If you spend a lot of time on the internets you know about Drew. He and Natalie Dee run Sharing Machine, producers of fine content like Toothpaste for Dinner, Married to the Sea, and Superpoop; you either have one of their t-shirts or one of your friends does. You get bonus internet points if you know Drew is responsible for Kompressor and Dog Traders. It’s got to be a great job to just make fun things all day and put them on the internet. It probably doesn’t pay well — the only thing that pays well on the internet is porn — but you’re living the artistic lifestyle and the hours are probably excellent. I mean, if this blog sold t-shirts I wouldn’t be in grad school.

This captain of industry just released a new CD under the name CRUDBUMP.’ The first odd thing about it is that it’s selling pretty well: looks like it’s going to end up being in the top ten hip-hop albums this month on iTunes. So that’s saying something. The second odd thing is that it’s really good. It’s weird, I’ll say that right away; but I like weird, and you probably do too. It’s all analog synthesizers and drum machines and Drew rapping and vocoding about shitty food, the Bush era, and his gentials. My description doesn’t do it justice; it’s a twisted and inspired gem. And — I cannot stress this enough — there are some truly excellent lines in here:

I’m the Lee Harvey Oswald of eatin’ pie
Had a plot to kill the president when he was a white guy
Didn’t carry it out cause I would’ve got capped
and if I wanted to get shot for Bush I would have gone to Iraq and Afghanistan . . . That’s not the planistan
Honey I Shrunk the Country starring Rick Moranistan

I’m making BIG BALLS PHONE CALLS!!

It reminds me a bit of Curtis Plum, in that it’s oddball, quirky rap over retro-electro beats. And I hear a fair amount of Kool Keith in both of them. If I had the money I’d put all three of them in the studio together. The thing I can’t figure out about CRUDBUMP is whether or not it’s meant to be a comedy album, so to speak. It’s very funny, especially if you like the kind of humor in Married to the Sea. But consider The Lonely Island. They’re obviously a comedy act, and Andy Samberg uses music as the vehicle for comedy. The humor in Na$tyjam$ is much more bizarre and twisted, in a way that makes me think that Drew is just a funny, twisted guy and, well, that’s the kind of music he makes.

The point is that whether you think it’s funny or just strange, the music stands on its own. I really advise you to plug a pair of nice headphones in the jack before you listen: it’s all rich, bass-heavy synthesizers and the effect is lost if you listen out of your cheap laptop speakers. Check it out. Oh, and you can buy the album directly from Sharing Machine.

CRUDBUMP – “Expert Chef”
CRUDBUMP – “My Dick’s On the Phone”
CRUDBUMP – “Subprime Lenders”

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