New Music: Backburner - The Posse Cuts

 

 

When it comes to a vast pool of lyrical talent, superb musicianship, daring weirdness and of course incredibly charming nerdiness, nothing comes close to Canadian super-group Backburner. The taproot from which so many great Canadian acts have flourished, this crew is undoubtedly a staple of underground hip hop and a personal favorite of both myself and Trylemma. A new Backburner album is a thing to be celebrated, and that's why when this quadruple cassette release of all three (official) Backburner albums since Heatwave PLUS a brand new collection of official crew posse cuts compiled and collected for the first time in a single, dope ass tape was first offered I didn't have to think too damn hard.

It helps of course that we have three all new songs featuring the likes of Jorun Bombay and Bleubird. But all in all it's damn cool to be able to collect these tracks and put them in the place they truly belong, considering there's stuff here that predates Heatwave.

As for the new material? "Summer of SARS 2" (the original also appears on the cassette and was a posse cut on an early Thesis Sahib album. Was SARS actually a big deal in Canada? Been a long time since I heard that song) featuring Jayo Smooth is a fantastic track with a great beat and really reminds me again how good Jesse Dangerously is. The Bleubird feature "Us Vs. Them (Them Being You)" was alright, maybe needs a repeat listen as it sounds very demoish to me. And of course Jorun kills it on the cuts for "We All Do". So they're all pretty dope and I'll just say I love the VHS throwback look of this collection. The artwork is also very cool for The Posse Cuts cassette itself and I think the uniqueness of this idea makes owning it worth it. We are talking a true living fossil here because some day these'll be worth a lot of money. To a relatively small group of collectors but whatever.

So go ahead and purchase this Trilogy Cassette collection right about here and make your other nerdcore fan friends hella jealous!

And, I really have to address this. For those of you who aren't living in the US you may not be familiar with the recent tragedy that occurred at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas. An 18 year old kid of sound (but truly fucked up) mind decided to gun down 19 children and 2 teachers. The husband of one of these teachers died a few days later, literally of a broken heart. I want to address this here because we have a worldwide platform at UGF and as an American I feel a sense of shame and a desire to explain our country. America likes to portray itself as an example to the rest of the world, but the fact is we can't decide whether we'd rather protect children or play with guns. We can't guarantee most of our society that if they get sick their children won't go bankrupt paying off their debts when they die. We elect morons to high offices despite very credible complaints that they rape children (and no I'm not talking about QAnon idiocy). Hopefully we can do something to ensure this doesn't happen again but the fact is I just don't have any faith anymore. But if you live somewhere with sensible gun laws on the books and you're struggling to understand what the fuck is wrong with us, I'm with you there... Thanks for reading.

Bomb Zombies - Sincerely Yours (2010)

 

As requested, today's upload is "Sincerely Yours" from the Bomb Zombies from 2010!

Bomb Zombies consisted of rapper Nocando (now AllxCityxJimmy) and producer DJ Nobody. The two Project Blowedians formed after touring together as founding residents of the Low End Theory (RIP) and dropped the project via Hellfyre Club. The name comes from the classic Freestyle Fellowship joint. 

The project is essentially tour strip club music with a glitchy Low End Theory tinge and Nocando's amazing, often hilarious, rhymes. Customer Service buddy Kail also stops by for a verse. This was released on CD (which I was lucky enough to get a couple copies of before they disappeared) and I believe was put up for a free download at some point. This "deluxe" version has the bonus track "Bangs" as well as the instrumentals for all of the tracks. 

Unfortunately, Bomb Zombies no longer exists. Time obviously draws people apart, but this break up was not so pretty. No need to get into the details, but I don't think Nocan and Nobody are on speaking terms anymore, which is a real shame as they're both really talented guys. Anyhow, relive the old times and peep the project below!

Sincerely Yours

New Music: Ol' Gorilla Bones & The Dirty Sample - Revenge Vol. 1

 

He's back! 

After seemingly retiring the Apeface rap moniker a handful of years ago, Calgary super producer The Dirty Sample not only decided to dig up old Apeface for a comeback, but he got him to evolve into the new and improved Ol' Gorilla Bones...and he's got rhymes galore!

The Dirty Sample is an amazing producer. Dusty Canadian style boom bap mixed with cinematic, eerie at times, samples that are guaranteed to make your head nod. With that said, I am of the opinion that the man is an even better rapper, and one of the most overlooked when it comes to indie rap. The cadences and rhyme schemes are fresh to death on here, but, as is often the case with the Apeface, the signature back of the throat delivery style is the highlight. 

This is "Vol. 1" so I'm praying that "Vol. 2" is in the works! Peep it below via Hand'Solo Records!

Revenge Vol. 1

Buck 65 - Porch (2008)

 

 

Country and folk influenced versions of his music, great little fun piece of work. Enjoy!

 

DOWNLOAD

 

 

Buck 65 - Strong Arm (2006)

 

 

I'm back! I'll be subbing for Trylemma this week, and that means downloads because I'm all reviewed out for the next few weeks. And seeing as ol' Stinkin' Rich himself is making a triumphant comeback onto the scene after a Covid lockdown induced creative period I figured I may spend this week dropping some hard to find Buck 65 music because we all know he's great and there really is so much of it (also perhaps someone will be moved by my generosity and submit a rip of Boy / Girl Fight: Buck 65 Rarities because that is currently my holy grail. I actually had it from some torrent and I lost it...)

Anyway, Strong Arm was a tour only mixtape produced and sold during the Secret House Against the World period. So expect a heavy folk influence although this one seems to run the gammut with samples borrowed from punk, dub reggae and acoustic folk. It's got some seriously dope tunes on it, and is a fun little addition to any Buck collection.

Anyway I'll be upping some more Buck on Friday, if anyone has any requests please feel free to hit us up via chat. Have a good week folks!

DOWNLOAD

 

 Also, very very sorry to hear about the loss of David Ramos' first born daughter and Ceschi's niece Cici last week. UGF sends it's condolences to the Ramos family. There are no words, especially coming from fans not friends and family but we wanted to at least shout out her name and wish all of you as well as is possible to be after something like this.

Manik - Indigibonics (2007)

 

Dimxsk is busy this week, so I'm doing a quick upload in his place. Next up - Manik's "Indigibonics" from 2007!

Manik (aka Manik 1derful) is a Native First Nations rapper from Canada (Vancouver I believe) who is a member of the great Sunday Skool Dropout crew. He's been putting out music (and doing battles) for quite a while now (he's on a posse joint with Macklemore floating out there lol,) but 2007's "Indigibonics" is one of his more obscure works. 

The beats here seem to be mirroring the more radio friendly sounds of the mid 2000's, but the raps are all on point. Peep the scene rip below! 

Indigibonics

New Music: BdotJeff - What a Mess

 

 

Okay, who here has finished Netflix's Ozark? Goddamn I'm trying to write a coherent album post here and I'm just replaying that last scene. I won't ruin it but I hope you've all taken your meds before you hit play on that shit...

Enough about that. This, folks, is BdotJeff. I think it's fair to say it's unlikely you've heard his songs up to now, but if you've followed my posts on Happy Tooth's music you may have heard him drop a verse or two. I was first introduced to his music when he was kind enough to share his second full length Y2K with the blog, and I was fairly quick to judge it just wasn't my cup of tea. That said, my issues with it had much less to do with the talent or creativity he displays, and more to do with a bit of closed mindedness on my part which probably stems from being a mid-30's going on 70's cynic. His work is very strange at times and I just couldn't in the moment get into it. Stylistically it's flashy, colorful and fast paced, kind of an auditory anime if that makes any sense. It's the kind of music that can be easy to dismiss if you're listening with only half an ear as style over substance, but the thing is the substance is absolutely there and you're doing yourself a disservice if you don't give it a chance.

Luckily this dude is persistent. He seems to be very comfortable putting himself out there and waiting for a bite, and I gotta say that more than anything else really started warming me up to what he has to offer. He's been sending us the occasional single and album really only asking for feedback, and as he comes across as a humble, hardworking creative soul I usually do my best to oblige him. So by the time I heard What a Mess I already liked BdotJeff, I just had to make the leap from that to enjoying his music.

But I'm getting a bit ahead of myself. And the caffeine is kicking in, so why don't I drop some background knowledge here? BdotJeff is originally from PG County MD but currently working out of Columbus OH (hence the Happy Tooth connection). He's been a musician since way back, starting with church choir and transitioning to poetry writing and rapping over borrowed beats via YouTube. At 13 he was writing and recording his own work, and he took it all the way to college to become a sound engineer (right here I'll say, some of you know I dabbled in music at one point, and audio engineering is hard ass shit, I was horrible at it. So kudos for that.) He's worked with a number of acts, mostly it seems local folks from the Columbus and Maryland scenes.

Specifically though, what made me really take notice of his work with this album in particular can be expressed best through what he told me about it. What a Mess was conceived and birthed during some of the most tumultuous years of his life. Mania powered it and it was driven by personal loss and mistreatment in love. Is it emo though? Absolutely not. Although in places he slows it down and takes to crooning sadly("pkmn sapphire, fair warning"), he never fails to re-liven it up with good old fashioned stole your woman braggadocio ("B.O.S.S."), returning to his rapid fire style raps. In fact, the point of What a Mess is really to show how a person can experience these things in life but keep the fun alive and get to the other side. I was moved when I read this line from him during the "development" of this post:

"I just want the ability to have my music connect with at least one person that felt or is currently feeling the way I was when I made this album. Since the development of this project I've started a better mental health journey and I just want everyone to know that they can move forward with life even if they're in pain. You are not alone in feeling alone, and if I can spread that idea to at least one listener in my music then I'd say i did my job"

-BdotJeff

This album isn't perfect. It's not going down in history as one of the all time great rap releases. At times his rap makes it difficult to understand the lyrics, and sometimes the silliness gets to be a little bit too much. I don't want to oversell it. The thing is I liked this album because of it's DIY sound and the personality that shows through the music. Additionally though, the production is very solid, much of it done by him although he has very good guitar and bass work on the album from Bela Peresta aka Lugosi and Sara Smith respectively as well (also I gotta give the nod to xDiggityDee for their production, JamPOP and Fanaticus for background vocals, Brenton Newman on drums. Other features are credited in the song titles I believe). His singing and songwriting have improved since the last I heard from him. And I really think most importantly, it's evident that at some point he's decided to just be himself and shine on his songs regardless of the outcome, who hears them and what they think. Unlike many artists I actually believe this guy wants nothing more than to make some fun music with his friends to help people forget their problems. If you can honestly say you fault a guy for that, then you might be missing the point of music entirely...

 

See him making fun music with his friends to help you forget your problems right here with "WHOA!"

 

 

Get What a Mess as a digital download or stream it here and support a creative soul as they do what they love!

Black Mask - Serious Joke (2009)

 

Today's upload is one of my most sought after physical releases on the wantlist - 2009's "Serious Joke" from Black Mask!

We've talked a lot about Black Mask on this blog so you probably know the deal - a Mountain state crew of revolving members headed up by super-producer Maulskull. The crew has dropped a lot of (free) music throughout the years that you can still peep on Bandcamp, but this project from 2009 evaded me for the longest of times. Maulskull uploaded several tracks from it over the course of several compilations, but I could never find the actual album in full. Luckily, my buddy BrothermanTrill passed me a digital copy a couple of years ago. 

It's always intrigued me that this one seemed to have gotten buried. The production is crisp as are the raps. Verbal Kent, Eternia, Celph Titled, and Tha Alkaholiks all stop by as well. Banging album all around. Check it out below! [Oh yeah - if anyone has a physical CD copy of this...please let me buy it from you lol!)

Serious Joke

New Music: Collective Efforts - The Long Way Home

 

Today's rec is coming from the newly returned Collective Efforts!

Collective Efforts is a four-man (Ben Hameen, Bambu, J. Mill, and DJ Creashun) group from Atlanta and one of my personal favorite Hip Hop groups of all time. The lush jazzy sounds from the crew are more reminiscent of the In Ya Mellow Tone vibes than most of the indie/underground Southern sounds. They dropped some absolute monsters of projects throughout the 2000s, all leading up to my personal favorite from them, 2010's "Freezing World."

Unfortunately, that was the last we heard from the guys - until now! More than a decade later, Collective Efforts has finally reformed and given us a brand new full album, "The Long Way Home." And not only are the guys picking up exactly where they left off, they have somehow stepped things up as well. The melodic production is perfect for an incoming summer and the rhyme schemes and song concepts are all on point. So glad to have them back. Peep it below. 

The Long Way Home