Silent Army | Definition Dead
Silent Army | Definition Dead
Released March 25, 2008 | independent
Casey O’Brien | Bass
1. Definition
2. Effects of Self
3. Shots. Nope. Not Led. (Feat. P.O.S)
4. BrassKNux
5. Reacher…
6. Thous Shall Stab The Following…
7. Runnin’ (Another Runaway Story)
8. Belt Loops
9. A Drink With Baxter
10. Jameson Neat
11. A True Addict
12. 3lbs. Grey
13. Stitches
14. Ice (Featuring Sims)
15. xxDeadxx Bonus: Cutting on the Line
Junkyard Empire | Recliam Freedom
Junkyard Empire | Reclaim Freedom
Released January 2008
1 Psalms & Napalm
2 Just Is
3 Casualties of War
4 India
5 The Machine
6 Mangled
7 Rock the Empire
8 Clarity
9 Complex Crooks
10 Truth & Youth
Brihanu - Vocals
Christopher Robin Cox - Trombone/keys
Bryan Berry - Homemade Guitar
Adam Katz - Drums
Jaime Delzer - Sax
Ben “the Fury” Shaffer - Bass
Casey O’Brien - Bass
Engineered by Joel Johnson
Mixed by Joel Johnson
Mastered by Greg Reierson
Recorded at Fur Seal, Minneapolis, MN
Junkyard Empire has captured the essence of a social movement in their debut album. It is a firey blend of avant-garde jazz combined with moving and politically relevant hip-hop.
“You have a few hip-hoppers in the Twin Cities that actually get it – the genre was not spawned way-back-when by The Last Poets, Sugar Hill Gang and the rest of them for the primary purpose of dogging women out and posturing like King Kong should be scared to meet you in a dark alley. And you have a few bands who play hellified avant garde jazz. Enter two-in-one force of nature: Junkyard Empire. They come with fiercely innovative music that’ll have you nodding along before you know it, and coat-pulling verse that defies society and the government to get real about positive change.”
- Dwight Hobbes
In the tradition of Public Enemy, the Welfare Poets, Gil Scott Heron, Bob Dylan, and all those artists who came before us, speaking truth to power, Junkyard Empire is not just a band, they have developed their own social and political platform, bringing you “truth in the form of live-ass hip hop.” They strive to be much more than another great alternative live hip hop band from Minnesota - of which there are plenty - they want to become a musical force for political and social change in America, playing the music that could be called the soundtrack to this country’s missing revolution; answering the same call that Stephen Stills, Graham Nash, Neil Young, and many more are re-awakening to lately.
Alas, it is not only the politically and socially progressive lyricism of Brihanu that sets this band apart, it’s their fearless improvisatory nature as well, for they care not about being slick, or coming off as a well-oiled machine. Instead, they want to appeal as human beings, imperfect at times, but important! As Dwight Hobbes put it, “The combination of Brihanu’s forceful lyrics, set to an engaging cadence, and the band’s compositions is nothing short of incredible. Think Mos Def meets Ornette Coleman.” Damn good company to be in the room with.
Junkyard Empire came together in the summer of 2006, primarily as a jazz/funk/avant-garde group, but as the group found a common interest in the rhythms and formulaic freedoms of live hip-hop, the new direction was undeniable. That’s when Brihanu entered the picture; the rest is history.
Since the inception, JE has played many of the Twin Cities finest establishments, including the Fine Line, Mayslack’s Music Lounge, the Uptown Bar, the 331 Club, and Bunker’s. They have shared the stage with such diverse bands as the Snaps, Watson, Leroy Smokes, The New Congress, Tickle Fight, and Big Ditch Road. The varied bills they perform on is yet another wall they are trying to break down; that tendency for Minnesota bands to fall into a click, only playing bills with the bands they are “in” with. You can expect to see Junkyard Empire playing on bills with bands you would typically never expect to see together. They feel this keeps live music fresh and allows for cross-over influences.
Though they have gone through some early growing pains, usually in the form of finding the right guitar player and bass player, the personnel seems to be pretty well intact, and their debut full-length CD is now completed. They have stayed true to form, recording every track live in the studio on first or second takes.
There has never been a more perfect time for a band like Junkyard Empire to release a CD. Politically and musically, the current environment in the United States is calling for artists to provide the necessary communication to provide sparks for the social movements we have been waiting for in this country. They make no effort to hide the fact that they want to join the ranks of Rage Against the Machine, Bob Dylan, Public Enemy, and all the rest! Don’t be surprised when this little working class band from Minnesota suddenly gets played on every independent radio station in the country. People are hungry for what they are unafraid to say. In Brihanu’s own words: “It’s important, when you have the platform, to say something that has substance.”
Abzorbr | Ep2
Abzorbr | EP2
Released December 2007 | Crushkill Recordings
Casey O’Brien | Bass, Guitar, Rhodes, Engineering & Production
30 The Bed
31 Bright Eyed Bushy Tailed
32 Battle Builder
33 Purpose Giver
34 No Reply
35 Come On
36 Where’d You Go
37 Off Beaten Path
38 Would If I Could | Bonus Beats
All Songs written by Abzorbr
All Voices and Words by Kristoff Krane
Bass Guitar and Music Production by Casey O’Brien
Drum Set and Music Production by Graham O’Brien
Additional Guitar by Drew Kragg
Live Recordings by Empty (www.emptystapes.blogspot.com)
Recorded, Mixed and Mastered by Graham O’Brien
All Design and Layout by Casey O’Brien
Abzorbr | Capable Of Teetering
Abzorbr | Capable Of Teetering
Released June 2007 | Crushkill Recordings
Casey O’Brien | Bass, Guitar, Rhodes, Engineering & Production
12 SLEEPY DREAMER
13 AFTERGLOW
14 FIST FIGHT OR FLIGHT
15 ROUTINE LOVERS
16 MASLOW’S HIERACHY OF
16 CONFLICT
17 PRIVATE PERMISSION
18 IN OTHER WORDS
19 THE MARCH OF NICKLES
20 THORN PICKS ROSE
21 SHE
22 CHILDISH PERFECTION
23 1ST SONG ABZORBR EVER
23 RECORDED TO SAVE YOU LIFE
24 TIME OBEYS CHANGE
25 A REMINDER
26 SOMTHINGS MISSING
Face Candy | This is Where We Were
Face Candy | This is Where We Were
2006 | Rhymesayers Entertainment
01 Witness Intimidation
02 Pill
03 Life Jacket
04 Infant
05 Feeling Spayed
06 The Art Of Faking Orgasm
07 Buzz Kill
08 Adult Toys
09 Scream Therapy
10 Braille
11 Gun Powder
12 Disappearing
13 Pillow Bite
Eyedea (vocals)
Mazta I (vocals)
Kristoff Krane (vocals)
Carnage (vocals, human percussion)
JT Bates (drums)
Casey O’ Brien (Bass)
Eyedea and crew with improvisational music and freestyle emceeing recorded live in ‘05 while touring the Midwest. Face Candy pushes the boundaries of hip hop with an excellent display of Eyedea’s strongest assets, live freestyle and battling skills and vivid conceptual rhymes.
Load up
Press play
Hand your ears over to the Face.
The transformation comes suddenly/ immediately in the very first incendiary moments of the first track, where bass and drums gather the fuel, inhale the oxygen, and hand the rappers the match. As Face Candy exhales, the crowd ignites – all these tracks gathering their thrust from the unmatchable momentum of live performance. Indeed, this incarnation of the organism tends to eschew the sterilized safety of machine-addicted studio overproduction in favor of the unchained barbarism of face-to-face encounters with reality. Reality, beautifully recorded on tour, lovingly mixed and mercilessly edited in a spirit which brings to mind the exotic tapestries of the ancient jazz master producers (the image of Teo Macero lingers – and like his work, repeated listenings reveal and reward).
As we listen on, we become aware that we are actually witnessing the spontaneous creation of these tracks being improvised into existence. This is the collective act of the rare visionaries who liberate themselves (and all of the rest of us in the bargain) as they proceed.
Searching individually.
Striking together.
Reflecting our lives
in Real time.
And no, this is NOT the self-indulgent “noodling” derided by frightened, reactionary, squeamish critics. Here we have committed, energized, disciplined, feeling artists with their ears and hearts wide open; brave souls balancing on the knife edge of high risk artistry; constructing (sometimes simple, sometimes complex) forms as if by a series of inspired miracles; all elements evolving seamlessly through the entire arc of this CD .
At one point in the narrative, Eyedea responds to an audience request for Star Destroyer by rhyming with the request, after which he explains, “We’re not gonna really do any songs. Is that cool?” No songs? Where do these “pieces” come from? I am tempted to say “Free Style meets Free Jazz” when asked to illuminate the song-writing process. In some ways, these categories paint an accurate image. All members of the group are invited and obliged to draw on the conditions/emotions of the moment in creating their particular pieces of the whole-
Spontaneously
Freely
But, in reality, categorical verbiage (or any words, really) fail to capture what you experience when you listen to this record of “where we were.” It feels to me as if we are midwives at the birth of a new (as yet unnamed) form of expression. A new artist-specific poetic combination of
pleasure
insight
and intensity
That invites us inside ourselves where our personal sorrows and joys explode into view on the inner landscape; and in a seemingly contradictory shift; we discover our essential unity
Unity with the rhythm
Unity with the lyric
Unity with each other
Unity with that fire which consumes the illusions of “past” and “future” and leaves us the pulsating Phoenix of “Right Now!” as our only companion.
- Dean Magraw
Abzorbr | EP1
Abzorbr | EP1
Released August, 2005 | Crushkill Recordings
Casey O’Brien | Bass, Guitar, Rhodes, Engineering & Production
01 FREESTYLE ..1
02 DOORSTEP BABY
03 GOLDPLATED ROCK
04 FREESTYLE ..2
05 PULL ON MY FACIAL STRUCTURE
06 I BREATH I’M DEAD
07 LEFT
08 THE SIGN
09 FREESTYLE ..3
10 WOULD IF I COULD
11 FREESTYLE ..4
Odd Jobs | Conflict and Compromise
Odd Jobs | Conflict and Compromise
Released 1999 | CMI Record
Casey O’Brien | Bass
“Trying to make a living with music certainly isn’t the oddest job around. But making music rarely provides you with a steady income. That’s why musicians are prone to have odd jobs, second jobs that allow them to pursue their music career. The younger ones might additionally strive for some higher education. It’s this everyday life enviroment that brings forth a group like Oddjobs. Emerging in 1996 out of the Minnesota-based Cases of Mistaken Identity crew, the group featured Minneapolis MC’s Advizer and Crescent Moon and St. Paul DJ’s Anatomy and Deetalx. Also coming out of the CMI camp, rapper Nomi completed the Oddjobs line-up a few years later. As they became part of the Minneapolis scene governed by the Rhymesayers crew (Eyedea & Abilities, Atmosphere), Oddjobs released their first full-length in 1999, titled “Conflict and Compromise”. The group broke up in 2005, but reformed (minus DJ Deetalx) as Kill the Vultures.”
Jennifer Theuer | Out From The Bull Ring
Jennifer Theuer | Out From The Bull Ring
Released December 1998, Strange Fire Records
07 - Out From The Bull Ring
08 - You Are*
Musicians:
Jennifer Theuer - Piano, Keyboards & Vocals
Casey O’Brien - Bass & Guitar
Christian Friesen - Guitar
Nick “Big Poppa” Dodd - Drums
Big Fish Audio & J. Theuer - Loops Music & Lyrics: Jennifer Theuer
Executive Producer: Otto S. Theuer
Engineered by Brent Sigmeth
Studio Production: B. Sigmeth & J. Theuer
Mixed by B. Sigmeth & J. Theuer
Mastered by Greg Reierson
Recorded at Pachyderm Studios, Cannon Falls, MN
Art Direction & Design by Willie “Chore Boy” Ford
Out from the Bullring is her first solo project recorded at world renowned Pachyderm Studio in Cannon Falls, MN. during the winter of 1997-98, written just before leaving Minnesota to explore other musical avenues abroad.
Vanguard | Play
04 Peep Show
05 Still
06 Good God (buck & Wu Remix)
07 Love’s Decay (live)
08 Play (live)
09 Beggin’ You
10 Jonzin’
11 Good God (part 2)
12 Outre
Ralph “Ralphreaky” Carter (lead vox)
Ian “Sex” Jonz (guitar, bass, vox)
Omar “OC” Field-Ridley (violin, vox),
Scott “Buck” Ruffner (keys, voice, percussion)
Michael “Mike D” Winston (vox)
Roland “Wu” Apikelis (keys, percussion)
Silla “The Thrilla” Mosely (vox)Nick “Freaknick” Dodd (drums)
Casey O’Brien (guitar)
Quincy “QD” Young (vox)
Atlanta, California, Iowa, New Hampshire, Minnesota and Vietnam… What do these divergent places share in common? Each was a point of origin for the members of Vanguard, an ascension of musicians who joined forces a decade ago in one of Funk’s most celebrated cities, Minneapolis, MN. Vanguard composed, produced, recorded, and performed their own unique blend of vibrant funk, pop & soul. While P-Diddy was stealin’ the heart out of old classics, Vanguard was in the studio creating original timeless gems of their own. They quickly rose to the top of the Minneapolis music scene with countless honors and highlights that included Minnesota Music Awards & year end “best of” lists (beating out the likes of Prince, Johnny Lang & Next). They performed their high energy shows with legends P-Funk, The Ohio Players, Zapp, Rick James & The Gap Band, as well as gigs at Prince’s Glam Slam & the famed 1st Avenue nightclub. A similar movement on the national level brought artists like D’angelo, Beck & Outkast to the forefront, but it was not meant to be for the free wheelin’ nine piece Vanguard. On the heels of a heightened industry buzz and the release of their much anticipated “Play”, the band imploded in 1998 after an amazing show with The Roots at CBGB’s in NY… several “Music Business” execs were in the crowd.They have not been heard from since.