Big K.R.I.T, through mix tapes and guests spots, has proven over the last year and a half to be one of the true stars in the rap game, and 2012 should be his biggest year yet. He is releasing his major label (Def Jam) debut Live from the Underground, but first he has one more mix tape in his back pocket. The smooth but rollicking “Boobie Miles” is the first track released from his forthcoming 4Eva NA Day, the follow up to his Return of 4Eva mix tape  from last year.  While his album titles mercilessly slaughter the English language, his beats are syrupy smooth and his rhymes are poignant and hard hitting.  The album cover from the new mix tape does a good job of setting up the conflicting worlds K.R.I.T lives in, with the young man sitting on a ledge, overlooking a rough looking city with a bible on one side and a bottle of liquor on the other.  His music walks the tightrope of “conscious” and “gangster” in a way that he does better than most others in the game, and 2012 should see that style and flow getting into the stereos of many more people.

     -Josh

I don’t know much about Survive, but I have wandered down the ambient wormhole a few times with their new release S000, which is was avaliable in the physical world on a brand new cassette tape (it is now sold out).  The whole release constitutes two tracks, each 20 minutes long, that meander from subdued, lush synth twinkles to a more charging, confident electronic dance arena. While it can be overwhelming to hit play on a 20+ minute track, Survive create more of a 4th dimesion medly that warps through your speakers than one continous, engulfing song. Looking at the groups bandcamp page it appears that they have been doing this for a while, so if S000 is up your alley, check out their back catalog.

I may have a warrant out on me from the cred police after this admission but until relatively recently I had never listened to Washington DC’s Quix*o*tic. In fact, I discovered the band via hearing a comparison to Twin City band Brute Heart – a comparison that holds water. Like Brute Heart Quix*o*tic played minimalist, female-fronted, avant garde pop. It’s the vocals though that are the most similar – sisters Christina and Mira Billotte use the same kind of flat apathetic singing tone that Brute Heart utilizes (when they aren’t howling). However, despite the vocal affectation – to judge the Billotte sister’s singing as “apathetic” isn’t entirely correct. While the singing style may have roots in the “I don’t give a damn” punk aesthetic (Christina Billotte is/was a DC punk legend by the time she started Quix*o*tic), the lyrics are actually incredibly earnest.

The lyrics are also generally incredibly simple. One of the main criticisms I have heard of Quix*o*tic is that their style is technically unsophisticated (Take this misguided Pitchfork review for instance). The drum pieces, the basslines, the guitar – while each instrument shines from time to time, overall the aesthetic isn’t incredibly complex. In fact every time I put Quix*o*tic on the box, the ghost of every jam band fan I have ever talked pops up in my subconscious to gripe “these guys can’t even play maaan.”

The fact is, Christina Billotte is/was actually a pretty damn good guitarist. And in Quix*o*tic she occasionally shows flashes of that brilliance, though by and large she seems more interested in experimenting with atonal chords than she is in showing off. It’s besides the point anyways. Quix*o*tic’s aesthetic isn’t about blistering riffs and instrumental majesty. In fact, the one element that ties the sound together isn’t instrumental at all – it’s the sister’s vocals. Both Billotte’s have tremendous range, and though they occasionally try not to show it, they are capable of really beautiful singing. The best Quix*o*tic songs I have heard put the instruments in the background and focus entirely on the Billotte’s almost Nina Simone-like purrs. I am talking about tunes like “The Breeze” and “On My Own” here – two songs off of the group’s sophomore effort Mortal Mirror. Both have very little in the way of instruments – just a scattering of drumbeats and the sister’s stunningly velvety vocal tones.

Despite the fact that Quix*o*tic were pretty well received critically (when Sonic Youth invites you to play their curated ATP show its gotta count for something) they only lasted long enough to release two albums before breaking up in 2003. Mira Billotte went on to form NYC group White Magic, Christina moved to California and (as far as I know) isn’t currently performing. Tragically original bassist Brendan Majewski committed suicide in 2011, however 2001 – 2003 bassist Mick Barr currently has a finger in many different projects.

Quix*o*tic may not have lasted for very long but in the space of their five years of existence they did manage to release two excellent records, Night for a Day and Mortal Mirror. I highly recommend you check out either, particularly if you happen to be a fan of locals Brute Heart.

Quix*o*tic – The Breeze

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Hail!Hornet

Zoroaster

Zoroaster
Hail!Hornet
Slow Southern Steel

Slow Southern Steel Trailer:

What is the sound of Duluth? Or Minneapolis, Brooklyn, or Austin, TX for that matter? Looking at the last two cities, you might argue that a jangly variant of lo-fi garage pop epitomizes their current “sound.” But characterizations like that don’t really get at a city’s sound so much as the type of music that’s popular among musicians from that locale. And thanks to the proliferation of Internet music culture, chances are the aesthetic popular in one larger city is also popular in another. (Do you see how I just conflated Austin and Brooklyn?) I imagine one thing working against larger metro areas—let’s add Portland and, to a lesser extent, Seattle to the mix as well—cultivating a distinguishing music style is the in-and-out migration of young creative types. A good portion of the artistic work comes from individuals with shorter roots to the region and a poorer sense of the city’s music history.

Minneapolis has a long history of well-loved, well-known, and well-remembered musicians and bands who’ve called the city home. Dylan, Prince, the Replacements, Hüsker Dü, yadda yadda—all regarded as seminal “Minneapolis artists.” But there’s nothing essentially “Minneapolis” about Robert Zimmerman’s raspy storytelling, the skeezy grooves of The Artist, or the charging punk of the ’80s. Nothing in the guitar chords, drum kicks, or synth riffs. Without outside knowledge of the band, it would be nearly impossible to pinpoint where the seminal bands came from. Maybe, if explicit enough or Google-able, you could guess from some revealing lyrics . . .

Two bands notorious for name-dropping their home state are the Hold Steady and Motion City Soundtrack. (For the latter, it’s even encoded in their name!) And neither of them, in my opinion, connects music to place in anything more than a superficial way. While mentioning Lyndale Avenue or City Center may serve an autobiographical or narrative end, the references are merely cultural touchpoints for the listener a character in the song. Depending on the track, artists like these come off as either encyclopedic city slickers or desperate crowd-pleasers.

So what about Duluth? The harbor city’s biggest cultural exports are, arguably, Low and Trampled by Turtles. But just like Prince and the Replacements, Low’s shoegazing alt-rock and Trampled by Turtles’ rootsy bacchanalia aren’t particularly “Duluthy.” A half-liquored-up music-theory graduate student might contrarily try to argue that the cold, foggy winters of Duluth lend a mellow, introspective quality to Low’s songwriting; or that big-small town vibe of downtown Duluth is the origin of the celebratory togetherness of Trampled’s folky bombast. I believe that music can capture the atmosphere of a place as large as a city, but I don’t think it can be accomplished through rock or pop.

Not to sound like an old saw . . . but this is a perfect realm for experimentalism—like the combination of found-sound manipulation and abstract choral music of Philip Blackburn. Blackburn is a UK-born “environmental sound artist” who’s been doing much of the album production work for the fabulous and under-appreciated innova record label based in St. Paul. After about 20 years with innova, the label is releasing what amounts to Blackburn’s “debut album,” Ghostly Psalms (due out February 28). The lead-off track from the album is “Duluth Harbor Serenade,” an 8-minute wander along the shore of Lake Superior and the up the cobblestone avenues of the taconite city.

“Duluth Harbor Serenade” is a montage of found sounds mingled with immersive public performances in the city. (Watch the video below.) The shrill bellows of fog horns, piercing wail of ambulance sirens, and tolls of church bells comingle with the laughter of school children, buzzing chainsaws, an impromptu street-corner choral arrangement, lapping waves, and random loud instruments played and recorded simultaneously throughout the city. According to innova, the composition was “heard over several miles.”

Blackburn’s serenade is, I think, the perfect example of music capturing the “sound” of a city. Listening to it brings me back to day trips with my dad and brother to Canal Park and crooked evenings walking out of Fitger’s. The recording samples he chose to spotlight on the track speak to Duluth’s industrial past—the boats pushing through the harbor, the railcars loading and unloading ore from the Iron Range—in a very honest way. One example of someone trying this out in Minneapolis—to a much lesser extent—is Jeremy Messersmith at the end of his song “Light Rail.” These are the sounds that make the city what it is, turned into music. On top of that, by bringing the performance into the streets, Blackburn indirectly engaged Duluth’s whole population with his art.

I’d argue that a work like “Duluth Harbor Serenade” is possible for every city, every town. It’s up to the artist, of course, to single out the integral, nostalgic, idiosyncratic snippets of noise that make the place memorable, that turn a city into a hometown.

—Will Wlizlo

Via

More Music Legends with Cats:

Azealia Banks With A Cat

Bill Callahan With a Cat

Kim Gordon With A Cat

Michele Phillips with a Cat

Damon Albarn With A Cat

Nina Simone With A Cat

Justin Vernon With a Cat

Robert Smith With Cats

Marilyn Manson With A Cat

Patti Smith With a Cat

Syd Barret With A Cat

Mark E. Smith With a Cat

Crystal Castles With a Cat

Bob Dylan With a Cat (III)

Frank Zappa With A Cat

Dolly Parton With A Cat

John Cage With A Cat

John and Yoko With A Cat

Kurt Cobain With A Cat II

John Lennon With A Cat

Danzig With A Cat II

Bono With A Cat

Rod Stewart with a Cat

Slick Rick With a Cat

The Jesus Lizard with a Cat

Joe Strummer with a Cat

Carly Simon With a Cat

Henry Rollins With a Cat

Andrew WK With a Cat

Zach Condon With a Cat

Aaron Neville With a Cat

Madonna With a Cat

Steve Martin with a Cat

Karen O with a Cat

Glenn Danzig with a Cat

Carole King with a Cat

Thom Yorke with a Cat

Pete Doherty with a Cat

Joey Ramone with a Cat

Joan Baez with a Cat

David Crosby with a Cat

Joan Jett with a Cat

Freddie Mercury with a Cat

George Harrison with a Cat

Wayne Coyne with a Cat

Brian Wilson with Cats

Morrissey With a Cat

Bjork with a Cat

Bob Dylan with Cats

Keith Moon with a Cat

Dave Mustaine with a Cat

Paul McCartney with a Cat

Kurt Cobain with a Cat

David Bowie with a Cat

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MUSIC LEGENDS WITH DOGS:

Lou Reed With A Dog

Rick Danko with a Dog

Ian MacKaye With A Dog

Linda Ronstadt With A Dog

Kool Keith With A Dog

Barry White With A Dog

Tupac With A Dog

Alice Cooper With A Dog

Shuggie Otis With A Dog

Merle Haggard With A Dog

Stephin Merritt With A Dog

J. Mascis With A Dog

Michael Jackson With A Dog

Iggy Pop With A Dog

Townes Van Zandt With a Dog

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Cass McCombs

Frank Fairfield

– Jon Behm

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Fresh off their December release of the excellent Melt, Cry, Sleep, Buildings have a brand new video for the song “Noxema Gurl.” The video is pieced together from seven months worth of the performances of the song and was shot and put together by Joey Gaskill. See if you can spot all the venues in which this was shot—including Cause, Hell’s Kitchen, and a many others.

—Adam

I thought my homemade record crates were cool, but then I found the site DJrooms.com and saw I’m way behind in the pursuit of “making a record room.” The site documents record nerds’ fantasy dwellings—obviously the result of either a boatload of money or a hobby becoming an occupation. We can all dream, right?  Or hope for a pleasant, vinyl-filled afterlife? See the story behind the room pictured above HERE and peruse the rest of the site HERE.

—Josh

Twin Cities upstart rapper MaLLy is dropping a new album this year (no release date yet), and just yesterday on Prefix Magazine he premiered the first single, “Future Classic.” If the first song is any indicator, MaLLy will definitely be in prime form to keep the TC hip hop flame after a banner year in 2011.  Featuring production from Miami producer Rem, “Future Classic” bangs with a heavy electric-guitar sound alongside Mally’s steady flowing lyricism.  The tune seems a bit against the grain as far as the current wave of hip hop goes—it features no hooky melodies, sung choruses, or much in the way of window dressing. Like many rappers of old, Mally focuses his tune on his no-nonsense lyricism. And it’s a choice that works well for him, because the man has got a way with words. Check it out for yourself below.

—Jon Behm

I don’t know all that much about “pan-Asian cultural collective” Yamantaka // Sonic Titan, though I can tell you that their recent YT//ST LP is fast becoming one of my favorite releases of the new year. The band draws inspiration from a huge variety of international influences (including the new-to-me “Iroquois core”) to form a genre of music they call “Noh Wave.” It sounds like Japanese psychedelia and drone plays a huge part in the sound, as well as vibrant elements of metal, noise, and even folk—altogether reminiscent of the last local Boris show in Minneapolis, which featured a poppier sound than that band is predominantly known for. Boris-clones Yamantaka // Sonic Titan are not, however. Yamantaka // Sonic Titan definitely take their sound into places that are uniquely their own. Listen for yourself below and make up your own mind. Hopefully you will come away, like me, crossing your fingers and hoping the band does a national tour (including the Midwest!).

—Jon Behm