Chad Hugo and Dan of The DMV team to form Missle Command, and are the latest to star in Fool’s Gold’s podcast series. New music from N*E*R*D, Lupe Fiasco, Dave Nada, and more.

1. Intro
2. No Planes In Space – Chains (Demo Mix)
3. Intel – Pizza Meeeeng!
4. Mazzy Star – All Your Sisters (Nacey Bootleg)
5. N*E*R*D – Hypnotize U (Caligula Remix)
6. Lupe Fiasco – What U Want (Chad Hugo Remix)
7. Uncle Jesse – Boat Shoes
8. Dillon Francis & Dave Nada – Brazzers Theme
9. No Planes In Space – Potholes D Createur Uniden (Demo Mix)
10. Mansions On The Moon – Love Is Going To Destroy Me (Chad Hugo Remix)

Missle Command (Chad Hugo + Dan of the DMV) – “Foolcast #22″

N*E*R*D join Puma, UNDFTD, and Karmaloop at the House of Blues in Las Vegas, during last week’s Magic clothing expo.

When Pharrell, Chad, and Shae stepped on the scene with their debut album, In Search Of…, it was looked at as sort of a vanity project. After all, The Neptunes had the hottest beats money could buy at the time, so for them to do a “rock album” in an era when mash-ups were hot was almost looked at as sort of a gimmick. In fact, the first version of the LP, released overseas, lacked something, so they re-recorded the entire album backed by Spymob, who lent some credibility to the project. The end result was a pop classic, which created legions of fans for The Neptunes’ side project.

While follow-up endeavors found mixed results, fast-forwarding to 2010, N*E*R*D seems to be taking up more of Pharrell and company’s time than producing beats for various rappers, making it anything but a flash in the pan. With Nothing, we find the group at it’s most focused and matured yet, with ridiculously consistent LP that is much more than singing over Neptunes’ beats.

The biggest difference this time around is the group’s departure from making club music. While the lukewarm single, “Hot & Fun”, attempts to pander to the nightlife crowd, selections like “Party People” come off much more natural, as they trade chants with T.I.’s raps over lively horn sections and swanky bass guitars. The same can be said for the sultry “Hypnotize U”, backed by Daft Punk’s 808 bass and Skateboard P’s sleazy lyrics.

The real meat of the album, however, is deeper inside, as they move away from the more beat-oriented sound of their earlier works, with tracks like the bluesy “Help Me” or the Queen-esque “Victory”, where Pharrell does his best Freddie Mercury. The rock-opera that is “Life Of A Fish” also delivers, and is exactly what it sounds like it is.

The beats are still there, however, as tracks like “Perfect Defect” and “Nothing On You” bang with a lovably cheesy 80′s cool. The crown jewel of beats though is “God Bless Us All”, a sort of hypnotic Mexican standoff that ventures off into doo-wop territory; the only thing missing are verses from The Clipse.

All in all, Nothing is a return to form for N*E*R*D, after the group’s pair of albums after In Search Of…. This album does what every fourth album should; shows growth, consistency, reinvention, and doesn’t milk past formulas for success.

One of the many videos we will see from Nothing, as the band plans one for each track. Here, Pharrell and company explain evolution.

Another one from Nothing, in stores now. HHS + TWV review on the way….

N.E.R.D Talks New Album & The Game w/ The L.A. Leakers from LaLeakers on Vimeo.

N.E.R.D stopped by Power 106 Los Angeles to talk w/ The L.A. Leakers. Here’s what they had to say about the new album “Instant Gratification”, performing live, & The Game.

Chronicle writer Kevin Lincoln asks Pharrell, member of N.E.R.D a few questions before he performs at Cameron Rocks at Duke University on April 1, 2010. He mentions the new album, Nothing, is currently in the works.

Well, we hate to break it to the Madonna fans who loved The Neptunes’ interpretation of what pop music should sound like, and we hate to break it to the In Search Of fans who wanted another extra smedium t-shirt club-dude record, as this is something else entirely. As you might be able to tell from the album’s lead single, “Everybody Nose”, the duo have thrown caution to the wind in regards to producing anything close to what you would expect. Here, the beat packs a heavy cello bassline and horn stabs, perhaps more suited for a 1994 Rakim than, well, all the girls standing in the line for the bathroom. Despite the fact that its a dope single with a great concept behind it (there’s a coke machine in the women’s bathroom at every club, apparently), the single has failed to make any significant impact outside of the cool-people circles.

But that’s fine with N*E*R*D, as they’ve got their hands in everyone else’s pockets. An album like Seeing Sounds is looked at as an offshoot project where they really can allow their creative juices to flow. That being said, we get to see all kinds of sounds on this LP, for better or for worse.

“Windows” is a bit of a catchy, radio friendly contemporary rock song that channels a bit of Lenny Kravitz with Pharrell’s wailing, despite it’s overdone eyes / windows metaphor. They flip the script without warning, diving headfirst into “Anti-Matter”, a strange culmination of sleezy guitars, dirty south bounce, drum & bass rhythms. Here Pharrell’s condescending rhymes mesh perfectly with the rest of the beat, making perhaps one of the albums best tracks. “Spaz” is another curve ball, again utilizing jungle beats and off kilter, NIN-esque guitar licks, complete with trademark N.E.R.D. soft-rock breakdown.

The jazzy “Yeah You” is a humorous rant to the text-happy groupies that won’t leave Pharrell alone; and it works in some capacity despite P’s usual strange language and sentence assembly. “Sooner Or Later” is another piano ballad, in the tradition of last album’s “Maybe”, however comes off as a rehash of that track.

It’s pretty easy to pick up on the group’s influences this time around. The sound of The Police is heard in the droning “Happy”, and later on the discoed-out and better executed “You Know What”. “Killjoy” is a lot of fun, the theme song to the imaginary film of the same name, playing like a deep, early Jamiroquai album cut, with a funky, moving bassline and percussion drums galore.

All in all, Seeing Sounds has it’s moments, but doesn’t play that well as an album. There is definitely a lot of creativity here, and they are pushing the envelope in the sounds they toy with here. However, it’s obvious they don’t care about the outcome of this record, using it is almost an experimentation ground for what kind of styles they can (or cannot) flex on the next Justin Timberlake album. After developing a signature sound on their first record, In Search Of, it’s hard not to yearn for that early sound that they have obviously moved far beyond from. – Pizzo