Download: El-P, "Whores: The Movie"

Yes In My Backyard is a semiweekly column showcasing MP3s from new and emerging local talent.

Since the release of his critically acclaimed second record, 2007's I'll Sleep When Your Dead, all eyes have been on producer El-P, the tornado-culling Brooklyn naysayer whose creative displays of prismatic scuzz, army of devoted followers, and dramatic lulls in activity have pretty much cemented his role as the hip-hop Trent Reznor. In the three years since his last LP, we've gotten promises of a new album, harrowing Twitter tales of false starts and hard drive failures, a stepping down from his role as artistic director of indie hip-hop game-changer Definitive Jux, and the announcement that he is deading Jux as a traditional record label that sells physical objects. But from this tumultuous climate has emerged a surprisingly cohesive record. As stopgaps go, the instrumental mix album Weareallgoingtoburninhellmegamixxx3 (August 3rd, Gold Dust) is fully rewarding, a mix of Morodor synth brooding and hard-as-hell mid-'80s beatstomp 'n' bellrock. It basically sounds like Colors merged with Blade Runner, a clatter of distorted sirens, scratches, and cosmic slop. Second track "Whores: The Movie" has the double-time paranoia of I'll Sleep When Your Dead's best tracks, melted with a double dose of ungodly fuzz (El-P was listening to a lot of his ATP buddies the Melvins), laser-squelch, and retrofuture prickle.

Download: El-P, "Whores: The Movie"

El-P on "Whores: The Movie"

What is "Whores: The Movie" about?

I have no idea. I just had the title floating around and it cracked me up every time I said it out loud. I was listening to a lot of Gang of Four and a lot of Melvins at the time. I wanted to make a riff-heavy beat without guitars. It was one of the first songs I produced for my follow-up to I'll Sleep When You're Dead, but I listened to it for so long that eventually I just heard it as an instrumental. So I reworked it a bit to stand alone.

Tell me about some things you know going into Weareallgoingtoburninhellmegamixxx3 that you didn't know back when you did the Little Johnny From The Hospitul instrumental LP in 1999?

Structure, transitions, that the Star Wars prequels would be horrible and that the Matrix sequels would be just as bad. Everything else I knew.

Tell me about commissioning the album art.

Yeah my friend Travis Millard of Fudge Factory Comics did it. He did the megamixx2 in 2008 and we became close friends. I love the humor of his art. We have similar tastes in the way we try and blend humor, grit, fear and sentimentality. He's just really amazing and the megamixx series is starting to very much be collaborative between us. For the next one my hope is to do a full comic with him.

Where's the little robot sample at the end from?

That's actually a sample from an old exercise record.

What's your favorite place to eat in Brooklyn?

The bodega on my corner. Egg and cheese on a roll with turkey bacon for $2.50. Can't be beat.

Are you an emerging local band who has an upcoming 7", MP3, or album? Are you not totally fucking terrible like 90% of the bands in this city? Then please send us an email at yesinmybackyard@gmail.com. Links and YSIs only. No attachments please!