SIXinternational.txt

El-P : Deep Space 9mm (Fantastic Damage 2002)

Sweet beats have been fallin like discreet sleet for me this past week (i made that all by myself, give me a high-paying contract).

I’ve been immersing myself this past week or two in ‘underground’ hip-hop, with artists like El-P, Aesop Rock(both on the Def Jux label which is phenomenal), and Sage Francis. Not exactly unknowns or anything, but the style isn’t anywhere near the BLIIIING CRUNK CLUBZ bullshit of many mainstream artists. I’ve always enjoyed hip-hop to a certain extent, particularly when there’s something behind it like in Grandmaster Flash’s “The Message”. I like hearing the urban existentialist poetry and I love interesting production that’s catchy without being too cheesy and poppy. If all it is is bitches and dranks and gunz yo then it can stay in the frat parties thankyouverymuch.

So I’d recommend if anyone’s interested in getting into some much more listenable and intelligent hip-hop, check out Aesop Rock’s latest “None Shall Pass” or El-P’s “I’ll Sleep When You’re Dead”. Two different styles for sure, Aesop being a bit more upbeat and El-P being more… apocalyptic?, but both are interesting and exciting to listen to.

First time I got into hip-hop was in 7th grade with Busta Rhymes (that’d be 1997-1998). I was in a similar groove back in freshman year of college (again, that’d be 2003-2004 for those keeping track), and it’s been until now where I’ve really had the urge to get back into it. At the same time though I feel a much bigger connection to it than I did then. So we’ll see how long this lasts… and if it’ll be another five years until I get into it again next time.

Alright, one more new awesome music update. This one’s by the French electronic duo, Justice with their album †. Similar to how Daft Punk is an amazing genre-defining French electronic duo, these guys do it their own way and to absolutely phenomenal results. Very unique, very listenable, very composed unlike a lot of boring repetitive dance music. I don’t really know how to describe it but I recommend you head over to Amazon and listen to the sound samples. My highlights thus far are “Genesis” and “Phantom Pt. II”.The big hit is “D A N C E” but that doesn’t do as much for me. The rest of the album is much more interesting in my eyes.

I have been blessed with great music lately and I am thankful for it. I blame GTA IV for turning me on to Kanye West’s “Flashing Lights”, which immediately made me remember how awesome music is in general and made me go seek out that feeling of discovering great stuff that’s out there underneath my small personal radar. Speaking of that, GTA IV is fucking phenomenal. Best of the series by far - one of the few games I’ve played with a truly engrossing storyline, and I hope I’m not spoiling anything by saying it doesn’t end in the typical GTA way of the street scum guy who you’ve been playing for 30 hours ends up happy and rich and without a care in the world. It’s deep and it’s tragic and it’s great.

Another new minor release on the radar…

BRAND NEW NINE INCH NAILS ALBUM, THE SLIP.
COMPLETELY FOR FREE.

HOLY SHIT.

Here comes Trent again to fuck your mind up. At this rate, the man will release more new music in 2008 than he has in the twenty years previous. Think about that. Sure, maybe the quality’s not as absolute-god-perfect as The Downward Spiral or The Fragile was, but taken as a formula where you divide quality by time-per-release (Q over TPR of course), this definitely wins out. I’ll take ten really good albums every five years than one awesome one. Plus it fits more in with the modern disposability of music where albums seem to dominate for a week then disappear… I don’t know. Maybe I’m reading more into it than I should be.

Also, it’s got vocals and is much heavier than Ghosts I-IV was. Much more of a NIN album for sure. Feels more in the vein of With Teeth, and I mean that as a good thing.

Either way, DOWNLOAD THIS GODDAMN ALBUM! You don’t have a reason not to! Seriously, there’s not even a “donate here” box. It’s free, no strings attached.

Enjoy.

Just wanted to quickly pimp out their fourth and latest album, Late Night Cinema. It’s instrumental hip-hop from a producer duo, Kingston and Young God, that has a very distant and unique feel to it - doesn’t really sound like hip-hop at all. The production on this album is fantastic and I highly recommend it as background music for everyday life.

As a side note: I should have given Kanye West more of a listen years ago. His stuff is great and groundbreaking for the genre.

The wonders of breaking ties with major music labels.

Last night, Nine Inch Nails released a new double album of instrumentals without any warning - Ghosts I-IV. Part I is available for free download on the site and officially sanctioned torrents on The Pirate Bay and other sites. For $5, you can get the entire album in your choice of 320kbps MP3 or lossless FLAC (or whatever Apple’s thing is) download from their site.For $10, you get the download and a physical copy mailed to you (+$7 S/H) on April 8th when it’s released. There’s also a $75 deluxe edition with DVD multitracks of all the files ready to be remixed and a Blu-Ray disc featuring a high-def 96/24 stereo mix and accompanying slideshow. Then there’s a $300 mega uberdeluxe limited version including prints and LP copies of the album hand signed by Trent.

I’m done reading off the bullet points though, but as a huge NIN fan and digital distribution fan, this hits me in all the right ways. Radiohead’s In Rainbows was the first major player to try it, while Saul Williams’ Inevitable Rise and Liberation of Niggy Tardust, produced by Trent, was the second. I think the model has gotten better with each release. Offering 1/4 of the thing for free is smarter than giving the entire album away for free and hoping they choose to give you money out of guilt (think of ’90s shareware like Wolf3d/Doom - give them one episode for free, pay if you want the rest). Also $10 for a download and physical double album is a phe-fucking-nomenal price. Again, it’s the beauty of keeping the major labels hands to themselves - music should not cost what FYE charges.

Aside from the business aspect… the album is great. It’s got something for all moods - from sad piano to happy xylophone and even a bit of ethnic flair. I can listen to it safely at work without worrying about Trent screaming “FIST FUCK”, which is nice. I can see myself listening to it wandering around the city at night, laying down and daydreaming in the spring, coding, anything. It features some guitar work by prog king Adrian Belew and some guesting from other people, but at it’s soul it’s still very distinctly NIN. I haven’t had time to fully digest, but regardless, this is yet another step in the right direction for the band, with the past few years bringing With Teeth (which I like despite what anyone says), Year Zero, Niggy Tardust, Ghosts, and the supposedly ’soon’ Year Zero 2. This coming from a man who released only four full albums between 1989 and 2005. I’m living in a bizarre, happy world right now.

I’m also digging back into comics after a long lapse. I started into the Earth X TPB last night - first few pages are great so far, I love the art style and it looks to put an interesting spin on the Marvel Universe. I need to finish Watchmen too, which unfortunately may necessitate restarting the damn thing from the beginning. I hate you, Alan Moore.