Professor Murder

Infobox musical artist
Name = Professor Murder


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Origin = New York City, New York
USA
Genre = Indie rock, Dance punk
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Label = Kanine Records, RCRD LBL
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URL = [http://www.professormurder.com/ http://www.professormurder.com]
Current_members = Jesse Cohen Andy Craven Michael Bell-Smith Tony Plunkett
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Professor Murder is a dance punk quartet from New York City that mixes synthesizers and percussion-based compositions in a method that has drawn comparison to post-punk and new-wave bands of the early 1980s and late '70s [ [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll All Music Band Description] ] . They released their critically hailed [ [http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/record_review/37571-rides-the-subway-ep Professor Murder reviewed on Pitchforkmedia] ] debut EP, "Professor Murder Rides the Subway", on Kanine Records in July 2006. Members of the band are Jesse Cohen (keyboards), Andy Craven (drums), Michael Bell-Smith (vocals, percussion, bass, keys), and Tony Plunkett (bass, melodica).

Name Origin

Professor Murder was also a character in two comedy sketches on HBO's [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0112084/ "Mr. Show"] in the 1990s. He was a rapper who was featured in a sketch about the East Coast ventriloquists' feud with the West Coast ventriloquists, which mirrored the same regional divide in the world of rap music. Professor Murder made a second appearance in another sketch as a ringer brought in by the rich kids from the fat camp when they wanted to win a rapping contest against a group of Buddhist monks. Professor Murder was played by [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0765493/ Sam Sarpong] . It has been said that The Mr. Show sketch of the same name inspired the band's name. It was rumored that Tony Plunkett was asked to tour with the John Mayer Trio but turned it down to work exclusively with Professor Murder, but Plunkett denied this rumor at the Pitchfork Music Festival.

Discography

EPs
*"Professor Murder On a Desert Island" (2008) RCRDLBL
*"Professor Murder Rides the Subway" (2006) Kanine Records
*"Professor Murder Vs. The Magazine Culture (2004)

External links

* [http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/record_review/37571/Professor_Murder_Rides_the_Subway_EP Pitchfork's review of "Professor Murder Rides the Subway"]
* [http://woxy.lala.com/music/loungeacts/index.php?id=117 Professor Murder live on WOXY.com, July 18th, 2006]
* [http://media.libsyn.com/media/lowslungradio/Low_Slung_Podcast_Episode_6.mp3 Hear Professor Murder on the Low Slung Podcast]

References