Customer Reviews

Laptop

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

OK, you've got to be wondering: who exactly is MC Lars? Well MC Lars is definitley one of the freshest new artists you're going to hear this year. In fact, he's Hurricane Fresh. Using beats he made on his laptop and various instruments he had lying around, MC Lars has crafted one of the most clever and original recordings I've heard in a long time. He drops more pop culture references than a month of VH1's "Best Week Ever" and anyone who can incorporate Edgar Allan Poe's "The Raven" with the Brand New song "Okay I Believe You But My Tommy Gun Don't" is nothing short of a genius. The rhymes on every song are extremely tight and there is nothing elementary about anything here. Lars has what most MCs out there now lack: brains. You'll listen to some lines over and over just to grasp the full hilarity of them. The highlight for me is the sublime "Signing Emo" which chronicles the rise and fall of fictional emo band Hearts That Hate, complete with a chorus by said band that is rife with more emo cliches than the entire Drive-Thru Records catalog. I almost split a gut the first time I heard it. Trust me on this, if you enjoy anything about music and can appreciate a rhyme of any kind you will not be dissapointed. The only downside here is that there are only seven songs, but since there is no filler, it's worth the price.
Who's house? Raven's House!

MC Lars does it again. This CD includes the great remake of the poem The Raven, his style of Hip-Hop and Rock will surely make him one of the bestselling artists out there. The CD also includes hits such as "iGeneration" and "Signing Emo".

This CD will defenetly be worth the money.

I absolutely love this cd! This first time i heard signing emo on the radio i had to find out the name of the band! It's so affordable too! I suggest this cd to anyone and everyone!

When I first heard MC Lars at a special concert in Oxford, England, I was practically rolling on the floor in laughter. MC is a pretty good rapper, but his writing skills are what make him excellent. As a former Oxford student, and current Stanford student, MC is super smart, and that shows through in the songs. Take Rapbeth for instance; it's a rap about the three witches from Macbeth. Another great song is Signing Emo, following the career of an emo band brought into existence simply because they were emo, and emo is hot right now. The songs are all really catchy! They're super funny, and well worth my $7.99.

Whether you call it post-punk-laptop-rap or just plain good, MC Lars is the most underrated rapper out there, and probably the most original. In probably his first major EP, MC Lars lays it out on the table in all his geeky/fun glory. Since it's independently produced, it is a bit rough and sounds like a demo. "iGeneration" and "Signing Emo" are later found on his semi-major label debut, and they mostly sound the same. Songs like "Hurricane Fresh," "UK Vise Versa" and "Straight Outta Stockholm" are great indie rap, and entertaining to boot. "Mr. Raven" on the other hand is not only great indie rap, but an excellent rap track period. Dare I say it's MC Lars' best? Perfectly incorporating Edgar Allen Poe's famous poem, it kicks the beats, brings the cool, and MC Lars lays it down, scaring the crap out of all comers. Overall, while the project isn't MC Lars' overall strongest, it does contain some great tracks. So if you haven't the Lars, then lay down your cash for The Laptop EP, which is slightly less expensive then a laptop.

Lars has a new album coming out soon, and he recently put all the MP3s from his first release under his current specific moniker up on his website for download. So uh, I downloaded them. It's a seven-song EP, although two also appear on The Graduate. They mark a big step in production value from Radio Pet Fencing, and the starting point for the repertoire he uses now when performing live. There's some solid beats and catchy choruses to be found, and some interesting sampling and experimenting with other genres. I have to appreciate a rapper who will do a track about Edgar Allen Poe in front of a guitar riff from a Brand New song. "Signing Emo" is probably one of his most popular songs, and has some clever lyrics along with a chorus from a fake punk band that managed to fool some people into trying to book them. "iGeneration" and "Hurricane Fresh" are also both songs sampling rock bands that are popular live. "Stat-60" is less commonly heard but gives Lars definite nerd cred for rhyming about math class, and "Straight Outta Stockholm" is a self-aggrandizing rap but with a nice sound to it, encapsulating well Lars' attitude and outlook. The Laptop EP is a really quick and enjoyable lesson, and there's no reason not to listen when he's giving it to you for free.

I absolutely love this CD. I have played it for several of my close friends while in my car (all of whom like completely different types of music) and they all fell in love with him instantly as well. I think anyone would find it hard to not like this CD. Thanks for reading my review!

MC Lars I find to be a bit of an enigma.

On this EP, he basically has a big laugh at what he sees around him, mostly pop culture, for example the hilarity of the music biz, with a faux (or is it?) criticism of the overpopularization of emo ("Singing Emo"), the difficulty of his statistics class on "Stat-60" ("Chi-squared values all the time.../Why'd you have to go and make things so complicated, Professor Thomas?"), US-UK relations on "UK Visa Versa," and the hypocrisy of nonconformists on "Hurricane Fresh."

But what is his purpose? These are all rightfully funny on their own, but there's no real theme to this EP. It ultimately reads like a C-grade senior thesis? Did he ever take Expository Writing 101? Ultimately, it may not matter, as the knowingly cheesy delivery from Lars skips convincingly over minimal beats. He's trying to convince us he's keeping it real - so if he is a college-degree earning toker, this CD will make a lot of sense to you.

The standout track must be "iGeneration," which triumphs the cultural shift (no longer Generation Y?) created by the DIY mentality of the use of iPods. The beats here are programmed guitars with a buzzy kazoo-ish noise. Good stuff.

Aww man, this song is absolutely hilarious!!! Here are the lyrics to signing emo. Enjoy!

Once upon a time, in the city of Los Angeles...
"Marty, Marty listen to me. Bring me something the kids will cry for.
Get out there, and get us stoked!"

Meet Marty, major label A&R scout, forty years old, gut hanging out.
Red Ferrari, Marty living in L.A. bumps another line to get through the day.
Dumped by his girl, he paid for her liposuction;
His friends call him "Money", in his introduction.
And Marty knows nothing but claims to know it all,
Lose the flat screen TV if he drops the ball.
You're as good as your last hit, find the next big thing.
If he doesn't bring the bling, his cell phone won't ring.
What's the trend, what's new? What's a label scout to do? Office life, Marty 11:32.
The label pres. calls and yells, "Sign more emo!"
How about screamo? "If it sells, sign Nemo,"
"We're down 2%, and BMG knows,
My Daughter likes Dashboard, so get me one of those!"
He checks AP.net, the Scout and more,
yelling band names to his assistant through the door.
The kids like this, who cares if it's great?
So he signs a band called Hearts that Hate.

"Marty... we've got a hit."

CHORUS by fictional band Hearts that hate :
Cry tonight. My hands around your hands.
I won't let you die tonight.
My heart's in your hands.
I won't let you...

Hearts that Hate, Marty goes to their show, up in the club and here we go.
Marty sees a girl in a Simple Plan shirt with a Senses Fail boy, Ha! that'll never work.
He finds his label friends in the corner they huddle,
an emo cattle auction, they penetrate the bubble.
They talk about Victory and signing TBS,
Dissing the same bands they just tried to impress.
So the lights go down, the crowd starts to scream,
Hearts that Hate have hit the scene.
Blake on vocals, and lead guitar,
He does a back flip, "Look how different we are!"
They show up at the studio to record it,
A TRL, Billboard Modern Rock hit.
They auto-tune Blake, but he can't tell.
He says, "I've got perfect pitch, damn I sing well."
ProTools, Logic, cut, copy, paste, quantized solos and quantized bass.
Signed, sealed, deliver and sent, across the U.S. and the single went...

CHORUS by the fictional band Hearts that Hate.
Cry tonight. My hands around your hands.
I won't let you die tonight.
My heart's in your hands.
I won't let you... DIE!!!!!!!!!!


Momentum builds, but it all caves in.
Industrial comes back, the pres. needs a NIN.
Marty finds a new band called "Foetal Coil"
And Hearts that Hate try to keep their fans loyal.
They re-work their sound for album number two,
As "Machines of Hate," but their career is through.
They break up and work pushing mops and brooms,
Blake gives guitar lessons in his living room.
Blake gives guitar lessons in his living room,
Blake gives guitar lessons in his living room.

"Can you teach me track five Mr. Blake?"
"Hey, I wrote that song and it goes like this!"

Cry tonight. My hands around your hands.
I won't let you die tonight.
My heart's in your hands.
I won't let you... DIE!!!!!!!!!! DIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!
My heart's in your hands.
I won't let you... DIE!!!!!!!!!! DIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!
My heart's in your hands.
I won't let you... DIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!