EL-P I'll Sleep When You're Dead

Posted on 03.20.2007

EL-P
Album : I’ll Sleep When You’re Dead
Release Date : March 20, 2007
Label : Definitive Jux

I’ll Sleep When You’re Dead is the second full-length studio album by Brooklyn, New York producer and rapper El-P, currently scheduled to be released on his own Definitive Jux label on March, 2007.

All production will be handled by El-P. Guest rapping will come from Def Jux labelmates Aesop Rock, Mr. Lif and Rob Sonic, and from Tame One, fellow rapper in the Weathermen "supergroup". Another fellow Definitive Jux act, Hangar 18, provide backing vocals on one track. Scratches will be handled by Mr. Dibbs and by Mike Relm, who is also acting as tour DJ.

Guest appearances will also come from Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails, Omar Rodriguez-Lopez and Cedric Bixler-Zavala of The Mars Volta, James McNew of Yo La Tengo, Tunde Adebimpe of TV On the Radio, Chan "Cat Power" Marshall, and former Chavez and Zwan guitarist Matt Sweeney. Despite his usual dislike of "records that have a bunch of (featuring so and so) after every song title"[1], El-P has explained the more organic nature of the collaborations on I’ll Sleep When You’re Dead :

“ my collaborations for the most part come from friendships i have with people who happen to be in the vicinity while im making my shit. little splashes of other peoples voices, talents, energy used in subtle ways is the way i usually like to freak it. rob does some back ups, sweeny plays some guitar, aes drops a verse, james plays some bass... whatever works at the time. its the southpark theory : when george clooney appeared on southpark it was as a gay dog. thats the type of shit that makes my day. (sic)”

El-P has compared the overall sound of the album’s music to "a pyschedelic Boogie Down Productions record", and like "Scott LaRock and Ced Gee take acid" . Though he has stated that while the album is not "a political album per se, but... an honest one", lyrics previewed so far have included comment on the September 11, 2001 attacks and the response of the Bush administration.

El-P previewed an unmixed version of "Tasmanian Pain Coaster", billed as the album’s opening track, on British DJ Gilles Peterson’s WorldWide show on January 26, 2006 on Radio 1, along with then-unreleased new material from other Def Jux acts Cannibal Ox and Mr. Lif. A version of "Everything Must Go" was given away on a covermount CD mixed by DJ Big Wiz, along with the Def Jux-themed July 2005 issue of British hip-hop magazine Hip Hop Connection ; the same track was also offered as a paid download at Def Jux’s online store.

Tracklisting :
"Tasmanian Pain Coaster"
"Smithereens (Stop Cryin)"
"Up All Night"
"Everything Must Go"
"Drive"
"Dear Sirs"
"Run the Numbers"
"Habeas Corpses"
"The Overly Dramatic Truth"
"Flyentology"
"No Kings"
"The League of Extraordinary Nobodies"
"Poisenville Kids No Wins / Reprise (This Must Be Our Time)"