Laguna Meth: Laguna the Puma
Laguna Meth: Laguna the Puma
Friday, 08, Aug 2008 11:45
Island, out August 11th.
In a nutshell...
Time-travelling psychadelia from a genre-spanning "shepherd"
What's it all about?
This album represents Michael Laguna's first CD offering and he explains that he always felt that writing and producing songs with an energising quality would be his "main contribution to society". He notes that he has spent the last decade or so travelling and "honing his craft" and the Laguna the Puma will be performed live this summer when he gets "a great band" together.
Who's it by
There is very little coverage of Michael Laguna on the internet except his own website, on which he describes himself as a writer and producer of songs "mainly for the kids to hear, but also of course for any older people who still really enjoy need music in their lives". Having grown up in California and spent the last ten or so years travelling, he has released Laguna the Puma into the wild.
As an example...
"Mickey Mouse came into my house, so I asked Mickey to give me a key." - Mickey Maus.
Likelihood of a trip to the Grammys
A trip to the award ceremony looks unlikely for Mr Laguna, but after having received critical acclaim from a number of established sources, who knows?
What the others say
"Songs such as Lucifer O confirm the album's status as a lost classic." - Uncut
"The problem is the rapidly changing genres produce an album uneven in feel - Laguna Meth covers many sounds, but masters none of them." - Clickmusic
So is it any good?
Laguna the Puma is very much an absorbed album, and being described by its author as a "musical vehicle" which he claims to "shepherd" along, it took a great deal of restraint to listen to the album with an open mind.
However, Mr Laguna covers a number of genres, and covers them well in some cases. Psychedelic rock isn't the only thing he turns his hand to, grunge to electronica-esque chillout receive attention over the course of the 12-track offering.
And while they are good in some cases, with sounds ranging from samples to guitar strung melodies, you never really get the sense of the album being entirely genuine. Maybe it's a case of Mr Laguna spreading himself too thinly. Also, no matter how good the music sounds, his lyrics are - for the most part - rubbish.
As I said, Laguna the Puma is a very absorbed album, and I'd say that it's more absorbed by itself than anything else. While some of the songs are great, it seems a little to pretentious to be true, uninhibited psychadelia.
6.5/10
John Brunskill
To download a free Laguna Meth track, click here