounds random. After 26 years in the business, Blue Sausage Infant has nothing to prove, but something to learn: even if one prefers to be contrary, flow is crucial to one’s overall appreciation of an album. (Richard Allen)
a closer listen 