ARTIST: MC Lars
TITLE: The Graduate
LABEL: Horris Records/Nettwerk
GENRE: Punk Rock
BITRATE: 206kbps avg
PLAYTIME: 0h 41m total
RELEASE DATE: 2006-03-21
RIP DATE: 2006-01-18

Track List

1.  Download This Song (ft Jaret     3:44
Riddick of Bowling For Soup)
2.  The Roommate From Hell (ft MC    3:18
Chris)
3.  21 Concepts                      2:49
4.  Hot Topic Is Not Punk Rock (ft   2:15
The Matches)
5.  Rapgirl                          3:03
6.  Generic Crunk Rap                3:02
7.  Ahab                             3:21
8.  iGeneration                      2:53
9.  If I Had A Time Machine, The     1:03
World Would Be Fresh
10. Internet Relationships           3:24
11. Space Game                       4:05
12. The Dialogue (ft ILL BILL of     2:53
Non-Phixion)
13. Six Degrees Of Kurt Cobain       1:44
14. Signing Emo                      3:37

Release Notes:

It isn’t easy being a Post Punk Laptop rapper. You’re forced to lead a genre
that doesn’t exist, navigate around cookie cutter superstars, push yourself to
make music unlike anything else on earth and spend every penny of your own money
to get it all done. You meet kids at every tour date who love what you do, yet
turn on MTV and see homogenized puppets that regurgitate their genres and make
piles of dough in the process. You push the boundaries of DIY and give major
labels the middle finger. You hope – and know – that this will be all worth it
some day.

MC Lars is a member of what he dubs the “iGeneration,” a group born and raised
in the time of the Ninja Turtles, cassette tapes and new wave music, who now
live in the age of Desperate Housewives, Sidekicks and screamo bands. These are
the kids who have grown up using the Internet as a part of their every day life.
They can conveniently carry 5,000 songs in their pocket, but are faced with the
glooming fact that the world’s oil supply and Social Security will both run out
in their lifetime. MC Lars is the hero of this new generation, addressing their
thoughts and every day struggles in his music.

Lars has spent the past two years building this group of fans, performing around
the world with nothing but his laptop and lyrics. His indie EP has sold over
10,000 copies to a dedicated group of misfits, allowing him to pulse the
mainstream through unexpected outlets like Rolling Stone and MTV News. All of
this has led him to the decision to steer his own ship and to release the album
on his own label (Horris Records) rather than fall into the major label glut. He
sees little need for the traditional label trappings and would rather storm his
own trail through the Internet, even encouraging file-sharing as a means of
promoting his music. “I think I’ve shown that you don't need to have mainstream
exposure to get a dedicated fan base, especially when you have things like
MySpace and LimeWire as creative ways of marketing yourself,” he says.

The Graduate is an album chock full of wildly different subject matter, from
playful and goofy to socially conscious and critical. The album opens with
“Download This Song,” featuring guest vocals by Jaret Reddick of Bowling For
Soup; the song serves as complete manifesto on the future of music industry. “21
Concepts” is a track featuring 21 different song ideas Lars rejected for the
album, including an ill-fated jam about a fetus running for governor. He gives
listeners a literature lesson on “Ahab,” retelling Herman Melville’s class Moby
Dick in under four minutes (to a Supergrass sample, no less). Lars collaborates
with The Matches on a song about mallrat-infested Hot Topic and another with
notorious rapper Ill Bill (Non Phixion) on “The Dialogue,” a marriage that will
surprise many. “The Roommate From Hell” teams him up with pal MC Chris, who is
cast as Lars’ college roommate who is also, coincidentally, Satan.

The Graduate is a collection of songs that may very well be the time capsule for
this generation. In a hundred years, iPods, MySpace and Hot Topic may be nothing
more than a distant memory, but one listen to MC Lars’ music will bring people
back to the iGeneration. The title may be a nod to Lars’ recent graduation from
Stanford University, but the album also serves as a musical graduation, allowing
Lars to move from sampling his favorite artists on his laptop to being able to
collaborate with them in the studio. He adds, “I also like to hook up with older
women like Dustin Hoffman does.”