This is a pretty lovely record, and one of my favourite Mike Patton-related projects (although he only co-wrote two of the songs, so it's probably wrong to categorise it so). Nathaniel Merriweather is the pseudonym that Dan the Automator took on for the two Handsome Boy Modeling School albums: a strange, but occasionally awesome collaboration with Prince Paul (as Chest Rockwell) and more A-list appearances than songs. (A particular highlight was A Day in the Life featuring The Mars Volta and RZA.) Anyway, this record is far greater than either of those two and made it to the dizzy heights of #24 in my top 50 albums of 2000-2009.
Mike Patton's Peeping Tom album came out whilst I was living in Australia, and one of the free music magazines had an interview with him which I remember reading whilst eating breakfast in a hostel in Melbourne. The album sounded pretty interesting (Mike's idea of how radio should sound - no irony in the fact he sings on every song) and I thought I'd try to pick up a copy. I went into a JB Hifi store later that day but decided it was probably too expensive for my student/backpacker ways and put off buying it for a while (the wonders of the exchange rate was that everything seemed really pricey in Australian Dollars. I eventually bought the cd in Leeds). Anyway, whilst browsing the Mike Patton section, I saw the Lovage cd, an album I'd never heard of, but was drawn in by the names on the sleeve - Kid Koala, Damon Albarn and Dan the Automator. They're a mixed bag of musicians, leaving me no idea how the record would sound. Sadly, this cd was too pricey too, so I left with just the intention of checking them out at some point.
So after the trip to Melbourne I had a look on the local network to see if anyone at university was sharing the Lovage album. A guy called Lorne, who I knew well enough to say hello to but not well enough to say much more to, had the mp3s so I downloaded the album (something I never really do) and had a listen. The music was nothing like what I had expected, but all the more awesome for it. The best description I can think of for this record is sexed-up trip-hop; it's both lust-heavy but so chilled and smooth. I have no other records anything like this. Dan handles the music whilst Mike shares vocals with a woman called Jennifer Charles and their chemistry is incredible. The intro makes for a pleasing start to the album and Pit Stop (Take Me Home) is excellent: Jennifer starts off and Mike's vocals appear like a sex-pest hiding around the corner. I love it. There are quite a few skits throughout, but the actual songs are brilliant: Everyone Has a Summer, Book of the Month, Lifeboat (in fact, the whole of side 3), Stoker Ace and the cover of Sex (I'm a) are all great. The latter is worth a mention in particular for Jennifer's raspy vocals, Mike's "I'm a man" and the awesome samples - if you have 6 minutes to spare I thoroughly record giving it a listen, although probably best to do so through headphones.
Shortly after returning to England, I found this mint double promo LP on eBay for £13.50, which is a bargain given that you'd probably be paying nearly that for the cd if you ever stumbled across a copy. I've kept Lorne's mp3s and I've slipped a Lovage song onto most of the mixtapes I've made over the last six years. Another album I fully recommend.
Format: double 12"
Tracks: 16
Cost: £13.50 second hand
Bought: eBay
When: 13/07/06
Colour: Black
Etching: none
mp3s: no
