Bisc1 'When Electric Night Falls' album

Queens-based emcee and graphic artist Bisc1 will be releasing his first full length album, When Electric Night Falls, this spring on March 11, 2008 via the Brooklyn-based indie hip-hop label, Embedded Music. Bisc1 recorded the majority of WENF in the evening hours, not only because of the demands of his day job as a graphic artist but also because this is when his creativity thrives. Nighttime is a time when most of us relax and try to make sense of our day, with all our successes, failures, conflicts, celebrations, doubts, and stresses. With When Electric Nights Fal,l, Bisc1captures these emotions we all share with a blatant sense of urgency.

Just as a train takes passengers on a ride from borough to borough with varying landscapes, WENF brings listeners on a nighttime ride through the realms of our psyche. The album ventures from our feelings of highs and lows in "Parallels," being thankful for getting though another day in "Pandemonium," the beauty of having loved ones in "Fire and Ice" and "Unconditional," the perverse passion of pursuing our vices in "Strange Love," and dreams, illusions, and escape from daily routine, in "Great Escape." WENF is a glimpse into Bisc1's personal journey but he deftly touches on emotions we've all experienced in our lives at one point of another.

A native of Massachusetts by way of Connecticut, Bisc1 moved to NYC 10 years ago and quickly made a name for himself DJ'ing at clubs, distributing mixtapes, and in graffiti circles. Soon, Bisc1 picked up the mic and won several battle raps including the Whose Line Is It monthly at the Knitting Factory in NYC 4 consecutive months in a row. His debut release, The Basics EP (2006), gained the favorable attention of music critics and his subsequent release, The Stay Up Project mixtape (2007) was downloaded over 5000 times. Bisc's penchant for capturing our chaotic reality with his narratives, images, and collaborations has earned him a reputation as one of the most honest and creative artists of today. Going beyond music, Bisc1 is also an accomplished graphic artist. He's done cover art, designed promotional materials and spearheaded art direction for artists such as Aesop Rock, The Perceptionists, C-Rayz-Walz, Murs, El-P, and others. His art has been featured in several magazines and art house coffee table books and in galleries, such as Danny Simmon's Rush Arts Gallery. When Electric Night Falls, for which Bisc did all the art direction, will be available March 11th on Embedded Music.

biography
You can hear things differently from the left side of the train tracks at 4 a.m. on a morning in Queens, New York. Your thoughts mix with the sounds of a city waking up, systems recharging, bread trucks and milk trucks and garbage trucks, tai chi in the china town projects; everything seems clearer at the break of day. Bisc1 finds that sound, the sound of your mind negotiating with the dawn.

At age 18, Bisc1 rolled over the Connecticut border into NYC and woke up to the gritty grind of urban turbulence. Steadily sneaking through the back streets into subway stations where the trains don’t run, he kept his ears to the ground and his eyes on the art. From his Basics EP, to his mixtape, The Stay Up Project and now When Electric Night Falls, Bisc1 has consistently captured the full dynamic dichotomy of our chaotic reality. He constructs precise, honest commentary with his narratives, his images, and his collaborations. Digging below the surface, capturing concepts is what Bisc1 does best; explaining why he has become the go-to graphic artist for packaging those concepts, working with such artists as Aesop Rock, The Perceptionists, Blockhead, C-Rayz-Walz, DJ Signify, Vast Aire and Mighty Mi, Murs, RJD2, Mathematics (Wu-Tang), Slow Suicide Stimulus, DJ Ese, El-P, and more. He has once again designed his own album cover, masterfully mixing wild style handwork with his digital perceptions. Hip-hop induced insomnia has driven him to create audio & visual art that appeals to the early birds, the night owls, and all creatures in between. As inspired by live performance as he is by studio work, he has rocked stages from “Bushwick to Bangkok” with the likes of: KRS-One, Jeru the Damaja, Black Sheep, The Beatnuts, Souls of Mischief, R.A. The Rugged man, Mr.Lif, C-Rayz Walz, DJ Signify, Dooley-O, True Skool Kings, and Tame One.

When Electric Night Falls was created in the evening, developed with the electricity that breaks our perception of time and allows us to survive off more than just the sun's energy. Hip-hop is an electric culture. Without electricity there would be no turntables. No turntables, no DJ. No third rail, no subways, which means the train culture of graffiti would not exist. We plug our mic in and channel our voices through electrical wires. In the city it's an electric night that falls. The day begins as the day ends, looking toward the evening ahead, it follows the mind through a night of creation, compassion, comparison and congestion, only to wake up from a world of chaos. In the end, the thought of leaving is explored, but like every other day the cycle continues and other options are developed. For Bisc this is music; it is art; it is creative expression to release the energy, the electricity built up in him that must be discharged.

This poetic deconstruction speaks to life in the balance of our extremes, our failures and our successes, our conflicts and our peace. Bisc1 whispers to mayhem and she sleeps soundly. An artist that sounds so gritty and stays so up is an artist with a reservation in your daily sound track.

As nighttime falls over the cityscape, the record begins. Slowly, the moonlight casts its shadows and the electric lights take their place. They guide us between the end of daylight and the beginnings of a new evening's energy. "Night Fall" is an introduction to the record itself, a hello to the hours in which the day's reflection sets in, and a welcome into the creative hours for those who thrive off the power of nighttime. As the record moves forward, the mirrors take shape. Beginning with the "Turbulence" of the past days decisions. Balancing the personal choices with those outcomes that are seen from a spectator’s view in "Parallels". Comparing personal highs and lows with those absorbed throughout the afternoon shuffle.

With the changing of the clocks hands, the appreciation of survival is noted on "Pandemonium". No matter how dark it gets or how stressful the day seems, soon it has passed and the ability to document and reflect still remains. We are alive. It could always be worse - one must be thankful for that alone. Surrounded by a vast landscape of urban decay, city structures, and more faces than the mind can capture, "Paranoia" sets in. With the help of a few friends, the topic is discussed allowing there to be some point of comparison, realizing we are not alone in our thoughts filled with anxiety and fear.

After a conversation with close friends, it is only right to step back and ask oneself, “Who is surrounding me, who plays the "Sidelines" and what are their intentions? Who do we trust enough to allow into our personal space of making decisions and chasing goals?” From one relationship to the next, "Fire and Ice" explains the love, the communication, and the beauty of those who we hold closest. While on the well-covered topic of love, family must play its part and must be thanked for all that it has allowed in life. "Unconditional" is an ode to those who set the foundation and the guidelines by which to live.

Static and rebellion in that family relationship leads the mind to a love that may or may not be looked at as the most productive outlet. Knowing this passion will never fade, "Strange Love" is an outline to what has become an addiction of passion; the game of writing on walls. Here Mere steps in to help convey what it means to really be in the moment with this art form.

Moving from strange love, we find ourselves much closer to what the depths of night can bring us to; the dreams, the future perspectives, and the encompassing energy we are fed. From a world of global warming to the rule of marshal law, we are found awaken for "Another Day" into a world of chaos and government rule. In the end, thankfully, we wake up only to find it was all illusions lived out in early morning dreams. Early to rise on "Inner-mood", the thoughts of a new day rush like the Manhattan morning traffic and stop as fast as the midtown gridlock.

Stuck in the congestion, thoughts of escape begin to rise. On "Great Escape" the idea of leaving the present and building a new life elsewhere are explored. However, we realize that if the move is made, everything that is built may just collapse and crumble. We escape the nightfall in time for a new day of peace, only to wait on the next night to arrive.

Do you also would like to share your opinion? If so, please register or login here.

Tags

Details

Tracklisting

Bisc1 - When Electric Night Falls