Air Force Ones, and Square Horse Tongues: TheFREEhoudini by Themselves

Ok folks here is a real treat for this review, this Album theFREEhoudini by Themselves is the third album from the Anticon collaboration between Dose One and Jel.  This Album is exciting for several reasons, not the least of which being that it is in fact, free, and features such icons as Aesop Rock, and Oddnosdam, Yoni Wolf and Dose working together as cLOUDDEAD for the first time on a record since their breakup.  However this isnt just a bunch of ambient noise with weird lyrics...

...Ok a lot of it is ambient noise with weird lyrics but lets break it down a bit and I will tell you why this album is great and why at the bottom of my page, you should click the link and download this thing immediately.

 So the first thing about this particular album is that if you want it for free you will end up with a single forty minute long track, mixtape-style.  The beginning of the album is a little rough if you are not into experimental hip hop. Of course Dose's rhymes are well crafted and trippy but you would be forgiven if you fast forward to about 4 minutes in where Aesop Rock makes an appearance spitting possibly what might be the sickest shit I have ever heard from him, of course it helps that he has a great driving beat behind him pushing him forward. In the end once he finishes and Dose comes in you start to wish that he had a longer verse but thats going to be a recurring theme in this album.  Luckily right after this short excursion we are led directly into another song, this time featuring Buck 65 a canadian MC this time backed up by a funky sounding beat involving some sort of Bari Sax or similar instrument.  After the song featuring Buck 65 we are treated to a short freestyle by Dose backed up by yet another excellently crafted beat.  By now we are about 10 minutes and 30 seconds into the album, and brace yourself for another mind blowing guest appearance in the following song this time by Sole.  This time we are treated to a low pulsing beat while Sole spits rhymes that while excellent and experimental, also seem to be flavor injected with a little throwback to gangster rap attitude. Sole's delivery is really intense, in-your-face, and again you will be wishing that his appearance was longer.

After Sole we're given another song with Dose that takes a more experimental tone,  following which you can hear a chorus singing about "Air Force Ones, and Square Horse (hoarse?) Tongues, which devolves into a trippy super fast and oddly punctuated song, not one of my favorites on the album but the intro is strange enough and intriguing enough to make it worth a couple listens. After the aforementioned crazy spazz out Lionesque makes an appearance, spitting out a good track with a nasally voice, not one of my favorites but definitely worth hearing a few times.

Now at about 17 minutes into the album you will be hearing another freestyle by Dose, followed by after which there is a song that is just too crazy for me,  at this point I usually fast forward to about 21 minutes in where you should hear a slow methodical rap by D-styles lasting for about 1 minute after which a fast techno esque beat starts with more crazy rhymes by Dose.  If you are like me the crazy techno esque song is probably not your thing however from this point onwards theFREEhoudini is pure gold.

At 26 minutes a song comes in with a nice slow and harmonic track, these are some of the most interesting and intelligible rhymes on the whole album designed to invoke imagery in your head, I recommend listening to it when you have time to devote to just listening.

Next is Dose and Jel with a song that kind of sounds like some sort of populist anthem however I haven't really been able to decipher any actual message from it since the rhymes are so quick and almost sound like they are just vowel sounds rather than words.  After this song Dose chops it up with some intense rhymes over a trip-hop sounding beat that really just needs to be heard to be understood.

And finally the ending song which reunites Dose, Yoni Wolf, and Odd Nosdam as cLOUDDEAD, the rhymes are well thought out, Yoni's verse opens the song with slow, well articulated rhymes, after which Odd Nosdam uses his wizard like DJ abilities to create a chorus out of the spiced together verses of Yoni and the upcoming Dose verse.  Dose comes in after the chorus with more excellent rhymes, however the delivery is not as good as Yoni's. After this verse Odd Nosdam yet again pulls out a masterful chorus that has to be heard to really be appreciated... In fact you can here it right now:

If you want to download theFREEhoudini, and I strongly suggest that you do, it is available here: 

http://www.anticon.com/thefreehoudini/

Obscure Music Roundup Part 2

Part 1: Portland Pride

Ok folks time for some more obscure music.  First off the bat is Ether Circus, a band recently brought to my attention by my wife who is somehow related to the drummer/ organist. Of course when she asked me to take a look at this band I groaned inwardly because when it comes to musical tastes Danielle and I are a little bit like oil and water.  However these guys are legit.  They are a little like hardcore punk however more approachable and with an organ that kind of gives it a trippy and distinctly original type of feel that sets it apart from your average dime a dozen punk band.

Besides the Organ, the other instruments are well polished and the lyrics and vocals are what I would expect from a standard above-average punk throwback band.

Definitely check these guys out at

http://www.myspace.com/etherfuckingcircus  Give the song "the Quarry" a listen.



Part 2: The cLOUDDEAD diaspora. 

So last time on Obscure Music Roundup we were introduced to cLOUDDEAD, the flagship artist of the anticon record label.  This week we are going to take a look at Doseone, Why? and Odd Nosdam the 3 men who made up this legendary indie experimental group and have gone on in completely different yet equally weird directions. 

First up is Yoni Wolf the headman for Why? and former cLOUDEAD member.

This guy is a good song writer however he is really really weird:. His lyrics are more about creating some kind of image in your head than in really conveying a coherent idea, its actually a little bit like avant guard poetry and expressive imagery set to music.


Here's a music video



and another:



This is just a song but is its one of my favorites:




The next artist we'll be examining is Doseone, who is more Pure Hip-Hop as opposed to Why? 's Indie rock leanings also due to the fact that he is a hip hop artist he is a little more constrained to use lyrics that make a little more sense and have to rhyme more consistently. His delivery is a little lacklustre if you ask me compared to his time in clouddead. 


He is probably my least favorite of the three former members of cLOUDDEAD




The comments after this video say it all: "He makes me feel dumb all the time but I learned many words from him and use them all the time ^.^" -Some jackass.


This one is pretty solid:




Last but definitely not least is Odd Nosdam the former DJ of cLOUDDEAD, His beats go from bordering on hip hop to being more like ambient music.  He is very popular with skateboarders due to the fact that he was featured in the skate video "This is My Element" sponsered by element skate boards.  He did the music for all the skaters in the video, the soundtrack was also released as and album called the T.I.M.E. soundtrack.  It is very approachable music offering a little something for everyone.   

This is a sweet hip hop track along with a fan vid:





Here is a little bit of ambient experimental with a guest vocalist:



and some more of the same:



And finally one of his songs from the T.I.M.E. soundtrack:




Finally to end this post on a gansta note. Felipe Coronel a.k.a. Immortal Technique the Peruvian born battle rapper and current president of Viper Records. The reason you may not have heard of Tech, even though you should have is because his raps are mostly about social justice, politics, and how much major all the record labels can pretty much suck it. If you are either really liberal, or think that corporations are the devil than you will probably really enjoy this music. His quick wits and inventive beats are what really set him apart in a hip hop market that is oversaturated with mediocre artists.

An older song featuring Mos Def



Heres a song I mentioned in an older post about Pumpkinhead who is also in this song:



Another older one with what is possibly the funkiest beat ever and some hilarious lyrics hating on record labels and Bill O'Reilly featuring Pinnochio (seriously).



A more Serious song one of the best as far as rhymes are concerned:



Last but not least is my favorite song of his just because the beat is so intense: