Do you get easily annoyed by those unbearable self-help tapes you see being advertised at 3 AM on your local TV station? If so, then you just may get a kick out of
Final Relaxation by a "group" that goes by the name of
Golding Institute. A completely spoken word piece, the album can be described as the
Spinal Tap of self-help tapes, as an old man walks the listener through a series of steps that supposedly culminate in "final relaxation" (in other words, death!). Throughout the dialogue, the narrator's over-dramatic speech takes quite a few unpredictable detours into comedy territory (which brings to mind the type of bits that the late/great
Andy Kaufman specialized in). You have to hand it to the folks at Ipecac Records -- they continue to keep their record buyers on their toes, and
Final Relaxation is undoubtedly their most oddball release yet. ~ Greg Prato