AFRTS (Various Artists) - 'The Simple Gifts' (1972)

This is a really, really weird and unsettling recording. It's some kind of PTSD coping exercise, and I'm pretty sure it's the only record ever released by the Armed Forces Radio and Television Services. 

Not sure if it's actual veterans on the album, but it's mostly extremely harrowing spoken word pieces set to sometimes restrained, sometimes atonal orchestral music. 

Tracklist:

1. The Sea

2. I Am a Number

3. His Childish Face Grown Old Too Soon

4. Look to This Day

5. I Pity the Drunk

6. Who Has Woe?

7. Good Old Days

8. The Committee

9. The Door

10. Words... Words... Words

11. Show Me My Door

12. Beggars on Church Steps

13. Hearts Unlovely and Unloved

14. Don't Be Angry

15. Who is Man?

16. Simple Gift 

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Five Star Hotel - 'Streets of Rage' (2016)

 Five Star Hotel is one of my favorite current producers. Her music is I guess EDM trap? But that's really not doing it justice...there's a lot of influence from harsh noise, goth, industrial, and body horror cinema. 'Gray Data' is the classic album, but she's since moved onto noisier material with harsh vocals. I think because the current sound is so far removed from her old work, a lot of it has either been taken down or is just lost to time.

This is a mixtape (I think) that I spent months trying to track down. It's got a very distorted, bitcrushed sound and a vague dystopian theme running through it. Some of these recordings were reworked for her full-lengths (I think one of them is on 'Outlands?') but the mix flows really nice as a single piece.

Please support her other projects if you like this one! She has a deluxe version of 'Gray Data' up w/ extra tracks...get it now bc it could always disappear...

Tracklist:

1. S1

2. Streets of Rage

3. Radio Free

4. NetgearAD

5. Horizon

6. S2

7. Pentium

8. Hexagoness

9. S3

10. Underpass

11. Tempad

12. Column

13. S4

14. Whole Earth Gone Again

(nevermind the double tracks...hard drive copying bullshit and I already uploaded it lol)

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The Shape Shifters - 'Know Future' (1999)

 So these guys have kinda vanished from the internet. Conspiracy theorist boom-bap alien rap collective from LA. This is one of their harder-to-find releases (the most popular being 'Shape Shifters Was Here') and also one of the weirdest. All the tracks are super long, barely have anything resembling a hook and the beats are noisy and lo-fi. Some of these dudes have serious skills and interesting flows...Awol One and Radioinactive came the closest to blowing up.

Tracklist:

Disc One - 'Primitive'

1. Rock Der Planet/Abundance

2. The Peoples' Rally of Area 51

3. Planet Rockers

4. a. Reincarnate

5. b. Man 2 Ape 2 Fish

6. c. 666.com

7. d. LA 2 San Jose/Outermost

8. e. Let Da Good Times Roll

9. f. Strawberry Alarm Clock

10. Girls Dipped in Chocolate

11. Pond Scum

12. The Calendar

13. Moses Freed the Slaves

14. Brain Fish Oner

15. Gotta Be Undastanden

16. Hey, Nimrod... It's Yer Birthday!

Disc Two - 'Future'

1. Give it to Me (Intro)

2. Lojack Leviathan

3. One Percent

4. Pot Full O Gold/OG

5. Area 52

6. Squash Da Beef

7. Zumthing Different

8. Surf En Tsunamis

9. Beatle Borg/OG

10. Appoca-Palooza/Crop Circles (Outro)

11. Gen X Dot All

12. Joy 2 Da World

13. Untitled

NO IDEA about all the bizarre track segues, it all kinda just flows together into one hazy puddle of backpack rap.

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Desiree - 'Desiree Tapes (77)'

 No idea where this came from or if I ever even played it on the radio program, but it rocks hard. Started listening to some tracks and couldn't stop. It's just kinda generic hard rock/pre-metal stuff but the riffs hit and it's a lot of fun.

Apparently they are from Germany and have some other recordings, too.

Tracklist:

1. Free Again

2. Rock Live on Stage

3. Take My Heart

4. Song of a Bird

5. On His Way

6. God of Hell

7. Kingdom of Dreams

8. Baby Love Me One More Time

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V/A - 'Curl Activate' Vols. 1 and 2

 The theme this time around is basically digging through all my endless hard drives of random music from years and years of collecting shit, and finding stuff I have no idea about. I'm also trying to find things that are at risk of being lost to time (i.e. things that aren't on YT yet lol.)

First up, a couple comps courtesy of the Music for Maniacs blog (linked in sidebar.) They have consistently uploaded some of the weirdest shit on the web, but a lot of the older links are down.

I had no idea what this even was until I did a little research. It's basically two volumes of novelty rap from the 80's and early 90's, when everybody thought rap was a 'fad' and all the white record exec lames pumped out tracks like 'Rappin' Rodney' and 'The Presidents Rap' (the latter is actually on a DJ Screw tape where it slaaaaps.)

Some of these tracks are made by 'legitimate' rappers...like Bobby Jimmy and the Critters, which is a pseudonym of Arabian Prince from NWA.

Vol. 1
1. Deryl with the Curl and DJ Curl Activator - Curl Activate
2. Akeem the Dream Olajuwon - The Unbeatable Dream
3. The Rappin Reverend Dr. C. Dexter Wise, III - The Original Rap 
4. Chunky A - Owww
5. Chick Hearn - Rap Around
6. Hurt Em Bad and The S.C. Band - Monday Night Football
7. Mac the Rapper - What Is Love
8. The Wilson Sisters and Speedy D - The Magic Man
9. Rich Little - Presidents Rap
10. The Coach - Take it to the Hoop
11. Gerty Molzen - Walk on the Wild Side
12. The Fat Boys - Chillin with the Refrigerator
13. Bobby Jimmy and the Critters - NY-LA Rappers

(No track tags, sorry)

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Vol. 2
1. The Qwarymen - Beatle Rap
2. Greg Poltrock and Rick Rumble - Mayberry Rap
3. Joe Piscopo, Eddie Murphy and D.S.T. - Honeymooners Rap
4. Rodney Dangerfield - Rappin Rodney
5. Shawn Brown - Rappin Duke
6. Elvira - Monsta' Rap
7. Hurt Em Bad - NBA Rap
8. Ron and the DC Crew - Ronnie's Rapp
9. Doonsbury Break Crew - Rap Master Ronnie
10. Bobby Jimmy and the Critters - Roaches
11. Dan Aykroyd and Tom Hanks - City of Crime
12. Eddie Murphy - Boogie in Your Butt
13. Hurt Em Bad and the Soul Connection Band - Boxing Game
14. Mel Brooks - Hitler Rap
15. Chicago Bears - Super Bowl Shuffle

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