Simply put, this record lives up to it's name. It was released on a practically imaginary label named Teach Records whose slogan was Music You Can Learn From. It also had a catalog number that wasn't 001, it was 564, although there doesn't seem to have been any other releases on this almost imaginary label. To take it even further, apart from the mention of being from the EPA, which stands for East Palo Alto, who knows who Black Tea is. His beats, or whomever they belong to, are poorly recycled rip-offs, his raps are amateurish at best, his topics juvenile and offensive, and his flow is non-existent. Of course, all of this makes Black Tea's apparent sole release incredibly entertaining for anyone who likes looking at car crashes, especially if you like particularly gruesome ones.
For the sake of entertainment, I'll divulge some of the details as to how I received this goofy record. I can't remember exactly what year it was, but it was a Sunday and I was having a family breakfast in Oberlin, Ohio. The Co-Op Bookstore was still under it's original management with the record and coffee shops open on the second floor. I was looking for newer releases but it was all things I'd already seen or things I didn't care about. I checked the 7" singles and found this utterly ridiculous release for only $1.99. It had it's date of arrival listed as 8/99 but something tells me it might have been there for a while. I didn't have a turntable at the time so I had to wait a while to play it back. Who knows how long that wait was, but the first time I got to check it out was when I went up to Oberlin's Student Radio Station and recorded it on their equipment. It was so short but it went into my personal heavy rotation immediately due to it's shear ridiculousness.
This is a new rip of the single that I present for your entertainment. Please be forewarned that the contents of Black Tea's raps are offensive. I don't share his views or opinions and I'm featuring this record purely for it's warped entertainment value. So, don't take this record seriously, although I really don't know how anyone could.
01 No Flow For The Ho's 02 Tomorrows Bay-Con 03 Homocyde
PS - You can visit this page for additional images of the record's packaging. I love the fact that they clearly had no images of Black Tea to include on the record. I also think it's hilarious that they left the track list off the packaging and only on the record itself. Probably a smart move, but I don't know that it would have helped in any way.
If you were on the road constantly with your very high-profile group, making ridiculously explosive music on a regular basis and pushing yourself far beyond your limits, how do you think you'd relax? For Alec Empire, he decided to record a solo record that was partially a parody of his group, Atari Teenage Riot, the sound he helped create, generally referred to as breakcore or digital hardcore, and arguably the world's best known performer, Elvis Presley. It sounds like a joke and the results weren't the best things Empire had produced, but all in all Alec Empire VS Elvis Presley is a pretty serious affair.
Empire sampled a number of Elvis' films and records with the hope to build a bridge between his own artistic aesthetic and Elvis' place in history, and it's actually somewhat successful with Elvis becoming something of a temporary lead-singer for ATR with his performances (occasionally) beat-matched with Empire's precision noise. There are even moments of surprising beauty like the finale, Blue Moon, where Elvis' vocals are time-stretched to their breaking point over a minimal, ambient collection of beeps or Take Away, where the breaks are muted with The King singing peacefully over the restrained fury.
This is supposedly Alec Empire's last straight breakcore record with emphasis on the amen break. Not that Empire ever used the amen in the most traditional way possible, often chopping it to death and running it was faster than any other drum n bass artists dared to. It's still a little odd that he drew the line here with the amen break as his sound wasn't defined by it like other artists were. Alec Empire was always more about blunt force, noise and speed, and he knew the amen was too brittle for many of his assaults, so it was probably more likely he tired of breakcore as a whole or meant this move a symbolic line in the sand for the producers that did abuse the amen regularly.
Empire wanted to release this on his Digital Hardcore Recordings label, but due to the impossibility of clearing the Elvis samples, he realized an alternative arrangement would need to be made. That arrangement involved a limited, pseudo-bootleg release in the US via Can "Khan" Oral's El Turco Loco label on vinyl only. The record became quite the collectible and started appearing on ebay frequently until a few years ago when it gained a pseudo-official release which, in my opinion, is downright offensive. Via The Hellish Vortex's online store, you can purchase a 320kbps MP3 of the album for 16.99 EUR, which is roughly $20 US. Twenty bucks for a compressed, MP3 version of an album just over thirty minutes long that the artist knows they can't legally release otherwise due to copyright issues? If you couldn't release it legally a decade ago then why can you do it now without permission? Hell, the site even has the nerve to claim this album is considered the first mash-up. WHAT??? Who are they fooling?
As I'm sure everyone knows I'm not about sharing music you can purchase legally, but I believe this is the exception if there ever was one. So, for your enjoyment, below you will find a high-quality MP3 version of the album for download as well as a lossless FLAC version.
To give you a little background on the source of this rip, I used to own an original copy of the El Turco Loco vinyl release, which is the only physical release as far as I am aware, and that's where this rip is sourced from. Unfortunately, I don't have the record any longer, and I have no idea what happened to it. Lent it to someone? Lost it in a move? Sold it or gave it away? It could be any of those, and that's a massive thorn in my side, but in my defense, at the time I owned this record I had nothing reliable with which to play back vinyl on so whatever happened I probably didn't care at the time. It's a shame but what can I do? Anyway, apart from track separation and an increase in volume, no post-processing was performed on this rip, so you'll hear some vinyl clicks from time to time. Also, regarding the lack of fidelity on this rip, it has nothing to do with the vinyl or the equipment used to transfer it, the album is simply very rough sounding, so don't be surprised if you're thinking to yourself that this doesn't sound very hi-fi because it doesn't.
So, I hope you enjoy this utterly ridiculous album. If you want to support Alec Empire, don't buy this from his website, instead get something like the fabulous Low On Ice, Generation Star Wars or The Destroyer. I'm sure you'll find none of those albums cost $20 for an MP3 version. Hell, even at 320kbps, $20 is simply insane. Sorry Alec, but I have to call 'em like I see 'em.
Alec Empire - Alec Empire VS Elvis Presley
UPDATE:For anyone having trouble with tracks four in the FLAC or seven in the MP3 versions, they are now available to download individually. Sorry for the delay. Grab them in the tracklist below. Oh, and the regular links still work about as well as they have so far, which is "mostly acceptable".
In digging around my CD collection the other day to do the Deee-Lite post, I happened upon a promo CD I remember hunting long and hard for back in the day. I had to be in my early teens while hunting for this relic and, if my memory serves me correctly, I found it via a mail-order record collecting service, although it might have been via that pre-Internet dial-up dinosaur, Prodigy. The medium for it's discovery doesn't matter much, although it does awaken memories of how hard it was to find rare recordings before the advent of Napster and other P2P services.
What I remember most about this oddball song is listening to Open House Party on Saturday nights, hearing the remix open the show, and constantly replaying this song on a tape of Paula Abdul'sSpellbound while walking around the insides of the empty LCCC campus during the summer while my sister took violin lessons. The song I'm going on about is Vibeology, which I'm sure I gave away with the title of this post.
If you haven't heard the song, you've either missed an incredible pop gem or an enormous train wreck on multiple levels, all depending on who you ask. Vibeology was easily the oddest song on Abdul's second album, Spellbound, what with the full-on club bass, brass from the "horny horns", a strange chorus of operatic singers and a seemingly orgasmic Abdul as an occasionally confused golden-age radio performer. For all it's bi-polar fluxuations, it was probably the bravest song she could have put on an album she wrote little of and was considered a sophomoric follow-up by many. That said, it's also an example of the end of her career as an immensely popular star, as it was the least successful single from the album, had a generic video and is often best remembered for a miserable performance at the MTV Video Music Awards where she appeared in a leotard with a giant microphone pack strapped to her back, all the while looking like she might fall over at any given moment.
Regardless of the masses opinions of Vibeology, I was in love with the song and still find it pretty wonderful. Yeah, it's totally unpopular to admit something like that, but I've never tried to seem hip or cool so why would I hide details like these? That said, I was really taken by a pretty basic remix I was hearing regularly on the Open House Party radio show that had a bouncier beat and some new keyboards. I picked up the 12" only to be immensely disappointed upon discovering it contained different remixes in a darker vein by Steve "Silk" Hurley. While those mixes eventually grew on me, my search continued until I found a US promo CD with the remix I had been searching for. It was attributed to Keith "KC" Cohen, a regular studio hired gun of the early nineties and late eighties who worked primarily in the dance community (and also sometimes as the uncredited force for saving Prince's pop sensibilities), and I was in heaven.
Upon listening to the CD for the first time in years the other day, I found that my tastes toward remixes have changed significantly as Cohen's remix is no longer terribly appealing to me. It's rather pedestrian, although I'm sure it would sound great on a dance floor. What's interesting though is that Cohen also mixed the album version of Vibeology, and while he may not be the producer for that version, his touch can be felt and that original version hasn't lost any of it's charm for me as it still sounds oddly fresh today, at least to these ears.
I've seen reports that Cohen's remixes as well as the other tracks on that US promo CD are pretty rare and are no longer available commercially, if they ever were to begin with (there is some information pointing towards an Australian release). There is also evidence of additional remixes that were never made available commercially. I must admit enough of a fascination to hear more of those unreleased remixes, but I'm pretty happy with what I've got and would like to share that with all of you and anyone else interested. So, it is with great pleasure that I present the contents of the US promo CD single for Paula Abdul'sVibeology. And if anyone out there reading this has any of those other unreleased Vibeology remixes, drop me a line, I'd love to check them out!
01 Vibeology (Jeff & Pete 7" Edit) Despite the name, this isn't an edit of a remix, but rather the single edit of the album version. Jeff and Pete are V. Jeffrey Smith and Peter Lord, the song's arrangers, producers and co-composers with Sandra St. Victor.
02 Vibeology (7" Keith Cohen Club Edit) An edit of Cohen's remix, this version actually follows the pacing of the album version almost exactly, albeit with the remix's additional flourishes of course.
03 Vibeology (Humphrey's Hip-Hop Radio Edit) Humphrey is Humphrey Riley who produced this remix with DJ Ron-Ski and Wiz.
04 Vibeology (Keith Cohen's House Mix) The long version of Cohen's remix.
05 Vibeology (Humphrey's Hip-House Mix) The long version of Humphrey's remix.
06 Vibeology (Keith Cohen's Penthouse Dub) There was another Cohen dub of the song released on the US cassette single that was quite a bit goofier. That dub features someone doing a Ross Perot impersonation and talking about how Vibeology would truly help the people or something like that. This dub, unfortunately, is missing all of that inspired goofiness, but it's still a fun and mostly instrumental edit of the Cohen remixes.
BONUS: Vibeology (Hurley's House Mix) After complaining about the disappointment but eventual pleasure found with Steve "Silk" Hurley's remixes, it would be ridiculous for me to not post at least one version for your listening or gawking pleasure. This is Hurley's main remix for Vibeology and is pretty damn great. If you like this, his Houstyle remix of Prince'sGett Off is essential listening!
Just in case that wasn't enough Paula Abdul or Vibeology weirdness for you, check out this strange commercial for the song's Japanese release as a single.
PS - If you thought this post seemed to tread into the territory of The Lost Turntable's universe, wait till you see my Trilogy post! A C&C Music Factory side-project that's gonna make you puke!
Ooh, if there is an example of an artist I outright HATE, Sheryl Crow, would be the definition. Apart from a few songs that appeared earlier in her career, I have no taste for her musical styles and think of her as a leech. Her well documented abuse of her then-bandmates circa Tuesday Night Music Club just goes to show it's always been all about her, with no room for anyone else. To me, she is a cult of personality, yet she doesn't have a personality to begin with. I mean, this is the person who said that we should use one square of toilet paper in the restroom as this would save us so much! She also said she wanted to design a shirt we could a replacement for napkins. Of course, the next day she retracted both of these comments and deemed them jokes that had went over everyone's heads. In reality, I think everyone got just how loony she was. On top of this, she's made such joyously diluted comments along the lines of "war is bad". You think? Are we in high school here? COME ON! Hell, even Lance Armstrong left her, and I've always gotten the impression that had more to do with her enormous ego then anything else. I would expect Lance to have a bit of an ego trip, but Sheryl Crow must have dwarfed whatever he had. Credit must be given to Lance for being big enough about it not to spit venom in public, and that's something I can't say I've seen him do before but she's rather guilty of.
Anyway, I can rant all day about my HATE of Sheryl Crow, but I'm sure most anyone reading this has gotten the point by now. The real point is that Sheryl's first album didn't get released, and for good reason. A rather schmaltzy, adult-oriented rock album, it was produced by Hugh Padgham who is known for having crafted hit albums for Sting and Phil Collins among others. Sheryl apparently could tell something wasn't right about the album and fought for it's non-release. Well, she won that fight and the album was permanently shelved. Prior to that permanent shelving though, a press release and promotional cassette featuring the complete album was released and apparently slipped through enough cracks that it saw illicit release. It has since found it's way into fans' hands online, although most of the time incorrectly sequenced. The version posted here is correctly sequenced and in decent quality for anyone to either enjoy or make fun of, your preference.
As for more info as to why this album didn't see release, Dan Leroy's aforementioned book, "The Greatest Music Never Sold", features a brief section devoted to the album, but there is also THIS website which provides some interesting information. Unfortunately, the site doesn't seem to have been updated since around the turn of the century and the images are only available as thumbnails, but the information is invaluable.
Anyway, enjoy Sheryl Crow's misstep for whatever purpose you wish. I find this album pretty awful, but some may be interested in it's evolution. Some fans may really want to hear this album and I'm sure there are fans who may actually enjoy it. If you are a fan and have endured my disdain for Ms. Crow, I hope I haven't bruised your eyes to severely. What can I say? I don't like her, but that's not saying your opinion of her should change.
Sheryl Crow - Sheryl Crow (1992) UPDATE: Well folks, IFPI got the DMCA to have mediafire remove this album. I don't really care as you can probably guess from the acidic text above, but it sucks it got yanked anyway. What's funny is this had been up for so long and now they decide to yank it. Whatever. Sorry guys.
01 All Kinds Of People 02 Father, Son 03 What Does It Matter 04 Indian Summer 05 I Will Walk With You 06 Love You Blind 07 Near Me 08 When Love Is Over 09 You Want It All 10 Hundreds Of Tears 11 The Last Time 12 Borrowed Time
