One of my favorite LPs, from two of my favorite MCs… Godfather Don & Kool Keith. And while Kool Keith’s has since been replaced by Ghostface & MF Doom as the Hipster’s favorite MC of choice, he’s hardly kicking around in obscurity nowadays. But that doesn’t mean he doesn’t have some criminally over-looked and sadly out of print gems to his name. The Cenobites one and only album happens to be one of those forgotten gems.

Originally released in 1993 as a 12″ EP on the now defunct and irreplaceable Fondle ‘Em Records, this record was not only Kool Keith at the peak of his free-form maniacal genius, but also at his absolute grimiest! Kool Keith brilliance has always seemingly been about who was handling his production, couple him with a bad producer or let him produce himself and he goes so way off the deep end that it’s unlistenable. But pair him with someone who knows how to cater a beat to his flow and you get absolute magic. Godfather Don does exactly that through-out the album. Taking the darker, off kilter production he introduced on the Ultramag’s final album, Four Horseman he amps up the gullyness factor by 10 here and now handles half of the MCing duties. To this day I’ve never heard another MC compliment Keith’s spacey, frenetic delivery the way Don does with his beefy jackhammer assault.

The Cenobites EP, has seen a few reissues since it’s initial release even expandeding it to an LP by adding remixes and previously unreleased tracks… most notably Return to Zero, a re-named Ulltramag’s Checkin’ My Style featuring a previously omitted Godfather Don verse. But with Fondle ‘Em no longer serving the best of the best when it comes to Hip Hop, the last times this album saw print was 8 years ago. For those of you who’re only familiar with Keith’s Dr. Octagonecologyst, you really owe it to yourself where that album’s genius first began perculating.

P.S. Look at that fucking amazingly awful cover design… I love when bad design is so bad it unknowingly becomes great.

The Cenboites – The Cenobites LP

The Australian company, T-World Is releasing the 4th Issue of their celebrated Tee Shirt Bible at Boundless NY.

Come through and party Brooklyn Style at Boundless NY in Williamsburg Brooklyn.

So Many FREE GIVE-A-WAYS!!! Get fresh for the Summer at the best shop in NYC.

Open Vodka Bar and Whiskey Bar with Sounds from Pete Leonard and Teddy King.

RSVP to Party@boundlessny.com

PARTY STARTS AT 6PM…

The Official After Party is at Hope Lounge right around the corner….

Boundless NY and King Stampede. They do things right.

Boundless NY
143 Roebling Street ( Between Metropolitan Ave and Hope Street )
Brooklyn, NY 11211
718.821.9690

There really is no need to introduce these guys. Welcome the Crookers to the mopster fam.Bangin hard beats from every angle they form the powerful Italian Triad (along side mopsters Bloody Beetroots and Congorock) that quickly spreading its tentacles on earth wind and fire. Prepair for combat!

Read up on them in the July issue of MixMag, see them destroy LA and get their BBC One Essential Mix! Instant classic!

Chris & Cosey – October Love Song

Pavement – Cut Your Hair

Ceremony – Stars Fall

Dinosaur Jr. – Just Like Heaven

Trisomie 21 – La Fête Triste

The famous Mix CD series is back! Musical Murdah Vol 2: The Dark Issue! From the Stockholm native Selecta Seb-One. This is how Seb-One explains the mix in his own words:

This is mainly a hip hop & grime mix for the people who like dark and relatively slow beats. I’ve tried to capture a certain dark mood through the whole mix but it varies a little bit in other aspects. The first half is more hard hitting, bass driven and energetic with a lot of electro elements while the other half is more emotional and inspiring but yet powerful.

The Dark Issue is now up for listening on the Doombox and is available for sale at the Mishka Pop-Up Shop. For optimal listening, listen to the mix at night! And look out for more forthcoming volumes from Seb-One!

Reduced Admission HERE

All of this awesome metal reminded me of the original rocker video sensation: the mysterious Nicki Rose.

“The Rock Stars (Nicki’s Way)”

“Electric Warrior”

Yesterday my White Spider post spawned an email from my homie Darryl Polio Legs. He sent me a response to White Spider with a video by an indivdual who calls himself Madness Reign. I honestly think this man is a hidden jewel in this vast northern land(Quebec)! Watch and see for yourself, this dude shreds the GNARRR! I don’t even know if you will able to believe it.

SYMPTÔME DE POSSESSION

SOCIAL FUCKER

LIVE CKRL 89.1FM (JUST TO SHOW YOU HE IS NOT JOKING!)

Not an Usher fan? If you’re like me, then just fast-forward to 2:34.

This past weekend I got to spend the day with Mike & Damian from Fucked Up. Which meant almost all we spoke about was music! I wasn’t really sure what my next Digging For Fire would be, but thankfully a mention of tracking down a certain 7″ and our conversation then steered me into the right direction… The Mumps!

I had totally forgotten about the Mumps. I don’t think I’ve even listened to anything of theirs in maybe a Decade, but I used to love them! I have no clue why I let them fall so far off my playlist. Formed in the mid 70s, the Mumps weren’t quite aggresive enough to be Punk, were way too weird to be Power-Pop, and just too rough around the edges to be New Wave. They were the kind of band that I imagine rode in many scenes because they couldn’t fit into any one in particular. Which is probably why as the decades past they’ve gotten more and more forgotten. They had the charm of the New York Dolls, the creepy rhythmic timing of the Cramps & the quirkiness of the B-52s. And while during the 70s they were the toast of the 70s NYC scene, failure to ever secure a major label deal or release an album quickly doused the flame on their legend, as more and more of their contemporaries began being snapped up and making it big as the decade came to an end.

The bands today is best known for who it’s members were than what they sounded like. Singer and frontman Lance Loud was “the son”on what is generally accepted as TV’s first reality show… PBS’ An American Family. Lance is not only famous for being on the show, but for being openly gay on TV. Lance unfortunately away in 2001 from AIDS. Keyboardist Kristian Hoffman, Loud’s best friend & frequent guest on An American Family, handled a lot of the songwriting duties in the Mumps. Hoffman I think is better known these days as a frequent collaborator/song writer/keyboardist for so many other pioneering punk/no/new wave acts of the 70s-80s like Lydia Lunch, James White & even penning Klaus Nomi’s Total Eclipse.

As I mentioned, the Mumps never put out any albums just two 7″ records, with Crocodile Tears being their best known song from them. Personally I think Scream & Scream Again! was the bands best song but unfortunately it was never released as a single or b-side. Since their demise there have been a few compilations that that have cataloged their entire recorded output. I’m posting the comprehensive and long out of print one Fatal Charm. I hope you enjoy!

The Mumps – Fatal Charm