Heard Here

Wagon Christ
Musipal


“Now the premise of this album is very, very simple/What’s that?/To listen to messages of soul with a solid beat, make you move your feet.”
So begins the “The Premise,” the first track on the new Wagon Christ (aka Luke Vibert, UK electronic honcho extraodinare) album, Musipal. Of course, the vocal passage is a pastiche of sampled voices and songs, mad scientists morphing into airplane pilots and disco MCs before dope beat drops, with some scratches, orchestral hits and smoke alarm beeps for good measure. 
“Bend Over,” the second track,” further legitimizes the appearance of party lights. The tune sounds like the RZA dropping acid with Herbalizer and deciding to just play video games the whole time. Wagon Christ comes down after that one and chills out a bit during the blunted “Tomach” and the hangover slop of “Thick Stew.”
By this point the need to dance has returned again, and “Natural Suction” doesn’t dissapoint. A blender packed to overflow with synth-pad hysterics, requisite pygmy squeals and many other goodies, it bounces you along, then deposits you straight on Bourbon Street for the stomping, percussive, Latin-flavored hip-hop funk of the title track, “Musipal.” 
Just when you’ve got your groove back on, the eerie “It is Always Now, All of it is Now” drops, a distorted voice blathering, barely decipherable, over over a spiraling web of feedback, low-end and what sounds like an ice-rink organ.
You get the picture –– this album is all over the place. And this is by no means a bad thing. It is as if Vibert decided to take a list of some top forerunners of the electronic scene and one-up each of them, one track at a time. He does exactly that to Squarepusher, Aphex Twin, Kid Koala, and Kruder & Dorfmister on this album. Give Musipal a near perfect score for their clever creativity.
-Chris DeWeese

The Monks 
Let’s Start a Beat: Live at the Cavestomp

The 1960s may be the only decade of good popular American music that ever existed, but most 60s bands fall into one of a few basic categories — psychedelic rock, British invasion, bubblegum pop, surf or American garage. The Monks defy categorization.
The Monks’ story really begins in 1964, when their lineup solidified in Heidelberg, Germany, where the band members were stationed in the army. Dressed in black and with tonsured heads, the Monks made an impression in German clubs, where their music came to be known by locals as “hop music.’ Everything culminated in 1965 with the release of their only full-length album Black Monk Time, an essential document of 60s weirdness.
Let’s Start a Beat: Live at the Cavestomp, a live album from a reunion concert in 1999, finds the Monks several decades later, but still with the same frenzied pace and vein-bursting energy. 
The album begins with “Monk Time,” their best-know song, largely due to it’s recent appearance in a sports drink commercial. Vocalist Gary Burger introduces Mike, “the son of a monk,” as a vocal assistant due to Burger’s bronchitis. While the vocal delivery isn’t as gloriously spastic as on Black Monk Time, the music is furious and accurate, and Burger updates the lyrics to make more sense to late-20th century listeners.
Though Burger says the Monks hadn’t played together in 32 years, they sound as nasty as ever, punishing listeners with noise attacks and angrily-delivered nonsense lyrics. Roger Johnston’s drumming is tight and complex and Burger’s trebly guitar sound recalls the screeching of nails on a classroom chalkboard. Noise breaks, present in many of the Monks’ songs, are executed with startling similarity to those on Black Monk Time, showing that the Monks were more than a spastic freak-out band. 
“Shut Up” is particularly stunning. The noise is textured and frenetic, while the vocal melodies are as complex and charming as the Beach Boys’. What’s most striking is that the long-dormant Monks are able to mimic their old sound so accurately.
“Boys are Boys” highlights another of the album’s strengths — terrific sound quality. Although Black Monk Time was re-released on CD in 1997, the quality remains muddy at times. On Let’s Start a Beat all songs come across clearly thanks to modern technology and organist Larry Clark’s boss wrangling of the keys can be heard in all its mind-clouding glory.
Let’s Start a Beat serves as both an accessible introduction to what may be the most unique 60s band (with honorable mention to the Silver Apples) ever, as well as an eye-popping treat to collectors and fans who have had to survive until now on the vast strength of Black Monk Time.

-Nick Stillman 

7 SIP
For Those Who Slept on the Seven Souls in Passing

If the Conservatory students can make CDs why can’t College students as well? Seven Souls in Passing, also known as 7 Sip, have broken into the small group of Obies who make their own CDs with their album For Those who Slept on the Seven Souls in Passing. 
The Souls are: Devin Heatley on bass, Caleb Miller as MC, Martin Mitchell on keyboards, Chas Mortimer on drums, Jerome Padilla as DJ, Steffon Thomas as MC and Josiah Woodson on trumpet/piano. All of the members of 7 Sip are sophomores. Their album boasts seven tracks that were recorded and mixed live by Matthew Gordon at Studio 404 in Wilder Student Union.
The album has a fresh hip-hop and jazz feel to it. All the music on the album is phenomenal, with 7 Sip blessing the ears with very good instrumental intros and outros. The track “Hotter than Jack” opens the album and introduces us to 7 Sip as the “Class of ’03 at OC.” This is both a clever verse and a statement to the group’s unity. The track “Changing the Game” has a comedic intro that extends into a long jazzy riff that utilizes horns, keyboard and drumbeats. However, the riff on “Changing the Games” is too long, making it easy to mistake this song as an instrumental cut. 
There are two collaborations on the album that prove rather successful. The first collaboration, “T.K.O. ,” features the vocals of sophomore James Anderson and is inspired by the older version of “Love T.K.O.” by Teddy Pendergrass. By using extensive sampling, 7 Sip provides a different spin to this love song by playing with the tempo and the lyrics with the verse “Just another Sip T.K.O.” 
The second collaboration on the album is the track “Can’t Stop”, featuring the work of sophomore Janice Reddick and senior Jason Carrington as F-Bizza. The contrast between the MCs who were rapping at the speed of light and the background vocalist who soulfully sustained each word was an innovative idea, but did not come off smoothly. Those who made it out to the Mood concert during the Hip-Hop conference in March were treated to the live version of this track, which was a better version than what is found on the CD.
The creativity is endless on this album. The MCs do a good job of getting the message across that 7 Sip can lyrically vibe, while the musicians hold the album down by providing intricate beats and an artistic quality that makes your head nod. 

-Kimberly Clarke