This summer B. Dolan is playing at Soundset and he's on the Rock the Bells tour. In case people aren't aware of his music, Strange Famous Records is leaking a free track from his upcoming album Fallen House, Sunken City, called "One Breath Left." Although I'm producing the entire album, Reanimator assisted in the creation of this track. Be sure to share it with your friends and on your blogs. Thank you!

"One Breath Left" is the Clip of the Week on the front page of www.SFRstore.com. Download the track there!

enjoy!

"FALLEN HOUSE, SUNKEN CITY" B.DOLAN + ALIAS LP IN THE WORKS!

Back in early May of 2007, I flew out to Providence, RI to spend 3
weeks practicing with Sage after he had asked me to handle the DJing
duties of his live set for the Human the Death Dance Tour. That tour
was first time I got to spend a good amount of time with Bernard.
Before then, I would talk to him once in a while on AIM but it was
usually pretty brief. One day, a few months before I went to
Providence, Bernard sent me a song that he had done with Sole, which
surprised me, because I had no idea that he made music at this point.
I knew that he was always really busy with Knowmore.org, and when I
first met him in San Francisco two years earlier, he made no mention
at all of doing music. I wasn’t sure what to expect when he sent over
the song…all he had said was it was “some rap shit”. The song was
“Young Americans” which was on “The Failure”. This was the first time
I heard Bernard rap. I was immediately impressed. Bernard was a
complete emcee package. Dope lyrics, dope voice, dope delivery. His
raps had a similar vibe to the kind of hip-hop that I really was into
in the mid 90’s. On some Ras Kass, Organized Konfusion, Saafir, Chino
XL, O.C. type of vibe. Not that he sounded like any of those artists,
just that he made you listen by having dope lyrics, a dope voice and a
dope delivery.

One night before tour, we all went out to eat. On the way back,
Bernard was playing stuff in his car and he put on “The Four Horsemen”
by Aphrodite’s Child, one of my favorite songs from that band. I said
“bump this shit!”. He did. We rocked out to the massive drums. Hell
yes.

Bernard did a bunch of shows with us on the HTDD tour. He drove his
car because there was no room in the van, so most of the time I would
ride to the next city with him in his car, playing each other crazy
prog rock, psyche soul, electronic weirdness songs. Also during these
drives we talked about working on a few songs together at some point
in the future. I told him I would be down to do some production for a
couple songs if our schedules matched up. He said he had a project he
had to finish first (The Failure). We agreed we’d figure it out.

I moved back to Portland, Maine in August of 2007. I had started an
album, but scrapped it and started over once I got back to Maine. I
worked quickly on my new album (Resurgam) and had it finished by the
start of March. I like to take breaks from music after I finish an
album. So I chilled out for a bit and then Bernard and Sage hit me up
in May of 2008 about producing for Bernard. When Bernard and I had
talked about it months before, we had only talked about doing a few
songs. But now we were talking about me producing an entire album. I
was really excited. I had always wanted to produce an entire hip-hop
album. Some of my favorite hip-hop albums have one producer (or
production team) throughout the entire record. When I worked with
Sole on Selling Live Water, the original plan was for me to produce
that entire album. We recorded enough songs for it, but when mixing
and mastering time came, Sole decided to cut a bunch of songs and
replace them with songs produced by Nosdam, Jel and Telephone Jim
Jesus.

So with “Fallen House, Sunken City”, I’m finally getting the chance to
produce an entire hip-hop album. It’s been a return to form in some
ways. Most of my past releases have been more electronic, with not
much sampling. This album is sample heavy. And it’s been a fun
challenge to chop up samples beyond recognition. The drums are HUGE.
They are compressed the fuck out. They knock in your Mitsubishi.
They have to…matching the intensity of Bernard’s raps is tough
sometimes. So massive drums are in order. The music we’ve done so
far is some of the most in-your-face stuff I’ve ever been involved
with. This isn’t some music you put on to do your homework to. This
isn’t some music to put on in the background while you throw a dinner
party. This is some music Ice Cube would make with a 2009 Bomb Squad
if he wasn’t doing Disney movies now. I’ve played a song or two for a
few people when they come to my studio. Usually, at the end of the
song they say “holy shit…I didn’t know that dude rapped like that.
I had no idea!” I can’t wait to see what other folks say when they
hear B straight killin’ it. Yikes…

BUY!

Resurgam in either CD or LP format accompanied by a 7 song EP of residual material that didn't make the final record. Not to be missed.

Limited to 100 copies!!

Resurgam Residual EP:

1. The Answer
2. Fame Game
3. Not Right
4. West End Moon
5. West End Sun
6. Soap Silvers
7. Crosswalks

get yo order on!

Listen!

it's called Crosswalks...and it's only available through Stereogum! It won't be on Resurgam....Check it out!

I put up a new song in my myspace player. It's called "Well Water Black" and it features Yoni Wolf from WHY? on vocals, bass guitar and rhodes. This is the single off of Resurgam, which is going to be released on August 28th. Here's a little write up about Resurgam.....more stuff to come!!!! Enjoy!


In August of 2007, after 8 years of innovating in Oakland, Alias went home. To snow and real seasons, to fresh air and familiarity. To Portland, Maine, a city which, despite plenty of inclement weather, has burned almost to the ground four times--whose Latin motto translates in no uncertain terms to "I will rise again." Thus, that motto, "Resurgam," became a doubly fitting title for Alias' first solo instrumental album in five years, one which finds the accomplished electro/acoustic musician and beat-smith returning to a proven foundation, while building all else anew.

Perhaps owing to his recent experience crafting collaborative LPs (in 2006 with electro-pop chanteuse Tarsier; in 2005 with his multi-instrumentalist brother Ehren), this is Alias' most melodic work yet. Second song "I Heart Drum Machines" opens with falling rain as strains of some lost symphony blow in, then unfurl grandly in a hail of chopped drums and xylophone. Later, "Death Watch" conceives a beat of cut-up strumming before Alias' sheets of electric guitar create an aqueous reverberation akin to a waterfall being strung and played. Static, keys, and his own ooh's combine to create loads of mellifluous depth. There are also three one-minute-plus explorations into the purely ambient--new territory for Alias--that play more as miniature opuses than interludes.

But Resurgam is also an album of heavy, intricate rhythms, as evidenced by introductory banger "New To A Few," and "M.G. Jack," which begins with the cool asceticism of Boards Of Canada, but peaks with an Avalanches-like exuberance, interweaving patterns of distorted beat-boxing, live percussion, Casio-styled effects, and burbling synth. For all of its melodic breadth, Resurgam is imbued with a hip-hop bent that has Alias exploring complex beat-fuckery a la Prefuse 73 even as he's howling notes like Tunde Adibempe ("Resurgam"), or dicing a Re-Up Gang sample to sprinkle over pensive piano ("Autumnal Ego").

Resurgam is also notable for its two collaborative tracks. The first, "Well Water Black" features the falsettos croons and low-toned poems of Why?'s Yoni Wolf--a perfect bit of upbeat downer music that somehow unites The Cure and Burial before crashing into a propulsive programmed drum solo from Alias. And toward the album's end, the One AM Radio guests on "The Weathering," which paints a wistful dream-scene via icy lyrics and frost-melting fuzz. Though Resurgam was recorded at home, in a six-month burst straddling a blustery winter, its songs feel worldly, considered, and warm, like gentle hands pushing the listener ever onward. By the time we reach Alias' final wordless statement--titled "Oakland In The Rearview"--it's easy to believe that we too have arrived at more comforting climes.

While finishing up art details and other various loose ends for my record, I took a bit of time out to throw my hat into the Radiohead ring.....

it's on the front of my myspace page.....check it out....hope you dig it....

I wouldn't be mad if you voted for me either.....

in fact, I would bake you cookies or something.....

or give you a high five....a Top Gun high five, where you high five, then immiediately low five in a circular motion....

check it....

I recently did an interview with the fine folks at PaperTiger....check it out here:

Alias Interview

I have completed a new instrumental album.

It is called Resurgam, which is latin for "I shall rise again".

Resurgam is also the City of Portland, Maine's motto, in reference to it's recoveries from four devastating fires.

It's been 5 years since the release of my last official solo record, so I thought it would be a fitting title.

It's 13 tracks long.

I plays for a little over 48 minutes.

It has two songs that each have a friend of mine singing and playing various instruments on them.

When you hear Resurgam you will probably say, "wow, this guy sure likes drums".

more news to come....

head over to Strange Famous and check out the Clip of The Week section.

There are two songs up there. One is Prolyphic & Reanimator's "Survived Another Winter" Prolyphic, B. Dolan, myself and Sage Francis on the raps (in that order). Prolyphic & Reanimator's new single "Artist Goes Pop" drops on April 1st (vinyl and digital!). It features two songs from the upcoming "The Ugly Truth" LP and one non-album track "Salt." The B-side has instrumentals for every song. I had the pleasure of also helping out with the mixdowns for this album, and it's a banger from start to finish. Prolyphic sounds fierce with the rhymes and Reanimator comes with his usual nasty beats. Make sure you check it out!

The second track on there is "Heart Failure" featuring Sage Francis. I remixed the orignal song and made it sound as huge as possible. B. Dolan's "Live Evel EP" also drops on April 1st! This EP is available only on vinyl. "Live Evel" is B's tribute to one of America's greatest heroes. It features 6 tracks from "The Failure" (official CD drops in May.) I've been bumping a pre-release version of "The Failure" extensively for the last few months, and I suggest you do too. nuclear winter soundtrack kinda stuff....awesome.

check them out!