Aloha Miscreant - Reintroduction EP (2023)

 

If you're lucky, you'll get a second act in your life, and if you're really lucky, you might even get a third. With that said, the Reintroduction EP was just a reminder that behind the facade of dark, low-tempo, bass-driven instrumentals, I'm still a pretty horrible or mediocre at best rapper that forgets his lyrics about 40% of the time. Around 2022, I was performing at shows and doing a mix of an instrumentals along with dropping a handful of vocal tracks. Thing is, the vocal tracks were joints that I recorded years prior, many of which needed lyrical changes as people were more easily offended these days. If you've ever wondered, these are the tracks I was performing along with their original release date (in no particular order): 

Frank & Beans [2002]
So What Now [2002]
Running Through The Mall [2005]
Strippers With the Shits [2007]
Cat Shit [2017]

I got bored doing these same songs over and over, and it started to feel corny and predictable. More importantly, those songs didn't really reflect who I was at that point in my life. Don't get me wrong, it's super cool to hear people sing the chorus of Strippers With the Shits and then ask you to clarify the lyrics after the show, but that's not what I want to be remembered for. I mean, it's an important part of my sonic timeline, but there's so much more depth to what I create than goofy raps about exotic dancers with diarrhea.

I wrote Reintroduction and Plug and added both songs to my live set before I had actually recorded anything outside of a couple of rough demos. Unlike my older tracks, these were written specifically to be performed live and they were both a lot of fun to do. The recording process was pretty straightforward as I had already composed the instrumentals for both tracks in Ableton Live. I swapped around some drum parts, added some scratches, switched some samples, and spent the next several weeks mixing the vocals. I don't think that I'm ever fully content with a mix, especially when vocals are the center point, but I think both Reintroduction and Plug are pretty decent without being over-the-top. 

Any questions? 

Where is that dialogue from at the beginning of Reintroduction? 
The first part is dialogue from an old Flower Tucci porn video and the second part is from American Beauty. 

Is Plug a low-key dis track?
Yes, it absolutely is. I don't think a lot of cats realized it at the time, but I took a few shots. Look, if you're gonna pay for plays whenever you release a new song to artificially inflate your stream count, and then brag about how popular your music is, you're a fucking poser. 

 

Aloha Miscreant - Battle Tape 404 (2024)

Battle Tape 404 is the latest project under the Aloha Miscreant imprint and it follows the slow, droggy, bass heavy format which has been milked to oblivion for the past fifteen years. Unlike previous releases, this was recorded and tracked on a Yamaha MT50 four-track cassette using a Roland TR-8, Roland SP404A, and a MicroKorg synthesizer. In turn, this provides a nice, warm recording, however there is an unmistakable (and almost unwelcoming) sense of emptiness throughout the tracks that almost makes it feel incomplete. By the time I sat down to start recording everything to tape, a lot of things had changed in my life and because of that, most of the initial energy was lost. In hindsight, I should have just scrapped the project and started over with a clean slate. The four track was barely alive at this point and the motor kept dragging. I think I’ve always strived to make a proper successor to Tropical Dystopia, and can assuredly say that this isn’t it.

Spotify Wrapped in a Biscuit of Lies

I want to be clear on something that I posted on Instagram a few weeks ago because it strangely rubbed some people the wrong way, and rightfully so. For those not in the loop, every year Spotify releases their Spotify Wrapped feature and it allows the listener to share the stats of their most listened to songs, artists, albums, etc.. Spotify also has a feature that allows artists on the platform to share the stats of their released music. Inherently, this is pretty cool concept for the average listener as it provides deep detail on preferred genres, newly discovered bands, listening times, and so on. The artist feature is equally interesting as it lets you drill down and see how people are listening to your music on the platform, for how long, and shows what playlists your songs have been added to, and so much more. There's nothing wrong with sharing either, and as an independent artist, it could be pretty rewarding to your fans to see that you're out there grinding, getting listens, and making your mark on the digital music scene. As long as you keep it humble, it's acceptable to brag a bit about your accomplishments.

The problem occurs when musicians that you personally know have these outrageous stats and hundred-thousands, nearly millions of listens when their level of talent is questionable at best. Just to be sure, you go and listen to the last few tracks they released and sure enough; it sounds like dog shit. Lyrics are off-beat, the production sucks, and the mix is absolutely horrendous. You confusedly ask yourself how in the hell did this get so many listens? You begin to replay everything that you know about this person in your head, everything from live performances, things they've posted on social media, along with strange inconsistencies you recall from conversations that you've had with them over the years. You want to be happy for them, but something seems really off about the stats they're posting.

Over the years, technology has provided many amazing tools for creators, but simultaneously it's also provided copious tools for complete fakery. One of the worst offenders in my opinion are the companies (aka phone farms) that you can pay to inflate your streaming count, followers, listens, views, likes, and anything else that you could possibly imagine. I guess my beef isn't with these companies, but rather the cats that use them to construct a false narrative of their abilities for clout, especially musical clout. Maybe it's different when you don't know these people on a personal level, but you do, and that's what makes this more bothersome, especially when they walk around with their nose in the air and act like their shit doesn't stink. Again, it's okay to be boastful of your legitimate accomplishments, but to brag and boast about complete and utter bullshit to make yourself sound more accomplished is embarrassing as fuck.

SIDEBAR: I've always loathed when I meet people and part of the introduction includes them telling me how many followers they have on social media.

With it so easy to create music without having any formal training and the simplicity to have said music released to streaming platforms, is there any point to putting genuine passion into what you create? Obviously the answer is yes, but then how to you differentiate yourself from a poser that uses purchased sample and stem packs and then pays for inflate their stream count? The unfortunate truth is that you can't. 

 

The music scene is dying and this is it's death dirge. 

 

Audio Document 001: Lost Hours

 

Back in November of 2012, I had this absolutely surreal acid trip in New York City and it was unlike anything that I had ever experienced before. A year later, I ended up writing about the adventure and published it under the not-so-creative name of Fear and Loathing in NYC. It was decent piece, but it hardly immersed the reader into the absolute madness that was happening. In 2023, I changed the name to Lost Hours and turned the writing into a professionally read audiobook, complete with foley and background ambience. Lost Hours puts the listener on the cold and rainy streets, making it a completely immersive experience. Although not required, headphones are strongly suggested. 

 

Finally, a Good Reboot

 

In 2005, I started the original Miscreant Productions blog and it was a portal to talk shit, share pirated music, review albums, trade vinyl rips, etc. I kept the blog active until around 2015 and updates beyond that were few and far between. Over the next few years, I converted the blog into a simple landing page with links for my music and whatnot and that's how it's been until a few weeks ago.

 

For full clarity, the only social media that I use these days is Instagram, and it's mainly for posting and watching stories, which I'm finding I'm doing less and less. I am NOT on Facebook, however there is an Aloha Miscreant page, but that just mirrors whatever promotion shit that I'm doing on Instagram. I do have a Twitter/X account, but I can't remember the last time that I used it for anything meaningful. I guess what I'm trying to say is that is that I really try to avoid social media at all costs.

 

With that said, I've spent the past few weeks giving the joint a major overhaul and reverting back to a semi-traditional blog format. I'm older, wiser, and I've got a lot of good shit to talk this time around. Also, to scratch your nostalgic itch, I plan on unarchiving some of the old blog posts. If you are reading this, thank you. I will do my best to provide mediocre content on an infrequent basis, so stay tuned!!

The Casiohardcore Tapes (2002 - 2015)

Casiohardcore was an music project that I was involved with between 2002 and 2015. It's hard to pigeonhole the style as the sound was constantly changing and evolving from track to track. Over the span of thirteen years, I released several projects as Casiohardcore, some on physical CD and flash drive, and others on MP3 via primitive web services. In 2022, I compiled the illest joints from that era and released The Casiohardcore Tapes across all streaming platforms. All of the tracks have been meticulously remastered and the difference is tremendous when compared to the original releases.  

Of course you can stream the 35 track version on Spotify, Apple Music, Tidal, etc., but only Bandcamp has the expanded collection that features good shit that you won't find anywhere else. It's available for purchase/download in the format of your choice! With that said, strap on your ear-goggles, get nice, and immerse yourself into The Casiohardcore Tapes: