Crown Land — Crown Land

Crown Land is the latest recording project from Victoria, B.C.'s Calvin Dick, a.k.a. Neckbeard, a.k.a. Neckbeard and Neckbeard, a.k.a. Calvin Willie.

He refers to this album as "experimental" and that's definitely apt. Although each of its songs has a steady background beat, there's generally a dizzying array of samples and sequences thrown over it, their number growing as tracks progress.

There are essences of Tricky present in both the hip-hop-ish beats and the female vocals on "Rivers And A Canyon." On the whole, Crown Land tends towards nature themes, thanks to some particularly Canadian soundbites. It all gives the project a Boards Of Canada feel.

It's not easy to make this sort of album and have it be enjoyable from start to finish, but Dick does an admirable job. It ends with a hilarious — albeit slightly out of place — recorded telephone call in which a drunk CP Rail worker rebuffs a call to come in to work after spending the day with his friends: "We drank five million thousand gallons of whiskey and now we're fucked."