Aleister X - Bangers & Beans

Who is Aleister X?
And perhaps more importantly, who is Mario Dane?

Back in June, Playmaker published an with Aleister X, but I didn't get around to reading it until I had already ordered Bangers & Beans from Cargo Records UK. I'd heard Aleister X on DAMN! The Mixtape: Volume 1 and was impressed enough to be excited for his first release on Skyscraper Music Maker. Had I known that it would only be the first of three 12" EPs that would precede his upcoming album (containing all three EPs and then some), I probably would have waited to start listening to Aleister X. Thankfully, this is not the case. Bangers & Beans, at just over twelve minutes, is one of my favorite records of 2009. I've even had to purchase the digital versions of the songs for when I can't be near my table.

The title track, "Banger & Beans," clocks in at 2:22. The music actually starts a few seconds in, and grows in deep layers very quickly. Starting with a sour vocal and pissed-off simple guitar riff, the song explodes into head-nodding dance beats, synths, and all sorts of layered vocals in different octaves. A break in the middle provides an extremely heavy dance party to conclude the song.

"Tom Tit" appeared previously on DAMN!, but remixed by Andrew W.K. This version is darker, but still features the falsetto middle section followed by a building beat and refrain. The lack of Andrew W.K.'s hysterical party motivation does not make the track suffer, but rather helps maintain the darkness of Aleister X. After "Tom Tit," Side A is over -- and in just over 5 minutes.

Side 1 (not side B) has "Your Darkside," which encourages you to be one with the night. The raging electric guitar solos certainly help, as does the piano break followed by chimes and an incredibly booming beat. The last track, "On Your Todd," is over five minutes. Starting out with "rooty-too-tooty," Aleister digs deep into second-person consciousness to relieve some negative frustrations, such as "You want to text a lover, but you haven't had one since 1994." Is he speaking to himself or to his equally pissed-off, todd-sitting audience? A spoken breakdown exposes Aleister personally, who says "I had nothing to do and I was sitting all around me flat... looking after me disco ball, spinning round - top of the floor down the hall - and it's a hall that goes on about fifteen thousand feet, or fifteen weeks, or fifteen days, it's all the same... full on rage go go go."

As the producer, Andrew W.K. left one of his own stamp of signature weirdness. On Close Calls With Brick Walls, Andrew labelled the records Side, Side B, Side Three, and Last Side. Here, the sides are labelled as Side A and Side 1. Andrew W.K.'s music is often accompanied by the presence of Steev Mike, whose name does not appear on this release by Aleister X. However, the insert does suspiciously segregate "Project manager: Mario Dane for The D. MARIO Company." Where has Mario Dane previously appeared? On Andrew W.K.'s I Get Wet, 55 Cadillac, and Gundam Rock, Mario Dane is listed as a producer, as is Andrew W.K. However, on Close Calls With Brick Walls (another Andrew W.K. release), Steev Mike is listed as the producer and Mario Dane is credited with "Music Direction."

Is Aleister X connected to the Steev Mike conspiracy? Or is the Mario Dane Dilemma a bigger problem? Is Mario Dane the real identity of Steev Mike? Or is Mario Dane another shard of Andrew W.K.? What deeper connections exist between Andrew W.K. and Aleister X? It doesn't matter, at least not yet. What matters is that you look past the absurd, get off your todd and go listen to the bizarre genius that is Aleister X. Head over to Playmaker's interview to get some free downloads, or do yourself one better and buy the EP. You won't regret it. It's a banger.