Windmills "As Above, So Below" Album Review

UPDATE 2011.03.27 8:32 PM EST

Framework (emcee and DJ formerly of the Vermont hip hop crew The Loyalists) & Rex Rey (producer, multi-instrumentalist from Los Angeles) got together and formed Windmills in March of 2010 after answering a Craigslist posting. Combining their finely tuned skills, Rex & Frame finished their debut album, "As Above So Below" a year later.

 
First off, this is an album that merits multiple listens.  (Click here to check out As Above So Below on Windmills' SoundCloud.)  Samples are tastefully sprinkled throughout with several grouped in the first track that serve to introduce the theme that the mainstream is mediocre and people are no longer encouraged to pursue excellence.  This message from Windmills is cemented by track #09 "Reborn of Thought"  - a complex lyrically-tight song with a message from the underground for the mainstream, which also features clutch scratching of hip-hop samples.  Scratching and samples don't overpower the listener though.  Oh and the samples that are used aren't necessarily those you would expect to hear in rap, as you can see from the video posted below that, at least for me, recalls Don Quijote tilting at windmills. 


Noel Harrison - The Windmills Of Your Mind [Live Performance].  "The Windmills Of Your Mind" Wiki here.

Track #07 "Outside My WIndow" has a concept that is pretty cool; take another look at the title of the song for a clue.  Track #10 "Customer Service" has a chorus that is different and while that may turn some off, it's another song with an ill concept.  Be sure, before you abandon this album to the annals of your mp3 player's Shuffle, that you check out track #11 "Small Town Better Blues" where Windmill goes in the hardest with an emotional flow and lyrics that can't be ignored.

Oh and download the whole album here until March 28th, 2011.  Peace, peace y'all.  One Love.

Produced by Rex Rey.
Emceeing and cuts by Framework.
Mixed & Recorded by Rex Rey.
Mastered by Dave Cooley.
Songs by Windmills.

(Via.)

Windmills "As Above, So Below" Album Review

The RZA On The Man With The Iron Fist Shooting + ODB Biopic + The Last Dragon Remake

"I'm just going to say that I'm looking to make a real good movie for us, yo. I want to make something that… They said the album, 36 Chambers, by Wu-Tang, was new, different, and they said it helped propel the hip-hop community. I would love to do that somehow on film. I would love to make the same mark or impact, and I'm striving to do it with this film as my first serious directorial debut. And I'm going to tell you that we put a lot of time into the script, a lot of energy into it, a lot of people were supporting me on it, and if the energy comes out right, it should be a classic film to have in your library" (Via.)

(Via.)

For those not in the know, the RZA produced the soundtrack of Kill Bill Vol. 1 for Quentin Tarantino and, while doing so, studied the auteur's craft in hopes of transferring the knowledge gained into making his own films.  As previously featured on The People's Poseur, The Abbot of the Wu-Tang Clan directed and co-starred in his very own low budget Kung Fu flick Wu-Tang vs. The Golden Phoenix:

Wu-Tang vs. The Golden Phoenix (trailer).

Of course, I didn't bring you back here to tell you what you already know (at least if you've been following us here).  While the above movie isn't currently slated for any kind of release (theatrical, direct-to-DVD or otherwise), his upcoming project The Man With The Iron Fists (2011!) is listed by IMBd (click here) as featuring Lucy Liu (as "Madame Blossom"), former pro-wrestler Dave Batista (as "Brass Body"), Byron Mann (as "Silver Lion"), Asian American rapper and actor Jin Auyeung (as "Chan"), and creator of the Wu-Tang Clan symbol Gano Grills (as "Thomas").  IMBd also lists as cast members Daniel Wu, Cung Le, RZA, and, now, . . . Russell Crowe!?!?

(Via.)

So what can you expect of The Man With The Iron Fists?  A film set in feudal China where a blacksmith forges weapons and teaches local Chinese peasants and villagers to fight back against an oppressive lord and . . . Well, RZA wrote the script and then got help retreating it from Eli Roth, he's starring in it, he's producing it (along with Eli Roth and his production company; oh and evidently Quentin Tarantino is also producing it as well now), and he's going to be doing the soundtrack for it.  Universal has picked it up (via) and given it a budget of 20 million; Eli Roth is currently on location with RZA shooting (right now!) in China (via), although Tarantino evidently isn't.  Of the Chinese film crew Roth recently tweeted that they are "are so fast and efficient I feel like I’m watching an episode of Benny Hill" (via.)

And yes, Russell Crowe is a confirmed cast member (click here).

Oh, and if that isn't enough you can click over to here where RZA talks about a planned ODB biopic and his role in a remake of the cult classic The Last Dragon (1985), which I read somewhere is going to have Rihanna . . . as a dominatrix.  Oh, and Samuel L. Jackson will be co-producing it together.  He had this to say ""There's been a new script out already, but to me, they didn't nail it, so I sent the writer some books he should read, and I gave him a few pages. I'm not the writer, but I helped him out, gave him five pages of information, sent him some books so he could really make a story that'd resonate with today’s times for The Last Dragon. But I want to keep the martial-art integrity, parts that the first one may have lost, because the other guy was in love with Bruce Lee. Bruce Lee is still the master, still the greatest, but maybe his popularity in cinema is not the same as it was in the '80s, because in the '80s, you were still getting Bruce Lee releases."" (Via.)

Gano Grills ("Thomas") was also featured in a Jim Jarmusch film - Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai (1999), which starred Forest Whitaker and which the RZA again did the soundtrack for:

Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai (trailer; IMBd here).

Early on, Roth said of The Man With Iron Fists: "Yes, it is true. RZA's script is amazing. He has been studying directing with Tarantino for years and he's really ready to get behind the camera. His impact on rap music and hip hop culture cannot be measured, and he's ready to add his own unique style and vision to the world of film. This movie will have everything martial arts fans could want, combined with RZA's superb musical talent. This project has been his dream for years, and I'm thrilled to be a part of it. And fans should know that yes, there will be blood... This ain't no PG-13" (Via.)


The Cure starring RZA.

Early on Roth also said that "While I was away shooting Inglourious Basterds, RZA went to China to shoot test footage on his own, with all the choreography. It was very visual and I think he will bring to life a script that mixes kung fu with a spaghetti western mindset and a hip hop influence.  RZA has imagined every tribe, every fighting style, every costume.  He knows kung fu like I know horror" (Via.)

Chi Kung by RZA [Wu-Tang Clan].

Bong, bong!

The RZA On The Man With The Iron Fist Shooting + ODB Biopic + The Last Dragon Remake

The End, My Friend. . .

A live band and almost spoken-word lyrics by Macklemore the emcee make this Seattle, Washington group interesting.  

Macklemore & Ryan Lewis - The End.  YouTube Description: "Ben Haggerty, better known by his stage name Macklemore, is a hip hop artist based in Seattle, Washington. Macklemore works with Ryan Lewis (Producer) Andrew Joslyn (Violin), Owour Arunga (Trumpet) and Zach Fleury (Drums, Guitar, Bass)."

I don't know what to say about this one:

Macklemore & Ryan Lewis - Irish Celebration.

But what the hell -

I'm Shipping Up To Boston - Dropkick Murphys (from The Departed; originally by Woody Guthrie).

The End, My Friend. . .

Rawcore

This song manages to do two things at once: provide complexity while maintaining a laid-back vibe. Dope.

Peanut Butter Wolf & Madlib - Rawcore.

Rawcore

...Maniac

Kings Of Leon - Pyro.

I'm a bigger fan of their older stuff, but to be fair I haven't listened that much to what they've been putting out since they got on the radio.  I liked their hard-to-understand half-gibberish wailing and crooning I guess.  YouTube has this to say: "The bar is like a microcosm of the world—full of angry, often lonely people, users, pariahs, and the few people willing to make small, seemingly-insignificant changes for the better. Oh, and the Kings of Leon." Oh, and this: "This is a really great song from the album, I'm hoping that the radio won't overplay it to death like they did with Use Somebody."

...Maniac