# Professor Murder

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> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Professor_Murder
> Source revision: 1323110939
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{{Short description|American dance-punk band}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2025}}
{{Infobox musical artist <!-- See Wikipedia:WikiProject Musicians -->
| name                = Professor Murder
| image                 = 
| caption            = 
| image_size            = 
| background          = group_or_band
| alias               = 
| origin              = [New York City](/source/New_York_City), [New York](/source/New_York_(state)), [United States](/source/United_States)
| genre               = {{Hlist|[Indie rock](/source/Indie_rock)|[dance-punk](/source/dance-punk)}}
| years_active        = 
| label               = [Kanine Records](/source/Kanine_Records), RCRD LBL
| associated_acts     = 
| website                 = [http://www.professormurder.com/ http://www.professormurder.com]
| current_members     = Jesse Cohen<br/>Andy Craven<br/>Michael Bell-Smith<br/>Tony Blankets
| past_members        = 
}}

'''Professor Murder''' is a [dance-punk](/source/dance-punk) quartet from [New York City](/source/New_York_City) that mixes synthesizers and percussion-based compositions in a method that has drawn comparison to [post-punk](/source/post-punk) and [new wave](/source/New_wave_music) bands of the late 1970s and early 1980s.<ref>* {{AllMusic | class = artist | id = p820142 | tab = biography | label = Biography of Professor Murder | first = Rob | last = Theakston | accessdate = 2012-04-20 }}</ref> They released their critically hailed<ref>[http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/record_review/37571-rides-the-subway-ep Professor Murder] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070713125446/http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/record_review/37571-rides-the-subway-ep |date=2007-07-13 }} reviewed on [Pitchforkmedia](/source/Pitchforkmedia)</ref> debut EP, ''Professor Murder Rides the Subway'', on [Kanine Records](/source/Kanine_Records) in July 2006. Members of the band are Jesse Cohen (keyboards), Andy Craven (drums), Michael Bell-Smith (vocals, percussion, bass, keys), and Tony Blankets (bass, melodica). In 2009 Bell-Smith, Cohen and Blankets joined with Eric Emm of [Tanlines](/source/Tanlines_(band)) to create a new band, Restless People.

==Name origin==
Professor Murder was a character played by the British actor and model [Sam Sarpong](/source/Sam_Sarpong)<ref>{{IMDb name|id=0765493|name=Sam Sarpong}}</ref> in two comedy sketches on [HBO](/source/HBO)'s "''[Mr. Show with Bob and David](/source/Mr._Show_with_Bob_and_David)''"<ref>{{IMDb title|qid=Q257643|id=tt0112084|title=Mr. Show with Bob and David}}</ref> in the 1990s. He was a rapper who was featured in a sketch about the East Coast ventriloquists' feud with the West Coast ventriloquists, which mirrored the same regional divide in the world of rap music. Professor Murder made a second appearance in another sketch as a ringer brought in by the rich kids from the fat camp when they wanted to win a rapping contest against a group of Buddhist monks.  It has been said that this Mr. Show character's name inspired the band's name.

==Discography==
'''EPs'''
*''Professor Murder on a Desert Island'' (2008) [RCRDLBL](/source/RCRDLBL)
*''Professor Murder Rides the Subway'' (2006) [Kanine Records](/source/Kanine_Records)
*''Professor Murder Vs. The Magazine Culture'' (2004)

'''Singles'''
*"Dutch Hex"  (2007) [Brothers Label](/source/Brothers_Label)

==References==
<references/>

==External links==
*[https://archive.today/20070327000703/http://woxy.lala.com/music/loungeacts/index.php?id=117 Professor Murder live on WOXY.com, July 18th, 2006]
*[http://media.libsyn.com/media/lowslungradio/Low_Slung_Podcast_Episode_6.mp3 Hear Professor Murder on the Low Slung Podcast]{{dead link|date=April 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Musical groups established in 2006
Category:Musical groups from New York City
Category:American dance-punk musical groups
Category:Kanine Records artists

{{US-punk-band-stub}}

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Professor Murder](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Professor_Murder) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Professor_Murder?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.