Ceschi

Ralph and I (Brando) are unrepentedly in love with Ceschi. Like truly in love with his music, but even more so the man and what he stands for. His label Fake Four, Inc. has released forward-thinking, quality independent music time after time after time. The Fake Four stable makes up a large slice of our deliciously hairy music pie chart, bros. So with our love worn so publicly, Ralph and I decided to tag-team Ceschi's new record review like the Road Warriors we truly are. Read our takes on Broken Bone Ballads:

Ralph: Broken Bone Ballads is the soul bearing, war story of one of music's most important voices on the road, in the studio, and running a fucking label in the last 15 years!

I know Ceschi like most fans do. I was introduced to him with The One Man Band Broke Up, then doing my homework backwards to They Hate Francisco False and his work in Toca. This is not to mention the varied appearances on Factor's albums, Dark Time Sunshine, Noah23 and so on. I have been eagerly waiting, not only for my friend's release from being recently and wrongfully imprisoned, but for him to feel free enough to get back to sharing his soul and heart in the form of his Folk Rap brilliance.

The track "Forever33" is aggressive, hard, and pure grab your balls rapping. "Kurzweil" sees Ceschi teaming with his brother David, iCON the MIC King and Shoshin who all trade verses about our need to "advance" only to destroy ourselves in some way.

I love who Ceschi as an artist and leader is in the scheme of this do it yourself industry. But what i love is that he is also a voice for those of us who are fighting through the shit, muck and hurt of living in a world where billionaires exist in large numbers while we work our asses off to try and feed out families and share our art.

Fuck Bob Dylan, because i don't relate to what he's talking about or where he came from. We have Ceschi, driving in a car, stopping in our cities, lifting us up with his guitar, raps and singing about just barely surviving these harsh years. Broken Bone Ballads is a beautiful and emotionally deep record, and I love him for it.

Brando: We throw the label "artist" around pretty fucking effortlessly these days. But in Ceschi's case, it not only applies, it reminds us all what it means to be one.

There are just some things Ceschi can pull off that your favorite rapper can't begin to attempt. His holy prostration on the floors of bars from sea to shining sea and all the sand in between in his teeth serve as proof of his DIY work ethic. His wonderful but surprising falsetto ("One Hundred Butterflies") and impeccable pitch throughout Broken Bone Ballads gave me goose pimples.

Think of when your favorite rapper tries to sing. Cringeworthy at best, right? But Ceschi's voice rides that wave like a folk rap super hero. I was gonna make comparisons to Dylan or Guthrie, but honestly, with his heart's flaws engraved upon his bare chest, he's more Karen Carpenter, if she would've ate a sandwich and could rap.

I think I've said that Ceschi has raw talent. I said this based on his punk ethos and blood, sweat, and tears-filled live performances. But I want to redact the adjective of "raw", because what Ceschi has done with Broken Bone Ballads is WAY too well-crafted to be called raw.

Broken Bone Ballads has everything I want in a record: diy independence, emotional honestly, astute politics, a refined and original point of view, and flawless execution. Ceschi isn't pushing the envelope, he's got me licking the glue on a whole new package.

Favorite track: "Beauty for Bosses" for all of the reasons I wrote up above.
Favorite line: "Oh, disappointing mouth / say something more than / another word about / why your life's difficult, now..." from "Say Something".