"Connie Price and the Keystones are to be praised for their originality and brilliance."
- Lalo Schifrin (Grammy Award Winning, Oscar Nominated Composer - Mission: Impossible, The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, Cool Hand Luke, Bullitt, Enter the Dragon, THX 1138)
"Connie Price has the 'Key' to success and a sound that's solid as 'Stone'"
- Big Daddy Kane
"Connie Price and the Keystones live sounded just like our records..."
- Lord Jamal (Brand Nubian)
"...the cast of top-notch, mostly West Coast guests thrives, rhyming atop the rich, cinematic productions of CPK’s Dan Ubick and Co. No doubt, these beats can be enjoyed vocal-free on the accompanying instrumental version of this album...Tell Me Something is the rare live hip-hop project where neither the MCs nor the band gets outshone."
- XLR8R
"West Coast hip-hop has ventured into the urban and the suburban communities, taking with it a flavor that is undeniably its own. Connie Price & The Keystones have reached this level of authenticity...offering a unique mixture of live instrumentation, hip-hop heads can appreciate the relationship between MCs and the beats that inspire them..."
- Vapors
"...the ultimate formula for a hit record has been found..."
- Slug Magazine
On the follow-up to their Now-Again/Stones Throw album, Connie Price and the Keystones step-up with a heavyweight dynamic soundtrack-inspired hip hop album. While their debut was instrumental, Tell Me Something is the opposite, featuring a marquee-filling list of quality MCs. The legendary Percee P, Wildchild from the Lootpack, Ubiquity-labelmate Ohmega Watts, Soup from Jurassic 5, Blood Of Abraham, Mykah 9 from the Freestyle Fellowship and Project Blowed, plus vocalist Aloe Blacc provide lyrics n’rhymes.
Having recently recorded an EP for Scion with Big Daddy Kane, and backing-up Slick Rick, Brand Nubian and Too $hort live, CPK decided to take their live hip hop exploits into the studio. Channeling Wu-Tang and Madlib in equal parts to Schiffrin and Morricone the album bobs and weaves through the head-nodding mellower bpms of “Put Your Weight On It” and “Pirates of The Mediterranean” to the more frantic chase-scene tunes like “Hoagies Revenge” and “Master At Work.” “Funk revivalist” and “retro” were apt tags for the music of CPK when they started out five years ago, fleshing-out raw funk 45s that rivaled the old-school collectible nuggets they were inspired by. But “Tell Me Something” incorporates much broader influences and is a product of a deeper vision.
“We have thrown all our influences into the mix, not just funk. We love funky music but to us that could mean Jorge Ben, Can, Dennis Coffey, or the Upsetters. I see us more as Hip-Hop influenced cinematic soul music,” explains Dan Ubick, one half of the main duo behind CPK. “Also, the MC’s and vocalists just make it all that much more dimensional and interesting.”
To achieve the desired fuller sound, fat bottom end and hard-hitting drums all the music was played live, then sampled, looped-up and processed to be gritty as possible. Dramatic strings, brassy horns, and a driving percussion section pack a musical punch and leave a bigger impression often missing from “live” rap records. “I approached this project as a Hip-Hop record, it was more about sounds recorded rather than full performances from the musicians. I got to use instruments that were new to me on this album, like tympani, an old ‘60’s organ with fuzz, acoustic piano, and most importantly real strings,” says Ubick. “Todd wrote some funky string arrangements for four of the tracks which our good friend Steve Kaye played to perfection. We also had some really unique percussion instruments that make each track really stand out. Most of my equipment was made 30+ years ago, but instruments just sound better to me with a little age on them. Sounds that have been good for 30+ years don’t have to be “retro”, used the right way they’re really just invincible,” he adds.
Connie Price and The Keystones was conceived as a recording project, and features music written solely by Dan Ubick, whose recording credits include Breakestra, Madlib’s Sound Directions, along with Todd M. Simon, of Macy Gray, Antibalas, and El Michels Affair fame. A revolving cast of characters from the incestuous and bustling Los Angeles music scene add flavor, including drummers: Sean O’Shea (Orgone, Plantlife, Breakestra), Pete McNeal (DJ Z-Trip, Breakestra, Cake), Davey Chegwidden (RRAS, David Holmes), Alan Lightner (RRAS, David Garibaldi), Ricardo Rodriguez (RRAS, Cecilia Noel).
“Tell Me Something” is a double CD, including one disc of vocals, and an additional of instrumentals.
Connie Price and the Keystones will play dates following their album including a Ubiquity showcase at the upcoming 2008 SXSW.
Disc: 1
1. International Hustler - download sample mp3
2. Put Your Weight On It - download sample mp3
3. High Life - download sample mp3
4. Tell Me Something - download sample mp3
5. Hoagies Revenge - download sample mp3
6. Pirates of the Mediterranean - download sample mp3
7. Master At Work - download sample mp3
8. Thundersounds - download sample mp3
9. Catatonia / Across the Board Again- download sample mp3
Disc: 2
1. International Hustler - (instrumental)
2. Put Your Weight On It - (instrumental)
3. High Life - (instrumental)
4. Tell Me - (instrumental)
5. Hoagies Revenge - (instrumental)
6. Pirates - (instrumental)
7. Master At Work - (instrumental)
8. Thundersounds - (instrumental)
9. Catatonia - (instrumental)
Connie Price and The Keystones
Tell Me Something
Release Date: March 4, 2008
Label: Ubiquity Records
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