This is a stranger Rockwood release. Originally coming out in September of 2012, the ♥ EP came out after months and months of near nothing in terms of Devon's output, in comparison to his more populated 2011 and Q1 of 2012. This EP features some extremely elaborate songs, including the fan favorite Pizzicato Five (which later returned on The Ghost~Pop Tape) which contrast strongly with the at-times simplicity of The Rockwood Escape Plan, its immediate precursor.
This is a fantastic EP. Maybe not if you treat it as seven songs (it's 3.5 songs at best), but the three songs that ARE on here are not only some of the longest songs by him but also some of the best produced and written. There's truly very little in his discography similar to Charli Baltimore, Pizzicato Five, and Fucking Your Girl. I absolutely love the production in this thing, even if I'm not terribly crazy about the samples in songs like Satan.
1. Shamoo: Whale sounds, to my knowledge. I see some people hating on this EP's interludes (of which outnumber the actual songs, so, fair, I guess?), but I think they add a lot ofcharm and ambience that it would otherwise be lacking. I enjoy the whale sounds!!
2. Charli Baltimore: You ever play Donkey Kong Country? I have. And I've heard Aquatic Ambiance, a fantastic song off of its soundtrack, but for some reason it took someone pointing it out in an upload of the song for me to realize that the first beat sampled it. It's just that inventive of a song.
Searching for the one, I hope she look like Charli B-more...
I don't know what happened to him in the 7 months between The Rockwood Escape Plan and this EP, but the rapping here is above arguably 90% of that project. It's really something else.
3. Manny: I can't lie. This one is wack as fuck. If anything it's a prelude to the already 5 minute long Pizzicato Five. I don't got much to say about it.
4. Pizzicato Five: I've already commented on this song in my page for The Ghost~Pop Tape (here), but this is really a fantastic and essential part of the EP and if I heard this shit as a single in 2012 I would've lost my mind. Something I didn't mention in that page (because I didn't know it), is that this song was recorded in 2009!!! What the fuck!!
5. Max Payne: I can't lie. I kinda like this song. Don't get me wrong, it's recorded like dogshit, and as someone who just learned how to play Porn for Percussion (by accident), Devon isn't the best guitar player on earth. But I enjoy listening to this stuff.
6. Fucking Your Girl: Amazing song. I used to play this on my speakers on loop for hours and hours on end, it's just a really hypnotic, calming song. The instrumental is greatly soothing and calm and the way Devon sings on this song is also great as well. I'm not a big fan on the intro but it's not a major detractor from the song either.
7. Satan: This is kind of another wack one lol, it reminds me the tiniest bit of Bully from Joechillworld which is not a song I'm too crazy on.
This EP doesn't really have any alternate versions per se, only notable things are:
Cool EP! Could be a bit more fleshed out with its interludes but the actual songs are extremely unique and some of Devon's best.
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