Wednesday, January 28, 2004
Press Release Jan. 2004
Independent hip-hop recording label Tack-Fu Productions is proud to announce its third CD compilation project is due for release in the winter of 2004.
Tack-Fu Productions, founded in 1997, operates from an Iowa City office. The label's first two CD's featured collaborations by several local DJs, MCs, musicians, and sound engineers living in the area. Directed by the label's founder Tim Tack, the musical assemblage was recently re-titled The 85 decibel Monks.
Ninety percent of the tracks I've recorded in the past were collaborative efforts, explains Tack. It just made sense to give the group a whole new vibe. Tack's job description, because of his work with local artists throughout the city, is half musical visionary and half ambassador to the musical collective. It's my goal to complete tracks, adding my work to the work of others, no matter the time, place, or day, he said.
It's kind'a crazy, the stages that some of my instrumentals go through. Hours upon hours spent in home studios across Iowa, renting commercial studio space to transfer [the media] and mix those recordings, with the finishing touches done on a computer. The careful ear of DJs, musicians and sound technicians craft every nuance of every track, but not everyone can be in the same place at the same time. The way it's all pieced together, some of the guys have never met each other in person, he joked.
The 85 decibel Monks project is due for release during the Winter of 2004, and is a departure from Tack's personal and group efforts. It's almost completely instrumental, with a few vocalists, a smattering of DJ scratching, and different musical styles across the map. The collaborative project highlights diversity in content and form Tack explained. Our early projects were centered around lyrics and MCs. The next project is like a sonic stew. Meat, carrots, potatoes - hold the onions; tempos, drum patterns, musical styles - hold the vocals. This time around, the instruments do most of the talking, not the rappers.
Tack Fu Productions and the new 85 decibel Monks project have nationwide distribution through Crosstalk. Located in Chicago, Crosstalk has forged traditional and on-line distribution systems that have broadened the level of awareness about independent, small label hip-hop music produced all over the country - and in Iowa City as well. Tack hopes that with wider distribution come new fans. It's fulfilling to know that kids all over the world are listening to this, he said.
Tack always takes in the big picture: I realize that because of the style of our art, its form, and our geographic location, our fan base isn't as large as many hip-hop labels based in heavily populated urban markets. But that won't stop the 85 decibel Monks. We all love what we do.
Posted by Tack-Fu at 17:22 · 0 comment
