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Here’s what he had to say about the Spank Rock track What it Look Like:
“when this record came out last year, it cut through all the sh*t for me. it was like a slap ’round the face. the computers speaking over their reference points and pointing to something brand new. turn it up. night night.”
But don’t take his word for it. Give it a listen. I’m sure you’ll agree. Night night.
Because I’m not a devoted reader of Pitchfork (sorry, I while away my time at other, more sophisticated sites), I sometimes miss cool stuff, like Earlimart releasing three new MP3s through Pitchfork … LAST FALL. Yeah, so I’m really behind. (Go here, here and then here.)
Nevertheless, I’m caught up enough to know Earlimart has named its new record Mentor Tormentor, a title frontman Aaron Espinoza says on the group’s Web site, “holds plenty of meaning and mystery.”
Of the three new tracks, Everybody Knows Everybody strikes me most, though that’s not to say the others aren’t good (they are). But Everybody is a distinct departure from Earlimart’s usually sullen temperament. It feels angry and full of purpose, and its title seems to resentfully suggest an inner circle that’s become increasingly suffocating and too close for its own good. “Revenge” comes up often here.
“Choose an alternate end /
without involving my friends /
I always thought that you’d keep it to yourself /
But can you keep it from everybody?”
It reminds me of the similarly titled Everyone Knows Everyone by the Helio Sequence. People change, friends betray, feelings are hurt, people talk, nothing’s the same again, and it’s too much to take when everybody knows everybody (or everyone knows everyone).
Visit Earlimart’s blog.
Related:
New Earlimart: “Answers and Questions”
A reminder that RoadKillOvercoat, the new release from the quick-lipped Busdriver, is out today. Rarely do I drop these sorts of annoying notes, but I’m just that into this record.
You can stream RoadKillOvercoat in its entirety at Busdriver’s MySpace page. I copped it at eMusic this morning.
MP3s via Epitaph.
Related:
Busdriver: Kill Your Employer (Daedelus remix)
Pigeon John/Busdriver, Chaser’s, 10/8/06
New Busdriver: Kill Your Employer
If my Googling skills are up to snuff, the title of the 2006 debut album from Urbs (aka Paul Nawrata) translates roughly – or, possibly, exactly – to “the same old film.” It makes sense, if I’m correct, given Nawrata’s cinematic approach to this G-Stone Recordings release.
A longtime DJ in Austria, Nawrata has pulled together both the dramatic and downtempo for an instrumental soundtrack that will leave you grasping for the RJD2 comparisons. If we’re to assume this is the soundtrack to Nawrata’s life, then he does a wonderful job of coaxing emotion and moods out of a (mostly) word-less space. Much like the cover of the album, you’ll feel like you’re transported into some sepia-toned foreign film surrounded by beautiful French-speaking women, fancy cigarettes and fancier cars.
This is downtempo/trip-hop that isn’t served its due as background music. (Also, Nawrata’s take on Duran Duran’s The Chauffeur is excellent.)
Nevertheless, the tour includes a March 18 stop in Phoenix/Tempe at the Clubhouse that happens to coincide with another great show that same night: Jonah Matranga, Joshua English and Frank Turner at Modified.
UPDATE: Tour dates have been revised and no Phoenix date is included; now that’s more like it. Sigh.
All Clipse dates after the jump:
Went out last night with our peeps Jay and Carrie, who promises she’s going to draw me some day soon. (She’s got mad artist skillz.) Anyway, Jay alerted me to the possibility of a MySpace page for Q-Tip, formerly of A Tribe Called Quest. We questioned its legitimacy, as fake MySpace pages are all too easy to create.
I tried to come up with reasons to believe it’s real and reasons to believe it’s fake.
It’s real:
+ A streaming track, Move, which I’ve never heard.
+ Listed under top 8 friends on Tribe’s MySpace page (along with Michael Rapaport, who actually is not on The White Rapper Show).
+ Linked from a Q-Tip Web site, www.qtiponline.com, which is found on Tribe’s MySpace page. That site also includes a stream of a track, For the Nasty (feat. Busta Rhymes) that was on the NBA Live ‘06 soundtrack; see below.
+ Tribe reunited for a tour last fall, so Tip could be back in the game.
+ Linked from Q-Tip’s Wikipedia page.
It’s bogus:
+ MySpace layout – blinking stars and what not – is garish and reeks of poor taste.
+ Links to www.q-tip.com, which is “coming soon.” Why not link to the aforementioned and somewhat functional www.qtiponline.com?
+ Not listed in former Tribe cohort Phife Dawg’s top 8 on his MySpace page even though there is room for one more. Ouch.
+ A corny-ass Bonita Applebum MySpace contest; Q-Tip really wouldn’t sell out one of Tribe’s greatest tracks like that, would he?
+ No pictures other than the artwork I swiped above.
+ Linked from Q-Tip’s Wikipedia page.
Sooooo, what to believe? I’m leaning toward thinking it’s legit, but I dunno. If not, I just wasted a lot of cyberink on a fraud. Lemme hear your thoughts.
Also, if anyone has a lead on the album Q-Tip recorded under the moniker Kamaal the Abstract that was shelved, I’d love to hear it. A box of cookies will be paid for your generosity.
Indie labels are making it so that buying vinyl is more enticing than ever. Whether it’s a download coupon for mp3s of an album or adding bonus tracks, they seem to be hedging their bets that maybe, just maybe, fans will be lured by owning a tangible piece of music.
The fine folks at Barsuk drew me in when I saw the Long Winters catalog available on vinyl at Stinkweeds in Phoenix. Not only is John Roderick’s 2005 Ultimatum EP released on beautiful 140-gram vinyl, it also includes five bonus tracks. The record also comes covered in a thick paper cover with lyrics printed on it.
The four bonus tracks: Fire Island, AK (susitna demo); (It’s a) Departure (version 1.0); Clouds (home demo); Seven (litho demo).
One day, if I move and have to pack and lug records around, I may regret my growing vinyl collection, if only for a short while (or when I throw out my back lifting it all). But music as rich as Roderick’s deserves the 33 1/3 treatment. And I’m telling you, this 140-gram vinyl is so sturdy you could eat a steak off it.
And these demos are especially fulfilling because I’ve been still wholly absorbed in Putting the Days to Bed, so it’s neat to hear more skeleton versions of the polished tracks.
Buy Ultimatum EP on vinyl for $15. Check out the entire catalog for the Long Winters.
(Look out, two posts in one day!)
I’m excited for tonight, when we’ll see ex-Catherine Wheel frontman Rob Dickinson, exactly a year to the day we saw him last, at Anderson’s in Scottsdale. I’ve gone on at length about Dickinson before, so I won’t do it here again.
Also, local favorite sourceVictoria is opening with an acoustic/piano set. The band recently was featured in the weekly paper Get Out. You might have read about them on this very site, too.
If you’re in town, come on out.
” … Ali has filled every single requirement that I’d laid down for a good rap album this year and he’s done it in a way that seems so natural and effortless that it’s hard not to stand in awe and wonder how the hell it happened.”
Pretty convincing stuff. I’d been sitting on the first single, Truth Is, for a few days, so now seemed as good a time as any to share. After all, I have been watching The White Rapper Show, too. (Read Tom Breihan’s breakdown for more on “The Best Thing on TV.”)
While you’re listening, you may wanna check The Passion of the Weiss’ post on The 10 Best White Rappers of All Time, of which Brother Ali (the whitest of them all; he’s an albino, for crying out loud) is omitted. (EDIT: Read the comments.) But I have a hard time arguing with the No. 1 selection of El-P.
I have yet to watch Afro Samurai, a new animated series on Spike (television for men! … boobs, blood, bullets, hundreds of CSI reruns a day!), but I can’t imagine a more perfect musician to oversee/produce a soundtrack for it than RZA, he of Wu-Tang Clan fame.
Afro Samurai, per the Anime News Network (yeah, I know), is “the tale of a black samurai futuristic, yet feudal Japan who is on a mission to avenge the wrongful death of his father.” Naturally, Samuel L. Jackson – executive producer/Jedi – voices Afro, the title character. His samurai sword is the one that says bad motherfucker on it.
Enough of the show; I’m more interested in this soundtrack, which features Q-Tip (you all know I’m a fan of his), Talib Kweli, GZA and Big Daddy Kane (on the same track!) and more. As the de facto head of Wu-Tang, which always has played with loose analogies of its crew to kung-fu warriors, RZA was made for this project, just as he was the Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai soundtrack.
The Afro Samurai soundtrack is a combination of vocal and instrumental cuts. RZA’s theatrical leanings always make for intriguing choices, and this is no different. It’s cohesive, and like many Wu-Tang projects, it incorporates dialogue from the show for a little dramatic effect.
The soundtrack comes out Tuesday on Koch Records.
