NEWSLETTER

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I write reviews, and when suckers bite, I laugh, cuz their shit sounds better now.

One of the most prolific cats in the game, your man MF Doom, has a gang of new projects in the works. Check for a collection of doomstrumentals, Special Herbs Vol. I & II (hightimesrecords.net), and Doom’s alias Viktor Vaughan’s Vaudeville Villain (sound-ink.com). Both should be widely available by the time you read this.

For those who missed it the first time, look out for a re-release of Abs & Fase’s Flowtation Device EP, with a couple of new bonus tracks.

Fans of heavy mental hip-hop should check out Conglomerate’s End Clone Gaming (perceptiverecordshiphop.com). I also recommend checking out Embedded Studio Presents: The Bedford Files (embeddedmusic.net), a collection of songs produced by Hipsta and Ese, with vocals courtesy of your favorite East Coast underground kingpins such as Aesop Rock, Vast Aire, Breez Evaflowin’, Mike Ladd, C Rayz, and Tes. Both of these are highly recommended. If you’re feeling those two, you’ll also want to add Shelshock’s Atlantis Sessions (mondriansound.com) to your list, featuring Aesop Rock, VordulMega, J-Smoke, and others. You’ll have to dig for this one, but it’s more than worth it.

Legendary freestyle fanatic Supernatural has a new treat for the kiddies, The Lost Freestyle Files (babygrande.com), a collection of “lost” freestyles (including the infamous battles with Craig G. and Juice), plus some new studio cuts. Buy this CD and clear all those durdy Supernat files out of your hard drive. Also from BabyGrande, the Mountain Brothers’ highly anticipated Triple Crown LP, which is sure to please fans of their previous works, plus attract new ones. Straight-up, no-frills beats and rhymes.

Spytech Records is rolling out three new albums this spring. Sophomore shots from Styles of Beyond and Lexicon, as well as the debut from 4-Zone (spytechrecords.com). You don’t really need me to explain it to you, right?

Uprok Records continues their never-ending stream of solid records, this time with Sev Statik’s SpeakLife, Playdough’s Lonely Superstar, and the Uprok Mixtape Vol. I, which serves as a great introduction to their roster. Check out uprokrecords.com for the scoop.

It seems like last week when he dropped his last album, but your man Elusive is back again with Concepts of Sound (elusive_prod@hotmail.com), a dope collection of songs featuring the finest from the fresh coast. Murs, Aceyalone, Mikah 9, Peace, Phoenix Orion, Jupiter and Grouch all dropped in for this one. Hit him and find out how you can get yours.

You’ve likely already heard the hype, but Little Brother’s The Listening (abbrecords.com) is one of those rare must-have records that you probably already know by heart. If not, go get it.

This month, if you buy one record that you read about here, make it Different Style Organization (DSO) feat. Bushwick Bill (BDK Entertainment). I don’t need to get into Bill’s history in this shit, Geto Boys and all that. All I can tell you is that the dude is still one of the sickest rhymers in the game, and the rest of the cats on this album hold their own as well.

So much good music, so little time and space, but if you got time, dig through the stores or online and see if you can track down some of this dope shit: Unagi (unagi422.com), Dooley-O’s Watch My Moves (Solid), The Opus’ First Contact (Ozone), Mr. Lif’s “Return of the B-Boy” 12” (definitivejux.net), Soul Supreme’s The Saturday Nite Agenda (inebriatedrhythm.com), Blueprint’s The Weightroom (weightless.net), the Greedy Man Records 7” featuring Soul Slice and DJ Jon Doe (daybydayent.com), DJ JS-1’s Ground Original (djjs1.com), Odd Nosdam’s No More Wig For Ohio (anticon.com), Cunninlynguists’ Southernunderground (Fresh Chest), DisFlex6’s Where the Sidewalk Ends (disflex6.com), and C.L.A.S.’s “All Right” 12” (kingzmen.com).

FRITZ THA CAT
Send me music (okay, okay, CDs are fine), clothing, shoes (size 10) and love. Email me for address: fritzthacat@viceland.com. www.fritzthacat.com

Top Nine (in no particular order)

1. DSO feat. Bushwick Bill (BDK Entertainment) 2. MF Doom: Special Herbs Vol. I & II (High Times) 3. Little Brother: The Listening (ABB) 4. Mountain Brothers: Triple Crown (BabyGrande) 5. Supernatural: The Lost Freestyle Files (BabyGrande) 6. Conglomerates: End Clone Gaming (Perceptive) 7. Elusive: Concepts of Sound (Elusive) 8. V/A: The Bedford Files (Embedded) 9. Murs: The End of the Beginning (Definitive Jux)

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