Showing posts with label captain murphy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label captain murphy. Show all posts
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Album Review: Captain Murphy - Duality


Captain Murphy surfaced on the Internet as a completely anonymous entity, and there was much speculation as to the rappers identity.  We now know that Steven Ellison, aka Flying Lotus, is the man behind the mic.  It makes perfect sense that Ellison would choose to make a hip hop record, after all his work as FlyLo has always been somewhat indebted to artists like Wu-Tang and J Dilla.  On Duality, his debut mixtape as Captain Murphy, he totally indulges in those influences and in the process makes one of the better hip hop records of 2012.

While Ellison’s M.O. is all over the production he also enlists help from Brainfeeder producers like Teebs and Samiyam to make Duality happen.  After learning the true identity of Captain Murphy it is easy to hear the FlyLo influence in the woozy beats, but for the most part he does a good job of disguising his identity.  An eclectic assortment of samples including everything from Flying Lotus’s own tracks, to Homer Simpson, to Godzilla to cult leaders, helps to amp up the mystery.

Once you get past the guessing game of who Captain Murphy actually is you’ll find that Duality is a very easy listen.  It’s not an attempt to change hip-hop, in fact it’s rather low brow, but that only adds to the enjoyment.  Tracks like ‘Mighty Morphin’ Foreskin’, ‘Between Friends’ which features OFWGKTA member Earl Sweatshirt and samples the FlyLo track of the same name, and ‘Immaculation’ are them most straightforward tunes on the mixtape, while ‘Hovercrafts and Cows’, ‘The Ritual’ and ‘Drive Thru’ offer a more eccentric take on hip-hop.

A rap album is something that Ellison has always talked about, and now he’s actually done it.  While his work as FlyLo shoots for the stars his work as Captain Murphy is much more down to Earth.  This is an endlessly accessible album that is simply fun to listen to.

Grade: B+


Steve Dobek


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Listener's Digest: September 7 - September 14



We are coming up on the end of a really packed series of new releases. In the last two weeks, we have seen new albums from Cat Power, Animal Collective, Jens Lekman, Wild Nothing, The xx, Thee Oh Sees, etc. Quite frankly I am getting kind of anxious looking at this and have to stop now as I am now realizing I still have to listen to half of what I just listed (except The xx, am I the only one not that into them? Is there something I am missing?). Anyway, it can be easy to get fatigued with all these new releases on top of the bevy of new individual songs put out each week. Being flooded with this can be a challenge, but isn't it also invigorating? There is never an end to new music to explore and with that said, let us look at some of the best new songs released in the last 7 days. Today's column is unique in that I brought Mac in to write up another new song. So, you get 6 instead of 5. What a bargain!

Levek - "Girl in the Fog:" A gentle song reminiscent of Bon Iver but without all the baggage that we have all now associated with Bon Iver. "Girl in the Fog" is a simple piece of bedroom folk with quiet vocals winding around a very simple series of guitar chords. This is the third single off of Levek's upcoming LP, which will be released on September 25. One of the other singles, "French Lessons" is an equally interesting, albeit for different reasons, track that substitutes guitar with a catchy sampled melody straight out of one of those educational films you sometimes had to watch in elementary school. That might have seriously dated me as a reference so I apologize to any youthful types if that made no sense.


Captain Murphy - "The Killing Joke:" Another mysterious and well done track from the anonymous rapper that might be Tyler the Creator or might not be, but either way they are collaborating with Flying Lotus and that is really cool. Captain Murphy raps briefly between samples from Christopher's Nolan's Batman movies to creepy effect. The mysterious nature of these tracks has made this project, whatever it turns out to be in the end, especially interesting. Honestly, I think it would be great if this is all it turned out to be, a set of quietly released tracks with little fanfare and which don't amount to a full length album. We will see.


DIIV - "How Long Have You Known(Moons美愛Version):” Taking a standout track from DIIV's standout album, Moons remixes it into a slow moving track with Japanese vocals sung over and around the original refrain. The result is a completely different song, one as strong if not more interesting than its source materials. Definitely a highlight of the last few weeks.


Taken By Trees - "Large:" As if in anticipation of the arrival of autumn, this week's tracks all seem to be much more quiet and introspective compared to some of the stuff from a few weeks ago. "Large" is a mellow, spacey track mixing synths and strings to great effect. Taken By Trees' newest album will be out October 6.


Death Grips - "@deathgripz:" Death Grips have to be one of the more interesting acts to have come out recently. There is something intrinsically difficult to grasp yet deeply entertaining about the whole project. At every point, their music leaves little to grasp onto and urges us to keep listening to figure out exactly what is happening. This track seems to throw together several songs and alternates between them quickly, allowing, as I said, no time to really get a handle on each section.


Today we are joined by Mac McGuire, who I have asked to do a guest write up of his favorite new track this week. 

 Atoms for Peace - "Default:" The newest single released from the upcoming project of Radiohead's Thom Yorke, Red Hot Chili Pepper bassist Flea, and long time Radiohead producer Nigel Godrich, the seemingly simple "Default" carries over the eerie tension from Yorke's 2006 solo outing The Eraser.  Soothing synths slowly join Yorke’s all too familiar falsetto while a constant beat and blips guide the tune.  The yet to be titled full length album from Atoms for Peace should see the light of day sometime next year.
Michael Torsell
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Listener's Digest: July 19 - 26



There is just too much new music to digest and present to you all. I am sorry, it has been a busy week, and I just don’t know if I can handle all this new music. In fact, I am just going to give you 5 different versions of Men Without Hats’ seminal song, “Safety Dance.” If you don’t like it then you ain’t no friend of mine. I am sorry, that was a really bad joke referencing “Safety Dance,” by Men Without Hats. Have you heard of them? Fine, I will give you actual new music, if that is what you want. Are you sure I cannot convince you to take the “Safety Dance?” It’s by Men Without Hats. Why don’t they have any hats? Someone give those men some hats.

Tame Impala – “Elephant:” When I covered Tame Impala last for their song, "Apocalypse Dreams," I had mentioned that the first single off of their forthcoming album, Lonerism, would be released soon (it wasn’t the earlier released track, which was still pretty cool). Yesterday, the psychedelic Australians released their single, “Elephant.” It is a driving rock song complete with quick tempo changes, and which opens up in the middle with a spacey guitar solo.




Captain Murphy – “Mighty Morphin Foreskin:” Who is this mysterious Captain Murphy? Whoever he is, he appears on two tracks this week. Little is known about the enigmatic newcomer (it’s probably Tyler the Creator),” but he has arrived with a great new song reminiscent of Madvillan. “Mighty Morphin Foreskin” is a slow sample heavy track featuring the Captain’s trippy and adept rhyming. Let’s hope we hear more from the Captain (I mean, it’s got to be Tyler right?) soon.



Flying Lotus featuring Earl Sweatshirt and Captain Murphy – “Between Friends:” The Odd Future camp is quickly showing how great they can be when paired with unexpected collaborators. Earlier this month, we had Tyler’s smooth work with Toro Y Moi, and now, Earl Sweatshirt has teamed with Flying Lotus and my new favorite man of mystery, Captain Murphy (who we all think is Tyler the Creator), for this new single. Here, the two rappers trade lyrics over a tight future-past beat in keeping with Flying Lotus’ other work. It would be awesome if Flying Lotus did more with these artists as the resulting project could be fantastic. Here is to wishful thinking.



Crystal Castles – “Plague:” Finishing up their upcoming album, the duo has released a moody new song that signals a continued move away from chiptunes and towards a fuller electronic palate. Beginning eerily, with Alice Glass signing over white noise, the song comes into cathartic focus with a midtempo beat over the same throbbing white noise, and then oscillates between ambient openness and the dense nightmarish chorus.



Sean Kader – “Improve:” This is the first time I have featured a local artist on Listener’s Digest and it is none other than Sean Kader. Sean is a great songwriter who has been too quietly releasing EPs on bandcamp for about 2 years now. Off of his latest EP, Et cetera, “Improve” is boozey rocker featuring Kader’s amiable voice and a catchy guitar line. Be sure to check out the whole EP, it is great stuff. 





Michael Torsell
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