The Judas Bunch

As you’ve probably noticed, this is like the third country based feature that I’ve done on this site. At first it was Gangstagrass, then it was a feature of the Johnny Cash mashup with Eazy-E and now it’s The Judas Bunch. Seriously, this is a total coincidence, folks. The Judas Bunch is a punk rock group from Sweden that consists of members of other groups that they broke off from and started their own band. As they stated on their myspace page

“Early 2008, five punks in Stockholm betrayed their former bands. They wanted to play together. And so, they formed The Judas Bunch. The music is punkrock, in the one-two-three-four fashion.”

Okay, when some people hear the words Swedish and music, there are some bands that would come to mind. Like Abba, Ace of Base, the Cardigans, Rednex or Eagle Eye Cherry. Okay…maybe just me then. To be fair, Sweden is also the home of “D-Beat” or “Discore Beat” which is actually another interesting subject. Although The Judas Bunch is from the same place as the home of the D-Beat, those are where the similarities end. The Judas Bunch is what I would consider a mixture of country as well as punk rock. After doing some research, I found out Sweden does have an equivalent to country called Dansband. So, I guess it’s they’re into Dansband and Psychobilly or something.

“Breaking Me”

When I first heard this, the first thought that came to my mind is that “Okay, this sounds like Swedish ‘Punkabilly.’ ” I liked the guitar work.

“Always Had a Reason”

The best way to describe how this sounds is “country pop-punk” kind of like Nofx backing up Dolly Parton. Seriously, I thought I heard some “fiddle” mixed low into the mix.

“Using Your Fists”

Directly to the point 4/4 punk rock that I’m accustomed to and they’re some syncopated moments that change the arrangement that’s refreshing to the arrangement.

Whatever you would consider this band, it is what it is. Honestly, their sound had to grow on me. I would recommend this band for anyone who is a fan of country and want to expand the horizons of people they know that listen to punk and vice versa.

Folsom Prison Gangstaz by DJ Topcat

I came across a mashup on August 23rd of Eazy-E and…Johnny Cash? This reminds me of when Snoop Dogg did a remix and sampled some of “I Walk the Line” but unlike Snoop Dogg’s remix of the Johnny Cash classic “I Walk the Line.” Seriously, I respect that Snoop tried to pay tribute to Cash and everything, but listening to the end product of Snoop’s remix all I can say is “what the fuck, man?” But, unlike Snoop’s attempt, this actually works.

Anyway, Folsom Prison Gangstaz is a mash up using the vocal hook and instrumentation from Johnny Cash’s “Folsom Prison Blues” and the acapella of Eazy-E’s “Love for them Gangstas” and some extra percussion by DJ Topcat to glue it all together. Check it out.

http://www.boingboing.net/2010/08/23/johnny-cash-mashed-u.html

Gangstagrass feature

by John M. Ellison IV

Whenever I read someone’s profile and the subject of music comes up about their favorite style of music, I notice a common phrase “I listen to anything unless it’s rap and/or country” or some variant of said phrase. Even within both circles of country and rap fans, you’ll notice the critique of rap by country fans and vice versa. If anything, I’ve realized that it was inevitable for both to be fused. I mean, if anything, rap and country and kind of one in the same. For example,

Both talk about life in their communities.

Both feel they’re looked down upon from being from a lower economic/working class environment.

Both styles tend to be storytelling based.

Sometimes both are just simple dance music.

What would you get when you fuse both styles of music? No, not “Crap” you get what’s known as Hick-Hop. For the record, Hick-Hop is nothing new. In fact you can trace the origins of fusing rap and country back to as far as country artists, The Bellamy Brothers “Country Rap.” But, there has been resurgence in country-influenced rap or in some cases rap-influenced country. Such as Kid Rock, Nappy Roots, Toby Keith, Big and Rich and Cowboy Troy.

But now we’re going to focus on the rap/country/bluegrass project, Gangstagrass. Gangstagrass started out as a mixtape project produced by Rench that featured old school Bluegrass and Country samples and rappers from the NY scene. Now all new Gangstagrass tracks are original material recorded with bluegrass players instead of relying on samples. In this feature, I’m going to cover both eras of Gangstagrass.

Put Your Hands up High feat T.O.N.E.Z.

Emmy nominated rapper T.O.N.E.Z. contributes tasteful and to the point MC’ing w/ a NY flow supplemented with a track that has traditional country flair to it.

Click Ol’ Gun

It’s odd, the missus and I were discussing the concept of a fusion of Funk and Bluegrass (in context, this was before I heard of the Bootsy Collins involved project The Bluegrass Boyz) and this is what I imagined that it would sound like.

On The Run

It’s very dark but clever wordplay. Actually, this has more of a blues flair to it as well as country…but on the other hand, a lot of people might not realize that Blues and Country weren’t exactly separate entities during the inception of both genres.

Pistol Packin

This starts with a sample of one of the most “gangsta” lines that I’ve heard in country, well pre-Johnny Cash that is. The lyric being, “You can hear my useful boasting/you can take my hardboiled hat/but you can never take from me my silver mounted gat…”

This is worth listening to if you’re open to branching out to something outside of your musical comfort zone.

http://www.myspace.com/gangstagrass

http://www.renchaudio.com/releases/lightning-on-the-strings-thunder-on-the-mic

Sutter Kain feature

Whenever I hear the phrase “Wow, they go hard!” It’s usually pertaining to some rapper with some cheesy 808 beat and can barely rap and what’s so “hardcore” to them is what I consider corny. I forgive their ignorance; it’s obvious they’ve never heard of Sutter Kain.

Sutter Kain is the alter ego of producer DJ Bless. Sutter is a lyrically disturbing, brutal straight to the point, disgusting, psychotic, nightmare inducing mix of hardcore rap and metal called that he’s dubbed as “ghetto metal.” Sutter’s style fuses hardcore rap and heavy metal and the hardcore punk and metal fusion “metalcore” samples with brutal lyricism. Aesthetically, It’s reminiscent of an updated version of the first four Esham albums…they’re speaking my language!

For those who aren’t aware, the difference between DJ Bless and Sutter Kain is that Bless is a producer who’s worked with mainstream artists such as Lil’ Kim and many others. In fact, Bless’s production work is featured on Lil’ Kim’s album “La Bella Mafia.” Now, Sutter Kain on the other hand is the voice of the underground and all that is extreme in music. To paraphrase an interview on his site, Bless compared the similarities to the alter ego concept of MF Doom and his alter ego, Viktor Vaughn.

By this time I usually describe the songs and make some kind of commentary on them and describe them from a musical perspective, but I’m going to be blunt…there’s only two titles I can talk about that just “title wise” won’t go across the board offensive, those titles being “Cannibal Ferox” and “Black Tar Heroin.”

Black Tar Heroin
This is a more organic, NY rap feel that’s pretty much to the point about drug use.

Cannibal Ferox,
like the Italian horror film of the same name and like most of the songs Sutter’s page is that you get this foudroyant of down tuned guitar chugging, drum machine synced, blasting over a brutal rap delivery that are either considered the most hardcore rap verses or a warning for whoever tries to battle him.

This is a Ghettopunkrocker.com moment in history. If you know me, you know that I’m not easily grossed out of offended by music…but, this is impressive.

Seriously, this is for any metal head or anyone who knows any metal heads that thinks “rap sucks” or that it’s lame because it isn’t “brootal” I urge you to send them over to

http://www.myspace.com/suicidekingz.

Check out Never So Deep Records for more information

http://www.neversodeeprecords.com/blog/

Animals as Leaders feature

I was skimming through the August issue of Guitar World magazine and I noticed a feature on the band Animals as Leaders. Animals as Leaders is an instrumental progressive metal band featuring members of defunct Washington, D.C. progressive metalcore group “Reflux.” The brainchild of Animals as Leaders is guitar player Tosin Abasi. In a feature in the same issue of Guitar World, he explained that he wanted to make music that was “more universal” as opposed to “I play guitar and this has a lot of guitar.”

It’s kind of odd that I find this article because I’ve been looking for what some would call instrumental progressive metal or instrumental metal in general. Yeah, that’s kind of specific, huh? But seriously, I’ve been on this progressive rock/jazz fusion quest that has lead me from Mahavishnu Orchestra to progressive death metal bands such as Cynic…

yes that includes instrumental project Planet X. Interesting enough, Tosin Abasi is using an 8 string guitar on this project.

I found a few compositions on the Animals as Leaders Myspace page and all three of them quite caught my interest.

“Tempting Time”

This is a nice fusion of glitch, heavy and complicated guitars and odd time signatures. Actually, this reminds me of an outtake off of Frank Zappa’s Grammy award winning instrumental album “Jazz from Hell.”
“On Impulse”
Nice arpeggio, that puts you in a diaphanous mindset. The jazzier and glitch-y elements sound like a link between Nu-Metal and Jazz Fusion.

“CAFO”

This can be described as an example of what I would consider a nice mix of jazz and metal. This has some great and tasteful use of 8-string shredding. This composition can be very delicate at times but very aggressive at the same time. It’s kind of like a pit bull with a skirt.

For my readers with more experimental taste, this is a great album and like Abasi stated earlier, this is a very guitar –driven but all around musically universal album.

http://www.myspace.com/animalsasleaders

DiamondSnake

Diamondsnake is a band consisting of Flipper member/Electronic DJ Moby and Bee Gees metal tribute band “Tragedy” and the guitar player of hard rock band Satanicide. The project stemmed out as an over the phone conversation. During the conversation, Moby wanted to know if Phil wanted to write some songs. Before they knew it, DiamondSnake was started. So, I’m guessing the name DiamondSnake is a reference to Diamondhead and Whitesnake or band amalgamations such as Guns n Roses.

After checking out their music page, how can I describe DiamondSnake? Simple, it is “rock” smothered in “rock” covered in more…”rock.” Maybe you’re noticing a pattern here?. Their overall sound is a pastiche of 70’s arena rock, hard rock and arena rock bands such as KISS, Blue Oyster Cult, AC/DC, Poison etc. When listening, I imagine myself surrounded by mullets, cut off sleeves, girls with big hair, tube socks and fans with lighters swaying to their favorite power ballad along with various clichés of 70’s and 80’s arena shows. Wait, I just kind of described other 70’s tinged rock band Wolfmother to an extent. No, that’s not a low blow at Wolfmother; I’m just being honest.

Seriously, I have no idea if these guys are serious about this band or is this just a spare time goof between projects.

“We Wanna Love You”
This is a straight ahead rocker that is reminiscent of a general 80’s rock pastiche with some syncopated guitar riffage.

“Storm the Fucking Kastle”
This is a very “storm the gate” kind of vibe that reminds me of the medieval era in late 70’s rock. Honestly, the tapping lick sounds like the “palace” music from Legend of Zelda II: Adventures of Link.

“Lady of the Morning”
This is a power ballad that’s just meant for waving your lighter…well nowadays cell phones.

“Woman, Yeah”
Yep, this is the blues-rock number that 70’s hard rock bands used to delve into when the blues influence in rock was very prominent.

Although I’m still not sure if this project is a serious band, it really seems more or less like a very playful and made for more or less entertainment value and just meant to rock out and inject that lost element of rock called…fun.

Cee-Lo Green-Fuck You!

“Wow, a soul singer singing and using offensive language?” I mean, remember Eamon’s “Fuck It (I Don’t Want You Back)?” or Jack Ingram’s similar “Love You?” Either way, it’s been done before and to me at least, the concept is still funny.

On August 21, 2010 reading my twitter feeds, I came across various messages about soul singer Cee-Lo Green’s single that is bluntly titled “Fuck You” I thought “C’mon, you’re not even trying man!” But, after hearing it, I thought this is hilarious!

The song is basically about a guy who’s separated and bitter about it. But at the end, it’s not because he hates her…but because he misses her.
This is a very poppy southern soul sound that is reminiscent of the soul music I grew up listening to when I was a kid. Lyrically, I wouldn’t expect to hear Al Green or Otis Redding sing anything like this whatsoever, although my immature mind would have loved to hear it though.

Production and instrumentation-wise it’s like a fusion southern soul and sunny pop sound. Although the production on “Fuck You” is not necessarily modern, I would describe it as more of a refurbishing of a retro sound.

Listen for yourself, this is hilarious. I’m totally buying the album.

It seems that 50 Cent even jumped on the track “pause-mixing” style and did a freestyle on it…

“Dimebag” Darrell tribute

Metal lost something very special…

“Hella Trees” by DJ Nocturnal and DJ Rated R

“Hella Trees” is a mixtape that consists of alt./indie rap courtesy of DJ’s Nocturnal and Rated R. This mixtape was made to promote the re-launch of the popular “Hella Trees” clothing line. The “Hella Trees” clothing line is carried by the Sacramento based hip-hop clothing retailer Cloud Nine Clothing Company. After some research regarding this project, I found out that the owners of Cloud Nine Clothing asked Sacramento DJs Rated R and Nocturnal to come up with a mixtape to celebrate the re-launch of the “Hella Trees” clothing line. With this task at hand, DJ Nocturnal and DJ Rated R successfully put together an eclectic mix of tracks that spoke well of the brand and reflected the hip-hop feel of Cloud Nine Clothing Company.

With that being stated, this mix features a great selection of tracks by rappers such as K-os, Large Professor, a collab track with Rock Botton and Masta Ace, Black Milk and Sacramento’s very own rappers Self and Random Abiladeze. The mixing and overall production by both DJ is seamless and their turntablism techniques compliment the flow of the tape and not try to show off.

Although there is the potential to have to re-listen to this mix a few times and some who aren’t exactly familiar with the Sacramento rap scene could get confused with the overall concept of this mixtape. Aside from being a selection of indie rap, I was lost on the common thread between all of the tracks. Well, that is until I realized that the theme was staring in my face the whole time. The common theme being is that this project represents the independent nature, creativity and indie hip hop that Cloud Nine Clothing Company compliments…with just a haze of weed smoke.

I mean, Sacramento isn’t called the city of trees for nothing, folks.

Download here

Tila Tequila Bottled at the Gathering of the Juggalos

by John M. Ellison IV

You ever hear something where you just knew that it wasn’t going to go well? I mean, you just knew the results were going to end badly? Kind of like Lil’ Wayne rocking or Brian Pumper trying to rap…well here’s another one, Myspace model Tila Tequila performing at the “Gathering of the Juggalos.”

For those who aren’t aware, a “Juggalo” is a fan of “the most hated band in the world,” Insane Clown Posse. “Wait, you mean the two guys in clown makeup with ‘wack’ lyrics?” “Yes, Violent J and Shaggy 2 Dope.” Now you’re probably asking “How would I know this?” Simple answer, because I was a fan of the group in my younger years and still to some extent a fan now. But, I’m not as much of a fan of their music (more of the older Mike E. Clark-era) and more a fan of their business model. *Shock* “How could you be a fan? You’re not some white trash wigger idiot!” Yeah, I hate to tell you guys but not all juggalos are a bunch of dimwitted, violent, white trash, cheap soda drinking jackasses with face paint who run around going “woop woop” all the time…well, not all of them at least; “Ass Dan” doesn’t represent all of us, just a contingent.

“Juggalos?” “Gathering of the Whats?” “Ass Huh?”…What are you talking about? For some reason, I imagined that last string of questions in a Don Knotts voice. But I digress…Now to explain what “The Gathering of the Juggalos” is.

The Gathering of the Juggalos (The Gathering or GOTJ) is an annual underground musical festival put on by record label Psychopathic Records. This event features performances by the entire label as well as numerous well-known musical groups and underground artists that the fan base expresses interest in. It was founded by Robert Bruce, Insane Clown Posse (Joseph Bruce and Joseph Utsler), and their label in 2000. The Gathering has featured bands of a variety of genres within hip hop and rock, though the majority of the acts perform horrorcore and hardcore hip hop, similar to that of Psychopathic Records artists.

The event has been described by Joseph Bruce as a “Juggalo Woodstock”, the Gathering of the Juggalos spans four days and includes concerts, wrestling, games, contests, autograph sessions, and seminars with artists. It is regarded highly by the Juggalo fan base, and is commonly referred to as a “family reunion” of sorts by the fans.

Now, I haven’t been to the gathering myself but speaking from someone who understands juggalo point of view, I have to ask…”Seriously, what the fuck was Tila Tequila doing at the Gathering in the first place?” Look, I know juggalos can have less than popular/underground etc. taste in music, especially rap wise. But seriously even her there rapping was a horrible idea…even by juggalo standards!” I knew her being booked to perform wasn’t going to end on a good note because of the potential of the unofficial term known as “The Bubba Sparxxx Award.”

Here’s a copy of Tequila’s twitter feed counting down to the incident

“Whoohoo! On my way to airport!!! Can’t wait to perform at the concert
tonight!!! Holla Juggalos and Juggalettes!!! Lol
3:08 PM Aug 13th via UberTwitter

Just landed in Chicago!! Almost Time for the Juggalos Gathering!!
Woohoo! Wut yall doin?
8:30 PM Aug 13th via UberTwitter

Touchdown!! I’m finally here! Tom Green was on my flight cuz he will
be doing a show at the Juggalos too! Then we got engaged! Haha! #4real
12:28 AM Aug 14th via UberTwitter

Headed to the Juggalos Gathering right now!! Woohoo!! Gonna be fucking
insane!!!! Holllaaa juggalos! Ya girl luvs ya!
2:43 AM Aug 14th via UberTwitter

Insane Klown Posse bitches and shout out to my boys, Kotton Mouth Kings!
3:08 AM Aug 14th via UberTwitter

Lil Kim also performing tonight!! Woohoo! This is gonna be so fun!! I
bought a TON of cool shit that imma spray at the crowd!!! Lol!
3:52 AM Aug 14th via UberTwitter
Thank you everyone for your support. The people at Juggalos behavior
was disgusting and I am filing a suit against Them now. Thanks 4 ur luv
5:15 PM Aug 14th via web

Pretty soon the owners who run the Juggalos will be bankrupt. My
attorney Alan is already on it. This is disgusting behavior from men.
5:31 PM Aug 14th via UberTwitter

Understand, I wasn’t there at “the Gathering” but understanding the subculture, I figured out what happened and caused the reaction…

The juggalo subculture has a disdain of pop music, MTV etc. and whatever doesn’t cater to the more underground taste. Taste in this case being nu-metal, rap-rock, gangsta rap, heavy metal, pro wrestling and pretty much whatever Spin, Village Voice, Rolling Stone etc. mocks or considers “anti-intellectual trash.” In this case, artists who insult the bands within the subculture and insult elements of the culture aren’t welcome.

Some Juggalos at times can be quite a rowdy bunch and due to the actions of some, juggalos have been labeled as a gang in some states. This actually causes a misrepresentation of others fans of the group who have nothing to do with criminal activities.

Ignorance of the subculture and being a “poser” can be dangerous. For example, misspelling the band’s name and still acting like you’re a fan has potential to be dangerous for anyone regarding this group or within the juggalo realm.

Now, as an exception to the “pop” culture or pop music, artists who are genuine fans of the group within the subculture or enjoy parts of the subculture are very welcomed with open arms and gain career long and lifelong fans.

“The Bubba Sparxxx Award” is a term given to any group that is unwanted and annoys the audience and will get things thrown at the stage and bottled while performing. For example, In 2002, rapper Bubba Sparxxx during a performance at The “Gathering of the Juggalos” was bottled and heckled and left the stage for obvious reasons during his set. Ever since then, the term has become a part of the lexicon.

To be fair, this occurrence of what we know as “bottling” isn’t exclusive to the juggalo subculture. In fact, in 2004 at the popular “Reading and Leeds Festival” in the UK, rapper 50 Cent was bottled during a performance for 20 minutes by fans who attended the festival. The Reading Festival which catered to indie, alternative but more “cerebral” taste didn’t want a rapper of his caliber there.

With this being known by fans, I’m guessing she didn’t know or wasn’t aware of the potential of her getting this infamous “award.”

To clarify, do I advocate what happened to Tila Tequila? Not all all. Did I expect something like that to go down? Yes. Should she have been there in the first place? No. What were Violent J and Shaggy 2 Dope thinking? No idea.

Update: Violent J (real name Joe Bruce) warned her not to go on stage because of the rumor of a potential attack but she didn’t take his advice.

article here