At the end of the '00s, Thomas Fec created the alter ego Tobacco to release music deemed too eccentric for his primary musical group, Black Moth Super Rainbow. And for anyone familiar with the bent vision of BMSR, this claim has tended to set-up some rather lofty expectations of Fec. On Ultima II Massage, his third LP as Tobacco, Fec has been quoted as saying that he wanted to make more "meditative music." Even at it's most left-field moments — "Streaker," featuring Beck's keyboardist Brian LeBarton as Notrabel and "Pool City, McKnight Road" — Fec delivers on this assertion in an even further left-field manner.
Still employing sinister-sounding analog synths, chopped and screwed growls and a shitload of decay, tracks like "Video Warning Attempts," "Beast Sting" and "Spitlord" ebb and flow over gentle waves of Boards of Canada-esque melodies. After a slew of solo, Black Moth Super Rainbow and side project LPs that were beginning to musically blend together, Ultima II Massage marks a fresh direction for this always-challenging supervillain.
(Ghostly International)Still employing sinister-sounding analog synths, chopped and screwed growls and a shitload of decay, tracks like "Video Warning Attempts," "Beast Sting" and "Spitlord" ebb and flow over gentle waves of Boards of Canada-esque melodies. After a slew of solo, Black Moth Super Rainbow and side project LPs that were beginning to musically blend together, Ultima II Massage marks a fresh direction for this always-challenging supervillain.