Toolshed – Toolshed (Twisted Nerve)
Chris Long

It must have been a strain for Graham Massey. All those years shaping the destiny of dance with the magnificent 808 State and all the time, in the back of his mind, the sheer madness of Toolshed rumbled away, taking form.

Thankfully, Massey’s torture and six year odyssey to bring Toolshed to record is over, and even more so, it doesn’t start for the rest of us now that he’s managed to get some of it out of his system.

In keeping with the name, Toolshed’s debut long player feels and sounds like a work-in-progress, like an attempt to pin down dreams, ideas, rambling jams and full-on laboratory-style experiments into coherent forms.

The result is utter musical lunacy. Toolshed’s assorted army of musicians, a great spinning conglomerate that ranges from the bass undertow of Homelife’s Paddy Steer to the stunning alien soarings of Seaming To, create a sound that is, in the truest sense of the word, amazing.

Imagine a record filled with interplanetary jazz themes, soundtracks from Eastern European animations, stomping great drum monsters and frantic romps and you’re getting somewhere near to the reality of this album. Let’s face it, any track called Nananananaanaa needs to be heard to be believed.