Pigeon Hole

I found Pigeon Hole a few weeks ago, through a track called Champion, which I shared on TheFreshNew, initially shared by Mat the Alien or The Librarian or a Shambhala DJ of the like (I actually now realize I missed Pigeon Hole’s set as I look through their photo’s and see them on PK Sound‘s legendary Village Stage). Anyways, check out this truly fresh fusion of of a duo of producer/MCs from Vancouver. They bring a fresh flare to what many call a dead genre, with their funky bass, clever and cutting vocals, and general groovy feel, and breathe a new life into hip hop. Viva La Hip Hop! - The Fresh New

Sweatshop Union members Colin “Dusty Melo” McCue and Lee “Mr. Marmalade” Napthine drop their follow up release to 2010’s Age Like Astronauts and the results are stunning. As far as hip hop goes this is next level shit reeking of innovation and experimentation.

In relation to their work with Sweatshop Union it’s obvious that Dusty and Marmalade are the eccentrics of the crew. Chimp Blood explores many subgenres of electronic music making it obvious that recent and extensive festival touring has certainly exposed these hip hop spacemen to the new dimensions in sound that exist outside of the rap universe.

Chimp Blood pumps with electronic stylizations highly influenced by drum and bass, dubstep, glitch and moombahton and flavoured with unusual found sounds and tweaked voice samples. It’s obvious here that Dusty and Marmalade are seriously gifted rappers the way they twist and contort their vocal stylizations to successfully complement their ingenious aural sculptures creating a perfect symmetry between wordplay and sonic inventiveness. This has to be one of the most tripped out hip hop offerings you’ve ever heard up until now and I give these guys big props for expanding the parameters of the genre.

If you have a craving for some seriously spaced out rhyme pudding then strap on your headphones and ladle yourself up a big bowl of Chimp Blood. Go ahead, take yourself on a long journey down the Pigeon Hole. There’s a very good chance you won’t want to come back.
- BC Musician Magazine

Time, we have none of it! As an addendum to the Ack’s post from the other day I’m putting up this drive-by of a post to extoll the virtues of Vancouver duo Pigeon Hole and their latest record Chimp Blood. Like everyone else, my workload is ever-increasing and on the homefront we’re continuing our quest to spawn our own Naedoo starting 5 with the birth of our 3rd son a couple weeks ago. So yeah, time for reasoned, thought out reviews is non-existent. BUT there are records, songs and videos that deserve to be posted and I’ll continue to do so in whatever slapdash fashion I can manage.

Yikes, that’s not a great intro for a record I like as much as this one, but hey read on! Or just buy it! It’s fair to say that the Hole’s first album was kind of a revelation for me, and even though the duo has come with a different, more electronic-influenced (I avoid the phrase “trap music” whenever possible, no matter how awkward the alternatives are) sounding production style this time out, I remain a huge fan of what they’re doing.

I tried to say as much in my earlier post for the ridiculously catchy Champion, but this is the kind of modern hip hop I wish more people would get behind. Yes, the production is chock full of machine gun drums and 808 bass, but it’s really well done and mixed and matched to keep things interesting throughout. So whether it’s the trance-like chants of The Turk, the hazy, fuzzed-out nostalgia of June, the wobbly bravado of awesomely-named Ice Dicks, or the breezy piano sounds on the hopeful Higher State, there’s plenty of head-noddery to be found here, whatever your taste. So give it a go.
- Herohill

Time, we have none of it! As an addendum to the Ack’s post from the other day I’m putting up this drive-by of a post to extoll the virtues of Vancouver duo Pigeon Hole and their latest record Chimp Blood. Like everyone else, my workload is ever-increasing and on the homefront we’re continuing our quest to spawn our own Naedoo starting 5 with the birth of our 3rd son a couple weeks ago. So yeah, time for reasoned, thought out reviews is non-existent. BUT there are records, songs and videos that deserve to be posted and I’ll continue to do so in whatever slapdash fashion I can manage.

Yikes, that’s not a great intro for a record I like as much as this one, but hey read on! Or just buy it! It’s fair to say that the Hole’s first album was kind of a revelation for me, and even though the duo has come with a different, more electronic-influenced (I avoid the phrase “trap music” whenever possible, no matter how awkward the alternatives are) sounding production style this time out, I remain a huge fan of what they’re doing.

I tried to say as much in my earlier post for the ridiculously catchy Champion, but this is the kind of modern hip hop I wish more people would get behind. Yes, the production is chock full of machine gun drums and 808 bass, but it’s really well done and mixed and matched to keep things interesting throughout. So whether it’s the trance-like chants of The Turk, the hazy, fuzzed-out nostalgia of June, the wobbly bravado of awesomely-named Ice Dicks, or the breezy piano sounds on the hopeful Higher State, there’s plenty of head-noddery to be found here, whatever your taste. So give it a go.
- Herohill

Already a duo before co-founding Sweatshop Union in 2000 with Dirty Circus, Kyprios and Innocent Bystander, Pigeon Hole finally released their debut album, Age Like Astronauts, in 2010, but less than three years later, they're back with a distinctly different follow-up. Rappers/producers Dusty Melodica and Mr. Marmalade are as musically adventurous as ever, but with Chimp Blood they trade in the throwback beats of their debut for a harder, darker sound dominated by synths and influenced by electronic dance music. It sounds more progressive and is often downright danceable. The two are obviously pros at production, a strength they highlight with three instrumentals and a couple of interludes. As rappers, they sound like they're having fun styling and playing around on the mic, but they do it with a great deal of attitude and skill. Their subject matter here is less serious than with Sweatshop Union; it's mostly braggadocio, with well-structured wordplay. Sequencing "Wolf Pack," "The Turk" and first single "Champion" as the opening three songs makes for an insane start, while "June" is a beautifully mellow, smoked-out instrumental. Chimp Blood is a fun ride that doesn't require any use of the skip button. - Exclaim

The name says it all! 'The Victoria, BC DJ/producers/ MCs are not one's to lock down simply one sound or style. Chimp Blood is the followup to 2010’s Age Like Astronauts and comes with 13 explicit crunk rap / electro tunes with knockouts that include “Blazing Soul” and “Fiiiire”- truly leading a new sound direction. Those needing ambitious rap amusement — make sure to listen to the final track, "The Sink". There is a spacey blueprint on this record layered with grimy rap ballads and shake-worthy drum machine additions. Pigeon Hole falls somewhere between The Airplane Boys and Datsik, rendering with precision and enthralling with pulsating breakbeats. Both Lee and Colin are members of Sweatshop Union so, for the lot that fancies the longstanding underground hip-hop group, fear not, a new album is expected later this month. The dirty twosome performed at Toronto's Global Village Backpackers spot (for foreigners and Canucks alike) on Mar. 20, as part of Canadian Music Week. - New Canadian Music

Vancouver MCs Dusty Melo and Marmalade, who are best known as members of the band Sweatshop Union, began their own hip-hop group in 2010. Called Pigeon Hole, this group’s debut album, Age Like Astronauts, was a difficult to classify cavalcade of experimental sound.?

Pigeon Hole’s second album, Chimp Blood, is similarly intriguing. Sweatshop Union generally trends towards music where the vocals are the focus, while Pigeon Hole subjugates them to the distant background.?

Chimp Blood was a fitting name for this album, since the animalistic undertones that radiate throughout are quite easy to pick up on — it’s the type of album that makes you feel like you have to destroy shit the second it starts to pump.?

If you are sick of the recent trend in music toward bass-heavy tracks, you may want to steer clear of Chimp Blood. To call this project bass-heavy is an understatement — each song is infused with a beating, relentless bass-line that gets the blood boiling. While this may not appeal to all hip-hop fans, it definitely works for the sound Pigeon Hole is shooting for.?

The album is fast too: the drums and 808s sound like machine guns, driving the action forward. It’s not dubstep, but it’s not hip hop either. The album sounds clean and crisp even though it’s bass heavy. The standout track was “Ice Dicks,” which manages to transcend its ridiculous title.?

Chimp Blood is an album that will make you want to roll down the windows and drive up and down 17th Avenue until it’s finished. This mix of tracks is simultaneously gritty and clean, muddy and crisp, fast and slow — I would definitely recommend it.?
- The Gauntlet

Fun is what music is all about right? Sure there's some introspective, deep stuff that gets you inspired to paint a bowl of fruit, but for the most part, you listen to music to bob your head, shake your ass and move like you're on Soul Train. Cue Pigeon Hole, the duo who also like to throw down with the Sweatshop Union collective out of Vancouver area. With the names of "Dusty Melo" (Colin McCue) and "Marmalade" (Lee Napthine). These guys do whatever it takes to make sure you, the listener, get everything out of the music that you can. Whether it's slow motion food fights in hamburger and hot dog costumes to the track Roll Up, or bustin into your local pharmacy for some Neosporin like a Boss to the tune of Chimpblood, this album could be the soundtrack of your summer, your Junior year of High School, or just your 5th year living in your parents' pool house after college. Any and all apply, and this album is deserving not only a repeat listen but exposing your boring friends to it too.

The second album from the duo (get it HERE, by the way) they've given us fun, without being frat boy, beats without being onerous, and rhymes without being bombastic. It's pure unadulterated listening enjoyment and if you can't move to this, than your therapist should note it down and file it along with your weird fear of yellow tricyles and thin mint Girl Scout cookies.
- The Waxhole

This Vancouver-based producer duo is hitting the streets hard with their hip-hop influenced grimey beats as Pigeon Hole. The heavy bass coming off their second album Chimp Blood is straight hyphy, featuring some dirty synths and 808s for your auditory pleasure. Colin and Lee of Pigeon Hole are also members of Sweatshop Union and while at SXSW Colin and Lee threw it down, playing several shows with Sweatshop Union, as well as performing as Pigeon Hole on Saturday at The Spider House. With plans of hitting the festival season hard, it’s exciting to hear that these cat’s interesting combination of hip-hop beats and flow with grimey bass will be hitting the summer circuit soon. Check out this week’s artist interview with Pigeon Hole, and check out their newest sounds from Chimp Blood below, which includes a psychedelic music video for their single Champion. - Music You Need

Pigeon Hole is the side project of Dusty Melo and Marmalade from Sweatshop Union, and "Ice Dicks," a wobbly track paired with some jutting rhymes, comes from their sophomore LP, Chimp Blood. I mean, we couldn't skip on a song titled "Ice Dicks" by a duo named Pigeon Hole. C'mon. - Pigeons and Planes

Pigeon Hole is the side project of Dusty Melo and Marmalade from Sweatshop Union, and "Ice Dicks," a wobbly track paired with some jutting rhymes, comes from their sophomore LP, Chimp Blood. I mean, we couldn't skip on a song titled "Ice Dicks" by a duo named Pigeon Hole. C'mon. - Pigeons and Planes

Pigeon Hole are two Vancouver based producer/mc’s with a constant evolving sound and ability to crank out next level music. Their output as members of Sweatshop Union is evidence of leaps in style, delivery and approach from album to album. ‘Chimp Blood’ the group’s second record out now on Urbnet, this album is the perfect blend of hip hop, future grime and cutting edge, raw beats. - High On Beats

Pigeon Hole – Champion

“But there’s so much good hip hop in Canada, why do people listen to this horseshit?!?!” – Me, whining about people who listen to bad rap music.

So yeah, of course no one cares what I think, but it’s not as if I’ve been just saying that without giving you alternatives. Case in point, Pigeon Hole. This duo, also members of Vancouver supergroup Sweatshop Union put out the sort of ideal album I’d love to see people get behind. Innovative production, cheese-free production, quality flows from both MC’s, and an outlook that embraces nostalgia and past struggles, yet still looks forward. I loved it, but did it get the attention it deserved? Likely not.

But never fear my friends, because the Hole have a new album called Chimp Blood coming out on March 5th on Urbnet, so you all have another to chance to not let me down! Have a listen to the latest single from the upcoming record, Champion, with it’s crazy, non-shitty electronic/trap beat and anthemic hook, it’s a very cool track. Plus, check out the video for it, kitties! If I’ve learned anything from the internet of late, it’s that you all love kitties more than Bubbles and Ellen Page combined, so bask in the mesmerizing glory of that kittyfied video below. If that’s not enough, check out the other single from Chimp Blood, the ominous Wolf Pack, which showcases the grimy side of the group. And get that new album! - Herohill

Many are firm in their belief that rap is dead. Releases like the new Underachievers mixtape and the fact Andre 3000 are releasing an album year certainly has me under a different impression. However, I will be the first to admit, it’s definitely changing. As EDM becomes more and more acceptable, you can hear the increasing incestuous crossover between the two relatively distinct genres of music, such as on OutKast‘s Idlewild or on tracks like “Squad Up” on Netsky‘s 2. And the recent popularity of Trap and Glitch-Hop has certainly done nothing to change the tide, offering ever-more avenues to blend elements of the two genres together. In the future, I see electronic-based-rap and hip-hop-based-electronic music emerging as major mainstream genres of music. And acts like Pigeon Hole show why. Check out this fire dance track with a hot verse in the middle. A great DJ or party track. - The Fresh New

This one goes out to all those hip-hop heads who never did quite get down with the whole party-lifestyle that is glamorized by many of raps biggest names. Pigeon Hole teams up with Moka Only and Itchy Ron for its latest track, “Looptape”, from this summer’s album, Age Like Astronauts. Moving in slow motion, Pigeon Hole crafts a jazzy beat, while the lyricists exchange verses about kicking back and just vibin’ out to the classic hip-hop albums of the good ol’ days. I suggest you do the same. - potholesinmyblog.com

Oh hip hop, you lovable scamp, I was beginning to wonder if our two-decade plus love-affair might be starting to fade. Not surprising if the passion did dampen a bit, these things happen in a long relationship after all. But then we found something to light the flame again. It wasn’t something hokey like bedroom role-play, or ill-conceived, like a plan to take a little break to see if the grass really is greener on the other side. No, none of these trite and true methods were the answer for us, we found our answer literally right at the end of our noses: Canada. You heard me correct friend. If you’re old and grumpy like me, and most of today’s mainstream hip hop sends you reaching for your Tapes & your Walkman, there’s a herd of recent Canadian hip hop releases that might be right up your alley.

Case in point: Pigeon Hole. Pigeon Hole is a duo, Dusty Melo and Marmalade, who call Vancouver home, and are also members of fairly well-known Vancouver hip hop collective Sweatshop Union. It sounds as if the duo has been collaborating since the early 90's, but the recent release of Age Like Astronauts is their debut full-length album. It was certainly worth the wait though, as now the rest of us get to find out how talented the Hole is, something Sweatshop Union fans have seemingly known for years.

Age Like Astronauts opens with the deliberate Voodoo, and I think it’s a good sign when a fairly simple song such as this – just the beat (a good one too, chunky drums and a kind of old-school Dre-esque Funky Worm synth), the lyrics and a chanted chorus – is as addictive as this one here is. I won’t lie to you, Looptape converted me to a Pigeon Hole fan the first time I heard it. Yes, the beat is awesome (it’s been a while since I’ve said this, but put some solid horns on your track, and I’m roughly 95% in your corner from the jump), it has features from Moka and fellow Sweatshopper Itchy Ron, and they are reminiscing about awesome old school rap topics (with accordingly awesome scratched in samples). But the clincher is the fact that they mention Ill Al Skratch – I bought Creep Wit’ Me on a trip to Boston in the early 90's, and I have a lasting, if somewhat out of proportion, affection for Ill and Al Skratch.

Light Show has a great, scratchy early 90's sound, and it features the kind of braggadocios raps that are befitting that era. It also features a D-Sisive cameo, which is all the rage in some Canadian hip hop circles right now, and if you know our history, you know that is a welcome development here at the hill. After hearing You Suck, a humorous lady-friend kiss-off, a couple times, it began to remind me of the Pharcyde, even though I don’t exactly know why I’d say that. Sea Tales offers a cool change of pace, with the MC’s bringing fast flows to a minimal track that doesn’t feature much more than static, wave sound effects, some guitar chords, and some faint, jazzy drumming. And it works, which is rather impressive, considering it’s kind of unorthodox.

The first half of the album is fairly fun-loving, and it kind of feels like a super well-done homage to the 90's hip hop that folks like myself still clutch tightly to our chests when it’s nostalgia time. But Pigeon Hole shows diversity, and the ability to write good songs about something tangible (you know, rap songs about something other than rapping) on the second half with songs like the bad-boyfriend ode Jercules, Bleed, a lament for the lost souls of their hometown, and the ominous, police-state warning Year of the Tiger.

In short, if you need something to send your hip hop disillusionment packing, Canada is the place to look right now, and you should start with Pigeon Hole and Age Like Astronauts. They’ve got a great debut on their hands, and I guarantee you’ll be spinning it on the regular throughout the summer. I know I will be. - herohill.com

Though their band name might suggest otherwise, Marmalade and Dusty Melo—known to their grandmothers as Lee Napthine and Colin McCue—of emerging Sweatshop Union subgroup Pigeon Hole aren’t entirely easy to pinpoint. And frankly, the two MCs, who grew up together in Nanaimo, B.C., weren’t going for anything less than difficult-to-classify on their debut album, Age Like Astronauts.

Through experimentation with different instruments and technologies, the boys have come a long way since their days of looping samples through tape decks in high school. Having toured with acts like Blackalicious and Swollen Members and played prestigious venues like San Francisco’s Fillmore, McCue and Napthine are far from finished developing their music style and career. More than anything, the duo is dedicated to putting out something fresh, something that “hasn’t been done before”. - The Georgia Straight