Todd Rigione

V612 Project (Underdogma)
by Brian Varney

V612 Project is the type of album that feels and sounds thrown together but makes you think that this isn’t always such a bad thing. Eclectic, experimental, and seemingly cobbled together from a bunch of different things Todd Rigione found laying on the studio floor, V612 Project is something I’d be inclined to describe as “psychedelic” were there not such a strict stylistic association to that word. There are no sitars or backwards guitars or anything of the sort, but the album flows smoothly like the buzz from a third glass of wine, even when the transitions are as jarring as the one between the faint Neil Young wisps of “Cous Dream” and the Physical Graffiti-like majesty of “Creepy.”

Like the visions that crawl through your head after you’ve been stuck in the desert for 10 days without food or water, this is an adventure whose depth and intensity you’ll find difficult to summarize with mere language. A truly narcotic listening experience, though, at 21 tracks and 76 minutes, not one you’re likely to play all at once. I mean, shit, I don’t like every song on here, but I’ll pull this out from time to time, when the sun shines through my window in a certain way and makes the sort of glittery spots on the floor that remind me of “Simple Man.” And even if I only play a track or two at a time, I’ll feel glad it’s around every time I have one of those moments.
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