- I’ve been getting really into a remix project lately, and will likely come very close to finishing on my days off work this week. Seems like lately I keep having the same crisis: during instrumental breaks do I go batshit crazy with a guitar or with a turntable. Obviously this depends on the song, but it’s still hard to be clairvoyant and know which one will work better. So typically I will just record both and compare and contrast. First World Producer Problems.
- I think I’ve posted Ulises Farinas’ art here before, but it’s well worth a second mention:
The past three decades of wanton patent-granting have created a disastrous environment for innovation. Today it’s practically impossible to build anything without violating a patent of some kind—and risking a multimillion-dollar lawsuit for your troubles. Once intended to protect lone inventors, patents now form a kind of shadow tech industry, in which billions of dollars are spent on amassing huge portfolios. (A recent New York Times article noted that Apple and Google, companies that define themselves by innovation, now invest more in patent acquisition and defense than in research and development.)
Why are companies spending so much money on patents? First, as protection. “Patents are like bullets,” law professor Chien says. “They’re cheap to acquire but can cause a lot of damage.” But if you have your own bullets, would-be assassins are less likely to target you. That’s the thinking behind RPX (Rational Patent Exchange), whose clients include Google, Microsoft, and IBM. RPX amasses patents, it says, to keep them out of the hands of lawsuit-happy competitors, and it vows not to sue anyone over them.
- I’m a massive proponent for not going to war with Iran. The problem with my viewpoint is we kinda already are at war with Iran. It’s just a sophisticated war, a secret war.
The dramatic spike in suspected Iranian cyber attacks this year also has some in the U.S. distinctly worried. While direct denial of service attacks on U.S. banks – widely seen as retaliation for US sanctions and attempts to freeze Iran from the international financial system – were seen relatively simplistic, attacks on US allies in the Gulf were more complex.
The most worrying, experts say, were those on Saudi oil firm Aramco and Qatari gas export facilities. Last month, US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta described the Saudi attack as the most sophisticated yet launched on a private company, effectively destroying tens of thousands of computers – although he stopped short of blaming Tehran directly.
I think I would need to listen to the album again in its entirety — which is a quite a job — to really say how much I like or dislike like it. So I’m categorizing this under the “upon first listen” thoughts. Which can, and do, change. I’ve been up to date with Neil Young’s modern material since 2003′s “Greendale”, having listened to all his albums since then. And I like most of them. Fork In The Road was probably the weakest of the batch, followed by the ground shaking Le Noise (which, in a strange bit of artistic freedom, featured little to no percussion). So new Neil Young, or old for that matter, is nothing new to me. Hearing him with Crazy Horse in the world of cellphones and private space companies, however, is. Turns out Americana was just rehearsal for the big dance. They’re really bringing out the big (epic, long, operatic, etc) guns for this album. And that world of cell phones and nano-tech is not something Mr. Young wants to be a part of; he sings on the 30 minute opener, “When you hear my song now, you only get 5 percent, you used to get it all… I’m driftin’ back”. The instrumentation is a little nostalgic too, with the band hearkening back to their 70′s days of drawn-out freeform jams, mic’ed 30-watt amps, and that vinyl, analog sound. It feels good on the ears (even if it feels a little strange when just a few years ago Young made an album about retro-fitting his classic car(s) with enough modern tech to free them from gasoline), and it’s sometimes nice to hear the legends crave the old days.
- Then you’ve got Kendrick Lamar’s debut full-length which deserves most of the credit it’s getting.
This is probably the strongest Rap debut we’ve had in some time. I use the term “Rap” deliberately. The production is rock solid, rarely missing the mark. And the slate of producers, besides perhaps Just Blaze, are a little bit off-kilter compared to the sometimes predictable melody makers of 21st Century mainstream Hip-Hop. I always like Pharrell’s beats, and I almost wish he’d do an entire album for a guy like Kendrick. And what of Kendrick himself? He lives up to the hype. Well, most of it. A lot of the these lines are really thought provoking, more than what Top 40 Rap was giving us in the hey-day of materialism Rap, when the illustrious 50 Cent album “Get Rich or Die Tryin’” was the big anticipated album of the moment. Those days are gone, thank God. And Kendrick Lamar, along with a whole slew of new-ish rappers, are taking mainstream Rap into the 21st Century (finally) with equal parts style and substance. It’s nice to see. What this album is not, is “Illmatic”. This is not an “instant classic”. It might become a classic one day, but it’s not instant. In fact, Good Kid, M.A.A.D. City might suffer a little bit from Dark Knight syndrome: levels of anticipation so off the charts there’s absolutely no way it can live up them. Which is too bad. This album isn’t breaking down any walls, it’s not shattering the paradigm Rap music exists in as it stands, but it is solid. And it’s the best mainstream Rap has been (w/ a few notable exceptions) in quite some time.
2012 is turning out to be quote the year for me in terms of music. Not only are some of my more anticipated albums of the last few years getting released, they’re all living up to and/or outdoing expectations I’ve put on their shoulders. I got really into Aesop Rock during high school, and I’m turning into an old bastard now, so that feels like ages ago. But in terms of all his albums over the years, it feels like this one in particular is all-out Aesop: in all its fractured-thought glory.
That could be because Aesop made ALL the music on this album, which certainly helps. And if a rapper is capable of it, that is something I strongly recommend. Some of my favorite rappers make their own beats. It brings a sense of unity you don’t really get unless you have an incredibly strong working and personal relationship with your producer/DJ (Eyedea & Abilities, for example). Aesop’s beats are easily the best I’ve heard from him on this disc. He starts by sampling a friend’s indie-rock band, rolls through a beautiful piano sequence on “Cycles to Gehenna” (under heavy snares), and brings the heavy synths on “Zero Dark Thirty”. By the time the bells intertwine with the Electro-based beat on “Fryerstarter” you feel the musical cohesiveness. Which is only the 5th track.
It makes me feel like the guy should just make instrumental break beat records. He’s good.
And how about those fractured, mind-fucking rhymes he’s known for anyhow? Well, they are refined in a way that, if you try hard enough, makes sense on “Skelethon”. A little background information and context helps: in several interviews Aesop has talk about how this album was made during a rough couple of years. He got divorced, he’s dealt with the deaths of several people very close to him, and has gone through an existential questioning of his art. When he says, “P.S. I wrote this on a self-destructing memo” I believe him. And, in one of the few features, Kimya Dawson sings, “And they called to let you know your friend’s dead in a box”. But the totality of “Skelethon”s lyrical content is not depressing. If anything, it’s affirming. At least it was for Aesop making it. I think that’s the idea. For those willing to hang onto the words, and make their own thoughts from the head-splitting runs of words, this album is as rewarding lyrically as any other Aesop Rock, perhaps even more so.
One of my other more anticipated releases of the year was “Cancer For Cure”, which I love. But where CFC feels like a welcome addition to the unreal, albeit short, discography of El-P already in place, “Skelethon” feels like a redefinition of Aesop Rock. Like he’s turning a new leaf artistically, finally feeling all-out comfort with who he is as an artist. And I think a big part of that is the fact that he’s doing all the music. Either way, it’s wonderful to hear. I think this is the best record he’s ever made.
- I’m a member of Blueprint’s online community/message board over at Printmatic.net. I joined when he decided to start a forum exclusively for producers, to discuss equipment, technical aspects of hard and software, and everything production related. Well, someone started a brilliant and challenging thread for the board where you post what you could muster up from a straight-forward challenge: cut-up a song into samples, rearrange it without adding anything or supplementing it in any way, and try to make a new song/beat out of it. It’s a great exercise in sampling, because without the ability to look ahead to the FX chain or the hits or soft-synths you’re going to add, it forces you to think exclusively in that particular song’s terms… and as a result you get a little better at sampling.
Sampling sounds so fucking easy. It really does. Well, let me tell you, it really is not. It is a fine art. Sure there are lazy ways to do it, just looping a measure of a song without cutting it up at all, but even that takes a bit of skill. Anyways, I saw this and took it as a challenge considering the guys who had posted, including Blueprint, are way better samplers than I am. I come from the school of instrumentation. So I went digging through my records. I was originally going to do an Earth, Wind, and Fire song from 1978, but opted for something a little more down-tempo and Jazzy since the previous entries were funky as hell. Which brought me to my newest Sun Ra album, also from the late 70′s, called “Lanquidity”. This is the title track, and the first song on the record. I probably would have went farther with this, but the idea was to keep your sample to around a minute long. This is what I came up with:
Again, nothing great on it’s own. And clearly I took those snares from the track itself. But like I said, for anyone looking to get into sampling, or get better at it, this a great exercise in the art itself. It will keep you on your toes and force you to get more creative with your chopping (where and how and when), and also how you’re presenting and arranging each part.
- The 2007 album I’ll Sleep When You’re Dead is one of my favorite albums ever. For real; no hyperbole. So when I saw El-P talking about putting the finishing touches on his next studio LP on the net — tentatively titled, but the title would remain, Cancer For Cure – I knew 2012 would be a good year for me musically. Then I bought the thing and it started with an ominous William S. Burroughs — my favorite writer ever; for real, no hyperbole — reading from his Nova Trilogy, I knew the album would be one of my favorites before barely a shred of material even hit my earholes. Let me back up though.
A great friend of mine heard the album before I did. No, not cause he torrented that low-quality, shit leak weeks in advance; because he pre-ordered the album and it came to his place a week beforehand. I didn’t because I miss buying albums the old fashioned way: waiting with anticipation for the release date (typically a Tuesday), then going to the record store and buying a copy without previously hearing any of it. His initial impression was that I might not like it as much as ISWYD because it lacked the progressive conceptualization of that album, and to a lesser extent El’s first solo-trek Fantastic Damage. He also said the features weren’t quite as jaw-dropping as ISWYD (Mars Volta blow me away every time). These things are true, but Cancer For Cure is still a hell of a victory in its own right.
The album is as cohesive — and definitely flows as well — as El’s previous albums, even if it is not as conceptual. Not a bad thing at all. And as much as I’d like to have seen C4C come across as the final piece in a trilogy of 2000′s albums for El, it’s refreshing to see him step so boldly into the post-DefJux, post-2000′s, latter-half, of his career. Lots of the reviews have been calling this “future music”. Though I would not argue with that description, El’s been banging out that brand of dystopian rap since Fantastic Damage. The obsession with paranoia, the nature of reality, and future landscapes has been there since he went a go at it himself; these themes, and many more science fiction based themes, appear vehemently on both his previous albums. This is not why C4C is “future music”, at least not for El. It’s future music because of what it represents to his already impressive catalog.
Easily and without question, this is El’s most accessible solo record. Accessible does not equal bad, accessible does not equal good. Accessible is a descriptive term on the nature of the sound, not of the artistic merit itself. You can very easily bang this album in your vehicle, with all the windows down, annoying someone next to you at a stop light who’s trying to carry on a cell phone convo. You can walk to it. Run to it. Shit, you might even be able to work out to it if you were inclined. Generally speaking, it is nod-your-head heavy shit: incredibly hard to play quietly, or dislike.
But not always. Flashes of that signature El-P break/coda/dreamscape production step in front of the rattle your teeth beats from time to time, always a welcome site. In fact, the end of the record might be my favorite third: a sort-of “cool down” period (maybe the work out thing is legit?) where C4C gets introspective and more complex musically. Feels good after being blasted to the ground and kicked in the ribs for 9 tracks or so. But before that we do get a little relief in short phrases and pieces throughout the disc.
That seems to me is the difference between C4C and ISWYD: the melodic breaks are still there, just not nearly as long (or, in some cases, repeated). This could be a lesson El learned on his last Megamix album: beats/phrases are presented to the listener, run through a single cycle, then shoved aside for the next thing in line. Probably what makes it so accessible. “You don’t like a certain section? Give me 30 seconds, you’ll have something else”.
C4C might not be the complex urban masterpiece of paranoia that ISWYD is, or the raw and unsettling post-9/11 triumph that FanDam is… but it certainly is it’s own complete and very well produced album, and probably as good as either of the other two. A very welcome addition to his impressive, if short, catalog. Here’s to hoping it isn’t another 5 year wait until El’s next solo adventure.
So I really didn’t get into as much music as I probably should have in 2011, but I say that every year. Some of my favorite Electronic albums though were:
- Mexicans With Guns: Ceremony
Just the right mixture of Electronic wobbliness and beat-wielding. From the opening track, which plods along like a tribal ceremony south of the border, to the vocoded Sasha Perera track, to the shiftiness of “Dame Lo”, to the Freddie Gibbs appearance proving Mexicans With Guns‘ ability to produce hip-hop, this is a very versatile disc not lacking in cohesiveness. It should be interesting to see where the suit and tie wearing luchador will go from here.
- Biosphere: N-Plants
Oddly enough, this was my first real go round with Biosphere, although I had heard of them previously. “N-Plants” is hard to dislike: it knows what it does best and it applies what it does best, without over-stating. It runs as an album, no doubt… but it is accessible to a point. It wouldn’t be obscene to take a favorite track and add it to a playlist/DJ set (most likely titled “Elemental Variation”, or something along those lines). Plus, there’s some good experimentation with time signatures and the like. Read the rest of this entry »
The opening guitar lick on “No Kings” is oddly similar to the Frank Ocean produced first song off Kanye and Jay’s “Watch The Throne”, this is more significant than it seems. Now, by no means is NK a “rebuttal” record to the supposed crowned kings of current Hip-Hop. Although I do find it strange that Sims — in the record’s opening verse — mentions: “You’re so vain you probably think it’s about ya/Well it is, and it ain’t… and it ain’t, but it is.” By the time fiery Mike Mictlan steps up to the mic — on the record’s second verse — you know what type of people you’re dealing with: a group of people, or family… a crew, who would just as soon cast away the predetermined laws of the world to shape their own lifestyles and art.
“No Kings” is aptly titled. The album’s themes and content all oddly tie into that meme, even the more surreal passages. And quite a bit of the lyrics are surreal. I’m not talking Aesop Rock level imagery here, but as a whole the group isn’t pointing the listener at any certain topic or philosophy, more like a general direction (North, for Minnesota… Haha). They tackle the rap world at times: not to call anyone out, not to bitch, not to lecture. To say: “This is how you all do it? Well, we don’t really care. This is how we do it.” Not to look down on other rappers, not to start trouble, just to play by their own rules, and to do it from the heart. Some of the imagery hearkens back to the past also, a time when the culture’s movement wasn’t weighted down by what one is “supposed” to do; no doubt a product of producer/MC Cecil Otter who has quite a bit of influence here throughout.
Cecil gets credited on helping create a large portion of the music, so do P.O.S. and Lazerbeak. The beats vary a little, but there’s a cohesive sense to the production that is probably a result of all the producers working together collaboratively, rather than going off into a room and coming back with a fleshed out beat. Lazerbeak (who once fronted The Plastic Constellations and makes incredible solo material) likes to blast punchy horns and booming kicks and snares, just give “Hand Over Fist” or “Bad Time Zoo” a try and you’ll know what I mean. That punchiness is toned down a little on “No Kings”, with most of the tracks feeling like contemplative pieces, not party music (besides, ironically, the 5th track titled “Punch-Out”). Even the beats Lazerbeak produced by himself. P.O.S. brings his signature percussive sound to the table, but this also is toned down a bit to add to a more cohesive whole. All this results in — from a production standpoint — an album that is very self-aware and calculated. It works well for a crew record (each member can, after all, unhinge their style a little more with each successive solo release).
The vocal performances mirror that sense of calculation. By this point each member has worked on a number of solo albums and tracks, so they’re all comfortable with what they do. It’s like they know when and how to strike, to add to the whole rather than distracting from it. Dessa enters swiftly and calmly: sometimes singing, sometimes rapping, sometimes both. She often bridges the gaps in songs, giving transitions just the right touch and latching onto previous themes to reinforce their weight. P.O.S., for my money, is one of the best rappers today. He’s just good on anything he does (and I’m assuming he’s going to blow up even more with his next solo record). Cecil Otter, like I mentioned, holds more influence over almost anyone else on this album both lyrically and musically. Due to his style, he’ll likely never have that mass appeal of a guy like P.O.S. — or even Dessa — but he deserves any sort of success he gets. Honestly though, I was most surprised with Sims and Mictlan’s verses. I’m not sure if it’s because they’re being used in a better way (at the right times?), or if they’re both refining their styles more and more; whatever the case, to me they are the standouts when it comes to rapping.
The greatest compliment “No Kings” can receive though is that it truly feels like an “album”. Quite the feat for a group of 7-ish people who all sound starkly different when creating their own work. Again, this is probably a result of the collaborative sense that went into making it. When you’re renting a cabin in Northern MN (or WI) and shutting out the rest of the world, that is bound to happen. If you can’t tell, I’d reccomend getting this. Especially anyone who is really into Hip-Hop and wants to try something new. There is talent to boot, but the best thing about “No Kings” is the lack of rules. And that is refreshing. Maybe Jay and Kanye would actually dig this? Although, I gotta admit, drawing the “No Kings” symbol onto the cover of the golden shine of “Watch The Throne” would be awesome.
Been a little busy with this fucker who says his name is “Mild Maynyrd”. I know, right? Was he on something when he came up with that name or what?? He’s actually my partner, the curator of this site (who’s let it go to shit lately). Mild Maynyrd is his alter-ego. His musician-alter-ego. He plays the keys, the guitar, the drums and percussion, bass; he also has a really weird fetish for programming and beat-making, and someone once told me he wasn’t quite right in the head. My partner’s been making a Bandcamp page and completing a new album for release. Which may or may not explain the absence around here. Ah, hell… let’s just get this outta the way. Here’s the link:
So I was making music while I was gone. A lot of music. Partially I guess it was a way — and it still is — to deal with what was going on in my life. But it’s also another way to get creativity out of myself, I haven’t been writing, and it’s something I just fucking love to do. Combine recording with my hours long no-nonsense Rock & Roll jam sessions with my pal, and my musical creative addiction is really getting its fix. I’ve had this program on my laptop for a while now, but lately it feels like I’m really starting to become efficient with it, really starting to come into my own again and find my voice in a production sense. However miserably awful that voice may be… Like the T-Shirt says, man: “Get Excited and Make Things”.
So what the fuck do I even make? Well, a variety of things really. M. Ward‘s solo-stuff has really been intriguing me lately (Hold Timeis sweetly nostalgic and a little progressive at the same time, it’s great), and at some point I really wanna try to make an EP like that. That classic, tape reel sound with layers and layers of guitar, with only a dash of spacey weirdness. I’ve got a few progressions and licks that could work in this vein, but nothing concrete yet and I haven’t even tried laying anything down.
I just wrapped up a… well, it’s ahh… I guess an Industrial/Trip-Hop/Electronica EP with plenty of bleeps and bloops and maybe a few melodies every now and again. It’s dark, maybe the darkest thing I’ve ever done (with bands or myself or otherwise). I conceived and drafted and finalized all the tracks through the dead of winter, with a hearty layer of snow on the ground. I wanted the name to somehow reflect that, but I also wanted something industrial, machine-esque, in the title as well. I ended up titled it “Nordic Rust” (the last track is called “Nordic”), and I’m pretty happy with it. I think when I come back to this side of me, I’ll do even better. But for now, it’s a good start. No one really cares, and that doesn’t bother me. But I haven’t made an Amazon account or a Bandcamp account or anything like that so there’s no way to get it to people. One or two tracks from the album can be found in their DEMO form at my Mild Maynyrd MySpace Page. I ‘spose I could just ship copies in the mail. Daniel Johnston used to do that shit with his tapes. Read the rest of this entry »
“What is it you want, Mary? What do you want? You want the moon? Just say the word and I’ll throw a lasso around it and pull it down. Hey. That’s a pretty good idea. I’ll give you the moon, Mary.“
And it’s no wonder why Lucas decided to use this quote as a springboard to a title, it almost defines the content of the album in a neat little pop culture reference. Apparently Lucas wrote most — if not all — of these songs whilst in the middle of a breakup with then girlfriend. He’d write them, record them (probably very roughly), and send them to the girl to try and win her back. I’m pretty sure it didn’t work. What it did do,though, is lay out a solid foundation to build upon. This is what would become “George Lassos the Moon”. The songs are simple, but the arrangements are not. There’s a lot going on here musically including: acoustic and electric guitars (in both lead and rhythm, with slides ALOT, clean/dirty, etc), violin/fiddle, keyboards, piano, bass, drums, and some miscellaneous ins and outs. The band’s great; they deserve a lot of credit because I don’t think this album would be as good without them. But the heart of the songs is Lucas, who’s pouring out his emotions (his prettier ones, as oppose to “12 Angry Months”) for anyone who wants to listen. Give it a listen first; the entire album is currently streaming at the Married Men’s official website. Read the rest of this entry »
