Lysine

Let's hear it for educational synthpop!

This song is just complete giddy fun, packing in funky basslines, beat freakouts, found sounds and female vocals by Becky Jacobs, the sister of Max Tundra (AKA Ben Jacobs). It sort of sounds like a glitchier version of Prince remaking one of They Might Be Giants remakes of a song from an old educational record. It's typical of Jacobs' second album, Mastered by Guy At The Exchange, which is in itself atypical in almost every way. Carefree, playful, quirky, smart, and above all fun. Oh, and the album is named for its mastering engineer, a role that doesn't usually get much time in the spotlight. I can't think of another example of such a prominent shout-out off the top of my head...

MBGATE was originally released in the United States by Tigerbeat6, the notoriously weird and inscrutable label run by Miguel Depedro (AKA Kid606). Though Tundra's musical stylings are far less harsh than much of the Tigerbeat6 output, his spastic genre-hopping and restless pursuit of oddball ideas fit right in with labelmates like Cex, Numbers, and Blectum from Blechdom.