Music Worth Checking Out: 3rd Quarter 2015

Welcome back, kids. I'm a little late again, but between the incredible Upper Peninsula hiking trip I took at the beginning of the month (and the exhaustive write-up I did on it) and not quite being able to figure out how to be productive while living a nocturnal lifestyle yet (I work midnights, 9p-7a, four 10s for the foreseeable future), I have some pretty legitimate excuses.  But who cares about excuses? You came here for music. 

Before we get to that, it's standard disclaimer time: This blog is really not meant for public consumption, although I appreciate every random reader from across the globe. The intended audience for this, which informs the way I write and describe/compare the music, is composed of the friends I’ve accumulated in my life with whom I’ve shared mutual enjoyment of music in the past. My purpose here is to attempt to foster or rekindle that facet of those relationships. Still, thanks for reading, whoever and wherever you are. Also, it doesn't matter whether it came out in 1997 or 2015. If I found out about it recently and I like it, I'll include it here.

Breaking Tradition - Vanity

In my last blog, I highlighted an album by the band Sleep In (which I'm really digging and will likely make my top 10 for this year). I subsequently ordered the LP from their label, Hideaway Records, and when the package arrived this CD was included for free. Now, normally when I receive a free piece of music in a package, I assume it probably sucks. Sometimes I don't even bother listening. In this instance, I'm very very glad I did (for reasons other than verifying my CD changer still works for the first time in months). The closest approximations I could make to bands you may know would be Pentimento, The Beautiful Mistake (second album, without the screaming), The Felix Culpa (first album, before the prog seeped in), and some traces of early Taking Back Sunday sprinkled about. I don't really have a favorite track yet, but be advised the first one is more of slow intro and the EP really gets kicked off on the second song.

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Great Lakes USA - Stumbling Distance

Are you guys sick of waiting 6 years between No Trigger albums like I am? Do you love some raspy-voiced melodic hardcore with plenty of energy? Well then tide yourself over with some GLUSA. This one leads off in the complete opposite way compared to Breaking Tradition, as the first song leans far more toward being a hardcore track than the rest of the EP. Accordingly, you may want to start at track #2. Again, no favorites here, so just let the fucker ride. Feel free to beat me to checking out their older stuff too. Let me know how it is.

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Knuckle Puck - Copacetic

For my tastes, this young group on the quick come-up has been a slightly above average pop-punk band prior to this, but nothing they did really got me "into it". This, their debut full-length following a few EPs and 7"s, shows a more developed approach and a greater range of influences, which still mostly stay under the umbrella of bands/sounds I like (check the unmistakable ode to Jimmy Eat World's "Goodbye Sky Harbor" on the last track, "Untitled"). Catchiness and energy abound without too much cheese or color-by-numbers pop elements, and the end result is a damn good album (some of my friends would call that a gross understatement) which has me paying attention much closer than before to these whippersnappers. "True Contrite" (see the first video link) is probably my favorite track. Also, I recently found out I'm not the only one who thinks the backup singer guy sounds exactly like former Transit/Sleepsick/The Weeds guitarist Joe Lacy on Keep This To Yourself. The resemblance is uncanny.

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Choke Up - Black Coffee, Bad Habits

I once ventured into a dirty punk rock basement in Grand Rapids to see Prawn bring down the house (no seriously, they blew the fuses three times during their set), and I arrived with about 1.5 songs left in the preceding band's set. I was taken aback at how much I enjoyed that 5+ minutes and made a mental note to figure out who they were and check out their stuff. Fast forward months upon months and I've finally made good on that notion. The way these guys seamlessly integrate melodic hardcore (their double-time stuff rages), post-hardcore, more straight ahead rock, and gut-wrenching (in an energetic, driving way, not a sad, overwrought way) emo into this album is pretty remarkable. Once the opening song kicks in, you should know within the next 30 seconds if this album is for you.

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Gatherers - Quiet World

These young New Jersey chaps (formerly named "Gatherer" for their previous album...maybe someone else had that copyrighted?) play an alternately pummeling and melodic form of post-hardcore with mostly shouted/screamed vocals. The drummer constantly keeps it interesting in the same vein as, say, Crash of Rhinos, and the guitar work seems pretty intricate (and even incorporates some welcome post-rock elements in small parts). So despite the vocal styling not being my favorite, this is still a full win from front to back for me. The opener "God Deluxe" (see second video link) is an absolute ripper and will convince you immediately whether you're going to like this or not.

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Wince - Media Prayer

This one came to me via a Facebook recommendation post from Such Gold, and their bandcamp page accurately describes them as "an amalgamation of all things under the 'punk rock' umbrella". So if you like most things under said umbrella like I do, then you should find something to dig in this 3-song, 11-minute EP. 

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First Division - Overworked and Underpaid

Want to hear a couple Canadian crackers do justice to one of DJ Premier's best beats of the last 5 years? Of course you do. Click the video link below. Naturally it's the best song on the album, but the rest of it is solid to really good. "Stand Down" is quite funky thanks to Marco Polo production, and "Grind State" features Kev Brown on both the hook and beat. They really pay homage to their influences, the same artists who shaped my tastes, and otherwise generally embody what I think of when I hear the phrase "how hip-hop should be". See how many historical hip-hop references you can pick out when they pay respect to the "greatest rap duos to date" on "Like This".

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Illah Dayz - The Illahstrator

When I was a teenager forming my tastes in hip-hop there wasn't much coming out of the Detroit scene until Slum Village came along. Thinking back to that period, it's cool to know that 20 years later, I'm able to feature one quality hip-hop record after another from Detroit artists in this blog. I won't tell you that this dude breaks any new ground with the rhymes, but he has a solid style and comes off with a very enjoyable album thanks to plenty of help from his buddy, my favorite Wu-Tang fam producer of the new millenium, Bronze Nazareth. Bronze's protege Kevlaar 7 (R.I.P.) also provides some killer production. Especially good tracks include "Brother In Law" and "Obvious Destiny". As with most hip-hop records, skip the intro. Also, if you're a fan of Bronze or Killarmy, you'll probably want to give Dom Pachino's latest a listen, as it was entirely produced by Bronze, though the results are not as good as this.

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Sean Price - Songs In The Key of Price

Beware that there are two versions of this mixtape, which is the last release ever to bear the stamp of approval from Mr. Price himself due to his passing earlier this year. He will be sorely missed, though I know there will be at least 3-4 posthumous hodgepodge releases that will be thrown together in his name. Anyway, the iTunes version is something like 8 songs due to sample clearance issues apparently, but the CD version has 30 tracks. I have no idea why the disparity, but obviously the full version has many more P! highlights, such as "Orange Box Cutter" and "Figure More" (see video below). Rest in P!eace, sir.

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Finale - Odds & Ends

Here's one of my favorite Detroit artists with an album produced entirely by Mello Music Group's best producer, Oddisee. (An argument could certainly be made for Kev Brown, who makes less stuff I don't like than Oddisee, but the latter's ceiling is higher than the former's.) Accordingly, it's almost wall-to-wall enjoyable. My highlight here is "Perseverance".

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L'Orange & Kool Keith - Time? Astonishing!

If you haven't heard the two records that define Keith's solo career in my opinion, the wonderfully odd, perversely clever Dr. Octagon project Dr. Octangonecolygist and the Dr. Dooom album First Come, First Served (featuring the greatest cover art known to man), please do yourself a favor and jump on that. His group Masters of Illusion and the Black Elvis album were a distant third and fourth to those, and pretty much everything else has ranged from a mixed bag all the way down to complete and utter garbage. Thanks to Mello Music Group and Nashville-based (whaaa??) boom-bap producer L'Orange, we can now hear Keith and a bevy of his guests over straight kicks and snares again. The results are probably not quite what you'd hope, as Keith doesn't get as disturbingly/entertainingly weird as he did 20 years ago, but nonetheless it's good to hear him over production that doesn't make you want to shove a screwdriver in your ear to make it stop. It's a pretty even album throughout, so give it a spin already.

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Beyond that, here's a quick rundown of other stuff I checked out, in no particular order. Kalamazoo has been holding a quality hip-hop secret for a while in the form of the group Dezert Eez, whose newest album is pretty uneven but also has some real high points, like tracks "Gravity" and "Winter Fresh (Snow)". Timing Is Everything is another uneven hip-hop album with some real high points thanks to production from the likes of DJ Premier, 9th Wonder, and Amp despite King Magnetic being a total dirtbag drain on society (judging by his skits especially). Check "Status" (Premo), "Believe" (9th), and "Up & Down" (don't mind the stupid corny low-voice chorus...leave that to those A$AP douchebags, dude). Big Awesome, makers of my #2 favorite EP of 2013, finally put out a full length that's pretty good but sadly not spectacular called "Party On". It's got an emo/punk base but has a straight-ahead rock feel to it at times. If you liked their other stuff, definitely check it out. Pentimento put out a decent 7" teaser as a prelude to their new LP (will it make the year-end list? I haven't listened yet). Apollo Brown did a full-length album featuring a slew of great guest MCs, but his production is just SO monotonous sometimes. It's like he has some hang-up with the melodic notes having to be right on repeating 1/4 or 1/8 notes relative to the snare beat, and the tempos and drum beats are the exact same way too often. That said, it's all boom-bap, and there are definitely some good tracks like "Radio (ft. Evidence)" and "Money (ft. Masta Ace & Wordsworth)". I just wish he'd change it up like he had to for Ghostface's Twelve Reasons To Die remix, where he was given the a capellas and had to construct instrumentals around them. I think that forced him out of the box he likes to stay in and is by far my favorite project of his. And finally, Erick Sermon put out his first album in 11 years, and guess what? He still doesn't care how shitty his lyrics are, and he'll still follow any awful trend to try to be relevant to the lemmings, but his new E.S.P. album is noteworthy for featuring Redman & Method Man over the best production either has had in years on "Clutch".

Well, that's all she wrote for this time around, kids. Come back in early January for my year-end list. And as always, thanks for reading, and let me know if you like any of this stuff. Take care, brush ya hair.

Music Worth Checking Out: 2nd Quarter 2015

Ladies and gentlemen, school is officially over for your boy, and I'm finally catching up with things that fell by the wayside during the madness, like this blog. This is a month late, but I hope I can make up for it by having a boatload of content to keep your ears busy. So let's get this installment kicked off....after I include my standard disclaimer.

This blog is really not meant for public consumption, although I appreciate every random reader from across the globe. The intended audience for this, which informs the way I write and describe/compare the music, is composed of the friends I’ve accumulated in my life with whom I’ve shared mutual enjoyment of music in the past. My purpose here is to attempt to foster or rekindle that facet of those relationships. Still, thanks for reading, whoever and wherever you are. Also, it doesn't matter whether it came out in 1997 or 2015. If I found out about it recently and I like it, I'll include it here.

Paper Arms - Great Mistakes

You kids should know by now that this is my bread and butter. Gravelly, gritty yet melodic vocals and driving, tight rhythms comprising post-hardcore with punk flourishes. They've gotten a little better with each release, and this one features the best song they've ever written, "Fader". If you let them, they just might fill the hole in your iPod that Polar Bear Club left.

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After The Fall - Dedication

Here we have old men making refreshingly fast punk rock and keeping the melodic in the hardcore for every song this time around. As you might discern from the title, every song on this album is dedicated to a different person. You can bathe in the sincerity while banging your head to the beats. It's a pretty even listen quality wise.

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The Story So Far - The Story So Far

I can't even front. I would probably want to suplex the shit out of 95% of this band's fans, but their execution of mid-tempo modern day pop-punk boasts a nice balance of aggression and catchiness that continues to appeal to me. Honestly, I was completely ready to bail and had pretty low expectations for this. It just felt like the right timing for them to drop a completely ball-less clunker that would get played at all the teenage roller rink parties (if they still have those...do they still have those?). Instead they turned over some familiar soil and planted a few new plants to spruce up the garden they nearly perfected on What You Don't See. I think "Heavy Gloom" might be my favorite from this one. However, I still can't get down with Under Soil and Dirt anything before that, save maybe one or two songs. That's where the teenage testosterone meter goes into the red.

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Spraynard - Mable

These guys put out my #3 favorite LP of 2011, the inappropriately named Funtitled (they're not the goofy band that might imply), so I was glad to hear they were coming back from being broken up, albeit with only 2/3 of the original group. Any fans of their later pre-breakup material should be pleased with this. It's wonderfully earnest basement-style (as opposed to polished) mid-tempo pop-punk with a twist of midwestern emo. I love the way the dude addresses people in his lyrics. He seems like a real swell guy. I'm sure he wants you to like his music, and so do I. Please, do enjoy it.

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Pianos Become The Teeth - Close

Surprise! You guys thought I didn't like this band anymore, didn't you? Oh, you didn't know or care? How about I do this to you? Then you'll care. For the record, I much prefer their older, more abrasive stuff to their most recent full length Keep You, but I still enjoy a little over half that record (the rest is a snoozefest) and really gained a better appreciation for it live when I saw them with Gates. This 7" has only 2 songs, and I dig them both, with "Dancing" being the clear winner. If you're a fan of mopey midwestern emo and either wrote these guys off due to their lighter new style or never gave them a chance, now's the time and "Dancing" is the song.

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Sleep In. - Settling

This band features a member of (in my opinion) the best project Evan Weiss of Into It Over It was involved with, The Progress. Their full length Merit was mostly slept on when it came out in 2006 but ended up being pretty influential in the "emo revival" sound of recent years. This album bears marks of that sound, but more often treads into pop-punk-tinged rock territory. Honestly if you don't dig Third Eye Blind's self-titled record, you probably won't be able to get into most of this. The opener is a definite attempt at a "Semi-Charmed Life", but don't judge the whole record by that standard. It really picks up after that. The vocals took a while to grow on me, but the rhythm section is solid, and the guitars do a lot of that dual crunchy/meandering thing that sounds so good. There are a couple semi-clunkers, but otherwise it's a pretty solid listen.

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Red Pill - Look What This World Did To Us

It's only right to lead off with Detroit's best kept hip-hop secret of the last couple years. It's slightly unfortunate that he chose to kick the album off with "Meh" and its questionable chorus, because other tracks paint a far more interesting and well constructed picture of the struggle from the defeatist yet defiant perspective of Mr. Pill. He's brutally honest and unapologetic, and he obviously has an ear for solid boom-bap production. Give songs like "Kids", "Leonard Letdown", "Blus", and "Rum & Coke" a chance.

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Estee Nack & Purpose - 14 Forms: The Book of Estee Nack

This isn't the classic I was hoping for after lead single "T.I.M.E." (see video below) knocked my socks off, but it's still worth a long look. Purpose handles all the production and once again mostly comes through with above average to great beats. Estee Nack is at least above average as an MC, and he incorporates a healthy dose of social consciousness into his rhymes while maintaining an edge. That's always a winning formula in my book, and apparently Estee Nack's as well.

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Statik Selektah - Lucky 7

You should know what to expect from a Statik album by now, and he usually delivers. Even though I like 15 of the 19 songs here, I don't really have any favorites yet. "Sucker Free (ft. JFK)" and "Alone (ft. Joey Badass)" might be good candidates to check if you only have a few minutes.

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EdO. G. - Afterwords

Boston's own EdO, one of the most consistent and dependable veterans in the game today (well, except for the inexplicably sub-par A&E collaboration he's done with the also usually dependable Masta Ace...it's like if the mighty mechanical lions somehow formed an incontinent hobo instead of Voltron), is back to grace us with dopeness for 2015. This time he teamed up with French label Effiscienz, home to Camden's Fel Sweetenberg, whom I've highlighted on this blog before. I can't blame him considering how much more appreciative of true hip-hop western Europeans are than Americans. All songs here are produced by duo Street Wyze, who provided EdO with a very consistent boom-bap backdrop that has only a couple minor clunkers. Accordingly, I don't necessarily have any favorites here.

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Skyzoo - Music For My Friends

Has there ever been a more appropriate album title for my blog? I think not. This is definitely one of Skyzoo's most consistent efforts and continues the good streak from his Barrel Brothers collaboration with Torae. I really like the way the sample from ATCQ's "8 Million Stories" was re-flipped with an even better drum beat on "Luxury", but I think this dude Westside Gunn who does the supremely annoying & ignorant chorus needs to go get his GED and stop bullshitting about being rich. I'd like to see his real estate and investment portfolios to back up his claim. Still, that's a relatively minor pockmark on an otherwise really good album highlighted by "Everything's For Sale" and "Women Who Can Cook".

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Pete Rock - Petestrumentals 2

Instrumental hip-hop isn't for everybody, but if you're going to listen to some, it might as well be made by one of the most respected producers in boom-bap history. "BBJones", "Heaven & Earth", PR 4 Prez", "Beat Goes On", and "Dilla Bounce (R.I.P.)" are good enough to jam to even without vocals.

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Kaimbr as Wu Kaim - Bronze Horse

This is a very cool project where this Low Budget Crew & Mello Music Group collective member re-flipped many samples previously used on Wu-Tang Clan members' songs and made them into new songs. It's the perfect mix of familiar and refreshing, and it comes off much better than one might expect from something that could mistakenly be viewed as a simple re-hashing. Check "Welcome Home" for the best representation of why this is an excellent poject.

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Large Professor - Re:Living

Here we have yet another elder statesmen with a new album worthy of your attention. Extra P has generally gotten consistently better as a producer during his career, and in contrast he hasn't done a single thing to improve the quality of his rhymes since he left his early 90's group Main Source. However, when songs as good as "Re:Living" and "Opulence" are the result of his work, it doesn't matter that much. That said, his vocals are not featured on easily the best track on this, and one of the best hip-hop songs of this decade, "Industry Remix 2 (ft. Inspectah Deck, Cormega, Roc Marciano, Sadat X, & Lord Jamar)", which continues the theme of the "Industry" track from last year's excellent collaborative album with Cormega (Mega Philosophy) and includes one of Deck's best verses ever (which is really saying something, as I think GZA is the only Wu member more lyrically gifted). His takedown of fraudulence in the current hip-hop industry is absolutely masterful. Check it: "Nowadays everybody trying to get on/They don't wanna put in work, they just ridin' along/Pretty hoes in the video, thighs & a thong/A few views on YouTube, but who's buyin' the song?/WorldStar don't give a fuck how you bodied the verse/They'll desecrate your mixtape so Connie can twerk/With your 360 deal, boy, you're probably a jerk/On molly while they profit off your body of work/Public Enemy told me "don't believe the hype"/I strive to be the type to fight, to lead them right/From the brainwash, same songs daily that they playin'/And if you disagree with the masses, then you hatin'/When did conscious rap become corny?/Why should I let the corporates define me?/Radio....suckas never play me/But that's the hot 5 at 9? That shit is crazy."

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Clear Soul Forces - Fab 5ive

Once again, Detroit is proving itself to be a better producer of quality boom-bap albums than the city that created it. These guys craft "combination backpack & subwoofer" hip-hop and continue to improve on this, their third full-length. Check tracks "Cheese In The Sky" and "Remain Raw" for evidence.

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Professor P & DJ Akilles

Here's another example of the better understanding, appreciation, and reverence for true-school boom-bap in Europe. These two cats from Sweden flew under my radar for way too long, and both of the above releases are loaded with solid jams. There are even a couple nice feature verses from AG and Blu. They've put out more EPs since the above, which I have yet to check out, and so far I've found that I can't really go wrong with any of their songs, so choose away comfortably from their catalog.

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Beyond that, here's a quick rundown of other stuff I checked out. Two emo bands laden with potential, Have Mercy and Souvenirs, both whiffed big time with their most recent LPs. Masta Ace's eMC group continues to suffer from oddly chintzy-sounding production (and enough pointless skits to choke a mule). Raekwon put out the absolute pile of substance-lacking dog shit (like if you fed your dog nothing but Ol' Roy brand from Wal-Mart) known as Fly International Luxurious Art. Seriously, if you ate a dog's shit, it would bring more to your life than that album, especially with its fucking Rick Ross and ASAP Rocky guest spots. However, Rae definitely added something to Ghostface & Adrian Younge's Twelve Reasons To Die II. Still, his & Ghost's superior storytelling couldn't cancel out the snore-inducing production that comprised damn near half the album. I was eager to see what Bishop Nehru could do with his solo debut, but I only found one song worth keeping. I still think he could do something great in the future though. Bronze Nazareth produced a lot of great beats (as usual) for his joint project with Canibus, but the songs I like are in spite of Canibus' cornball performance. Seriously, listen to the chorus of "Give Me Not Control" and you'll see what a song-ruining tool he sounds like. That said, when Bronze, Craig G & Raekwon cut into his mic time on "The Kings Sent For Me", the result is pretty sweet. It turns out the Doppelgangaz are continuing to go in the douchey direction they hinted at with some of the garbage on Peace Kehd, so they're pretty much dead to me now. Such a shame because everything before that ruled. And finally, in a similar fashion, I could only find  two songs on the new Red City Radio I liked, thanks to their move toward a more Americana rock-n-roll sound. I still champion the fuck out of their first EP and LP though.

Well, that's officially it for this installment, kids. I'll be back in a couple months to talk about new stuff from Knuckle Puck and Kool Keith, among others. Thanks for reading.

Music Worth Checking Out: 2015, 1st Quarter

I'm a little late, but the fact that I even found time to do this post at all is remarkable. I'm very much looking forward to my return to (semi-)normal human life in June. Thankfully my being so busy has not made a big dent in my ability to check out new music, and I have a bevy for you this time around. Let's stop dicking around and get to the music....after I post my standard disclaimer.

This blog is really not meant for public consumption, although I appreciate every random reader from across the globe. The intended audience for this, which informs the way I write and describe/compare the music, is composed of the friends I’ve accumulated in my 35 years with whom I’ve shared mutual enjoyment of music in the past. My purpose here is to attempt to foster or rekindle that facet of those relationships. Still, thanks for reading, whoever and wherever you are.

Sore Eyelids - For Now

These Swedes blend straightforward midwest emo with shoegaze and a dash of melodic punk, and after following them loosely for a few years, I think they've finally hit stride with this EP. Don't worry, xenophobes, they sing in English and there's not much accent to be detected. I don't really have a favorite off this, but "Waste" is probably a good representation.

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tide/edit - Foreign Languages

Shout out to my main man ET for turning me on to this sweet instrumental band that is sure to please fans of Vasudeva. This one is very solid all the way through.

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Better Off - I Think I'm Leaving

I can't believe this came out in 2013 and I had no clue as to its existence prior to a couple months ago. It's a really good mix of all my favorite emo, rock, and mid-tempo pop-punk sounds of the past 15 years or so. There are a couple skip-worthy tracks, but there are also highlights like "The Price Is Never Right", "A Fool Walks Into A Bar", and "Next Step Out The Door".

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Strung Out - Transmission Alpha Delta

I shouldn't need to tell you much about these elder statesmen of metal-laced punk. You already know whether you like Strung Out, and if you do, you're going to fucking love this album. Time will tell if it's up there with Exile In Oblivion and Agents of the Underground for me, but songs like "Rebellion of the Snakes" and "No Apologies" make a strong case.

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Joyce Manor - Never Hungover Again

This band has been one of punk's buzz darlings of the past few years that has never appealed to me. However, all the fawning praise over this release made me begrudgingly give them another chance, and my reaction was, "Wait, this band sounds like this? Some of this is actually pretty damn good. I had a completely different sound in my mind." I have yet to go back in their catalog to see if my memory was off or what, but I swear this is a departure in the pop/catchy direction for them. You won't find me buying their t-shirts or proclaiming my love for them (since I only like about half of this), but hot damn do songs like "Catalina Fight Song" and "Falling In Love Again" float my boat. The junior high lyrics ("I think you're funny/I like your friends/I like the way they treat you/I've got some money/That we could spend/Not that you're like that") are an unfortunate circumstance that occasionally make me cringe, but then another awesome part comes in to make me forget again.

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Rarity - Alive In Your Eyes

The cover art made me weary, but thanks to my homeboy McG, I gave this harder edged pop-punk band a try and enjoyed most of it. The interlude tracks are kind of pointless, making this a 3-song EP that won't bowl you over but shows promise.

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Reservoir - Cicurina Vol. 1

I had the pleasure of seeing these guys play their moody midwest emo in a basement in Lansing a couple years ago, and they absolutely slayed and made me a much bigger fan. Sadly, I feel their recorded content has always failed to capture that extra oomph they have live, but this EP is the closest they've come yet. Check the build and payoff on opener "Breathe Disaster" to see what I mean.

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Brigades - Crocodile Tears

I had the pleasure of seeing Such Gold rip through a bunch of new material (and I mean fucking rip) last weekend but was too busy to check out the opening acts before deciding I was too busy (sic) to arrive early enough to see them. It turns out that was a mistake, as this band and Tommy Boys (see below) should've been very enjoyable. These guys play a good mix of melodic hardcore and pop-punk, even if they don't really do anything to distinguish themselves. I've only heard this twice so far, but it seems pretty even throughout. Some of it actually reminds me of Story Of The Year when they weren't that embarrassing.

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Tommy Boys - Tommy Boys

This trio play a noodly, airy, and jerky (rhythmically) style of upbeat emo that's pleasing to the ear. I especially regret missing their set. I heard it was pretty damn good from all-around solid dude Steve from Bike Tuff (buy their vinyl, and get one for me too), and he knows what's up, so check this out on both of our recommendations.

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The Regiment & Sinitus Tempo - S.O.U.L.

This is probably the best release yet from Detroit duo The Regiment. The production is pure Golden Era jazzy boom-bap, just the way I like it. You really can't go wrong with any of the first four tracks here.

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Mello Music Group - Persona

Remember how awesome hip-hop compilations used to be back in the day? Stuff like Soundbombing (particularly Vol. II), Eastern Conference All-Stars, and New York Reality Check 101 were peppered with classic material. I read an interview with Mello's owner where he said he was trying to bring that element back to hip-hop culture and make the compilation important again by snatching up some of the artists' best work in the form of exclusive tracks. I have to admit much of their roster is lost on me (I only like about half of this), but they also have some of my favorites of recent years. Mello and Ill Adrenaline Records are definitely the best two labels in hip-hop today. Highlights here include Oddisee and Phonte's (of Little Brother) first ever collaboration (why did it take so long?) "Requiem", the eerie "You First" (ft. Rapper Big Pooh, also formerly of Little Brother), and Oddisee's solo joint "Word to the Wise".

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Little Vic - Loosies Collection Pt. 1

This kid frustrates the shit out of me. His first EP, a solid if unspectacular effort, came into my awareness thanks to an assist from DJ Premier way back in 2008, but he hasn't had another proper release since. His mixtapes have been uneven, but then there are songs that are just absolute bangers. And the trend is usually that whatever songs he produces himself are great, and when he uses outside help the results are very mixed and often duds. He's really an incredibly talented boom-bap producer and sounds like he puts time and thought into his lyrics, even when he's going bragadaccio. How about you just listen to "Endings", "Crockpot", and "Let Alone" and see for yourself? Oh yeah, I almost forgot to mention the absolutely awful DJ drops at the beginning of most tracks. Try to block it out. It's not DJ Clue bad, but it's bad.

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BADBADNOTGOOD & Ghostface Killah - Sour Soul

Speaking of being frustrated, I definitely expected more from this album. It's nowhere near bad, but some of it's a little boring. Still, "Ray Gun (ft. DOOM)" is a sure winner, and after all, it's Ghost on the mic. It's definitely cool to hear him over live instrumentation.

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The Cenobites - The Cenobites LP

Here's a Kool Keith project from 1995 that I somehow ignored until 20 years after its conception. It's definitely not his best work but is leaps and bounds above anything he has done in the last 10 years. Just watch out when Bobbito grabs the mic. He makes Lil' Wayne's lyrics sound like a TED talk.

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First Light - Fallacy Fantasy

How this 2013 release from two of my favorite Hieroglyphics crew members escaped my radar is beyond me. Opio and Pep Love put together an album that's solid throughout even if there's nary a "great" track to be found.

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Joey Bada$$ - B4 Da $$

Here we have the long awaited and much hyped debut from the prodigal son and leader of the PRO ERA crew, who represent the youthful revival that the boom-bap world has desperately needed. While I think this kid has enough talent and an ear for beats that could've made this even better, it's still a great album. When he makes Gang Starr references like "things get severe for everybody everywhere/this my moment of truth right here" and shouts out my favorite album of all time, I swell with hope for the future. Those lines are indicative of a wisdom in his lyrics that belies his age, and that gives me hope that he can maintain his popularity without "playing (him)self to have mass appeal" as Guru once stated. My favorite tracks here are the DJ Premier-produced "Paper Trail$", "Save The Children" (compliments of another killer Statik Selektah beat), "Piece of Mind", "No. 99" (a fantastic re-appropriation of the vibe of ATCQ's "Scenario"), and "Hazeus View". My only real complaint is that this album is grossly top-heavy, but that's not a big bitch at all. This will definitely be on my 2015 year-end list.

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Red Pill - Learning To Punch

Remember how I said Mello Music Group has some artists I really love? Well here's one of them, a Detroit (Redford) native who is one of the best I've heard at conveying the realities and frustrations of modern life from the strikingly honest perspective of a struggling artist. Check the Oddisee-produced "Smile" to see why this kid has me excited for his full-length, which I have yet to hear.

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Kenn Starr - Square One

Here's yet another Mello Music Group MC worth your time. He hasn't put out an album in 9 fucking years, so this is a welcome return. His crewmate Kev Brown provides some great instrumentals, and Black Milk comes through a few times as well. "Game To Deliver", "Product of the Basement (Remix)", "Lesson A", and "The Movement II" are all standouts. Don't pass this one up, boom-bap heads.

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The Four Owls - Natural Order

And finally we have The Four Owls from England, whom I never would've checked for if not for the DJ Premier cut "Think Twice" (video). That song, plus "Feels Great" and "Control", made me realize these guys are much more than their headscratcher of a gimmick, with the owl masks they apparently always wear. When you're listening, that aspect obviously doesn't matter, and the bottom line is that these guys actually have pretty good lyrics and even better production most of the time. Give 'em a chance.

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Before I go, allow me to state that I was pretty disappointed in the new Title Fight, J-Live, Big Shug (yes, even the DJ Premier songs were at least slight bummers), and Diamond District's remix album March on Washington Redux (seriously, the Diamond D remix is fucking terrible). Action Bronson was OK and actually a little better than expected. Apollo Brown & Rapper Big Pooh (another Mello release), the You Blew It 7", and Fashawn were fairly solid. And finally, Somos' new track on their latest split (with Have Mercy, who have fallen off a cliff for me) is a new favorite. And that's pretty much all that's worth mentioning. Thanks for reading, and may the Schwartz be with you until next time.