Andi Sex Gang, frontman for the Batcave-era band Sex Gang Children and alleged inspiration for the term “goth,” returns with a solo album chock full of oddity.  And The Madman in the Basket is a solo album in a truer sense than most; aside from four tracks, Andi Sex Gang penned all the lyrics, played all the instruments, and is responsible for all the vocals on the record.  The most interesting element of The Madman in the Basket is Sex Gang’s dizzying Situationist wordplay.  Slogans and pop culture ephemera are cut-up and spliced back together with new, subversive meaning.  Like most auteurs, Sex Gang’s voice is distinctive.  His vocals remind me a bit of Rozz Williams, but he has his own oft-kilter charm and a delivery that is sometimes warmly eccentric.

The music on The Madman in the Basket mixes dark cabaret with big splotches of distorted guitar–imagine a more menacing Legendary Pink Dots and you’re halfway there.  In another odd twist of fate, Sex Gang’s collaboration with Lucas Lanthier (of Cinema Strange and The Deadfly Ensemble), “Kriminal Tango,” makes a reappearance here after having already appeared on The Deadfly Ensemble’s An Entire Wardrobe of Doubt and Uncertainty.  Ah well, the song is worthy of a wider reception.  Much like The Madman in the Basket, really.  To be honest, I wasn’t sure what to make of this album after the first few listens, but my appreciation of it continues to grow.  Oh, how it grows.

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