Kompressor (musician)

Last updated

Kompressor was a parody industrial hip hop act (2000-2005) performed by "Andreas K.", a stagename of webcomic artist Drew Fairweather from Washington Court House, Ohio, United States.

Industrial hip hop is a fusion genre of industrial music and hip hop.

Washington Court House, Ohio City in Ohio, United States

Washington Court House is a city in Fayette County, Ohio, United States. It is the county seat of Fayette County and is located between Cincinnati and Columbus, Ohio. The population was 14,192 in 2010 at the 2010 census. Until 2002, the official name of the city was City of Washington, but there also existed a municipality in Guernsey County, Ohio with the name Washington. The area was originally settled by Virginia war veterans who received the land from the government as payment for their service in the American Revolution. In 2002, a new charter was adopted, officially changing the name to the "City of Washington Court House". The name is often abbreviated as "Washington C.H."

Ohio U.S. state in the United States

Ohio is a Midwestern state in the Great Lakes region of the United States. Of the fifty states, it is the 34th largest by area, the seventh most populous, and the tenth most densely populated. The state's capital and largest city is Columbus. Ohio is bordered by Pennsylvania to the east, Michigan to the northwest, Lake Erie to the north, Indiana to the west, Kentucky on the south, and West Virginia on the southeast.

Contents

Kompressor was originally anonymous but later revealed himself to be Drew, the author of the Toothpaste For Dinner daily webcomic and blog. [1]

Kompressor's music is self-described as: "Kompressor sound is hard and angry, good words used for song and electronic."

History and persona

Kompressor began in 2000, when Drew began recording songs under the Kompressor name and putting songs, and videos of the songs, up for free download. The songs became popular over the ensuing years, leading to four albums.

Kompressor is depicted in his albums and videos wearing a strange alien mask, usually with a black leather jacket and black gloves. He proclaims to be from Bremen, Germany, to speak English as a second language, and some of his songs are in German, or have some German lyrics.

Extraterrestrial life Life occurring outside of Earth which did not originate on Earth

Extraterrestrial life refers to life occurring outside of Earth which did not originate on Earth. Such hypothetical life might range from simple prokaryotes to beings with civilizations far more advanced than humanity. The Drake equation speculates about the existence of intelligent life elsewhere in the universe. The science of extraterrestrial life in all its forms is known as Astrobiology.

Jacket Clothing for the upper body

A jacket is a mid-stomach–length garment for the upper body. A jacket typically has sleeves, and fastens in the front or slightly on the side. A jacket is generally lighter, tighter-fitting, and less insulating than a coat, which is outerwear. Some jackets are fashionable, while others serve as protective clothing. Jackets without sleeves are vests.

Bremen City in Germany

The City Municipality of Bremen is the capital of the German federal state Free Hanseatic City of Bremen, a two-city-state consisting of the cities of Bremen and Bremerhaven. With around 570,000 inhabitants, the Hanseatic city is the 11th largest city of Germany as well as the second largest city of Northern Germany after Hamburg.

Kompressor released a cover of the "Tunak Tunak Tun" song by Sikh bhangra singer Daler Mehndi. In Kompressor's version, the lyrics open with "Kompressor crushing American people, Kompressor driving cars into stores, Kompressor crushing all of Manhattan, Kompressor flying plane into building". The song was recorded before the September 11, 2001 attacks, in which terrorists flew planes into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in lower Manhattan. After the attack, Kompressor replaced those two lines of the song in the web-released video, splicing in an old man playing "It's a Small World After All" on a piano.

Bhaṅgṛā is a type of upbeat popular music associated with the Punjab region in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, and the Punjabi diaspora in Europe and North America.

Daler Mehndi Indian singer

Daler Singh, better known as Daler Mehndi, is an Indian singer, songwriter, author and record producer. He is credited with making Bhangra popular worldwide, and helping to popularise Indian pop music independent of Bollywood music. He is best known for his energetic dance songs, his distinctive voice, turban and long, flowing robes.

World Trade Center (1973–2001) Former skyscraper complex in Manhattan, New York

The original World Trade Center was a large complex of seven buildings in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan, New York City, United States. It opened on April 4, 1973, and was destroyed in 2001 during the September 11 attacks. At the time of their completion, the Twin Towers—the original 1 World Trade Center, at 1,368 feet (417 m); and 2 World Trade Center, at 1,362 feet (415.1 m)—were the tallest buildings in the world. Other buildings in the complex included the Marriott World Trade Center, 4 WTC, 5 WTC, 6 WTC, and 7 WTC. The complex contained 13,400,000 square feet (1,240,000 m2) of office space.

Albums

This two-CD set is the final release by Kompressor. It set contains 52 royalty-free audio tracks, which contain all sounds from Discipline and many World Domination and Crush Television sounds, including drums, synthesizers, vocoder, vocals, and processed/acoustic sounds. The CDs also contain 9 tracks of out-takes, unused synthesizer and drum tracks, and fragments of never-heard b-sides from Discipline.

Drum kit collection of drums and other percussion instruments

A drum kit — also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums — is a collection of drums and other percussion instruments, typically cymbals, which are set up on stands to be played by a single player, with drumsticks held in both hands, and the feet operating pedals that control the hi-hat cymbal and the beater for the bass drum. A drum kit consists of a mix of drums and idiophones – most significantly cymbals, but can also include the woodblock and cowbell. In the 2000s, some kits also include electronic instruments. Also, both hybrid and entirely electronic kits are used.

Synthesizer Electronic instrument capable of producing a wide range of sounds

A synthesizer or synthesiser is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals that may be converted to sound. Synthesizers may imitate traditional musical instruments such as piano, flute, vocals, or natural sounds such as ocean waves; or generate novel electronic timbres. They are often played with a musical keyboard, but they can be controlled via a variety of other devices, including music sequencers, instrument controllers, fingerboards, guitar synthesizers, wind controllers, and electronic drums. Synthesizers without built-in controllers are often called sound modules, and are controlled via USB, MIDI or CV/gate using a controller device, often a MIDI keyboard or other controller.

Vocoder electronic device

A vocoder is a category of voice codec that analyzes and synthesizes the human voice signal for audio data compression, multiplexing, voice encryption, voice transformation, etc.

Public domain

According to Sharing Machine, Kompressor's record label, while the music is copyrighted, all existing Kompressor lyrics (as of 2005) are available in the public domain. Kompressor has also stated that his music is free to distribute, as long as it is not sold or used for commercial use.

Kompressor Singularity

Kompressor, who announced his intentions to revamp his project at the start of 2006, closed his online store at the end of 2005. Prior to closing the online store, he released all songs from World Domination and Crush Television (plus some songs from Underground Archives) for free download.

As of January 1, 2006, Kompressor's Singularity occurred. While not explicitly stating all music production will cease, his statement on the matter indicates that he will no longer sell music, and he would be selling off his music equipment. Additionally, the old Kompressor web site is replaced with a discography, yet other pages still exist on the server.

Sometime in late 2008 the Kompressor website was redirected to another website run by Drew, Superpoop. Drew was quoted as saying "You can buy Kompressor MP3s at amazon (drm-free) and there's no need to keep the old site online, so there you have it." [2]

Related Research Articles

VNV Nation band

VNV Nation is a European-based alternative electronic project led by Ronan Harris in the roles of singer, songwriter and producer.

<i>HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I</i> Album by Michael Jackson

HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I is the ninth studio album by American singer Michael Jackson, released on June 20, 1995. It was the fifth Jackson album released through Epic Records, and the first on his label MJJ Productions. It comprises two discs: HIStory Begins, a greatest hits compilation, and HIStory Continues, comprising new material written and produced by Jackson and collaborators. The themes include environmental awareness, isolation, greed, suicide, injustice, and Jackson's conflicts with the media.

<i>Discipline</i> (King Crimson album) 1981 studio album by King Crimson

Discipline is the eighth studio album by English progressive rock band King Crimson, released on September 22, 1981 by E.G. Records in the United Kingdom and by Warner Bros. Records in the United States. This album was King Crimson's first album following a seven-year hiatus. Only founder Robert Fripp and later addition Bill Bruford remained from previous incarnations. The rest of the band were American musicians Adrian Belew and Tony Levin. The album resulted in a more updated 1980s new wave-oriented sound.

"Matte Kudasai" is a single by the progressive rock band King Crimson, released in 1981. Both songs from the single appear on the album Discipline (1981). "Matte Kudasai" evolved from another song recorded by The League of Gentlemen called "Northa Kudasai", which in turn became "North Star" on Robert Fripp's 1979 album Exposure.

MC Frontalot American nerdcore rapper

Damian Hess, better known by his stage name MC Frontalot, is an American rapper and web designer.

<i>Toothpaste for Dinner</i> Webcomic

Toothpaste for Dinner is a webcomic created by Drew Fairweather. The comic was launched on January 1, 2002.

Number 1 (Goldfrapp song) single by Goldfrapp

"Number 1" is an electronic–dance song performed by British group Goldfrapp. The song was written and produced by Alison Goldfrapp and Will Gregory for the duo's third album Supernature (2005). The song features a synthesizer and bass arrangement and was written about the importance and meaningfulness that somebody shares with another, despite that it might not necessarily last.

Married to the Sea is a webcomic by husband and wife Drew Fairweather and Natalie Dee. Both Drew and Natalie have creative input on Married to the Sea but the comic is not strictly collaborative. Each has a personal webcomic project: Drew is also the author of Toothpaste for Dinner and Natalie Dee produces NatalieDee.

First We Take Manhattan song written by Leonard Cohen

"First We Take Manhattan" is a song written by Canadian singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen. It was originally recorded by American singer Jennifer Warnes on her 1986 Cohen tribute album Famous Blue Raincoat, which consisted entirely of songs written or co-written by Cohen.

Tunak Tunak Tun pop song

"Tunak Tunak Tun" or simply "Tunak", is a Bhangra/Indi-pop song by Indian Punjabi artist Daler Mehndi, released in 1998. It was the first Indian music video made using greenscreen technology.

"Champion" is a song by American hip-hop artist Kanye West. It was released as the second song on the track-listing of his third studio album, Graduation. West performed the song on Saturday Night Live in September 2007. The song was produced by West and Brian "All Day" Miller and samples "Kid Charlemagne" by Steely Dan. Music critics praised the song. Though not released as a single, "Champion" managed to chart on both the US Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart and US Pop 100 chart respectively. The official music video for the song was directed by Nabil Elderkin and released in August 2008 via West's blog.

Sussudio Song by Phil Collins

"Sussudio" is a song by English singer-songwriter Phil Collins, released as a single in January 1985. The song is the first track on Collins' third solo studio album, No Jacket Required, released in February of the same year. The song entered frequent rotation on MTV in May: by 6 July both single and album reached No. 1 on their respective US Billboard charts. The song peaked at No. 12 in the UK Singles Chart.

Love You Lately 2006 single by Daniel Powter

"Love You Lately" is the fifth single from Daniel Powter's eponymous second studio album, Daniel Powter. It is also the only additional track to appear on the CD of the 2006 deluxe edition/re-release which also included a DVD with all of the music videos accompanying the preceding four singles, a selection of live versions of songs on the album filmed in concert at 'Studio A' and a selection of B Sides. The deluxe edition, 'Love You Lately' and Powter's compilation album 'B Sides' all share the same sleeve artwork. 'Love You Lately' is also a bonus track on the Japanese Promo release of Powter's third studio album "Under the Radar".

Tunnel of Love (Bruce Springsteen song) Bruce Springsteen song

"Tunnel of Love" is the title song by Bruce Springsteen from his 1987 Tunnel of Love album. It was released as the second single from the album, reaching number nine on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Like the first single from the album, "Brilliant Disguise", "Tunnel of Love" reached number one on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart and reached the top twenty in Canada peaking at number seventeen. The music video received five MTV Video Music Awards nominations, including Video of the Year and Best Male Video.

Soramimi(空耳, "mishearing; deafness", literally "air ear") or soramimi kashi(空耳歌詞, "misheard lyrics"); is a Japanese term for homophonic translation of song lyrics, that is, interpreting lyrics in one language as similar-sounding lyrics in another language. A bilingual soramimi word play contrasts with a monolingual mondegreen or homophonic transformation, and is usually caused by pareidolia. Soramimi transcription is also commonly used in animutations for comic effect.

<i>Harmony</i> (Never Shout Never album) 2010 studio album by Never Shout Never

Harmony is the second studio album by Never Shout Never and was released August 24, 2010. The packaging of the CD comes with flower seeds with planting instructions "so you can get involved and make the world a more beautiful place!" The album was streamed on his MySpace on August 22, 2010. Harmony debuted at #14 on the U.S. Billboard 200 albums chart.

Instant Crush 2013 single by Daft Punk

"Instant Crush" is a song written, produced, and performed by French electronic music duo Daft Punk and American musician Julian Casablancas. It was released as the fourth single from Daft Punk's fourth studio album, Random Access Memories (2013), on 22 November 2013. It was number 58 on Rolling Stone magazine's 100 Best Songs of 2013 list.

The 2009 webcomic Homestuck, written and drawn by Andrew Hussie, currently holds a soundtrack consisting of 30 digital albums. Besides static images, Homestuck makes use of flash animations and games, which often involve background music. The music of Homestuck is composed by fans, but is published by Hussie through his Bandcamp page under the What Pumpkin record label. Hussie established a small "Music Contribution Team" for the webcomic, which is coordinated by Toby Fox.

The history of webcomics follows the advances of technology, art, and business of comics on the Internet. The first comics were shared through the Internet in the mid-1980s. Some early webcomics were derivatives from print comics, but when the World Wide Web became widely popular in the mid-1990s, more people started creating comics exclusively for this medium. By the year 2000, various webcomic creators were financially successful and webcomics became more artistically recognized.

<i>Manos Arriba</i> 2008 EP by Chana

Manos Arriba is an extended play (EP) recorded by Dominican-American singer Chana. It was released on January 27, 2008, by Patacon Productions. Following the disbandment of Eden's Crush, Chana felt inspired to record Spanish-language music independently and met producer Marthin Chan. She had rejected offers from executives from Latin music record labels to seek out a career in more alternative genres of music rather than conventional Latin pop.

References

  1. ↑ "The Worst Things For Sale". Blog.toothpastefordinner.com. Retrieved 2012-06-21.
  2. ↑
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.