The Wetworks

Greetings,

As some of you know, for the past three years I've made music and djed under the moniker of The Wetworks. Since I've spent the majority of the year writing and performing poetry, I've largely put music on the back burner for the time being. To be completely candid, I rarely check my music myspace page anymore these days.

However, recently I was talking to a good friend and great musician named Ryan Oyer about doing a remix of one of his songs in the vein of the Gorillaz. A few weeks ago I started writing lyrics in my head, and in about a week's time, I'd come up with two verses and a hook (which may or may not make the completed product, but we'll see). Anyway, a few nights ago, the thought hit me to actually construct a little something to let Ryan hear and give me something to practice the verses over. So, the tinkering began.



I realized as I was working on the track that I haven't made anything production wise in at least six months, if not longer. It felt good to be back in the swing of things, arranging, working out drum patterns, layering, etc. Last night I quickly threw a working demo together to present to Ryan, and fortunately, he enjoyed what he heard.

Through performing this year, I've had the immense honor of meeting a wide array of musicians and artists. It dawned on me for the first time that they have no idea about other things that I've been involved with, so hopefully this remix will be a good introduction for those who have only seen me in one light.



While talking with Ryan last night, I told him about my experience as Wetworks and some of the projects I've done. I told him that last year, I put out a record called Government Air. Having a little bit of time today, I found a review of the project that you guys and girls can check out. My computer crashed earlier this year, so I lost the songs, but I might search the Internet and see what I can scrounge up to present you guys with something you can hear in its entirety. In the meantime, if you want to hear some of the stuff I've done, you can check out http:myspace.com/thewetworks3030

Here's the review:

Government Air Review
Scotio(opinionhated.wordpress.com):


Recently, I was presented with music from an underground artist to review. Being that I do enjoy such occasions being thrown into my lap, I accepted the offer for the reviewing of the material. Oddly enough, it was music from a source that I recently learned of earlier this year. Apparently, it's a really small world(even smaller online, I've noticed). With the opportunity to review the new music from The Wetworks, I rolled up my sleeves, turned up my headphones and let the music roll. The Wetworks is best described as the American leg of the ever growing Dubstep subgenre of electronic music more than just a Drum & Bass act. If you're not familiar with Dubstep music, but do find yourself enjoying good electronic music that ranges from slow and eerily ambient to reggae-inspired hip moving driven basslines then that is the music for you. Being that I'm not only a fan of said genre, but also, as I've already stated, a fan of The Wetworks, I was very comfortable with this album.

The album is titled Government Air, which to most seems like it's going to be filled with a bunch of politically charged music. But, such is not the case, here. For the track "Shift," you won't find any left or right wing propaganda lurking within the pulsating bass drops or the haunting synths that seem to call out to some dark side of yourself. Don't think this is going to turn out to be some Teargas & Plateglass material. No sir. Once the drums kick in, you're wondering if Prodigy and Burial made some sort of pact to team up under this moniker. The drum hits are fast enough to urge you call the cops to report broken speed limits. The funniest factor of the song for me kicks in when Wetworks pulls out the Street Fighet punch sound effect for the song. When I heard it, my mind instantly recognized it and I had the strangest feeling to perform a Hadouken fireball. The song is one second shy of hitting the 6 & 1/2 minute mark. The addition of sounds that gets thrown in is just mindboggling. Wetworks doesn't seem to want to take anything out. Instead, the sound goes like G.W. Bush for oil territory(MORE!!! MORE!!!). What's even more shocking is the fact that everything fits. At one point, there are so many musical tracks going off that it's nearly impossible to sit there and count them all. But, as I said, they all fit into the song. That's skill right there, folks.

The song "Thievery" houses the same soundbite that Mobb Deep used for their intro of the album Murda Muzik. Featuring Soundtype 23, the song jumps and gallops while a vocal looping ends up sounding like ancient druid chanting. There are a wide assortment of sound effects throughout the entire song. It seemed like the folks just went into a garage and used whatever they could find, recorded it hitting against things, and then looped it. To say that it's awesome would be an understatement towards it. At one point, there is a looping of electronic sounds where it sounds like phazers, a teleporter, and other weird noises from an episode of Star Trek. If they are samples from such, then Trekkies are now something to fear in music . . . and not in a negative way.

On the track "Savior," The Wetworks sounds strikingly similar to Shackleton of Skull Disco Dubstep music. That could be the use of African drums for the song. But, I will admit that the comparisons start to quickly evaporate around the 2 minute mark. The Wetworks works back into their soundbite clips, rapidfire drumming, and star hopping synth sounds. There is no staying in place for this music, here. It is across the board, but not in a dangerous and unforgiven sort of way. Around the 5:38 mark, you even hear horns included for the mix. It's subtle and brief, but it's a quick nod to the jazz roots of music, which birthed a lot of these fast attacks and intricate time signatures.

"Strange Powers," the album closer, comes on like a rush of steam through a hollow pipe. And, I'm not using that as a simile. It really sounds like a rush of steam coming through a hollow pipe. It's intelligent, but at some point it becomes a bit overbearing. And that could be because it's primarily happening in the left channel of your speaker/headphone system. It's quite distracting, especially in headphones. If there was ever a time where you wouldn't mind the canceling of a sound in one of these songs, that would be the case. It's a good introduction piece for the song, but past the introduction point it hogs up a lot of the listeners attention and makes them sort of ignore the other amazing parts that are going on within the song.

"Alpha," the album opener, comes on like an intergalactic air raid alarm sounding off. Though it is interesting and quite different, it's a tad bit too far left field. Or, that could be due to the intro of the song lasting almost a minute long. In today's ADHD world, most folks wouldn't be able to sit through the whole thing to experience what comes after. And, oddly, after the intro, the song becomes very much so enjoyable and entertaining. I could say that it's like the music that is played when the hero steps into the picture to save the day from the attack. It has that heroic and softly bold aura going on with it.

Being only eight (8) songs in length, you would think that it's not that long. But, the album comes close to forty (40) minutes in length. Being that I had no expectations from the album except for the desire to listen to the entire album it allowed me to be completely open for what was to come. I do believe that The Wetworks should add in the label of "Dubstep" to the music. The genre fits the music like a tailor made shoe. Government Air is a wonderful album. Aside from the two missteps, it's solid offering. Fans of Kode9, Teargas & Plateglass, and even Distance should give this album a spin. If you're American, you might have found your Dubstep champion to hold up. Notable Tracks are: Shift, Thievery and Dracula.