Bizarre – “He Got a Gun 4” review

Detroit emcee Bizarre returning for his 8th solo LP & the 4th installment of the He Got a Gun series in time for the Halloween season. Emerging as an original member of the now defunct D12 led by the late Proof, he was also among the first in the crew to put out solo efforts with his 1998 debut EP Attack of the Weirdosbeing a hometown classic in my eyes. Fast forward 7 years later, Biz followed it up with a worthy full-length debut Hannicap Circus & has continued to put out music on his own since, with the last time we heard him being his 11th mixtape 18159 Stout during the first quarter or the year. The Foul Mouth-produced He Got a Gun as well as it’s it’s sequel & the predecessor Art Peace revitalized himself for all the doubters, so them coming off “Antichrist” on Eminem’s latest album THE DƎATH OF SLIM SHADY (COUP DE GRÂCE) with He Got a Gun 4 was definitely the best move.

“Jump Out There” starts by aggressively boasting the fact he’s more hood than everyone else going on a Rampage similarly to Busta Rhymes’ cousin whereas “Grew Up a Savage” works in some kicks, snares & a spacious backdrop talking about growing up in the wilder side of the city. “Rufus” gives off a morbid atmosphere instrumentally detailing his lifestyle while “B.M.T.” hooks up a drumless soul sample to smoke weed & chill out after a stressful day.

Moving on with “1 Way”, we have Foul taking it back towards a boom bap direction advising to watch how you speak to him since he’s a boss leading into “Dear Diary” heads for a personal approach lyrically getting all the shit that he’s been going through since we last heard from him earlier this summer off his chest. “Mother’s House” featuring Lokye has this delicately raw vibe to the beat allowing both of them to daydream, but then “King of Detroit” featuring J-Nutty finds the pair reppin’ their city.

“Rat Bitch” featuring Big Jiggs gets the other half of the LP rollin’ breaking down Bizarre’s preference in women & Jiggs solidly portraying the titular role for her verse while “Let’s Go” marks a return of the Peter S. Bizarre alter ego over these infernal piano chords. “Jeeter” is a whole stoner’s anthem with some playful sampling throughout 130 seconds while “Grim Reaper” featuring Speak of the Devil dustily tells us who the drug dealer & crypt-keeper are in debt to.

Bub Rock & Kain Cole both join Bizarre on “God Speed” luxuriously giving y’all what you need instead of what y’all want reassuring slow motion better than no motion while “Flexin’ on Your Hoes” featuring Bruiser Wolf nears the end of the LP slickly getting in their pimp bags. The outro featuring Marv Won & Max Hilli concludes the latest entry of the He Got a Gun saga in the form of this lethal rap rock song looking to body those who wanna battle them.

This & all 3 of it’s predecessors stylistically are very much reminiscent to the final minute of “Antichrist” so if you loved it when shit got scary during Bizarre’s verse on that track, you’re probably gonna enjoy the entire tetralogy that revitalized the Idiotic Kidd’s passion for the game since all 4 installments maintain the classic level Attack of the Weirdos & Hannicap Circus already achieved. 2 & a half years later, Foul Mouth’s boom bap production & Bizzy’s hardcore lyricism excellently compliment each other as they continue to elevate their chemistry.

Score: 4.5/5

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Pro Dillinger – “Dirtwave” review

Haverstraw, New York emcee Pro Dillinger surprise-releasing his 7th studio LP. A member of the Umbrella collective as well as 1/2 of The Steiner Brothers, he has released a total of 5 mixtapes along with his last 5 albums & even 7 EPs. Favorites include the Finn-produced debut Pray for My Prey, the Machacha-produced Dirt Don’t Hurt, his 3rd EP MOSFoul, the Sting vs. Flair collab EP with Mickey Diamond & the Steiner Brothers’ eponymous debut. Dirty Work celebrated it’s 1-year anniversary earlier this summer & the dirtiest of the Umbrella brought Sean Kelly back to handle production for Reasonable Dirt much like Forever Foul, but is coming off the Don’t Feed the Animal EP by enlisting Futurewave for the highly anticipated Dirtwave.

“Still Here” is this soulful opener with Pro talking about everyone tryna rap out here actin’ weird in addition to there being a difference between men & mice whereas “Summer Smoke” takes the boom bap route instrumentally wantin’ it all & mobbin’ out. “Gun Play” maintains a dusty vibe altogether to talk about being strapped prior to “Magic” hopping over more perfectly crafted boom bap production flexing that he had to throw away his old bitch & not to fuck with him.

Daniel Son appears on “No Loyalty” to angrily call out everyone in the streets who’re disloyal just before “Target Him” featuring Blakkito spaciously makes it clear you ain’t dirt if you ain’t down with the gang. “Flower” gives off a magical boom bap edge showing his love for the Bonnie to his Clyde while “Back Home” by The Steiner Brothers talks about elevating over kicks, snares & a soul sample. “Say So” rightfully asserting Dirtwave’s masterpiece status & “Power Trippin’” ends it by discussing counting differently.

I’ve given Futurewave his props for being one of the greatest underground producers in recent memory plenty of times before & as I had expected, Dirtwave here has now surpassed Pray for My Prey in becoming my favorite body of work in Pro Dillinger’s discography. The production is as perfectly consistent as the previously mentioned debut if not taken to newer heights, I like that they’re only 3 guests & the Haverstraw lyricist himself goes harder than he did on his last 2 offerings.

Score: 4.5/5

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Twisted Insane – “Halfway Gone” review

San Diego, California chopper as well as horrorcore veteran & Brainsick Muzik founder Twisted Insane kicking off the Halloween season by dropping his 17th studio LP. Writing his first rhyme at the age of 12, he would go on to put out 5 mixtapes & a couple full-lengths until he was featured on the Tech N9ne single “Worldwide Choppers”. The Root of All Evil & The Insane Asylum further elevated his status in the underground, maintaining a consistent schedule since dropping 13 more albums in the process. Halfway Gone though was said to be the deepest creation yet & had serious potential of becoming a discography highlight.

The title track has this interesting, guitar-driven trap instrumental throughout assuring that he’s here although half of him feels as if he isn’t whereas “External Wounds” works in a darker riff tone & hi-hats to talk about mental health pleading to get out of his life since he don’t need this shit. “So Far Ahead” maintains a gritty trap vibe boasting the fact that he’s ahead of the curve of everyone else that is until Swisher Sleep joins him on the somber “Memory” crushingly remembers his child who died after someone hit the street in the middle of a drive-by.

Continuing the series of tracks that began on his Hell’s Kitchen mixtape in the form of a 2-parter, “Blackout 4” expressing his desire to experience a sudden & temporary loss in consciousness while the acoustic “Tailspin” sings about being in a state of chaos, panic or loss of control. “Jesus” gets in his chopper bag for 3 & a half minutes speeding up his flows nonchalantly accompanied by some beat switches, but then “Motel 6” showcases more sung vocals detailing him getting drunk at the titular motel chain.

“1 Foot in the Grave” goes for an uncanny trap approach instrumentally talking about not asking him to stay since he’s close to dying anyway just before “Growin’ Up” featuring Fase 1 finds the pair vulnerably giving us a look at what it was like for both of them being raised in the southeast. “Wings” is a crucial highlight sending 1 out for everyone who’s still shrouded in darkness over a guitar/trap crossover leading into “Left Behind” featuring C. Ray talking about the type of people who want to see 2 of the biggest Brainsick artists forgotten.

One of the most personal moments on Halfway Gone would easily be “KJ” telling his son who no longer lives with him to pop him on his line anytime he wants to while “OT-IZ-UM” continues the theme of fatherhood grimly singing about having an autistic child himself. “N.T.S. 2 (Night Time Shit 2)” happens to be an amazing sick world to one of my all-time favorite Twisted Insane songs reiterating that he loves the dark & writes his best music when he’s in it while “Back When” feels like he hit rock bottom with nothing more to gain during the pager days.

“Botched” featuring Kamikazi gets the encore of Halfway Gone rollin’ wanting to know exactly why women nowadays seek validation as much as they do while “Same” featuring C. Ray reunites the 2 talking about still being the exact same muhfuckas they were when they first started out. “1 Trick Pony” sings over a guitar addressing those who say that’s all he’ll ever be when he proved them wrong & “Endgame” perfectly closes the LP searching for the final stage of his life.

In the ongoing series of albums that Twisted Insane’s been working on where they all sound completely different from one another, his 2nd offering of 2024 surpasses the west coast gangsta rap heavy predecessor from this summer Shoot for the Face 2.5 in favor of the deepest & most emotional music he’s ever made period. It’s something that would change the lives of many in their darkest moments since the west coast MC uses his own life experiences to help others cope with the hardships they face.

Score: 4.5/5

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Blood Incantation – “Absolute Elsewhere” review

Blood Incantation is a progressive death metal band from Denver, Colorado consisting of bassist Jeff Barrett, guitarist Morris Kolontyrsky, drummer Isaac Faulk & frontman Paul Riedl. Exploding in 2016 off their full-length debut Starspawn, it wasn’t until the 2019 sophomore effort & one of the best metal albums from the previous decade in my personal opinion Hidden History of the Human Race where I personally started catching onto them musically. It’s been 5 years since the groundbreaking statement was made & they’re finally returning for their 3rd studio LP.

“The Stargate” begins the first half of the LP with this 20 minute progressive death metal epic split in 3 parts additionally pulling from Berlin school, progressive rock & space rock. Part I lyrically discusses all life being suffering that basks in nothingness & after an appearance from Tangerine Dream bandleader Thorsten Quaeschning during the Part I, the 3rd & final installment of the saga talking about finally reaching stellar solitude assuring the circle can be brokеn once more.

“The Message” starts the other with another 20 minute prog death metal roller coaster ride continuing the progressive space rock undertones asking what means to be human during Part I, waking up when the souls start to call your name through Part II & debating whether all of this is for nothing or if your life’s part of something on Part III to round things out.

Absolute Elsewhere is unlike anything you’ve ever heard from Blood Incantation before. At roughly 45 minutes, the 2 compositions that make up this album are as confounding as they are engaging in their scope melding the 70s prog leanings with the deathly intent of Morbid Angel. Taking its’s title from the mid-70’s prog collective best known as a celestial stopover for King Crimson drummer Bill Bruford, the Denver band are leaving the notion of genre behind and writing a new language for extreme music itself.

Score: 4.5/5

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Stretch Money – “The Old Me” review

This is the 12th EP from Detroit, Michigan emcee Detroit, Michigan emcee Stretch Money. Emerging in the fall of 2006 off his full-length debut album Take Money to Make Money, he would go on to put out 3 more LPs with 25 Miles Per Hour as well as Locked In & Lil Daran from da Way Way. His output of EPs consists of The Villain, The Tribute, The Drunken Master, The Real Money, the Upper Echelon: Legend of the Silver Surfa duology, Giant, Eastside Lord & the previously mentioned 1984. Stretch also formed the duo Bill & Isiah with Valid, introducing themselves a year ago on their eponymous debut paying homage to the 80s in the process. Coming off To the West Coast…with Love & the other half of 1984 however, he’s taking it back to The Old Me.

“Big Daran” is this Detroit trap opener talking about fucking up the game for a minute now & calling it lightwork whereas “The Rapper” works in some sinister keys & 808s teaching y’all that you can get it too if you play your role & know your position. “Watch Me Get It” brings an eerie Detroit trap flare instrumentally to talk about these bitches sitting back & observing Stretch’s success continuing while “Blood, Sweat & Tears” atmospherically refuses to wait for his blessings to come. “Sadly Mistaken” maintains the Motor City’s unique take on trap music addressing themes of betrayal & lastly, “Not Them” spaciously ends the EP brushing off being anything like his competition.

To the West Coast…with Love earlier this spring was a short but great homage to the city of Los Angeles & as one would expect on The Old Me, we have Stretch Money taking it back to his roots to the point where I actually found myself enjoying this a lot more than the EP of his I previously covered a little over 5 months ago already. The west coast vibes from April within the production are completely thrown out the window in favor of the upbeat 808 percussion that makes Detroit trap stand out for 15 minutes, taking the opportunity to reflect on his past & mix it with where he’s at today.

Score: 4/5

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The Smile – “Cutouts” review

The Smile is an art rock trio from Oxfordshire, United Kingdom consisting of drummer Tom Skinner, guitarist/bassist Jonny Greenwood & frontman Thom Yorke. Forming in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic & signing to XL Recordings on the spot, they made their debut in the spring of 2022 with the well received A Light for Attracting Attention showing additional influences of post-punk, chamber pop, art pop, math rock, jazz-rock & krautrock. The sophomore effort Wall of Eyes at the beginning of the year primarily based itself around art rock, post-rock krautrock, neo-psychedelia & ambient pop continuing the acclaim & are looking to start the final quarter of 2024 the way they ended the first month of it for their 3rd album.

“Foreign Spies” is this ambient pop/progressive electronic opener with Thom singing about it’s a beautiful world paved with gold & people grabbing kitchen knives every time our backs are turned whereas “Instant Psalm” works in some acoustics & even these orchestral elements towards the backend of it discussing the many forms of emptiness. “0 Sum” draws inspiration from art punk, dance-punk, math rock, krautrock & mutant disco referring to overconfidence as a red flag prior to “Colours Fly” talking about how you can change your mind over art rock instrumentation.

We have The Smile passionately on the verge of completing a transformation beginning all this all over again on “Eyes & Mouth” finishing the first leg of Cutouts just before “Don’t Get Me Started” brings ambient pop, neo-psychedelia, indietronica, dub, progressive electronic & dub techno all together making it clear that your force ain’t shit. “Tiptoe” refers to themselves as baggage with no label over an ambient pop beat leading into “The Slip” blending indie rock, indietronica, post-punk, post-rock, art rock & krautrock referencing climate change, nuclear war, political disillusionment & the impact of world leaders on Earth itself.

“No Words” nears the final moments of the LP singing about joining the dots & coloring in aroad that’s paved with good intentions over a shredding guitar with a somewhat funky vibe to it while “Bodies Laughing” finishes the band’s 3rd consecutive classic unearthing a track dating all the way back to 1995 & almost made the final cut of In Rainbows, which happens to be my 3rd favorite Radiohead album behind OK Computer& Kid A personally fusing art rock with psychedelic folk & bossa nova music.

Created around the same time frame as Wall of Eyes, this is noticeably more challenging than it’s predecessor prioritizing atmosphere over conventional songwriting & it makes for interesting results a lot like just about everything The Smile has done in almost half a decade. They show more versatility than they did back in January staying rooted in their signature art rock sound additionally pulling from jazz-rock, art punk, dance-punk, math rock, mutant disco, ambient pop, dub, progressive electronic, dub techno, indie rock, indietronica, post-punk, post-rock, krautrock, neo-psychedelia, indietronica, dub, progressive electronic & dub techno psychedelic folk & bossa nova.

Score: 4.5/5

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Godspeed You! Black Emperor – “No Title as of 13 February 2024 28,340 Dead” review

Godspeed You! Black Emperor is a highly revered post-rock band from Montréal, Québec, Canada consisting of guitarist/keyboardist Efrim Menuck, bassist Mauro Pezzente, guitarist Mike Moya, bassist Thierry Amar, guitarist David Bryant, drummer/percussionist Aidan Girt, violinist Sophie Trudeau, film projector Karl Lemieux, drummer/percussionist Timothy Herzog & film projector Philippe Léonard. Their debut album F♯A♯∞ & more specifically the sophomore effort Lift Yr. Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven! would become landmarks in experimental rock subgenre, disbanding for a period of time after Yanqui U.X.O. came out. They returned a decade later with ‘Allelujah! Don’t Bend! Ascend! & ‘Asunder, Sweet & Other Distress’ during my high school years followed by Luciferian Towers & G_d’s Pee at State’s End!. 3 years after the latter, GY!BE’s returning for their 8th full-length studio LP.

“Sun Is a Hole Sun Is Vapors” starts us off by taking the post-rock sound that the band is known for & fusing it with chamber music for roughly 5 & a half minutes whereas “Baby’s in a Thundercloud” epically continues to put an emphasis on timbre, texture & atmosphere over traditional conventions while often embracing Western Classical influences further. “Raindrops Cast in Lear” is another excellent chamber/post-rock hybrid to finish the LP’s first half while “Broken Spires at Dead Kapital” could be my least favorite track here although I appreciate the drone-spin on Western Classical music. “Pale Spectator Takes Photographs” primarily builds itself around these stellar, tension-raising guitars & “Grey Rubble – Green Shoots” finishes with an outstandingly melancholic post-rock/chamber music single.

Inspired by the ongoing war between Israel & Hamas that officially began a year ago this upcoming weekend, what the post-rock titans get across during the 6 track/55 minute listening experience is the old world order hardly claimed to care & this new century will be even crueler. Needless to say, it culminates in calling for everyone everyone to hold on & not give up by choosing your side in the conflict naming itself after the amount of people who’ve lost their lives 4 months after it all started since recording began during the winter of bombs. They take everything that made G_d’s Pee at State’s End! enjoyable minus the field recordings & channel their frustrations with Israeli/Palestinian conflict.

Score: 4.5/5

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CunninLynguists – “The Heartstring Theory” review

Lexington, Kentucky underground veterans the CunninLynguists returning 7 years after their 6th studio album Rose Azura Njano to drop a brand new EP of material through Old Soul Music. Consisting of Deacon the Villain as well as Natti & Kno, the trio have had several classics under their belt for over 2 decades including their full-length debut Will Rap for Food or more specifically their 3rd LP A Piece of Strange & the follow-up Dirty Acres. And with L’Orange’s newly formed indie label gradually growing in the past year or so, The Heartstring Theory was certain to be a welcoming debut for the trio.

“Forever” is synth-driven boom bap opener to the EP with the trio Finding Forever similarly to how Common did 17 years back whereas “When Your World Falls Apart” hooks up some jazz rap influences talking about doing what you can do it seems like everything’s starting to crash down on you acknowledging that it isn’t an easy thing got some. “Fading (Clock Struck 5)” starts the 2nd leg of the EP with a groovy instrumental finding them addressing their romantic interests & “Wasted (Cloud 92)” featuring Kelly Moonstone ends on the soulful boom bap tip talking about being really fucked up with their boos.

These guys have maintained a tightly stellar discography in the span of 24 years & even when they take 6-7 years off like they did when you look at the time gap between their last couple projects, they still keep giving great results. Kno’s production other than throwing some synthesizers in the equation to get the gears turning brings together elements of boom bap, jazz rap & soul music tackling themes of romance adding a hint of conscious in too.

Score: 4/5

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DJ Hoppa & Johnny Slash – “Shadows in Sound” review

This is a brand new collaborative LP between Panorama City deejay & producer DJ Hoppa as well as Long Beach, California producer Johnny Slash. One of whom I became a fan of during my high school years after becoming an in-house DJ/producer for Funk Volume during their heyday & the other I first heard of when G-Mo Skee freestyles over a few of his instrumentals at the end of his gaming streams. K.A.A.N. just dropped 2 back-to-back albums produced by Hoppa over the summer Delusions of Grandeur & In Due Time maintaining the acclaim of some of his more recent output, but hearing Hoppa & Slash coming together for Shadows in Sound was interesting as someone who respects both producers’ artistries.

“Damn!” by Kail Problems is this dusty boom bap opener talking about being raised rugged in a city full of broad day muggers whereas “Microdose” by Wrekonize stands as one of my favorite tracks here working in more kicks & snares realizing that he’s definitely high taking more than what was supposed to be a minimal amount. “Lost!” by K.A.A.N. proves to be another highlight keeping it boom bap & the Maryland chopper setting a heinous tone lyrically just before “Funeral Pyre” by Body Bag Ben takes it further down the basement warning that the dysfunctionalists will leave y’all in permanent tourniquets.

The instrumental on “Bullsh!t” by Marley B. kinda radiates this funky boom bap vibe to it airing out all the cap that comes his way leading into “Smoke 1st” by Coast LaContro having a bit of a jazz rap influence so Coast can provide a banger for all the smoker’s out there. “Aim” by Cole Z hooks the kicks & snares up once again cautioning that he’s got the guns blazing when he’s out here working, but then the gorgeous sampling throughout “Can’t Save Me” by Rollen Poole finds him talking about them saying he’s out his mind.

“Protect the Innocent” by Seuss Mace nears the conclusion of Shadows in Sound by layering this synth/boom bap hybrid with conscious lyricism pleading for a safer tomorrow for our children to start today & the grisly “Code Red” by Big Renz properly closes out what is set to be a promising series of collaboration efforts from DJ Hoppa & Johnny Slash coming back to work after going rogue for a month as if he never had to leave in the first place.

If you highly enjoy what both of these guys have to offer behind the boards killing it for quite some time individually as west coast bred boom bap producers & they come together for a pretty solid collaborative effort. Their production over the course of 27 minutes is absolutely flawless with the guests ranging from established veterans like Wrekonize & K.A.A.N. to up-&-comers like Seuss Mace or Broken Complex Records signees Kail Problems & Marley B., both of whom dropped a collab EP earlier this summer.

Score: 3.5/5

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Daniel Son – “Hare Brained Schemes” review

Here we have the 8th proper full-length solo LP from Toronto, Ontario, Canada emcee Daniel Son. A member of the Brown Bag Money collective, his profile began to rapidly increase in the underground off projects like the Giallo Point-produced debut mixtape The Gunners or the Futurewave-produced sophomore album Yenaldooshi. He just teamed up with Raz Fresco this spring for the spectacular collab album Northside paying homage to the roots of the Toronto hip hop scene & a few months after reuniting with Futurewave for the first time since Son Tzu & the Wav.God on Bushman Bodega over the summer, he & Finn are linking up for Hare Brained Schemes.

“Femoral” is this grungy boom bap opener talking about turning flesh into ice since he’s so cold & people wasting time like they have extra lives whereas “Missing Teeth” gives off a jazzier approach instrumentally applying pressure on everyone’s necks with their feet for deep pockets. “Capital Gains” featuring Pro Dillinger maintains a jazzy boom bap flare cautioning to recognize before they reck their lives, but then “Dance of the Drunken Mantis” briefly expresses his desire to be a Bush Doctor Millionaire.

As for “Clicqout Fountains”, we have Daniel hopping over a soulful beat boasting at the main pot to piss in was shitting on the competition leading into “Courtleigh Chemist” regularly talking about not changing shit if he were to do it all over again. “Chalk Brothers” featuring Lord Juco mixes the exuberant with the raw bodying shit together while “Iron Leash” featuring Family Gang Black finds the 2 grittily translating their pain into passion now that their music rocking overseas.

“Talon Claw” starts the final leg of the LP talking about cooking as if he was a French chef in the ‘60s while “Call Me” drumlessly reaffirms that he’ll go down as a legend when it’s all said & done saying it’s the dope everyone needs. “Sharing Needles” featuring Mooch returns to the boom bap catching the big sharks since neither one of them want to meet their demise struggling & “Fall Breeze” closes Hare Brained Schemes in the form of a dedication of those who have to stay home on the weekends because they can’t afford a sitter.

Dirty Dishes has always stood out to me as one of my favorite Daniel Son projects much like everything he & Futurewave have done with one another in the past, so that was more than enough to have me anticipating the follow up here & they sure as Hell delivered. Finn’s production here is some of the best that I’ve heard from him in a while, the features all match Daniel’s energy & the BBM standout himself lyrically keeps the same energy from the other 2 acclaimed projects I’ve covered from him this year.

Score: 4.5/5

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