I finally made up my (indecisive) mind and picked a song from Panacea’s 12 Step Program. I first narrowed it down to three that I liked, all for different reasons, and finally came up with “Blue Oceanwave” because of Raw Poetic’s catchy flows and memorable lyrics. Although, lyrics tend to alter each time I play ’em back in my head, so eventually the lyrics started to repeat as something completely different (I tend to do this a lot with music).
The reason I was so hesitant on featuring this one was because of the rave-sounding fire alarms played throughout the chorus. It’s not that they are that bothersome to the beat, I just think the song would do better without ’em. Actually, play it back and tell me what you think I wanna know if this is just me or if others feel the same way.
By the way, the two other songs that came close were “Collard-Fried Grey Sky”, which has a hypnotically beautiful beat, typical of K-Murdock; and “Black Coffee”, the first 30 seconds are pure funkadelic fresh(nass). You can check ’em both out at BandCamp.
[audio:BlueOceanwave.mp3|titles=Blue Oceanwave](Download Link in Full Article)
You may recognize this sound, but under a different group, namely Restoring Poetry in Music (RPM). Both Jason Moore (Raw Poetic) and Kyle Murdock (K-Murdock) started out in RPM, and created a side project, Panacea; but the two groups have some slight variations. RPM is a band consisting of five instrumentalists (or so), where as Panacea consists of K-Murdock on turntables, a sampler, and maybe a few other devices with the help of Damu the Fudgemunk. Both groups have Raw Poetic as the front Emcee, and gee golly gosh is he good… did I really just say that : The difference in sound between the two may seem slight at first, but once you immerse yourself in ’em, you notice the contrasts in style. Raw Poetic’s style is relatively similar throughout the groups, but K-Murdock switches it up, bringing a more progressive, experimental sound to Panacea.
I had quite a few songs I wanted to feature from Panacea’s four LP’s, but I decided to go with Ecosphere from Ink is My Drink. K-Murdock creates a stunningly poignant beat, and features Patrick Fritz (P-Fritz) from RPM, who has an amazing voice, and I mean amazing! Though, this song doesn’t do him justice, so go to one of RPM’s features (here or here) to really capture his stunning vocals. You won’t be disappointed!… I mean, the guy is so good I kinda have a man-crush on him. ;) Anyways, compare this song to RPM’s, and tell me what differences you find… if you’re up to the challenge!
Lastly, I know I’ve mentioned this too many times already, but you really need to check out RPM. They’re one of my favorite hip-hop groups, and I know you will enjoy ’em… maybe even more than Panacea!
[audio:Ecosphere.mp3|titles=Ecosphere](Download Link in Full Article)
Alright, so you caught me, I posted this one a while back (you probably had no idea), but I have a good reason for posting it again (kinda). The original post was the entire album (Pyramids in Moscow), including Sleep Walkers. Since I’m not doing full album posts (for now), I wanted to split up the older album posts. They’ve got some of the best music on the site, so why wouldn’t I show ’em off again… right… i’ve also been studying all day, so I didn’t have as much time :D (so, that could be it too). Alright, to the music!
As I said in the original post, “This is not only my favorite track of the album [Pyramids in Moscow], but one of my favorite songs of all time!” I love Raw Poetic’s rap style against Marlon Vann’s (H2a) trip-hop styled beats. But what really shines is Patrick Fritz’s (P-Fritz) voice: it’s shockingly (!) smoooth. Just listen to it, and I guarantee you’ll enjoy it (at least!). This is some of my best stuff! (or RPM’s, I should say) As always, tell me what ya think. It’s the only reason I write :)
Also, this includes the entire song, which the original post did not!
[audio:SleepWalkers.mp3|titles=Sleep Walkers](Download Link in Full Article)
Background:
Restoring Poetry in Music (RPM) was formed late last century by cousins Jason Moore (Raw Poetic) and Marlon Vann (H2A). Shortly after the group turned into a band enlisting members, Drew Thomas as bassist, Aaron Gause (Enron) as trumpeter and keyboardist, Patrick Fritz (P-Fritz) as lead guitarist and backup vocals, as well as Fred Jackson as drummer (later being replaced by Will Bobbit). A few years down the road H2A stepped down as producer to be replaced by Kyle Murdock (K-Murdock) for the release of their first full-length album, Dream Awake (2004); returning a few years later to help with their second album, Pyramids in Moscow (2007).
If you want to learn more about RPM’s story, go to The Peoples Republic of Hip-Hop & Soul, found here.
But enough of all that, let’s get to the album…
[audio:LessisMore.mp3,Sliders.mp3,ThereUR.mp3,SleepWalkers.mp3,LifeisChange.mp3,AQuietTaste.mp3,AndAnotherOne.mp3|titles=Less is More,Sliders,There U R,Sleep Walkers,Life is Change,A Quiet Taste,And Another One]