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!

Friday, January 28, 2022

The Goods - Fifth Wheel (2008)


 Today's post is an uncovered gem, The Goods' "Fifth Wheel" project from 2008! 

The Goods is a Canadian duo comprised of Kunga 219 and Gordski. The duo has released projects dating back to the late 90s, leading into the early/mid 2000s. This project, "Fifth Wheel" is perhaps the most elusive.

From the little I can tell, "Fifth Wheel" was slated to be, appropriately, The Goods' fifth album. Camobear was set to release it in 2008 and dropped a music video for the lead single, "The Goods Must Be Crazy." Somewhere along the line for whatever reason, as often is the case in indie rap, the album never officially dropped...as far as I can tell. Yet here we are with a digital copy lol. Discogs says that the album was actually uploaded to Camobear's website for a couple weeks before disappearing. So maybe it did drop, just not for long? 

Anyhow, here it is for those interested! 


Fifth Wheel


Tuesday, January 25, 2022

Mestizo - Water, Breath, Flesh, Flood.

 


New instrumental album from Mestizo, who really seems to be back in full swing these days. At 11 tracks deep, these beats are dark, electronic, and progressive - nothing less than what you'd expect from the Stizo! Peep it below!


Water, Breath, Flesh, Flood.

Friday, January 21, 2022

Oddities - Claustrophonics (1998)

 


 

Happy Friday! For today I was listening to the fun little Extended Playpen album by Davepsy aka Psy and had a sudden and irresistible urge to share this album. Oddities are/were a Toronto based hip hop collective consisting of Bookworm, J-Starrrrrr!!!, Sny-Whip, JSN JNS, Psy, & Wysper. I copy pasted that list, not sure if it's correct. But apparently the group is an amalgamation of Awkward Why? (dope) and Dynasty (don't know), and they offer up exactly what we love about Canadian hip hop.

Smart, fun, occasionally funny, unpretentious and dope. All those words and more apply to Oddities. Claustrophonics is a bit of a compilation showing what they're capable of, and while not nearly as solid as the excellent The Scenic Route it's still pretty cool.

Enjoy!


DOWNLOAD

 

 

Tuesday, January 18, 2022

Qwel - Peep My E.P. (2006)

 


 

Real quick, here's an album of technically gifted wordsmith and artist Qwel from Galapagos4 rapping over beats jacked from rappers as varied as Aesop Rock, Portishead and Jay-Z. Sounds fun and it is. Definitely one of his rarest offerings, and really spotlights his off-the-dome chops.

Enjoy Peep My E.P. (it is definitely not an E.P. at 15 tracks and almost an hour long, but whatever.)

 

DOWNLOAD

 

 

Friday, January 14, 2022

Tru-ID - Stranded (2006)

 


More Northwest goodness this week with Tru-ID's "Stranded" from 2006! 

Tru-ID is a Seattle rapper/producer who runs with the Undercaste crowd. You might know him for his collabo album with Ricky Pharoe, who appears here on Tru-ID's "Stranded" album (I believe it's his debut?) 

Tru-ID has a really strong presence on the mic and can definitely rap. The sound of this project, it's produced by someone named Isaac Meek, definitely incorporates the NW version of G-Funk, which is cool, but the rhymes definitely stick out the most here. Features include Ricky Pharoe, Latin Rose, Neema, Lamar Real, and Willie Wil. Check it out below!


STRANDED

Tuesday, January 11, 2022

Fake Fouragers

 


Hello, hello and Happy New Year! As far as new music goes, I'm currently digesting new albums from the likes of Nickels Hawkeye, A-Plus of Hiero, The Cloaks, Telephone Switches/Moka Only, Thorts, Calm, Zoen, Scatterbrain, Del Tha Funkee Homosapien, Claud Six, and others. Today, however, I thought I'd share Fake Four's new subscription program - The Fourager's Club.

For a yearly fee paid via Bandcamp, you can join the dopeass new Fake Four Fourager's Club. Every month you'll get new exclusive tunes from Ceschi and a guest (this month's guest is Gregory Pepper.) You also get 10% off all merch that Fake Four puts out. At slightly higher tiers, you'll get free merch such as CDs, pins, tote bags, books, and more. At the highest tier, you get an exclusive lathe vinyl + an entry into a monthly auction where you could win exclusive rare vinyl. And the best part? The top level is only $100.00 USD for the entire year. That's a great price imo for exclusive monthly music, new merch, and exclusive vinyl (including shipping!)

On top of that, all subscribers get an immediate download of a demo version (with B-Sides) of Ceschi's new album, "This Guitar Was Stolen Along with Years of Our Lives" as well as an immediate download of a new REMASTERED version of Ceschi's "Forgotten Forever!"

So if you have the dough - check it out HERE

Friday, January 7, 2022

Emotionz & DJ Moves - Eastvan Mixtape (200?)



For all you Low Pressure completists we got the rare (I think) Eastvan Mixtape produced and curated by DJ Moves of "Steal My Sunshine" fame and Emotionz of not much (although much deserved) fame on the rhymes. I've posted some of his earlier material here in the past (actually almost a year ago to the day lol, crazy) so I'll skip the background. Click the tag if you want more information and an earlier solo album from this chop hop lyrical mastermind.

Eastvan Mixtape is a cool collection of tracks about enjoying life, partying, music and women. If you're into the Canadian take on West Coast cool you will certainly love this and probably have most of Emotionz other albums at this point anyway.

I want to wrap this up with a quick entreaty to my UGF homies. I don't have art for this, the release date, or any solid info. It came from Emotionz himself but in the form you're getting it. If anyone has album art or background please get at us below.

There was a video made for the opening track... See if you can recognize any of the guest stars with the terrible video quality lol.

 



And of course enjoy, because flurona.


DOWNLOAD

 

 

Tuesday, January 4, 2022

New Music: Jae Krxnalege - 2022 Tape

 


 

In my humble opinion one of the best new(ish) producers working these days is Tsoh Tso, fka Whatever Cecil, the driving force behind Fang Over Fist records and the beatmaker behind An Illustrated Mess. Once again a wonderful Freecember discovery for me, I've grown to truly appreciate the sound he cultivates. Some of his work on albums like Long Distance with Thorts and Does it Matter? by the aforementioned An Illustrated Mess frankly sounds like no one else out there and that's a difficult thing to achieve when the indie world is growing by leaps and bounds every day.

Last week I was made aware of this new one on FOF. Jae Krxnalege is someone who I'd personally never heard of but my respect for the label and desire to support the struggling artist in whatever way I can in these incredibly difficult times drove me to give this a listen and drop a post. It's essentially a beat tape, which is not usually my thing (for some reason I just like vocal hip hop music more, beat tapes tend to feel incomplete to me. This is something I've had endless discussions about but that I really can't explain), but 2022 Tape does feature some rapping on the part of Jae which keeps me focused.

Jae is considered a staple in the Southwestern and Indigenous hip hop communities. He's done producing for a wide variety of indie artists and from the sound of it grinds full time as a rapper. Originally from Shiprock, New Mexico Jae Krxnalege is now working out of Salt Lake City, Utah greatly upping his four corners cred. It does sound like he could use more support and more new ears so before I get started on the review I want to direct everyone to his Spotify and his album. Hopefully at the very least some algorithmic magic can be worked and we can get this dude some attention.

 Anyway 2022 Tape does have the feel of a mixtape moreso than an actual album. The BC page does say that it was thrown together off the cuff and that does make itself apparent in some ways. The production could use some vocals and was clearly made for that purpose (cypher with your friends!) as it has a mellow, humble simplicity to it that is actually soothing and beautiful but a bit somnolent in places.

All that said, these beats are clearly made by a professional. They do indeed have a sound that immediately took me back to the indie rap I fell in love with back in High School. We're talking Madvillain, Lord Quas, Ugly Duckling. That stuff a lot of your friends probably thought was weird but you didn't care. This has that dusty, slightly offbeat charm and makes creative use of sounds (whispers, unorthodox time signatures) to build a chilled out atmosphere.

Jae Krxnalege can rap no doubt as well. We've got a few instances here of his poetry and it does a great job of really showing you the potential these beats have to become dope ass rap tracks as well as showing what he can do. I'm definitely intrigued as songs like "Cold" really showcase what he's capable of. As he plainly states in "Teachable" "I feel I've finally found my purpose and I speak it so" and 2022 Tape shows us that this guy is a jack of all trades hip hop artist, clearly loving the art and doing it for that alone.

This tape is cool. It's not going to blow any minds but I don't think that's the purpose here. What it does is show us a new artist who's been struggling behind the scenes for most of us and cultivating a real amount of talent. Tsoh Tso and Fang Over Fist want to show for those of us outside of the Indigenous community and the Southwest what Jae Krxnalege can do. I'm on board, let's see what he can do with the time and budget he needs.

For $3 this is worth your money. I know he could use the funds and if you can afford it you've got a nice little tape to relax and chill with friends to.

Check it out, here once again!