Otto Von Schirach

Maxipad Detention (Ipecac)

A A A Comments By D. Sirianni Thursday, Jul 20 2006

Imagine a human civilization built on a swamp, surrounded by beaches, and populated by everyone from condo-dwelling retirees to crack dealers. That's South Florida, all right, and it's the perfect setting for the break-core/noise-hop that Hialeah native Otto Von Schirach has been producing. After releasing several albums and remixes, Von Schirach has toured with Skinny Puppy, traveled abroad (Europe, Japan), made a mix for Miss Kittin, and collaborated with fellow Miamians Doormouse and Dino Felipe. Somewhere along the way, Schirach caught the ear of Mike Patton, the veteran genre-crossing musician and co-owner of Ipecac Records, which released Maxipad Detention, a follow-up to Schirach's Pukology, a double seven-inch gatefold collection of vomit and shitting sounds, appropriately limited to 666 copies.

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Maxipad Detention creeps in with a foreboding mélange of unknown origins, weaving atmospheric glitches, pops, and swells. After an extremely distorted vocal introduction about prostates, the disc segues into the party classic cut for the zombie set, "Tea Bagging for the Dead," a noisy, hip-hop-laden booty-shake tune, highlighted with barely intelligible chants imploring listeners to shake their asses. Don't think this is at all straightforward or formulaic; within that single track, tempos fluctuate wildly, and noisy distortion is thrown around like a kid with a handful of firecrackers. "Strawberry Phlegm Salad" finds the listener attacked with a drum so fast that the sound begins to resemble a square wave. Throw guttural rumblings (that may or may not be vocals) over the mix and give it a swelling backbeat. The result is a strangely listenable, possibly danceable song. The versatility and malleability of Von Schirach's sound comes out on the Southern swing/crunk meets deconstructed glitch noise of "Trick Snitch (Car Jacking Master)," a track that is as close to a party-banger as the album contains. Otto Von Schirach takes listeners through caverns of IDM, straight noise, breakcore, drum loops, and Dirty South booty jams, crafting a product that is dirty, dangerous, and fun as all hell.

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