Hype and I are going to be recording today, we’ll more than likely be doing some scratch vocals to a few songs, and we’ll also be finishing up a very minor part in Tha Chambers. We’ve finished Murderous Intent, and this evening after fix Tha Chambers, it gets sent out to a very exclusive preview network (don’t worry, you’re on it this time Nate - my bad). If you want to be on the network, just message us on this site or facebook. I’ll open 9 extra spots, which will probably take a few months to fill. Once we get feedback on the track, we’ll see which one our peoples want us to release, and which one to keep back. We can’t give all the tracks away, but we think giving between 1/3 - 1/2 of them out on the web is good, and keeping the rest as 30 second previews, that hopefully you people can buy.

We’ve also done the scratch vocals (again) to Thru Time and Space. We’ve done scratch vocals… I think twice before for this song, but it’s not a song we often rehearse, so the scratch vocals initially didn’t serve their intended purpose of hearing the flow of the song. We nailed it this time, obviously a good thing for us, but the backing is a far ways away from being completed.

So, In spite of the lack of significant progress within the last year or so, we’re finally catching up. I’d say around six of the months wasn’t our fault. There was about half a year of time where we had no choice in the matter. The computer wasn’t recording properly, or the computer was being sent in for repairs, or our schedules were conflicting. The other part of that year, I have to honestly look back and say it’s my fault. Looking back, there’s no way that I can look at the slower than desired progress we’ve made, and come up with any other answer. Hype’s always been doing his part, when he’s here, he’s ready. Admittedly, for this album, I do have the bigger share of the work, but that’s not an excuse at all. Hype comes over once or twice a week for recording. I have the entire week to “catch up”, but I generally didn’t. I’d play TF2, or I’d go on youtube, or post on forums. The forums one I’ve already gotten a lot better at, I’d be posting 2-3 hours a day, getting into these huge discussions, and although they were very entertaining for me, they weren’t doing anything for our common goal.

I’ve given up quite a few vices in the past year. I use to be addicted to MSN messenger, now I rarely ever use it, maybe once every few months or so. I don’t watch a lot of TV, mostly just MMA and a DVD series with my girl. I’ve also recently stopped playing TF2 (for the most part, an hour every few weeks is all I allow myself), and really cut down on youtube. The only thing I really have left is google reader, which I still consider an essential. I keep up on lots of music blogs, and a lot of personal ones as well. The difference between a month ago and now is that I’m a lot more selective in what I read. I skim for a bit and if it’s interesting I’ll read the rest. I’ve realized that I don’t have to read everything.

The biggest change I’ve made - which was very recent, probably within the last few weeks - is that now I meditate. I know mediation is supposed to be spiritual and yadda yadda yadda, but my version just means I concentrate on my goals. I think of things that will help me reach my goals, and any thought that conflicts with that, I “throw it away”. It’s a nice exercise that helps me realize my desires and to go after them. I don’t burn candles or hum or anything like that, I just think. I do it in public even. Waiting for a bus, maybe I’ll take two to three minutes to think about things I can do to reach my goals, again just throwing the other thoughts away. All I can say is that it works. When it comes time at home to make a choice on what to do, I know what choice I’m making, because I’ve already done the work earlier in the day. I’ve already made the choice to work on a goal, all I have to do is follow through. Every time I’m faced with a choice between a goal and something that distracts me from a goal, from sheer repetition, I now choose the goal.

And you know what? It feels good.

Also I made some revisions to the Simplicity beat but this will be for another track all together. This one is called: Simplicity: The Assassins Handbook.

Enjoy

Pretty much everything that was on the page was pretty cool though, so that’s a bonus. Hexes and Ohs are pretty awesome, they’ve got an electronic indie rock vibe to them. Bran Van 3000, which I’ve mixed up countless times in the past as Bram Vam or Bram Van. K-os and Mood Ruff are there too, I kinda figured K-os would be there. Obviously, the more times that the songs play, and the more people who listen, the more accurate the list will be.

I’m probably going to do a bit of integration on the next redesign of the website to include a playlist function on the side that will include a listening lounge of some sort, so it will be easier to hear our stuff as well as some fun stats from last.fm. It’ll be fun! In the meantime, a listening post with “Similar Artists” as us. Most of it’s pretty good. It’s kind of funny in the way, one of the reasons I make music is so that I can have something super-duper hot to listen to, but now all I have to do is listen to stuff like us instead.

the simple: same beat, 2 different flips

check check it out:
Flip 1
Flip 2

peace.

ay yo, someone hit me up on how to link these posts to facebook pls. email, wall post, whatever. thanks.

anyhow been trying my hand at something new these days, mixing. much as i love doing beats, the drive to hear some actual lyrics over them is growing (stare: Kawlinz, stare: Hype… :P).  either way until i get someone to spit over one of my joints, i figure id get my practice in with some acapellas of artists i like.

so here we go. bout to hit yall off with 2 mixes:

Masta Ace - Ya Hardcore Remix
imo the start is a bit shaky but after the first bar i think locks on beat.

Nas - Ghetto Prisoners Remix
i like the feel of this one better overall, even though i like the beat on hardcore more… maybe nas style fit this beat more.
the beat for this one can be found on my 61 page -=Here=- if anyone is interested.

… Laws we abide by, decided by chance
A guide for mankind, constructed by fiat
Or does he put thought behind each selection // a
Design of perfection, we’d be foolish to reject it

Both hype and I have decided that this track will be on The Demo Tape, it’s a very important track to both of us. We’re going to review the track listing once again and see if there are any changes to be made. For example, if you check out our track list, song 14 is listed as “Feet, Life, and Munchies”, but we’ve opted to take this song of, just because it’s no where near as good as most of the other stuff we have to offer. We’ll probably release it for free as a B-Side or something in the future, after everything with the album is completed.

Usually, when I’m writing, I don’t like to change things once they’ve been written. I’m not sure if it’s an unusual habit, but in general, I only rewrite something if I need to change the flow or the amount syllables, and the actual content rarely ever changes. These two songs are going to need a make over. Murderous Intent has a chorus which I wrote, and while I might salvage a part of it, but the music for this section is a lot “bouncier”. I’ll probably rewrite it as something sarcastic rather than morbid, but then again, it all depends on how the rest of the song turns out and how everything sounds in context.

Masheek, however, has the opposite task ahead of him. The chorus section of Dark Words, Dark Times now has way more punch and bang to it, so I’ve gotta get Hype to swing hard on this one. I’m quite proud of the changes I’ve made to both songs instrumentally, now we’ll see if we can work both of these songs and make some fire.

had a productive month as far as these beats go. basically managed to get 10 joints done, had set a goal to try to get at least 15 done though but ran into a creativity block of sorts where it felt like nothing was working.. mad frustrating.

anyhow, bout to hit you off with one of my latest. this one is kinda special to me as it really got me thinking about composing joints without samples.

for this beat i used a simple piano sample. thats it. normally id pass on something like that as i prefer more ‘flavor’ in something im looking to sample. but all things considering i think i came out with something in the end, at least more than i had expected to with something as simple.

well here it is: -=Beat=-

and for anyone interested, the original sample: sample

i’m out.