^ Finally got this on LP! Got it from Metrowax, slightly beat up at a very nice price. I think this one is the best out of all 4 volumes. I think when it comes to quality they are numbered as I rank them, v4 being the worst, 2 second place, etc.
No other rap record did this the way GURU did it, he managed to conjure up some of the best jazz musicians for each volume and his signature lazy, monotone flow fit perfectly over the instrumentation. I remember buying this on CD when it came out in 93 and I played it every year multiple times since. It is timeless Hip Hop and not a lot of rap records can claim that.
Prince Paul - Psychoanalysis What is It LP (Tommy Boy) 1997
^I can't tell you how many times I passed this over before finally giving it a try based on the weird name and my prejudices from it. I was wrong. Yeah, it's all over the map, but it's not pyscho or ADD as I thought it might be it's actually a really cool instrumental album with occasional guest rappers and it's a really great piece to have. For such an eclectic album it's surprisingly congruent
Black Moon - Enta Da Stage LP (Wreck Records) 1993
^Classic. This was one of his great early 90s albums. Really, he never put out any really weak albums, some were better than others, but he is one of the few MCs who can keep on dropping albums year after year, decade after decade and he doesn't have to fall back on acting once he is deemed 'too old for rap'. That hasn't happened with him yet anyways. A lot of too-old-for-rap MCs still drop albums long after their prime, but this guy has a way of staying true to his style without tiring it out and becoming obsolete. I'd say this album was in his prime but like De La his prime was a long minute.
Immortal Technique - Revolutionary Vol. 2 LP (Viper Records) 2014 RE of 2003 OG
^The second pic is the controversial political assassination poster included inside the 2LP gatefold. These guys were definitely political MCs. They are political, fucking heavy, and their beats are killer. I was happy to get this reissue, I missed out on the OG.
House Shoes and Street Corner Music Present Tuamie - The Gift Vol. 4 LP (Street Corner Music) 2014
^I took a lot of reminding from you guys but I finally broke down and bought this on wax. Not a huge fan of the title, but hot damn this is a dope album.
Jay-Z / Capone / Common – Dear Summer / Back When / The Corner 12" (Word of Mouth) 2005
^Reluctantly watching Fall turn to Winter inspired me to bust out this one and only way to get that Jay Z song "Dear Summer" on wax (except for the Memphis Bleek album). That was dropped right after he "retired" just after his hugely successful "Black Album". I thought it strange that a retired rapper dropped a one-off single with Memphis Bleek but little did I know there was much more to come after that. But yeah, this is a great song for the Summertime mixtape I never made.
^It's not really Shadow and Cut, they just brought this non existent (except in Bambaataa's collection) early vinyl mixtape to the surface making it available for the first time ever to average Joes. I'll be honest, I had high hopes for this one due to the aura, the price, and the mystery level involved. Not to mention it's the only place that has the slower demo version of "Looking for the Perfect Beat" that I saw Shadow and Cut play live at their recent tour. They literally did nothing to improve or remaster the original record. It apparently was mastered directly from the record itself which must have been beat to hell. Or maybe individual records that were mixed by (Jimmy Jim? or Bam?) back in the day and pressed to the original record were beat to hell, but either way some songs on this mix sounds like you are playing a beat to hell but perfect looking record. Some songs are loud, others soft, some crackly and staticy and some sound like cassette tape wear, while others sound ok. This mix is cool, don't get me wrong, well mixed, and historical, but due to it's poor sound quality I'd say it's for Bambaataa hardcore collectors not the casual curious Hip Hop record collectors. It's cool, but I'll probably only play it a few times more since it's so crackly sounding.
They could have put it thru some kind of mastering repair to get rid of the noise, but I guess they opted to keep it as close to the original record as possible. If I get bored one day I might remaster it using Sound Forge just to hear how it might have sounded at one point. It's a lot of fine detail work but the output might be really cool if it sounded at least normal sounding. Oh well, I'm still glad to have it, but in hindsight I would have passed on it based on the price vs how often I can enjoy listening to it.
^I've been getting caught up on my classic Masta(er) Ace LPs lately, so I couldn't miss out on this under priced sealed promo! I have heard a few songs from this, but never the full album front to back.
Ever get the feeling that you are a dumbass for not knowing a classic album inside and out this many years after it was dropped? That was the feeling I had as I listened to this. A whole lot of "Oh yeah, I remember this song" and "Oh, that's that sample!" moments were going on at the time. This one was solid too, no surprise there, but I still favor Sittin On Chrome and SlaghtaHouse just a tad over this. That said, Me and the Biz is clearly in a class by itself.
Wes Jones - Mount Analogue LP (Organik Recordings) 2007
^I was sideswiped by this one I never heard of when I got it as only one part of a dope B-day gift from my man JB. That's the great thing about trading records or being on birthday trade lists, you get stuff you wouldn't normally even think to buy.
This unassuming looking Wes Jones dude has a fairly traditional style of hip hop beat making in terms of how his beats are made but he definitely favors and even utilizes the sounds of vinyl "flaws" that other producers would try to clean out. He keeps every pop and hiss noise, every imperfection and as long as it loops on time he's doing his job. Sometimes the record pops are so perfectly looped they are part of the beat, other times they are a constant reminder of his sources. He's not quite glitch hop, while he's a bit left field overall he's still boom bap in a lot of ways. This has very slow deliberate beats, very blunted and simultaneously smart and unpretentious at the same time. I plan on using track one on a downtempo mix I'm working on. He did it right, that's how you start your album, with the first track being a slam dunk. The vocal tracks on this are a bit weak but the instrumentals more than make up for it.
^^ Glad you like that Wes Jones . I posted it under Non hip hop , but only because I thought some may argue that it's not a hip hop album . But , I hear hip hop when I play it . It was a nice surprise for me when I first copped it on a whim . I agree that the vocal tracks are weak , but they grew on me after a few listens .. I need that Masta Ace !!
Bishop Nehru & MF Doom - NehruvianDoom lp . I heard some negative things about this album , and read some unflattering things about it , but decided to give it a chance. I wasn't disappointed . I thought it was a pretty good listen , but I was already feeling Bishop Nehru and never had a problem with Doom's style of production . Now if you go into this thinking that it's the new Doom bombshell , you will be disappointed . Doom only drops a few rhymes on here , and they are dialed back to keep the focus on Bishop Nehru . The production is in a true Doom style , so if you're not a fan of his production , you definitely won't feel it . Luckily for me I am a fan.. Also , you can't go into this expecting to be blown away with crazy technical rhymes . Bishop Nehru is a young kid with a very simple style that truly reminds me of the early days of hip hop when MCs just rapped for the love and fun of it . My personal biggest complaints about this album are some of the horribly sung hooks , and the album seems a little short . If you take this this album for what it is , a young mixtape rapper in a teenage mindstate basically free rapping (not freestyling) over Doom beats , and you are open to that concept , you probably won't be disappointed. Take a listen....
Mars ILL - Pro Pain maxi single ep . I picked up a Mars ILL ep back in 2007 when I was on a hunt for something different coming out of the south . It was some decent underground , with a positive tone . I guess these dudes are considered Christian rap although I didn't hear it on the first joint I had Copped . The tracks on here aren't terrible , but nothing really stood out to me either . I'm glad I only dropped $0.95 on this 12 .
DeepSpace 5 -self-titled maxi single ep. This is another Mars ILL as Manchild and Dj Dust (the members of Mars ILL) are founding members of this group . It may as well be the same ep as the last one I posted , but with a few more cats on the same tip . Nothing worth searching either one out . I was impressed only by the fact that this one was pressed up on white vinyl (not sure why that's impressive to me though ). Again glad this one was only $0.95 too...
It has everything from "cunt renaissance", a demo soudning version of "who shot ya" (both under different names), "stop the breaks" which features KRS, O.C. and Raekwon, "dreams of f***ing an rnb b*tch" and a couple less intresting joints. Varied sound quality though whith more bad than good sound.
Listened through this album which has been sitting on my shelf unplayed for many years:
Pleasently surprised. I thought I was gonna get rid of it but it was pretty damn good. Dude was nice. Might check his later work which I'm not familiar with.
Two other random joint's I've been hooked on latley:
This might have been controversial back in 92 but if this video came out today...
