Exmilitary
Exmilitary, also known as Ex Military, is the debut mixtape by experimental hip hop group Death Grips. It was released for free on April 25, 2011 through the band's website.
| Exmilitary | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Mixtape by | ||||
| Released | April 25, 2011 | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 48:28 | |||
| Label | Self-released | |||
| Producer | Death Grips | |||
| Death Grips chronology | ||||
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| Black Google | ||||
 Cover of Black Google | ||||
| Singles from Exmilitary | ||||
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Background
The mixtape was released for free on April 25, 2011 through the group's official website, thirdworlds.net. It was simultaneously released through iTunes. The track "Guillotine" was released through iTunes on August 3, 2011. "Guillotine" has become one of the band's most recognized songs, with more than eleven million YouTube views on their music video as of August 3, 2020. Other tracks released as music videos include "Known for it", "Culture Shock", "Lord of the Game", "Spread Eagle Cross the Block", "Takyon (Death Yon)", and "Beware." According to Andy Morin, the cover art "[is a] photograph that one of our members carried in their wallet for roughly 10 years straight. It’s a power object."[3] The photo was eventually identified as "Bearded Man at Oenpelli", taken by Douglass Baglin in 1968.[4]
The mixtape was later released exclusively through the band's website in vinyl, compact disc and cassette formats.[5][6]
Critical reception
| Aggregate scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Metacritic | 82/100[7] |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Consequence of Sound |   [8] |
| Drowned in Sound | 9/10[9] |
| The Guardian | [10] |
| Pitchfork | 7.5/10[11] |
The mixtape has received universal acclaim from critics. On Metacritic it has a score of 82 out of 100 based on reviews from 7 critics.[7] In one very positive review, John Calvert of Drowned in Sound focused on the mentality of the character that the album revolves around and how it reflects the inner nature of man, citing the lyricism and sound production as being focal points around this sound and style.[9] Nate Patrin of Pitchfork gave Exmilitary a 7.5, describing the mixtape as "a bludgeoning slab of hostility" that avoids being an "overbearing mess".[11]
Black Google
On September 8, 2011, the group released a teaser video for an upcoming project titled Black Google.[12] It was later released on the band's website for free and revealed to be all of the instrumentals, stems, and acapellas for fans to remix and record with. The cover of Black Google features a heavily darkened version of the cover of Exmilitary with the word "Exmilitary" replaced with "Black Google".[13]
Track listing
All tracks are written by Death Grips.
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Beware" | 5:53 |
| 2. | "Guillotine" | 3:43 |
| 3. | "Spread Eagle Cross the Block" | 3:52 |
| 4. | "Lord of the Game" (featuring Mexican Girl) | 3:30 |
| 5. | "Takyon (Death Yon)" | 2:48 |
| 6. | "Cut Throat (Instrumental)" | 1:12 |
| 7. | "Klink" | 3:22 |
| 8. | "Culture Shock" | 4:21 |
| 9. | "5D" | 0:43 |
| 10. | "Thru the Walls" | 3:56 |
| 11. | "Known for It" | 4:13 |
| 12. | "I Want It I Need It (Death Heated)" | 6:11 |
| 13. | "Blood Creepin" | 4:50 |
| Total length: | 48:28 | |
Sample credits
- "Beware" contains excerpts of Charles Manson's "I Make The Money Man" interview, samples of "Up The Beach", written and performed by Jane's Addiction and samples of "God Is Watching You", performed by Dickie Burton.
- "Spread Eagle Cross the Block" contains elements of "Rumble", written by Link Wray and Milt Grant, and performed by Link Wray and His Men, and samples of "(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (To Party!)" and "Girls", written and performed by Beastie Boys.
- "Lord of the Game" contains samples of "The Ditty", performed by Blue Devils, a sample of "Brass Monkey", written and performed by Beastie Boys, and a vocal sample of "Fire", written and performed by The Crazy World of Arthur Brown.
- "Takyon (Death Yon)" contains samples of "The Ditty", performed by Blue Devils, a sample of "Supertouch/Shitfit", written and performed by Bad Brains and a sample of "A Who Seh Me Dun", written and performed by Cutty Ranks.
- "Cut Throat (Instrumental)" contains samples of "Move Somethin'", written and performed by 2 Live Crew and samples of "Death Grips (Next Grips)" written and performed by Death Grips.
- "Klink" contains elements of "Rise Above" written and performed by Black Flag and a sample of "Liar Liar", written and performed by The Castaways.
- "Culture Shock" contains a sample of "The Supermen (Alternative)", written and performed by David Bowie and samples of a text to speech translator.
- "5D" contains samples of a text to speech translator and samples of "West End Girls", written and performed by Pet Shop Boys.
- "Thru The Walls" contains elements taken from the movie "Space Is the Place", a sample of a YouTube video "Mental Health Hotline", a sample of "Gettin' High In The Mornin'", written and performed by Ariel Pink and the Haunted Graffiti, and took the sounds of a "Combine Soldier" from video game "Half-Life 2".
- "Known for It" contains elements taken from the 1986 short animated film "Quest: A Long Ray's Journey Into Light" and samples of "De Futura", written and performed by Magma.
- "I Want It I Need It (Death Heated)" contains elements of "Interstellar Overdrive" and "Astronomy Domine", both written and performed by Pink Floyd.
Personnel
- Death Grips
References
- Walls, Seth Colter. "In Defense of Rap Rock". Slate. Retrieved December 30, 2015.
- "Death Grips – The Money Store". Fact. April 16, 2012. Retrieved December 30, 2015.
- Lannister, Leif. "The Hands of Doom - Who & What is Death Grips". Coolehmag.com. Archived from the original on 2011-07-23. Retrieved 14 October 2014.
- "This will interest some". Reddit. Retrieved 2020-01-10.
- "Death Grips - Ex Military". Discogs. Retrieved 2017-11-13.
- "Death Grips Store". Hellomerch.com. Archived from the original on 2012-07-26. Retrieved 2012-06-29.
- "Reviews for Exmilitary by Death Grips". Metacritic. Retrieved October 14, 2014.
- Choudhery, Möhammad (June 27, 2011). "Album Review: Death Grips – Exmilitary". Consequence of Sound. Archived from the original on May 25, 2012. Retrieved October 14, 2014.
- Calvert, John (August 8, 2011). "Album Review: Death Grips – Ex Military". Drowned in Sound. Retrieved October 14, 2014.
- MacInnes, Paul (December 22, 2011). "Death Grips: Ex-Military – review". The Guardian. Retrieved October 14, 2014.
- Patrin, Nate (June 30, 2011). "Death Grips: Exmilitary". Pitchfork. Retrieved March 6, 2012.
- "Death Grips – Black Google". YouTube. 2011-09-08. Retrieved 2012-06-29.
- "Black Google Download". Thirdworlds.net. Archived from the original on 2012-07-16. Retrieved 2012-06-29.
