Lone Pigeon Concubine Rice Domino Records Getting into this album is like getting into the innermost circle of hell: Painful. A lame joke for a lame album. Gordon Anderson, co-founder of the Scottish group The Beta Band, dropped out early for health reasons. This is a collection of work since the departure. WIth up to three different features per track, it makes for an interesting concept, but you have to be pretty bored to take the time to wait for the decent, more inspired parts. Many of the features are undeveloped, would-be songs that hint at the creative process while failing to deliver a digestible product. Vomit-inducing guitars, voices, and other random instruments make up the bulk of the sounds on this disc. The second part of "Beatmix Chocbar Rap" (after the leprechaun's short story about the ancient flying cow of bubbletoop) is the flashiest feature, consisting of the man's rapping forced rhythms over a refreshing, synthetic beat. More of this would be welcome. There actually are some redeeming points to this disc. "King Creosote's Wineglass Symphony" is a relaxing song marked by high-pitched tones and pulsing strings and the phrase "I will be alright". "Heaven Come Down" is a lovely piano and voice piece. "Waterfall" is a quiet, pretty tune, and "Melonbeard" is an acoustic pop song iced with distorted fuzz and clear, up-front vocals. The discouraging thing about all these tracks is that they are hidden behind layers of other songs on the same tracks. "Lonely Vegabond" has soothing chimes and melody that stops at 1:30, giving way to piano. These are the truly good parts, the reward for your troubles along the way. The album is not so bad on the way out as on the way in. You may wish to search for the mp3s for the songs mentioned in the paragraphs above. Much of the rest may just make you sick. Suggested route to recoery: Heavy rotation of Ace of Base and Slayer.