The second was recent, and lasted longer than most of my musical phases last. It started in similar places as the first one, and rapidly expanded. There’s will likely few more installments of Audiophilia dedicated just to Minneapolis-based rappers, but for this one I’ll just name some stuff that anyone remotely into hip hop will already know. But hopefully I’ll reach someone who hasn’t wandered into that territory too heavily and cause the occurrence of a significant rap phase.

Disclaimer: This is rap, so there’s several swears and some “N Words” contained herein. Also note that I am extremely white.

Slaughterhouse

Slaughterhouse is pretty mainstream, actually. The 4 person rap group was signed fairly recently to Eminem’s Shady Records, which I imagine gave them a major boost. “Our House” is the first track off of their debut album. It’s essentially an introduction to themselves and the album, showcasing each member of the group as well as Eminem who makes several appearances on the record. The last song I’ll showcase from Slaughterhouse is “Get Up”, which does something that has probably been done before but was new to me. There are some words sung as part of the beat, and they seemingly effortlessly rap around that. It’s pretty awesome; I had to listen to it several times in a row the first time I heard it just to bask in it.

Slaughterhouse’s “Welcome to Our House” doesn’t quite break free from the misogyny that pervades a lot of rap, which slightly disappointed me. But the album is well polished, written, and executed, and has some killer beats and hooks. If the above songs did anything for you I’d check it out.

Hopsin

Hopsin is probably the most famous underground rapper out there. His “Ill Mind” YouTube series has lately been garnering millions of views, and his latest album “Knock Madness” got quite a bit of buzz. This first song is off his second album “Raw”.

Hopsin is an interesting character. He technically is a character, played by rapper Marcus Hopson. He wears white colored contacts on stage, in videos, and for interviews. He’s portrayed as a sort of cantankerous soap-box preacher, supremely confident in his superiority over all other rappers. The man behind the character is a toned down version of that. Marcus has a lot of ideas about where rap is and where it should be, and he’s not afraid to call people out.

At the same time, he’s created his own label. He writes lyrics, mixes and produces his own beats, sings a lot of the hooks himself, and clearly has a handle on self-promotion (see the aforementioned white colored contacts; he’s pretty easy to recognize). His album “Raw” dealt with a lot of his feelings about his interactions with Ruthless Records, who signed him for some small amount of money and basically buried his debut album “Gazing At The Moonlight”. That first album sold only 47 copies. Subsequently he broke away and started the “Funk Volume” label, to which he’s been signing up-and-coming rappers who meet his pretty rigorous standards.

He spent a long time on the follow-up to “Raw”, releasing “Knock Madness” in 2013. Production values were emphasized on this record, and you can definitely tell there’s a technical leap between the previous song, and the next one I’ll include.

Hopsin is great, and you should totally listen to at least his Funk Volume records.

Bonus!

Yelawolf is another rapper who’s blowing up. He’s been touted as the next Eminem, by Eminem no less, and was also signed to Shady Records. He’s actually pretty good, and has the mystique of originating from Alabama. But I’m including the song “Get Away” off of “Radioactive”, mostly because it makes me laugh every time. Yelawolf’s stuff is good, the first guest verse is all right, but the second guest verse by Mystikal is so over-the-top, to the point where it doesn’t really even fit in the song, I can’t help but crack up. Hopefully it’s not just me.

I didn’t start listening to music, really, until I was about 18 years old. Before that, I knew two bands really well (They Might Be Giants and Barenaked Ladies), and I had a fair amount of exposure to pop and classic rock through the radio. The only CDs I owned were acoustic instrumental guitar music of a variety known as Fingerstyle. Leo Kottke, Michael Hedges, and Billy McLaughlin dominated my listening time and taught me to play the guitar (probably the wrong way to learn).

Once I had enough disposable income to purchase consumer electronics, I found myself with an iPod. I had to fill it with something. Thus began my voracious consumption of music, mostly obtained at random via highly legal internet sites.

I felt like I had to make up for lost time. I never really stuck to an album, or band, or even genre for a lengthy period of time, and to an extent that’s still the case. So I’d like to share some of the music that’s stuck with me, from wherever and whenever. All opinions are opinions held by me, and should be considered opinions.

There might be a theme, there might not be. But this week, we’re going to start with the letter E.

Elbow – Fly Boy Blue/Lunette

From “The The Take Off and Landing of Everything”. A good friend of mine bought the album “Cast of Thousands” by Elbow about 10 years ago. At the time we occasionally would purchase media with no prior knowledge of it. Usually this ended up going poorly. For example, I bought the film “Ultraviolet”. My friend ended up with this Elbow album, which he wasn’t thrilled with. I thought it was okay, but I didn’t give it much attention.

When Elbow released this latest album, I listened to it solely due to that experience, not expecting much. What I got was basically Peter Gabriel filtered through the body of British pop and/or alt rock since Peter Gabriel was influential. It was actually partially recorded at Gabriel’s Real World Studios. This album is really solid, and I recommend it.

Editors – Formaldehyde

From “The Weight Of Your Love”. I ran into Editors as a recommendation for fans of Interpol (I’m a fan of Interpol). I can see where they were coming from, especially on older Editors releases. It’s a little less pronounced on “The Weight Of Your Love”, but you basically get lyrics that are quite a bit less ridiculous than Interpol in exchange for rhythm section that falls just short. Which is actually a compliment; Interpol’s rhythm section is bananas.
I can’t help myself. Here’s some more Editors. Just go listen to the whole album.

Ellie Goulding – Figure 8

From “Halcyon”. Ok, ok, I know. Ellie Goulding is popular and what not. Plus she’s on a particularly crowded boat with all the other synthpop acts (including a lot of mainstream pop). Plus she dated Skrillex. BUT! Sometimes you just need something engineered to be catchy, and I’d rather go with someone who can write and sing.

That’s going to do it for me, folks. Thanks for getting this far if you got this far. Feel free to disagree/comment below, and I’ll be shoving more music at you soon.

BONUS

I don’t necessarily promise to do new releases, or have this many songs in an article, but I just heard this today and have to include it.

The Both – Milwaukee

From “The Both”. I don’t know a lot about Ted Leo, but Aimee Mann is a crazy talented songwriter. This collaboration between the two of them is pretty great, and hooked me right away. The video is a little goofy, but it was the only one I could find with the album version of the song.

Hey hey everyone! Sorry for the lack of new zer0cast episodes. In case you weren’t aware (which is highly likely), my wife and I are going to be having our third child any day now. At least, I put the podcast on hold when I thought that, but he’s taking longer than we expected to get here. Hence the long break.

There will eventually be more podcast, so don’t worry, the four of you who were worried! The rest of you, start worrying, and then don’t worry.

In the meantime, I will shamelessly plug a game I made for a thing where you are supposed to make a game about fishing. It’s a Twine game, which is pretty much just text and links which form a sort of Choose Your Own Adventure vibe. Some people say these aren’t video games; I say they are. You may find yourself forming your own opinions if you play some of them.

Speaking of playing some of them, why not try this one?

The Void and The Hook

It’s pretty short. I’d be super thrilled if you gave it a shot, and even more so if you told me what you think! Either here or on twitter (@zer0jon) or email (zer0castdoom AT gmail DOT com).

Thanks, and enjoy your time!

Hey hey we’re on the backend of the thing! Jon continues to leverage the magic of Skype to keep podcasting supergiants Will and Stephen talking for a longish time. For those confused by the abrupt ending of last weeks cast, allow me to refer you to my massive laziness. Don’t take it out of context. The bulk of this episode is centered around video games, fancy that! Yolo!

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Hey hey feels like we talked for a day! Jon uses the magic of Skype to wrangle podcasting supergiants Will and Stephen into giving him tips for improving his market share! Over the course of this double episode, too many things are discussed for me to even summarize. Rest assured that eventually the talk swings to video games, and stays there for a long long time. Getcha some!

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Hey hey there’s a little wine in here! Jon and Deanna Kelly regroup this week to do what they seem to do best. Talk for a very long time about almost nothing. The conversation eventually strays to gaming, although even then it’s mostly about Pokemon. Good luck!

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Hey hey these guys are doing these things! Jon and Dan Kelly sit down to bask in the glow of having made a video game in a week, and thus being video game makers instead of just being rampant poseurs. There’s a link below if you want to play it. Other than chatting about that a bit, they check out some other games. Games like a Disney classic adaptation with unintentional bullet time, a very uneducational game based on an educational kids show, and an NES classic features whips and secret gender reveals! Getchoselfonit!

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Hush, Little One: A Game made for the 7-day Roguelike Challenge

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Hey hey who’d have thought we’d make it? Jon and Dan celebrate actually getting 50 episodes in the bag by not acknowledging it at all. They chat about various subjects, eventually leading to a triumphant extended metaphor for aging before talking about games (video kind). This week there’s a loud beeping spider in your soup, a braggy Genesis gem, and a hotly-contested Real American Hero title. Check it out!

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Hey hey another reference to James Woods!? Jon and Dan battle MINOR technical difficulties to bring you another romp in the “hay”. They spend some time discussing bread before eating some games in front of you. Sit a spell while the airplane turns into a robot turns into a bug, some salmon get wrastled, and Vincent tries and fails to be a worthwhile competitor. After that, the podcast enters into NPR space, and we lose sight of it…

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Hey hey give it up for James Woods! Jon and Dan return to speak to each other in what is becoming distressingly infrequent quality bro time. They quickly go over the events of January, henceforth referred to as The Worst Month, before getting into the heart of the episode. One Word Impressions. Eventually they talk about some games, while being the world’s foremost Butt Punisher, falling into a Marvelous Land of Desserts, and ditching a big bag of Braunschweiger. Listen up!

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