“MC Ricky Pharoe drops a couple Christ-critical verses here that are heavy as producer Mack Formway's distorted beat. A single this on-point would make any alt-rap fan pray to some old carpenter for the speedy delivery of Vandelay's upcoming LP "Face Tattoo".”

“He's been active since—including an album with Tru ID a move to California, a return, and his The Next Life EP—but cats should most be excited by his newest name, Art Vandelay. That's a group consisting of Pharoe and producer Mack Formway Alton Rountree; their They've Got My Number Down at the Post Office from last year was a repurposed bunch of odds & ends remixed and processed into a funky, funny stew of bored-at-stupidity satire and spit. Their new one, which by my count is their first real one (at least with initial intent as a unit), is called Face Tattoo, and drops this spring. Isn't it nice to think about spring now that it's February? Shit, that means it'll be summer soon, and then fall. Oh man, we're all gonna die.”

“Recognize ol boy? No not Jesus, the MC. If you've been paying attention to local hiphop (ever hear me talk about it?) since at least 2005 you should know this guy. He's been around, under a couple different names: at first he was Greasy Earl (his 2003-or so EP was great, and was had great features from Sonny Bonoho and Billy The Fridge, but since at least 2005 he's been known as Ricky Pharoe. That year he dropped Civilized—a record with producer Budo, who that same year produced 60 percent of Macklemore's Language of My World, and is now one half of Grieves & Budo, duh. In my eyes, it was part of the formidable mid-decade wave of great, smart and well-put put together local hiphop.”

“Musically, producer Mack Formway supplies another (go back and listen to their debut They've Got My Number Down At The Post Office while you're at it) rock-inspired gem, while Pharoe slaps his deranged humor over the beat in his trademark tenor. Check out the song/video below and find gems like "They're apes anyway/we'll keep waitin' for the rapture, sure it's comin' any day," within.”

“The first ever video from the Vandelay camp was released today, and brings to life all the avidly untrusting counterculture inklings that make Pharoe such an alluring character. The video follows a Jesus-clad Alton Roundtree (the group's manager/occasional backup vocalist) on his merry way around town, supplying a homeless guy with some grub, and Pharoe with an ass-beating (which all fits the plot of the song, in which Pharoe talks some serious smack about the old carpenter). Dictionary-wise, "vitiligo" connotes a medical condition that causes the loss of skin pigment (think Michael Jackson), and is yet another twisted jab at the evolution of theology--or shall we say a jab at the twisted evolution of theology. ”

“MC Ricky Pharoe and producer Mack Formway are Art Vandelay, an affiliate of the left-of-center Black Lab Productions camp. On They’ve Got My Number Down At The Post Office they question the honesty of our government, point shotguns at their televisions and generally wonder indignantly how anyone in their right mind could see worldly goings-on as anything but a degradation of all that is beautiful and just. “Art Vandelay” is a self-delusion perpetuated by Seinfeld‘s George Costanza — a lie in the form of a heroic archetype that helps George feel better about his otherwise mundane existence. Pharoe is calling us the liars on They’ve Got My Number: We’re fools to think for even a second that anything is all good. Oh well, at least when the world begins crumbling down around us we’ll have Art Vandelay’s soundtrack playing in the background, telling us so.”

“The guy Ricky Pharoe, a wonky Seattle MC whose style and voice land him somewhere between Aesop Rock and Slug, just released a remaster of his Art Vandelay ("he's an importer/exporter") project, entitled They've Got My Number Down at the Post Office (listen for free!), which was brilliantly produced by his bud Mack Formway. Originally released this past June, the remaster is just a few simple tweaks apart from the original, but since we didn't get to it originally, this is a good time to talk about it, because it deserves proper props.”

"More compelling is his [Ricky Pharoe] LP with producer [Mack Formway] under the name Art Vandelay, They've Got My Number Down at the Post Office. For a bunch of unreleased joints expertly retrofitted and stitched together into an edgy electro-rock-influenced backdrop by the producer, it's Pharoe's best stuff since his unfairly slept-upon 2005 album Civilized. A tinfoil-hatted conspiracy misfit who hates fat, stupid Americans and first-world empire as much as shitty rappers and pandering radio, he's a bit of a classic backpacker, just with a sense of humor, an Aesop Rock–esque voice, and a gift of gab that's equally adept at self-deprecation as it is bone-tired resignation to the greased-lightning hell-ride we're all lucky to be privy to these days. Whee!

“The MC’s bleak nihilism can be a bit of a downer, but it’s his wicked sense of humor and expert social observations that make They’ve Got My Number one of the most refreshing 206 releases of the year. I’m an eternal optimist, that’s just my nature; but there’s something to be said for allowing the morose to run through your brain synapses from time to time. It keeps us glass-half-full types honest, really.”

“Formway's production on the opening track "Slept In" conjures Cannibal Ox's (El-P's) "Iron Galaxy" or, more locally, Taco Neck's (PeGee13's) "I Heart U.S.A." with its dreamy, dumb fade-in that is grounded with a crossfade twitch before the beat thumps in. The production as a whole is pretty heavy: lots of feedback (on what occasionally sounds like live guitars/keys), filter treatment, and bassy currents tugging at the rug underneath the hard-hitting drums. From a production standpoint, it's among the most thoughtful albums I've heard locally in years, and it creates a perfectly unsettling dreamworld for Pharoe's deranged verses. ”

“Ricky Pharoe gets up on the weird side of the bed for this one. Re-monikered as Art Vandelay, They’ve Got My Number Down at the Post Office finds the MC and producer Mark Formway making antithetical rap music in the grand/odd tradition of their anti-establishmentarianist (is that a word?) brethren Black Lab Productions. Formway builds thick, layered compositions from distorted low end, electric guitar riffs, muted high-hats, and idiosyncratic vocal samples from the likes of Ghostface Killah, Louis Armstrong and, of course, characters from Seinfeld. The producer often lets his beats build, setting the sonic tone for Pharoe’s cynical realism.”

“His lyrics focus mainly on social criticism: In Pharoe's opinion (and mine), there are far too many people out there making half-assed attempts at whatever it is they do, or falling back on a subpar collection of skills to be content with the general outcome, and in Pharoe's world, it's worth a constant reminder. Whether it's those at the pinnacle of the political shitpile, you sitting on the couch, or the world's massive legion of lazy MCs, you should check yourself, for all of us really. He's opinionated, but it's his rich tenor, natural knack for cadence, and thought-provoking songwriting that make him a winner, whether he would ever admit it or not. ”