Underground Fossils was an indie rap focused blog run by myself (Dimxsk) and by Trylemma, who passed August 3rd, 2024 from liver failure of unknown origin at the age of 34. We mostly posted week or twice weekly, the bulk of which were rare rips we made, found on old blogs, he acquired through his insanely broad connection to the scene, etc. We did all we could to make sure we didn't post stuff that (1) You could still reasonably buy from the artist directly, (2) You could reasonably buy secondhand for cheap, (3) You could download easily elsewhere, (4) The artist(s) asked us not to for any reason.
Being involved in this blog was some of the most fun I ever had, even if at times it was time consuming, challenging or intimidating (having a readership). It was the product of one of the best friendships I've ever had. If I could say one last thing, it's to encourage all of you: if you have the time and desire, make your own UGF. Find a friend who loves this shit like you do and build it together. It will bring you incredible joy, enhance your connection to this amazing community, and change your life in unexpected and exciting ways. I know it did mine. Love you all!
It's been a little while since we've heard from our good friend Thorts, but one thing you can always count on is Australia's best kept secret will find some new producer / rapper to collaborate with and make some fun and interesting sounds.
The musician in question here is Unsung. Hailing from West Virginia (according to his Bandcamp) Unsung's production style is a study in acid jazz and easy listening with some fuzzy drums and unexpected vocal samples (each interlude is spiced up with a vocal sample discussing nuclear Armageddon) thrown in to craft a psychedelic pallet upon which Thorts (and on many an occasion Unsung himself) sketch their stream of consciousness poetry and storytelling rhymes. While this album is short it is very effective at creating atmosphere through the dreamy quality of both the production and the lyrics ("Kookaburra") as well as the minimization of time between tracks, giving it a constant flow. It may be recognizing the identity of the molecule on the cover but I find this album feels more trippy than some of Thorts' work, probably due to the weird sonic quality of the production as well.
It's no secret I enjoy Thorts music. I post on his albums plenty and you can definitely click the tag to learn more background. I will say that The Unsung Thorts EP is a good offering from him that does everything I've come to expect from a Thorts release, mainly deliver a darkly comic but ultimately positive and enjoyable listening experience. It is not groundbreaking or quirky to the extreme (yep he does that too, it's called Thoel Simerville) but all parties involved deliver solid performances and I would recommend it to anyone looking for a 20 minute diversion from work, exercise, the drive home whatever. I mean come on, he's not asking for money so just get it.
Check out The Unsung Thorts EP right here right now!
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:
Soput 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.
A lot of you may be thinking, "wow Dimxsk reviews Thorts a lot". The reasons are threefold: 1) Thorts is f*cking dope, 2) Thorts lets us hear his music ahead of time for review purposes and 3) Thort's albums are short making them easy for me to review with my current work schedule. Take The Happy Little Vegemite EP. At 4 tracks long this is a bite sized treat of dissonant noise, surreal imagery and dark cynicism. It features one of my current favorite producers and one of my current favorite rappers working together as they did before as Thoel Simerville, this time with Joel handling production solely and Thorts doing all the rapping (hence the name change and Thorts "pouring his f*cking Thoel out on "Good Egg").
So for edification I asked Thorts a very simple but probably a very common question. What the fuck is Vegemite mate? He had this to say:
"Vegemite is a spread for toast (haha), an Australian one that most people
in the rest of the world absolutely hate and are disgusted by but we are
brought up on it so it's normal for us.
I guess it could be said that titling this from something that is in a way very personal for the rapper (sounds like Vegemite is the wheaties of Oz) is fitting. This is Thorts at his most stream of conscious, throwing a bird at convention. The lack of vocal contributions from Joel make it a bit more accessible for those who don't speak Swedish (unless you're like me and don't necessarily care) but this is still a very very weird album as a result. It is also so far removed from Long Distance (his most recent EP with Whatever Cecil, which is beautiful and intricate but also much easier on the ears) that it again impresses upon me how versatile the rapper can be. Probably a skill set that comes from such a long time in the game (Thorts is a vet in the Australian scene), leaving him familiar enough with the art to bash headlong through genre barriers and express himself freely.
There's not much else to say here. I liked this EP a lot, it's got moments of darkness (the ironically title "Happy Little Vegemite" which has a grimy and grinding noise beat that brings out that aggressive wordplay) moments of levity (or at least a more upbeat tone in the also ironically titled "Rainy Day" contemplating the fleeting nature of existence and time) and moments of sheer weirdness (in "Lake Baikal" as in shit be deep like). And it may be the result of talking a bit with the guy, but I feel like Thort's music has a sort of personality to it that is completely unique to the rapper and can be readily delved into and experienced through the speakers. I'm curious to see if any of you agree actually, or if I'm just crazy. But the metaphorical fourth wall is missing here I feel like...
You really just have to hear it. If Thoel Simérville was too Anticon doing Nine Inch Nails for you but you felt like you could've gotten with it had it been just a bit more accessible, then this is your solution. It won't put a rose in every cheek, but maybe just a cheek here or there, and I can only imagine Joel and Adrian don't mind that too much.
Here's the video for my favorite track off the album, "Rainy Day":
Get The Happy Little Vegemite EP here, and thanks as always for reading. You guys are the sh*t. See you Friday and hopefully on time this time !
So, as I mentioned last time around Thorts, a personal favorite of mine and an artist who's been particularly friendly towards the work we do here at UGF dropped a new EP recently with Whatever Cecil of An Illustrated Mess. I literally just (Monday night) listened to this album from start to finish (around 20 minutes total) and I wanted to drop a quick note because it really is phenomenal.
Over mostly guitar driven melodic tracks Thorts is at his introspective best, honestly speaking about fatherhood, mental illness and music with his usual blend of cynical humor and touching sincerity. His work has always struck me as deeply personal and as a result it benefits from a vivid quality that makes Thorts a standout.
Whatever Cecil is also in top form and every single beat on this bite sized album is absolute gold, beautiful but not boring in any way. His use of guitar on almost every track is supplemented and enhanced with eclectic drums samples and creative effects to liven things up, moving away a bit from the dreamlike sleepy synths he made use of on the last Illustrated Mess record to, in my opinion improve on his evident talent and keep things surprising. I feel with time Cecil could be the next Factor, producing beats that bring out the completely unheard and unimagined qualities every guest rapper (Lawson Graham did that for me on every track).
Finally, this album is truly notable for the eclectic and unlikely cast of guest rappers. Every track has at least one guest and Thorts showcases a notable humility and lack of ego in letting so much of the album bearing his name showcase the talents of others. OneWerd is as always personable and deep, HeirMAX is weird and wonderful, Scatty Stormborn lives up to the rapidly growing hype and of course Prosodic of An Illustrated Mess totally blesses the opening track and shows that it's not just Cecil that's been building his skills since they last worked together.
Basically this album is a collection of fantastic voices working together over gorgeous production curated and cultivated by old soul rapper Thorts. If any of that sounds good to you get it right here. If not then I'm sure FM radio has some stuff that's more your speed. No judgement.
So it's been a very exciting month for me as far as hip hop goes. Not only did I hear from one of my heroes and get a chance to preview their excellent cassette release The Subjugation of Bread (Brzowski & C $ Burns, see my last post), but shortly thereafter I get an email from another artist I'm slowly but surely developing some serious respect for asking for another preview post. So that artist is of course Thorts who, coming right on the heels of his oddball project with Sweden's own art rap superstar Joel Siméus has done a 180 and released an album with Germany's sMoKeY131 of Milled Pavement fame as Thorts131. Their debut collaboration Weightlifters displays not just his unique personality and quirky sensibilities but his remarkable songwriting prowess and skill with the pen. I'm particularly excited to share this gem because while his last collaboration was endlessly entertaining and fascinating I knew that it would not be for everyone. Thorts131 I believe may be the release that could get most indie rap fans on board with this cat in a big way. Of course, as he lays out on the album opener "Rock":
I don't need to stay relevant
I wasn't in the first place
I'd rather spit what I want with intelligence
The race is irrelevant
I'll never come in first place
While I respect the humility and the artistic integrity he expresses here, I really do have to say that anyone who loves hip hop should be a fan of this album and while first place probably isn't a realistic goal when the judges are easily confused, there are people who appreciate real art and this is it.
So that's out of the way. Thorts has been in touch and given me a bit of background information on himself to give this post some more depth. Born in a small town in Victoria, Australia, Thorts became a fan and a rapper at virtually the same time when he was introduced to Cypress Hill in 1995 at the age of fifteen. Following some "really bad tapes" (his words not mine, I'd love to hear those) made through clever use of analogue equipment he began battling and making appearances on the radio a few years later. He's moved around through his home country and prior to the internet remained a fairly isolated voice in his neck of the woods. Now he mostly performs with artists outside Australia (with the notable exception of his talented partner Kady Starling, who he did a split with recently that's mind blowingly good as well as Aetcix [collaborations found on his Bandcamp page {see below <another parenthesis>} as Field Trip and Thorts & Aetcix] and DJ Silence). Now that you're suitably confused by that last sentence, we can talk about me for a bit. I was introduced to Thorts' work on Variex's album Beneath Six Feet of Dust performing alongside Tommy V. and A.Hymnz. I immediately felt like he had something special to offer, and it seemed like from there he began showing up more and more.
sMoKeY131 is a producer from Germany, who’s been a fixture in the scene through his tapes and live turntableism for a good 20 years now. I’ve seen his name I've seen pop up on a lot of albums by artists I enjoy, especially from Europe although he made some appearances on the fantastic Goose Bumps compilations Milled Pavement put out a decade or so ago. If you don't have those then go pick them up, we'll wait. Even nearing age 50 he still spends his time digging in crates to elevate his production and make more awesome music for us to enjoy. That wisdom gained through experience in the hip hop scene is very easy to see on this album, as I'll go into below.
What can I say about Weightlifters? First off the production is basically flawless for the content and style that Thorts is employing on this album. Old school and dope, melodic and hard, part Dj Muggs part Dj Abilities. sMoKeY makes use of a combination of sound effects, dusty jazz and surprisingly beautiful strings to create a sense of depth and darkness with a humility that allows Thorts to benefit from, but not have to battle over, his music. "Meat & Bones" in particular, a song that picks apart the superficial differences between people and identifies our commonalities is stirring, gorgeous and emotional without being preachy or self indulgent. The rest of the album surfs between this sound and a darker a-melodic style (this is where the Muggs comparison originates) but it is all professional, smart and original. The album wraps up with a beautiful string sample based instrumental track "Black Swans (Reprise)" that leaves the listener feeling as if they've awoken from an unsettling but ultimately hopeful dream. Given the darkness of the rest of the songs, the album closer is sorely needed and really caps Weightlifters nicely.
Thorts is really on another level of awesome on this release. As I said last time I reviewed his work, it seems like with every album he drops we get to know him a bit better. His ability to be brutally honest about his struggles with addiction, anxiety and self doubt give his music a humanity that never seems artificial or gimmicky, a problem I find can arise when an artist may set out with the intention of being brutally honest. What I mean is I think Thorts gives us the art he does because it's just what he makes and couldn't be anything but this. This is not to say that there are not moments of humor on Weightlifters, also in common with some of his later work. "Cats for Catnip" makes use of a nursery rhyme that seems very left field but is incredibly charming and actually manages to get stuck in your head. This in some ways adds to the dark quality of the songs we find here, as even when he's being weird he sounds a bit cynical and the juxtaposition between the use of cat as literally a fuzzy animal and as a metaphor (catnip being self destructive behaviors) makes the song amusing in a very dark way. Something else that's notable is the way this album pays homage to those who came before. There are old school references found in many places, and given what we now know about Thorts' education and experience in the hip hop world this is not surprising. It's refreshing to hear from someone who acknowledges and respects their history.
I'm starting to run on a bit long. One last thing. This album is basically without credited features, except for one notable exception. On "Myself When Young", we have Variex, the very rapper who introduced me to Thorts (also a rapper I have a lot of love for), and one of my personal favorites and someone I was beginning to think I'd never hear from again, Staplemouth of New Cocoon "fame". Both of these features are extremely effective as Variex is at his best lyrically and stylistically, while Staplemouth has taken a break from his usual apocalyptic and occultist stream of consciousness mind blowing double time rhymes to speak a bit about himself. I may be mistaken but with the exception of some of his really old material with Riff Raff (no, not that one, he goes by Self Target now and is primarily a seriously talented producer) I don't believe he does much of that. So this track is worth whatever the price of the album alone. It's personal and unique as hell.
All that said, if I haven't convinced you yet to give this one a shot Thorts was nice enough to put together a few clips featuring songs from the album. "Slide" is a track about resentment and rage, while "Black Swans" is a sort of stream of consciousness fairy tale gone bad. Both give the viewer a good idea what to expect from Weightlifters and are worth checking out for any fan of hip hop period:
Thanks for reading, and thank you so much Thorts and sMoKeY for giving me the opportunity to peep this gem. It's amazing and you should be proud as hell of it!
Note: I just heard from Thorts this morning that there a few uncredited voices on the album that deserve a mention. Rapping the nursery rhyme on "Cats for Catnip" we have his 10 year old daughter Sage Advice, and rapping the chorus on "Pages" we have his 21 year old daughter Paige Turner. Seriously dope family right there. Hopefully on the next round we can hear from his son who didn't want to be on Weightlifters. Teenagers... :-)
So a special treat crash landed over the weekend, and as excited as I was to listen to it I felt like I just had to help promote it. Thoel Simérville is the collaboration between Australia's number one dark folk rap poet Thorts (Sommerville), and Sweden's number one noise and folk hop producer / rapper Joel Siméus. Hence Thoel Simérville. Pretty clever right?
The result is quite the strange experience. We have here an album born of anxiety, anger and paranoia, lightly laced with a rather twisted sense of humor. Thorts finds himself working with production and a vocal style from Joel that allows him to be free of the constraints he's often faced in the past, when his rap while often undeniably good, did not do much to venture beyond the bounds of what others had done before. Basically just good somber folk influenced hip hop with personal and emotional themes. Fairly serious.
Here we get a real glimpse of the man who recently released a free promo EP with production "jacked" from Haunted Days & Witches Teat, hence the title Jacked Off a Ghost. Thorts is a bit of a weirdo with a willingness to be whimsical in a vaguely sick and dark manner. Not a bad thing at all, and Joel's influence seems to have opened the door to that in a big way. Songs swing wildly from dark ambient static to carnival sounding craziness, and Thorts manages to match Joel and keep these songs interesting. It also allows the album to blend together, almost the nonsensical dreamlike experience of sleeping with a Nicotine patch on. You may know what I mean.
Sonically the production is almost a cross between Joel's work with Milled Pavement and his more current catalogue with empty space. We have both the industrial, noise and discordant quality along with his deep voiced Swedish raps that reminds me of his more recent material, along with some acoustic and melodic work that seems to be a revival of some of what he did with Decorative Stamp. Fans of either label should find something to enjoy here. Often these sounds can be found on the same track as the two rappers trade English and Swedish lyrics about (I don't speak Swedish unfortunately but I can speak on what Thorts is rapping about) mental illness, emotions and world politics.
The demo like quality in some places makes me feel a bit like they haven't tried to take themselves too seriously, and depending on what you're looking for from Thoel Simérville that could be a good or a bad thing. There's a very left field, stream of consciousness feel to these songs, and in certain places it makes them difficult to listen to (the repeated use of the c-word on "Är Det Dåligt" is unnecessary, yeah Trump sucks, anyone who matters is aware of this. Useful commentary in this instance is more appreciated than name calling, and I absolutely know Thorts is capable of that).
That said, this album is good for what it is. Two artists stretching their creative muscles and enjoying the experience without too much concern for sounding a certain way. You'll either like this or absolutely hate it. Fair warning, I like it but then I love Babelfishh and those folks so...
Get Singer-Songwriter Demos Vol. 1 from Thorts himself here, or on Joel's empty space collective Bandcamp as an extremely limited cassette with exclusive artwork here.
With the new Swordplay coming out tomorrow (9/12!) and promising to be one of the many great indie rap albums of 2019 (dropping on the seriously ill Dora Dorovich on digital and CD and on everything else at the also amazing Audio Recon), I was wondering what I could possibly review today when this caught my attention.
For those who don't know already, Thorts is an alternative hip hop artist hailing from Bunbury Australia, a rapper since the mid 90's. He's worked with a lot of musicians crushing it in the Fake Four type scene such as Ceschi, Tommy V, Zoën, A. Hymnz, Aamir of Escape Artists and Variex, and has a similar take on the art of rap music. His songs are honest, introspective, catchy and always well produced going back to the early aughts. His EP with best friend and producer Aetcix as Field Trip was a surprise hit with me, and the 4 track EP the duo put out under their own names this year was similarly dope. He's also married to the talented Kady Starling (fka Kadyelle, you may have heard her on the Behind Bars Pt. 2 mixtape Ceschi put out while unjustly imprisoned) and the split EP they put out late last year was also very dope.
All that goes to show that Thorts is a dedicated hip hop artist completely immersed in the lifestyle, and as he alludes to in his music he takes his art seriously. He describes his new EP Chrysalis as being a window into a very dark time for him, and as I'm always honored to be given honesty in the form of music I was looking forward to hearing what he had to say.
The album begins with the title track, a song about changing in pain and breaking through, being reborn. The beat is almost reminiscent of early Atmosphere, and that said while the content is very dark, the song itself sounds almost upbeat and reminds the listener that there is something beyond this"self made universe" (the metaphoric Chrysalis of suffering). With "M.A.L.A.Y.A", a song about Thorts's late father, the content and the beat take a much darker turn and Thorts muses on death and how we are never ready to lose the ones we love the most. "Charcoal Grey" features the aforementioned producer Aetcix on raps and is a more hard hitting meditation on pain, with an eerie beat that is probably the EPs darkest moment. However the standout track is "Painting", which features Swordplay contributing his amazing vocal abilities to a waltz influenced melodic piece, also on mental suffering.
So the album is indeed very dark, although each of the tracks is dark in a bit of a different way, and the whole offering is only 4 tracks deep so it never gets tedious or too emo to tolerate. It is also apparent that the emotion is honest which isn't always the case with the darker indie rap. It seems like some artists realized they could reach a very open demographic with songs about sadness and pain, and this is very different. Thorts is speaking from experience, directly from the heart.
Overall it isn't my favorite release of his, I enjoyed Come What May (the Thorts side of the split EP I mention above) a bit more, although that isn't really due to the quality of any of the individual tracks. I think Chrysalis just never really comes into itself as cohesive work. It's hard to explain, but it feels a bit more like a piece of an LP versus a whole EP. It was over before it began and felt like it should have been longer. It is absolutely a solid few songs however, and shows artistic growth and a willingness to experiment and that makes all the difference to me.
Get Chrysalis here from Thorts' Bandcamp as a pay what you want download, or consider donating a bit to the cause. It can't hurt! Also definitely check out his other albums, especially the split with Kady Starling. It's a beautiful piece of work.
