learned in space: an mp3 blog

This post will be the most appropriate to this blog's name yet, as the next bit of information seems already to be universally known: Johnny Marr of The Smiths has collabrated with Modest Mouse. In fact, Issac Brock, the band's frontman, as gone as far to say that Marr is a "full-fledged member of the band." After Modest Mouse's last stunt of an album, an overly-produced, super commercialized number entitled Good News For People Who Love Bad News, it seems the boys have emerged, hacking out the mini-van fumes, to seek a brighter day. Not that I'm against making an easy 30,000 for a song you've already written, but I'm hoping that the new addition to the band will be less inclinded to the dollar-sign-eyes that have seemed to creep upon the band in the past few years.
A delightful British accent, catchy guitar riffs, & a ledgendary cult following are just a few of Marr's quirks, & I'm hoping that revitilizing a band I thought would perminately be in "I like their old stuff" mode for a good percent of the listeners who slobbered over Lonesome Crowded West will be added to the list of Marrisms. Be on the look out for We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank later this year. My fingers are crossed in hope for this album. No matter the outcome, The Queen is Dead will always be one of my favorite albums. I love you, Johnny.

Posted by Rachel at Tuesday, October 17, 2006 | Permalink | Comments

Seeing as Rachel professed her love for Hella, I thought I would follow suit with the theme of fucking awesome drummers. Gospel is a prog rock band from Brooklyn, New York. The drumming style is complex and fast, very much in the vein of Don Caballero and other acrobatic math rock. Gospel is the Mars Volta if they weren't so fucking boring. There is a minimal emphasis on vocals, which in my oppinion is great. Prog Rock with vocals is characterized by unbearable voices *coughGeddyLee. They also distract from the point of being progressive, being that everyone in the band is ridiculously good at playing their instrument. Gospel is prog rock for party animals (see picture), not D&D players.

The track "A Golden Dawn" is the band longest track on their debut The Moon is a Dead World. It features some impressive keyboard chops, as well as the obvious kick in the face by the unstoppable force that is Gospel's rhythm section.

A Golden Dawn

Posted by Life of Brian at Monday, October 16, 2006 | Permalink | Comments

I am a huge fan of The Wu-Tang Clan. Many people actually don't know that this is actually an acronym (Witty Unpredictable Talent And Natural Game) and really doesn't have a whole lot to do with culture it might imply. The fact of the matter is that all 9 members of Wu-Tang are straight out of Brooklyn. The only difference between them and every other MC from this same area was that, they were the ones that made it cool to come straight from Brooklyn. Rapping (on a label) all the way back to 1993 [Enter The Wu-Tang(36 Chambers)], the clan brought a new sound to the game with GZA's (the genius) unique samples and Ol' Dirty Bastards shouted rhymes that impressed everyone who was smart enough to listen. Nearly every member of this collaboration of artists and MCs has encountered his own solo success at some point since the Clan's inception.
To the point, there are two CDs compiled by Dreddy Kruger (an affliate of the Wu Tang Clan and a part time rapper), only one of which is out (I think). The theme is Wu-Tang meets Indie Culture. This is also the title of the 2005 released CD also dubbed 'Think Differently' (a very obvious play on the popular Apple slogan, which inspired the mix of the Apple logo and the Wu-Tang logo that you see in the CD artwork). The other CD, which appears self-titled with the addition of Dreddy Kruger's name, seems to be tough to find even online. Regardless of it's availability, it is by far the most exciting thing I've heard in the rap genre since Wu's freshman CD '36 Chambers'. The CDs feature several independent rappers and artists [Aesop Rock, Ras Kass, MF Doom, + tons more] that add exactly what the Clan has been missing these days, their indie feel. It wasn't their fault that their sound became mainstream. That is great, and I don't blame Wu-Tang, but they never impressed me as much in recent releases, because they never offered anything quite as original as their first. The level of rappers they brought onto these two albums are of the same caliber of any of the 9, and the mix is perfect. The sound is original and there are definite and obvious throw backs to classics. One example of this would be the samples behind "Chamber of Fear (feat. Rev William Burk)," which sounds suprisingly like one of my favorites "Wu-Tang Clan Ain't Nothin To F*ck With."
There is really too much to talk about in these two discs to write one article on, but I know the rap genre isn't what our very limited readership is interested in, so I will end shortly. I just hope you give the incredibly real and intense lyrics and creative samples of the clan a listen. These compilations don't dissapoint. For any of you Ol' Dirty Bastard fans, there is one tribute track, featuring exclusively sampled work from ODB himself, that satisfies your inner-'dirty'.

Check out these ill tracks from The Wu-Tang Clan:

Wu Tang Clan - Think Different Sampler
(Really cool sampler directly from Wu-Tang that has clips from several of the songs on the CD)

Wu Tang Clan - Lyrical Swords (GZA and Ras Kass) (from the first Disc "Think Differently")

Wu Tang Clan - Chamber of Fear (feat. Rev William Burk) (New 2006 release)

Posted by Alex Sexton at Monday, October 09, 2006 | Permalink | Comments

A few days ago my roommate and I decided to have a party, only the second we've had here at 1412 regardless of the spaciousness of our apartment & our love of good whiskey & better beer. I had saved a mix for such an occasion, and played it, but I think people were more interested in getting ass-drunk than dancing all night long. If you're rolling out of bed [or off of the floor] with a hangover, as I'm sure some of the people in our living room are, here are some beats that will lift your spirits, without hurting that poor headache of yours.

Posted by Rachel at Sunday, October 08, 2006 | Permalink | Comments