Video: Tim Fite - We Didn't Warn You

"We Didn't Warn You" is one of the standout tracks from Tim Fite's latest freebie Under The Table Tennis, an insanely good & bizarre hip-hop album about the current financial shithole the USA has gotten itself into. The video, inspired by Clu Gulager's short A Day With The Boys, is full of wacky kids playing Red Rover in the forest, vomiting strawberries, and burying their friends alive. You know, the usual kid stuff.

Haiku Review: Tim Fite - Watch Your Mouth (self released, 2009)

Tim Fite - That's MY Name


Tim Fite
Watch Your Mouth (download)
/crazy fucklery/
/halloween horror fite style/
/there's no other way/

Tim Fite Free Valentine's Day EP

I love Tim Fite. He's always got something up his sleeve. He did two free Halloween albums in the past (which I have for your downloading pleasure here) and just when you think he's got in a groove, he goes and changes everything up by releasing a free EP on another holiday entirely. Fucking genius I tell you. Anyway, grab it now, grab it quick, 'cause it won't be there long.

Oh, and by the way, he just happens to be stopping by here in Boston this coming Thursday the 19th at TT The Bears. That's the day before my birthday and you can bet your sweet ass I'll be there. Come give me a present and maybe I'll buy you a drink.

MP3: Tim Fite - Bread In The Water

Tim Fite - Bread In The Water


Here's a funny story. The All Things Considered show on the nation's radio wanted to do a piece about these ducks who like dance all over the fishes. True story. And they thought to themselves, "Who best to write a song about this real world craziness? Oh, I know! Mr. Tim Fite!" So they approached Fite and proceeded to ask him if he would be willing to lend a helping hand. To which Tim replied, "Dude, I'm a buncha steps ahead of you guys. I already wrote that song. Like, last year. That's old news. You cats just ain't hip enough to keep up with me. But sure, I'll let you use my song."

Tim Fite Video

Yeah boyyyyy another Tim Fite post. This time it's a video for "Big Mistake" and oh man is it awesome. It's got this dude lying in a hospital bed, telling stories to this kid about all of the stupid ways he fucked up his life. Mostly due to animal related things. Shark attack? Check. Bird attack? Check. Tiger attack? More checks than you can handle! But the end is the best. And really weird. The Reaper tappin his toes kills me.

MP3: Tim Fite - If You Please

Tim Fite - If You Please


Yay! More free Tim Fite stuff! Don't you dare complain about too much Tim Fite on AGB or I just might make this a straight up Fite fan site. Anyway, "If You Please" is a previously unreleased song that Tim did as part of his second Daytrotter Session. It's "a song about the emotional benefits of cloning" and it's slow and pretty, just like Mr. Fite himself. Go ahead, give it a listen.

Tim Fite - Ding Dong Ditch

Tim Fite - RAW


Tim Fite is tha man. Love him to death. I especially love that he treats his fans to a free Halloween EP every year. Well, when I say every year, I mean he started last year with It's Only Ketchup and did it again this year, releasing Ding Dong Ditch. So lets just hope he keeps that up.

His Halloween EPs are a lot of fun. Ding Dong Ditch sounds like your regular Fite run through a '70s disco-funk filter and then mixed with Kraftwerk and some Goblin. So in other words, Tim Fite has made another amazing record.

Simply by the very nature of Ditch (short and free), you shouldn't go in expecting a full-blown well-constructed uber-professional record. It has a little bit in common with Just For You, which is the more experimental side of Fite. But that's OK. I promise. Because no matter what Tim Fite makes, he always delivers the goods.

With such a short record, it seems like every song is a highlight. The cheesy, slow burning, sad bastard "Dead Girl Walking" is hilarious. And then there's "RAW" where Fite sings, "We don't need no fire; eat the mother fucker raw! Raw mother fucker! Raw!" At just over 16 minutes, Ding Dong Ditch definitely leaves you wanting more. But hey, when it's free, you can't really complain.

Both Ding Dong Ditch and It's Only Ketchup are still available to download on Tim Fite's website right now. I don't know who long they'll stay up (last year it was only up for one day), so get while the gettin's good.

Catch Of The Week: September 27th (Hip Hop Edition)

Time for another Catch Of The Week post, where I talk about the songs that have been stuck in my head recently and hopefully will free them from my mind in doing so. Although, last time I posted "Randy Described Reality" by Built To Spill and god dammit that song has been on constant repeat in my head for like 2 months now.



Danger Mouse - Public Service Announcement (from The Grey Album)

As good as Jay Z's The Black Album is, it just can't compare to Danger Mouse's Beatles/Jay Z mashup, The Grey Album. That thing is packed with the most killer beats that trump anything found on either of the originals. And it's filled to the brim with hooks, every single song gets stuck in my head regularly. I'm posting "Public Service Announcement" because that opening line is what really does it for me. "Allow me to re-introduce myself. My name is HOV! H to the O V." I hear that shit and you better not stop, I just gotta hit the rest of the album. "Encore," "99 Problems," "Dirt Off Your Shoulders," that stuff is top tier. I could listen to it all day. Aaaaand sometimes I do.



Tim Fite - It's All Right Here (from Over The Counter Culture)

Tim Fite is the fuckin' man. This guy does something no one else is doing but it doesn't really matter. Everyone else could be doing it and Fite would still be the best at it. His free album, Over The Counter Culture (download here), is all hip hop and it's hot. Tons of great songs, but "It's All Right Here" is easily the catchiest and the lyrics are hilarious. "I want you to buy my record so I can sell out in 60 seconds. At the Best Buy, I wanna be the best guy. You know that I'm better than the next guy even though we both sound exactly alike. Is that Jadakiss or is that Tim Fite? I dunno but I'm still gonna buy it. Consumerism is the shit now try it." It doesn't get much better than that.



Outkast - Ms. Jackson (from Stankonia)

Whenever I hear someone say "I'm sorry" the little high pitch Andre 3000 sounding voice in my head continues with "Miss Jackson. Hoooo! I am for reeeeal. Never meant to make your daughter cry. I apologize a trillion times." And then that's stuck in my head for at least a couple of days. And that "For ever ever" part gets used on a daily basis. Not out loud, though. 'Cause that would be weird. And really annoying.

New Tim Fite Record

Dr. Leisure & Tim Fite - I Smoke, You Cough


I know Fair Ain't Fair just came out a couple months ago, so you'd be OK to not be expecting anything new from Tim Fite for a while. Well, on his current tour with The Watson Twins, he's selling what looks like a self released CD (not CD-R, strangely enough). It's called Just For You and is a collaboration with Dr. Leisure who is actually billed first (and who recently changed his name to Fisticuffs).

Take all of the weird humor found throughout Fite's work, multiply it by 10, and turn it into some weird sampling sound experiment. That's kind of how Just For You sounds. Very, very weird. There's some spoken word type stuff, a lot of loops, samples from various films and songs, it's just very chaotic and it doesn't make a lot of sense. But, if you you're a fan of the bizarre, then chances are you'll like this. It reminds me of Miranda July's early records on Kill Rock Stars. It's pretty much Tim and Greg having a good time making very different music than they normally do. I don't know if they're selling it anywhere other than on tour right now, so if you want it, you'll have to go see them live. Which isn't such a bad thing, I promise.

Interview With Tim Fite

It's time for me to profess my love for the gentleman with itchy legs once again.

Tim Fite At Great Scott

Tim Fite playing CMJ '06

No matter how many times I see him (and it's been quite a few), Tim Fite never fails to disappoint. His live shows are so much more entertaining than his records, as I mentioned in my review of Fair Ain't Fair (which I have grown to love).

When you go see Tim Fite (and you should), you should be ready for fun. The stage is always set up the same, with a projector screen showing his heart/gun logo and a giant wooden boombox with flashing lights. And right off the bat, he makes sure everyone gets all nice and close to the stage, so he doesn't feel lonely.

Then the show starts. He has a couple of staples that he always plays, "No Good Here," "Away From The Snakes," "I Hope Yer There," "It's All Right Here," and usually a few more. But this time, he played a bunch of stuff from his new record which meant no "Forty Five Remedies" or "Camoflage." Instead, we were treated to "The Barber," "Big Mistake," and "More Clothes." Sadly, he didn't play "Roots Of A Tree" or "Rats & Rags," two of my favorites from Fair Ain't Fair.

But when Tim Fite plays a live show, it's not just about the music. No no no, there's also story time and sing-alongs. Yup, after every couple of songs, there's a break from the music where Tim tells his stories with the help of Dr. Leisure, who does the projection stuff (as well as help out with the music and going on hilarious stream of consciousness rants). There's stories called "Jo-Jo & Bobby Stab A Motherfucker," and ones about what dogs eat, and another about a rat named Juice. They're all charming and illustrated by Mr. Fite himself.

One of my favorite parts of his shows, though, is the sing-along to "Burn It Down." Tim talks about various places he was walking by and how he wanted to burn them down. It's best experienced live, but you can check out the video below for a clip of the song at Southpaw in Brooklyn.

The last song he played was "Away From The Snakes" and he was truly impressed by the crowd. He said, "I've never seen so many people singing this song together." It was quite touching. I think everyone in the club had a tear in their eye. Afterwards, Adam Green went on, but neither I nor anyone I was with were very interested in sticking around.

Seriously, Tim Fite puts on one of the most unique and engaging live performances ever. If you get a chance to see him, you should. He's still touring with Adam Green right now, so he might be playing somewhere near you. Go see him. You'll have a good time. I promise.

Tim Fite - Burn It Down (clip)

Tim Fite - Fair Ain't Fair

Tim Fite is one of those guys that puts on an utterly amazing live show. He's super engaging, has story time with his own drawings, gets the crowd involved (such as the time he spun me around like a ballerina), has a giant wooden boombox with flashing lights, and his sidekick brother Greg helps with everything. As often is the case, bands come up short when trying to capture their frenetic concerts in a studio, and Tim Fite falls under that category. No matter how good his records are, they pale in comparison to when he performs live. But don't let that stop you from listening to Fair Ain't Fair, or any of his other albums. Fite knows how to craft great songs, but keep in mind they are best experienced live.

Fite's last physical release was Gone Ain't Gone in 2005, with two digital releases since then (Over The counter Culture was a more rap oriented album and It's Only Ketchup was a Halloween themed EP). Fair Ain't Fair is quite similar to Gone, in sound and theme, where we find him still using a lot of samples from various obscure records (he used My Latest Novel!).

Fair Ain't Fair is a really fun album that is much more consistent than Gone was. The problem is, though, part of Gone's charm was how it was all over the place and Fair is missing that. Gone Ain't Gone had some really weird short tracks (the overlooked If I Had A Cop Show) and overall, it was just kind of unfocused as an album. Fair is much smoother but all of the tracks end up blending together. Of course you notice some tracks more than others, like Rats And Rags with it's skittery electronic beats and louder than usual last chorus, the catchy opener Roots Of A Tree, or the fantastic single Big Mistake, all of which are some of Fite's best songs to date. But they get lost amidst the rest of the album. It's such a solid album that the stand-out tracks have trouble standing out.

It seems Fite has really improved, though. Some would say a more uniform album is a sign of progress. And in addition to that, his songwriting has been polished as well. Like I mentioned, some of the songs on Fair Ain't Fair are much better than a lot of the songs on Gone. There are definitely songs from Gone that could be skipped, but the same could not be said of Fair. All of them have their own appeal. Some are more catchy and toe tapping, where others are slowly lilting folky melodies. Some are serious with Fite's political rants that can't be missed, and then some are light hearted with whistling and yodeling. But the best songs are the ones that combine all of that creating something more than the sum of it's parts.

So far, I've really enjoyed Fair Ain't Fair. I sincerely love some of the songs on here. Maybe over time, it'll grow on me and I'll appreciate it for it's consistency. But for right now, I see that sadly as more of a flaw than a benefit. Regardless, Fair is a fantastic album, especially if you're a newcomer to Fite's antics.