All posts by Jake Krez

A writer/publicist/media hired hand from Chicago, Il who came up writing for the Chicago Sun Times where he helped break artists like Chance The Rapper, Vic Mensa, Kids These Days and many more. Since then Jake has written for the likes of XXL, Complex, Noisey, New City, Billboard, DJBooth and many others while staying up to date on all things Chicago music and beyond.
Interview, Music

INTERVIEW WITH AN HORSE’S KATE COOPER

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Verum Magazine, February 2012

Kate Cooper and Damon Cox of An Horse

Verum had a chance to catch up with An Horse’s Kate Cooper. who with Damon Cox make up the band An Horse, while she was in the studio working on new material. The duo sets out on tour March 9 and visits the Blue Moose March 11. An abbreviated version of this article ran in the VMix section of the current issue of Verum.

Verum: Is this a typical tour for you?

Kate: This one is the perfect size. For me, it all feels kind of overwhelming, I have a month of dates and five dates in Australia which is totally manageable. In the past we’ve done two months in the states and a few weeks in Europe so it is just much easier to manage. It’s also one of our last tours on this record which is cool.

Verum: Are you currently working on new material?

Kate: That’s what I’m supposed to be doing instead of Googling coffee shops (laughs).  I’m actually set up in front of my computer and watching it open and it’s all set up and instead of doing what I’m meant to be doing I’m reading about coffee.

Verum: Is there a direction with the new album?

Kate:  We’re still in the early stages so I’m just writing, writing, writing. I have an albums worth of material but I think that we want to have, before we can contemplate recording, we need four or five albums worth of material. I’ve got some work to do, which I’m currently not doing. (laughs)

Verum: What can we expect from an An Horse show?

Kate: Serious rock and roll. It’ll be a bit longer, a few covers maybe thrown in. We’re not playing anything new just yet, can’t do that but we expect to have a lot of fun.

Verum: How did An Horse come to be?

Kate: Damon and I are from Brisbane, Australia originally and we worked in a record store there . He worked there a couple of years before me and I got the job there later. I didn’t know Damon well, I knew of him but we hadn’t met officially. I worked at the store for a couple of years and we’d go out after work and drink and talk about music and then we’d go to work and drink coffee and talk about music so we had this simple and amazing friendship. We understood each other and joked about starting this band. He used to get off work and tell me to pretend that we were on tour in America which at the time seemed to be the furthest thing from reality for us. We started jamming together and liked it and kept doing it. It’s the most unintentional band that ever came into being. We didn’t intentionally do anything.

Verum: Are you surprised at all by your success?

Kate: Well I mean success is an interesting term and there’s lots of levels to it. On one hand what we’re doing is crazy and amazing and very successful and on the other hand other bands are far more successful so I mean I’m still amazed I get to do this and we get to play with all these amazing people and bands, yeah I’m blown away. It’s just about time and hard work.

Verum: What’s the writing process like?

Kate: I don’t really try to achieve anything. It just happens so I guess a lot of that record was just about a lot of the things that were going on in my life which is basically the way I approach it. I don’t really try to do anything because I think if I think about it too much it would freak me out. I do what I do. I would prefer to just be a poet but you can’t make any money as a poet (laughs).

Verum: What’s next for An Horse

Kate: I think mainly the focus is to knuckle down and write but I could be wrong. I’m a bit out of the loop because I ask to be kept out of the loop, don’t worry too much or freak myself out about travel schedules and whatnot. But I actually have no idea at this point which makes me think that we’ll just have to wait and see. We’ll wrap this tour up, go to Australia and do that and then get down to writing, try to make a new record at some point. I’d like to have a new album done this year.

Music, Music Review

ALBUM REVIEW – J.COLE – COLE WORLD: THE SIDELINE STORY

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J. Cole – “Cole World: The Sideline Story” – An Instant Classic

In today’s instant media-driven world quality can sometimes get lost in the shuffle of pushing the product to the masses. Over the past two years North Carolina MC and Jay-Z protege, J. Cole has certainly produced his fair share of material, providing the hip-hop scene with some of the most sought-after mixtapes over that span. Cole World: The SIdeline Story is the tale of J. Cole’s rise from college student to the next in line for hip-hop’s next generation of anointed rhymers by crafting an album that is both socially conscious and impressive in the craft of the stories he spins.

J. Cole – Sideline Story

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Perhaps the most telling part of J. Cole’s initial iTunes release is his development  of not only of lyrics and delivery, but also of that most important skill these days, production. On tracks like “In The Morning” Cole creates a breezy, airy beat complemented by his flowery lyrics detailing love at first sight, sort of. he counteracts that with the electro-pop inspired “Daddy’s Little Girl” which delves into the world of young women growing up in dire circumstances. J. Cole’s patience in releasing this latest project pays off as it becomes a testament to his continuous improvement and innate need to do just that. Both in production and on the mic, the assortment of tempos, subjects and rhyme schemes J. Cole attacks prove that he has certainly gotten off the bench and crossed the sideline into the game.

The hip-hop world was first introduced to J. Cole as a kid fresh off his college days when he scored a feature on Jigga’s The Blueprint III album, spitting a verse on the track A Star is Born. Since then he has released some of the hottest mixtapes around including,Friday Night Lights, The Come Up, The Blow Up and most recently the Any Given Sunday series, a collection of tracks passed on for the album.

What I found most interesting was the way Cole demonstrated his progression through the use of earlier tracks originally produced for the aformentioned mixtape releases. “In The Morning” popped up on both Friday Night Lights  and  The Blow Up but takes on a different tone on the latest release, easing in with the same opening line “Baby, you summertime fine” before veering off and adding small differences in the beat, while adding a hook from Drake. Likewise, “Dollar and a Dream III” is a continuation of tracks by similar names on The Warm Up. The lyrics tweaked and the beat deeper and more soulful, Cole shows his prowess as both a lyricist and a producer. The newer versions of the songs act almost as earlier drafts of a story written by an author.

The album is an instant classic much in the same vein as Jay-Z’s 1998 breakout albumReasonable Doubt. To appreciate it fully, you may want to check out his previous works to better understand the concept that pervades.

Music, Music Review

ALBUM REVIEW: ELIOT LIPP & JASIA 10 – HOW WE DO

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TheUntz.com, October 2011

Jazz, as it evolved, took on two very distinct tempos most often classified as “hot” and “cold” jazz styles. Hot jazz was fast, more experimental and got folks on their feet and moving whereas cold or cool jazz evoked a mellow tone with a swinging vibe that allowed them to ease and ride the notes. Eliot Lipp’s latest offering, How We Do, would fall under the latter of those two sun-genres when applied to electro.

Seven years ago Eliot Lipp was working in a Los Angeles coffee shop, since retiring from life as a barista and dropping his first album, S/X on Eastern Developments the Tacoma, Washington native has released ten studio albums, How We Do, the latest in a line of genre-shifting synth beats and creative sampling that mesh with the “cool” sentiment that have the feelings of Chet Baker composition. While the music is different, the notes and schemes relay the same feeling of airiness and light flowing beats.

Eliot Lipp and Jasia 10 – “Acen It” 

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For his latest offering, Lipp teams up with fellow Washingtonian Jasia 10. The unsigned artist from the west coast shows what he can do, lending a signature tone that effectively mirrors Lipp’s own style which meshes elements of several genres and instrumentation to create something wholly unique and distinguishable. Lipp often performs with a live drummer and it is that element that drives many of the tracks on How We Do

On “Acen It” Lipp reaches back to his 70s-fusion influence pulling together a tightly wound horn section with a rollicking bass line that keeps the ears in tune and the head bobbing. The clean drumlines throughout the track lend effective transitions for the beat to build to a point before toppling down, waiting on the drums to kick it back into place. Of the albums songs, “Acen It” shows a mastering of composition and arrangement that plays together in perfect syncopation.

Lipp and Jasia 10 show off the full smorgasbord of what they are capable of on “Genesis”. Starting of slow and swinging, the tune plays off well-laid synth notes and billowing upbeats that play to Lipp’s love of hip-hop. The track reminded me a lot of early RJD2 and the light; airy feel is kept constant throughout the track before morphing into something completely different at the 3:20 mark. Adding throbbing synths and quick percussion, the walk in the park takes on a transient dream-like state that throbs out until the end of the track. Where many producers would have felt satisfied, Lipp pushes the envelope to create something endearing and memorable.

Lipp and Jasia came together to create a very impressive album in How We Do. The heavenly feel the beats bring make for easy listening and the album is perfect to vibe out to in any situation. Lipp will be rolling through Arizona with shows in Tempe and Tucson October 6 and 8. It is impressive that Lipp brought on a local talent to do the bidding on the new album but the gamble pays off, a throwback to earlier times while moving the genre progressively forward at all costs.

Music, Music Review

ALBUM REVIEW: FRANK OCEAN – DREAMKILLA

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MIDCOAST MUSIC, NOVEMBER 2012

Frank Ocean has had quite a year. Since dropping his debut mixtapeNostalgia/Ultra in March of this year he has seen his stock skyrocket to the tune of over 150,000 downloads on Datpiff.com, features on Tyler, The Creator’s debut album Goblin, culminating maybe most notably with two features on Kanye West and Jay-Z’s major release Watch The Throne which were met with glowing reviews.

The appeal of the Odd Future crew member is his ability to be a breath of fresh air for a stagnant R&B still being desperately clung to by the likes of Chris Brown and Usher. That the likes of Kanye and Jay-z turned to him for the ballads on their much anticipated collaboration, not to mention the lead song. As is pretty recent memory, Watch The Throne went on to earn an 8.5 rating from Pitchfork and break iTunes sales records, vaulting Mr. Ocean to the stratosphere. Unfortunately, he is hardly scratching the clouds with his latest release, DreamKilla.

Frank Ocean –  Acura Integurl

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What set Frank Ocean apart on Nostalgia/Ultra was his originality and indie sounds that lent itself as a stark contrast to the slick dance moves, shimmering jackets and domestic disputes of the most previous R&B kings. For much of DreamKilla we see him falling into a more typical sound, the beats accompanying his voice seeming somehow less thoughtful than his earlier release. To put it a bit more simply, much of the mixtape felt tacky compared to what I have come to expect from Frank.

Now let me flip again here and say that I did like some of the mixtape, also understanding that it was not an official release by the young crooner, instead a collection of new songs he has been working on lately. “Denim” is a solid track with the echoes of the Frank Ocean I knew, spinning together a tale while simply talking about his jeans. The beat comes in on a heavy bass throbbing the listener into the song before giving way to Ocean’s soulful vocals. “She” Ocean’s feature from Goblin pairs him with OFWGTA mate Tyler, The Creator and puts him right back at his roots with his old crew handling the beats. What is also very noticeable throughout the sixteen tracks offered up is his increasing vocal range which were put on display in two releases that preceded DreamKilla, “Acura Integurl” and “Thinking About You”. It is refreshing to see that even as he gains prominence Ocean is still perfecting his craft.

All in all DreamKilla feels like a bit of a step back for a sure-fire up and coming star, albeit a miniscule one. Big things are on the horizon for an artist who was an unknown at Def Jam last year. For now he continues to work on his “debut” album and producing videos like the one below for the song “Swim Good” off Nostalgia/Ultra. Top 5 Tracks Below

DreamKilla Top 5 Tracks:

Interview, Music

RapSody, The Mia Hamm of Hip-Hop

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MidCoast Music, October 2011

Available at DJBooth.com

By Jake Krzeczowski

Marlanna Evans is not your typical up and coming hip-hop star. As a female with an accounting degree, it seems the native North Carolinian would fit in better behind a desk than a microphone. Yet, that is precisely what the young MC has become known for, having dropped two mixtapes already this year, the artist known as Rapsody has set out to return the B-Girl to the hip-hop game.

Growing up in North Carolina, sports play a huge part in everyone’s life, especially basketball. Two of the most storied programs in college basketball call the Tar Heel State home, as did Michael Jordan; and Marlanna Evans had a nasty crossover.

Raised in the hotbed of hoops Evans put everything she had into the game, eventually working her way into a spot on the high school varsity team as a freshman, that right-left dribble bringing her closer to her dreams.

North Carolina’s culture isn’t limited to the tan hardwood though.  Over the past decade the state has seen a rise in hip-hop acts, slowly carving out a niche in the industry beginning with Petey Pablo in the early 2000s. Taking the reigns from him was legendary producer 9th Wonder who with his “It’s a Wonderful World/JAMLA” label set out to cement the state in the hip-hop world.

9th Wonder, fresh off working with major talents Jay-Z, Lil’ Wayne and Drake,  eyed a chance to return to his old stomping grounds and help bring out the voice of NC.

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For all the accolades and gym time, Marlanna was left without the coveted college scholarship she had envisioned since the YMCA leagues. Without a definite location for school, she decided to stay close to home and felt the pull of NC State’s profound hip-hop culture.

“When I was growing up, North Carolina State was it for hip-hop around us,” said Evans. “When I got there I think there was a country act for homecoming, so we kind of wanted to bring it back.”

So the girl who split her adolescence between wind sprints and endless verses from the likes of Jean Grae, Bahamadia and Rah Digga saw the impact a female could have in the game and traded her basketball for a pen and paper, immersing herself in the scene, creating the first hip-hop club on campus.

She eventually joined with fellow NCSU students to create the rap septenary Kooley High. The formation of the group marked a migration of sorts from Marlanna Evans to RapSody.

“It’s hard to be anyone but yourself,” said Evans. “That’s the beauty of music, it’s supposed to be different. Your not supposed to go out and do something the same as someone else, that’s not the art.”

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9th Wonder began assembling his team in 2009, filling his roster with a host of young MCs from North Carolina, hungry to learn and grow. It didn’t take long for the fabled producer to hear about the young female MC making waves at NC State.

Listening to RapSody one thing is for sure, she loves hip-hop. “Culture over everything” her favorite line in her rhymes. It made sense then that 9th Wonder would extend an invitation which Rapsody quickly accepted

“ He gave me homework, to listen artists like Lil Wayne, A Tribe Called Quest, Jay-Z’s Black Album,” RapSody said. “He said to memorize these albums, not so much what they were saying but how they were saying it and how it was delivered.”

And so, the former point guard found herself a coach, bounce passing ideas off of each other on delivery, flow and cadence, all the while a pair of headphones not far away, “homework” always within reach for inspiration.

Player and coach spent endless time in the studio, working on Rapsody’s initial offering, “Return of the B-Girl” a whirlwind of a mixtape dropped in late 2010 to glowing reviews and set the stage for her follow-up project, Thank H.E.R Now, the title itself an homage to the great Common love ballad to hip-hop.

The mixtape featured collborations with hip-hop heavyweights and newbies alike including Raekwon, Mac Miller, her idol Jean Grae and Big K.R.I.T and thrust her into the underground’s limelight.

For years Marlanna Evans listened to Lauryn Hill and the like, game-changing artists  who came through and left their mark on the game. When asked what she thinks her legacy will be when her story is finished, a flash of that sense of history shines through, the Mia Hamm of hip-hop.

“I want to be able to say I produced good music and represented the culture well, introduced it to a new generation of young girls,” said RapSody. “Hip-hop has opened me up, there being so many stories and I want to touch those little girls the same way MC Lyte touched me, that would be the greatest thing for me.”

Interview, Music

INTERVIEW WITH MAYER HAWTHORNE

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Verum Magazine, January 2012

Mayer Hawthorne represents Detroit better than the Lions on Thanksgiving Day, a show he offered to sub in for Nickelback this past year. Recording his albums in his apartment in downtown Motor City Mayer came to prominence on the strength of his initial indie release A Strange Arrangement in 2009 on Stone’s Throw Records. Since then Mayer has been busy working on his follow-up which dropped late 2011. How Do You Do is a solid development for a new artist with a unique sound. Verum recently had a chance to catch up the soul singer.

Verum: What was the process of putting How Do You Do together compared to your last work, A Strange Arrangement?

Mayer Hawthorne: I went back to Detroit to record the majority of this new record. A lot of it was that dirty Detroit soul. Basically I just set up my own little bedroom studio in downtown Detroit. I played more of the instruments myself on the new album. Everything is definitely elevated on this album. The playing of the instruments is better, I learned to play better. I also learned a little bit more about how to sing so I hope people notice that on the album.

Verum: How do you keep your sound constant from playing the instruments to having a full band live? 

Mayer Hawthorne: Well it’s all about the guys I have playing with me. My live band The County is pretty much all guys I grew up with in Detroit. We’ve got one or two guys from L.A. It’s all about my guys in my band. They’re my favorite musicians and they’re all handpicked by me. A lot of them like me grew up in Detroit so they all know the vision.

Verum: Tell us about your relationship with Detroit.

Mayer Hawthorne: I wrote a song about it (A Long Time). I did a whole video based on The New Dance Show which was a show I used to watch everyday after work. I’m going to continue repping for the D always, it’s a fantastic city.

Verum: Tell us about your unique style

Mayer Hawthorne: I’ve always had the motto “flashy but classy. That was always been sort of my thing. I always wanted to be original and unique and stand out from the crowd but I was always brought up to keep it classy. That’s really what the formula is for me. I really borrow from and I’m influenced by everything that I see.

Verum: How does your music follow that motto?

Mayer Hawthorne: It’s definitely about being original and unique and doing something new and moving the music forward and not taking it back. The same goes for style.

Verum: What’s new on your latest album?

Mayer Hawthorne: This new record I really feel like I found my Mayer Hawthorne sound. It’s obviously very soulful and its rooted in Detroit soul music but it incorporates all the other styles of music that I grew up listening to and love like hip-hop and Jazz and Surf Rock and New Wave, all those things are blending together now are blending together to create that sound, It’s exciting.

 Verum: Was it important to you that you carve out a new sound on this album?

Mayer Hawthorne: Absolutely, it was very important to me to not just be a derivative of anything. I hate when people say ‘lets take it back to the good old days.  I don’t want to take it back to the good old days that shit drives me nuts. Let’s make the new good days and those that move t forward and do something new for our generation.

Verum: How did you enjoy your time at Stones Throw Records?

Mayer Hawthorne: Working with Stones Throw was fantastic. Those guys are all so much fun and they’re just really creative and that’s what I’m all about.  We got along really well. I’ll always put on for Stones Throw.

Interview, Music, News

In Class With 9th Wonder

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By Jake Krzeczowski
Verum Magazine, February 2012

A college lecture hall hardly seems like a home for the musical form of hip-hop. Since it’s inception in the mid-70s as a offshoot of funk and jazz, the genre has been categorized largely by its placement as an outlier in American culture’s lexicon. With the passing of hip-hop greats in recent years such as Heavy D and Pimp C, a disconnect has begun to emerge as new artists get younger and younger. Veteran Grammy Award-winning producer 9th Wonder (Patrick Douthit) who has worked with everyone from Jay-Z and Destiny’s Child to Murs has set out to bridge the gap between the new and old school and he’s doing it on a much different stage, within the walls of Duke University. As a member of an older generation of hip-hop evangelists, Douthit has assembled a crew of young MCs such asRapSody and Tyler Woods under the name It’s A Wonderful World Music Group to help foster a new style and groom the newbies on the history of the game. Continue reading In Class With 9th Wonder →

Music, Music Review

ALBUM REVIEW: CHILDISH GAMBINO

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By Jake Krzeczowski

Childish Gambino’s (aka Donald Glover) Camp is the renaissance man’s first studio offering. If EP was a warning then Camp is the attack, showing the progression of an artist determined to be successful. Having written for 30 Rock and earned a recurring role on Community before his 25th birthday, he is no stranger to the concept.
Whatever name you call him by, the man with the birth name Donald who found his Wu-Tang birthright from a name generator was poised to be a cross-over flop, as any cross-over entertainer is often looked at with raised eyebrows. And while his first offering, I Am Just A Rapper was a minor hit with clever samples from Grizzly Bear, it wasn’t until he dropped EP earlier this year that the witty rhyme schemes and swagger to match really came to the surface. and it is yet another step for Glover in garnering the kind of cross-over success of acts like Drake, and he’s fully aware, as he shows on the unlikely hit Fire Fly. “I’m still not down, but I upped the ante/ me and hip-hop, the Black Sid and Nancy.” Glover’s blending of hip-hop and indie is a refreshing breath into an already diverse rap game, and he’s not the only one noticing.
What was expected was a smooth lyricism filled with smart anecdotes and clever metaphors. An accomplished writer, the words were sure to be there, but Gambino picks up the swag he left on the floor of the warehouse in the “Freaks and Geeks” video and takes it to a new level on the first song on the album, “That Power”.
Demonstrating hunger in his voice reminiscent of an early Lil’ Wayne the young hipster dives in immediately, rhyming over the subtle beat, “Uncool but lyrically I’m a stone-cold killer, so it’s 400 Blows to these Truffaut ni**as,” referencing iconic French filmmaker François Truffaut before singing the hook to boot. Ja Rule wouldn’t even know where to start on that line. The album continues in this fashion, Glover/Gambino eager to prove to the world that he is to be taken seriously, regardless of the shorts dangling somewhere above the knee.
The song that has gotten the most repeat plays on my library has been “Fire Fly”, the beat a mix of 90s west coast and r&b sounds far too sultry for the “only black kid at a Sufjan concert.” As Gambino explains, “These black kids want something new I swear it, something they wanted to say but couldn’t cause they embarrassed, all I do is make the stuff I want to make.”

Dealing with such typical rap topics like telling a girl he just met he loves her, Sufjan Stevens concerts, and Human Centipede Gambino is able to string them together while going harder than many of the more established stars in the game today. Songs like That Power, “Bonfire” and “Fire Fly” are the equivalent to Eminem’s final freestyle in 8 Mile; an open chorus of the grievances and a pledge to make it in spite of those and pointing to the impersonators out there. When being “real” is at an all time premium, Glover shows he is out to make it on his own terms and he is out to lead a new generation of rhyming hipsters and outcasts of the previous hip-hop generations; Camp is a great step toward that.

 

Music, Music Review

Subsynthesis.com: Bass From Above Vol. 2 Review

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Date: Sep 27, 2011 (Tuesday) TheUntz.com

by Jake Krzeczowski

subCompilation albums are a tricky beast to tame; many times a string of solid tracks can be upended by the wrong mixture of artists, sounds, or theories. With their newest release,Subsynthesis.com shows that they are very much capable of putting together a package that can be entertaining from start to finish. A thirty-three track behemoth of an album, Bass From Above: Volume 2 is a beast in itself, listeners may want to stretch and prepare themselves before delving into the flowing throb of electronic masterpieces that live up to the album’s namesake.

When I first got the album I wasn’t sure where to start, the massive track listing a daunting undertaking, in itself. As is customary I just dug in from the top and began rifling through the beautiful mixture of highs and lows the album provides the listener. The album itself is the second in a series produced to raise money for the Japanese Red Cross in response to the devastation caused by the tsunami. The previous Bass From Above raised over $1000 for the fund. For a small charitable donation, it’s worth grabbing the album, which is bursting with talent.

“Bass Freaq” by artist Protohype is by far my favorite song off the album. The song reels you in as you may expect, using thick bass rhythms and grinding dubstep to latch you to the music. Well-placed samples accentuate the compositional impact of what Protohype has put together here. Letting the synth roll at points he works the bass in slowly before unleashing it full speed, which may cause your back button on your iPod to get a bit worn. All in all “Bass Freq” really became my interpretation of the album. For an album called Bass from Above, this song definitely feels as though it were sent from the heavens. Protohype recently finished up a string of shows on the west coast in Arizona and California.

For sample-happy electronic listeners, the Love and Light duo of Probiotik & 4Centers (Matt Madonna and Ryan Anderson) provide a funky remix of the Doobie Brothers classic tune “Black Water” mixed in with a host of synth measures and dub beats that turn a classic into a club banger.

Also satisfying that blast from the past is an artistic re-styling of Marvin Gaye’s timeless hit “What’s Going On.”  NiT GriT does an impressive job mixing light and heavy synths with throbbing bass lines, turning Marvin’s tune into something your parents won’t recognize. The transitions between samples, synth hits and bass vibes will leave your head spinning, while Nit Grit tosses in well-placed samples of that melodic voice to keep things interesting.

The tempo gets pushed hard on Project Aspect’s banger of a track, “Let Me See Ya Sneakers Work,” intertwining heavy bass with timely vocal samples and a piano line that would rock the listener to sleep if it weren’t for the plethora of sounds that also pump from the headphones. Listening to this track I had a hard time keeping my head still, the rhythm keeps the song going while the piano guides the listener safe and sound through all 7:32 of the track.

For a funkier beat sample I would turn to Pairadimez’s track “Fire and Ice,” which is all over the map with hard bass lines, light synths and tempo changes that will keep listeners on their toes for the duration. The Colorado-based duo of ONik and r.e.g.’s ability to pick and pull the tempo is what kept me listening, there being no way to know where the song would head next. These two are definitely ones to keep an eye on, if they produce more tracks like this one they are in for much more success.

The final track on the album, “Fractalfield,” packs lots of piano and is heavy on the bass. Pressing play will make the listener pay attention regardless of whether or not they felt like they had a choice. It literally propels one’s ears on a journey of epic synth rides and throbbing bass lines. Artist soCinematic allows a light piano drop in once in awhile, a bit of relief before the wave rises again and crashes against the ear-drums bouncing the listener back, dangling them on a bass from above.

From top to bottom I was pretty happy listening to the entire Bass From Above: Volume 2 album. It’s hard to pass on the lineup of young artists they assembled such as Gladkill, Skytree, Elfkowitz, and Fast Nasty. With the money going toward the Red Cross and the music an excellent opportunity to listen to a variety of sounds, there is little not to like about the most recent release from Subsynthesis.com.

Music, Music Review

The Polish Ambassador: Future, Sex, Computers (Remixes & B-Sides) Review

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Date: Sep 13, 2011 (Tuesday)

by Jake Krzeczowski

TPADavid Sugalski is the man inside the brightly colored jumpsuit slinging together samples and drum kits that, when taken as a whole, could very well suck you in until the artist known as The Polish Ambassador decides you’ve had enough.

Sugalski’s mantra is “No Genre Left Behind”—and he sticks to his guns. The Oakland producer strings together an electro-funk feel in a variety of tempo changes while infusing glitches, bass lines, and samples that will leave your head spinning somewhere before Solidarity.

Future, Sex, Computers (Remixes and B-Sides) is The Polish Ambassador’s first remix album featuring several artists met while traversing the country. The album also includes three original recordings that round out an otherwise maddeningly interesting album.

As it is, Sugalski’s arrangements take you on a journey, picking the listener up, plopping them down again, and then dangling them—not unlike the late, great MJ’s blanketed baby—before snatching the whiplashed listener back from the precipice. Sugalski’s forte is composing and it shows throughout the album as carefully placed samples accentuate the beat writhing below.

Outside of the three originals, “Concubot” 1,2, and 3, the rest of the album are tweaks to the Polish Ambassador’s earlier album from this year Future, Sex, Computers. The result is a dizzying array of interpretations on the music that lend itself to a more developed sound that is only possible through a combining of unique points of view.

Each of the eleven original tracks from the previous release are redone by producers handpicked by Sugalski, who couldn’t be happier with the end result.
“I couldn’t be more pumped about the producers involved,” said Sugalski on his website. Included in the project were the likes ofPhutureprimitive, The Great Mundane, and Samples, among others.

What comes of the mixing of tendencies and behaviors is an almost completely new album, reaching heights that could only be had in the fashion of collaboration. While Sugalski brings his Bay-area thematics to his compositions, they are mirrored and countered by the ultra-talented cast he has put together.

The Polish Ambassador is currently on tour with Mochipet, with dates coming up in Colorado, Arizona, and Wisconsin.

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