Monday, June 27, 2011

Anticon.

My late teen years consisted almost entirely of me and my 3 friends hanging out at each other's houses, going to shitty suburban punk shows, watching mystery science theater 3000 like it was going to be outlawed soon, and listening to Anticon records. Sure, i looked like a punk, listened to punk music, and went to punk shows...but my true love was this crazy, absurdist rap music that was unlike anything anyone had ever heard before. Here are the records they put out that totally changed my young world:


"Themselves: Them" This is two members of anticon, Dose One and Jel, with Dose handling the rapping and Jel doing all the beats. Dose was always my favorite out of the bunch, and still remains my favorite rapper of all time. This is Themselves' first album, back when they were just called Them.

Download (Sorry, all i could find was a megaupload link.)



"Sole: Bottle of Humans" I wasn't big on this one when i first heard it, but my friend Luke was obsessed with Sole in the way that i was obsessed with Dose One. Bottle of Humans grew on me after a while, though, mostly because of how much luke liked it.



"Buck 65: Man Overboard" I bought this record from Buck 65 himself when i got to see him perform in Portland, ME in 2000. His live show was so much more of a real show than i had ever experienced at a hip hop show. After i saw him live and bought this record, i went on a two or three month binge of listening exclusively to Buck 65.



"Clouddead: Clouddead" Clouddead was/is Dose One and Why? rapping and Odd Nosdam making the music. This is still one of my top 5 favorite albums ever. It's a completely enveloping experience. The beats range from having some kind of traditional 'bounce' to them, to being super ambient, atmospheric, and almost heavy. The album has a real sense of sadness and nostalgia about it that few, if any, hip hop records have ever had.



"Themselves: The No Music" This is the second Themselves release. It's a way better album than the first one, in terms of sounding like a consistent whole and not just a collection of songs. It's also way more experimental without sacrificing their hip hop roots.


I doubt these albums will have the same impact on you as they did for me, but they're still totally worth checking out if you like hip hop, or just weird music in general.



Friday, June 24, 2011

The Golden Mix, Vol. III

March's Golden Mix was created for my friend Nathan from Virginia as part of a mix tape trade. I put a bunch of Chicago bands on it (Indian, Ga'an, Sun Splitter, Bongripper) so that he could check out what we have going on here. Also, i threw a rough version of a new Monument song on there for him...and now you get to here it, too. Aren't you lucky...


The Golden Mix, Vol. III (March 2011, c90)

Side One:
Sam Ballard - Catch That Train
Cough - Crippled Wizard
Orthodox - Solemne Triduo
Murmuure - Reincarnate
Grails - Doomsdayer's Holiday
Ilsa - Frosthrower
Indian - Shill
Ga'an - I of Infinite Forms II
Monument - To Birth Such Beloved (The Misanthrope)

Side Two:
Dolorvotre - DMT
Cult of Youth - Lace Up Your Boots
La Otricina - Yellow Mellow Magic
Sun Splitter - Cairn of Old Eyes
Bongripper - Worship
Alash - Ene-Sai

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

The Golden Mix, Vol. I

I'm going to start making mixes each month for you. I actually started back in January, i just haven't gotten around to posting them. So here's January's, and we'll slowly catch up to the present. This mix was made for my friend Tim for his 26th birthday.

(By the way, i designed these mixes to be copied onto tapes.)

The Golden Mix Vol. I (January 2011, c47)

Side One:
Benedictine Monks of St. Michaels: Kyrie Christe Eleison
Horseback: Invokation
Codeine: Second Chance
Woven Hand: This Beautiful Axe
Rome: Herbstzeitlose

Side Two:
Celeste: De Sorte Que Plus Jamais Un Instant Ne Soit Magique
Suncarcass: Svalbar I
Current 93: Passenger Aleph in Name
Benedictine Monks of St. Michaels: Te Lucis Ante Terminum

Young Bear

Check out these sweet pictures of my buddy Cody's band Young Bear. If you're into ultra pretty, heavy and oppressive drone/ambient stuff, listen to Young Bear. And if you live in Seattle, go see him live. I mean it.

Sunday, June 12, 2011

Others

Just a quick reminder that there are other blogs that could eat mine up and shit it out next to a creek:

Frequency LSD


The Whim


Threshold Signs


The Cabinet of the Solar Plexus