Awol One & DJ ESP - A Twisted Messiah (199?)

 

Apologies for the brief hiatus. Today enjoy an old gypsy rip of Awol One's and DJ ESP's "A Twisted Messiah." I know very little about this one beyond its 30 minutes of dope beats and rhymes (Mass Dog makes an appearance as well.) Enjoy!

A Twisted Messiah

Mascaria and Knuckles Knuclear - Ill Spore Promo Mix (2012)

 

Today's post is an obscure little mix from Mascaria and Knuckles Knuclear - "Ill Spore Promo Mix" from 2012.

This is another one I don't know too much about. From what I can tell, "Ill Spore" was a record label/production company ran by Mascaria (it may have just been Mascaria.) Discogs says that the label's only release was Mascaria's 2009 "Flesh of the Godz." 

This promo mix seems to have been made in order to promote Mascaria's production. The mix consists of beats and songs crafted by Mascaria and features some familiar track from the likes of 2Mex, Existereo, Awol One, Abstract Rude, and Luckyiam. While I'm guessing Mascaria curated the track selections, it's Knuckles Knclear on the actual mix. 

Peep it below!

Ill Spore Promo Mix

Notes:

- Congrats to everyone (Sole, Rove, Chaps, Nolto, Gumshoe Strut, Yy, Noblonski, Parab Poet...) who participated in Summer Fling this past weekend. Sounds like it was a success. Pen Thief Record's "Summer Collection" will be a tribute compilation to the event. Cop it HERE. 

- If you didn't already, be sure to peep Noah23's "Tank Girl", Avatar's "Clear Blue Skies",  and Noblonski's and Capaciti's "Learning To Walk In The Dark" which all dropped recently. 

- Both Dimxsk and I were late to this, but earlier this month Ceschi's Codefendants dropped a 10" single for "Sell Me Youth," which also includes an acoustic version of the track and an exclusive track to the vinyl (not available anywhere digitally/streaming - I've checked lol) entitled "Cinematic." And there's copies still left - I'm guessing because the promo was light on this one (likely because the guys are on tour!) But considering the fact that all the other Codefendants vinyl releases have been long sold out - I'd jump on this one quick. Cop it HERE. 

PSeudo - Be Here Now (2002)

 

 

Wow, feels like it's been a while since I've sat down to do one of these. Crazy busy. Sessed lay vye.  Wait that's not how it's pronounced...?

So as usual when I'm just trying to push one of these out there (he he didn't mean that at all) I just post something from an artist I've covered more exhaustively earlier on and add a tag to that post. So here's something from PSeudo, one of my favorite JKC members who makes introspective conscious rap that has some flaws common to twenty year old indie but who cares it's good stuff.

Enjoy Be Here Now!

DOWNLOAD

 

By the way, Breaking Ground is not broken up, it's just a rumor.

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?

The Twilight Idols - Apathetic Palm Reader (2006)

 

 

In celebration of the release of the tangentially related and stylistically similar new (?) Papervehicle album I am happy to present this humble garage product. The Twilight Idols were a New Cocoon affiliated creation, I believe between Slew and someone named Oger, as well as someone else with some contributions by Edison (which is why I thought of this when I saw the new PV album). I was educated on the history of New Cocoon by a founding member and they mentioned this group and the chemistry they demonstrate on this album.

Basically if you like the music I usually do (experimental hip hop with melodic production) you will love this one. Enjoy!

DOWNLOAD

 

 

Von Poe VII - Von Poe VII (2012)

 

Well I felt bad so here's something. I already have done a few writeups on Riverside rapper Poetic Death aka Von Poe VII so you can search the tag if you're curious about this particular artist. He's dope and has lots of great albums that are ridiculously hard to find. Goldmine for a blog like this, unless he decides he doesn't want these out there which I will of course respect.

    DOWNLOAD

 

 

Souls of Mischief - Locus (20??)

 

 

I have a feeling this might be the one that gets our blog a nastygram. Souls of Mischief and Hiero are big name. When one of your members raps with the Gorillaz and has a hit every person in the developed world has heard, you can't really claim underground anymore, although they're indie as fuh and killin' it. For that reason I am not gonna even do a background on these folks. If you don't know the basics on Hiero you're definitely not reading my words on UGF. Plenty of info everywhere else.

That said, this particular gem is most definitely a fossil by definition. I currently own the only copy I'm aware of, and can find nothing about it online. I have to confess, while I like Hiero, and will acknowledge that "93 'til Infinity" is probably the best hip hop beat ever made, I'm not an uber fan by any definition. I picked this one up mainly to rip and share with you guys, because you're awesome.

So here it is. On one condition. You guys need to do some investigating and tell me what the hell this is. I know it's a "real" album because it's professionally made and on the opening track A-Plus mentions the name Locus. I believe these are exclusive songs, many of which are pretty dope ("What Do They Know") but if you know otherwise let me know (remember not a super fan so I don't own many of the solo projects). It's got something to do with Citizens of Humanity magazine / clothing line (?).

That's it. So promise not to download it if you don't plan to dig a bit. Honor system! One piece of candy per person and whatnot.

Enjoy Locus!

DOWNLOAD

 

 

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!

Ngafsh & DJ NoWords - CV Goodlife 2020 Beatz

 

Big treat for ya'll today. In honor of CVE's new album We Represent Billions, today's post is a rare beat project from CVE's Ngafsh and his son, DJ NoWords! 

So this dropped on Ngafsh's site, via Kunaki, and was left up for order for about a week or so. Vinyl only release, no CDs or digital. Then it disappeared from existence. The beats on here are very bouncy CVE-esque, but they also have a heavier twist, thanks in part I'd assume to the younger DJ NoWords. We also get an a cappella verse for the rap heads.

This project consists of 16 tracks. I'm only including the first 10 in the download as it was mentioned that some of these beats may appear elsewhere in the future. As such, if you can track down a physical copy - do so! 

CV Goodlife 2020 Beatz

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

 

 

PS aka PSeudo nka Brodhi - Drunk Driving (200x)

 

 

Yet another Friday, and I came up with this one fairly easily so there's still many a fossil out there for us to offer you after... three years. Unbelievable. As always thanks for reading, and thank you DJ Osiris for the Restiform Bodies compilation, nice find! I'm gonna do my best to get some song titles and eventually post it but if you want it earlier he was kind enough to drop it in the CBox.

Anyway, Drunk Driving is from Jedi Knights Circle alumn Brodhi, fka PSeudo. You may remember him as one third of Lipservice, in my opinion the more serious less nerdcore members of JKC. Technical skill abounds with this dudes music, he raps double time with his own style (although the flavor is ALL early 2000s) the production is very nice as well in this case handled entirely by Brodhi himself. Just some good old fashioned hip hop with generally good messages about treating your fellow man with respect and appreciating the good things we have.

Can't remember where I got this but we can thank Tattoo for the artwork upload on Discogs. A very dope musician in his own right, most of you are probably aware of him.

Enjoy Drunk Driving, but don't do it because DUI's will cost you thousands of dollars.

DOWNLOAD

 

 

Echelon - Echelon EP (2003)

 

 

Crazy awesome Friday to everyone! Thanks to the homie OpenMic, I can now offer the very much fossilized joint Echelon EP by Trust One and Mash 23. Trust One is to me the epitome of San Diego hip hop, together with Orko and his million and a half surnames of course. His production has made for some of my favorite releases of all time (Formula Abstract) and his rapping is unique enough to keep even the most jaded indie rap fan listening.

I don't know much about Mash 23, and to be honest I haven't even heard this one yet. We had a request a while back from Josh, which was the first time I'd even learned this existed. Thanks to the magic of the internet we now have it. Sadly no album art though. Wish he'd re-release this one on Bandcamp hint hint.

So we can all be surprised at how dope, trippy, enthralling and weird this is sure to be (keep in mind this is the scene Summon came up in lol).

Enjoy Echelon EP!

DOWNLOAD

 

 

Very Serious Announcement / Pesticyde & Poetic Death - Aftermathmatikz (2008)

 

 BIG CHANGES AT UGF!

Hey ya'll, so excited to share a monumental moment in the history of Underground Fossils and the world at large. Trylemma and I have been discussing this move for a while and figured the new month would be a great time to debut it... Welcome... to...

 

Underground Fossils: The Fossil Blog

 

 

So instead of hip hop, from this day forward UGF will be all about fossils, all the time. Any discussion of music will not be tolerated. This is serious. This is rock solid. This is history.

No more wasting your valuable time with posts about new releases you might not have heard about. Everyone knows the radio does a fine job of picking your music for you. No more free downloads either. To be honest, why would you waste disc space on anything that isn't related to fossils? And especially no more April Fool's jokes, because we all know nobody reads these and if they do they don't think they're funny.

Look at the beauty. Feel the time, frozen in rock. Waiting to be unearthed. The heart pounding excitement of a bazillion years sitting quietly in mud, dead.

The only music we want to hear is the sound of petrification of ancient plants, accompanied by the back beat of chisels freeing them from their stone prisons.

For the next few hours we will be removing all material related to music. When you next log on, prepare to take a very educational trip back in time through the magic of fossils...

Seriously?? You want a download? Alright. Don't tell anyone though, I swear this is a one time thing...

 

This one is an early release from Riverside native emcee Poetic Death (nka Von Poe VII) over beats by Pesticyde. You might have this one if you knew about these folks back when it was on Bandcamp.

I've done a few Poe albums I believe so I'll skip the lengthy descriptions. To be quick, expect conscious rap musings with obscure biblical references over melancholy eerie music.
 

DOWNLOAD

Matt Gamin - The Matt Gamin Project (2008)

 

 

I got a sneaking suspicion there are a lot of folks out there looking for this one. If you wander over to this albums page on Discogs, which I'll go ahead and make really easy for you, you'll see a review from a dude who's secondhand albums form a massive bulk of my collection and probably one of the biggest indie rap heads on the planet. Basically he loves this album.

Matt Gamin emerged from the same scene, around the same time as well known rap acts Third Sight, Dave Dub, Tape Mastah Steph etc. Late 1990's San Jose hip hop has a very unique style. Laid back hardcore rhymes and dark production but with an emphasis on intelligence and experimentation. There is a lot to love about SJ rap, and this giant offering from one of it's founders showcases all of that in one singular package.

Enjoy The Matt Gamin Project!

DOWNLOAD

 

 

Penny - Unreleasable (2005)

 

 

I'm back! A new keyboard with a nice rubber dust jacket is currently making a very satisfying tappity tap sound as I write this for you guys. Unfortunately I don't have the time or the energy to do a lengthy post, so instead here's more free music. Sorry ;-)

I really enjoyed Penny's work. She had a very brief career popping up on other weird indie rappers albums (Noah23, Ceschi, Troubador) you get the sort. She rapped very unsettling poetry in a lighthearted yet relentless tone and put out one excellent album on Plague Language followed by a lot of compilations culminating in her Freecember offering Twenties Hungry: The Unbound Anthems of Yesteryear which may be the most epic album title in the history of recorded music.

I'm not sure it's accurate to say she put Unreleasable out though. I believe The Chukchee collected these songs into an EP with her help? Someone in the know, let me know?

I do know that up until Escape Artists triumphant lost album Evergreen, two of these songs were not found anywhere else. Now there's a single track that has Ceschi so yeah. It's also the perfect example of how deeply creepy Penny's songwriting often was.

Enjoy Unreleasable!

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Weekend Science Experiment - The Binary Theorem (1999)

 

 

So as requested today we have Weekend Science Experiment's first album The Binary Theorem, originally released on cassette only in 1999. Weekend Science Experiment is the collaboration between the one and only Giovanni Marks fka Subtitle and producer Mum's the Word. Together they created a sound that fused Marks' laid back L.A. swagger with a more standard production style to create something that might appeal to those who find Marks' solo works to be a bit too strange and unpredictable to enjoy.

I like this album, but as I said before in some ways it's toned down Subtitle and I really listen to him for his off the wall creativity and personality behind the boards. But if you've ever wondered what he might sound like without the CREV here you go. That said, this is still a little weird...

Enjoy Binary Theorem, and if you're annoyed that I didn't upload both WSE albums the reason is I already struggle sometimes to come up with stuff to share and I want something to fall back on. Hit us up if you can't wait any longer.

DOWNLOAD

 

 

The Painkillers - Pret(r)end (2004)

 

 

 Friday again! I wanted to share here a little EP I personally love but that seems to have done the inevitable disappearing act from the internet like so many of these early 00's hip hop gems.

Put together NorCal hip hop hippie and San Francisco Street Musician Joe Dub with the mysterious Topik aka Topic, an emcee who seems to call Hawaii home judging from her affiliations on Discogs (but I don't know for sure) and you get The Painkillers. Joe Dub first worked with Topik on the unforgettable Lovebomb Soundclash album, which you really should already have, and their chemistry is undeniable.

The Painkillers only put out those two EPs before Topik sort of went dark (AFAIK), but both of them are fantastic examples of the culture we all love, and still remain remarkably listenable and relevant 15+ years after their release.

Enjoy!

DOWNLOAD

 

 

A.Hymnz - Second World (2013)

 

 

Just gonna crank out a nice and simple download post this Tuesday. My Monday night is looking crazy. So I did a quick search and was rather surprised and saddened to see that this indie rap gem, Second World by A.Hymnz out of the King City area of CA is no longer up for download anywhere. That may be because the artist doesn't like it, but I'm hoping it's just a simple oversight (or maybe a result of that inexplicable rift that split New Cocoon up around 2015) and that he wouldn't mind if I gave folks a quick reminder of the cool stuff he was getting done back in the 10's.

I can see not everyone loved this one (RYM... there's a familiar face there as well) BUT I do and I can tell you why. A.Hymnz has an incredibly unique voice that keeps things interesting. The production is top notch melodic folky electronica (pretty much exactly what I think you all know I go for at this point). And the roster of guest spots is crazy and ranges from fellow NorCal emcee and producer Variex (who produced Hymnz first official release which IS still available here and there) to 2Mex and even as far as Belgium's resident folk rap weirdo Nomad.

I happen to know A.Hymnz is personally very cool as well. Seems like he swapped music for painting these past few years (he's also very very good at that) after a serious health scare but like I said above, this, his only full length solo album I know of is great and deserves to be preserved.

That said, if you are him and don't want this out there please let me know. And if you have his very very first release Carpe Diem then I'd be stoked to get that one no doubt... LMK!

DOWNLOAD

 

 

Thee Anomalous & Able Rock - For the Sake of Planets, Vibe

 

 

Our readers may remember a few weeks ago I posted up an album here by Woodland, CA based rappers Dream Capsules. You may also remember me shouting out the guy I discovered them through. You can probably still see his comment in he C-Box because there we only usually get Illogic requesting totally random stuff, Denis dropping completely unknown stuff I usually like and one guy under multiple names obsessed with Planet of the Shapes Vol. 2 (in digital quality rendering only!). Just kidding folks.

But anyway, that dude raps and makes beats. And he's pretty fucking good. He told me his masterpiece is probably this collaboration with emcee Able Rock, over mostly his own beats. So here we have For the Sake of Planets, Vibe. The album art is seriously ill.

Basically the project was originally conceived in 2003 and took years of building, from late in high school to 2009. Lots of revisions, lots of perfectionism and second guessing. Lots of evolving production and lyrics. Lots of fun and lots of disappointment (he tells me about finding a copy on the ground after they distributed a bunch at a festival). Anyway, Thee Anomalous tells me not to quote him directly.... but this little section sums up everything perfectly and I really like it so I just have to ask forgiveness instead of permission ;-)

"About 7 years of work all culminating in 200 or so odd copies being given out for free. A labor of love. I like to call it my "hip hop thesis" as I truly feel like I learned a lot about the art form (writing, beatmaking, overall production, and recording) in the time of making it. I also dropped out of college during those years but continued crafting the album which would net me absolutely $0. Do it for the love!

Much love for listening to it man. That's all I ever wanted - for it to be listened to.

RIP Zumbi."

 

-Thee Anomalous

 

I've had the chance to skim through this, and it took roughly thirty seconds for me to consider it worthy of being posted here. It's easily as good as a lot of the stuff we all listen to, and I think the number one selling point I can name for T.A.'s work is that he's a true hip hop head just like us.

So for the album you might make yourself with the talent, time and desire... enjoy For the Sake of Planets, Vibe.

 

 

DOWNLOAD

 

Zion I - The Search & the Seizure Mixtape (2008) / GoFundMe for the Gaines Family

 

 

So I felt like I pretty much had to share something from these guys... But what? Everything they've done is still pretty easy to get a hold of going back to their earliest tape EPs. Except...

I remember what really excited me about this digital mixtape was the closing track featuring an absolutely killer piece of sample work utilizing one of my favorite Muse tracks "Knights of Cydonia" (I'm not a Muse mega fan or whatever but that song is dope). However this mixtape, put out right before The Takeover (arguably the tail end of their golden era, although everything they've done since has been great as well) contains a great cast of rappers (K-Flay, Del, The Grouch etc.) and is a great example of that classic Zion I sound; melody driven D&B-y production with soulful thought provoking lyrics.

It's gone from their website, it's not featured on Bandcamp, but it's still up on his Dub CNN site which is where I believe I originally got it. They want me to direct downloads to them as opposed to sharing it myself, so go ahead and grab it right here. It's pretty ill I gotta say:

 

 Seize It!

 

So given that you've got the free goods, why not consider donating a bit to the Gaines families GoFundMe? Zumbi's passing left behind three young boys and it's a tough world out there especially lately. They're rapidly approaching their 150k goal but every little bit is I'm sure appreciated. Check that out right here.

Thanks as always for reading, see you guys next time!