The Cartel

[ronniedobbs]

Noel says: "maybe I shouldn't have been such a douche to these guys, as they're obviously more talented than I am."

[dell1972]

I do prefer the FSOL stuff to the AA stuff generally, but I like it all the same. They can't really be compared as it is quite a different style of music. Generally I like psychedelic music and a large proportion of my record collection is from the late sixties/seventies, so it's not that much of a stretch for me. If you primarily listen to electronic music, I can see it being a stretch.

Incidentally, that photo of Brian and Gaz in the latest youtube clips, the one of them in the studio, is on that studio's twitter account in full. Look who's lurking in the background.



And, I posted this yesterday but it kind of got submerged in the "I don't like AA" debate, so here it is again, Gaz's rant about the man is back online with a warning that it is to be continued:



Plus a car chase:

[Tito Lozano]

Noel says: "maybe I shouldn't have been such a douche to these guys, as they're obviously more talented than I am."

[Pandemonium]

This image is DOPE

- What is that weird tattoo on Garry's hand... is it unfinished??
- Brian is looking like he's shaking his head and having a good time producing in that moment
- Noel is like a nerd in the back... - please let me play guys, I wanna be in your awesome band! - Be quiet Noel, the big boys are working

Anyhow, jokes aside, it's really good to see them rocking on in 2013...
I'm gonna go now and continue listening to The Cartel...

[seedy]

yeah that tattoo is whack

[seedy]

and uh.....don't care about the man

a lil disturbing =()

[ronniedobbs]

crack is whack

[Pandemonium]

After a few listens of The Cartel,
I must say I enjoy it very much,
the musicians are brilliant, the instrument selection is my personal favorite Ever, the production is super-tight.

Most of you know that I've been listening to blaxploitation funk in huge doses these last 3-4 years,
so The Cartel came at me like a motherfucker, I still can't believe what I'm listening...

- My first thought, after all that funk, many phrases and melodies sound familiar, most of them are stellar covers and homages on legendary tracks. Details when I make a proper review some day, but for instance, listening right now: The Killin' Spree is a cover/homage to Kind of Blue by Miles Davis.

- There are, like always, recycled beats, replayed in a new vain. (I caught at least 3 but didn't wrote down the track right away... well, next time)

- And last but not least - it takes BALLS to make the effort, collect a team, and spawn a album like this one.

[tryptych]

You know, one thing that hit me with the AA sound (not this album 'tho since it's all crafted in a more traditional manner) is that people who don't make music don't necessarily realize how extremely difficult it is to produce stuff like this. They must have been going though TONS of old vinyls to gather all the samples they used.. crazy professionalism at play here.

What I've heard from "The Cartel", sounds like pretty natural follow up to the previous AA stuff.. like "The Witchfinder" was mad funky (especially when you really "get it")

Crazy, crazy guys, coming up with stuff of this caliber in such a high volumes. FSOL.

[seedy]

ha totally pande.
we learned of these albums right after you finished up that track with a quite similar sound

people who don't make music don't necessarily realize how extremely difficult it is to produce stuff like this. They must have been going though TONS of old vinyls to gather all the samples they used.. crazy professionalism at play here.

honestly i feel this way about the masses. i would say that "most" people do not take music as serious as we do. "most" people have never played an instrument seriously. i can't be more thankful for all the years of piano and guitar lessons I was given (and forced hehe). I'm no master at either but starting weekly piano lessons at age 5 really educated me in many ways. As a side bar, I think this really helped my learning aptitude in general, school was pretty darn easy all through high school.

Anyhoo almost all of the music i listen to is "complex" or "intricate". I believe it's because I really understand what it takes to produce this stuff and the skill involved to play instruments. So this is ultimately what i value and respect the most. I do love some more simple stuff like beatles, floyd, marley whatever.....but that is for a different reason than most of the music i love. it does take a lot of X factor for me to love simple music.

AA/FSOL.....to me it's painfully obvious how much time and effort is involved in what we hear. on top of that i think i have a solid grasp on the amount of fucking imagination it takes to dream up all of the samples they use so effectively.

oh and btw....i am now at home and no longer totally sober thankyouverymuch

AMEN

[tryptych]

I don't mean that it's necessarily technically complex in a traditional sense, but how layered it is and how much effort went into the sound design part and gathering the samples etc. When you add all hyper-whacky processing going on.. wow.

To me, the feeling is the most important part above all. I don't care well it is played or how complex the arrangements are.. but the crafting wizardy just strikes me sample based AA stuff since I know how hard it is to get it to sound like that Sometimes I think that they got some device plugged straight into their brain that produces the stuff they come up with, it sounds so perfect. And sometimes I think that they're aliens

Oh yeah, I was joking about the booze man, gonna do some partying tomorrow myself

[Ross]

I have to say I really like the backing music to Don't Give a Damn About the Man, nice sleazy 60s jazz-psych feel to it. Gaz's voice slowed down is still somewhat creepy though.

The complexity of FSOL's music (and AA's) really is astounding. I tend to go for composition over arrangement for the most part, but the fact that I'm still hearing new stuff in Lifeforms is mind blowing.

[Nmesh]

And, I posted this yesterday but it kind of got submerged in the "I don't like AA" debate, so here it is again, Gaz's rant about the man is back online with a warning that it is to be continued:

Just as strange as I remembered it the first time. The last minute of the video is great though, with the looped car footage...

I had my proper Cartel listening party last night... wow. I'm no review expert, but they nailed it with these records. Volume 1 for me is the standout, especially the middle section - "Loaded Silence" all the way up to "Radio Breakdown" is pure perfection, "Eyes And Ears To The Ground" being the standout track imo.

According to a comment Strictly Kev made, we'll have to wait til next year (hopefully early) before the remix volume surfaces. I suppose that gives me a couple months to let the Cartel sink in, and get caught up with all these EPs that were recently put out.

[dell1972]

Aha, he also mentions "the rumour of a mix forthcoming on a certain radio show in the not too distant future too…"

I guess that's the long anticipated Solid Steel appearance. I thought that was going to be an FSOL one rather than an AA job.

[dell1972]

This picture on the band's Facebook page would seem to back up the suggestion an appearance on Solid Steel is imminent (you might need to scroll right as the image is massive):