Emanuel Vinson is the sort of absurdly ambitious young musician whose burning desire to express himself in as many ways as possible is bound to warm the heart of the most jaded listener. He takes part in poetry slams at his Chicago high school, he plays drums in a post-rock band and, at the ripe age of 17, he's just made his first solo album, "Etape Un! (My Me, Your Me)," available as a free download off a link on his Web site (www.myspace.com/emanuelvinson).
If the electro-hip-hop, industrial-electronica backings sometimes sound a bit canned -- Vinson crafted the album using Ableton, an audio sequencer playable in real time like an instrument -- his sung/rapped/recited lyrics/tone poems contain bursts of humor, inspiration and poignancy, along with touches of high-school sophomore silliness (perfectly understandable, since he actually was a high school sophomore not that long ago). "It was a creative laxative of sorts," Vinson says of these sounds, and that's no b.s.
- Chicago Sun-Times music critic, Jim DeRogatis
Emanuel targets some pretty lofty goals, but it is apparent that he is willing to put in the work to achieve them. Citing artists as disparate as James Brown and Aphex Twin as artistic heroes, Emanuel Vinson has no problem stepping through and across genre distinctions at a whim's notice. He is a lover of all kinds of art forms and genuinely appreciates the subtleties and dedication that goes into their many facets.
Emanuel Vinson is also a (relatively) seasoned and (completely) fearless performer. Since grade school, he's been an annual participant in Louder Than A Bomb- the world's largest teen-orientated poetry slam festival- competing against 400 other very talented poets to make it to finals and semi-finals, two years in a row. He hones his craft further testing out fresh new material at weekly open mics around the city.
The creative drive of Emanuel Vinson can be displayed succinctly by this: within a month of the publishing of the article opening this kit, he had already written and completed the follow up to Etape Un!, Stage II. Far from a rushed mess, Stage II improved on its predecessor in every way: the production was crisper and cleaner. His lyrical, thematic, and musical range more thoroughly explored, stretching to new ground. And yet, even while crossing into untapped territories, he found a way to rein it in and craft an experience that is more cohesive and tighter than his debut. Following that, he completed THREE : Super Us!, releasing it on Christmas, which took the best elements from it's prequels and expanded and refined them into the fullest realization of his vision yet.
Whether writing folk songs, crafting short stories, or making progressive hip-hop, Emanuel puts everything he has into his art, for you. The world is a huge complicated place, and Emanuel Vinson is steadfast in his mission to utilize the powers of art and fierce dedication to make it the best he possibly can.
Contact at emanuel.vinson@gmail.com
my goal is to write a song better than the purple bottle. and fuck, is it hard.
metal and country are two genres in which i have limited knowledge of, and don't mind keeping it that way. i'm a firm subscriber in the idea that if you make art, you shouldn't consume too much art. i didn't want to listen to too many records in fear that my own would sound too much like other peoples'.
i've always believed that there is undeniable beauty that lies within ignorance.
recording is coming along slowly-but-surely. some of the songs i'm writing for an EP are so much better than the ones from the album. i'm simultaneously working on this EP and my second album, while the first album is in mastering and will likely be ready before the new year.
i will say that after the reviewer-standard three listens, "family tree" is the best song on the album. it's truly like the type of song coldplay always wanted to create (not a dig; i like coldplay, i just think they're kinda soulless).
not only is their "big pop move" going to help them create their best album yet (and i'm a HUGE fan of both of their previous ones), but it's going to introduce them to a larger audience as well.
tv already has a pretty widespread audience, they're on a major label, and they've already created an album (and an EP!) that will make very many "best of decade" lists. they're one of my all-time favorites, but i don't think dear science, is going to skyrocket them to radiohead status.
well, it's less tropicalia and more psych-- it's sort of hard to describe, but el guincho and dog bite make their songs the same way, pretty much, even though the songs that come out are very different.
No, I haven't. For some reason I can't download the .rar file onto my computer. I'm not too bad. Life has been a little hectic, but other than that, it's been okay. How are you?
My only suggestion, though, is maybe turn down the music a little when you're rapping. Sometimes the music drowns you out and you're hard to understand.
Then again, I always listen the voice as an instrument before paying attention to the lyrics, so I guess it's alright!
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