dot org – Humans Are Weird

The artist pseudonym of Ian Mckewen, dot org, paired with the album title Humans Are Weird and the simple image of a man overdressed for the beach with a drink in hand sets the stage for a record that could go any direction. Before pressing play, the anticipation of what might lie ahead was exciting. Would this be mind swirlingly weird? An amateur atmospheric undertaking? Unlistenable singer-songwriter missives?

Oddly enough, it’s none of those things it is a record filled with some particularly offbeat proclivities and genre jumping styles. The lead track, “Oh Brother”, is certainly the “Weirdest” of the bunch featuring plenty of quirky keyboards and building grooves but the final track, “Tom Rigby River” is weird in its contrast to that style; as it is a nearly 8-minute acoustic number that unfolds slowly and methodically over its execution. Furthermore, “Whatever Helps You Sleep” is a quiet lullaby that explodes into a fevered cry – quite the contrast to the 17-minute title track that sounds like.. well, a little bit of everything.

And that’s really it, isn’t it? Humans ARE weird. And unpredictable. And varied. And not one single thing. Turns out ole dot org knew all along and laid it all out with this EP.