The Free Design Redesigned The Remix EP Vol. 1 (Light in the Attic, 2004)

stencil love from Light In The Attic

Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five – "The Message" (Sugar Hill, 1982)

When my parents had parties they would put this record on and have me and my sister come entertain guests by singing along. It wouldn't be until years later that I fully understood the lyrics to The Message and see just how funny it was to have little toddlers singing along to it. "Rats in the front room, roaches in the back, Junkie's in the alley with a baseball bat" ha ha ha!!!

Young MC - "Bust a Move" (Delicious Vinyl, 1989)

ok smarty, go to a party

Beat Master Records / Vision Records (1989)

There's a lot to like about this label, starting right off with the baby blue (I've read that the labels on the first pressings were light green) and the slightly off-kilter print job. The true beaut though is the logo for the Beat Master Records label itself, which looks like it only released this jam and one other Clay D 12-incher, "Give Me Head." I like how the logo uses three different fonts: 1) the pseudo hand written style for "BEAT," 2) the big blocks of "MASTER," and 3) the straight-ahead sans serif for "RECORDS." The line drawings of what look to be a variation on dueling Akai MPCs go for the win every time. It's a bit curious to me that the label went with MPC samplers given that Florida bass music is often associated with the Roland TR-808 drum machine, which looks quite a bit different.

I'm always on the hunt for Miami Bass-related records, which probably has a lot to do with the fact that the first music video I ever saw was for 2 Live Crew's "Pop That Coochie." After a typical middle school day of getting yelled at by 8th-graders for wearing a bicycle helmet (a couple of enlightened dipshits liked to serenade me with the "Wong Fong the Helmet Mon" moniker), avoiding a "troubled" white dude who always tried to slam kids' fingers in gym lockers, and aimlessly daydreaming through Miss Bliss's science class about maybe sorta kinda trying to "go out" with a girl who played the saxophone and wore combat boots with short shorts, I'd kick back and relax at home by microwaving up some of that awful Velveeta cheese for nachos and plopping down to watch Star Trek: The Next Generation. One fateful afternoon I decided to manually flip through the channels and my life was never the same after I stumbled on The Box. It probably didn't help that immediately after pulling my eyeballs off the ceiling from observing the antics of Luke, Mr. Mixx and Fresh Kid Ice, I was then treated to the trip that is the Geto Boys doing "Mind Playing Tricks on Me." Up until that moment, hip-hop in my mind had really only consisted of Herbie Hancock's "Rockit" and this one girl back in Oklahoma that had a Public Enemy t-shirt. But aw man homey, seeing Bushwick punching his hands bloody on the concrete and ladies shaking it all over in Miami was a real instance of education as to what else was out there.

Mo' Wax (1998)

When it comes to the record game I try to live with few regrets. It could easily get way depressing mourning all those joints passed over at the thrift store only to realize what they were later, getting to crates at shows a second too late and seeing dudes pull heavyweight shit, and the countless eBay auctions lost at the last minute. Right now I can only think of three moments that still bug me: almost hooking up the Sun Ra Batman novelty record at a flea market, spending way too much for a Solaris OST that turned out to be an '80s reissue (awesome cover though), and not buying OG pressings of the major DJ Krush Mo'Wax releases in one fell swoop during my froshmen year of college.

In terms of hip-hop shit, 1998 was still a real good year for me, Doomsday, Aquemini, Book of Human Language, countless promo singles from Slip N Slide. But Mo' Wax records were still where it was at as "trip-hop" hadn't quite become a dirty word yet. I will never forget pawing over still sealed import copies of Meiso, Milight and Holonic 'The Self Megamix' at my local record store. The prices of course were way too much for my non-job-having student self. I think I bought the OG Doomsday instead, which in the long run wasn't a bad move. After I got home I decided I was going to save up some loot to get the Krush LPs, but like an idiot didn't think to call and have them held for me. Two weeks later and a couple chicken sandwiches and required books lighter I returned to no avail -- they were long gone.

Twelve years later, I found myself in another record store in the same town. Lo and behold there was a copy of Holonic, and, even better than scoring the other Krushes, copies of both the Headz 2A and 2B boxsets. I can understand the argument that the music and the whole vibe that came with it hasn't aged very well, but I guess I'm still like fuck that this was my shit. Krush beats are still my music for long drives at night and Ben Drury's layouts of the Futura 2000 installation are still unbeatable. Mo' Wax please.

Counterflow (2001)

Check out this cybernetic dolphin!

This is the 12" single from the Secret Frequency Crew's 2001 record Underwater Adventure Hop Secret Treasure. The album art and design are great: illustrations of this crazy underwater civilization with an army of cybernetic dolphins like this one and futuristic subs and stuff. The music is even better. Instrumental hip-hop with weird sound effects, a watery vibe and crisp production. It's one of those albums that when I'm in the mood to hear it, it's the only thing that will do the trick. Mysterious, shimmery, cinematic, great beats; hard to top it. The followup album to this, Forest of Echo Downs, is also pretty good, but in my book it's this one that's a classic. The 12" also has an Anti-Pop Consortium mix on it for good measure.

The Perfect Beats

A gift from my friend Dave during my high school hiphop phase. I put this on when I'm cleaning up the apartment. 

Grand Royal (1999)

Must start this holiday weekend off right. That, of course, means Biz Markie doing Elton John's classic, sandwiched by a tiny aperitif and little after-mint. Lovers of classic music and lovers of karaoke will all find a way to lose themselves when this spins. So close to perfection. Except he is not so clear on all the lyrics. What he loses in detail he more than makes up for in emphasis. In fact, I wonder if Markie is a bit of a clothes horse, given the enthusiasm and gusto he throws behind: "She's got electric boots / a mohair suit / You know I read it in a magazine."

This flex-disc came as an insert to Issue #2 of the short-lived Grand Royal magazine. The entire issue is a classic: an abusive interview with Ted Nugent, long winding article on Lee "Scratch" Perry, and Thurston Moore's free jazz top ten. But it's Biz that takes the cake, the cupcake, the cookie and any other sweet you've got laying around, including those mangy M & M's lodged under the couch cushions.

Dream Team (1988)

'Dream Team' is my favorite record label name ever. And this little logo, is it supposed to represent a basketball? It must. This is also the only record I have with both a 'superside' and a 'sonicside.'

Big Dada (2004)

So maybe I was misleading with my last post. Occasionally digging can payoff with the ladies. Take the case of Wesley "Diplo" Pentz. We both worked at a college radio station in Florida back in '98. One early a.m. I arrived at the studio to find a kinda crazy white dude with the worst-looking starter dreadlocks ever filling in for the death metal show before me. Not only did Wes have seriously deep crates (non-metal related), but he had two gals with him that looked vaguely hippie-ish and hip-hop at the same time, which I was like "aww damn" about.

Since then, guy done did and is doing big things. I still check for his work, but honestly, the Florida LP is my shit. This joint captures so much about the sunshine state: growing up listening to crickets, 808 drum programming, psych samples, marching bands, fast rapping and girls yelling in languages I can't understand.

My guess is there's probably a religious theme park in Florida with dioramas depicting dinosaurs and humans coexisting, but they can't hold a candle to the wind of these Frank Franzetta-esque black and white drawings of dinos and honey babies maxing in a prehistoric swamp on these labels. Did I mention that one of these lovelies also has a gun? Oopski! I just reverted back to being a 10-year-old, comic-book-reading Chinese kid.