Wednesday, May 15, 2019

New Music: Fat Jack - Virgo / Nobody - All Too Familiar






Today we're getting a double dose of new instrumental music in the form of a Project Blowedian "welcome back" and a Project Blowedian (pseudo) "farewell." 

Fat Jack is sort of a monolithic name in the L.A. underground. The man was a part of Camp Freestyle and the vital Abstract Tribe Unique (to whom this blog owes its name) but he's perhaps best known for putting out the groundbreaking "Cater To The DJ" album in 1999 - an album that is now synonymous with the Blowed. 

After having a solid 2000s, Fat Jack sort of went quiet entering the new decade. Then, last year he teamed up with Aceyalone to put out the (in my opinion mediocre) "43rd & Excellence." Now, in 2019, we finally get the first Fat Jack solo album in over a decade,"Virgo," thanks to Daddy Kev's and Self Jupe's Order Label. 

"Virgo" is no general "beattape." It's an album packed full of heavily developed, lush, jazzy, spacey instrumentals. Fat Jack really made this project his own and nearly all of the beats take you on some sort of auditory journey - no rappers needed. It's a very very good return to the scene and I hope that he stays put because Fat Jack has certainly proven that he can still make very quality instrumental music. [I will say that, in addition to making new music, I hope Fat Jack also takes some time to go dig out his hard drives that apparently contain folders and folders of unreleased Project Blowed related material!] 

When Fat Jack was dropping "Cater To The DJ," another Project Blowedian producer, Nobody, was starting to rev up his career. After a couple demos and 12 inches, Nobody dropped his official debut "Soulmates" in 2000, which featured the likes of Freestyle Fellowship, 2Mex, Medusa, and Abstract Rude. 

As time went on, Nobody stayed very productive, dropping music under various names, with various groups, and with various sounds. He might be best known in the wider pop culture for helping found the newly retired L.A. weekly, Low End Theory. After over two decades in the game however, it looks like Nobody is retiring the "Nobody" name (just the name) with his latest album, "All Too Familiar."

Nobody has always had love for more indie rock sounds, so it's fitting that he really digs into that for this project. The album, which features no samples, is perhaps best categorized as melodic riffy psychedelia. Nobody plays guitar for most of the album and it comes across very well. The entire project has a very "late summer night" vibe to it which is perfect as we enter the summer. 

What a great time for instrumental LA music! You can cop Fat Jack's "Virgo" HERE and Nobody's "All Too Familiar" (which dropped on CD and Vinyl) HERE. Enjoy! 

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