Twentieth Post: LIL UGLY MANE, "UNEVEN COMPROMISE" (2012)

Happy Halloween. In honor of today, I wanted to make a post on one of the spookiest artists I know: the Ugly Mane himself.

Lil Ugly Mane (stylized LIL UGLY MANE, referred to as LUM from now on) is a noise artist. During any conversation about the Richmond, Virginia-based musician, I make sure to include that first. He makes noise, punk, metal, avant-garde, and most notably, hip-hop. He's a scrawny white guy named Travis Miller who produces under the name Shawn Kemp (or variations on it) and blew up in the post-first-wave-internet-rapper ooze that birthed Odd Future and, to a degree, Death Grips. He makes (well, made) gangsta rap with gimmicky pitch-shifted vocals with a fixation on death and drugs. But when you dig a little beneath the surface, things get unsettling really quickly.

After his mixtape "MISTA THUG ISOLATION" took the internet by storm (following a few demos and a preview mixtape titled "PLAYAZ CIRCLE" that got minimal attention), LUM began to play with the Bandcamp platform to create a persona that would become somewhat legendary. The jump in quality from the demos to "MISTA THUG ISOLATION" was notable: the vocals were produced very well in their low pitch, the beats were fantastic, and the lyrical content was disturbing and (while not subtle) intelligent in their delivery. It left people hungry for more. But LUM went dark, posting cryptic semi-albums and singles, then a triptych of instrumental mixtapes (the last one landing around two and a half hours long) that included everything from unused, dusty and gorgeous hip-hop beats to searing noise and black metal. Finally, he satisfied curiosity with his elegy to hip-hop and the LUM persona ("ON DOING AN EVIL DEED BLUES", a fantastic track) and then his dying gasp ("THE WEEPING WORM" followed by the swan song "Oblivion Access"), nailing the coffin shut.

"UNEVEN COMPROMISE" is a single/EP in the curious period following "MISTA THUG ISOLATION" and before his "Three Sided Tape" series. Its two parts (one intro cut, better heard than described, and a proper song made of multiple discernible sections) are the best thing LUM has ever put out. From the fantastic beats to meticulous songwriting to the jaw-dropping lyrics, LUM pushes horrorcore and other jokey genres into a place of uncomfortable reality. I'll be talking about the second part of "UNEVEN COMPROMISE" below, going into each section in length.

")))____◎◎◎◎█████", or as it's more commonly referred to, "Uneven Compromise", starts as a black metal song disguised as a grimy hip-hop track. Horror-movie bells chime as clicks and moans fade in from the background, and with a few artificial snare cracks, LUM's voice intones "Corrupted by the darkness / Now you fall into an endless sleep". And, fuck, it gets so much more fun. "Satanic prophecies / Christian hypocrisy"? "Flesh is the fabric that covers my robes / Blood is the matter that built up my throne"? "Same wolf from that folklore / Drinking blood right out of that goat horn"?! It's fucking Burzum! It's Bathory! It's Darkthrone! This shit is disturbing! As the beat fades out, pianos lightly plink to bring us out of the hellhole we've been thrust into.

A sampled quote discusses the implications of rap on our behavior, possibly alleviating some of the darkness heaped upon the first section. As the sample, layered in reverb, fades away, a boom-bap beat with flutes and jingling chimes recall 90s hip-hop while another sample discusses existentialist ideas in music and art. These two quotes and samples are thought-provoking in their placement in and over the song. This section ends by slowing down to a stop.

What follows is a well put-together sound collage, repeated over a growing, noisy drone. The four lines are all samples from other songs, describing the music industry as the reason we are disenfranchised with music itself. As everything grows to a crescendo, the collage cuts out.

The 90s aesthetic returns suddenly with beautiful piano chords and live drum beats cradling record scratches and a simple bass line. The lyrics fly in suddenly, telling a very personal story describing an encounter someone (maybe LUM, maybe an everyman) has with a friend dealing with addiction. From the writing to delivery, this section is heartbreaking. As we come to learn more about these characters, their plight becomes much more relatable until we feel connected to them. When the story comes to its shocking conclusion, LUM cuts us away to another, slightly more off-putting and worryingly anxious beat. With cut up vocal samples and tape hiss, this section drags along until it dies away. But there's still 26 seconds left.

Here, LUM lets us have it. All the bottled rage and intensity that can't come through with something as orchestrated as hip-hop is unleashed as a raging harsh noise wall. The song floors it until it cuts away, dropping us right back where we started. It's fucking genius: in a multi-tiered song, LUM forces us past our comfort zone and doesn't even let it end! We're mid-beatdown, and like the sadist he is, he won't finish us off.

"UNEVEN COMPROMISE" is great. No way around it. Jumping into LUM's entire mythos is tiring and more disappointing than not, but it is pretty fucking interesting. This is the apex, though, where he shakes the praise and familiarity of "MISTA THUG ISOLATION" (an album I admittedly don't like) and steps into something truly special.

Fucked up shit. Happy Halloween. Links below.

https://liluglymane.bandcamp.com/album/uneven-compromise ("UNEVEN COMPROMISE")
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L7-p1Wy3oLs ("Uneven Compromise - Live")

http://tinyurl.com/zkmprsf (MEGA)

Nineteenth Post: Danny Brown, "Atrocity Exhibition" (2016)

When Danny Brown created a visceral portrait of drug addiction and party culture on "XXX" and "Old", the world responded with what amounted to a shrug. While some recognized him as the insanely talented, idiosyncratic and unique voice he was, many others lumped him in with "shock" rappers - using his intense subject matter as a crutch, or gimmick. Danny knew that he would have to go completely nuts to shake these opinions, and on his latest record, his first for Warp, he does.

From the opening seconds of "Downward Spiral", Danny and Paul White (his primary producer for the record) inform us that this thing will pull no punches. Using a heavy, thick, psych-rock inspired instrumental with reverbed guitar stabs and seemingly random drum hits, the pair throw us headfirst into the sweaty, claustrophobic drug haven Danny describes. His singular, strangled, squeaking voice is like a bleat from the underworld - when he shouts, "gotta figure it out", it's almost a challenge. In a way, this track is the mission statement: from the pit of darkness and self-loathing driving the lyrics to the downright challenging instrumental, the entire album follows its lead.

"Tell Me What I Don't Know" is an excellent follow-up to this track by playing it a bit straighter - Danny even raps this song in a "normal" voice. It may be the song that most reflects Danny's roots in more ways than one: it's deeply sad, following a dead friend's life in Detroit, and uses a beat including heavy synth lines with breakbeats. There are a few odd, intentional omissions and additions in the beat and lyrics here, making a seemingly straightforward track that much more strange and intriguing. "Rolling Stone" follows suit in that way, with production and a feature by Petite Noir grounding this track in reality. There are wonderful little additions like cowbell or a heavy, organic bass line. It's significantly darker than most songs on the album, making the opening sequence up until this point pretty soul-crushing.

Much has been written or talked about in terms of the next track and well-loved single, "Really Doe". From the absolutely incredible verses from every artist here (Ab-Soul, Kendrick Lamar, and Earl Sweatshirt) to the minimal, fantastic production (Black Milk), even to the placement of the verses and the progression of the beat, this song is excellent. It's definitely in contention for single of the year, and it's easily the best posse cut I've heard for a while. And Earl is definitely getting deserved recognition - his verse absolutely brims with bottled violence.

The run following "Really Doe" may be my favorite on the album: "Lost" has a totally wonky, dirty, disgusting sample-based beat and some of Danny's best-written verses. It's funny, intimidating, and his flow is insane: Myke C-Town, a pretty great critic, asserted that no one else can do what Danny does in terms of how he puts his words together over these instrumentals. I agree. His threats are for real, and they all come from his impeccable musical ability. "Ain't It Funny" is fucking fantastic, no way around it. From the blaring horns that just peel your eyes back, to Danny's breathless and bloodthirsty delivery, to the insane effects layered over the entire thing... this track is amazing, taking hip-hop to a place not many people would dare to touch, while Danny dives right in. "Golddust" and "White Lines" take even more liberties - it gets downright overwhelming in the layers of horns and Eastern elements splattered all over the entire thing. "White Lines" features a mind-blowingly weird moment when Danny raps rapid-fire over flute bursts of a sample in almost Busdriver, "Imaginary Places" style. The ad-libs just add to the entire feeling. It's very Warp Records, both these tracks. It's mentioned that this album feels like being on drugs, and these songs are perfect examples of this.

"Pneumonia" is almost a simple song - from the opening, with ominous clanking and bell hits, we're expecting Danny to take his foot off the pedal for a second. Then the verse hits, and his flow returns to something completely unpredictable, but he makes it sound effortless. While the song plays wildly with expectations, it does seem to break the concept for a second, something Danny's addressed. It's a party song for the paranoid and high.

He jumps right back in on "Dance in the Water", a sample-based track that feels like a layer of grime layered on top of you that Danny eventually sets on fire. It's weird. It's really fucking weird. Paul White and Danny turn a dance instruction into a song, painting Danny as the ruler of some disturbing land where he is the dance god. I can't explain this song, but that's nowhere near a bad thing. The chorus is just completely undeniable.

"From the Ground" is something of a breath of air - Kelela's feature is excellent, and the song really does a good job of making you look around at the atmosphere Danny's made so far. "When It Rain", the first single, features Danny's impeccable flow and a singular Detroit drum style but its four-on-the-floor drums really pound at your head, almost to the point where you want to tap out. "Today" follows these tracks up with a relatively easy-to-understand song. It's paranoid and scary, sure, but in terms of listenability its not that oppressive. It's a great track, especially when taking the lyrics into consideration, speaking about Danny's lifestyle and the decisions people make in environments where they seem to have no other choice.

Then there's "Get Hi". Which sounds like being high. I can't listen to it, usually, or I get sort of stuck and have to listen to it over and over. It's amazingly well done, beautiful and thought-provoking, especially when he lists off jazz greats who had horrible drug addictions. It's a strange setup when you listen to the last song, following it. "Hell for It" is restrained but may be Danny's angriest song. He speaks to those who didn't recognize him for the talent he is, vowing to give them hell for it. And unlike most songs of this nature, he deserves the chance to say this. 

This album is amazing. There's nothing quite like it, even in the large pool of experimental hip-hop around, Danny has crafted something spectacularly unique. I think it's one for the history books: the time when mainstream hip-hop got a huge slap in the face in the form of the most experimental album to be widely accepted in fucking years. 

"Atrocity Exhibition" takes its name from Joy Division and JG Ballard, two uncompromising figures. Add Danny Brown. Links below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YNogzmuULLM ("Ain't It Funny")

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=csxSwkl4Gd0 ("Pneumonia")

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=spfsdpuvUyQ ("Really Doe")

http://tinyurl.com/h5hu9kp (MEGA)

Eighteenth Post: Five Singles (Plus an EP) (10/19)

Been a while since one of these posts. There's been a lot of great music announced and coming out, so I wanted to squeeze in one of these before getting back to albums. Lots more modern music coming soon as well as older shit. Stay tuned.

Clarence Clarity - SAME EP/Telenovela
The reigning king of post-ironic, legitimately exciting internet-fueled pop and electronic music returns with an "EP" - five songs, with each song being exactly the same. Hence the title. While there are tiny little differences in each track, what we're getting here is essentially a single, but luckily it's fantastic. From the first second, disorienting arpeggiated chords and children shouting clue the listener in that Clarity has returned with his traditional maximalist sound with possibly even more layers to peel back. What makes his music so amazing is the replay value: every single time you listen you hear something new. Maybe the raga-inspired guitar line, subtle in the pre-chorus, or the chanted background vocals, pitch-shifted both high and low, maybe the buzzsaw synths over pounding drum machines with an almost dubstep-like feel. While "SAME" 1-5 are fantastic, there's a hidden track on Clarity's SoundCloud called "Telenovela" that is as good or better. It focuses more on a tight groove, but with sudden and odd shifts into Spanish music and themes, with synth horns in a prominent role. That is, until the song becomes incredibly dubstep-inspired with a prominent drop and synth wobbles following it, then jumping back to its original style. Both songs are excellent and compliment each other nicely, showing Clarity adding more method and madness. No news of a longer release has been accounced as of now.
https://soundcloud.com/clarence-clarity/sets/same-ep
https://soundcloud.com/clarence-clarity/telenovela-hidden-track/s-1gzT0

Wormrot - Hollow Roots
Wormrot is a grindcore band from Singapore that plays as much in a traditional style (early Napalm Death as a main soundalike) and in a moodier, slightly more straightforward angle all their own. This cut from their new album, "Voices", is fantastically heavy and dark. From the opening D-beat rhythms suddenly jumping into a wonderfully orchestrated grind section, this track is unique and powerful, with well-recorded guitar lines coming out beautifully. It's a strangely pretty track in its own way, especially from the guitar melodies - the album is out now, and its a doozy. Might be a post on it at some point. "Voices" is out on Earache Records.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1IPSTb84JoI
https://wormrot.bandcamp.com/album/voices

Landlady - Electric Abdomen
I caught Landlady open for Okkervil River at the Metro, and I was really surprised and happy with their lighthearted, beautiful approach to indie pop and rock music. They announced their latest album, "The World is a Loud Place", just today. They've shared two tracks here, and I remember the track I chose from their live performance, with their outspoken frontman delving into the song's history before jumping in. It's slower than some of their other tracks, but it features some Landlady traits: odd rhythm (5/4 for most of it, I believe), funny lyrics, group harmonies (subtle, here), and a focus on a lighthearted mood, something kind of comforting in today's world. It's a very pretty song but has a nice evolution to it, something you can dance or just happily nod to. Fun live show, too. "The World is a Loud Place" is out January 16th on Hometapes.
https://landlady.bandcamp.com/album/the-world-is-a-loud-place

Luke Roberts - Silver Chain
Luke Roberts' newest album is just a great record, though it's hard to pin down. It's not strict country, it's not blues enough to be blues, and though I guess it could be simplified to singer-songwriter that strips away some of its charm. This lead single was a fantastic jumping off point: I had never heard of Roberts before this track, which was, and is, absolutely stunning. It's beautifully simple, pairing very well with Roberts' say-it-like-it-is poetry. Its simplicity is deceptive, though: there's a lot here to listen to. Fantastic harmonies and banjo additions come from Kurt Vile, and excellent piano and synth lines just barely brush up against delicate piano melodies. It's a gorgeous song, one steeped in older traditions but very recognizable as a modern take. "Sunlit Cross" is out now on Thrill Jockey.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDG2l4J3N3c
http://www.thrilljockey.com/products/sunlit-cross

Cloud Nothings - Modern Act
Indie rock band Cloud Nothings return from a few years of silence with a new(ish) sound and album announcement. Their last album saw them stripping away some of the grit and harder-rock elements on their breakout album, "Attack on Memory". This seems to be even more in that direction, but in my opinion, it's not a bad move. They've proved that they can write some catchy, interesting material while keeping it lighter (at least sonically) through singles on "Here and Nowhere Else" or their collaborative album with Wavves. Though both projects had weak moments, there were songs here that proved Cloud Nothings could move away from their past with maintaining solid songwriting. They prove it here, making a single that's easy on the ears but heavy on the heart. Dylan Baldi, their lead singer, acknowledges this melancholy: it's just a "lil bit emo". This song is catchy, first and foremost, but after repeated listens it becomes wonderfully sad. It's a very good sounding song, as well - it doesn't seem that losing some of the original lineup has impacted the full-sounding band here. While I love their Albini-produced material, this song is a solid reason to anticipate the new record. "Life Without Sound" is out January 27th on Carpark.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YNaMY8ssUfA
http://store.carparkrecords.com/products/571782-cak115-cloud-nothings-life-without-sound

Smidley - No One Likes You
As someone who has always been neutral or less on all of Foxing's music, this came out of nowhere. Conor Murphy, lead singer of emo, post-rock and indie rock band Foxing makes a solo debut as Smidley and writes a strict indie pop and rock song, the kicker is it's fucking excellent. From the plinky, twangy guitar lines to the fuzzy bass and cute drum line, this song has character just from the instrumental. Murphy plays it straight here, dipping into a strangled shout in some heavier moments but the entire thing is so beautifully light and airy, perfectly contrasting the hilariously dark lyrics. This song is not exactly the antithesis of Foxing, but it's very unexpected in a good way. What's a shame is that this is probably a one-off.
https://smidley.bandcamp.com/track/no-one-likes-you

Seventeenth Post: Jeff Rosenstock, "WORRY." (2016)

This post will be a bit longer, as I'm writing on one of my personal heroes. You can't have a conversation about the DIY scene without talking about Quote Unquote records, you can't forget to bring up Bomb the Music Industry!, and you sure as hell can't leave out Jeff fucking Rosenstock. This guy almost singlehandedly burgeoned an entire DIY pop-punk scene in New York in the early 2000s through his fierce ideology and vision. I think what Jeff wants is that everyone, truly everyone, has a good time, usually involving screaming self-deprecating lyrics about clinical depression and inebriation.

Jeff's main projects have been the Arrogant Sons of Bitches, Bomb the Music Industry!, and work under his own name. He's also worked with Andrew Jackson Jihad (now AJJ), the Bruce Lee Band and Kudrow. In his earliest projects, he leaned heavily into ska-punk and almost painfully bright pop-punk, replete with horns and shout-along choruses. What made them so likable was not only Jeff's singular bleat but the unabashed sloppiness with which projects were rolled out. He's a prolific guy, you have to say that about him. And considering the depth to which Jeff dives in the lyrics, you'd be hard-pressed to find a songwriter with more passion in attacking his shortcomings.

A main aspect of these early project was the DIY ethos: no merch, concert tickets at ten dollars or under, all ages. You can bring a sweat-stained white shirt and Jeff will spray paint BTMI! in a heart on it, but they made the music to make the music. Jeff's presence in the music industry is an amazing anomaly: he runs his own pay-what-you-want label called Quote Unquote Records, and a new one called Really Records, and makes music with his friends. As his name grew, aspects of this have faded away: he sells merch through Side One Dummy Records, and for the first time he had a budget on a record. That led to "WORRY."

Now, let's get to this new record. I have to admit that I'm not the biggest fan of most of the Arrogant Sons of Bitches, and even some of Bomb the Music Industry! wears at me. Jeff's history with ska-punk and pop-punk seems to rear its head occasionally, and with a 17-song tracklist that caused some worries going in to this album. But what Jeff puts out here might be his best material ever. He takes all the self-loathing of his last record and fuses it with different genres, creating a patched-together portrait of a person overcome with, well, worry.

Jeff states in the documentary on Bomb the Music Industry! that he has trouble seeing himself making the music he was making past 30. At 34, Jeff has proved himself right and wrong: the music here is different, by all means, but he spits on "maturity" as seen traditionally by music media. This is pop-punk, indie rock, power balladry, ska-punk, hardcore punk and synth flute-led interludes all clattering around in a runtime of under 40 minutes. Jeff's incorporation of all these disparaging genres into something as beautifully cohesive and entertaining as "WORRY." is nothing short of amazing.

This record starts with a power ballad, "We Begged 2 Explode", in the style of "Beers Again Alone" from "We Cool?", beginning with a simple piano line and becoming a blown-out scream-along celebrating the horrifying and totally unstoppable passage of time. At what I assume is a new year's party, Jeff imagines his friends leaving, falling in love, then out of love. They jump around wildly to a song and Jeff states what may be the mission statement of the album: stop sneering at our joy. This song is beautiful in its own way, and may be my favorite on the project. It's a release of bottled anger that provides a catharsis that only sweaty shows with your favorite bands can provide.

He moves into what appears to be another slow track following this, but it suddenly bursts into Jeff's traditional Weezer-after-a-few-beers pop-punk with undeniable melodies and fuzzed out bass and guitars complimenting the subtle horns and Jeff's yells. It's one of many tracks under the two-minute mark here, and shows that Jeff's no-bullshit approach to songwriting keeps these songs memorable and lean. Following this is the first single from the album, "Festival Song". It describes an existential crisis at a music festival, and Jesus, if you read the lyrics, its fucking depressing. It's an expertly-written song, and the pop-punk stylings provide a wonderful contrast with the content.

"Staring Out the Window at Your Old Apartment" is a fun, synth-piano led track about getting evicted. Here, Jeff lets himself wallow in a surprisingly engaging way, as we're led through the simple melodies with his traditionally wordy lyrics. The next track, "Wave Goodnight to Me", is similar to "Festival Song" in that it uses an older pop-punk style to send its message of age and changing into our ears with sweet guitar solos and shout-along choruses. "To Be a Ghost..." begins with an acoustic guitar and simple synth lines, and may be the most uplifting song on the album. It asks the listener to not become a ghost, avoid the hate of those who want to stop you. While it's a simple message, Jeff sings it with such purpose and anger that you can't help but smile. The track takes a left turn into a jam session in the second half, complete with hand-claps and harmonized guitar solos. When Jeff comes back to the chorus, the song is a triumphant celebration of all accomplishments we've made.

The next two tracks, "Pietro, 60 Years Old" and "I Did Something Weird Last Night" begin to incorporate elements of bright, blisteringly fun indie rock. The first song acts an introduction at only thirty-eight seconds, a weird little interlude that hypes up the second song, one about long-distance relationships in college. While depressing and totally unsure of itself, the lyrics are fantastic. The melodies and rhythms on this song are equally impressive. The quickly spit out triplets leading up the chorus are performed so fucking well. It's another incredibly high point on an album filled with them.

After this song, Jeff embarks on what may be the most ambitious musical feat he's put to record. A nine-song medley, burning through over half the tracklist and tackling disparate styles and winding down on the final track. And, though same may be put off, I believe it works beautifully. It's an amazing, breathless run that proves Jeff's abilities as a songwriter.

The beginning of the medley is relatively slow, though harmonized guitar solos, xylophones, horns and voice-shredding yells on the second half make for an amazingly crafted indie rock song that ends with a beautiful buildup to the rollicking, more-punk-than-pop track "Bang on the Door". The song describes dreading the landlord, and the infectious melody and rhythm harken back to absolute best BTMI! tracks. This track lands at around a minute, and my only complaint is that there isn't more.

"Bang on the Door" transitions, seamlessly, to a track I'm sure some people are dreading: "Rainbow", an honest to God ska-punk song. The placement of this song is funny as hell, and its a surprisingly well put-together track with bitingly funny lyrics and some excellent drum and guitar work. It's tightly wound and angry, but puts a fun spin on it. The next track loses the fun spin. Jeff totally lets that anger and anxiety out on "Planet Luxury". Jeff yells at the top of his lungs at an impeccably fast pace - it's the closest Jeff has every gotten to hardcore punk, complete with a bone-rattling howl at the end.

The transition out of "Planet Luxury" is jarring, intentionally, and here Jeff crafts what is essentially "We Cool?" 2.0, which is by no means a bad thing. "Hellllhoooole" is funny, played very well, and is only one of the weakest songs on the album due to placement in the tracklist. The transition out of this track into "June 21st" is fantastic, like many others, and uses the melodies presented in the prior track to make a new, equally great track. Group harmonies and ascending musical lines paint Jeff's picture of coming out of seasonal depression very well. He jumps from this into "The Fuzz", a close-to-pop song at first with bright sequenced synths and drum machines that suddenly bursts into a painfully sad pop-punk meets indie rock tune.

The next track acts not only as a continuation of "The Fuzz" but also to "To Be a Ghost...", a move that is not only clever for linking the two "halves" of the album but also for continuing the themes of life, death, and impermanence. The song begins to rise up and up and finally explodes into the last song, "Perfect Sound Whatever". It's a simple song with repeated lines, based on shouting along to bright, celebratory chords referencing the lack of a perfect sound, anywhere. Nothing is perfect, and Jeff, as a perfectionist, struggles deeply with this. The song is not bogged down by this though, instead claiming one day we won't have to constantly apologize. It's atypically happy and a fantastic note to leave the album on as the track fades away.

This record is excellent, one of Jeff's best and sure to be one of my favorites this year. It's the sound of an excellent songwriter crafting song after song that add up to an excellent picture of not only himself, but of a group of people too scared of growing to fully commit themselves. I loved having the opportunity to see songs come from their infancy by getting to contribute gang vocals to the album, as well.

Fucking great album. Links below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z7MPzv78cWs ("Wave Goodnight to Me")
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQ9kYqOlkq8 ("Planet Luxury")
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mfoCf5cQBzc ("The Making of WORRY.")

http://www.quoteunquoterecords.com/qur088.htm - "WORRY.", from Quote Unquote Records! Free download! Do it! Why not? Do it!