Breaking Ground: Enve - Autobiography (2011)

 

 

Wow, can't believe it's my turn to do this again. Time sure is flying lately what with the stress and the stress and also the stress, who knows by the time you read this the politicians might have managed to manufacture a global financial meltdown. But that's when we need music the most, am I right?

Trylemma actually gave me this one before, which was fortunate because it gave me the opportunity to listen to it two times separated by a few years and I think I've got some intelligent type thingys to say about Enve's music. The album, Autobiography is really a fascinating piece of work for several reasons which I will go into in a bit. It is also really pretty damn good. I enjoyed it a ton both times around, and both times around was motivated to seek out more from this guy and his crew "Groove Movement" as in "got the new blueprint" to paraphrase. And both times around I recovered nothing. Looks like he retired following Autobiography (with the exception of some stuff he sent to T later on that apparently wasn't the same and never dropped) and this is it.

The dude in question is claiming on Bandcamp to be from Minneapolis, but also mentions a home in Eugene on "The First Chapter" (excellent track) and has features from NW dudes. I will say right off the bat if you liked Atmosphere (or still do, maybe because your doctor needs to lower your trazodone) and related you will like this. Enve clearly draws influence from that pseudo-emo, sad sexual scene that gave us Slug, Sage, Sadistik and stuff. He's got a number of songs on here about relationships, mental health struggles, music, etc. Nothing especially groundbreaking. So let's do some specifics.

For one thing, it is SO easy to dismiss this guy and his music based on several superficial things that are immediately evident. First we've got this name, Enve. So another dude with a misspelled name that's a random word and probably has no real connection to his music. It's like putting a "The" in front of some plural noun (The Protractors, The Spoons, The Noodles) as a band in the aughts. Fucking stop it. Alternate spelling was edgy and made a statement when most of us were in diapers, and now its just more of the same. Then we've got this album title. Wow. How DID he come up with that?! It's the most original title since Latyrx gave us The Album. Also the artwork I would be willing to bet was scrounged up somewhere and appropriated for the album. I could be wrong, but it looks pretty damn generic to me.

The good news is though that if you overlook that stuff you find a serious diamond in the rough. Enve has a fantastic voice that he makes great use of, giving us both solid head nodding bangers and emotional, melody driven songs that are catchy, fun, powerful and just damn dope. Imagine if Demune could sing, slowed it down a bit and did a bunch of songs in the vein of Atmosphere and you might have some idea of what he's about purely from a sonic level.

Another thing that makes this a winner is the production. Man these beats are the type of fire I was always aiming for during my short lived career as a rap artist. We've got a lot of acoustic guitar and strings coupled with atypical percussion made use of in clever ways (pretty sure that's glass breaking on "The First Chapter" where more logically a cymbal crash might have gone, and that muted snare that drives "Without a Map" is serious ear crack. Whoever did these beats (and we get one or two names, some relative unknown calling himself Sapient?) was a true music fan and it shows in sample choice and the way they are compiled and reshuffled.

Finally, it is truly notable how dynamic and all encompassing this album is. In thirteen tracks we've got posse cuts, love songs, travel songs, depression songs, music songs, all featuring different lyrical stylings, different BPMs, wildly different song structures, different genres (not quite folk rap but definitely flirting with it in places). Autobiography is a truly ambitious, lovingly crafted, genuinely felt and meticulously crafted (if unfortunately named lol) album that pays homage to indie rap and all it can do while still managing to make truly listenable songs with replay value even a decade later.

Thanks for this one Trylemma, and Enve sorry for clowning on the name and album title, this shit is solid as all hell.

Download Insert better name here right here for free, and see you next time!

 

Breaking Ground: Quote - Self Effacer (2013)

 

There's no shortage of artists out there, both past and present, whose music combines the sounds of Hip Hop and more folksy guitar driven sounds. There seems to be some strong connection that ties the roots of Hip Hop and Folk together. Perhaps it's the histories of personal story-telling that both genres share, or the importance traditionally placed by both genres on lyricism (above other aspects of the music.) Whatever it is, a lot of it works for me and I think the same goes for Dimxsk - Ceschi, for example, is a key name for the both of us. This week, Dimxsk passed me an album that fits into this tradition: Quote's "Self Effacer" from 2013. 

Quote is a rapper, producer, and singer from Victoria, Canada, though I am told he now resides in South Korea. Quote wrote and produced the entirety of "Self Effacer," an album which appears to be his debut. The project is a solemn dark recording of Quote's struggles with alcoholism and how such struggles played out in his personal life and relationships. 

The album, which consists of ten tracks, is formatted in an interesting way. Half of the tracks are fairly standard Hip Hop cuts with rapping and half of the tracks are more bluegrassy folk songs with singing. The album begins with a rap track, then follows up with a Folk tune, then another rap track and so forth. The project as a whole leans much more towards the folky side, however, as the majority of the rap tracks are very acoustic guitar driven. Without yet getting into the details, this basic format threw me off a bit. I think the root cause of this is my feeling that Quote doesn't really tie the two sounds together very well. On the rap tracks, he is very much in rap mode and on the singing tracks, he's very much in that mode. By simply having odd number tracks be Hip Hop songs and even number tracks be Folk songs - it brings light to this divide (as if this was the only way Quote knew how to mesh the sounds) but nothing sonically really combines well or blends smoothly. On the one track where these sounds do meet face to face, on the nearly seven minute "Autumn," Quote essentially just performs a long Folk ballad and then seemingly tacks on a sped up rap verse for the last minute. In terms of just general style, things feel a bit disjointed. 

The individual rap and Folk sounds themselves are not bad, however. Though, I can't say I am extremely impressed by either. In terms of rapping, Quote has a pretty straight-forward flow and chosen cadence that he reuses throughout the rap tracks. Vocally, he sounds a lot like Buck 65 with a dash of Jonny 5 of the Flobots. Quote unfortunately, however, lacks the more complex and engaging rap styles of the former artists. It definitely seems like a lot of his raps may have begun as ideas for non-rap songs but were tinkered and put to a basic rap flow. The rap beats leave a bit to be desired too. Often, it seems like there was a rough guitar driven track and then a drum machine was thrown behind it with some electronic clicks and clacks here and there. 

On the Folk and singing side of things, I like Quote a bit more. He has a pretty good voice and while the melodies don't always hit, when they do, they hit hard. While I'm not very familiar with the genre, I do enjoy the sound of Quote's bluegrass takes. I do think there was some room for some more experimentation sonically, however, on these tracks (most of the "eclectic" sounds come on the Hip Hop tracks.) There's a really nice electronic break after the hook on "Man Down The Road," that might be the best sounding thing on the track. But it isn't given much life. 

The standout Hip Hop track and the standout Folk track are actually back to back near the end of the album. On "Calculated Sacrifice," Quote deviates slightly from his standard rap delivery and goes a bit off-kilter with his cadences which is nice. This is accompanied by some airy synths and jittery drums that give some unique flavor to the song. Then, on "The Killer," Quote sings us a haunting death country tune with a beautiful ethereal hook comprised of just "Whoas." I would have loved to hear more things that followed the formulas of these two respective songs.

While the sounds and formatting of the album may not entirely work for me, I am very impressed by Quote's brute lyricism. The album's opener, "On The Breakwater," sets the stage of Quote's reflection on his life of alcoholism and the day to day, sometimes second to second, tribulations that it has brought him ("It's the silent screaming halogens burning in traffic lights/It's the alcohol fevers and purges that warm the night.") 

What's particularly engaging about Quote's story here is that, from what I can tell, it isn't necessarily one of redemption, optimism, or even necessarily hope. On "Burdensome" and "Man Down The Road," Quote expresses some hope that things will be better in the future once some recovery milestone(s) is reached, but he also acknowledges that such milestones are unrealistic and/or that such milestones won't actually bring him what he is looking for ("I'll make a record once I graduate that's a long shot/I'll be happy once I'm done, that's a nice thought" on "Burdensome.") Instead of such hopefulness, we're given a very bleak and intimate look into Quote's reality - one of anxiety ("On The Breakwater,") painful monotony ("Break Don't Bend,") isolation ("At A Distance,") and lost passions ("Burdensome.") Powerful moments are found on "Call Me Out," where Quote expresses that he's content with even the pity from those he was once close to, and "The Killer," a great story-telling track where Quote is put on trial as both the victim and perpetrator of a crime. 

Despite the darkness here, there is some true basic beauty to be found in Quote's lyrics, perhaps just in the mere honesty of reflection that he shares. There is some acceptance in his words, but it's not necessarily the acceptance you might treat as a "first step" towards some recovery (though it may very well be that as well,) but rather the acceptance that helps briefly mute the chaos of the world - which may be sufficient for Quote. 

As noted, I believe "Self Effacer" is Quote's debut project (or at the very least an early release from him.) Bandcamp shows that he has made at least two other projects since this release. While "Self Effacer" doesn't quite work for me overall, I am interested to hear where Quote takes his sounds (hopefully finding a better way to combine them and build on them) and his overall story. Peep the album, and download it for free, below!

Self Effacer

The Yesmen - No (2013)

 

Gotta do a quick one this week, I got myself some kittens recently and they want attention and they're funnier and more adorable than my computer so I'm gonna give it to them.

But for now, here's an offering from Royal-T and Nevamind. They did another album for Hand'Solo Records a while back, which wasn't bad (this also includes a better background on the group than I would ever write). This one is, however, in my opinion better with more variety in sound and better production.

Royal-T was a fantastic rapper and I have it on good authority he was a good dude too. For those of you who weren't aware he passed away in 2016 leaving behind a crew full of folks who loved him and the rare but devoted fans who did as well. This album was released before that when he was at the peak of his creativity and clearly enjoying making music with the homies.

I hadn't posted this up until now because it was available on the Deepcave blog, but it looks like it got taken down and replaced with a bit of a devotional page to T and his talents and interests. Worth a look so here.

Enjoy No!

DOWNLOAD

 

 

Barfly of Oldominion - I've Been Worse (2007) [+ Notes Section]

 

Today's post is a filler from a request I got on Discogs from Vims: Barfly's "I've Been Worse" album from 2007. (We'll also now occasionally be having a little "Notes Section" at the end of posts whenever seen fit to drop miscellaneous things.)

Barfly is one of the most productive members from the Oldominion crew. He's a core member in groups Candy's.22, Saturday Knights, Big Kids Run, and Leather Tuscadero. He's released projects with Onry Ozzborn, Graves33, and Mr. Hill. He produces under the moniker Floods, and he's even dropped a full length novel (in addition to various zines and poems.) Even so, 2007's "I've Been Worse" is really his only official solo album yet. A quick look around the net revealed that it no longer seems to be available to buy anywhere online, so I figured it could be documented here. 

I've always loved Barfly's sound. His punk rock background, side of the mouth sarcastic delivery, and penchant for great complementary production makes him one of the most unique artists out of the PacNW - and this album really puts that on display. Features include Onry Ozzborn, Snafu, and NyQwil. 

And for those who want to keep up to date, Barfly has dropped a new EP this year entitled "A Light In The Dark" which is currently for sale exclusively on Concuss Creations HERE.

I've Been Worse

Notes:  

Today is once again Bandcamp Friday (it looks like Epic hasn't ruined things yet?) so be sure to support the artists that have them. I'm personally looking forward to today's new releases from Awol One/Id Obelus/Rove ("Fresh Air EP,") Jade River/Beond of Acid Reign ("Conquest Part 3,") Billy Woods/Kenny Segal ("Maps,") Five Fingers of Funk ("Portland Say It Again,") and Buck 65 ("Super Dope,") You can also head over to Fake Four's Bandcamp and pre-order Factor Chandelier's new album "Moving Like A Planet." 

RIP to HelloLA records - they put out some of the best looking cassettes and overall artwork over the years. Bertrand is now working with Adeem in a new label called "Echo Finch." They recently dropped a new album from Rain entitled "The And // Chapter 2," with features from Open Mike Eagle, Onry Ozzborn, John Robinson, Moe Pope, Latrell James and more HERE. 

If you were a high tier member in the Fake Fouragers program last year, be sure to check that you got the new vinyl fossil from Ceschi - an exclusive 12" record filled with new music exclusively for subscribers. Word is, his final Ceschi project, "Bring Me The Head of Francisco False" will also be released exclusively on vinyl for those who pre-ordered the Ceschi/Factor trilogy. 

Anyone else miss the blogs of yesteryear? Shout out to Beetbak, This Is For The Hustlers, Record Science, Ludz, Thirdman, and obviously the great GhettoTyylit! Hoping for a new Til Infinity post soon!