Tobacco- Fucked Up Friends (2008)

If you dig: Black Moth Super Rainbow, Flying Lotus, Prefuse 73, Four Tet

I don't understand how anyone could honestly not like Tobacco's Fucked Up Friends. On the album, Black Moth Super Rainbow leader Tom Fec uses the psychedelic palette of bubblegum sounds that his band uses: the warbling flute lines, buzzing synths, spacey percussion, vocoders, etc. But Fucked Up Friends has a unique focus on rhythm, giving it a more hip-hop feel. Though much of Black Moth Super Rainbow's work has always featured impressive rhythmic and percussive background, Tobacco allows Fec the control to construct short variations based on brilliant blends of strange psychedelia and engaging beats. Fec's preference for analog devices gives the songs a mysterious vibe, sounding both futuristic and old and haunted at the same time. Fec described that the album is inspired partly by "fucked up" 80s workout videos and the songs' energy and weird sounds (along with its fantastic cover art, seen above) perfectly convey the "awful yet good and curious" Fec claims he is trying to achieve.

"Truck Sweat," my favorite off the album, starts with a crunchy snare beat and a foreboding ascending loop before exploding into a weaving mix of bouncing synths, flutes and warped vocals. "Berries That Burn" alternates between space age synths and hammering bass and drums. Right in the middle of the album there is an awesome feature by Aesop Rock, though I think Tobacco's stuff is ultimately better sans rapping. To me, the beats are just to compelling and layered to not pay attention to.

Anti-Apartheid Poetry, DC Shows, Etc.

Welcome back. Been kind of slacking with posting lately so here's a bunch of goodies.

I had this awesome guest lecturer yesterday for my US-Africa Policy course named Dr. Keith Gottschalk. He grew up in South Africa during apartheid and would read his poetry at anti-apartheid rallies. He performed a few for us and I managed to find some more of it here.

For those readers reporting from the DC area, there are some awesome shows coming up.

The Black Cat
Wed Mar 24- THE RUBY SUNS, TORO Y MOI $10 Backstage 9:00
Thu Apr 15- OWEN PALLETT (formerly Final Fantasy) $15 Mainstage 8:00
Fri Apr 23- THE TALLEST MAN ON EARTH, NURSES $12 Mainstage 9:00

Tobacco To Drop Maniac Meat

Above you can see the predictably terrifying album artwork for Tobacco's new album, the similarly predictably titled Maniac Meat. Tobacco is the alias of Tom Fec, a member of the mysterious collective of bubblegum psych weirdos Black Moth Super Rainbow. Tobacco's work expands off the sugary psychedelic synths, vocoder vocals and general lo-fi weirdness that Black Moth Super Rainbow has become known for. But Tobacco's work owes more to hip-hop and dance than anything else the group has done. Tobacco's 2008 debut Fucked Up Friends is one of my favorite albums and is definitely an underrated 2008 gem.

No official tracks are available yet but we do know Beck will be featured on two tracks! Additionally, if you head over The Hairy Cult, which seems like it is run by someone closely affiliated or enamored with all things BMSR, you can find what I presume is some early demos from Maniac Meat. If your a fan of BMSR or Tobacco, definitely check out some of the other posts, the guy has uploaded a bunch of awesome rare tracks, demos and other cool stuff.

In other Black Moth news, I am currently listening to keyboardists The Seven Fields of Aphelion's debut solo album Periphery. Definitely not as compelling as Tobacco's work, but cool nonetheless.

Wale + AZ's Chillin'

So D.C.'s self-proclaimed hip-hop king Wale performed at my school on Saturday and despite not expecting much, I was pleasantly surprised. Wale was backed by local go-go band UCB, which made for a much more engaging and interesting live show than I would have expected. In case you don't know what go-go music is, it's a style of funk that originated in D.C. in the 1970s. Admittedly I'm no expert, but I like what I've heard and Wikipedia tells me I should check out Chuck Brown. Anyway, Wale ran through classics both new and old, including his remix of Justice's "D.A.N.C.E.," "W.A.L.E.D.A.N.C.E.," as well as "Mirrors," "90210," and "Pretty Girls" from his new album Attention Deficit. Luckily, after a set filled with some always necessary "I'm the greatest" stage banter and a brief jam of "Smells Like Teen Spirit," Wale ended with his claim to fame and one of the best singles of the year, "Chillin'." Overall, the performance was one of the better school sponsored events that I've seen and despite the fact that Wale continuously berated the crowd for not knowing the words as well as U.V.A., he managed to get everyone's hands in the air and entertain.




Speaking of "Chillin'," though I always knew Wale had a penchant for borrowing lines from his hip-hop influences, but I never realized the hook to "Chillin'" is in fact an homage to Brooklyn rapper and Nas collaborator AZ's track "AZ's Chillin'" from his album A.W.O.L. Hearing the track yesterday served as a kind of "why the fuck haven't you looked into AZ?" moment for me, so I'm definitely gonna have to check out more of his stuff.



I just got Wale's Attention Deficit and I'm really digging it so far, there might be a post about it on the way. Until then, enjoy some of the tunes I linked for you guys.

Wale- W.A.L.E.D.A.N.C.E. from 100 Miles & Running

Wale- Chillin' (The Knocks Remix)