I'll Sleep When You're Dead

Infobox Album
Name = I'll Sleep When You're Dead
Type = Album
Artist = El-P


Released = March 20, 2007
Recorded = 2005–2006
Genre = Hip hop
Acid rap
Length = 55:07
Label = Definitive Jux
DJX137
Producer = El-P
Reviews =
*Allmusic Rating|4.5|5 [http://allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:xn2uak4k5mdc 2007]
*Drowned In Sound (8/10) [http://www.drownedinsound.com/release/view/9478 2007]
*"Entertainment Weekly" (B+) [http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20015128,00.html 2007]
*Okayplayer Rating|4.5|5 [http://www.okayplayer.com/reviews/index.php/weblog/more/ill_sleep_when_youre_dead/ 2007]
*Pitchfork Media (8.0/10) [http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/record_review/41733/ElP_I%E2%80%99ll_Sleep_When_You%E2%80%99re_Dead 2007]
*PopMatters (8/10) [http://www.popmatters.com/pm/music/reviews/32840/el-p-ill-sleep-when-youre-dead/ 2007]
*RapReviews.com (9/10) [http://www.rapreviews.com/archive/2007_02F_sleepwhendead.html 2007]
*"Rolling Stone" Rating|3|5 [http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/elp/albums/album/13831360/review/13882544/ill_sleep_when_youre_dead 2007]
*Stylus Magazine (A) [http://www.stylusmagazine.com/reviews/el-p/ill-sleep-when-youre-dead.htm 2007]
*"URB" Rating|4|5 March 2007 (p. 95)
Last album = "Collecting the Kid" (2004)
This album = "I'll Sleep When You're Dead" (2007)
Next album =

"I'll Sleep When You're Dead" is the second full-length studio album by Brooklyn, New York hip hop artist El-P, released on his own Definitive Jux label on March 20, 2007. The album comes almost a full five years after his critically acclaimed debut solo album, "Fantastic Damage".

__toc__The album features guest appearances from core "jukies", most prominently Cage and Aesop Rock, as well as contributions from several notable alternative rock artists, including Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails, Omar Rodriguez-Lopez, Isaiah "Ikey" Owens and Cedric Bixler-Zavala of The Mars Volta, James McNew of Yo La Tengo, 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",cite web | last = | first = | url = http://iswyd.blogspot.com/2006/08/brief-list-of-some-of-people-who.html | title = I'll Sleep When You're Dead Blog - a brief list of some of the people who appear in some form on my record... | format = | work = | publisher = | accessdate = | accessyear = ] El-P has explained the more organic nature of the collaborations on "I'll Sleep When You're Dead":

El-P has compared the overall sound of the album's music to "a psychedelic Boogie Down Productions record", and like "Scott LaRock and Ced Gee take acid".cite web | last = | first = | url = http://iswyd.blogspot.com/2006/08/scott-larock-and-ced-gee-take-acid-ive.html | title = I'll Sleep When You're Dead Blog - SCOTT LAROCK AND CED GEE TAKE ACID | format = | work = | publisher = | accessdate = | accessyear = ] Though he has stated that while the album is not "a political album per se, but... an honest one", some of the lyrics include comment on the September 11, 2001 attacks and the response of the Bush administration.

The album's first single, the Trent Reznor-featuring "Flyentology", was released as a digital download via the iTunes Store on February 20, 2007. The song "EMG" appears as the B-side, and an animated video was made by the Adult Swim team.A video was also shot for "Smithereens", featuring images of torture and imprisonment reminiscent of US prison facilities like Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib.cite web | last = | first = | url = http://store.definitivejux.net/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=VIEW_POST&post_id=151 | title = DefinitiveJux.net - Watch the brand new video for "Smithereens" | format = | work = | publisher = | accessdate = | accessyear = ]

El-P previewed an unmixed version of "Tasmanian Pain Coaster", the album's opening track, on British DJ Gilles Peterson's "WorldWide" show on January 26, 2006 on Radio 1. A version of "EMG" with the extended title "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.

"I'll Sleep When You're Dead" debuted at number 78 on the U.S. Billboard 200, selling about 11,000 copies in its first week. [Katie Hasty, [http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003563939 "Modest Mouse Steers Its 'Ship' To No. 1 Debut"] , Billboard.com, March 28, 2007.]

Track listing

#"Tasmanian Pain Coaster" – 6:56
#*Featuring Omar Rodriguez-Lopez and Cedric Bixler-Zavala of The Mars Volta
#*Intro Moog Liberation played by Wilder Zoby
#*Additional guitar by Matt Sweeney
#*Cuts by Mr. Dibbs
#"Smithereens (Stop Cryin')" – 4:34
#*Additional vocals by Hangar 18
#*Cuts by Mr. Dibbs
#"Up All Night" – 2:38
#*Additional vocals by Mr. Lif
#"EMG" – 4:33
#*Cuts by Big Wiz
#"Drive" – 4:15
#"Dear Sirs" – 1:34
#"Run the Numbers" – 4:43
#*Featuring Aesop Rock
#*Additional Moog Liberation by Wilder Zoby
#*Cuts by Mr. Dibbs
#"Habeas Corpses (Draconian Love)" – 4:36
#*Featuring Cage
#*Buzuq played by Daniel Kaufman
#*Sergeant played by Mr. Len
#*Cuts by Mr. Dibbs
#"The Overly Dramatic Truth" – 4:32
#*Additional keys by Daryl Palumbo
#*Additional vocals by Camu Tao
#"Flyentology" – 4:03
#*Featuring Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails
#*Additional vocals by Rob Sonic
#*Additional production by Trent Reznor
#"No Kings" – 3:07
#*Featuring Tame One
#"The League of Extraordinary Nobodies" – 2:36
#*Additional vocals by Joey Raia, Slug, and Murs
#"Poisenville Kids No Wins / Reprise (This Must Be Our Time)" – 7:00
#*Featuring Chan "Cat Power" Marshall
#*Additional guitar by Kareem Bunton
#*Additional keys on "Reprise (This Must Be Our Time)" by Ikey of the Mars Volta

Credits

*Executive Producers: El-P and Amaechi Uzoigwe
*Mastering: Michael Sarsfield
*Mixing, engineering: Joey Raia
*Layout and design: Brad Smith
*Photography: Timothy Saccenti
*Project Manager: Jesse Ferguson

References

External links

* [http://www.definitivejux.net/ Definitive Jux Official Website]
* [http://store.definitivejux.net/store/artist_el_p.html Definitive Jux - El-P]
*myspace|elproducto|El-P
* [http://iswyd.blogspot.com/ El-P's blog chronicling the album's recording process]