Request: Naptron

To save time and space, you will receive the Released and Unleashed album from Naptron. Most of these tracks were also recorded during the Celestial Recordings time somewhere between 1998 and 2001 I think and I'm sure that Al 'T' from Jamonproductions put out the Unleashed album around 2003 or 2004. Sadly, there are no production credits given.
Last thing I want to tell you is about the track Herrerah which is an ode to the Good Life fellas...

Naptron - Unleashed

Naptron - Released

Jizzm - Raptalk Illasophic Sampler

This Sampler contains 10 Tracks, some of them were taken from the Infinite album others are unreleased. Two of the unreleased tracks mark another formation around Jizzm, called the Frequency Freaks, who are Jizzm, Phoenix Orion and Trensetta.
Some of the stuff isn't that typical Jizzm stuff but you can expect good stuff!

Jizzm - Raptalk Illasophic Sampler

Jizzm - Infinite

Again an album by Jizzm fully packed with features from talented cats. One thing that came instantly in mind is the fact that Tony Da Skitzo and Jizzm fit very well together and I would really like to look forward for future cooperations but Tony Da Skitzo died last year, RIP! Jizzm, Neb Luv and Tony Da Skitzo together formed the West Coast Avengers where also some other tracks exist, maybe a complete album, too!
Nevertheless, you'll herewith receive a diverse album with 77 minutes of music...Don't Sleep!

Jizzm - Infinite

Abstract Tribe Unique's Golden Quartette

As I mentioned before, in 1995 Abstract Rude was close to a record deal at Grand Royal home of the Beastie Boys. The album Mood Pieces was meant to be released there but only two tracks made it onto a compilation from the label. Behind the scenery there exist two records which have never been released, one only made it to the test pressing status, while the other probably went for promo status, but I'm not sure if it really is a promo record or just a test pressing, too. What I'm talking about is the "Blast Off Into Infinity (12" Test Pressing)" and the "Ohh I'm a Getcha (12" Promo)".
What I think is, that Mike D visited a Good Life session where he probably was impressed by a performance of Abstract Rude & the Tribe Unique and asked them for a demo tape. In his raps, Abstract Rude mentions "I handed a tape to Mike D from Grand Royal" multiple times and also "MC A plays the bass on OG Crew" which might be a hint for a different unreleased version of the "Heavyweights Round III" track, probably the one that was deleted on utube. Also a rough version of "Blast Off Into Infinity" was deleted!
The Blast Off Into Infinity record has stamped in the date NOV 17, 1995 while there isn't no direct clue on the "Ohh, I'm A Getcha" record when it was pressed except that it contains the hint, that it was mastered at Capitul Recordings. But I think that through Aceys deal with Capitul, Abstract gained access to the golden chambers and for that reason, I will definitely date it to '95.
In '97 ATU had a deal with the crown loyal label Big Dada, which resulted in another 12" with two tracks from the Mood Pieces album and later on in '98 followed a 12" on Deemo Records containing the track "Caught Up In the Rappcha" together with a track from Syndrome on the flip-side.
I think that these records give a good hint, how many obstacles upcoming artists have to pass and I don't want to know, how many patience was put into the "Mood Pieces" album through the years before it was finally self-released by ATU. Although I'm not a 100% familiar with all the background info, I think that the given hints paint a good picture of what was happened and I'm glad, that beside a ton of unreleased underground stuff, "Mood Pieces" was finally released in '98! A record that captured me from the first time I heard it and may never let me go...

Blast Off Into Infinity 12"

Ohh I'm A Getcha 12"

My Experience Is 12"

Caught Up In the Rappcha 12"

Jumping On The Afterlife Train

As Jack posted up some Afterlife stuff, I herewith post up one of my favorite Afterlife albums. I can remember in around 1999 or 2000 when I got into the CVE and found the Curbserver. At that time I had a very slow internet connection through an analogue modem patiently waiting until the download of a song was finished, which lasted around 15 minutes. Most of the downloads took longer, because there often was a connection failure or a time-out. Can you imagine? Most of the stuff that was downloadable from Curbserver was from this album. I can remember downloading the songs "Can you love a villain?", "Hot up in this club", "Do you love me?", "Killa Dealaz", "My minds on you", "Hold Yo Ground", "Role Model" and "Clockwork". So they offered most of the bangers from this album as a free download! But you can only find "Hey fish filet" on this album, a great track featuring Micole and Riddlore...

NGAFSH - Da Upgrade

Is there something fowl?

No, there isn't! As a son of the jazz musician Steven Fowler, Matthew Fowler aka Mumbles seems to had a positive influence from his father. Most heads may know Mumbles from Aceyalone's second album "A Book Of Human Language" and he also did two tracks on Aceyalone's first album "All Balls Don't Bounce". That's were both got together when Acey had his deal with Capitul back in '95. AC also has two appearances on this one and he didn't got the easiest beats to rap to. There is also an appearance of the Brazilian jazz vocalist Flora Purim who is known for her unique way of singing and an incident were she was accused for smuggling prohibited goods, I think you know what I mean. The lyrics she is using on the track "Never Ending" were taken from the track "Uri (The Wind)" from her album "500 Miles High".
This album doesn't only offer vocal tracks but also instrumental ones. To come back to the work Mumbles created, you can find different influences completing his repoirtoire with indian, psychedelic and jazzy elements. All in all the album has a slight touch of the World Music Genre. So enjoy your meal.

Mumbles - Transformations / Illuminations

Request: Project Blowed Sampler

Project Blowed Sampler

Kemetic Suns - Road Maps Or Dirt Naps

This is an interesting collection of previously released stuff from the Kemetic Suns. But there are also tracks were I don't know where they are from. For example "Auditron" with the formation Ka Auditron Ba aka Auditrons which are KarmaChi and Hypnotic. It's a very nice track with some classic sound!

Kemetic Suns - Road Maps Or Dirt Naps

Moonshine - Weep No More

This is the original release from 1996. Back in the day The Anonymous called themself Moonshine consisting of Zinndeadly,  Able Body  and Vesuvio aka Manifest. DJ Drez and Nikko also have a short appearance on this one. In contrary to the description on Discogees the re-release is mixed in a different way.

Moonshine - Weep No More

Thirty Daze And A Plane Ticket

Another Fundamentals early release....

Fundamentals - Thirty Daze And A Plane Ticket

Please Stop The World

It's enough, Stop The World now! The Kemetic Suns are coming and expect the human beings to be more exemplary and stop treating others like sh?t. The fundamentals tell us how they see the world and propose how to do it better.
Produced by Karma Chi aka Kilo Joule and King Koncepts this album contains some really nice tracks like "Pow Wow", "Code Rode", "Gravitational Pull", "Stop The World", "Dark Tower", "Mission Statement" and "Flight". These tracks are good for a quick listen and beyond but the other tracks that weren't mentioned have a more abstract soundscape and they need some closer listen to get the point.

Fundamentals - Stop The World 

Is it all a dream?

Or does Jizzm have style? He is back again with hard-hitting beats and underlies them with styleful raps. Go check him out, he is playing on a higher level....

Jizzm - Dreamscape EP

Show Respect Here!

What should I say? Hella MCs and hella beats. What is also interesting is the way that some tracks split over some other releases. First there is an EP off this album, the track "Sealed Fate" is on Pigeon John's "Clueless" 12", "Permanent Paradise" is on Awol One's "Three Eyed Crows" and on the EP of it and "B-Boy Real McCoy" is on Aceyalone's "Accepted Eclectic" album and 12".

Three other definite bangers on this album are:
Ah, forget it and make your own decision :P

Show Respect Here: The Wreckgear Compilation

Hello, this is Nonce again...

Some years ago we laid down some wonderful relaxed beats with keyboard sounds flying over them which built an atmosphere that stays in contrast to the hard truth that we are telling. But don't think the lyrics are unbearable! They are only miles away from the average raps, are raw and reflect the truth. It is like a good wine which needs some time, to get the point where it is coming from. We also have a hidden appearance of an MC we don't even know ourselves, maybe you can help us and find out the name of him.
Thanks for your patience and we hope you will have a positive listening experience...

Nonce - The Sight Of Things

Classic Material

The mysterious death of Yusef Afloat wasn't the reason that this album is a classic. No, it is the music itself! In the movie "This Is The Life" Medusa tells some really interesting stuff about Yusef. He wanted to practice Hip-Hop "raw" in that way, that he raps naked in front of the audience. For some people it might sound weird but I think that his intention was to tell the truth how life is, by laying the positive and the negative things on the line how they are. On Utube there is an old interview with Sach and Yusef were Yusef isn't saying much but what he is saying makes sense and is straight to the point. R.I.P. Yusef
For a tape rip of Yusef's solo album check Jackdevo

Nonce - World Ultimate

Request: Ras Kass - Understandable Smooth Instrumental

Phoenix Orion - Master Control Program 3000

Sorry, but I have no cover art for this one! I once found this one on the internet and seems to be some sort of concept album. If you listen to it you will realize that most of the tracks are from the Secret Wars album but there is are also one or two other tracks from the 3080 Flux album. What I think is that this really is a concept album which later split into the Secret Wars and the 3080 Flux album.

Master Control Program 3000

Phoenix Orion - Zimulated Experiences II

The Celestial Squadron album gives a clue that this album was recorded around the same time the first version was. The track "Close Encounters" was on the Squadron album and there was a hint for it that it was taken from the Zimulated Experiences II. Word has it, that there is also a 12" called Transorganicz, a track that is also on the ZEII album. But this 12" must be extreme rare and the possibility to hold it in my hands will be infinitesimal close to zero.
For this album I have also added two extra tracks which are not listed, with one featuring Awol One and Gel.

ZX2

Albums, I better shouldn't have sold/lost Part IX

Yeah, I once owned this one and I am not happy bout selling this one, too! As I mentioned in the "Le Jazz" post, there is a list of Phoenix Orion releases floating around on Philaflava and there are also 2 other albums listed called 1080 Time Warp and 2080 Cyber Squad. As you might know, 1080 and 2080 aren't officially released and are sleeping in PXO's collection of unreleased albums were alot of other unreleased stuff also sleeps. To recall an example, the Zimulated Experiencez II was produced around the same time the first version was produced but was self-released by PXO in 2007, about 8 years later!
The music itself is kinda Drum'n'Bass type of sh...

3080 Flux

Alien Nation - Tell Me / Electric Lady

This is the 12" single from the "Millenium" album. It contains multiple mixes of the track "Tell Me" and the track "Electric Lady" which has its name from the famous Studio in NYC where it was recorded. The acapellas of both tracks are also contained.

Alien Nation - Tell Me / Electric Lady

Mr. Bizarro - Dirtworks EP

This is the EP to the Blacknewave album that I have posted before. With this one Bizarros discography is nearly complete adding the stuff that Jackdevo uploaded on his blog. Especially Bizarros older stuff is very interesting. It has some laid back vibe and funny lyrics, rapping about his collection of tapes, that they are all gone and that only his shelf is collecting dust. But there is also some melancholy in the song "My Collection Of Tapes", the melancholy about the lost of an era that was about tape trading and anticipated pleasure while copying some new/unknown dope stuff from a friend or doing a mix tape. The anticipated pleasure of doing settings by yourself to get the best possible sound out of your tape, waiting till the recording is finished and the noisy sound which fits perfectly to 4-Track stuff. No doubt, Bizarro loves the nostalgia which made you feel warm inside like when put the needle to the groove of one of your favorite records...

Bizarro - Dirtworks EP

Mum's The Word - The People Mover

This is a nice producer album by Mum's The Word featuring performances by Awol One on the intro, 2Mex & Xololanxinxo, 3rd Degree, Basik MC, Dannu, Jizzm, Key-Kool, LMNO, Murs, Snizzake, Zen and Omid on the Congas on the track "Clear Finish". There is also a hidden track featuring Subtitle...

Mum's The Word - The People Mover

Project Blowed

Being originally released on tape in 1994, I think, there is also a vinyl and a CD version. It sets the land mark between the shutdown of the Good Life sessions and the introduction to the upcoming open-mic sessions at the Project Blowed.
The album contains the second Heavyweights track out of four and a lot more to explore. On Philaflava you can find some tracks flying around which were on the original release and left out on this release for whatever reason. There is also a difference between the vinyl and the CD version because the vinyl version also contains the monumental "Mix Tapes" song from the Nonce.

The tracks are all very dope starting with the track "Jurassick" having a word play by the track name which implies the sick styles of the featured rappers which have lots of experience by being long in the game(jurassic). Followed by a "knock, knock, who's there?" from Self Jupiter introducing the "Strength Of ATU" with a dope-ass beat and having the CVE said "What a pity, I'm living in New York City" and am not able to watch these cats. Figures Of Speech speak out a warning that you better "Don't get it twisted" because it's "Hot", maybe too hot! Tray Loc is followed by Dolla Holla who really sounds like he is Snupe who raps about a "Beautiful day in the neighborhood" and who is followed by "Solo is so low" from DK Toon and B/Cartoon and you know the track, I do it and I think everybody does who is old enough! "This evening" introduces the "Heavyweights Round 2" featuring PEACE, Aceyalone, Nefertiti, Self Jupiter, BJ, Ganjah K, Medusa, Ko Ko, Mikah 9 and Volume 10 interrupted by a "Funky Commercial Break" and followed by some more dope tracks featuring Aceyalone, Ab Rude, CVE and Ellay Khule. Pure Hip-Hop history that's all I can say!

Project Blowed Compilation

Freestyle Fellowship - Innercity Griots

The Fellowships second installment featuring a bunch of interesting people dropped in '93 one year before the Good Life Café closed the doors and a new era began with the Project Blowed. Like Volume 10's "HipHopera", "Innercity Griots" was released on a major label which was a good thing for the popularity but probably it also was a reason for the end of the Good Life. The movie "This Is The Life" dealt with the growing popularity and the impact on the Good Life sessions. If you haven't seen it for now, I can recommend you to watch this movie because it presents a part of HipHop history.
This album contains the first Heavyweights track featuring high level MCs Ganjah K, Big Arch, Spoon,  Volume 10 and Cockney'O'Dire besides the Fellowship. BTW, Mikah 9 has a really crazy appearance on this one! Most of the production is handled by the Earthquake Brothers, a crew of producers, which consists of Jamm Messenger Devine aka JMD, Mathmattics, DJ Kiilu and Mighty O-Roc. They also join creative forces on the Project Blowed compilation!

Freestyle Fellowship - Innercity Griots

Polo & Zoundwavez - Hot Time

I'm sorry for the bad rip but my records condition is very bad. Something like this can happen, when you buy an used record. What I'm very curious about is the version called "Hot Time(Crab Niggaz Freestyle)" on this record because there is a Widow Prizum/B.O.D. Click record that contains the track "Crab Niggaz" and "Crab Niggaz Freestyle". I know that the track "Crab Niggaz" is different from the track on the Hot Time record but I'm curious about the other track!

But this record was recorded in France and it is also a french release and on the back side cover are the following record labels stated: Hostile Records, Funk La Planet, Psycho V, Delabels, Virgin France.
The producer is DJ Wick who also produced some tracks for Widow Prizum and there appear Polo and Legacy from France, Zoundwavez aka Phoenix Orion, Cosmic Ray, Margie and Natalie Wallace from Alien Nation and Clutch and Money Bazz from the B.O.D. Click.
What I forgot to say is, that the beat of "Hot Time" reminds me of a track from Fat Jacks "Cater To The DJ" compilation.

Hot Time

Alien Nation - Earth Defenders

It is Alien Nations second album but it is the Aliens first officially released album. The Millenium album was meant to be released on Pallas Records in 1994 but wasn't. "Earth Defenders" in contrary was released on Celestial Recordings around 1999 on CD and I have heard there exist multiple versions with different colored covers. A 12inch record also exists with the track "Return To Cybertron" and a vinyl only track called "Unicron" which is only performed by Phoenix Orion.

On the Earth Defenders album appear Cosmic Ray, Phoenix Orion, Supernatural, Naptron, Orion South, Darkzeid, P.E.A.C.E. and also DK Toon on "Infinite Cypher" at 1:35. Infinite Cypher btw is a really dope track. The appearance of P.E.A.C.E. and DK Toon could lead to the theory that Infinite Cypher and the track "Secret Wars" from Phoenix Orions Secret Wars album were recorded in the same studio session.

Alien Nation - Earth Defenders

Amón Tóbin

As far as Discogs says is this the first solo album of the brazilian born electro producer Amón Tóbin.
My opinion on this record is, that it is by far his best for now.
On Discogs it is catogorized as Drum n Bass, Breaks and Downtempo but I think that it also contains more genres like Acid Jazz and Trip Hop.
One thing that I very like on this one, is the combination of Samba and Drum n Bass music, which is a very hard hitting combination.
But Amón Tóbin took good care of the listener by carefully compiling the tracklist.
As mentioned before, he has some hard Drum n Bass tracks on it but he didn't organize them one after another but put trippy Downtempo tracks in between to give the listener the chance to rest for a bit.
This is really necessary because some tracks have complex soundscapes which are worth listening to!

Amón Tóbin - Bricolage

The Persuasion Of Art

I can remember an old friend of mine who had the luck to stay in down-under for half a year. He had a good time over there and what I can also remember is that he bought this tape there. It is a collection of tracks from various artists. Some of these tracks taken from the artists albums, some aren't! Track I don't know exactly if they were released somewhere else are:

• Daysmen Empire - Recognize The Fact
• Global Phlowtations - Outlooks
• Da Golden Ray - 4-Sided Room
• The Earthlings - In A Minute
• Animal Pharm - Brand New Sound [Sonicosmonauts]
• Abstract Rude & Lil Aaron - Our Guide

Various - The Persuasion Of Art

Jizzm - Archives

This is Jizzm's only true solo album lasting at least 72 minutes and just featuring the Global Phlowtations, Of Mexican Descent and Nikko. All other albums by Jizzm were more like compilations featuring tons of other MCs. The EP of it contains a slightly different version of "Dreamscape" and its one of those ones where the track selection could have been better. The album for example contains very dope tracks like "Like it's 1999" with the GPAC, "Sky's The Limit", "Atlas" with OMD and Nikko, "Trials & Tribulations Pt II" which is also on the Bass'd On Priciples EP (I wonder where the first part is on!) and many more. Except "Atlas" there  are really hard-ass beats followed by high-level battle raps.

Jizzm - Archives

Blue Sky Black Death

Blue Sky Black Death is a producer Duo consisting of Kingston and Ian Tagger aka Young God. They had their debut in 2006 on MUSH records with the album "A Heap Of Broken Images" featuring various MCs. "Late Night Cinema" is one of their latests efforts consisting solely of instrumentals.
The title fits perfect to the music having moody beats that let your mind fade away and playing with your feelings by building up tension and releasing it, both in change. Most of the tracks have multiple parts making a unique short-movie of everyone. These two cats seem to complete each others by judging on the results of their creative works....

Blue Sky Black Death - Late Night Cinema

Handsome Boy Modeling School

Collecting instrumentals to make an instrumental mix album Dan The Automator came into my mind. As he belongs to my favorite producers, I checked his discography and found this one catching my ears. Some might know the Automator from the Dr. Octagon album or from Deltron 3030 both being very dope, too! If you check his other stuff you might come to the conclusion that there is very little that is not likeable and that's what makes the Automator so interesting!

White People is production-wise a kind of Borderline album. On some tracks they experimented a lot so that you won't say that it's obviously Hip-Hop but you can do your own opinion on that...

Handsome Boy Modeling School - White People Instrumentals

Equipto again...

One year before the Vintage Volume II, Equipto released the first record in this series. The album is more close to the typical Stiff sound in comparison to the Vintage Volume II. It is a rip of the original release, Discogs says that the re-release contains two additional tracks.
There is also a very nice EP out there which I can recommend you to grab if you have the chance to. This one contains the most interesting tracks off the CD plus some instrumentals.

Equipto - Vintage Volume Won

Albums, I better shouldn't have sold/lost Part VIII

This one got more rare than I thought. There is also an EP out but the CD contains more interesting tracks. I can't understand that! It's often this way, that an EP or 12" does not contain the most interesting tracks. On the EP you can't find the track "Baby Girl" for example which is very smooth and sounds like an old Bored Stiff production. "Clock On" is smooth too, but like a mixture of a RnB and a Pimp Style beat. Both tracks have female backing vocals from Reign...

Equipto - Vintage Volume II: Like There's No Tomorrow

Albums, I better shouldn't have sold/lost Part VII

Way back in the last millenium, Bicasso's former artist name was Bizarro and his label was called Dirtworks. I don't feel so good about having sold this one because it is very hard to find for now and it is some totally different stuff. For 1999 it was some type of ish that was way beyond its time.

Bizarro - Blacknewave

Secret Wars

Following the tradition of the Zimulated Experiences album this one is all spaced up except that it contains more features like Darkzeid with his dark and powerful voice, DK Toon, Neb Luv, Dandelion, Big Foot, the almighty P.E.A.C.E. and Quantum Gamma Zenith aka Orion South. For Orion South I was wondering for years if he really is a different person because it is difficult to distinguish him from Phoenix Orion's voice. I think they are cousins and I once heard that Phoenix Orion and Orion South didn't talked to each others for years but got reunited again. But as Phoenix seems to live in Vegas now it looks like that they currently don't do music together...
For this album there is also a very nice 2x12" with one record rotating at 331/3rpm containing Hip-Hop music and the other one rotating at 45rpm and containing Drum'n'Bass music.

Secret Wars

Omid - Monolith

This is Omid's third album which is half instrumental and the other half with features from Aceyalone, Slug, Murs, PSC, DJ Drez, Spoon of Iodine, Buck 65, Abstract Rude, 2Mex, Busdriver and Hymnal. I offer you the probably best rip on the net you can find of this one so don't miss the chance to check it out...

Omid - Monolith

Albums, I better shouldn't have sold/lost Part VI

Another compilation but this time its with a totally different cast! Celestial Recordings only label based compilation brings you the Alien Nation, P.E.A.C.E., Self Jupiter, DK Toon, Ellay Khule and others from Vortex Recordings a subsidiary of Celestial. One very interesting thing about it is the hint inside that they already had the Zimulated Experiences II in the works. The track "Close Encounters" appears here and there. You can also find tracks from the Beneath The Surface compilation, the Alien Nation album "Earth Defenders", Naptron's "Styles Of Madness", Hive's "Working With Sound", Phoenix Orion's "Zimulated Experiences", Supernatural's "Armageddon At Your Door 12" "  and from some Vortex releases I think which are Drum'n'Bass and not Hip-Hop.

Celestial Squadron

Maleko - Resume

This is the last one of Maleko which I can offer you! It is a collection of tracks previously released somewhere else and of unreleased ones. Be sure to peep it!

Maleko - Resume

Maleko - Omnidirectional

You probably wonder why I'm upping so much Maleko stuff today. Today I found some older links that are still working and I thought about sharing the music with you. As you can see on the picture of the cover there are a lot of artists on this album, so much that I am not able to tag them all! Here is a citation from P-Minus:
The mighty Maleko cranks out another winner with 18 lovely tracks featuring ALL of your favorite underground emcees and producers: Tommy V., Raj, Randy & Psuedo (Lip Service), Neila, Da Golden Ray, Jundax,  Ian, Space Ranger, Ceschi & David Ramos (Anonymous Inc.), Enzyme (Organics), Rage, Agile, Triangulum, Matre, Radioinactive, Autoflo, Optimus Rhymes, Deeskee, Nocturnal Ron, Mr. Slugsworth, Gunther B., Jericho J., Kiko, WD4D, Anti-MC and PBoFA.

That's almost 73 minutes of wonderful stuff that proves that the northern California underground hip hop scene is one of the most vibrant and collaborative around.

Maleko - Omnidirectional

Maleko - Nocturnal Journals

Look what I have left over. Although my CDr isn't readable anymore I still have an older rip of this album. It is completely produced by Joe Dub and recorded by Deeskee and Tommy V. It features WD4D and Dave Redeye on the decks and raps from Joe Dub, Da Golden Ray, Ian, Pilot Rase, Administer, Agile, Confucius and Space Ranger. One of my favorite tracks on this is "Concepts" featuring Da Golden Ray and Ian of Private School on a funky beat. It is obvious that Maleko and Da Golden Ray make a good duo if you also check the track "Second Wind" off the Strictly Indee compilation....

Maleko - Nocturnal Journals

Neila - Searching For Prajna

With this CD there is something wrong!
13 tracks are listed but the production credits state 16 tracks.
Eventhough the credits list only covers 8 tracks!
But production is handled by Joe Dub, Ruski (Deeskee?), Buk Naked and Jimi The Mantis Claw.
The feature list contains Drunken Immortals, Jimi The Mantis Claw, Rhettoric, Joe Dub, Tommy V, Type-O, Knows (of US Pros), Brad, Buk Naked, Jizzm, Brandon B, Fluid and Ruski.

Neila - Searching For Prajna

Albums, I better shouldn't have sold/lost Part III

Oh my god, How could I have sold this one! If I think about what they gave me for it and compare it with the value of today, I made the decision that I will never ever sell records again. Furthermore I totally underrated it...

DJ Drez - Say It Loud EP

Volume 10 - Pawn Shop

This is Volume 10's latest release from 2007, it has 2 features of P.E.A.C.E. and one of Black Silver. On the last track P.E.A.C.E. is also taking care of the hooks. I have no info on the production credits but it sounds like Bionik took care of it. Track 6, the title track, probably isn't because the elements used are more organic and airy in contrary to the progressive and more electronic sounding ones Bionik is using in general. This track is also the smoothest one on the album.

Volume 10 - Pawn Shop

Albums, I better shouldn't have sold/lost Part II

I don't really understand, why I have sold this one. It has so much interesting features especially on "Paint A Picture" with the Global Phlowtations and Slant or "Secrets" with Eclipse 427 and Kirby Dominant or "My Everyday" with Bored Stiff. You can also find the Living Legends members on all the other tracks.

UHB4: Stop & Retaliate

Albums, I better shouldn't have sold/lost Part I

I can't really remember, what happened to this one. I think it's lost and it is really a pity! The only thing I remember what could be the reason for the loss, is the fact that I took some CD's with me to work to rip them there. The fact that this one is encoded with Lame 3.98 leads to the conclusion that it must have been ripped last year, as I surely didn't recoded it!
To say something about the album itself, it was released in 1998 and completely produced by Elusive. As you can see on the picture, there are some nice features on it including a track with Mikah 9 and L'Roneous, one with ASOP, Grouch's second best track(my favorite is on Fat Jack's - Cater To The DJ 2) together with Bizarro and others...  The overall beats are very dark with deep basses, perfect for pumping them in a car with a big sub-woofer. I can remember when I was on a car convention for hobbyists and I went around playing this CD in other cars with custom build car stereos. Everyone who heard the music wondered where I got it from because it really pushed the car stereos to their limits :D

Deceiving The Right Eye Of Confusion

The Phoenix has risen

On Philaflava AlienNationRadio posted up a list of all the stuff that Phoenix Orion made. In this list is release that is called Funk La Planet and dated to 1993, can it be that this one was recorded in 1993 and not around 1997?

Having a chat with Al 'T' who produced this one together with Jay Rodriguez it can be possible but it's not sure! What he told me is that Benjamin Deffe who runs the label Funk La Planet didn't pay Al T for his work and studio time and he didn't credited Al T's & Jay Rodriguez work correctly, he didn't even mention their Publisher on the record!
To come back to the  recording, 1993 could be possible, in 1994 the Millenium album was recorded by Al T and there was also a release from Groove Collective with a feature of...Phoenix Orion! And guess who a member of the Groove Collective is? Yeah, Jay Rodriguez.

Le Jazz / Cybernetic Spy / Live Harder

Alien Nation - Millenium

I let myself some time to post up the Alien Nation stuff which I was maniacally collecting for some years now but herewith it starts! It is the Aliens first album which was meant to be released on Pallas Records, only a promo single was. The whole album was mastered in 2003 by Al T who also produced most of it. There are also 2 tracks by Fat Jack and one by Dee Jay and features come from Abstract Rude (dope track!) and Mikah 9 and I think KoKo.

I'll offer you two different versions, the mastered and an unmastered version which is very interesting too, because some tracks on it are way more longer!

Millenium unmastered

Millenium mastered

Widow Prizum - A Brooklyn Kind Of Life

Now it's getting more serious. A slept on album from Widow Prizum containing tracks from 6 ultra rare 12"es namely:

• Danger/A Brooklyn Kind Of Life.../Bedstuy Sound
• No Champagne, Just Blunts N' Heineken/ Pass It Around
• Alert The Masses / Crab Niggaz
• Back In The Days / New York - Paris Freestyle
• Jetlag
• New York New York / Danger

These records were all released around 1997 on Psycho V Records and I would consider them to be the Marcy Projects of what Phoenix Orion is often rapping. Probably they were recorded some years before, maybe! There is not much knowledge about everything because I think that the people from Widow Prizum/Alien Nation prefer to stay underground or maybe I should just ask :D
Ah and not to forget, Widow Prizum are Cosmic Ray from Alien Nation and Ikiea!

Brooklyn Kind Of Life

Shape Shifters - Adopted By Aliens

As Jack Devo has upped some of the older Shape Shifters stuff, I wanna show you the Shifters album that build a bridge between the stuff before and after the year 2000. This one was released on the holy record label Celestial Recordings which was run by Daddy Kev and DJ Hive. Since 2001 it is not existent anymore, I think it is because DJ Hive went his own path by focusing on Drum'n'Bass music. It is a pity, Celestial Recordings threw in really dope releases like this one.
I would definitely date this work after the Know Future album because of the track "Brainfish Reanimated" and "Beetleborg" which are like re-makes with a better mastering. By comparing the older versions with the new ones it looks like the ones from the Know Future album were demos. But there are also tracks from the Planet Of The Shapes album, the Triple Threat EP and the 2012 EP. This chaos continues with the weirdness of the music itself which isn't meant in a negative way. No, it will catch your attention because it goes very deep with its trippy beats.

Adopted By Aliens

Konceptual Dominance

Konceptual Dominance is a collaboration between King Koncepts and Kirby Dominant. As you can guess, King Koncepts again took care of the beats but he is also rapping on this one. Three tracks are also produced by the mighty Eclipse 427 and you can also find a feature of Ka Auditron Ba who are Hypnotic and Karma Chi on the track "Rock The Disco". The album itself is available as a 2xLP, CD and there is also a 12" off the album. In my opinion the track "Self Titled" was the only good choice for the 12". The album itself contains more interesting tracks which are more deep...

Konceptual Dominance

Hypnotic

I remember back in the day when my interest in Hip-Hop music grew and the Internet didn't offer as much as today. Together with a good friend of mine I weekly visited a record store and one day he told me to check out the Hypnotic CD and I bought it not knowing anything about it. Today, 12 years later I can say that it was one of my best investments in music. It's because it is one of the most organic Hip-Hop music I have ever heard with production from Eclipse 427, KiloJoule aka Karma Chi and King Koncepts. With 13 out of 17 tracks produced by King Koncepts, his beats define the overall character of the album, although they are really an ear catcher! One interesting thing is the usage of claves as snares as you can hear on the track "Quantum Mechanics". The elements being used even make sense when you consider the name of the album containing the words ORI INU which is an important part of the Yoruba religion. I didn't study it deeper but of what I've read the term Internal Symmetry seems to be a good translation for ORI-INU. The Yoruba religion has a model and the ORI represents the head meaning the mind while the ORI-INU is the "seat of the unconscious mind".
Another citation:
It is believed that, just before birth, every ori (i.e. consciousness or head) negotiates an agreement with Olorun (i.e. God—literal translation is owner of the sky), outlining their goals for that lifetime. At birth the details of this agreement are removed from the realm of conscious thought and hidden in the unconscious domain, within the inner head (ori-inu) and ipori in heaven. One's destiny, therefore, is to remember the original agreement and work towards achieving those goals. Any deviation from these goals creates a misalignment between ipori and ori and results in disease.

Hypnotic

Yoruba concept of the mind - lae-lae, Awo, odu, ase, ori-inu, opon-ifa, ori, ipori, ara, emi