Locust Toybox

A fair few of you must know who David Firth is. He's become a pretty big internet celebrity for making disturbed flash animation over at his website Fat Pie. When he's not coming up with creative new ways to scare and confuse teenagers the world over, he's trying his hand at IDM, which has emerged as being somewhat impressive. The influences for his music are fairly obvious. Take the disjointed beats of Aphex Twin (for whom he's made unofficial music videos in the past), maybe some of Squarepusher's less jazz infused elements and add Boards Of Canada's wandering epic sound and you have basically what the man is making. This would be somewhat of a generic compound in this day of IDM rip off merchants' dull repetition of the greats' style. But Firth's music does give off quite a passion and he's managed to bring a fair number of new ideas to the table.

He has a few splits and EPs out, you can seek them out on Locust Toybox's Myspace and download a few more tracks besides the two below.

Locust Toybox - Pixel Boy
Locust Toybox - Plastic Warped Original

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Sonic Youth - Washing Machine

To me, this is easily the most over looked Sonic Youth album that I've heard. When it comes to the always tedious list of best Sonic Youth albums, you'll always see "Daydream Nation", "Goo", "Evol" and "Dirty" ranking right up there without even the slightest thought given to Washing Machine. I'm still not exactly sure why this is. Two of my favorite Sonic Youth tunes reside on this album in "Becuz" and "Junkie's Promise" and the rest of the album ain't too shabby either. Perhaps this being ignored comes from people's general distaste for the string of mid 90s releases, of which this was one. Or perhaps people are put off by the heavily distorted and wandering moments such as "Washing Machine". Then again, maybe it's just me. This record was the first Sonic Youth release I got my hands on, way back when I was thirteen and obviously there's going to be some kind of permanent bond with the record that introduced me to one of my favorite bands and I am therefore perhaps blocking out it's flaws. I dunno, if you don't have it, buy it and judge for yourself.


Sonic Youth - Becuz
Sonic Youth - Junkie's Promise

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Buy Washing Machine at Amazon

Roscoe Holcomb - An Untamed Sense Of Control

I can never thank my father enough for getting me in to the blues. In a world of over produced disposable crap, it's a fantastic feel to hear something with this much soul. Not written with any thoughts of money or fame, nor even any particular intention to make records. Just because music was an escape for Roscoe. An escape from the hardships of his working class Kentucky life. Happily sitting on his porch playing these heartfelt rhythms on his banjo, guitar or just using unaccompanied singing for an outlet to his struggles.

Having never made any studio recordings, this album is a collection of recordings, as are all Holcomb albums. The record takes it's name from a Bob Dylan quote in which Dylan would declare Holcomb to be one of his favorite country musician and that Holcomb had an "untamed sense of control" in reference to his vocal abilities. This is incredibly clear on Holcomb's unaccompanied rendition of "I Am A Man Of Constant Sorrow" where the mans vocals act out that quote perfectly.

Roscoe Holcomb - Swanno Mountain
Roscoe Holcomb - Little Maggie
Roscoe Holcomb - I Am A Man Of Constant Sorrow

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Buy An Untamed Sense Of Control Amazon

Ephel Duath - The Painter's Pallet

Another record I've abandoned for way too long. Ephel Duath are currently one of the worlds greatest experimental metal bands. Mixing the obligatory howling and guitar shredding with random bursts of free jazz and completely unexpected time changes. They have that rare talent of making a song sound a mixture of both improvised and carefully orchestrated.

I rediscovered "The Painter's Pallet" after hearing Ephel Duath's new album "Pain Necessary To Know" which, to be honest, left me feeling slightly cold and unimpressed. However it did remind me to give "The Painter's Pallet" another try and therefore rediscover that it's as strikingly out there as it was three years ago when the album first hit.

Ephel Duath - The Passage (Pearl Gray)
Ephel Duath - Labyrinthine (Crimson)

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Buy The Painter's Pallet at Amazon

Need New Body - Where Is Black Ben?

Last year saw the release of a new Need New Body album. I was totally oblivious. Did this record actually receive no press or was I just not paying close enough attention? Anyhoo, upon discovery that this album even existed, I snapped it right up and as I expected, this record is something else. It would seem that after the marginal success of their last album "UFO", Need New Body were given enough money to buy all the instruments and drugs they wanted. What comes out is an album that tries to do everything at once with complete contempt for continuation, almost a Frank Zappa for the new millennium. Not that they're as good as Frank but in terms of ideas being held more important compositional desire, Need New Body share a similar school of thought.

So we have an album of electronic spazzery, elegant piano lead songs, brass sections popping up at will, complete chaos in audio form, basically. I've given you three of the more obvious tracks but for this album to really work, the whole thing is needed. These tracks whilst standing fairly well alone, are just part of a bizzare tapestry that is this album.

Need New Body - Totally Pos Paas
Need New Body - Badoosh + Seagull War = Die
Need New Body - Eskimo

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Buy Where Is Black Ben? at Amazon

Bill Hicks - Rant in E-Minor

I've been meaning to post a standup comedy recording on here for quite some time. Who better to focus my first standup post on but the king of edgy, aggressive, awkward humor himself, Bill Hicks. This recording is taken from his last few shows before he lost his life to colon cancer. Besides the obvious humorous content, what I really love about this record is the audiences reaction to some of his material. You hear so many awkward noises coming from the crowd, as if Bill is making them too nervous to laugh. That was the incredible edge of the Hicks live experience, a man not so much a political comedian but more a man with a talent for showing everyone just how stupid the people that we put our faith in, are. Sort of a conscience that we never knew we had.

I'm going to say this in advance before anyone decides to bombard me with hatemail. If you're in to the "support the troops" business and are easily offended in a "I know where you live" kind of way, please don't listen to "Gays In The Military". It'll just piss you off and then the subsequent hatemail will piss me off, so just don't do it.

Bill Hicks - Gideons
Bill Hicks - Confession Time (Cops)
Bill Hicks - Gays In The Military

Buy Rant In E-Minor at Amazon

Assorted Mclusky B-sides

Well despite the first two parts being all the way back in September. Here's the conclusive post to the Mclusky trilogy. Instead of sharing some material from their last release which I didn't really care for. I thought I'd give any Mclusky fan boys who read this page, a bit of a treat. This is a collection of my favorite b-sides from the now defunct Welsh lads. How some of these didn't make the final cut is beyond me. Listening to "Random Celebrity Insult Generator" quickly descend in to complete chaos is always fun and "Hymn For New Cars" shows the band at their snide best.

A former Mclusky member will possibly be releasing a record with his new band Shooting At Unarmed Men this year, more info on that as I discover it.

Mclusky - Exciting Whistle-ah
Mclusky - Random Celebrity Insult Generator
Mclusky - Hymn For New Cars
Mclusky - Beacon For Pissed Wimps
Mclusky - The Habit That Kicks Itself

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Related posts:
Mclusky - Do Dallas
Mclusky - My Pain And Sadness Is More Sad And Painful Than Yours

Buy Mclusky's back catalogue at Amazon

Dead Milkmen - Beelzebubba

Comedy records often wear off over time as a passing novelty. Funny the first time, dull as shit the ninth. Need proof? Ask anyone with a half decent sense of humor if they still find "Tribute" at all funny after it's constant rotation for about three years. What is essential for a band who's main point of note is their humor is there must actually be some decent tunes hidden under all the jokes. Some bands pull this off perfectly. I rave about my love for Mclusky here on somewhat of a regular basis and Art Brut's debut was and still is one of my most enjoyed records of last year. However, the all swinging masters of the funny as hell punk song has to be Dead Milkmen. Snotty, witty, at times vicious, everything punk should have been about in the first place.

This record shows a combination of the many areas that Dead Milkmen were skilled in. "RC's Mom" is basically about their enjoyment for wife beating over a funk groove (tongue in cheek ofcourse). "Stuart" has to be one of the funniest spoken word songs ever made, I don't want to spoil it for you so listen for yourself. "I Walk The Thinnest Line" shows their ability to make a solid, simple punk song, An ability which has made Milkmen's back catalogue stay fairly fresh so many years after it's release.

Dead Milkmen - RC's Mom
Dead Milkmen - Stuart
Dead Milkmen - I Walk The Thinnest Line

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Buy Beelzebubba at Amazon

High On Fire - The Art Of Self Defense

Stoner rock. You know the score, a heavy distorted groove with bear-in-throat like vocals and a strong headache for the neighbors. Much like hardcore punk and most forms of metal, stoner is a genre that's incredibly easy to play but so fuckin' hard to perfect. High On Fire's "The Art Of Self Defense" is probably my favorite balls out Sabbath worshipping record since the days of Sleep. All the fundamentals are here and tuned to perfection. From the doom driven lyrics that only a man with a bong could come up with to the always reliable and heavy as hell guitar work.

Here's the first two tracks from their debut album and it's debateable that it's their only good one. Many problems would come when they took a complete shift in sound and abandoned their stoner roots. Some might argue that the band needed a sound change to avoid redundancy. Me? I'm not quite sure. I need to spend more time with the next two albums before I can make a real decision on the matter. So basically, if you're in to heavy stoner, this album's essential. If you're up for something more experimental, approach "Surrounded By Thieves" and "Blessed Black Wings" with some level of caution.

High On Fire - The Art Of Self Defense
High On Fire - 10,000 Years

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Buy The Art Of Self Defense at Amazon

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Sleep - Sleep's Holy Mountain

Brainiac

Were Brainiac one of the best bands of the 90s? I'd certainly put them up there. They came at a time when the underground couldn't have been more serious. All post-Nirvana major label distrust and a huge sense of it's own importance. How interesting it is to see a band as over the top, camp and humorous as Brainiac having bloomed from such a bubbling cauldron of angst. Despite their last release "Electro-Shock For President" showing them becoming more of a cold electronic act, they will be remembered as the people who brought a sense of humor in to 90s indy.

The bands split was caused when singer Tim Taylor was killed in a car crash and the band decided it would be impossible to carry on without him. However, a number of the bands former members have come back with Enon who generally carry on Brainiac's synth infused fun.

I've given you tracks from Brainiac's three Touch & Go releases, mainly because they're the easiest to get your hands on and shouldn't cost that much.

Taken from "Electro-Shock For President"
Brainiac - Mr Fingers

Taken from "Hissing Prigs In Static Couture":
Brainiac - V1nc3nt Com3 On Down
Brainiac - Noth1ng 3v3r Chan935

Taken from "Internationale":
Brainiac - Go Freaks Go

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Buy Electro-Shock For President at Amazon
Buy Hissing Prigs In Static Couture at Amazon
Buy Internationale at Amazon

The Gun Club - Miami

I love me some Gun Club. I remember reading a Lester Bangs article in which he referred to The Gun Club as a "bad attempt at punking old Robert Johnson blues". If you take the word "bad" out of that sentence and maybe change it for "completely successful" then that's pretty much where I stand with this band. The Gun Club came out of the US 80s punk scene with an interesting take on the tried and tested punk sound. Some would call them the godfathers of "cowboy punk" but to be fair, how many "cowboy punk" bands do you know of? Oh, and how does mixing blues with punk make something "cowboy"? Yeah the singing had a kind of southern drawl to it but still. Glad to see music journalists were as terrible at making up genres as they are nowadays.

This is one of my two favorite Gun Club records (although there's a few I'm yet to hear). The other being "The Fire Of Love" which I opted against as I've seen it on a number of other blogs. "Miami" was The Gun Clubs second full length and saw the raw energy of "The Fire Of Love" move over slightly to let a more graceful, sweeping sound take over. I know I always say this, but you really should pick this up. £10 (about $16) for this really is a good deal.

The Gun Club - Carry Home
The Gun Club - Brother And Sister

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Buy Miami at Amazon

XBXRX - Sixth In Sixes

Since Kieran started posting in this blog late last year I've found myself enjoying more and more bands from the underground post-hardcore/screamo/whatever scene that seems to be in full bloom at the moment. One of my recent discoveries has been XBXRX and their Orchid styled violent emoting. I suppose that due to my age and love for the more violent side of music, there's obviously a fair bit of appeal for me in the aggressive, guitar beating, unpredictable noise that XBXRX are incredibly proficient in. I'm not alone in my love for this anger. XBXRX have gained such fans as Sonic Youth and Deerhoof, touring with both at points. They've also caught the attention of highly respected producers such as Steve Albini and Ian Mackaye.

These tracks are taken from XBXRX's most recent LP which has shown the regular keyboard driven noise actually showing some level of growth and maturity

XBXRX - Deaf Ears, Silent Voice
XBXRX - Gold Cross
XBXRX - Hope Until We Can't

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Buy Sixth In Sixes at Amazon

Charizma & Peanut Butter Wolf - Big Shots

"Big Shots" has recently become one of my favorite hip-hop records. The record is a classic example of great hip-hop coming from simple yet creative beats with a talented and witty lyricist as well as the output not being over done by production. For these two young musicians, this record would end up being their unexpected master work. After years of label struggles the two managed to break free from their contract with a Disney run record label and release this LP. Unfortunately the success from "Big Shots" was short lived when Charizma died of a cause not known to me. Peanut Butter Wolf would try to remove himself from music all together but would later find himself once again beat making as a way of dealing with his companions death.

Peanut Butter Wolf has stayed on as a beat maker as well as founding the hip-hop label Stones Throw and to this day continues to seek out new talent and bring them to a wider audience, just as he did with his partner and best friend.

Charizma & Peanut Butter Wolf - Here's A Smirk
Charizma & Peanut Butter Wolf - Jack The Mack
Charizma & Peanut Butter Wolf - Devotion

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Buy Big Shots at Amazon

Bastro - Sing The Troubled Beast/Diablo Guapo

If you've been paying attention for the past six months, you'd realize that this is the second time that a writer for this blog has posted "Sing The Troubled Beast/Diablo Guapo". This is because someone who used to post here put it up but when he left, so did all his posts. So I'm reposting this record, due mainly to the fact that it's become somewhat of a favorite of mine recently. That being after I saw this record in a smelly second hand store over christmas and thought "what the hell".

So what has caused me to repeatedly come back to this record? Mainly I think it's because I see elements of a number of other bands that I'm pretty fond of within this record. They spawned from the same math crowd that gave rise to Shellac amongst others so obviously there's a strong resemblance. I've also noticed some elements that seem a lot like late Fugazi, mainly in the track "Recidivist" that just screams "Epic Problem" at me, with the hazy yet melodic guitar work and unpredictable vocal styles. But despite all this obligatory name checking and despite their reminding me of many other bands, I've never heard a record like this before. It switches between simple, beautiful and masterful guitar patterns to flat out noise at the drop of a hat and is therefore the ideal record for people who like music to surprise them.

I have no idea where you can get this record for a reasonable price online. Amazon.com is asking about $37 and I'm pretty sure you're not willing to pay that. If I find a link I'll post it but otherwise it looks like you're gunna have to get your detective hats on.

Bastro - Tobacco In The Sink
Bastro - Recidivist
Bastro - Flesh-Colored House
Bastro - Hoosier Logic

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Coachwhips - Bangers Versus Fuckers

Don't let the cutesy artwork fool you, this shit is violent. Coachwhips play a very aggressive take on garage rock. Imagine The Cramps at twice the speed and you've pretty much got the idea. It's eleven tracks in twenty minutes so they've been smart and not made the record overly long and therefore not allowing "Bangers Versus Fuckers" to get tiresome before it ends. It has just enough to time to slap you in the face and zip off just as fast as it arrived.


Coachwhips - You Gonna Get It
Coachwhips - I Knew Her
Coachwhips - Evil Son

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Buy Bangers Versus Fuckers at Amazon

Botch - American Nervoso & We Are The Romans

Earlier today, I suddenly had the craving to dig out all my old Botch LPs. I forgot how absurdly good this band really was. If we're talking most ripped off bands of the 1990s/2000s then at the top of the metal inclusions would be without a doubt Converge and Botch. Whilst Converge have managed to stay together and stay fairly consistent. Botch came to an end in 2002 whilst they were still in their prime.

It's funny looking in to the barrage of tech-metal band nowadays and realizing just how essential Botch were to the process. Every bad tight jeans and makeup act of the present wouldn't have a leg to stand on were it not for the fresh ideas and talent that Botch put down nearly a decade ago. It's also amusing to see that none of these young bands have progressed any of these ideas and that Botch are still the masters of this line of music. An even further line of thought would allow you to wonder what heights they could have scaled had they stuck it out for a few more records.

In the end we were left with three main Botch releases outside of hard to get splits or rare EPs. There were the two full lengths that you can sample below as well as a final release entitled "An Anthology Of Dead Ends" that unfortunately I do not have to hand. Give them a try, buy the records, enjoy.

Taken from "American Nervoso":
Botch - Hutton's Great Heat Engine
Botch - John Woo

Taken from "We Are The Romans":
Botch - To Our Friends In The Great White North
Botch - Transistions From Persona To Object

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Related Posts:
Converge/Agoraphobic Nosebleed - The Poacher Diaries

Vitalic - OK Cowboy

Something else I've found myself becoming addicted to of late would be very aggressive synth. There's just something inherently fun about Vitalic. I know there are hundreds of fruity disco bands that follow this basic blueprint but Vitalic seem to bring the anger to the world of synth loaded fruity disco. I heard someone referring to their sound as "throwing Daft Punk down a flight of stairs". That seemed to sum the whole album up perfectly. Vitalic have basically taken the concept behind the beloved Daft Punk and just loaded it with violence and raw power. "Murder at a rave" would be a pretty good slogan.


Vitalic - Poney Part I
Vitalic - My Friend Dario

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Frog Eyes - The Folded Palm

I'm always going to have a soft spot for vocals that make the singer sound like a rampant crack head. All awkward yelps that don't really fit the music but it's pretty clear that no one in the band cares because the singer's on his own trip and having a great time doing an impression of a weasel in a mangle. That pretty much sums up everything I can think of to say about Frog Eyes. The bands most obvious focus point is the insane warbling but it's backed up by some pretty solid simple guitar work. It's the kind of music that makes fantastic sense if you're sick of every dull plain voiced "indy rock" band. Frog Eyes have the same musicianship but with some guy losing it over the top.

Frog Eyes - The Fence Feels It's Post
Frog Eyes - I Like Dot Dot Dot
Frog Eyes - The Oscillator's Hum

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Big Black - Bulldozer + Racer-X

I'm often given a bizarre level of contempt for considering Big Black to be easily one of my favorite bands of the eighties, not one of the best, just one of my favorites. I'm well aware of how much fantastic music was released during that time and that many of you would be happy to differ with me on this. To be completely honest, I don't give two shits. Never have a band caused such uproar not with the general public, but with snobby underground elitists who would take frontman Albini's at times openly sexist and homophobic lyrics completely seriously. As he said himself, he took such glee in pissing off "hipsters". A group of people he openly showed to be overly touchy and unable to tell when someone was having a laugh at their expense. I'm not sure why, but I'll always have a soft spot for bands that happily make people look very stupid. But they wouldn't be one of my favorite bands by just having the ability to piss people off. For me "the joke" is a side note to the completely vicious post-punk noise that the band created. Albini needed to fashion a guitar pick out of sheet metal just to create the needed guitar effect. Yet within all this guitar mangling noise you'd be surprised there's actually an incredibly clever song structure as opposed to random noise. A large number of Big Black's songs are surprisingly, well, catchy.

Something I've noticed in the few conversations I've had with people about Big Black is their entire back catalogue seems to get over shadowed by their last full length "Songs About Fucking" which has now reached complete cult status. It was a masterpiece and a record that everyone should own. But if you dig just the slightest bit deeper you'll find another full length and a handful of EPs that deserve pretty much the same respect. So to prove this point I've given you some tracks from two of Big Black's earlier EPs.

Big Black - Cables
Big Black - I'm A Mess









Big Black - Shotgun
Big Black - Deep Six









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Rapeman - Two Nuns And A Pack Mule
Shellac - At Action Park
Shellac - 1000 Hurts

Ayatollah - Now Playing

Last month saw the release of the new Ayatollah full length. With "Now Playing" we have basically been given a showcase of an incredibly impressive hip-hop producer as well as an enjoyable, completely chill hip-hop record. I wouldn't even pretend to know the first thing about creating hip-hop music so whether this is at all masterful is beyond me. I will however say that the man has an amazing ear for melody and I'd expect to see a fair number of big release production jobs from Ayatollah this year.

At The Moment, I can't get the fuckin' melody to "Hold U" out of my head. It really is a catchy little bugger.

Ayatollah - Hold U
Ayatollah - The Movement
Ayatollah - Blood Red Roses

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Tom Waits - The Black Rider

This album is a collection of songs from a musical that Waits and William S Burroughs wrote and had performed. As a consequence, this albums main flaw is it's disjointed structure as the music has been taken out of context. However after listening to this album a few times over the last week, I've realized just how amazingly a large number of the tracks stand on their own. It does fall pray to a few uneventful instrumentals and the odd bizarre spoken word piece. But I really can hear some of the Waits' finest work in here. The haunting "Just The Right Bullets" being a grand example. With Tom's raspy voice being the main focus for this dark little track. The same could be said for "Crossroads" as well as a number of other pieces from the record. Had the album not been so awkwardly set out, I could easily put this up with "Bone Machine", "Alice", "Mule Variations" and "Rain Dogs".

If you've dismissed this record in the past. I'd recommend you try to stop listening to it as a whole and give each track a separate bit of attention. The number of pieces that have the ability to completely stand on their own will surprise you.


Tom Waits - Just The Right Bullets
Tom Waits - Russian Dance
Tom Waits - I'll Shoot The Moon
Tom Waits - Crossroads

Related posts:
Tom Waits - Bone Machine
William S Burroughs - Dead City Radio

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fIREHOSE - Ragin' Full On

When D. Boon was killed in an automotive accident, Minutemen dissolved instantly. The idea of the band continuing without their beloved frontman just seemed on no level realistic or respectful. However the former members did create a new band. That band was fIREHOSE. "Ragin' Full On", their first full length showed the other members of Minutemen in a new light. It now seemed that D. Boon wasn't the only important member of the now legendary LA hardcore act.

Mike Watt and George Hurley were very much still in to a sound that was very reminiscent of The Minutemen with the jangley, scratchy guitar from new member Ed Crawford did seem very reminiscent of Boon's guitar work. However the record was still thoroughly solid and showed life after Minutemen's ruining. fIREHOSE would go on to record four more full lengths and a handful of EPs before their breakup in 1994. They never managed to create a record as good as Double Nickels On The Dime but they managed to stay consistant in their release of solid records. Every record that Mike Watt has worked on since has been dedicated to the memory of Boon and recently the two remaining Minutemen reformed their earlier band for the All Tomorrows Parties tour on Matt Groening's request.

fIREHOSE - Brave Captain
fIREHOSE - Chemical Wire
fIREHOSE - Perfect Pairs

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We Versus The Shark - Ruin Everything!

Not to be confused with Bear Vs Shark, Gorilla Vs Bear, Casino Vs Japan or any other music related creations that have decided "versus" to be the coolest word they've ever heard. We Versus The Shark do pretty much what The Blood Brothers do in terms of spazzy, all over the place noise but they've managed to take the decent elements from their metrosexual forefathers and cut out all the annoying crap. Not to say I dislike The Blood Brothers, there's just a level of pomposity to them that seems to bug me. We Versus The Shark have taken out that pretentious element and have distilled the whole concept in to a thoroughly enjoyable bout of ADD'ing pleasure.


We Versus The Shark - You Don't Have To Kick It
We Versus The Shark - Slide

Catching up

I'm so sorry that I've managed to drag this "best of last year" shit way in to 2006 but just now am I catching up with a whole load of records that I clearly wasn't paying close enough attention to last year. So here's a few tracks from a couple of the records that I'm now kicking myself for over looking.

Boards Of Canada - The Campfire Headphase
I'm not really sure why so many people gave this record such a hard time. Perhaps it's people's intense desire for another "Music Has The Right To Children" which in all honesty, I was well aware wasn't going to happen. Maybe it's the barrage of piss-poor imitators that have sprung up since that amazing first full length and have therefore over shadowed Boards Of Canada. They're both pretty terrible reasons, this album is fuckin' epic. Mainly what impressed me was the much more obvious use of string samples that pop up throughout the record whilst not managing to ruin the signature sound that I've become used to. If they ever do produce another "MHTRTC" then that'll be fantastic, but over looking this work until then just means your missing out on some fantastic, completely relaxing music.

Boards Of Canada - Chromakey Dreamcoat
Boards Of Canada - Oscar See Through Red Eyes

The Hold Steady - Separation Sunday
This was as far as I can see, the punk record of the year. Although knowing my luck I'll probably discover something completely mind blowing in mid June. The new album from The Hold Steady managed to handle the slightly unpleasant subject matter in the lyrics with a strong feeling of grace and charm. The lyrics themselves almost make everything on the record in to a story that includes life on the streets, awkward relations and contempt and disgust. I also enjoyed a feeling of The Gun Club in this record in the delivery and vocals.

The Hold Steady - Cattle And The Creeping Things
The Hold Steady - Your Little Hoodrat Friend

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cLOUDDEAD - Ten

I love me some indy-hop. cLOUDDEAD are a fairly recent discovery of mine. I heard a few tracks on a mix CD that a hip-hop fanatic friend of mine made and immediately I went out to get my hands on their back catalogue. They manage to make the most chilled out and dream like hip-hop I've ever heard but at the same time make it awkward and at times they use slightly nauseating imagery (see "Dead Dogs Two"). It's music that gives you no clues as to how you're supposed to feel.

This is the second release from cLOUDEAD but their debut is worth looking in to as well. Go to amazon to get copies, they're going pretty cheap.

cLOUDDEAD - Rifle Eyes
cLOUDDEAD - Dead Dogs Two

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