Carnage the Executioner - Just in Case You Missed Them (2009)

End of the week again, and our pleasure to bring you this gem. Carnage is in my opinion one of the most underrated emcees in the entire indie world. Coming up in the same arena around the same time as the more well-known Rhymesayers affiliated rappers Slug, Eyedea and Brother Ali, Carnage distinguishes himself with a versatile (and of course fast) rhyme style, blistering beatbox ability and a live show that recruits new fans at every venue.

Just in Case You Missed Them was a mixtape style CDr put out by Fifth Element Online to bridge the gap between the sensational Booka B produced Sense of Sound and his full length solo album Worth the Weight. Twenty five tracks long, it includes never before heard collaborations with Face Candy, a few unreleased bangers such as the dope "No Leads" as well as some oldies with NEMNOCH and a handful of previously released collaborations some of you will probably have already heard.

This album is a must have for any fan of Carnage, but any fan of rap in general shouldn't be able to help being impressed with his technical skill and dope songwriting ability. Check it out!

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This post coincides with the (hopefully) imminent retail release of Ravenous, Carnage's (by my count) sixth official release. Both Trylemma and I have heard it, and I personally think it's fantastic. Stay tuned for a more in depth review of Ravenous, at this point set to drop 04/12/19 and well Worth the Wait!

Featured Artist: Beatahoe

What's up everyone?? For this Wednesday I have the pleasure of bringing you something a bit different. Following our review of Boxguts' release with DJ Kryptonite, one of his affiliates / homies got in touch with me hoping to draw some attention to his work. His name is Beatahoe, who I'd previously been familiar with for his music with Boxguts on their chaotic masterpiece Apocalyptic Hunger, and didn't know much else about him.

I wasn't aware at the time of the impressive body of work Beatahoe's managed to put together. He's done albums with a wide variety of rappers within the hardcore and horrorcore genres, from Jak Tripper and Labal-S (of BMC) all the way to Bronze Nazareth. He gave me the chance to check out his EP Mudwork, with the aforementioned emcee Jak Tripper on vocals. I found it just as unsettling, discordant and hard hitting as his work with Guts. Any fan of underground horrorcore should be a fan of this dude, I highly recommend looking into his production efforts. Check out his Bandcamp here, you can get individual releases or the whole lot for only CA$6.40!

Anyway, I had some questions for him. Here's an interview type deal.

Dimxsk: What's up dude? So first off, where’d the name come from?

Beatahoe: I was in studio one day and my friend who played keyboards called me "Beatahoe". We both laughed so hard, and I had to find a name quick because I was about to release a project. So I decided it was going to be Beatahoe.

Dimxsk: I see you take Canadian dollars on Bandcamp, but your location is Issaquah, WA. Where are you based?

Beatahoe: I currently live in a small, isolated mining city 12 hours Northeast from Montreal, Quebec. I put a random location (on Bandcamp) and my email does not function because I'd rather do all the artist reaching, promo etc. by myself.

Dimxsk: That sounds difficult! How do you make sure artists get to hear your work?

Beatahoe: I always use the same method. I hear a rapper with mega talent and I reach out through Hotmail, or my fake Facebook account. I usually reach people who are not too famous, and are on the meal ticket run like me. If they seem interested I always try to get them on the phone. That's my trick to know if they are serious or not. If they can't give you five minutes on the phone then you should always move on. You need to know if they have time or not to work. You should always keep your energies for concrete projects and not waste any creative time.

Dimxsk: Good advice! So what type of music / rap do you consider your influences? What did you grow up listening to?

Beatahoe: My influences as far as rap goes are sooo varied. I like all types. I really like anything Alchemist or DJ Muggs or Madlib do. I also really like RZA and EL-P as well.  For rappers, I like RZA as well, and all sorts of other types of rappers.  I grew up listening to punk rock, then I got into scratching and the transition to rap was made! I always liked the beats, they just calmed me down. I like the characters behind the music as well because that's so interesting to me.

Dimxsk: I get that about the beats, I was mostly into alternative rock as a kid, but making music I started noticing how intricate and creative even sampled beats could be. I feel like hip hop offers the opportunity for experimentation and versatility that's difficult (but not impossible) to find in rock music. Rap's arsenal of sounds and styles is pretty much unlimited. Anyway, characters? That sounds interesting!

Beatahoe: Yeah, Jak Tripper and Boxguts are real interesting characters. I talked with Jak twice on the phone. I actually just met Boxguts in New York, I feel like I've gotten to know Boxguts a little bit and he's an interesting artistic alien and friend. Jak I don't know at all but he's so ill though with the vocals and the beats. I'd really like to make him more heat. I spoke to Gore Elohim on the phone once, and that was really interesting because I'm a huge fan. He gave me a number and that number was disconnected after. Felt like I talked to the Overlord!! Gore is sooo ill to me. 

Dimxsk: Haha nice. I see you did an album with him, it's up on Bandcamp now. One thing I've been wondering is how to characterize all of your work. What would you call your style?

Beatahoe: I don't really have a style because I like to be stimulated, so it's hard for me to do the same kinds of releases over and over again. I'd say my style is a lil' obscure because I don't follow trends or anything. I just do the beats and once rappers select them then I like to get real anal with the beats and try to make them stronger.

Dimxsk: It shows, I emailed with Boxguts a bit during your STD-Free Androida Hoe period about your sound. Your beats are very unique, and it sounds like you do manage to keep the spirit of collaboration alive even long distance to craft them. What’s the most interesting experience you’ve had so far, working with rappers?

Beatahoe: Most experiences I've had with artists are all online so I never really got to be in the studio with anyone. So I don't really know anyone personally. I hate bothering people too, so I figure the time will come for the studio and in the mean time I'mma keep sending out stems!

Dimxsk: What does your creative process look like? Do you work with analog turntables, MIDI only, samples...?

Beatahoe: I need the studio to be a creative place. I move a lot so I love to get different energies from different places. I need the place I live in to be real clean. I need green tea close! I have an MPC 5000, Roland MC 909, Roland JV 1080, Nord keyboard and Pro Tools set up. I don't really sample much anymore cause that bores me. I still have an MPC filled with sampled beats, I'd just rather make beats without samples for now. That changes though!

Dimxsk: Bro, in college green tea was my sh*t. Better, and healthier than Adderall, lot's of my papers wouldn't have been written without it. So who are you listening to now?

Beatahoe: Lil Eto and DJ Muggs, Alchemist, Jak Tripper, Gore Elohim, Ill Bill and lots of radio shows.

Dimxsk: What's in the works at the moment?

Beatahoe: Well, Beatahoe was supposed to go cross country skiing today but he decided to work on a new project instead. The project is for Boxguts and Carmine Moth. Beatahoe should be trying to make Drake beats, but instead works with real slimey talented artists, who are on the meal ticket road.  This release is going to be real weird, just like all my other releases! I just bounced 10 beats from my MPC 5000 and mastered them on LANDR and then sent the beats to the artists. They wanted 4 of them so know I need to find the last 2 beats. When ever I do a project I complete all the beats at the same time. It takes me 2-3 weeks to get them to sound how I want them in my whip then I send them out.  It's a really weird process, I feel like my life is on hold until I get the joints done. I send the skeleton beats then if they like those then I really get to work. I'mma have this one done in 2 weeks. I always give myself deadlines to stay productive and I always like to have one project on the go all the time!

Dimxsk: What's in Beatahoe's brain? Now you know.

The music video below is the lead single from Apocalyptic Hunger, and gives you a good feel for the weird creativity Beatahoe displays behind the boards:

Anyway that's it for today, thank you to Beatahoe for taking the time to reach out and provide thoughtful answers! See you guys Friday!

Note: Trylemma and I came up with this featured artist idea to suit this particular post, but I've had fun doing it. We'd be happy to do interview type deals with other lesser known musicians, anyone interested should get in touch with me via the contact form.

Human i Tease (Troubadour [Plague Language / ...of Proliteariots] & Anu-1) - Cymbalism (200?)

Happy Friday! For today I thought I'd share something on the more obscure side. Human i Tease is a demo containing the earliest recordings I know of from Troubadour, a rapper featured on the Farewell Archetypes compilation by Plague Language and ...of Proliteariots, as well as raps from collaborator Anu-1. I know nothing about him, but this album has made me curious.

Cymbalism finds the pair rapping over beats by Sixtoo, Controller 7, Mr. Dibbs etc. Apparently only 15 years old each (according to my source at THH via Discogs, corroborated by the youthful appearance of the two kids on the cover), Troubadour and Anu-1 are uncommonly skilled on the mic for their age and clearly enjoy and revere the art of rapping. Mostly erring on the side of experimental, this album should appeal to fans of early Sixtoo, early Buck 65, pre-trap era early Noah23, early Aesop Rock, early Josh Martinez, early Living Legends or just plain early.

A worthy fossil to add to any collection of weird forgotten indie rap. CDr is hand-made, I have no idea how rare this release actually is, but it's come up for sale only once. It won't set any records but it deserves to be heard.

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We're doing something different this coming Wednesday, looking forward to sharing it with you. Stay tuned!

New Music: Haez One - San Hopeless

What's up everyone? It's Wednesday again and for this week we've decided to focus on the new cassette release from Haez One, San Hopeless, available now from Icy Palms Records. This review is going to concentrate mainly on the album in question, but I'd also like to say a few words about Icy Palms as well.

The first thing I noticed with this release is that, true to form, Haez has offered up a huge collection of tracks (his last album surpassed 80 mins). Some of these songs were available as singles on Haez's Bandcamp in the past (check here for some of his older albums as well, all completely original and dope as fuck), and one is a shortened version from his collabo with Dave Dub as Broken Uglies, but the rest is a never before heard collection highlighting Haez's direction as an artist and growth as an emcee.

I can speak for both Trylemma and I in saying that our favorite thing about Haez (and his peers in the SJ underground like the infamous Dave Dub) is his ability to combine hard hitting gangsta influenced raps with experimental uniqueness. He is an incredibly talented rapper with a versatile voice and has the ability to rhyme in unexpected ways on beat which usually keeps things interesting.

San Hopeless is an unflinching look at life on the streets of San Jose. From the very beginning of the cassette Haez goes off book, his tongue twisting style alternating between a laid back cadence somewhat reminiscent of Tupac to a rambling, staccato rhythm. The themes of drug use and run-ins with the police come up again and again, with some braggadocio and gangsta topics thrown in. The more personal single "Land Shark" revolves around the story of his journey from a delinquent youth to the rapper he is now, and is probably the stand out song on Side A.

The production is a huge plus as usual, Haez works with the phenomenal Trust One on "Around the Block" (great track featuring SF legend and Bored Stiff alumnus Equipto), as well as Tape Mastah Steph (known for his work with Dave Dub as Endlessness in Machinery) on numerous tracks. The overall sound is strictly boom bap, throwback style tracks on this album which I'm always thankful to hear.

That said, I personally preferred the darker more experimental sound of 2017's Death to the Internet to the sound of this album, but it is still a worthy addition to Haez's discography. As always he offers us something to bump loud in the car or relax to at a party with friends that is full of creative effort and technical skill, a rare find these days.

Get San Hopeless here on cassette or digital now from Icy Palms Records.

And speaking of Icy Palms, I've had the chance to look over what they offer and they seem to be a pretty solid up and coming label, with releases from V8, Matlock (as The Cult Leaders) and TankWon of The Stay Busy Crew being the artists I'm familiar with. I also know they're putting out a cassette from San Jose's own Barry Bones in the next few months, definitely an album to watch out for. Get an idea of what they're about right here.

Graves33 - The Cost of Living (2008)

This past Wednesday we reviewed Graves33's latest album, "Anatomy," so we thought it fitting, for this week's upload, to bring you Graves' early now out of print album, "The Cost of Living" from 2008.

"The Cost of Living" isn't Graves', then known primarily as "Graves" or sometimes "Graves33 & 1/3" I believe, first solo outing (that would be "Section Hate" which we have yet to track down - if anyone has it let us know!) but it is certainly a display of his early sounds. The album's production is much more dusty and boom bappy than his more modern cleaner synthy beats. Graves (who had been rapping with Seattle's Mixed Mediums Crew since the early 2000s) also had yet to really fully build his rapping style that he has today. Unsurprisingly, the rhymes and deliveries on here aren't as crisp or developed as the ones you'll find on "Anatomy." With that said, "The Cost of Living" is far from a bad project. Graves' voice and content provide a lot to enjoy here, especially in the latter half of the album with songs like "Razor Blades" and "Sink or Swim."

The album, like several of Graves' early projects, was dropped on Black Lab Productions, the label ran by Jewels Hunter. I'm pretty sure it was a CD only release. At one point, Graves had a project called "The Cost of Living in Section Hate" on his Bandcamp which collected select songs from "The Cost of Living" and "Section Hate," though that has seemingly been removed and obviously did not contain all of the tracks found on either album. As such, we bring it to you today. Both Dimxsk and I have the physical album, but we already had a UGDN rip of it from a buddy of ours, so we've provided that below. Peep it and enjoy!

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New Music: Graves33 - Anatomy

If you frequent UGF, you've likely at least heard the name Graves33. The Seattle-based artist is a man of many talents including film production, car restoration, and mural creation. I, of course, am most a fan of his fantastic musical endeavors - DJ'ing (whether on his own or for the likes of Grayskul or Sapient,) producing, and rapping, of which he has two decades of experience. As such, I am very excited to talk about Graves' new album "Anatomy" for this week's New Music entry.

Graves has been promoting "Anatomy" since 2017, and has likely been working on the project for even longer. He released a couple singles from the project, complete with music videos, in mid 2017 and I figured that the full album would drop sometime in the fall/winter of that year. Fortunately for Graves, and unfortunately for us music junkies, the man's mural career appeared to take off around the same time and we thus went through the rest of 2017 and 2018 without hearing much about the album. Luckily, however, the much anticipated self-produced (save two tracks) project is finally set to drop! And it is certainly worth the wait.

"Anatomy" is an album tracing Graves33's attempts to cope with the current, less than satisfactory, states that modern culture finds itself in. The album's opener and first single, "American Hypocrite," which is backed by Graves' trademarked dark melodic electronic production, has Graves identifying and comparing the constant struggle that exists between the American traditions of hope, resilience, and life improvement and the American traditions of greed, hatred, and decay. Said struggle, which I interpret Graves as saying he himself is not immune from, has made the rapper tired and a bit uninspired ("My lesson tellin' me to open up my heart and uh/I need a pick me up or else I'll beg your pardon bruh.")

The themes of (1) struggle between opposing forces and (2) weariness are carried on into the next couple of opening tracks. On the synthy and glitchy "Messing Me Up," Graves discusses the desire to pursue creativity and revolution despite such pursuits not always succeeding ("We made it to the farthest edges of the earth/Amazed it works, rollin' in a hearse") and, on the thick bassy "Glad Its Gladys," raps about the relationship between becoming a philosophical leader of sorts and the presence (or perceived presence) of more vicious tendencies ("Might have been violent before I established a dialogue or a rapport.")

From there, Graves dives even deeper into the 'hope v. decay' theme. The upbeat "Sunburst" acts much like its name and comes through with a blaze of positivity and aspiration with regards to how Graves views his career ("I like to pull the shades down, turn the lights on/Become a vessel for the language when the mic's on.") The spacey Phreewil produced "Casting Blades" finds Graves confident in how he will fair against the negative forces in society ("They wanna earn a medal poking at the panther cage/But even if they're taking lives, I will reanimate.") Immediately after, however, Graves goes into "Carlos" where he, over some amazing haunting strings, addresses the despair of the economic and political situations that many artists find themselves in ("Your ears always pleased/But that don't mean my kids are gonna eat...") The following "West Side Skyline" is a tribute to west Seattle and has Graves reminiscing on younger years, years that he divides and groups together based on the modes of transportation and the manner of playing music that he was using during a time period. This 'good ol' days' track is re-contextualized in the following "Mars Is For Martians" which has Graves, over a familiar Moments sample I believe (produced by Phreewil,) wanting to return to better days not only because of the better days themselves but also because of the mere need to escape current times ("If there's 50 ways to see it from/Then after looking at it 50 ways I'm feeling numb.")

My favorite track on the album is probably "Swords" which plays like a triumphant final goodbye to society and culture as we know it. The chanty hook proclaims that "everything is falling to the ground" as Graves acknowledges both the efforts made by many and the reality of the situation of modern culture.

From here, the album takes a slight turn, in my opinion at least, from focusing on society's issues as opposition to hope and progression to focusing on society's issues as a form of grander apocalyptic destruction. On "Sandstone Temple," one of three tracks that features Graves' famed guitarist father Randy Hansen, Graves appears to situate himself, since his youth, as a person especially fit to recognize and address the grim issues at hand. "Sky Is Burning" has Graves reflecting on, over an eerie instrumental, a history of false paths.

The echoey electronic instrumental track "Suddenly Nobody" gives off vibes of a dystopian rapture and leads into "Tired of Waiting," a frantic drum heavy track where Graves expresses a basic desire to see the ultimate results of society's current direction ("My words too hard to decode, on to the next episode/I'm tired of waiting in line, gotta see the truth that unfolds/I don't know but I've been told a million times before/You gotta think on your toes, one blink and you're ghost.")

The album closes on "No More Suit and Tie," which plays, thanks to another Randy Hansen feature, like a riffy dirge. If "Swords" is a triumphant farewell, then this closer is a somber acceptance.

"Anatomy" is ultimately a great body of work from Graves33 who manages to get his messages across via both blunt and more cryptic lyrics. As with previous projects, Graves remains especially critical of religion (see "Shakey Ground" and "Park The Car" where Graves raps, "Fables of God creating us all/But it's a mirage...we only have the stars to dodge") which comes across as both meaningful and sincere. The album's production complements the rapping extremely well and carries a uniform tone of the gloomy Northwest throughout the album while, at the same time, being varied enough to keep attention. The synthy "Shakey Ground," the riffy "Sandstone Temple," and the more trappy "Siamese Starships" all sound good both on their own and as pieces of a larger album. From a more technical standpoint, Graves is still very very good on the mic. He knows when to stack the multis and when to hit with the simpler, yet often more impactful, rhymes. The number of flows and schemes that he uses throughout the album is vast. In addition to the more stoic voice that I most commonly associate with Graves, the rapper adds his own twist on cadences reminiscent of Oldominion, Project Blowed, and Drake - and manages to make them all sound fresh. On top of all this, Graves has become a pretty talented hook writer and performer as well!

As for negatives, there aren't many of them. Some of the production choices are weaker than others (e.g. "Park The Car" and "Mars Is For Martians") though this isn't really an issue with the beats themselves (as none of them are bad) but rather an issue of Graves, in my opinion, sounding best over heavier darker beats. There's also a handful of bars here and there that don't really hit (e.g. "My final life goal, fightin' off the vices though/Everyone has one of them like child to a bicycle" on "Sunburst.") though these are definitely kept to a minimum. The biggest issue with the album is the feature list. As Graves himself hints at on "American Hypocrite," there exists such a strong synergy between Graves' production and Graves' rapping at this point. Because of this, guest vocalists often run the risk of disrupting the vibes of certain tracks - and that happens here. GunsGodsGhosts (formerly Sarx,) who is featured on "Swords," and Oldominion's Barfly (Graves' partner in the Wolf Hotel duo,) who is featured on "Tired of Waiting" are both quality features who elevate their respective songs. Evolve, on "Siamese Starships," and Dox and Jack Gaffle, on "Casting Blades," mesh fairly well with the tracks they're given. However, Asun, on "Glad Its Gladys," Araless, on "Sunburst," AV, on "Carlos," and Early Adopted, on "Sky Is Burning," all cause their respective tracks to lose pace at some point - not because they bring weak verses or because they are bad rappers, but rather because, as noted, Graves is usually best left on his own when he's handling the production + raps. At 18 tracks deep, however, all of these "negatives" really amount to minor quibbles amidst all the good stuff packed in the album.

After nearly a two year wait, Graves33 delivers "Anatomy" and it is definitely one of his strongest works yet. The content, delivery, and production all combine to make a truly great listening experience. The album officially drops on April 8th and you can pre-order it on Bandcamp. If you'd like to peep it now, however, head over to Graves' GoFundMe page (targeted at funding Graves' mural projects) and donate $10.00 or more to get a download of the album in its entirety now!

J The Sarge - Head Music (2006)

We are staying in Cali for this week's upload with J The Sarge's "Head Music" from 2006. 

J The Sarge is probably best known for being a part of the Magic Heart Genies and running One Wise Studios. He's dabbled in lots of styles (perhaps most notably Dancehall fusion) but I think the early "Head Music" might be his best work to date. 

Sarge has a very Bay sound when it comes to both his rapping and production on here. The delivery styles are very exaggerated and Sarge plays around with multiple flows throughout the album. The content is kept pretty lighthearted for the most part. The instrumentation is thick and laid back at times and frantic and glitchy at times. Various guests stop by as well including Megabusive, Dave Dub, Z-Man, and Franco.

The end result is a pretty solid album front to back. I really would be interested to hear what a follow up to this project would sound like in 2019. Check it out below!

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New Music: Sach - A Zeal of Zebra

The goal of new music Wednesdays is to highlight, and drop a couple thoughts on, new music from artists from our particular little circle of indie rap. It isn't necessarily to highlight and discuss new music that we personally enjoy. We have such a case this week with Sach's new release, "A Zeal of Zebra." 

Sach, an LA Blowedian legend, experienced a sort of prolific revival a handful of years ago when he began dropping copious amounts of tunes. While the output has slightly decreased since that initial drop, he remains active and this past Sunday the man gave us the six track "A Zeal of Zebra." The project is described as "Should of, would of, if I could of, singles." While, as you'll see, I wasn't generally a fan of the music here - I am certainly glad that Sach didn't push these songs as singles! 

To start off with the positive, the track "Last Night" is indeed a single-worthy song that finds Sach, over a great sample, reminiscing on performances and writing processes of the past. It also serves as a light tribute to the great Yusef Afloat. The production and content really come together and, on top of that, Sach's schemes and flows are top rate throughout the track. 

Unfortunately, the other five tunes find no such success. "Baptist" and "Underbusting" are rather boring light-weight braggadocio based tracks that beg to be skipped. The remaining three tracks ("She's A Drum," "Girl DJ," and "Uber Nasty") are various tributes to females and while the themes differ between the tracks...all three songs are pretty corny ("Uber Nasty" borders on cringe-worthy.) The jazzy loop production, and the samples chosen, on all five of these tracks come across as quite uninspired as well and Sach himself doesn't really seem that into the songs.

Now I realize, based on the project's description, that these joints may be demos of sorts. But, speaking honestly, I'm not really sure if any brainstorming or cleaning up could have made even half of these tracks good. And, at the end of the day, we can only judge what the obviously talented man gives us. 

This is just one guy's opinion though, so peep "A Zeal of Zebra" here and let me know what you think! 

Feller Quentin - I Want to be Black Kind of (2002)

Happy Friday! For today's release we've chosen to share Feller Quentin's solo rap debut I Want to be Black Kind of. Better known by his real name Tim Cohen, Feller's introduction to the rap scene was with Forest Fires Collective where he rapped under yet another pseudonym, Smif Carnivorous. FFC was a hard to pin down group of San Francisco weirdos who made indie garage rap tracks with a forest animal theme. For a group who didn't take themselves very seriously, FFC made some serious bangers, with Edison Victrola's interesting beats being a major focus.

Anyone who's familiar with the SF indie scene is probably aware of Tim Cohen, who's various musical ventures include (checking Wikipedia now... ahem) The Fresh & Onlys, Loud Fast Tools, Black Fiction, 3 Leafs, Amocoma, Beheadings, Magic Tricks, Sonny & The Sunsets, Hattattak, Window Twins and The Latter. As far as I know, only The Latter with the aforementioned Edison Victrola was a rap group, Feller's music is now primarily folk and rock based experimentation.

Anyway, I believe any fan of indie rap would find this release a real joy to listen to. We will be posting a UGF rip of The Latter's Ivorics at a later date as well, which has a similar but more polished sound, and includes some of my favorite Feller Quentin tunes. See you next week!

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