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

New Music: Factor - Time Invested II

 

20 years ago, the GOAT producer Factor Chandelier, comin' straight outta Saskatoon, dropped his first official solo album, "Time Invested." Now, 20 years later, we finally get the sequel!

"Time Invested II" not only celebrates Factor's longevity in the game, as well as his birthday (the date on which the original and sequel dropped,) but also very successfully re-taps into the atmospheric folky prairie-hop that ran through the original (which a healthy dose of synths to update things.) 

On vocals, Factor calls upon some MCs who appeared on the original - Kirby Dominant, Sunspot Jonz, Kay The Aquanaut, Eligh, and Moka Only - as well as voices that have come to become Factor staples - Awol One, Ceschi, Def3, Myka 9. 

Everything about "Time Invested II" flows together so smoothly and both takes you back to the good ol days of 2000s underground rap while also continually proving how forward-thinking Factor is as an artist. Pay what you want for it below!

Time Invested II

Kayaquatic (Kay the Aquanaut) - Day Dreamin' (1999)

Today's another Friday at Underground Fossils which means we're sharing a rarity with y'all, and it doesn't get much more obscure than this. In honor of the recent release of Kay the Aquanaut & Maki's psychedelic rap album Earth Station 7, we decided to share with you guys this particular example of Kay's roots as a rapper.

Day Dreamin' is his 1999 album under the name Kayaquatic, and to be honest I haven't even heard all of it yet. We had prepared a post of an album allegedly by Kay the Aquanaut called Day Dreamin', but at the 11th hour Trylemma got in touch with Chaps looking for the official cover art. Chaps informed us that the rip floating around is an unofficial version with a fan made cover (see below). It's incomplete, this is the original version, ripped for us by Chaps himself late last evening. Shouts out to the man, he's awesome.

Anyway, this album was produced by DJ Ring Worm, aka DevoTea, put out on WermWhole productions (which probably isn't a label at all) and is a must have for fans of Side Road, Fake Four, Factor, Chaps, good hip-hop in general. Enjoy!

Download

Note: The artwork featured above is the unofficial cover, made by whoever compiled the version floating around the net. It's actually pretty cool so I figured why not post it. If you made it I'm guessing you did your best to recreate the album off Limewire or whatever, so now you have the full version.

New Music: Kay the Aquanaut & Maki - Earth Station 7

"Where you're going there are no bodies, just energy."

It's that time again. The stars and moon have aligned according to secret, ancient prophesies and Kay the Aquanaut has emerged from his hideout on the snowy Canadian plains to bring you another Maki produced joint. It's Wednesday again at UGF and this is Dimxsk, experiencing the new album and giving you his thoughts.

From the first track Earth Station 7 washes over the listener, with interesting sonic landscapes and thought provoking psychedelia. Kay's topics are familiar to his fans and yet stranger than ever, ranging from celestial love songs to treatises on shamanism/theology, and of course to the use of
 and reverence for psychedelics. Maki has moved away a bit from his mostly guitar and piano driven live instrumentation (see his work with soso and Nobs) to a more trap influenced sound, liberally using reverbed pads and strings to float the lyrics home.

Where Kay's previous work with Maki had a very folky feel, this album is much more spacey and electronic. I did enjoy the sound of the previous albums for their effortless uniqueness and subtle instrumentation, but this is no doubt a solid album. It is not just a remake of the duo's previous efforts which, in a world where formulas are valued, is a huge plus. Kay & Maki will never be afraid to offer the listener something new.

Get the digital album from the man himself here, as a pay what you want download. Kay's dope like that.

For an EP version plus instrumentals of some of the albums highlights check out Audio Recon's lathe cut release of the album here. Also, Hello.L.A. put out more limited edition cassettes, so no excuses for sleeping on this one!