Trylemma's Favs of 2022

 

And a Happy New Year! 

Trylemma here to check in again for a special year-end post recapping my favorite projects of 2022. You may have heard all, some, or none, but the following are my picks for my Top 50 Favorite Projects of 2022. This year, I decided to just put them all in alphabetical order based on artist as it's getting harder to compare projects that simply fit different moods. (Small comments on select entries.) 

1. Aceyalone - Ugmosis (Amazing that Acey is still putting out fresh sounding albums)

2. All City Jimmy - Westside Boy 

3. Awol One - Happy Rebirthday

4. Backburner - Continuum

5. Blackwinterwells - Crystal Shards (A worthy project to be at the forefront of Hyperpop moving forward) 

6. Blackwinterwells - Protector

7. BRavenous - Ghosts of Rockingham 

8. Buck 65 - King Of Drums (After a couple weird releases out of retirement?, this finally sounds like a proper Buck 65 return) 

9. Cities Aviv - Man Plays Horn (One of the densest albums of the year lyrically and musically - so much here to return to) 

10. Claud Six - In Case We Shouldn't Make It

11. Cleen - Curb Servin' 22

12. The Cloaks - A Cloakwork Orange

13. Collective Efforts - The Long Way Home (Another amazing release from a thought-to-be-retired outfit)

14. CVE - We Represent Billions

15. D-Sisive - Knoblic Gardens (This is a late 2022 release, but it's already the second best project D-Sisive has ever dropped imo) 

16. Death Dealers Anonymous - Salvo

17. Def-I & Smoke - Water Edges

18. Factor - Time Invested II

19. Fantasy Camp - Casual Intimacy 

20. Fax Gang - Dataprism 

21. Gepetto - Summer Tape

22. Homeboy Sandman - I Can't Sell These (Covid is real, anti-maskers and anti-vaxxers are dumb - Sandman still manages to kill these beats) 

23. Kid Cudi - Entergalactic

24. Marrow - Fission Two

25. Memphis Reins & QM - Reign Clouds

26. Mixed Matches - Mixed Matches 

27. Mixed Matches - With You (The prettiest sounding album of the year imo) 

28. Moka Only & The SOULution - Midnight Sessions

29. Nan Fiero & Qnorapname - Attention Span (Also peep that Feo Faces EP that Fake Four dropped for free this month) 

30. Open Mike Eagle - A Tape Called Component System (The best Open Mike Eagle album since 2015 - which is very impressive) 

31. Oscar Goldman - Oscar Goldman

32. Paper Rose Haiku - Paper Rose Haiku

33. Pass - Flowers

34. RAP Ferreira - 5 To The Eyes With Stars

35. Rove - If Not Now (The mysterious Side Road OG finally drops an album, and it hits perfectly - I heard there's another one in store) 

36. $imple - Peace Or Else

37. Sadistik & Kno - Bring Me Back When The World Is Cured (I wanted to not like this album, but I failed miserably) 

38. Sahtyre & Left Brain - Gone Folder 22

39. Saskatoon Folk Rap Records - SFRR Tape (Best crew currently in rap) 

40. SB The Moor - In Babylon!

41. Sick Aura - Give Thanks

42. Skizza - Bridge City Underdog

43. Swamp Thing - Noise Machine 

44. Taylor Morgan - Nature Power (Taylor Morgan is lowkey becoming one of the best producers out there no doubt)

45. Thavius Beck - Leo (Thavius Beck? And rapping?!?!?!) 

46. Topr - Gross 

47. Wicca Phase - Full Moon Mystery Garden

48. Wool See - Cope Money (Tribute to a lost cat) 

49. Wstdyth - Meltwaterpul5e

50. Z-Man & Tahaj - Animal Slavery

And for the beat-heads and instrumental lovers out there - here's my Top 50 Instrumental Based Projects of 2022: 

1. A-Plus - Cigano Road Vol. 1

2. AG Flux - Summer In-Flux Vol. 3 

3. The Audible Doctor & J57 - 8-Bit Beat Tape

4. Awkward - The Mighty Engine

5. Daedelus - Simmers Over

6. The Dirty Sample - Beats To Murder Rappers To

7. DJ Brace and Illdigger - A Time To Remember

8. DJ Day - Life After You

9. DJ Drez - Soft Electricity

10. DJ Eons & Bad Shane - 41st And El Camino

11. Drummachinemike - Artificial Environments

12. Duke Westlake - Lucia Lodge

13. Edison - Concave Rabbit 

14. Elaquent - Long Drives To Nowhere

15. Elephant Gerald - Life Of The Party

16. Emancipator & Lapa - 11th Orbit 

17. Endemik Remote Ensemble - They Fired With Their Lives

18. Fat Jon - Plaything Cipher

19. Filthy Fingers United - World Ablaze

20. Freddie Joachim - Hiding

21. Free The Robots - Kaduwa

22. Funky DL - Lo-Fi Blue Beats

23. Grainbin - Grainbin

24. Headnodic - Junk Drawer Vol. 2

25. Jason The Argonaut - Deep Time

26. M. Fusion - The Nobom Chronicles

27. Maki - American Road Films

28. Mestizo - Water, Breath, Flesh, Food 

29. More Or Les - Beats For Bounty Hunters

30. Nickels - Duality

31. Nickels - Top Ten

32. Noblonski - Lazy Loops 4our

33. oddballTheatre - gumboTape

34. Omid - Yalda

35. Parallel Thought - Poly Rythmatic 

36. Raz Fresco - Ice Cream Cake

37. Scholarman - The Rising

38. The Shaolin Afronauts - The Fundamental Nature Of Being, Part Two

39. SignOne - Signal To Noise 5 

40. Sinitus Tempo - Journey 2 

41. Sinitus Tempo - XXXIII

42. Sully - Beyond The Construct 

43. Suff Daddy - Basically Sober

44. Theory Hazit - Lowkey LoFi

45. Thes One - Shelter In Place

46. Thndrthf - Witch Poison

47. Tone Definite - Sky Vibes Vol. 2

48. Uggish - And Now To Learn To Fish II

49. Yungmaple - Archive 1

50. Zoen - The Harvest 

Simantic - Simantic (2003)

 

 

Here's another Household Nameless release from the aforementioned mother lode I was given access to last month. Simantic is one third of Scotch Tape Portraits, the interstate collective that gave us Babel Fishh and E9ine on the beats. Simantic is an extraordinary wordsmith with beatmaking talent as well. Writes songs addressing poverty, politics and mainstream culture with a sense of humor and humility. Great stuff!

Oh and check out here for some of his newer material under the moniker Toeach Therón!

 

DOWNLOAD

 

 

Vizion - Vizion Quest (2002)

The one and only Trylemma returns!

Anyway, had a late meeting with my boss Thursday night and didn't have time to get a post ready for today. I want to upload something but truly don't have time for a proper write-up. Basically this is some Prairie rap gold from fast rapping Vizion, completely I believe produced by Factor. Enjoy!

 

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M. Phasis & Factor - Another 3 Days

 

Hello folks - Trylemma here with a special "guest" post for the end of this December week! Today's fossil is the highly obscure "Another 3 Days" EP from Canadian super-producer Factor Chandelier and Saskatoon OG M.Phasis!

Dimxsk and I recently had the chance to cop this jewel, something that we both knew about but had never heard or come across. The EP is a collaboration between Factor (who both produces and raps on the project) and M.Phasis, and is a follow up to their initial 2002 EP outing, "3 Days Later." It was one of the earliest outputs from Factor's Off Beat Productions label, which later transformed into Side Road Records (which later melded into Fake Four.) This EP was only available on small amounts of homemade CDRs at Saskatoon shows, so the rarity is real.

As a Factor stan, I was hyped just to have this thing finally. I'll admit, however, I wasn't expecting much based on the "3 Days Later" EP, which was a bit of a disjointed effort in my opinion. The songs sounded more like studio rough drafts and the samples didn't really work for me - though the entire project was created from scratch to finish in, as the title hints, 3 days. To my surprise, however, this follow up, which dropped less than a year after the original and followed the same 3 day scratch to finish format, greatly greatly improved on its predecessor. 

The songs on "Another 3 Days" sound very clean, the production is crisp, and Factor and M.Phasis really seem in pocket with both the beat selections and the instrumentals (all things that were sort of missing from the original EP.) There's some great bouncy tracks like "Better Days" (which sounds like it could have been the single off the project) and "Another Outro" that come across as joints that could have worked for Factor's collabo with Akuma, "Dawn of a New Era." There's also some really good more mellow tracks like "Doin' It" and "MF Anthem Remix" (which features one of two Kay the Aquanaut appearances on this EP and which is a much improved remix of a track from "3 Days Later") that are definitely building blocks in the staple Factor prairie sound. 

Clocking in at about 24 minutes, "Another 3 Days" is a really must listen for fans of Factor. There was actually meant to be a third installment in the 3 Days trilogy, but that unfortunately never came to be :(. Peep below for the DL! 

(BTW, I'm hoping to return to UGF in some capacity in the New Year!) 

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Dreamy Meat Cleaver - EP (2003)

 

 

Recently I was very generously given a collection of rips from the Household Nameless collective (as well as a huge selection of hip hop from the somewhat derisively termed "flyover" states.) To this charitable comrade, you know who you are, thanks!!!! And for the rest of ya'll, as per my promise going back years I will pass on anything gained from having this blog to you, our awesome readers. In that vein (Vain? Vane?), here is Dreamy Meat Cleaver!

This could not be a more interesting ensemble. We've got Babelfishh, Edison, and Samiam (as well as "Lacey" and a name written in illegible cursive that I can't decipher. Sorry if that was any of you.). It didn't take long to figure out that Samiam is Sam King, aka Lewee Regal who is absolutely dope singing or rapping with one of the most distinctive voices in the game right now. Lucky for all of us he's been working with Ceschi and Fat Mike of NOFX to put out a punk rap album that is already shaping up to be the album of the decade (save for the D.O.C.'s cringe worthy line about fingering people who probably don't want to be fingered on "Fast Ones". Damn shame too because that track is mindblowing. I'm doing my best to block that bit out.)

You can probably figure out what this is just from that list of names. It's abstract hip hop with folk punk overtones, sporting fantastic production the likes of which only Edison has ever really been capable (while that's not true it sounds good, and I do have a very high opinion of Edison's skill level as a producer).

Anyway enough from me. Enjoy!

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BrokenKlutch - Promo (2002)

 

 

Happy Thanksgiving or whatever your equivalent is outside of the states. For you, today, I got this. A freebie I was given by a Discogs seller a lot of you probably know when I picked up Orphan Symphony.

BrokenKlutch is a one man New England Wu-Tang Clan (and yeah I am aware New York is New England. You know what I mean). This dudes got the mind melting spiritual raps, produces the dramatic and hypnotic beats and draws, paints with the best of them.

You know already. This promo has some cuts I'm not sure I have on any other albums. There's no track listing or anything so I can't be sure. But it's got some dope beats and rhymes, and it's incredibly difficult to get to listen to this these days. So here you go!

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Dark Time Sunshine & DJ Pratt - Snob Rap Mixtape (2010)

 

Sorta disappointed to find out this week that I'm not immune to Covid. I went years without catching it and here we go. And it SUCKS.

So I'm just gonna throw this one out there. You know and love Onry Ozzborn. Dark Time Sunshine made one of the best art rap albums ever in Vessel and I guess this party mix was in celebration of that or something. Not sure where I got this or if it's even legit. It is certainly Oldominion dudes rapping over beats that don't sound like OD. Courtesy of DJ Pratt I assume.

Anyway take a listen, I'm gonna lie down now.

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New Music: Thorts & Unsung - The Unsung Thorts EP

 

 

It's been a little while since we've heard from our good friend Thorts, but one thing you can always count on is Australia's best kept secret will find some new producer / rapper to collaborate with and make some fun and interesting sounds.

The musician in question here is Unsung. Hailing from West Virginia (according to his Bandcamp) Unsung's production style is a study in acid jazz and easy listening with some fuzzy drums and unexpected vocal samples (each interlude is spiced up with a vocal sample discussing nuclear Armageddon) thrown in to craft a psychedelic pallet upon which Thorts (and on many an occasion Unsung himself) sketch their stream of consciousness poetry and storytelling rhymes. While this album is short it is very effective at creating atmosphere through the dreamy quality of both the production and the lyrics ("Kookaburra") as well as the minimization of time between tracks, giving it a constant flow. It may be recognizing the identity of the molecule on the cover but I find this album feels more trippy than some of Thorts' work, probably due to the weird sonic quality of the production as well.

It's no secret I enjoy Thorts music. I post on his albums plenty and you can definitely click the tag to learn more background. I will say that The Unsung Thorts EP is a good offering from him that does everything I've come to expect from a Thorts release, mainly deliver a darkly comic but ultimately positive and enjoyable listening experience. It is not groundbreaking or quirky to the extreme (yep he does that too, it's called Thoel Simerville) but all parties involved deliver solid performances and I would recommend it to anyone looking for a 20 minute diversion from work, exercise, the drive home whatever. I mean come on, he's not asking for money so just get it.

 

Check out The Unsung Thorts EP right here right now!

 

 

Von Poe VII - Von Poe VII (2012)

 

Well I felt bad so here's something. I already have done a few writeups on Riverside rapper Poetic Death aka Von Poe VII so you can search the tag if you're curious about this particular artist. He's dope and has lots of great albums that are ridiculously hard to find. Goldmine for a blog like this, unless he decides he doesn't want these out there which I will of course respect.

    DOWNLOAD

 

 

Sequestrians - Get the Benjamins (2005)

 

First off, thanks for bearing with us and respecting the new Code of Chatbox. You guys are cool. Enough of that though.

Here's the album that turned me on to how amazing Backburner could really be. Over dope beats Timbuktu and Chokeules are flawless on Get the Benjamins. Not sure what prompted the release of this album as their group with Selfhelp and Psybo known as Toolshed was really taking off at this point. But in a way this LP had to happen, it sort of gives you a more straight up boom bap offering than the usual nerd / hardcore weirdness that was pre-2005 Toolshed, and it's truly impressive what these guys can put out when they focus on pure skills over concepts.

Anyway I'm tired so I'll leave it at that. Unfortunately this rip is only 192 kbps. I actually own this album and will rerip and repost it asap, but for now I wanted to share it with the imminent Swamp Thing coming soon. It's fun to do a little now vs. then type deal with these long time indie rappers.

Enjoy!

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Cauzndefx - The Marriage Contract Between a Deer & Headlights (2013)

 

 

 Happy Friday once again! First a few notes:

 I wanted to give a huge shout out to our friend Monk Sunstruck for helping to track down the cover art for Joe Rath's He Meant Well. This dude has been a solid presence on this blog for a while now and his contributions are much appreciated. Thanks Nick!

Secondly, I've noticed that our CBox is being used to promote other ventures besides our blog relating to hip hop music and I wanted to state UGF's position on this and set a few basic ground rules (obviously I can't enforce them but I pretty much think you guys are good folks and will respect them. Nothing too onerous).

UGF believes that all hip hop music, recorded and distributed publicly at any point will always deserve to be heard by those who are looking for it. We are always happy to provide whatever releases we can and I will not stand in the way of anyone who agrees with that principle helping others locate what they seek. So basically we (me I guess, I assume Trylemma agrees) are fine with you promoting your blog, your XM station, your militant hip hop commune, um your podcast (trying to keep this general lol). But please do not do any of the following on our CBox:

1. Advertise or offer services that are not free.

2. Provide music for free download that is still readily available from, and profitable for, the artist. This one is something UGF has always tried to respect and we really hope everyone else will do the same.

3. "Tease" albums. What I mean by that is, say someone on UGF requests a release. You then say, "oh I have that but to get it you need to go here". If you have it and you feel compelled to speak up about that, then please just post the link on our blog. You can then say "more great music over here" but just be a friend and help the needy!

So from this day forth, please follow the Code of Chatbox!

Okay, that's out of the way.

 

This next one is a great release from a rapper I found through the combination of boredom and Bandcamp. He has a huge volume of content that isn't available anymore, including this gem here. I hope he doesn't mind my sharing this because it certainly deserves the attention.

Basically we have here adult emo rap with touching lyrics, hard hitting delivery and dreamy, dusty breaks and jazz samples. But to simplify it to that degree does it a disservice. Cauzndefx is a very talented poet, and this album is particularly noteworthy for it's combination of unashamed DIY quality sound and that in your face lyrical talent. It makes it stick with you long after it ends, clearly a labor of love and the product of blood, sweat and tears.

Pretty much I wore myself out writing that CBox stuff. Just download it and listen to it, and then make sure to pick up his new shit here!

DOWNLOAD

 

 

New Music: Mood Patrol - Mood Patrol

 

 

Well looks like pictures are working. Unfortunately I like my Chakra poem description of Neila's cover so it's staying up.

Today I have something new and exciting to get the word out on. Meet the Mood Patrol EP. The Southwest's Fang Over Fist Records, another amazing find from Fake Four Inc.'s amazing Freecember deal is proud to release a brand new collaboration between the phenomenal Cecil Tsoh (formerly Whatever Cecil, nka Tsoh Tso), B.Moore on the raps and Lady Quasar on the singing tip.

I was only familiar with Mr. Tsoh at the time of my first listen, but I have to say I really enjoyed this EP (for the record in case you haven't noticed, I basically don't review anything I can't give a fairly positive review on. And if I don't absolutely like something I've agreed to review, I will try very hard to paint it in a positive light without lying or exaggerating. I like to think of these New Music posts as promos as opposed to real 'reviews'. That said, that is not the case here this shit is dope.) and I think you will too. It's easy in this day and age, with the huge volume of random collaborations between hungry indie hip hoppers to dismiss an album when you don't recognize all of the names, but there truly is something magical at work here in the interplay between the singer, the rapper and the producer.

The beats here are simply beautiful. Tsoh Tso has been making noteworthy music ever since popping up circa 2010 with An Illustrated Mess and he has steadily improved. At this point with his sample based production such as we find here, he has perfected his own style of chopping and rearranging songs to form collages of true beauty and substance. These beats exemplify the best kind of sample based production, making use of layering, effects and unorthodox percussion ("New to What's Been Orbiting") to entirely own every note. In fact, I would say these beats are my favorite type of production and were what initially attracted me to hip hop. Hitting hard enough to keep the head nodding while retaining subtlety and mood. If you miss Dark Time Sunshine Vessel era, you're gonna love this.

Lady Quasar is a great choice to keep these songs fresh and unique as well. Again, there are SO many rappers out these days, making so many albums and EPs with their peers. Choosing to recruit a vocalist to provide melodies on every song, especially when the production is so heavily melody driven was an excellent decision. And she is by no means a gimmick or just a pretty voice. Her vocal style is slightly Squalloscope slightly Dilly Dilly, toeing the line between rapping and singing and generally crafting the vibe we hear throughtout the album. Her participation is absolutely necessary for this to work.

Lastly we have B.Moore the rapper. I need to either see a lyric sheet or listen more to this EP to fully grasp the story to each of these songs, but I can tell you B.Moore writes with a good sense of drama, unusual wordplay and a penchant for dark imagery. With repeated listens I am reminded again and again of DTS in their prime with this album, especially because of B.Moore's relentless and fantastical lyrical style. I plan to dive into this more deeply as soon as possible.

Once again Fang Over Fist kills it. My only complaint? Too short! This collaboration is gold, and I think it really would have been great to build up a larger volume of songs before releasing the album. I truly hope, guys, if you read this that you're inspired to flesh this out. Beautiful work!

Get the EP right here, today and forever more!

Neila - Marked for Breath (2012)

 

Well pictures aren't working so... Let me paint a picture for you.

A Buddha statue

with some keyholes in it, plus a few flying keys.

The statues chest is open and you can see a

shining heart that looks a bit like a strawberry.

The sky is kinda cloudy and sort of green.

At the bottom of the painting are

some leaves and roses. And

the name of the album

which is of course Marked for Breath.

    Sometimes I really hate the internet. Anyway today's upload is the aforementioned rarities collection by Hawaii's incredibly talented and amazing Neila. Marked for Breath was I believe available by request on Facebook before disappearing and is as far as I know extinct except for when people like myself are nice enough to upload it.

    Both Trylemma and myself have extensively (if I remember right) written on the dopeness of this rapper, so I can dispense with that and just give you some music.

That's all, enjoy!

 

DOWNLOAD

 

 

New Music: Happy Tooth - Done Suffering

 

 

So I told my dude Tooth that if I did any reviews in the next few weeks I'd give this a shout out. Anyone following UGF knows I've done my best to support the career of this guy and his often companion Dug after hearing their amazing live band EP All in Your Head. Their whimsical / introspective songs consistently hit home for me and I really feel like both of them are basically the kind of people who read this blog and listen to our music, so let's do what we can to support their dreams.

Coming October 8th, we have Happy Tooth's newest album Done Suffering. Basically Happy Tooth has decided that while suffering often produces great art, great art does not require suffering. There's no reason our favorite artists have to experience pain, and emotionally juice themselves into oblivion by age 27. That's essentially the message I get from this. He wants this art to be a good experience for everyone including the artist, and hopes that we can still enjoy what he produces when he's basically doing 'not bad'.

Common themes for a Happy Tooth record of course pop up here as well: the indie rap scene ("Canceled", boom...), day jobs / finances and mental health are of course present and discussed with the same cynical yet heartfelt poetry, but we also hear a bit about getting old. Turning 35 for me was a big eye opener and a bit of a downer and it seems as if he's going through the same thing. It's a universal experience, and discussing it the way he does does even more to bring his music down to the level of the listener, something he really excels at. I guess I'm trying to say it feels like a frank conversation with the guy, unpretentious and honest. Very refreshing.

One thing I wanted to mention, I found the production, entirely handled by Fisk, a bit challenging. I told Happy Tooth that I had preferred his work with Bum Theory or his previous album The Laughter's Rehearsed. It was this discussion that really prompted me to post this, because as I suspected this is the type of production that really requires you to listen carefully, preferably with headphones. In places it's more dependent on rhythm than melody which makes the sound less accessible but actually really works when the listener focuses on the weird use of samples, hats and sidesticks / drum rolls etc. It's very quirky and unusual, and it DID grow on me.

Finally, we see indie vet and genius Ecid dropping a verse, as well as Claud Six fka Lucas Dix and very exciting, Ryan Liptak aka Mild Child one of the humongous talents behind Happy Tooth & Dug gives us some vocal magic and I believe instrumental production as well?

 

All in all this is a good album, well worth your time and few dollars. On October 8th I hope you will consider clicking here and buying it on the format of your desire. In the meantime you can hear what he's working with as a few singles have been dropped in anticipation.

 

Until next week!

SubMerge - Anthropomerge (2012)

 

 

Real quick write-up this time. As far as I can tell this isn't available anymore. SubMerge is Wormhole, Qreus and 3.14, shamanistic hip hop with dark overtones and sinister lyrics. Nice piece of Hawaiian hip hop culture. Enjoy!

 

DOWNLOAD

 

 

Nomar Slevik - The Official Bootleg Pt. II (2004)

 

 

Some day I'll get back to promo / review posts. But for now it's just easier to hook you guys up with free music!

Today we got some old old from New Englander ghost chasing rapper Nomar Slevik. With a deep resonant voice, unique production style and a totally original brand of creepy sing-rapping Nomar Slevik is a pioneer in the New England indie rap scene exemplified by folks like JD Walker, Brzowski, Bread and yes even Sole.

In the Field Where I Died is a great one to start with if you don't know him, while this is exactly what the name and cover suggest which is a loose hodgepodge of tracks not found elsewhere, very lo-fi and definitely not all amazing. Nomar Slevik is actually someone I think of promptly when I hear the term "hit or miss". To me a good Nomar Slevik track is fantastic, a not good one is basically a skit gone wrong. To be fair I think that tendency to bullseye or miss the target entirely is a hallmark of the experimental musician and means they're willing to take risks.

I just say all that to express that there's some great music on here so be patient with it, and definitely look into his other stuff if you haven't already. If nothing else it's original as hell.

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Oddjobs - Conflict & Compromise (1999)

 

 

One of the very first hip hop albums I fell in love with was Drums by Midwestern pioneers Oddjobs. I was staying in the Twin Cities area and was getting an education on indie rap by a friend I'd met there. He gave me a list of "essentials" full of basically anticon., Rhymesayers, 1200 Hobos, you get the idea. He was actually fairly closed minded and judgemental about the more radio friendly stuff (he actually didn't like Mind Over Matter by Zion I which was offensive) but I am grateful for some of the stuff he introduced me to, these guys being one of them.

Oddjobs music is beautiful. It is dark, it is fun, it is funny, it is intricate but simple in a bleak and hardhitting way. It's all about contradictions I guess. Conflict and compromise. Wow this got poetic.

Anyway this album is great. If I remember right the rhymes are on point, the production is simple but effective, and the overall skill level is doubly impressive when one remembers these folks were in their teens when this was made.

All of them went on to do great things. This album is an essential for any fans of the Midwest sound. Enjoy it!

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Zucchini Drive - Goodbye Television Payback (2008)

 

 

You already know my stance on Stacs of Stamina. Dope. You can probably guess if I haven't outright expressed my stance on Cavemen Speak. Dope. I'll tell you my stance on the border crossing hybrid birthed by the two known as The World After 4/02. Dope. So can you guess my stance on Zucchini Drive?

Well I wish they rapped. I said it. I'm sorry. They have that unique combination of voices that makes for a very unique and very enjoyable rap collabo, a la Psycho Realm or Swollen Members and the work they did as The World After..., Vikings & Waffles was an instant classic and one of the best hip hop albums to come out of Europe in my humble opinion.

So I don't dislike Zucchini Drive. They're formidable producers, and interesting songwriters. They have an energy and vision that makes it fun to hear anything they've done, and I will always collect anything Marcus or Tom does as a rule.

Anyway enough complaining. Zucchini Drive's second full length album Goodyear Television Playhouse is that happy medium where they still considered themselves rappers first and europop singing sensations second. It's got some of them doing their best to hit the notes as they flow but for the most part it's dope rhythmic wordplay and fun songwriting. The lead single "Radical Days" with the one and only Radical Face is a virtually perfect song, which balances a sunny exterior with some darker imagery in a very interesting way.

Goodbye Television Payback is a remix album of that album they did, which has work from folks like Kaeoflux, Nomad, Thavius Beck, The Skyrider Band, Scott da Ros, dDamage etc.

It's pretty cool, and pretty hard to find as far as I know. So enjoy it!

DOWNLOAD

 

Oh yeah I haven't checked how many people bothered to follow that link last week. If you did aren't you glad? Probably the rarest thing we've ever posted I believe. Scoop it up asap because I'm killing the link this weekend! I need to keep that one in reserve in case I run out of ideas...

Happy Birthday to Me! Regular Day to You!

 

 

It's my birthday! 35 years old! I'm going to give myself a present and not post anything. Sorry not sorry...

I'm immune to your disappointment.

See you next week.

Souls of Mischief - Locus (20??)

 

 

I have a feeling this might be the one that gets our blog a nastygram. Souls of Mischief and Hiero are big name. When one of your members raps with the Gorillaz and has a hit every person in the developed world has heard, you can't really claim underground anymore, although they're indie as fuh and killin' it. For that reason I am not gonna even do a background on these folks. If you don't know the basics on Hiero you're definitely not reading my words on UGF. Plenty of info everywhere else.

That said, this particular gem is most definitely a fossil by definition. I currently own the only copy I'm aware of, and can find nothing about it online. I have to confess, while I like Hiero, and will acknowledge that "93 'til Infinity" is probably the best hip hop beat ever made, I'm not an uber fan by any definition. I picked this one up mainly to rip and share with you guys, because you're awesome.

So here it is. On one condition. You guys need to do some investigating and tell me what the hell this is. I know it's a "real" album because it's professionally made and on the opening track A-Plus mentions the name Locus. I believe these are exclusive songs, many of which are pretty dope ("What Do They Know") but if you know otherwise let me know (remember not a super fan so I don't own many of the solo projects). It's got something to do with Citizens of Humanity magazine / clothing line (?).

That's it. So promise not to download it if you don't plan to dig a bit. Honor system! One piece of candy per person and whatnot.

Enjoy Locus!

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Joe Rath - He Meant Well (200?)

 

 

Beyond Space Entertainment gave us a lot of great albums and compilations, from the art rap stylings of early anticon. affiliates to the undeniably unique and memorable Mac Lethal (yeah I know he's not doing himself any favors online and his fan base has been known to suck at life, but before his personality got in the way his old shit was good and you know it).

 They also gave us some of this dudes music and I thank them for that as well.

As usual I don't know much about Joe Rath. Not where he comes from, not what he's up to now, not how many albums he came out with. I started listening to him when a seller I respect on Discogs asked for a rip of his work. I got the album and ripped it because I knew I'd enjoy it and I was right. The dude in question gave me this as a thank you.

Anyway. Imagine the aforementioned idol for angry white kids with a bit more introspection and a lot less emphasis on relationship woes and have him rap dark poetic imagery a la Aamir and you have Joe Rath.

I'd like to flesh out my knowledge of this guy. I'd love album art, other albums, background info whatever. I don't care that he's probably retired. He's damn good and I'd be thrilled to hear more of his work.

Also again, forgive me for not responding to comments. I can't get it to work. I keep meaning to research the reason. But I sincerely appreciate and do read every comment, and if there's a response requested I will hit you up via CBox. With Trylemma on the run I mean hiatus it's not as much fun to do this shit solo. So it's cool to know I'm not just farting in the wind. At the moment. Don't knock it 'til you try it.

Anyway enjoy He Meant Well because apparently he did and so do I!

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ReCaall - A World Without Earth (2007)

 

 

This week we're going as far East as East goes without leaving the continental US (Boston I believe) with ReCaall aka Leo Albatross' A World Without Earth. Punk and nihilistic sensibilities meet hip hop in this somewhat low budget, somewhat depressing, often enjoyable classic New England rap drop.

I like most of his other albums much better. His work as Serum de Facto with Redlist is very unique and seriously ill. But this one is kinda fun as well, so enjoy A World Without Earth!

Oh and exit Covid, enter Monkeypox! What a time to be ALIVE!

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New Music: StapleMouth & Th' Mole - Estuary

 

 

Well, as I hinted at last week our good friend Th' Mole over at Weird Rap was kind enough to drop us a promo advance of this. I've been needing Estuary in my life ever since I heard Rift (which was a new take on the instrumental / acapella formula essentially, they released those ahead of the album and worked them into spoken word pieces and a beat tape. You can read my review here). Staplemouth's lyricism is IMO some of the best we have these days, and his hiatus from hip hop left a huge hole most folks weren't even aware of. 3 Sunz Eclipse with Nameless Myst was his triumphant return; Estuary is where he grabs a hold of that ring he had in his grasp in 2012 and smashes it to pieces.

I did a fairly extensive and wordy promo post for Rift. So basically I knew what to expect with this one and I was not disappointed. We have here a sort of companion piece to Ruler of Desperate Measures. Dark as hell, chock full of eschatological imagery and hidden meaning with unorthodox production that manages to be simple enough to allow Staplemouth to take center stage with his amazing vocals while also showcasing musicianship and the true ear for composition that Th' Mole's been able to claim since he first dropped out of the sky wearing a super hero outfit (although he's come a long way since that Christmas album).

If you've never heard Staplemouth let me give you a quick rundown on one of my favorite rappers. Coming up in the Oahu scene of Hawaii along with his crew ...of Proliteariots, Staplemouth boasts a voracious appetite for lore and the ability to spin it into rambling and daring looks behind the veil. Not only can he approach subsonic syllabic speed in the blink of an eye (no his recordings are not digitally sped up as everyone who I played "Hanging Gardens 2012" keeps trying to claim. If you want to watch him do it look right here) when you slow down and pick apart what he's saying a truly formidable talent and intelligence emerges. Add to that the ability to balance brute lyrical force with an almost delicate and beautiful vocal range, there is truly no one like this man dead or alive.

As far as this current release, Staplemouth has this to say:

"Estuary to me is about allowing change and learning to exist between what was and what currently is. My life went from white to black...  I'm the complete opposite of who I once was.  But I was able to evolve in that process.  It's about being able to adapt and live in brackish water... or Estuary."

Like all true art, Staplemouth's poetry does truly lend itself to interpretation through the lens of individual experience. For me the album takes a snapshot of the world in flux, with the pandemic and the reluctant baton passing from the Boomers and the gun crisis in the USA and the war in Europe all creating a sense of uncertainty and barely manageable panic. As he says, we are now struggling with the idea of merging what the world was with what it is now in a way that allows us to thrive and feel safe again, something not easy to do in the post(ish)-Covid era.

I do have the lyrics in a beautiful promotional package, and the following passage from "Wounded Soldier" (a remake of an older song I don't believe was ever released in case it sounds familiar) is a great example of the bleakly beautiful poetry on display with Estuary, and although it is an older work it captures where we are in starkly ugly imagery.

"We make the world a sin • Now • That’s an educated guess • There isn’t like a fountain or tiny button to make it happen type of gadget • But maybe we can hatch it with just a warm thought • Covered by the torn end of a moth-eaten blanket • Don’t pose a threat to the man with a macabre smile • Run amuck in a sacred domicile where the priest dissects a child • Now what the fuck is this planet melting into?"

I really have zero complaints. But in some ways I think the Rift idea should have been released AFTER the official album, although in it's uniqueness I sense at least some courage from Weird Rap and as an indie music fan I value that a lot. But I think if I had never heard these words before, combined as they are with this beautiful music it would have had a very huge impact on me. Such as it is the familiarity was already there although it was cool to finally experience the full blown might that is Estuary.

 

 

 

Watch the above, and then buy Estuary on vinyl or digital or as a tape deal with Rift from Weird Rap over yonder. That's an order, let's make these dudes famous.

...of Proliteariots - Co-Stars (2002)

 

 

 In celebration of the impending drop of the new Staplemouth album with Th' Mole Estuary (seriously cannot fucking wait for y'all to hear this. It drops the 10th but I've got an advance and as soon as I have the cognitive capacity I'm going to absorb it and report the details. More coming on that!) I've decided to share a cool little single from Staplemouth's earliest known crew from his home on Oahu.

Pretty much the definitive Hawaiian underground hip hop (along with Neila of course) Proliteariots delivered some of the dopest wordplay I'd heard in years, with stylistic flair and a sound unlike anything else out there. Not just rapid fire, completely unusual and hard to pin down. Add to that Aloeight production and you've got audio crack in the best possible terms.

Enjoy this little two song vinyl rip courtesy of Hawaii's hip hop history, and Nocturnes bedroom!

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Stacs of Stamina - Cashew Fenny (2002)

 

 

I've been meaning to post this one for a while, but my personal rip is 192 kbps which I made years ago and I can't find the CDr I ripped it from (yes I have this one on CDr, actually I have two because one was damaged beyond repair and I finally found another) so up until now I didn't have the means to do this justice. Thanks to Chris I now have a vinyl rip that sounds good and is variable bitrate so good news on that front.

I've always liked these guys. Marcus Graap's got a dope voice for rapping, as does Bashie and the beats have an old school grime that I enjoy. Add to that the fact that they speak English, and the kind of cool international feeling I admit to getting when I kick it to European rap and they're about the best hip hop to come out of Sweden that I'm aware of.

Marcus is now half of Zucchini Drive along with Speed Dial 7 from Cavemen Speak. I gotta say I prefered when they both mostly rapped (Zucchini Drive is something more rap adjacent), but I'd still recommend their work as well.

I guess that's it. Time to post some music and eat some dinner. Stay tuned for more next week, thanks for sticking with us!

Enjoy Cashew Fenny!

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New Music: Monk Sunstruck - Arsonism

 

 

Hey all! Been a long time. In fact, in the history of UGF it has never been this long between posts. It feels weird to me. But it was a nice break and I hope the rest of you have been enjoying your Summer (or Winter, depending where you live of course). As I said before it's just me, your boy Dimxsk at the moment posting once a week on Friday's, usually a fossil hookup but occasionally a post on some new music in the works. Oh and thank you all for the kind words two weeks ago. For some reason I can't reply individually to comments lately (no idea why, if any of you have suggestions let me know) but know that I see and appreciate your encouragement!

Today is a release post. Some of you may remember a fossil a while back from Thee Anomalous and Able Rock. Thee Anomalous is a huge fan of hip hop going way back, and as such he stumbled onto this blog and we chopped it up a bit. Hailing from Woodland, CA he comes with a sound reminiscent of folks from coastal California (think Maleko, Caustic, JKC etc.) rapping conscious lyricism with a touch of spirituality and a very solid love and respect for the culture. I would recommend following the link above and starting with that for more information.

Arsonism is the second of two releases he's done under the name Monk Sunstruck. I don't know much about them (during my vacation I was working a ton and didn't have the chance to pick his brain before writing this, I wish I did), just that this is his triumphant return to the art form. I will say I like this, it's got maturity and a professionalism missing from his earlier work (although his earlier work was very very dope), along with some interesting song writing and deeply personal content like the touching tribute to a fallen family member "Hey Little Brother".

This is a humble offering. It doesn't try to transcend any genre boundaries, it doesn't trip over it's own feet in an attempt to be something groundbreaking. Like I said before this is the rap of a man who loves the music we do, lives the life we do, and took the time to translate that into six little songs. Not incredible, but difficult not to like.

Check out Arsonism here and consider downloading For the Sake of Planets, Vibe right here at UGF as well because that one is fire! See you next Friday!

Announcement: Regular Visitors Please Read

 

 

 Hey guys. Just a little check in for today, and a bit of information going forward. Trylemma is taking some personal time from the blog for reasons that are his own. I'm pretty sure he's on the run from the law though, so we'll go with that and wish him a safe trip and a Uruguayan passport. Hasta luego amigo!

In the meantime I will be handling the posting until he is apprehended or whatever and can access a computer again without fear. For that reason I am going to change a few things.

 Firstly, posting will be once a week until he's back to authoring. I will be dropping something every Friday morning as normal. However, instead of posting strictly downloads on Friday I will mix it up and if there is a review I'm moved to do I will do it (I got something planned for the near future already, a friend of the blog who knows who they are) otherwise expect downloads probably 70% of the time. Don't worry you will still get plenty of my incorrigible personality and you'll be rewarded for tolerating it with a free fossilized album.

I will not be doing any of the above this week. I am taking a vacation. So following this post, the next one will be dropping 5 am on Friday the 8th. Until then, for those of you in the States enjoy your Fourth (although if you're anything like me this year is going to have quite the bitter taste considering the insanity that occurred last week) and the rest of you have a great Summer!

In seriousness let's all send happy thoughts to Trylemma wherever he is. The impetus to create this blog was his, the motivation to make it what it is today is his, and it would never have lasted the years it has without his incredible hip hop collection and store of knowledge. Get back soon homie!

Ngafsh & DJ NoWords - CV Goodlife 2020 Beatz

 

Big treat for ya'll today. In honor of CVE's new album We Represent Billions, today's post is a rare beat project from CVE's Ngafsh and his son, DJ NoWords! 

So this dropped on Ngafsh's site, via Kunaki, and was left up for order for about a week or so. Vinyl only release, no CDs or digital. Then it disappeared from existence. The beats on here are very bouncy CVE-esque, but they also have a heavier twist, thanks in part I'd assume to the younger DJ NoWords. We also get an a cappella verse for the rap heads.

This project consists of 16 tracks. I'm only including the first 10 in the download as it was mentioned that some of these beats may appear elsewhere in the future. As such, if you can track down a physical copy - do so! 

CV Goodlife 2020 Beatz

New Music: SB The Moor - In Babylon!

 

And the Ruby Yacht keeps rockin on! This time with SB The Moor's "In Babylon!" 

SB The Moor (aka Signor Benedick The Moor) is a Cali rapper who has ties to Deathbomb Arc (he was part of True Neutral Crew with Daveed Diggs) and is currently part of Ruby Yacht. "In Babylon!" is his newest project and it's a banger! 

While Rap Ferreira messes around with the dusty samples and blues, and while Pink Navel messes with the glitchy sounds, SB The Moor tackles a variety of Cali bop sounds that fit his super animated style very well. Lyrically, things are a bit darker as SB addresses the current near dystopian state as society still fails to address ubiquitous racism. 

Check it out below and cop a tape!

In Babylon! 

Buck 65 - Year Zero (Side A) (1996)

 

 

THIS album is pretty damn good. More Buck for ya'll straight from your friends at UGF. Today we have Year Zero. Extremely rare hand distributed tape, potentially his earliest use of the Buck 65 moniker I believe?

Sonically this is a Stinkin' Rich album but it does display some interesting production and turntable styling, and of course Buck 65 has been weird since year zero...

I only have the first side of this tape, according to Discogs the physical contains another side of unreleased Stinkin' Rich material. If anyone has a rip (or a cool $1500 so I can rip it myself) you know where to find us!

Oh yeah, and King of Drums is awesome. Everything I love about this guy as a musician and a personality. A lot to unpack. I would review it but I'm only half way through; enjoying every second.

 

Anyway enjoy Year Zero!

 

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Buck 65 & Dose One - North American Adonis EP (1998)

 

 

With the release of King of Drums over here I am so totally excited about Buck 65 again. However, full disclosure I have not had time yet even to listen to the new album... So while I did want to post on that one, I also really want to digest it in a way that's fun and stress free for me because Buck's music and I go WAY back, to when I was a teenager making bad decisions with Square on my headphones. So I will not be reviewing it today, although I will say that I have been hearing VERY good things, so definitely consider buying it anyway if you haven't already.

So a lot of you probably forgot that Buck 65 actually released some music on anticon. I believe Man Overboard was his first and possibly only full length, but he did drop some songs for label compilations ("Pen Thief" and whatnot). A lot of you are probably TRYING (what's with me and capitalization today...) to forget that you used to really like anticon. because in this new and enlightened age we recognize some things that were / are a bit cringey about them as a crew.

Anyway the point is, at one point Buck 65 met Dose One, and they recorded an EP. It never dropped but was eventually leaked. Someone even designed some terrible album art for it and uploaded it to Discogs, but it is absolutely not official and I'm not going to perpetuate that vicious lie.

This album is not great. I can't really remember if it has any standout songs, it sort of comes across like a freestyle session with a single mic and tape recorder. I'm sure that was the story. However it's kind of cool for it's historic value, and like I said I'm in a Buck mood lately. I WILL (had to throw in one more capital word) be listening to King of Drums soon. You should probably listen to it too, but you can also download North American Adonis EP from your pals Dimxsk and Trylemma at UGF while you decide.

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Transition - Nomadic (2008)

 

Today's upload is a Canadian lowkey drop from Transition and their 2008 album "Nomadic."

Transition is comprised of producer Dave Wallace and rapper Transit22. Transit is a pretty prolific rapper (he toured with Doomtree once when I first saw him) though I'm not familiar with Wallace. To my knowledge, this is the only project that the duo released.

The production from Wallace on "Nomadic" isn't very intricate, but the bare-boneness of it, mixed with its earworm melodies, is pretty good. On the rapping side, you can tell that Transit both really likes Rhymesayers lol and is still finding his voice in both song writing and delivery. Even so, the early pieces are definitely there so it's fun to listen to!

Nomadic

New Music: Mamastrocity - Artessential Intelligence

 

Here's one that slipped through the cracks for me!

Mamastrosity is a producer and director who is currently signed to Abstract Rude's "Keep The Feel" label. I had no idea who she was until I found out about her at an Abbey Rude show last night. As far as I know, "Artessential Intelligence" is her debut album. 

With a lot of Abbey's artists, it seems, there's a certain dancehall/reggae flavor that doesn't always get pulled off properly (to the degree that Abbey has made it work for himself at least.) No such issue with Mamastrosity. Her beats are very electronic based but also very conducive for choppers to rhyme over. And they go hard here lol. On the rhyming side of things, Mamastrosity calls upon some big left coast legends like Myka 9, Scarub, Ellay Khule, Big Arch (yep Big Arch!,) and of course Abstract Rude. 

At the show, she got a small set and was otherwise running around filming the acts and b-girling! Check out the project below!

[On a side note, the starZs aligned at the Abstract Rude show and I got to see Abstract Rude share the stage with DJ Zone, doing a song with cuts by DJ Zole, all while the pull down screen played the latest Project Blowed documentary, specifically, during this song, a session from Swim Team's DJ Zo!] 

Artessential Intelligence

PS aka PSeudo nka Brodhi - Drunk Driving (200x)

 

 

Yet another Friday, and I came up with this one fairly easily so there's still many a fossil out there for us to offer you after... three years. Unbelievable. As always thanks for reading, and thank you DJ Osiris for the Restiform Bodies compilation, nice find! I'm gonna do my best to get some song titles and eventually post it but if you want it earlier he was kind enough to drop it in the CBox.

Anyway, Drunk Driving is from Jedi Knights Circle alumn Brodhi, fka PSeudo. You may remember him as one third of Lipservice, in my opinion the more serious less nerdcore members of JKC. Technical skill abounds with this dudes music, he raps double time with his own style (although the flavor is ALL early 2000s) the production is very nice as well in this case handled entirely by Brodhi himself. Just some good old fashioned hip hop with generally good messages about treating your fellow man with respect and appreciating the good things we have.

Can't remember where I got this but we can thank Tattoo for the artwork upload on Discogs. A very dope musician in his own right, most of you are probably aware of him.

Enjoy Drunk Driving, but don't do it because DUI's will cost you thousands of dollars.

DOWNLOAD

 

 

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.