Malcolm Middleton / River Of Slime - 10x10:08

I can't lie to you and say I'm a fan of Malcolm Middleton's stuff. His work with Arab Strap used to well and truly piss me off as a younger man (I don't feel much better about it now) but you know, I've got a job that requires me to have fair and balanced opinions on any number artists and releases (regardless of time or mood) so I gotta try and be professional about it. Besides, Middleton is probably a total dude anyway. If you're not familiar with his solo work then you should catch up as he's been knocking out releases fairly consistently for the last 10 years or so. His music is very much in the same vein as his work with Arab Strap though his melodic (non-spoken) vocal approach gives his solo work a more traditional folksy songwriters feel. Much like his old partner is crime Aidan Moffat, Middleton's lyrical approach is very telling and candid in it's approach with the overall vibe being one of intimacy and occasional charming humour. Flip it and it's River Of Slime's turn. I don't know anything about this/these folk/s but I'm instantly taken aback by the juxtaposition of this pairing as 'Slime On De-Fence', the single side contribution from River Of Slime is fairly mental. Consisting of bubbling synth drones, cut-up digital samples of all varieties and a plethora of hip-hop influenced beat patterns, this track translates as the kind of skewed turntable mash-up's made famous by the likes of Mixmaster Mike. Loads of strangely entertaining stuff going on here. A odd but glorious pairing.