Music
Press
Malcolm Palmer’s music shows promise and maturity from a man who is rich in life and telling his story for many to hear.
This is folk music for the new ages.
- Joseph Vilane, Rag Magazine
Palmer has skills — his lyrics are poignant, honest, painful, and deal with people we often try to ignore.
Palmer's ability to glimpse the human side of [his] characters is revealing and convicting.
Unflinching in his portrayal of the problems of the world, Palmer has a lot to say about what is wrong. The bottom line is this: most of what he says... is unmistakably true.
- Brian A. Smith, Phantom Tollbooth
Palmer's music appeals to both the folk and hip-hop circles, as [he] spins tales in a narrative, almost deadpan, rap fashion. The result: original urban prose with grooving beats. - AOL DigitalCity
Malcolm Palmer’s music is a paradox addressing the ugliest truths of our society while weaving itself beautifully into the rhythm of reality. - Ana Lazarevic, Your Neck of the Woods
Not only an amazing singer and a great songwriter, but shockingly, frighteningly, beautifully prophetic. - Alan Berks, Author
From his first words, it's clear Malcolm Palmer isn't a stereotypical MC. He's reserved, soft-spoken, occasionally letting loose an easy, rolling chuckle.
But it's not unexpected. His music is nothing like the stuff of commercial radio, or even on what's on the most devout underground head's iPod.
On his latest CD, BETWEEN THE WOMB AND THE TOMB, just released on Chicago's Orange Van records, his sound melds elements of folk and world music as the backdrop for stream-of-conscious flows about America in 2005 and a side of her populous often ignored by hip-hop... - David Jakubiak, Chicago Sun-Times
Malcolm Palmer is a renaissance man. His music brings to mind Everlast’s acoustic hip-hop flavored album “Whitey Ford Sings the Blues”. The lyrics have lots of meat to them, this [isn’t] some light-hearted album full of fluff. BETWEEN THE WOMB AND THE TOMB is an excellent album that should open a few doors as well as a few minds. - J.R. Oliver, Earcandy Online Music Magazine
Palmer’s contemplations roll off his tongue effortlessly and constantly. From personal confessions and confusion to self-criticism to socio-political contemplations… The singer-songwriter’s simplicity is intact much of the time, and the sum composition has moments of perfection, rivaling Wyclef Jean’s acoustic ballads. - Jef Hoskins, Kaffeine Buzz Online Music Magazine
BETWEEN THE WOMB AND THE TOMB is free flowing poetry rapped over funky folk grooves with a dirty street vibe. Chicago transplant Malcolm Palmer is as much a folk artist as he is a hip-hop artist. With a quick tongue and understanding he makes his way through twelve tracks of smooth, haphazard beats and sporadic thoughts. Acoustic guitars, for the most part, direct each track but are easily run by Malcolm’s comforting voice and “pushed to the edge” vocal style. To sum this disc up in his words, "A handful of thoughts that cannot be prevented."
R.I.Y.L.: Early Ben Harper, G. Love
Monk's Picks: Preferred Form, Pennies, Useless Blues. - Monk, Music Director, IndependentsOnly.com
Singer, songwriter, poet, and actor… somehow Malcolm Palmer manages all this with finesse. His music is as far-reaching and complex as his many talents. His latest album, BETWEEN THE WOMB AND THE TOMB, blends the worlds of folk, hip-hop, and spoken word in a style that is quietly revolutionary and truly genuine. - Cleo Merode, Sentimentalist Magazine
Discography
BETWEEN THE WOMB AND THE TOMB, LP
Photos
Feeling a bit camera shy
Bio
Malcolm Palmer is a songwriter based in Chicago. He is a storyteller and social critic whose songs range from emotional character-driven ballads to soulful pleas to charged rock songs to funk and hip-hop influenced grooves. His sound is a familiar, gritty, classic sound that evokes sepia tones, vinyl, and smoke. His lyrics are provocative, sharp, and often chilling. His voice is soft as an angel one moment and dirty as the devil’s the next. His style draws from multiple genres, multiple emotional states, and mixes nature with city.
THE HEART WAS NOT A STONE (scheduled for release Spring 2007, orange van records) is a quintessential album that is both timely and timeless. It brings the past to the present and the present to the past. It’s a genuine and courageous accomplishment in modern music. The characters, stories, and hooks therein have teeth that cut to the bone and won’t let go. The music, with help from Jamie Alker and Kevin Marks as rhythm section, along with producer Duane Lundy, is a lush, irresistible, intoxicating brew that will make your face scrunch up as your hips begin to grind, and suddenly your feet are moving and your hands are reaching out to touch the music. Then you realize your soul is on fire, and the lyric is cutting through to your stone heart and shining light there. There is a magik to this highly creative, vivid, emotionally connected record and music lovers will rejoice at its arrival.
His previous release, BETWEEN THE WOMB AND THE TOMB (orange van records, 2005), was an exploration of folk/hip-hop, if you will, with elements of soul, funk and rock. For Palmer there is an inextricable correlation between folk and hip-hop. He says, “…both are music of the people, for the people… the many neglected, not the few privileged.” This mentality and the record itself have struck a chord with various musical communities and have garnered critical success as well as radio play on over two hundred college stations. Palmer spent much of last year touring from New York to New Orleans to Albuquerque and throughout the Midwest. He and his band are still getting buzz from their performances at SXSW, Mid-West Music Summit, SummerFest, Hyperactive Music Festival, SummerCamp, and Diversafest. You can catch them on tour soon, supporting their new record, THE HEART WAS NOT A STONE.
Palmer is a prolific songwriter in his prime and his time has come. His band is a force to be reckoned with. They mean business. Producer Duane Lundy’s contributions to THE HEART WAS NOT A STONE bring textures and colors that help to take Palmer's music and words to new levels of sonic expression. This is music history… the genuine article. Enjoy the ride.
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