Sorry the last track is taking so long everyone. Life has been chaotic in the past couple weeks to say the least. I’m going to be working on it this Sunday, and I hope to finish it. Keep your fingers crossed for me!

In the meantime, here are more puzzle pieces!

Only two pieces left after these. Good luck!

Demo of the last track for M.E.O.W.

You’re probably wondering why I would want to post an old demo of a song that I’m getting ready to post an up to date, much more polished version of. The short answer? UNCLEARED SAMPLES! And while I am way more excited about the updated version of the song, I wanted you guys and gals to hear this one too.

I sampled a very large chunk of a Madonna song for this one as well as voice samples of Kesha. You see, in a lot of radio pop music, DJs are often exhaulted and treated like the best thing ever. But if you’ve ever listened to Kiss FM or been to a nightclub, you know that some DJs are as bland, boring, and predictable as 90s sitcoms.

I wanted to represent the opposite side of the argument.

“Hey Mr. DJ! Stop being so goddamn lazy! Play something I didn’t hear in the car on the drive over here 4 or 5 times! And maybe try spinning those tracks with some style instead of just hitting play and walking away!”

I feel like if you pay to get into a club and you buy drinks and a DJ has been given an opportunity to entertain you, they should make the most of it! Play something we wouldn’t expect! Try some mashups! Take us on a musical journey! Anything less is basically white noise and should not be held in high regard in pop music or anywhere else.

Sooo anyway…

I’ll be posting the new version of the song as well as the real title and more detail on it’s evolution, people involved (there are SOOO many!), et cetera in the very near future as well as some more puzzle pieces!

The last track to be mixed for the record is going to be forshing erpic! More details on the final track later. In the mean time, here are some puzzle pieces. Have you figured out the track list yet? Only one track remains and then it’s pretty much all out in the open. Make your guesses while you still can!

O… M… Gumdrops you guys! Only one track left to mix before M.E.O.W. gets shipped off to be mastered! I am so excited!!

So, what is with the title of this post? “Let’s just call it ‘9’”? Well, y’know… cuz there are only 10 tracks on the record and I have 1 left… so… GET OFF MY BACK!!!!!!!!!

Pixel Fix

This is my attempt to write a song in a similar vein to Shael Riley & The Double Ice Backfire – a combination of chiptune music with live instrumentation. If it wasn’t obvious, I’m a bit of a fan. I also really want to give some mad props to Logan Witte – who played the live drums – and Pete Bishop (my stepdad) who did a ridiculous amount of post-processing to get the drums tracks to line up. I could have done this song without the live drums, but I feel like THIS is the best version. Also the drum sound is SOOOOO Steve Albini – big, boomy in all the right spots, and tight as hell!

I gotta give you all a heads up, the next track will probably take a while to finish as there are A LOT of elements to it, and I want it to be perfect. Because I love you. Also, because I am a perfectionist.

Anyway, enjoy the new tracks – collect all them puzzle pieces – make this world more like Equestria – and keep your sense-holes peeled for the final track!

Track from last week is being cleaned up as we speak. With any luck, I will be able to post it here tonight. If the internet had fingers, would it cross them?

In the meantime, I have some puzzle pieces for you.

Not sure if I mentioned this before, but the first five people to come up with the correct track listing for the album, get a physical copy in ‘da mail! To participate, collect the pieces (there are more on the way) and put them together. Then, drop me an email at fanmail [AT] evbpmusic [DOT] com with the track listing. I will announce the winners here on the site!

That’s right, P2T2 YO! Sorry, with all the Straight Outta Compton memes I couldn’t resist doing my own. Because I had a headache. And no ibuprofen. Do you like it? Anyway, about those puzzle pieces. Here they are!

And if you’re reading this, I’m sure you want more detail on why you’re not getting an MP3 this week. The next track I plan to upload felt like it was lacking something. And the object of lack was real, live drums! So Pete and I spent this afternoon recording drums with his friend Logan Witte. I wasn’t sure what to expect, as I had never heard him drum before, but Pete assured me that he was a talented guy.

He was right.

I don’t know how many takes it usually takes most drummers, but Logan – having never heard the song before – managed to kill it in less than four takes! I was also really impressed (and thankful) that I didn’t have to spell out every pattern or try to play it for him first (I haven’t played the drums in years, so I’m really out of practice). Other than a few guiding points (lots of toms, drop out here, etc) he seemed to have an instinct for what to play. I can’t wait to post the mp3 for you. I’m sure you’re gonna love it!

So if this is Part 10, and there are 10 tracks on the album… What the floppy disk?! I haven’t exactly been religious about the numeric consistency of these. Plus, I have announced tracks and not posted mp3s at the same time, so I guess I’m innocent. But think positive! 8 of 10 tracks for the album are ready for mastering!

And to end your wait, here it is! The track I dangled in front of your faces yesterday. Here for your listening enjoyment!

Decipher This Song (featuring MC Lars)

I know it seems silly, but doing a track with an established, internationally known artist makes me feel like I have “made it”. On the upside, Lars is a genuinely talented guy and it’s a privilege to get to do a song with him – celebrity or no. Besides, “making it” is all relative. That guy at the local “open mic night” showing up and playing songs that he loves and doing his own thing without concern for being rich and famous has “made it”. Kanye West has “made it”. The one guy who won American Idol a couple years ago (you know the one I’m talking about!), he’s “made it”. Success is what you make of it.

Two more tracks everyone! The album will be ready before you know it. In the meantime, have fun figuring out the puzzle pieces, and deciphering the song!

What the heck does that mean?! What it means is that I thought I would have a track ready for you tonight. Unfortunately, after listening to the finished mix in my car on the drive home and at home on my laptop, a certain part of the track was not sitting right with me. So I have decided to refrain from posting the mp3 here (at least for a few more days), because I don’t want to risk that you’ll be as critical of the track as I am and as such think it is less than awesome.

So why am I updating the site, if not to give you a new track? Three reasons. First, because I love you. Second, to give you a new puzzle piece (OMG! Puzzizzle Pizzieces!). And threed, to drop some well-deserved props on the rapper who made a guest appearance on the latest track.

Andrew Nielsen, AKA MC Lars is one of the hardest working rappers I know. He’s also one of the most personable and approachable. I emailed him an mp3 of one of my tracks back in 2010 (“Jolt”, in case you were wondering), and he was really enthusiastic about it. I was on cloud number 9! Number 9! #9!

I remember being a nervous wreck when I contacted him back in 2011 asking if I could interview him when he was on his upcoming tour with MC Chris. Because I’m the type, when I really admire an artist, I want to know everything about them! I think Henry Rollins once said “I want to know what they ate for breakfast on July 17, 1978!” I may have the date wrong, but the sentiment is the same – I want to find out what makes them tick. So the opportunity to interview Lars was something I really looked forward to!

Following an interview conducted in the alley next to the Blind Pig, Lars said “If you ever want me on a track, get in touch!” This was just too tempting to ignore! Being on a track with one of my heroes? Where the fudgsicle do I sign up?! So I continued working on the tracks that would become M.E.O.W. I finally got a brilliant idea in my head, and I wanted Lars to be a part of that brilliant idea! I contacted him with the song idea. He let me know if I could cover the time in the studio to record his vocal take, he would lay down a track.

I did.

He did.

And now you have to wait a few more days to hear it! AAAUUUUUUUUGGGGHHHHH!!!!!! You feel the same as Lars up there, don’t you?!

But anyway it’s getting late and this post should let you know about Lars. Because I owe him a shout-out, and because Lars, man!!!

He has a new crowd-funded album coming out, The Zombie Dinosaur LP. Being an avid supporter I haven’t heard ALL of the tracks, but I have heard a few (and I’ll hear the rest when I get my copy of the crowd-funded album!). I’ve have heard this one, which if you aren’t stupid (…you’re not STUPID, are you??) you should check out.

I’ve got Dragon Blood, what you wanna do, son?!

Oh, by the way if you’re not familiar with the rest of Lars’ catalog, allow me to drop some youtubes on youse!

Flow Like Poe

Download This Song

White Kids Aren’t Hyphy

So continue holding your breath for a few more days! The new track is on it’s way. And that means there are only two more tracks remaining until the completion of M.E.O.W. Pur, my pretties… pur.

I love you guys (and gals)! I hope you will be my fans for ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever andoh wait, I have a puzzle piece for you! Happy and stuffs!

Can anyone explain why WP automatically surrounds images with hyperlinks? Seems pointless.

Will you also get a new mp3 from the album this week?! Only time will tell, because I’m not gonna tell you. I want it to be a surprise. A surprise!!!!!

“Hey! You made it sound like you were gonna have a new track for us last last week! What gives?”

I know! Sorry everyone. Long story short, the track was ready last week. However, the first time it was rendered to mp3, I noticed the sound effects track had not rendered along with the rest of the mix. I mentioned this to Pete the next day, and he dropboxed me a new copy. After downloading this version and listening to it, I discovered that it sounded very choppy.

So after a very busy week at work, I finally got a chance to sit down with Pete and render the mp3 once again. So without further ado, here it is!

Washington Wives

When I was in elementary school and first discovering music, I used to get really frustrated because the albums that always had the coolest looking artwork were also the albums that had “Parental Advisory: Explicit Lyrics” labels stuck to them. It was a couple years before I would finally buy many of these albums, because I remember my parents taking away my copy of Vanilla Ice’s To The Extreme because they thought the content was inappropriate. I didn’t want to buy a tape or CD that I figured my parents were just going to take away from me.

As a teenager, I discovered the origin of the advisory labels. I also discovered the not-so-innocent history of court trials that followed in the wake of the PMRC’s founding. Jello Biafra became something of a spiritual advisor. I remember my disgust seeing the censored version of Nirvana’s In Utero on Wal-Mart shelves. I remember having to walk through a crowd of religious protesters at a Marilyn Manson concert. I remember rushing out to the local Sam Goody where my cousin worked, and getting her to sell me a copy of ICP’s The Great Milenko after seeing how it was being pulled from shelves as a result of pressure from the Southern Baptist Church on MTV News.

The world didn’t end. Many of the musicians whose music changed my life are still active today. The PMRC however, went belly-up long ago. And yet record labels both big and small, continue to put parental advisory labels on the albums they release. Now permanently printed over the front cover of the record. So I think it is safe to say that Tipper and her fellow Washington Wives are still winning the war to this day.

Anyway, as an apology for taking so long to get you guys the new track, I am giving you not one, but TWO mp3 this time. This is a remix of “Chickenz” that I did way back in 2013. I was initially planning to hold onto it until I reached 100 facebook fans, but withholding music from fans ain’t cool. So please enjoy these new tracks!

Chickenz (Hit Remix)