Ocky Milk

Picasso, so they say, had to learn to paint like an adult before he could start scrawling like a child. Maybe the same is true for indie veteran Momus, because on his new album Ocky Milk he's gone far beyond the literary singer/songwriter fare of his 90s records (think Tom Lehrer with a laptop). The new record is strange, twilit stuff. Pop songs get fed through Google translation engines then crooned underwater, absurd vaudeville numbers about death accompany a Bonnie Prince Charlie car commercial shot in Japan. The weirdest thing, though, is just how relaxing it ends up feeling. Like having your back scratched as you fall asleep.