Dr. Octagon have shared their first song in over 20 years with its original line-up of Dan The Automator, Kool Keith and DJ Qbert. Octagon Octagon utilizes Keith’s timeless, off-kilter cadences to relay everything from Octagon’s shameless branding to his kinkiest shenanigans. It is a return to form for the project, sounding as fresh today as it did back in 1996. Along with the new single, Dr. Octagon have announced their first LP in 22 years, ‘Moosebumps: an exploration into modern day horripilation’. Out April 6th via Dan the Automator’s Bulk Recordings and distributed by Caroline, ‘Moosebumps’ is the much-anticipated true sequel to the debut ‘Dr. Octagonecologyst’ project. Take listen to Octagon Octagon via YouTube below.
Every artist aspires to make timeless records, records that sound fresh and forward-thinking decades after their release. Few, however, outlast their era. With 1996’s ‘Dr. Octagonecologyst,’ Kool Keith, Dan the Automator, and DJ Qbert defied accepted musical and temporal conventions. Setting their sights on the year 3000, they created a character, a sound, and a universe that forever redefined the imaginative limits of rap music.
With ‘Dr. Octagonecologyst,’ Dan the Automator fully realized his sonic vision. On Blue Flowers, for instance, he employed his training on the violin, playing ominous strings over a downtempo beat that ventured into the realm of trip-hop. Elsewhere, the Automator received assistance from Qbert. The four-time DMC World Champions deft, lightning-quick scratching proved the perfect complement to the Automator’s deranged, synth-heavy orchestrations, fracturing time and sending eerie, high-pitched transmissions to unknown galaxies.
Backed by the Automator and Qbert’s futuristic pallette, Keith delivered hilarious, stream-of-consciousness lines that vividly rendered Dr. Octagon’s surgical and sexual exploits. Whether rebuilding rectums, rearranging faces, or curing moosebumps, Keith wholly inhabited the Day-Glo brain and chameleonic skin of the time-traveling extraterrestrial. With the aid of Sir Menelik, the only featured rapper on the album, Keith ensured that generations would never forget Dr. Octagon.
“It was very pure. We did everything on our own and made the record the way we wanted to make it,” the Automator explains. “There was no label telling us what to do.”
Since 1996, Keith, the Automator, and Qbert havent been beholden to any label. Rather, each artist has built on the renown they received from ‘Dr. Octagonecologyst’. Keith has released dozens of successful solo and collaborative records; the Automator has become a widely revered producer, lending his talents to watershed albums like Deltron 3030 and the 2001 Gorillaz debut; and Qbert has continued to elevate the art of DJing, both alone and as part of DJ collective the Invisibl Skratch Piklz.
Largely recorded during marathon, 24-hour sessions at Automator’s studio, ‘Moosebumps’ has a palpable urgency. When Kool Keith reprises his role as the lecherous Dr. Octagon, it sounds as though hes been speeding through the cosmos since 96 and recording every noteworthy enterprise. Whether rapping alongside frequent Automator collaborator Del the Funky Homosapien (3030 Meets the Doc Pt. 1) or alone, Keith expands the Dr. Octagon mythos, utilizing his timeless, off-kilter cadences to relay everything from Octagons shameless branding (Octagon Octagon) to his kinkiest shenanigans. In short, ‘Moosebumps’ finds the same incorrigible Octagon in improved and more outlandish garb.
For their part, the Automator and Qbert have retained the aural ethos of ‘Dr. Octagonecologyst’ while adding new melodies and instrumentation to the Dr. Octagon universe. Area 54, for instance, is a surreal exercise in juxtaposition, as plinking keys temper cavernous drum breaks, haunting choral moans, and searing horns. Elsewhere, Qbert adds flurries of flares and cuts at seemingly inhuman speeds (Bear Witness IV) to grinding guitars (Karma Sutra), lugubrious synths (Black Hole Son), and more. Bolstered by Keith’s rapping, the sounds on Moosebumps will resonate with rap fans for decades to come.
“Dr. Octagon is not a contemporary thing or a retro thing,” the Automator says. “Its always looked to the future.”
The album will be released April 6th digitally and on CD and double LP. All physical versions of the album include an exclusive 12th track Aviator Hype. The official artist store will be carrying a special limited edition version of the double LP, with only 1,000 copies printed worldwide on blood splattered vinyl and alternate gatefold album art.
‘Moosebumps: an exploration into modern day horripilation’ track list
Octagon Octagon
Polka Dots
Black Hole Son
Power Of The World
Operation Zero
Bear Witness IV
Area 54 (IG2)
Flying Waterbed (IG4)
3030 Meets The Doc Pt.1
Karma Sutra
Hollywood Tailswinging
Pre-order ‘Moosebumps: an exploration into modern day horripilation’ here: DrOctagon.lnk.to/Moosebumps
Dr. Octagon will also embark on a 3-date run of shows in California this holiday weekend with dates in LA and SF. Please contact ben@motormouthmedia.com if you are interested in attending.
Tour dates
2/18 – San Francisco – The Fillmore
2/19 – Los Angeles – The Belasco
