[ aquarius records

IMPORTANT (Please read to avoid confusion): Some items below may be tagged with a bold, red, all-caps OUT OF PRINT/UNAVAILABLE notice. This does NOT mean that all other items not so tagged are, in fact, in stock — or for that matter, in print and available, though there's a good chance they are. Some folks get confused on this point, and we can see why, so please read this for further clarification and other important before-you-order information. Unlike some mailorder websites, we don't have an electronic inventory system linked to our site, so you can't be sure of what we actually have or don't have in stock at any given moment without asking us — please email our mailorder department for availability status — or better yet, just go ahead and place your order using our shopping cart function and we'll get back to you with the status of each item. If you have general non-mailorder questions, email the store.

Showing results 401 through 450 of 1265.

Great cover art depicting the earth after an impact with an asteroid that leaves a GZA-logo shaped crater. A pretty darn good disc for those who need their Wu-fix.

Here we have Dan the Automator (of Dr. Octagon fame) and Prince Paul (of De La Soul fame) hamming it up, as the proprietors of a fictional modeling school, wearing tuxedos, hanging with models, smoking cigars, riding in limos, and living the life. Dan assures us that it's all a big joke. But we're not so sure. One thing is for sure though, this record is no joke (except, of course, for the occasional skit, and the samples from Chris Eliott's 'Get a Life' sitcom, which is where the HBMS name came from). Awesome production, sick beats and a pretty amazing set of guests: Del, Cibo Matto, Mike D, Grand Puba, Sadat X, DJ Shadow, DJ Quest, Sean Lennon, Money Mark, Alec Empire, Kid Koala, Sensational, Paula Frazer (Tarnation), Josh Hayden (Spain) and more.

Handsome Boy Modelling School (aka Prince Paul and Dan the Automator) again offer up quite a cast on White People, their second album. De La Soul, Chester Bennington, Mike Patton, RZA, Mars Volta, Dres (Black Sheep), Alex Kapranos (Franz Ferdinand), Cat Power, Julee Cruise, Pharrell Williams, John Oates(!) and others contribute in unpredictable ways throughout the album. You'll even hear a testimonial by Father Guido Sarducci! Due to the light-hearted and jokey nature of much of this album, any lyrics about real issues are a bit hard to swallow with any legitimacy, but hey, who's counting. Let's PARTY!!!!!!!!! The songs involve a pop-music quality but only by way of its servitude to hip-hop. And of course, the production is as exemplary as would be expected by this duo. Released in conjunction to an amazing instrumental version of the album.

MPEG stream: If It Wasn't For You
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Personally, I think, on a very consistent level, the instrumental versions of most hip-hop records are absolutely amazing. In some cases, superceding the original tracks. Being the influential producers they are, Prince Paul and Dan the Automator (aka Handsome Boy Modelling School) have rightfully released an instrumental album version of their second full-lenth, White People. It rules. And it rules hard. Handsome's production shines here without the jokiness of the album's lyrics. I kind of even prefer these instrumentals over their music-celeb and lyric-driven counterparts but, hey, that's just me. Anyway, both versions of White People are totally great. So, the choice is yours!!

MPEG stream: If It Wasn't For You (Instrumental)
MPEG stream: Are You Down With It (Instrumental)

Purported to sound like Timbaland, Har Mar Superstar instead seems like the bastard son of Jamiroquai. His claim to fame is that he is the brother of Sean Na Na and might have an album on Kill Rock Stars in the near future.

Besides being killer (of course), this new tape from Ormalycka has the distinction of being one of the few releases on the label that we could find anything out about online. These Virginia hardcore crushers deliver a demo that's frantic and furious, old school hardcore heaviness, equal parts early eighties UK punk and classic Boston HC, bellowed vox, buzzing riffage, caveman drumming, frenzied punk rock intensity that slips into lurching lumbering doominess, and brooding knuckle dragging swagger here and there. Short sharp bursts of aggro punk fury, tempered by some bass driven dirgery, and some downright poppiness in places. Fans of SS Decontrol, Black Flag, and old school classic hardcore will dig big time...

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Scotty Hard (producer of New Kingdom, De La Soul, Wu Tang, Ice, etc.) makes his solo debut. Brutal, damaged, slo-mo, dubbed-out hip hop that sometimes ventures into druggy spacerock territory! With cameos from Sensational, Mr Dead and a bunch of other messed up rappers. Another totally superior WordSound release. We love this.

You can never have too much Hawd Gangstuh Rappuhs MC's (Wid Ghatz). And god knows we're trying! Full length number two, in less than a year, and it's everything you've come to love from these East Coast miscreants. Bad drum programming, stupid lyrics, bad

RealAudio clip: The Bong (Get In the)
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Oh yeah! Finally, a full length from the best worst rap group EVER. God Albino, Duke Crapmore and Flybot Van Damn are three skinny white guys who absolutely destroy on the mic. Fuck Paul Barman and his wacky 'college guy' shtick, this is the shit. Stupid and funky and juvenile and offensive and so so funny. HGRMWG are like the Geto Boys, if the Geto Boys were immature, whiny, skinny white art-school drop outs. We've been following these guys for a while -- they've contributed standout tracks to all three of the WordSound comps as well as cameos on the Spectre records. Primitive loops, lo-fi recording, ridiculous fake voices, and lots and lots of skits! And ANYONE who bought a Steven Schultz record off the last list, HAS to buy this. In fact, I'm just gonna go through the files and send out copies to those people. You know who you are...

The history of rap will forever change with Guy Albino, Dook Crapmore, and Flybot Van Damn, a trio that is easily the most retarded hip hop outfit ever to grace the earth. Self deprecating, bombastic lyrics proclaim themselves as the mythical 'Sucker MCs' ridiculed throughout hip hop since the beginning of time, while shouting about being stupid white kids high on crack... loaded with scatalogical rhetoric that we really want Snoop Dogg to utter, through an exemplary rhythmic if wholly caucasian delivery... the ultimate transmutation of African-American culture into a suburban nightmare via Phoenix, Arizona. Absolute. So highly recommended by Andee...

Latest blast of hip hop madness from local crew Helium 3 (responsible in the past for Pancake Circus, Yoko Solo, Thug Emporium etc.) and their shit just keeps getting better. The beats are simple and solid, but the loops and samples are just tweaked enough to keep things interesting. The rappers spit rhymes that fall somewhere between the nasal whine of Cypress Hill's B-Real and the lazy laconic drawl of 50 Cent. Lyrically the flow is fleet and fast and a bit absurd which definitely reminds us of those Anticon / Mush folks. A teaser for their forthcoming full length. Can't wait!

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I'm a fan of the Herbaliser, the Ninjatune duo whose mix of hip hop, trip hop and noir-ish beats is consistently really clever, listenable, and pretty much mistake-free. This new full length is really worth a listen. The record begins with a deep,

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Light and funky hip hop from Reflection Eternal producer Hi Tek. You might remeber the Taleb Kweli /Hi Tek record from a while back. Well, the sound is similar, but this time around he's got a bunch of guests on board: Common, Taleb Kweli, Mos Def, Jonell, Buckshot, Slum Village and more.

Featuring guests Common, Vinia Mojica, Talib Kweli and DCQ. Four versions of "The Sun God" and three of "Get Back Pt. 2".

East Bay's Del tha Funkee Homosapien and crew return with some alternative hiphop.

Another fine taste of the future from Black Hoodz, a subsidiary of Wordsound. This is 6 tracks of the roughest, meanest, lo-fi-est hip hop from the wrong side of the Brooklyn Bridge. Fuzzed out and dirty. Awesome, if you can handle it (and not everyone can). For fans of Spectre, Sensational and the Wordsound label in general.

The rumors are flying. Well, at least on all the underground hip-hop blogs they are. Who is Clutchy Hopkins? Could he really be this Ted Kaczynski type hermit living in a cave somewhere out in the Mojave Desert but who perhaps sometime in the '80s recorded these recently discovered and amazing instrumental funk-jazz tracks? And then came out of hiding briefly to put a new record out on Ubiquity only to then disappear once more? Seems doubtful. Details are shady at best. No one has really seen him, except for some less than trustworthy sources. There are only some old photographs of him looking like some serious Moondog cave hippie, like if Gnarls Barkley was an actual person maybe. It's an interesting back story which adds an exciting twist to the origins of these killer tracks, but would they be less killer if the rumors going around were true that maybe this is in fact an alias band project for either Money Mark, Madlib, Cut Chemist, or DJ Shadow? (Our guess? Kid Loco. Seems like he's been in a cave for awhile.) It shouldn't matter, because this shit is good. And who wouldn't rather believe we live in a world where cave-dwelling hermits could make such awesome grooves. Originally released in 2005, it has 12 untitled tracks ranging from flute groovers, and spy chases to strange percussive interludes. We will review the Ubiquity release on a later list, as this one here we like a bit better and want to make it available to you before it, like Clutchy, disappears into the ether.

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The funky desert cave nomad is back again! And apparently he's been listening to a lot of Augustus Pablo and Jackie Mittoo too, because Music Is My Medicine is inflected with all kinds of dub and reggae vibes. Echoey bass, melodica, flutes and sunny rhythms, but not in a heavy-handed way that would interrupt the natural flow of Hopkins soul jazz style. Obviously music is not Clutchy Hopkins' only medicine. This is a stone groove!

MPEG stream: The Old Spot
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THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

SORRY. A dark, illbient hip-hop with beats laden with sludge from the minds of Kevin Martin (God & Techno Animal & Bug), Justin Broadrick (Godflesh & Techno Animal), Dave Cochrane (God) and Lou Ciccotelli (God). A sort-of supergroup of angry white guys. Blixa of Neubauten adds desperate-for-air raspy vocals, DJ Vadim (also from Bug) does something on wax too ill to be called scratching, and Sensational's rap is from the other end of the sewer. For fans of Spectre and the other WordSound artists. This is a serious departure from previous Ice records. How something this "ill" ended up on Reprise, and why something this WordSound isn't on WordSound, is a mystery to us.

What needs to be said? Everything Ice Cube touches turns to gold (or platinum). He makes gangsta rap sound not-so-tired, and even makes shit movies somewhat enjoyable to watch (Anaconda? Ghosts Of Mars?). But it's all about the voice, and the songs and no one

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RealAudio clip: $100 Dollar Bill Y'All

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The second disc in Ice Cube's loftily titled "War & Peace" two volume opus, this could also be known as the 'party' disc of the two. I know that sounds like a bad thing, but man does this record kick ass. Cube's production has come a long way since the NWA days, sounding a lot more like Dr. Dre today (in fact, track one, 'Hello' is a Dre/Cube collaboration that sounds as good as anything on the recent Dre record). Still mean as shit, but with wickedly catchy hooks, the "Peace" disc is chock full of amazing stuff besides the ubiquitous radio staple 'You Can Do It' (everybody sing along: 'I can do it, put your ass in to it'), in fact, it's probably some of the best Cube since "Amerikkka's Most Wanted": 'You Ain't Gotta Lie (Ta Kick It), with some funny (for once) guest vocals from Chris Rock, 'The Gutter Shit', absolutely slammin; in fact with the exception of the Bone Thugs ballad collaboration, this whole record is all huge sick beats, Cube's intense in your face delivery, and way funny lyrics (I mean, when did you ever think you'd hear Ice Cube rap about Pokemon?) If you haven't seen Cube's hilarious Friday films, rent 'em. If you have, expect this disc to be the the aural equivalent (what Friday and Next Friday were to Boyz In The Hood, "Peace" is to NWA and "Amerikkka's Most Wanted").

RealAudio clip: You Can Do It
RealAudio clip: Hello

The death of his older brother J Dilla, had a huge impact on Illa J. In fact it was what made him grab a mic and become a hip-hop artist. After J Dilla's sad passing, his little brother dropped out of college and began a mission to continue his brother's musical legacy. While J Dilla was all about production and beats, Illa J was attracted to the microphone and had his heart set on becoming an MC. Smartly he went right to the source and used some of his brother's unused early productions as the musical bed over which he raps and sings. At its best this is some melty smooth and satisfying hip-hop, but there are some serious misfires as well. While we still think Illa J has yet to totally find his voice there is still plenty of promise to be found here.

MPEG stream: Timeless
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Imperator is a Los Angeles (via New York) underground hip hop specialist and freestyle lyricist blending East and West Coast styles of abstract often jazzy hip hop. Tons of guests appear from members of Jurassic Five, Freestyle Fellowship, Cipher 7, and Project Blowed.

Mike Ladd and company (including turntablist Mr. Len and members of Company Flow and Anti Pop Consortium) combine surrealist lyrics and deft delivery with stripped down, bass-heavy sampled loops. This is the unpredictable and fresh future of hip hop, from a guy who drops names like the Bomb Squad, Cat Power, and Bad Brains in the same breath. Give it a try. The album starts slow and then just gets better and better.

You know how we love fucked records. The more fucked the better. Well, my friends, this may be the most fucked up hip hop record ever. Infinite Livez is a UK rapper who is equal parts Ol' Dirty Bastard, De La Soul, Outkast and Ali G. The cover is all space invaders with lipstick and cigars, cyclopian teddy bear hand puppets, with Infinite's sneering mug superimposed in the corner. And the sounds inside are just as bizarre. Funky big beats, with farting synths, damaged loops, all sorts of random sounds: rain, sheep, crickets, monkeys, and everything else under the sun. And then there's the ridiculous stuff that comes out of the mouth of Mr. Infinite Livez, a mumbling barely coherent stream of conciousness rapping, in a thick Cockney drawl, at least when he's not going off is a helium soaked alien chipmunk squeak or wailing like a more damaged Biz Markee, expounding on masturbation, lactating men, space invaders, white wee wee's, cock 'n' roll and all sorts of other random silliness. Someone else described this as Three Feet High And Rising on really really bad acid, and that ain't at all far from the truth.

MPEG stream: They R Comin / Worcestershire Sauce
MPEG stream: The Adventures Of The Lactating Man

Over the course of three solid albums, the Bay Area's Unagi has blended traditional hip hop with the smooothest love-you-down r&b and soul. On his latest release, he's joined by Memphis based MC Infinito 2017. Combined, their sound is super loose and laidback (especially on the mildly chaotic track "On Air Takeover"), but exceedingly 'up' vibe-y. Seven tracks addin' up to 17 minutes of good times!

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THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

SORRY. We've sold many many copies of the first in this series (which, confusingly, was actually titled Vol. 5) and here's the next installment. 19 tracks of "an orchestrated turntablist session featuring DJs Shiggar Fraggar, Disk, Q-Bert, Shortkut, and Flare, recorded live, January 16th, 1996 with host Billy Jam at Hip Hop Slam, Oakland, CA as part of the 100 Pirate Fuckin Radio series between 1994 and 1999.

THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

SORRY.

THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

SORRY. From the back cover... "In Annual 2, grab your popcorn & seats because 'Sneak Attack' - the 1st ANIMATED SKRATCH MUSIC VIDEO [QBert's Wave Twisters] and one of many chapters to complete the Wave Twisters movie is installed in this video for your viewing enjoyment. Learn how to perform test tones with DJ World Champion 8-Ball. Sneak inside another World Champion skratch practice session with Vinroc, Craze, Develope, and Babu. Tips and Secrets from DJ Swamp, Lamb Chop, and Butchwax! A frightening Halloween! Magic tricks! Cage dancing! The heckling Masked Skratcher! Mardi Gras! A shark attack! Skratchy Seal tours the NAMM show! Toenail Man! Beautiful women! Unbelieveable performances by QBert, Revolution and the Scratch Perverts! All this and much more from the No. 1 DJ video series in the world, TURNTABLE TV!!!"

THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

SORRY. Three interesting pieces composed by Teiji Ito, most notably his score for Maya Deren's seminal avant garde film "Meshes of the Afternoon", made in 1943 as a silent film and only graced with sound in 1959 after Deren had met Ito (they later married). I first saw the film ten years ago in school and everyone wanted the music -- thank goodness someone finally put out the soundtrack! Using flute, guitar, cello, Japanese mouth organ, koto, bells, drums, wooden xylophone, didjeridu, Indonesian bronze metallophone, shakers, kazoos, and duck calls, Ito conjures up an extremely evocative sonic world. Also contains his soundtrack to Deren's "The Very Eye of Night" and a theater work called "Savages". None of that trendy soundtrack-to-a-film-that-doesn't-exist-because-I-don't-know-how-to-write-real-songs bullshit here -- this is the real thing: soundtrack music that stands ably on its own.

With all the posthumous releases (and their questionable quality control) of the late rap producer still in the works, it's nice to know someone's keeping tabs on all the amazing production work he did for other artists while he was still alive. Covering the last ten years of his life, 1995-2006, plenty of the cream of hiphop acts are represented here, including killer cuts by The Roots, Slum Village, Pharcyde, De LA Soul, Busta Rhymes, Frank N Dank and Common. But for us the best examples of his production are evident in the R&B tracks by Erykah Badu, Amp Fiddler and Steve Spacek. The soft echo-y sheen on these warped beats just makes us ache for more. Like a hiphop Arthur Russell, we're pretty sure there is more Dilla just waiting to be discovered and unearthed.

MPEG stream: Didn't Cha Know
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It has taken us awhile to list this, because we've had some difficulty getting it in (for those that don't know Jay Dee recently passed away, and you know when that happens, everyone suddenly wants to hear what the fuss was all about, so the records have been sold out everywhere). Finally we have enough to list, and here is what we say about it: Man, we're suckers for a good sample inventively used, and this one keeps 'em coming! Chock full of soulful vocal snippets, sloppy edits and stony melodic breaks. This is like a worn mix-tape of short buttery sonic collages culled from the cream of bad thrift store records: trashy R&B, mid-70s jazz, and easy listening, and peppered with more pedigreed takes from the likes of the Three Degrees, Esther Philips and Raymond Scott. The beauty of Jay Dee's production is the unconventional way he pulls the sounds together, exposing instead of polishing the rough edits and scratchy recordings. Delicious and catchy, these "donuts" will keep you humming all day long. This sublime record of hip hop instrumentals is made sadder by Jay Dee's recent untimely death at the age of 32. For DJ's, fans of Jay Dee and Stones Throw records, purchasing this is a no-brainer: It's essential! For those of you who may not know the mad production skills of J Dilla, there is no better introduction than this. Totally Recommended!

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Ruff Draft is a deluxe 2-disc reissue of a 2002 self-released EP that captured a sea change in the late MC/producer's career. Having had two major works shelved by his embattled label MCA, and with his regular group, Slum Village, on extended hiatus, JayDee formed his own record label, changed his moniker to J Dilla and 10 years into a career as an MC and top producer for major labels went completely DIY. Attempting to get back to a direct, from-the-street feel, he made all the tracks "straight from the mother-fucking cassette" and brought back into play his favorite childhood pastime of making laborious looping tape edits from samples culled from his enviable record collection and multi-tracking the loops together and rapping over them. But it's in his choices of loops and edits that make him unique. Serpentine piano flourishes, backwards psych guitar, sci-fi keyboard crescendos, snippets of phrases, all glossed with reverb and stoner beats guaranteed to hook even the most casual of listeners. It's this alchemically charged attention to sound building that would lead to Donuts, his finest work to date. Since the original Ruff Draft was a limited vinyl only release that was little heard outside Detroit, it's nice to see it get the full deluxe treatment, even if the extent of the material is a bit slight (each disc is under 30 minutes). The first disc is the original 8-song EP with 2 bonus tracks, one of which is "Wild" featuring a kid hilariously singing Slade's "Cum On Feel The Noize". The second disc is the instrumental versions, which is a smart move to affordably package these together instead of releasing them separately. Those unfamiliar with Dilla's MC style, it's true he's a stronger producer, but to his credit, his style does not detract from any of the cuts (although we could've used less "Ruff Draft y'all's") and there are tracks here that work better on the vocal versions such as "Nothing Like This" featured recently on the Stones Throw's Chrome Children compilation, and "The $", whose loop is almost too brash and sketchy to enjoy on its own. As for the instrumental versions, it's nice to hear the closing loop of "Shouts" which makes us think of a hip-hop Steve Reich or Terry Riley's early tape loop repetitions. We could seriously listen to this track for hours uninterrupted and be totally happy. While posthumously credited as Dilla's lost masterpiece, it's more of an exciting document of a defining moment that might appeal more to folks already in love with his later production style than to new converts unfamiliar with his history. But definitely a worthwhile and satisfying listen!

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We have the feeling that even though Jay Dee is gone from this world that we will continue to see new releases of his work. Sort of like a hip-hop Arthur Russell, or a hip hop... umm... Tupac? Anyway, the man was a mad alchemist, constantly working and experimenting. We predict that even earlier records he produced such as A Tribe Called Quest's Beats Rhymes, and Life and De La Soul's Stakes Is High -maligned when they were originally released- will soon be greatly reconsidered in the context of Dilla's finally much-respected legacy. And that's a good thing, because we'd hate to think that The Shining would be viewed as Jay Dee's crowning achievement. Working on this at the time of his death, his friend Karriem Riggins stepped in to finish the job, and while there is some great production work, it feels like more of a tribute record than a proper album. A number of A-list rappers including Common, Busta Rhymes and Guilty Simpson guest on most of the tracks too. While we like this less than we liked Dilla's previous effort, Donuts, (largely because it was instrumental) we think fans of Jay Dee will find much to love on The Shining.

MPEG stream: Baby (Featuring Madlib & Guilty Simpson)
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Now this is how J Dilla's final project was meant to be heard! Ok, maybe that's not true, but around here some of us are just not big fans of guest rappers clogging some kick ass production with a bunch of rhymes. That may seem strange, but as they (we?) say, the proof is in the beat. Every time we play these instrumentals, customers are always coming up to us to see what's playing, which wasn't necessarily true of the rap version. Maybe we just got so hooked on Donuts that we never wanted to hear ANYTHING other than over Dilla's perfect productions ever again. Is that so wrong?

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I've been fretting over what to say about this not-so-newly released record, so let's keep it simple. This is a straight-up, totally solid album of unassuming but great hip-hop, classic style. Long delayed in official release and boasting production from DJ Premier, Pete Rock, and Prince Paul, this one comes highly recommended.

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[ aquarius records — Hiphop ]