Beck - Golden Feelings LP

Arquivo Perdido (2025, Bootleg)

In 1994 nothing had the impact in my life as discovering Back for the first time.  Truly one of those life-changing discoveries that forever altered my path.  I'm not sure I'd be doing this dumb website had I not found his records.  Or if I was, it would certainly be a lot different than it is today.  As I delved into the Beck rabbit hole back then, I discovered that he had all sorts of weirdo indie releases to try to find.  Multiple other albums, 7"s, a 10", compilation songs out the wazoo and the Golden Feelings tape.

To this day, I've never been able to track down an original copy of this grail of a tape.  I've tried and tried and it's aways been one of those things either just out of reach, either because of availability or cost.  The original label that released the tape, Sonic Enemy, did a small run of CDs in the late 90s and I was able to get one of those, but it quickly went out of print again.  I assume these aren't Beck's favorite songs, especially considering the direction his music has taken the past couple of decades, so odds seem slim that it'll get an official release.  Thank goodness for whoever in Brazil decided that they should bootleg this.

I assume it's just the CD pressed on vinyl and you know, I'm totally fine with that if it gets the record into my collection.  It sounds great.  This was a 4-track recorded bedroom tape, there isn't any sort of fidelity that could be lost transferring this to vinyl.  Couldn't be happier that it just exists.

Musically, this thing is all over the place, and I love it for that.  There's straightforward acoustic songs, taped infomercial soundbites, confrontational noise and general weirdness.  You have one of my very favorite Beck songs, the epic storytelling "Heartland Feeling," and you also have whatever craziness "Special People" is.  "Special People" was one of the first songs from Golden Feelings that I had heard as it and 2 other songs from this album ended up as b sides on the Pay No Mind CD single in 1994.  They certainly didn't pick the 3 best songs to put on there, but it sure made me want to hunt the album down even more.  

Ever want to hear the actual recording of "No Money, No Honey" that beck did before his man-on-the-street version on Stereopathetic Soulmanure? It's on Golden Feelings.  And early version of Mellow Gold's "Mutherfukka?" That's here too.  There's so much to unpack and while I can't say it's an easy listen for the uninitiated, it's a very rewarding one as it lays the groundwork for Beck's unreal 1994 deluge.

I am hopeful that I'll be able to find a legit cassette copy of the original release of Golden Feelings.  It's one of those things that really should be in my collection.  But for now, this LP and my old CD copy will have to do.

Beck - Golden Feelings:
https://youtu.be/MieZ50rYRuQ?si=GiijL-7rRvvXPhoK

Ed O.G & Da Bulldogs – Life Of A Kid In The Ghetto LP

Get On Down / PWL America (2019, 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.

While I haven't had this reissue since it came out in 2019, I have been sitting on it for quite a while.  I grabbed it when it was on sale, so it was a pretty inexpensive addition to the collection and it's one of those early 90s hip hop albums that is often lauded as a classic.  I don't know that I can throw around that particular c word when talking about Life of a Kid in the Ghetto, but it does have elements of the classic sound of the early golden era.

I'll start with the positives.  On the mic, Ed (or Edo G as he tends to be known as these days) is great.  He can tell stories, he can self aggrandize, he ticks all the boxes of what you want an MC to do during this time frame.  I can't call him top, top tier, but I might also have a different opinion if this was a record I'd been listening to since it was released.  I only heard it for the first time in the past ten years, so it lacks a little in the nostalgia area for me.  But that's a me problem, not a problem with the rapping.  Ed can hold his own with most MCs that put out albums in 1991.

The reason that I can't really call this album a classic for me is because I think the production is a little uneven.  Hip Hop in 1991 was going through a pretty seismic change in regard to beats and production.  While other albums that year were pushing the envelope and exploring new sampling techniques and soundscapes, Life of a Kid in the Ghetto feels like it's still clinging to late 1980s sounds.  That's not to say it doesn't move the production forward a little, but when you realize Low End Theory came out the same year, the beats on Ed O.G.'s debut feel somewhat dated on certain tracks.

But the sum of all parts is still quite good.  I wouldn't have bought the record if I didn't like it, but it's one of those albums that has a sound that I really need to be in the right mood for.  If I'm feeling a little old school, Life of a Kid in the Ghetto fits the bill nicely.

Ed O.G & Da Bulldogs - Life of a Kid in the Ghetto:

https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_m3D4AVE2F5O8EzNjQ_LEuLSbeIaaOfJu4

Various Artists - DGC Rarities Vol.1 - Coke Bottle Clear Vinyl

DGC (2025, Reissue)

Ever since Record Store Day became a thing, and particularly since it became the dumping ground for major label reissues, I've been shouting from the hills that DGC Rarities Vol. 1 was the album that needed an RSD reissue.  Years came and went and it never happened.  They added a second Black Friday Record Store Day, still nothing. 2024 came and with this compilation having originally come out in 1994, I figured it was a slam dunk for a 30th anniversary reissue.  Nope.

What did happen was on some random Wednesday in August in 2025, Interscope just put up a preorder for it.  No pomp, no circumstance.  My buddy Scott let me know about it because he got an email.  Very odd, though I am certainly not going to complain that I didn't have to play the Record Store Day game of finding a copy and paying for a nonsensical 42% markup just because it's Record Store Day.  Still, I do sort of feel that it was a missed opportunity to make this a bigger deal, but maybe it isn't as important record to most people like it is for me.

In 1994 I was going through a musical crisis.  Hip hop, which had been my bread and butter for the prior five years was moving in a direction that I didn't really like.  Trying to find something that I could connect with, my friend Scott (a different Scott from the one in the last paragraph) played me Mellow Gold by Beck.  That was a turning point in my life.  And Beck led me to DGC Rarities Vol. 1.  He had an unreleased song called "Bogusflow" on the compilation.  It was exactly the sort of Beck song I loved at the time.  Solo acoustic, off the cuff and packed full of odd lyrics that really hit home for me.  So I bought the album.

I wasn't really familiar with most of the other bands.  Sure I had heard Nirvana and I knew about Hole.  I knew that Sonic Youth had been on the Judgment Night Soundtrack and I figure I must have at least heard of Weezer.  But it was mostly uncharted territory.  The album ended up being one of those gateway drugs that led me to other rock music that I'm not entirely positive I would have heard otherwise.

First off, "Pay To Play" is probably the only Nirvana song that I truly like.  They have other songs that are fine, but they've never really been a band that I connected with on any level.  Not since my friend Pat made me borrow Nevermind way before they blew up and I gave it back to him the next day and told him the I didn't understand how anyone could like that.  But "Pay To Play" is a beast. Loud, fast, great drumming and still something of a singalong.  I know that it's essentially the same song as "Stay Away," but for whatever reason, I don't like that nearly as much as this compilation version.

This is the first time I had ever heard Weezer and "Jaime" was a song that instantly grabbed my ear and turned me into a fan.  I didn't rush out and buy the Blue album immediately, but this was the song that laid the foundation for me.  This comp was my introduction to that dog, and I did immediately go out and by their album Totally Crushed Out after hearing their song.  It was the first time I heard The Posies who I ended up loving and the first time I heard Sloan, who are fine.  

Not that there aren't some stinkers on here.  The Sonic Youth song "Compilation Blues" isn't for me, but neither is 99% of their catalog.  While not a surprise now, back then I didn't know anything about them.  But even with the up and down quality of the album (for every Weezer there's a Murray Attaway), it's a great compilation album.  It's also among the first that I bought when I was trying to find may way through a world of punk, indie, rock and yes, alternative that was so new to me.  A real touchstone record that I am so excited to finally have on vinyl.

Various Artists - DGC Rarities Vol.1:
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_n54v6CRldlt9oEr4KQGCkgXN0XH1-rUdw

Harleckinz – 90two90six: The Demo Tapes 4xLP

90s Tapes (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.

I've been sitting on this Harleckinz record since early 2024.  I really should have written about it way before now, but I've always felt it to be a daunting proposition.  Harleckinz are from Germany, so I have no real familiarity with them.  They certainly didn't make their way to the mountainous regions of northern New Jersey when I was younger.  This album is also a quadruple LP, so there's just a ton to get through,  Because of these things I've just delayed writing about it over and over, but that's not to say I haven't listened to it quite a bit.

What brings me in for this album, and with pretty much all hip hop is the production.  Beats are the most important thing for me when it comes to what I like about hip hop.  I don't think a spectacular MC works over bad beats, but great beats can elevate the most mediocre rapper.  That's not to say that anyone in Harleckinz is mediocre, but it's the beats that make be keep going back and listening to this.  These songs were gathered from various recordings from 1992 to 1996, and the ones that resonate most with me are the ones from the earlier part of that time period.

It's hard to generalize the sound of 25 tracks from a 5 year period, but as a rule the production is steeped in ;ow end, bass heavy samples over loud drums.  Most of the time, the tempo doesn't get dragged into that later 90s thing where all of the beats have to be slow enough to set your pacemaker to.  We've got decent BPMs most of the time and it gives the MCs in the group a great foundation for their lyrics.

And the lyrics are pretty good.  I can't really detect a thick accent or anything.  It's not like listening to this album is comparable to throwing on a Wizo record.  If you didn't tell me the group was from Germany, I don't know that I'd catch on that they weren't just part of the US based groups from the golden era.  I wouldn't call any of the rappers top tier, mind blowing MCs, but they get you from the start of the song to the finish with clever wordplay, solid rhymes and chant along hooks.  Paired with the excellent production and you've got the sort of record that I'm going to be into.  

I understand the completist mentality of loading this release up with all of the songs, but it's a large amount of music to take in during a single sitting.  There aren't that many groups in any genre that I want to listen to for over two hours straight, but throughout that time I can't point to many songs on here that aren't worth your time (other than the fact that I tend to skip the instrumentals, but that's a me thing, not really an issue with said instrumentals).  Harleckinz are a group that I'm glad I took the chance on, I love adding new golden era records to my collection and this is a great one.

Harleckinz – 90two90six: The Demo Tapes 4xLP:

https://90stapes.bandcamp.com/album/90two90six