OH. MAN. Welcome to the final Tuesday With Lazerbeak post of the year. I hope you’re all surviving this chaotic holiday season and have at least a few days of rest and relaxation with friends and loved ones coming your way in the next few weeks. We’re going out with a bang today. It’s my great pleasure to present to you the 2018 Doomtree Year in Reivew.
Shouts to our FRIENDTOGRAPHER Zoe Prinds-Flash on the above pic. I think this year was truly the craziest, busiest, most insanely bonkers year that Doomtree Records has ever seen, so brace yourself for a reeeeeeaaaaaaally long recap. We stormed into January on the heels of Dangerous Jumps, the debut album from P.O.S, Sims, Paper Tiger, and Lazerbeak (ME!), otherwise known simply as SHREDDERS. Here’s a sweet video for “Entertainment” that our good buddy James Gundersen shot.
Shredders – “Entertainment”
I produced a couple singles that came out later that month as well. “Knock Knock” for our friend Input.
Input – “Knock Knock” (produced by Lazerbeak)
And “Brass Knuckles” for the homie Anonymous.
Anonymous – “Brass Knuckles” (produced by Lazerbeak)
Ultra Suede (the production crew made up of our friends DJ Fundo, MAKR, and AJAB) released their first single featuring Dwynell Roland. Much more on this collaborative project down below.
Ultra Suede – “Who The Hell Am I?” ft. Dwynell Roland
Shredders co-headlined the big Crashed Ice Afterparty at the Palace Theatre and I got to make this sweet mixtape with Mike 2600 to celebrate the crazy weekend. Nothing but JAMS on this bad boy.
Red Bull Crashed Ice Mixtape by Mike 2600 & Lazerbeak
The rollout for Dessa’s breakout album Chime began picking up like wildfire as we dropped the lyric video for standout single “Fire Drills,” created by the Lyric Vid Legend God Adam Dunn.
Dessa – “Fire Drills” Lyric Video
And that rolled right into this awesome music video for Dessa’s “Good Grief,” directed by Mercies May and co-starring Dessa and Solid Gold’s Zach Coulter on a frigid winter roadtrip.
Dessa – “Good Grief”
Shredders began hitting the road hard in support of Dangerous Jumps and we found time to make a bunch of these crazy one-minute “Does It Shred?” podcasts where we dissect all things pop culture in little snack size bites. Check out the entire playlist below. This was really fun to make and I hope we bring this back at some point in 2019.
Shredders – “Does It Shred?” Podcast
We end the month by releasing the Dangerous Jumps instrumentals and announcing the Shredders Remix Contest. Enormous shouts to the over 200 people that entered in that. It was such a blast listening to all the submissions and tapping into that creativity and community. Check out the original instrumentals, production remix submissions, and vocal remix submissions below.
February saw the release of Dessa’s third Chime single “5 out of 6,” and man was it a banger.
Dessa – “5 out of 6”
Ultra Suede dropped their second single and this one featured our very own Sims barring out like crazy.
Ultra Suede – “Caldera” ft. Sims
Paper Tiger dropped an official remix for WHY?’s One Mississippi Remixes project. Check out his cool take on “January February March” below.
WHY? – “January February March” (Paper Tiger Remix)
After months of warmup, we officially released Dessa’s Chime out in the world on Febraury 23rd. I’m so proud of this album. It’s the best thing Dessa has ever released in my humble opinion and working on it with her and Andy Thompson was a total blast. Check out the whole thing below.
Dessa – Chime
Continuing on the momentum of Chime, Dessa landed her A Badly Broken Code Paper Tiger-produced standout “The Bullpen” in the trailer and movie of the critically-acclaimed RBG documentary.
RBG Movie Trailer featuring “Bullpen” by Dessa
The mysterious Night Stone dropped first single “Phantom Quartz,” rooted in French House and Electro music.
Night Stone – “Phantom Quartz”
We released the music video for Dessa’s “5 out of 6,” shot in NYC and directed by Raquel Marvez.
Dessa – “5 out of 6”
And just as we were reaching peak Dessa Mania, she announced her first-ever hardcover memoir My Own Devices, to be released on Penguin Random House subsidiary Dutton Books later in the year.
I c0-produced a new one-off single with HALEY (fka Haley Bonar) called “BRATT.” I’ve been a huge fan of her work for years and it was awesome to work together in the studio on this one.
HALEY – “BRATT” (co-produced by Lazerbeak)
Dessa got to sing the National Anthem at the Minnesota Twins home opener and was upstaged by a bald eagle landing on the pitcher’s shoulder.
Dessa at Twin Home Opener
P.O.S dropped a re-edit for the song “Each Time I Die” from Bones & Beeker’s excellent debut album. Love his verse on this one.
Bones & Beeker – “Each Time I Die Re-Edit” ft. P.O.S
Doomtree and Rhymesayers partnered up with the Minnesota Timberwolves and dropped this “Welcome To The Woods” sports anthem featuring Sims, Dem Atlas, Prof, and Allan Kingdom. Shouts to Cardo on the beat and DJ Skee on the premiere. Seeing the Wolves make it to the playoffs for the first time in 18 years was definitely a major highlight of the year for me.
“Welcome To The Woods” ft. Sims, Dem Atlas, Prof, and Allan Kingdom
May saw the announce of the second 2018 full-length release from Doomtree Records, Parades by Longshot and Lazerbeak. We released lead single “Just Dance” and got into heavy album rollout.
Longshot and Lazerbeak – “Just Dance”
Here’s the video for the second single from Parades “Here For A Reason,” shot and edited by Adam Dunn.
Longshot and Lazerbeak – “Here For A Reason”
Shredders co-headlined Bauhaus Brewery’s epic Art-A-Whirl block party and released this crazy lyric video for “Calm/Sane” created by Aaron Anderson.
Shredders – “Calm/Sane” Lyric Video
HALEY released the second of our co-produced tracks right in time for a limited Record Store Day 7″ release. This one takes on a super ambient slow-building vibe. Love it.
HALEY – “My Wave” (co-produced by Lazerbeak)
In June Longshot and I released Parades into the world after years of stacking songs together. This one holds a special place in my heart and the release show at the Entry was unforgettable.
Longshot and Lazerbeak – Parades
Cecil Otter popped up with a monstrously AWESOME beat on Sage Francis and B. Dolan’s collaborative album as Epic Beard Men. Check out “SHOTGUN WOLF” below.
Epic Beard Men – “SHOTGUN GOLF” (produced by Cecil Otter)
June saw the announcement of the debut collaborative album from Sims x Air Credits x ICETEP. They release lead single “Hologramme” and this great video by Peter Angus Medlock.
Sims x Air Credits x ICETEP – “Hologramme”
We released this wild one-take dance video for Longshot and Lazerbeak’s “Just Dance,” directed once again by Adam Dunn.
Longshot and Lazerbeak – “Just Dance”
Sims, Air Credits, and ICETEP dropped second single “Octadant” and it is an absolute HEATER.
Sims x Air Credits x ICETEP – “Octadant”
Dessa released the music video for “Fire Drills,” shot in Berlin and created by Irene Kotnik.
Dessa – “Fire Drills”
Cecil Otter patnered up with Power Of Love, a benefit compilation for LGTBQ Youth experiencing homelessness. He collaborated with Solid Gold’s Zach Coulter and Aero Flynn’s Josh Scott on the lead-off track. So good.
“Power of Love” featuring Cecil Otter, Solid Gold’s Zach Coulter, and Aero Flynn’s Josh Scott
Sims, Air Credits, and ICETEP released the trippy video for third single “Eye In The Sky,” directed by #1 best guy Isaac Gale.
Sims x Air Credits x ICETEP – “Eye In The Sky”
Four Fists, the duo of P.O.S and Astronautalis, popped back up again with a double-single almost exactly five years to the date of their first 7″. It was just the start.
Four Fists – “Nobody’s Biz” / “G.D.F.R”
We dropped the video for “Going Home” by Longshot and Lazerbeak ahead of Shot’s big homecoming Chicago release show. Shouts to Adad for making this one.
Longshot and Lazerbeak – “Going Home”
Dessa released yet another Adam Dunn-directed lyric video for Chime album closer “I Hope I’m Wrong.”
Dessa – “I Hope I’m Wrong” Lyric Video
We burst into August with the epic release of Artería Verité by Sims x Air Credits x ICETEP. God I love this album. Such a phenomenal blend of talents on here. Check it out below.
Sims x Air Credits x ICETEP – Artería Verité
Stef and Andy hopped on their motorcycles and hit the country backroads for this “G.D.F.R” music video directed by Mercies May.
Four Fists – “G.D.F.R”
And then quickly followed up with the announce of the long-awaited Four Fist debut album, which came with the release of third single “Dork Court.” FIRE BARS on this one.
Four Fists – “Dork Court”
We announced the only full Doomtree crew show of the year, Doomtree Forest, a partnership with Red Bull Music that would see us takeover Familia HQ’s indoor skate park and turn it into a forest rave highlighting all of the family tree and side projects that we celebrated in 2018.
PBS and TPT put out this incredibly sweet 10-minute mini doc on a day in the life of Lazerbeak. A film crew followed me from the Doomtree office to the recording studio and finally to my house full of insane children. This one really meant a lot to me.
The Life of Doomtree’s Lazerbeak
We ended August with the announce of a new Paper Tiger project called CLOQUET and their first single “Hollows.” CLOQUET is made up of Paper Tiger on production and J. Gundersen on vocals and they are simply the best.
Cloquet – “Hollows”
Shout to producer friend GuruDoug who released his solo album that included the track “Floatin” featuring the trifecta of Sims, Astronautalis, and Travla.
GuruDoug – “Floatin'” ft. Sims, Astronautalis, and Travla
Sims, Air Credits, and ICETEP hit the road hard behind Artería Verité and dropped this sweet lyric video for “Raising Helvetica.”
Sims x Air Credits x ICETEP – “Raising Helvetica”
Longshot dropped the music video for the track “Narcotic” off of Parades. Shot and directed by Omen.
Longshot and Lazerbeak – “Narcotic”
In September the entire full Doomtree crew got back together and we pulled off the Doomtree Forest! What a night. This one will go down in my personal history books for sure. Performances from Longshot and Lazerbeak, Cloquet, Sims x Air Credits x ICETEP, Cecil’s new project with Zach Coulter and Josh Scott, a v rare Mike Mictlan solo set, Dessa with her live band, Four Fists, Shredders, Night Stone, and all seven members of DOOMTREE. Holy moly. Check out the recap video by Zeke Salo below. Enormous shouts to Red Bull and Street Factory Media for all the help!
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#DOOMTREEFOREST RECAP VID! Shouts to @redbullmusic @familiask8shop @streetfactorymedia. 🎥 @hizeke
And here’s an incredibly rare picture of all seven of us on stage courtesy of Zoe Prinds-Flash.
Dessa released her debut hardcover memoir My Own Devices and promptly hit the road on her first international book tour.
Here’s a quick little promo video for the book as well. I know I’m probably biased, but this is the only book I have ever read in one sitting, front to back. It’s really really good.
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At the end of September we officially announced the debut full-length album from Paper Tiger and J. Gundersen’s new project CLOQUET and promptly dropped second single “Chances.”
Cloquet – “Chances”
And then October hit and the Four Fists album frenzy reached a fever pitch. Here’s the insane “Nobody’s Biz” music video by our good pal Mercies May.
Four Fists – “Nobody’s Biz”
Which was followed up shortly thereafter by fourth single and album title track “6666.”
Four Fists – “6666”
Ultimately leading to the inevitable unveiling of Four Fist’s 6666 debut and Doomtree Records’ fourth full-length release of the year. This album is flawless to me and completely worth the long wait. The fellas immediatlely hit the road on the US leg of their #6666 World Tour.
Four Fists – 6666
As the hype began to build for Cloquet we released third single “Often.”
Cloquet – “Often”
And closely thereafter came the release of the self-titled debut Cloquet album. Papes and James knocked it out of the park with this one. Such a great representation of both dudes. Trip hop, dance, 90s indie rock, house, downtempo. There’s something for everyone on this one.
Cloquet – Cloquet
In November I worked with Twin Cities singer-songwriter JØUR and remixed her excellent single “American Nightmare.”
JØUR – “American Nightmare” (Lazerbeak Remix)
Then came the big 10-year-anniversary announcement that we would be reissuing the first two Doomtree crew albums on deluxe vinyl for the first time ever, along with a slew of throwback merch and limited-edition pre-order goodies.
I really can’t believe it’s been 10 whole years since we released S/T and False Hopes into the world. I’ve been really getting into my feelings about all of it lately and can’t stop watching these old videos when we were just kids. Check out these two outrageous promo videos for the self-titled album.
Doomtree – As Seen On TV Pt. 1
Doomtree – As Seen On TV Pt 2
Later that month Heart Bones, the new project from Har Mar Superstar and Sabrina Ellis, debuted thier first single. It’s called “This Time It’s Different” and was produced by the dream team of BJ Burton, Aaron Baum, Ryan Olson, and myself.
Heart Bones – “This Time It’s Different” (produced by BJ Burton, Aaron Baum, Lazerbeak, and Ryan Olson)
Doomtree Records officially announced that we would be releasing the debut album from production collective Ultra Suede. The album features over 20 of the best rappers and vocalists out of the Midwest, including Sims, ShowYouSuck, and J. Plaza who all pop up on third single “Diamonds.” Check out the video below created by Daniel Hoffstrom.
Ultra Suede – “Diamonds” ft. Sims, ShowYouSuck, and J. Plaza
Dessa partnered up with the YWCA and created a music video for Chime single “Half of You” that included a bunch of amateur and first-time dancers meeting up at the local Y and creating some sweet movement. Shouts to Isaac Gale for shooting and editing all the chaos.
Dessa – “Half of You”
Heart Bones dropped thier second single “Little Dancer,” also co-produced by BJ Burton, Aaron Baum, Ryan Olson, and ME.
Heart Bones – “Little Dancer” (produced by BJ Burton, Aaron Baum, Lazerbeak, and Ryan Olson)
Right before the big Thanksgiving long weekend Mark Mallman and I debuted our collaborative single “Peace On Earth.” I’ve known Mark since I was snotty nosed indie rock high schooler and it was such a joy to relink with him and create this holiday anthem.
Mark Mallman and Lazerbeak – “Peace On Earth”
Sims, Air Credits, and ICETEP popped back up at the end of November and dropped Artería Verité B-side “Cannon” in celebration of the big Minneapolis homecoming show at Fine Line, which doubled as an awesome fundraiser for Hopewell Music Foundation. This song bangs.
Sims x Air Credits x ICETEP – “Cannon”
December saw the announce of our crazy annual Doomtree Blowout Sale at the Doomtree Webstore. Outrageous discounts store wide, plus the return of all the wild Mystery Grab Bags. There’s still time to capitalize on these deals right HERE.
P.O.S announced the 10-year-anniversary vinyl reissue of Never Better on Rhymesayers Entertainment. The triple color LP will be released this February in conjunction with a week of Never Better shows across the country.
Ultra Suede mania ramped up with the release of fourth single “Unwelcome Stranger” featuring Mina Moore, Sophia Eris, and Nona Marie Invie.
Ultra Suede – “Unwelcome Stranger” ft. Mina Moore, Sophia Eris, and Nona Marie Invie
And then, just two weeks ago, we released the debut collaborative album from Ultra Suede – marking the sixth new full-length album that Doomtree Records released in 2018. Daaaaaaaaaaang. Check out the excellent Ultra Suede record in its entirety below, including tracks with Doomtree’s own P.O.S and Sims.
Ultra Suede – Ultra Suede
I linked up with Sophia Eris and producer Bionik (Pool Boys 4 Lyfe) to drop new single “Who’s Got The Boom.” This is just a teaser of all the new music that the three of us have been working on together since the summer, and I can’t wait to share more with you in 2019.
Sophia Eris – “Who’s Got The Boom” (produced by Lazerbeak and Bionik)
Last Friday saw the official re-release of Doomtree’s S/T and False Hopes albums on ten-year-anniversary limited-edition vinyl. Oh happy day. Here’s a bunch of the crew taking a second to walk down memory lane and revisit these early days.
Sims and P.O.S Talk Doomtree Reissues
Paper Tiger and Lazerbeak Talk Doomtree Reissues
Dessa Talks Doomtree Reissues
Sims Talks Doomtree Reissues
There are still a handful of Collectors Edition pre-order packages remaining if you’re looking for that last minute belated holiday gift. Grab yours right HERE.
To close out a truly remarkable year, Dessa announced this week that she will be teaming up once again with the Minnesota Orchestra for to record a live album this March. The record will be released on Doomtree Records and will be produced by Andy Thompson and myself. Soooooooo excited and terrified at the same damn time.
And lastly, just this very morning, Mark Mallman released the music video for our holiday collaboration “Peace on Earth.” Major shouts to director and creator Squawk.
Mark Mallman and Lazerbeak – “Peace on Earth”
Wow. What a year. A million thanks to everyone whose support, participation, and collaboration made it such a memorable one. It’s been a hell of a ride. Let’s close things out with the ultimate 2018 Tuesday With Lazerbeak Bonus Jams Playlist. This is every Bonus Jam that I talked about this entire year. Nearly 400 sweet tunes that you can enjoy on the Spotify playlist below. And if you want to keep getting Bonus Jam updates, just save this Playlist on your Spotify right HERE. I’ll be continuing to update it weekly in 2019 so you can take the Bonus Jams with you wherever you wander.
Lazerbeak’s Bonus Jams 2018
Alright, that does it for the Doomtree 2018 Year In Review. I’ll leave you with my personal favorite albums, movies, books, and shows from this year. Here’s hoping you all have a wonderful and peaceful end of the year. See you January 8th for some absolutely bonkers and extremely exciting news to kickoff 2019.
— Beak
Twitter: @_LAZERBEAK_
Instagram: @lazerbeak