J.G. Thirlwell - "The Venture Brothers - The Music Of J.G. Thirlwell" CD

It's kind of refreshing to see an uber-talented composer like Thirlwell getting some major exposure scoring this Adult Swim animated series. What some fans may not know is that he's been active for 30-ish years, recording weird industrial/big-band/soundtracks as Foetus and/or Steroid Maximus. Regardless of his past, this set of tunes from the several seasons of the 'Venture Brothers' series runs the gamut from feisty space-age lounge to tribal jungle swagger to swingin' hard-boiled spy thrillers ('Tuff') to tense classical ('13 BigMon/Boys As Transformers'). Thirlwell's been duly inspired by the music of Carl Stalling (think the original 'Looney Tunes'), as well as some far-out avante garde noise, so expect a lively, upbeat, and intensely visual set of tunes that bumps and grinds like Quentin Tarantino caught in a go-go bar after ingesting far too much peyote. 'Node Wrestling' is packed with gyrating funk -- and is almost humorous, it's so over the top. 'Damion' is a dark little gem worthy of a Tim Burton film. The charmingly-titled 'Assclamp!' is a frenzied bit of drum-and-bass techno with dramatic strings and brass. 'Warped Carousel' is just that - a scary surreal carnival trip. I could go on and on. Suffice to say, this is a wildly-diverse album with more thrills and chills than a rollercoaster. Wow. (Williams Street)

Foetus.org (Thirlwell's official site)