Tricky - Aftermath

No, not a creative response to the whole Tricky thing. I actually wrote this post a day or two ago and was ready to post it when I got the e-mail from the DMCA. I wondered if I should post it and decided that yes, I should and I shouldn't think twice because NONE OF THESE TRACKS HAVE EVER BEEN RELEASED! Note that DMCA/IFPI/RIAA blog watchdog sorts because it's mighty important. Nothing in this post has ever been given an official release so let's hope that takes care of the takedown qualms. So, without any further ado, on with the show!

If my fondness for Tricky's early works wasn't made clear in my post about the Maxinquaye reissue, this should probably solidify it. These are the earliest known versions of Tricky's Aftermath, also from Maxinquaye. Pressed to vinyl privately (at least as far as I can tell), these original versions aren't terribly different from the finished cut, but it's nice to hear the early, slightly rougher assembly of the track. On the other hand, After This is another early version of the track that was eventually reworked into Looking For People Remix of Aftermath. Starting with a groove more reminiscent of DJ Shadow, it eventually bursts into the kind of broken beatwork that Tricky is known for. From what I understand, Tricky really enjoyed this version, and after weeks of carrying a cassette of it around with him he had a white label pressed from the cassette. I don't hear too much of the extra hiss of the cassette, but I'm sure if I strap my headphones on I'll pick up the vibe.

On a side note regarding Tricky, he is a notoriously difficult figure to pin down personality wise. A friend, DJing a rather large gig around '94 in New York, was in an elevator with his DJ partner, when they found themselves standing next to the rather short Tricky who was having an angry conversation with someone. My friend turned to look at the two arguing and then turned back, only to find moments later an exagerrated fellow, later identified as Tricky, asking him angrily if he was listening to their conversation. My friend tried to politely explain he wasn't intruding, but Tricky apparently wasn't having that and proceeded to complain loudly about the purported intrusion while asking if my friend knew who he was. My friend just wanted to let the whole thing go and walked away when the elevator doors opened, only to find himself laughing months later when he found out who the short man in the elevator was.

On the other hand, I met Tricky briefly around 1997 when he was touring for Angels With Dirty Faces. I was standing outside a club in Cleveland's Flats (RIP) waiting to get into his show. There were a number of hipster types standing around, talking about how cool Tricky was and blah blah blah, you know the type. My then girlfriend was standing with me when I noticed a short man across the street walking in the direction of the venue with a fellow dressed in a suit and carrying papers and a briefcase. The short man was arguing quite angrily with the fellow with the papers, eventually knocking his documents to the ground, then crossing the street on his own towards the club. I said to my girlfriend, "I think that's Tricky", but she reminded me of my inability to recognize Blues Traveller's John Popper at the HORDE Tour the week before. I wasn't wrong though, and as Tricky walked by us to the door of the club, the hipsters all stood in shock I pulled out my copy of the Starving Souls single and called out to Tricky. He turned my way, I told him how much I enjoyed his stuff, he said thanks, shook my hand, asked if there was anything I wanted to hear and if I had anything for him to sign. I handed him my CD and a pen and asked if he'd play Brand New, You're Retro. He was totally cool and said he'd try to get that in the set. As he walked away, a few of the hipsters asked if I'd sell them my CD, but I refused and still own it to this day. :)

Tricky and his band didn't play Brand New, You're Retro that night, but that's alright because they put on a great show. My then girlfriend told me she thought she met Martina Topley-Bird in the restroom which is quite possible as I saw a number of band members heading there before the show, but knowing what I know now about that ex, I wouldn't put any money on her statement. After all, there is a good reason she's an ex!


Tricky - Aftermath (Original 12")
01 Aftermath
02 Aftermath (Mellow Version)

Tricky - After This


PS - Props to The Brica Brac Man for the hookup on these tracks.

The Pharcyde - Remixes and Rarities

My indoctrination into the world of rap and hip-hop began at an odd point of entry. I remember a fascination with the Fat Boys which made me a target for taunting quite regularly at my school. Guess I didn't see enough of Krush Groove, otherwise I would have been worshiping Run-DMC. Later on, much to the surprise of my potential taunters, when asked who my favorite rapper/rap-group was, this lily-white boy from the suburbs proudly announced it to be Public Enemy, and I was completely serious. The smile drained from my questioner's face and I was never asked such a question again.

My taste for hip-hop expanded with the aid of Yo! MTV Raps and the suggestions of people I knew in Junior High, and I found myself listening to Nice N' Smooth, A Tribe Called Quest and 3rd Bass among others and tuning into the "urban" radio stations for new tracks. Oddly enough, I missed out or ignored some really groundbreaking stuff until the mid to late nineties like the Beastie Boys (my suburban mother wouldn't let me listen to their records and, if I'd bought their tapes or records, she would have thrown them out. Guns N' Roses though, that was acceptable.), Black Sheep and The Pharcyde.

The Pharcyde were pretty special for me and I found out about them, as I often have, completely backwards. I'd heard Passing Me By on MTV and thought it was great, but when you don't have a job or cash it's kinda hard to grab your favorite tracks, especially when they weren't available as singles or played on the radio very often. Well, after hearing Runnin' from their follow-up album, Labcabincalifornia, and finally having a full-time job, I decided it was time to pick up one of their records. Thankfully, upon visiting the Oberlin Co-Op Bookstore, I was convinced by their helpful staff (Why can't I remember their names? The only one I can remember was a guy named Dave and he was the least friendly employee there!) to ignore Labcabin... and pick up their debut, Bizarre Ride II The Pharcyde. I was told it was a classic, and lord knows that was the truth.

Easily comparable to Paul's Boutique or 3 Feet High and Rising, Bizarre Ride is a universe in and of itself. Filled with in-jokes, silly sex raps, a great attitude and awesome beats courtesy of J-Swift, The Pharcyde, consisting of Imani, Slimkid3, Bootie Brown and Fatlip, were an infinitely entertaining alternative to the gangster rap that seemed ubiquitous at that time. Even four or five years after it's release, it sounded so fresh and alive compared to the canned production of most of the hip-hop of the mid to late nineties and continues to shine today. The follow-up, Labcabincalifornia, was great in it's own right, featuring more production from J-Swift as well as then up-and-coming producer Jay Dee, better known as J Dilla, but the mood was darker and it certainly wasn't as much fun. Historically, at least from my viewpoint, Bizarre Ride is The Pharcyde's high-water-mark with Labcabin..., apart from a few tracks, being a memorable footnote but nowhere near as awesome.

In the years after Labcabincalifornia's release, Fatlip left the group due to internal struggles, they continued on as a three-piece for a few years, then a duo, and now are pretty much no more. Rumors constantly swirl about a full-on reunion and in 2008 all four founding members went on tour for the first time in years, but who knows if anything else will come of The Pharcyde. Stories of failed reunion attempts have been around for years, but even if another album never surfaces, at least we've got Bizarre Ride and Labcabincalifornia.

Bizarre Ride II The Pharcyde and Labcabincalifornia are both readily available for purchase physically and digitally so I won't be posting either here, but I wanted to share a few remixes which are not widely available, if available at all any longer. All of these tracks are taken from a compilation of uncertain legitimacy named Sold My Soul and features most of the B-Sides and Remixes from their first two albums. If you're a hip-hop head or you know where to look I'm sure you'll find a copy, but I'm featuring a few choice cuts for your enjoyment.


Ya Mama (Matt Dike Remix)
One of the standouts from Bizarre Ride gets a full-on Paul's Boutique style work-out courtesy of one of the parties responsible for that classic. Matt Dike, simply put, is THE MAN and here he builds an incredible backing track that doesn't get in the way of the crazy raps at all while still remaining integral to the track. On top of that, more Ya Mama jokes than you'll ever need!

Soul Flower (2 Tha 3 Mix)
This mix was created by J-Swift and Fatlip and came out as a promo only due to it's excessive number of samples. It was apparently beloved by the group and label, but everyone knew there was no chance of it getting an official release. Too bad, because it, like the Matt Dike remix, is an essential!

Soul Flower (Brand New Heavies Version)
Soul Flower was originally recorded for the Brand New Heavies debut album, Heavy Rhyme Experience: Vol. 1, and is considerably different from the version that appeared on Bizarre Ride with it’s full-band backing track.

She Said (Jay Dee Remix)
This doesn't really fit with the rest of the material featured here as the original version is taken from Labcabincalifornia and is available on a few different releases, but it's such a good remix of an equally good track that I had to throw it up here! RIP Dilla.

Tricky - Maxinquaye: Deluxe Edition

There have been a number of great reissues that I've been checking out and have found truly pleasing. The Jawbox and Sunny Day Real Estate reissues are all great, although they don't add much in the way of bonus materials. The deluxe reissue of Spiritualized's Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space is jaw-droppingly awesome! The three disc reissue comes with the complete album and two discs worth of outtakes, demos, roughs and assorted wonders that are every bit as essential as the actual album. It is also available in an extremely limited package with each track from the album on a 3" CD and placed in a pill casing, although good luck getting that version. Hell, I had to buy the download from Amazon as I don't believe it's getting a physical release in the US. But one reissue has gotten a lot of my attention recently although you'd be hard-pressed to find any mention of it here in the states. That would be the two-disc reissue of Tricky's debut album, Maxinquaye.

If you were in the UK in the mid-nineties, you're probably quite familiar with Tricky, but in the US he didn't receive much hype. Tricky, an original member of Massive Attack, left to record his own tracks with his then girlfriend, Martina Topley-Bird, who provided much of the vocals on his releases. His earliest releases sit nicely alongside Portishead's debut, Dummy, although that album focused on the beautiful sadness in Beth Gibbons' vocals, whereas Tricky and Martina painted a far grimmer picture, awash in druggy atmospherics and Tricky's haunting drawl. Martina's vocals, on the other hand, were quite beautiful and powerful, making for interesting creations when she rapped hard lyrics like those in their cover of Public Enemy's Black Steel, or when she sang that she'd "fuck you in the ass, just for a laugh" in Abbaon Fat Track, as if it were sweet nothings to her lover, although you got the impression she may have drugged him.

Tricky and Martina both continue to record to this day, although no longer with each other. They recorded four albums together, Maxinquaye, Nearly God, Pre-Millenium Tension and Angels With Dirty Faces, the first three classics and the fourth still quite good, before Martina went solo and began working with other artists, most recently bringing things full-circle when it was announced that she would appear on Massive Attack's next album. Tricky continued to record and work with other vocalists, but the quality of his work seemed to dwindle as he lost his major label distribution after a fierce argument with his label's parent organization, Polygram Records, over a racist statement by their CEO, and he moved briefly to Anti for a good EP (Mission Accomplished) only to sign a contract with Disney's Hollywood Records, a perpetual graveyard for good musicians (Fastball and Los Lobos come to mind, although Hollywood also signed Insane Clown Posse briefly, so maybe they weren't all good musicians on Hollywood. Otherwise, they've got an infinite number of Queen re-issues to keep the label afloat.) and record a poppier album featuring cameos from Cyndi Lauper and the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Luckily, he seems to be in a better place in recent times, getting back to his paranoid grooves, although it's a shame he and Martina will most likely never record together again. Most of their issues stem from their relationship which produced a child despite their falling out. Tricky had multiple, well-publicized relationships after their break-up, the best-known being with Bjork, although he and Martina continued to work together for several years afterward.

Maxinquaye's reissue is unlikely to be released in the US, and I have no intention of sharing the complete album here as it is available one way or another (you can always use Amazon for imports), but I don't think there is anything wrong with posting a few tracks to whet your appetite.

UPDATE: Unfortunately, the DMCA has made me pull down the tracks I featured in this post. To think, I didn't post the album, I posted three selections and they want to pitch a fit! It isn't even available for purchase in this country! And they wonder why people hate the DMCA, RIAA and IFPI. Anyway, the text remains for your reading pleasure.

Slick 66 (Commercial 12" Mix)
Tricky clearly has a fondness for Slick Rick. For the Nearly God project, he recorded a cover of Children's Story with Martina on vocals. That's a very cool track that totally changes the mood of Rick's original, but Tricky created a completely different cover by himself with this track. His drawl is the star here as he turns the already dark story into a full-on nightmare.

Just For The Hate Of It (Rough Monitor Mix)
This is another complete re-working of a track, this time Abbaon Fat Track, which has a very laid-back feel to it although it's lyrics describe a rather peculiar sexual encounter. Here, with a new backing track and vocals, it sounds like a boast, like an abuser bragging to his victim while his crew watches. Martina's vocals fly in every once in a while like a drugged, tortured victim unclear of their whereabouts.

Overcome (Accapella Mix)
Far from a true Accapella mix, this features Martina's vocal tracks running on top of each other while a rather fast beat, one definitely out of sorts with most tracks Tricky has created, keeps the listener on their toes. Familiar yet completely alien.

BONUS: Tonite Is A Special Nite (Chaos Mass Confusion Mix)
This is as odd a collaboration as you may find. Tricky is responsible for the beat while the Gravediggaz provide the raps. For those unaware, the Gravediggaz were a group consisting of Prince Paul, mostly on production, the RZA from Wu-Tang, mostly on vocals with occasional production, as well as Frukwan of Stetsasonic and Too Poetic, both on vocals. Their first album, 6 Feet Deep (Niggamortis in the UK. No, seriously!), is considered one of the first horrorcore albums, although it's nowhere near as ridiculous or violent as modern horrorcore. Prince Paul's involvement dwindled from their second album on, as the RZA brought in Wu-affiliated producers to finish the job. This track, from The Hell EP, is essentially a B-Side for Tricky's Hell Is Round The Corner, and although not entirely clear, most likely features no involvement from Prince Paul. Still though, this is a truly creepy track that was released on a few samplers and soundtracks in the US, but you'd be hard-pressed to find it available now.

Cassetteboy - Festive Christmas

Continuing my tradition of non-traditional Christmas music, I present to you Cassetteboy's Festive Christmas! If you downloaded yesterday's The Parker Tapes, you should have a good idea what to expect from a Christmas-themed Cassetteboy release. If you didn't download The Parker Tapes, WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?!?!?!?!? Go there NOW and grab that, but grab this while you're here as it's just as essential!. Enjoy!


Cassetteboy - Festive Christmas


PS - I couldn't find a better image of the cover anywhere, I swear! Great cover though!

Cassetteboy - The Parker Tapes

MY GOD! I've spent almost the entire week away from the site! Only one post this week? I should be ashamed! Well, I'll be making up for it next week and with this and the next post.

In case you're unfamiliar with Cassetteboy, the easiest comparison I can give you is John Oswald's plunderphonic album, albeit with a focus on twisted humor and soundbytes as opposed to music. Like Oswald's works, it's edgy and choppy with samples going in every direction, but the humor is far more defined and, at times, downright offensive, but you'd be hard pressed not to find even the offensive bits brilliant if not still hilarious.

Cassetteboy is actually a duo initially associated with Spymania Records, Tom Jenkinson's personal label. Their identities were well-kept secrets until the release of their third album, Carry On Breathing, but I enjoyed that secretive element of their existence, so I'm going to leave further information about them for the reader to discover at their leisure. That said, you can always visit their MySpace and youtube pages to find a little more about them if you are so inclined.

The Parker Tapes is Cassetteboy's debut full-length release. While it's not available in the US, or anywhere else currently to my knowledge, if you can find a copy you should most certainly purchase it. That's part of why this isn't the highest quality version of the album I could post, although I'm sure you'll enjoy it bunches regardless!

Check back tomorrow for a VERY SPECIAL release from Cassetteboy which I'm sure you'll enjoy as much as this one.


Cassetteboy - The Parker Tapes


PS - Here is a review by those always TRENDY FUCKS at Pitchfork. As they do every once in a blue moon, they got it right with this one.

Christmas Party With Eddie G.

I am not a celebrationist when it comes to the holidays. I HATE winter. I hate the cold, I hate the snow, I hate the freezing rain, and I HATE the complexities of dealing with splintered families and hearing awful holiday songs over and over again. I heard The 12 Pains Of Christmas on the radio today and I nearly killed everyone within a mile of me. That's supposed to be a funny song, but I find Barbara Streisand's crack-fueled version of Jingle Bells far funnier for all the wrong reasons. Generally though, and I'm sure many agree, holiday music SUCKS! If I'm going to listen to holiday stuff, it's got to be skewed! That doesn't mean it's not necessarily heart-felt, but covering the same songs over and over again with no real feeling is awful. Mel Torme's version of The Christmas Song is the only version I need to hear, although I know there have to be some decent versions other than his own.

If you hate popular holiday music like I do, then this post should be wonderful. Eddie Gorodetsky is famous for his holiday mixtapes which he makes yearly and sends to family and friends. They feature none of the usual holiday crap you hear on the radio, focusing instead on wonderful obscurities from big and small names alike. The tapes achieved enough popularity that in 1990, Columbia Records released one of Eddie's compilations, Christmas Party With Eddie G., AND THE WORLD WAS CHANGED SO DRAMATICALLY IT WAS NEVER THE SAME!!!!! Okay, that's a hell of an overstatement, but for those that heard the CD, it became an instant classic.

Eddie has continued to release mixtapes privately since the CD's issue in 1990, but the CD is sadly out of print. Well, after hunting for a copy long and hard, I found one in a notoriously awful used CD shop shortly after Christmas 2008. It had an insane price tag around $40 dollars, but had been marked down to get rid of the Xmas stock. Their loss, my gain and now yours too!

This is a great CD and you should definitely hunt down Eddie's other mixtapes if you can find them. The disc also features interludes starring Eddie and Billy West, the voice of Ren & Stimpy and Fry from Futurama, as The Three Stooges in a fruitless attempt to record a Stooge-themed Xmas record. Wonderful stuff! Enjoy!


Christmas Party With Eddie G.

01 The Eddie G. Singers - Here Comes Eddie
02 Detroit Junior - Christmas Day
03 Eddie Lawrence - Merry Old Philosopher #1
04 Bobby Lloyd and The Skeletons - Do You Hear What I Hear / You Really Got Me
05 ...Late Slap...
06 Augie Rios - Donde Esta Santa Claus
07 Byron Lee and The Dragonaires - Winter Wonderland
08 ...Eye Pokes...
09 Louis Prima - What Will Santa Claus Say When He Finds Everybody Swinging?
10 Huey Piano Smith and The Clowns - All I Want For Christmas (Is A Little Bit Of Music)
11 ...Five More Slaps...
12 Tony Rodelle Larson - Cool Yule
13 Untamed Youth - Santa's Gonna Shut 'Em Down
14 Eddie Lawrence - Merry Old Philosopher #2
15 Rufus Thomas - I'll Be Your Santa Baby
16 ...I Hope He Stays In Germany...
17 Debbie Dabney - I Want To Spend Christmas With Elvis (Heartbreak Noel)
18 Foghat - All I Want For Christmas Is You
19 ...Shemp Tribute...
20 The Fabulous Thunderbirds - Merry Christmas Darling
21 Monty & Marsha Brown - Cajun Christmas
22 ...Our 49th State...
23 Arthur Lyman - Mele Kalikimaka
24 George Jones & Tammy Wynette - Mr. and Mrs. Santa Claus
25 Soloman Burke - Christmas Presents
26 NRBQ - Christmas Wish
27 ...A Final Try...
28 Eddie Lawrence - Merry Old Philosopher #3
29 The Eddie G. Singers - So Long Eddie


In case you'd like more info about Mr. Gorodetsky, here is a short bio circa 1990 included with the CD:

No relation at all to Kenny, Eddie G. is a shadowy presence darting about the entertainment industry. An Emmy Award-winning writer, his work can be seen on SCTV, Letterman, Saturday Night Live, The Comedy Channel and assorted Penn & Teller projects.

Each year Eddie plunders perhaps the world's largest collection of yuletide recordings to craft his Christmas tapes. Privately circulated up 'til now, these tapes have become legends in the show biz community. This year, Eddie is proud to be able to make this material available to the home enthusiast.


Also, visit A Christmas Yuleblog for a few more of Eddie's tapes.

Beastie Boys, BS 2000 and bulletin boards

I visit the Beastie Boys' official forum regularly but I've been unable to get an account there as they have a preventative measure that is supposed to reduce spam. That "preventative measure" is that users with freely available e-mail accounts through services like gmail and hotmail will not be approved for a login. Unfortunately, I don't have an e-mail account elsewhere so I'm stuck looking in but being unable to respond to the many topics. Hopefully I'll be able to rectify this soon, but until then, I wanted to respond, in my own way, to a topic attracting a lot of attention at their board, which is the search for an unreleased BS 2000 remix of the Beasties' Body Movin' that appeared on a cassette-only sampler given out while the Beasties were on tour supporting Hello Nasty. Well, the good news is I've got a copy of that remix, the bad news is it's extremely low quality (128kbps MP3) and it's not exactly a BS 2000 production. It is, in fact, a remix by Adam Horovitz, one half of BS 2000 and the group's certified Beastie, but done with his Rave-O-Lution rhythm box, for which the track is labeled the Rave-O-Lution Mix. Nonetheless, I'm posting this in hope that people looking for it there may find it here, and people here may find it interesting. But I wouldn't do a post for just one track now, would I? The additional feature is an unofficial remix created by remix subscription producers Ultimix. Much like Razordmaid, Ultimix occasionally produced official remixes but primarily released mixes only for their subscribers. This is definitely a subscription remix, but Ultimix, like Razormaid, generally made very good mixes that sometimes rivaled the quality of label sanctioned releases. While I don't think this mix outdoes the productions created by the Beasties and the Dust Brothers, this is still a really entertaining mix assembled from all the tracks on the Love American Style EP. So, for your pleasure, please enjoy these rarities and, if anyone from the Beasties' bulletin board is reading this, could someone help me get an account there? PLEASE?

Beastie Boys - Body Movin' (Rave-O-Lution Mix)
Beastie Boys - Hey Ladies/Shake Your Rump (Ultimix Remix)


PS - Two things... In case you're wondering, these tracks are sourced from the Flavor For Your Ear collection, a compilation assembled by a Beasties' fan a LONG time ago and sold online. These aren't from a second hand download either, they're from an actual two-disc set of all the tracks in MP3 format. If anyone would like more info on it, please drop me a line. Also, would anyone by any chance have a copy of the Beasties' video release The Skills To Pay The Bills? I have the DVD Video Anthology which has all the videos, but there are a number of short clips and differences from the VHS release that aren't on the DVD that I would like to get my hands on. Could anyone help me out, please?