Jay Z - The Purple Album (2004)

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Look at the above images. What do you think this is all about? What would you get if you combined these two giants of popular music? Not hard to work out.

If you guessed correctly and worked out that this is the vocal track from Jay-Z's The Black Album laid over the musical tracks from Purple Rain by Prince then download it, give yourself a pat on the back and a gold star.

If you guessed incorrectly then you should probably go and sit in the middle of the road somewhere. You don't really deserve to listen to this album or really live amongst normal folk. Idiots.

 

Jay Z -The Purple Album

Jason Dill used to rule.

Awesome skater. Went a bit loopy but I still approve of that. Popped up on the Osbourne's so I stopped liking him. Still, this is one of his best, if not the best skate sections he ever did for video. It comes of the awesome Photosynthesis VHS from Alien Workshop back in 2000. The music is the best song Radiohead ever wrote.

Albums that influenced Oliver #3 : Cryptopsy - None So Vile (1996)

Hands down, the finest example of technical, brutal death metal going. Not only was it unbelievably fast but so precise with its song writing. I was sat in my friend Solon's house as was the custom at least 5 nights a week, when he put this on. Straight away, that sample from Exorcist III and then the berserk opening blast of Crown Of Horns ( which is still one of the best intros on any death metal album) smashed out of the speakers with Lord Worm's howl over the top.
That is reason enough in my mind, but then the album continues as it starts. More blasting, more crazy riffs, tons more guttural rumbling and high pitched screaming and then the bass. That is what still stays with me on this album, and the next two they followed this up with, the bass work of Eric Langlois. That is a huge influence on my own style and as far as finger style playing in extreme music goes, no one beats Langlois. Of course there is the piano and bass lead into Phobophile that everyone remembers and there is no denying the power when that blast rips in but Langlois brings quite a few of his own tricks to the table. Subtle little string pops and twangs. Tiny little dynamic shifts that benefit the album fully. This was the first album he played on and you can see the huge difference his style brought to the table. Listen to Blasphemy Made Flesh then this. No contest. They did follow this up with Whisper Supremacy and ...And Then You'll Beg which are both pretty solid albums and even more technical. They lost Lord Worm, had a few other vocalists, Lord Worm returned then left again, they recruited new members, changed direction as bit ( pretty shonkily if you asked me, they invented this style) and continue to tour and record. I sorta lost interest after ...And Then You'll Beg. I still blast this out all the time tho. The ultimate in technical death metal without sacrificing brutality and speed for technique. Something a lot of so called tech bands could do with taking note these days.

Cryptopsy - None So Vile

Here they are in there rehearsal space in 1996.............

Creation Is Crucifixion - In_Silico + Antenna Builder (1998)

Famed for ranting for ages, devolving Gameboys, erasing supermarket bar codes, releasing stuff on obscure and obselete formats and annoying all and sundry with subversive lyrics. Creation Is Crucifixion always seemed at odds with there chosen path in my eyes. Playing ripping, technical death/thrash/jazz/grind hardcore influenced metal and avoiding using half decent studios seemed a little odd. But it is saved by the fact In_Silico kicks much ass when it comes to removing your face not just with the brutal musicianship but also with the interspersed noise tracks (something they would go onto explore a lot more). You can read all about there funny little ways elsewhere online so here is there best album in my opinion with the added bonus of the unreleased Antenna Builder session tracks. Recorded on tour while in Germany. I remember seeing fliers for the brief UK leg of that tour. Never made any of the gigs, a fact that a friend always rubs in my face. Never got released, but there is talk of a long overdue discography. I got them over at the pretty sweet Robotic Obscurities blog. So here is a lost but very important piece of underground music history.

Creation Is Crucifixion - In_Silico

Gorguts - Obscura (1998)

In anticipation for the fact Gorguts have another album on the way and it features John Longstreth and Mick Barr in the line-up ( think about them playing alongside Luc lemay ). I offer you one of the greatest death metal albums of all time. Incredibly twisted, discordant fret abuse from 1998 by way of Canada. A classic.

Gorguts - Obscura

Chronicles Of Adam West - Demo (2006)

Gonna post something every day this weekend. First up is self proclaimed "hardcore kids gone tech" SW based Chronicles Of Adam West. They existed for a few years, toured quite a bit, fell out a little and changed a few members. Not around anymore. After this demo they released an EP on the awesome Holy Roar Records ( which you can still pick up really cheap) and then decided to split up. I drove them on a tour with D-rail ( Who I will post about later) and it was blatantly clear how stupidly talented they where. This is the 2006 3-track demo they released to coincide with the afor mentioned tour.

Chronicles Of Adam West - 2006 Demo

Since the split the guitarist Theo has been playing even more technical music in Antares. Which if you know him is no surprise whatsoever.

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