Artsy filmmaker tries his hand at music

With Crazy Clown Time, eccentric filmmaker David Lynch brings his creepy artistic vision to the music realm. It might not be fair to say that this album is his first foray into music, as he has dabbled in laying down tracks for his film projects (think Twin Peaks). This is his first full length album as frontman.

Knowing about the David Lynch connection might actually bias a listener. While Crazy Clown Time is markedly just as weird as might be expected from the director of Mulholland Drive and Blue Velvet, there are some solid tracks. Indie darling Karen O lends her sexy shriek to album opener “Pinky’s Dream,” and “Good Day Today” sounds like it could have been sampled from a Crystal Castles album.

With atmospheric harmonies, abstract noise and a reliance on reverb, the album seems almost like an art piece that might accompany some of Lynch’s weirder images in a gallery. This is especially apparent in “Noah’s Ark,” “I Know,” and “Strange and Unproductive.” These songs feature loungy, atmospheric harmonies reminiscent of Air that are mangled by whispers, what sounds like a demonic cowboy and of course some sort of robotic alien.

If you’re a fan of Lynch’s films, you’re likely to feel as though a movie is playing before your eyes, especially with bluesy songs such as “Football Game” and “The Night Bell with Lightning.” At his best, the album has stark similarities to Portishead, Crystal Castles and The Greenhornes. At his most abstract, the album drifts into WTF territory.

David Lynch is one strange man. But if you’re feeling like a touch of eccentricity, Crazy Clown Time is definitely worth a listen.