Out of the multitude of new artists I saw at Whartscape in 2010, DJ Dog Dick was certainly one of the more interesting. His music was an unholy hybrid of noise and hip-hop, and his sanity was questionable. It was loud and borderline painful, but it was fascinating to watch, and enjoyable on a level I couldn't quite explain. It was simply music unlike anything I had ever heard before.
Dog Leather, a collaboration between DJ Dog Dick and like-minded artist/DJ/maniac Sewn Leather, follows along the same warped patterns set out by Dog Dick, and the result is an album every bit as defiant as his solo work.
The sound is almost impossible to describe. Abrasive dub, littered with fractured samples and sparse percussion, with frat-boy stoner rap scattered over top of it all. You can throw out any number of buzzwords and try to tie it to any number of artists--I've seen writers compare this to witch house, which is an absolute joke--but none of it comes close to the reality. (If I was trying to spawn the next bullshit NME cover story, I'd go with "post-crunk" or "psychedelic glitch" or "PCP-core.") Just when you find yourself adjusting to the spaced-out dub flow, bam--flute solo. Once they have you relaxed and situated, watch out--walls of shrieking feedback over a jackhammer synth beat. For good measure, random interludes of cell phone recordings are thrown in between tracks. It's all over the place.
The only element really tying the album together is the manic, druggy energy that flows freely throughout. (Not only are there allusions to smoking PCP, but the CD case includes a few blatant drug images--just in case you had any doubt as to their muses.) It doesn't sound like anything, even track to track, which is a unifying factor in itself. But once it's over, once the blur of sounds fades out, you're left undeniably wanting more.
The madness of it all, the dizzying amount of influences that come together to create such an oddly satisfying product, just leaves you feeling empty afterwards. It feels like just that--a product, an end result, a cold, hollow piece of music lacking any real depth or passion. It feels like a tossed-off side-project, which it may very well be.
That's not to say there isn't anything to like on Greezy Man and Stinky Man. Surprisingly, the tracks with the most half-assed rapping turn out to be the most memorable. (Definitely did NOT see that coming.) "Do Gleat Her," "Gunky Monks," and "Goblin Massacre" are undoubtedly party anthems at the innermost depths of the Baltimore underground that I can only hope to glimpse on occasion. The dub styling on "Troll Spray" even makes for downright pleasant music. I'll be giving this plenty of listens in the future, and I certainly don't regret coughing up some money to support a product as unique as this. It just doesn't quite live up to its potential. Here's hoping Dog Leather gives it another try in the future though.
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