Gestalt Collective - Scrimmage 1 (2009)

 

 

Some rare Canadian hip hop tunes on this one, thanks to Trylemma for the hook. Not sure where it comes from but Ira Lee, Moka O and Royal-T make appearances.

Enjoy, and I'm out!

DOWNLOAD

 

 

Pigsty - Wondering If Theo Got Bad Grades... (2008)

 

This is another one of those gems that I don't know much about - Pigsty's 2008 release "Wondering If Theo Got Bad Grades..."

Pigsty is a Canadian rapper from Vancouver. He gained recognition for being a pretty prolific KOTD battle rapper about a decade ago. He never really reached the top tiers, but he did become involved with Avocado's Ruin Your Day brand, though I haven't really heard from him recently in any capacity.

"Wondering If Theo Got Bad Grades" is a 2008 album/mixtape and is the only release I have from Pigsty. I have no recollection where I got it from and I have no idea what the roll out for this was. It definitely has a late 2000s underground West Coast vibe to it which is fun. Some cheap but bouncy beats with some short verses that rarely outstay their welcome. 

DL below and let me know if you have any information about the project (or Pigsty currently in general!) 

Wondering If Theo Got Bad Grades...

NOTES:

Be sure to check out Factor Chandelier's new album that dropped today, "Moving Like A Planet."

Not sure if you've been following RAP Ferreira (fka milo) recently, but the man has dropped two projects in the last couple of weeks. One, "Lilac Diesel," is a tape that Ferreira recorded in the back of his record store. The other, "KEF 33," is an early version of Ferreira's "Purple Moonlight Projects." What's unique about these releases is that they're only available via Ferreira's site and are supposedly never hitting streaming. The vinyl pre-orders for both are sold out and what's also unique is that Ferreira has set a limited amount of digital copies (1000) available (though it's obviously not too hard to track them down elsewhere if you try.) "Lilac Diesel" sold out digitally and "KEF 33" is getting close, so if you want to support, head Ferreira's way HERE.

On a Ruby Yacht related note, Pink Navel and Kenny Segal recently announced an upcoming collabo album entitled "How To Capture Playful." The release date and tracklist has yet to be revealed, but check for it soon. Segal is coming off some big hype after his most recent Billy Woods, so hopefully this can continue the train. 

The guy Open Mike Eagle is celebrating the 10 year anniversary of his album, "Rappers Will Die Of Natural Causes," with a vinyl re-release of the project complete with new artwork and two bonus tracks. This is a bit strange since the album came out in 2011 - so we're a little late on the anniversary haha. Signed copies sold out on OME's Bandcamp, but I believe normal copies of the re-release are available in most online stores today. (Dessa is also re-releasing her "Parts of Speech" on vinyl for the album's more timely 10th anniversary.) 

After a comeback in the new decade, label favorite Ooohh! That's Heavy is finally on Bandcamp and apparently operating more as an entity of its own (apart from Audio Recon, despite the two still being partners.) Today they dropped a vinyl release of Glenn Porter's 2008 album "Blessed By A Young Death." Check it out HERE. 

This week, $imple (aka THNDTHF) of The Sandpeople decided to throw up a fully unreleased album from McJameson (fka Clockwerk - Iame and Goldini Bagwell of The Sandpeople.) A McJameson album was teased a lot back in the day, but things never came to fruition and I didn't even know that the project was essentially done. Thank you to $imple for bringing this to light. Cop the new album "Barrel Aged" HERE. 

Finally, one week from today we're getting a new album from none other than SmokeM2D6 from Oldominion. This is Smoke's first solo album in over 16 years and not only did he produce it but he's back to rapping on it as well! For those NW junkies, you'll appreciate the guestlist which includes Iame, Claud Six, JFK, Bishop I, and others! Cop a vinyl of the project via K-Recs HERE. 

Breaking Ground: Quote - Self Effacer (2013)

 

There's no shortage of artists out there, both past and present, whose music combines the sounds of Hip Hop and more folksy guitar driven sounds. There seems to be some strong connection that ties the roots of Hip Hop and Folk together. Perhaps it's the histories of personal story-telling that both genres share, or the importance traditionally placed by both genres on lyricism (above other aspects of the music.) Whatever it is, a lot of it works for me and I think the same goes for Dimxsk - Ceschi, for example, is a key name for the both of us. This week, Dimxsk passed me an album that fits into this tradition: Quote's "Self Effacer" from 2013. 

Quote is a rapper, producer, and singer from Victoria, Canada, though I am told he now resides in South Korea. Quote wrote and produced the entirety of "Self Effacer," an album which appears to be his debut. The project is a solemn dark recording of Quote's struggles with alcoholism and how such struggles played out in his personal life and relationships. 

The album, which consists of ten tracks, is formatted in an interesting way. Half of the tracks are fairly standard Hip Hop cuts with rapping and half of the tracks are more bluegrassy folk songs with singing. The album begins with a rap track, then follows up with a Folk tune, then another rap track and so forth. The project as a whole leans much more towards the folky side, however, as the majority of the rap tracks are very acoustic guitar driven. Without yet getting into the details, this basic format threw me off a bit. I think the root cause of this is my feeling that Quote doesn't really tie the two sounds together very well. On the rap tracks, he is very much in rap mode and on the singing tracks, he's very much in that mode. By simply having odd number tracks be Hip Hop songs and even number tracks be Folk songs - it brings light to this divide (as if this was the only way Quote knew how to mesh the sounds) but nothing sonically really combines well or blends smoothly. On the one track where these sounds do meet face to face, on the nearly seven minute "Autumn," Quote essentially just performs a long Folk ballad and then seemingly tacks on a sped up rap verse for the last minute. In terms of just general style, things feel a bit disjointed. 

The individual rap and Folk sounds themselves are not bad, however. Though, I can't say I am extremely impressed by either. In terms of rapping, Quote has a pretty straight-forward flow and chosen cadence that he reuses throughout the rap tracks. Vocally, he sounds a lot like Buck 65 with a dash of Jonny 5 of the Flobots. Quote unfortunately, however, lacks the more complex and engaging rap styles of the former artists. It definitely seems like a lot of his raps may have begun as ideas for non-rap songs but were tinkered and put to a basic rap flow. The rap beats leave a bit to be desired too. Often, it seems like there was a rough guitar driven track and then a drum machine was thrown behind it with some electronic clicks and clacks here and there. 

On the Folk and singing side of things, I like Quote a bit more. He has a pretty good voice and while the melodies don't always hit, when they do, they hit hard. While I'm not very familiar with the genre, I do enjoy the sound of Quote's bluegrass takes. I do think there was some room for some more experimentation sonically, however, on these tracks (most of the "eclectic" sounds come on the Hip Hop tracks.) There's a really nice electronic break after the hook on "Man Down The Road," that might be the best sounding thing on the track. But it isn't given much life. 

The standout Hip Hop track and the standout Folk track are actually back to back near the end of the album. On "Calculated Sacrifice," Quote deviates slightly from his standard rap delivery and goes a bit off-kilter with his cadences which is nice. This is accompanied by some airy synths and jittery drums that give some unique flavor to the song. Then, on "The Killer," Quote sings us a haunting death country tune with a beautiful ethereal hook comprised of just "Whoas." I would have loved to hear more things that followed the formulas of these two respective songs.

While the sounds and formatting of the album may not entirely work for me, I am very impressed by Quote's brute lyricism. The album's opener, "On The Breakwater," sets the stage of Quote's reflection on his life of alcoholism and the day to day, sometimes second to second, tribulations that it has brought him ("It's the silent screaming halogens burning in traffic lights/It's the alcohol fevers and purges that warm the night.") 

What's particularly engaging about Quote's story here is that, from what I can tell, it isn't necessarily one of redemption, optimism, or even necessarily hope. On "Burdensome" and "Man Down The Road," Quote expresses some hope that things will be better in the future once some recovery milestone(s) is reached, but he also acknowledges that such milestones are unrealistic and/or that such milestones won't actually bring him what he is looking for ("I'll make a record once I graduate that's a long shot/I'll be happy once I'm done, that's a nice thought" on "Burdensome.") Instead of such hopefulness, we're given a very bleak and intimate look into Quote's reality - one of anxiety ("On The Breakwater,") painful monotony ("Break Don't Bend,") isolation ("At A Distance,") and lost passions ("Burdensome.") Powerful moments are found on "Call Me Out," where Quote expresses that he's content with even the pity from those he was once close to, and "The Killer," a great story-telling track where Quote is put on trial as both the victim and perpetrator of a crime. 

Despite the darkness here, there is some true basic beauty to be found in Quote's lyrics, perhaps just in the mere honesty of reflection that he shares. There is some acceptance in his words, but it's not necessarily the acceptance you might treat as a "first step" towards some recovery (though it may very well be that as well,) but rather the acceptance that helps briefly mute the chaos of the world - which may be sufficient for Quote. 

As noted, I believe "Self Effacer" is Quote's debut project (or at the very least an early release from him.) Bandcamp shows that he has made at least two other projects since this release. While "Self Effacer" doesn't quite work for me overall, I am interested to hear where Quote takes his sounds (hopefully finding a better way to combine them and build on them) and his overall story. Peep the album, and download it for free, below!

Self Effacer

The Yesmen - No (2013)

 

Gotta do a quick one this week, I got myself some kittens recently and they want attention and they're funnier and more adorable than my computer so I'm gonna give it to them.

But for now, here's an offering from Royal-T and Nevamind. They did another album for Hand'Solo Records a while back, which wasn't bad (this also includes a better background on the group than I would ever write). This one is, however, in my opinion better with more variety in sound and better production.

Royal-T was a fantastic rapper and I have it on good authority he was a good dude too. For those of you who weren't aware he passed away in 2016 leaving behind a crew full of folks who loved him and the rare but devoted fans who did as well. This album was released before that when he was at the peak of his creativity and clearly enjoying making music with the homies.

I hadn't posted this up until now because it was available on the Deepcave blog, but it looks like it got taken down and replaced with a bit of a devotional page to T and his talents and interests. Worth a look so here.

Enjoy No!

DOWNLOAD

 

 

DJ Neoteric - Indie-Cent Exposure: Part 3 - 3 The Hard Way (2005)

 

And here we are with the third and (final?) installment in the Indie-Cent Exposure series from Canadian DJ Neoteric. 

Neoteric saved the best for last in my opinion with this one. Nearly every track on here is by a Canadian act and everything really flows and blends together nicely. On top of that, Neoteric blesses us with the most exclusives he's given us yet - with specialized verses from the likes of Def3, Governor Bolts, Pip Skid, Cam The Wizzard, Josh Martinez, John Smith, Yy, Gumshoe Strut and many more! 

Enjoy (thanks to UGDN for the scene rip!) 

Indie-Cent Exposure: Part 3 - 3 The Hard Way

Fourth World - Powerhouse (2006)

 

 

 Canadian's answer to CVE Fourth World Occupants released one full length official album on CD I know of and that's Powerhouse. If you're a fan of that early 2000's hardcore hip hop flavor with chill grooves, clever lyrics and descriptions of good times with the homies then this one's for you. Brought to you by Emotionz, Deps Pneumonik, Big Rowd, and Lace with production from House One.

This one is starting to look it's age but for those of us who still remember a time when rappers had more face than tat it sure ain't bad. And who knows maybe some under 20s will find they like it. Probably not though lol.

DOWNLOAD

 

 

DJ Neoteric - Indie-Cent Exposure Part 2: The B-Side (2004)

 

And here we are with the second installment in DJ Neoteric's "Indie-Cent Exposure" series!

With this one, we have some key underground tracks from the time from the likes of Ephin, Epic, Styles of Beyond, and Awol One. Plus some exclusive verses dropped specially for this project from Cee!!!!!, Kaboom, Birdapres, Kunga 219, and others! Enjoy! 

Indie-Cent Exposure Part 2: The B-Side

Buck 65 - Heck (2008)

 

 

I'm back! Wish I could say I had a restful few weeks off, but I'm a shitty liar lol. Anyway thanks to Trylemma for taking up the slack and the kind wishes from everyone, it really did mean a lot and helped me keep my head up.

That said I'm keeping today's post short and easy. In celebration of getting one of my most frustrating holy grails from not one but TWO folks (the rest of you I'm just waiting for explicit permission and then it's going out to the ether) I'm going to throw this one out there I've been saving for a special occasion. Another little Buck 65 mixtape from the late aughts created so's to eat on tour I believe. It's pretty good, albeit this is his "I'm a rapper who doesn't like rap" phase I think, a la "Roadhouse Blues".

Enjoy Heck!

DOWNLOAD

 

 

DJ Neoteric - Indie-Cent Exposure (2003)

 

For this week's upload we're going mixtapey with DJ Neoteric's "Indie-Cent Exposure" from 2003.

Mixtapes have gone through phases. They once referred to cassette compilations. They then evolved into compilation blends of sorts. From there, they transformed into either (A) a collection of more free-flowing tracks that a rapper would use to typically spit over other rappers' beats and/or (B) a collection of exclusive tracks or debut tracks that DJs would use to promote themselves and the rappers involved. From there, mixtapes turned into essentially free albums where it became difficult to distinguish, based solely on sound, between what was a "mixtape" and what was an "album." Now the term is a bit of a meme. 

Anyhow, Neoteric's "Indie-Cent Exposure" falls into a mixture of the first couple of examples. On it, the Canadian DJ gives us some exclusive verses from Tachichi and Cee!!!! up front before transitioning into some light blends of indie rap tracks of the time from the likes of Busdriver, DOOM, Edan, Josh Martinez, El-P and others. We even get a bunch of short silent tracks at the end to build up to the "secret" Young Joseph tune haha. 

Neoteric dropped a handful of these "Indie-Cent Exposure" mixtapes and while this one is fun, it's probably my least favorite of the bunch. Tune in throughout the month, though, for the other installments!

Indie-Cent Exposure

Dead Indians - Indian Affairs (2005)

 

 

Well it's a new year and a new beginning for UGF. Trylemma is back in effect and as you read last week we now have a biweekly(ish) segment we're calling Breaking Ground where we introduce each other to music we're not familiar with and record the results for posterity. I promise you that it will not only be as (hopefully) interesting to read as our old, obsolete New Album posts (with a cooler on brand name) but I think it's safe to say that if one of two heads with collections going back to the turn of the century hasn't heard something chances are many of you haven't as well, meaning most of us are probably going to discover some classics we've been sleeping on for years.

That said... ground isn't getting broken this week. Soon my friends.

 Anyway, as much fun as I sometimes have writing this blog I have to admit that I also do it for some selfish reasons. For one thing I got good people like DJ Kaohtix sending me music from my public wantlist and in the process giving me new shit I wasn't aware of. Some of you who've been viewing UGF since the beginning (2019, before the world moved on...) remember I made a promise to share that stuff with ya'll, and I'm seriously doing it one week at a time. So here's a great one from our neighbor to the North, Dead Indians on Indian Affairs.

This one is fire. Political hip hop from the Indigenous perspective. Homemade sound and mastering quality but the lyrics are dope and the passion is real. Definitely an important piece of Winnipeg rap, and try as I might I couldn't get any decent background info on this. They all sound so young it's hard to be sure who is who, and I don't know anyone from that areas real names which is all the album art drops on us.

DJ Moves does a halfway decent mini-interview over at Living Underwater here. I'll just end with that so enjoy!

DOWNLOAD

 

 

Manik - 1derful Mixtape (2009)

 

Happy New Year's everyone! Before we get to today's post, quick note. Moving forward, Dimxsk and I (being back) will be doing something new for the blog this year entitled, "Breaking Ground." Essentially, every other week, we'll take turns listening to a rec from the other, that we have not heard before, and giving our brief thoughts about it. This could range from newer stuff we've never heard of to oldies that we haven't gotten around to for one reason or another. Dimxsk is gonna start things off next week with a recommendation I have cooking up for him. If anyone has suggestions, feel free to let us know! 

As for today's upload, we've got Manik's "1derful Mixtape" from 2009. We've posted some Manik before, but for those who don't know, he is a Vancouver, CA rapper perhaps best known for his work with DJ Sichuan (as the Sunday Skool Dropouts) and his battles with KOTD.

The "1derful Mixtape" is a project that Manik dropped I believe on his website back in 09. It is definitely a product of that time period and, upon re-listening, had me remembering back to the good ol' Datpiff days. The tape has Manik spitting verses over popular beats of the time, complete with blends and DJ drops lol! While this isn't going to blow your mind (it's not on the Lil Wayne level of mixtapes,) it might still have some of the better raps that Manik has spit over the years. The guestlist is fun too, with appearances from Jeff Spec, Evil Ebenezer, DJ Sichuan, and Joey Stylez amongst others.

DOWNLOAD

New Music: Andrre - Lac Noir EP

 

 

Well, I figured it's been a while since I did a review post and I managed to unearth an album I bet most of you (outside the Francophone world at least) were probably sleeping on, so here goes...

Andrre is one of my favorite rappers. He has one of the most interesting voices in indie rap, bursting with personality and subtle coolness. I always come away from an Andrre tune feeling like I just heard the unfortunate but ultimately uplifting life story of the Canadian badass sitting with me at the bar. I've never thought anyone could truly hate this guys music, he's just got so many perfect songs. Take "Big Jet Plane (Zoen Remix)", a gorgeous re-imagining of the Angus and Julia Stone tune. Or "The Fades", a Degiheugi produced, piano driven masterpiece that literally gives me chills every time I hear it. (I found out where the sample comes from, and it's truly unbelievable. One of the most genius uses of a sample I've ever heard.).

All that said, I realize that like me many of his English speaking listeners are probably not aware of his work with X-Ray Records and the resulting EP here. I stumbled onto it after really falling in love with Degiheugi's production (basically ever since hearing "Keeping the Memory Alive" which has one of my favorite beats of all time I believe) and I don't know if it was ever promoted to his hip hop listeners or posted to any Bandcamp account.

So let me be the first to break the great news! Lac Noir is the first Andrre release since the excellent 2019 EP Dichotomie out on French label Dora Dorovich, and for those of us in the know it's been a long wait. I don't have much to say about this little EP, mostly I was just excited to find it and share it with everyone who might have missed it. Most important to mention is that Andrre has moved away from rap driven tunes. This is essentially a collection of indie folk songs, but this Beatles / Radical Face-esque offering brings with it all of his emotional turmoil, playful innocence and fearless self exploration in the form of his poetry and melodies. It is very very good, while also very very short.

 

You can pick it up from iTunes, or stream the whole thing here on YouTube. I'm so used to linking to Bandcamp it feels incomplete not to, but I guess that's it. Hope everyone's staying out of this crazy weather!

Enjoy!

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!

 

DOWNLOAD

 

 

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!) 

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!

DOWNLOAD

 

 

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!

 

DOWNLOAD

 

 

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.

DOWNLOAD

 

 

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: 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.

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