Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Free Moral Agents



Free Moral Agents – Lay Down 12” (2003) on Pete Records

A1. Lay Down
A2. Lay Down (Instrumental)
B1. What I Really Think
B2. The Mortgage Banker vs. The Savage (feat. Subtitle)

http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?2mjdylz2amm


Free Moral Agents started out as the solo project of Isaiah Ikey Owens. This man single handedly played keyboards for most of the SoCal ska scene of the mid to late 90s. Sublime, Reel Big Fish, Long Beach Dub Allstars, The Aquabats, The Hippos, Rx Bandits, the list doesn’t stop. He was recruited to join De Facto, which eventually evolved into the Mars Volta. Nowadays he’s popping up on albums by Saul Williams, El-P, Busdriver, and even Mastodon (Blood Mountain, to be exact).

This 12” is FMA’s first release, and happens to be their most orthodox, in hip hop terms. Owens produces all of the music, with the exception of the last cut featuring Subtitle, DJ Nobody is responsible for the drum programming. The title track never stood out to me in any way, not that it’s bad, it’s just not exceptional. The B side slays however. The MC is some fellow who simply goes by the name J, and his rhymes verge on slam poetry. Pretty thought provoking stuff.

The warping at the end of Subtitle’s guest spot is a taste of FMA’s full length that came out a year later. It takes a giant leap away from hip hop, and just trips absolute balls. Everybody’s Favorite Weapon is on my list of favorite albums ever. In the five years since it’s release I’ve yet to find anything that comes remotely close in the level of surrealism & melody. J left the group in 2006, and in the wake of his departure FMA has become a full fledged band. They’ve also seemed pretty incompetent at releasing their follow up album. The Honey in the Carcass of the Lion was originally slated to be released in the fall of ’07, and the most recent news on its status is a release for spring of ’09 (. . . ). This delay has allowed Earth to beat FMA to the punch, with their 2008 album, The Bees Made Honey In the Lion’s Skull.

It’s worth noting that the group Look Daggers is current, band-era FMA with Visionaries member 2Mex on MC duties. Naturally I’d be all over that, but my feelings about 2Mex are pretty mixed.

And another thing I need to point out, even though I’ve already written too much for this 12”. The first song on the B side is called “The Way I Really Feel” on the outer jacket, but is listed as “What I Really Think” on the record itself. I don’t know which title is correct, even after digging through the ASCAP database. And Pete Records is long since dead, a real shame since they had a pretty interesting roster.

Friday, August 21, 2009

13 & God



13 & God - Live in Japan (2008) on Art Union Recordings

1. Low Heaven
2. Men of Station
3. Tin Strong
4. Soft Atlas
5. Perfect Speed
6. Ghostwork
7. If
8. Superman on Ice
9. Out in the Open

http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?oqmjmir5qm3

I’m usually not one for live albums. All the bleed from the drum and vocal mics make things sound pretty crummy, and the performances are often inferior to their respective studio takes. Things are a bit different with 13 & God. Collaborative albums are often created with little intent to reproduce live, so it’s pretty interesting to hear 13 & God pull it off. A lot is sampled, like strings or Yoni Wolf, but Jel’s MPCing has far more “umph” live than it does on record. Doseone is impeccable, more or less making the album. To be blunt, Markus Archer’s vocals are pretty bad, which is saying a lot considering they’re already an “acquired taste,” and his guitar playing isn’t much better. Dose however picks up the slack & then some, letting loose on the set closer “Superman on Ice.” The encore, “Out in the Open,” is a Themselves song that the Notwist remixed for Themselves’ remix album. It’s surprisingly close to the actual remix, which is even more surprisingly far better than the original song.

The recording is from a performance at Unit, in Tokyo, October 5th 2005. Subtle band mate Jordan Dalrymple fills in for Dax Pierson. The album is limited to 1000 copies, with 100 available via anticon. It comes enhanced with bonus videos from a festival performance in Germany. One of the songs is the unreleased “Sure as Dept. Dust Collectors” which I really hope will be on the next 13 & God album, which should see the light of day in 2010.