Souls Of Mischief - No Man's Land 2xLP - Clear w/ Blue & Orange Splatter

Get On Down / Jive (2024, 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.

This long overdue reissue of the second Souls Of Mischief album came out as part of last year's Record Store Day Black Friday.  It has taken me a moment to write about it.  This is in large part because I've already written about this album when I picked up the original pressing of it a few years ago. I'm not as motivated to tackle an album just because it's a slightly fancier reissue.

That said, it's a slightly fancier reissue worth picking up.  It's a nice gatefold sleeve with thick card stock that is miles better than the original pressing.  My original has a pretty gnarly seam split as well, so that just makes this one even better.  The colored vinyl is sharp looking, though that means less and less to me as the years go buy.  You can usually trust Get On Down reissues to sound good, and I've heard no issues with this release.

The album itself is so much better than I gave it credit for in 1995.  I was really down on it when it was originally released, primarily because I thought the production was a step down from 93 Til Infinity.  I still think that it's a step down, but over the years I have heard so much boring, abysmal hip hop production that in comparison, No Man's Land is much better.  

As far as post-1994 hip hop goes, it's pretty elite production if we're being honest.  It's just that in 1995 I was coming right out of the golden era and was watching so much hip hop turn into something I wasn't interested in, so I had turned my attention to punk and indie rock.  But today, 30 years later in 2025. I can see this album for what it is, an unappreciated album from one of hip hop's best groups.

Souls Of Mischief - No Man's Land:
https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=CdRNZZPU5mI

Leatherface - The Peel Sessions LP - White Vinyl (/250)

Little Rocket (2025)

There are few bands in this world that mean more to me than Leatherface does.  I've been a fan and have been collecting their records for nearly 30 years, since the moment I bought the Do The Right Thing CD single.  The fact that there is a new release available to write about is cause for celebration as Little Rocket records has compiled the band's three BBC Peel Sessions onto a vinyl release for the first time.

I chose the white vinyl version for my collection as I've just always been a sucker for white vinyl.   But there are six different versions in total that are out there.  Four colors at 250 copies each (white, red, clear and yellow), 1000 copies on marble colored vinyl and 1000 copies on black vinyl.  I have gotten tot he point in my life where I'm trying not to collect every single variant for every single record in my collection anymore.  Though I'd love to have all six, and even though the collector inside me is chastising me for not having them all, it was just more prudent to get one copy from a US based distro.  But there's more out there if you need more.  Believe me, I get it.

On to the music.  Leatherface did three Peel Sessions in total.  One recorded in 1991, one in 1992 and their final in 1993.  The 12 tracks recorded in total is a nice cross section of their flawless discography with representation from each of their first five full lengths and a few songs from singles as well.  They're performed with the sort of energy and passion you'd expect from the band, and while everything sounds great, there's enough difference from the album versions that make the listen worthwhile.

The tracks that are the most interesting to me are the four that were recorded in 1993.  These were performed as a three piece instead of their usual four piece line-up.  Hearing these songs without Dickie Hammond's guitar complimenting Frankie Stubbs' is as jarring as it is compelling.  The songs take on a very different feel that's a little sparser, but somehow a bit more urgent sounding.  

The one that really hits for me is my favorite Leatherface song, "Do The Right Thing."  Hearing it without the phenomenal lead guitar work makes the song feel a little more approachable and less intimidating.  I'm not saying it's better, but it's definitely not worse either.  It feels like new song, but still retains the characteristics that made me fall in love with it from the moment I first heard it.

It's a little insane how long ago these songs were all recorded, but it's equally as insane how fresh, dynamic and important they still sound all of these years later.  This LP is a document of one of the greatest punk bands to have existed, and is a welcome, welcome addition to my shelves.

Leatherface - The Peel Sessions:
https://leatherface.bandcamp.com/album/the-peel-sessions

Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla Soundtrack - 2xLP - Silver w/ Splatter Vinyl (/2000)

Death Waltz / Mondo (2023)

Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla and its sequel are definitely the high point in the Millennium Godzilla series for me.  With Godzilla's return in this 2002 movie, we've got a Godzilla design that I like (eyes that have pupils!), a compelling human story and a new version of my all-time favorite Godzilla Opponent, Mechagodzilla, or as it is known in this film, Kiryu.

I love the design of this Mechagodzilla.  It takes the sharp edges and menacing vibe of the 1974 design (still my favorite robot of all time) and modernizes it.  But they don't go as far with the rounded aerodynamics of the 1993 design.  This 2002 model sides in the middle, pulling in the right choices of both approaches for an excellent looking robot who has some great fight scenes with Godzilla.

For the soundtrack, we've thankfully moved away from the dreary synth of the GMK score and have a triumphant orchestral soundtrack courtesy of Michiru Oshima.  It's exactly what I want and might be the best non-Ifukube score in the Godzilla canon.  Soaring highs, menacing lows and an energetic pace that matches up with the action on the screen.  

Death Walt and Mondo do their typically nice work on this soundtrack.  I like the art, the colored vinyl is the right choice and the fourth side screen printing looks good.  As usual, I wish there was more uniformity from record to record in this series, but as a standalone, this one definitely looks the business.

Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla:
https://youtu.be/gk-aZCm-PKI?si=iYw_9_C6MNehvKlI

Madvillain – Madvillainy Demos LP

Stones Throw (2024)

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.

Many people have told the story of the Madvillainy demos over the years, they leaked, folks got mad, folks got excited, the album was changed before being released, people loved the new version too.  I don't have anything to add as I wasn't paying any attention to that when it was happening and final released version Madvillainy is not a record that clicked with me as much as others.  

You could say that about MF Doom in general for me.  Though I have come around on him in recent years and have added most of his records to my collection, at the end of the day, I'm still more of a Zev Love X fan.  But again, I've come around and have started to enjoy several of his records.  With that newfound respect in mind, I decided to check out the Madvillainy demos to see if I liked them more than the other version of the album.  And as it turned out, I do.

There's an energy here that I don't hear on the final version.  The beats seem to hit a little harder and the vocals are delivered in a more spirited way.  At least I think so.  Again, I'm not super familiar with the other version, but whether it's the sequencing or the versions of the songs used, this version connects more with me, to the point where I actually bought the record.  There's some meandering instrumentals that don't always land, but as 36 minute long listen, the demos version is tighter and again, just connects with me more than the other.

Madvillainy has always been one of those records that I feel like I should like more than I do based on the opinions of people whose taste I trust.  But this shorter, rougher version?  This is more my bag.

Madvillain – Madvillainy Demos:
https://madvillain.bandcamp.com/album/madvillainy-demos

The Minibosses - The Minibosses CD

Kraid (2000)

The Minibosses are (were?) a band that was primarily active in the early 2000s, but still were releasing records as recently as 2015 (if you count a split 10" with Mega Ran that had a previously released song on it).  I've been a fan of these guys for a while with their big guitar take on classic Nintendo video game music.  They've put out a few records over the years, covering some of my favorite background melodies from my early days playing video games.  This is their very first self released album from 2000 and it's one that has been eluding me for many years. 

What really surprised me when I got it is that half of the songs aren't covers of video game songs.  They're originals.  With vocals.  Was not expecting that and after listening to them I can understand why they decided to pretty much switch to an all instrumental, all covers version of the band after this.  As far as video game covers, we have six in total.

Of those six, four of them ("Ghosts 'N' Gobilns," "Contra," "Castlevania" and "Metroid") have ended up on other records of theirs.  These versions sound a little rougher, I suppose, but they still sound great with the guitar virtuosity shining through as always.  Two of the video game covers have only been put out on this album, "Wizards and Warriors" and "Castlevania 2."  I think at some point I had MP3s of both of these from maybe Napster or something like that, but I'm happy to have official versions of them finally.

I'm not really sure what happened to this band lately.  They were fundraising to do another album a few years ago, but it never came out and honestly, I'm not really sure what ended up happening with that.  I do hope they come back eventually though, I always enjoy those nostalgic listens to music that I didn't know was clawing its way into my head back in the late 80s.

The Minibosses - "Wizards & Warriors":
https://youtu.be/-r2SwzRpZgk?si=mJjDhZmIQo709wbx

Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack Soundtrack 2xLP - Red, Purple & Orange Vinyl (/2000)

Death Waltz / Mondo (2023)

Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack is an excellent Godzilla movie.  There is a lot to like about the storyline, the overall presentation of the main monsters, tha kaiju battling and general satisfaction I have watching this film.  There are, however, two big things I do not like about this movie.

The first is that I hate that Godzilla's eyes do not have pupils.  I get it that it's part of the overall storyline with Godzilla having the spirits of fallen Japanese soldiers lashing out against Japan.  It's meant to be a more ghostly, menacing vibe.  For me, it looks like forgot to finish that part of the suit and it really irks me.  Shin Godzilla is probably the only Godzilla design I dislike more.

The other part of this movie that I don't like is this soundtrack.  Gone are the lush orchestral passages and intense marching motifs.  Nope, this soundtrack is a synth-heavy, ambient snooze fest.  You can barely hear it most of the time and the times that you do hear it I tend to wish I wasn't hearing it.  Luckily it's not ultra intrusive and you can kind of tune it out while watching the actual movie, but listening to it as a standalone soundtrack really drives home how insufferable I think it is.  It just doesn't feel like Godzilla to me.

The vinyl presentation is nice as always.  I did the art, the colored vinyl and the side D screen print.  But this is very much just a shelf filler for me.  I need it for completist purposes, but I assure you I will never listen to it unless in 20 years I just forgot how much I don't like it and need a refresher.

Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack:
https://youtu.be/_2-oMGeVXO4?si=XeaEbkAdqc10lQ8q

Juggaknots - Re:Release 2xLP (/500)

90s Tapes (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.

This is another one of those albums that I've had in my to-write-about pile for a few years now.  Why have I not written about it yet?  I couldn't really tell you.  I've listened to it and I like it, but it's one of those albums that I have a hard time articulating my thoughts about.  It's not exactly in the pocket of my favorite sounds of hip hop, yet I still find it very engaging.

The first, first version of this album was an eight song version that came out on Fondle 'Em records back in 1996.  Over the years, it's be reissued several times, with more tracks being added over the years until we get to this 23 track behemoth on 90s Tapes.  The Juggaknots are heralded as being one of those early indie rap acts that separated themselves from the direction that hip hop was moving in the mid 90s.  While I find that admirable, I wish that had happened a few years prior so that the production sound that I like had an offshoot I could have followed.

While I do like the beats on this record, they are a lot slower than what I typically enjoy.  There's interesting sounds here and the deliberate, borderline sludgy vibe of songs like "Jivetalk" really work with the lyrical delivery, but I tend to still find myself wishing things were just a little faster.  That aforementioned lyrical delivery is the highlight of this entire album.  

The MCs involved spin convoluted tales with no shortage of adjectives and rhyme structures.  There's an early Kool Keith vibe as far as how the lyrics are constructed, before he went off into outer space.  Though the delivery isn't that nasal, choppy flow that Keith was known for.  This is a slower, smoother and more deliberate flow, but sacrificing none of the complexity and wittiness.  Again, it's an album that sits a little outside of my usual wheelhouse, but the quality is so staggeringly high that it overcomes the style choices that would typically make me look elsewhere for my hip hop.

Juggaknots - Re:Release:
https://juggaknots.bandcamp.com/album/re-release