Zombie Killers' Delight

(A couple of anti-zombie novelty records for the holiday, and a tangent on Rappin' Duke.  Happy Halloween!  Youtube version is here.)

The Return of Buck 65

(Like the title says, Buck 65 is back.  With three albums even.  Youtube version is here.)

The Ultimate Stay-At-Home Album

(The long-awaited return of Buck 65!  ...More or less.  Youtube video is here.)

Neverloving

Neverlove is Buck 65's latest album. You may've seen the video for the album's sole single (to date), "Super Pretty Naughty," and if so, you're probably wondering is this album just like that song, a weirdly sardonic, almost parodic yet in an odd way sincere match of contemporary hip-pop songs along the lines of "Starships" and Ke$ha songs. Well no, it's not; that song stands alone on this album. Whether that's a relief or disappointment is up to you.

But it doesn't sound out of place either, largely because half the album was produced by the same guy, Marten Tromm. So the same musical style is evident throughout the album. It's just that, I guess this turned out to be the happiest, most clubbish beat he came up with, so Buck decided to write that kind of song for that track. Because the rest of the songs are definitely more out of his traditional toolbox. He even does another one of those list songs that are tough to sit through (he must have a contingency of fans who really gets a kick out of them every time?). But yeah, musically, it's not far removed at all. All of Tromm's tracks have this sort of soft electronic sound that makes me think of Apple computers, with a random girl singing a pop song hook between Buck's verses. The other guy who produces a lot of songs on this album, Dean Nelson, has a very similar style, but forgoes the chorus girls. But on all the non-"Super Pretty Naughty" songs, the tone is warmer, slower, and Buck's lyrics are more like traditional BUck on the rest of the album.

The only other producers get one song apiece, Matt Hedlin (meh), who I've never heard of, and the pairing of Alias and DJ Mayonnaise, of course of Anticon. The Anticon'ers track has a lot more emphasis on percussion,with those rapid kind of choppy beats I'm not usually a big fan of, but which sounds pretty good here where it's alone in a sea of placid drums. And the scratching at the end (I presume by Mayo, but the liner notes don't specify, so it could also be Buck or whoever) really make it come alive.

I've lived with this album for a while now, rather than reviewing it as soon as it arrived, and... first of all I haven't found myself revisiting it often. I've had to push myself for the sake of this review. But that's not because it sucks (to use a fancy critical term). Buck has been known to let sucky stuff slip into his catalog every so often, i.e. some of those lame, cross-genre collaborations in the 20 Odd Years series; and I've called him out on those. This album is consistently superior to any of that. Lyrically, I found myself occasionally going, "oh, I kinda like that line," but never actually being gripped by anything he says. And musically, I found the music always up to the task of keeping the emotions of the song buoyant, with occasional catchy highlights. It just feels like he's painting a bit by his own numbers here, providing what he knows he can confidently create, even if he is working with new producers.

If I was trying to assemble a Buck 65 greatest hits album, I don't think I'd even lift this one out of my crates to remind myself of the song titles. ...Except possibly "Super Pretty," if I was in the right kind of mood; because that song's definitely got a voice to go along with its infectious groove. But if you asked me to come up with the songs I felt most let down by, or even annoyed by (there's been one or two of those), I also wouldn't go to Neverlove. It's just a comfortable level of good, enough to please the fan-base and keep them satisfied until the next album.

If you're a long haul fan, though, and are going to be picking this one up, it definitely doesn't slack in its physical presentation. It comes in a in an attractive picture cover with full-color inner sleeves as well. It also includes the CD copy inside, as well as a signed copy of the booklet. And you're sent a free download when you place the order. It couldn't be any more convenient or stylish. So while it feels like we're just treading water, they've still given it first class treatment, which bodes well for his next masterpiece down the line.

The Final Odd Quarter

You may remember me blogging about a series of 7" records by Buck 65 back in 2011. To celebrate his 20 or so years as a recording artist, he released them as a lead up to his final 20 Odd Years full-length album. Each EP contained some songs from the upcoming album, and also an exclusive song or two. You may also remember that there was originally meant to be four of those vinyl EPs, but due to pressing plant issues and whatever else, we only got three.

...Until 2014, when surprise - 20 Odd Years Vol. 4: Ostranenie has suddenly (and quietly) appeared on his online store along with the others. It actually came out!  Wow.  And it's even got the 2011 copyright printed on the label.

So, one happy fact I can report with this long-awaited final entry is that there are no songs duplicated from the 20 Odd Years LP.  So unlike the other three in the series, all four songs on this 7" are unique to this release. So let's finish up a piece I started in 2011 by looking at the this final EP, song by song.

Volume 4 - Ostranenie:
1) Days Go By (w/ Jenn Grant) - This entry starts out like the others, in that it's heavy on the collaborations, Jenn Grant, who was also featured on all three of the previous Odd Years EPs, starts things off on her own... to the point where you'll be starting to wonder if Buck is actually going to show up at all. He does, of course; but it does feel more like Buck dropping a guest verse on a Jenn Grant song than the other way around. Presumably he made the music, but the vocals are 75% her, with two quick (but good) verses from Buck. It's a slow, folksy number, which is well made if you like that sort of thing. But hip-hop heads like us will probably not find the experience worth the re-listen just for a pair of brief Buck verses.

2) Dolores (w/ Marnie Herald) - Collabo #2 feels a little more hop-hop. I'm not in love with the percussion, but the rest of the instrumental is really strong. Buck and Marnie (whoever that is) sound really good on it, and the balance between the two feels more 50/50, so fans won't feel like they're getting short changed on their Buck 65. Heads would still probably prefer a Marnie-free song instead of this, but unlike "Days Go By," I wouldn't suggest just skipping past it.

3) Joey Bats - Flip it to side 2 and the collaborations are done with; these last two cuts are solo songs. This particular one is a tribute to Jose Bautista, a baseball player for the Toronto Bluejays. Given the subject matter, it comes off as a more casual entry into Buck's oeuvre, the sort of odd and or/end that's appropriate for an obscure, vinyl EP like this. It's got an electro/ rock kind of instrumental with some really high energy that Buck matches in his vocal performance. It winds up being compelling enough to make you care about baseball, at least for the length of the track.

4) Legendary - This is probably the best song on here. It's back on that Talkin' Honky Blues tip and just feels the most like a proper, full Buck 65 song as opposed to the quick novelty a lot of the 20 Odd songs have exhibited. I'm not in love with the hook, but if you roll with the vibe he's setting up, it works. And otherwise it's both the most interesting and fulfilling of the lot. I'd put this one in regular rotation.

So overall, you're not going to find any greatest hits on here, but it's a nice little EP for the serious Buck 65 who's always hungry for new material. "Legendary" is especially worth your time. So collectors should definitely be happy to finally complete the set (I still can't get over the fact that it actually exists now). And even more causal fans might want to just throw this into their cart as a nicely affordable bonus alongside Buck's newest album, Neverlove, which just dropped this week.

Synesthia Vs... Synesthia

In 2001, Buck 65 released his last indie album before signing to Warner Bros - Synesthia on Endemik Music. Then when Warner put out his next album (Square), they re-issued the bulk of his back catalog at the same time... After all, you couldn't expect the wide, mainstream audiences this now major label artist was getting exposed to to seek out old homemade cassette tapes from Point Blank Catalogs to fill their collections. And when all these albums were re-released, they were given new cover art and retroactively decreed to all be parts of a series called Language Arts, parts 1-5. But this last album got a lot more than a new cover.

If you have the original Synesthia, the first thing you'll notice is that it's another in Buck 65's many "mixtape" albums, meaning it was released as one giant CD track. The next thing you'll notice is that this album is pretty short. Remember how Vertex and Weirdo Magnet had to be shorted for their CD releases, because the original cassette (or dual cassettes in the case of Weirdo) versions were too long to fit onto a single CD? This album has the opposite problem; if it were released on cassette, it would've only been able to fill up one side. And finally, the third thing you'd notice (that's right - you'd only notice three things. Three things I say!) is that, while this series is known for being 100% self-made by Buck - all the rhymes, all the vocals, all the cuts and all the production were by him - the credits here tell us that there is "additional production" by Grey Matter on this album. Unfortunately, the liner notes don't get any more specific, so we don't know exactly what he did here.

Anyway, it was easily my least favorite Buck album when it came out. Like past Language Arts albums, a lot of this album is instrumental, and I think the balance is even a bit heavier on the instrumental stuff this time. So on an album that's already just slightly over half an hour long, that means there's really not a lot of rap music to be had on here. Then, a couple of the songs feel sort of half-assed or gimmicky... One song where he rhymes little narrative couplets followed a long dramatic pausr will really try your patience. And the last song is just another remix of "The Centaur," which had already been released and remixed several times by 2001. And this is a Drum and Bass remix, so ugh. I just wind up turning this album off a couple minutes earlier.

Still, this album has its moments. Some of the instrumental parts are engaging, there's a fun track where he rhymes over a Fat Boys sample and even attempts a little human beatboxing. There's a song about growing up as a Kiss fan that I don't particularly enjoy, but it's interesting lyrically. And there's one song near the end which is definitely a top shelf cut to stand up with the best of his material.

However, I'm guessing that wasn't enough for the Warner Brothers. Because they had him totally retool this CD. Almost all of the instrumental stuff has been removed, and this CD is no longer one giant track, but a properly segmented CD broken into seventeen distinct (and now titled) songs, with a more full-length feeling running time of just over 45 minutes. Apparently one of the reasons for the changes was due to sample clearance, too; so even the songs that carry over from the 2001 version are different than the ones this 2002 version. The liner notes now say "all songs made by Buck 65 (rush job)," so I guess Grey Matter's work is out, too (though he is thanked).

So this album is definitely superior There's lots of good, new stuff. Yeah, the annoying dramatic pause song and the drum & bass version of "Centaur" are still here; so it's not perfect. But mostly all the new songs are better than all the old ones. An anti-smoking song called "Toxic Constituents" is surprisingly fresh and "Grumpy" is a lot of fun. And even the few instrumental segments on this version are tighter and more compelling. I might even go so far as to say that this new version is actually an overall stronger album than most of the other Language Arts entries.

Some of the remixes are just subtle changes (perhaps to recreate a song with sample clearance issues as closely as possible), so there's really very little reason to prefer the Endemik version. The only thing I find myself missing is the Fat Boys-inspired cut. it is on the remake (called "Hens"); but musically, it's a completely different animal, with all different samples, a different tone, and no beatboxing. So if you're a completist, there's that, and a bunch of exclusive instrumentals. And if you're a collector, it's a nice little rarity (online sources seem to agree that the Endemik version was limited to 1000 copies; but I don't remember it being marketed that way at the time), that's substantially different enough - you don't feel like you're buying essentially the same material twice. Despite having a lot of stuff still in common, they are pretty different listening experiences. But if you're just looking to score one version and wondering what's best... or, if you're in the situation I was that inspired me to write this post in the ifrst place: you own both and are just wondering which is the preferable and/or definitive version to listen to an enjoy. Then the answer is easy, 2002 Warner Bros edition all the way.

Vertex On Vinyl

(Youtube version is here.)

Buck 65 Situation Demos

So, a few months back, DJ/producer Skratch Bastid posted the original demo versions of Buck 65's Situation album (which he produced - it was a collaborative project between the two of them; though DJ Signify did add a couple extras on there). As of this writing, the link still works\, so go for it, Buck fans. But you all know me; I'm not just here to post a link that's already been around, I wanna break down exactly what's there and explore this more deeply.

Situation, to me, was always a good but underwhelming Buck 65 album. Buck is a lot of things - a great lyricist, nice on the turntables... whatever you think of his aesthetic choices or artistic decisions; he's a damned talented hip-hop artist. And one of those talents, too, is production. So when I hear that an album of his is going to be produced by somebody else, that's already a red flag. And predictably, this album, while still undeniably good in a lot of ways, disappointed me on the production end. ...Although, I have to say, revisiting it now for the sake of comparing it to the demos has given me a stronger appreciation for it. I think I was getting spoiled by all the great work he'd been putting out, that music that would ordinarily be graded a solid B felt more like a C-. But, still, as a full-length, it doesn't rank among his greatest hits.

So when I read about this original demo version, I was amped. Here's a truncated version; be sure to read the whole story on SB's blog, "[Warner Bros] liked it and wanted to put the record out as Buck’s next major label release... Until we told them that pretty much the entire record was made from samples. Without a massive budget, the record was not going to come out in the style that we had initially made it," So yeah! This must be why the album never quite clicked! Now we're going to hear the rich, uncleared instrumentals that will sound so much more natural and better, right?

Well, first of all, the song titles and sequencing are completely different, so if you're used to the official release of Situation, it can be a bit confusing. It's easy to guess that "FiftySeven" is "1957" or even that "Photographer" is "Shutterbuggin'," but other songs you'd never guess from the titles alone. "Battered" is "Cop Shades," "TheCity" is "The Outskirts," "TheLaws" is "Heatwave." But basically, every song is accounted for and has an alternate version, except for "Intro," and the single "Dang," which I guess was recorded a bit later.

But here's the thing... most of these songs are pretty much the same. Often, the only noteworthy difference is that they're missing some scratching elements. "OldDays"/ "Back In the Days" is just missing the "All the Way To Heaven" vocal sample being mixed in to the hook. "Benz," too, is missing all the frantic cuts throughout the song, and it just winds up feeling duller. Listening to this underwhelming revelation, I was beginning to wonder why they bothered posting it.

Rereading SB's blog offers some explanation, "I went back to the studio a few times with some session players and made new versions of most of the songs." Yeah, so some of the songs I guess are exactly the same, or just less polished... but the main difference is that samples have been replayed to sound like the originals. So the differences are barely perceptible. It's most obvious on "The Rebel," where the main riff is similar in tone and vibe, but distinctly different if you play them back to back. Actually, the official, cleared version kinda sounds better to me. So much for my visions of a lost, masterpiece version of Situation; what a let-down. I mean, he's just releasing free mp3s of something fans have been asking for, so I'm not mad at it; but it's pretty disappointing.

Only one song sounds really different: "Cube," or as you know it: "White Bread."  That piano and all that music (even the underlying drums, though the same rough bpm, are different) on the album version are gone on the demo. Instead, you've got a plodding but atmospheric instrumental. It's  darker, and fits the lyrics better. Still, the newer version sounds rich and really nice, so I'm reticent to declare a definitive winner. But both versions are are definitely worth your while.

So, if you're a curious, amateur producer and really want to analyze the details to see how a major label release can rework its instrumentals to make them clearable, then check this out. It's a pretty compelling educational experience if you're that into the inner-workings of hip-hop production. But for everybody else, even serious Buck 65 fans who have all his tapes and records, I'd say download it, save "Cube" in a folder with your other rare Buck 65 mp3s, and delete the rest. There's just the one song to get excited about here.

Top mp3-Only Albums I Wish Came Out On CD

The title says it all... these are the mp3-only albums would press up on wax... or more realistically, at least CD! It's great that the artists released all these (with one exception) for free... but the material is so damn good, I would definitely pay to have a more permanent copy. Hell, I'd go to Hot Topic to pick any of these up Kreayshawn-style. Surely, at least a small number could've been made as some kind of promotion? Maybe a label like DWG, Dope Folks or Fat Beats could start a budget CD label, where they're limited pressings in cardboard sleeves?  Make it happen, somebody!

Grand Daddy IU: Self Made Man - You can download this album for free off his site... It consists af all the incredible bangers he'd been posting on twitter for like a year and a half, plus some brand new stuff. A couple the tracks come up a little short, but for the most part this is all incredible material. All told, I'd say this is better than his last couple albums (which did get CDs). So give us this one! He also seems to have another mp3-only full-length already, but it ain't free. Oh, and there's a lost EP called Long Island's Finest that he had up on ITunes a while back.  Never heard it, and I doubt hardly anybody caught it... Now that IU's got more of an online presence, maybe it needs a second chance to find its audience.

Buck 65: Dirtbike 1-3 - Great, triple mega album, which again were just released as mp3 freebies.  But they were some of the best work of his life.  Granted, it was three very long albums, so I can't say it's all 100% the very top shelf, but overall, I (and most Buck fans, I believe) would rank this higher than many of his official albums of more recent years. Realisitcally, it's probably too much music to even consider for wax, but a couple CDs? This is some of his best work, so it would be nice if it was a "real" album.

Chubb Rock & Wordsmith: Bridging the Gap - Alright, I might just want this one 'cause I'm mad. This was SUPPOSED to come out on CD. You might remember me blogging about it. And holy crap, a new Chubb Rock album? If it exists, I need it! But then, apparently the distributors stuffed up and there was a long delay, and Wordsmith said fuck it, the mp3 release was enough (after all, I think he just made Bridging the Gap to promote his solo album that was coming out at the time). I even lost $15 ordering this from FYE, who to this day have refused to send me a refund (#BoycottFYE). Being honest with myself, a new Chubb Rock album that's only half a Chubb Rock album, and watered down with Wordsmith's lesser material probably wouldn't have been too exciting. I never did bother getting the mp3 version. I want that CD or nuthin', bro!

Snagglepuss: Legendary Throwbackz - The only mixtape on this list, because usually I don't have time for mixtapes. Crappy DJs messing up songs with useless radio blends, material we've already got elsewhere... Sure, there are the rare stellar mixtapes: created by the great DJs to actually showcase their amazing DJ talent. But 99% of mixtapes are the lowest quality bootlegs or cheap, half-assed mini albums. Pass. But not this time. First of all, it's suited to be a mixtape - it's a collection of freestyles (mostly) originated on and for mixtapes. And it's all killer material that's (mostly) never seen a more official release. It's the classic Snaggapuss freestyles from the old Doo Wop mixtapes (and a couple tracks from his last CD)! I mean, Hell, this collection was my idea, so of course I'm all behind it! The only thing that could be better? Press these babies up for posterity!

Kool G Rap: Offer You Can't Refuse - I almost like this better than Riches, Royalty and Respect. There are definitely some tracks on here that are better than some tracks on there. This would've made a great EP exclusive, which you could only get if you ordered the album direct from Fat Beats' website or something. Now the EP's mostly been forgotten as a freebie advertisement for the album. But only one song was repeated ("American Nightmare"), the rest were some really nice, exclusive KGR tracks. I still have it on my phone; but this would make a sweet collector's item.

All those wild, early Anticon projects that never quite made it out the gate - I know North American Adonis was never finished and the sound quality sucked because the original DATs got damaged or whatever. But I'd still love a CD of the best I could get, and I know from the old Lunchroom forums that I'm not alone! Also Stuffed Animals, Pick me for President... even "Digital Lydias"... All that stuff Anticon knows they've got rotting away in their vaults. Run that shit, bitches! 

Father MC: Fambody - It's a sickness, I'll admit it. But if there were a physical release, I would buy this in a heartbeat. And then blog about it. Which reminds me, I have other Father MC records waiting to be blogged about...

Edit 1/12/2013: Whoops! Can't believe I forgot this one!

Earl Sweatshirt: Earl - Can't believe this isn't purchasable. Somebody missed out on a lot of money there. I'd love to see a legit, physical release of this one. I'd even happily trade any of the other Odd Future releases that did get nice, physical releases for this one. Even better than a CD, though... I want this on cassette! If you forget that this came out in 2010, it fits in so perfectly with the those great, ultra-underground 4-track tapes from the 90s. You might consider that a lost era now (though those Gurp City guys are keeping it alive), but actually Tyler and co. have brought it to a whole new audience without even realizing it... no wonder 2Mex dissed 'em! Couldn't you just picture this as an Atak exclusive?

Rare Buck 65 From Edgefest

Here's a little Buck 65 rarity that had been eluding me for some time: the Edgefest Murder EP from 1995. Murder Records was the label he was signed to as Stinkin' Rich, where he put out the "Stolen Bass" 7" and his Game Tight album. SixToo's crew, Hip Club Groove was also signed to them; and he appeared on their album. And that's pretty much it with them... except for this exotic little 7".

This is sort of a sampler EP from Murder Records, given away at Edgefest 3, an annual outdoor concert celebration of Canadian rock music. There's four songs on here by Murder acts; Stinkin' Rich being the only hip-hop artist among them. If you're interested, here are the other tracks on the EP:

1. The Super Friendz' (not to be confused with The Supafriendz) "One Day the Warner," produced by Al Tuck,
2. Jale's "Frightened Of," produced by Andy McDaniel,
3. and Thrush Hermit's "West Island Rockers," produced by Local Rabbits.

I've worked it out, and from left to right on the picture cover, that's The Super Friendz, Stinkin' Rich, Thrush Hermit and Jale. Now that's all I'm going to say about the other bands because they're not hip-hop and I have zero interest. You'll have to find another blog to learn more about their contributions.

Stinkin' Rich's song is called "By Design," and it's exclusive to this EP (actually, all the groups' songs here seem to be exclusive). It's self produced, of course, and kinda short (just over ninety seconds). But that doesn't keep him from letting his creative beat build, kicking a dope verse, or getting busy on the turntables before the music fades. Actually, apart from the unusual and compelling vocal sample that's looped through much of the song, this instrumental has a real 90's (well... appropriately), grimy NY sound. This is the kind of track I could imagine groups like Godfather Don or The Freestyle Professors dropping in those days and getting mad underground love for it. But then he goes the extra mile by unleashing some show-off scratches at the end. And, of course, his verse is... just a little different. It's your typical, braggadocio freestyle, but with his own distinct emphasis on unexpected wordplay, kicking bars like, "I write dope rhymes in copious amounts, and get out when the winner when the trophy is announced," and asking, "so whatcha think, swinger? Can you make the ink linger, or ya fuck around and risk gettin' the stink finger?"

For some reason, the volume's decidedly lower on side B (the side Rich is on), but the sound quality is fine once you crank it up. As you can see, this comes in a picture cover and also includes a small insert promoting the Murder Records albums of all the artists on this EP, plus a couple other 7"s. According to the back cover, 1000 copies were pressed, so I'm surprised this seems to be as rare as it is. Possibly a lot of copies were treated casually and lost by recipients at Edgefest. Their loss.

More Rarities

I wasn't kidding when I said these Buck 65 tour CDs are addicting... so here's another one. This one is called Pole-Axed: More Rarities, released back in 2006, and according to Buck's website, compiled (he says "recorded") in Paris. Since it's labeled "rarities" not "unreleased" or "exclusives," it's not surprising that most of these have been released before. This is mostly a collection of guest spots he did on releases by artists like Stigg of the Dump, the Molemen, Governor Bolts... stuff like that. The compilation's a little uneven, but by and large, all pretty good stuff.

A couple of tracks are confusingly listed in the track-listing, but nothing actually new, so let's just clear those up real quick. "Styles of Smiles" (helpfully credited "from Granelli album"), is actually the song "Richie's Secret World" from the Jerry Granelli album, Music Has Its Way With Me, which Buck collaborated on as DJ Stinkin' Rich. And while I thought "Centaur (Gordski Rmx)" might actually by an unheard take on the song, it's actually the remix from the Anticon 12" B-side. Gordski's name appears nowhere on that record's label or cover, so I never realized it wasn't by Buck himself... but regardless, it's not version.

So, blah blah blah, that's enough about the previously released songs that us fans all already have. Let's talk exclusives. Now, even if you didn't pay attention to the dates, it's obvious this album closely followed Secret House Against the World, because all the exclusive remixes are from that album.

First up is "Rough House Blues (Masculine Fantasy Rmx)." "Rough House Blues" was always one of the better tracks on the original album, and this remix does a nice job of making it fresh again without taking away what worked about the first version. It features the same (or similar) guitar riff for the body of the instrumental, and the cuts are the same. But the piano has been changed up, and the whole thing sounds down-pitched and darker. And where the short, original mix (it's less than two and a half minutes) ends, this new mix builds into a crescendo with new instruments and non-verbal vocals.

Unlike "Rough House Blues," "Drawing Curtains" really wasn't so appealing. It was interesting, and the production (except maybe for the drums) was effective. But the fact that he shared the vocal duties with Claire Benes (who, to the album's detriment, was all over Secret House Against the World), where they constantly go back and forth, alternating words or phrases in a single sentence, is really abrasive and annoying. It was just the sort of thing that plagued Secret House - it's like he thought, "I'll put a woman speaking with a French accent all over this album and it'll sound really avant-garde, regardless of the fact that her cadence is dull and her delivery's sleepy, lifeless and sucks all the energy out of the songs like a vacuum cleaner." ...Okay, he probably didn't think that second part.

Anyway, Pole-Axed introduces us to the "Crude Version" of "Drawing Curtains." But if you were hoping for an early, temp track Buck recorded all by himself before he laid in Claire's vocals or anything, forget it. In fact, there's barely any perceivable difference at all. This version was just mastered slightly different, maybe? I dunno, every vocal and instrumental bit from this version seems to be on that version, and vice versa. Oh well.

The third and final Secret House exclusive is "The Suffering Machine (Raw Demo Instrumental)." The titling here is a bit odd, since this sounds 100% nothing like "The Suffering Machine" from Secret House... instead, it seems to be the "Raw Demo Instrumental" to another song off that album: "Drunk Without Drinking." I don't know if it's a stupid mistake, or maybe an indication that he was originally planning to record the "Suffering Machine" lyrics to this beat, or what. Anyway, unlike the two versions of "Drawing Curtains," the differences here are easy to identify; there's whole instrumental riffs and elements that are unique to this "Raw Demo" version. It's exclusive just by way of it being an instrumental for a song that was only released as a full, vocal version, anyway; but here we also get to hear a different take on the music and how "Drunk Without Drinking" might've otherwise sounded.

And then the last song on this album is probably it's biggest selling point, because it's a song that is entirely exclusive to this album, and hasn't been otherwise released in any mix or capacity. It's called "Be Careful" and features a big rolling piano loop that could almost have been taken from "Drag Rap/ Trigger Man." The lyrics are a bit lazy, but fun, starting out "be careful, werewolf, the smiling snake still slithers. Pennies in the well, I wanna sing like Bill Withers. Card carrying member: Neighborhood Task Watch, keepin' our children safe from the Sasquatch. Any last thoughts? Some spare change? A little bit? If I live to be a hundred, I will always be illiterate." It's not one of his best, but still good and enjoyable. You definitely get the sense of how this is something he recorded and couldn't find a home for, so a tour CD was a fitting place to make it a little exclusive.

At the end of the day, this is about what you'd expect from a tour CD. Not worthy of being a proper album or suitable for wide release, but as a little scrappy little bonus for the more devoted fans, it's a nice little score. Though, for the fans who have everything (i.e. when all those non-exclusives are already in our collections), it doesn't have all that much to offer... The "Drawing Curtains (Crude Mix)" is pointless, and while "The Suffering Machine (Raw Demo Instrumental)" is interesting, it's not something you'll be going back to for repeat listens. So you have to figure: you'd basically just be tracking this down for one cool remix and one new song which is good but not great. And since only 200 were made, that won't be too easy. So, more of a collector's thing, I guess.

Buck 65, Live and In Private

These Buck 65 tour CDs are downright addictive. This one, 2008's I Dream of Love: Live and In Private, is, as its name already makes pretty clear, a live album. It's one of several tour-only CDs he sold on the road promoting his Situation album, including two I've already written about here and here*. It wasn't recorded on the road, though; it's a set played in a recording studio (hence the "in private") specifically for this disc.

So, it features a nice selection of tracks, like "Bandits," "Heather Nights" and "Roses & Bluejays." No, this is not the same live version of "Roses and Bluejays" that was on his Boy/Girl Fight! CD I wrote about earlier in the week... but you'd have to be a hardcore fan with your ear to the speaker to notice the difference. The most noticeable distinction is he ad-libs a bit at the end, singing, "Johnny, why don't you come on home;" but apart from that, they're both pretty similar and neither really stray from the original album version.

And that note there pretty much summarizes the whole album... live recordings of songs he's released before that sound very similar to - but just not quite as good as - the original album versions. When I popped this in for the first time, I was beginning to think I'd wasted my money - only the most die-hard fan, the collector who has to have every bit of memorabilia with Buck's name attached to it, would have much use for this. At least Porch featured Buck's songs filtered through another artist's style, giving us something new. This, while entirely listenable taken out of context of the rest of his catalog - they are good songs performed by a talented artist, after all - is just like a weak knock-off of the originals; a collection you'd buy from some shady street vendor if you couldn't afford the proper albums.

You might point out, hey, a few of these mixes sound pretty different from the originals - like "Pants On Fire." Sure, but fans more intimately familiar with his catalog will recognize that this is different from the version he made the video for, but it's essentially just a replay of the "countrier" version he put on This Right Here Is Buck 65. The "Phil Remix" is just a live replay of the "Philevator" remix on Boy/Girl Fight!

The only real addition is a few spoken ad-libs between songs ("alright, lovers, I got one more and I'm going to bed"). These are very brief, though, so you're really not missing anything. What's more, on one song he warns us, "I gotta be careful; this one makes me cry sometimes." As a die-hard, life-long dedicated hip-hop lover, I hate to downplay the potential emotional impact of a really good rap song, but bullshit! What phony, ostentatious drivel. It's not even the one he wrote for his mother or anything; it's just "Out of Focus." So he's saying "I go under the blouse and grope for the breast" (that's the hook) makes him cry? Honestly, these exclusive, little soundbites don't do anything for the album.

It's only when you get to the very end of the album that you get anything worth the trouble of scoring this disc. One is a medley, titled simply "Medley," of a bunch of Buck songs (including, of course, "Centaur") blended into something you at least haven't heard before. It's short (three and a half minutes), and basically takes verses and hooks from several of his hits and plays them to one, new instrumental. Unfortunately, it's not one of his better instrumentals, and the various bits and pieces don't really fit together into anything too cohesive, or match will with the new beat. It's interesting, though, and hey - at least it's new.

Finally, there's a remix of "'65 Buick," which I don't think has been released before in any capacity. It's a fun, autobiographical tune, and it sounds very different than the original version from Synesthia. Not just different, but better. Now, this is more like it! But unfortunately, it's also the last song on the album.

Now, this CD has been restocked in some online shops recently (Strange Famous, Fifth Element), so it's available if you want it. The thing you have to decide for yourself is whether you're a big enough fan to order it for just one song (and possibly the curiosity value of "Medley"). At least you're going in with more information now than I had when I paid a bit more for a second-hand copy. :/

*The fourth one is Cretin Hip-Hop, which I probably won't be bothering with, since it's just a mixCD (by Skratch Bastid). Apparently it does feature a few exclusive bits, however.

Tour de Force

What we have here is another of Buck 65's exclusive tour CDs. This one's entitled Boy/Girl Fight!, but it's not to be confused with Boy-Girl Fight, his essentially unreleased 2000 album. It's possible, though, that Buck might want us to confuse the two... See, this is purely speculation, but my guess is that he made this little tour CD to satisfy fans who've been asking him for years for a copy of Boy-Girl Fight, an album he perhaps wasn't entirely happy with (hence it getting shelved), and which, after all, has been released piecemeal over the years anyway, with different album tracks winding up on different projects. Sort of like what Chino XL did with Poison Pen.

The difference is, Chino recorded a bunch of new songs and gave us an ultimately poor substitute for the unreleased original. Whereas Buck included a bunch of older songs, and gave us an ultimately better album.

The 2001 Boy-Girl Fight was a short album, just 9 tracks including "Centaur," a song he'd released a few times before (it was, however, going to be the first time this particular version - the one with Steffi playing the cello on it - was included on a full-length album). It almost feels like more of an EP, especially when compared to this version, which has literally double the amount of songs on it.

So, including "Centaur," five songs didn't make it onto this 2005 tour CD. See, so they're totally different albums, with only four tracks in common: "Pack Animal," which was officially released on Tag Of the Times 3, "Style #386" and "Sketch Artist." Now, if "Style #386" sounds like a familiar title to you, that's because it's from Vertex; but like a lot of his songs from that album/era, it's been rerecorded so his voice doesn't sound as young. In fact, on this disc, it's called "Style #386 (Beefed Up)." To be clear... both versions of Boy/Girl feature this "beefed up" version.

"Sketch Artist" has had another incarnation, too. On this version it's labeled "Sketch Artist (Demo)," but it's the same on both Boy/Girl Fights. The non-demo version later found its way onto track three of Square, back when he was unhelpfully releasing his albums in large, unsegmented tracks with all the songs blended together.

And it's basically the same story again for "Wooden Matches (demo)," the stand-out track from the unreleased 2001 album... It's the song I immediately think of when I think of Boy-Girl Fight; and the one that blew my mind when I thought it wasn't ever going to get released when the album was shelved. But, thankfully, Buck re-recorded it and included it as a segment on Square, and Warner Brothers even put it out as a CD single (which I already tackled in a previous blog post).

So, that's those songs out of the way. Now, how about those fifteen songs that weren't transferred from the 2001 Boy-Girl Fight?

Well, they're not all new. The album begins and ends with two fan favorites: "Memories Of the Passed" and "Success Without College," both from the Bassments Of Bad Men compilation album. And "Double Header" is the song he contributed to Omid's Monolith LP. But then we get into some exclusive goodies!

The first is "Stricken," and it's great! It's a little bit more of the Talkin' Honky style, with slow guitars and Buck's raspy voice, but it's just one of those where everything works, from the tone to the lyrics: "I could hear the coyotes when I laid in bed, thoughts of runnin' away would invade my head. I would starve myself, never lose a pound; the pain never goes away, it just moves around." In fact, it's so good, here's a guy on deviantart claiming he wrote it! hehe "Stricken" has never been "properly" released, though it is also known as "January" on one of those mysterious mp3 collections (Climbing Up a Mountain) that float around the internet.

"Highway 101"'s another gem. I remember it running around the blogs last year as a random, unreleased track, but it's actually from this album (and, again, from that random Climbing Up a Mountain comp). It's another slow, honky track - "there's a hex on highway 101" - and again, it's better than a lot of the songs he actually gave proper, official releases.

There's a live version of "Roses and Bluejays," which is just okay. I mean, it's a great song, and it sounds good here, but the album version's a bit better, and there's not much unique to this live version. Still, I'm glad that he err'd on the side of giving us more unreleased stuff than just slapping the old original on here.

Gosh, we're just about halfway through the album... Okay, let's see. There's "Bed Of Nails," with a cool, more modern track to compliment the honkier stuff he'd been doing. "Three Swift Blows" starts with a funky spoken word poem that gradually grows into a full-blown song. "Philevator" is a remix of Buck's old stand-by "Phil," but it's a complete change in tone with grungy guitars and a super slow flow... it's like Buck's idea of chopping and screwing! lol

"Spooked" is another more or less original track that's pretty good, and "The Anthem" is another one of Buck's list songs that I'm really not too impressed by, but what're you gonna do? He just lists things for the whole song, and over the years he's done, like, 10 of these songs at least. "Bike" is an awesome ode to his... bike, with a great instrumental and background vocals that sound like they're taken from an old, French film. Finally, "Lummox" is kind of a wacky, upbeat countrified spacey instrumental, if you can imagine that.

So, all in all, this is a great collection of exclusives and unreleased songs... and even the non-exclusives are at least good choices. As a straight-through listen, honestly, this compilation is better than a lot of Buck's actual albums. According to Buck, only 200 ("maybe less") copies were made, but it's definitely worth your effort looking for it. Good shit!

Extra Odd Years

Guess what arrived in the mail today... Buck 65's new album 20 Odd Years! ...Wait a minute, didn't I already receive and review 20 Odd Years back in October? Yes, well, this, I guess, is 20 Odd Years 1.2... 20 Odd Years was released as a series of three EPs (originally there was meant to be four, but one fell through), on 7" vinyl, mp3 and CD/DVD. That must've done pretty well, because now there's this new release (also available through buck65.com) on LP and CD. It's got a nice picture cover and a slightly different track-listing. So, let's break it down:

First, the missing songs:

1) Red-Eyed Son (w/ Coral Osborne) from EP #1 - This was a good song; I'm sorry to see it go.

2) The Niceness (w/ Colin Linden) from EP #2 - Frankly, I'm happy to see this one go. I mean, while the collector in me would like to see every song ever included, the whole album feels more mature with this silly number axed.

3) Tears In Space (w/ Meaghan Smith) also from EP #2 -This was okay, but no great loss.

And that's it for the missing songs (you can read more about them in my original review of the EP releases). If you've noticed, that means EPs 1 and 2 have exclusive songs, but #3 does not. So if you're considering picking up the EPs (they're still available as of this writing) in conjunction with the LP, #3 is the least essential, as it has nothing that isn't already on the album.

Now the new songs:

1) Whispers Of the Waves (w/ Gord Downie) - I could do without the guy (I guess that's Gord) singing the hook; but it's not terrible. Buck's flow over the rhythm bass is cool, though, and the scratches are a nice touch. Definitely a winner.

2) Stop (w/ Hannah Georgas) - The upbeat instrumentation is a nice change, but it feels more like a Hannah Georgas record featuring Buck than the other way around. Buck only has two short, unimpressive verses (over a lame beat) shoehorned into what's otherwise some kind of indie rock song. Feels like watching MTV, which I'd rather not do if I can avoid it.

3) Tears Of Your Heart (w/ Olivia Rulz) - Like the past EPs, forcing practically every song into a collaboration hurts this project. The girl sings something in French on the chorus, and, except for the breakdown, she doesn't sound like she belongs on the song. Buck comes with it, though, and I like the instrumental manages to have a live garage band feel while still maintaining a hip-hop nature. I like it, but a shorter version without the long, self-indulgent instrumental stretches and the excessive hook would've worked even better.

4) She Said Yes - Kind of boring and lifeless... I kept thinking, "when is this extended intro going to end and the song proper going to kick in?" But it just goes on until it ends, sort of a slow spoken-word bit over subdued keyboards and weak percussion.

So, overall, it's a nice package and a decent, if still uneven album. At first I felt a but like we'd been duped - we weren't told all these songs would be released as a proper LP back when the EPs were being sold, so we couldn't make the informed decision to hold out for this album. And it's frustrating that the absolute worst song from the EPs ("Who By Fire") was carried over, while one of the best ones ("Red-Eyed Son") was not. I wish it wasn't too late to trade them, but oh well. Forced to call it, I think the LP is slightly better than the EPs, but it's pretty close (the bulk of the songs are the same, after all), and my fellow completists will need both anyway. So, yeah, it's a good album - not Buck's best; but has some really strong moments. It's just unfortunate that we've bought most of them before.

But now, with the LP in my hot little hands, I'm a little feeling better about the whole thing. After all, getting four new songs... in a way, it's almost like getting the fourth EP that never materialized. And this one's on 12" with a nice picture cover. It just so happens to also include a bunch of the older songs from the past EP over again. It's hard to get too excited about an album I pretty much bought already four months ago; but it's nice to finally score that last EP. But, like the other EPs, it's just okay, and brought down by all these misfit guests. If you heard the last few EPs, this is more of the same. Hopefully Buck has worked all the cross-genre collaborations out of his system, and the next Buck 65 album will feature Buck 65 on at least 75% of the vocals and production.

Odd Years Indeed

Buck 65's EPs are finally here! And they're... good, but somewhat disappointing. For those who don't know, Buck 65 has just released three 7" EPs of four new songs apiece to celebrate his 20th year as a recording artist. They're available exclusively through his site, buck65.com, as vinyl EPs or mp3 downloads, except for the first volume, which is also available as a bonus CD packaged with his DVD, The Lost Tapes.

But if, like me, you were essentially expecting a new album sliced into three parts, you're in for a bit of a let-down. This is more a collection of scraps, like his tour CDs, pressed on wax. There are cover songs, material that sounds like it didn't make past albums, at least one song that you've heard before and lots of awkward collaborations. In fact, every single song here is a collaboration (and none with actual rappers), which just opens the door for a lot of mish-mash: hooks that don't fit, indulgent instrumentation, and silly ideas which shouldn't have been fully realized into commercially released songs.

So, it's kind of a mess. But as any serious Buck 65 fan - who should be used to this by now - knows, that doesn't mean there still isn't a lot of quality to be found if you're willing to sift through the chaos. So let's break it all down and really see what we've got here.

Volume 1 - Avant:
1) Gee Wiz (w/ Nick Thornburn and Buddy Peace) - At least we start off strong, with one of the best songs in the series. The music is really good, Buck's in top form. It's also got a fantastic scratch chorus. This is a great song all around, and unfortunately raises the bar way too high for the rest of the songs coming up.

2) Who By Fire (w/ Jenn Grant) - We follow the best song up with the worst. I mean, what the fuck is this folk music shit? I think it's another non-hip-hop cover, which a segment of his audience must eat up, because he keeps making them. Buck 65 whispers along to Jenn singing over a bland instrumental about... whatever; I don't care. It's like being at a party and some friend of a friend says, "hey, my girlfriend and I are learning guitar. Wanna hear us sing?" and before you can make an excuse... Blech. This is one song I'll never be revisiting.

3) Superstars Don't Love (w/ Jorun) - This one features some very 80's drum machine beats, which is kinda cool and surely Jorun's influence, but it does feel a bit gimmicky. That gimmicky nature is quadrupled by the lyrics, which is just a long list of pop culture references. I guess all the name-dropping is meant to be hipster bait ("wow, Buck 65 has heard of ____? I'm a fan of ____, too! Amazing!"). Also Michael Jackson's name comes up about twenty times, because I think this is actually supposed to be about his life as a media icon, in a tenuous sort of way.

4) Red-Eyed Son (w/ Coral Osborne) - Another good one, and one of the few examples where the guest singer on the hook actually works. She's got a compelling voice, which is echoed and played softly in the mix with a really nice instrumental. And as good as she sounds with the music, Buck sounds even better.

Volume 2 - Distance:

1) BCC (w/ John Southworth) -This is silly but catchy one. It's got kid-friendly music and a weirdly sung hook that sounds like it's taken off an old children's song. Buck's flow kinda reminds me of MC 900 Ft Jesus here, as he kicks lyrics that are just arbitrary non-sequitors. This is like one of those crazy records Prince Paul would stick on somebody's album. Amusing, but probably not one you'll want to play too often.

2) Paper Airplane (w/ Jenn Grant) -After "Who By Fire," I winced when I saw Jenn Grant's name pop up again. But this song is a lot better. It's actually taken from one of the DirtBike albums, but since those were mp3-only releases, it's good to get this on vinyl. The music's great, Buck's rhymes are thoughtful and Jenn's hook sounds nice. Simply put, this is one of the good ones.

3) The Niceness (w/ Colin Linden) - This is a bemusing, but overly simple song that pounds a little too hard on its concept like your typical pop record. It's a series of boasts of how nice Buck is, taken to ridiculous extremes ("I'll tell you the truth; my questions are never loaded. I'm so nice, my girlfriend's mother exploded"). The music feels a little undercooked, like a jam session turned into a studio outtake, but here's a nice scratch break-down two-thirds of the way through. It's essentially a comedy record, and like "Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer" or any other comedy record, it doesn't hold up to repeated listens unless you're easily amused.

4) Tears In Space (w/ Meaghan Smith) - This is one of the best examples of why forcing every song in this collection to be a collaboration hurts the finished product. Buck sounds alright on this, and the music, which takes the basic track from The World Famous Supreme Team and adds a bunch of new layers on top of it, mostly works (there may be a few too many layers here; it's a bit cluttered). The main thing that drags this down is the awkward hook, sung my Meahgan Smith. She doesn't seem to have a good voice and I can't even make out half the words she's saying. A remix of this song at some point might be welcome, because it feels like I'm listening to a work in progress here.

Volume 3 - Albuquerque:
1) Final Approach (w/ Marie-Pierre Arthur) -This is pretty good... the music is really effective, and Buck's lyrics are a little phoned-in, but not bad. Marie-Pierre sounds great, but she's singing in French, so I can't understand a word she's saying. That detracts from the experience, which is a shame, because otherwise it's good stuff. Maybe Buck will do an interview someplace and tell us what she's saying, but I shouldn't have to track down obscure interviews online to appreciate a record I just bought.

2) Cold Steel Drum (w/ Jenn Grant) -A little less Jenn Grant would go a long way here. Buck's kicks a nice verse at the end of this, and the music's really rolling along with him, but unfortunately, it takes a long time to get there. Before that we have an annoying repetitious chorus by Buck, singing by Jenn that never feels like it's going anywhere, and a loop that sounds like someone in the studio accidentally recorded the sounds of a broken modem over part of the song.

3) Lights Out (w/ Buddy Peace) -It's like he designed this song just to be annoying. Half of his lyrics are censored by loud beeps or ridiculous cartoon noises. The music features some discordant guitars and samples of alarms and stuff. It's like he came up with a song concept and took it way too far.

4) Zombie Delight (w/ Afie Jurvanen) - In many ways, this is one of the best songs in this collection. The music's effective (listen for the subtle use of "UFO"), Buck's delivery is tight. But ultimately, this is a silly song that's literally about a zombie apocalypse. It reminds me when Josh Martinez did a rap song about Snakes On a Plane; the subject just doesn't deserve music of this caliber. Again, the music was good, Josh was sounding good... but Snakes On a Plane? It's just stupid. And in this case, humorous takes on zombies have been done to death, the concept is no longer novel, and the content of this song is about three years behind Leslie and the Ly's, who didn't just do it years before Buck, but did it better. The vocoder hook doesn't work either, because it's way too high-pitched and light.

...So, to bottom line all of this? Well, on the one hand, it's too bad there isn't just an EP of "Gee Wiz," "Red-Eyed Son," "Paper Airplanes" and "Final Approach," because that would easily be a must-have release I'd strenuously recommend. But no, those songs are spread out over a series of EPs that includes a lot of filler and outtakes. Like I already said, this is really like one of his tour CDs, except on vinyl... so if you're a big enough fan that you collect his tour CDs, you'll want this one too, and you'll be happy with the set. But less dedicated enthusiasts may want to just let these go by and possibly catch the next album.

Pickin' Banjo On Buck's Porch

This is a limited CD I passed on for a long time, 'cause it looked just to be a handful of previously released songs slapped onto a cheap tour CD. But I finally picked this up,and I'm glad I did. Because, though the songs are all pretty much ones you've heard, they're all new versions, and compelling ones at that. It's Buck 65's Porch, which was sort of quietly released in 2007.

First a note about its discogs listing, I guess. I notice they make a point of correcting the track-listing as its written on the CD's liner notes, re-ordering the songs "as they appear on the CD here." This is confusing to me... unless there are actually two pressings of this (which seems unlikely, as it's a very limited run, tour CD)? Because I've got this, and the songs on mine play in the correct order as they're written out. Also, the discogs separates the last track into two songs, when it's clearly a single song mash-up (more on that later) and correctly listed in the notes as one song. So I don't know if whoever's uploading this info is just using some dubious, mislabeled set of mp3s downloaded form the 'net, or if there's actually two versions of this CD; but mine matches the official track-listing.

So, that out of the way, this is a short, five song collaborative EP between Buck 65 and a guy named John Zytaruk, a musician who also worked with Buck on several of his Dirtbike songs. This is essentially Buck 65 unplugged... there's no programmed beats or scratches or any sound by any device that needs to be plugged in. These are acoustic versions of the songs. In fact, I'll write you the credits as they're written in the liner notes:

"John Zytaruk - guitar, banjo, dobro, mandolin, percussion

Buck 65 - vocals, glockenspiel, foot stomps

Produced by John Zytaruk"

Yeah, so banjos, foot stompin' and Buck playing the glockenspiel. This is Buck taking the Talkin' Honky Blues angle to an even further extreme. The credits mention percussion, but there's barely any to be heard... You can hear a bit, keeping rhythm, if you put your ear to speaker, but that's it. And I can see why that may sound like a huge turn-off, but by and large, it's really pretty good.

So, this EP features some unreleased music: "Heather Nights" and a song that Buck only otherwise released on mp3 through his site, "Indestructible Sam" from the mp3-only EP Dirty Work. It features "Blood of a Young Wolf" from Secret House Against the World and "Craftsmanship" from Talkin' Honky Blues. But again, even these previously released songs are new versions, so it's really all-new.

Not every version is an improvement, mind you. "Blood Of a Young Wolf," sounds cool and mellower in this stripped down version, so it's a nice alternative. But at the end of the day, if I had to pick only one, I definitely prefer the original album version and its additional instrumentation. "Indestructible Sam" copies the same banjo rhythm but ditches the driving percussion rhythm, making this sound like an old civil war standard. But the EP has a great consistency that has a merit you can't account for when you just take every song individually. It's an impressive and engaging listen as a whole, almost like one giant song with change-ups.

The last track is "Wicked and Weird/Coo Coo Bird." "Wicked and Weird," of course, was the anthemic first single from Talkin' Honky Blues. And "Coo Coo Bird" is an old American folk song by Clarence Ashley. To be honest, this one doesn't work so well for me. It's the "mash-up" I mentioned earlier, with Buck alternating between the lyrics of his own "Wicked and Weird" and the old "Coo Coo Bird" song. I reckon this is meant to show how effectively he's managed to gel these two seemingly disparate genres, seamlessly blending rap and folk. But the problem is it's not seamless at all. "Wicked and Weird" is a totally different tempo and style and the two just don't mix. As a whole, it's not a bad idea, and probably something Buck could've pulled off if he used another - slower, more laid back - song from his catalog. But "Wicked and Weird" is too pop rockish - it's a great song, but a really bad choice for this medley. So... it's interesting. But after you've checked it out, you'll probably wind up only playing this EP through the first four songs when you go to revisit it.

But it's an EP that's worth revisiting, which frankly, is more than you can say for most albums these days. So if you passed over it like me, I recommend backtracking and seeing if you can find a copy.

Unarmed Soldiers of Lust

Unfortunately, this single from Buck 65 is only available on CD. The song, confusingly titled "Woodmatches (Square 2)," was originally featured on an unreleased (but leaked on the internet) album called Boy/Girl Fight. It was a nice album, and at the time I was really disappointed it never came out as it had a lot of good material - this song being a stand-out.

"Boy/Girl Fight" actually wouldn't have been a bad title for this song, as it illustrates the nightclub/party hook-up scene of young men and women:

"It's just like dodge-ball
But instead of a ball,
The contestants throw around
The head of a doll.
Now I don't know what it means,
But it makes it worth the cost alone,
Even with the overflowing
Load of testosterone
And sexual appetites.
Sorry, it's a circus;
The circuits are faulty
And everybody's uptight.
Sweat stains and jet planes
And hot rod love songs,
Blistering kisses
For every mister and missus.
In the same amount of time it takes
For you to make a sandwich, love;
You can probably find someone
That you can take advantage of.
'Cause the girls are desperate,
But the boys are even hornier;
The rose smells sweet,
But the stem is even thornier.
It's a match made in purgatory.
What more do you want to know?"

Fortunately, Buck wound up savaging pretty much all of the material from Boy/Girl Fight and including it on other albums. This song was no exception, and found its way on his 2002 album, Square. This version was different though... the vocals were all rerecorded, and this time they're not delivered in that high-pitched nasally vioce he sometimes used on his older material, but a more natural cadence. Fortunately, he manages to say the lines in the same perfect way he did the first time... that's a problem he's often had when he recorded many of his previous older songs ("Wildlife" or "Centaur," for example) - that he may have improved it technically, but he actually rapped it better the first time. Well, not here.

The annoying thing about most of Buck's old albums, though - and Square is no exception - is that they're all done in as "mixtapes," meaning they're all continuous mixes with every song blended into each other and padded with a lot of instrumental noodling. Also none of the songs were given titles or broken into tracks. Square is just broken in 4 parts (sides A, B, C and D of the double LP). So you can't pick it apart and just enjoy the songs you're interested in. That's where this CD single comes in.

It isolates just "Woodmatches (Square 2),"as a stand-alone song, without any of the blending that mixes into the instrumental of the version on the album. It's the only way to hear this re-recorded version of the song unmixed.

Unfortunately, it's the Radio Edit. Now this is hardly a profane song, so there's not a lot of cursing to be removed. But there is one like that's censored "card tricks and hard dicks." It's not song ruining, but it's enough to be annoying. It's a shame they didn't bother to include the unedited version as well as the Radio Edit on here (it's not like they couldn't fit more than 3 minutes on the CD)... Hell, I could imagine a proper 12" which includes the album and Radio Edit, the Boy/Girl Fight vocal version, the instrumental and even an exclusive remix. But oh well.

It's also worth noting that this has exactly the same cover as Square, right down to the title (it doesn't say anything about this being a single on the front cover, or what song is on here). The only difference is it's a little purpler, while the album is more blue.

So, all in all, it's an underwhelming release... But still something us completists will want to have in our collections. It's a great song; just wish they could've done a little better by it.

Werner's New Music Seminar 2009!

Werner presents his second annual New Music Seminar, where I round up some of my top recommended albums that I've been rocking this lately. I think I'm gonna make this a regular summer tradition - and if you missed last summer's, it's right here.

Blaq Poet - Tha Blaqprint
This is so obvious, I figured I oughta lead with it, just to get it out of the way. I've read the criticisms of this album, and don't really disagree: Premiere is feeling more and more like recycled formula lately; and Poet isn't exactly a mind expanding lyricist. But, still, two dope hip-hoppers came together to make a really good, consistent hip-hop album and they succeeded. Some tracks are high-energy Premo, and others are slower and darker, so it doesn't feel repetitive.

Neila - Better Late Than Never
"Late" is right! At least we had The Convenience Store to tide us over; because it has been far to long since we've had a Neila album. So now, this is not the EP with Vrse Murphy that was talked about some time ago (I guess that's scrapped? I just heard from Vrse; and it's still on! He's been away for a while; but he's back, working on it now); instead this album is produced in its entirety by a new guy named Avatar (except one song, which is co-produced by LifeRexall). But it's as dope as you'd expect from Neila... the album definitely isn't front-loaded with the best material; it gets better as you go on. And Avatar's beats sound more appropriate for when Neila sings (the occasional hook) rather than when raps (when it can get a little flat). But once it gets going, it takes off.

Pace Won - Presents Team Won
Last year Pace was in my NMS and he's back again this year. Every fresh MC should be this prolific. So, yeah, like the title suggests, this is kinda his "weed carriers" album; but fortunately Pace rocks the mic on every single song save one. His crew ain't bad either, the beats are a little more rugged than on his last album (not sure if that means they're better or not - you'll have to call that one yourselves), and there're guest appearances by El da Sensai and fellow former Outsida, DU. Not his masterpiece; but fans won't be disappointed.

Bike for Three - More Heart Than Brains
I have to admit I wasn't too keen on this album before I heard it. This was definitely a low priority pick-up - Buck 65, who I'm a definite fan but who has a poor track record when it comes to collaborating with other producers (Situation, anyone?), links up with some lady from Belgium who calls herself Greetings From Tuskan? Oh, and their lead "single" (in quotes 'cause it was just put an advance mp3; there's no actual single for it) was a remake of MC Shan's "MC Space" that - guess what? - was not good as the original and offered nothing new. I was prepared to go in with the lowest expectations and still have them crushed and come out annoyed. But no! This is one of those instances where it's better not to listen to reason! It turns out this is a seriously good, surprisingly consistent (except for "MC Space;" but at least it's tolerable album filler) album. Really.

Busdriver - Jhelli Beam
Man, BusDriver really kills it on this one. He can rap (both in terms of delivery and content) like almost no one can; and he's got the production (mostly by his usual cohorts, including himself) to back it up on this album. Every once in a while, a beat will pop up that's a little too "experimental;" but most of the time it's a killer combination. Maybe at times it feels like he's trying a little too hard to be clever? But, really; I'm reaching to find a criticism; because it's just hot.

Chubb Rock & Wordsmith - Bridging the Gap
Finally, I was hoping to end with this album; but it didn't come out. I had this pre-ordered from ughh, and they eventually canceled it saying they don't know if or when it's coming. If you've been following me on Twitter, though; you'll know I looked into this and finally got some answers. According to Wordsmith, the distributors screwed up the date and he's now expecting this to drop on September 1st. Well, we'll see. I hope so.