(photo by Nnenna Stella)
“Old-school beats and clever rhymes…and a rewarding, wiser-than-their-years approach”
-THE NEW YORKER
“A Miraculous Kind of Machine points a peculiar but powerful way forward for hip-hop.”
-LIME WIRE
“Brooklyn’s freshest new MC/DJ duo adds the extra to ordinary.”
- COMPLEX MAGAZINE
“It’s not too often that hip-hop so real can provide such an escape.”
- XLR8R
“Fa-resh!”
- WIRED MAGAZINE
“Banging and boundary-pushing”
- CMJ
“If these cats remain in hip hop’s underground, it isn’t their fault.”
- TIME OUT
“Superb”
- URB
“A move in the right direction.”
- ALLHIPHOP.COM
info about JUNK SCIENCE & SCOTT THOROUGH “PHOENIX DOWN”
In the Final Fantasy series the Phoenix feather – the “Phoenix Down” – is an item used to revive a fallen party member. In other words, it’s a tool used for resurrection. Yeah, this is some nerd rap, and fucking proud of it. “Phoenix Down” is the first full-length collaboration between Junk Science and Scott Thorough, and it’s due out May 31st on Modern Shark (Junk Science emcee Baje One’s own label, launched in 2010).
Junk Science is Baje One on the mic, and DJ Snafu on the beats. Simple. Scott Thorough is their fellow Nuclear Family crew member / producer extraordinaire. Simple. Snafu and Scott Thorough made the beats for “Phoenix Down” using ALL original music played on 8-bit synthesizers (the same tools available to the musicians who created the original scores for The Legend Of Zelda, Contra, and Ninja Gaiden). They layered their compositions with heavy breakbeats and set the stage for Baje to do his thing on the mic.
“Phoenix Down” isn’t ABOUT video games per se, it’s more like games are the backdrop, the influence behind the music. That being said, all three of these guys are serious video game nerds, and the album is full of references to classic old-school titles. Fans of the original Contra game will definitely recognize the hook from ’30 Lives’… and nerdier nerds will catch references throughout the record to games like Chrono Trigger, Mike Tyson’s Punch Out, and Street Fighter 2.
“I’m proud of this one,” says emcee Baje One. “It’s got its own style, its own sound. You can say what you want about the music, but it’s different. It’s a resurrection.”
The record will be released digitally and also on a limited-edition, custom-molded USB flash drive in the shape of a ‘pixelated’ feather. The “feather” will arrive in a brown velvet pouch simply sporting the words “Phoenix Down” in a classic 8-bit font. Along with the music, those who purchase the drive will also get the instrumentals and the acapellas for all 8 tracks.
DOWNLOADS
download hi-res pic 1 PLEASE CREDIT Nnenna Stella
download hi-res pic 2 PLEASE CREDIT Nnenna Stella
download hi-res pic 3 PLEASE CREDIT Nnenna Stella
PRESS
+JUNK SCIENCE FEATURED IN THE NEW YORK POST
+JUNK SCIENCE FEATURED IN THE NEW YORKER
+JUNK SCIENCE FEATURED IN COMPLEX MAGAZINE
+JUNK SCIENCE ALL UP IN THE WHITE RAPPER ENCYCLOPEDIA
