Neil Cicierega is a Youtuber, an excellent musician and a meme god. You might know him for Potter Puppet Pals (his most popular and instantly recognizable work) or the legendary Brodyquest meme. My favorite works from him are his music either under his own name or under the name of Lemon Demon. The work released under his own name consists of extremely bizarre and hilarious mashups, often involving Smash Mouth.
Lemon Demon is a “band” noted for the song “The Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny”. While much of their songs are humorous, lots of them also have a more serious tone. Their newest album “Spirit Phone” is my favorite album of the year and one of my favorite albums as of now. It's also a good starting point, though his other albums aren't as polished (lots of them were recorded in his bedroom). I'd also recommend “Dinosaurchestra” as another good starting point for something that's perhaps a bit more representative of his entire discography. Would recommend listening to that one as loud as you can, it'll sound far better.
Anyway, discuss any of his works here!

I've been debating for so long on if I should make this thread, thank goodness you did it and settled my inner restlessness.
While all of his remixes are incredible (Bustin is unforgettable and Aaron is funky fresh), I hold a very strong connection with his NSFW Lenny Kravitz - Fly Away lyrics video. “Let's go and see the stars or see the stars or even stars. Well, it could just be stars. Let's eat a Milky Way. Yeah! I'm a dragonfly.”
Also, what about that New Kids on the Rock, eh? I've only seen Computer Fighters and Knock Knock Knock, but both were pretty darn good I must say.

Neil once tried mashing All-Star with Don't Dream It's Over by Crowded House, but it was never finished and it never will be. Well, not by him at least. *hints of a malicious twenty minutes in Audacity*
(I honestly can't believe I forgot to mention What's Dylan Grillin'? in my original post.)

Figured I might as well boost up this thread with my personal current ranking of the Lemon Demon albums, least-favourite to favourite (these are main studio albums only, so I've omitted I Am Become Christmas and Nature Tapes for both being EPs, Almanac 2009 for being a compilation LP and Live (Only Not) for being a live album…well, only not):
Hip to the Javabean < Live from the Haunted Candle Shop < Clown Circus < View-Monster < D* Skippy < Dinosaurchestra < Spirit Phone
I was going to write reviews for each of these albums individually as well as giving my explanations as to why they're ranked the way they are (I've written a quasi-review of Hip to the Javabean that's just me venting my yet unrevealed frustration with the album), but that would have made the post hecka long and, considering my experience in the field, boring. Even more boring than Hip to the Javabean, dare I say.
(I might post them later.)

BaconAndEggs1 wrote:

Figured I might as well boost up this thread with my personal current ranking of the Lemon Demon albums, least-favourite to favourite (these are main studio albums only, so I've omitted I Am Become Christmas and Nature Tapes for both being EPs, Almanac 2009 for being a compilation LP and Live (Only Not) for being a live album…well, only not):
Hip to the Javabean < Live from the Haunted Candle Shop < Clown Circus < View-Monster < D* Skippy < Dinosaurchestra < Spirit Phone
I was going to write reviews for each of these albums individually as well as giving my explanations as to why they're ranked the way they are (I've written a quasi-review of Hip to the Javabean that's just me venting my yet unrevealed frustration with the album), but that would have made the post hecka long and, considering my experience in the field, boring. Even more boring than Hip to the Javabean, dare I say.
(I might post them later.)

My one is pretty close to yours, though I'm going to include the EPs and “Mouth” albums
Spirit Phone > Mouth Silence > Dam Skippy > Nature Tapes > Dinosaurchestra > Mouth Sounds > View-Monster > I Am Become Christmas > Hip To The Javabean > Clown Circus > Live From The Haunted Candle Shop
I disliked the first two, the production is too lo-fi and I also didn't think the actual songs were great either. Hip To The Javabean was just okay, a few good songs. Dam Skippy is when everything really comes into play, a much more consistent tracklist while still having some of the best songs in his discography (Sky Is Not Blue, New Way Out, Word Disassociation). The production is also improved, though it's still not something that I'd call “great”.
Dinosaurchestra is probably the most accessible album from him, tons of his internet hits. It's real fun but I do think it could've been cut down a little and there are also some problems I have with the placements on the tracklist. Lots of surprisingly somber moments, the track that hit me the hardest was “Indie Cindy and The Lo-Fi Lullabies”, that song confirmed as my fears as an aspiring musician.
View-Monster contains some of his best songs, though this one seriously needs to be cut down a little, with 23 songs it can easily get a bit boring when listening to in one sitting. However there's lots of great stuff in this one. “Amnesia Was Her Name” starts the album off with a surprisingly somber tone, setting up the rest of the albums constant change of emotions. “Knife Fight” is hilarious, particularly the ending. Overall it makes for a pretty interesting album.
I'm too lazy to finish the description of this, I shall do it later

BaconAndEggs1 wrote:

Neil once tried mashing All-Star with Don't Dream It's Over by Crowded House, but it was never finished and it never will be. Well, not by him at least. *hints of a malicious twenty minutes in Audacity*
(I honestly can't believe I forgot to mention What's Dylan Grillin'? in my original post.)

I want this to be finished, it's so good

I agree with most of your points. I can see where you're coming from with disliking the first two albums, they're very flawed and unpolished. I tend to skip over this fact since they were only made within the first year of Lemon Demon actually being a thing.
I initially thought Clown Circus was the worst Lemon Demon album (to give Hip to the Javabean a chance), but after listening to it again with an open mind, it's not too bad for a debut album in the younger Neil's environment. Though there are very few actual stand-outs (maybe Wrong, Somnolence and Fire Motif for me) and Elsewhere doesn't work as well as it should have, not terrible for a first effort.
When I first downloaded all of the first four LD albums, I didn't actually like them a whole lot except for Live From the Haunted Candle Shop. Though it's finally been ranked down after a while (it was in front of Clown Circus at one point), I still hold a fondness for it. It's definitely not great, there's visible flaws here and there and some tracks that just don't do anything for me, but there are a handful of fun tracks that held some potential.
Controversial opinion: Hip to the Javabean was personally just really boring and at times, annoying. Condensing down my review; the instrumentals lack that required spark, the lyrics ramp up the idea of “Hey, I'm inspired by TMBG, it's fine to do complete nonsense!” to a majorly lazy degree and Sick Puppy was a complete cop-out. Every track after Atomic Copper Claw is forgettable except for Go to Hollywood, I Know Your Name (which was literally just recycled from Deporitaz), Consumer- y'know what and I've Got Some Falling to Do (which was the mini Ultimate Showdown of its day). If it weren't for the actually rather good bonus tracks that include some marvelous instrumentals, I would say this whole album was near worthless.
D* Skippy took a while to grow on me, but it is a big improvement over Hip to the Javabean and it was my favourite of them all at one point. Every track has something to offer to the experience and it carries a tone that's not quite as down-to-earth as Dinosaurchestra but is still somewhat innocent. A lot of fun to be had here. (Most of the bonus tracks aren't that spectacular though.)
Dinosaurchestra isn't “perfect” perfect, but making compromises, I love this album a lot. It has an even mix of tone, an amusing first half and a heartfelt second half (though they're really just both at the same time) and an overarching theme that encompasses both ideals. Very uplifting, even during its morbid finale. The bonus tracks are great as well. (Indie Cindy is a great track.)
View-Monster is just about as brilliant and it does have a ton of great material, though I feel it lacks the sort of warmth that the previous two albums had (though that probably works in its favour). To give an idea of how I would compare these two, I would say that Dinosaurchestra feels mostly acoustic with digital elements to it while View-Monster is the inverse. Bad point of comparison, I know. The transition tracks, which are omitted from the version released for digital format sites such as Bandcamp and iTunes, help to give it a unique feel and most of the bonus tracks make purchasing the album worth it. I prefer its predecessor personally, but this is probably the Lemon Demon album I would imagine a lot of people liking.
Spirit Phone absolutely blew my mind when I first heard it. I hold the belief that if the whole album was literally just only Lifetime Achievement Award, it would still be the greatest Lemon Demon album ever. Every track makes an impression and even the minimally weaker tracks are hard to ignore. While I think Dinosaurchestra is still trying to push its way for top spot, I intend to forever consider this the greatest Lemon Demon album objectively and it's going to take a long while before any switch-overs from favourites begins. Excellent from beginning to end. Bonus tracks are also great, even though some of them were just posted to Neil's Tumblr over time. Angry People, Crisis Actors and You're At The Party (last one especially) would be worthy of the main album if they had a spot.
My only chagrin with Spirit Phone is that One Weird Trick didn't make the final cut.

I really liked Potter Puppet Pals when I was in about sixth grade (around 2008), but stopped keeping up with them several years ago. Are they still making them?

Lightningstep36 wrote:

I really liked Potter Puppet Pals when I was in about sixth grade (around 2008), but stopped keeping up with them several years ago. Are they still making them?

Yeah, though on a more sporadic basis than they used to. I think the latest one was made back in October last year.

BUMP
Live (Only Not) is really good. Though I don't think there's any possibility of me seeing a real live Lemon Demon show (I live outside the US and not at the age or financial situation to just start flying there and back for a single performance, they're not doing them as often or possibly at all anymore and I'm really not too fond of the way Neil kind of screams as he sings which is a bigger problem for the pre-Eighth Wonder tracks to be honest), the performances here are absolutely sublime and on-par with the originals. In fact, I do prefer this album's version of I've Got Some Falling to Do over the original which makes sense when you consider they had seven years to improve upon it.

BUMP
@flyingpiearchive, if you haven't checked it already, Neil's Soundcloud is filled with some great stuff as well. Smooth, Dear Dinosaur and I Can't Enter That (No Sandman) are highly recommended.
EDIT: Also, happy thirtieth birthday, Neil.

Does anyone else love Crisis Actors? It's one of my favorites on Spirit Phone.

YAY THIS THREAD EXISTS
I'm quite fond of Mouth Sounds and Mouth Silence, but Mouth Silence is more of a masterpiece.

galacticchainsaw_ wrote:

YAY THIS THREAD EXISTS
I'm quite fond of Mouth Sounds and Mouth Silence, but Mouth Silence is more of a masterpiece.

I agree, while Mouth Sounds can be funnier at times, Mouth Silence has more creative and complex mashups. Sounds can also test my patience when listening to it in full while I don't really have that problem with Silence.
both are still excellent works from a meme legend

JAXXR_ wrote:

Does anyone else love Crisis Actors? It's one of my favorites on Spirit Phone.

Crisis Actors is brilliant, one of my favourite bonus tracks for sure!

flyingpiearchive wrote:

galacticchainsaw_ wrote:

YAY THIS THREAD EXISTS
I'm quite fond of Mouth Sounds and Mouth Silence, but Mouth Silence is more of a masterpiece.

I agree, while Mouth Sounds can be funnier at times, Mouth Silence has more creative and complex mashups. Sounds can also test my patience when listening to it in full while I don't really have that problem with Silence.
both are still excellent works from a meme legend

I agree. While I enjoy everything from both albums, Mouth Silence feels more developed than its predecessor.

My friend wants to write a musical based on Jaws because he really liked that song. I was in charge of the music at a friend's gathering and most of it was stuff from Neil. Now me and my friend sing Jaws and The Ultimate Showdown daily at school.

flyingpiearchive wrote:

My friend wants to write a musical based on Jaws because he really liked that song. I was in charge of the music at a friend's gathering and most of it was stuff from Neil. Now me and my friend sing Jaws and The Ultimate Showdown daily at school.

Awesome! If only I had people who I could share Neil's stuff with in real life.
I've always imagined creating a big stage show based on the Mouth albums that would basically be choreographed visuals highly soaked in pop culture much like the source material, though that would take way more effort to pull off than I have at hand.

BUMP
I recently made a 2-hour playlist of everything from Mouth Sounds and Mouth Silence mixed with a few of other Neil's other mash-ups and remixes called Mouthology. When I uploaded it to YouTube, the whole thing got muted due to Dear Prudence being identified in Dear Dinosaur and I took it down due to my confusion on fair-use cases. I would still love to share it somehow, even if standing through two hours of this stuff is a rather demanding task.
EDIT: His XOXO talk was also finally uploaded to YouTube. Man, I keep forgetting all of the important events in these posts.

BUMP
Mouth Moods is out!

Monster Breeder's pretty good.