New Music: R.A.P. Ferreira - the Light Emitting Diamond Cutter Scriptures

 

RAP Ferreira (fka milo) blessed us with a black friday drop this past week in the form of a new album, "the Light Emitting Damond Cutter Scriptures."

While the name-change may have been for search purposes, Ferreira definitely has a more confident and free approach to sounds since adopting the new name. The flows have become simultaneously more fluid and more forceful while the content seems to be more focused without losing too much of the stream of consciousness.

Peep Pink Navel, Eldon, Vast Ness, and Nalepa on the beats amongst others. Peep the album below!

the Light Emitting Diamond Cutter Scriptures

Estrella - The Good Mixtape (2007)

Happy Black Friday! For those of you outside America, in the US today is the day after Thanksgiving which kicks off the Christmas shopping season. This involves time honored and cherished traditions like assaulting retail workers ears with brainless Christmas music, the Slow Shopper Curb Stomp and my personal favorite, ye ol' filling up of the inbox with spam offers from stores you made single specific purchases at 15 years ago and always forget about until this special day rolls around again. For example, did you know that "Careless Whisper Garden Gifts" is having a 75% off sale on all carrier oils?

In all seriousness I'm writing this on Thanksgiving, which as many Americans become more sensitive to the history and feelings of others is becoming a more and more complicated holiday. I'm taking some time today to think about the people who lived where I'm writing this before they were systematically removed through violence, systemic racism and disease. Maybe I can view this holiday more as an opportunity to be thankful for the fact that despite that we have a very diverse country, as opposed to the opportunity to be thankful that a few white people didn't starve to death and celebrated it through a massacre. Hopefully that's not too preachy. It is, at least, sincere on my end.

Speaking of positivity (sort of), today's share is from Bellingham, WA's own Estrella, a collaborative effort between Taybot and Dusk, currated by DJ Seawa. As usual I know very little about these folks but a quick search turned up a MySpace with an article that I think sums up nicely why they fit into what I'm talking about today. I've included that screenshot in the download because it's a well written article that sums this up nicely.

So enjoy The Good Mixtape's good vibes, and stay safe out there this holiday season!

 

DOWNLOAD

 

 

New Music: Mild Child - I Hope You Make it Out Alive (Single)

 

 

Today I wanted to quickly direct your attention towards something really really special. This is not necessarily hip hop, full disclosure, but when I had the chance to hear this song "I Hope You Make it Out Alive" by vocalist / multi-instrumentalist / producer / songwriter Mild Child I was immediately up for promoting it in any way I could. This is possibly the weirdest most intriguing song I've heard in a while and I really believe it suggests strongly that theirs is a career to watch out for.

If you've never heard of Mild Child that's because his name is actually Ryan Liptak. He plays, sings and produces for UGF's best homies Happy Tooth & Dug and I think he deserves a significant amount of credit for the unique sound they've cultivated as a live band, which is made clear when one listens to his newest musical endeavor.

From the beginning this song caught my attention and kept it in chains, becoming a perfect metaphor for the subject matter itself. It starts off with an eerie and incredibly unsettling synth, but with the advent of Ryan's warm vocal tones the song becomes almost instantly an intimate and emotional experience, oscillating between light and dark, deep blue and red velvet. Syrupy guitar playing, mature and relatable lyrics (let's face it if you love music enough to land here I think you're the type to know exactly what he's singing about), a beautiful and soulful voice and crazy creative percussion work keep things interesting and fun while still maintaining that cognitive death grip and a level of seriousness that gives the song the weight it truly deserves.

Rarely do I get the pleasure of promoting something I seriously believe could blow up in the mainstream. Mild Child fills a vacuum in music I didn't realize was there and I think most people could feel the same way. This is high praise in my opinion. Beautiful work here, do yourselves a favor and give it a listen! Available now.

Check out "I Hope You Make it Out Alive" here to stream and here to buy. See ya'll Friday!

Josh Martinez - Archived Rap Music (2004)

 

Today's upload is a tour mixtape courtesy of Josh Martinez, "Archived Rap Music" from 2004! 

Josh Martinez has got to be one of the most likable guys in indie rap. He's been gracious enough to talk to me at the merch booth about super nerdy rap stuff on various occasions lol and always has a smile on his face. "Archived Rap Music" is one of the many tour mixtapes that Martinez had back in the day (this one was on a tour with Awol One I think.) Something unique about Martinez is that he was always updating his mixtapes while on tour, so tracklistings vary even amongst the same release title. 

Anyhow, the tracklisting here includes deep album cuts, features, then-unreleased tracks, and several live on radio tracks which are especially cool. 

Martinez is now focused on running a weed business up here which is super cool. There is still a pretty much done Chicharones album though that we still need to hear!

Archived Rap Music

New Music: Style Misia - Soul By The Pound

 

The old heads will remember west coaster Style Misia for his various classic collabos with Daysmen Empire, Scarub, and Constylations amongst others. Well, the man is still hard at work putting out solo projects and today's post comes from his new beat-tape, "Soul By The Pound"! 

"Soul By The Pound" is a 15 track instrumental project, with no most tracks clocking in around the 2 minute or less mark. The project is soulful, jazzy, and sample-based. There's nothing super innovative, but nearly all the songs do their job and don't outstay their welcome. 

Peep it HERE! 

Knuck Feast - Knuck Feast (2007)

 

 

For some reason, when I listen to Ceschi's rap I find myself reminded strongly of the Georgia crunk legend Lil' Feisty. The similarities are undeniable although it couldn't possibly be the same man who wrote the ultra depressing "Bad Jokes" and the ultra violent "Huntin' Season". Although they can both rap with precision at extremely high speeds.

Anyway, since everyone already knows that this record is basically Ceschi and David Ramos I'm gonna just stop with the theatrics. If you're unfamiliar, this is pretty much the only full length album where you can hear these brothers go hard as fuck, albeit with some of the most ridiculous lyrics you've ever heard put to beats. It is very much a fun listen though, and since I just discussed the polar opposite release This Guitar Was Stolen Along with Years of Our Lives on Tuesday I figured what the hell.

Not sure if this is available for download anywhere. I'm gonna put it up here until the police make me remove it ;-).

DOWNLOAD

 

 

New Music: Ceschi - This Guitar was Stolen Along with Years of Our Lives

 

 

Well, Trylemma and myself, along with anyone else who preordered Ceschi's final trilogy of albums on vinyl got a surprise email earlier this week from the man himself. Imagine my surprise when while scrolling through it I realize it contains a download of a completely new unheard collection of songs! No shit right?!

By this point I assume most of you have heard this, and that most of you know what I do at this point. Ceschi really does just keep improving over time. His guitar playing is amazing, his songwriting has matured considerably with every release (especially over the last decade), and what I find most remarkable about this particular collection of songs is that he's managed to blur the lines between folk, punk and rap to such a degree that there is really no way to classify this anymore under any existing genre label.

That said for the most part this is a punk record. In places it's brutal tempo, irreverent go fuck yourself attitude and fast paced guitar make that obvious, in others it's roots are more hidden behind the masterful musicianship and beautiful moments of vulnerability, so unlike the garage thrash antics of the angsty punk rockers of last century.

I call this a punk record for three reasons. One, because Ceschi calls it that on the genre section of the files info, and who am I to argue, two for the structural reasons I state above, and three most of all because it purely embodies the DIY ethic that made punk rock in some ways the only place to find honest rock music at one point in it's history. This Guitar was Stolen Along with Years of Our Lives is the result of a musician needing so badly to say something that they assembled it through blood sweat and tears, without any corrupting influences. Ceschi has always been about that, and it's only been lately that I've seen how very punk that is.

It's interesting to me that at the time this record came out I was slowly reintroducing myself to punk music through the folk punk scene. Get Dead, We the Heathens, Pat the Bunny and related bands, basically everything Bandits Never Die puts out, etc. I never would have bothered if it wasn't for Ceschi and to a lesser extent Sam King fka Lewee Regal and thank you guys. This is a hip hop blog but that doesn't mean we only like hip hop.

So finally, is this a good record. The short answer is yes, the long answer is fuck yes. Basically it combines the maturity and technical skill of Ceschi's split with Pat the Bunny with the genre melding goodness that was Elm Street Sessions and slaps on a layer of professionalism that comes from working with some truly talented individuals (this record seems to have involved more collaboration than either of the other Ceschi guitar driven releases).

I need to give this more time to sink in, but I did think just in case some of you weren't aware that there was a new Ceschi it was worth shouting it out. If you like music you will probably like this. That's it.

Get This Guitar was Stolen Along with Years of Our Lives right here as a pay what you want download because Ceschi really is that cool.

Elevated Elements - Progress (2001)

Today's upload is an OG release from everyone's favorite rapper...Professor Macklemore!!!! 

Elevated Elements was a Hip Hop crew (not limited to musicians) featuring Lace, Lyes, EE, Finger Prints, Exakt, and an early Macklemore. The project is pretty much what you'd assume an underground 2000s rap crew album would sound like. Lots of lyrical miracle spiritual raps, west coast/Blowedian flows, and dusty jazzy beats. It's not gonna blow your mind, but it is a fun listen.

This is a repost from the great JackDevo (RIP Beetbak?) who also ripped this from his copy from back in the day. Since it is no longer available, I figured I'd repost it here. Enjoy!

Progress

 

New Music: Parab Poet - Babelism

 

This week's new one comes via Parab Poet's new album, "Babelism."

Parab Poet is a Saskatoon MC and head of the Hip Hop Hippies (which includes DJ Chaps from Side Road Records.) Recently, he's been putting out some cool beat-tapes, but with the 9 track "Babelism," Parab Poet brings back the raps. And not only the raps, but the beats and mixing as well!

"Babelism" is a reflective life record and features Parab touching upon where he is spiritually, emotionally, and musically in these crazy times. The production isn't the most intricate, but it allows Parab's lyrics and flows to shine. The record also features a verse from the late Zumbi of Zion I.

Check it out!

Babelism