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Underground > Radio & Music >

El-P: Fantastic Damage

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17:59 / 23.06.02

Such a shame that I can't find Careless Talk in Southampton. Are there any places you can order it from online?

08:35 / 24.06.02

You can order individual issues from the 'subscribe' page at www.carelesstalkcostslives.com.

I would do a proper link but I can't get it to work..

The Natural Way

10:43 / 24.06.02

I respect that, Lyra, but the music press is terribly suspicious of beardy stuff really, whereas, conversely, "mainstream" hip-hop has started to get massive props in recent years. But I do concede that there are still loads of idiots who insist on understanding it as bad art. Also, I sometimes think you (and probably Fly) are a little too eager to classify whole musical genres/bodies of work as pretentious and contrived and/or lacking in emotion and soul...esp if they're the product of white males w/ a studio in their bedroom.

00:14 / 25.06.02

Runs: I don't think either Lyra or Flyboy are keen to make those kind of generalisations. To me, Lyra's argument is much more about passionately defending hip hop than about slagging a few artists. I wholeheartedly agree with a lot of what he's saying, I'm just pointing out that he's picked the wrong target in this case.

It's funny: before I started posting here I would have considered myself a hip hop purist for liking Co Flow. Go figure.

Regrettable Juvenilia

16:39 / 09.07.02

"You wanna buy the farm, but the land's not yours to own."

So I bought Fantastic Damage a couple of weeks ago, and it's hardly left my discman since. Was quite glad to re-read this thread and breathe a sigh of relief at the fact that I was careful not to diss El-P himself, as he's my new hero...

'Deep Space 9mm' is an instant classic, and in a just world would have been the smash hit party tune of the summer... It's also full of brilliant lyrics, the kind of allusive, eliptical, evocative stuff that hip-hop does best, the kind of verbal clues that invite you to draw your own mental pictures... It all sounds highly politicised to me - "new world lullaby sirens, stuck migrants, bust the block violence... it's all bad timing..." The production on this tune is also a high point - generally it's great throughout the album, and you can see the influence of mid-period RZA... but a lot of it's also very accessible, and danceable, contrary to what's been said - 'Tuned Mass Damper' is a shake-yo-ass tune.

I'm running out of net cafe time, so I'll have to come back later and talk about the influence of Jay-Z, Eminem and Radiohead on 'Stepfather Factory'...

05:45 / 10.07.02

Stepfather Factory is an interesting tune indeed, lyrically a bit like Brian Aldiss meets Eminem. The closing "Why are you making me hurt you... I love you..." is horrific.

21:46 / 19.07.02

well, RJD2 from the def jux hall of fame got a new LP, and it's pretty cool. and if somebody wants dj Vadim new album (out in september via Ninja Tune), it's great too. anybody likes Edan' album ?

20:37 / 29.07.02

It might well get me lynched round these parts, but this is my favourite lyric of the year so far:

Chick bit my head off, but the ass was magic
Should've seen the tattoo on her back of a praying mantis
Clutched my chest like Fred Sanford
And splashed her crack on some man shit
Now baby girl's amped, trying to walk on both hands backwards
Moaning fantastic damage with her grill sunk in the mattress
(that's my language)
Rode at insane angles, all tangled up and damaged
Star spangled mangler fuckbot add a money shot
Hit her in the shitter i'm in it with, K-Y liquid and
Double kitchen gloves, love's lovin it
Comfortable naked and takes it like a patriot
I'm wearin a dookie rope and some oven mitts!
Suck clits like Vast Aire Vs. mother reminder
And that's my b-boy alpha numeric vagina diner amalgam
Chick screamed so loud I could hear it on my last album!
(on info kill)
And smell her in the shower
While we fucked to Chill Rob G's version of 'I've got the Power'
It's getting kinda hectic
The house pets seem alert and confused,
And the neighbours leaving messages
Get on your stomach and I'll plug you in all your entrances
And one exit
Whispering quotes from The Tempest
Dr. Hell No, (oh yes I did)
With a surgical scrub on a baby arm inserted from fist to elbow
I drank her bath water in a shot glass
Then ran my tongue up the crack of her ass
Til our future children hatched
The mushrooms had me seeing some sort of deep organic math
On some primal altered state sex, I felt connected to the past
Collapse, nasty, wet, wept into her neck
Suckling on her swollen nipples
Then I drifted into R.E.M.
Where I dreamt of little bouncing cherubs
With clit rings and sexy woodnymphs
And crotchless liederhosen begging to get bent

22:24 / 29.07.02

ther's a new interview with new rjd2 on www.spinemagazine.com.
Edan is a dope MC but I haven't listened to the album too much - too much of the same mood but the boy got lyrics, I'll give him that. Pity that the best beat on there (IMO) is all about him robbing people (run that shit) - have you seen him? He couldn't rob pants off a washing line.
Really feeling the new J-Live LP ("All of the above") - lovely smooth jazzy LP with an incredible single "satisfied"
- destroys George Bush and his cronies over killa old Pablo goove.

Bit off thread but hey..
EL-P rocks!

12:43 / 31.07.02

the guy rocks indeed. i agree 100% with that.

10:16 / 05.08.02

Hey, I just bought the El-P/Alec Empire collaboration 'Shards of Pol Pottery'. It's absolutely storming. In case you were wondering.

07:59 / 06.08.02

Any way I can get a copy, Riz?

12:53 / 06.08.02

Well it seems fairly widely available, I've seen it in a few shops now.

Of course, I can do you a tape of it if you like..

16:39 / 06.08.02

I'll have a look out when I have some cash

18:09 / 06.08.02

I just have to say something about a couple of the earlier comments about critics. While it is true that some of these people (not very many at this point, at least that I see in media I read) still see hip-hop as a sub-art, the fact is that most mainstream hip-hop (or country or rock or whatever) sucks. I've been listening to hip-hop for 15 years and there isn't much angry or political hip-hop in the mainstream, but that's the way the record companies want it (it's all about the least common denom these days -- Britney, O-Town, etc.). You won't ever see The Coup, Dead Prez or El-P being plastered all over billboards with big-money backing. That's why the critics like them because they're different than the Jay-Zs and Master Ps of the world, whose only concerns are about getting paid. I guess my point is it's not the critics who are the problem (though they may not always help the situation), but rather the political and economic power structure that rewards booty-shaking, misogynist pop bullshit over artistic endeavor.

05:40 / 07.08.02

Erm... I have to leave for work in a minute. Would someone else please do the honours?

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