cut chemist "the audience is listening" APPRECI8ON

ako

yeah man. did anybody else REALLY dig this album? the first time i heard it i think i just wasnt ready, it was GOOD, but i didnt really fully appreciate it, but THIS year i finally just downloaded it (since the local shop doesnt have it on vinyl anymore) and god damn, it is not-very-slowly becoming one of my favorite sample-based lps (up there with the wiseguys).am i wrong in thinking that this album was pretty underrated? i remember being really excited about it being in progress, but i hardly remember it's release being a big deal, and the only song on the album i DONT like is the one that ended up being a bit of a "single" for it....regardless, if anybody is with me on how great this album is, post here. shit grew on me like CRAZY, and thats my favorite type of album, something that barely has an impact on me the first time around, but eventually becomes a favorite (soft machine's first album comes to mind)

spelunk

Great album, slept on because it didn't fit into a niche market/aesthetic. I felt like it was like a big extention of what Cut was doing with his remix to "The Number Song", which is a killer track, better than the original.

The promotion made me cringe though, because "The Garden" and that track with Hymnal were the singles, and those were the two worst tracks off the album IMO.

I want him to do a Brasillian mixtape already, dude has been down there digging a bunch and surely has the records to do it.

picoandsepulveda

the part where he scratches is totally like rad dude.

ako

The promotion made me cringe though, because "The Garden" and that track with Hymnal were the singles, and those were the two worst tracks off the album IMO.

i like the beat on the track with hymnal a lot, those drums are so simple but great, but yeah...his rap is kinda not my bag. i really do not like "the garden" at all...but the album is solid otherwise, great vibe overall, i wish there were more consistent solid sample-based lp with a fairly upbeat vibe like this one. one of my favorites to just put on on a nice day or a rainy day, fits just about any mood.

ako

speaking of scratching, did anybody else feel like "spat" was a pretty huge kid koala ripoff? did it FEATURE kid koala? i thought it did for some reason, but wahtever. still a good track.

hugh_lucero

...but the album is solid otherwise, great vibe overall, i wish there were more consistent solid sample-based lp with a fairly upbeat vibe like this one.[/b] one of my favorites to just put on on a nice day or a rainy day, fits just about any mood.

sorry, but given this:

i finally just downloaded it (since the local shop doesnt have it on vinyl anymore)

you do realise that you're part of the reason why fringe artists like cut chemist might not continue to get label support for much longer?



Out of interest, how do feel about people downloading your music, and raving on about how much they like it?

ako

...but the album is solid otherwise, great vibe overall, i wish there were more consistent solid sample-based lp with a fairly upbeat vibe like this one.[/b] one of my favorites to just put on on a nice day or a rainy day, fits just about any mood.

sorry, but given this:

i finally just downloaded it (since the local shop doesnt have it on vinyl anymore)

you do realise that you're part of the reason why fringe artists like cut chemist might not continue to get label support for much longer?



Out of interest, how do feel about people downloading your music, and raving on about how much they like it?

makes me happy that they like it, and that word is getting round. its not like im seeing piles of money from my releases regardless, and my two biggest "hits" are free to download on my myspace anyway. loads of people send me comments/messages asking if they can get a copy of my releases, and no, they cant, because its out of print. if they really want it theyll have to get it second hand off ebay or whatever, and ive already seen my dime of that profit.

i download things if i have a craving to hear it. i generally buy releases i like a lot. like i said, the local shop no longer has it on vinyl, therefore i cant easily attain it right now, and would rather hear the music the second i want to, and wait to have the physical product. i'll most likely end up getting a used copy regardless, and cut chemist is not going to see an extra dime because i picked up a copy somebody already bought and didnt want.


that said, if anybody has cut's home address, id willingly send him a $20 check.

karlophone

I dug it. It did feel a bit late, like he should have dropped it a few years earlier. But I was glad it came out at all. I like the robots song.

sticky_dojah

yeah man. did anybody else REALLY dig this album? the first time i heard it i think i just wasnt ready, it was GOOD, but i didnt really fully appreciate it

cosign, the album really grew on me and i can even deal with hymnal rappin Cut is an excellent dude and it is a shame that they did not really promote it that well. that koala track is better with the video though. and the drums of his "them" remix are also on a uk only 12" ("the audience is listening"), these are extra crisp. very dope.

cas

"spat" was a pretty huge kid koala ripoff

HUGE!!

Controller_7

I like this album a lot. I think it's a great record for being a sample based guy who had to work with the major label constraints. I think it's a great record regardless, btu I'm just saying that I think he handled the label situation better than others have. He stayed true to his original intentions. It was different, but still had the asthetic and feeling of his earlier work.

I love What's The Altitude. Listening to the instrumental really gives you an appreciation for all the little things he put in there.

In a related note, the Litmus Test is a great record. It's like a slap in the face because not only has he made amazing songs, but he can re-edit and make a megamix of them that blows everyone else out of the water.

I met him for the first time the other day and he seemed like a nice guy.

luck

The terrible punctuation ("The Audience's Listening") of the title always precluded me from listening to the album. Which is odd, considering I got two promotional slipmats from the album that are on my tables. I see the damn title, which eclipses 45s, every time I play a hot single.

SPlDEY

I really hated the track order of this record. Felt very disjointed.

I also really only go back to the Spoon track. I'd pick that up if it was a single.

- spidey

Mjukis

It's really weird, Cut Chemist being on a major solo and opening up for Shakira on tour. I haven't checked the album, was a little disappointed with the songs I heard from it. But I'll check it out, given the opportunity.

sticky_dojah

It's really weird, Cut Chemist being on a major solo and opening up for Shakira on tour.

blame it on "world music" marketing strategies. but for real, he clearly saw it as an opportunity to explore new audiences. on his first tour stop in Germany, he got boooed. But he took the chance and on the next shows he got them. He explained that he does not want to be that "grumpy old fart" that cannot relate to the youth anymore and took the challenge of entertaining 16yr olds that wanted to see the sexy columbian dancer. Tuff job, but eventually putting yourself in that position can keep you from being that, "old fart".

Lamont

I never heard the album but let me guess.
Spoken word dialogue, two scratch tracks, three or four featurings by a backpackrapper, some collages of funky wah-wah guitars and frenetic breakbeats.
And that's it.

Not to be negative but I heard it all before, the 90s are o-va.

pjl2000xl

album is cool. i got it when it dropped. thank god he did this instead of working with j5 on that massive terd they released (black eyed peas 2.0)

edit: vid already posted
this is the best joint though imo

and edit again: wow it seems that im the only dude who liked the garden

mannybolone

I never heard the album but let me guess.
Spoken word dialogue, two scratch tracks, three or four featurings by a backpackrapper, some collages of funky wah-wah guitars and frenetic breakbeats.
And that's it.

Not to be negative but I heard it all before, the 90s are o-va.

You're kind of off in your prediction but then again...maybe not that far off.

Still, dissing without hearing =

And Hugh: The idea that an album like Cut's suffered from illegal downloading is kind of laughable when compared to the fact that the CD didn't received much support from WBs and, perhaps more significantly, was just a hard album to peg to an audience.

I probably need to go back to it myself but I found the album kind of clunky the first time through. Some stuff did seem very post-Kid Koala derivative. Others were simply not that interesting. I do agree, in a roundabout way, with Lamont in this respect: had this album dropped when it was first supposed to have been done (years, years ago), it would have made a bigger impact. But not in 2005.

robert_murt

Lucas is really fresh. I had luck to met him a couple of times, dealing him some french records... Record-wise the guy is just insanely open minded!

And his DJ sets are

hugh_lucero

And Hugh: The idea that an album like Cut's suffered from illegal downloading is kind of laughable when compared to the fact that the CD didn't received much support from WBs and, perhaps more significantly, was just a hard album to peg to an audience.

Oliver - admittedly I was being the devils advocate, but I don't think its that much of a stretch to question whether downloading is hurting artists & companies in that space loosely known as instrumental hip hop &/or the more indpendent end of the business, or to put it another way, opportunities for artists & companies in those spaces. It just happens to be coincidental, yet salient, that Ako himself could possibly be effected by illegal downloading. Admittedly these things can also be debated around the block. If someone to up full MP3s of the latest releases by the likes of Dj Om, Light in the Attic or Kon & Amir for example, there would sure enough be an understandable stink up round here.

mannybolone

And Hugh: The idea that an album like Cut's suffered from illegal downloading is kind of laughable when compared to the fact that the CD didn't received much support from WBs and, perhaps more significantly, was just a hard album to peg to an audience.

Oliver - admittedly I was being the devils advocate, but I don't think its that much of a stretch to question whether downloading is hurting artists & companies in that space loosely known as instrumental hip hop &/or the more indpendent end of the business, or to put it another way, opportunities for artists & companies in those spaces. It just happens to be coincidental, yet salient, that Ako himself could possibly be effected by illegal downloading. Admittedly these things can also be debated around the block. If someone to up full MP3s of the latest releases by the likes of Dj Om, Light in the Attic or Kon & Amir for example, there would sure enough be an understandable stink up round here.

No, no - I get that. I'm saying, in the case of the Cut Chemist CD though...you're really talking about an album that has such a micro-niche audience that it was bound to have a tough time in the market, downloading or no.

A better test case would be to see how much downloading has hurt, say, DJ Shadow.

hugh_lucero

And Hugh: The idea that an album like Cut's suffered from illegal downloading is kind of laughable when compared to the fact that the CD didn't received much support from WBs and, perhaps more significantly, was just a hard album to peg to an audience.

Oliver - admittedly I was being the devils advocate, but I don't think its that much of a stretch to question whether downloading is hurting artists & companies in that space loosely known as instrumental hip hop &/or the more indpendent end of the business, or to put it another way, opportunities for artists & companies in those spaces. It just happens to be coincidental, yet salient, that Ako himself could possibly be effected by illegal downloading. Admittedly these things can also be debated around the block. If someone to up full MP3s of the latest releases by the likes of Dj Om, Light in the Attic or Kon & Amir for example, there would sure enough be an understandable stink up round here.

No, no - I get that. I'm saying, in the case of the Cut Chemist CD though...you're really talking about an album that has such a micro-niche audience that it was bound to have a tough time in the market, downloading or no.

A better test case would be to see how much downloading has hurt, say, DJ Shadow.

Right - this just about brings us full circle & back to the enthusisam for there to be more albums like cut's in the first place. Moot points perhaps (the 'micro niche'), but complacency can bread more complacency and then what was taken for granted might be lost.

Mjukis

And his DJ sets are

I might have missed some big thing, but has he ever put out a solo mix? That's definitely something I'd like to hear, even if it was just him playing some records he likes and not some super advanced collage-stuff.

Also, not to hijack, but regarding that comp he put out with Keb Darge: There was a rumour that Funk Spectrum 4 was going to be Keb & Cut, but that Cut didn't have anything to do with selecting the music and that they had just stuck his name on it, so the comp got pulled. Anyone able to shed some light on the topic?

Gary

Cut don't sing at the noraebang....




I know he's all terminator x speak with his hands and shit, but GRAB A MIC BEA ARTHUR.



A-ko... I know a guy who knows a guy who knows cut chemist's dog sitter's cousin. Send me that 20 bucks and I'll make sure he gets it.

ako

In a related note, the Litmus Test is a great record. It's like a slap in the face because not only has he made amazing songs, but he can re-edit and make a megamix of them that blows everyone else out of the water.

FANTASTIC record, back when i was in community college there was a good two-week stretch where that was the only record i listened to...then i lost my original and now i only have a burned copy with track splits, so, pretty unlistenable. that record was really impressive to me.

ako

A-ko... I know a guy who knows a guy who knows cut chemist's dog sitter's cousin. Send me that 20 bucks and I'll make sure he gets it.

hahaha..