New Music: Jizzm, Monstroe & DJ Jahbluez - Writers On The Storm

 

It's a 114 degrees in the Northwest - so what better way to celebrate heatstroke than by peeping a quietly released Project Blowed album?

Early this year, Blowedians Jizzm, Monstroe and Jahbluez united to put this release out. It went under the radar for a while and I wasn't made aware of it until recently. Shame because it's well worth a listen. The dark dusty dystopian production fits Jizzm's bars perfectly and Monstroe is always fun to listen to. The guest list on this is deep too - Otherwize, Zagu Brown, Akil The MC, Fatlip, Abstract Rude, Imani, Neb Luv, Alph Tha Alien and more. 

Do yourself a favor and check it. Stream it HERE. 

Modulock & Bare Beats - Traffic EP (2009)

 

 

Some weeks I struggle a lot to come up with something to share, some weeks I just scroll through the 'tunes a bit and something pops up. This week was easy. I verified that this humble little EP is indeed impossible to currently download off Google and uploaded it because Modulock is fuckin' awesome and you can't deny it.

Traffic EP with Bare Beats on production is not his best effort. For that, in my opinion you need to dip into his duo Red Ants and their two album catalogue before Vincent Price went to prison (I believe), can't remember for sure.

Anyway Modulock raps like a fist to the nose with an attitude that makes you take immediate notice. There's something about this guy that just sounds solid. Fantastic rapper. I first heard him on Rock Paper Scissors by Noah23 which could be, in my opinion, the best place to start for discovering unusual indie rappers.

But I digress. The Ontario based rapper Modulock is dope as hell and if you like his work the best place to start is Red Ants like I said, as well as his full length solo effort found here. This EP is fun but mostly consists of remixes and is very short. But it's a fossil for sure, and I certainly like it so hopefully you will as well.

DOWNLOAD

 

"New" Music - Aesop Rock: Appleseed (reissue)

 

 

Well, fresh from my embarrassing mistake last time around, I'm back again for my week.  Nothing to do but move forward with dignity and a sense of humor. I can do one of those fairly easily.

Anyways, those of you praying he'd rerelease Music for Earthworms are probably at least somewhat happy to see this gem of an album is finally officially released (and it only disappoints me a little bit to see it's on Rhymesayers). Of course I'm willing to bet that 99.9% of you folks already have this on either CDr or digital or both (me, actually from a show in 2005 or so) but considering how classic it is I wanted to promote it a bit.

This was one of the first underground hip hop albums I ever heard. I didn't realize at the time that music like this existed, and it really allowed me to experience how evocative not just singular production from folks like Blockhead was, but complex and twisted lyricism. Not to mention weird voices.

I actually think Aesop was at his best doing these jazzy acoustic sounding albums. Labor Days was brilliant because in my opinion it built on the sound he established here while filling in the cracks with some electronic futuristic El-P / Downtown Science style synthetic instrumentation giving a perfect mix of mind bending and warm.

I loved this era of Aesop. He's always displayed such a visceral love of making music and he's clearly doing what he was born to do from the first raspy "APPLESEEEEEEEEED".

 

Anyway, this is now available on vinyl. Holy shit. Get that here. Or get it on 320 kbps mp3 right here.

Family Ties - Family Ties (2005)

 

Today's post comes courtesy of the Cali underground with Family Ties' 2005 self titled album!

Family Ties was (is?) headed up by Imp (aka Imperator) who was a lesser known Project Blowed member. He enlisted his son, Creepy Fingers, and his nephew, Goldie, to create the group. As far as I know, this was the only official release that the group dropped. 

The bouncy production is what you might expect from mid 2000's center-field underground LA rap, for better or worse, but the rapping is fun and should please fans from the greater scene. Peep below!

DOWNLOAD

New Music: Zavala - Sin Hueso

 

There's rarely any shortage of quality Hip Hop dropping, but stuff often gets overlooked in the hustle and bustle. One such example seems to be the recent EP drop from Chicago's own Zavala, "Sin Hueso."

"Sin Hueso" dropped on the 5th and offers up four very lush, very intricate instrumentals from beat-maker half of Dark Time Sunshine. With Zavala, you always know you're in for quality. The man layers samples like no other and creates real soundscapes. "Sin Hueso" is no exception.

Peep below!

SIN HUESO

Also, for those who haven't seen it, take some time to check out 2011's "Left Fields" documentary, which tracks the indie hustle via footage and interviews from the like of Zavala, Ceschi, Noah23, Kay the Aquanaut, Gonjasufi and many more! Check it HERE. 

Soulcrate Music - From the Neck Up (2003)

 

 

And now for something completely different. I wonder how many of you are old enough to get that reference. I barely am lol.

For today we have the debut "album" by Soulcrate Music, the group most likely best known to you for their brief tenure as a Black Clover Records act before Mac Lethal went wherever the hell he went that can explain some of what I've heard about the guy. I don't care about social media I care about music (and not being a dick and I dunno about that one here lately) so I haven't had much reason to think about Mac in a while*. Trylemma fills me in though and S..M..H..

Anyways, this album has a liner note expressing the groups desire to remind everyone that hip hop is "alive and breathing in Sioux Falls" or something to that effect. I don't think much else is alive out there so good for South Dakota rap then. I haven't actually heard this album yet but I do respect Soulcrate based on everything else they've done for their competent songwriting, catchy vocals (along with the occasional clever line) and sometimes dope production.

They're not favorites of mine, but the brothers Eisenhauer are certainly fun to listen to and this is a seriously rare collection of some of their earliest material. I didn't even know this existed until recently, and I was fortunate enough to snatch it up on Discogs and immediately ripped it to share with ya'll because you know I got you.

Enjoy From the Neck Up!

 

DOWNLOAD

 

 *Wow so Mac just released an album again, just in time to make me look foolish. Oh well.

**And amusingly enough it took an Australian to point out that Sioux Falls is in South Dakota. I did actually know that, and the mixup comes from a lack of sleep and lack of attentiveness. Which is why I have you guys. 

New Music: Quiz Ten - Prescription Handbills

 

 

So Pen Thief Records is absolutely killing it lately. It's been a bit scary how much their catalogue aligns with what my perfect roster of artists would look like, and that manages to encompass quite a wide variety of musical styles from Nolto the pioneering Prairie rapper to Quiz 10 aka K.Clifton, a man who sorta single handedly perfected vampire sludge rap.

Prescription Hand Bills is not a new album. In fact it's probably almost two decades old. I actually had a digital copy of it already and was eventually going to throw it up here for ya'll but Noblonski beat me to it. Apparently this was never officially released, and pretty much existed as a few physicals including one in the possession of p.WRECKS (another pretty much amazing sludge vampire). I don't know what year it comes from, but from the sound and comparing it to other old Quiz albums like Lampin' and Audible Captions I'd say it probably originally dropped around 2006.

This album is great, and big ups to Pen Thief for making it widely available. We find Quiz perfecting his production (which would later prove dope as hell, click the tag to check out a newer release of his), opting for dusty boom bap but still a very laid back sound as opposed to his newer dark cloud trap beats. This older sound is very preferable to me though, but to each their own.

His gruff voice and lyrical delivery are also worth noting, and are starting to really shine on this release. We find Quiz building the persona and style he displays on The Alligator Turtle EP, tackling drugs, music and magic in a inpenetrable thicket of poetry and stream of conscious ramblings.

Basically this album is everything I look for in a fossil. It's great to see this new label putting dusty gems like this into the world, and I'm totally stoked to see what they got in store for us next.

 

 Get Prescription Handbills, a lost release from K.Clifton aka Quiz Ten right here on the format of your desire, only from the demonstrably awesome Pen Thief Records...

Gregory Pepper - Old And Moldy (?)

 

Still playing catch-up! Today marks the drop of the long awaited Common Grackle sophomore release, "Old Dog New Tricks Who This," an amazing, mostly spoken word, album from Factor Chandelier and Gregory Pepper. In honor of it dropping, peep this weird Gregory Pepper release I got years ago from god knows where entitled "Old And Moldy." I'm not sure when, where, or how this was released, but I did confirm with Pepper a couple years ago that it was something he actually dropped lol. Check it out below and go and cop that new Common Grackle while you're at it!

Old And Moldy

Old Dog New Tricks Who This

New Music: Roughneck Jihad - The Darc Triad

 

If you have some free time this week or are a bit under the weather like me currently, check out the new project from Roughneck Jihad - "The Darc Triad." Roughneck, who seems to be more prolific with age, delivers another solid lo-fi, jazzy, industrial body of work for head-bangers everywhere. Peep it below!

THE DARC TRIAD