Wednesday, August 15, 2012

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:



7 comments:

  1. After you've enjoyed this article, check what Talibam! recommends for use in the kitchen! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8RFVQn33-g

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  2. hey guy who stares at the internet all day: instead of allowing yourself to stretch past your sonicly soft comfort zone and hear the stunning musicality of this record maybe you should just read & quote other blogs. Keep up the good work bloggidy blog blog. Blog blog.

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    1. hey guy who signed up under this name just to post a clever retort!!! I agree that the new Talibam! record is stunningly BAD -=- above and beyond most measures of bad music -- but with all of the commercials and Rap Updates they've made this new album into a pretty awesomely huge ART PRANK -=- anyways you ain't so smart mister!!! this was my first blogpost for the whole month of August!! thus proving your point that all i do is blog blog blog blog blog!!! dumb ass.

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  3. Your mastery of the english language has inspired me to blog too. Hey if you can do it so can THIS clever dude. Spread the love share the music. Feed your brain. Feed your brain more. Then feed it again.

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    1. Glad I could help you to see THE LIGHT -- looking forward to your blogging adventures!!! I promise that I will blog about your blogs if they inspire me to do so. This is gonna ROCK!!

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  4. Don't forget to check out Talibam!'s latest thoughts on the Jazz Community! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZUR5cM7CgA&feature=youtu.be

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  5. I spent some 20 mins on this post and found amazing information. Thanks for this.. Hope to see more like this in future. I was searching some info on top b school in india

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