Space Spotted Deer

Inspired by (or should I say riding on the coat-tails of) the should-be-more-praised I Hate The 90s comes the second record by South Korean grunge lords Noizegarden. Slavish Soundgarden fanboy moniker aside, the music sounds exactly like what you'd expect from an Asian bandwagon band jumping into the fray five years after the style they so fervently revere has departed for the cut-out bin. Still, aside from my deadpan (and terribly jaded) historical assumptions, But Not Least is a fucking solid LP from guys who obviously enjoyed what they were playing (are you listening, Jonathan Davis???) and sound more like what I wish Badmotorfinger actually ended up being. It's easy imagining guitarist/founder 윤병주 strumming a pristine 7-string Ibanez through tracks like "I Do Not Want Anymore" with a big fucking smile. His guitar work is effortless and almost sounds like Slash as he noodles his way up and down the fret with a sluggish confidence - really impressive. Sure, lead singer 박건 is a lot more melodic then the Chris Cornell-ish wailing you'd come to expect with a band like this but simply imagine Cobain singing for Soundgarden and I think you'll get the idea. There's some great feedback manipulation on a couple tunes which would never had made it into a Sub Pop release and while they were probably a decade too late to make it on this side of the hemisphere it's still a rocking 57 minutes. Enjoy.

Another Temptation

The Old Style

I consider myself a pretty big early-era Beastie Boys fan so I was surprised as shit to stumble upon this bootleg claiming to feature demo tracks from the trio's watershed 1986 LP Licensed To Ill. Jaded from decades of shitty boots I didn't expect much but once "Rhymin' & Stealin'" hit the speakers it was like welcoming an old friend back home. Sure the mixes are rough and the CD quality is marginal but man it is fun hearing semi-alternate versions of the record's time-tested classics. Featuring two so-so deleted songs "I'm Down" (a Beatles cover, 'natch) and "Scenario" - the real treat are the demos. While most of the songs are basically the same they are clearly mixed differently and, how can I say, heavier (especially "No Sleep Till Brooklyn"). "Rhymin' & Stealin" now ends with a since-censored "I smoke my crack and I'm rhymin' & stealin'..." "Fight For Your Right" has a whole additional verse (!) tacked on at the end, "Hold It Now, Hit It" wraps up differently. While it would be great if this was an actual leaked demo of what Licensed was originally intended to be, I've since read that Blue Moon Records (or whoever really cut this together) compiled some demos of tracks that were altered after the fact, added some deleted songs and filled in the gaps with slightly modified album cuts to approximate an "almost was" record. Regardless of the history it's still a cool listen. And I hear there's a Paul's Boutique demo bootleg floating around out there as well. Stay tuned.

Time To Get Ill

The MTV star that never was...

Over the last couple days I spliced together a video for one of my favorite GG Allin songs. "Cornhole Lust" off of the ever-so-lovely Suicide Sessions. Check it out here.

Update 11/18/21: YouTube deleted my original video because I spliced in a few seconds of 80's porno clips, so I re-edited to include some classic gore segments and the video is probably more brutal now than it was originally. Yeah censorship!!

South Central Samples

Well, with the upcoming Straight Outta Compton hitting theaters in a fortnight or two I thought I'd wrap up my sample compilations with the record that started it all. Pulling the material for this one was a real beast; the first thing I learned is that Dr. Dre had a lot of records in his archives and secondly, he produced in a significantly different way then DJ Ready Red of the Geto Boys did. While Ready Red tended to use pretty big chunks of his sample songs, Dre (and I guess Yella to an extent) used only the tiniest snippets from records. Of course there are a few exceptions ("Parental Discretion Iz Advised", "Express Yourself" and "I Ain't Tha 1") but for the most part only a quick drum loop, sound effect or guitar lick was lifted from source songs. And Dre also wasn't against modifying some of the material, case in point the classic drum beat to "Straight Outta Compton" is a significantly slowed down bridge riff from the Winstons' "Amen, Brother." With that being said I don't know if I would have been able to figure a lot of these out (or track them down) without a plethora of assistance from various sample libraries on internet.

Still, it was a little iffy adding some of the songs to the compilation. Including Beastie Boys' "The New Style" simply because Adrock's solitary one-second "Puttin' it on wax!" lyric is used in "8-Ball" was a bit of a game-time decision. Unlike the Geto Boys who culled most of their spoken word from Scarface, Dre used a ton of different records for quick vocal clips. Hell, I probably could have included the entire Eazy-Duz-It and N.W.A. And The Posse LPs as source material as well. Interestingly, a choice few of the sample tunes I included I am not actually sure when they are used in the respective song but I figure someone out there does. There are also a couple that I question their legitimacy - Fishbone's "Lyin' Ass Bitch' for one. Yeah, there's a loud "Biiiitch" yelled in both "A Bitch Iz A Bitch" and at the close of Fishbone's track but is it the same one....?

Once again, here's the song-by-song breakdown, and yes I added "A Bitch Iz A Bitch" simply because it is such a classic fucking song:

1. Straight Outta Compton
        • "Amen, Brother" by The Winstons
        • "You'll Like It Too" by Funkadelic
        • "Engine Number 9" by Wilson Pickett
        • "West Coast Poplock" by Ronnie Hudson And The Street People
        • "Burn Rubber On Me (Why You Wanna Hurt Me)" by The Gap Band
        • "Take Me To The Mardi Gras" by Bob James
2. Fuck Tha Police
        • "It's My Thing" by Marva Whitney
        • "The Boogie Back" by Roy Ayers Ubiquity
        • "Funky Drummer" by James Brown
        • "Funky President (People It's Bad)" by James Brown
        • "Feel Good" by Fancy
        • "Engine Number 9" by Wilson Pickett
3. Gangsta Gangsta
        • "Weak At The Knees" by Steve Arrington’s Hall Of Fame
        • "Be Thankful For What You Got" by William DeVaughn
        • "N.T." by Kool And The Gang
        • "Funky Worm" by Ohio Players
        • "Troglodyte (Cave Man)" by The Jimmy Castor Bunch
        • "Impeach The President" by The Honey Drippers
4. If It Ain't Ruff
        • "A Star In The Ghetto" by Average White Band & Ben E. King
        • "Don't Believe The Hype" by Public Enemy
        • "Ain't We Funkin' Now" by The Brothers Johnson
5. Parental Discretion Iz Advised
        • "I Turned You On" by The Isley Brothers
6. 8-Ball (Remix)
        • "Let's Get It On" by Marvin Gaye
        • "Paul Revere" by Beastie Boys
        • "Fight For Your Right" by Beastie Boys
        • "Girls" by Beastie Boys
        • "Be Thankful For What You Got" by William DeVaughn
        • "Yes, We Can Can" by The Pointer Sisters
        • "It's My Beat" by Sweet Tee And Jazzy Joyce
        • "My Melody" by Eric B. & Rakim
        • "West Coast Poplock" by Ronnie Hudson And The Street People
        • "Too Much Posse" by Public Enemy
7. Something Like That
        • "Take The Money And Run" by Steve Miller Band
        • "I Think I'd Do It" by Z.Z. Hill
        • "Down On The Avenue" by Fat Larry's Band
8. Express Yourself
        • "Express Yourself" by Charles Wright & The Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band
9. Compton's N The House (Remix)
        • "Take Me To The Mardi Gras" by Bob James
        • "Funky Beat" by Whodini
        • "It's My Turn" by Dezo Daz (featuring D.J. Slip)
        • "Cinderfella Dana Dane" by Dana Dane
10. I Ain't Tha 1
        • "The Message (Inspiration)" by Brass Construction
11. Dopeman (Remix)
        • "Funky Worm" by Ohio Players
        • "Dance To The Drummer's Beat" by Herman Kelly & Life
        • "My Posse" by C.I.A.
        • "Freestyle Live (Edit Version)" by Roxanne (Fly) Shanté (featuring Biz Markie)
        • "I'm Bad" by L.L. Cool J
12. Quiet On Tha Set
        • "Rock Creek Park" by The Blackbyrds
        • "I Get Lifted" by KC And The Sunshine Band
        • "The Unsafe Bridge" by Laura Olsher
        • "Funky Drummer" by James Brown
        • "Take The Money And Run" by Steve Miller Band
13. Something 2 Dance 2
        • "You're The One For Me" by "D" Train
        • "Dance To The Music" by Sly & the Family Stone
        • "'Mighty Mouse' Theme" by The Sandpipers
        • "Change the Beat (French Rap)" by Beside
        • "ORCH5" by David Vorhaus
14. A Bitch Iz A Bitch (bonus)
        • "Papa Was Too" by Joe Tex
        • "Lyin' Ass Bitch" by Fishbone

Phew, what a list. Almost 4 hours of stuff. Y'know when I started writing this blog I was sure it was my swansong compilation but I gotta tell ya, after typing this all out I'm now sort of itching to do Eazy-Duz-It. But until then, sit back, crack a 40 or two of Old E and enjoy.

Part I                                        Part II                                        Part III

Industrial Rap Rock Rollins

Here's a quirky oddity from the early 1990's, sounding exactly like something that could only come from that era. Henry Rollins paired up with frequent bandmate bassosaurus Andrew Weiss and cut a strange EP showcasing an amalgam of twanging bass-heavy industrial drum-machine rap rock which can only be described as "unique". Rollins alternates between his best Mike Patton "Epic" imitation and a more typical "Low Self Opinion" forceful snarl. The overly synthetic backbeats are strangely poppy, when overdubbed with Weiss's effect-laden bass it sounds positively surreal. The hypnotic wall of flanging noise at the end of "Right To Life" would seriously fuck up any acidhead's mind if listened to mid-trip. "The Whole Truth" is the closest thing to a single on this one, white-boy pseudo hip-hop that was all the rage back then and I have to imagine Hank and Andrew cracking up in the studio at the silliness of it all. You gotta see the video as well - especially Rollins hamming it up on the beach in a parody of Madonna's "Cherish" video, fucking priceless. It all wraps up with an absolutely unrecognizable Grateful Dead cover to boot.

Check Out The Gap

Who The Fuck Is Fred?

Nothing like a one-trick pony, right? No sooner did I finish my Geto Boys sample post then I got some info on the background material for Akshen/Scarface's incredible 1991 solo debut Mr. Scarface Is Back. Nursing a sore throat and with a little time on my hands, I culled the sample tracks for this record and here ya go, another amazing 2+ hour collection of 70's funk and soul. Not as much James Brown this time (and there are a few hold overs from the Geto Boys comp as well, sorry) but finally hearing "Synthetic Substitution" by Melvin Bliss and "Thinking" by the Meters is enough to deserve a listen. Half of these tracks are a who's who of legendary sample beats - wonderful to hear the full songs behind the scenes.

Here is the LP track breakdown:

A1. Mr. Scarface

        • "Gimme What You Got" by Le Pamplemousse

        • "Different Strokes" by Syl Johnson

        • "Sexy Coffee Pot" by Tony Alvon & The Belairs

A2. The Pimp

        • "Sportin' Life" by James Brown

        • "Impeach The President" by The Honey Drippers

A3. Born Killer

        • "Theme From 'Buck & The Preacher'" by The Nite-Liters

        • "Amen, Brother" by The Winstons

        • "The Assembly Line" by Commodores

        • "Funky Drummer" by James Brown

A4. Murder By Reason Of Insanity

        • "Synthetic Substitution" by Melvin Bliss

        • "UFO" by ESG

        • "Untitled Instrumental" by James Brown

A5. Your Ass Got Took

        • "Sing A Simple Song" by Please

        • "Down On The Avenue" by Fat Larry's Band 

        • "The Traffic Cop (Dance)" by Bloodstone

        • "Four Cornered Room" by War

A6. Diary Of A Madman

        • "The Payback" by James Brown

        • "Atomic Dog" by George Clinton

B1. Body Snatchers

        • "Soul Power Pt. 1" by James Brown

B2. Money And The Power

        • "Love Serenade (Part II)" by Barry White

        • "UFO" by ESG

B3. P D Roll 'Em

        • "I've Been Watching You" by Southside Movement 

        • "Blind Alley" by The Emotions

B4. Good Girl Gone Bad

        • "Do Like I Do" by Smokey Robinson

        • "Good Old Music" by The Parliaments

B5. A Minute To Pray And A Second To Die

        • "Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler)" by Marvin Gaye

        • "What's Going On" by Marvin Gaye

        • "Kissing My Love" by Bill Withers

B6. I'm Dead

        • "Thinking" by The Meters

        • "Down On The Avenue" by Fat Larry's Band

        • "Mango Meat" by Mandrill

On a final note, I never really liked the cover I did for The Geto Boys sample comp so I updated that one and used what I had before for this one. Makes a lot more sense - and I sourced the photo from the original Mr. Scarface negative before they "browned" out DJ Ready Red. Enjoy.

Part I                                                                     Part II

Grrrrrr...

There's that part of me who can't help but chuckle when I come upon some of the more contrived black metal names. And what's the allure of the whole goat thing? Yeah, I get it's a Sabbatic Goat/Baphomet reference but let's be slightly more original guys. Black Goat, Goat Anus, Black Anal Goat Vomit, Goatwhore, Goateatgod, blah blah bluh. Which brings us to Oregon's Weregoat and their verbose debut EP Unholy Exaltation Of Fullmoon Perversity. I just don't get it. Who sits around a kitchen table and comes up with the name Weregoat? Were they in the middle of playing Dungeons & Dragons? Save for the few lupophobics out there it doesn't come off as anything but cheesy. Which is a real shame because this trio is no joke when it comes to their sound and image. Clad in Slayer-esque rusty-nail armbands as well as necklaces of raw meat, they play a solid hybrid of black metal and grindcore recorded in wonderfully scratchy lo-fi. All members (both past and present) are true veterans of the Northwest metal scene with dozens of bands under their belt (the drummer owns Parasitic Records as well) and their experience shows. Blistering fast blastbeats and wicked guitar work - effortless switching from thrash grooves to heavy riffage. There are a few intros that drag on a little too long at times but my only real complaint is the muddy background echo effect on the lyrics. Yeah, I know it's kind of a black metal standard but I wish they were a bit cleaner, angrier and up front. Still, a great introduction to a band still churning out records - keep up with 'em here.

Invoke The Black Oblivion

It's On

Not sure where or when I got this bootleg CDr but it doesn't have anything from the Cocktails era (and beyond) so I'd guess around 1994. Most of the tracks are culled from Get In Where You Fit In and Shorty The Pimp but "Freaky Tales" makes an appearance from Born To Mack as well as a few from Life Is... and the epic Ice Cube duet "Ain't Nothin' But A Word To Me" from Short Dog's In The House. All in all the mix is just what you'd expect from a Too $hort greatest hits collection - slow plodding bass lines with some overtly dirty lyrics but the addition of "Hoochie" and "Gotta Get Some Lovin'" speed the bpm up nicely. My favorite song on the record is the "Glove Compartment" mix of Shorty The Pimp's "In The Trunk" - an already great tune is remixed with a huge beat and stand up bass. Too bad it's a radio cut but oh well, awesome shit.

BTW, I just checked out $hort's new video - it's pretty solid for a guy who's been doing the same thing for a quarter of a century.

Where They At?

Back the Geto Boys!

Holy fuck, just stumbled upon this while finishing up research for my last post. The Geto Boys are fucking back and need you to help fund their reunion album Habeas Corpus. While I wish Ready Red would be part of the gang I will take it. Check out their Kickstarter site - 15 days left as I write this...

Give To The Geto

F#@* 'Em

With the 25th anniversary of the Geto Boys' eponymous Def American debut looming, I decided to take a cue from a fellow blogger and add another entry into the "Songs Someone Taught Us" series. The year was 1990 and Def American released quite possibly the finest rap record in history. The Geto Boys. Sure, "Ghetto" Boy purists consider it more of a remix album then a legit new LP (although other than possibly "Size Ain't Shit" all of the Grip It! On That Other Level tracks were revamped and re-edited into vastly superior versions) - it still stands as the group's best work and a standard for pretty much any other hip-hop album to aspire. I was surprised to learn how much material was sampled to create The Geto Boys, while mostly funk tracks featuring James Brown as vocalist (or in some other major role) there are some real surprises once you deconstruct the songs. Billy Squier? "My Girl"? After listening to the album over and over while culling the below tracks I now can't hear a sample without thinking of its origin. So while this is not quite a collection of originals that a band covered (à la my previous Metallica and GG Allin posts) it's a window into what D.J. Ready Red's record collection must have looked like and got that Houston studio bumping way back in 1989.

Here's the song-by-song breakdown:

A1. Fuck 'Em
        • "Breakthrough” by Isaac Hayes
        • "Rocket In The Pocket (Live)" by Cerrone
        • "Kool Is Back" by Funk, Inc.
A2. Size Ain't Shit
        • "Blow Your Head" by Fred Wesley And The J.B.'s
        • "Mt. Airy Groove" by Pieces Of A Dream
A3. Mind Of A Lunatic
        • "Givin' Up Food For Funk" by The J.B.
        • "Funky Drummer" by James Brown
        • "Batman: Stacked Cards" by Joey Lapidos
A4. Gangster Of Love
        • "The Joker" by Steve Miller Band
        • "I Walk On Gilded Splinters" by Johnny Jenkins
A5. Trigga Happy Nigga
        • "Memphis Soul Stew" by King Curtis
        • "Love The Life You Live" by Kool And The Gang
A6. Life In The Fast Lane
        • "The Big Bang Theory" by Parliament
        • "Girl In The Hot Pants" by The Soul Brothers Inc.
        • "The Big Beat" by Billy Squier
A7. Assassins
        • "Apache" by Michael Viner's Incredible Bongo Band
B1. Do It Like A G.O.
        • "Superfly" by Curtis Mayfield
        • "Apache" by Michael Viner's Incredible Bongo Band
        • "Scorpio" by Dennis Coffey And The Detroit Guitar Band
        • "Get Up, Get Into It, Get Involved" by James Brown
B2. Read These Nikes
        • "It Takes Two" by Rob Base & D.J. E-Z Rock
        • "You Can Have Watergate Just Gimme Some Bucks And I'll Be Straight" by Fred Wesley And The J.B.'s
        • "Funky Drummer" by James Brown
        • "Funky President (People It's Bad)" by James Brown
        • "My Girl" by The Temptations
        • "Batman: Stacked Cards" by Joey Lapidos
B3. Talkin' Loud Ain't Saying Nothin'
        • "Talkin' Loud & Sayin' Nothing" by James Brown
        • "Skin Tight" by Ohio Players
        • "Theme From The Planets" by Dexter Wansel
        • "South Bronx" by Boogie Down Productions
B4. Scarface
        • "Blues & Pants" by James Brown
        • "Ashley's Roachclip" by The Soul Searchers
        • "Gimmie What You Got" by Le Pamplemousse
        • "Different Strokes" by Syl Johnson
B5. Let a Ho Be A Ho
        • "Money" by Pink Floyd
        • "Impeach The President" by The Honey Drippers
B6. City Under Siege
        • "The Message From The Soul Sisters" by Myra Barnes
        • "Think (About It)" by Lyn Collins
        • "I'd Like To Teach The World To Sing (In Perfect Harmony)" by The Hillside Singers

For those with sharp eyes, yep there's a children's Batman 7" record on the list. Packaged with a comic book, it was a 70's vinyl version of the "Read-And-Listen" shit kids have loaded on their iPads today. It supplies all of the "he's a paranoic who's a menace to our society" samples  - which up to this day I assumed were from some obscure B-movie. Who in the Geto Boys owned that record? I debated including it since it runs a little long but was so surprised at the discovery I felt I had to. And upon listening to this catalog you'll find that it could have sufficed as sample material for a whole multitude of famous rap songs from back in the day (Public Enemy being one of the more consistent repeat clients). While some of the tunes are far from something I'd listen to on a daily basis, all have their moments, and most of the funk stuff is truly amazing. Interestingly, I just read a somewhat recent interview with Scarface in which he pledges a Geto Boys reunion LP if Rick Rubin would produce. Rick, are you reading?

7/11/15 update: Since my latest post was actually for Mr. Scarface Is Back I went ahead and updated the "album" cover for this one. Looks a ton better in my opinion. Enjoy.

Part I                                        Part II                                        Part III