Buckethead Bermuda Triangle CD

The San Francisco-based Kentucky Fried Chicken bucket and white mask-wearing half man/half chicken space oddity and guitar phenom known as Buckethead (Guns 'n Roses, Praxis, El Stew, Deli Creeps) presents his latest futuristic creation, a collage of hip

Buckethead: Buckethead (guitar); Extrakd (various instruments).
Additional personnel includes: Brain (drums).
Personnel: Buckethead (guitar).
Recording information: Davey Jones Locker.
Unknown Contributor Role: Boba Fett.
No genre remains untouched by Buckethead on his 11th and most challenging outing. A collaboration with Extrakd, this collection vacillates from sheer shards of noise, which come to a frenetic apex in "The Triangle Part 1," to sublime melody, as evidenced in the folky veneer that underpins "Sea of Expanding Shapes." The majority of cuts are steeped in various permutations of electronica which encompass trance, funk, punk, R&B, and pop motifs bolstered by Buckethead's angular harmonics. When plunging into the blues of "Phantom Lights," the unpredictable guitarist toys with modulations and modal runs that slice through the plodding rhythms with savvy sophistication. The most haunting offering is "911," rendered on September 11, 2001. With simple lines and legato phrasing set to motion upon a sleepy foundation of hypnotic drum and bass loops, the composition is simultaneously apocalyptic and soothing. Bermuda Triangle defies categorization, and for Buckethead that's a good thing. ~ Tom Semioli