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, July 28, 2023

Mascaria and Knuckles Knuclear - Ill Spore Promo Mix (2012)

 


Today's post is an obscure little mix from Mascaria and Knuckles Knuclear - "Ill Spore Promo Mix" from 2012.

This is another one I don't know too much about. From what I can tell, "Ill Spore" was a record label/production company ran by Mascaria (it may have just been Mascaria.) Discogs says that the label's only release was Mascaria's 2009 "Flesh of the Godz." 

This promo mix seems to have been made in order to promote Mascaria's production. The mix consists of beats and songs crafted by Mascaria and features some familiar track from the likes of 2Mex, Existereo, Awol One, Abstract Rude, and Luckyiam. While I'm guessing Mascaria curated the track selections, it's Knuckles Knclear on the actual mix. 

Peep it below!


Ill Spore Promo Mix



Notes:

- Congrats to everyone (Sole, Rove, Chaps, Nolto, Gumshoe Strut, Yy, Noblonski, Parab Poet...) who participated in Summer Fling this past weekend. Sounds like it was a success. Pen Thief Record's "Summer Collection" will be a tribute compilation to the event. Cop it HERE

- If you didn't already, be sure to peep Noah23's "Tank Girl", Avatar's "Clear Blue Skies",  and Noblonski's and Capaciti's "Learning To Walk In The Dark" which all dropped recently. 

- Both Dimxsk and I were late to this, but earlier this month Ceschi's Codefendants dropped a 10" single for "Sell Me Youth," which also includes an acoustic version of the track and an exclusive track to the vinyl (not available anywhere digitally/streaming - I've checked lol) entitled "Cinematic." And there's copies still left - I'm guessing because the promo was light on this one (likely because the guys are on tour!) But considering the fact that all the other Codefendants vinyl releases have been long sold out - I'd jump on this one quick. Cop it HERE

Friday, July 21, 2023

Dreadnots - Holy M Blue P (200?)

 


 

Request from Denis for this Dreadnots beat tape. Those dudes have always had a deft hand with the sampling and a tangible love for the art you can feel with every song, and this collection is no exception. Thanks a ton from "you know who you are" for sending this our way and letting us share the love.

Enjoy Holy M Blue P!


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Friday, July 14, 2023

Sandpeople - Sandpeople Present... (2006)

 


This week's post comes courtesy of a great request from Dimxsk - Sandpeople's "Present" compilation from 2006. 

"Present" is a Japanese released compilation from the NW Sandpeople collective that served as a sampler of the group's output up until that point (in addition to some tracks from upcoming projects.) The project has tracks from the group's previous crew albums as well as tracks from solo/offshoot projects. Notably, the project also contains some radio edits up front in addition to three tracks that you can only find on this release.

One of the exclusive tracks is called "Out of My Head" and is a solo Gold joint, likely meant for a solo Gold album that was intended to drop much sooner than his actual solo album debut from 2011. The other two tracks, "Chunky Salsa" and "Def Shepard," are tracks from an offshoot collabo duo between Al-One and Jon The Baptist known as "Soul Shepards." The Soul Shepards had a planned album (the inner notes to this CD promote it as upcoming,) but it unfortunately never dropped. Jon The Baptist ultimately got kicked from the group which may have added to the issue (and years later Al-One found himself in hot water with the crew too.) I'm not sure how much of the planned album actually got recorded but if there's any more tracks out there, I hope we get them someday. We got a complete unreleased McJameson album out of the blue earlier this year - so who knows?! 

Various members of the Sandpeople have said that another crew album is not gonna happen. Mo-B and Ethic retired. Gold, Sapient, Al, and Only have all been very quiet in recent years. Spark lives in Hawaii now I believe. $imple has made a pretty prolific comeback in recent years with some great music (though it's not typically what you'd think of as Sandpeople.) Iame moved across the country and has been steadily releasing music (vocal and instrumental) as Wool See. Illmaculate, now in LA I think, is of course the biggest name amongst the crew and has been doing bigger battles, writing for commercials, and putting out solo music of his own. Hopefully one day we can see the SP unite one more time. 

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Notes: 

- Saskatoon and Side Road member Rove drops his new album "Poke The Bear" today. The feature list is ridiculous and includes Ceschi, Myka 9, AJ Suede, Mickey Avalon, Sole, 2Mex, Awol One, Giovanni Marks, Mestizo, Moka Only, Thesis Sahib, Noah23, Gel Roc, Staplemouth, MC Homeless, Jihad the Roughneck MC and more. 

- Earlier this week, Epic dropped his first official single in a long while entitled "Lawson." The single is produced by Maki and features the B-Side track, "It Is What It Is" featuring Gregory Pepper and produced by Aries. The songs are part of a vinyl release set to drop later this year on El Gran E Records. 

Friday, July 7, 2023

Onry Ozzborn - Duotvpe Revamped (2016)

 


 

Premier and Guru.  Lateef and Lyrics Born. Ceschi and Factor. Mike and Jamie. Peanut butter and jelly. Grape jelly. And Dimxsk and Trylemma. Yeah it's about to be one of those posts.

Anyway what was that? You're probably thinking I clicked here to download this dope Onry Ozzborn remix album and now I gotta read more nonsensical shit from Dimxsk. But this particular download has a history.

Flash back to 2016. I had just recently acquired the means to rip analog albums onto digital files and was loving it. Like many of you I have built quite a collection of free lathes, exclusive physical only tapes and OOP vinyl just to have it without the means to easily listen to it.

So I was stoked about my newfound ability to share rare shit, and this album was my very first rip and very first share. I went onto a C-Box somewhere and basically asked who wanted it, and one of those folks was Trylemma.

So essentially this album is what led to the collaborative effort that is UGF, with T mainly handling the acquisition side of things and myself handling the ripping. I think it's led to some very exciting media being preserved and allowed to circulate freely to those of us who were too young to appreciate it when it dropped and then vanished forever, or those of us who just want to listen to super indie rare music on an iPhone.

Seeing it up here finally is pretty cool. I've been holding it back because a) it's really cool b) and I wasn't too sure how Fake Four Inc. might feel about it being out there. If they'd prefer just let us know and we'll take it down.

But this album is pretty damn awesome. The remix of "Flee the Colony" in particular is IMO IIRC even better than the original, and the exclusive Ceschi track is one of his dream pop masterpieces.

There's tons of good stuff on here, including the original tape hiss in 320 kbps glory! Enjoy friends and thanks for continuing to follow us on this journey.


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