Track 5 is entitled "I was Arthur Browns Health & Safety Advisor" The Cardiacs along with Frank Zappa, Gong, and the Residents are listed as influences. The warnings were there: Strap yourself in before playing. Bratislava is one wild ride. Compositions are all over the place. To say the instrumentation is unorthodox would be a gross understatement. If you don't like a passage, wait a few seconds. Dont be fooled by the opening numbers relatively straight yet humorous rock maneuvering... that just lures you in. The next tune sounds like a crossbred Sun city girls/Coyote Poets of the Universe. An Arabian acid trip would best describe track three. This is followed by an indescribable dub influenced piece with accordian and crazy mumbling. The aforementioned "Arthur Brown" is strangely beautiful with acoustic guitar, electronics, and clattering percussion. The next cut sounds like it's lifted from one of Eno's early vocal albums! And thats just the halfway mark! Each successive play reveals clever instrumentation and subtle background vocals. An original and enjoyable release, Bratislava is a gift that keeps on giving-- Warren Barker

Big Block 454; taking their name from a particular type of engines used in cars manufactured in the US in the past, is a UK band who's been at it for some time. According to their MySpace page they have 7 more releases under their belt - but with the tongue-in-cheek manner they present themselves, I can't vouch for the truthfulness of that fact though. Bratislava is their latest album, released in 2008. And the dozen compositions on this CD are something special, that's for sure. Rather unique in approach, these songs are a mix of influences from all manners of music; at the least experimental they sound like a mix of Beatles, Madness and The Cramps; at their most experimental world like krautrock and avant-garde comes easily to mind. These guys play around with sound, song structure and preconceived notions on what music should sound like. There's not much dissonance or disharmony here though, there's a focus on delivering melodies. It's all done in a very whimsical manner though; talking in the back of the song instead of regular vocals, male background choir underscoring said talking. Some regular vocals in songs that perhaps would have been best suited for talking voices, irregular song structures performed as normal tunes and vice versa. Few facets of this release are as expected, and often they're very far from being so. This corny mix of beat, ska and kraut with punk attitudes randomly spiced with psychedelic and spacy effects in a low-fi sounding mix have two dimensions to it that really saves it from being an incomprehensible egoistical highbrow art release though, in case anyone should get this notion. Firstly these tunes are whimsical; these guys don't take themselves too seriously and whatever experiment they venture forth to perform is done with a highly tongue-in-cheek approach. They're having a lark, and want their listeners to do the same. Secondly, the overall sound here is very English. There's something extremely Wodehousean to the moods and atmospheres here without me managing to pinpointing exactly which elements responsible for this. And frankly, I don't think this band wants their music to be analyzed too much either. This is whacky, whimsical and weird shit - but an entertaining one at that, with catchy melodies and more or less subtle details that will bring a smile to your face after a bad day at work or just a rough day in general. If you enjoy experimental progressive rock, and appreciate a band that isn’t highbrow and deadly serious while playing it, this one should be give a shot. My rating: 83/100 Reviewed by Windhawk

When the MM website first started up at the end of the 90’s, a bizarre collective based in Prestwich offered an album of their wild and frankly disturbing leftfield, progressive pop. I seem to remember there being a track about sausages – or something similar... Fast forward to now and this latest long player from Big Block 454 maintains this skewered intelligence and allows the low slung new wave strangeness to shine through on “Motorcycle Au Pair Boy” – can you get the flavour now ? I for one think that the world has only just caught up and as BB454 also now take a more accessible route, this album is immensely relevant and ground breaking, given that many other (obscure and often American) bands have begun to explore similar territories. Whilst made and forged in northern England, this genre twisting affair combines the outlandish ideas of bands like The Cardiacs whilst sounding occasionally rustic, or twangy, or brittle. The superbly titled “I Was Arthur Brown’s Safety Advisor” - a fact that who knows, may well be true - provides unlikely connections between Beck and Joy Division, whilst “Lush Ulan Bator” is somewhere between Chas 'n Dave, Stereolab and Blur. “Three Sevens Clash” is the kind of stuff John Peel would have loved – tumbling drums and sound structures that celebrate the Fall. A late 70’s splash of offset, sharp guitars create a kind of vomitting funk that allows the vocals to creep through on static breaching radio frequencies. “Upside-Down & Dirty” is the essence of Death In Vegas and the early Mute / Factory catalogue. Loads of reference points therefore, but really these are only necessary to (i) explain the competence and quality and (ii) provide the easiest way to describe the sheer diversity of this compelling group. There’s no reason why this band shouldn’t be more widely feted. MMMM ½ By JA

Good things come to those who make a BIG EFFORT. For some of you, this will involve crawling through mud in a debased way, or expending all your energy on hikes up impossible mountains. Why? Because Big Block 454 have secreted, like a mollusc. We have hidden copies of our album in locations throughout the UK for you to find. Or, if not you, then someone else. Once found, the album is yours to cherish. If you do find one, tell us and you will get a LOVELY SURPRISE. Really. “But where on earth are these treasured artefacts hidden," we imagine you asking. We have clues for you. Visit our myspace page and turn your rheumy eyes to the blog section. Oh, come on, we're not doing everything for you. We are Big Block 454. You are a lesser creature.