Welcome Song
Label: Sickroom
Length: LP
Media: CD
Format: Album
WorkNameSort: Welcome Song
There’s no getting around the fact that Alexis Gideon thinks quite a lot of himself. This solo outing from half of the now-defunct freak-rap duo known as Princess is all about just how nutty and provocative one man and a laptop can be. Indulgent in the best sense of the word, Gideon is completely unrestrained in his pastiche-making, blithely tossing thudding broken beats, falsetto rap-singing, unhinged guitar squall and pure digital freakout into his mix. There’s a general sense of malevolent introversion, but it’s anything but off-putting. By crafting tracks that are occasionally punctuated with ridiculousness (his swaggering ‘rapâ?� style conjures up some sadly hilarious images), the sweaty, aggressive stream-of-dark-consciousness that defines this disc’s divergent soundscape is made both humane and curiously interesting. He may think a lot of himself, but with Welcome Song, Gideon is inviting you to do exactly the same.
This article appears in Jan 3-9, 2007.