Ost & Kjex Cajun Lunch
Obsessed with the cheese on their plates and the cheese on their turntables, Petter Haavik […]
Obsessed with the cheese on their plates and the cheese on their turntables, Petter Haavik and Tore Gjedrem (plus recurrent guest vocalist Tracee Meyn) forego the usual expectations of cool to create joyful music that is both frequently ridiculous and frequently ridiculously good. The oddball Norwegian production duo has claimed that their debut, Some But Not All Cheese Comes From the Moon, was, implausibly, based on a Matthew Herbert-style appropriation of cheese and biscuits (as the band name translates) as its sound source. The fromage fascination continues on their debut for the Hamburg-based Diynamic imprint—”The Yellow Man” appears to consider the place of their favorite food product in a relationship, while the guitar-deploying “Bluecheeseblues” warrants parts one and two. Yet somehow, the occasional Solomun and Jamie Jones collaborators manage to avoid the ghastliness often associated with forced wackiness. Rather, the (really rather fun) mucking about is cut through with loss and loneliness: “I feel I have to tell it’s over,” regrets “Mosambiqeutravelplan”; the cast of “Continental Lover” are all “by themselves,” even the gigolo who spends his summer in Monaco; the finest track, “Bluebird,” ponders simply, “You know those times you feel alone?”; even “Bluecheeseblues” is more somber than silly, with regret flowing through its (blue) veins. Like their French equivalent, Nôze, Ost and Kjex disarm with a manic grin, a stupid lyric, and a ludicrous vocal, but really Cajun Lunch is a fine, fine feast of wonky, off-kilter house that makes you hanker to be invited to their party. Glorious stuff.