Dr. Octagon | ||
| Allmusic Biography : After single-handedly redefining "warped" as the mind and mouth behind the Bronx-based Ultramagnetic MCs, Keith Thornton (aka Kool Keith) headed for the outer reaches of the stratosphere with a variety of solo projects, the most popular of which has been the groundbreaking Dr. Octagon. With this moniker, Keith assumed the persona of a psychotic extraterrestrial who works as a gynecologist and surgeon. Keiths lyrical thematics remained as free-flowing here as they ever were with the N.Y.C. crew, connecting complex meters with fierce, layers-deep metaphors and veiled criticisms of those who "water down the sound that comes from the ghetto." Octagons 1996 debut album was a surprise left-field hit, especially when it was given a major-label re-release in 1997, and went on to become one of underground hip-hops most revered and influential albums. Despite Keiths subsequent attempts to kill off the character, Octagons popularity has endured, and following two unofficial sequels, the original albums cast reunited for a true follow-up in 2018. Dr. Octagons debut single "Earth People" was quietly released in late 1995 on the San Francisco-based Bulk Recordings, and the track spread like wildfire through the hip-hop underground, as did the subsequent self-titled full-length released the following year. Featuring internationally renowned DJ Q-Bert (of Invisibl Skratch Piklz) on turntables, as well as the Automator behind the boards, Dr. Octagons left-field fusion of sound collage, fierce turntable work, and bizarre, impressionistic rapping found audiences in the most unlikely of places, from hardcore hip-hop heads to jaded rock critics. Although a somewhat sophomoric preoccupation with body parts and scatology tended to dominate the album, Keiths complex weave of associations and shifting references is quite often amazing in its intricacy. The record found its way to the U.K.-based abstract hip-hop imprint MoWax (for whom DJ Shadow recorded) in mid-1996, and was licensed by the label for European release. MoWax also released a DJ-friendly instrumental version of the album titled, appropriately, The Instrumentalyst. The widespread popularity of the album eventually landed Keith at DreamWorks in 1997. The label gave Dr. Octagon (retitled Dr. Octagonecologyst) its third release mid-year, adding a number of bonus cuts. Unfortunately, in early 1999, Keiths alter ego, Dr. Dooom, "killed off" Dr. Octagon on the opening track of First Come, First Served (released on Thorntons own Funky Ass label). Kool Keith signed to Ruffhouse/MCA for his second album under that alias, 1999s Black Elvis/Lost in Space. Records released as Kool Keith followed in 2000 (Matthew) and 2001 (Spankmaster), while the 2002 collaboration Gene appeared as KHM (Kool Keith plus H-Bomb and Marc Live). His next project was a four-rapper group named Thee Undatakerz with Keith taking on a new persona, Reverend Tom. Kool Keith Presents Thee Undatakerz hit the streets in May 2004. Keeping busy, Keith released Diesel Truckers in August of the same year with old friend/producer KutMasta Kurt. As if 2004 hadnt been filled with enough Kool Keith releases, some truly oddball ones started to appear that year. The Official Space Tape borrowed from previous releases to create the ultimate Keith mixtape; the R&B-leaning; Personal Album was released in a limited edition of 500 and with a high price tag. The Real Talk label issued Dr. Octagon, Pt. 2, an unauthorized release that had little to do with the original and was quickly pulled from the shelves by court order. The next year was much calmer, with the Global Enlightenment, Pt. 1 DVD released at the beginning of the year, followed by Lost Masters, Vol. 2 in the summer. 2006s Nogatco Rd. introduced a new character, Mr. Nogatco ("Octagon" backwards). The UFO-obsessed album was a collaboration with producer Iz-Real. The two-CD Collabs Tape compilation and The Return of Dr. Octagon (which was largely produced without Keiths involvement) followed soon after. In early 2007, Keith was part of an Ultramagnetic MCs reunion that yielded Best Kept Secret. Tashan Dorrsett, another concept-driven release from Keith, was released in 2009 with the remix album The Legend of Tashan Dorrsett following in 2011. His 2012 album, Love and Danger, hinted at retirement with songs like "Goodbye Rap," but he was still in business in 2013, making a guest appearance on the Yeah Yeah Yeahs album Mosquito, surprisingly billed as Dr. Octagon. In 2015 he collaborated with LOrange and received co-billing with the producer on their album Time? Astonishing! He also collaborated with Ray West for an album titled A Couple of Slices, which was released as a standard LP as well as a limited-deluxe edition packaged in a pizza box with a bonus 7" and cassette. A third Tashan Dorrsett album, The Preacher, as well as Feature Magnetic, which featured guest appearances by MF Doom, Godfather Don, Sadat X, and others, arrived in 2016. Keith revived Dr. Octagon two years later with Moosebumps: An Exploration into Modern Day Horripilation. Unlike the previous two interim Octagon releases, this one was a true sequel, reuniting Keith with the Automator and DJ Q-Bert for the first time since the original album. | ||
 | Album: 1 of 4 Title: Dr. Octagonecologyst Released: 1996 Tracks: 19 Duration: 1:08:31 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify TrackSamples Allmusic Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Intro (01:14) 2 3000 (03:17) 3 I Got to Tell You (00:48) 4 Earth People (04:46) 5 No Awareness (04:56) 6 Technical Difficulties (02:55) 7 General Hospital (00:26) 8 Blue Flowers (03:17) 9 A Visit to the Gynecologyst (02:20) 10 Bear Witness (03:00) 11 Dr. Octagon (04:37) 12 Girl Let Me Touch You (03:40) 13 Im Destructive (03:42) 14 Wild and Crazy (04:26) 15 Elective Surgery (00:56) 16 On Production (02:45) 17 Biology 101 (05:01) 18 Earth People (Earth Planet mix) (04:42) 19 Waiting List (DJ Shadow / Automator mix) / Halfsharkalligatorman (11:35) |
| Dr. Octagonecologyst : Allmusic album Review : Its hard to exaggerate the role that Kool Keiths debut solo album as Dr. Octagon played in revitalizing underground hip-hop. It certainly didnt bring the scene back to life single-handedly, but it attracted more attention than any non-mainstream rap album in quite a while, thanks to its inventive production and Keiths bizarre, free-associative rhymes. Dr. Octagon represented the first truly new, genuine alternative to commercial hip-hop since the Native Tongues heyday. It appealed strongly to alternative audiences whod grown up with rap music, but simply hadnt related to it since the rise of gangsta. Moreover, it predated seminal releases by Company Flow, Black Star, and the Jurassic 5, helping those groups get the attention they deserved, and reinvented Keith as a leader of the new subterranean movement. As if that werent enough, the album launched the career of Dan the Automator, one of the new undergrounds brightest producers, and shed some light on the burgeoning turntablist revival via the scratching fireworks of DJ Q-Bert. The Automators futuristic, horror-soundtrack production seemed to bridge the gap between hip-hop and the more electronic-oriented trip-hop (which has since narrowed even more), and its creepily effective support for Keiths crazed alter ego. Dr. Octagon is an incompetent, time-traveling, possibly extraterrestrial surgeon who pretends to be a female gynecologist and molests his patients and nurses. The concept makes for some undeniably juvenile (and, arguably, hilarious) moments, but the real focus is Keiths astounding wordplay; it often seems based on sound alone, not literal meaning, and even his skit dialogue is full of non sequiturs. Keith has since lost his taste for the album, tiring of hearing it compared favorably to his subsequent work, and complaining that the only new audience he gained was white. However, its the best musical backing hes ever had (especially the brilliant singles "Earth People" and "Blue Flowers"), and even if hes since explored some of these themes ad nauseum, Dr. Octagon remains as startling and original as the day it was released. | ||
 | Album: 2 of 4 Title: Instrumentalyst: Octagon Beats Released: 1996-11-11 Tracks: 17 Duration: 1:11:58 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% AlbumCover | 1 3000 (03:31) 2 Moosebumps (01:47) 3 Earth People (04:49) 4 Real Raw (05:34) 5 No Awareness (04:45) 6 Blue Flowers (03:16) 7 Technical Difficulties (02:57) 8 A Visit to the Gynecologyst (03:37) 9 Bear Witness (extended version) (06:45) 10 Dr. Octagon (04:35) 11 Girl Let Me Touch You (04:21) 12 Im Destructive (03:17) 13 Tricknology 101 (04:56) 14 Wild and Crazy (04:31) 15 Blue Flowers Revisited (04:38) 16 Waiting List (05:31) 17 On Production (03:01) |
 | Album: 3 of 4 Title: The Return of Dr. Octagon Released: 2003 Tracks: 15 Duration: 40:06 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Our Operators Are Masturbating (00:24) 2 Trees (02:46) 3 Aliens (02:55) 4 Ants (03:02) 5 Dont Worry MZ Pop Music (00:32) 6 Perfect World (02:38) 7 The Turtle (skit) (01:08) 8 Al Green (02:46) 9 A Gorilla Driving a Pick-Up Truck (03:35) 10 Got Any Kids? (00:24) 11 Doctor Octagon (02:59) 12 Its the Morning (02:49) 13 Jumpstart (03:25) 14 Eat It (05:01) 15 Aliens (Subfocusd) (05:40) |
| The Return of Dr. Octagon : Allmusic album Review : Despite rumors that one of the few MCs to have taken the Hippocratic Oath had met his demise (in the opening track on the 1999 Dr. Dooom -- another Kool Keith creation -- album First Come, First Served), Dr. Octagon was, in fact, alive and though the actual events were unclear (they always are with aliens), while the Doctor was away, his unauthorized clones began moving throughout the galaxy with the purpose of destroying each world in it. (This entire story was revealed in an eight-episode online comic that marked the eight weeks prior to the release of the new album.) The clones were apparently controlled by a giant gorilla with malicious intentions, and it was only a matter of time until his pursuit to obliterate the universe and Dr. Octagon led him to our own planet. Simultaneously, but equally as grave, Earths inhabitants were systematically destroying themselves with bad music. We desperately needed a savior! Luckily, not only was Dr. Octagon ready and willing, but this time -- unlike in Dr. Octagonecologyst, when the MCs concern was more on the "health" of the female body -- The Return of Dr. Octagon finds someone whos matured somewhat, whose focus has broadened, and whos truly worried about the state of humankind, both physically and musically; in short, someone who could truly save the world. What propels Dr. Octagon and his new album to the ranks of superhero isnt just the MCs new topical focus. Its the beats. Dr. Octagonecologyst showcased the sparse, slightly eerie work of Dan the Automator, leading to numerous collaborations and projects for the producer, and though assuredly Mr. Nakamura would have done a fantastic job again, Keith went with the three-man team One Watt Sun, who truly make the album erupt in crackling, electrified explosions of keyboards, processed guitars, horns, and turntables, knocking politely and then shoving its way into pop, dirty blues, rock, and R&B.; There are few samples -- much is produced organically -- and the themes twist through and out of each other like dervishes wildly reaching some kind of esoteric, exalted spiritual plane. Lyrically, the album is as creative and innovative as what you would expect from someone who wrote a song called "Halfsharkalligatorhalfman," and it generally sticks to the motives for Dr. Octagons return as the songs themes. There are aliens, of course, like in "A Gorilla Driving a Pick-Up Truck," where electrified dusty blues licks blow like thunderclouds across the plains and Dr. Octagons low, breathy voice tells the bizarre story of being chased by a huge primate and attempting to ward it off, but there are also as many, if not more, songs about mans own behavior toward himself and his environment. "Using material for Christmas, papers get printed/Trees may get extinct like the elephants," he says in "Trees," and though here listeners may just have to trust his abilities as an oracle, theres something about the way he says it that makes it seem absolutely believable. The Return of Dr. Octagon doesnt always make a lot of sense, but thats the beauty of it. Its a kind of concept album that concentrates more on the actual overall sound than the concepts. Its elements are all on the very edge of control, which is both exhilarating and terrifying at the same time; if it works, it could bring us to where weve never been, protect us from what may be, but if it fails, it could kill us all. And though perhaps we may have to wait for a new album to see if the gorilla wins in the end, for the moment it seems as if were safe. | ||
 | Album: 4 of 4 Title: Moosebumps: An Exploration Into Modern Day Horripilation Released: 2018-04-06 Tracks: 12 Duration: 49:23 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Octagon Octagon (04:02) 2 Polka Dots (04:37) 3 Black Hole Son (02:53) 4 Power of the World (S Curls) (04:31) 5 Operation Zero (04:52) 6 Bear Witness IV (04:30) 7 Area 54 (04:03) 8 Flying Waterbed (03:40) 9 3030 Meets the Doc, Pt. 1 (04:44) 10 Karma Sutra (03:51) 11 Hollywood Tailswinging (03:44) 12 Bonus Track (03:50) |
| Moosebumps: An Exploration Into Modern Day Horripilation : Allmusic album Review : Dr. Octagon has remained the most celebrated, mythical alias of rap innovator Kool Keith, despite his objections to the attention its garnered over his other work, as well as his multiple attempts to kill off the character. Since the release of the projects classic 1996 debut, two illegitimate follow-ups have appeared. 2004s Dr. Octagon, Pt. II was a straight-up bootleg, and 2006s The Return of Dr. Octagon, based on abandoned sessions from a proposed Resurrection of Dr. Octagon, was largely produced without Keiths involvement, and shouldnt be considered canonical. The Dr. Octagon persona surprisingly resurfaced on the Yeah Yeah Yeahs 2013 album Mosquito, and Keith continued performing songs from Dr. Octagonecologyst during his concerts. In 2017, Keith reunited with the Automator and DJ Q-Bert, the co-architects of the original album, for a string of live dates as Dr. Octagon, and the trio released the projects first true sequel in 2018. Moosebumps: An Exploration Into Modern Day Horripilation is partially named after one of the most memorable phrases from the debut, and the album immediately kicks into self-referential gear with "Octagon Octagon," which constantly loops a sample from Octagons first single, "Earth People." Keith unleashes a torrent of everyday items which happen to have become octagon-shaped, serving as a spiritual successor to Ken Nordines "Olive." From there, the album continues in the familiar Octagon style, with Keith delivering rapid-fire rhymes which encompass porno fantasies, sci-fi narratives, and inscrutable non-sequiturs. His lyrics are as bonkers as ever, and he clearly sounds more energized than he has on some of his less-heralded work. As expected from the Automator, the production is impressively dense and cinematic, filled with layers of eerie backing vocals, live drums, guitars, horns, and even tablas (on "Black Hole Son"), as well as loads of bugged-out scratching from Q-Bert. The smooth, lush "Flying Waterbed" is laced with a dazed chorus from Interpols Paul Banks, and the Del-featuring "3030 Meets the Doc, Pt. 1" is a crossover episode between Octagon and Deltron 3030, seamlessly integrating the two story lines. Its hard to recapture the essence of a stone-cold classic, and despite the teams valiant efforts, nothing here sounds quite as inspiring, boldly futuristic, or even as revolting or grotesque as the original. Similar to sequel albums by other hip-hop oddballs such as Quasimoto and the aforementioned Deltron 3030, Moosebumps tries so hard to replicate the debut that it ends up sounding a bit formulaic, even with an expanded budget and a wider sonic scope. Its still an impressive effort, and worth checking out if youre already a fan, but newcomers absolutely need to hear the original first. | ||