Studiophile: April 2013
Cyril Da Great
Ten-year Brighton Park veteran of the Chicago and Northwest Indiana rap scene, Cyril Da Great has followed up his Da Birth Of A Great 1 album with his new record, Adolescence, recorded, mixed, and mastered at Mike Repel‘s REFORMATORY studios in Chicago. Repel was effusive in his praise for Cyril: “When I signed this artist he looked me in my eye and told me he was going to give me a hit record. I believe he may have just delivered.”
Cyril’s ability to turn just about anything, including current events, into a punchline and songwriting based on his life experiences truly showcase the rapper’s skill at molding words like putty in diverse styles going from hard to soft. Adolescence includes a dynamic range of rap and hip-hop. Tracks also include contributions from R&B/soul/gospel vocalist Hank “The Sax Man,” whose delivery amps up the mood in a way Repel says “the ladies will love,” while harder-edged tracks like “Chi Town Horror Flick” paint a “darker atmosphere with soundtrack quality sound effects.” Contributors include D’Nero (Forked River, N.J.) and Jixer Nixer (St. Louis). Adolescence is due out April 2.
At SONIC PALACE studios, former The Infamous vocalist Joe Tedesco and his new band Vulgar are in final mixes with Matt Mercado (Pivot Man/Mindbomb) as both engineer and producer for their seven-song, self-titled debut, following up their three-song EP released in the summer of 2012. The band has built a new following performing at the Ironhorse Music Festival and Metro. A pre-release show is scheduled for April 10 at Chalk in Forest Park with comedy-metal act Green Jello.
RADIANCE MUSIC STUDIO in Homewood and Fierce Atmospheres have just wrapped up the Master Of Puppets session for a tribute to Metallica to be released on Versailles Records. The band enlisted Chicago vocalist Angelo Negrette to sing on various tracks . . . Lewiston, Maine-based Living Impaired will be in the Chicago area rehearsing for their 2013 reunion show and will track at Radiance for a new EP to be released this summer.
Lots of activity at CHICAGO RECORDING COMPANY so far this year: Frank Lucas‘ song “Melodies Of Life” was recorded in Studio 4 by Mat Lejeune. Studio 4 also hosted Great Divide, while Churchill spent two days recording for their upcoming release with CRC’s Lejeune and Jon Zacks . . . CRC hosted the recording of Robert Randolph & The Family Band Presents: The Slide Brothers, featuring Shemekia Copeland on vocals engineered by Zacks . . . David Eigenberg from “Sex & The City” was in the studio recently to record some voice-overs for the MetLife commercial that CRC’s own Eric Cauwels mixed. It aired during the Academy Awards telecast in March.
The new Rockie Fresh mixtape, mastered at THE BOILER ROOM, is now available for free download. Other albums recently mastered at the facility by Collin Jordan include Chicago-based Irish rockers Kevin Flynn & The Avondale Ramblers, Psalm One, and The D-Rays. Boiler Room also has a supergroup feather in its cap: Spl:t S:ngle, featuring Jason Narducy of Verbow on vox and guitar, Britt Daniel from Spoon on bass and vox, and Jon Wurster from Superchunk and the Mountain Goats on drums. The new record was produced by Matt Allison (Alkaline Trio and The Lawrence Arms).
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Category: Columns, Monthly, Studiophile
