Deerhoof
"Milk Man" CD (5 Rue Christine)
Weirded-out avant-pop - Deerhoof is an acquired musical taste with lots of blips, twitters and odd sound textures that put them right in line with incidental music from cartoons and the sonic portraits of labelmates Xiu Xiu, Young People and Hella. In some ways, it sounds tremendously Japanese - waifish vocals, skewed melodies and offbeat sensibilities which veer from playful to ominous. Frankly, I'm still torn on this album and haven't yet listened to it enough times to determine whether it's utterly brilliant or something that will wind up being passed on to someone else. What I know at this point is that this indie-pop is interesting enough to warrant the time necessary to make that judgment.