ARTISTS WHO SUFFERED FOR THEIR MUSICAL SUCCESS #4

ARTISTS WHO SUFFERED FOR THEIR MUSICAL SUCCESS #4

'Be brave..read this book.' Sartre

We artists know that to be successful in the music industry there is a price to be paid and sacrifices to me made.  For the artist below the price for successful label manufactured musical liberty was eternal vigilence (on what they could say).  If it was like this more than 20 years ago imagine how careful and responsible or (read cautious) todays artists have to now be. What with Tweets, and Utubes all the rage? 

CLUE: Black, militant and so called conspiracy theorist whose legacy still isn't altogether smothered today. 

ARTISTS WHO SUFFERED 
FOR THEIR MUSICAL SUCCESS #4

I was raised in a Long Island New York project.

In my youth as a Robin Hood for my clique I would rob drug dealers.

My life on the edge robbing and looting lead me to a prison sentence.

I reformed myself from overcoming the 'adapt or die' mindset in the US Penitentiary where I was also starting to integrate the teachings of Nation of Islam and Black Development into practical solutions.

I reformed myself and saw the US Army as an escape from ghetto life during the Ronald Reagan crack-filled projects era.

I am still alive, no I am not TUPAC

I am not 50Cent but am also part of those in the scene who refrain from booze and drugs intake.

In my youth I set up the Universal Revolutionary Freedom Fighters Security (TUFFS), to provide study and martial arts for young people. I have kept this up for the last 25 years.

In the mid-eighties I met and provided security for the DJ Jams and gig nights for what was to become the most politically potent rap-hip-hop groups of all time.

I was assigned the role of minister of information for this group and was made responsible for personal security, media relations, and to be a general spokesperson for our affairs.

    YOU COULD NEVER GUESS WHO I AM 

I integrate martial arts into my spoken word.

I expressed my freedom of speech and without accurate information or personal discipline in the matter made a ‘racially derogatory’ statement that would plague my career in the mainstream infinitely.

I became the first casualty in the break-up of hip-hop's version of The Clash.

I was fired from the group over the phone, newspapers and TV.

My media mis-fortune led to a drastic change of sound for the group that was raging against the machine six years before Zach De La Rocha, and Tom made it even cooler.

My media mis-fortune led to more policing control over what rappers could say in interviews for fear of label bosses and moguls losing their cash cow.

I was chased by community and organisational leaders who pursed the case to see that I would never sign on a label in the US of A.

Because of me rappers learned to watch what they say (except of course Kanye).

My media-misfortune and exile lead me to swallow my artistic direction and sign on a label that promoted the very sex-fueled lyrics the media loves and that I was raging against.

Me loves you long time.

           YOU WILL NEVER GUESS WHO I AM 

I believed naively - just like the hotbabe Jane Fonda in the sixties -  that musicians and artists could express their speech without devastating consequences.

I subsequently used my new record label to successfully make five albums of note, some critics even highlighting some of my content as being far more potent than that of the most powerful voices in rap group that I was a part of.

I am still interviewed and made to apologise for my remarks of 20 years ago.

I do not believe a YouTube bedroom upload can be considered an underground activity 

I do not educate on sex, drugs and rock and roll, but rap, personal discipline, and self-control. 

I rejoined the most lethal rap group on the universe briefly but the sounds and climate was never the same - we parted ways later. 

I now successfully lecture at various academies and inner-city education faculties on request teaching the youth about positive images of hip-hop and rap.

I successfully continue my platform for educating ghetto youths on self-development and organisation through martial arts

You may find me speaking at a platform near you one day

YOU WILL NEVER GUESS WHO I AM 

Art by DHDigitalArt on Deviant Art

ALSO:

ARTISTS WHO SUFFERED FOR THEIR SUCCESS #3

ARTISTS WHO SUFFERED FOR THEIR SUCCESS #2

REVIEWS ARE IN: ARTISTSERVER BRAINDANCE (SUBMARINE BY FOCALIZED)

REVIEWS ARE IN: ARTISTSERVER BRAINDANCE (SUBMARINE BY FOCALIZED)

R.I.P ADAM YAUCH we will miss u!

ARTIST: FOCALIZED
TRACK: SUBMARINE
GENRE: BRAINDANCE

LABEL: INDEPENDENT
LENGTH: 4.16 (ARTISTSERVER/SOUNDCLOUD)

http://www.artistserver.com/artist/song.cfm/a/76/tid/27712/Focalized

The opening pad in this track sounds natural, earthy if you will, almost synthesized to emulate a wind instrument. The pad goes on over four bars, and is simultaneously played in two different notes. The lead synth, pad sort of hypnotizes at first, and almost seems like it was borrowed from other Focalized tracks. Then at a certain juncture after more than 20 seconds of its delayed drone, when you are left waiting for an answer, the clap and echo drum beat kicks in with lots of delay, hence subterranean – submarine. From this point the lead synth just sort of skips along to the beat or is it the other way round?


Not much takes place by way of tempo shift, or rhythm variation, kind of like a track that rides in one gear only. Not unexpected as it is listed in IDM or braindance category afterall.





This tune that charted at no 29 out of 200 on ArtistServer sometime in March this year Oozes a chillout tune vibe, could work in a trailer for a game soundtrack. Could be felt in optimum when energy levels are used up and one is in a thoughtful or reflective mode, as it’s easy on the brain pace wise. Or if you found yourself fucking with this track accidentally in the background you wouldn’t be straight enough to remember. Altogether I find it a linear track with polished sounds, plays it safe sequentially, sounds in limbo and vanishes into the abyss.

What got me unexpectedly was the sample of Beastie Boys Car Thief somewhere in between. It sounded almost apocalyptic. Like time was running out, especially as you could hear the vocals of ‘the boys’ emerging within the pitch and phase vinyl wind-down. So a week after International Record day it is nice to reminisce on chillout room tracks, under 16 bit samples vinyl scratching from many many moons ago.


Rae Burnz

FOUR SAMPLE HEAVY TRACKS BY INDEPENDENT ARTISTS

FOUR SAMPLE HEAVY TRACKS BY INDEPENDENT ARTISTS

And by heavy I am talking quality not quantity usage of samples by the following artists:

 

 SKYRIDER FANTASY BAND

FOCALIZED

FALLING STAR

ASSAFSPECTOR

steady on the left

Thanks to their good work on Artistserver, Reverbnation, and Soundcloud I can present four tracks (below) that are bringing the attitude of sample usage which was so prominent and famous - audaciously in the late 80s, early nineties - back to the fore.  

In my spare time I scour around the internet looking for musicians that are bringing the beat, the energy back from the era of my adolescence by their technique of capturing a moment or in other words by their technique and imagination of....

SAMPLING

1# TRACK: SUBMARINE

ARTIST: FOCALIZED

WHY?  Listeners.  If you listen from 2.17 onwards after the steady build up within this  sonic journey you will hear about a 5 second sample from the 1989 Beastie Boys track 'Car Thief.' It is the wind-down pitch down opener from the beastie track which is layered with vocals from the boys in the background.  That Focalized used it for a track entitled Submarine I found creative and apt. In that his song is submerging enough anyway and it sounds as if there are workers deep below looking for signal of life or something on a radar. And so when the Car Thief sample comes in (1989 was the the year where almost everyone: De La Soul, EPMD, Public Enemy - were rinsing samples before it became a legal problem) it fits in groove with the satellite receiving genre breaking sample heavy attitude that was prominent and championed in 1989 and legacy still resonates today.

2# TRACK:V.I.P (Victory In Peace)

ARTIST: FALLING STAR

http://www.artistserver.com/artist/song.cfm/a/33081/tid/27878/falling_star

WHY? Fallen Star did something that blew my mind out of the water when I read it. They sampled their own work from 30 YEARS AGO (1983), and layered it with new instrumental arrangements (2013) to form an entirely new song.The song VICTORY IN PEACE to me channels a bit of Aruca's by Medicine or Soon by My Bloody Valentine in my humble opinion. It is an entirely instrumental experimental track and I hope that the artist keeps it on artisterver for long. To me the track is a story in itself, (we are informed by the artist that the 30 year old bass guitar was recorded live on a repaired tape cassette).  Falling Star is bringing back the dead, they are evoking a spirit of a different age for the new NME readers to step to. But it is their own work even before the aforementioned shoegazing tracks. Therein lies the soul in the track, in that the sound, the harrowing live guitar just cannot die, not in its age, not in this digital age, and Falling Star is proving there is yet something to do with their own work from ages ago. Or do you think EVIL DEAD is the only artwork that can successfully resurrect itself from 30 years ago? I haven't watched the remake so I can't answer that but from what I hear it is a matter of taste, alas I digress.



3# TRACK: HOLD THE LINE (ELECTRO MOROCCO REMIX)

ARTIST: ASSAFSPECTOR:

 WHY? I already included this track in my POST: BATTLE OF SOUNDCLOUD REMIXES: HARLEM SHAKE VS HOLD THE LINE - PAST VS PRESENT. And I found that this remix ticked all the boxes in my opinion when it came to; Mixdown, Ideas, Overall Identity of the remixer and most importantly the Cut Up And Editing applied. This track for me tipped the balance for Hold The Line to win the remix battle, and I also believe it was the biggest overachiever from the six tracks I selected. I say this because it took a 1 second sample from the end of the vocal line that says 'vibrate like a Nokia.' It took the 'A' at the end of Nokia and turned it into a dancehall vs bhangra lick shotting freestyler phasing cocktail of a remix. I didn't believe my ears at first so even went on YouTube to see if the Morocco remix is a semi-official Diplo sanctioned remix or just a fan of the track doing what they want. And it turns out to be the latter. So a very big well done to Assafpsector from 3 or more years ago, I hope they have still got that beat in them today. 

steady on the right

4# TRACK: ON THE EDGE

ARTIST: SKYRIDER FANTASY BAND (ARTHUR HUSK)

Learn how to put a song on itunes at ReverbNation.com

 http://www.artistserver.com/artist/song.cfm/a/33010/tid/27491/SKYRIDER_FANTASY_BAND

 WHY? Finally we enter the realm of Arthur Husk, otherwise known as SKYRIDER FANTASY BAND.  And to experience Skyrider is for me to enter their realm. I have already mentioned the impact the track Deep Inside had on me. Why I included On The Edge is not just because I kept returning to it via Reverbnation or because of its Big Beat Chemical Brothers In Dust We Trust groove. But because it brought back the - 90's what's up homie conversation interlude within the track - that I loved listening to from way back, and haven't seen or heard it done with such fun of late.  Skyrider almost treats the conversation like another instrument amidst his improvisational band member multi-contributing music universe.

Was the conversation originally customised to sound like 90's wannabe homies or taken from a film, song, and or rap. I don't know, but I feel it adds a dimension to On Edge that if I were listening to it at a rave I could imagine fellow ravers mouthing... 'yo whats up home,' and all that before the beat drops. Which would be a nice feat considering the track is faster than 90BPM, and the last vocal reference sample to the 90s I heard was a crowd pleasing one second Hammertime on Caspa and Rusko five years ago.  Listen to Cypress Hill's A to the K to get a better picture of what I mean.  Skyrider's watercolours palette overlaps once more to rollercoasting effect, and as the other sample says; ' Im high as hell.' No lie.

RaeBurnz

ARTISTSERVER TOP 100 CHARTS (APRIL EDITION)

ARTISTSERVER TOP 100 CHARTS (APRIL EDITION)

FROM ARPIL 21ST WEEK

• FOR NEWCOMERS we have Falling Star with V.I.P (Victory In Peace) @ the TOP 15
• JAMJUICE assists the ROCK AND POP stats with 3 IMPROV JAM tracks in the TOP 100 namely:  MYSTIC EXCURSION, SOLACE, and PERCOLATION
• UNCLE REG as always appears with at least three new tracks for the month all in the Top 100.

INTERESTING FACTS:

• COUNTRY MUSIC doesn't feature at all in the TOP 50
• METAL doesn't have over 10 UPLOADS in the TOP 200 combined

TOP 50 IN PERCENTAGES:

•  36% of songs charting in the TOP 50 IS HIP HOP this is followed by
• JAZZ on 34% surprisingly enough
•  8% of ROCK got points and 
• BLUES and COUNTRY are both on 2%

BATTLE OF THE SOUNDCLOUD REMIXES: HARLEM VS HOLD THE LINE

BATTLE OF THE SOUNDCLOUD REMIXES: HRL'M SHAKE VS HOLD THE LINE

 VS

Did anyone say creative commons?

ON

The remix battle from the present (Harlem Shake) to the past (Hold The Line).


Questions:

• Has the art of remixing lost its touch within the last 3 years?
• If so, is this because of the latest fruity loops editing and like software?
• Or because of the sonic mechanical onslaught of  Trap music?
• Did not Diplo (Major Lazer), Spank Rock (XXXChange), Santigold, M.I.A, or even Guetta lay down the marker enough?

Anyway as Kurtis blow once said in the 80s, these are the breaks....(battles)

BATTLE 1:
ARTIST: LDUK
REMIX: HARLEM SHAME (2 MONTHS AGO)
PLAYS/DOWNLOADS/FAVS: 3798/100/25

THE PRESENT FAD   

VS

BLAST FROM PAST

ARTIST: .BIRDY

REMIX: HOLD THE LINE (4 YEARS AGO)

PLAYS/DOWNLOADS/FAVS: 580/1/38

VERDICT:
Lduk's remix; 

• cut up and editing (mediocre)
• ideas (efficient)
• mixdown (efficient)
• overall (borderline efficient - would be thumping live)

Birdy's remix;

• cut up and editing (efficient)
• ideas (efficient)
• mixdown (mediocre)
• overall (borderline efficient - the harmonica addition and ending is 3 dimensional)

Victor: Draw

BATTLE 2:

ARTIST: HENERZ10

REMIX: HARLEM SHAKE (2 MONTHS AGO)

PLAYS/DOWNLOADS/FAVS: 498/23/N/A

THE PRESENT FAD   

VS
BLAST FROM PAST

ARTIST: ASSAFSPECTOR

REMIX: HOLD THE LINE (3 YEARS AGO)
PLAYS/DOWNLOADS/FAVS: 550/15/1

VERDICT:

Henerz10's remix; 

• cut up and editing (mediocre)
• ideas (efficient)
• mixdown (mediocre)
• overall (mediocre - humorous)

Assafspector's remix;

• cut up and editing (efficient)
• ideas (efficient)
• mixdown (efficient)
• overall (efficient - utilised a specific part of the track and reworked it in a different flavour/genre dancehall style)

Victor: Assafspector (smoother remix, better for sub-woofers)

BATTLE: 3  

ARTIST: KURT BORTECENE

REMIX: HOLD THE LINE (1 YEAR AGO)
PLAYS/DOWNLOADS/FAVS: 146/5/N/A

BLAST FROM PAST

VS
THE PRESENT FAD   

ARTIST: DJEVERGREEN
REMIX: HARLEM SHAKE (1 MONTH AGO)
PLAYS/DOWNLOADS/FAVS: 1/1/1

VERDICT:

Kurt Bortescene's remix; 

• cut up and editing (efficient)
• ideas (efficient)
• mixdown (mediocre)
• overall (borderline efficient - game soundtrack jam)

DJevergreen's remix;

• cut up and editing (efficient)
• ideas (efficient)
• mixdown (mediocre)
• overall (borderline efficient - dubstep-like loud and strange)

Victor: Draw

With the hype of Hrl'm Shake by Mr. Bauer slowly starting to fade, I wanted to investigate how fellow independent DJs, artists, and remixers on soundcloud have gone about adding their own spin on the track.

I have used three Hrl'm Shake remixes no longer than 3 months old and put them against three Hold The Line (Major Lazer) remixes (also by fellow soundcloud artist) that are at least a year old. 

This would be partly to see how hype affects productivity and ideas, and partly to see where the tools of souncloud users on the main - with regards to clubhot dance tracks - may be heading.

I have used ranking terms as: Optimum (efficient enough), Mediocre, and Non-existent to judge the areas of:

1. CUT UP AND EDITING
2. IDEAS
3. MIXDOWN
4. OVERALL IMPACT

Within each track.  


WINNER OF BATTLE: HOLD THE LINE REMIXES

WHY: It could be because of source material flexibility and dynamic drive, or just because I like the original track better.

THE OVERACHIEVER OF THEM ALL: Without shadow of a doubt

Rae Burnz

10 EXAMPLES OF MUSICIAN'S GRAPHIC DESIGN WITH AN ATTITUDE (10 COVER ART PICS #2)

10 EXAMPLES OF MUSICIAN'S GRAPHIC DESIGN WITH AN ATTITUDE (10 COVER ART PICS #2)

A falling star?

Sometimes for artists finding the right image, I shouldn't say - right - I mean finding a suitable image to go with our works can be a hell of a challenge. For some it's the brisk I don't care attitude that somehow fits in and works, for others it's more about a concept and finding the right theme, colour, contrast, shade, shape to complete, package and communicate that concept also on a visual level. 

Here are 10 examples of graphic design from both signed and unsigned alike who have tracks within:

For some getting the image is easy for others, as you can see with AT RISK TEEN it can look like (An Alice In Chains Rooster) Hell.

1#

2#

3#

4#

5#

6#

7#

8#

9#

 

10#

GUILTY PARTIES: 1# TRYBE MIAMI - STILLBORN, 2# AT RISK TEEN - APOCALYPSE BOP, 3# PHACTSUNKNOWN - TRAVELING.TEASE, 4# JUS LIKE MUSIC - SEND ME SNIPPETS, 5# PHACTSUNKNOWN - SYSTEM DEFINED, 6# AM444 - ROOMS, 7# Ca5 - STEEL WOOL, 8# SIMON'S SAMPLES - THE ROUND SQUARE, 9# SYING FLAUCERZ - SKELETON GRIN, 10# SPEEDCORIST - SPEEDCORIST

For further reading on the importance of album covers read the first half of this article.

The music buying experience....

MORE

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10 WICKED ALBUM AND SINGLE COVERS FROM INDEPENDENT ARTISTS: RN, SC, AS

Rae Burnz.