Mike Patton - Adult Themes for Voice (CD, 1996)

When a friend of mine told me that he had just picked up a Mike Patton solo album (this was probably around 1997), I was excited. Very excited. My pals and I were all intense Patton devotees, and while the idea of him releasing an album on his own had certainly occurred to us, we never thought we'd see it happen. But it did.

And I've owned it for over ten years and I've probably listened to it all the way through twice.

While the idea of Patton taking a four-track recorder with him on tour and recording weird vocal noises on it in different hotel rooms is intriguing, and the final products is indeed interesting, it's not something you're going to listen to very often. Or really at all, unless you're trying to get people to leave a party. I think I may have done that once.

Attempting to explain what this sounds like is impossible, so I won't bother with that. This is just one of those CDs that I like to have on my shelf. I'll probably keep it forever. If nothing else, the song titles are amusing: "I Killed Him Like a Dog...And He Still Laughed," "Hurry Up and Kill Me...I'm Cold," and "A Smile, A Slap In The Face, A Fart, A Kiss On The Mouth" are among my favorites.

"Pajama Party Horror"

Park-Like Setting - School Day 2, Garbage Day 4 (CD, 2000)

Man, it's been a decade since this album dropped? Craziness.

Park-Like Setting is one of the earlier offshoot groups from mcenroe's Peanuts & Corn label, and in their first incarnation it featured mcenroe, John Smith, and DJ Hunnicutt. My brother discovered mcenroe through his Ethics EP, when it showed up used at the record store he worked at. He liked it, and soon, he was a fan of everything the P&C label released. It took me a little while, but I eventually got into their music, too.

This album was one of the first ones I really attempted to wrap my head around, and it was a great place to start. It's framed a concept record, and while it loosely is, there's no need to get wrapped up in that aspect of it. (Though the song titles make it a little bit difficult not to.) This is simply some great turn-of-the-century indie Canadian hip hop, and though all the members of the group have progressed greatly in their skills since this point, it's still dope as all get out. A young John Smith ready to take over the world; mcenroe trying his best to make sure the drums hit as hard as possible (those snares are rugged); DJ Hunnicutt sampling shit that nicely reflects his solid taste in hip hop: there's no reason not to like this.

My brother made me a tape of this when he had it, but I always felt guilty about not buying my own. This is as indie as hip hop gets, and I know how that goes. I got the chance to buy a copy from the man himself when my brother and I went to see mcenroe and Pip Skid in Portland many years ago. He was nice enough to sign it for me, and I still have it. He wrote, "Keep it rilly rill." And I did.

Seriously though, if you're not listening to the artists on Peanuts & Corn, you're missing out on some great music. Check out a few other ones I wrote up here and here.

And if you know this CD at all, you've got to check out John Smith's blog about it from a few years back.

You can listen to some samples here, but that's the best I can find, apparently.

Paris - Acid Reflex (2xLP, 2008)

I am terrible at keeping up with when Paris is going to release an album. You've probably got a few artists like this in life. You love their music, but their output is so sporadic that you don't bother waiting for their next album to drop. You figure you'll find out when it's released one way or another, and it'll be a sweet surprise. So it goes with Paris for me.

I received both Unleashed and Sonic Jihad as Christmas gifts from my brother, and I had no idea either of them were out. Amazon has Unleashed's official release date as March 17, 1998. That means I went on with my life for nine months having no idea the thing was out. Sonic Jihad was released in October, so that one wasn't as bad. Still. I never know when the shit's hitting the stores. With Acid Reflex, I just came across it while shopping for other records. Everyday Music in Beaverton had it in a rack near a register, and I spotted it on my way out. A nice surprise.

You might remember that I named this record my third best album of 2008, and I still think that was a good call. Like Sonic Jihad, Acid Reflex is Paris doing what he does best. There's no major shift between the two records, though Paris does seem a bit more laid back here - he is getting older - and it finds him really favoring R&B hooks. There's nothing wrong with that, though on a song like "Get Fired Up," it sort of stops the furor of the track and calms things down a bit too much.

Still, it's tough to stop Paris from getting pissed once he gets rolling, and he's got plenty of anger to get out here. After the Bush-blasting he did on Sonic Jihad, it's nice to hear him go outside of that zone and take on other targets. I still think "The Hustle" is one of his best songs, an anti-religion tirade that is brilliant in its calculation and execution. With so many rappers giving the perfunctory props to god, it's fantastic to hear somebody really dissecting what that means. Yeah, it's heavy shit, but it's what Paris does best.

"Winter in America" features Chuck D (realizing that I said it was "Rebels without Applause" in my best-of post), and though it's not the most stomping track, it's a great cut. And that ends up being able to be said about a lot of these songs. Paris is a master beatmaker at this point, and while he used to just juice the bpm's and bowl you over, he's now just as comfortable laying back a bit and making sure you can understand all he's got to say. And I'm still with it.

"Don't Stop the Movement"

Paris - Sonic Jihad (CD, 2003)

From the mid-90's to the early-2000s, Paris was mostly silent. Yeah, he put out Unleashed, but that was hardly a full-fledged solo outing. After the events of September 11, it wasn't like I was saying to myself, "the world needs Paris now more than ever," but when he popped up a couple years later with this record, it made perfect sense, and reminded me that I was indeed curious about what the dude had to say regarding recent events.

By the time this album dropped (October 2003), it obviously wasn't going to be quite as relevant as it would have been a few years earlier, but you can tell from the cover that Paris was still interested in getting some play out of the still-sensitive issue. (However, when the album shipped, it came in an all-black cardboard sleeve that featured a warning about the "hard truth" contained within. Sure, it was overly dramatic, but it was a good move in my book.) And rather than rush something out, he took his time with this thing, and it ended up being a great record. Saying that it's his strongest since Sleeping With the Enemy isn't saying much, but it was. And more importantly, it proved that dude still had what it takes.

If you thought P-Dog hated the first President named Bush, it quickly becomes apparent that he still had some ire in reserves for his offspring. And rather than resort to the knee-jerk assassination barbs (though he does declare "The return of the Bush Killa" on the first track), he takes the time over the course of this record to deconstruct the then-current presidency piece-by-piece, while also tackling news organizations, pundit-minded celebrities (the Dennis Miller diss was unexpected), religion, the military - you get the idea.

In the end, this album is more a return to form than a mind-blowing reinvention, and that's why I like it. It almost comes across as an updated version of Sleeping With the Enemy, and while that might be a bad thing for some, it's fine by me. After feeling like I knew what to expect from Paris and then being thrown the curveball that was Guerrilla Funk, I realized that all I really wanted him to do was come back with some hard raps, dark beats, and a chip on his shoulder the size of the Golden Gate Bridge. And he did it.

"Field Nigga Boogie"

Paris - Unleashed (CD, 1998)

Released four years after Guerrilla Funk, this release still remains shrouded in mystery.

This is the only album that's not mentioned on Paris' website, and the first one for which there was no video released. It's also the first album that Paris released after breaking ties with Priority Records, who I'm pretty sure was the umbrella for the Scarface Records label that Paris ran. This album was released on Unleashed Records, which appears to be a part of Whirling Records, which I can find no info about. It has the Guerrilla Funk logo on the back, but instead of saying "Guerrilla Funk Recordings," like his next albums would, it says, "Guerrilla Funk Music Publishing (ASCAP)." These are not the only signs that this was a transitional period for Paris.

Inside the CD jacket, there's an ad for Unleashed Records that announces, "Introducing Jet and Nuttso...The Next Generation Coming 1998..." Yup, Paris was trying his luck with some up-and-comers. A really weird move from a guy who rarely had guest spots on his albums. An even weirder move: giving these guys solo tracks on this LP, with beats that he didn't do. And they're not even tacked on at the end - they're just mixed in with the other songs on the CD. Jet gets two cuts ("Everyday Livin'" and "Same Ol' Same Ol'"), while Nuttso gets one ("Thug Livin'"). All three of the songs are weak, typical gangsta rap, with beats that can't hold a candle to the shit Paris puts together.

Sort of weird but not really: Spice 1 shows up on two tracks on this disc, which would be really odd if they weren't both from the Bay Area and this wasn't the most gangsta Paris album ever. Seriously. P-Dog came out of hiding for what would end up being his only album in an almost ten-year span, and he brings some of the hardest shit of his career. "Blast First," "Record Label Murder," and "Street Soldier" are all badass cuts, with Paris calling out "wannabe G's" with a fervor that he hadn't mustered since '92.

He still gets political on a few tracks ("Root of All Evil" and "Conversation"), and somehow makes a gangsta-type love song (!) work on "44 Wayz." Yeah, this really is the odd Paris album. But I forgot how good it is if you take off the tracks with his little homies. The beats are solid, he sounds as pissed as ever, and "Street Soldier" remains one of his strongest cuts.

A few other things of note:

The Jet and Nuttso albums did indeed see release.

Apparently Unleashed was only released for a short time and in small numbers, and has become a bit of a collector's item. Though Amazon prices can't always be trusted.

I just found out that there's an Italian import version of this CD that features a different tracklisting and six tracks that aren't included on the American version. Strangely, some of the songs on that one use the same verses from some of the guest dudes on the American version, just in different songs.

Weirdest Paris album ever.

"Street Soldier"

Paris - Guerrilla Funk (CD, 1994)

Up to this point, Paris always struck as me as the sort of guy who didn't give a fuck about trends. He was the hard-ass who just wanted to blister mics and kill the white devil. It was on Guerrilla Funk that I began to wise up to the fact that maybe, just maybe, Paris wasn't exactly who I thought he was. (I've since found out that he's not anything like I thought he was. Not that it matters - I still love the guy's music.)

I go back and forth with this record. For a while, I really didn't like it - it struck me as a blatant attempt to cash in on the g-funk shit that Dr. Dre had already lit up the West Coast with, and a late attempt at that. Paris even samples a few of the same songs that Dre used on Doggystyle. And while the Parliament sound may have been a cool move if used to mix it up on a few tracks, listening to it for an hour straight gets a little tedious. On top of that, Paris just doesn't sound as hard rapping over warbly synths and big-funk basslines. His voice almost cuts through it, but I find myself really missing the ruggedness of his beats.

In fairness, his first two records were fairly similar, so I do respect the fact that he mixes it up here. But then he does a track like "Back in the Day," which is just a weaker version of "The Days of Old" from Sleeping With the Enemy. And "Outta My Life" is possibly the worst Paris song ever. Corny beat, and even his lyrics seem like a half-assed stab at making his own version of "Dead Homiez." That's oversimplifying it, of course, but you get the idea.

Still, there are some bright spots on this record, and I don't want to make it seem like there aren't. "One Time Fo' Ya Mind" lays off the funk and sounds like vintage Paris, and "It's Real," aside from it's way-too-familiar sampling, is a solid opener. Still, this album can't help but sound severely dated now, and even though Paris drops some fine lyrics throughout, the whole thing is overshadowed by the weird P-Funk theme.

Paris must have agreed that it wasn't his finest work, because he disappeared for a while after this one.

"One Time Fo' Ya Mind"

600th Post: The Tide is Turning.

This is not a picture of my actual turntable, but this is the same turntable that I have. I've owned it for years, but for much of that time it's been in semi-working condition and I haven't been using it. The left channel would always cut out, and it made listening to my LPs an exercise in frustration. I finally got it back from the repair shop after a lengthy stay there (think I might have mentioned this before), and it sounds better than ever.

Not sure why I'm mentioning this. Guess I'm just excited about it. It's definitely given me a reinvigorated interest in playing my records, and that's not a bad thing. For anyone interested, it's a Marantz 6100. Fully automatic, and really nice looking. I'm happy. So that's that.

The past and current numbers breakdown, as it relates to CDs vs. vinyl:

At my 200th post, the score was 116-84; roughly 58% CDs to 42% vinyl.

By my 300th post, it was 179-112; about 61% to 39%.

At post 400, it was 217-156, which sent it back to 58% CDs and 42% vinyl.

At the ever-impressive 500th post, the tally was CDs: 250, LPs: 211. That breaks down to 54% CDs, 46% vinyl.

As you may know, because I've mentioned here a few times, I'm always in the process of replacing my CDs with vinyl copies of the same album. I then sell the CD versions and put the profits towards either more records, or - currently - seasons of The Sopranos. So, not only have I been buying new records, but I've been losing some of my compact discs. I spent some time and went back and changed the posts where I now have the LP copy of something that I had the CD version of when I originally posted. The numbers are up to date.

And for the first time since I started writing this blog, LPs have overtaken CDs.

The score is now 266-272, with vinyl holding onto a six-disc lead. 49% CDs, 51% vinyl. And that's rounding the decimals up.

Everything else stayed relatively the same. 90's Rock is still in first, followed by 90's hip hop, with 2000's rock barely edging out 2000's hip hop. 70's rock is still ahead of 80's rock, but only by one album.

Possibly most impressive: I've made 600 posts. Yikes. And we're just starting out on the P's. Still a long way to go.