THE LAB RATS: Half Full Ashtrays, Half Empty Glasses

The Lab Rats

Half Full Ashtrays, Half Empty Glasses

© 2006 The Lab Rats (700261201917)

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Genre-bending music that has rap, beats, grooves, keyboards, guitars, scratches, riffs, jams, feedback, sweat, laughs, beers, blues and truths.

notes

Multi-instrumental musicians from Columbus, Ohio; making genre-bending music that has rap, beats, grooves, keyboards, guitars, scratches, riffs, jams, feedback, sweat, laughs, beers, blues and truths. The Lab Rats are defined by a Rock and Roll mentality and a blue collar reality; explained within the realm of hip hop, blues, rock & electronica; determined to make new music.

Coming from the lower-middle class land of suburbia, lyricist/guitarist, Brian Brown delivers observations taken from his life and the world around him. With 30 menial day jobs under his belt and the loans from his unfinished community college days almost paid off, he has chosen the pen as his weapon to combat the doldrums of a Midwestern, working class lifestyle.

DJ KW is the beatmaking part of this duo. Deeply experienced in the making and DJing of electronic music, KW is steeply entrenched in a multi-instrumental world of keyboards, laptops, guitars, hand percussion. KW loves technology and loves it equally in his studio and on your stage. In addition to blazing his pedal steel guitar, he uses two Numark CD-X digital turntables and KORG synths.

This is the second offering from this Columbus based Hip Hop duo. It’s front porch stories of ghost trains that visit you in the night. It's an existential exercise that explains the purpose of your nervous system. It's a guide to stretching pennies and the art of scratching lottery tickets. It's a deadbeat dad story that would make Oprah Winfrey weep. It's a conspiracy theory from a delirious lyricist. It’s half full ashtrays and half empty glasses. Everything you hear on this record (beats, clinks, riffs, skronks, booms and bips) were performed by the Rats themselves and are the result of a self contained effort. No classic recordings were harmed in the making of this album.

The Cincinnati newspapers loved it!

"Talk about your cool hybrids. The Lab Rats work an amazing groove informed by the jammed-out Riff Rock of MC Brian Brown on electric guitar and the mad breakbeats and electronic touches of DJ Kelly Warner, a multi-instrumentalist with two turntables and a microphone (and a pedal steel and keys and congas). With Brown's suburban-weary songs of everyday frustration and Warner's broadly whacked musical accompaniment, the Lab Rats will be your new favorite experiment, particularly with their about-to-be-released new album, Half Full Ashtrays, Half Empty Glasses."
-- Cincinnati CityBeat, 9/21/06

"It's easy to tag Columbus-based duo The Lab Rats as hip-hop, but it's so much more. On the group's upcoming release, Half Full Ashtrays, Half Empty Glasses, you'll hear jazz, funk, big beats, quirky samples and atmospheric soundscapes. It's the push and pull between musicians Brian Brown and Kelly Warner (DJ KW) that makes it a collaborative - we're constantly critiquing or supporting each other's ideas," Warner says. Expect a dynamic live show, but have it your way. "I don't tell people to get your hands up - it's not an aerobics class," Brown says. "I try to let the songs do the talking."
-- CIN Weekly, 9/21/06

Their first record, "Short Order EP" was called one of the best five releases in 2004 by Columbus' weekly arts & entertainment newspaper, The Other Paper.

reviews

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  • Awsome
    author: Peter James

    One of the best groups I have heard in a long time. You can't go wrong with this CD. I love "Daily Grind" and "Devil's Train" among all the others...

  • half full ashtrays, half empty glasses
    author: Joan Matyskella

    The more I listen to this CD the better it gets. So full of suprises, from the beats to the wailing guitar. The music on "Devil's Train" is such a perfect backdrop for the story. Genius, that one. I'm not a regular hip-hop fan, I'm a child of the 60's, but this stuff is so well crafted and genuine, even someone who says they hate hip-hop would find something here.

  • Perfect
    author: Meg

    Buy their CD -- you'll love it!

  • Amazing
    author: Scott

    I bought this CD after hearing part of a single track ("Devil's Train"), expecting to like just that one song. That one alone is worth the price of the album, but the whole CD is terrific -- catchy beats and clever, intricate rhymes. I'm definitely a fan now. (And the experience of ordering from CD Baby was the icing on the cake.) If you like hip-hop, and maybe even if you don't, you owe it to yourself to pick this one up.

  • Awesome jams
    author: Matt

    This album really captures their energy and talent which I have seen in their live shows. Great album, can't wait for the next one.

  • think Rehab or early Sugar Ray
    author: JoeyD

    This album really reminds me of Lemonade and Brownies from Sugar Ray and Southern Discomfort from Rehab. Both of which are really great albums. The music is very unique and gets back to the roots of what real hip-hop is all about!

  • Love it.
    author: marissa

    This CD kicks ass...it's been played constantly at my house since we got it. The Lab Rats have been a personal fave of mine for over two years. This CD proves why.

  • This album is great
    author: james s

    I saw these guys live in pittsburgh, PA. Without a doubt the best live act that I seen all year. If you have a chance look them up and check there shows out you will not be disappointed. P.L.U.R

  • a profundity of creativity, and it sounds pretty good too
    author: jim

    The first rap cd I have ever purchased, after hearing one cut on WREK Georgia Tech radio. I'm no spring chicken, in fact I have survived all 4 seasons a couple of times, so this stuff is not my bag. But they make it very listenable with the keyboards and guitar covering the beat, and they obviously dig deep for the lyrics, or maybe they just float'em....;~}!! I'm singing along.

  • A new take on rap
    author: Stephen Jennings

    CD has a sound that is original for rap artists. An excellent use of keyboards on this CD. Which is something not heard of these days. Lyrically, they make their point without being preachy.

  • Production is tight, flow is fresh and on time!!
    author: Jeremy

    Buy this CD, you will not be disappointed! 'Devil's Train' is my fav followed up by 'Failure'! Can't wait to hear more from this duo from Columbus!

  • Love this CD
    author: Chris

    The Lab Rats are awesome; there's no other way to put it... I listen to this CD every day! Thanx CD Baby!

  • Narratives of the mundane over a sonic collage
    author: Jeff

    HALF FULL ASHTRAYS, HALF EMPTY GLASSES isn't just an album; it's a lifestyle, an outlook. The Lab Rats from Columbus, Ohio (Brian Brown- vocals, guitar; KW- turntables, etc.) invite listeners to join them in their everyday in the industrial Midwest: temptations, regrets, depression, hope. Rhymes are quick and unexpected. The beats are solid and unconventional. The combination creates a unique sound that works equally well for quiet nights alone or background at a party; for blowing out your car's speakers or examining further in headphones. Just like a night in Columbus, this CD leaves you comfortable, thoroughly entertained, but still wanting more.

  • author: Dreece

    Keepin' on where the EP left off, another gem! Love the guitar work on this album!

  • KW gets freaky up in my aural cavities
    author: Adam

    I had some time with a few of the songs from this EP before it was released, and they were so good I just had to have more. I ordered it as soon as it came out and was overjoyed to find that the caliber of the whole EP is up to the standards of Daily Grind, Float and Devil's Train (easily the standout on an outstanding debut release)

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