siLLy puPPy BUCKETHEAD - PIKE 72 - CLOSED ATTRACTIONS 31st album out of 60 in 2014 and 102nd overall All sounds brought to you by Buckethead and all instrumental This one has only one long track that clocks in at 31:19

“Closed Attractions” (5:50) starts out all chilled. Like, dude! Clean bluesy gueetars, subdued bass and snail’s pace drums. It stays that way. Nice slow and comfy mellow music for its entirety. OK but not outstanding. It does exude a melancholic vibe of closure i must say

“Mecha Slunk Roller Coaster” (8:04) is another slow and sad number. It comprises clean guitar and bass at first and picks up a little over the minute mark. It then becomes a slightly more upbeat clean electric guitar riff and lead with bass and drums. Very calm, placid and a true ticket to Rancho Relaxo. While these types of BH releases are often BO-O-O-ring!!!, this one is nicely constructed and i am finding my happy space within it, like downward dog yoga poses on a nice Maui beach or something. Basically it has enough grit to keep my interest but hardly anything inventive or beyond the PIKE protocol

“Stump Cars” (3:57) is another slow burner meaning that it is a very subdued instrumental ballad that utilizes a slow tempo, clean guitar, bass and drums. The melodic development is like many PIKEs of the same ilk, meaning mellow and somewhat uninteresting as well as been there done that

“Lantern Alley” (3:55) ups the tempo slightly but all the same dynamics are in play. Very mellow. Very subdued. Clean instrumentation. Melodic developments are pretty much the same as previous tracks. In short, another track of the same style. OK but nothing more

“Antler hill” (9:31) and surprise, surprise! This is another subdued slow and nonchalantly lolygagging number. It goes on far too long but is great background music

This is another PIKE that will appeal to those who don’t have the musical mojo to comprehend the more complex aspects of musical development. No offense but i find this a tad cliche and boring but i certainly recognize it as a well developed album for its style. It’s just that i prefer Mr Experimental’s more sophisticated unabashed albums that go where no music has gone before