Lead rapping, commercial airline piloting - OBELISK
Lead rhyming, celebrity inventor cat being - Piccolo Braden the cat
DISCOGRAPHY
All Cat Jams releases are available for free download, courtesy of Archive.org. Click on the covers to be taken to the archive page.
full-lengths:
Digiki feat. MC Cat Genius, Sarbochron, and Channing Kennedy Pancaked 2CD single
Cat Jams, June 2005 The first proper MC Cat Genius track. Vocal duties shared with Piccolo's owners Sabrina and Channing (including some jacked from a guy who shoplifted from their store), and production by Digiki, a Tokyo-based French "anti-DJ" and remixer/producer/collaborator of Toog, Mai Ueda, Momus, Shugo Tokumaru, and Tokyo Fun Party. The single also includes over thirty remixes by a global cast of professional, hobbyist, and non- musicians, and the packaging recreates Piccolo in his titular state, including a condiment packet which which the home listener can conduct new experiments. OBELISK produces two of the remixes, "Pancaked (OBELISK remix) (instrumental)" and "Pancakizzled (Foreal OBELISK remix) / Drop It Like A Hawk"; the second half of the latter is a live recording of the duo's educational rap about red-tailed hawks. "Pancaked" also spawned two music videos, Ted Cianciosi's for "Pancaked (OBELISK remix)", and Shunsuke Kuroki's for Dritt Drittel's "Pancaked2 (5MCs&1GUITARHYTHMIX)".
OBELISK Hot Beats / Cool Treats Cat Jams, June 2005 The aforementioned debut from OBELISK, a party-bumping collection of instrumental hiphop tracks made using the preset beat arrangement software Hiphop E-Jay 2. Includes two vocal tracks, "Aviators" (in which OBELISK's vocals are rearranged by Sonore's DJ Chienloup) and a cover of the Fat Boys' "My Nuts" (his first collaboration with MC Cat Genius). An initial run of 50 garage-saled random textbooks, defaced with grade-school caliber grafitti and collage, with the CD itself in an ejector case hot-glued into a carved-out cranny on the inside back cover. Glued between two pages in each book is a mini-CDR of remixes by Digiki, James Harvey, the Marriage, and the Diet Soda Supertsars, and a poorly-received live rework by Tape Store during his last-place performance at his junior high's Battle of the Bands. Hot Beats / Cool Treats spawned an offical music video for "Tomato Saber", made by Stephen Howard, using footage shot by his mother.
OBELISK Now I OBELIXTape my nuts to ev'ry ho Cat Jams, April 2006
The first OBELISK mixtape, featuring remixes, mashups, new tracks, live tracks, and at least one interlude. The mashups on this disc hint at the live show's dizzying multiple audio layers. Packaging is a tiny pillow stuffed with loose snacks (the second run of pillows was stuffed with grass and leaves and occasional insects), sewn totally shut, with the CD's tracklisting protectively taped around the the disc's silver side.
The result of Japanese indie-auteur Cornelius' 2002 global remix contest, from which he handpicked his 12 favorite tracks (article, review). MC Cat Genius remixes and raps on Animal Family feat. MC Cat Genius' "MC Cat Genius' BomBassTic Re-bomb".
An unsolicited tribute-slash-remix-slash-healthy-departure album by British cyber-pop outfit Tanuki (whose members are now in Law). The original site is down, so here's the archived version, which for some reason even has working mp3 links!
For North American and European distribution, PM was bundled with Cornelius' Five Point One DVD. MC Cat Genius remixes and raps on Animal Family feat. MC Cat Genius' "MC Cat Genius' BomBassTic Re-bomb".
The debut album by future members of Warhammer 48K, CAVE, Miami Dragons, and countless other indispensible Como acts. MC Cat Genius raps on "Save It For Hat Day (Animal Family feat. MC Cat Genius remix)". Run of approximately 150.
Digiki feat. MC Cat Genius and Sarbochron PancaKCed January 2004, Cat Jams / Blue Ribbon
An abbreviated promo version of Pancaked, commemorating MC Cat Genius' first live show, which took place at the Boley Gallery in Kansas City as part of Blue Ribbon Press's "Fancy Feast" installation. Package design by Jacob Sharp. Numbered run of 35.
Digiki vs. Blue Ribbon Press Pancaked: Digiki's Breakfast Bonus Disc June 2005, Cat Jams / Blue Ribbon The second collaboration with Kansas City's Blue Ribbon Press design collective. MC Cat Genius and OBELISK rap on "Still Pancaked (All Stars Remix feat. Dre, MC Cat Genius, OBELISK, MC Can't Rhyme, Darsh, & Glitch D)", and the unlisted partial a cappela; elements of OBELISK's two remixes appear in "Muffin & Milkshake Giga Mix". Package design by Alex Schubert. Numbered run of 50 mini-CDRs.
A Cat Jams promotional sampler mix comissioned from modern Renaissance man James Harvey. MC Cat Genius appears on "c. Your Sister's Def"; this track and "f. channingbeats1" use elements of past MC Cat Genius tracks. Numbered run of 33 duped-over cassettes.
A Cat Jams promotional sampler mix comissioned from Painfully Midwestern Records head and KCOU 88.1 FM alumnus Jason K-fer. MC Cat Genius appears on nearly every track. Numbered run of 33 duped-over cassettes.
A Cat Jams promotional sampler mix comissioned from frequent Cat Jams collaborator Digiki. MC Cat Genius appears on "Save it for hat day", with Digiki edits. Numbered run of 33 duped-over cassettes.
A compilation of Cat Jams remixes submitted to Digiki's Kitchen remix project. MC Cat Genius raps uncreditedly at the end of Hyottoko vs Nyan Nyan's "You Should Comment On This". Numbered run of 50.
The web-only (now offline) single for the Digiki-produced Darsh / MC Cat Genius collaborative track on Darsh's full-length Concrete. MC Cat Genius raps on the title track (duh).
In 2005, Digiki and Darsh produced this masterfully ludicrous 'avant gangsta fake futurist' missive; now in label/distribution limbo (email him!). MC Cat Genius raps on "Claque un Ollie"; other guests include Toog and Mai Ueda. Discrete, the bundled remix disc, includes "Ollie" remixes by DJ Codomo and DJ Chienloup, an OBELISK remix of "Cash", and contributions by the Mae Shi, O.Lamm, Mahjongg, Carl Stone, and others.
After many many hot remixes, mashups, mixsets, and quiches, Cat Jams artist James Harvey leaked his own debut EP to the web, to precede a much-mangled proper cassette release in 2007. MC Cat Genius appears on "Save It For Hat Day", a new version of "c. Your Sister's Def".
A remix album in which the source artist is Cagesan, a Bicheno owlfinch residing in Paris with his owner Toog. Remixers include Momus, Fashion Flesh, David Fenech, Montag, Felix Kubin, and others. MC Cat Genius contributes/remixes/raps on/ruins everything with "Manteau de Ville". Piccolo's friend Gregg Lewis was comissioned to create a music video for the track.
Digiki's first release for his new east-side employer, Tokyo Fun Party. MC Cat Genius elements appear in "Pancaked Again".
Influences
MC Cat Genius cites as influences: Cam'ron, Garfield, Brak, Ray Smuckles, Teki Latex, Biz Markie, Eminem, Marilyn Manson, Slick Rick, Kool Keith, Shaq Diesel, Tune Luke / Grandpa Cat, Tape Store, the Clipse, Channing Kennedy, MC Can't Rhyme, Jay Chou, L'Trimm, Chimidoro, Nina Hagen, Jar Jar Binks, Trick Daddy, the Genevan Heathen, SoccerBoy, Dipset
OBELISK cites as influences: sharkula, soul plane, dum hats, 40 oz, getting pulled over, dq, midwest college blues, dalmation vests, short pants, taco bell/kfc, losing shit, long distance relationships, sneaking, camel toe, myspace, b-12, scopes, mark it
"MC Cat Genius pads and slinks around onstage in white gloves and a cat mask--he dresses up as his beloved pet, Piccolo--and meows and raps in a cartoonish nasal squeak. His partner, Obelisk, throws down on the mike too when shit gets super nutty, but mostly he's in charge of the canned Fancy Feast--loose, messy tracks that scramble hip-hop beats with sunny, rollicking organ and samples from songs you'd rather forget existed (the Fat Boys' "Protect Yourself/My Nuts," Michael Jackson's "Will You Be There"). Typical lyric content: pancakes, Zubaz pants, butts. Typical stage antics: autographing sample-size bags of Cinnamon Toast Crunch and tossing them to the crowd. In other words, this is armpit-fart humor at its finest."
-----------------
OBELISK & MC Cat Genius are two rappers of different species and occupations, joined together to ignite a show-plode-ing dance fever, be the venue a movie theater, an ice cream parlor, an art gallery, a warehouse loading dock, or a dive bar. Forerunners in the American midwest edutain-hop circuit, these two consummate entertainers unite highbrow and lowbrow as easily as they unite thought-provoking raps with innovatively terrible mashups and presets, or as handsomely as they unite collaborators from Europe, Japan, and the USA.
With such great features as:
a back catalog of CDs packaged in defaced carved-out random books, snack- and grass-filled pillows, and spatula-burnt clamshell cases with condiment packets and activity placemats
a stunning multimedia live show incorporating coloring contests, scary stories, great jokes, bizarre mashed-up backing track re-visions, dumb backing videos, stompin' dance moves, and (of course!) surprises,
good manners,
OBELISK & MC Cat Genius are your premiere option for motivating and reenergizing your middle-management workforce, fast-food parking lot, or dive bar.
CONSIDERING OBELISK & MC CAT GENIUS, ACADEMICALLY
by Channing Kennedy
CEO, Cat Jams Label
Piccolo Braden, better known as MC Cat Genius, is a six-year-old puffy black and white cat. As the celebrity inventor behind the Perfect Pancake Maker and other lifestyle accessories typifying the idiom of 'genius unencumbered by usefulness', he enjoys a playboy's devil-may-care lifestyle, with interests ranging from cruising in his drill machine to rolling on his back. His lyrics and attitude seem in step with typical rap braggadocio, until a line or song about, for example, seducing an owlfinch, raises the possibility that any similarities are a carefully executed, poorly constructed ruse, like a fat fifth-grader discussing the fictional video games he has played. Piccolo's sister Blanche owns Columbia, Missouri's Cat Jams Label (MySpace), a CDR/web/avant-format microlabel with a focus on rule-based and outsider music; Cat Jams has released the bulk of his and OBELISK's proper releases.
MC Cat Genius made his musical debut when he and his owner Channing Kennedy (then working as Animal Family) entered Japanese avant-pop elder statesman Cornelius' Point album remix contest. Out of hundreds of entries from around the world, Cornelius hand-picked thirteen tracks, including "MC Cat Genius' BomBassTic Re-bomb", to comprise 2003's PM by Humans (article, review), which saw distribution in Asia, Europe, and the United States. Channing and Piccolo also received a handsome monetary royalty settlement. As a meta-remix tribute to a meta-musician, borrowing its concept from the Charlie Kaufman movie Adaptation, and which featured a cat who said 'fuck' in a funny voice, "Re-bomb" neatly established MC Cat Genius' juxtaposition of high- and low-concept devices as an internal criticism of popular music forms.
OBELISK, a commercial airline pilot, signed to Cat Jams in 2005. His debut CD of instrumental hiphop tracks, Hot Beats / Cool Treats, simultaneously eschewed both rockist technical instrumental skill and anti-establishment copyright-infringement sampling, instead opting for slick-sounding owner-orphaned presets, neither original nor stolen. By forfeiting both ends of the integrity spectrum, OBELISK sought to remind that entertainment value and a hot-ass xylophone riff could still supersede music politics. Hot Beats / Cool Treats included two vocal tracks, "Aviators" (featuring vocals rearranged by Sonore's DJ Chienloup) and a cover of the Fat Boys' "My Nuts" (his first collaboration with MC Cat Genius). The CD itself came in a run of 50 garage-saled random textbooks, defaced with grade-school caliber grafitti and collage, with the CD itself in an ejector case hot-glued into a carved-out cranny on the inside back cover. To ensure that the packaging would have to be at least partially interacted with / destroyed for the product to be fully experienced, and to further dissolve the demarcation between creator and observer, two unlabeled pages in each book were glued together around a mini-CDR of remixes by Digiki, James Harvey, the Marriage, the Diet Soda Supertsars, and a poorly-received live rework by Tape Store during his last-place performance at his junior high's Battle of the Bands.
Since first performing together at a benefit show to replace a dog statue stolen from an ice cream parlor in early 2005, OBELISK and MC Cat Genius have found in each other a rapping compatriot with sympathetic goals and complementary strengths. OBELISK's winningly conversational delivery provides a counterpoint to Cat Genius' complex rhymes, and a mutual enthusiasm for incredible dance moves and natty outfits makes for a presence as unmissable on the stage as it is on the studio. While hiphop might at first seem an arbitrary or aesthetic decision for these two, its musique-concrete nature and self-digesting treatment of its own anachronisms make it the only idiom that could frame what these two have to say, without being trite or, worse yet, unentertaining.
Radio Dondon Vol.5 features: Toshiyuki Yasuda, Chimidoro, Apple Head, Akane Hosaka, snake charmer music and more. Stream tracks separately at Sonore.com or subscribe to the podcast. Complete playlist here
Digiki feat. MC Cat Genius, Sarbochron, and Channing Kennedy
OBELISK
OBELISK
Cornelius
Tanuki
Cornelius
The I Love You But I'm Not In Love With Yous
Digiki feat. MC Cat Genius and Sarbochron
Digiki vs. Blue Ribbon Press
James Harvey feat. The Catmaster Squad and the Rude Boy of Cats
Thee Pepsies
Digiki
Sayako Tsunekage presents
Darsh & Cat Genius
Darsh
James "The Jams" Harvey
Cagesan
Digiki
