Tag Archive for: Music

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Bat for Lashes Saved My Life

The band Bat for Lashes saved my life this morning. No, really. Let me explain. It all started last night while reading Questlove’s tweets. Questlove is the drummer for The Roots. If you don’t know The Roots, they are a fantastic band and also the house band for Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. Bat for Lashes was a guest last night on Late Night, which is why Questlove was tweeting about them. He said how good they were, so I purchased their album last night.

Fast forward to this morning. I wanted to listen to my newly purchased album on the way to work. Normally I listen to hip hop or 90’s alt-rock on my way to work in the morning, and usually at a fairly high volume. Since I decided to go with Bat for Lashes, a relatively chill band, the volume was not up too high. This is what saved my life. I was driving down highway 94, like I do every morning, and I come to the intersection at Harvester and 94. Shortly before I reach the intersection I notice the car in the left lane was not moving. Normally I would have thought the driver was having car troubles and kept on through the intersection. Normally I would have been listening to the music loud enough that I would not have heard the St. Charles County Sheriff’s sirens going off as he comes speeding through the intersection. But I was listening to Bat for Lashes. So I did hear the sirens, I did stop in time, and I did avoid running directly into a Sheriff’s car at 55 mph. My life was saved because of what was playing in my car this morning.

While I didn’t collide head-on with another car, I did almost get hit from behind. The person behind me was not as observant as I was and almost plowed right into the back of me at 55 mph. Luckily he was able to slow and swerve and avoid hitting me. It was scary seeing him miss me by inches and wind up along side of me. Two catastrophes were avoided this morning and Bat for Lashes saved my life. Nothing like a near-death experience to wake you up in the morning.

Music Goes Viral

We have seen movies and television use the tactic of viral marketing a bunch over the past couple years. The TV show LOST has had commercials for the fictional airline Oceanic and there was even a Mr. Clucks commercial with Hurley. Movies such as the Dark Knight have gone to great lengths to get people interested long before the release of the film. People were sent the Gotham Times newspaper with articles made to look real and even featuring advertising for Gotham businesses. There were websites for the Bank of Gotham and Gotham News Network. There was even an elaborate scavenger hunt in various cities and fans had to keep going to find the next clue. Finally, the use of viral marketing has made its way into music, but not by who you’d think.

Viral marketing has made it’s way to independent hip hop label QN5. They are employing the technique for their release Chico and the Man, a duo composed of emcee Tonedeff and producer Kno (of CunninLynguists fame). What’s interesting is that an independent label would go the viral route first, and not a major label with unlimited supply of resources. This goes to show you the power of the internet and social media sites.

So what do we know about this album? There’s not much. Everything that has been found has been by the dedicated fan base working hard at finding any sort of possible information, making guesses, and taking leaps. Only a few clues have been released, but let’s take a look at the clues that were given, how they were given, and the resulting news. All the clues have appeared on the Chico and the Man Twitter account.

Before we look at the clues given, I should point out that the Twitter account background is a clue in itself. If you look at the background file name you see that it’s called fulgenciobatista01011959. Fulgencio Batista was a Cuban dictator, and 0101959 = January 1st, 1959. On that date, Batista was forced out of the country by Castro’s revolution. Could the History of Cuba be one of the topics. There is also the line catm: work for it. twitter is the key. commented out in the code.

Clue number 1: waiting to breathe
No one is sure what this means quite yet. It may be the title of the album or a title of the track off the album.

Clue number 2: love keeps the stars in the firmament and imposes rhythm on the ocean tides – maya angelou
The rest of the poem is as follows:

“Love builds up the broken wall
and straightens the crooked path.
Love keeps the stars in the firmament
and imposes rhythm on the ocean tides,
each of us is created of it
and I suspect
each of us was created for it!”

It seems that the ocean is a major theme for this album, but what does it all mean?

Clue number 3:_fanned by a _pale mist the heart _flutters
There is a lot of speculation on what this one means, what the underscore means, etc. Far too much for me to reprint here, but read what fans have to say.

Clue number 4:18/5/1/3/8/ 23/8/9/20/5 13/1/18/9/16/15/19/1
This turns out to be code for Reach White Mariposa. What does this mean? Well, fans have found White Mariposa. Again, there’s a lot of clues here. Could the tagline “Su Amigo Para más de 45 Años.” mean anything for the album? What about the image titles. The logo is punto4. Point 4. Also, if you call the number, it is for this fake business described on the page, but the message is in Spanish. So if you want to translate an audio message that would help the fans out a great deal.

Your’s truly found the next bit of information. Commented out in the code is cada punto confirma el último. Translated that means “each point confirms the last.” That takes us to…

Clue number 5: cada punto confirma el último
It seems we are on the right track.

There is a lot of information that I have not posted, from meaning of butterflies to speculation on the initials HCK. It is all very fascinating. If you want to play along and love riddles, someone has made a thread to catch everyone up with what we know so far.

I’m excited about this use of marketing. This is definitely innovative. QN5, like one of their slogans says, is always 5 steps ahead of the game.

How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The Bomb

blg_sos_hiltswaltb_drop

Today marks the releases of another QN5 gem. I’m talking of Mr. SOS’s How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The Bomb album.

From QN5.com, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (named after the Stanley Kubrick film) is an amalgam of every bit of darkness and light in the life of SOS and how he is influenced by the world. The album, released by independent powerhouse label QN5 will feature production by Tonedeff, the UK’s Quincey Tones, The BeatChefs, as well as Mr. SOS himself, continuing the progression of cleverly mixing traditional backbeats with abstract production and pensive content. When asked why he chose the title, he simply states, “because the movie is about the end of the world and so is my album.”

I’ve had this album for a week now and it is fantastic.  QN5’s ability to put out great hip hop, release after release, never ceases to amaze me.  Their albums are always killer with no filler.  Please support the artists who make true hip hop.  Please pick up this album today!

BUY DIGITAL @ [iTUNES] | [AMAZON]

BUY PHYSICAL @ [FAT BEATS] | [UGHH] | [SANDBOXAUTOMATIC]

Listen to Bionic (produced by Tonedeff) below.

Blackout! 2

blackout-210 years ago two of the best rappers in the game joined together to finally release an album. The result is one of the better albums from the late 90’s. I’m talking about Method Man and Redman’s Blackout! album. Meth and Red have an undeniable chemistry, on and off the mic. They have been called hip hop’s Cheech and Chong, and their contrasting styles makes makes them the perfect fit for each other.  Method Man is more laid back on the mic, whereas Redman is more aggressive.  10 years have passed without another collaboration album between the two hip hop heavyweights. Today, we see the release Blackout! 2.

I’ve been looking forward to this album for a long time. It’s a reminder of a time when rappers could actually flow and have word play. While some of the lyrics on this album are a bit dated (references to the movies Old School and Tango and Cash), it is one the adults can definitely love while the youngins are listening to the shitty sounds Soulja Boy and Flo Rida.

Don’t get me wrong, this album isn’t amazing or groundbreaking, it’s just more of that Meth and Red that we have all come to love.  Hearing them trade verses again after a 10 year silence is literally music to my ears.  This album has several radio friendly hits, such as A-yo and Mrs. International. It is definitely something you will be able to bump in your car all summer long.  I was excited for this album to drop and I have not been disappointed.  If you are a fan of real hip hop, make sure you buy this album from Amazon or iTunes.

Respect Your Elders

Hip hop is, by far, one of the youngest genres of music in America, but that doesn’t mean it hasn’t been around for a while.  It really is amazing to see that the pioneers of the music are still around entertaining.  I recently read that one of the pioneers, Grandmaster Flash, released a new album.  If you don’t know who Grandmaster Flash is he is one of the men responsible for DJing.  From his official biography:

The career of DJ Grandmaster Flash began in the Bronx with neighborhood block parties that essentially were the start of hip-hop—the dawn of a musical genre. He was the first DJ to physically lay his hands on the vinyl and manipulate it in a backward, forward or counterclockwise motion, when most DJs simply handled the record by the edges, put down the tone arm, and let it play. Those DJs let the tone arm guide their music, but Flash marked up the body of the vinyl with crayon, fluorescent pen, and grease pencil—and those markings became his compass.

The Bridge: Concept of a Culture

The Bridge: Concept of a Culture

He invented the Quick Mix Theory, which included techniques such as the double-back, back-door, back-spin, and phasing. This allowed a DJ to make music by touching the record and gauging its revolutions to make his own beat and his own music. Flash’s template grew to include cuttin’, which, in turn, spawned scratching, transforming, the Clock Theory and the like. He laid the groundwork for everything a hip hop DJ can do with a record today, other than just letting it play. What we call a DJ today is a role that Flash invented.

By the end of the 70s, Flash had started another trend that became a hallmark of hip-hop: emcees asked to rap over his beats. Before long, he started his own group, Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five. Their reputation grew up around the way the group traded off and blended their lyrics with Flash’s unrivaled skills as a DJ and his acrobatic performances—spinning and cutting vinyl with his fingers, toes, elbows, and any object at hand.

Flash, now 51, is still making music. He recently released the album The Bridge – Concept of a Culture featuring artists from all around the world. He is still a grandmaster when it comes to production. Even with all the new technology and style changes in hip hop, the man still has it. If you love hip hop, respect your elders and buy this album.