Once again, the first Hozpitality album is available but now with resized artwork and fully implemented mp3 tags (for you iTunes (barf) and iPod (fool) users). This had been completely posted and written up on an early blog that I have since stop using. Instead of sending pointless sheep-like traffic to that site, I’ll just offer a better, new improved write up here:
It’s here! The first album from the long awaited release that started it all, sometime before anyone gave a shit (and they still may not), by the progressive avant garde musical collective known as Hozpitality!
Hozpitality is a collective of “non-musical” or “wanna-be talented” people playing music, tweaking knobs, and making sound with any tools at hand. It’s a very spontaneous effort. We have been making recordings like this for some time. The original “album” of material was finished the previous year (2009) with the creation of the “Paper Plate Blues” album which guested some wonderful vocal talents by Liz Keglovits. Sadly, the masters of this album were lost with a hard drive failure.
THIS TIME, Hozpitality met in creative reverence to lay down some bitchin’ tracks, and actually back them up this time. The credits on this album titled “Hot Fruit” consists of:
CeMeGo: Production, noise, auto-tuning, voices, and junk
Denise: Loops suggestion, voices, chanteuse, words, lyrics
Bitchin Bob: Production, guidance, voices, general dream cheekiness
Theatreshmuck: Trumpets, voices, lyrics, tolerant of the creative process
Count Samula: General silliness and suggestions
Track List:
- Buffalo Bites (0:08)
This album was conceived as a sort of half hearted attempt at a song cycle. Our interpretation of this was to include some sort of running theme or snippet throughout the album to give it some sort of consistent sneakiness. In this sense, a lot of our lyrics were read from the same local Chinese delivery menu. Denise provides the haunting introduction to the album.
- Good Flavor (1:34)
Apologies to Bob for my obsession with timpani. One of the subtitles for this album would be “how to use AutoTune without reading the manual”. A lot of the material on this album was nothing more than random doodling of AutoTuned sounds with a music bed. Give it up for the “red bean paste”.
- Whole thing As It Is Pick and Shit (0:55)
Tape doesn’t “fall on the floor” in album production anymore, you are simply left with one big digital audio file that has all the mis-takes and stuff you couldn’t use. Here is 55 seconds of it, in case you wondered what that sounds like. (The title is the actual raw file title. I left it alone as I thought it summed up the track perfectly).
- Take Out (3:03)
This track was mostly Denise and CeMeGo with some Theatreshmuck. Once again, auto-tune experiments with the Good Flavor delivery menu. Theatreshmuck read off some poem of some sort, but it’s hard to make out as our lack of skills with AutoTune just destroys his track (sorry). I personally have an affection with stupid openings and endings to tracks. The end of this one is OVER THE TOP with Denise evilly whispering “Buffalo Bites” and the jews harp and banjo backing to “Sweet Potatoes”, adding in (of course) the urban ethic rappings at the end. Too much of not enough!
- Sesame Seed (1:06)
Beans! Sing along. It’s easy. The end just sounds like the tape ran out. Ha!
- Street Vendor (4:12)
THE HIT SINGLE WITH A BULLET! I think it was agreed by everyone involved in this Hozpitality outing, that Street Vendor is THE TRACK. Bitchin Bob said, “The only problem with this track is that you are slave to that powerful opening rhythm.” Because I am not one to give up, and also because my creativity runs like a train wreck, we made this song into 3 movements. Denise thought it to be the soundtrack for a big city urban street vendor’s daily routine. The beginning of the song sounded like his 9 to 5 drudgery, and the ending movements sounds like a respite from a hard day’s work. The fun part about this track is that a lot of the traffic noise is recorded right outside my stupid South Philly apartment window. Apparently the cam records audio as well, and I had the cam’s audio channel open by accident and captured some horn blowing, screaming, and drunken arguing from the people across the street. Worked perfectly! The trumpet is Theatreshmuck playing from the kitchen because our microphone sucked and distorted. I played around with some double tracking on the trumpet to give it that Jon Hassell third world feel. A “high water mark” for the album.
- Prime Rib (1:21)
One of the tracks of the original Hozpitality album that wasn’t lost to the hard drive failure. (We will forever miss Goth Roller Rink, *sigh*). Just makes you think how the first album may have sounded doesn’t it. (Or not).
- P in da M (2:09)
“Now THAT’S a picnic!!!” Thank you Ally for letting us turn your commercial outing into an expose of sexy funky groovy R&B. Now go visit the Ceresville Mansion website so we don’t feel so bad about spewing our Dirty Mayonnaise all over this commercial.
- Shoedini Project 1 (1:39)
This was created after showing this video to a bunch of silly people in the apartment. We immediately took the audio of the video and chopped it into little pieces and laid a funky beat over top. I think even Gilbert Gottfried would be pleased.
- Coda (0:30)
Did you fall asleep during the album? Get knocked out? Don’t have enough time? Here’s a 30 second recap of the whole album (with Bitchin Bob doing monk voices in the background).
Tools used:
Antares AutoTune VST
Sony Acid Loops
Adobe Audition (blah!)
A crappy microphone I have since thrown in the garbage
Click here to download a .zip file of the album in .mp3 format including cover art. (17 megs)**
** We don’t make money off of this crap. We do it for fun! The best compensation would be a comment or review right here on this blog. Hozpitality thanks YOU (and your sexy Hot Fruit)!
