Bullying, hardware Trojans and the melodic drama of Tim Fite

Don't be fooled by the sometimes whimsical nature of Brooklyn artist Tim Fite. He could have a hand in preventing the next world war.  

The sound collagist-turned-pop composer, whose "Ain't Ain't Ain't" was released Tuesday on Silver Lake's Anti-, spends his days helping international scientists communicate. An English language tutor at Brooklyn's Polytechnic Institute of New York University, Fite of late has been learning about the scientific evils of the world, namely the technological timebombs that are hardware Trojans. 

"It’s terrifying," Fite said while on lunch break. "People are hacking technology at the chip level. They’re implanting Trojans in chips before they’re implanted in different pieces of technology. Then they’re activated and can take over the world. [One of my students] figuring out how to keep people from hardware-hacking a nuclear missile, sending it careening into nice people who don’t deserve to die.

"It’s a little more important than rock 'n’ roll, and I’m glad I can help with the grammar." 

It helps keep Fite's career, one that's been largely conducted in obscurity, in perspective. "The financial situation right now looks bleak," Fite said when asked whether he had plans to tour to L.A. With "Ain't Ain't Ain't" his last album due to Anti-, Fite's recording future is now entering a phase of the unknown. 

Personality-wise, Fite can come across as a bit of an oddball. He might, for instance, instruct his audience to create clay monsters at his concerts, and with songs assembled out of homemade loops and accompanied with cartoonish clips, a Fite concert can sometimes feel like a low-rent "Pee-wee's Playhouse." Melodic exploration, however, is placed ahead of weirdness, and "Ain't Ain't Ain't" is equally childlike and meticulous. 

72 Hours: Wiz Khalifa, Tim Fite, Batusis among the weekend's most notable concerts

A Pop & Hiss look at the top shows happening around town this weekend.  

Thursday

Wiz Khalifa, Yelawolf @ the Music Box. Wiz Khalifa's career was once seemed left for dead, with a gone-bust deal with Warner Bros. and little more than mix-tape cred to his name. Kanye West made hip-hop safe for nerdy tough guys, and Kid Cudi put psychedelics and trance chill-outs in vogue. Wiz Khalifa traffics somewhere in the middle, and he's here for two sold-out nights at the Music Box before he issues his first proper major label effort in 2011. First single, "Black & Yellow," is a Pittsburgh love letter that's dank and sometimes claustrophobic, but largely minimalist bravado. Yelawolf is working on a major label effort himself, an Interscope album that already has the Eminem stamp of approval. The sandpaper-scratched vocalist takes a more aggressive route than Wiz Khalifa, and his delivery is full of sudden gear shifts. His obsessions are little more than cars, girls and getting hammered, but it's safe to say he's pretty serious about all of them. The Music Box, 6126 Hollywood Blvd. The show is sold out, and tickets start at about $70 on secondary markets. 

Slayer, Megadeath @ Gibson Amphitheatre. Do not make the mistake of taking Slayer for granted. Since 2001's "God Hates Us All," Slayer has gradually been embracing more topical subject matter (oh, don't worry, they still share a love for all things apocalyptic), and the band has survived about three decades without fattening up. This is metal at its most no frills, where tangled guitars are delivered with a punk-rock ferociousness. Megadeath, likewise, dispenses its musical violence with sleekness. The Gibson Amphitheatre, 100 Universal City Plaza. Tickets, which are still available, range from $15-$84.50, not including surcharges. 

Lessons learned from Tim Fite: How to avoid cancer and stay thin in 3.5 minutes

Like restaurants that offer seafood for less than $7, skepticism toward the words "free" and "cheap" is sometimes warranted. In this anything-you-want, anytime-you-want-it-era of Internet music, MP3s are offered up daily from labels, concert promoters, Webzines and bands alike, and quite frankly, such gratis outreaches from artists no one has heard of aren't always a cause for excitement.

So you've been warned. If you want to click away rather than press play below, go for it. I wouldn't blame you. TMZ probably has a video of Miley Cyrus doing something that many may or may not deem inappropriate, and your co-workers will surely be discussing that before they're debating the merits of the new Tim Fite song, which was recently offered up for free download on the My Old Kentucky Blog.

But you've made it this far, and there's only one more paragraph left, so here goes. 

The Brooklyn artist Fite records for Silver Lake's Epitaph imprint Anti-, and he simply refuses to make the label any money (you think that Bad Religion dough is gonna last forever, Tim?). On Tuesday, he's giving away more music for free -- a semi-annual event for Fite. His upcoming "Under the Table Tennis" is all about the recession, meaning most of you can relate. He samples St. Vincent, sings funky rants about arguments with customer service, and on "We Didn't Warn You," below, he dispenses advice with cutesy synths and a clap-along beat. Fite gets angrier and snappier as the song goes along, but you would too if you tried to rhyme the words "corporate buyout."

Tim Fite -- We Didnt Warn You

-- Todd Martens

Photo: Anti- Records

Halloween's greatest recent music tradition: Tim Fite

Happy Halloween, Pop & Hiss readers.

As this Oct. 31 rears up, once again this year spooky music has taken a back seat to the more jolly tunes of Christmas. Already, holiday-themed albums from Sugarland, David Archuleta and Bob Dylan have found their way into the marketplace. And though Dylan's holiday growling may indeed scare some small children, it's not going to work as a soundtrack to your costume party. 

Thankfully, Brooklyn's art-rock oddity Tim Fite once again has us covered. A Halloween tradition for your local music geek, Fite today released his third free Halloween-inspired EP. The artist is signed to Silver Lake's Anti- Records, the more adventurous brand in the Epitaph empire, and his free EPs provide a quick snapshot of the multi-genre range of his recorded works for the label.

Tim Fite's Valentine's Day gift

We continue our efforts here at Pop & Hiss to look out for the heartbroken. Of course, Brooklyn eccentric Tim Fite has made such a task a bit easier.

The folksy/poppy/electronic singer-songwriter has once again gotten into the holiday spirit with some free music. Available now on his website is the 10-track download "Change of Heart," a low-key selection of songs perfect for those heading into Valentine's Day as a free agent.

For those familiar with Fite, who records for Epitaph label Anti- Records, "Change of Heart" is moodier, more acoustic-driven than some of his past material, including last year's "Fair Ain't Fair." The song titles capture the atmosphere: "Waiting for Nothing," "Where Is My Woman" and "Hollow as Light," among them.

Fite himself sums it up on his MySpace page: "It is a bit different from my other recordings, because it doesn't have anything to do with the outside world. I made 'Change of Heart' while working on 'Fair Ain't Fair' and sorting through the wide array of emotions that result from a broken heart. For this reason, I ask that you handle these songs with care, as they are very fragile."

That's not to say this is a sleepy affair. "Dagger Down" hints at something quite vicious, with its lazy, Western guitar cunningly drifting the tune to a blast of noise. "Today was made for leaving," sings Fite, his voice a bit tired and a bit lulling. The song only hints at the drama beneath, but a shot of guitars and a brief display of electronics is enough to illustrate the tension.

An easier entry point might be the title track -- a more playful, pleading song. "I feel so bad about leaving," Fite sings. "You don't even have to get even." The keyboards are colored a shade of blue, but that's balanced with some light, bouncy guitar notes. Fite often gets written about for a being a bit weird (guilty), but "Change of Heart" is a fine example of the artist at his most pop-friendly.

Preview it below, and then go download the whole album. Again, it's free.

-- Todd Martens

Photo: Anti-

Download this NOW: Tim Fite's Halloween carnival

By the time this post goes live, it will be late afternoon/early evening on the East Coast, which is bad news for music fans. That means there's not much time left to download a free EP from Brooklyn-based artist Tim Fite, at least from a reputable website.

The run-down:

Who is this? Fite is a weirdo, in the best possible sense. He's released two albums via Epitaph's Anti- Records off-shoot, a label home to the likes of Tom Waits and Neko Case, among others. Before signing with Anti-, Fite was in a short-lived but goofy hip-hop act dubbed Little-T and the One Track Mike. The latter had one minor hit with a song titled "Shaniqua."

What's he sound like? Fite is all over the map. But he's likely to paste together songs with folksy guitars, hip-hop effects and all sorts of toy-like sounds. The one constant is his dry, speak-song vocals, looped on top of each other to sound as if there's a whole chorus of Fites behind each track. There's an easygoing whimsy to his melodies, like a sculpture pasted together with construction paper -- it's a bit rough around the edges, but colorful, and almost juvenile. At least until you realize many of his lyrics are about sexual frustration and being broke. But it's never tiresome, as many of his songs have a self-deprecating charm, and he's known to get political from time to time (see last year's free download, the vicious "Over the Counter Culture"). But even if he's ranting, Fite's harmless. He's the guy at the end of the bar drinking alone and tossing off one-liners based on the television news, lashing out at everything from Wal-Mart to some guy with cleaner clothes than he has. Live, his shows are a cartoonish vaudeville act, with stick-figure animation, exaggerated facial expressions and, if you're lucky, monsters made out of clay.