Andromeda Mega Express Orchestra – “Saturn Hoola Hoop” (stream)

Andromeda Mega Express Orchestra is as much an anomaly as it is an enigma. The 18-piece ensemble, conducted by noted Berlin composer Daniel Glatzel, crept into the underground in May of 2009 with their Danny Elfmann-esque debut Take Off!. While that album was a genre-hopping exploration of film music, jazz and classical, lush with the live-off-the-floor sounds of a complete, authentic orchestra, their new album defies even their own expectations. Bum Bum is practically a deconstruction of everything their previous album was based on, recording most of the instruments separately and reassembling them in the studio along with the odd vocal and referential pop culture sample into forms unrecognizable. The results are more manic yet familiar than ever thought imaginable. Case in point… What exactly is the opening track “Saturn Hoola Hoop?” Is it instrumental hip-hop? Is it plunderphonic bop jazz? Is it a schizophrenic cacophony? It’s up to the listener to delve in and find their place at the eye of the storm.