Because if not, myself, Aquarium Drunkard, Kevin Bronson and the good folks behind LA Underground will find you, track you down and force you to have better taste in music.
Go to LA Underground for MP3’s of the all the bands involved.
There was no garage rock revival.The Strokes made a great first album, but the only garage those kids have ever seen houses six cars or more. The White Stripes had and continue to have a brilliant career but they’re not exactly beer-swilling teenagers cranking out Stooges riffs in the basement. The Hives? Well, they’re Swedish and thus discounted because their garages are made from Ikea. And I think we all can agree to never speak of The Vines, Von Bondies and Jet ever again.
Consequently, you don’t hear about garage rock anymore. Like dance-punk after it, it turned out to be less of a movement than a few good bands that came about about at the same time and shared a lo-fi, crude and powerful sound. Truth be told, though they’d never admit it, it’s the oldest trick in the music crit book, slap on a “movement” tag on a couple bands, get the hype machine rolling and pray for that sales uptick. (And if you don’t believe me, check back here in a few years when “Nu-Rave” is even more of punchline than it already is).
So if The Black Lips had made Good Evil Not Bad Evil six years ago, I’m sure every critic would’ve shouted from the rooftops that you needed to hear it. It’s raw agressive and steeped in a primal psychadelia, a flat-out dirty record (in the good, Motley Crue kind of way, and not the bad, Christina Aguilera way). In the vein of the 13th Floor Elevators and the Nuggets comp, Good Evil is a weird and wild ride. It’s also one the best rock records of year. So if you’re getting burnt out on sad “indie” caterwauling and want something that sounds it should be chased with a shot of Cuervo, these guys get my vote of confidence.
Download:
MP3: Black Lips-”Cold Hands”
MP3: Black Lips-”Not a Problem” (live from Tijuana)
Passion Play is a sometime column designed to highlight exceptional unsigned acts. This does not mean you should send me your demo. In all honesty, I probably won’t listen to it. Unless of course, you are in EPMD and the demo includes the song “Please Listen to My Demo.” In that case, rock rock on.
Who: Ill Eagle the Anti-Rapper
What: (The story of Ill-Eagle in his own words) Ill Eagle has never been shot. In fact, at age 21 he’s never even been shot at, which is extraordinary for many young Black males from Gary, Indiana. Ill Eagle didn’t intend to be such an exception, a virtual weirdo in a town once called the Murder Capital of the United States.When you’re avoiding gangs and ignoring poverty from the world around you, sometimes all you can do is turn inside and embrace the creative world within. With tastes that stretch from Tiesto to Tchiakovsky, Tech N9ne to The Sex Pistols, Ill Eagle brings a fresh approach to hip-hop that defies common comparison. This is rap for a new generation: diverse, irreverent, real without pretention yet honest and humorous. This is music for the soundtrack of life, sometimes serious, sometimes fun, always memorable.
Where: Gary, Indiana.
When: Ill Eagle’s debut LP, The Wilhelm Scream dropped earlier this year to praise from the likes of 33 Jones, Souled on Music, and Model Minority. It remains unclear whether the record has anything to do with Kaiser Wilhelm and/or The Scream.
Why:Say what you want about a guy like Kanye West (and believe me, I think he’s as overrated as anyone), you can’t dismiss him because the way of the way in which he defies easy labels or categorization. It’s that same reason why I think Ill Eagle is one of the most promising MC’s to debut this year. Everything about the guy resists easy descriptor tags: he’s from the hood but he doesn’t front like a gangster. He’s a self-described “reverse wigger” who lists Nirvana, Wu-Tang, Bjork and Daft Punk as his heroes. Many of his songs rail against crack-rap’s lies and the lying liars who tell them, yet many of his raps come over beats that wouldn’t sound out of place on a Young Jeezy record.
A common knock against most underground records is their conservatism, with most underground producers solely trying to recycle neo-Tribe Called Quest coffee-shop beats or 9th Wonder/Kanye West soul loops. Most underground rappers spend their 50 minutes of screen time describing themselves only in opposition of what they’re not. By contrast, The Wilhelm Scream seems remarkably forward-thinking, with beats ranging from bass-heavy Southern bangers to year 3000 space-rap beats a la Automator or Timbaland-lite. Lesser MCs would struggle with such challenging soundscapes but Ill Eagle handles them admirably, preternaturally understand whether to fall back into the pocket of a beat and ride it out, or when to step up aggressively to smash it over the head like a game of Whack-A-Mole (no The Mole.)
The album isn’t perfect. Some of the hooks could be better and some of the beats are just a bit too abrasive. But when Ill Eagle isn’t wasting his time railing about crack-rappers and focuses the attention inward, he’s a uniquely compelling artist. Sort of like Murs if he’d grown up in the Midwest and really liked Bloc Party. It’s an impressive debut, particularly for a kid just out of his teens living in the middle of nowhere. While the best may be yet to come, Ill Eagle has the potential to be a three-dimensional personality, someone with something to say, one who figures to be worth paying attention to for a long while.
Download:MP3: Ill Eagle-”Warhol Superstar”MP3: Ill Eagle-”Burn Out> Fade Away”Download the entire album for free at Ill Eagle’s Myspace
A few weeks ago, Noz posted some must-see You Tube links to a documentary called 80 Blocks From Tiffany’s. Taking an honest look at late 70s Bronx Gangs, the Savage Skulls and the Savage Nomads, the documentary simultaneously provided a rarely seen window into the womb of early hip-hop and motivated me to dust off an old VHS copy of 1982’s Wild Style, to take a look back at the first and arguably the most important hip-hop film ever made.
By standards of any conventional film, Wild Style is terrible. The plot is thin, an unclear tale of a guy named “Zorro” (real-life graf legend Lee Quinones) who seems to only really want two things in life: his girl to like him and to be able to spray-paint a really cool mural in time for a big party in the local amphitheater. The dialogue is even worse and the acting maybe worst of all. But watching Wild Style for its craft is like listening to Weird Al for the gut-wrenching confessionals: completely fucking pointless (unless you interpret “Amish Paradise” as a frank depiction of Yankovich’s struggles with his faith).
Wild Style’s brilliance stems from the Grecian Urn-like way that Charlie Ahearn’s cameras forever capture a critical moment in musical history. Shot in a verite style, the film reveals the ravaged South Bronx at the turn of the Reagan years as an impoverished and practically lawless slum of burn-out buildings and vacant lots. More importantly, the film reveals the astonishing creativity of hip-hop’s creators: adidas-clad breakers dazzling crowds, afro’d teenagers bombing Day-Glo murals onto subway cars, legendary hip-hop crews moving crowds, DJ’s inventing new break-beats to rap over daily.
Fab Five Freddy Told Me Everybody’s High
Crazy Legs and the Rock Steady Crew take over parties performing moves that seemingly defy the limitations of human anatomy. Grandmaster Flash and Grand Wizard Theodore man turn-tables with the utmost precision, setting the table for legendary MC’s like the Fantastic 5 and The Cold Crush. Whenever the filmmakers figure out that no one cares about Zorro and his woman (no Catherine Zeta-Jones) and instead depict the nascent art form, it’s transfixing. In particular, a short basketball court battle between Cold Crush and Fantastic 5 should be required viewing for anyone who’s ever liked Wu-Tang or Jurassic 5 at one point (read: everyone reading this sentence).
But the parties themselves steal the show, as Wild Style’s bashes rank with Teen Wolf and Revenge of the Nerds as some of the finest party sequences in celluloid history. At the center of it all, are performances of some of hip-hop’s earliest anthems, ready-made party cuts ideal for rocking the massive crowds already starting to gather. Critics often defend the cynical vacuity as of ring-tone rappers like Young Joc, Young Berg, or Young Yung (he’s already huge in Miami), as hip-hop returning to its party music roots. But unlike most modern rappers’ hackneyed attempts to write a huge hook to move units, the early rappers performed with a sense of spontaneity and artistic purity. Most importantly, the songs and the music are just fun. (I apologize in advance you find listening to “Sexy Lady” fun. Might I suggest a Cold Crush Brothers tape and/or a cold bath.)
Sure, it’s slightly reductive to pine wistfully for days that you don’t even remember, days that obviously won’t return. But it’s impossible not to get a bit nostalgic for a period when hip-hop was more MC Melle Mel than MC Rove. Not to say that there aren’t artists today continuing to build and expand upon the culture as depicted in Wild Style. Of course, there are. But if nothing else, it’s interesting to take a look back and see how far the genre has come in the 25 years since.
Download from the Wild Style Soundtrack
MP3: The Cold Crush Brothers Vs. The Fantastic 5-”Basketball Throwdown“
MP3: Grandmaster Caz-”South Bronx Subway Rap”
MP3: Fab Five Freddy-”Down By Law”
I wish I had the time to give Blockhead’s Uncle Tony’ s Coloring Book, the full review treatment, as its one of best hip-hop instrumental records I’ve heard this year (along with Wax Tailor and Madlib’s new Beat Konducta record). But rest assured, if you enjoyed his first two albums, the sorely underrated, Music By Cavelight and Downtown Science, you’ll no doubt want to pick up a copy of his new jaunt. It doesn’t break any new ground, nor does it need to, it’s just 13 soulful, funky beats from one of the finest producers in the game. Released today on Ninja Tune, it comes highly recommended for all fans of hip-hop instrumentalism.
Buy Uncle Tony’s Coloring Book
Download:
MP3: Blockhead-”The Strain” (left-click)
MP3: Blockhead-”Grape Nuts and Chalk Sauce” (left-click)
Get 1 more Blockhead track from Analog Giant
Charlie Brown Commands You to Check Out These Links
Barry Schwartz, lead singer of the Passion of the Weiss approved, Disco Vietnam, drops the ridiculously entertaining essay, The Green Day Conspiracy, theorizing that the band did not actually write American Idiot.
Berkeley Place has Clash Covers A to Z
I’m surprised this Raekwon review over at Hip-Hop Dx hasn’t been all over the Internet, as it’s pretty interesting and it covers everything from Ghost’s participation on the new Wu record (he’s on it), the status of Only Built for Cuban Linx 2 (summer of ‘08 now…right) and whether or not Superb wrote Supreme Clientele (obviously not).
Everybody Cares Everyone Understands has a nice write-up on the new and very good Okkervil River record. I’ll be seeing them next month and will have more on it then, but the more I hear it, the better that album gets.
Zilla Rocca, 1/2 of Clean Guns, and Beat Garden fitness consigliere, has returned to drop some more knowledge on the people. Neither of us are actually sure if knowledge can actually be dropped, nor are we certain whether it hurts when said knowledge is dropped upon you. Probably not.
So was there like some sort of memo that got passed around that I didn’t see, because honestly, I’ve now become convinced that all white girls aged 22-25 drink exclusively Miller Lite. Of course, these are the exact same chicks that in college, hated on the taste of beer because it was “like so gross.” The same girls that subsisted on a diet of Malibu and Swedish Fish (with the occasional margarita tossed in the mix).
I see you, Kaitlyn, Brianne and Madison, with your bottles of Miller in your hands. That or a Coors Light. You won’t catch me with a can of that girly, watered down shit. And just because females now think it’s okay to knock back bottles of that cold piss water, don’t think you’ll escape my wrath if you’re a male and drinking that shit in front of me. To quote Meth: “Ya’ll been warned.”
Another group of people who need to be warned: Wedding DJ’s. I went to a wedding last weekend and the DJ (let’s call him Dancin’ Ralph) found it perfectly acceptable to get out in the middle of the dance floor, mic in hand, dancing and slapping his own ass while mouthing the lyrics to “It’s Raining Men.” Sorry, dude, last time, I checked this was a matrimonial ceremony not “Men on Film.”
Slapping Your Ass While Singing “Raining Men?” Hated It
To add insult to injury, the DJ broke the cardinal rule of wedding DJ’s, by not playing a single slow song throughout the entire reception. C’mon man, everyone knows that slow songs are the Trojan Horse of wedding receptions. Throw on some Celine Dion or Vanessa Williams for three minutes, cue up “It Takes Two,” and BAM, instant freak-fest. But not Dancin’ Ralph. He wanted to change the game like Hova or MJ. No “Wind Beneath My Wings,” no “Love is,” not even a mothafuckin’ Boyz II Men cut. I felt bad for all the drunken bachelors looking to close the deal with the single and depressed bridesmaids, stuck doing the Soul Train for four fucking hours. You are dead to me, Dancin’ Ralph.
Speaking of dead, I’ve also been wondering how it’s possible that Blockbuster isn’t. I just got NetFlix and it’s pretty much killed all chance of me ever going to a Blockbuster again. Then again, I have no sympathy for them. They killed every independent video store in Philly by carrying 9,084 copies of every movie and if you called ahead, they’d even hold that copy of “Major League 2″ on VHS for an hour. Hell, they even sold CD’s for a while. I remember copping “Illadelph Halflife” there, while this kid, John, I used to play ball with stole Rage and Cypress Hill CD’s. He later got locked up for rape. Seriously.
The last time I was in Blockbuster, it was pretty depressing. All the remaining stores left in South Philly cut themselves in half and rented out the other half to laundromats or wig suppliers. They start selling overstocked used DVD’s for $7, with naturally 50 copies of “2 Fast 2 Furious” for every one of “I Heart Huckabees.” Whatever, Blockbuster, that’s what you get for trying to make me sign up for for your “online store” every time I walk in the door, or your rewards program, or trying to push jumbo-sized bags of M&M’s on me like a used car salesmen. Until next time, RIP Blockbuster. God bless Netflix. And burn in Hell, dancing Ralph.
Download:
MP3: Clean Guns-”We Just Run Things” (left-click)
MP3: Clean Guns-”Hold Your Glass High (Wdhq Remix) (left-click)
Hands down Cage has been one of the most interesting interviews I’ve ever done. Mainly, because the guy is just one of the most brutally candid people you’ll ever speak to. Which is one of the many reasons why I think his last record, Hell’s Winter is one of the best underground records made in this decade. It’s unflinchingly honest without being soft, it’s lyrically complex without being pretentious and it’s just a flat-out great record.
It’s also nice to hear someone who is actually good at rap (read: not rap critics) go on the record to say that most Southern hip-hop, with a few notable exceptions, fucking sucks. As for his thoughts on the record industry, his perspective was equally frank.
“I’m sure the downturn of the industry affects us, but it affects major labels a lot more. It’s a quandary for me because I’m kinda with everyone else, fuck corporate America steal their music, these artists aren’t making that much money off their music via labels so what’s wrong with stealing music? The rap industry is falling apart because it’s crap. They’ve saturated the game with the same bullshit jingles that mean nothing and you get nothing from it. The huge artists still go platinum. They aren’t fucking hurting from it, it’s the slave masters who hurt.”
Download:
MP3: Cage-”Shoot Frank” (left-click)
MP3: Cage-”Good Morning” (left-click)
And if you’re interested, I also have two more features that ran in the Republic this week:
I suppose it’s fitting that I didn’t even remember that today was the 12th anniversary of Jerry Garcia’s death until a friend of mine reminded me a couple hours ago. That’s what I get for not checking Hidden Track first thing every morning. Sure enough, when I finally checked in on the duo of Ace Cowboy and Scott Bernstein, they’d already beat me to posting a Jerry tribute (I always thought you hippies were supposed to be poorly organized…damn Hidden Track, always defying my unfounded stereotypes).
Writing a eulogy is rather pointless. It’s been done to death and besides the music speaks more eloquently than I could ever hope to write. So download this bootleg of the Dead’s classic 11.21.73 show, put on a pair of headphones, light one up and celebrate the life of one of the greatest musicians the world has ever seen.
Download:
Zip: The Grateful Dead-Live at The Denver Coliseum, 11/21/73 (left-click)
Scott Towler has returned to us after two weeks in the Andes spent fighting a scourge of Colombian narco-terrorists. He arrives with nothing on his mind but animated content. That and freedom.
5. Cowboy Bebop
To be honest, I’m not sure if this is even the best anime show, but it has been tremendously successful and it did spawn a movie. Besides, if I didn’t include a token anime pick, the nerds would find me, toss me into a burlap sack, and beat me with stalks of bamboo. Sure, some might contend that Ghost in the Shell beats it out. Others still might say Pokemon. Those people are what I like to call sphincters. Sphincters who will die a slow and gruesome death.
If you’ve ever smoked the hippy grass, you need to watch an episode of Cowboy Bebop. Yeah, the concept of intergalactic bounty hunters with a robot dog does seem absurd, but that’s what you’re high for. Besides, that’s not the essence of the show. Think of it as a a modernist action movie. A Japanese G.I. Joe, with more explosions, T & A, and drug use, with dialogue simultaneously frivolous and gritty, realistic and campy. But the reason to watch this show is the art. Forget the characters, just look at the places they dwell: the backdrops and moving images that set the backdrop. Make a bowl of popcorn, let the action unfold. This is a blunted at 2 AM show.
4. The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show
Rocky and Bullwinkle was distinctly ahead of its time in that it successfully roped in both kids and adults and practically invented the animated comedy non-sequitur. Chances are, if you’re reading this blog, you haven’t seen it. But you’re probably familiar with the ensemble: Rocky, Bullwinkle, Sherman, Peabody, Boris, Natasha, and Dudley Do-Right. Aside from the regular 3-act episodes and plot lines that the show regularly boasted, it also offered snippets just as entertaining as the main event. Aside from the aforementioned Sherman and Peabody, they also had fractured fairy tales, and several others. It was a variety show in animated format, done better than nearly all the programming of the era.
Sadly, I can’t say the same thing about the film. Usually it’s a good sign when a show gets greenlit and turned into a movie. Except when it’s live action and starring Renee Russo and Robert DeNiro. doing comedy (Meet the Parents excluded. Inspired thinking guys. Make a live action movie from an animated show, skip over the gen-y kids, and release it before any of the next generation of kids have any idea what’s going on. Did anyone see this abysmal flick? Well, if you did, write the studio and get your 11 bucks back.
3. The Flintstones/The Jetsons
Lo and behold, Hollywood decided to do it again with this show (and soon to be AGAIN), putting everyone’s favorite nuclear families, The Flintstones and The Jetsons onto the big screen. Of course, we’d be fools not to notice the nearly identical composition of both families: A bumbling father, a reserved wife, a daughter, a son, and a pet/robot. It’s not hard to see where The Simpsons took its format from. (And sadly, the rip off artists like Family Guy/American Dad, i.e. the same show). Not to completely knock Family Guy. The first 4 seasons were superb. But I My point’s just that when The Simpsons sought a model to work from, they looked to America’s first two animated family sitcoms.
These shows had to make the list because they were the first and a whole lot better than a lot of the shitty shows today (Lil Bush, I’m looking at you). With the same animation team handling both, we were able get such inspired work as the classic animated feature The Jetsons meet The Flintstones. Revisiting the movie today might be a mistake. But, not nearly as much as yes, you guessed it, the live action version of The Flintstones. Rosie O’Donnell? Elizabeth Taylor? Crack Coacaine? And to top it off, I hear rumors of a live action Jetsons movie. (With Lindsey Lohan playing Judy Jetson. I keed. I keed. Maybe.)
2. South Park
South Park is one the strongest animated shows ever. In fact, over the past 7 years, South Park has been the best animated show on television. In South Park, Barbara Striesand is a monster, Trapper Keepers pay homage to Terminator II, and a talking towel takes even bong hits bigger than I ever have*. And that’s not even from the movie.
Ah yes, the movie. Even though The Simpsons movie was great and a tremendous return to form, but nothing touches the South Park Movie. Nothing. Well, except maybe Beauty and the Beast, but c’mon where’s the humor? So a clock dances around while a little tea pot has a child named Chip. Big fucking deal. Where’s your bong hits, Beauty in the Beast?
1. The Simpsons
The longest running sitcom of all time. 400 episodes. Branding and franchising like crazy. 18 seasons. Catch phrases, weird voices, archetypal characters, and the largest ensemble cast of any show ever. The Simpsons is #1 hands down. Of course, we can all agree that sometime around season 11 the show took a major nose dive. But still, this is the fucking Simpsons. The show that single-handedly put Fox on the map. By the end of its first season, it was competing against The Cosby Show.
It also boasts one very important fact: this was the first animated show in over 25 years to have a primetime spot. One that paid homage in subtle ways: Adding The Itchy and Scratchy cartoons to reflect the old Warner Bros. cartoons, and lending the middle initial J. to every member of the Simpson family. Why? Think Bullwinkle J. Moose and Rocket J. Squirrel.
Head over to Simpsonize Me and see what you’d look like as a Simpsons character.
* I was blatantly lying. Like any towel could take a bigger bong hit than me.
You are currently browsing the Passion of the Weiss weblog archives for August, 2007.
