Released out of the blue, Laminated Cakes sees long time close ones and collaborators Ed Scissor, Jam Baxter and GhostTown on top form.
The Highly Focussed gents offer a visceral pastry selection timed perfectly for those shunning seasonal spirit, Christmas songs and homely cheer. Think of a sloppy melted tin of Celebrations, each nugget individually wrapped in a shiny indecipherable metaphor that somehow still tastes good. GhostTown’s production alternates between gutturally intense and eerily playful. It’s a strong contrast.
To be fair the three have been working on and teasing the existence of the album for over five years. The first cut Pipe Smoke was released via Bandcamp in 2012, followed by First Bite in 2015 alongside some stellar wonky visuals lifted out of a Twinkie factory.
Features come from Chester P and Dirty Dike on Cake Gang only. Intentionally or not, the beat for this one feels like a full on classic Taskforce joint, grand guitars and all. Talk of a full on Baxter/Scissor and Taskforce release still echoes around the squats and street corners but it seems that for the moment, the masses will remain disappointed. Still, we’re expecting big things from the Contact Play lot in 2018.
Otherwise, special mentions have to be included for Baxter’s continuing fascination with the philosophy of mind; this time sampling Alan Watts, and Dike’s casual use of the euphemism ‘yoghurt gun’.
Check Laminated Cakes here.
