Pitchfork: Kool Keith Returns as Dr. Octagon

Of Kool Keith's many incarnations (excluding perhaps his righteously insane "Black Elvis" phase), perhaps his most celebrated is the scatologically-obsessed Dr. Octagon. In 1996, with the help of Dan "the Automator" Nakamura, he released Dr. Octagonecologyst-- a visit with whom I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy's mother-- and plucked the same kind of critical acclaim that followed his crew the Ultramagnetic MCs around in the mid-80s and early 90s.

Well, it appears the good doctor is reopening his practice and is getting set to clamp all sorts of cold, metal instruments onto (and into) your most private and spongy parts. On June 27, OCD International (part of the World's Fair label group) will release The Return of Dr. Octagon, the full-fledged follow up to Dr. Octagonecologyst. (A shady 2004 CD, Dr. Octagon Part 2, is alleged to be a bootleg.)

For The Return, Keith enlisted the services of the Berlin-based One Watt Sun production crew and recorded at various locales in Australia, Germany, and...a 12th century turret in Prague. Seriously. (Now might be a good time to mention that Keith once did time at Bellevue psychiatric. Just sayin'.)

DJ Dexter, formerly of the Avalanches, stops by for an Egyptian-tinged guest spot on "Ants" and Philly/NYC white-girl rapper Princess Superstar chimes in on "Eat It", a song we wholeheartedly doubt is about pie.

Girl, let me touch you:
01 Our Operators Are Masturbating
02 Trees
03 Aliens
04 Ants (feat. DJ Dexter)
05 Don't Worry MZ Pop Music
06 Perfect World
07 The Turtle Skit
08 Al Green
09 A Gorilla Driving a Pick-up Truck
10 Got Any Kids?
11 Doctor Octagon
12 It's the Morning
13 Jumpstart
14 Eat It (feat. Princess Superstar)

Kool Keith, never one to rest on his laurels, has been keeping busy with all kinds of other projects. He puts in guest appearances on the debut album from Mike Patton's Peeping Tom project, as well as the new disc from 7L & Esoteric, and will perform three live shows as part of next week's Triptych Festival in Scotland.

And finally, next Tuesday, on April 25, Insomniac Music will release Nogatco Rd. (yes, that's "Dr. Octagon" backwards), by Keith's Mr. Nogatco alter-ego. The album was produced by Iz-Real (who has worked with MF Doom) and features appearances by Sage Francis and Anticon dude Sole. Oh, and it's an enhanced CD including a sci-fi movie and a digital comic book. Nerds rejoice!