Chopped and Screwed, Screwed and Chopped, Chewed and Scropped, Clarked and Screwed, Slowed and Throwed….. The list of euphemisms for this deep-south genre of music is endless. Since the late 90’s Screwed and Chopped music has been, albeit slowly, permeating the vast sound-scape that is contemporary music. The languid guttural rhythms and voice-profiles that are created by the slowed down tracks are more than catchy.
Screwed and Chopped music originated, geographically speaking in Port Arthur, Houston, menschlich speaking from Robert Earl Davis Jr. a.k.a Dj Screw. Screw was the inventor of the genre that now has a choke-hold on the Houston music scene. Even though Screw died in 2000, his tape store is still open and doing business, selling only Screw tapes. The lasting success of the Screw’s store is a symbol of the permanence of the Screwed and Chopped music style. Screwed music is in itself slow, so slow and extensive in space-time that the listener can almost drift into an eternal version of a single song.
The eternal extension of a song is an interesting concept; many artists of different media have sought to create immortal works of art. In a sense Screwed and Chopped as a genre allows songs to extend past their original conception in an eternal manner. Creating immortal tunes.
It isn’t too difficult to understand why Screwed and Chopped music has infiltrated other spheres of music aside from hip-hop. Recently much-acclaimed band, Teeth Mountain released a Chopped and Screwed live record. Live on Not Not Fun Records is an excellent composition of a Teeth Mountain Live set, slowed down.
All I’m trying to say is that Screwed and Chopped is the new blues guitar, it is too good to pass up, by anyone. Keep on seeking Kunst Screw or immortality.
Check out the Teeth Mountain Record or Some DJ Screw.
Another week, more music, here’s the best picks on the playlist from this past week:
Courtesy of myspace.com/princeramaofayodhya
MD PICK OF THE WEEK: PRINCE RAMA OF AYODHYA “ZETLAND” [s/r] – Might you have forgotten Prince Rama in the haze of ecstatic blues last Thursday? Perhaps? Well then, you should check out this album, clad in its own fur, on our very own playlist. Swirling psychedelic anthems sound as if you would be worshiping the god-queen yourself clad in nothing but sonic fuzz.
ELODIE’S PICK OF THE WEEK: LOCAL NATIVES “Gorilla Major” [Frenchkiss] - Sunny California meets almost tribal percussive rhythms with very jubilant and ecstatic hooks.
DARIUS’ PICK OF THE WEEK: WOODHANDS “Remorsecapade” [Paper Bag] – Synth and drums electro-pop duo with glam swagger and oh-so-approaching-manic “on the ups” emotional intensity.
ADAM GREEN “Minor Love” [Possum] – This sounds like an anti-folk crooner Lou Reed. Green is the co-founder of the Moldy Peaches and in this album the crass lyrics seem to be the focal point.
XIU XIU “Dear God I Hate Myself” [Kill Rock Stars] - This album is very intense and incredibly emotive, but well produced and an interesting mix of weird electronica sounds.
CRAIG RAMSEY “Parting Gift for a Party Girl” [s/r] – Ramsey is Bear’s front man’s solo debut. The album has a very twee crisp clean and airy lush folk strains.
Jamaica Plains ambient noisenik Many Mansions brought his tropical vibes to VKR’s door last week to get us excited for the days when it stays light past 6 PM. Let the sweet jamz roll on.
When I first heard Mountain Man’sAnimal Tracks, the simple chords and hauntingly immaculate harmonies left in my mind no room to question the irony of their name.
Comprised of three ladies from Vermont, they describe themselves as “a creature growing from three mouths: Molly Erin Sarle, Alexandra Sauser-Monnig, Amelia Randall Meath.” They sound like the hills, like the crisp winter air. What comes out of them is a sort of true modern folk–handcrafted songs that emerge straight from their fingers and their vocal chords, songs built upon three soft and powerful voices that often intertwine to create one, immense, mountainous sound.
Signed to Underwater Peoples, they seem to be in good company, alongside Real Estate, Pill Wonder, and Alex Bleeker and the Freaks. And though they have yet to release a true album, their songs are available for free download at their BandCamp page, and fortunately they will be releasing a 10″ soon.
Below you’ll find a couple of videos–each of which provides us with a momentary escape from our modern world’s electronica-suffused musical self-alienation.
