Sign up for our mailing list Real artists creating records on their own terms
Close

Sign up for our mailing list

News

Tuesday, January 9th, 2007

Tim Fite is covered by Billboard.com!

Fite Gets Angry, Gives Away New Album January 05, 2007, 4:55 PM ET By Todd Martens, L.A.

As a relatively unknown musician, Tim Fite may not appear to be in a position to be passing up opportunities to have his new album released. Yet the artist, who is signed to Epitaph's adventurous imprint Anti-, is about to do just that.

His download-only "Over the Counter Culture" is the first must-hear album of 2007, a scathingly sarcastic look at consumerism, politics and corporate hip-hop. The digital release taps into the kind of political bravado of early Public Enemy, yet Fite laces his folksy hip-hop with insecurity, mainly his own doubts about his ability to practice what he preaches.

The album's striking "It's All Right Here" is a prime example. Fite's drawl gradually picks up pace over a club-ready beat, capturing the sound of a man having a freak-out as he walks the aisles of Wal-Mart. With each product he passes, Fite struggles with his own desires for some "ill-begotten riches." Passing a magazine aisle, he asks, "Where's my groupies in they Prada jeans?"

Fite says, "A lot of people don't even know their voice is being suppressed because they're too busy buying stuff. They're putting money back into a system that exploits them, and they're told happiness comes from a material gain. That's my primary target of rage on this record. It's a complicated idea, and I have to recognize that my voice isn't necessarily the most valid. I have benefited from all the things that I rail against."

For Fite, who used to round up carts for Wal-Mart, the mega retailer was an easy target. Yet the artist brings the same sort of ironic cynicism to the anti-war rally "Camouflage," which treats military attire as if it is a hot new fashion item. On a lighter note, he mocks the marketing of today's rappers in "I've Been Shot," declaring in the first verse that his "exit wounds make record exec goons swoon."

Epitaph/Anti- president Andy Kaulkin heard the album and immediately wanted to release it as the follow-up to Fite's 2005 set, the criminally underappreciated "Gone Ain't Gone." But Fite would have none of it.

"You cannot address politics about consumerism and put it out in the same way that any record would come out," Fite says. "It would be wrong. It is not classy. As much as I need to pay my bills, and it'd be great to sell some records, this is not a record for sale. These ideas are not for sale. These ideas should be for free. And completely contrary to the code of record executive doctrine, Andy said, 'I think people need to hear this, and I don't care if we're not going to make any money.'"

So with the help of Anti-, Fite will be making the project available as a digital download on Feb. 20, although it is out on file-sharing sites now. A proper follow-up to "Gone Ain't Gone" should be completed by the end of 2007.

href="http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003528486" target="_blank">www.billboard.com

Facebook | Twitter
 

Browse by Artist

2082All Artists 99Tom Waits 73Mavis Staples 59Neko Case 51Lost In The Trees 50Sean Rowe 48Dr. Dog 45The Milk Carton Kids
41Jolie Holland 40Bettye LaVette 37Man Man 36Son Little 35Tinariwen 33Tim Fite 33DeVotchKa 31Islands 31Grinderman 29Glen Hansard 28Saintseneca 27Galactic 27Wilco 26Andy Shauf 25Delicate Steve 25The Drums 24Xenia Rubinos 24Michael Franti and Spe... 22Doe Paoro 22Bob Mould 22William Elliott Whitmo... 21Nick Cave & The Bad Se... 21The Frames 20Joe Henry 20Christopher Paul Stell... 19Cass McCombs 19Yves Jarvis 19Booker T. Jones 19Sage Francis 18Calexico 18Deafheaven 18Gary V 17John K. Samson 17Yann Tiersen 16The Antlers 16Jason Lytle 16Danny Elfman 16Ramblin Jack Elliott 14Jeremy Ivey 14Daniel Lanois 13The Dream Syndicate 13Madi Diaz 13Billy Bragg 12Leyla McCalla 12Xavier Rudd 12Combo Chimbita 12Peter Silberman 12Girlpool 11The Weakerthans 11Ryan Pollie 11Lyrics Born 11Rain Machine 11Roky Erickson 11Glitterer 11Purr 11Jade Jackson 11Mose Allison 10Alfa Mist 10So Much Light 10The Melodic 10The Swell Season 10Darrin Bradbury 10Half Waif 10High Pulp 9Wynonna 9M. Ward 9Curtis Harding 9Cameron Avery 9N.A.S.A. 9Josiah Johnson 9Marianne Faithfull 9Moor Mother 9Lido Pimienta 9Hey, King! 8Katy Kirby 8Greg Graffin 8Kate Davis 8Christian Lee Hutson 8Slow Pulp 8The Coup 8Solillaquists of Sound 8Cadence Weapon 7Ben Harper 7Richard Reed Parry 7Kelly Hogan 7Elliott Smith 7Ben Harper and Charlie... 7Title Fight 7Alec Ounsworth 7Eddie Izzard 7Beth Orton 7Japandroids 7Dead Man's Bones 6Bonny Doon 6Os Mutantes 6Broken Twin 6Rafiq Bhatia 6Busdriver 6Deradoorian 6A Girl Called Eddy 6Kate Bush 5Keaton Henson 5Foxwarren 5James Brandon Lewis 5Scott McMicken and THE... 5Beat Connection 5The Tallest Man On Ear... 5One Day As A Lion 5The Field 5Jasmyn 5Kristine Leschper 5Art Moore 5Ezra Furman 4Marketa Irglova 4The Good Ones 4Ersi Arvizu 4Jackson+Sellers 4Sparklehorse 4sunking 4Pops Staples 3MJ Lenderman 3Danny Cohen 3Walter Wolfman Washing... 3Plains 3Mavis Staples & Levon... 3Mothers 3Sierra Leones Refugee... 3Marc Ribot 3Waxahatchee 3Petra Haden 2Various Artists: RANGO 2Fleet Foxes 2Sam Akpro 2Jeff Tweedy 2ANTI- Records 1Youth Group 1Merle Haggard 1Solomon Burke 1Taylor Vick 1Simian Mobile Disco 1Various Artists: ROGUE... 1case/lang/veirs 1Joe Strummer And The M... 1Rogue's Gallery 1The Locust 1Tricky 1Antibalas 1Kronos Quartet with Br... 1Porter Wagoner 1Blackalicious 1Lightman Jarvis Ecstat...
See Full List+