I’ve been reading Tricia Rose’s non-fiction book, The Hip Hop Wars. In it, Rose describes the arguments against and for hip hop, debunking both sides and sociologically exploring the roots, and the results of the urbanization of black culture and how it relates to hip hop’s perception in society. In it, she discusses whether hip hop causes violence, or whether hip hop is a result of the preexisting violence in urban culture. Which is an old argument, and one that’s continually recycled today, even though I’ve always felt it misses the point in what hip hop is NOW, existing in a starkly different context than the original early 90s gangsta rap debate did.

While the spectre of violence will always hover over hip hop, there’s a lot to be said about hip hop’s ability to address pain. It’s a direct form of speaking to a subject, without the trappings of melody and musicality that other forms of music require. A non-rap song about “pain” usually translates to “sadness,” which, as most of us know, can be a very different feeling altogether. And by the same logic, pain doesn’t have to be expressed as anger or violence, and often isn’t by a lot of independent hip hop.

Pain is a word that comes up a lot when listening to Man Overboard, though the album is mostly devoid of anger, and in a lot of ways, strong emotion. Buck’s mother passed away shortly before the recording of Man Overboard, giving the album another layer that, whether Buck wanted visible on the album or not, shows up definitively in tracks like “ice” (a song about his mother), “Secret Splendor” (a song about rebirth) and “Achilles and the Tortoise” (a song about old age). And as a whole, the album very much envelops the listener into the experience of a confused, angry child, hiding in headphones and flipping through his record collection; just a constant stream of noise, songs, and ideas, desperate to not focus for one second on the gravity of his current reality. It’s such a stream of consciousness album, that Buck didn’t even bother to title any of the tracks in its initial release, instead just calling them all “Untitled #1″ and so on. Songs change, evolve, mutate into others, leaving behind a melange of sadness, pouting, and indignance to any rules or boundaries of what music is supposed to sound like.

Many have described Buck 65’s style as deconstructionist hip hop; being a DJ and producer, he breaks down songs into parts, and reassembles them in an off-center way, supported by his off-rhythm, rambling, gravelly rapping that amounts to free-form poetry in most of the parts. Which may sound terrible to a lot of traditionalist rap fans (and I won’t lie, there’s a good chance many will hate the album), but examining the album bit by bit shows the indicators of a working knowledge of hip hop traditionalism. Lacking the hollow drum-machine backed beats, with DJ scratching and references to all kinds of golden age hip hop landmarks, it most definitely is an album created FROM hip hop, if not necessary being a hip hop album when you listen to it for the first time.

Maybe it’s a hallmark of the era that Man Overboard was released in (2001); back then, Buck’s affiliation with the alternative art-hop collective, Anticon, was more interested in deconstructing hip hop, and using music to express emotions and ideas more than staying “true” to any set rule of the genre. In earlier albums, Buck often assumed other identities and played with his voice in odd ways, playing with album structure (his fantastic, and more accessible album Square is simply four 20 min. tracks, each containing multiple songs and interludes). Later, after the Anticon movement quelled, Buck returned to a more straightforward and traditional style (and is actually pretty sick on the mic).

There’s no question that Man Overboard is NOT an easy album to approach. It took me several attempts to fully understand its gorgeousness, mostly due to the fact that it seems to attempt to hold you at arm’s length. The songs lack hooks, structure, refrains, anything to hold on to; and yet, when you come to your own understanding of what this album means to you, you only want to listen to it more. When you begin to understand the place from which Buck wrote and produced this album, you come to not only understand, but love why it’s so damn weird. And after you spent the next 8 years hearing the same kinds of things recycled in hip hop over and over again, you wish more artists would simply TRY to create music as honest and unburdened by rules as this.

Man Overboard is evidence of what hip hop can produce, that isn’t tied to aggression and violence; but isn’t weighed down with arbitrary boundaries for what hip hop should be. And in the end, it’s evidence that the genre can survive, and even flourish while circumventing the usual avenue of violence and aggression that most rappers follow, and admittedly most supporters and detractors wish it to perpetuate.

Buck 65: Talkin’ Honky Blues (2003)

I heard Rich Terfry, the man behind the Buck 65 moniker and many others, for the first time while assembling a series of compilations for a road trip in 2003. The song “Pants on Fire,” which drew me in with its sample of the Vincent Gallo film “Buffalo 66,” was a recommendation of my friend Ren. I hadn’t listened to hip hop in years before Buck 65 came along. Finally, here was a rapper with interesting things to say that weren’t all about getting rich and getting laid. Here was a wordsmith who used the everyday middle class as his inspiration, a guy who liked the way words sounded when you put them next to each other, a guy who sounded a little more like Tom Waits than Eminem.

“Talkin’ Honky Blues” was a record that I devoured and have come to know inside out. It was Rich’s first real foray into a gritty western approach to hip hop, in part a concept album about a man who lives on a house boat, hangs out on the docks with the charismatically insane and slowly loses his mind to the motion of the waters. All in all, it’s a showcase of Buck’s unique brand of narrative hip hop, songs that come out of both experience and invention, rhymes about his dad (“Roses and Bluejays”), an outsider’s zest for life (“Protest”), and the soul of a wanderer (“Wicked and Weird”).

“Tired Out” is a song I listened to recently and was newly struck by its sadness, regret and concise hook. A steel guitar plays hauntingly over a hip hop beat while Rich raps not about the number of women he gets, but about the pain a lover causes the one he cheats on. There are no easy answers on the record, only a recounting of a man’s experiences with a world that has eluded his old-fashioned, sincere and simplistic approaches. “50 Gallon Drum” is a free-flowing communication of a list of items located in one man’s heaven (“The DJs only play originals and the theatres still have silver screens and Buster Keaton matinees”). Buck 65’s music routinely has that quality of the esoteric that rewards the listening experience. It’s his precise method of self-definition, regardless of the self, that impresses.

By some act of divine intervention, I was contacted by Buck 65’s management to help organize a spoken word show for Rich. At that point, he was touring in support of “Secret House Against the World.” I interviewed him afterward and found him to be personable and open. Above all, he’s a storyteller, an artist always on the lookout for loose threads that may be woven into a complete picture. He takes pride in his difference from the rest of the hip hop world, a leftfielder in a game of men who would rather compare bat size and pose for the crowd than do their job well.

I spent many afternoons at university making my way through the underground tunnels with Buck 65’s music on my headphones. His words and unique observations made me feel very aware of my surroundings and instilled in me the desire to write. His recent work with “Bike for Three” is some of the best material he’s ever done and I have faith that he’ll always surprise. His reservoir is one of the deepest I’ve come across.

Video for “Wicked and Weird” by Buck 65:

Have you heard Mickey Rourke’s appearance as a rapper of sorts on the credits for the Rogue Warrior video game? Rogue Warrior, for those who didn’t base their reading choices at 14 on a book’s percentage of guns and mayhem like I did, was based on the book by ex-Navy Seal Richard Marcinko, a commie-kicker who was really proficient with his swear words. Stick Rourke spitting a few bars of Marinko’s choicier cuts of cuss over a laid-back loop and boom, instant Internet heat. “Fuckin ninja style,” he raps.

Adding more cred to the joke than the developers at Rebellion Developments likely intended is the fact that Rourke’s ditty sounds like a perfect Buck 65 song. Or is it just me? The gravelly delivery, the seen-too-many-things weariness, the parodic hyper-masculinity and the lazy way he catches the beat? All Buck. Had Rourke wanted to — instead of, you know, winning Oscars and stuff — he could have made a decent career slogging through Canada’s indie scene (especially during that phase when Buck stopped making rap music) and making weeklies music scribes lose their shit.

Hit the jump for a comparison.

(via)

Aujourd’hui, c’est l’anniversaire de mon ami l’Alsaco, un de mes petits camarades d’échanges musicaux.

(Hip) Hop la !

Les biscuits de mon enfance clamaient “si l’Alsacienne a de grandes oreilles, c’est pour mieux écouter les gourmands”. Et ben c’est pareil pour lui. De très grandes oreilles, une curiosité qui confine souvent à la psychopathie, et une gourmandise sonore insatiable.

L’alsaco (aka Ear Division) passe la plus grande partie de son temps libre (quand il ne fabrique pas des ballons de foot dans un sweatshop) à chercher du son, et à organiser ses découvertes en compilations thématiques.

La dernière en date, c’est “Years”, qui concentre a peu près tous les bons morceaux uniquement composés d’une date (ce qui exclut par exemple “en 1990” de Jean Leloup, ou heureusement “cette année là” de Cloclo). Il a fait une exception pour Sexcrime (1984) parce que bon, c’est lui qui décide, quoi.

L’individu ne s’étant pas encore décidé à devenir bloggiste-conseil, je vous droppe la playlist en question. La prochaine fois, il s’en chargera lui-même, j’ai pas que ça à foutre.

Ear Division – Years

1901 Phoenix
1941 Harry Nilsson
1957 Buck 65
1958 Skalpel
1963 New Order
1969 Boards Of Canada
1973 Tahiti Boy & The Palmtree Family
1974 Rubin Steiner
1976 RJD2
1979 Smashing Pumpkins
Sexcrime (1984) Eurythmics
1984 Uffie
1986 (Unreleased) Kavinsky
1989 The Rakes
1999 Prince
2012 Gossip
3000 Dr. Octagon
3030 Deltron

Je complète d’un petit Yeasayer-2080, c’est cadeau ça me fait plaisir.

Bon anniversaire Vrefi. Je t’offrirai ton gâteau préféré dès qu’on se croise.

oui, il boit de la Kro et habite dans une cabane dans un arbre (©DVLS)

Every time a 0 is involved with the turning year, people tend to go crazy over “the best _____ of the decade”. Lists come out about music and movies and tv shows and whatever. Well, I decided to do that. Because I’m a dork. What I ended up doing is a list of things for every year since the year 2000. I will talk about some of them and leave links to others that I think are fantastical and that I belive you (whoever you are) might enjoy. So. Here we go. Expect to see some bands that repeat, and some that you know I like, if you like me:

2000
Does anyone remember how fantastically catchy ‘Bohemian Like You’ was? The silly video with the karaoke-thing, etcetera? There was a lot of decent music coming out around this time, and I remember being consistently barraged by good albums. This wouldn’t continue through the rest of the decade. Californication would be the last time I would enjoy RHCP as a band.

Dandy Warhols (song – Bohemian Like You); Red Hot Chili Peppers (album – Californication); Smashing Pumpkins/Foo Fighters/A Perfect Circle(show – Summersault – Winnipeg Stadium); Nine Inch Nails (video – Into the Void)

2001
In 2001 I succumbed to sexy pop for a favorite song. Seriously. That song is awesome. Frusciante’s album was magical, and I think my video of the year is really the only choice.

Kylie Minogue (song – Can’t get you out of my head); John Frusciante (album – To Record only Water for Ten Days); Tragically Hip (show – Winnipeg Arena); Fatboy Slim (video – Weapon of Choice)

2002
Dave Grohl makes the list twice as a drummer in this year, and probably would have taken the album too, but from out of nowhere came what would change my mind about Canadian music in that I ended up following almost every project that Broken Social Scene had outside of it’s main band after hearing the album and seeing them live.

Queens Of The Stone Age (song – Go With the Flow); Broken Social Scene (album – You Forgot it in people); Broken Social Scene – (show – Pyramid Cabaret); Tenacious D (video – Tribute)

2003
I remember the moment I fell in love with Sit down Stand up. It was on the eve of the album coming out, and Radiohead played a live show that was broadcasted to Silver City theatres in Canada. When that song reached the crescendo into the fast ‘raindrops’ part, I was almost on the edge of my seat. Which I could also say about the Metric show. They were second on a bill of three that featured Hot Hot Heat as the main act, and were still relatively new, but downright sexy and exciting to watch. I’ve since seen them six more times.

Radiohead (song – Sit Down, Stand Up); Mars Volta (album – De-Loused in the Comatorium); Metric (show – Pyramid Cabaret); Buck 65 (video – Wicked and Weird)

2004
The second time a John Frusciante album makes my favorite albums. This album is widely regarded as his most ‘mainstream’ and is a fantastic, great-amazing thing, just like the Bowie concert, which was the last concert I ever saw at the ol’ Winnipeg arena.

Secret Machines (song – Nowhere Again); John Frusciante (album – Shadows Collide with People); David Bowie (show – Winnipeg Arena); DFA 1979 (video – Black History Month)

2005
I’ll never forget how many phone calls I got when Nine Inch Nails annouced that they’d be coming here. It was the first time I was going to see them, after being a fan since 1994. My phone rang off the hook, and for one song during that show, so did my emotions. I kinda quietly, completely lost it, and felt like a dummy. Ha! By the way, that Esthero video’s freakin’ hot, and I agree with every sentiment in it.

Sufjan Stevens (song – Come On! Feel the Illinoise!); Fantomas (album – Suspended Animation); Nine Inch Nails (show – MTS Centre) Esthero (video – We R in Need of a Musical Revolution)

2006
I saw Wintersleep by myself in front of about 30 people, and skipped work to get there. When I talked to the singer about this, he dedicated a song to me. How nice. As far as Nausea goes, I don’t know what it is about that song, but something in it drives me nuts. It’s way too good and it doesn’t even realize it.

Beck (song – Nausea); Regina Spektor (album – Begin To Hope); Wintersleep (show – The Collective); Eagles of Death Metal (video – Boy’s Bad News)

2007
National Anthem of Nowhere has become my most listened to track on last.fm, and I think the Wintersleep album has since become one of my most listened to albums. They will both continue to rise in numbers. If I did a song by song and album by album breakdown, these two would make somewhere within the top three. And it’s pretty cool that I got to see Mike Patton in any of his 34i83902439024 bands, but Peeping Tom blew me away.

Apostle of Hustle (song – National Anthem of nowhere); Wintersleep (album – Welcome to the Night Sky); Peeping Tom (show – Trocadero); Feist (video – 1234)

2008
God, In Rainbows is great. And Secret Machines live, that’s something so completely underrated, I don’t even know how to describe it to you. The power that they have to get an audience going, is a sight to behold and yet there were so few people there that I was kind of disappointed in the turnout. Oh, and yes, I realize that Feist gets the video 2 years running for the same album, but they’re both great videos.

Kaki King (song – Montreal); Radiohead (album – In Rainbows); Secret Machines (show – Pyramid); Feist (video – I feel it all)

2009
I know, it hasn’t been that long, but Them Crooked Vultures was exactly the album I wanted it to be. So there.  And as far as Spookey’s song goes, this is the second time I’ve talked about it in my blog. Previously appeared in my “songs you won’t see in Guitar Hero or Rock band“, and it’s just something to behold. Metric’s video was perfect, it was the video that I wanted them to have. Something sweet and cute instead of overtly dorky like all of their other videos. As far as Leonard Cohen’s concert goes, I hadn’t been a huge fan beforehand, but was introduced, and BECAME a large fan because of how amazing that concert was. Everything he did was perfect. The singing, the sounds, the engagement with the audience was fantastic. Top five concerts in my life, that one.

Spookey Ruben (song – Mechanical Royalty); Them Crooked Vultures (album – Them Crooked Vultures); Leonard Cohen (show – MTS Centre); Metric (video – Gimme Sympathy)

Major crushin’ on this smart, talented, female. I didn’t love “Shortbus“– found it mostly cloying and too much in love with its idealized view of sex-as-religion/sex-as-catharis but was impressed by how much former MuchMusic VJ Sook-Yin Lee threw herself into the role of awkward, fish-out-of-water sexual experimentour.

Her directorial debut “Year of the Carnivore” first came to my attention through fellow Canadian dilletante Buck 65’s announcement that he scored the film. From reviews it sounds like she has taken part John Cameron Mitchell provacative sexuality and mixed it with a bit of coming-of-age indie-romance with vignettes from her own bisexual awakening. Exciting. Not holding my breath for a Minneapolis screening but hopefully a DVD screener rip will appear soon. Gotta love the internet.

A trailer for the film is still coming soon according to the site but Sook-Yin has done a number of short films recently that you can find online.

Peer pressure, peer pressure. Where would we all be without it?

Go to http://radio3.cbc.ca and vote for your favourite east coast artists in this year’s Bucky Awards, brought to you by the totally chill folk at CBC Radio 3 (go to the site, there’s a purple-y banner on the left with a buck on it- the categories are just below that.)

• BEST SONG: “Through & Through & Through” (Joel Plaskett), “One Track Mind” (Classified)
• MOST CANADIAN SONG: “Bye Bye Montreal” (Amelia Curran), “Oh… Canada” (Classified)
• BEST BAND NAME: Ruby Jean and the Thoughtful Bees
• BEST LIVE ACT: Hey Rosetta, Joel Plaskett, Ruby Jean and the Thoughtful Bees
• BEST LYRICS: I’m the Berlin Wall, I’m a communist / You’re a wrecking ball in a summer dress (“Through & Through & Through” by Joel Plaskett), Some days you’re happy / Other days I’m sad / I try not to think about what we could have had / Live for the moment, never the past (“Up & Down” by The Mountains and the Trees)
• BEST VOCALS: “One Track Mind” (Classified)
• SEXIEST MUSICIAN: Matt Mays, Rebekah Higgs of Ruby Jean and the Thoughtful Bees, Buck 65, Tim Baker of Hey Rosetta
• BEST NEW ARTIST: Ruby Jean and the Thoughtful Bees, The Mountains and the Trees

You gotta be a member of the site to vote but it only takes a second. Now… go vote! Voting closes at midnight (PST) Sunday, Nov. 8.

.do they know it’s hallowe’en? performed by the north american hallowe’en prevention initiative.

I’m scared of doors and corridors.  It’s like Monsters Inc – there’s always something beyond the door. Nevermind that what lies lurking in the unknown is, generally, going to be pretty incredible. Nevermind that it might hunt me down and change my life, cradling me with an aching chorus and a whisper of soft, scented chord progressions. It’s the very fact that there is always going to be something there.

It’s fine when you start opening doors; when your record collection sits nicely on a shelf and not sprawled across two cities; when you know Star Wars, but not ‘the Card‘; when the term degenerate art only conjures images of childish graffiti in playgrounds – of course you’re going to want to open those doors; you’re going to want to smash them apart with your fists, bursting through like gremlins hungry for an angry fix. You want to see what’s on the other side. You want to know why those names like Lou, Joni and Billie roll so lusciously off the lips of your new idols. You want to begin that journey, eager and panting like Sal Paradise in New York, hanging out for adventure and the promise of the open cultural road. But then you become junkie-like in the hunt, hurtling through and devouring each new find, leap-frogging from artist to lyric to cinema to literature; each a reference and a nod to the next; each a promise of gratification. Lapping at the leftovers,  like Zammo faced with an exploded bag of gak, before you know it it’s too late. Too many doors opened, leading to too many corridors with further doors, leading back and through this wicked mosaic of art and life. Before long, you’ve bought three copies of Blue Train, not realising you already owned the first two. But worse: you know you already have Transformer on 180gm vinyl and CD but you still look at it adoringly on the shelf in Fopp, sitting lonely amongst the Razorlight surplus – cut-price but still smug as fuck – and you actually think it would be a good idea to buy it again. And you have a list as long as the On the Road scroll of all your must do’s, must see’s, must gigs, must reads. And then your head explodes, and you sit watching the X Factor,  like John Doe in Se7en, wanting to taste the life of a simple man. Wishing for that simple shelf of greatest hits.

Cover of the exhibition program: Degenerate Art exhibition, 1937

Sometimes I’ve been so scared of doors that if I’ve been out on a Saturday night I’ll ensure I never arrive home between 1am and 3am – because  that’s when MTV2 showed 120 minutes. 120 minutes of eclectic new music and past classics – a hunter’s dream. Drunk on liqueur and excitement I knew I’d be cursed not to remember these amazing new names in the morning – names like Evil Nine, Bumblebeez, Futureshock,  Buck 65, the Teenagers – so I’d grab the nearest writing utensil and scrawl these future obsessions anywhere I could. I’d awake in the morning to a copy of the Saturday Guardian covered in scribbles of band names, some so illegible I’d sit there thinking ‘could that have been the one to change my life??’ In the end it became easier to avoid 120 minutes altogether. But I’d more than often relapse.

I still fear doors and corridors. Sometimes I think I haven’t any head space to let any more in – I know for certain I’m running out of money. But every day I still open a new door, walk down a new corridor and enter into a whole new world. It still scares me, but it’s what I do.

vi står och säger allt med fingrarna som citationstecken
så jag tvingar mig att syna alla minnen efter mutationstecken

Jag faller inåt Mamma. som en man i ökenpiruetter
när Valerie Solanas får mig vilja röka cigaretter
this dust devil must level fast hellre
komma in och röra runt åt det lite bättre
så markerar den här hösten slutet på vår strid
när jag faller som första lövet in i en årstid
går långsamt, genom en stad
slås våldsamt, av vet inte vad

jag snubblar på barmark och klockan säger 13:37
som ett nördigt tecken från en rätt så vettig gud
jag kände nåt fint och det måste vart nyss
men nu är allt industri och postapokalyps

du tystnar och jag borde nog inte skriva om dig än i min konst
så jag lyssnar på outskirts och nynnar med i september she comes
hon kommer i september, hon kommer i september,
undra hur det kommer ändra allt jag känner

rostiga tågvagnar, stök
måste va vårt ragnarök
Jag förtjänar inte sånt här kokonggrått
av armeringsjärn och betongblock
modern konst har inget på verkligheten
spretiga fingrar och smådjurs verksamheter

undrar och sparkar i gruset
blundar, kom kvarkar och ljuset
ge mig småsten eller Hawking
eller vart fall nåt beständigare än asfalt
tecken i tiden är att bäcken är vriden
förorenad görostenad allt läcker ut i den
spårar ur led och gud vet att du smet
om jävlarna bara kunde fatta att jag är sjukt het

vi säger allt med fingrarna som citationstecken
så jag synar alla minnena efter mutationstecken

du tystnar och jag borde nog inte skriva om dig än i min konst
så jag lyssnar på outskirts och nynnar med i september she comes
hon kom i september, hon kom i september,
men det ändrade inte nåt av allt det jag känner

Lazerus Pit a accepté de répondre à quelques questions, l’occasion de (re)découvrir son univers aussi bluffant de réalisme, que riche en imagination !

(french interview)

• Salut Mathieu, Almyum, Lazerus Pit, Harry Keeree…
peux-tu nous en dire un peu plus sur toi ?
Lazerus Pit : Je m’appelle Mathieu, j’ai 27 ans, je suis illustrateur,
je travaille principalement pour des labels de rap indépendants américains,
avant je travaillais pour des studios d’animation basés à Paris…
Lazerus Pit est le nom d’un blog créé il y a deux ans que je tiens
avec mon cousin Etienne/Pseudzero, qui est aussi le patron du label (vulgar),
c’est devenu mon nom d’artiste parce que c’est bien plus simple à prononcer
qu’Almyum, y compris pour les anglophones !

• Te souviens-tu de ce qui t’a donné envie de dessiner ?
et aujourd’hui, où puises-tu ton inspiration ?
Lazerus Pit : Je dessine depuis très jeune, parce que j’étais mauvais en sport
et comme j’habitais dans un village complètement paumé je savais pas quoi
faire d’autre… et puis ma mère m’a traîné dès l’école primaire à Paris voir
des expos d’art contemporain…
Aujourd’hui je suis à fond dans les bouquins pour enfants et encyclopédies
médicales des années soixante, les motifs de camouflage d’avions de combat,
les animaux obèses, les friches industrielles, les affiches de cinéma Bollywood,
les dessins de malades mentaux, les fêtes foraines… mais le truc concret qui
m’inspire le plus c’est la décoration d’intérieur bien rustique dans certaines
maisons de vieux, genre napperon sur la télé, les dauphins-boule de neige
en plastique, les faux meubles artisanaux à vitres teintées, je trouve ça à la fois
écoeurant et fascinant… et bien sûr le travail d’un tas d’artistes, aussi bien
en BD qu’en illustration ou en photo.

• Tes portraits (Buck 65, Tenshun…) sont très travaillés,
peux-tu nous dévoiler ta recette ?
Lazerus Pit : Ca risque d’être un peu ennuyeux et technique,
alors je me contenterai de ça : je prends l’artiste dont je veux faire le portrait
en photo moi-même quand je peux le rencontrer, je fais ça en majeure partie
à la tablette graphique sous Photoshop, et j’intègre pas mal d’éléments dessinés
au crayon et de textures peintes à l’encre ou à l’huile et scannées…
Il n’y a pas de “truc” à proprement parler, si je n’étais pas capable de peindre
avec des outils traditionnels, je serais incapable de faire ça…
Ça me prend en moyenne trois semaines bien denses, plus si l’artiste est exceptionellement chevelu…

• Justement, malgré ta maîtrise de ces techniques traditionnelles,
tu sembles privilégier le numérique, pourquoi ?
Lazerus Pit : J’aime bien pouvoir changer complètement d’avis à la dernière
minute et déplacer tel ou tel élément d’un millimètre sur la droite ou le mettre
en rose fluo quand ça me chante, j’ai pas la patience d’attendre que ça sèche
et je déteste nettoyer mes pinceaux…
Ceci dit c’est quand même plus intuitif de peindre avec des vrais outils
sur une vraie toile, l’approche est plus vivante qu’avec une tablette graphique…
Deux-tiers/un-tiers pour l’instant c’est un bon compromis….

• La photo semble également être un domaine dans lequel tu prends du plaisir…
Lazerus Pit : C’est vraiment un élément super amateur de mon boulot,
j’ai un vieil argentique semi-automatique, je me contente d’appuyer
sur le bouton, mais oui c’est un plaisir, je vois ça comme un journal de bord,
ça me permet de présenter aux lecteurs du blog une version un peu romancée
et mystérieuse de ma vraie vie au lieu d’écrire genre “aujourd’hui il fait beau,
j’ai mangé des chocapic”… et comme c’est pas quelque chose que je prends
trop au sérieux je peux me permettre de prendre en photos des choses
vraiment moches ou anecdotiques qui feront tripper trois potes, peu importe
si les autres gens n’y comprennent rien.

• Ces derniers mois tu as réalisés des artworks (pochettes, picture disc…)
pour des artistes hip hop (tels que Factor, Myka 9…), comment s’est fait/passé
le contact ? et si tu avais le choix, pour quel artiste aimerais-tu travailler ?
Lazerus Pit : Mes premiers contacts avec des rappeurs je les ai eus via (vulgar),
le label de Pseud, et ensuite Shawn d’Ooh That’s Heavy a été emballé
par mon boulot, qu’il a montré à Factor, etc, etc…
Aujourd’hui ça fait un paquet d’années que les gens de toute cette scène
Project Blowed/Shapeshifters/Anticon… sont en activité et ils se connaissent
tous plus ou moins, donc le bouche à oreille se fait assez facilement.
Myka 9, le seul contact que j’ai eu avec lui, c’était un email-fleuve dans lequel
il m’expliquait de façon complètement décousue tout ce qui pour lui se rattachait
à l’année 1969 (au moment de la conception de la pochette de “1969″),
c’était assez drôle !
J’ai toujours voulu faire une pochette pour Awol One parce que je suis
un grand fan de ses raps, il m’a contacté au moment de sortir “Owl Hours”,
ça n’a pas pu se faire parce que le label n’avait pas de budget pour l’artwork
mais comme on est toujours en contact ça devrait se concrétiser
un jour ou l’autre.
Sinon j’aimerai beaucoup dessiner une pochette pour Dat Politics, Mr.Oizo,
Surkin, Modeselektor ou n’importe quel groupe d’electro aussi bon que putassier
parce qu’ une partie de mon boulot prend une direction bien putassière
et j’aimerais avoir l’occasion d’exploiter ça à fond…

• Peux-tu nous parler un peu de ton implication dans (vulgar) records ?
Lazerus Pit : Je fais tous les visuels du label et de ses ramifications,
Norwegian Hood et Vs. the World depuis 2003, en concertation avec Etienne…
Il me laisse carte blanche la plupart du temps mais il a toujours une idée
de la direction à suivre sur tel ou tel projet, c’est vraiment quelqu’un de créatif
qui a une grosse culture visuelle et musicale, qui s’attache à sortir uniquement
des morceaux qu’il estime être très bons et a compris que l’aspect visuel
était un élément crucial dans l’identité d’un label (si petit soit-il).

• Quels sont les projets qui t’occupent en ce moment ?
Lazerus Pit : Je suis en train de bosser sur la pochette du nouvel album solo
de Factor qui devrait sortir en mai 2010 sur Fake Four Inc. (et sur lequel
apparaîtront entre autres Pigeon John et Sole), ensuite j’enchaîne
sur un picture disc mystère pour (vulgar), et je viens de boucler des visuels
pour deux modèles de t-shirts Vs. The World qui seront sérigraphiés
par Superheights (qui bosse entre autre pour Carhartt, Lee Ranaldo, etc ),
ça devrait être dispo début 2010….

• Donc, musicalement, pas de nouveau “Chocaholics” ou autre “Fête Foraine” ?
Lazerus Pit : Nope. J’ai un job à mi-temps et je passe tout mon temps libre
à dessiner. J’ai plus le temps pour ça, mais on met régulièrement des mixes
de Pseud et tous ses amis imaginaires du roster Norwegian Hood en ligne,
vous pouvez en télécharger un paquet gratuitement ici :
/ Unsexiest Post Ever
/ This machine Kills Podcasts
/ Top 40 Suicide / Hypodraulics

• As-tu un artiste à nous faire découvrir ?
Lazerus Pit : Euh, ce ne sont pas des noms spécialement underground,
mais Kim Hiorthoy est un génie, sinon David Shrigley, Chris Ware, Winsor Mc Kay
(le créateur de Little Nemo in Slumberland)… et Julien Spianti, un ami,
qui fait bien mal aussi.

• Pour finir, salade, tomates, oignons ?
Lazerus Pit : Salade, tomate, oignons, chou rouge en option, sans frites,
sauce andalouse. S’il te plaît !

• Merci beaucoup à Lazerus Pit d’avoir répondu à ces quelques questions !
Interview par rimrimrim, septembre 2009

[lazerus pit.com / lazerus pit spot / (vulgar) records.com]

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tib goes wild, dessin inédit pour salade tomates oignons

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artwork for 34000 SCRWD “HOSHINO VS.HANA” mix

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logo

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Lab waste Tour poster

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Hey guys,
here’s something interesting i don’t want you to miss: two new remixes, Thavius Beck reinvents the track “Lazarus Phenomenon” from the new BFT! LP “More Heart Than Brains”. Second, Greeting From Tuskan, the second half of BFT! remixes the Buck65 Track “Way Back Than” from his last solo lp called “Solution”. So enjoy those tracks and if you haven’t do so before. If You haven’t listened to “More Heart Than Brains” yet, do so immediatly, it’s wonderful. Here you can read a review in german: Guess who’s the enthusiastic author … so keep on listening to gooood music y’all.

Lazarus Phenomenon (Thavius Beck Remix)

Way Back When (Greeting From Tuskan Remix)

The Bike For Three! Review

través de algunos discos –editados por su cuenta o por oscuros sellos canadienses o estadounidenses–, Buck 65 logró construirse una reputación de pequeño maestro de la vanguardia del rap.
Edificador de sombríos paisajes instrumentales –en el cruce de DJ Shadow y Massive Attack–, el músico se impuso como un cronista inspirado de historias en las que vuelca fantasmas, leyendas urbanas y su propia autobiografía. Por estos días, dicho prestigio fue coronado con el lanzamiento de Square, su magistral nuevo álbum, donde se vuelven a encontrar todas sus iluminadas obsesiones musicales, sus grietas más íntimas, sus discretos pero numerosos trazos de genio.

Myspace

And thus the trilogy of Buck 65 hip-hop reviews comes to an end with the final part of the Dirtbike project, Dirtbike 3.

It was tough deciding what I thought about this album in comparison to the other two offerings of this project and I came to this conclusion: Dirtbike 2 was by far the best album, Dirtbike 3 was the second best and Dirtbike 1 was the third best (I’m not going to call anything in the Canadian indie scene “the worst” if I can help it).

So how to describe the sound of Dirtbike 3? Well, the intro once again introduced me to the fact that I was listening to Buck 65, which still irked me a little but I put up with it. Thankfully it wasn’t as bad as the intro to Dirtbike 1 which repeated “My name is Buck/65 65/My name is Buck/No need to act stupid” way too many times.

One thing I finally understood after finishing off this album is that Buck’s rhymes are made to tell real stories, stories of people who are down on their luck or in trouble. Quite the opposite of the mainstream hip-hop scene for sure. For example, in one song Buck tells the story of what I can only describe as a slum, a place where many misfits would hang out, such as a woman in a bikini with a million tatoos or a girl who listens to heavy metal (not to imply that a girl who listens to heavy metal is a misfit).

Also in his rhymes Buck uses some very interesting statements as hooks- one that stuck in my mind was “And nothing rhymes with woman”. I think the reason that was so prominent to me was because there are always flimsy half-rhymes that mainstream rappers would use to rhyme with woman. This would probably involve a word being twisted out of its original pronunciation, popularized by such horrible artists as T-Pain and Lil’ Wayne.

I also quite enjoyed some his more descriptive rhymes, such as in the second-to-last song: “Here’s two or three things I know about her/She’s masculine, feminine, Chinese, curvaceous, married, filled with contempt and flirtatious”. Interesting set of words, for sure.

While there was some degree of songs that were forgetful, the final little bit of the album provided a satisfying conclusion. A voice asks what would happen if we were all to just drop music. The answer was repeated twice, as the very last two words of the album: “panic.”

After hearing all three albums, I can recommend this project to hip-hop fans who are looking for a different experience. Buck 65 is a very talented rapper, and the fact this that this three-album, over three hour, seventy-song project was completed is quite the accomplishment.

Top Tracks: Whatever that song was about nothing rhyming with woman

3 Hoots

65,

on him,

artistic crush,

huge,

i have.

*swoon*

Sorry that this review came out a little later than I would have liked.

After hearing Dirtbike 1 I knew that I needed to listen to the other two albums. It was to my understanding that Buck 65 worked really, really hard to get the whole Dirtbike project finished so I couldn’t stop at just one album.

Which brought me to the second Dirtbike album, the appropriately named Dirtbike 2. It kind of reminded me of Billy Talent, whose every album is just their name followed by whatever album number it is. Anyways. I ended up really enjoying Dirtbike 2, liking it a lot more than the first.

Overall, I sensed that there was more of a musical presence on this record. I was actually noticing the music behind each of the tracks unlike the first album. Once again, the album managed to maintain its intelligent rhymes, rife with historical allusions, an all too uncommon element of most rap nowadays.

The flow also seemed to be fixed on this album, with the order of the songs seemingly more natural. Not only that, but one issue I had with Dirtbike 1 was addressed unexpectedly. I mentioned how I didn’t like the self-gratifying mentions of his own name in a few of the songs. In the intro, a voice tells Buck 65 that he’s egotistic, and Buck argues that he’s not. That was hands down my favourite moment of the album.

Oh yes, the intro was absolutely spectacular! It was an amazing fusion of hip hop claps with an old-school country kind of chorus. Besides the intro, this album also had my favourite track so far, an acoustic song if you can believe it, featuring the very gifted Canadian singer Jenn Grant in the song’s chorus. Another standout track for me was a song about Halloween, with the chorus interchanging the types of costumes children wanted to wear.

Generally his album was a lot more fun to listen to than Dirtbike 1, and although the energy was lost in a few spots on the album, many of the song’s “stories” were interesting to hear and the music was absolutely fantastic.

Top tracks: That song with Jenn Grant and the one about Halloween (I don’t have the track listing).

3.5 Hoots

Unicycles are so yesterday. Everybody knows Bike For Three! is the new black. Check out our latest cover on the well-lucked and mysterious cross-continental duo of Canadian indie-rap legend Richard Terfry (Buck 65) and budding Belgian electronicist Joëlle Phuong Minh Lê (Greetings From Tuskan).
urbnet.com/covers

No real album artwork for this one. This picture will have to do.

Running low on Canadian indie pop or indie rock albums, I decided to look at an album that I hadn’t listened to in its entirety. That is the album Dirtbike 1 from Canadian hip-hop artist Buck 65. That’s right. For once I’m actually reviewing a Canadian indie hip-hop artist.

As I finished listening, I wondered to myself: how am I going to go about reviewing this? On this album there was actually very little to talk about musically. There are no guitar riffs or amazing drum beats; just simply beats and, surprisingly, intelligent rhymes. Also, guest appearances by fellow Canadian rappers Moka Only and Cadence Weapon.

I knew that I wasn’t listening to a normal hip-hop album when the names Hieronymous Bosch and Rousseau are mentioned. Yes, thank goodness, there was no mention of drugs or guns, and just a very minor reference to women. Well, call it minor if you wish, I don’t know, you be the judge on that one.

So what do I actually think about the album? It has its strong points, and it has its flaws.

While this won’t negatively affect the review I do wish the album could have been seperated into tracks. The whole offering is one hour and three minutes in length and I lost count of the number of songs after four. Not only that but I couldn’t find any track listings on Buck 65’s websites either.

The strength of this album is definitely its intelligence. Like fellow Canadian rapper K-oS, Buck 65 does not rap about the subject matter of 50 Cent and Eminem’s songs. While I did have trouble figuring out the messages of most if not all of his songs, his rhymes were quite varied and didn’t use any really offensive words. Another bonus!

Where I saw some flaws were partly with the flow of the album. The third song (or so I counted) talked about a woman having legs like a shotgun (complete with shotgun loading noises, no less) followed directly by a song about a very messed up urban family. Wait, what?

Also, I was a little disappointed by the album’s lack of music. Many of the beats faded into the background over Buck’s rapping. Not only that but there was a 2-minute intro telling me that I was listening to Buck 65. I kind of knew that already. I can’t tell if that’s self-indulgence or if it’s just supposed to be a message to get through to my head. Who knows, it kind of bugged me.

This album is (most likely) just a taste of what’s to come. I’m confident that Dirtbike 2 and 3 (when I get around to reviewing them) should be better. Not that this album is bad, it’s definitely worth a listen for hip-hop fans. For me, it wasn’t totally enough to win me over but still impressive.

Top Tracks: If I had a track listing I could list them maybe

2.5 Hoots 

You’ve heard me right. I, who am a huge fan of electronic and alternative music am telling you all to go and listen to some hip hop.

Rap and I used to be good friends way back in grade six. That was when I struggled to fit in with everyone and listened to 50 Cent and Snoop Dogg to seem cool. Don’t worry though, I snapped out of that phase a year later. I didn’t become the indie snob that I am now until later.

Anyways, so let me get to the point of this posting. Recently, Canadian rapper Buck 65 made a very epic contribution to the music scene of Canada. Not only did he write three epic albums, entitled Dirtbike 1-3 (individually Dirtbike 1, Dirtbike 2 and Dirtbike 3), but they are free downloads from his website! You heard me right.

And they’re not any wimpy offerings either- according to Buck 65 himself he wrote 70 songs and each album is about an hour in length.

Now the main hatred I have for rap and hip hop is the pointlessness of it nowadays. I love the good old days of rap, when “Let Your Backbone Slide” by Maestro Fresh Wes was big. I personally love listening to that kind of stuff. Rap wasn’t talking about drugs, guns and scantily clad women. They had good messages- for example “911 is a Joke” by Public Enemy kind of speaks for itself.

Buck 65 has managed to (for the most part) not touch on these subjects, and this was part of the draw for me. You have to give the man credit- being a Canadian rapper is very difficult to carry as a career. And he’s not asking anyone to pay a single cent for his music either. He is very admirable in my eyes.

Currently I am listening to Dirtbike 1 and even though I was initially taken aback by the hip hop, I’ve managed to bring myself to like it. When I do pay attention to the lyrics I notice they’re not at all repetetive like the song “A Milli” by scum-of-the-Earth (oops, did I get the name wrong?) As well, it utilizes a full range of instruments, not just a synthesizer and a bassline. I managed to hear a piano in the last song I just heard.

So anyways, head to www.buck65.com/dirtbike to get the download code. I highly reccomend that you download these albums. Help give a little life to the Canadian hip hop scene.

This sounds like the entire antithesis of my being, I know, but I’m not going slowly insane, I swear. I leave you with a song that got Buck 65 a lot of attention- Devil’s Eyes.

Rifflandia Music Festival | Sept 24-27th | Victoria BC | bringing together some of Canada’s best musical acts