Jedi Mind Tricks- The Psycho-Social, Chemical, Biological & Electro-Magnetic Manipulation of Human Consciousness (1997)

This is another project that I have to thank Chelmets for introducing me to.  I have always been a fan of hip hop, and as I have gotten older, I really enjoy social based lyrics and intellectual insight, which Jedi Mind Tricks portray to the fullest in this album. 

The Psycho-Social release by Jedi Mind Tricks is the first of many releases from this Philadelphia based group.  With 18 tracks of darkly based beats that interweave social/political/esoteric topics, this is truly a really good album.  Now anyone who listens to a lot of music, might be thinking, "late 90's rap? seriously?" But this album holds consistent insight, even 14 years later.  The beats on this album are really good, every track has a dark theme to its sound, and you can tell that the production was scrutinized while getting mixed down prior to it's release.  The lyrics touch on a wide variety of topics including political issues, as well as social issues mixed in with references to many many esoteric topics & alien life form; it's a great album to bring up in a debate on how smart musicians can be, in any genre, especially in hip hop when there are many people who down hip hop as a whole.  Different spoken word clips precede a few of the tracks, which helps put you in the mindset to take in the lyrical journey that the listener experiences throughout this release. 

I rarely listen to hip hop these days, but when I do, this album is a constant for me.  There are many other releases by Jedi Mind Tricks, but this one seemed to stick with me more than any of the rest.  I enjoy hearing all the topics being discussed as well as the type of intellectualism that is portrayed by these artists.  This is one of my top 5 all time favorite hip hop albums, and as long as your not socially/politically uneducated, then you'll love this as well; a must have.

Official score-4/5

Violent Society- Times of Distraught (1997)

Years ago, Violent Society played in my hometown, back when this place put on some really great shows, and I remember absolutely loving them.  I can remember the show pretty clearly because they played with some other great bands that night and the mosh pit was freakin' awesome!  At 17/18 or so, this was the exact style of music that I would do my best to seek out and definitely to see live.  During one part of the night, during one of their songs, I was in the pit with a local guy named Jimmy, (I wonder what happened to that guy?), and I can see the look in his eye as he punched me in the nuts because I just finished planting a right knee on his; oh such good times.  Now in that situation, there was no animosity for that happening, I mean, shit happens.  Directly after the nut smashing incident some 1-armed dude was also in the pit and with beer in hand he was thrashing around with the rest of us.  Well, old 1-armed guy hit me with his stumpy arm and in one fell swoop I landed right on a broken glass bottle of brew; once again good times.  Jimmy helped me up and immediately we laid into the 1-armed guy, knocking him down onto the same broken glass; watching him try and push himself up, bloody stump and all, was freakin' hilarious.  (sounds violent, but really that was just part of the kind of fun stuff that happens at shows!)  That night the music was great, the bands were great, the beer was great; all was great!

Now, onto the review.  Times of Distraught is a 15 track highly energetic album infused with all things hardcore/street punk.  Each and every song will make you turn up the volume and will produce an energy that is matched by very few other albums.  I have a couple other Violent Society releases, and they are all pretty much cut from the same cloth.  Fast punk style guitar that plays along with the super upbeat punk tempo on drums that are behind the screaming hardcore style vocals!  The culmination of a quintessential punk sound.  This album is short, the tracks themselves are short so this listen goes by fast and when it's done, you'll want more.

Any fan of Punk Rock/Hardcore Punk will absolutely love this album, and really this can be considered a classic in the 90's hardcore punk genre.  Buy it, try and see if they are playing live anywhere around you and do what you can to hear these guys, you won't be disappointed!

Official score- 4.25/5

Man Man- Six Demon Bag (2006)

Let me start out by thanking EdibleChrist, the other contributor to this blog [whenever he starts], for introducing me to this project.  EC and I have been pals for quite some time now and I always appreciate his suggestions, and this is definitely a great one!

Man Man is an experimental band from Philadelphia that pretty much hits experimental rock on the head, with a giant piano driven- gold plated hammer.  There are 2 other releases by Man Man, and each one is just as good as the next.  They throw everything at you: Piano, Rhodes Piano, woodwinds, drums, bass, guitar, vocals, off-beat time signature and lyrics that cover the spectrum of tameness to absurdity.  (absurdity is not used in a negative way for this review!)  

Six Demon Bag, with 13 glorious tracks and nearly 41 minutes of great tunage, pulls out all the stops; hitting on multiple different genres and styles that will put your ears into orgasmic convulsions.  The album, in EC's words, is a little downtrodden, but the style is fluid and makes the you always keep a foot tapping to their rhythms.  This can be categorized by multiple different genre types, but honestly, this is another one of those projects that you need to hear for yourself.  Check out their videos and try and catch them live if you can, but if not, definitely get this album. 

Official Score-4/5