Fila Brazillia – Dicks

Alas, Fila Brazillia's final album, DICKS, is a grab-bag of ideas, mostly half-baked, but with most showing promise that's never to be fulfilled. The motorcade funk of "Sidearms and Parsnips," for instance, or the joyous glide of "Shellac," or the smooth feel of "Lullaby Berkowitz." The tracks appear and disappear so quickly that it's like a machine gun of fun. What I wouldn't give to hear a full version of "The Cubist News," the dark bird-tweet of "Curveball for the 21st Century," or the sweet folk stylings of "We've Almost Surprised Me." "Ballon," the longest track here, has the sweep and thrill of a 'regular' Fila Brazillia song, while "Heil Mickey" marries a strong beat to sweeping strings and spacy synths. "Nutty Slack" almost hearkens back to the good ol' beatbox days, but with a sensibility only the Fila boys can manage. A fond farewell for the Fila boys.

So damn fresh, so damn funky, so damn trippy! This Fila album grows on me like a sneaking, snaking vine every time I listen to it. Music for Mensa intellects - listen to the finely woven layers of bittersweet sounds!

Tracks of shining colors:

02. Sidearms & Parsnips - I hear the UK!
03. Shellac - Like something out of a 70's kid's show.
04. D'Avros - Sounds like mobster birds.
05. The Great Attractor - Soooomedayyy, we'll be togeeeeeeeeether! Yes we will, yes we will.
06. Kiss My Whippet - A tripping hillbilly?
07. Ballon - I don't think they mean the French word for balloon, it sounds more like thought processes going through a series of flasks in a lab.
08. Lullaby Berkowitz - Perhaps my favorite track, soothing music for busy Jewish lawyers.
09. The Cubist News - Fantastic! Chinese/English folk song hybrid mash-up? Amazing, hard to describe.
10. Goggle Box - Upbeat, squiggly and quirky - nice dance tune.
12. Doggin' - Quite possibly what Scooby Doo would be thinking if he took a trip to space. Laika, anyone?
18. Firball Shindig - Sounds exactly as it looks, cool cats groovin' to an almost gospel sound - that is, before the Mexican-sounding brass kicks in. Weird.

Overall, a fantastic listen. A sin if overlooked by Fila fans.

The album title 'Dicks' refers to the french word for '10': dix. For your information: this is Fila's Brazillia's 10th album in as many years. Dicks is filled with 23 leftovers from the Phoebus Brumal sessions. With all the loose ideas stuffed in this record alone, Fila Brazillia could go on at least another 10 years! Recommended listening.