Voltaire just makes me smile. New York artist/musician Voltaire has been making people smile for years in a scene filled with people that a lot of people mistakenly think don't want to smile, including many of those within the goth scene itself. Originally self-released as a rare EP mostly only available at live shows, Banned On Vulcan!'s four tracks all quickly became favorites of Voltaire's live audiences (and if you haven't seen Voltaire live then pick up his live CD and attempt to find out what you're missing) and so it was eventually released on Voltaire's label at the time, Projekt Records. If you haven't figured it out by now this EP is a tribute to the most popular sci-fi television franchise of all time, Star Trek, which produced five television series (six if you count the animated show that ran from 1973 to 1974) spanning 30 seasons plus eleven movies including the newly relaunched J.J. Abrams franchise that is bound to produce at least one sequel. I have to admit that I was a big Next Generation fan as a kid and also watched the first few seasons of Voyager so I have a geek love for this album on top of just being a big Voltaire fan. What makes this EP so good and Voltaire's music in general is really his attention to detail. Voltaire is one of the smartest men I have ever met (something that hopefully his students at The School of Visual Arts greatly appreciate) and so while it's obvious that he is an avid fan of Star Trek, he also wasn't simply satisfied at simple jokes that only a Trekkie would get. There are a lot of really intelligent and clever lyrics put into the twelve and half minutes of this EP. The mini-album starts off with such a bang with the song Worf's Revenge where Voltaire raps from the perspective of the Klingon Federation Officer Worf from Next Generation and later Deep Space 9 fame. Voltaire should rap more often because he does a great job on this track. I love when he says that never sweats a Romulan because he's just a limp-wristed Vulcan with a bad attitude. There's just this great infusion of Trek knowledge with gangsta-rap stereotypes like talking about his cock (his head isn't the only part of Worf that's got ridges) or "I hate the tribbles, those little furry shits...but I love my Klingon bitches because they got three tits". The second track, The USS Make Shit Up, is probably the best (though only my 2nd favorite) covering all of the ridiculous plot devices of each Star Trek series with the exception of Enterprise which wasn't out at the time of this EP (though Voltaire later rectifies this on his live CD with a bonus verse about the Scott Bakula prequel series). Not only does Voltaire sing here about all the ridiculous situations throughout Star Trek but also takes the opportunity to ponder questions like how the Klingons went from looking like Puerto Ricans dressed in gold lamay to heavy metal rockers from the dead with frizzy hair and lobsters on their heads (pointing out the addition of the more prominent ridges over time). The third song, The Sexy Data Tango, was not really a favorite of mine for a long time but there's just something about the idea of Data as a sexual being that one appreciates over time and Voltaire does such a great job once again taking the Star Trek theme but marrying it to a style like a tango that one would not necessarily think to blend but completely works. The last track, Screw The Okampa! (I Want To Go Home) is my favorite on the EP and one of my favorite Voltaire tracks period. This take on the classic West Indies Folk Song "The John B. Sails" made famous by The Beach Boys as "Sloop John B." take the perspective of one of the crew members of Voyager just wanting to get the fuck home playing off of the plot of Star Trek Voyager where the crew of USS Voyager led by Captain Kathryn Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) is stranded in the Delta Quandrant for seven years. Even if you're not a Star Trek fan this is still a great collections of songs that are fun, diverse, catchy, and perhaps will teach you something about one of the Mecca's of geekdom. It's also just always impressive what Voltaire can do with just an acoustic guitar and how fitting he looks as a Vulcan (Vulcan's are so goth because they are basically emotionally dead). Favorite Tracks (all of them): Worf's Revenge (The Klingon Rap), The U.S.S. Make Shit Up, The Sexy Data Tango, and Screw The Okampa! (I Want To Go Home)
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Album a Day (EP Edition): Voltaire - Banned On Vulcan!
Voltaire just makes me smile. New York artist/musician Voltaire has been making people smile for years in a scene filled with people that a lot of people mistakenly think don't want to smile, including many of those within the goth scene itself. Originally self-released as a rare EP mostly only available at live shows, Banned On Vulcan!'s four tracks all quickly became favorites of Voltaire's live audiences (and if you haven't seen Voltaire live then pick up his live CD and attempt to find out what you're missing) and so it was eventually released on Voltaire's label at the time, Projekt Records. If you haven't figured it out by now this EP is a tribute to the most popular sci-fi television franchise of all time, Star Trek, which produced five television series (six if you count the animated show that ran from 1973 to 1974) spanning 30 seasons plus eleven movies including the newly relaunched J.J. Abrams franchise that is bound to produce at least one sequel. I have to admit that I was a big Next Generation fan as a kid and also watched the first few seasons of Voyager so I have a geek love for this album on top of just being a big Voltaire fan. What makes this EP so good and Voltaire's music in general is really his attention to detail. Voltaire is one of the smartest men I have ever met (something that hopefully his students at The School of Visual Arts greatly appreciate) and so while it's obvious that he is an avid fan of Star Trek, he also wasn't simply satisfied at simple jokes that only a Trekkie would get. There are a lot of really intelligent and clever lyrics put into the twelve and half minutes of this EP. The mini-album starts off with such a bang with the song Worf's Revenge where Voltaire raps from the perspective of the Klingon Federation Officer Worf from Next Generation and later Deep Space 9 fame. Voltaire should rap more often because he does a great job on this track. I love when he says that never sweats a Romulan because he's just a limp-wristed Vulcan with a bad attitude. There's just this great infusion of Trek knowledge with gangsta-rap stereotypes like talking about his cock (his head isn't the only part of Worf that's got ridges) or "I hate the tribbles, those little furry shits...but I love my Klingon bitches because they got three tits". The second track, The USS Make Shit Up, is probably the best (though only my 2nd favorite) covering all of the ridiculous plot devices of each Star Trek series with the exception of Enterprise which wasn't out at the time of this EP (though Voltaire later rectifies this on his live CD with a bonus verse about the Scott Bakula prequel series). Not only does Voltaire sing here about all the ridiculous situations throughout Star Trek but also takes the opportunity to ponder questions like how the Klingons went from looking like Puerto Ricans dressed in gold lamay to heavy metal rockers from the dead with frizzy hair and lobsters on their heads (pointing out the addition of the more prominent ridges over time). The third song, The Sexy Data Tango, was not really a favorite of mine for a long time but there's just something about the idea of Data as a sexual being that one appreciates over time and Voltaire does such a great job once again taking the Star Trek theme but marrying it to a style like a tango that one would not necessarily think to blend but completely works. The last track, Screw The Okampa! (I Want To Go Home) is my favorite on the EP and one of my favorite Voltaire tracks period. This take on the classic West Indies Folk Song "The John B. Sails" made famous by The Beach Boys as "Sloop John B." take the perspective of one of the crew members of Voyager just wanting to get the fuck home playing off of the plot of Star Trek Voyager where the crew of USS Voyager led by Captain Kathryn Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) is stranded in the Delta Quandrant for seven years. Even if you're not a Star Trek fan this is still a great collections of songs that are fun, diverse, catchy, and perhaps will teach you something about one of the Mecca's of geekdom. It's also just always impressive what Voltaire can do with just an acoustic guitar and how fitting he looks as a Vulcan (Vulcan's are so goth because they are basically emotionally dead). Favorite Tracks (all of them): Worf's Revenge (The Klingon Rap), The U.S.S. Make Shit Up, The Sexy Data Tango, and Screw The Okampa! (I Want To Go Home)
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