This week, we check a local mixtape, some more from Scrub Club, and a preview track of the X-Pistols super group from Suburban Noize!
Our best wishes go out to Josh Drespling of Kingdom Extreme Magazine who was in a car accident a week ago. We look forward to him backhanding recovery and joining us again!
As always, please be sure to subscribe to us on itunes! And drop your feedback and music suggestions to music@sorgatronmedia.com!
This week, it’s part two of our time at Track Addict Records Studio! We talk with old friend, and Track Addict labelmate to last week’s guest, Myztery, Paul Hammond. You can find out more about all of the Track Addict action at www.trackaddictrecords.com.
We also have another check in with Josh Drespling of Kingdom Extreme! It’s the debut of his new video segment!
As always, please be sure to subscribe to us on itunes, and our new video streams on itunes blip.tv and Youtube! And drop your feedback and music suggestions to music@sorgatronmedia.com!
I enter this review as a long time fan of hed pe. I recall the thrill of seeing them live on the Jaegermeister tour (alongside the rather disappointing-live Saliva). I was broken in on Broke, which was responsible for a lot of mainstream explosion for the group.
This album marks half of the band’s album career on the independent Suburban Noize Records. I’ve talked from the start about the difference in style from this newfound freedom since they made that move from the major label situation for their first four albums. Truth Rising feels like a perfection of the styles expanded on in the three previous independent albums. My first feel of this album was how listenable and solid it was the whole way through. Partly harkening back to the days of Broke that I still spin to this day. On the bonus CD included with my copy, Skull & Bones, Jered actually discusses about how they didn’t limit their song styles and let the intros happen. Some may not like the expanded intros, like my colleague on Music Funtime, but I enjoy the narrative that hed pe is attempting to put out there. This bonus CD adds to that even more to clarify the message that Jered’s put out there for four albums now, on the internet, and in interviews.
Some of that throwback sound tat surprised me was Lajon Witherspoon of Sevendust on the track “Stand Up”. The elements of punk rock and hip hop are present, almost as if by sections on the album, and not quite as jarring as in past releases to go from track to track.
Altogether, one of the best, solid releases from hed pe since their earlier major label days. This band is further proving the Suburban Noize move was a good one for their longevity.
You can find more on this album in our first “head to head” review between Chachi and myself on Music Funtime Show 25.
This week, we introduce our new “head to head” review concept as Sorg and Chachi talk about hed pe’s “Truth Rising” CD. You can win your own copy in our “Tweet to Win” contest here!
Also, we were invited this week to check out Track Addict Records Studios right here in the Pittsburgh area. There, we had the chance to talk to Myztery of Myzter N Sneek about the new digs, being in the Pittsburgh scene for so long, reaching beyond that, and much more! You can find out more about all of the Track Addict action at www.trackaddictrecords.com.
We also have another check in with Josh Drespling of Kingdom Extreme! Look for this to become a video feature in the near future!
As always, please be sure to subscribe to us on itunes, and our new video streams on itunes blip.tv and Youtube! And drop your feedback and music suggestions to music@sorgatronmedia.com!
Karmageddon – “Game Over” (Feat Kabuto the python and DrtyJrkns) Download it Here!
This week, we talk a bit about the Gathering of the Juggalos, featuring our classic interview with Daddy Long Legs of the infamous Wolfpac and Bloodhound Gang!
According to the recent press going out, Johnny Richter has been working on a solo album since Kottonmouth Kings’ Capitol Records days. Finally, so many years later, we have it in hand and on the shelves.
For those into the Suburban Noize sound, you will be in some familiar territory here. A collection of songs about partying, smoking weed, and enjoying life round out this album, as they do other Kings and Kingspade albums. It’s always to hear these solo albums, as it was with Daddy X, and now, if you go back to pre-KMK Dirtball tracks. You get an idea of what the artist brings to the group when you single them out from the rest of the collaboration. In this case, the party songs seem to be missing something. I don’t know if it’s the selection of beats or production, but the songs seem to missing some intangible layer that I loved the Kingspade albums for. Even so, this solo album isn’t as much of a 180 as Daddy X’s solo venture.
The highlight to me was the lighter tracks, such as “Remember That Summer” and “Nice Cold One”. Nice reminders that these albums aren’t always about rebellion and illegal (or illegalish in California) substances all of the time. While the subject matter of these albums over the years may be loosing their variety, I’m rarely ever disappointed of the quality of the disc as a whole. And while not the best release in the bunch, it’s still a great album to pop in for these hot summer days with a lemonade in hand on the front porch.
It’s another year, and another album from my favorite rap group dedicated to the herb that I can’t touch due to legal reasons. Long Live the Kings brings a bit more than it’s past entries, including a welcome addition.
One thing you could pan Kottonmouth Kings for, was that for a few years, their albums really sort of felt the same. There were new songs, new beats, but a lot of the albums, while good listens, were one in the same in feel. This year, it feels like this album got a new leg in life with the addition of The Dirtball. Dirtball’s an artist that has stuck out for several years on the Suburban Noize label for his more drum beat-based style for three solo albums, and scores of appearances on Subnoize Souljaz and other artist guest spots. His voice and style feels like it brings a more solid voice to the album, and appears like it might have inspired the rest of the core Kings to step up their game overall. It’s fun to see his style over the rip-hop tracks KMK are known for, such as “Rampage”.
It’s interesting how Kottonmouth Kings have sought to stay relevant and fresh in such a long career when other underground groups, like Insane Clown Posse have lost their magic years ago (though still do well to bring on a new, younger audience). Whether it be the more topical concepts, broader themes, or what seems to be a regular flow of new artists on the label collaborating across all albums.
Either way, Kottonmouth Kings “Long Live the Kings” <Affiliate link> is a nice refreshing album for KMK fans and a great jumping on point for people curious about them.
Check out my previous interviews with The Dirtball, Richter, and Daddy X on iTunes and Youtube!
T.O.N.E.Z & Stir Crazy “4 My Homies” Underground Explosion 2 Download the Album Here!
I enter this review as a long time fan of hed pe. I recall the thrill of seeing them live on the Jaegermeister tour (alongside the rather disappointing-live Saliva). I was broken in on Broke, which was responsible for a lot of mainstream explosion for the group.
