The Demonseeds - 'Knee Deep in Hell's Grasp' plus Dead Horse EPs

Alright, sorry for this one being in .wma format...I hate that shit, but I'm at work and there's no iTunes, so I had to import the CD this way.

That being said, it's safe to say you're not going to find this album anywhere else. The CD is long out of print, and I scoured the internet for an upload of it to no avail. Unfortunate, because this shit rocks hard.

Longtime readers are probably familiar with Dead Horse and how much I love them, so it shouldn't be that surprising that I spent an afternoon finding a used copy of The Demonseeds' lone album 'Knee Deep in Hell's Grasp' on eBay.

The Demonseeds were Dead Horse frontman Michael Haaga's 2nd big project. I think he played bass on a Superjoint Ritual album and the following tour before, but this release finds him writing his own songs again.

I don't have a copy of his 2005 solo release 'The Plus and Minus Show' to put up, but suffice to say it's not very heavy. It's more like Pixies/grunge-type rock music, and is really really really good. The Demonseeds are like a step in between that and the goofy thrash-punk of Dead Horse. Basically, that means it's a perfect Haaga release. It's melodic and catchy with Haaga's trademark defeatist lyrics, but you can tell he took some cues from roommate/bandmate Phil Anselmo and his Down affiliates (note: just for the sake of clarity, I mean his Superjoint Ritual bandmates...Anselmo isn't on this release.)

If you like sludgy stoner stuff like Kyuss, Down, and Sleep, you'll definitely dig this, but to me it's a more enjoyable listen. Not to say I don't love Sleep, I'm just a sucker for a good pop song, which Haaga delivers on almost every track. As a side note, check out the awesomely reimagined version of the Dead Horse track 'Every God for Himself.'

I'm also posting the two final Dead Horse EPs which followed the 'Peaceful Death' album because they're not too easy to find either. The first one, 'Feed Me,' was the final Dead Horse release featuring Haaga. They did one last EP, 'Boil(ing),' with a different singer, then changed their name to Pasadena Napalm Division with basically the same lineup.

The Demonseeds - 'Knee Deep in Hell's Grasp'

Tracklist:

1. Discorporate
2. Fail
3. To the End
4. Death to Love
5. Promises and Lies
6. Every God for Himself
7. Rifle
8. No Heroes
9. The True Demons

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Dead Horse - 'Feed Me' EP

Tracklist:

1. Every God for Himself
2. Eaten by the Grave
3. Something/Nothing
4. My Dog the Prophet
5. Chiggers

***LINK REMOVED BY REQUEST***

Dead Horse - 'Boil(ing)' EP

Tracklist:

1. One Nation
2. What a Beautiful Day
3. Reach Around
4. My Apology
5. Eaten by the Grey
6. My Dog the Prophet
7. (Untitled Track)

***LINK REMOVED BY REQUEST***

Weirdos of old school rap, vol. 2

....a continuation of last week's post...more off-beat music from the so-called 'golden age' of rap music. A few of these extend into the mid-90's, but I guess that stuff is probably old school by now.

Dunno much about Orko the Sycotik Alien, or his 1996 album 'Crop Formations,' but it's weird stuff for sure. Apparently released on cassette originally, which would explain the track 'Put it On Cassette.' I played a few cuts off this disc on Obscuro, and now here it is in its entirety.

Tracklist:

1. Quantum Leap
2. Crop Formations Intro
3. Tel Lie Vision
4. Rhyme Rate
5. Scared of Revolution
6. Put it On Cassette
7. Crop Formations
8. War of the Worlds
9. Mouth of Madness
10. The Contract
11. Nomad in My Mind
12. Shroomen in the Grandcanyon

Woops, left my clean edits in there. Oh well, you get radio-friendly versions of 'Put it On Cassette' and 'Mouth of Madness.'

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This isn't the full 1994 'Trailer Park Hip Hop' EP by Hip Club Groove, but it's what I have. This is the group that featured a pre-'Trailer Park Boys'-fame Corey Bowles (aka the Corey in Corey and Trevor.) Basically, it's what you'd expect...kind of like a Canadian Bloodhound Gang with funkier beats. Not sure if he appears on here, but the actor who played J-Roc was in the video for one of these songs, too.

Tracklist:

1. Trailer Park Intro (Missing)
2. Rugged Operator
3. Bay Oh Fun-Day
4. Shootin' the Gift
5. Shure Shots (Missing)
6. Trip to Reality
7. Phat Mad Flow (Missing)
8. Jizz (ft. Stinkin' Rich aka Buck 65)
9. Kick 'Em in the Face/Outro

You can hear the missing tracks at bigmoveslpfc.bandcamp.com if you want.

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Lastly for today, here is my favorite Esham record. 1993's 'KKKill The Fetus.' Esham was just 19 or something when it came out. You can say what you want about Juggalos and ICP, but Esham is just makes fucking crazy music. He's undeniably talented, and totally hardcore. I helped do sound for him in Kzoo a while back, and someone got stabbed. Rough crowd. Anyhow, this stuff is raw and just as funny/evil as most of the OFWGKTA stuff.

Tracklist:

1. What is Evil?
2. Symptoms
3. Runnin' from Me
4. Voices in My Head
5. No Singing/Misery
6. Jackie
7. Game of Death (ft. Natas)
8. Headache/Wet Day Dreamer
9. Hot Booty
10. I Thought You Knew
11. If This Ain't Hell
12. My Understanding is Zero
13. Perpetration
14. Freak Nasty
15. Headhunter
16. KKKill the Fetus
17. Don't Blame Me!
18. Is You Still Hoe'n
19. Sunshine
20. My Mind's Blowin' Up
21. Get On Down
22. 666
23. HeltersKKKelter

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Weirdos of old school rap, vol. 1

It's been a few weeks...

Recently, I've been listening to a lot of rap and hip hop. A lot of older stuff, because beats were better when sampling was more prominent, and that's all there is to it. If a newer track uses a sample, it's almost always a really simple one, utilized in an unoriginal fashion. That's not to say there's not good new shit out there, but whatever, there's enough people posting that kinda shit, so here's the old school:

First up, this weird-ass record from the Goats. These guys were active in the early '90's and often drew comparisons to the Beastie Boys, which I don't see. To me, it's kinda like other 'alt-rap' stuff like Cypress Hill, Tribe Called Quest, or maybe Del tha Funkee Homosapien, but a little weirder. This is like some kind of political concept album, but the dudes were too high to really make it work, so it's just a really weird collage. Definitely worth the listen, because of bangin' tracks like 'Got Kinda Hi.' Check it.

Tracklist:

1. We Got Freaks
2. Typical American
3. Hangerhead is Born
4. Watcha Got is Watcha Gettin'
5. Columbus' Boat Ride
6. R U Down with Da Goats?
7. Cumin' in Ya Ear
8. Noriega's Coke Stand
9. Got Kinda Hi
10. Unodostressquattro
11. Georgie Bush Kids
12. Wrong Pot 2 Piss In
13. Hip-Hopola
14. Leonard Peltier in a Cage
15. Do the Digs Dug?
16. Carnival Cops
17. TV Cops
18. Tattooed Lady
19. Tricks of the Shade
20. Not Not Bad
21. Rovie Wade, the Sword Swallower
22. Aaah D Yaaa
23. Drive-By Bumper Cars
24. Burn the Flag
25. Uncle Scam's Shooting Gallery

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Alright, next up are Cypress Hill affiliates FunkDoobiest. This is their debut album 'Which Doobie U B?' It's very much in line with the Hill's early discs and the first 2 House of Pain albums. If you know HOP, you've heard Son Doobie on 'House of the Rising Son.' These guys like weed. A lot. I'm sure you can tell that from the tracklist. Dunno much about this one, except that DJ Muggs produced it, so you know it rules right away. I've also heard a lot of other rappers (from Eminem to Ice Çube) name-check Son for how much porno he has, so maybe there's something to that...also, not sure, but I think these guys beat Snoop Dogg to the 'bow wow wow yippy yo yippy yay' thing...

Tracklist:

1. The Funkiest
2. Bow Wow Wow
3. Freak Mode
4. I'm Shittin' on 'Em
5. Who's the Doobiest
6. Doobie to the Head
7. Where's it At
8. Wopbabalubop
9. The Porno King
10. Uh C'Mon Yeah
11. Here I Am
12. Funk's On Me

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Last up, I gotta post something Beastie-related, due to MCA's tragic passing. This is a total bummer to me, as he's always been my favorite, and Beastie Boys was one of the few groups I really wanted to see live before I die. So, on that note, here's DJ Hurricane's debut solo record, 'The Hurra.' This dude was the DJ from 'Paul's Boutique' (the tour, not the record) to 'Ill Communication,' my favorite Beastie era. Apparently, he also rocks the mic pretty hard. This is also kinda like Cypress Hill (Sen Dog guests,) but with lots more live instrumentation, courtesy of longtime Beastie collaborators Mark Nishita and Mario Caldato, Jr. (who produced a bunch of the tracks on here.) What's more, the Beasties themselves turn up on two cuts ('Four Fly Guys' and 'Stick 'Em Up') and say some hilarious shit ('Cocaine crew say 'blowwwwww!'.) Good stuff. Dig it.

Tracklist:

1. Now You Do
2. Elbow Room
3. Four Fly Guys (ft. Beastie Boys)
4. Can We All Get Along
5. Feel the Blast (ft. Sen Dog)
6. Pass Me the Gun
7. The Hurra
8. Where's My Niggaz At
9. What's Really Going On (ft. L.O. and MC Breed)
10. Comin' Off (ft. L.O. and Tye Bud)
11. Get Blind
12. Pat Your Foot
13. Stick 'Em Up (ft. Beastie Boys)

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There. Hopefully that makes up for the weeks of absence. Enjoy.