ipso facto

This is pretty amazing!

P.O.S. - New Music - More Music Videos

It’s official! Soundset ‘09 is here!

On Sunday, May 24, 2009, Rhymesayers Entertainment and Rose Presents brings you the second annual Soundset: the official Midwest kick-off festival of the summer with over eight hours of the best independent Hip Hop music in one day. It all goes down at Canterbury Park in Shakopee, MN (rain or shine). This is the first round of artists we are announcing, this IS NOT the final lineup.

What fun would it be to tell you everything right away?

Confirmed to perform on the Soundset main stage are: Atmosphere, MF Doom, Brother Ali, Sage Francis with B. Dolan, Immortal Technique, P.O.S, El P featuring Mr. Dibbs, Eyedea & Abilities, Abstract Rude and I Self Devine.

Soundset Tickets: For three days only, we are offering special fan pre-sale tickets to our supporting Rhymesayers peeps first. This special recession friendly ticket price is ONLY available from: Monday, March 16 through Wednesday, March 18 starting at 3:00PM CST at Fifth Element and www.artistarena.com ONLY.

For those of you in Minneapolis, we have limited pre-sale tickets available starting today at Fifth Element, 2411 Hennepin Ave. South in beautiful Uptown Minneapolis, MN. For the first 100 people that purchase pre-sale tickets in store, you will receive a FREE limited-edition screen print poster from Soundset 08.

For all our friends outside of the Twin Cities, please go online at: https://tixx1.artistarena.com/soundset2009/

Get your tickets now, and save that dough!

Here’s the deal (3/16 - 3/18 only!):
Special Fan Pre Sale General Admission - $25 (parking included!)
Special Soundset Festival & After Party (must be 18+) - $35 (parking included!)
VIP ticket (must be 18+)- $75 (VIP parking included!)

National Public On Sale is this Saturday, March 21, 2009 at:
General Admission- $30 (parking included!)
Special Soundset Festival & After Party (must be 18+) - $40 (parking included!)
VIP ticket (must be 18+)- $75 (VIP parking included!)

TEN other FAQ:
1. Hell yeah, there is going to be an after party. It will be on site in Canterbury this year, a hop skip and a jump from the festival grounds. You will need to be 18+ to party and 21+ to party with adult beverages. We will be announcing the who and what of this soon, but you can get these tickets now with the purchase of your Soundset ticket for a grand total of $35. There is not a separate ticket for the after party, you can only get access to this event as a combo ticket package.

2. For those people 18+, we are offering a limited VIP ticket. The VIP ticket includes the following: entrance to the festival and after party, access to a special exclusive VIP area near the main stage, meet and greets with artists, VIP parking, separate restrooms, VIP bar with adult beverages (beer and liquor) and special festival laminates. The VIP ticket is $75.

3. Of course, Soundset 09 is all ages- we are for the kids! And, for those youngsters under the age of 10 you get to experience the music for FREE, but must be accompanied by ticket paying adult. 2 kids per one adult.

4. No, this is not the final lineup for Soundset. We still have other main stage artists to announce, the entire line-up for the Fifth Element stage, the DJs for the Red Bull B-Boy tent, after party performers and DJs and much more. Stay tuned for regular announcements leading up to soundset 09!

5. When you get a ticket to Soundset, you get a parking spot. That’s right party people, no extra parking fees this year. So, get your carpool on and help save the planet!

6. Tickets are always available at Fifth Element service charge free if you pay cash. If you pay with a credit card, those tickets will have a fee of $1 per ticket tagged on to your purchase. For information on tickets available at Fifth Element, call 612-377-0044.

7. Where is Canterbury Park? Well, if your standing in front of Fifth Element in Minneapolis, it’s 23 miles and less than 30 minutes. If you want to find out from your place in the world, get your Google on here: www.canterburypark.com/Directions/tabid/179/Default.aspx

8. Can I bring my camera? Yes, “point and shoot” photo cameras are allowed, but NO VIDEO cameras and ALL professional cameras will need a photo pass.

9. My Mom, Dad or Uncle Frank will be dropping me off at Soundset is there a drop off point? Yes, there will be signs upon entering Canterbury. Your folks can even go check out the horse racing which will be going on during Soundset starting at 1:30PM on May 24, 2009.

10. If you still have a question, concern or just want to voice your opinion, please email us at: info@soundset.com.

See you in 70 days, let the countdown begin!

myspace.com/soundset | rhymesayers.com

So auto tune has taken the recording industry by storm which directly effects you the listener. Auto tune is basically a plug in for recording software that automatically nudges a flat or sharp note into it’s proper place on the scale. Financially it makes sense because you don’t have to do as many takes and it makes everyone sound like they’re an amazing singer, what could be wrong with that? Well first of all most pop stars aren’t amazing singers. They’ve managed to squeak buy and spend enough time recording that they can make their records sound polished. What happens during their live shows you ask? Well most of your “favorite” pop stars actually lip sync. We’ve all heard rumors about certain stars not performing their own songs live rather singing over a dub track. Well that’s true in many cases. I’ve included some examples of what auto tuning sounds like below…

If you’re unfamiliar with Auto-tune, and especially if you listen to much pop and rock, you might not hear it initially. When overdone, the effect yields an unnatural yodel or warble in a singer’s voice. But the sound is so commonplace in modern mainstream music that your ears may have tuned out the auto-tune!

The songs in this clip, in order, and the phrases most affected by auto-tuning to help you spot them:

Dixie Chicks - The Long Way Around - Noticeable on “parents” and “but I.”

T-Pain - I’m Sprung - Especially obvious on “homies” and “lady.”

Avril Lavigne - Complicated - Listen to “way,” “when,” “driving,” “you’re.”

Uncle Kracker - Follow Me The whole vocal sounds strained, but especially the word “goodbye.”

Maroon 5 - She Will Be Loved - Listen for “rain” and “smile.”

Natasha Bedingfield - Love Like This - “Apart” and “life.”

Sean Kingston - Beautiful girls - “OoooOver” doesn’t sound human.

JoJo - Too Little Too Late - Appropriately, “problem” stands out.

Rascal Flatts - Life is a Highway Every vocal, foreground and background, is treated, but “drive” in particular.

New Found Glory - Hit or Miss - “Thriller”, and every time Jordan sings “I.”

Long story short the reason I posted this is because I stumbled upon a pretty funny article about how Death Cab For Cutie had worn blue ribbons to the Grammy’s to raise awareness about auto-tuning and showing love for the “blue note” hence the blue ribbons. My feelings exactly. What happened to real music with an organic feeling. That anticipation of going to a live show by your favorite musician for the first time and wondering are they gonna sound like they did on the record or was it all a lie? One thing I can tell you. If you like Death Cab and have never seen them live, you won’t be disappointed. If anything true can be said in this whole mess. Ben Gibbard can sing well. Whether it be live or while they’re recording. If you’re unfamiliar with their work you might want to check them out!

As promised. The second installment of this video feature. “Savion Glover” off of POS’ new album Never Better

P.O.S. “Savion Glover” by Yours Truly from Yours Truly on Vimeo.

Abstract Rude will be releasing his latest album “Rejuvenation” through Rhymesayers Entertainment. The album drops 05.05.09 and will be available for pre-order today through Fifth Element. Here are some words from the man himself about the track and the album…

My Song
Rejuvenation… this song is that breath of fresh air we all need in hip-hop; a deep smoothed out voice over an infectious groove bass line…it’s the lp’s theme and our 1st glimpse at Ab the person behind the music…here, he champions real rhyming & keeping the feel. A few choice lines find Rude reminding us to be ourselves because “you won’t please everyone”; “opening the Doors to your mind like Jim Morrisson”, and applauding the balance of “girls at an underground rap show.”

My LP
The Rejuvenation lp is a fun hip hop ride, and after a 5 year hiatus from releasing a full length, Abstract Rude is back. Actually, he never left; its just taken a while to set things up and clear the lane for fans to properly receive a new lp from this deep voiced LA rudeboy. Most know that Rude is no new comer to record store shelves, however he is the latest addition to the Rhymesayers label roster. Ab explains, “My last 2 lps (Aug. 03 & Sep. ‘01) came out through a Canadian label, while the 2 earlier lps (‘98 & ‘97) and my 1st ep (‘96) were released on Bay Area upstarts. This album could’ve come out a lot sooner, but I’m glad it didn’t because I really dig how its evolved - we even changed the name in the clutch, which better suits the vibe for what’s going on with my career because I am being rejuvenated. It’s my 1st record on Rhymesayers, 1st time ever working exclusively with a producer other than my music mentor Fat Jack. They matched me up with Seattle, Washington beatsmith Vitamin D - who did not disappoint. 1st time I had a Haiku d’etat appearance on a solo lp, and I also did a special remix of that same song with the younger generation of Project Blowedians. I can’t wait for yall to hear this album.”

DOWNLOAD: Rejuvenation (right click to download…)

LISTEN:

Totally slacking on the blog tip. Here’s a great video that the homeys over at yourstruly put together.

P.O.S. “Goodbye” by Yours Truly from Yours Truly on Vimeo.

Holy crap I’m blogging. It was my birthday yesterday. Today the day is a square root watch this new POS video cuz it’s wicked cool!

Director & Editor: Maria Juranic
Producer: Brady Kiernan
Director of Photography: Bo Hakala
Production Company: Rent the Sky