The Electronic Anthology Project – Of Dinosaur Jr (Self-Released)

I figured that I’d give you something to think about before you head out on Record Store Day morning. For those of you that don’t know, The Electronic Anthology Project is Brett Nelson (not Brett Netson ) of Built To Spill. Needless to say, this is a departure. Nelson brought in J Mascis of Dinosaur Jr to record new vocal tracks over his own compositions new waved. As I think most fans of Dinosaur Jr would, I went into my first listen of Of Dinosaur Jr with great trepidation. The eighties Japanese cartoon opening of “Sludgefeast,” did little to assuage my fears. However, “Pond Song,” followed and the interpretation framed Mascis’ voice in a much better way, the song itself is appreciably prettier than the one from Bug. Now warmed up to the concept, “Raisans,” was as video game sounding as the first track but with a much greater degree of success.

The backing track of “The Lung,” reeks of Mark Mothersbaugh (Devo) and that pretty much rules. There really is no way to collapse “The Lung,”. Absolutely digable. Aside from “Sludgefeast”, all of the You’re Living All Over Me songs are extremely enjoyable. “Tarpit,” is right about on par with “The Lung,”. As is “Little Fury Things”, though it its tone is far different. Perhaps the busiest song is the reimagining of Dinosaur’s biggest “hit” song, “Feel The Pain,”. Sparse in most places, things really pick up in the bridge with some nimble keyboard work sweeping behind Mascis. After that, I find myself floored at the quality that this record managed to reach. I really did think it was a horrible idea but sometimes that’s what makes the best collaborations (just don’t tell Lou Reed). Dinosaur fans are bound to be skeptical about this release but the versions of these tracks have their integrity intact and have main man J Mascis’ seal of approval and participation. The RSD slate is pretty week this year but this should not be on your skip list.