“My Troubled Mind” is the eagerly awaited debut album from the Gaslamp Killer, recently released on the future-planetary label Brainfeeder. A resident DJ at the renowned Low End Theory club night in Los Angeles, the Gaslamp Killer has tight turntable skills and a rowdy stage presence that have made him an animal in demand at dance floors all over the world, and his first production effort shows that this club favorite also knows his knobs in the studio.
Rich in raw drums, eccentric samples and funk-flavored sounds from psych-rock to hip hop, the album stalks the listener across several countries and time periods. However the setting stays the same, and the work vibrates the theme of a SoCal murder novel: a beautiful, sun-drenched world where something very dark and foul is afoot. But this is no chill-out bullshit beach drama; full of sinister sounds and chills down your spine, “My Troubled Mind” is a heart-racing account of the freaks that live inside each of our brains. Bold and to the point with just seven songs in under sixteen minutes, Gaslamp gives us an intense and well-told album, laced gravely with analog synth lines provided by collaborator and fellow LA beat hound Computer Jay.
After one trepidacious footstep, you are immediately put at ease and welcomed into a groovy world of flute samples with “Intro A.” Riding a vintage rock vibe that is set off by lasers from a 70’s video game, you are invited to just take a hit- what harm could it do?
As soon as you inhale however you realize you are in trouble with “Anything Worse.” The pleasant scene has dropped away and with smacking drums and metal-on-metal horror movie appeal and minor chords, this could be the Gaslamp Killer’s theme song. Hollow tones bounce around the track like metal balloons, and in paranoia you begin to wonder if you are trapped inside a tank of nitrous oxide. The tempo quickens and then slows like the heartbeat of a witness to a crime; this track breathes in and out as tripped-out echoing voices urge the killer along.
You are instantly chased around the world with “Turk Mex,” which has the air of a 60’s mystery TV show and whose energy builds and releases in a manner of mayhem, aided by a surf-loving guitar. You clamor through dripping city jungles full of strange noises and sirens until a loud horn blast at the end stops you in your very tracks.
In true freak nature, Gaslamp gives us a second intro track smack in the middle of his album, a condensed jam that resets the Murder Beach theme. Soon after we are back in the slick with the groovy sound of “Baiafro,” which is music that men in smart brown suits and aviator shades walk down streets to. Tribal drums and crazy are woven together with smooth synth lines, and the track is exhaled at the end to a futuristic whale song, adding a spiritual twist to the badass SoCal esthetic.
“Ruskie Electric” pushes this beautiful horizon away into the mud like a menacing monster. Immediately darker and smelling of decay, the ominous sounds slither back in and you catch yourself holding your breath as danger lurks in the shadows under the bright and happy scene. The track even pauses for a brief second like the terrified gulp of a spectator.
Seemingly skipping over the gruesome details of the murder and right into the sew-up at the story’s end, you are lurched into a crooning, piano-stepped world with “Birthday Music.” The last track is calm and soothing after the frantic and frightening album, and you realize that it was never the story of a murder but rather the tale of a killer’s daydream told in old-school samples and post-apocalyptic headbanging beats. He jumps on the bus, crosses over ghetto streets and walks off into the sunset with a knife as the whole album twists down into the quicksand of “My Troubled Mind.”
The Gaslamp Killer is still on the loose and with any luck, will be stalking us again soon with more sounds stained in blood.
"My Troubled Mind" is available on Addictech, iTunes, Bleep, eMusic, Boomkat, Beatport, Amazon & more. Read more »
