New Music: Thorts131 (Thorts & sMoKeY131) - Weightlifters

 

 

So it's been a very exciting month for me as far as hip hop goes. Not only did I hear from one of my heroes and get a chance to preview their excellent cassette release The Subjugation of Bread (Brzowski & C $ Burns, see my last post), but shortly thereafter I get an email from another artist I'm slowly but surely developing some serious respect for asking for another preview post. So that artist is of course Thorts who, coming right on the heels of his oddball project with Sweden's own art rap superstar Joel Siméus has done a 180 and released an album with Germany's sMoKeY131 of Milled Pavement fame as Thorts131. Their debut collaboration Weightlifters displays not just his unique personality and quirky sensibilities but his remarkable songwriting prowess and skill with the pen. I'm particularly excited to share this gem because while his last collaboration was endlessly entertaining and fascinating I knew that it would not be for everyone. Thorts131 I believe may be the release that could get most indie rap fans on board with this cat in a big way. Of course, as he lays out on the album opener "Rock":

I don't need to stay relevant

I wasn't in the first place

I'd rather spit what I want with intelligence

The race is irrelevant

I'll never come in first place
 

While I respect the humility and the artistic integrity he expresses here, I really do have to say that anyone who loves hip hop should be a fan of this album and while first place probably isn't a realistic goal when the judges are easily confused, there are people who appreciate real art and this is it.

So that's out of the way. Thorts has been in touch and given me a bit of background information on himself to give this post some more depth. Born in a small town in Victoria, Australia, Thorts became a fan and a rapper at virtually the same time when he was introduced to Cypress Hill in 1995 at the age of fifteen. Following some "really bad tapes" (his words not mine, I'd love to hear those) made through clever use of analogue equipment he began battling and making appearances on the radio a few years later. He's moved around through his home country and prior to the internet remained a fairly isolated voice in his neck of the woods. Now he mostly performs with artists outside Australia (with the notable exception of his talented partner Kady Starling, who he did a split with recently that's mind blowingly good as well as Aetcix [collaborations found on his Bandcamp page {see below <another parenthesis>} as Field Trip and Thorts & Aetcix] and DJ Silence). Now that you're suitably confused by that last sentence, we can talk about me for a bit. I was introduced to Thorts' work on Variex's album Beneath Six Feet of Dust performing alongside Tommy V. and A.Hymnz. I immediately felt like he had something special to offer, and it seemed like from there he began showing up more and more.

sMoKeY131 is a producer from Germany, who’s been a fixture in the scene through his tapes and live turntableism for a good 20 years now. I’ve seen his name I've seen pop up on a lot of albums by artists I enjoy, especially from Europe although he made some appearances on the fantastic Goose Bumps compilations Milled Pavement put out a decade or so ago. If you don't have those then go pick them up, we'll wait. Even nearing age 50 he still spends his time digging in crates to elevate his production and make more awesome music for us to enjoy. That wisdom gained through experience in the hip hop scene is very easy to see on this album, as I'll go into below. 

What can I say about Weightlifters? First off the production is basically flawless for the content and style that Thorts is employing on this album. Old school and dope, melodic and hard, part Dj Muggs part Dj Abilities. sMoKeY makes use of a combination of sound effects, dusty jazz and surprisingly beautiful strings to create a sense of depth and darkness with a humility that allows Thorts to benefit from, but not have to battle over, his music. "Meat & Bones" in particular, a song that picks apart the superficial differences between people and identifies our commonalities is stirring, gorgeous and emotional without being preachy or self indulgent. The rest of the album surfs between this sound and a darker a-melodic style (this is where the Muggs comparison originates) but it is all professional, smart and original. The album wraps up with a beautiful string sample based instrumental track "Black Swans (Reprise)" that leaves the listener feeling as if they've awoken from an unsettling but ultimately hopeful dream. Given the darkness of the rest of the songs, the album closer is sorely needed and really caps Weightlifters nicely.

Thorts is really on another level of awesome on this release. As I said last time I reviewed his work, it seems like with every album he drops we get to know him a bit better. His ability to be brutally honest about his struggles with addiction, anxiety and self doubt give his music a humanity that never seems artificial or gimmicky, a problem I find can arise when an artist may set out with the intention of being brutally honest. What I mean is I think Thorts gives us the art he does because it's just what he makes and couldn't be anything but this. This is not to say that there are not moments of humor on Weightlifters, also in common with some of his later work. "Cats for Catnip" makes use of a nursery rhyme that seems very left field but is incredibly charming and actually manages to get stuck in your head. This in some ways adds to the dark quality of the songs we find here, as even when he's being weird he sounds a bit cynical and the juxtaposition between the use of cat as literally a fuzzy animal and as a metaphor (catnip being self destructive behaviors) makes the song amusing in a very dark way. Something else that's notable is the way this album pays homage to those who came before. There are old school references found in many places, and given what we now know about Thorts' education and experience in the hip hop world this is not surprising. It's refreshing to hear from someone who acknowledges and respects their history.

I'm starting to run on a bit long. One last thing. This album is basically without credited features, except for one notable exception. On "Myself When Young", we have Variex, the very rapper who introduced me to Thorts (also a rapper I have a lot of love for), and one of my personal favorites and someone I was beginning to think I'd never hear from again, Staplemouth of New Cocoon "fame". Both of these features are extremely effective as Variex is at his best lyrically and stylistically, while Staplemouth has taken a break from his usual apocalyptic and occultist stream of consciousness mind blowing double time rhymes to speak a bit about himself. I may be mistaken but with the exception of some of his really old material with Riff Raff (no, not that one, he goes by Self Target now and is primarily a seriously talented producer) I don't believe he does much of that. So this track is worth whatever the price of the album alone. It's personal and unique as hell.

All that said, if I haven't convinced you yet to give this one a shot Thorts was nice enough to put together a few clips featuring songs from the album. "Slide" is a track about resentment and rage, while "Black Swans" is a sort of stream of consciousness fairy tale gone bad. Both give the viewer a good idea what to expect from Weightlifters and are worth checking out for any fan of hip hop period:

Thanks for reading, and thank you so much Thorts and sMoKeY for giving me the opportunity to peep this gem. It's amazing and you should be proud as hell of it!

Get Weightlifters here on October 1st!

Note: I just heard from Thorts this morning that there a few uncredited voices on the album that deserve a mention. Rapping the nursery rhyme on "Cats for Catnip" we have his 10 year old daughter Sage Advice, and rapping the chorus on "Pages" we have his 21 year old daughter Paige Turner. Seriously dope family right there. Hopefully on the next round we can hear from his son who didn't want to be on Weightlifters. Teenagers... :-)