May 2017 – Extraordinary Nobodies

Qualchan’s Mixtape: Songs for Turning Up

crazyeyes

Dustin asked me to do a second installment, so here I am – songs for turning up. Don’t “at” me on some fuck-shit over one of these dudes being goofy, or your favorite rapper not being included. Do some drugs and get lost. I’ll keep this short and to the point. The Hemingway of trap.

For those who haven’t left, here’s the playlist. Strap in.

Playboi Carti – Location: Playboi Carti has put out the best album of the year so far in my opinion. This beat from Harry Fraud goes the fuck in.
Xxxtentacion – Let’s Pretend We’re Numb: What do I even say…I’ve been on this cat since summer of 2016. This is an older song of his. Enjoy.
Ski Mask the Slump God – Planet Drool (feat. Xxxtentacion): I had Ski Mask in my last list as well. He and Xxxtentacion are set to take over the industry.
Rico Recklezz – Famous: My man Rico Recklezz is a Chiraq savage who dropped the hardest beat of the year.
Higher Brothers – YAHH! (feat. J. Mag): Higher Brother have put out two lit at fuck collabs recently, this and “Made in China.” They’re definitely an act to watch out for this year.
Sumo – Regular (Remix): Sumo is good, but his style is kinda everywhere right now. Once he finds his own voice this guy will be unstoppable. Pay attention.
Go Yayo – Knock Knock (feat. G$ Lil Ronnie): G$ Lil Ronnie has been around for a minute now and I had Go Yayo in my last playlist. Yhis is his year. Texas is on the come up as a region.
Famous Dex – Shooters: I think at this point everyone has some kind of opinion on Famous Dex. The last few months have been rough for him, so let’s go back to the golden era of Dex. Back to summer of 2k15. “Shooters” brings the heat.
Syringe – I Don’t Like You: Syringe is part of the new wave of mumble rap, where more emphasis is placed on turning up on a few Xanax than spitting bars. He may not have a lot to say, but that beat is hard.
Kay P – Blood Flow Down My Wrist: Kay P is dope. “Blood Flow Down My Wrist” is the perfect jam for rolling around with the windows down.
Blake – Flexin: This is an an older song from Blake, but this cat is slept on.
Rarri – What Dey Seem: Rarri brings the fire for summer cookouts.
Lucki – No Work: Finally, a short one from Lucki to close out the set. “No Work” is a great song for the comedown.

Happy listening.

Album Review: Walter Gross – Super Basic

by Dustin

superbasic

8/10

Ah, Walter Gross. One of the most creative noise-based musicians alive. A little early this year we took a look at his Black Box Tapes release, Vestige. An album which was, and still is, one of the best releases to date in 2017. Moving with the swiftness of a sparrow Walter Gross has already ventured into another release, Super Basic. This release isn’t a really a follow up to Vestige, instead it is a collection of material recorded between 2015 and 2017 (according to his BandCamp page) being released completely DIY both digitally and on cassette. These sorts of beat-tape releases can be slightly unpredictable; however, when they’re from an artist known for experimenting with sound they’re usually worth checking out. They’re unrestrained and free from the need to fit an overarching sound, and usually loaded with interesting tidbits and lost cuts.

Walter Gross is exactly that type of artist, and Super Basic is a very interesting tape.

Super Basic feels like a cutting room floor of ideas, experiments, and loose ends that make up Walter’s progression as a musician. The songs have this loose quality to them that definitely feels like an assortment of not entirely fleshed out thoughts. The track names lend to this rough cut experience, with titles such as “Party Loop”, “Cut I”, and “Cut II” feeling as unpolished as the songs themselves; the ruggedness of Super Basic is not a negative quality by any means however. It leads to somewhat of a scattered experience, but it makes it feel as if the listener is being granted insight into the method behind the madness of Walter Gross.

Even the packaging of the cassette release is a little rough around the edges (in the best way possible). There’s some previews up on BandCamp of the physical release, and it really adds an element to the aesthetic. The digital art (as seen above) is similarly simplistic yet beautiful. The way he’s crafted all elements of this album by hand is admirable, to say the very least.

As far as the music goes, there are some genuinely beautiful moments on Super Basic. The vocal melody on “Cookie” for example is absolutely gorgeous and has this delicious contrast with the noisy, glitchy, sauntering drum line. “Hierophant I” is another stunning piece on this album. It has this crunchy distorted wall of noise at the forefront of the song, with a very subtle meditative nearly-angelic sound slipping through the cracks (and eventually closing out the track). That’s not to say that the rest of the tape isn’t also very cool – which it is – but hearing these moments of blissful relaxation hidden in the noise is breathtaking. It provides a wonderful balance, and gives weight to the most abrasive moments on Super Basic.

There’s also a really nice amount of variation on this beat tape. There are looping moments that drone on, hellishly insane noise tracks, and even some bits that feel hip-hop influenced. It gives one a sample of the range Walter Gross is capable of playing with.

Super Basic may not quite be the powerhouse album that Vestige is, but it’s really not intended to be. Walter’s assortment of sounds on this project are the ultimate fanfare. Even though Super Basic shows off his varying styles, it most likely would not be the best jumping off point for a new listener. That being said, as an established fan this tape is a seductive sampler platter featuring everything lovable about his music. Super Basic totally encapsulates the do-it-yourself and gritty nature of Walter Gross. Perhaps it’s even safe to say that this is him in his rawest form; dirtied up, a little bit chaotic, but an absolute blast to sit through.

Think Piece: Logic’s “1-800-273-8255” is More Damaging Than Empowering

by Dustin

logic560

I will be upfront and admit that I am not a Logic fan. I really couldn’t care less about most things that Logic releases. He doesn’t make a style of music I care for, but he’s got some talent and he’s usually harmless enough that he’s not worth bashing either; however, there’s something about one of his new songs that very genuinely seemed….worthy of discussion, to put it nicely. The song is “1-800-273-8255”. If the song title looks familiar to you at all, that’s because it’s the number of the Suicide Prevention Lifeline. Unsurprisingly, that’s also where the song sits topically. Logic on this song made an effort as a celebrity figure to “reach out” to fans through his music, and encourage them to get help with their problems. Now, in theory, that would actually be quite an admirable thing to do. Suicide is a very serious issue, and many are afraid to reach out when they’re grappling with the desire to kill themselves. I was once one of these people, and I’ll be the first to admit that music was one of the key things that helped me pull myself out of the hole and get professional help. Hearing an artist be open about their mental issues on record can be an incredibly powerful experience, particularly if they’re one that you admire.

However, something is severely off with the execution of “1-800-273-8255”. Logic has all the desire in the world to help people on this song, but none of the understanding of what mental illness or suicide actually are. To start, the song is mostly centered around a half-assed concept about an individual calling the suicide prevention line. To be blunt, it horrendously twists the issue to be something smaller than it is. Logic’s analysis of feeling suicidal includes: general sadness, occasional loneliness, and wishing friends would text more often. Basically, “1-800-273-8255” flagrantly tip-toes around the idea of suicide as if Logic was afraid to actually talk about it….when it’s supposed to be a song about not being afraid to reach out for help. Right.

Because of this “1-800-273-8255” felt like an artist abusing the social issue of suicide, stripping it down to it’s simplest (and often flat out incorrect) components, and then casting a wide net so that as many people as possible could relate to it. This is unfortunate, as it presented the opportunity for a major artist to speak on something that close to ten million individuals in the United States alone are faced with on a daily basis. Instead, he spoke about things that seven and a half billion people can relate to, and stamped “suicide” on it as a topic in order to appear as if he cares.

In spite of this, you’d think Logic would have been able to redeem himself on the portions of the song encouraging people to fight through their problems…yet he managed to turn that into a total disaster as well. Telling people that they shouldn’t kill themselves because they might experience “the warm embrace of a lover’s chest” (not verbatim, but close enough) in the Alissa Cara segment of the song is an absolute joke. Logic, people who are in a critical enough mental state that they want to end their own lives do not give a single fuck about the fact that they might one day find someone to share life with. You could have taken a moment to congratulate them on making it this long while coping with intense internal conflict, you could have discussed there being no shame in admitting you need someone else’s help, but instead you chose to trivialize the issue again in a way that makes your single just that much cuter. Well done.

It gets worse.

In a moment of complete and total blissful ignorance Logic drops the lyric, “what’s the day without a little night?” Allow that to sink in for a moment, and then consider the fact that Logic is straight up telling people that if they didn’t experience urges to end their own lives, the good times wouldn’t be as enjoyable. Telling a suicidal individual that they wouldn’t enjoy other parts of life as much if they didn’t have to suffer through endless, suffocating thoughts of self-murder is not tasteful. It isn’t raising awareness either. It is attempting to turn a severe mental issue that takes over your entire being into a positive. You can’t do that. There is absolutely no positive attached to feeling suicidal. Suicidal urges aren’t cute, they’re not glamorous, and you’re not helping raise awareness to how crippling they can be by putting a positive spin on it. You could ignore the rest of the song entirely, but this one line of backhanded suicide ideation is enough to get a sense for how ignorantly grounded “1-800-273-8255” is throughout. And once again, the only really function it serves is a cute little quotable to aid the single factor.

The single factor of a song about suicide.

Suicide and mental illnesses are not the same as feeling lonely all the time. They’re not the same as feeling awkward and out of place. They’re not the same as feeling like nobody wants you. These can be smaller parts of the bigger picture, sure, but “1-800-273-8255” chooses to only focus on them. Logic, you’ve turned suicide prevention into an anthem of easily relatable trite that everyone (particularly teenagers) can relate with. You’ve successfully made a very serious, heart wrenching problem into something quickly digestible and consumable as a single on a major label. Congratulations, you’ve successfully exploited and marginalized suicide for a profit.

Ultimately, this song is a poster-child for one of the biggest issues with how we treat mental illness: lack of education. We do need to be open about these sorts of problems, but we need to approach them with a maturity that this single completely lacks. If you really want to make a difference, do some research. Understand the signs of someone who might be harming themselves, or might be planning to in the future. Be willing to listen when someone opens up to you, and don’t judge them if they opt to receive mental help. If this song did happen to help you, that’s great, but overall we need to approach these things more tactfully. We need to tackle them in a way that doesn’t make those affected by suicide and depression feel like their issues are simple to get through. While Logic doesn’t seem to lack compassion, he clearly lacks understanding, and that is just as damaging.

If you or anyone you know is dealing with depression, thoughts of suicide, or other mental illness, here are some resources that may be of use:

http://mindcheck.ca/

https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org/

https://therapists.psychologytoday.com/rms

http://healthymindscanada.ca/resources/

Exploring Other Genres: YAH! – Rock und Roll

by Dustin

YAH!

8/10

We have to kick off this review by wishing a happy three year anniversary to the record label FilthyBroke Recordings. Extraordinary Nobodies has had the pleasure of becoming fairly close with Michael and some of his friends over the last couple of months, and we’d like to congratulate them on reaching such a milestone. From trusting us with early press, to genuinely taking interest in the other material we’ve written about, our relationship with FilthyBroke has open up a ton of opportunities. For that reason, we would also like to extend our thanks and wish Michael many more years putting out great music.

Which takes us to the meat of the article… A discussion on the record being released to help celebrate the third year of FilthyBroke Recordings. We’ve had to put this in the Exploring Other Genres category, for it’s not hip-hop; this record truly cannot be shoehorned into any category (but we’ll be discussing that a little later). You may now be asking, what is this record? Who is this record by? Where can I listen to such a record? Will this record cure my irritable bowl syndrome? Probably.

But it’s time to stop asking questions and start receiving answers.

The record is Rock und Roll, a release by the one and only Dean Cavanagh under the name YAH! If the name Dean Cavanagh sounds familiar to you, it’s probably because he’s an amazingly talented and well traveled individual. From the electronic music outfit Glamorous Hooligan, to running the magazine Herb Garden, to being a critically acclaimed screenwriter, Dean has seemingly been everywhere and done everything. When a figured such as him comes out of the woodwork to drop an album, ears perk up. Even if the release doesn’t set the world on fire, it’s almost a certainty that it will be stuffed to the brim with creative and unconventional ideas.

Rock und Roll is no exception.

Much like Walter Gross’ Vestige from earlier this year, Rock und Roll is an album that is incredibly difficult to define using conventional genre outlines. Each individual song has so much going on instrumentally that it’s like being smacked with wave after wave of musical eras and influences. One minute Dean has you convinced that you’re about to bite into an electronic dance epic; two minutes later the rug has been pulled out from under your feat and you’re bobbing your head to retro surf rock. That’s not exaggerated either, throw on “Big Knee” and then wait a few tracks until you hit “Rumble in Berlin.” There’s even some distinctly punk-flavors to the album, such as the drum pattern on the otherwise synthetic “Dungeness Bank Holiday.”

In spite of all of this, Dean managed to structure the album in such a way that all the sounds fit together. Tracks felt as if they belonged, and served a purpose. With all the styles happening at once, this is really a commendable accomplishment. With Rock und Roll being only eight tracks long, there was a big risk of something feeling out of place. He avoided this entirely, leaving the end product to be a very satisfying listen; moreover, he kept the album consistently engaging even though there were no vocals. That can be a hard task for instrumental works, but not so for the YAH! mastermind.

If there’s one thing that can be said about this album, it’s that Dean Cavanagh is not afraid to “try trying” in any sense. Some of it kind of works better than others, but as a whole, the project is a blast to listen to. The fun thing about Rock und Roll is that it works marvelously both as an active listening record, and as a background soundtrack to whatever you’ve got going on currently. The playfulness the album exudes is also fitting as we move out of the dreary days of winter into the crisp warmth of early summer.

Rock und Roll feels like an album that ten different people could like ten different things about, so definitely consider giving it a look if you’re craving something a little different. A little change can be major musical palate cleanser, and this album is certainly a dose of different.