Trouble by Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs (Review)

Review of Trouble by T.E.E.D : Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs

With a name like Orlando Higginbottom you’re bound to do great things, there probably wasn’t the need to go with the lengthy name or abbreviated version but everyone loves a dramatically different stage name. As the name Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs suggests though, this harmlessly electronic dance music is strangely prehistoric but futuristic at the same time and at the moment incredibly rare!

Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs Album Review

The album ‘Trouble’ is extremely catchy and infectious. The expertly adapted synths hover above a layer of complex beats, which mix together house and techno with subtle hints to an array of other genres, creating pleasingly new but strange harmonies. The non abrasive use of electronics mixed with subtle romanticism, and deeply well-crafted levels of danceable beats, allows the album to be well adapted to easy bedroom listening or trance-like warehouse raves. T.E.E.D.’s vocals ripple through the beats with romantic and emotional pleas adding a great deal of depth and interest that sometimes DJ’s and like minded artists lack. “I could be your love again, if you just let me in”, “Now you’ve got me messed up” , “Please believe me”, “I’m always searchin’, lookin’ under my bed, even though, even though you said goodbye.” His lyrics often portray tales of heartache, lost love and deeply apologetic notions of the heart. This makes it accessible to a wide range of listeners that dabble in nostalgic and whimsical music but still want to dance the night away. Something reminiscent of the Klaxons but more fitting to the modern music industry, most likely something that has evolved in time from Hot Chip. It’s like a new breed of super human music.

Something that adds even more depth to T.E.E.D.‘s music is the dedication and brilliant use of graphics and art. He successfully marries the arts and music back together again with experimental dress and outlandish head wear. It appears that he puts as much effort into his stage performances as he does his album production, making it a kaleidoscopic experience of an array of colours, props and an experimental platform of different sounds. Confetti cannons, flamboyant costumes, imaginative stage layout, acrobatic dancers  and a truly amazing hallucination-inducing light show teamed with a charismatic stage presence makes for a well rounded experience for the audience.

His artistic interest is one that makes him more appealing than other DJ’s and more accessible. It’s not often you find that DJ’s are posting out competitions to fans to design the artist a head piece for their next gig “ I’ve got to be able to move around and I can’t have my ears covered. It has to be practical and fantastic in equal measure.” The idea itself might seem of no notable substance to some people, probably those that are heavily in the dance/ DJ scene but to those on the outskirts its terribly intriguing.

T.E.E.D. has well earned his right to wear fancy head dresses fit for a futuristic king having already remixed for Lady Gaga, worked with Friendly Fires and has also been picked for Damon Albarn‘s DRC music project in collaboration with Oxfam. His debut album will be another jewel to add to his experience crown.

For a long time I had a feeling that T.E.E.D. reminded me of something, it was more a ‘déjà vu’ feeling and I couldn’t place it but by nearing the end of writing this article I worked out what it was. The album ‘Trouble’ is reminiscent of the after hours area at Glastonbury festival, an amalgamation of; art, dance and electronics, fantasy, imagination and an out of this world experience.

You can also catch T.E.E.D. on tour this autumn, details below:

TOTALLY ENORMOUS EXTINCT DINOSAURS U.K TOUR OCTOBER 2012

Wed 10 Oct        O2 Shepherds Bush Empire, London

Thu 11 Oct          Open, Norwich

Fri 12 Oct            Concorde 2, Brighton

Sat 13 Oct          Pyramids Centre, Portsmouth

Sun 14 Oct          O2 Academy, Bristol

Tue 16 Oct          Stylus, Leeds University, Leeds

Wed 17 Oct         The Empire, Middleborough

Fri 19 Oct             Liquid Room, Edinburgh

Sat 20 Oct           QMU, Glasgow

Sun 21 Oct          O2 Academy, Liverpool

Tue 23 Oct          Rock City, Nottingham

Wed 24 Oct         HMV Institute, Birmingham

Review by Carla Williams