Friday, May 8, 2009

because i love you so much - the Nimbus project

I discovered with my last post that giving you free things to download makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Since I have a certain fondness for warm, fuzzy feelings, I have decided to do a little more.

Back in 2004, a guy I'd met at a church social function befriended me and took me under his wing. We were both kind of loners at the time, and had similar interests, namely music. At the time, I wasn't really into any electronic music at all. (I know, right? Can you believe that?) He had been huge into it for over a decade, and bit by bit he got me hooked. Aaron Jasinski (often referred to on this blog as just "Aaron" or "Jasinski") taught me pretty much everything I know about electronic music, synthesis, sound design and most of my favorite mixing tricks.

We became fast friends, and started doing little projects together. At one point, he told me that he'd always thought it would be fun to produce some hip-hop tracks. It just so happens, I told him, that I rap. We immediately set to work, he with samplers, synths and effects, me with a pen and a pad. The resulting 3 tracks that we came up with were some of my favorite stuff I've ever done.

The first one was a kind of super-produced, nonsensical hip-hop anthem, called "Fastball." The second was a litany of ladies-man braCheck Spellingggadocio based on absolutely nothing true, called "Sharpdressed," (as we used a sample from ZZ-Top's "Sharp Dressed Man"). The final one was written in frustration over religious persecution I'd encountered at the community college I was attending at the time. It was called "The Acceptable Intolerance." All three tracks displayed impeccable production skill on Aaron's part. I played a couple synth lines on it, but 99% of the magic you hear is him.

[Note: Aaron's main gig is as a painter and designer, but he moonlights heavily as a musician and remix artist. I mean, he's this good and he's just moonlighting? That's nutty! His art can be seen here and here, his prolific remixes can be heard here, and you can follow him on Twitter here.]

I had been brainstorming a new hip-hop pseudonym for some time, as my old one was a bit outdated, and decided (albeit momentarily) on "Nimbus." I wanted to make a nod to being from Washington, and thought I'd shorten up the scientific name of our state's biggest resource: rain clouds. I've since changed it again. Keep your eyes open for future updates!

Now what you've all been waiting for: You can download a zip file with all three mp3's in it HERE, and below are the lyrics. Keep in mind that the first two are extremely silly. ENJOY!

Track 1 - "Fastball"

VERSE 1:
B-b-b-b-b-b-b-
BLAM! when I light up the microphone and explode
With the beats behind me tappin and beepin like morse code
My brain’s a portal to another dimension so pay close attention
When you’re rollin with the lowered suspension

I’m all up in your area like your zip code
98058’s the life and 425’s the mode
Makin’ wrong what once was right, enemies quick to take flight
When day becomes night, suddenly I’m out of sight

BLAM! BOOM! BLING-BLANG-BLOW!
My rhymes are all up in your face so what you gonna do now?
You’re retreating like a coward from my lyrical attack
My beats are all up on you like the shirt upon your back

I need a drink of water, fire’s getting hotter,
The TV’s showing re-runs of M*A*S*H* with Colonel Potter,
But I’m stuck in one place, yo, rooted like a rose
Pigs flyin’ overhead, ground cold cuz hell FROZE!

HOOK:
Fastball, change-up, throwin’ you a curve
Watch your back cuz in the end you’re gonna get what you deserve
Fastball, change-up, throwin’ you a curve
In the end, y- y- y- you get what you deserve!

VERSE 2:
As my Antarctic flows snowed down, the roads froze
And numbed the nose of every person in the first 5 rows
Ill circulation to the extremities
Scarves and hats and ski jackets hide your identity
You gots to know your enemies;

see the wolves dressed up as sheep
The Adversary has connections that run deep
Get off of my back, my liberty I keep
Awaken from your slumber cuz mentally you’re asleep

BEEP! BEEP! Who you beepin’ at, freak?
Run your ideas through your brain before you speak!
Pull back your mask and expose your scaly skin
Cuz we’re exposin' your nature and we’re in it to win, yo

Life burns with intense ferocity
Fate is not without a sense of reciprocity
But destiny can suddenly throw you a curve
In the end y- y- y- you get what you deserve!

[HOOK]


Track 2 - "Sharpdressed"

Verse 1:
[phone rings]
(Actual phone call): "What up? Oh, just kicking it here in the studio... so, did you wanna come here then?"

Slick with the wardrobe,
talented with the comb,
ladies flocking just as if I was
a walking pheromone.

Never alone for too long
before there's someone on the phone
like a homing beacon
something always makes my presence known

Every word, every gesture
every gaze is efficacious
please excuse me if I am
overly ostentatious

in my All-Stars and my
three-piece suit, you're caught
on the double-windsor
perfect triangle in the knot

IN MY TIE
looking like i'm a groom's best man
LOOKIN' FLY
i don't know why, i'm just a blessed man

I don't have to try hard
or be an obsessed man
it's just that every girl's crazy 'bout a sharp-dressed man

HOOK:
I'M SMOOTH
like polished marble
I'M SHARP
like an exacto
I CRUISE
from the commencement to the
EX POST FACTO

Playin' for the love of the game
not the glory
girl, why don't you come over here
and tell me your story.

VERSE 2:
I'm just being
honest when I say the way I
play is to have a different
lady every day OF THE

WEEK, hanging on my
arm and on every WORD
I SPEAK, loving all the
charm, IT'S THE CLASS THAT THEY SEEK.

As if the game had cruise control
i hit "resume"
and quickly introduce myself
to every lady in the room

If attention's like sunlight,
I'm kicked back and baskin'
Gentleman or gigolo?
DEPENDS ON WHO YOU'RE ASKIN'!

Some people think I'm insane
most people sayin' I'm vain
Struttin' round with my
momentary main jane

Every time we spin a hook
I get another look
another name in my
little black book

I'm gonna shake your life, girl
you're bound to get SHOOK
I'm prone to stealin' hearts, girl
IT'S BOUND TO GET TOOK

I must confess
I want you to acquiesce, let down your guard
it ain't how much you win, girl
it's how you play your cards!

[HOOK]

"(laughs) ... 98058 ... ok, cool, so I'll see you in a little while, then. ok, i'll talk to you then."


TRACK 3 - The Acceptable Intolerance

Verse One:
Hate, nobody claims to
have, but they partici-
pate, in bigotry with
help, and sanction from the

state, which dictates
what we congratulate
controlling public enmity
determining my fate

The wizard's just a cover
for the man behind the curtain
his voice booms "EQUALITY!"
but what I know for certain

is that it doesn't exist,
The nickel's just been flipped over
vilification again,
history's pattern tripped over

A well-meaning public
has now become the subject
of plans to get them upset
'bout those that rise above it

Everything that's holy's burning!
Gather round the fire!
They conspire against all belief
in something higher

than human desire, then in
every public school require
that all students must admire
their filthy league of liars

the acceptable intolerance
has traveled through the wire
and become the status quo
let's all wallow in mire!

VERSE 2:
"Peace" improperly defined
as "absence of debate"
will only numb the mind
so that it can't equate,

they never tolerate
somebody's sense of self
unless you put your faith
and soul upon the shelf.

They want their thoughts applied
to everyone but them
"everyone's equal"
but dissenter's they condemn

The media is rife
with patronizing views
they want respect
but do their best to clear the pews.

Just look at the news
search for the clues
society's bruise
surrounding abuse
dividing the hues

I lose faith in intentions
'cuz moral dissension
denies intervention
it goes without mention there's unbroken tension

And then they choose what we fight
they cause you to hate
they know what we fear
they know how to bait

With the security of brothers
to the hateful lust for foes
the acceptable intolerance exists
'cuz no one knows.