Breaking Ground: Paper Rose Haiku - Paper Rose Haiku

 

 

Damn, Trylemma is back with a bang. Trying to follow a thoughtful post like that last one is going to be a little bit difficult for reasons I will disclose later on. For the moment however, welcome to another edition of "Breaking Ground", our new project were-in we introduce each other to various oddball albums we might not have ever thought to check out before to either give us a new classic or cultivate an interesting post. For my first go at this Trylemma picked the debut self titled EP by Paper Rose Haiku.

So knowing fuck all about this artist I can't give much background. This is the emo-rap alter ego of an artist named Field Medic who normally does more folk type material. They seem to be from LA and apparently spend a lot of time "in the studio with Paper Rose". Lyrically this is an album covering topics of addiction, family, love and loss. It sheds a positive light on very dark times ("Heroes Journey" explores the belief in a just universe when suffering, for example) which makes the artist likable. It's relatable, genuine, and well executed by everyone involved. Paper Rose Haiku seems to be someone recovering from a drug problem and making deep and personal music to try and keep themselves sane and happy.

First I want to go into what I liked about it. I thought the production was very good, although being old I really am not a fan of that trap style percussion that this entire project relies on. I can deal on a song or two when it's used to break up monotony, or if it's a bit more subtle but I really would prefer drum breaks over this emphasis on high hats and claps. That said it's all very catchy, and balances effects with musicianship which this type of music often fails spectacularly at. These days with the caliber of equipment and software available it is very possible to make listenable music with absolutely zero talent as a musician. Especially this effects laden, "trippy" cloud rap. You can bury your off key notes in a haze of phaser and reverb and maybe everyone will be too busy relaxing to it to realize you totally suck. Anyway sorry to go there.

Yeah so the production is beautiful and stirring. The lyrics are relatable and strike a chord with me. The funny thing is how much this guy reminds me of myself in my early twenties. This was back when kratom was something only those of us who called ourselves psychonauts knew anything about. Back when Erowid was still a thing before Reddit. I told Trylemma that I was using that stuff before most people in the Western world knew what it was (we had to order it from specialty shops online), now people march on Washington to keep it available in gas stations... For the record I no longer use it, we're talking fifteen plus years ago. But anyway with some very real, era driven differences this is much like the music I would have, and at times did make back then.

HOWEVER. I actually think I might be allergic to auto-tune. No I'm not trying to make a point or be funny, I actually find auto-tune at this level impossible to enjoy. It sounds synthetic, robotic and abrasive. It is SUCH a shame how heavily it's utilized on this album, because like I said I like the production and I relate to the content and the guy can ACTUALLY sing so why the hell does he need to bury his vocals in mechanical whining? I really think if someone were to remake this album with minimal (maybe some here and there for effect) auto-tune and not as much of this trappy percussion I would really, really like this. Sort of an Otem Rellik crossed with OME with much less impressive lyricism than Mike. But judging by how young Paper Rose Haiku looks in his bio photos I think my main complaints with the album are just what rap is becoming these days, what the kids doing it now grew up listening to, and Trylemma is simply more tolerant than I am for some of these specific things.

All in all this was a lot of fun to do. Breaking Ground was a fresh idea, and UGF needed some fresh ideas and I'm very excited to see what other weird things have been lying under my feet just waiting to be discovered... And don't worry, we still offer downloads. I believe Trylemma's got your back on that next week!

Give Paper Rose Haiku a listen. It's funny doing this review and skimming it a second time I'm liking it more than I did before. Who knew?

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!

New Music: Chief and TheDoomsdayDevice - Flux Populi

Thanks for your patience! Home from work now, tired but UGF must live on! And frankly I'm excited about this because from my first listen I'm as fresh as I was at 8 am this morning. We got a line on it from Th' Mole, who's beats grace this and grace it well. Flux Populi is Chief and TheDoomsdayDevice, coming out only on Fake Four Inc. on May 6th.

I'll just say this. Th' Mole is known for his off the wall personality and I think it may be off-putting to some people. But to be fair this guy can produce like crazy (and he's not a bad rapper either), and lately the material I've been hearing from his Weird Rap label is pretty much exactly what I look for in hip hop. This is no exception. Chief and TheDoomsdayDevice's (let's call him C&TDDD from now on) lyrical commentary on the modern world, politics, mental health, etc are perfectly backed by Th' Mole's relentless industrial barrage. The result is an unsettling dream in the form of music, and it is definitely worthy to come out on Fake Four Inc., my favorite label.

That's all I got. Time to crash!

 

Check back on Fake Four Inc. here on May 6th for a quick dose of something dope and interesting.

 

 

New Music: Thorts & Haunted Days - Hanky Man

 

 

This is the one guys. Give me a second though to provide the context.

It's probably well known at this point that Australia's own Thorts is a friend of UGF. He's always happy to share his work with us and refers countless other folks over for promo posts as well, always great music and always great people. His credentials are solid as hell in the indie world as well, he's done songs with everyone from Fang Over Fist's master beatsmith Whatever Cecil to Staplemouth. Pretty much if you and I like even a little bit of the same music you already like Thorts, whether or not you know it.

My only real issue (although it's actually made reviewing much easier for the 60 hour work week dudes like myself) is the length of his releases. I at least like everything he puts out but I often find myself really wanting a nice meaty helping of his quirky / dark personality and excellent taste in production, he does tend to put out a lot of nice bite sized offerings but often not long enough to really fall in to. We last got that with 2020's Weightlifters with Smokey131 which was as refreshing and different as it was dope and dark. If you don't have it yet, give that one a listen here. We get it again on Hanky Man. This is indeed the one.

France's Haunted Days is a great producer as well, I don't want to leave out that fact. I knew this already from their work with Variex on the "Barbwire Necklace" remix with Witches Teat, but this album to me really showcased the beauty and complexity of their compositions. Rarely have I encountered a more "visual" producer. These beats evoke imagery both weird and stunning, and you need to experience that to really get the point I'm trying to make, so here's what they did to someone else's psyche:

So put them together and we have Hanky Man. Thort's old soul aesthetic, darkly comic viewpoint and willingness to be brutally honest (to the point of being a little gross, like on the title track but we forgive him because that shit was funny) pair perfectly with Haunted Days scratchy, dreamy and melodic soundscapes. This album is one of those rare treats where you're really sad when it ends. I don't have much else to say except that the guest roster is perfect, it doesn't rely to heavily on other talent but it makes great use of the cast it has (Nolto especially is as always phenomenal on "Dense", a sociopolitical tirade which is sadly more timely than ever).

Give this a try. I think if you want to get to know Thorts, grab a pair of headphones, your psychoactive of choice (or lack of one of choice), close your eyes and hit play. There's enough that's good here for any fan of hip hop to truly find something they love.

The whole thing drops March 4th, but preorder a cassette at El Gran E Records here (these guys are knocking it out of the park lately... And they've got a Noah23 album coming soon...) if you're outside Australia and get a digital copy here for those of you closer to Thort's home base (but no cassettes anymore...). Damn that wound up being a very complicated sentence. Whatever, I'm tired it's Monday night. Buy the album!

I gotta do it. I have to at least mention what's happening over in Europe. I wish I could do more but I just want to express solidarity with the Ukrainian people (I am one at least partly), express admiration for the way they've stood up and held on to their homeland and ask myself if I were in that situation if I could do what they have. It's a blessing that we rarely have to fight for the freedom we take for granted in the Western world. But too often I think it makes me forget just how precious it is, and how quickly it can be taken away by paranoid authoritarians and the people who think those dictators are wonderful geniuses.

New Music: Idle Friend - Not So Seasonal Depression

 

 

Okay guys, so you know how sometimes you're bored and you get the urge to surf Bandcamp, basically hoping to find the next Aesop Rock or Ceschi so you can gloat about it with your friends when all of a sudden the scene starts talking about them non-stop? No? You're a better person than me, but we knew that already. Anyway, I did that a few months back and came across this dude Introvert, producing music out of the great state of Florida.

I gotta be honest, I was intrigued by the artwork and the write-up they had at the time, but I honestly wasn't expecting to be especially wowed from the jump. There's a huge amount of emo rap out there, usually working with names like Introvert that sort of blend together. Not bad necessarily, but in a lot of ways I feel like I outgrew them when I left the first half of my 20's behind. I love emotionally honest and real hip hop, but it has to ring true and it cannot be forced. There's too much of that around these days, many artists are keenly aware of the teenage demographic desperate for validation of their growing pains (no hate, this was me all over a few decades ago).

Anyway, this guy is good y'all, he's the real deal. His production is very dope, which definitely elevates the quality but really his poetry is great and what I think makes him most notable. He's honest and open and willing to explore his issues with the listener, although up until this point he has said, and I can see it as well, that much of the details are obscured in metaphor. I need to relisten to his older work a bit more but I do remember finding his turns of phrase interesting and original at least. As for his stage credentials, he's opened for a variety of acts who are well known these days; Jonathan Brown, Sadistik, Raphael Vigilantics etc. but AFAIK he is not well known at all.

Not So Seasonal Depression is his first release under the new name Idle Friend. The story goes that this EP is meant to express his emotional experiences and trauma in a more direct fashion (as opposed to the more metaphorical rhymes he displays on his first two albums), a suggestion made by his therapist. He definitely succeeds there. I devoured this EP while walking Sunday morning, and I have to say it hits hard. Anyone who's struggled heavily with issues surrounding self medication, self abuse, self doubt, self hatred, self esteem, self awareness etc. should see themselves in these words, and hopefully be heartened at the clear message that there is a way through.

I truly loved this EP. The production (handled in bulk by LowKeyBeats except for the exceptional "Consent" which is SPAN PHLY's work) is pretty damn good, but what really makes this a worthwhile listen is Idle Friend's fearless lyricism and willingness to discuss issues that still to this day make most people uncomfortable. One of his favorite tracks on the album (rapidly becoming mine as well with repeated listens) is "Despite Everything" which delivers one of the best hooks I've heard about mental illness in a while:

"Despite everything, and all the pain you've been through, you don't just deserve to live, you deserve to want to."

"Consent" is a track I'm still picking apart but I believe it deals with when we are either compromised against our will, or we compromise ourselves to please someone else. This is a hugely messy and delicate issue to write about, and the song does so with tact and grace. It's just one example of how well Idle Friend handles the deep stuff. I feel like if I can convince you to check this out, both of those tracks deliver the best of what he has to offer and will most likely hook you enough to convince you to at least stream the rest.

This is honest work, clearly a labor of love and a harbinger of great things from an artist really growing into their role as a poet. I can honestly say this album was meaningful to me as someone who's had their share of issues, and I hope that many of you will feel the same. It was great to listen to, great to write about and it'll be great to see how well I believe it's going to be received.

Give it a listen here! And consider supporting someone who could help a lot of people, and also happens to be a great songwriter.

New Music: Jae Krxnalege - 2022 Tape

 

 

In my humble opinion one of the best new(ish) producers working these days is Tsoh Tso, fka Whatever Cecil, the driving force behind Fang Over Fist records and the beatmaker behind An Illustrated Mess. Once again a wonderful Freecember discovery for me, I've grown to truly appreciate the sound he cultivates. Some of his work on albums like Long Distance with Thorts and Does it Matter? by the aforementioned An Illustrated Mess frankly sounds like no one else out there and that's a difficult thing to achieve when the indie world is growing by leaps and bounds every day.

Last week I was made aware of this new one on FOF. Jae Krxnalege is someone who I'd personally never heard of but my respect for the label and desire to support the struggling artist in whatever way I can in these incredibly difficult times drove me to give this a listen and drop a post. It's essentially a beat tape, which is not usually my thing (for some reason I just like vocal hip hop music more, beat tapes tend to feel incomplete to me. This is something I've had endless discussions about but that I really can't explain), but 2022 Tape does feature some rapping on the part of Jae which keeps me focused.

Jae is considered a staple in the Southwestern and Indigenous hip hop communities. He's done producing for a wide variety of indie artists and from the sound of it grinds full time as a rapper. Originally from Shiprock, New Mexico Jae Krxnalege is now working out of Salt Lake City, Utah greatly upping his four corners cred. It does sound like he could use more support and more new ears so before I get started on the review I want to direct everyone to his Spotify and his album. Hopefully at the very least some algorithmic magic can be worked and we can get this dude some attention.

 Anyway 2022 Tape does have the feel of a mixtape moreso than an actual album. The BC page does say that it was thrown together off the cuff and that does make itself apparent in some ways. The production could use some vocals and was clearly made for that purpose (cypher with your friends!) as it has a mellow, humble simplicity to it that is actually soothing and beautiful but a bit somnolent in places.

All that said, these beats are clearly made by a professional. They do indeed have a sound that immediately took me back to the indie rap I fell in love with back in High School. We're talking Madvillain, Lord Quas, Ugly Duckling. That stuff a lot of your friends probably thought was weird but you didn't care. This has that dusty, slightly offbeat charm and makes creative use of sounds (whispers, unorthodox time signatures) to build a chilled out atmosphere.

Jae Krxnalege can rap no doubt as well. We've got a few instances here of his poetry and it does a great job of really showing you the potential these beats have to become dope ass rap tracks as well as showing what he can do. I'm definitely intrigued as songs like "Cold" really showcase what he's capable of. As he plainly states in "Teachable" "I feel I've finally found my purpose and I speak it so" and 2022 Tape shows us that this guy is a jack of all trades hip hop artist, clearly loving the art and doing it for that alone.

This tape is cool. It's not going to blow any minds but I don't think that's the purpose here. What it does is show us a new artist who's been struggling behind the scenes for most of us and cultivating a real amount of talent. Tsoh Tso and Fang Over Fist want to show for those of us outside of the Indigenous community and the Southwest what Jae Krxnalege can do. I'm on board, let's see what he can do with the time and budget he needs.

For $3 this is worth your money. I know he could use the funds and if you can afford it you've got a nice little tape to relax and chill with friends to.

Check it out, here once again!

New Music: Jack Vaul - A Long Where Away

 

 

I had the good fortune to hear this little gem very recently, Mr. Vaul (of Adelaide, AU. Amusingly I neglected to mention much background when I originally posted this lol) was kind enough to drop it to us and I happily accepted the chance to do a post about it. My only other experience with Jack was through his work with Thorts as Thorts & Prayerz which is an amusing but ultimately dope little EP they did together. This is very much a different beast.

A Long Where Away is dark, hard hitting and heavy. Production tends towards melodic, brooding guitar driven dreariness with some moments of beauty, in many cases brought to you by vocalist rainforestcloudmachine like on the jaw dropping album closer "Castles", a meditation on isolation and loneliness which lyrically wouldn't be out of place on Pink Floyd's The Wall.

This seven track EP features a bit of everything for the modern indie rap consumer. Jack can certainly rip shit up crazy like on "Goldfishing" but his storytelling lyricism is notable as well, especially in places like the aforementioned "Castles" and in epic fantasy novel masquerading as hip hop track opener "The Notlands". Add to that some emotional awareness and mix all that up with a clear nice guy personality (he really wants us to get along as he states on "Snapcrackle"), some seriously banging production and catchy melodies and you have a very dope, very enjoyable album.

I'm pretty enthusiastic about dude. To be fair I haven't heard much. But I'm very intrigued. I would say if you're feeling nostalgic for those Sage Francis days and missing Cubbiebear then you're going to like A Long Where Away. And like I said Jack Vaul is super cool so he definitely deserves your ears and support!

Also, this is his first foray into physical albums, and El Gran E Records out of Texas is offering copies for those of you in the USA. Congratulations to him, that's totally awesome. All the rest check out his Bandcamp here, where he's got lots of free stuff as well for those of us who are apparently not getting a Christmas bonus this year and really not happy about it.

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!

New Music: All the World is Kayfabe - Working on Working Myself into a Shoot

 

 

 So I got the real treat of getting to hear in it's entirety the collaborative effort between Errol Hem and CKPITS (yep, the guy from that Dug EP I reviewed a bit ago) as All the World is Kayfabe, Working on Working Myself into a Shoot. Simply put, there is a huge amount going on here and I have only limited time to truly absorb it all, so I'm going to post a quick and dirty promo, review type thingy with the relevant details along with the Dimxsk stamp of approval (a much coveted accolade in music, up there with the elusive "my girlfriends brother said it's dope" and the "my mom didn't immediately say to turn it off" awards.)

So, ahem, STAMP. Check.

Anyway, what this here is is a "metawrestling themed" alt rap record produced by Errol Hem who also provides vocals alongside CKPITS. I actually feel even more out of touch than usual because I don't know what metawrestling is. Let me goggle it. That was unhelpful. Basically it seems to be a gimmick where the scripted action of pro-wrestling collides a bit with the real world aspects of the business. Anyway like I said, a lot to unpack here, and I'm probably not the best person to do that as I know nothing about pro-wrestling. I'm going to leave the concept behind and focus entirely on the artistic merits of the album.

Both of these cats have been doing this a while though, and the end result shows. The production is catchy as hell, with unusual and original bleeps and blips rhythmically dancing around colorful synth noises and the nasal, sarcastic and complex lyrical deliveries of the two emcees. In many places the heavy rap sound and weird interludes give way to moments of true beauty "(Going / Getting) Over", showcasing Errols raw talent as a musician, but all of it manages to flow with the confidence and consistency only years of experience seem to be able to provide.

This is quite a weird one. Going back over it now I'm actually reminded of, in not just the melodic electronic style of production but also the interplay and styles of the two rhymers, one of my favorite hip hop collaborations of all time, Friday Night (Hi-Fidel and Serengeti's pair of adventure concept albums). Both duos consist of rappers who can both rap to impress, or rap to warp the mind and make it look easy the whole time. Basically, just watch this video:

As you can see, this is one of those moments in hip hop where raw creativity meet songwriting prowess and the utter unconcern with convention to birth something truly unusual. I liked this stuff a lot and I suspect many of you will as well, probably some more than me because you might understand it a bit better than I...

Get Working on Working Myself into a Shoot through your favorite digital retailer this coming Halloween, or just do what I always do and get it on Bandcamp (maybe the Bandcamp Friday for November because why the hell not throw them some cash money).

New Music: heir MAX - The Moment-20

 

 

The post for this one basically wrote itself while I listened to this album at work. Spoiler is that I loved it, it's great, and you should get the physical version not only because MAX deserves some cash for this but also because the two bonus tracks are fire and include an unreleased (sort of, Progeny's got it on his Soundcloud I think) Alligator Food song (yes that means some of the last Sixo you'll ever hear) and a new Sixo beat.

So the story is this album was written and recorded during the pandemic. It was released digitally on Sixo's birthday, as heir MAX and Sixo came up together and his death rocked MAX as it did many of his fans and so many other artists. It was offered free as an EP or on physical as a mini-album. I bought the mini album which is why I'm reviewing this a few weeks after it first dropped.

Basically this is flawless. There is nothing I would change about it, from the production to the songwriting to the style to the raw emotion on display. What emerges is a proud, loud introvert with a serious love for all music and an ability and willingness to trade complex styles and intricate wordplay for simple, groundbreaking truth. This is basically what MAX says on his Bandcamp, and while I agree that the easy to grasp lyricism and bare bones emotional weight of this is easily apparent making it very relatable, I would disagree in that the starkness of this offers the listener the option to sort of brush off what he's saying and listen to the sound and enjoy it, or dive in and really understand the pictures he's painting.

Take "Cranium Crack". Almost matter of factly MAX is describing a home life where his mother did everything in her power to make his life as wonderful as she could and hide the darkness while dealing with addiction and poverty. The words are brutal, insightful and sad. The song is catchy as hell, well written and displays some very good rapping on the part of MAX.

The whole EP is like this, with very heavy topics being delivered over irresistibly catchy beats and songwriting. "RALPH"'s tripped out, plodding production provides the perfect soundtrack to a four wheeled smoke session (stationary one though, don't blaze and drive please) while telling the story of a neighborhood taking control of it's police problem. Another standout, in my opinion one of the best tracks on the album partly due to Progeny's FIRE beat, is "No Turning Back", speaking frankly of the difficult life of an indie musician. If you don't buy the CD you can't hear it though... :-(

While it doesn't seem like MAX has much of a back catalogue, (I've got part of an album he did with Sixo and Poindexter way back when, and a collabo called Heir J's as well as a three track DOOM tribute thing) he certainly comes across as someone who knows how to craft his own style of rap. He sounds like virtually no one else out there, and backed by a score of damn talented producers he puts out a 5/5 EP for real.

Definitely buy this. Not kidding.

New Music: CKPITS & Dug w/ Sicksmith - So It Gose

 

 

As many of you know, UGF (or to be more specific the half of UGF that is me) is a huge supporter of Cleveland based rappers Dug and Happy Tooth. And they've been very cool to us as well. I believe it was in our first year that they sent us a humble little EP called All in Your Head which to this day has the most unusual time signatures of any rap I've ever heard. That album was great, and it was a real pleasure to get to speak with them about it, and really cool they wanted to let us in on it before the general public.

I'm not one to break tradition when it's as solid as this. So when Dug sent me his newest EP recently, a trippy little journey called So It Gose (I wonder if anyone's gonna tell him about the spelling error... ;-) ) performed with Minneapolis rapper CKPITS over beats by Hungary based Sicksmith asking for opinions I was overjoyed. I got a chance to listen to the whole thing on the way to work.

What we have here with So It Gose is one of the more interesting things I've heard in a while. Imagine a noise rap record with the goofy sensibilities of Aesop Rock curated by a pair of weirdos spitting syrupy stream of conscious ramblings. The album is abstract, but it also manages to offer up songs that are catchy, ear wormy and most definitely inspire head nodding.

The emcees are great, but I really want to give a shoutout here to producer Sicksmith for being the MVP on So It Gose. Their production has all the heavy plodding darkness of Moodie Black, but with (IMHO) frankly more interesting choices of instrumentation and more creative compositions overall. Sicksmith is one to watch, and their creations craft the character and atmosphere of the album perfectly.

All of the songs are at least fun, although (and here I need to reveal that I'm in my mid-30's so I really think autotune sounds like a nightmarish singing robot dropping out of the sky to murder good music) the autotune on "Wand in the Mist" is unnecessary and moderately annoying, as is 99.9% of all autotune ever.

This album is very very cool. I'm going to leave it at that, I'm not feeling so good today and just really, really really hoping it's not Covid so I can enjoy the upcoming long weekend.

Get So It Gose out September 7th on any of your favorite digital music providers, or be like me and only ever get anything from Bandcamp (Dug's is here). Thanks for reading!

New Music: Volume 10 - Ahkenaten

 

Not much time today, but be sure to peep this new lowkey drop from Blowedian Volume 10. I've only been able to listen once, but Volume is really pushing the envelope sonically and delivery wise these days. Always refreshing to hear from vets.

AHKENATEN

New Music: MC Roughneck Jihad & DJ Awkward - The Return of RAWK

 

 

God there's something so creepy about Awkward's album art. His work with photographs especially tends to look like snapshots of the moment when a dream goes really, really bad.

That said, he's also a phenomenal producer, and together with underground legend and a personal favorite of mine as well they are MC Roughneck Jihad & DJ Awkward. The Return of Rawk is their debut full length album after a few singles they've dropped in the last few years. This album includes those four tracks, as well as two more songs and instrumental versions of all six, so yeah. Get excited now.

And do they disappoint? In my humble opinion not at all. I believe Trylemma actually reviewed one of these singles now that I mention it, so you can take it from us both that this duo kills together. Awkward has proven themself to be versatile to the point of it being a superpower, with the ability to work with emcees as diverse and varied as Open Mike Eagle and Megabusive and still somehow bring out the unique personality of each rapper with ease and style.

Especially in the case of these RAWK tracks, where Roughneck is well known for his choice of beats composed of dusty grimy boom bap samples, and Awkward traffics in electronic, drippy tripped out synths. Unexpectedly, this combos effectiveness is undeniable. They bring out in each other alternate personalities, especially in the case of Jihad. These songs display a new side of the rapper, who's eclectic vocabulary and flawless poetic sensibilities straight up deserve the polished and professional beats served up here. Dope as hell.

So with all the great music Roughneck has put out lately, I have to say this and The Little Assassins Handbook are absolute gold, and the rest are great too. We're talking about a rapper who's first official album came out in 1993 so the fact that he's still killing it two decades later is pretty damn awesome.

Get The Return of RAWK from Bandcamp here or here (depending who you want to send some cash too I guess), and if you're so inclined you can cop the vinyl straight from the source right here.

New Music: SCVTTERBRVIN - Phantasmagoria

So it's June again (oh wait it's July now? I stand corrected) and as usual on 6/19 San Diego legend and serious indie rap pioneer SCVTTERBRVIN fka Scatterbrain fka Scatter Brain fka Scatter Brain the Acid Atheist aka Infinity Gauntlet has dropped an album for us to enjoy. Most unusually though this is a whooping 21 track offering of his signature grimy boom bap intelligent thug drug rap, and given lately we've mostly been given mini albums and EPs that in my opinion were awesome but just not long enough to pull me in completely, that's very very welcome. We've also got some new talent helping to realize Phantasmagoria with al3jxndro fully producing the work.

SCVTTER define phantasmagoria as a sort of turn of the century horror show involving a variety of sensory techniques to simulate supernatural, paranormal or otherwise frightening images. He also goes a bit deeper to help explain the relationship between that antiquated form of entertainment and his modern take on hip hop music.

"The word "phantasmagoria" has also been commonly used to indicate changing successions or combinations of fantastic, bizarre or imagined imagery"

 I do feel like that sums up his work in the past very well. Combining not just the usual choice of or self curated menagerie of samples and sounds in his production with his oftentimes disagreeable but always intriguing use of grotesque images in his music, but also the collages of such incredible visionaries as Albane Simon for the album art, SCVTTERBRVIN has never been just a rapper. He has always elevated the form and been doing it well for decades now.

Al3jxndro deserves special mention after I took the time to flip through this sprawling labyrinth of an album. The production is both lush and dope with an intricacy and style that's entirely unique. Makes me want to keep an ear out for more from this cat. Very well done.

 

Take the time to pick up SCVTTERBRVIN and al3jxndro's new album Phantasmagoria right here for an audio visual experience of epic proportions.

And I want to take a little bit of time to say how saddened and surprised I was by the passing of Gift of Gab. I remember vividly the first time I heard "Shallow Days" on a friends cassette riding in his car. I had already been introduced to indie rap and fallen in love with it a year previously (by a guy who loved Anticon the most although he did do me a solid in recommending Aceyalone and Illogic as well if I remember). Anyway I was immediately struck by the uniqueness of Blackalicious' sound, and couldn't understand why nobody had introduced me to them until then. The production was so clever and accessible and Gift combined a seriously dope vocal delivery with lyrics that both deeply moved me and helped to give voice to feelings I'd had about the world up until then but at age 17 had been unable to fully articulate.

I have to say without his music I probably wouldn't have been entirely the same hip hop fan that I am today. Rest in peace.

"New" Music - Aesop Rock: Appleseed (reissue)

 

 

Well, fresh from my embarrassing mistake last time around, I'm back again for my week.  Nothing to do but move forward with dignity and a sense of humor. I can do one of those fairly easily.

Anyways, those of you praying he'd rerelease Music for Earthworms are probably at least somewhat happy to see this gem of an album is finally officially released (and it only disappoints me a little bit to see it's on Rhymesayers). Of course I'm willing to bet that 99.9% of you folks already have this on either CDr or digital or both (me, actually from a show in 2005 or so) but considering how classic it is I wanted to promote it a bit.

This was one of the first underground hip hop albums I ever heard. I didn't realize at the time that music like this existed, and it really allowed me to experience how evocative not just singular production from folks like Blockhead was, but complex and twisted lyricism. Not to mention weird voices.

I actually think Aesop was at his best doing these jazzy acoustic sounding albums. Labor Days was brilliant because in my opinion it built on the sound he established here while filling in the cracks with some electronic futuristic El-P / Downtown Science style synthetic instrumentation giving a perfect mix of mind bending and warm.

I loved this era of Aesop. He's always displayed such a visceral love of making music and he's clearly doing what he was born to do from the first raspy "APPLESEEEEEEEEED".

 

Anyway, this is now available on vinyl. Holy shit. Get that here. Or get it on 320 kbps mp3 right here.

New Music: Quiz Ten - Prescription Handbills

 

 

So Pen Thief Records is absolutely killing it lately. It's been a bit scary how much their catalogue aligns with what my perfect roster of artists would look like, and that manages to encompass quite a wide variety of musical styles from Nolto the pioneering Prairie rapper to Quiz 10 aka K.Clifton, a man who sorta single handedly perfected vampire sludge rap.

Prescription Hand Bills is not a new album. In fact it's probably almost two decades old. I actually had a digital copy of it already and was eventually going to throw it up here for ya'll but Noblonski beat me to it. Apparently this was never officially released, and pretty much existed as a few physicals including one in the possession of p.WRECKS (another pretty much amazing sludge vampire). I don't know what year it comes from, but from the sound and comparing it to other old Quiz albums like Lampin' and Audible Captions I'd say it probably originally dropped around 2006.

This album is great, and big ups to Pen Thief for making it widely available. We find Quiz perfecting his production (which would later prove dope as hell, click the tag to check out a newer release of his), opting for dusty boom bap but still a very laid back sound as opposed to his newer dark cloud trap beats. This older sound is very preferable to me though, but to each their own.

His gruff voice and lyrical delivery are also worth noting, and are starting to really shine on this release. We find Quiz building the persona and style he displays on The Alligator Turtle EP, tackling drugs, music and magic in a inpenetrable thicket of poetry and stream of conscious ramblings.

Basically this album is everything I look for in a fossil. It's great to see this new label putting dusty gems like this into the world, and I'm totally stoked to see what they got in store for us next.

 

 Get Prescription Handbills, a lost release from K.Clifton aka Quiz Ten right here on the format of your desire, only from the demonstrably awesome Pen Thief Records...

New Music: Happy Tooth - The Laughter's Rehearsed

 

 

Well, those of you who've been following us for a while know that Happy Tooth and his oftentimes collaborator / co-conspirator Dug have been mentioned here quite a bit by yours truly. The truth is that ever since they gave me the chance to take an early listen to their live band EP All in Your Head (it's seriously fucking good, just click the tag below to find my post on it!), I've done myself the honor of becoming invested in their success. Yes, it's true that our humble blog has probably not rocketed the duo to fame. However, they have been semi-regularly sending material to me for review and in my mind they've really been a big part of the project that is UGF, as the first artists to offer us a preview of their work.

So, when Happy Tooth sent me this gem just asking that I check it out and let him know what I thought, I was truly excited. And not disappointed. I've basically bought everything this guy and Dug have done, and I can tell you from the perspective of a real fan this is probably the rappers best work.

Entirely produced by Bum Theory, a frequent beatmaker who's work with Happy Tooth on I've Been Meaning to Write the Meaning of Life back in 2018 did a lot to elevate the lyricism and cultivate the proper mood for the music, this album has a sound that certainly fits with the art and title. The Laughter's Rehearsed is an album about the false attitudes we adopt as survival mechanisms, and the production fits. Cheery in a dizzy carnival sense, with a distinct undercurrent of menace. Happy Tooth feels that uncomfortable emotions have value, and Bum Theory really works to communicate that sentiment with production that's challenging sometimes but ultimately rewarding. And in many places as someone who used to pretend to produce beats, I was left in awe of the cleverness he displays. Basically this sounds almost nothing like anything you've heard before, and it will require an open mind but I promise you it's absolutely dope.

Now the lyricism is next level good and I cannot stress that enough. Basically at all times you find Happy Tooth on point, balancing clever wordplay, brutal honesty and a supremely unique vocal quality. He can put together lines that have you scratching your head, but upon reflection have you grinning like an idiot. Basically he's gotten really, really good in the three years since his last solo effort, and how can you not like a humble dude who spits poems about haunted lamps, Covid deniers and his own lamentable lack of fame?

In summation (damn my college English professors would hate me for that one), on May 31st you're going to find this one on streaming services everywhere, and especially for sale right here at our favorite musical marketplace.

 

So do yourself a real favor and check it out. Peace!

New Music: Babelfishh - Coma Worthy

 

 

Wow, it's my week again! Time is flying like crazy this year, and bringing with it an absolute flurry of great album releases from artists who've been impressing for years at this point.

Today I want to focus on the newest cassette release by one of my favorite left field weirdos out there, Babelfishh. Babelfishh has returned after several years of relative silence (although he did drop a short one with Dug Yuck as Goats Gloom here) to bring us Coma Worthy, a drony, spacey and dark slice of noise rap hell perfect for a warm spring day at the end of a pandemic.

Coma Worthy is very much Fishh, containing the usual distortion and unpleasant noises to showcase his nasally complex poetry. This one is more Eyeless Terror than To Do Without, which was an acoustic folk rap album that I really enjoyed. Coma Worthy dispenses with any attempts at accessibility and lets Fishh and a few fellow 667ers just rip shit up on the mic.

To be honest I still haven't given this one a full listen, haven't had the time yet. However I love this dude's work, and I want to promote it so it seems the perfect choice for my Tuesday entry.

 

Get Coma Worthy here on cassette only, or here from Fishh himself!

New Music: Blakwulf - Fangs / Nails

 

 

First things first, I want to draw everyone's attention to the fantastic original artwork by Trylemma's partner that we're now featuring at UGF. Very dope and fun so thanks to her for that!

Now, for this week I was lucky enough to intercept an email regarding the rapper formerly known as Summon of Dead Seagull Medicine and New Cocoon, formerly also known as Marxman 45. I actually had the very real pleasure of opening for this man in Fresno a few years back when I was dabbling in rapping myself (maybe some day I'll post some of it here) and I want to do whatever I can to support his work as he was a decent, talented weirdo who didn't have to put me on the flyer but practically insisted on it.

The email in question basically announces his new moniker and his intention to release music with every new moon. In this day and age every artist is doing these "live" album releases but this is a new one for me.

Anyway for those who don't know, Blakwulf is a shamanistic goth hop rapper who's lyrics invoke animism, magik and arcane spirituality in a dizzying spectacle of strangeness and dopeness. Imagine Oldominion on Ambien and you may come close to understanding his very unusual approach to rapping.

So I haven't had a chance to listen to this one yet, but as I said since I know this dude is cool as f*ck and talented to boot, I wanted to give him some promotion. And maybe Friday if I can find it I'll upload this tour CDr he was selling at the show that contains a few unreleased tracks of his!

Get Fangs & Nails here and if you haven't heard it before be sure to check out some of his earlier work as Summon here.

See ya'll Friday!

New Music: Extra Kool - HRTBUURN Vol. 5: The Trash Tape

 

 

Happy Tuesday folks! I hope some of you are choosing to hop on the vaccination train. I was reticent at first about it (rush engineering and all that) but because of my job I was able to get my first shot and figured what the hell. It's going to allow me to travel again eventually is my guess. Anyway aside from a (really) sore arm the next day I feel fine. Got my second shot at the end of the month, hope all goes well. That's my plug for a return to normalcy, here's to that...

And now this. Extra Kool has a new "album" type  thing! Clocking in at just under 12 minutes, HRTBUURN Vol. 5: THE TRASH TAPE is probably really dope because Kool is always really dope. With an irreverent style of rhyming that has evolved over the years from verbose in the extreme to chill perfection, a new wave dark pop sound and a relatable personality (for me at least) I always enjoy his work. It helps to have production from some very talented individuals such as Awareness of calm. Dirty Laboratory always kills it.

So I haven't listened to this one all the way through yet. I wanted to get a post out there but I'm seriously swamped. From what I can tell skimming it this has some seriously dope production, more of Kool's trademark sincerity and some catchy ass songwriting. So what I'm thinking I'd love is if some of you guys checked this out (paying that $1 if you can afford it) and then commented below with your thoughts. Don't ruin it for me, constructive criticism only if you don't like it. That's always a possibility I guess when an artist calls their own album "trash". If you don't feel like it then you can just consider this a promo post for an artist who I really respect and enjoy.

So basically I'm asking ya'll to do my job for me. I'm sorry. And keep the requests coming, we had one but he retracted it so basically I'm lost as to what I should upload this week...

Enjoy HRTBUURN Vol. 5: the Trash Tape, only available here for the low low price of $1... and let me know what you think because I'm seriously curious!

See ya'll Friday!