Bandcamp Picks of the Week 10/12/16
Bandcamp Picks of the Week stuffin two more records down the pipe.
Monster Rally – CORAL
Favorite Tracks: “Color Sky,” “Land Ho / Masasu,” “Moonglow,” “Cuban Velvet”
Genre: Instrumental Hip Hop
Monster Rally is the effort of Ted Feighan, a man who found a way to make tropical, instrumental hip hop that feels both ahead of its time and eerily nostalgic .Monster Rally’s first official LP is unique. The record is a sample-based instrumental hip hop record pasted together from soul, tropicalia, hip hop, and some pixie dust. The album will take you to paradise with a sound that’s gritty and comes from the streets. One of Monster Rally’s most recent releases is said to be a soundtrack to a nostalgic horror movie that takes place on a tropical island…. and 5 years prior, CORAL demonstrates clear roots of that sound. Some tracks are dreamlike and ephemeral, while others linger in the corners of darkness. Each song comes from paradises we haven’t discovered, showing us underbellies and crevices of strange places while the soothing rhythm of hip hop and soul anchor you to home. If there’s a sketchy alley in the town of some fictional fantasy paradise, Monster Rally is the sound of that alley’s sandwich joint. You can listen to it here.
Monster Rally – BEYOND THE SEA
Favorite Tracks: “Lava Flows,” “Honey,” “Jaguar,” “Gold”
Genre: Instrumental Hip Hop
How early is too early to look back on something and call it an underappreciated gem? 2012’s BEYOND THE SEA , Monster Rally’s second official LP, feels darker than his first. There’s a heavier presence of longing, with a wry sense of mysticism and experimentation that is pretty rare to find in loop-based music. The grit is still very apparent in Monster Rally’s vision, but this release sounds less like hip hop and more like a trip. It’s uplifting soul contrasts with a grainy heart to make something that could be a soundtrack to a David Lynch film set in Hawaii. “Honey” sounds like a distant dream, with reverberating chimes and a chilling baseline over a relaxed drum loop. Other tracks like “Ghost” linger with warmth; a wavy guitar plays soothing melodies underneath the soft crackle of vinyl. CORAL and BEYOND THE SEA sometimes sound like a soulful walk through this world, and sometimes sound like a twisted dream. I’m more than happy to recommend you these two listens, so head outside, sit back and let Monster Rally do the rest. You can listen to BEYOND THE SEA here.
Parker Hutcheson
Parker Hutcheson is a writer and aspiring director from Fresno. Growing up, Parker had a pet wolf whom he had to set free into the wild, where he quickly found a pack to run with. He loved the wolf very much, and hopes you enjoy his articles.
