Who is the Consortium of Genius, also known as the "COG"? Well, on one level, the COG is a very successful New Orleans-based music act. On another, the COG is a combination standard rock band and comedy troupe. On a third, the COG is a science fiction-addicted gaggle of mutant mentists best known for infiltrating alternative music venues as "The Doctor Demento Show" with such danceable and playable hits as "Science Party" and "M.I.L.K." The COG is probably the only music act on the planet with a robot for a drummer. The COG is definitely the only music act where the Svengalis are behind the instruments instead of behind the mixing booth. They're a touch of hard science in a city overrun with the ancient and decayed, the composers of the soundtrack for a world as designed by Syd Mead and Ralph Steadman. They are...

...well, you'll just have to listen and watch for yourself.

Concert videos for, er, ah, interesting bands aren't all that uncommon. After all, GWAR has been doing it for years, and who can forget the Alex Winter-directed Butthole Surfers movie Entering Texas or George Romero's directorial efforts in videos for The Misfits? The Consortium of Genius Home Video, Episode Four collection belongs on the shelf next to Entering Texas and Phallus in Wonderland as an example of strangeness in action.

As a side-review, the COG CD Free Brains & Dead Bodies has been out for nearly two years now, and it gives a good cross-section of the rampant silliness to which the COG subscribes. Tributes to hard science (their most famous title, "Science Party", comes straight from the lab by way of the B-52s), cyberpunk ("Android Woman"), vampires ("Bite Me"), and general egomania ("Bow 2 Me") are an insidious plot to allow the COG the money, power, and support the group needs to initiate its plan for world domination. After all, considering the world leadership we have right now, why not trust a trio of mad scientists to do a better job?

Anyway, Episode Four is the latest live concert tape and general introduction to the habits and social mores of the COG, including live footage of "Bow 2 Me", "Android Woman", the new songs "LoBoToMy", and "Brain Rewrapped 2001", as well as a new music video for the COG's ode to ice cream, "I Scream". Silly, strange, and thoroughly funny, the COG deserves a trophy for its efforts in comedy music, preferably using the scooped-out skull of Weird Al Yankovic.

For those still unsure about following in the new COG World Order, head on over to http://www.consortiumofgenius.com and peruse the strangeness and horror that is the COG. For those ready for Earth's newest masters, head there anyway and buy a copy of Episode Four. The purchase won't guarantee that the COG won't squash your head like an insignificant ant when they finally achieve fame and fortune, but at least it guarantees plenty of eye-melting entertainment while waiting for their ascension.