Quasimoto

Infobox Musical artist
Name = Quasimoto


Img_capt =
Img_size =
Landscape =
Background = solo_singer
Birth_name =
Alias =
Born =
Died =
Origin = Oxnard, USA
Instrument = Vocals
Voice_type =
Genre = Hip hop
Years_active = 2000 – Present
Label = Stones Throw Records
Associated_acts =
URL =

Quasimoto (also known as Lord Quas) is the alter ego or the side project of hip hop producer Madlib, from Oxnard, California. Quas is known for the raised pitch of his voice as if he was inhaling helium. Another notable characteristic is Quas inter-changing with Madlib's voice.

Career

Peanut Butter Wolf, DJ and owner of Stones Throw Records, heard Quas' demo tapes and encouraged Madlib to release more tracks under this alias. Quasimoto was featured on Wolf's "My Vinyl Weighs a Ton" album in 1998, on the song "Styles Crews Flows Beats." Finally, Madlib put out Quasimoto's debut album - "The Unseen" - in 2000. This album received much praise from underground heads and from mainstream media, making it onto Spin Magazine's top albums of the year list.

After the release of "The Unseen", Madlib spent the next few years working on radically different projects such as Yesterdays New Quintet and his album "Shades of Blue". Quas re-emerged in 2003, making a few guest appearances, notably on Jaylib's "Champion Sound" and Madvillain's "Madvillainy" (Madlib and MF DOOM).

Quasimoto officially returned with the vinyl-only "Bus Ride" EP in late 2004, continuing his recipe for success - keeping content simple (weed, rap, etc) and using crazy samples. Quasimoto dropped "The Further Adventures of Lord Quas" in 2005. M.E.D. and MF DOOM are featured on the album. The album cover features a reference to Frank Zappa's debut album, "Freak Out!", a picture of super-producer J Dilla, and a picture of Wild Man Fischer, who is also referenced in one of the songs. The voice of Melvin Van Peebles is sampled on several tracks from both albums.

Early depictions of Quasimoto were taken from the movie "Fantastic Planet", specfically the leashed Oms who wore red masks with protruding snouts during the first "de-om".

In an interview, Madlib said that the atmosphere and sound on the Quasimoto albums owe much to the work of Alain Goragueron the soundtrack of La Planete Sauvage and early Quasimoto video features excerpts from it. The song 'Come On Feet' sample the soundtrack to that film.

Discography

*"The Unseen" (2000)
*"The Further Adventures of Lord Quas" (2005)

External links

* [http://www.stonesthrow.com Stones Throw Records]
*MySpace|quasimoto|Quasimoto