Hardships & Head Trips

by King Rhythm

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$7 USD
Limited Edition Transparent Red Vinyl LP
Record/Vinyl + Digital Album
The first 100 copies are limited edition transparent red vinyl like the picture above, after that straight black. The LP comes with a nice heavyweight cardstock lyric sheet.

Also includes immediate download of 9-track album in your choice of 320k mp3, FLAC, or just about any other format you could possibly desire.

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1.	No Magic / Bangin' The Wall 07:33	lyrics	buy track
remember them remember them remember them you're never them shoot em down go and shoot em down go and shoot em down go and shoot em down my articles drift on return of this mountain high pile pebbled collapse my last lapse was the wrath of graph no wizard life on behalf stands tipping on hands dripping tons to turn back time glorious escape could take forever on a f leet of feather but alas no future I'm telling short times to grow tall and f lee far from the victims fall forever if all was what we envisioned smiles would drip away tradition run and take a picture of this consider it all consider it all I've seen the rise and I've seen the fall and there's gotta be more than just a war but I can't be sure no I can't be sure on detour day they say come out to play but I've got bills to pay what was that line about wave me from the yard they owe me go and shoot em down go and shoot em down go and shoot em down go and shoot em down bangin the wall there's a pang in my all when it all went wrong is why we wear it all bangin the wall why we wear it all bangin the wall there's a pang in my all when it all went wrong is why we wear it all bangin the wall when it all went wrong In management classes we lost our glasses a babbling group the troop was molasses thick as thieves we all are becoming nose loosening eyeless running I meant to rub and forged a sub par port from two sticks and a handful of bricks burnt in a tub called try my oh my how the cubs lie and we all lay paying binded and praying pleated with questions about obeying the true painting is an ear in a bag on the f loor listening to gore but I still believe in Hip-Hop it lives in me even if I ignore time stands still even if I detour time stands still even if I explore where time stands still until thoroughly presented with a kill then it gets quite ill cause it's on you bro no excuses no where to go you can lie to yourself but you still know the truth it reveals itself in all that you proof so to the trees for a brand new breeze with a band of b's we'll make it with ease but I'm wrong these leaves unleash disease and those others that sting care only for their wings it's survival and the arrival is undeniable the colors the smell everything around tells us it's hell the food is rotting our dream is forgetting we've requested our resignation papers put in our two week notice note to self please help us we need focus bangin the wall there's a pang in my all when it all went wrong is why we wear it all bangin the wall why we wear it all bangin the wall there's a pang in my all when it all went wrong is why we wear it all bangin the wall when it all went wrong
2.	Demolition Session 95 02:32	lyrics	buy track
close minded and blinded by time blinking I'm livid on lost words from demolition sessions since peace was in presence the pretense is essence throbbing and shaken from a pang heart with strength I won't struggle from defense to offend is quick maintain steady steady steady steady I'm dipped in batter and breaded you ask the matter I'm headed for you with knife through a note and a dull tongue to sponge all this terrif ic specific subtleties and mumble ease with a mind for gold it's as old as you've become a dream so broken your pieces have run far away to all sides they reside unseen laugh after laugh won't cover up facts for future reference you're dead without peeping game even if you want to creep and crawl slowly lif t your head where your eyeball eclipses the stall f ine I've no objections and I'm not here to judge just want to pull from all directions absorb and love so dig baby dig I'm still trying to f ind a way in a mascot is cool but I'm looking for my statue though it's rough and still being sanded with many steps to polish I won't be astonished when it's f inished cause the work's vicious and my lef t side's callused the meds I can't af ford and the meds I adore and the meds call me more and more each day I detour from rumble to ozone life's known as insane with slight variation my motives are many so I must go on it's epic it's not just me but those before I owe them more than I can ever even give my second hand course with no bib so palette it palette it damn I suspect that I'm foiled again I just gotta accept that it can't end clean no whirl of a wand makes a blur a bond no no whirling wand makes a blur bond we can brush up f its and break down it was so good but it's still here now soon the bell rings so let's play it again as it was born for as it asks us to it's do you get it not does it get you
3.	The Machinist 04:52	lyrics	buy track
I see the recommended dabblings from disabled hands veteran stands conglomerates loosing grip to age old time merits run like ferrets end up clear the way disappear but return the drums are twisted and I swear there's no escape for the enlisted it's in everything when everything's in its infancy we're on trial there we learn to judge I fear the tears in expectation turn to a grudge soon to follow hollow the echoes are timed my process is saturated with evacuated bust the move fellas on declaration day as they held us planning relish in old sentiment snowy charm dermatologist don't disinfect the abrasion we must dissent there's too much in hand for one dictator wrath of indignation and the last one to listen should be the f irst naked in a new land leaves you well versed I'm cursed with contents rehearsed I'm cursed with contents rehearsed I dip my neck tie in mud and wear it with pride to the funeral above below I reside a student of the blueprint using ink to rewrite with additional content many names to remember the faces stay longer and when they disappear I know I've grown older I'd love to see your smile once more but my ticket's been bought and I'm off to war duties a chore I can see that again behind stacks is a means to an end a budding aggression aggravated chin up back to the board a minute ago I couldn't care less new stress my whole out then the opposite now I don't know where I stand this had to be planned cause it makes for such worry heart beating life eating allegory pinned to my pen just waiting to be stroked stricken then I strike back like an old hack do the damn thing I'm back chanting still romancing old dreams I can't really react to scenes but I trace my steps clean like a machine
4.	In Operation W/ K-The-I??? 05:32	lyrics	buy track
the fall is in us all only want a part and to be part some art love and no loss that killer rush I never had almost free enough but never quite there never up to snuf f more to quilt still on stilt and left out easily see where we stop by looking where we stay some cats got all the luck and others are just fucked and it's so serious medication time indeed and it's all looking bad so tell me how much of the f ight is just looking past through the long nights and cold sits endless pages get the shifts endless thoughts only f ind the slits to peer through one million looking backs for everything but the blues anything even a distorted lens would suf f ice I could make it do real well rubbing blood shot eyes with clenched f ist hands my current anthem sings your life must be nice and it's a hit on par with a perfect dream to drift but it's getting more apparent this dream leads to a clif f with no comfort just force now shove me dropping all the bandages propping up the damages make a new display today and f ight the fear forever what will be the answer for the cancer come and take a glance or die blinded (k-the-i???) we disappear then appear drifting mission in action victims still I haven't found inner solitude we're f inally gonna make it even if it takes later than expected inside rotary phones formula tone tuning I wasn't assuming anything whether we bring output circuit board transistor time and relapse skip the notion motion sensor a sense of ability given that we take for granted this device isotope beginner from when it started prequel normalized and free f lourished they would kill sadly enough does this allow me to compromise my self integrity placed as a question I would quickly like answered really though placebo illumines people person personal recording stored forever a bright sunny day minimized I only have eyes for revolutionary war since I constructed a linear offspring compared to a solar eclipse I only imagine what it takes for the sake of evolution I mustn't digress mind over matter only occurs once I digested self esteem meanwhile back to the scene until they're revoked I consider the conditions extreme what will be the answer for the cancer come and take a glance or die blinded it hums in operation during you can't hear it but when it's gone you realize what's missing
5.	The Victims Fall 06:42	lyrics	buy track
uncurtaining catch a frame hand held shout with the nameless lock heads repeated lock heads in a semi-sweet motion conducting reminiscent of the remaining renaming reaping to full bodied and weeping we're so sad just a few life forms left they'll be killed soon for prof it buy them to save them make it quick just a few forms left make us quit monopolies design make it quiet under the radar illegally no permission needed as they're under the radar rewritten to fit rewriting to rob no more illegal now the norm new rules for everything here's your form in line hours at a time next step one step behind no rhythm no rhyme novacaine us all fears product placement's in the mall from ambien to xanax you think I'd feel relax but it only covers my tracks I cry grenades in crowds supplying busted vision I'm pleading simpler version they're pledging join our legion this blocking's my rendition of time and space hates more hardships more head trips more dead weight when it all comes down to the wire I won't be the one blasting missiles I'll be ranting at the top of my lungs in the street while tearing my hair you see me some semi-mad semi-poetic eloquence capturing the moment just right cause there's always and anthem needed one of the bravest endings known to man tear jerking in all it can knew this was a one way mission in tradition steeped then swept it's in the genes trapped for the length but this will be the f ire I love you very much please pass me the torch to burn our path f inal the end is good going down in f lames and I'm still here ranting on and on again victory is ours but what of the scars in my brain in my brain in my brain it's in my brain at the perfectly wrong time you're everything to me all that I want to be but never will I keep mementos close by with a carriage on call at a discount price and I'm driven to the carnage that I rent every week on a shoe string budget and I deliver myself to the news daily so I'm growing into the ever deepening pinnacle of a blues singer gone singular and weary with my busted guitar missing all strings so it's a drum and I pound it repeatedly singing keep smiling keep striving keep defying keep defying I expect the illusive team of Davis and Waters to walk in at any moment and say you got us to defy orders so we've come together for the f irst time with you at the helm please spit that dope rhyme but time's running out keep striving I shout with no accompaniment it seems I've smashed my guitar to pieces my illusions are serious and I'm working with my friend delirious
6.	Our Hero (Post-Bop Filth) 03:09	lyrics	buy track
my alarm spit up just to provoke who set it it's genius how they creep while you sleep no matter I got that restless leg now dig the release from a bout with a case I'm sick of my face I gotta get out of this place and soon after there began the laughter tell me what were they about I tried the subtle approach I said listen you know I'm broken my eye keeps falling out I sent away for that adhesive package they advertise but it hasn't arrived and I'm riddled riddled with complication cause by the look of things I'm fresh out of rings so coming back home will be no easy task and in my continual must for calculation I grow hungry for information take notes at the cafe and study life from afar laughing to myself clicking my teeth tearing my napkin to tiny pieces rubbing my hands together back and forth back and forth feel the warmth feel the heat fear the deceit ah victory another theory complete and the plot thickens new ingredients were tossed I heard Dizzy and Bird were going to be playing here tonight so I'll stay for the sight but they lied those bastards always do somebody said something about a f lat tire there was also talk of bad weather an unpaid debt and a horn in the hock but I knew they were talkin bout me you always know when they're talkin bout you if they're smiling laughing brimming with maddness that's the sign lunatics off with their heads off with their heads let em roll I bite my nails and feed the snails a delicate insanity that prevails there's so many bugs out tonight somebody could easily set up shop they would surely bite they're suckers for a good jolt of electricity they pay for that kind of thing come out of the woodwork in droves
7.	Future Museum 05:43	lyrics	buy track
I had a dream you were a great whale and I was blowing on you from a hose to help your colors expose and I was naked in the library with just one blanket wrapped around me spinning in a chair there you smiled and peeped my style then I saw you outside where we were to meet two of the famous portrayers I was jumping with joy to see them as you lifted your phone to take shots then I awoke alone from a long weeks sleep framed by a pill and two aches that repeat this is how you must compete I will not be defeated even though it deafeningly roars disguised as chores that take the lifeline from me but I break into my kit so secret so scientific filled with inventions and rewards my prized no bell that rings silent so as not to disturb you when you need to be alerted it's all coming together like knitting and the breather isn't the reliever it's the stinger hey stranger come tap me on the shoulder when I arrive I'll rearrange my disguise I'm in need of a fresh pair of eyes and your lovely reward I just couldn't af ford but how was I to know it was all I held to grow see I thought I had the formula f igured out but I'll f igure it out some way I'll f igure it out that's all I see
8.	Mad And Hating (For Syd) 02:18	lyrics	buy track
I'm still mad and hating I'm still mad and hating a jigsaw puzzle chopped here's my marvel for hanging purposes simply umbrella the presentation is your f ight form and function is the death of your art be smart let it breathe so much heart so much for your heart attack it's not all white and black the place we can't hang is where we're put at the place we can't hang is where we need to be the people you meet aren't here to save your life but they're not here to destroy you either they’re here to set you up and hope that you crumble I step away to see a clearer picture everybody's running a scam on me trying to get me wrapped up in some little web must resist I'm clearly in a web but they want to spin more they need to spin more to live madness in a dream dream in the madness more about the scheme yo a jigsaw puzzle chopped here's my marvel for hanging purposes simply umbrella I'm still mad and hating I'm still mad and hating
9.	Current Floor aka Kid Do The Brick 03:42		buy track

about

King Rhythm navigates a vast musical landscape. Always diverse and changing, this Baltimore, Maryland native transcends boundary by combining elements across the auditory spectrum to create his own truly unique form of Hip-Hop. Musically, his style has always maintained speciﬁc aesthetics. Dirty beats, hard, funky, and aggressive are his foundation. Where previous works have focused on a more electronic and dancey sound, his latest album, Hardships & Head Trips, ﬁnds him replacing the synth grooves with fuzzed out guitars and noisy drones to create a Prog-Hop album of Psychedelic proportions. Inspired by Sonic Youth, The Secret Machines, TV On The Radio, Can, and Miles Davis, his songs are expansive and evolving with multiple parts and extreme changes. Couple these elaborate instrumentals with lyrics and you'll hear what truly sets him apart. With heavy raps, reflective and analytical, his lyrics are often an accounting of what's wrong while eluding to the outlook that most can be made right. Some songs are cryptic, often needing multiple listens to gain ground for interpretation, while others are easily digestible with no room to wiggle, just stark and frank.

Hardships & Head Trips leads oﬀ with the epic opening double track, No Magic / Bangin' The Wall. This is the chronicling of King Rhythm's past up to the present. An odd timed lament that transforms halfway into the guitar feedback wail of Bangin' the Wall. Next, the densely layered headstrong Indie Rock challenge, Demolition Session 95, recalls a tense confrontation between King Rhythm and his devils advocate. The conﬂict is nixed with, "It's do you get it? Not does it get you." Immediately, we're thrown into The Machinist. The track begins with a string and Rock section that segues into the main theme. With a noisy siren-like guitar squeal and Sonic Youth drones that evoke factory machinery, the song describes the blurring of polarities relinquished to time. In Operation features a guest appearance by the Mush / Big Dada artist K-the-I???. The songs is established with a classical string motif followed by a Wurlitzer beat thump into the swirling hook, "What will be the answer / for the cancer / come and take a glance or / die blinded." The song ends with a time signature shifting groove based on the original motif. The next two songs work in tandem. The Victims Fall & Our Hero follow the story of devolution and subsequent mental decline of a semi-ﬁctious character. In Victims, the character moves from politically cynical to a nightmarishly apocalyptic view of society deepened to a battle against his own hallucinatory self. Our Hero furthers the saga as the character awakens and ﬁnds himself transformed into an apathetic, paranoid, morose ﬁgure; a reﬂection of what society has done to him. Here we follow him as he ventures out into the city night. After, Future Museum epitomizes the dreamscape, atmospherically Jazzy until the end explodes with a swirled-up and tripped-out Rock escape. Mad And Hating is the surprisingly simple and catchy track. Its boom-bap beats, guitar bamphs, and fuzzy melody lay the perfect footing for King Rhythm's tongue in cheek, hater sympathizing anthem. The albums instrumental closer, Current ﬂoor, rides like a static wave breaking out. It's the final summation.

credits

released December 8, 2009

All songs written, produced, recorded, arranged, mixed, and engineered by King Rhythm
Guest appearance by K-The-I??? on In Operation
Recorded and mixed at Baltimore Analog
Mastered by Jeff Lipton and Jessica Thompson @ Peerless Mastering
All songs published by Ones And Zeros Music / BMI ©2009
Design / Layout by Vanguard Files