Absence Makes the Heart Grow...

Before i get too far into this recollection of the last few weeks, possibly month, of my life and the resulting neglect of the Swords, I want to post up this list (with linked Swords articles in the artist name that include DL sources, and youtube vids for the tracks) which i feel are my top 5 songs for the start of the summer, a summation of my favorite snippits of albums i have dug deeply since this Swords bizness came up. And the list:

1.Wallpaper- Gettin' Drip
2.Organ Beats- Sleep When We Are Dead
(Also: their cover of Heaven is a Place on Earth)
3.The Pharcyde- Soul Flower
4.Ra Ra Riot- Shadowcasting (nice live acoustic version here)
5.Toe- Kodoku No Hatsumei

As a runner up who i have yet to post about, Sam Cookes Wonderful World deserves some recognition, not only because of his nostalgic and timeless perfect pop sound, but also because its use in Animal House makes such a great soundtrack for my favorite John Belushi scene.

Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth - 1992

This is a short entry, another hip hop outfit i want to share on recommendation from my man Mike G from Chicago. As i said before, we got to talking hiphop and he told me about all kinds of great stuff to hear stemming from the conversation we had concerning my deep love of The Pharcyde and my ignorance of the more important, creative, and greatly distinguished classic hiphop; the groups that were pushing the art form to a high point in its evolution after many names flourished through its original foundation.

Main Source- Breaking Atoms- 1991

While away on my incredible hiatus, i found myself in the parking lot of some conservation land, waiting for the rain to subside and the sun to finally make another appearance so we could resume filming for the Fire Pit. We were straight chilling, just killing time, and a group of the film crew decided to take a leave and head off to the Red Roof Inn to get some serious business done on the ceramic titanic, the ill toilet bowl action. Some of the actors were chilling in the car that decided to take off for the non-woodland facilities, and i invited them to chill in my car in the rain. Mike G and Keith popped in my ride, Keith hitting the back seat for some quick shut eye, and Mike G chilling shotgun. The two of us started talking hiphop, once again spurred from my love of Bizarre Ride and Madlib. Dude knows his shit; he has a serious background in loving all kinds of music, but has a large chunk of his heart dedicated to the art of rhyming and beatsmithery.

This is a dedication, and a recommendation through osmosis, from the library of Mike G.

The Pharcyde-Labcabincalifornia-1995

Three years after Bizarre Ride, the Pharcyde released another classic album, Labcabincalifornia. Although it is a bit more mellowed out and introspective than Bizarre Ride, it was a natural progression of their styles, and their production skills took a similar progressive step. It is lined with classics just as much as Bizarre Ride is; Bullshit opens the album on a chill note; Somethin' That Means Something speaks to their position as a successful hip hop group desiring deeper relevance; Runnin' is a chill ass jam talking about taking care of your business; and their track Pharcyde, number 2 on the album, talks about coming back full force and saying "fuck ya'll" to the haters. Classic flows ensue:



Legend has it that the album title refers to the cabin that the group lived in while they produced the entirety of the album; most importantly, they apparently did so in a ridiculously fast time period, and completely bonkers on mushrooms. I cant remember if its 2 weeks or a months, but these folks just went balls out trippin' and produced some of the finest jams of the mid 90s. Fuck yeah Pharcyde.

labcabincalifornia

Bizarre Ride II The Pharcyde-1992

After listening to all this Outkast/ Big Boi, i was reminded of a classic 90s album that i had somehow lost through the years of moving stuff around on iTunes libraries and iPods. I still had Labcabincalifornia, which is classic, but the one i fell in love with was the Pharcydes 1992 album Bizarre Ride II the Pharcyde. I quickly found the link, downloaded and began listening, flipping instinctively to Yo Mamma, which i hadnt heard in years, but then while i was driving and flipping back to the start of the album, i stopped on a random track that was probably my favorite from the album, and i had completely forgotten about it. Soul Flower is just the greatest summertime jam. Enjoy; its great for rides around town with the windows down.



Bizarre Ride II the Pharcyde

p.s.: keep em comin', acey! youre a maniac.