Music, like any artform, is only digested fully with time. The best forms of the art have many layers to peel back and one can’t truly get the full experience from one listen, but an impression most certainly can be left. Some even say the first impression is the purest so, with our First Impression segments, we’ll be tackling new music from all over, describing what we get from the artist’s work, and expressing immediate stand outs from each work.
First off, props to anyone that made the anime connection to the title before we dropped this post (with this feature image). Salute to Melvin Burch for that. Back on the 31st, we upped the stream for Burch’s 5 track EP Home For Infinite Losers and now we get a First Impression from the team.
Joe Hova
I’ve been a fan and posted Melvin on JHMF in the past. His sound is very distinct, almost an alternative form of hip-hop with his varying sounds and melodies. If I were to categorize his brand of music I would call it the grunge of hip-hop because of how different it is compared to most. Home For Infinite Losers sees Melvin going in a different direction on with his style, going with a more traditional hip-hop style for most of it. For this only being five tracks he does a great job at showcasing his talent, spreading it around to have something that everyone can relate to while keeping his standard flows. Five tracks is also a good sample size to judge if you would like to listen to him in the future. The brief use of clips in a couple of the songs throws off the momentum a bit but other than that this is a solid EP.
Favorite Track(s): “Petunia”, “Sutro”
Profex
I follow Melvin Burch on twitter, being made aware of him via another music related acquaintance, and have witnessed scatterings of his progress as he worked on his own sound. Both as an artist and a producer, Melvin maintained a unique, quirky, and often nerdy approach to his music that I could relate to. Home For Infinite Losers sounds like an artist that has found a level of comfort many fail to reach when attempting to create and that’s even more impressive considering he produced and mixed the majority of it himself.
At just 5 tracks, this a good measuring stick and I honestly wish every artist had to apply for Hip Hop via a 5 track EP. If this stood as Burch’s application, he’d definitely be hired. His humor (dude Rick Roll’d us in the middle of the EP), more than adept rhyming, and good ear for production/sampling is something that I’m looking forward to seeing evolve over time.
Favorite Track(s): “Petunia”, “DoodleBob”
Richard
When I first started listening to Home For Infinite Losers , I was immediately caught off guard by just how creative and unique this project truly is. Melvin Burch might not be well known in most of today’s mainstream hip-hop circles, but the way he successfully differentiates his style from one track to the next is certainly noteworthy. His uptempo, yet cool vibe on “DoodleBob” gives the listener a good idea of where he is at now musically, while other tracks like “Sutro” and “Petunia” serve as great examples of what’s possible with experimental beats and calculated lyrics. If there is one track that I enjoyed the most on this EP, then that track is easily “Petunia”. As a kid who grew up watching 90’s nick cartoons and TV shows, I instantly picked up on all the references and found myself reminiscing back on the good old days. I’ll be very intrigued to see what Burch can do on future projects with more time and tracks for him to flesh out a story from start to finish.
Favorite Track: “Petunia”
Give Home For Infinite Losers a listen and let us know what you think in the comments below.
