Mad_Vinnie

Name: Mad Vincenzo!!!!
Home Page: http://www.themedian.org/music
Member Since: Sep 17, 2002
Rank: 62
Rated 38 releases, average: 3.95
Location: Portland, OR
Profile: http://www.myspace.com/madvinnie

Mad Vinnie’s Manic Bio:
(Written by himself in the 3rd person, in true bedroom DJ form)

As Vinnie grew from a wee lad, years of his musical development were retarded by MTV and commercial radio. Having been exposed to the many horrors of preformatted shows and consumer programming, Vinnie was unable to cope with a fateful night spent in one of Seattle, Washington’s darkest corners. On that night Vinnie’s world was shattered by a DJ performance by Seattle’s Jimmy Hoffa. Having heard the light which was techno and finding it somewhat frightening, Vinnie tried his best to return to the comfort of VH1’s top ten countdown and MTV’s “The Grind.” Many sleepless nights were spent twitching on a couch, listening to and watching Bill Bellamy’s selection of “music” for the evening rerun over and over and over again. No longer able to follow Bellamy’s orders, Vinnie tuned his radio to the once consoling sounds of golden oldies, U2, and the unfortunate musical genre, rap-rock. He became convinced that barely audible subliminal messages were being broadcast to the public and soon took to the streets where he could be found scanning the AM band with a portable radio muttering, “only NPR is safe….. yesss… NPR!”

Vinnie had a brief stint as a clown.

A growing disgust for wigs (especially multi-colored ones) forced Vinnie out of the circus and his life soon spiraled out of control. An acutely developed condition of insomnia led to his search for the music that began it all. “The Search,” as Vinnie came to call it soon drained his financial resources and diminished his contact with his fellow man and woman. Seattle’s darkest corner was now an abandoned indoor carnival site, void of the magic of that one night. Vinnie would have to hit the streets.

As a result of his nocturnal habits, Vinnie had a hard time holding down jobs and soon turned to the food industry whose fun loving clientele were known to sip wine until late into the evening. Had Vinnie been a smoker you would have found him burning cigs down all night as he sat at his desk, still wearing his waiter’s apron, examining important looking documents, scouring the internet and making random phone calls to anyone with the last name “Hoffa” or the first name “Jimmy.” Days-off were spent “following leads” and making contact with his informants on the take. His suspicious activities and odd mannerism attracted the attention of local law enforcement. The actions they took to monitor him only confirmed Vinnie’s paranoid ideas that “The Programmers” were out to get him.

Much to his dismay, Vinnie found out on one of his many trips to the library that Jimmy Hoffa had faked his own assassination by the Mafia in 1975. He was apparently a well connected man and would be hard to find, but Vinnie had the forces of a mild obsessive compulsive disorder on his side.

While picketing a Britney Spears concert (he was the only protestor) a man disguised as a 14 year old female N Sync fan slipped Vinnie a napkin with a Portland address written on it. Arriving at the address in a dodgy downtown neighborhood, Vinnie found an obscure record shop jammed in between an adult book store and a hotel that let rooms by the week. After dropping large sums of money to buy vinyl discs, Vinnie returned to his home to bask in the glory of his find. After only one night of ecstasy Vinnie decided he hadn’t had enough and returned to the address only to find that it had gone out of business. This was a major set back but the “record was out of the bag” so to speak.

Vinnie roamed North America, Australia and Europe sniffing out these peculiar stores. In any city he knew he was on the path to another record store as the frequency of public urination and dingy, unlit bars with neon PBR signs increased. In some cities they were found in “ethnic” neighborhoods, in others it was the warehouse district. In order to find his query he needed only to find a shopping mall and ask any of its clientele, “Which neighborhood do you avoid like the plague?” Directions would soon follow. He soon realized that largely unintelligible spray paint scrawls on building walls pointed the way to these communities that existed largely outside the scope of popular culture; of which Vinnie had once been a placid member.

Through interactions with store clerks and other zombie like “Seekers” he learned the language and codes used for communication. He was soon speaking the jive, himself, saying phrases like “UR 058 contains a crazy 303 line,” and, “My 1210’s pitch control losses accuracy near the Zero.” He developed a neck twitch that caused an unusual head bob while he walked and, though he still listened to NPR, could now be heard muttering, “My beats are broken. My beats are broken! Are my beats broken? Whose beats? 4 on the floor. Floor on the 4!”

Vinnie began to suspect that “Jimmy Hoffa” was a fake name.

Years after The Search began; Vinnie still holds peculiar notions despite having rejoined society as a socially readjusted young man. Though he manages his urges in a healthy way he still holds a deep, slightly irrational hatred/obsession for MTV VJs and has come to believe that Detroit, Michigan is the cradle of civilization. Vinnie has come a long way and is now taking tentative steps to share his love of music with other people. Today he can be found in Portland, Oregon attacking the dominant music paradigm from a subterranean bunker/studio.

Mad_Vinnie's groups (6)

Reviews & Discussion:

Octave One - The Theory Of Everything Jun 02, 2006 (edited over 3 years ago)

Octave One’s “The Theory of Everything,” comes across as a failed attempt to expand on the ideas and sounds set forth in “Black Water.” While it is hard to deny that “Black Water” is a classic, Theory’s attempt to recreate the feel of the original sounds more like premature mutations than credible music. The all too familiar strings of “Black Water” are copied over and over again in songs whose instruments and vocals never manage to come together as cohesive songs. If the Burden Brothers are classically trained musicians then it doesn’t show in this album.

The stand out track, “’Bout to Blow,” is perhaps the only song with some quality to it. It is Hip Hop with a distinctive Octave One twist. It is great to hear techno producers weigh in on the Hip Hop scene. That said, independent, contemporary Hip Hop producers have left Octave One in the dust when it comes to this genre. Though a noble and credit worthy attempt, it would have to be more than just a good Hip Hop track to carry the rest of the album’s failures; it would have to be definitive.

Madvillain - Madvillainy May 24, 2006 (edited over 3 years ago)

Mad Lib and MC Doom combine their evil forces to bring you Mad Villain – Mad Villiany. This album may very well fully restore your faith in hip hop. Thoughtful production and rhymes give you a cohesive listening experience from beginning to end that you won’t find in mainstream rap.

Much credit to Mad Lib for making this album highly listenable. Using mainly organic sounds and instruments (even an accordion!), Mad Villian has presented approachable music that remains firmly in the realm of independent (and just darn good) hip hop. Doom’s performance is a subtle mixture of serious lyrics, tongue in cheek humor, and laid back yet undeniable rhyming talent.

Though the album features a few stand out tracks, (“Accordion” and “Operation Lifesaver…” are two of my favorites) I really recommend that you abstain from ignoring any part of the whole. Good albums manage to churn out hit singles, great ones deliver from the first track to the last.

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LFO - Freak Mar 15, 2006 (edited over 3 years ago)

I "Freak'd" out when I heard the title track of this release on a Humvee commercial in 2005. I love the song, but it was a bit unsettling to hear it trying to sell me a gas guzzling urban assault vehicle. Oh well, at least I can say I'm "underground" enough to have heard it a full year before the general public did!

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Gerald Mitchell - Resurrection Oct 13, 2004 (edited over 5 years ago)

"Freedom Dancer" is the most dance friendly track to come off of Los Hermanos so far. It manages to use a "hook" to full effect while leaving behind the cheese that often accompanies generic floor fillers. It is definently a cross over song that is true to the nature of the label; to "destroy the boundaries between house and techno."

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Do Something Mar 30, 2003

I asked the owner of my favorite record shop about this label. He said its owned and operated by DJ Slip who is now living in the Portland, OR area. If you own Do Something 3 you'll understand why I was curious. It has a white, hand written label with VERY limited information.

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Guy McAffer & R.Wightman - RAW 013 Dec 17, 2002

These tracks move fast. A side has a great voice sample that doesn't over power the track but adds a serious fun flavor to it. Along with the voice sample, a consistent synth stab on the up beat makes the track stray into hard house, in my opinion, but is still a great track. I wouldn't play this record to a serious, overly critical techno crowd.... you might be spit on by the techno elite for playing a record that is not pure :)

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Chipi - Universal Language EP Dec 15, 2002

Nice "chunky" techno. "Rewind the Tape" has a big, chopped up sound to it with a bubblie bass line.

"Keep the Pressure" is bleepy techno, eskape style. This track is much lighter than most Eskape songs.

All around its a good Eskape release.

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Glenn Wilson - H2 Nov 12, 2002

I don't care much for Tantrum, but Serum is a *very* hard techno track =). Just what you'd expect from Glenn. It features some dark, hollow sounding drum loops that manage to not sound tribal but maintain the intensity. Watch out for the tight bass build 1/3 of the way into the track!

Intruder has some techno chirps and bleeps, but like the drums in serum it manages to maintain the hard techno sound. Another good track!

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Wla Garcia - Deadcode EP Oct 31, 2002

Hmmm.... I bought this record online in haste, having only heard a small sample of it. Probably the only record I regret buying. Its just not my style. Not you're typical 16 measure song. Its hard to predict and hard to mix. Both are mellow tracks. I just don't know what to think of this record =(

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Damon Wild - Mistaken Identity Sep 18, 2002

Beautiful indeed. Very hypnotic. I've used tracks off this record to chill out a dance floor late in the night. Also great music to just sit back and take in. It has nice, chirpy, high tones that have an echoey feel to them.

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View all 17 reviews...