XoC Entertainment
Posted: 13 Nov 2009 02:21 am
Nov 13, 2009
Feature Creep
It's a rarity when a reviewer, such as myself, has to push an artist to allow them to give a review. In most cases, when someone posts a compliment on my wall I feel obliged to have a listen to their music, and in the case of XoC I did, and was blown away. Luckily, the two songs I heard initially are both the ones that XoC has put up for me to review.
"Feature Creep" was the first song I listened to and was not immediately amazing. a pleasant reverse string clip comes in giving a wonderful chord pattern that is soon added to by a very crazy, fast but light clip that contains a high pitched noise echoing all over it's melody and turning it into just a friendly harmonising tool.
Suddenly the words kick in with a mellow, tonal form and say the following words:
"I am windows, and everytime the wind blows
blue screen of death, you lost your work, you know how it goes"
The sense of innate non-conformity and wonderfully ironic delivery was immediate and I dropped what I was doing to listen more carefully. I soon stopped, called in my friend who's having computer problems and gave him the headphones before rewinding it back. I got jealous as he started to get further into the track then I had managed to before calling him into the room, but I watched as his head bopped and he turned to me to say "this is f**king brilliant". He was right, it was f**king brilliant, so I stole the headphones back and told him to piss off so I could listen to it.
The beat is virtual non-existant, but fantastic, it relys on occasionally popping a quick movement of kick, single tabla snare and hat. It's just enough to single out each bar.
The rap is delivered in a falling tone and a light and uncomplicated rythm. The atmosphere is light and actually relaxing, which makes it all the more fantastic as the artist rips affectively in to Microsoft Windows producing a fantastic series of personal and philosophical grevences with the bane of many people's lives. It might be seen as a geeky rap, but it's more relevant and touching to Joe Public then songs about how someone had to shoot some hoe coz she di'n bring dat crack cheese back li' wot yo said.
We all feel the song and can smile pleasantly as XoC pulls apart an insignificant and yet well know issue.
The production might lack variation and the mix is far from good, but the vision is all there and you soon stop caring about professionalism issues as you descend smiling into the artist's weird and trippy world.
So with this said there is nothing really to improve except for the production and mix?
-leprechaun
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Posted: 13 Nov 2009 02:21 am
Nov 13, 2009
Count Crapula
"Count Crapula", the wonderfully named halloween song manages to improve the formula somehow. The track might not work so well on Joe Public, but it's got more punch and more hook and made it bloody difficult for me to decide what XoC song to put on my station!
The song begins with a (I guess) king's assistant telling his lord of how he has brought forth the last of the retched vampires from the kingdom and how this one means no harm to humans. The beat is beginning behind the conversation as the king asks to see our protagonist, the vampire. "He looks harmless but you can never be sure, execute him, first he shall be stoned in the pit, then his head on the pike for all to see." A wonderful piece of satire upon stereotypical behaviour that is quickly followed by the infectious hook.
"Count Crapula, my uncle's name was Dracula". Okay, so it doesn't make sense, but it comes out in the same bizarre tone as the song would suggest to you with every fibre of it's existance. I love this bizarre style in a way that many wouldn't, but that I think has more of a place in the rap industry then is often allowed. The chorus runs through a short, slightly tonal, and slightly rythmic design that keeps your ear hooked before pushing you out into the verse.
The production of this song is modest but affective. The snare and hat ride in a rythm that couldn't be simpler with them hardly ever dropping off their normal beat positions, it's the kick that does the work though. It bounces around almost inconsistantly, but forming a layer that compliments the shifting vocals. The bass moves softly around as an acoustic guitar picks between the two notes of the two power chords it uses to play the song's to structured chords. A rewinded sounding guitar occasionally rises up at the end of the bar giving the song direction and a tapped electric piano defines the beats in the chorus. It's a simple, by the numbers, and you thoughtfully constructed design.
The lyrics tell the story of the vampire pleading his case and saying how he's never meant any harm to humans as the humans read out a series of jaded cases against him. The wording is elliquent and delicately laced. It doesn't take long before the vampire is up to be executed and so decides to switch to his wolf form and quit with showing affection for humans.
The end result is a quick (just over 3 minutes) song that tells a creative story in a well designed format with a cathy hook and beat.
This is not the greatest work on earth in that it could use a little more variation in the production styles between each song and there does seem to be a lack of attention payed to mixing evenly despite the careful production that is also layed on the vocal tones. That said, this is amazingly fresh and original stuff delivered with an amusing and different vocal sound that is both charming and affective.
I would be suprised if XoC doesn't go a long way.
-leprechaun
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Posted: Fri Nov 13, 2009 1:47 AM
Nov 13, 2009
Leave me alone remix
hahahh well first of all i have reviewed that first track of yours before, you dont forget your style too easily man (its a good thing).
So ill review the second one, similar story tellin style to this one with parts that make me smirk and parts where i actually feel bad for you man. But the fact that your getting me to connect with your music on that level is a very good thing, you got a very unique and inventive way of makin music. The beat is pretty basic but im not really worried about it as much as i am your lyrics which tell the story. Delivery on point for the most part. My only real critique i can give u is without the lyrics theres a few parts that are hard to understand but for the most part just a solid, intelligent, weirdly satisfying track. Keep doin what ya do dude.
-bcmc123
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Posted: Mon Oct 12, 2009 5:47 PM
Nov 13, 2009
Alimony remix
Lots of impressive and cool things to hear in this track. First, Chris brews up his own loops and this one is good. There is a smart sense of humor that pervades almost all his tracks and it even makes its way into the backing track, there’s a clankity-clank combination of radio, industrial and smooth keyboard sounds going on.
Second he’s king of irony. The lyrics here capture the frustration with some sarcasm and we really have some ideas to listen to. I hate to laugh at a pressing situation in one’s life but some of the lines are so good I felt like a roller coaster ride of reactions to the little snippets he puts down. Sometimes a ‘whoa – did he say that?!?’ or a “harsh!†This is where personality makes a stunning difference. Talent too. I’m saying his stuff is unique because [i:eaa49723c4]he[/i:eaa49723c4] is. His material is good because he goes way beyond the surface.
It’s the difference between being vague and being specific. Or like a photo where the people are way back in the background. What do they do? They crop the picture so that the people fill up the frame. Lots of things are more interesting close-up and his ideas are a good example, Chris is constantly cropping the ideas until you really have something to think about. It’s not just that you understand the lyrics clearly in an entertaining way, it’s that you get inside somebody’s head for a while and walk a mile in their shoes.
Anyway, back to the track, I’m not getting into no East Coast West Coast thing, but he is totally NYC. But still, who else has a style like this? Nerdcore is going to require some more research in my continuing education of Hip Hop and if Chris is impressed with it then I’m interested.
This quote on his home page is no surprise:
I keep thousands of random thoughts and useless trivia floating around in the head. I can converse with people easily because of my abilty to quickly connect on some level with an individual.
Oohhh so that explains it! His brain doesn’t stop. Good stuff man, keep it up!
-nixon1972
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