Underground Fossils was an indie rap focused blog run by myself (Dimxsk) and by Trylemma, who passed August 3rd, 2024 from liver failure of unknown origin at the age of 34. We mostly posted week or twice weekly, the bulk of which were rare rips we made, found on old blogs, he acquired through his insanely broad connection to the scene, etc. We did all we could to make sure we didn't post stuff that (1) You could still reasonably buy from the artist directly, (2) You could reasonably buy secondhand for cheap, (3) You could download easily elsewhere, (4) The artist(s) asked us not to for any reason.
Being involved in this blog was some of the most fun I ever had, even if at times it was time consuming, challenging or intimidating (having a readership). It was the product of one of the best friendships I've ever had. If I could say one last thing, it's to encourage all of you: if you have the time and desire, make your own UGF. Find a friend who loves this shit like you do and build it together. It will bring you incredible joy, enhance your connection to this amazing community, and change your life in unexpected and exciting ways. I know it did mine. Love you all!
I'm back! A new keyboard with a nice rubber dust jacket is currently making a very satisfying tappity tap sound as I write this for you guys. Unfortunately I don't have the time or the energy to do a lengthy post, so instead here's more free music. Sorry ;-)
I really enjoyed Penny's work. She had a very brief career popping up on other weird indie rappers albums (Noah23, Ceschi, Troubador) you get the sort. She rapped very unsettling poetry in a lighthearted yet relentless tone and put out one excellent album on Plague Language followed by a lot of compilations culminating in her Freecember offering Twenties Hungry: The Unbound Anthems of Yesteryear which may be the most epic album title in the history of recorded music.
I'm not sure it's accurate to say she put Unreleasable out though. I believe The Chukchee collected these songs into an EP with her help? Someone in the know, let me know?
I do know that up until Escape Artists triumphant lost album Evergreen, two of these songs were not found anywhere else. Now there's a single track that has Ceschi so yeah. It's also the perfect example of how deeply creepy Penny's songwriting often was.
So my keyboard is dead. I'm currently typing this on my on screen one which sucks royally. Not a week for a lengthy review. Anyway here's something cool from arguably one of the most unique voices in hip hop, Denizen Kane of Typical Cats fame. This dude can rap like it's nothing and sing as well. If you don't believe me you can check out his "No Woman No Cry" only found on this mixtape, along with lots of other exclusive goodies. Also I hate this keyboard...
As requested, today's post is Customer Service's "Please Hold" from 2004.
Customer Service was a crew from one of the last true Project Blowed classes, consisting of Nocando (now AllxCityxJimmy,) Y-Not, AOK (the three of whom made up the Weird People,) Kail (now William Thedford,) Joesue, DJ Handprints, Choice Reason, and SP83. The crew was really set in stone after they were featured on the Project Blowed 10th Anniversary album and subsequent tour. Because they likely needed merch sales from the tour, the guys put together "Please Hold" (which is a compilation of sorts) on limited CDRs (the photo on Discogs and above is from my copy.)
"Please Hold" doesn't really show the crew's cohesion as well as their 2009 EP "Free Y-Not" does (mainly, because as noted, a lot of the tracks are plucked from the individual member's careers up until that point,) but it does show the brute talent these guys had for rapping and overall song making.
Seemingly out of nowhere, we get a follow up to the Ellay Khule curated 2014 "Street Hop Division" compilation. And, even more so than the original, Khule has brought out a lot of Blowed vets/affiliates to grace the album including Jizzm, AllCityJimmy (fka Nocando,) Alph Tha Alien (fka Alpha MC,) Myka 9, Mister CR, Ngafsh, Gel Roc, Quaesar, Monstroe, and many others. German legend Taktloss even stops by!
As noted, I'm not really sure the origins of this project, but I think it might have been released on the hype derived from the recent Project Blowed vs Talib Kweli beef. The recent diss track "Overkill" from Khule and Myka 9 appears on the album as the first single. A lot of the tracks (based on pop culture references) seem to be newly recorded as well.
I'm not a huge fan of the limited production on this one (especially at 19 tracks deep,) but I will never not love the chopper styles that these guys bring. Stream it below (I believe Khule will have CDs available soon as well.)
So as requested today we have Weekend Science Experiment's first album The Binary Theorem, originally released on cassette only in 1999. Weekend Science Experiment is the collaboration between the one and only Giovanni Marks fka Subtitle and producer Mum's the Word. Together they created a sound that fused Marks' laid back L.A. swagger with a more standard production style to create something that might appeal to those who find Marks' solo works to be a bit too strange and unpredictable to enjoy.
I like this album, but as I said before in some ways it's toned down Subtitle and I really listen to him for his off the wall creativity and personality behind the boards. But if you've ever wondered what he might sound like without the CREV here you go. That said, this is still a little weird...
Enjoy Binary Theorem, and if you're annoyed that I didn't upload both WSE albums the reason is I already struggle sometimes to come up with stuff to share and I want something to fall back on. Hit us up if you can't wait any longer.
So I got the real treat of getting to hear in it's entirety the collaborative effort between Errol Hem and CKPITS (yep, the guy from that Dug EP I reviewed a bit ago) as All the World is Kayfabe, Working on Working Myself into a Shoot. Simply put, there is a huge amount going on here and I have only limited time to truly absorb it all, so I'm going to post a quick and dirty promo, review type thingy with the relevant details along with the Dimxsk stamp of approval (a much coveted accolade in music, up there with the elusive "my girlfriends brother said it's dope" and the "my mom didn't immediately say to turn it off" awards.)
So, ahem, STAMP. Check.
Anyway, what this here is is a "metawrestling themed" alt rap record produced by Errol Hem who also provides vocals alongside CKPITS. I actually feel even more out of touch than usual because I don't know what metawrestling is. Let me goggle it. That was unhelpful. Basically it seems to be a gimmick where the scripted action of pro-wrestling collides a bit with the real world aspects of the business. Anyway like I said, a lot to unpack here, and I'm probably not the best person to do that as I know nothing about pro-wrestling. I'm going to leave the concept behind and focus entirely on the artistic merits of the album.
Both of these cats have been doing this a while though, and the end result shows. The production is catchy as hell, with unusual and original bleeps and blips rhythmically dancing around colorful synth noises and the nasal, sarcastic and complex lyrical deliveries of the two emcees. In many places the heavy rap sound and weird interludes give way to moments of true beauty "(Going / Getting) Over", showcasing Errols raw talent as a musician, but all of it manages to flow with the confidence and consistency only years of experience seem to be able to provide.
This is quite a weird one. Going back over it now I'm actually reminded of, in not just the melodic electronic style of production but also the interplay and styles of the two rhymers, one of my favorite hip hop collaborations of all time, Friday Night (Hi-Fidel and Serengeti's pair of adventure concept albums). Both duos consist of rappers who can both rap to impress, or rap to warp the mind and make it look easy the whole time. Basically, just watch this video:
As you can see, this is one of those moments in hip hop where raw creativity meet songwriting prowess and the utter unconcern with convention to birth something truly unusual. I liked this stuff a lot and I suspect many of you will as well, probably some more than me because you might understand it a bit better than I...
Get Working on Working Myself into a Shoot through your favorite digital retailer this coming Halloween, or just do what I always do and get it on Bandcamp (maybe the Bandcamp Friday for November because why the hell not throw them some cash money).
If you haven't yet - be sure to check out Giovanni Marks', formerly known as Subtitle, new one "When I Feel Ideal!"
Marks has always been a lowkey source of prolific quality material and there's really no exception here. "When I Feel Ideal" is a 9-track spacey glitchy instrumental record, perfectly embodying that crevlife. What makes Marks' recent releases particularly special is that, if you purchase the work on Bandcamp, you not only usually get bonus tracks not streamable online, but you also get, in the proceeding weeks, in-depth explanations of the tracks emailed to you by Marks himself!
Check it out below and keep an eye out for physicals soon!
P.S. Oh yeah, if you haven't seen it yet, the guys over at Audio Recon and Ooohh! Thats Heavy are pressing to wax the 2010 collaboration between Giovanni Marks, Cam The Wizzard, and Factor Chandelier - "Party Til Your Body Stops" (the first time it has been in physical form.) Pre-order it HERE. (They usually sell out quickly!)
For this Friday's post I wanted to return to an old favorite for these free album downloads, the defunct label Decorative Stamp. I was a huge fan of the work they put out, in my opinion some of the most interesting and frankly beautiful experimental rap came from that collective. And today's post is in my opinion the definitive DS album, Rough Tongue Surfaces by jamesphoney & jamesreindeer.
If you liked anticon (okay, yes there are some valid reasons to dislike them but they did put out some solid music as well) and you haven't heard this one, I urge you to give it a try. Imagine cLOUDDEAD with a darker, more unsettling and less "circusy" vibe, and you probably have an idea what to expect from this.
The two james' both have some of the most unique rap voices I've heard coming out of Europe. jamesphoney fronts a folk troupe now called BURIERS, or A Band of Buriers, and if not in an especially good mood and you're interested in seeing Neville Longbottom mutilate himself then you can watch their video for the haunting track "Filth" below:
Jamesreineer, or reindeer had a somewhat successful debut with France's fbcfabric. By far their best track, "Soulsuck" can be seen below:
Unfortunately I messed up. This is available pretty much everywhere, and somehow when I googled it it didn't show up until now. So rather than take money out of the pockets of people who I have tremendous respect for, and in keeping with how we do shit at UGF I have removed this link. If you already got it you lucked out because I guarantee the Decorative Stamp version has cooler stuff than the Amazon one. Sorry James and James. Let this post be a promo for their huge body of great work.
