Welcome to Out of the Dungeon, a many part series detailing a decade of NSFTM noise, hip hop, 'n' adventures from top No Sunlite for the Media scholars, historians, fans, 'n' collaborators. Medians share their thoughts on the absolute values of various NSFTM rekkerds, while we provide free audio streaming 'n' hi-quality file purchase of all the albums at our bandcamp page.
Out of the Dungeon XII: No Sunlite Singles
The First Third of Media Tricks
Analysis by the Zoom Locust
The First Third of Media Tricks
Analysis by the Zoom Locust
No Sunlite for the Media sprinted through its creative stride in 2007, peeling off single after crushing single, and these are captured in the first third of Media Tricks. Not a nod to the mainstream, this album indeed is a coup d'etat and pushes the band into completely new territory while staying true to its own vision. Media Tricks is not a cohesive album, and in that, it returns to No Sunlite's true roots and also allows them to develop some new strengths.
From the first lyrics of the intro track, "Children Inside," it's clear that the band means business now more than ever, turning to introspection as much as they point the finger at the industry. The tackling of human nature will become a central theme of the album, and deeper subject matter and lyrics begin with the likes of "we all burn bright from under."
[The original Mediatrix designed shirt, featuring an angry sun; it was later remade]
Only 90 seconds later, "Inside/Outside" is unquestionably a leap ahead in production for the group and is their single worth touting, and, almost unfortunately, closest to the mainstream as anything the band has done. The sideways rhymes and creativity still abound and if you listen carefully, the song is an embodiment of the same vision expressed in "Dance to the Beat" 15 years before. Except this time with Haiku and French lyrics included. And Tribe samples mixed with aerobics instructions. It's hard not to like this song.
While "Inside/Outside" could be the sole focal point of the album, the good tracks keep coming, hitting hard from all kinds of angles. “Footbinding” has an ostensibly nonsense chorus, "hamdu lillah, which is actually Arabic for "Glory to God." The lyrical rap delivery is Jana's best and many perky rhymes still abound..."in reverse like a bottle of Frobscottle...Hip hopscotcher Fosbury flopper, Brother I got you."
The mood and sound are decidedly more intense on the fabulous "Pressing", which is the intensity of Black Flag's “Rise Above”, mixed with the sound of Black Sabbath. The lyrics indicate a poeticism not obvious in the band's more overtly political songs. "Don’t stand too close to yr burns or you’ll get fired/Don’t light yr harp because the devil burned the lyre."
The samples and provocative lyrics are the twin strengths of "Mediatrix"- which is a variant of the album's title. The band picks the most dangerous enemy they can find - themselves, with a sample whose origins (a dark Twilight Zone episode) reference the disturbing nature of humanity. This complete approach is new to No Sunlite, indicating the band's shift toward the very thorough songwriting and production, which pervades this entire series of songs. If you listen closely, the song's variations in repetition are notable. More wordplay and esoteric references comes forth on "Eponine Was Right."
The wistful mood is all but gone with the next track, "Space Portal", and the old No Sunlite rap style is back with a vengeance, though with an MCing coherence that was a huge step ahead for No Sunlite at the time the track was released. The history of the track is dramatically more interesting than the album version, as a straight ahead track was chopped up and destroyed beyond any musical coherence, as if the stereo is malfunctioning by eating your cassette tape. Completely unknown and unpalatable even to the underground at the time, The Mars Volta used a similar tactic on their Goliath release only a year later.
"Rolling" mellows out with its very enjoyable laid back beat, before the band kicks on the distortion again and demands the volume be turned up. The band's second metal offering of the album, "Accurate Immaculate", is as fine as their first, and is Liz's finest vocal delivery to date. The wordplay is enviable. "Train" is another very good track of pure flow, but new ground is broken when Math and Jana sing back and forth with "Angel": "You said those words I heard you talk in yr sleep/No secrets to keep no sunlite will reach."
“Father of Lies” is unusual in intensity, even for No Sunlite for the Media. "Tricks ‘n’ sticks ‘n’ stones ‘n’ thrown away hope, If I allow this approach clean my mouth out with soap." No Sunlite's signature short attention span breaks up the track into 3 parts, each really a separate song worthy of note by themselves. The band truly has a recognizable style despite its eclecticism, as Jana's compelling vocals make the song a prettier variant of the style of the album's later and superior track "Seventy."
[The original Mediatrix designed shirt, featuring an angry sun; it was later remade]While "Inside/Outside" could be the sole focal point of the album, the good tracks keep coming, hitting hard from all kinds of angles. “Footbinding” has an ostensibly nonsense chorus, "hamdu lillah, which is actually Arabic for "Glory to God." The lyrical rap delivery is Jana's best and many perky rhymes still abound..."in reverse like a bottle of Frobscottle...Hip hopscotcher Fosbury flopper, Brother I got you."
The mood and sound are decidedly more intense on the fabulous "Pressing", which is the intensity of Black Flag's “Rise Above”, mixed with the sound of Black Sabbath. The lyrics indicate a poeticism not obvious in the band's more overtly political songs. "Don’t stand too close to yr burns or you’ll get fired/Don’t light yr harp because the devil burned the lyre."
The samples and provocative lyrics are the twin strengths of "Mediatrix"- which is a variant of the album's title. The band picks the most dangerous enemy they can find - themselves, with a sample whose origins (a dark Twilight Zone episode) reference the disturbing nature of humanity. This complete approach is new to No Sunlite, indicating the band's shift toward the very thorough songwriting and production, which pervades this entire series of songs. If you listen closely, the song's variations in repetition are notable. More wordplay and esoteric references comes forth on "Eponine Was Right."
The wistful mood is all but gone with the next track, "Space Portal", and the old No Sunlite rap style is back with a vengeance, though with an MCing coherence that was a huge step ahead for No Sunlite at the time the track was released. The history of the track is dramatically more interesting than the album version, as a straight ahead track was chopped up and destroyed beyond any musical coherence, as if the stereo is malfunctioning by eating your cassette tape. Completely unknown and unpalatable even to the underground at the time, The Mars Volta used a similar tactic on their Goliath release only a year later."Rolling" mellows out with its very enjoyable laid back beat, before the band kicks on the distortion again and demands the volume be turned up. The band's second metal offering of the album, "Accurate Immaculate", is as fine as their first, and is Liz's finest vocal delivery to date. The wordplay is enviable. "Train" is another very good track of pure flow, but new ground is broken when Math and Jana sing back and forth with "Angel": "You said those words I heard you talk in yr sleep/No secrets to keep no sunlite will reach."
“Father of Lies” is unusual in intensity, even for No Sunlite for the Media. "Tricks ‘n’ sticks ‘n’ stones ‘n’ thrown away hope, If I allow this approach clean my mouth out with soap." No Sunlite's signature short attention span breaks up the track into 3 parts, each really a separate song worthy of note by themselves. The band truly has a recognizable style despite its eclecticism, as Jana's compelling vocals make the song a prettier variant of the style of the album's later and superior track "Seventy."
-Zoom Loco
San Diego, CA
Nov. 2k9
Pressing On:
San Diego, CA
Nov. 2k9
Pressing On:
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