With Captain Murphy stealing the mantle of top-tier producer turned cartoon alter-ego, the Lord hath returned. The madman born Otis Jackson Jr. assumes his hunchbacked mushroom-mangled identity to deliver a new collection of 12 tracks recorded over roughly as many years. About 2/3 these tracks were released on random vinyl, all out of print, and […]

Max Bell doesn’t remember what he ate for breakfast. I don’t know what it is about Stones Throw, but somehow they always end up surprising me. Maybe Peanut Butter Wolf is a genius (it’s definitely up for debate)? Maybe Stones Throw scours Los Angeles and the rest of the globe for quality music using the […]

Karriem Riggins first came to my attention for his work with The Roots, so it’s fitting that J Rocc scratches in a hook composed of cuts from “Adrenaline.” Scott Storch may have made that beat before his first cocaine nose job, but it still bruises like every song that Beanie Mac recorded during the Roc […]

I have repeatedly warned myself not to let Passion of the Weiss turn into a Dam-Funk fansite, but Damon Riddick continues to ruin that pledge. I remember once watching a Behind the Scenes look at Seinfeld and Jerry and Larry David governed their show by only one principle: is this funny? If it was funny, […]

Several months ago, I interviewed Dan Ubick, the point guard for the Stones Throw dub resucitation experts, The Lions. The stated purpose was to profile him for my LA Weekly column. The stealth reason was to pick up tips on some obscure dub and roots reggae records that I haven’t heard. There were answers, but […]

Most rappers are dedicated to creating a cult of mystique around themselves. Homeboy Sandman is about the opposite: removing the layers between fan and rapper, but without attempting to be the everyman. He is not the everyman. He is a NBA shooting guard-sized, Ivy League scholar and the only rapper to ever rap “dominant allele” […]

Last week, I went to the VMAs for Spin. When you cover a spectacle of such grotesque neon magnitude, it forces you to grapple with the idea of stardom. Everyone on-stage is more famous than we can comprehend — they are the only thing that makes me believe Mitt Romney when he said that corporations […]

Tosten Burks is solid as a lean elk. Still not convinced that the El-P and Killer Mike matrimony signaled the fall of cross-niche hip-hop barriers? How about the Aussie, Jonti, working with New York wiseman Homeboy Sandman. The Olympics really do bring us all together. Or maybe, all it takes is a Stones Throw to […]

Strictly for the record nerds. Thus, I love it. Few people in the LA underground music world have not been put up on one obscure records via the direct or indirect influence of Peanut Butter Wolf. Just last week, I bought the vinyl reissue of Embryo’s Rache, a deliriously good Krautrock group, who Wolf first […]

Max Bell produced that turkey sandwich. You’re in your ride. It’s late. The bar was dead and the beautiful babies didn’t know you were fucking money (I’m sorry. I’ve been on a Swingers bender). So it’s time to throw on jazz drummer/hip-hop producer Karriem Riggins new mix—the fittingly titled “Karriem Riggins Produced That”—as you try […]