Masters Of Ceremony – Dynamite LP

Traffic (2005, Reissue)

Every Wednesday, in honor of Ed Lover Dance Day from Yo! MTV Raps, I take a break from rock and roll to write a little bit about hip hop. In the late 80s and early 90s hip hop ruled my musical life. During this often called 'Golden Era' I discovered so much incredible music. As I am slowly replacing the CDs I've had for thirty plus years with vinyl copies, I'm going to talk about some albums that had a really important impact on me during some very formative years.

The first and only Masters of Ceremony album, Dynamite, came out in 1988.  Slightly before I started digging into the world of hip hop and a year that was so full of absolute classics that some of the other albums released that year faded into obscurity.  I never heard of Masters of Ceremony back in the 90s, but had I know that they were the first group that Grand Puba was in before Brand Nubian, I'm sure I would have went out of my way to track down a copy.

And that's exactly why I tracked down a copy many, many years later.  I've always been a big fan of prime era Grand Puba.  His work on the Brand Nubian debut, his first solo record and the myriad of guest appearances he made in the early 90s was a hell of a run.  It's interesting to go back a few years before that to see how he came up.

In no way is Dynamite anywhere near as good as any of Puba's early 90s work.  It's from 1988, so it has an older school feel, especially production-wise.  Most of the beats are OK though.  While the production certainly sounds dated compared to other golden era releases, even those that came out in 1988, Masters are definitely taking advantage of some of the new tricks and techniques that were starting up.  Yes, a lot of it sounds a little hokey, but the bulk of it just sounds like good, early hip hop.  Aside from the song "Redder Posse."  That song is just straight nonsense.  The group comes off like a bunch of sappy R&B clowns with horrible synth and the worst crooning in the hooks.  Luckily, this song is an anomaly.

Lyrically Puba shares his time with another MC called Dr. Who.  They do a lot of the Run DMC style of passing the mic back and forth, even mid sentence.  Puba isn't rapping at the level he'd hit in a few years, but he is quite a bit better than Dr. Who.  Again, none of this is bad, it's just a little simplistic compared to where hip hop and Grand Puba would end up in just a couple of years.  This probably isn't the sort of record I would listen to as part of my regular rotation, but it's a decent enough change of pace when I'm looking to indulge in some of hip hop's earlier times.

Masters Of Ceremony – Dynamite:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d3DTua2OfNY&ab_

The Stools - Live At Outer Limits 12-28-19 LP - White Vinyl

Big Neck (2024)

I'm never going to be a big fan of live albums.  Even the live albums that I like aren't records that I play very frequently.  For me, it's always just been one of those things where the experience of being at the show will always dwarf anything that gets recorded.  Despite not being at this Stools show, or being super familiar with them in general, I have to think the folks who were at that show had a significantly different experience than the one that I have listening to the record.

Starting off with the positives, I really like the music and in particular the guitar playing that The Stools are bringing to the table (yes, that's sort of a joke about stools and tables, all apologies).  There's a lot of blues riffs played at warp speed that makes me thing of that first Black-Eyed Snakes album, but with less of a Doo Rag feeling.  The pounding rhythm section just further highlights this riff-a-polooza and I imagine watching it live was pretty incredible.

Where this album dips down for me a bit is the vocals.  They're a little screamier than I usually like, but I think the main issue is this is where the fidelity of the live recording breaks down.  It's all very muffled, particularly compared to the instruments and more than anything, it makes me feel like this is the recording of someone with a tape player in their pocket.  I imagine that's not the case, but for me it's tough to get into the record when the vocals are so muted.

The Stools - Live At Outer Limits 12-28-19:
https://bigneckrecords1.bandcamp.com/album/live-at-outer-limits

Unwound – A Single History 1991-2001 2xLP - Black w/ Splatter Vinyl

Numero (2024, Reissue)

I wrote a lot about Unwound on this website many years ago as I picked up the various Numero box sets that came out.  I love those records and they are the epitome of completeness and a well done retrospective.  That said, there are so many great Unwound songs that are sprinkled throughout those boxes, which makes listening a little scattershot when you're looking at non-album tracks.  Numero makes it easy for dummies like me and have put out a reworked version of the A Single History compilation.

This was originally called A Single History 1994 - 1997, was a single LP and came out on Kill Rock Stars.  Obviously it didn't contain the entirety of Unwound's singles, but gathered up most of the early 7" songs.  Numero took that ball and ran with it farther than a very far thing.  This version is called A Single History 1994 - 2001.  It boasts 23 songs as compared to the original's 16 and is a double LP set.

They also fixed one of the things I find most annoying on singles comps.  The Numero version has all of the songs in chronological order and keeps all of the songs that were on a single together in the track listing.  It's always been a pet peeve of mine when tracks aren't in order on singles comps and to me, this is a much more satisfying listening experience.

There's a ton of great Unwound songs here like "Mkultra," "Corpse Pose" and "Negated."  All hits.  Plus it has my very favorite Unwound song of all time, "Broken E Strings" from the Jabberjaw compilation.  While my friend from high school Pat was super instrumental in making me pay attention to Unwound even before that Jabberjaw comp came out, that song is the one that really grabbed me and made me a fan for life.  This is a great compilation and despite owning these songs on those Unwound box sets, I'm excited to have the easy listening experience of a proper Unwound singles comp.

Unwound – A Single History 1991-2001:
https://unwound.bandcamp.com/album/a-single-history-1991-2001

Tha Alkaholiks – Coast II Coast 2xLP - Blue Vinyl (/500)

HHV (2018, Reissue)

Every Wednesday, in honor of Ed Lover Dance Day from Yo! MTV Raps, I take a break from rock and roll to write a little bit about hip hop. In the late 80s and early 90s hip hop ruled my musical life. During this often called 'Golden Era' I discovered so much incredible music. As I am slowly replacing the CDs I've had for thirty plus years with vinyl copies, I'm going to talk about some albums that had a really important impact on me during some very formative years.

As I mentioned when I wrote about the first Alkaholiks' record, 21 & Over, I hadn't listened to them back in the 90s when they were first coming up.  They flew under my radar and it wasn't until many years later that I took a chance on them.  After really enjoying their debut, I decided to hunt down their second LP that originally came out in 1995.  As frequent readers of this nonsense may remember, 1995 is typically where hip hop fell off a cliff for me.  1994 is the definitive end of my golden era.

That said, for a 1995 release this is pretty solid stuff.  I don't think Coast II Coast is anywhere near as good as Tha Alkaholiks' debut was, but in comparison to most releases of 1995 it's a good listen.  As with most hip hop after 1994, the main issue I have with the record is the beats.  They just are not as innovative as what was being done on 21 & Over and they feel slower.  The upside of that is that the slower beats seem to give the Liks a little more room to grow as lyricists.

I think the rhyming is much improved on this outing.  Before, they were totally fine - I can't say anything negative about any of those songs.  That said, the growth to this second album is considerable with more complicated rhyme structures and just what feels like a lot more words per minute.  If the beats were a little bit more in line with the sort of thing I like better, this would be a killer record.  With how it stands, it's still good and a fun listen, but I like 12 & Over better.

Tha Alkaholiks – Coast II Coast:
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_lTxSE3V0satyB2fWTe_9AZ3UoreZdJbbo

Ultimate Fakebook – This Will Be Laughing Week LP - Coke Bottle Green Vinyl (/250)

Rocket Heart (2024, Reissue)

In 1999 I was the music director of a college radio station in New Jersey.  Every day we'd get packages in the mail of CDs that labels and promotions companies wanted us to play.  It should come as no surprise that the vast, vast majority of these were completely terrible.  Particularly when it came to bands you probably never heard of before.

Back in my music director days I had a very strict formula to try to get through all of the albums that were arriving every day.  I had to make quick decisions about what should get played and what should go in the garbage.  There just wasn't time to listen to every note of every CD.  That amount of time was only given to ones that were definitely going into rotation - which were reviewed, scanned for curses and had recommended tracks picked.  

How does an album end up in that pile?  By passing a test that originated hanging out with my buddy Alan at the record store.  You get the first 30-60 seconds of the first three songs.  If you don't show something interesting in that time, you were in the garbage pile.  

One day, in one of these constantly arriving packages, A CD from a band called Ultimate Fakebook appeared.  It had a roughly drawn cartoon monkey on the cover and lots of weird high school yearbook style artwork.  It seemed kind of charming, but I can't say I expected much of anything from the album.  I pressed play on the Ultimate Fakebook CD.  "She Don't Even Know My Name" came ripping through my speakers and knocked my socks off.  Holy crap, I was not expecting a perfect guitar pop band.  

Let's try the next song.  "Tell Me What You Want (I'll Be Anything)" comes on and it's another absolute hit.  Great chord progressions, killer drumming and the vocal melody is a total earworm.  At this point I already know that this record is going into rotation, but I'll move on to track three just because that's what I always do.  "Of Course We Will" isn't as immediate as the other two.  It has a slower pace but hits in a similar way as something like "Say It Ain't So" does.  Maybe not as angsty, but in the way that a slower song can fit into the context of an album and not drag things down, even ending up as a highlight.

After those first three minutes I was instantly an Ultimate Fakebook fan.  I played the CD to everyone I possibly could, trying to get DJs and friends to hear a band that was very obviously flying way too far under the radar at this time.  That record has been with me ever since, one of my favorites from that era and most likely the best new band I ever discovered during my time working as the music director of the radio station.

The band would go on and get picked up by Epic records, who would rerelease the album, but with different, slicker artwork.  It's that artwork that adorns the cover of the first vinyl pressing of this wonderful album.  And it's the only complaint about this release that I have.  I just wish they used the original monkey art, because that was the art on the copy that I fell in love with 25 years ago.  That's a minor complaint though, now that I finally, FINALLY have this record on vinyl.  It was one of a handful of CD only releases I had that was still waiting for an LP.  One down, a hundred or so more to go.

Ultimate Fakebook – This Will Be Laughing Week:
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_mhddJ5KECXwRAG3k0eEWstb0LEz9fcweY

King Tee – Tha Triflin' Album LP - Orange Vinyl

Taha / JTLM (2020, Reissue)

Every Wednesday, in honor of Ed Lover Dance Day from Yo! MTV Raps, I take a break from rock and roll to write a little bit about hip hop. In the late 80s and early 90s hip hop ruled my musical life. During this often called 'Golden Era' I discovered so much incredible music. As I am slowly replacing the CDs I've had for thirty plus years with vinyl copies, I'm going to talk about some albums that had a really important impact on me during some very formative years.

Although this record came out in 1993, which was probably the year I was most focused on hip hop and buying the most records during that ear, I literally never heard of King Tee or was aware of this album.  Despite the fact that it had guest appearances from Ice Cube and Tha Alkaholiks, it was not on my radar at all.  It wasn't until much later that I gave a few King Tee albums a chance.  Though the others never really grabbed me the same way that Tha Trflin' Album does.

The production is outstanding. It has a bass heavy feel that's smooth like West Coast style of the time, but still has enough hard hitting East Coast boom bap that it doesn't turn into the g-funk nonsense that bored me silly back then.  There's some real heavy hitters on the production side of this album,  The aforementioned Alkaholiks, Marly Marl, DJ Pooh, Bobcat and King Tee himself take turns mapping out the feel of Tha Triflin' Album.

Lyrically, King Tee does feel like a West Coast rapper.  It's no surprise that he was friendly with Cube Dr. Dre and folks like that.  He can tell stories just as well as he can battle and it's his voice that is the glue of the album able to take the work of so many different producers and have it still feel like a cohesive, and wonderfully diverse album.

King Tee – Tha Triflin' Album:
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_lTC4PyWZep2TIS0TS7X1G6Uen5AiP9PeU

Godfather Don - Hazardous 2xLP - Red Vinyl & Yellow Vinyl (/750)

90s Tapes (2022, Reissue)

Every Wednesday, in honor of Ed Lover Dance Day from Yo! MTV Raps, I take a break from rock and roll to write a little bit about hip hop. In the late 80s and early 90s hip hop ruled my musical life. During this often called 'Golden Era' I discovered so much incredible music. As I am slowly replacing the CDs I've had for thirty plus years with vinyl copies, I'm going to talk about some albums that had a really important impact on me during some very formative years.

My pile of records to write about is still pretty big and today I'm reaching back to a record I picked up two years ago:  Godfather Don's Hazardous.  I had first heard of Godfather Don due to his work the 1993 Ultramagnetic MC's masterpiece, The Four Horsemen.  Back when I first had that album, I don't think that I was aware that the Godfather was responsible for the production of several songs, I mostly knew him from his guest verse on "Raise It Up."  I never heard any more from Godfather Don at the time and was completely unaware that he had released his own LP two years earlier.

When I did discover the existence of Hazardous, it was long, long out of print and at the time was commanding crazy prices on Discogs and eBay in the multiple hundreds of dollars.  Luckily 90s Tapes came to the rescue with this, the definitive double LP version.  It looks amazing and sounds even better.  The odd part is it was reissued again a year later by Select Records.  That one's just a single LP, so I really recommend hunting down the 90s Tapes version, which is still surprisingly affordable on Discogs.

As far as the album goes, it's a pretty perfect slice of 1991.  It's heavy on breaks and samples, with the sort of full sounding production that was coming into vogue at the time.  It's sounds old, but it sounds classic more than it does dated.  And for 1991, it was pretty much on the cutting edge of hip hop production, while still hanging on to some of the 80s techniques.  It's a great album, that really bridges two schools of production style.

Lyrically, Don more than holds his own.  He's no Kool Keith or anything like that, but I'll put him up next to anyone putting out records in 1991 and Don is just as good as.  After many, many years of trying to find a copy of the record I could afford, I was thrilled to add this to the collection.  Sure, it took me a minute to finally write about it here, but I've certainly spent a good amount of time playing it these past two years.

Godfather Don - Hazardous:
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_k_B0nwoRM8Y2MH7yBy3wFx7r1qWftG99E