REJECTED DEMOS #2 -TALIBAM "PUFF UP THE VOLUME"

The song is described by Talibam!'s label Critical Heights as taking "the viewer through Talibam!'s frustrations with the modern music industry. Rapping about their experiences of having collectively been in bands with members of Battles, TV on the Radio and Grizzly Bear, the song resonates with the universal theme that dedicating your life to your own art is tough business."

The disconnect of course being that these guys have dedicated their lives to making music that is almost universally detested in even the experimental underground. This takes some serious skill. I've heard people say that Talibam! is "good musicians making bad music" but let's go out on a limb here -- because "bad" can be such a vague term -- Talibam! are this generation's most successful musical virtuosos -- they put together a plan to make music that no one could possibly appreciate and they have executed this with laser precision. I could solicit demos from bands far&wide to create "the worst music possible" but Talibam!'s got them all beat. It's no contest. Only Talibam! possesses the musical talent to be exceptionally terrible from every conceivable angle. It's really a stunning accomplishment. 

Sure, that's just one person's opinion of what everyone else's opinion probably is so let's dig a bit deeper. Tiny Mix Tapes found the above video to be worthy of a four-paragraph write-up. That's some serious wordage in this age of Twitterrhea -- let's pull some select quotes from their review:

"Talibam!’s latest, a rap video for “It’s a Tough Day, Hard Day,” is equally absurd. It’s also really awesome/extremely terrible."

"It all adds up to an extremely brilliant pile of shit, an incisive/limp criticism on the state of the music biz. I love/hate it. I hate/love it. It’s actually really fun to wrap your mind around/impossible to listen to, and I can/can’t imagine anyone wanting to willfully listen to this stuff."

So there you have it -- for the record, Kevin Shea is by far the more talented M.C. & dancer on this joint -- but Matt Mottel has the courtesy to apologize when he comes in for his second verse -- demonstrating a self-awareness that separates Talibam! from the scores of clueless failures out there. It ain't no accident - Talibam! is an intricately executed inside job. Below peep Talibam!'s "RAP REPORT #4" for more evidence: