Album: Dr Octagon <!-- none onestar twostar threestar fourstar fivestar -->

The Return of Dr Octagon, OCD INTERNATIONAL/CASUAL

Having "killed off" his Dr Octagon alias in 1999, the former Ultramagnetic MC Kool Keith pursued various diversions such as the collaborative projects KHM, Thee Undatakerz and Diesel Truckers. Now he revives his most bizarre identity with this typically oddball effort. It is, in effect, a continuation of the whimsical "intergalactic hip-hop" Keith introduced years ago with the UMCs, with surreal sci-fi images like "an elephant with metal wings pulling up at Domino's" and track-length ruminations like "Aliens", where he muses on the possibility of being "abducted by a gas", over a stalking beat laced with horror-movie organ and theremin. The backing tracks are produced by the One Watt Sun trio, who specialise in bouncy electropop-funk grooves, with DJ Dexter adding dizzy scratches to "Ants", Keith's miles-high view of humanity: "Ants work together, jerk together, do concerts together, try and get hurt together". The only real variation comes with "A Gorilla Driving a Pick-Up Truck", for which they've created a steel guitar groove, but the results are never less than entertaining.

DOWNLOAD THIS: 'Aliens', 'Ants', 'Doctor Octagon', 'A Gorilla Driving a Pick-Up Truck'