Rebel Yellow by Cecil Otter

In his music and his manner something about Cecil belongs to a different era of American history. In the shadow of a fedora, he’s got a five o’clock shadow by midmorning. He takes only one meal a day, reluctantly closing a notebook full of lyrics and calligraphy. The effect is part Doc Holiday, part Woody Guthrey. Rebel Yellow, his debut full-length album is a work of nostalgia and intrigue. If Max, from Where the Wild Things Are, rapped, he’d make an album like Rebel Yellow.

As a storyteller, Cecil conjures sepia images that spin by on 8 millimeter. In his production bittersweet guitar lines surface and submerge; vinyl crackles like dying embers; and the snare drum sneaks a little a flourish but keeps simple time when the audience turns to see what it has missed. Cecil himself delivers his verses with the self-assured, unhurried cadence of a man walking to the goldrush. In the end, Cecil Otter is a compelling musician for the same reasons he’s good with cards. The technique runs on charm, patience, intuition, and precision.

Although Rebel Yellow is Cecil Otter’s first official solo project, he’s earned his stripes as a founding member of the Doomtree crew. Cecil’s most recent collaboration with the other members of Doomtree (on the collective’s self-titled disc) appeared on Billboard’s regional Heatseekers charts, as the #1 hip hop album on CMJ, #23 on iTunes rap charts, and made an appearance in the top 100 on the Mediaguide AAA Albums.

Tracklist

1.	The Poet Is Rapist	4:36
2.	1999	4:03
3.	Rebel Yellow	3:28

4.	Sufficiently Breathless	3:34
5.	Boxcar Diaries	4:32
6.	Down, Beast!	4:34
7.	Le Facteur	3:41
8.	Matchbook Diaries (Remix)	3:19
9.	Demon Girl	1:58
10.	Let Me Tell You (Remix)	4:08
11.	Traveling Dunktank	3:20
12.	Black Rose	3:23
13.	Duel	4:15

Credits

released August 26, 2008

DTR-016

License