Reflection Eternal : 2000 Seasons (from Fortified Live 12")

Reflection Eternal featuring Home Skillit : 2000 Seasons (Rawkus, 1997)
Mood : Info For The Streets (Blunt, 1997)

Reflection Eternal featuring Mos Def & Mr Man: Fortified Live (Rawkus, 1997) (Bonus)

If you ask me, this 12” contains everything I want to hear from Talib Kweli. When you come up with two powerful songs like Fortified Live and 2000 Seasons it’s quite hard to follow up with something of the same quality.

So of course later when their album came out (like what, 4 years after this single ?!) they had rave reviews, written by people who either didn’t even know about this single or were giving props to the idea of Reflection E, the idea of an independant scene. Thus missing the point : Train Of Thought was boring.

Regardless of Rawkus unlimited sticker budget, the Fortified Live 12” was a genuine indie record, with two unpolished demos pressed up on an umastered vinyl. The static that was Hi-Tek’s trademark was nowhere to be found on the LP. Most of his loops sounded like they were sampled off of CDs. Check Mood’s Info For The Streets for a good example of a scratchy sample à la Hi-Tek.

Mic Geronimo : Hemmin Heads (from Shit's Real 12")

Mic Geronimo : Hemmin Heads (Blunt, 1994)

If Marty Mc Fly had come to me in 1994 telling me only one east coast rapper would be still relevant in 2006, I would have put my money on Mic Geronimo.

Or OC. Or Common Sense, or Buckshot, or may be Nas, but never on Jay Z. At that time he was at best considered a has been, and atworst a never-been. Even when he did that song with DMX and Ja Rule on Mic Geronimo’s second 12” I don’t think a lot of people realized he was the same JZ who rhymed with The Jaz a few years before.

Anyway, this is Geronimo’s first 12” on Blunt, produced by DJ Irv later known as Irv Gotti and it’s as good as anything off his Natural album.

Bérurier Noir : Pavillon 36 (from L'Empereur Tomato Ketchup 7")

Bérurier Noir : Pavillon 36 (Bondage, 1986)
Bérurier Noir : Amputé (Shin/Folklore de la Zone Mondiale, 1983)

Rapide post inspiré par un épisode particulièrement glauque de cold case que j’ai vu ce week-end. L’atrocité des traitements infligés en hôpital psychiatrique et la lobotomie en particulier sont des thèmes chers à Bérurier Noir, probablement parce que Pierrot, membre fondateur de Bérurier, y a fait de fréquents séjours.

Pavillon 36 est en face B de L’Empereur Tomato Ketchup, 45t qui aurait du se classer au Top 50, si le groupe n’avait pas mit son véto pour éviter de se retrouvé à faire la course entre un Francis Cabrel et des Porte Mentaux.

Le second titre est tiré de Nada, premier disque du groupe, récemment réédité en vinyle sur Folklore de la Zone Mondiale. Pour info, le label fera paraître un nouvel album du groupe à nouveau dissout le 4 décembre prochain.

Et, oui, je vais remettre du rap bientôt.

Bomb The Bass : 10 Seconds To Terminate (from Say A Little Prayer 12")

Bomb The Bass : 10 Seconds To Terminate (Rhythm King, 1988)

I remember back when Tim Simenon's first album dropped a lot of people here were refering to his music as house music, and he was always contesting that, saying that except for may be two tracks on the album, what he was doing was really not house. And he was right. His first album had more to do with hip-hop, but we all know that when it comes to music, image is everything to most people. So since it had a smiley on the cover, Beat Dis had to be house music... And since Say A Little Prayer used computer generated graphics, it couldn't be a soul record.

Regardless, the b-side is the closest he got to house in the early (and most interesting) part of his career. To this day, Bomb The Bass is still an influence on some musicians, just peep dDamage's new album cover and Enter The Dragon's cover. It's a dope album, Go buy it. Thanks.