Thoughts
I love cassettes. Historically they have been my favourite medium to consume music on. However, for a short time in the late 90’s early 2000’s the minidisc was king. The minidisc gave you the durability of cassettes with the convenience of cd’s. Now I never owned an official album that was released on minidisc, but I loved that they made it easy to record my record collection in a way that I could easily listen to it on the go. You could add track marks so you could skip through the minidisc if you wanted. I liked the compact size of the player and that you could toss a few minidiscs in your backpack without the fear of them getting scratched and or broken and venture out for the day. I really wish the minidisc as a format would have taken off in North America. It suffered the fate of most physical mediums in that era with the advent of the mp3, FTP, pear sharing programs and the iPod and other mp3 players. It just didn’t get enough of foot hold to have any real longevity to make a nostalgic comeback.
I recorded my first mixtape with Knowskills on to a minidisc. He borrowed a minidisc player from a friend of his and we made the tape in the record room overnight at the old CFCR basement location. It was super fun as M.Phasis and Epic were both there and dropped freestyles for the tape. It was my first introduction to the minidisk. It would be a few years until I coped one. I think the main reason I initially copped one was because my Panasonic Shockwave Walkman had died, and I was basically only buying records in this era. So a minidisk player made a lot of sense. I regret not buying cd’s as well, but I was a hater of the cd. I love the cd now, but I will save that for another issue. I remember Dren and Knowskills were serious about the minidisc and they had binder cases like the ones for cd’s but for minidiscs. I thought those cases were cool. People were using them instead of discmans to run their tracks at shows as they functioned like a DAT tape but were super portable. Then serato came out and that changed the live show completely. soso was a late adopter to the mindisc. I remember him finally getting one I believe as gift from his partner at the time and then the ipod and serato really took off and his minidisk player was relegated to the back of the drawer. I have recently been eyeing a minidisk player at a local pawn shop but I have not pulled the trigger and don’t know if I will as I think it would be more for nostalgia then for practical purposes because I still have my portable minidisk player that I can use if needed.
It looks like a lot of people supported Bandcamp Friday last week. Mad props to those that did and extra props to everyone that picked up the new signone album on cassette or ordered the vinyl. I really like the emails that Bandcamp sends that update you on what people bought. It is fun to see what others picked up wand what I might have missed. I also like the Booyakasha! You just made something awesome happen”, emails you get when someone buys something after discovering it via your recommendation. That is a real nice feeling when you get those emails
The nicest surprise out of nowhere release on Friday, was what some are correctly referring to as a best of and of and others as a retrospective, was the C.V.E. – Chillin Villians: We represent Billions on vinyl from Nyege Nyege Tapes out of Kampala Uganada. Early Friday evening I got an Instagram message from the homie Trylemma hipping me to this release. I instantly ordered the black vinyl variant and sent a text to Rove asking if he knew about it which he did not and proceeded to instantly order it. I love that us collectors and rap fans stick together and make sure we don’t miss things. I remember in a not too distant past when you would never share that kind of information. I am glad we have evolved past that. I really appreciate all of you that reach out and let me know about stuff.
Record One
Serengeti - Noodle Arm Whimsy
This long awaited first time to vinyl releases of one of Serenegti’s best albums come courtesy of Audio Recon which has been doing and incredible job of releasing classic Serengeti albums on vinyl over the past few year. This one definitely does not disappoint. It features some incredible new art work but the homie 319 Heads. I like the amount of effort that was put into make this a special release. Only thing that could make it any better is if it were black vinyl. I can let it slide I guess. It is an abbreviated version of the original release as it is only a single vinyl but I think they did a good job of selecting the tracks although I wish Minnesota made the cut. It has Rhymes, Trophy Husband, Tanning Season and Outta Here so I am not complaining too much. I bought the original cd at a record store in Evanston Illinois that was going out of business. I bought 4 Serenegti cd’s on clearance that day. There are still a handful of these records left. Grab one before they are gone forever.
Record Two
Lackadasical - Shameless Self Promotion
Let me get the bad news out of the way first. This record is sold out so if you want to get a copy discogs is going to be your only shot at this point. Vulgar records out of France is one of my favourite record labels. They specialize in obscure west coast underground releases from the 90’s. I have picked up everything they have put out so far and this release it one of my favourite. They have dubbed this release as '“the baby Dereliks” and that was so exciting when I read that because I love the Dereliks. I have the Dereliks album “A Turn On The Wheel Is Worth More Than A Record Deal” and it is in the pile of ‘if i can only save a handful of records in an emergency pile”. This record is nicely packaged and comes with a beautiful 4 page insert with liner notes pictures and flyers and is an incredible compliment to this release. And I, is my favourite track after a few listens as it has that magical sound that the Dereliks are known for. I feel like this release was made for hip hop fans like me and I am so happy it exists.
Top 5
Lackadasical - Shameless Self Promotion
Serengeti - Noodle Arm Whimsy
sign one - The Mighty Highs & The Lowly Lows
Dillon & J57 - ‘83 Kids
Mickey O’Brien - Shift Change
Classic Material
Alkaholiks – 21 & Over
Building a bit off last week’s classic material, you will remember a person that I mentioned Shaun B aka the foreman aka the one who runs the show, who I played minor hockey with had this album on cd when it came out. I borrowed the album from him, and my older brother had a Dodge Shadow car that had a cd player in it and we listened to it in there. On a side note I borrowed my brothers car when he was away in the army one summer like 97 and drove out to Vancouver with Knowskills and Funky to stay with Epic for like a month and it got stolen. I loved that album front to back. I loved the energy the production and the energy and charisma that Tash and J-Ro had. I didn’t want to give the cd back because it was so good and was not yet available in Canada as he got it in the states. Anyways I gave it back and I copped the tape when it dropped from the Sam the Record Man. When I started djing a few years after the album came out, I coped the LP. I played it a lot and I still revisit it often.
Fast forward a few years and two weeks before my 19th birthday, May 1997, the Alkaholiks in support of Likwidation album were coming to Saskatoon with the Rascalz who were touring Cash Crop. So the legal drinking age and age to attend shows in bars in Saskatchewan is 19. I was like no way I am missing this show. I had to figure out a way. So, I did what any person in my shoes with an older brother would do. I took his Social Insurance Card and Health Card, practiced his signature and went to the license issuer in the Lawson Heights Mall. I went to the counter super nervous but sort of confident. I said I lost my license and need to get a new photo ID. Now this could only be accomplished in this era because photos were not digital and kept on file. After sweating it out for a few minutes I left with id that said I was now plenty old enough to attend the show. The date of the show I got even better news as Knowskills was a BMG rep at that time and they gave him guestlist plus one and he gave me his plus one. We went to the show pretty much as soon as the doors opened. This was like the first real rap show in Saskatoon at the time. Of course, they did not ask me for my ID haha. The excitement levels were at a fever pitch. The show was at Amigos’ and the cleared all the tables and chairs were cleared out of the venue. It was packed over capacity shoulder to shoulder, hot and sweaty.
I believe the Alkahoiks opened for the Rascalz, not positive though. I remember standing at the front of the stage with fellow Beatcomber Dj Deluxe getting crazy yelling “Liks, Liks, Liks boy from your back side, Liks Liks Liks boy from your back side “over and over as loud as we could in anticipation of the Liks taking the stage. Super weird to yell Q-Tip lyrics, I know right? The word was they really were the crew that set it off by spraying beer in your face and we were ready just in case. I remember E-Swift being on stage first and I don’t remember what track he dropped but as soon as he did Tash and J-Ro ran on stage and spayed beer all over the unsuspecting crowd, except for us as we ducked, and it missed us but they drenched some unsuspecting girl near us. I felt bad for her. The show was incredible front to back. One of my all-time favorites. It is the wildest show I have ever been at Amigos.
Old English 800 was not available in Saskatchewan then and still isn’t. I had brought back a couple cases from Alberta recently and I brought one to get signed. I got it and my LP signed by Tash. I have managed to keep that 40 safe over the years. It has like and inch of sediment in the bottom. The autograph is starting to fade a bit, but it is still one of my favourite autographed items.
In classic Saskatoon fashion some girls convinced the Alkaholiks to come back a few days later and play a show on Sunday night at a night club called Sammy’s Grape Escape which is the wack bar in a strip mall infamously coined by Epic. Unfortunately, I was working graveyards at that time and couldn’t make it to the show.
Closing Ramblings
I have two new shirts up at Stylesmakefights.ca One for my radio Show You Know The Rules designed by the homie Aiden Searle and the other formy dj crew The Stone Cold Party Rockers with the homie Rove designed by the homie Awol One. Also the homies at Audio Recon have some dope new shirts too
I host two weekly radio shows Third Verse on CFCR 90.5 fm in Saskatoon Saskatchewan every Wednesday 9 -10:30pm CST and You Know The Rules on UMFM 101.5 in Winnipeg Manitoba every Sunday Night 10-11pm They are pretty great and you should check em out.
Also i got some cool shirts, poster and hats in the Ugsmag Shop if you want that fly shit.
**legal disclaimer all records and songs were run through the RAP NEST 5000 SUPER ANALYTIC COMPTROLLER MACHINE that is certified by the I.A.A.R.R.A (International Association of Analytical Rap Recordings Analysis) in layman’s terms, it means the machine is never wrong.
Catch you next week with more thoughts from the rap nest.
Peace
-chaps