Rough House Survivers – Straight From The Soul 2xLP +7"

90s Tapes (2025, Reissue)

Every Wednesday, in honor of Ed Lover Dance Day from Yo! MTV Raps, I take a break from rock and roll to write a little bit about hip hop. In the late 80s and early 90s hip hop ruled my musical life. During this often called 'Golden Era' I discovered so much incredible music. As I am slowly replacing the CDs I've had for thirty plus years with vinyl copies, I'm going to talk about some albums that had a really important impact on me during some very formative years.

I wrote about the original pressing of this Rough House Survivers record a couple of years ago and looking back on it, I spend more time writing about what a great year 1992 was in hip hop than I did the actual record.  To be fair, I still don't think 92 gets the credit it deserves, but in some ways I didn't give Rough House Survivers the credit they deserved while trying to make that point.

Luckily I get another swing at it because hip hop's best reissue label has reissued this classic as a double LP (with a bonus 7"),  As usual, the pressing g sounds incredible and really highlights what I love most about this album, the incredible production work.  This is an album full of jazz based loops, be, fat drum beats and the sort of accompanying horn accents that set off the whole package.  There's a good, solid tempo throughout the album.  It never gets super fast or frantic, but it also never drags or becomes too slow to keep things interesting.

In addition to their DJ Swinn, Rough House Survivers have 3 different MCs taking turns on the mic,  As is the case with a lot of multi-MC crews that don't spend a lot of time identifying themselves, I won't pretend that I always know exactly who is providing the rhymes at every turn but whether it's Dread One, Kev or Roberto, all three rise to the occasion that the production provides.  You're never going to get a subpar bar.  That fact is even more impressive when you see the rogue's gallery of guest appearances with microphone killers like Grand Puba, CL Smooth and Sadat X dropping by to further light up a few tracks.  That the main 3 MCs are never overshadowed is nothing shot of remarkable.

Once again, I cannot say enough great things about the amazing work that 90s Tapes puts into their release.  I wish they were allowed to handle every hip hop reissue, though that sort of workload might be a tad overwhelming.  I can only be grateful for the classics that we do get to have and their Rough House Survivers reissue is a perfect example of how to treat an album.  While the group may not have gotten the attention and accolades that they deserved at the time, at least they have a incredible version of their album to put on the shelf.

Rough House Survivers – Straight From The Soul:

https://90stapes.bandcamp.com/album/straight-from-the-soul

Beck - 30 Years of Odelay

 

(Didn't have time to dig out the accompanying 7"s and CD singles today)

 

Odelay by Beck came out 30 years ago today and it sure is a moment in time that is interesting to reflect on. In 1996, just prior to Odelay coming out, I’m not sure I could have been a bigger Beck fan. I had been consumed with listening to his music and finding out as much about his wild and difficult to find discography as I could. The very first time I ever went on the World Wide Web I tried to find information about Beck. 

I fell in love with Beck’s music during the 1994 Mellow Gold frenzy that saw him release 3 full length albums, many singles and countless compilation appearances.  Each piece of music I found was more or at least as interesting as the thing I discovered before it.  His music spoke to me in a way that few things had previously and he was absolutely my gateway drug into punk and indie rock as I started to lose interest in what was happening in hip hop around that time.

So to say that I was primed and ready for the next Beck album was an understatement of ridiculous proportion.  I.  Was.  Ready.  I was writing for my college newspaper in 1996 and I was sent an advanced copy of Odelay maybe a month or two before the street date.  It came as a promo CD with no artwork and I remember getting it in the mail and not being able to listen to it right away.  I think I had class or something and then I had to go to work afterwards.  My car didn’t have a CD player, so I did the only thing that made sense.

I drove the CD to my girlfriend and the time's house and asked her to record it to a blank tape for me so I could listen to it in the car when I drove to work after class.   Looking back, that seems like an odd thing to do, but at the time I couldn’t think of anything more important than hearing Beck’s newest album.

When I finally was able to listen to the album, I had really confusing emotions to process.  I really, really wanted to love this record.  And I did love parts of it immediately.  The funk country of “Sissyneck,” the elegant acoustics of “Jackass,” the perfectly upbeat and fun “Lord Only Knows” and the melancholy closer “Ramshackle” hit me perfectly almost instantly.

But a lot of the other songs didn’t reach those same heights.  I thought “Where It’s At” was a little too slow and slick.  “Devil’s Haircut" was excellent musically, but something about the lyrics weren’t really connecting with me. “Derelict” was kind of weird, but not in an engaging way like “Sweet Sunshine” or “Steal My Body Home” were on Mellow Gold.  Everything sort of felt like it was taking itself much more seriously as music, but the joy I found in Beck’s music was how he didn’t seem to be taking things all that seriously beforehand, making fun of the machine instead of fitting into it.

I did still like the record a lot overall. I hunted down all of the singles and weirdo variants.  I saw him play seven or eight times in the next year, including one of the best shows I have ever seen when he played solo acoustic at Maxwell’s in Hoboken in 1996.  I traded show recording bootleg tapes with strangers and friends on the internet.   It was an interesting time to say the least as most of my earliest internet memories are because of trying to find out more stuff about Beck.  To this day, my primary goal when I open any form of what makes up the internet today, it’s to try to acquire information.  I’ve never been a meme guy, I just want to learn more.  A lot of that is probably because of habits I picked up when I first got access to the internet.

As the years have gone by and as Beck has released more and more records, drifting further and further away from the things that I liked most about him at the beginning, I have weirdly mixed feelings about Odelay.  It’s certainly a lot better than many of the records he released after it (maybe better than all of them?).  The songs that I liked right away still hold up really well all of these years later.  The memories of that time period being pretty influential to a 19 year old are hard to overlook.

That said, I don’t listen to Odelay nearly as much as I do a lot of other records from the same time period.  A whole lot of musical discovery was happening for me between 1994 and 1996 and when I reflect on everything 30 years later, Odelay is kind of a disappointment when you hold it up to Mellow Gold, Stereopathetic Soulmanure and One Foot In The Grave.  I had probably drifted a little too far into punk rock to totally connect with a record like Odelay by that point. When you have discovered groups like Rocket From The Crypt and Leatherface, the energy level on Odelay seems a bit lacking in comparison.

And that’s not to say it isn’t a well done, important record.  It is.  And it's especially important for Beck as it really made his career.  I’m happy for him for that.  Genuinely.  He was such an important cog in my life so he deserves everything he has.  But for me, I always connected with him more when he was the oddball outcast, mocking the alternative revolution and setting fire to squeegees.  That’s the Beck for me.

Last Jazz Club - Jazz Is... LP - White & Green Vinyl (/100)

 

Chopped Herring (2018)

Every Wednesday, in honor of Ed Lover Dance Day from Yo! MTV Raps, I take a break from rock and roll to write a little bit about hip hop. In the late 80s and early 90s hip hop ruled my musical life. During this often called 'Golden Era' I discovered so much incredible music. As I am slowly replacing the CDs I've had for thirty plus years with vinyl copies, I'm going to talk about some albums that had a really important impact on me during some very formative years.

A few years ago I stumbled across an album called Neva Sellin' Out by Tha Anthom 'N Mike B.  It was an incredible album full of really nice production.  I've been patiently waiting for a follow up, but that' isn't something that has materialized just yet, so in the meantime I went about trying to find this album by Last Jazz Club.

Last Jast Club features the production and DJ skills of Mike B from Neva Sellin' Out fame.  Here he is paired with an MC from San Diego called Veks.  Veks does an admirable job on the microphone, weaving his higher pitched vocals over, around and through the beats.  If I had to do a side-by-side comparison to Tha Anthom, I probably prefer Anthom ever so slightly due to a small preference for the tone of his voice, but both have the vocabulary needed to fill out their respective albums.

Where Last Jazz Club really shines for me is in the production.  As the name of the group likely implies, we've got buckets of jazzy loops and samples creating a warm, textured sound.  There's so much great upright bass driving the bulk of this album and when paired with the loud, thumping drums, it hits that perfect sound.  While I do think that the tempos as a whole run a little slower than I typically like, the way the sounds are crafted and the loops are used make complete sense in the context of the album.  Not everything has to be fast for me to enjoy it and the laid back groove of this album shows that you can decrease the BPMs and still keep me interested.

Last Jazz Club - Jazz Is...:

https://lastjazzclub.bandcamp.com/album/jazz-is 

Tanner - (Germo)Phobic LP - Green Vinyl (#107 /202)

 
Beihai Park (2026)

(Germo)Phobic is Tanner's 2nd album and was originally released on CD back in 1997, but never on vinyl.  Beihai Park stepped up and finally brought this album to vinyl for the first time and I couldn't be happier to have this record in my hands.

I'm not one of the cool kids that was aware of what Tanner was doing in real time as it happened.  I knew the name of the band and even had the split 7" they put out with No Knife, but I didn't really dig any deeper in the 90s.  It wasn't until Hot Snakes broke onto the scene that I backtracked and checked out Gar Wood's prior band.  To say that I was impressed would have been a gigantic understatement.  The way this band is able to blend complex guitar dynamics with a driving drum beat and high register, melodic vocals is nothing short of amazing.

I've always been torn between this album and Tanner's debut, Ill Gotten Gains.  I've definitely spent more time with the debut as that's been on vinyl for a while.  But there's something about the energy and freshness of (Germo)Phobia that knocks me over every time I listen to it.  Maybe it's because I'm a little less familiar with it so it's still able to surprise me in a way that Ill Gotten Gains doesn't anymore, but whatever it is I couldn't help but be impressed as I spun this vinyl version for the first time.

A lot of that is because of how great it sounds.  It's not like the CD didn't also sound great, but Beihai Park has done an incredible job with this release and it's a perfect record to put on the turntable and play slightly louder than appropriate.  

Tanner - (Germo)Phobic:

https://beihaiparkrecords.bandcamp.com/album/germo-phobic

Beezewax - A Dozen Summits LP - Purple Vinyl

 
SellOut! / Boss Tuneage (2025, Reissue)

A Dozen Summits is a pretty pivotal record as it was when Beezewax appeared on the radar of PopKid Records HQ.  I'm not sure where the band heard of PopKid, but they sent this (at the time) CD only release and demos of some of the songs that would go on to become South of Boredom to Alan back in 1997 or 1998.  He loved them and the rest is history.  Somewhere in there we procured a copy of the CD for me as well and it's been in my frequent rotation ever since.  This is a record that has long been on my short list for my most wanted records to get a vinyl release and the fine folks at SellOut and Boss Tuneage made that a reality last year.

A Dozen Summits is only second to South of Boredom in the Beezewax catalog for me.  It's a perfect guitar pop record with perhaps a bit more fuzz a roughness than the rest of their catalog.  But it's in those fuzzy, imperfect moments where I find the perfection in these songs.  There's so many great songs on here and there's moments, like where they go from the heavier Posies-esque "Take the Wheel" to the blown out bass intro of "Miss Playin Basketball," that wow me every time I listen.

As with many things in life, it ruins my brain to realize that this album is 29 years old.  At the same time, this record is kind of a remarkable snapshot of youthful enthusiasm, energy and optimism that's probably difficult to replicate when you is double digits and starts with a 4 or a 5.  This is an album that takes me back to a hectic, stressful and challenging time in my life, but one that certainly had its good moments and a ton of great music.  So happy to finally be able to spin this on my record player after all these years.

Beezewax - A Dozen Summits:

https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_nvzAF9zW_F2bPR5feGmqPZpg5oi9IkiV0

Mrs. Magician - Spiritual Hangover LP - Black Vinyl (/250)

 
Swami (2026)

I have been talking about Mrs. Magician since the moment I acquired some of their early 7"s.  I really dug those singles, but I was not prepared for their debut full length in 2012, Strange Heaven.  It instantly became an all timer for me and I often mention it as my favorite record of the last however many years (though at this point, that however is getting to be a pretty big number).  Their 2016 follow up Bermuda was also my album of that year.  But then we didn't hear a whole lot from Mrs. Magician.  For about a decade.

Spiritual Hangover is the 2026 return of Mrs. Magician, though this time Jacob Turnbloom is collaborating with a new crew that make up the band.  I would be lying if I said this didn't give me pause when I first heard that.  The main reason being that during Mrs. Magician downtimes there were some very good Jacob Turnbloom solo records, but they were different from Mrs. Magician.  I wanted this record to feel like the others.  Luckily, any worries I had evaporated almost immediately as Spiritual Hangover is exactly what I need from a Mrs. Magician record.

If you like Mrs. Magician already, you go in with a certain set of expectations.  You want the reverb tinged, surf hooks.  You want interesting chord progressions that break down into side quests, but come right back where they're supposed to be.  And then you expect to be popped in the jaw with a picture perfect hook.  All the while, you've got lyrics that demand repeated listens to try to catch every one of the nuggets that are thrown out there.  I've always sort have found the lyrics to be humorously depressing or having a feeling of resigned optimism.  There's crappy stuff out there and a Mrs. Magician record will point those things out, but in a way that makes you begrudging laugh and realize you've got to keep pushing through even if some things seem kind of hopeless.

Every time I've listened to this record I just dig it more and more. To the point where I think it's even better than Bermuda.  I love the scrappy production that while still sounding clean and warm, manages to have those fuzzy elements that keeps it feeling real and not over produced.  This is a band with a near flawless catalog and I am so happy whenever I get to hear something new.  I just wish these records would come out more often. Ten years is way too long to wait!

(PS - I am pretty sure the black vinyl was limited to 250 copies, but I can't find where I thought I read that.  I'll update that info if it's wrong.)

Mrs. Magician - Spiritual Hangover:

https://mrsmagician.bandcamp.com/album/spiritual-hangover

Dredknotz - Under Pressure 4xLP

90s Tapes (2025)

Every Wednesday, in honor of Ed Lover Dance Day from Yo! MTV Raps, I take a break from rock and roll to write a little bit about hip hop. In the late 80s and early 90s hip hop ruled my musical life. During this often called 'Golden Era' I discovered so much incredible music. As I am slowly replacing the CDs I've had for thirty plus years with vinyl copies, I'm going to talk about some albums that had a really important impact on me during some very formative years.

Dredknotz were a group that were active in the mid 90s.  Helped along by DJ Richie Rich of 3rd Bass fame, the tracks that comprise Under Pressure have been done and waiting for a release since 1995.  It wasn't until 2025 that they finally saw the light of day, courtesy of my favorite reissue label, 90s Tapes.

1995 is usually that line in the sand for me, it's where hip hop started to move in a direction that wasn't what I wanted out of it.  But as I've mentioned many, many times in the past, I have constantly found exceptions to this rule the more I dig around and I'd include Dredknotz in that list.  Under Pressure is built on the back of some dark, upright bass loops, blaring horn accents, alongside of plentiful kick and snare drum rumbling. It gives the album a post-Enta Da Stage Boot Camp Clik sort of feel when it comes to the production.  

Sometimes I wish the tracks were a bit faster, as slower tempos are kind of the bane of hip hop released after 1994 for me, but Dredknotz keep the energy level up with a lively, dynamic lyrical delivery.  While not to the same extreme as Onyx, there are times where Dredknotz remind me of a slower, moodier version of those kings of Queens.  The end result is an album that harshly rumbles along, never getting too wild, but also never slowing down to the point where I lose interest.

90s Tapes did another fantastic job with this reissue, from how great it sounds, down to the the smallest details of the art.  Not being a DJ and only being a person who likes to listen to records, the release being a quadruple LP to include all of the instrumentals is probably a bit more than I need personally.  Though I imagine there are plenty of folks significantly more talented than me that wouldn't have it any other way.  

Dredknotz - Under Pressure:

https://90stapes.bandcamp.com/album/under-pressure

Lord Finesse - Return of the Funky Man 2xLP - Tan & Black Splatter Vinyl

Get On Down / Giant (2025, Reissue)

Every Wednesday, in honor of Ed Lover Dance Day from Yo! MTV Raps, I take a break from rock and roll to write a little bit about hip hop. In the late 80s and early 90s hip hop ruled my musical life. During this often called 'Golden Era' I discovered so much incredible music. As I am slowly replacing the CDs I've had for thirty plus years with vinyl copies, I'm going to talk about some albums that had a really important impact on me during some very formative years.

For me, 1992 is the miracle year of hip hop.  While it's not the year that most of my favorite records came out, I think it's the best and most consistent year of hip hop before the golden era started showing signs of cracking.  It built off of 1991 and took things, particularly from a production standpoint, to higher levels.  Innovation was careening forward weekly with new releases that explored new ground in a genre that was making sure the world knew was here to stay.

Return of the Funky Man is Lord Finesse's 2nd full length, though he's lost DJ Mike Smooth since his 1990 release.  Also by this time the Diggin' In The Crates crew (or DITC, for short) saw their notoriety rising as Diamond D and Showbiz & AG were making noise.  Despite all of that, Lord Finesse flew under my radar when I was buying records in 1992.  I don't remember seeing Finesse on Yo! and I guess what The Source had written about him wasn't enough to make me hunt down anything by him at the time.  Part of that is tragic, because this is exactly the sort of thing I was listening to at the time and I should have had decades to grow with this record.  But on the plus side, I was able to discover a true classic many years later and hear the exact kind of hip hop production I love in the mid 2010s.

And it is the production that really makes this record soar for me.  There's enough of that late 80s and early 90s fast tempo drums, with those eclectic samples and bass lines that were starting to assert themselves by this point.  There isn't a stinker in the bunch as every song is funkier than the one before.  On the mic, Finesse has a voice that did take me a little time to get used to.  It's a little higher pitched and nasally, but not in an over the top B-Real sort of way.  Just in a way that didn't grab me immediately and required a few listens to have his lyrics sink in. Once they did sink in, it became easy to see why he's so respected all these years later.

While I cannot say that this splatter colored vinyl is aesthetically the most pleasing record I have ever seen, I am gratefully to have a nice double LP reissue of this as even the 2005 and 2014 reissues had become quite scarce over the years,  If he originally flew under your radar like he did mine, it's probably time to give Lord Finesse a listen, and this is a great place to start.

Lord Finesse - Return of the Funky Man:

https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=e9kJNgcTmCM

Superdrag - Last Call For Vitriol LP - Red Vinyl

 

Superdrag Sound Laboratories (2025 (Reissue)

I have been a fan of Superdrag from the first time I heard "Sucked Out."  When it came out in 1996, I wasn't really the sort of person that would listen to the radio or watch MTV.  In fact, I'm pretty certain that I've never seen the video for that song even to this day.  But I was writing for my college newspaper in 1996 and Regretfully Yours was sent to the office for review.  I took it as something of a guilty pleasure as I knew the band was getting popular in the buzz bin section of the world, but to me it was just an excellent pop record.  That sort of fleeting fame comes and goes pretty quickly, but Superdrag remained consistent, pumping out strong records for the next few years.

Last Call For Vitriol is the fourth album of that initial run.  They did eventually do a fifth in 2009, but to be honest, I've not heard it.  Last Call came out in 2002 on Arena Rock records.  I remember it vividly because I was interning at my eventual music industry job and I stuffed about 400 of them into envelopes to send out to college radio.  I'll be honest, while I did like it, I wasn't blown away at the time.  

As the years have gone by (way too many years, if you ask me) my appreciation for the band's entire catalog has grown and Last Call For Vitriol has come along for that ride.  That said, there's still some misses on here for me.  I still don't really love the garage-y swagger of "I Can't Wait" or the alterna-rock of "The Staggering Genius" or the 'hey-is-this-a-Fountains-of-Wayne-ballad' of "Safe & Warm."  But when the band is in full on pop mode like they are on "Baby Goes To 11," "So Insincere" and "Remain Yer Strange" it's impossible to not love Superdrag.

While I would still probably rank Last Call For Vitriol as the weakest of the four main Superdag records, that doesn't make it a weak album.  There are half a dozen killer songs on here and even the ones I mentioned above aren't bad at all, they're just not at the level of the pop madness the band is capable of.  More than anything, I'm just really happy this is finally on vinyl so I can complete my run of Superdrag full lengths.

Superdrag - Last Call For Vitriol:

https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_kDHh0b7uaGtMOxDrd4sgNVGSYatPCNtIo

Sham & The Professor - Split Personalities LP

Freeze / Priority (1994)

Every Wednesday, in honor of Ed Lover Dance Day from Yo! MTV Raps, I take a break from rock and roll to write a little bit about hip hop. In the late 80s and early 90s hip hop ruled my musical life. During this often called 'Golden Era' I discovered so much incredible music. As I am slowly replacing the CDs I've had for thirty plus years with vinyl copies, I'm going to talk about some albums that had a really important impact on me during some very formative years.

I wish I knew a little more about Sham & The Professor.  There's very little information about them that I'm able to find on ye olde internet, though that isn't exactly surprising as the actual informational content on the internet has been vanishing over the years.  That's a completely different, and very depressing, topic.  But all I can really find about this early 90s hip hop group is their list of releases on Discogs.

Split Personalities is the debut Sham & The Professor full length album though there were a bunch of single released leading up to and shortly thereafter its 1994 release date.  There's also a follow up that came out in 2001, but I haven't delved into that one just yet.  I don't even remember exactly how I stumbled across this album.  It may have been from those recommendations that show up at the bottom of Discogs listings, but I'm not positive.  However I found it, I'm sure glad I did as it's a great album.

1994 is that transitional year in hip hop for me.  While there's lots of great records, there's also quite a few that are moving in a direction that I don't care for.  On the production side, Sham & The Professor sit right where I want a record to be.  This is bass heavy, thick production with pounding drums and the sort of samples that take control of my neck, rendering me incapable of not nodding my head along in approval.  There's also some nice fast beats, as one of my biggest peeves about mid 90s hip hop is how slow it is.  

Lyrically, both Sham and The Professor can hold their own.  They complement each other and pass the mic back and forth with ease, reminding me of how seamlessly groups like EPMD are able to do it.  The content is serious, though they are certainly able to battle and do so on occasion.  The way that they fold their flows into the beats is super impressive and it leaves me scratching my head about how these guys slipped through the cracks for me for so many years.

It took me a minute to find a nice copy of the LP at a reasonable price, and mine was sealed before I popped it open.  The only complaint I have about any of this is that Split Personalities is one of those 90s hip hop records where the vinyl is a single LP and because of that there's not as many songs on it as there are on the CD version.  So we only have 11 of the 17 tracks on the vinyl, which bums me out.  Especially egregious is "Murder on My Hands" being missing from the vinyl.  That's a killer song.  Maybe someday one of those great reissue labels like 90s Tapes will do a fancy rerelease of this, but for now I'm just happy to have the record period.

Sham & The Professor - Split Personalities:

https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_kMXJzZEopn4aGKs1Qwud-PeyjqYXV5qTo

Swami John Reis - Turn On You 7" (/250)

 
Swami (2026)

Swami John Reis kicks off his 2026 with a 7" of two new songs.  If I remember the listing on the Swami shop page correctly, I think these were from the same sessions that produced the last full length.  Though I am not positive about that as the page for this on the site is now gone, likely because the 250 copies of this record that were pressed disappeared pretty quickly.

On the A side we have "Turn On You."  This one is a medium tempo chugger with lots of good downstroking in the verse.  But the guitar really shines through said chugging as it has a bright tone with just a hint of jangle. We blast into the expectedly big chorus that also has some nice keyboard flourishes.  It's a fun one.

"Meme Bitch" holds down the B side and is much faster with perhaps double the downstrokes per minute. It kicks off with a relatively straightforward verse with a chord progression that feels very Swami, even though it probably would seem unusual for many songwriters.  I, however, am not a songwriter, so I probably don't know the technical name for this part of a song, but there's a bridge/transition/breakdown thing right before the before the chorus that has a a strong Hot Snakes feel to me, but without the big crunch of guitars that is synonymous with that band.  RIt's great.  The chorus is a cathartic shout along and The whole shebang wraps up pretty quick. 

The Swami can do no wrong by me and this 7" is just another excellent record to add to the collection.  I feel like the amount of new Swami music is definitely on the uptick these last couple of years and I hope that continues to be the case.  I always want more.

Del The Funky Homosapien + AMP Live - Gate 13 2xLP

IOT (2018)

Every Wednesday, in honor of Ed Lover Dance Day from Yo! MTV Raps, I take a break from rock and roll to write a little bit about hip hop. In the late 80s and early 90s hip hop ruled my musical life. During this often called 'Golden Era' I discovered so much incredible music. As I am slowly replacing the CDs I've had for thirty plus years with vinyl copies, I'm going to talk about some albums that had a really important impact on me during some very formative years.

This is another one of those records that I bought ages ago and still haven't written anything about it.  I will buy pretty much anything that has Del The Funky Homosapien's name on it.  He's been my favorite since No Need For Alarm rearranged by brain back in 1993 and as far as golden era rappers go, he has had way more successes in the intervening than most in my book.  

Del always, and I mean always, brings in on the mic.  I'm not sure there has ever been anyone that has ever rapped in a way that connects with me more than him.  There's something really unique about the way he weaves his rhymes in super intricate ways, but makes them so they can still be understood and digested.  He has a cadence that has been part of my life for over 30 years and it's always familiar, but surprising, if that makes any sense.  This album is no exception, every song has piles of lyrics to dissect and enjoy.  And unlike a lot of folks, del has not abandoned the concept of having a hook.

What separates good Del albums from great Del albums is usually the production.  I'm not familiar with AMP Live and I wasn't really sure what to expect as far as beats go.  And honestly, they're somewhere in the middle.  I don't think they're incredible, but they're good enough.  I wish they were a little louder and faster, a bit more rugged perhaps.  There's something that feels a little clinical about their sound.  Even the ones that I really dig, like "Gravy Train," seem to be missing a little bit of fuzz or analog hiss that would make everything feel a bit more grounded.  

So as far as Del's catalog goes, I'd put this in somewhere in middle.  Gate 13 is not the same thing as his 90s releases (which it's not going to be, that was ages ago). but it's a solid record and gives Del an easy to listen to playground to spout off his unmatched lyrics.

Del The Funky Homosapien + AMP Live - Gate 13:

https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_kMin2n6cIQxGtL8j56vZX-LMRZU1uq11U

Daddy-O - You Can Be A Daddy But Never Daddy-O LP

Island (1993)

Every Wednesday, in honor of Ed Lover Dance Day from Yo! MTV Raps, I take a break from rock and roll to write a little bit about hip hop. In the late 80s and early 90s hip hop ruled my musical life. During this often called 'Golden Era' I discovered so much incredible music. As I am slowly replacing the CDs I've had for thirty plus years with vinyl copies, I'm going to talk about some albums that had a really important impact on me during some very formative years.

Daddy-O is likely best known for being part of the hugely influential hip hop group Stetasonic.  They split up after their 1991 album Blood, Sweat & No Tears and the next time we would hear from Daddy-O was on this album, his 1993 debut You Can Be A Daddy But Never Daddy-O.  I don't think it made much of a splash when it was released, I certainly don't remember hearing about it at the time.  1993 was a pivotal year in hip hop as the genre was moving at an alarmingly fast bace, changing weekly.  A new album released by someone whose group's heyday was in the 80s probably wasn't as exciting to the tastemakers at the time.

It wasn't until many, many years later that I stumbled across this record and decided to check it out.  I would not go so far as to proclaim it a 'lost classic' or anything that grandiose, but it's a very strong record that I think would have made a bit more noise had it not come out during such a crowded time in hip hop.  

More than anything, I really enjoy the production on the album.  It's a hard hitting, east coast flavor that fits in nicely with the sound of the era.  There's a ton of head nodders in here and while not necessarily treading any new ground, it's a fun listen.  Lyrically, Daddy-O knows what he's doing.  He's got a steady flow that works with his scratchy vocal delivery.  I think perhaps he could have spent a bit less time talking about how much he likes other rappers, as it's a topic that certainly comes up more than once, but it's not that I'm in any way opposed to a good old fashion shout out.  

Again, there's nothing earth shattering here, but the steady vocals mixed with better than average production makes it an album worth checking out.  Unfortunately, the only vinyl version that exists is this 'clean' promo version.  Daddy-O isn't swearing all over the place, so it being clean doesn't bother me that much.  But the bigger issue is that the LP only has 12 of the 16 songs that the CD does.  It's even missing the single that it advertises on the hype sticker, "Brooklyn Bounce."  I'm not sure how much demand there is for a nice reissue of this album, but I'd certainly buy one.

Daddy-O - You Can Be A Daddy But Never Daddy-O:
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_mYGZawQKOZxaUL48KJjycB6z7Aitr5dPo

Sweet Harm - Certain Sun LP - Yellow Vinyl

Salinas (2025)

Sweet Harm are proving to be a difficult band to write about in the short time I've been listening to their debut album Certain Sun.  I find it equally intriguing and frustrating, at times wanting to like it more than I do, while also wondering if I'm trying to hard to like it when I don't.  It's a good album, but there's something holding it back for me.

We've got your standard rock music line up.  Two guitars, a bass and some drums.  The music they are creating is warm and easy to listen to.  There's a good base of guitar fuzz, complimented by a little jangle in all of the right places.  We're talking predominantly mid tempo indie that's fast enough to not get boring, while also being mellow enough to not step all over itself or get too punk for its own good.

I think what keeps this album from growing on me is the vocals.  The bulk of the singing is handled by Dominic Armao.  He has a conversational singing style that sometimes reminds me of a less whimsical Stephen Malkmus.  His vocal melodies often verge away from where you think they should be considering the music he's singing over.  There are times where that's interesting, but there are also times where it sounds like he's singing a different song than the rest of the band is playing.  

Kate Larson is the group's other vocalist.  She takes the lead on two tracks, and provides backing vocals on the others.  Again, I struggle as to what to say about them as they're difficult to hear on most of the album.  She seems so buried in the mix that you can mostly only pick up on faint echoes of backing vocals here and there.  This mixing decision is also noticeable on the two songs that she takes the lead on, they're just so different from when Dominic is singing, as he's way louder.

And that's where I struggle.  It's a pretty good record, but the vocals don't really do it for me.  I'm not sure if it's the way everything was put together after the fact, or if these are intentional decisions that the group is making.  At the end of the day, this one's just not for me.

Sweet Harm - Certain Sun:

https://sweetharm.bandcamp.com/album/certain-sun

Kaotic Style - Infinity LP - Yellow Vinyl (/50)

Dope Folks (2021)

Every Wednesday, in honor of Ed Lover Dance Day from Yo! MTV Raps, I take a break from rock and roll to write a little bit about hip hop. In the late 80s and early 90s hip hop ruled my musical life. During this often called 'Golden Era' I discovered so much incredible music. As I am slowly replacing the CDs I've had for thirty plus years with vinyl copies, I'm going to talk about some albums that had a really important impact on me during some very formative years.

As I continue to try to clear out records that have been sitting around for too long without being written about, we come to Infinity by Kaotic Style.  Back in 2022 I had written about the first of the Kaotic Style releases that Dope Folks had put out.  I had this record when I wrote about that one.  I've had it long enough to have gotten one of the limited to 50 copies versions on yellow vinyl.  I just never wrote about it.  Again, trying to clean that up as best as I can.

Kaotic Style is really strong early 90s, East Coast hip hop.  About half of these songs were pulled from singles released between 1991 and 1992.  The remaining half are unreleased songs that the group recorded between 1994 and 1996.  If you look at the time frame and the geography, it's a pretty safe bet that this is going to be the exact sort of hip hop that I want to listen to.  The songs from the early 90s singles are really strong for that era.  I would have absolutely been into these guys if I had access to their music in 1992.  The flows are really strong, with lyrical structures that go beyond simple rhyme schemes into more complex microphone magic.  Everything is upbeat and the words per minute keep up with and often exceed the beats per minute.

The production can more than hold up to the lyrics as it's that boom bap style that I love so much.  Even the songs that were recorded past my usual 1994 cut off don't fall into the slow, often boring production that I think tends to dominate 1995 and 1996.  Now, is the singing break of "Get Down" my favorite thing on the album?  No, but even that isn't very offensive and the lyrics more than make up for it.

I'm not really sure why these guys didn't get a chance to put out a full album back in the 90s.  They just never broke out of the underground.  While it's a bummer that because of that I never got to hear Kaotic Style when they were active, those underground styles are why these tracks still sound so fresh and exciting in 2026.

Kaotic Style - Infinity:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=58028yuMRgE

Mrs. Magician - High Resolution 7"

 
Swami (2026)

It seems both inconceivable and ridiculous that it's been ten years since the last Mrs. Magician record came out.  This is a band responsible for two incredible albums, the first of which is easily in my top 10 records that have come out in the 2000s (probably top five, honestly - but I don't have time to check and do the math right now).  This two song 7" marks their return in 2026, leading up to a new album next month.  Which coincidently includes both of the songs on this 7".

Now, I must remind people that I have an aversion to listening to songs from un upcoming album outside of the context of the full album.  I find that it makes me hear those songs differently than the rest.  In the past I have overplayed advance singles and I've learned that it does the album no favors, so I avoid that now.  I bring this up because I'm writing about this 7" only having listened to it once, with no plans to listen again until I can hear these songs with the rest of the full record.

I did write down some notes while I listened, knowing that I wouldn't be back for a little bit.  A side "High Resolution" is a driving pop song with a big guitar riff doing the heavy lifting in the verse.  There's some nice surfy secondary guitar sprinkled in and a great hook for the chorus.  The song is very good and as I listened to it I was getting pretty excited to hear the new album when suddenly at about the minute forty-five mark or so, the song veers into an incredibly catchy bridge or breakdown or whatever you want to call it.  It's just bonkers and makes the song even better than I already thought it was.  What a ride.

On the B side, "Dead Alive" starts off with that scrappy, early, reverb heavy Mrs. Magician sound before cleaning itself up when the main thrust of the song kicks in. I hope we get a little more of that fuzzy aesthetic on the rest of the record as I really dig that.  But again, this is another cracking good song with crunchy guitars and some really nice vocal interplay between Jacob and Tiffany Turnbloom where there's a back and forth before coming together into a harmony.  

Like I said, I only listened to this once, but I definitely liked what I heard.  What it really does (and I do believe this is the point of singles, I'm sure it's in a book somewhere) is make me excited to finally hear the full length.  I am counting down the days and doing finger exercises to ensure I can preorder the vinyl as quickly as possible once it shows up in the Swami shop.

Mrs. Magician - "High Resolution":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C55h4t9BF-I

Mrs. Magician - "Dead Alive":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LPapZ7Y4laU

C.P.O. - To Hell and Black LP

 
Capitol (1990)

Every Wednesday, in honor of Ed Lover Dance Day from Yo! MTV Raps, I take a break from rock and roll to write a little bit about hip hop. In the late 80s and early 90s hip hop ruled my musical life. During this often called 'Golden Era' I discovered so much incredible music. As I am slowly replacing the CDs I've had for thirty plus years with vinyl copies, I'm going to talk about some albums that had a really important impact on me during some very formative years.

C.P.O. is mildly confusing to me.  It's a group, but it also ended up being a person (Lil Nation is in the group, who later became Boss Hogg who also was CPO?).  But what I do know about C.P.O. is that they are affiliated with MC Ren of N.W.A.  How do I know this?  He guests on two tracks, he co-wrote almost every song on here, he's the producer and on the back of the record there's a larger font, bolded thank you paragraph to him that is borderline embarrassing to read.  Don't get me wrong, I like MC Ren, I don't think he ever gets his due for how important he was in the history of N.W.A, but his name is on this LP more than anyone actually in the group.

I wasn't aware of C.P.O. when this album came out in 1990.  I discovered them when Paramount+ uploaded about 75 old episodes of Yo! MTV Raps a couple of years ago and I proceeded to watch every single episode (they are sadly gone again, but what a glorious ride that was).  I saw the C.P.O. video a few times and decided to check out the record.  1990 was when I started watching Yo!, though I don't remember seeing C.P.O. back then.  But still, better late than ever.

The record itself is a strong album as far as what the production of 1990 sounded like.  It's a little dated sounding listening to it today, but in the context of when it was actually released, it holds up.  Lil Nation is totally solid on the mic.  You can certainly hear the MC Ren influence and co-writing, but it's not like he doesn't do a good job when he's spinning his yarns.  Though MC Ren completely dominates the spotlight every time he comes up.  Again, I don't think that guy gets the credit he deserves for how good he was during this time period.

Is this album great?  No, it's not great, but it's pretty good and is a cool snapshot of the villain in black at a period between Straight Outta Compton and Efil4zaggin.  Oh, and there's a group called C.P.O. here too.  When I picked up this copy I didn't realize that someone had written on the cover, but I'm not really bothered to go buy another copy to upgrade this copy for my collection.  I think you can use that information to judge where I rank this album.  Good enough to keep, but not important enough to upgrade.

C.P.O. - To Hell and Black:

https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_mMp4BJ_IbbEw2F1y1I_psMX7kEmUnBxgs

The Pretty Flowers - Never Felt Bitter LP - Purple Vinyl (/500)

 
Forge Again (2026)

I know you've been waiting.  We're almost through March.  When is it going to happen?  When am I going to proclaim something as the first great record of 2026?  I am aware no one is actually waiting for me to do this, but...it's time and probably not a surprise of the band that takes the crown.

Never Felt Bitter is the third full length from one of my absolute favorite active bands, The Pretty Flowers.  They initially popped up on my radar in 2018 when Dirt Cult put out their debut full length, Why Trains Crash.  Since the moment I first heard that record, I have been a vocal advocate insisting that everyone on the planet earth that can hear my voice or read my words must check this band out.  And they are a band that never lets me down.  Each time they put out a new album, I find myself enamored with the new songs the same way their debut captured my imagination eight years ago.

For the uninitiated, The Pretty Flowers are a top notch indie rock band, with major power pop leanings.  When I'm doing the lazy compare-to-other-bands thing, they always make me think of a cross between Built To Spill and The Weakerthans.  This is at least the third time I'm writing that I'm sure, but when I listen to their albums, that's where my brain goes.  Lyrically and vocally, the song wringing reminds me of The Weakerthans in the way they tell stories of regular people, but where Pretty Flowers up the ante is the absolute onslaught of harmonies and backing vocals.  They make these songs soar and fully differentiate themselves from the more intentionally sparse Weakerthans sound.

And that separation is more prominent in the music which accomplishes the herculean task of looking at a Built To Spill record and saying 'I can make poppy songs with insane guitar work too' and then just do it.  You have these supremely catchy songs, with hooks just falling out of them, and suddenly...boom.  Massive guitar solo/pyrotechnics.  And not in that annoying, self indulgent way that a lot of bands do (even Built To Spill is guilty of that self indulgence from time to time).  These guitar passages serve the song, rather than having the song be a set up to show off.  It's a tricky balance that I don't think many bands are able to pull off, but yet The Pretty Flowers do it time and time again over three albums.  It's so good it almost makes me angry.

I'm not the sort of person that's going to write a lengthy technical deconstruction of an album.  I'm not a good enough writer to pull off examining a record and providing a dissertation of its poetic merits.  I can only tell you how a record makes me feel.  Never Felt Bitter makes me feel great.  In a time where there are so many things to look around and be depressed about, a new record by The Pretty Flowers is one of those things that I find tremendously uplifting.  More than anything, I feel like it's important to hunt for joy these days, and man do I find a lot of it in this album.  Stop reading this and go buy it.

The Pretty Flowers - Never Felt Bitter:

https://forgeagainrecords.bandcamp.com/album/never-felt-bitter

Obits - L.E.G.I.T. LP - Clear Vinyl (/300)

 
Outer Battery (2025)

The legacy of Rick Froberg is immense and wide ranging.  His legacy in music is also very often tied to the legacy of John Reis, due to their collaborations in Pitchfork, Drive Like Jehu and Hot Snakes.  However, when Hot Snakes stopped playing a few years after Audit In Progress came out I personally wondered if we'd see a fourth collaboration or if Rick would step back from music a bit like when Drive Like Jehu stopped playing.  The answer was neither as he started playing in a new band, Obits.

I vividly remember the fervor of the band's formation coming to light on ye olde Swami message board.  A bootleg of their first show was bandied about and everyone seemed pretty stoked on the prospect of getting some records.  The first time I saw Obits was at a place called Santos Party House in December of 2008.  They played with The Night Marchers and at the time their debut full length hadn't been released yet.  Discogs is telling me that their first 7" was out at that point, but truthfully I don't remember it that way.  I'm probably wrong though, who am I to argue with Discogs.  What I can tell you is that Obits ripped through a set of killer songs and you know a band is hot when they blow you away with a bunch of stuff that you don't already know.

Three full lengths were released in the following years, all of which I loved.  Interspersed were a bunch of singles and L.E.G.I.T. compiles them all for easy listening (finally getting to the point in the third paragraph).  This comp was originally released on CD in 2014, but I'm excited to have it on vinyl.  I love these songs and as much as I adore collecting 7"s, it can be something of a fussy experience to sit around trying to listen to a bunch of them all at once.  One flip of a record vs. putting on and flipping five different 7"s is a more relaxing experience.

And these songs are not just leftovers.  They are killer, killer songs.  To this day my absolute favorite Obits song is "Put It In Writing," the B side to their first 7" "One Cross Apiece."  And they lead off this LP with that one-two punch that sets the stage for the excellence that follows.  This is an essential pickup if you like Obits.  Sure, the last four live tracks aren't as exciting as to me as the studio recordings, but I've never really been a live album sort of guy (with very few exceptions).  It bums me out thinking about how we don't have years of future Froberg masterpieces in front of us, but I am comforted by all of the ones he provided us in the past.

Obits - L.E.G.I.T.:

https://obits.bandcamp.com/album/l-e-g-i-t

Casual - Demo Sessions 12"

Dope Folks (2019)

Every Wednesday, in honor of Ed Lover Dance Day from Yo! MTV Raps, I take a break from rock and roll to write a little bit about hip hop. In the late 80s and early 90s hip hop ruled my musical life. During this often called 'Golden Era' I discovered so much incredible music. As I am slowly replacing the CDs I've had for thirty plus years with vinyl copies, I'm going to talk about some albums that had a really important impact on me during some very formative years.

This weekend I'm going to go see Hieroglyphics play live for the first time.  Though I have seen Del The Funky Homosapien and Souls Of Mischief, I've never seen the whole crew together.  One of the main reasons I want to see this show so badly is to finally be able to see Casual live.  Casual's debut album, Fear Itself, is in my upper echelon of hip hops albums.  I'm always in search of anything that sounds like the early 90s Hieroglyphics sound, often to no avail.  But what better way to find sounds like that than from the people that made them originally.  

Dope Folks put out this EP a few years ago that has six Casual songs that predate Fear Itself.  While EPs are not my favorite way to consume songs (which I know is blasphemy in hip hop, but I just love listening to all length albums), there was no way that I wasn't going to pick this up.  Though like a lot of things I'm writing about lately, it's taken me years to get around to saying something on this site about it.  

Of the six songs, one of them is a remix of the Fear Itself standout, "Me-O-Mi-O."  I do love me an early 90s remix.  To this day I'll contend that the remixed version of Del The Funky Homosapien's "Wrongplace" is superior to the original and it's not the only song I feel that way about.  I don't really think this remix is better than the album version, but that one is an all timer and has been lodged in my head for over 30 years.  The remix is an interesting take on it, but is more of a novelty for me on this release.

The main events are the five previously unreleased tracks.  They vary in quality both from a sound quality standpoint (these are demos after all) and song quality.  Some of the slower tracks like "Fear No Evil" and "Gotta Lotta" don't hit as hard for me.  The production and beats are OK, but they don't really service Casual's flow in the way that much of his classic material does. 

That isn't the case at all with side two of this EP.  "Where They At," Can You Feel It?" and "Rippers" all hit it out of the park.  The beats are more uptempo than what you'll find on the first side and this lets Casual uncork his rapid fire lyrical madness.  He's got an effortless flow that veers from freestyles to battle raps to punchlines, sometimes all in the same bar.  He's one of the most overlooked MCs out there and the fact that he was cranking out songs like this when he was still in high school (which is also when I was in high school) flabbergasts me.

Casual - Demo Sessions 12":

https://soundcloud.com/dope-folks-records/casual-fear-no-evil-demo-sessions-ep-coming-soon?in=dope-folks-records/sets/df0094-casual-demo-sessions-ep#t=0:00

Short Dogs Grow - Quit While You're Young 12"

 
Lil' Hunka Gold (2025)

Short Dogs Grow sent me this 12" of theirs which is the first release that the band has done since the late 1980s.  They were/are based out of San Francisco and put out a couple of LPs on Rough Trade once upon a time.  This new EP has two of the four original members, Tom Pitts and Carmela Thompson, joined by a new drummer.  

I wasn't super familiar with the band's original work, so I checked out a few songs and they were pretty fast, kind of fuzzy guitar rock that isn't really out of place in the mid to late 80s Bay Area scene.  This new EP leans on a lot more of an rootsy rock and roll sound, with songs that don't have the same sort of mph as the older ones I listened to.  These are decidedly mid tempo and while they lean towards that alt country sound a bit, have a little more aggression and punk influence.

Main singer Tom Pitts' vocals are definitely an acquired taste, and thus far, I have not acquired that taste.  They've got a warble to them that really jumps out from the music in a way that I personally find distracting, though others may find to be the highlight of the group.  I know a fair amount of people who can't get into Leatherface because they don't like Frankie Stubbs' vocals, yet for me, they are one of the main reasons I love that band so much.

This isn't bad, it's a solid EP with well written songs.  If you like some root in your music, might be up your alley more than mine.

Short Dogs Grow - Quit While You're Young:
https://shortdogsgrow.bandcamp.com/album/quit-while-youre-young

Gentlemen Rogues - Half Empty, Half Fool 7" - Pink Vinyl (59/100)

 
Self Released (2025)

It's becoming a recurring thing lately where I say that I'm writing about a record I've had for too long and that I should have probably written about it already.  This becomes a self fulfilling prophecy as it means that anything I get now runs the risk of getting old as I try to prioritize the records that already are old.  It's a vicious cycle and no one cares, but I do feel bad that I'm only getting to this Gentlemen Rogues record as it's not only great, but Danny is a sweetheart.

A sweetheart that always seems to be in bands that can crank out tunes like nobody's business.  The A side is "Half Empty, Half Fool" which is a song from their excellent 2024 full length Surface Noise.  This version has been updated since the full length version, having been remixed and remastered and (so the Bandcamp page says) "partially re-recorded."  Now, if I'm being truly honest, my ears can't hear a whole lot of difference between the new version and the one on the album, though I've also never claimed to be an audiophile with a keen ear for nuance.  But this doesn't really matter to me as the song sounded great before and it sounds great now. 

The B side is a cover of the T.Rex song "Children of the Revolution."  The Rogues do a great job taking ownership of this tune and really making it sound like one of their own, while at the same time retaining enough of the original that it stands out.  With its mid-tempo, chunky guitar hooks and vocal melodies, it's right at home with their other songs.

I love me a good 7".  We don't see as many of them these days as they are so cost prohibitive to make and sell and buy (and process?).  But the old school album-track-on-side-one-and-cover-song-on-side-two gimmick is one that I will always get behind.  Even though Gentleman Rouges have the band name that I am most likely to misspell while writing about them, it's always a pleasure to add a new record of theirs to the collection and to let the world know how great they are.  And I didn't even mention Jill this time.

Gentlemen Rogues - Half Empty, Half Fool 7":

https://gentlemenrogues.bandcamp.com/album/half-empty-half-fool-2025-single

Brothers Of The Same Mind – Gotta Have Style 2xLP

 
Dust & Dope / Hip-Hop Enterprise (2021)

Every Wednesday, in honor of Ed Lover Dance Day from Yo! MTV Raps, I take a break from rock and roll to write a little bit about hip hop. In the late 80s and early 90s hip hop ruled my musical life. During this often called 'Golden Era' I discovered so much incredible music. As I am slowly replacing the CDs I've had for thirty plus years with vinyl copies, I'm going to talk about some albums that had a really important impact on me during some very formative years.

Brothers of the Same Mind were active in the late 80s and early 90s.  Hailing from Sir Mix-A-Lot's backyard in Seattle, they had a few indie singles and EPs during that time, but the full length album that they were working had never been released until Dust & Dope and Hip Hop Enterprise stepped up to finally unleash their shelved album into the world in 2021 - 30 years after it should have originally come out.  This is another one of those records that I've had in my to-write-about piles for way, way too long.  But better late than never.

The first thing that jumps out at me is the production.  For material recorded between 1989 and 1991, it has that early hip hop sound.  I always feel like Low End Theory is the key marking point in hip hop production in that year.  Before its release there was a sound and after its release the sound moved forward very quickly.  Low End Theory isn't the only album in 1991 that ushered in that next stage of golden era production, but it's always the one that stands out to me as I noticed it in real time as it happened when I was 14.

So there are times where the production on this album sounds a little dated, with one foot still in that late 1980s sound.  Which, don't get me wrong, I like that sound, but it's one that I need to be in the right mood to listen to.  When I am in the mood, Brothers of the Same Mind do that sound as good as anyone else of that era.  The beats are upbeat, the samples are not subtle and there's lots of hooks built on scratching key vocal parts of contemporaries.  If you think for a second KRS-One's "Gotta Have Style" lyric isn't the foundation of the title track, you've been asleep at the wheel.  And it's not the only time we hear KRS on a sample.

Lyrically, the MCs all do a great job.  There's at least four of them, assuming DJ Swift doesn't end up on the microphone, but this is another example of me not really knowing who is rapping when as they don't identify themselves all that frequently.  But again, for late 80s, super early 90s, they hold their own with any of that pre-Low End Theory crew.  Not that everything is perfect.  I do not like the R&B sung hook of "Cool Drink (In The Springtime)" at all.  I never liked that crossover appeal sort of thing and when ever you get someone singing the hook like that it's an immediate turn off for me.  But a song like that is the exception, not the rule on this album.

I love finding these unreleased gems getting another chance 30 years later.  It makes me wonder what could have been had they been released as planned.  It makes me bummed that I had to wait so long to hear them.  But it mostly makes me feel relieved that albums like this are not just out there in someone's closet rotting away.  Stuff like this deserves to be heard.

Brothers Of The Same Mind – Gotta Have Style:

https://soundcloud.com/dustdope/brothers-of-the-same-mind-gotta-have-style-snippets

Red Devil Ryders - Is It Love? LP

Feral Kid (2025)

I don't have a lot of records sent to me for free to write about, but I do get them on occasion.  It's always a guessing game on whether or not I'll be interested or even if I'll be able to get through it without weeping in the corner halfway through.  Unfortunately it tends to sit in the middle a lot with lots of records that are fine, but aren't really blowing me away.  Case in point: Red Devil Ryders.

This is a record that's the very definition of good.  It's got solid songs, decent enough hooks and a jangly guitar sound that is nothing if not pleasant.  It leans on the indie rock side of the fence, with a healthy amount of power pop thrown in to keep things lively.  I would even go so far as to say it reminds me of a band I really love, Title Tracks.  But they only remind me of Title Tracks, they never quite cross that line into being a great band on their own.

I can't even say for sure what's holding it back.  As I listen to it again as I write this, they seem to have everything I'm looking for, at least on paper.  But when the final results are in, I just keep coming back to "this is good."  And it is good.  If you're looking for a good, catchy record with Title Tracks vibes, by all means check this out.  Unlike some of the records that get sent to me, I'm going to keep this one.  I don't know how often I'll listen to it, but I'm sure the next time that I do, I'll be reminded that it's good.

Red Devil Ryders - Is It Love?:

https://feral-kid-records.bandcamp.com/album/is-it-love

Gravediggaz - 6 Feet Deep 2xLP - Black & Silver Splatter Vinyl

Vinyl Me Please (2022, Reissue)

Every Wednesday, in honor of Ed Lover Dance Day from Yo! MTV Raps, I take a break from rock and roll to write a little bit about hip hop. In the late 80s and early 90s hip hop ruled my musical life. During this often called 'Golden Era' I discovered so much incredible music. As I am slowly replacing the CDs I've had for thirty plus years with vinyl copies, I'm going to talk about some albums that had a really important impact on me during some very formative years.

The idea of horrorcore rap isn't anything I've ever been interested in.  Violence for the sake of violence in the lyrics, murder fantasy, Geto Boys style storytelling - none of that has ever been anything I've been that interested in listening to.  I wasn't aware of Gravedigger as a thing back in 1994, or if I was I ignored and forgot them because of the whole horrorcore thing.  When I decided to give Wu Tang another chance a few years back, I came across Gravediggaz. I was a little intrigued because of RZA being in the group, but I was way more interested in the fact that Prince Paul was part of it.

6 Feet Deep is the Gravediggaz debut and it definitely has that Wu Tang style of production, which again, is interesting because Prince Paul is the producer on the bulk of it.  He puts his spin on the lo fi aesthetic with deep cut samples and a dark vibe over all.  Lyrically, there's nothing mind blowing here.  Nothing jumps out at me as being so deep into the horrorcore gimmick that the lyrics are offensive or over the top in anything more than a mostly cartoony sort of way.  It's more braggadocios than anything else, I think.

It's the production that keeps engaged, even though I did buy this record knew when it came out and it has taken me nearly four years to get around to writing about it.  It's one of those record that has good beats and I always enjoy it when it's on.  It's just not something I find myself going to super frequently.

Gravediggaz - 6 Feet Deep:

https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_lIrV3RtOOxnKT13XsZjYCAorwyQHf2hZ0

Jejune - Junk LP - Black w/ Gray Swirl Vinyl

 
Number (2026, Reissue)

Jejune is one of those bands that I was on board with from the get go, but also one that never really reached past a certain level for me.  I never was into Garden Variety, so that's not why I bought Jejune's split 7" with them the moment it came into the record store.  There was already scuttlebutt that they were going to be doing a split 7" with Jimmy Eat World and such was the power of Static Prevails that the thought was any band on the other side of a split with them must be worthwhile.  

So the Garden Variety split 7" was purchased and Jejune's "Drive By Negly" proceeded to melt my brain.  What a song.  Just an incredibly perfect song and one that will always be my favorite Jejune song.  Why it isn't on this album as a bonus track or as part of a lavish Numero box set or at least on a lousy singles comp, I'll never know.  But to say that song set expectations high for the impending release of Junk is the understatement of the 90s.  My expectations were so high that in hindsight, they couldn't have possibly been met.

Junk is a very good album.  It contains great songs.  It contains no songs that I like as much as "Drive By Negly" and I think because of that, I always viewed this album and its follow up as disappointments.  Which really isn't fair.  "Meteorite" is a fuzzed out blast of hooky guitar riffs, perfectly timed melodic breakdowns and syrupy sweet harmonies.  It's the kind of song you might be inclined to call perfect if not for "Drive By Negly" taunting you from the distance.  

Throughout the albums eight songs, we have slower tracks that lean into the emo tag a bit more, we have other chunky guitar punk songs and catchy pop ones that sit right in the middle of those.  It's a wonderfully diverse album for its criminally short eight song length.  Which may be another issue I've had over the years, it felt too short.  Add on two more songs (one of them could even be from a certain aforementioned split 7") and you've got a stew going.

But all warped perspectives aside, this is a strong record and one that has aged much better than releases by many of their contemporaries.  As usual, the Numero reissue is the tops of the top notch, but again this probably should have been a box set with all of Jejune's bits and bobs compiled and documented the way they deserve to be.  Also, "Drive By Negly" is a really great song.

Jejune - Junk:

https://numerojejune.bandcamp.com/album/junk

Ugly Duckling – Down The Road 2xLP

Back 2 Da Source (2025, Reissue)

Every Wednesday, in honor of Ed Lover Dance Day from Yo! MTV Raps, I take a break from rock and roll to write a little bit about hip hop. In the late 80s and early 90s hip hop ruled my musical life. During this often called 'Golden Era' I discovered so much incredible music. As I am slowly replacing the CDs I've had for thirty plus years with vinyl copies, I'm going to talk about some albums that had a really important impact on me during some very formative years.

Other than the Hieroglyphics crew, there wasn't a lot of hip hop that I was paying attention to after 1994.  I had mostly moved on to punk and indie rock and when I would occasionally dip my toe back in to see what was happening, inevitably I would be disappointed.  But in the year 2000, two albums came out that made me reevaluate my relationship with rap.  The first of these records was Jurassic 5's Quality Control.  And the second was Journey to Anywhere by Ugly Duckling.  Both of these albums alerted me that there were still people doing interesting things in hip hop. 

Ugly Duckling seemed the more unabashed of the two when it came to harkening back to the style of hip hop I liked best.  Their production could have slid right in to 1993 and you'd hardly notice.  The rapping also connected with me, mixing the Das EFX pop culture references (but no diggitys) with the non sequitur these-words-just-sound-nice-together feeling of early Beck.  Name drop The Great Space Coaster and I'm paying attention.  What I didn't know at the time was that Ugly Duckling had been around for a while and had even self released an album on cassette back in 1995.  30 years later, Back 2 Da Source stepped up to the plate and reissued that long lost album on vinyl for the first time.

It's every bit as good as Journey to Anywhere.  Quite literally in some cases as six of the songs from that album also appear on Down The Road in some capacity.  For some, like "Pick Up Lines" and "Journey to Anywhere," are quite similar; demos of what was to come.  But for others, "If You Want To Know" and "Down The Road" being big examples, the production is wildly different making them feel like completely unique songs.  And sure, six songs repeating sounds like a lot, but there are ten other songs on here that aren't on Journey to Anywhere, and that's not even including the skits.

It's an incredible collection of songs and is just the sort of thing I really needed to hear in 1995, but never did.  This is the sort of hip hop I love, particularly in the way the beats are structured.  I feel like this kind of production is a completely lost art.  I'll never understand why no one can make records that sound like this anymore, but at least there is a seemingly unneeded number of 30+ year old records that I can go back to and cherish.

Ugly Duckling – Down The Road:

https://uglyduckling.bandcamp.com/album/down-the-road

Unwound - New Energy 7"

Numero (2025)

This is one of those records that definitely falls into the category of being a collectible.  This was made to be a tour only 7" for Unwound in 2025.  Once said tour was over, Numero sold some on there website.  Both songs are originally from their 1995 album The Future Of What.  Not sure why it was decided they needed to also be on a 7", but I do like 7"s and Unwound and I have all of their other 7"s, so I bought it anyway.

I didn't go crazy though, they made three different screened covers for this and they randomly sent them out to the folks that ordered.  They didn't promise that if you ordered three copies you'd get all three versions, though they did say they'd try.  While I wanted one, I don't need three different versions.  

Based on my usual luck, I assumed I'd get the cover that I was least interested in, but lo and behold I actually got the Godzilla cover.  This really is the one I wanted and needed, so I thank the record collecting fates for actually letting me get the version I coveted the most.  And now that the picture of it has been taken, it's off to the 7" storage box to sit next to my other Unwound 7". Rarely played as I have all of those songs on albums.

Unwond - "New Energy":

https://unwound.bandcamp.com/track/new-energy

Unwound - "Petals Like Bricks":

https://unwound.bandcamp.com/track/petals-like-bricks

Boo-Yaa T.R.I.B.E. – New Funky Nation LP

4th & Broadway (1990) 

 Every Wednesday, in honor of Ed Lover Dance Day from Yo! MTV Raps, I take a break from rock and roll to write a little bit about hip hop. In the late 80s and early 90s hip hop ruled my musical life. During this often called 'Golden Era' I discovered so much incredible music. As I am slowly replacing the CDs I've had for thirty plus years with vinyl copies, I'm going to talk about some albums that had a really important impact on me during some very formative years.

I can't write about Boo-Yaa T.R.I.B.E. without first discussing how much I love the Judgment Night soundtrack.  A lot.  That's how much I love the Judgment Night soundtrack.  Once of the highlights being the Boo-Yaa T.R.I.B.E. collaboration with Faith No More, "Another Body Murdered."  It's such a tough sounding song with dark, driving music and really hard rapping courtesy of Boo-Yaa T.R.I.B.E.  Such a great song and back they I was desperate to find more Boo-Yaa T.R.I.B.E. but I never did.

Many, many years later I found out that they had a record that came out in 1994 called Doomsday and this record, New Funky Nation, that was released in 1990.  Right in the middle of that was a 1992 album called Good Times, Bad Times that was never released.  I think that's probably the Boo-Yaa T.R.I.B.E. record that would be most up my alley, even though I've never heard it.  It's closest in proximity to the Judgment Night soundtrack, Doomsday is way too overrun with G Funk nonsense and New Funky Nation is just a bit too late 80s to be what I'm looking for.

That's not to say it's a bad record.  It's not, it's actually pretty good, but it suffers from sounded a little bit dated the same way that a lot of late 80s hip hop can often sound.  It's the sort of thing that I need to be in the right mood to listen to, though when I am in that meed New Funky Nation fits the bill nicely.  What sets it apart from a lot of hip hop of the time is that Boo-Yaa T.R.I.B.E. played instruments on the bulk of this album, laying down funk influenced bass lines, pounding the kick drum and hitting some nicely sung hooks.  

The lyrics and delivery is not quite as tough as "Another Body Murdered," but it's pretty close.  The Boo-Yaa boys are not messing around and it's the best part of the album.  I feel like if it had slightly more advanced sound and had come out in say, 1992 like their second album was supposed to, I think they could have dropped a classic.  New Funky Nation is very good, but I can't help but wonder what Good Times, Bad Times sounded like.  Best I can tell it's never been leaked online anywhere, though if I'm wrong and it has, someone please point me in that direction.

Boo-Yaa T.R.I.B.E. – New Funky Nation:

https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=wtj3sgm8M_I

Wavers - Look What I Found LP

Salinas / Reach Around (2025)

I shall begin by giving Wavers perhaps the most backhanded compliment I've written in a while.  If this record came out in 1996, I wouldn't have noticed it.  It would have been 'oh, there's another indie sounding band from K / Kill Rock Stars land.'  I don't know that they would have stood out to me at the time as being anything other than 'good.'  But hearing this record in 2026, it kind of floors me because I don't really feel like bands are making this sort of music anymore.  It stands out in a way that I don't know if it could have 30 years ago, even though it's cultivating those familiar sounds.  

Which makes me think, how many bands did I not give a fair shake to back then because of the insane glut of incredible releases dropping what seemed like weekly.  How many gems did I miss?  Many, I'm sure.  Backtracking to bands I overlooked in the 90s in recent years has brought many a band to the forefront that I didn't have the time or money for back then.  I think Wavers would have been the same - appreciated more later.

I hope that doesn't happen to them, as their combination of textured indie pop guitar rock mixed with Rosie's strong, but infinitely hooky vocals are the sort of combination that bands would kill for.  Yes, you can draw a line to other Pacific Northwest luminaries like the Spinanes, Crabs and Go Sailors of the world, but what sets Wavers apart is the music.  This isn't sparse, twinkling indie rock.  This full sounding, bass heavy Indie Rock with a capital I, with those perfect K records style vocals on top.

Again, I don't feel like I hear a lot of bands like this anymore.  Maybe I'm just not looking in the right places anymore, which I won't discount as a possibility (probability?).  But coming across this album is a welcome surprise.

Wavers - Look What I Found:

https://waversoly.bandcamp.com/album/look-what-i-found-2

Dillinger Four - This Shit Is Geniuser LP - Green Vinyl (and Bonus Flexi)

 
Anxious & Angry (2025)

Anxious & Angry has reissued the Dillinger Four singles compilation, dubbing this new version This Shit Is Geniuser.  It takes the existing This Shit Is Genius comp that THD and No Idea put out a few decades ago and spruces it up with a few new tracks.  It is nice to have a new version of this, though I wish they had taken it a step further.  More on that later.  Also included was a flexi of one of the new songs that was added to the album.

As weird as it sounds, this is my favorite Dillinger Four record, even though it's not a proper full length.  The main backbone of it has always been The Kids Are All Dead 7", Higher Aspirations: Tempered and Dismantled 7" and the split 7" with The Strike.  These are the songs that first made me fall in love with Dillinger Four.  I vividly remember when my buddy Alan played me The Kids Are All Dead at Flipside records and in that second, I became a D4 fan for life.  

Particularly because of my favorite song of theirs, "Two Cents."  I can't even describe that song in anyway to do it justice.  An incredible song with a driving, attacking verse that somehow transitions into a the catchiest, bounciest, angriest chorus you've ever heard.  It's ridiculous.  And it's one of many unbelievable songs.  All of those 7" tracks are borderline perfect.  The compilation song "Holy Shit" often gets my vote for the song I wish was three times as long as it actually is.  I love these songs.

This new version has all of those songs and adds in the four from the Mutant Pop 7" and "Like Spreewells On Wheelchairs" from the Rock Against Bush compilation (which is also the song on the bonus flexi).  All welcome additions, but by my count there's at least nine more D4 tracks floating around out there from various compilations and what not.  The two tracks from the Pinhead Gunpowder split 7" being the ones that seem the most obvious.  If it's me, maybe this needs to be a double LP?  Or you do a straight reissue of the original version and then do a volume 2?  Lots of options, but the point I'm making is that my main complaint is that I want more and more and more Dillinger Four in my life.  Give me more of these old song.  And give me new songs, we sure could use them in 2026.

Dillinger Four - This Shit Is Geniuser:

https://dillingerfour.bandcamp.com/album/this-shit-is-geniuser