I was so excited upon discovering this (cheap-ass) reissue of The Pharcyde’s Bizarre Ride II The Pharcyde, that I didn’t even care it was housed in a generic white, Delicious Vinyl sleeve. Up to this point (sometime in 1998), I’d only had this classic album’s cassette and compact disc releases, and had never even seen a copy of the original on vinyl, then, only six years old. The original is still missing from the collection, but this “personal original” houses a special place within the collection. File this under “one of the first 50 records owned.”
Tag Archives: The Pharcyde
Soul
2005 saw the 3x LP compilation release (Sold My Soul), a catch-all, smash track, greatest hits, of sorts, by Los Angeles pretty-boy-hoodlums, The Pharcyde, and was released on the extremely short-lived The Funky Chemist Records label (they only produced five records, including this one). Little-to-nothing can be found about this label (from a quick, Google / Discogs / Wiki search), but these 24-tracks are a fantastic place to start for the casual Pharcyde connoisseur. It was also released in compact disc, if that’s more your bag.
The Fools on the Hill
This 1996 Cypress Hill event was post III – Temples of Boom, their third studio release, and enveloped a moment in time that was arguably the group’s pinnacle state. At least, that’s what a bunch of us Juniors thought when we went to see them at the Dane County Expo Hall in Madison, Wisconsin. $19.50 for tickets… are you kidding me?! Oh, I forgot to mention that 311 and The Pharcyde were also present… UNDER $20, PEOPLE! $31.74 adjusted for inflation… still an absolute steal!
The Singles Collection
The 2012 7″ compilation box set, Bizarre Ride II: The Pharcyde (The Singles Collection) is convenient way to quickly obtain (nearly) all of the singles, and their subsequent remixes, from the monumental debut album, Bizarre Ride II: The Pharcyde by, well, The Pharcyde. This box set features the album version, acappella and instrumental versions, and various remixes for (nearly) every single from the album (save for Otha Fish and 4 Better or 4 Worse where only the album and acapella versions are present). There is another, busier box set of this 7″ collection that contains CDs, a poster, and a 120-piece jigsaw puzzle. This version however, does not.
Otha Fish
Fresh from the Bizarre Ride II The Pharcyde The Singles Collection, this 2012 colored vinyl reissue of the 1993 classic was one of 7 x 7″ 45s that make up this essential Delicious Vinyl release (record 6 of 7 to be exact). The music isn’t all that bad, either. Otha Fish Single Version on side A, and Otha Fish Acapella on side B, for those of you wanting to tickle your hip hop beat production fancy.
From A to D
Officially now caught up with our outstanding “need to listen to” records. Digitized the 14 sides to this bad boy last night, and can’t wait to enjoy these acapella classics to and from work. Hit me up if you want a copy. 14 tracks total.
Passin’
If you couldn’t tell, we’ve been on a bit of a Pharcyde kick these past few days. Remixes, singles, bootlegs, and of course, this reissued Passin’ Me By single from 2012. Number four of seven, this gold (yellow) vinyl version contains both the single version of the the track, as well as the acapella for, you know, your future weekend hip-hop beat-making ventures.
If you see this box set at your brick & mortar (The Singles Collection), don’t let it pass you by.
Ya Mama 2.0
Next in line in The Pharcyde Singles Collection is another Ya Mama pair, but this time of the J-Swift persuasion. Remix on side A, and an instrumental on side B, this 2nd in line (of 7) maintains the rambunctious bursts from yesterday’s starter, but ups the ante in terms of initial productivity. 7 records, kids… long live The Pharcyde.
Ya Mom is so Fat
(HOW FAT IS SHE?!) (No rhyme here) She’s fat enough to indulge in this first of seven, 7″ singles that house The Pharcyde Singles: Collection, circa: 2012. Each on individually colored vinyl, the Ya Mama 7″ is released on bro-shot purple vinyl, for those of you into colored extremes. 22 burritos, anyone?
Delicious Pizza
By far the best pizza in all of Los Angeles, the newly opened Delicious Pizza not only takes its logo, hip-hop motif, and aesthetic flare from the LA-based label, it was in-part founded by non other than Delicious Vinyl co-founder Michael Ross. With wall-to-wall memorabilia from hip-hop’s golden age, Delicious Pizza is 2nd-to-none for great eats, great tunes, and dirt-cheap cocktails. Part museum, part hip-hop heaven, Delicious Pizza, in every conceivable way, lives up to its name.
Prime Cuts
Prime Cuts Vol. 1, the 2000 Delicious Vinyl comp features 2 LPs worth of electro and hip-hop gems from LA’s finest, Delicious Vinyl Records. Label mainstays like The Brand New Heavies, The Pharcyde, Buckwhead, and Fat Lip are all presented, as is the on-again, off-again actress on the cover, Shannyn Sossamon, pre-A Knight’s Tale (remember A Knight’s Tale… remember Shannyn Sossamon?!). Anyway, this comp can be nabbed off Discogs.com for damn cheap ($2 bucks!), and is a great addition to any dub, downtempo fan who likes their beats PG-13, and their lyrics NC-17.
A Day in the Life
I speak of this only because I happen to notice it today, a day in which busywork afforded me the opportunity to listen to stereo recordings with a single ear bud (not ideal, but embraceable), while performing my spreadsheet-happy daily chores in a swift and efficient fashion.
Here, for those who’ve never asked, is a sprint through the progression of a normal, 9-5 (10-7) day (in regards to my organic music consumption).
9:31am: Feeling a bit homesick and decide to mentally frolic through the painted walls of my feverish memory as a youngen at my Grandparent’s farmhouse and cue up 50 Number One Country Hits.
9:56am: Arrive at work and continue the 50-track playlist and wonder, countless times, why I haven’t ordered 1975’s Red Headed Stranger by the great Willie Nelson on vinyl ($5.85 off Discogs.com… I mean, k’mon!).
2:11pm: Finish the epic 50-track memory-machine-gun and dry the reality from my eyes.
2:12pm: Cue up The Pharcyde’s Bizarre Ride II and remember that this album was once, and for a very long time, my favorite album.
5:36pm: Finish BRII and feverishly, and without music, complete my daily objectives.
7:56pm: With a quasi-clear head, and the freedom of the evening, I drive home and enjoy the lamenting screams from Refused’s The Shape of Punk to Come and think to myself, in an empty car, I should have been a musician.
For what it’s worth, I’m going to make it a point, today, at least, to finish these waking hours exactly where I started… with Jack Greene’s There Goes My Everything. Happy trails, and pleasant evening, kids.
‘mentals
Pharcyde’s Bizarre Ride II the Pharcyde is perfect in every way humanly, or robotically imaginable. Obvious statement. With perfect albums comes countless repeated listens… then a lull, then another listen, then an even bigger lull, then another nostalgic listen, then a lull lasting close to five years. What’s great about this 2004 Instrumentals version, apart from its radiant highlight of J-Swift’s well, swift production is the resounded (uh) freshness it gives to a well-worn (and thoroughly played) album.
I’m becoming an avid fan of instrumentals or show vinyl versions of classic albums (Paul’s Boutique, Abbey Road, Renegades, Music to Make Love to Your Old Lady By, Deltron 3030, Check Your Head, Dr. Octagon, and so on). Strip that shit down to its core, and enjoy the purest of prudent beats.
Sammy the Salmon
Hello boys and girls… featured here today is 2007’s 7” single from UK’s big beat crackerjacks, Chem Bros (aka The Chemical Brothers). Featuring, and co-written by Derrick Stewart, aka Pharcyde’s Fatlip, the 2nd (of many) lucrative singles from 2007’s We Are the Night, brings to life a shorter, much more compact (and opaque) version of the promo 12” of the same track. Dance the Salmon, kids… in your own, upstream, current-faring way.
(Thanks to LDNE for the gracious, and timely gift!)
Don’t Miss the Train
18 tracks weren’t enough for the illustrious London Calling, the third studio album by the legendary misfits of genre-bending punks, The Clash. Unofficially hidden, or rather lopped on after the appropriate concluder Revolution Rock, the third and final single stemming forth from this prodigious album, Train in Vain (not unlike a retaliatory missile, or the first bullet fired during a revolutionary riot), was originally written and recorded as a giveaway track for the publication NME (or New Musical Express… I just found out), and was to be released as a flexi-disc single through the magazine… something that, for whatever reason, never came to be.
Certainly not news to the astute a-Clash-ionado, this little nugget of info explains why London Calling ends perfectly (with Revolution Rock), then spits out an unscheduled, and unwanted encore with Train in Vain. This is certainly not to say TiV is a song of lesser listening value, rather its inclusion on London Calling, or its position therein rustles the feathers of album perfection. Since London Calling is the closest thing to a perfect album as is (save maybe for Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, This is Tim Hardin, The Shape of Punk to Come, Paul’s Boutique, Circa: Now!, The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society, or Bizarre Ride II the Pharcyde) it really doesn’t matter.
Super Bizarre AKA Session Ride II
Since we haven’t done one of these in a while, in fact we’ve only done it one other time, Simply Samples is back with a Super Session of Bizarre proportions. Fan of hip hop? How about Pharcyde’s 1992 debut, Bizarre Ride II? Okay, then what about the 1968 super classic, Super Session by Bloomfield, Kooper and Stills? Notice any striking similarities between BKS’s cover of Donovan’s Season of the Witch and the Pharcyde’s Ya Mama? No?! Well, then have a listen.
Here is the opening to Season. Take particular notice to Al Kooper’s organic organ.
Now, here is that same bit sampled by the Pharcyde in their hilariously crass, Ya Mama. This is the instrumental version for clearer, albeit not near as funny, comparison.
And there you have it. A match made in music heaven spanning two completely different genres over the course of 24 years. Below are the full versions of both songs for your Sunday listening pleasure. If you don’t own either Super Session or Bizarre Ride II, I strongly urge you to seek them out immediately. Once you get that burnin’ yearnin’, there’s not turnin’ back, jack!
Season of the Witch by Mike Bloomfield, Al Kooper and Steve Stills:
Ya Mama by The Pharcyde:
Post #250: Three Albums, One Island
If you were stranded on a remote island (that conveniently harbored electricity, speakers and a bomb-ass turntable), and you were only allowed to pick three albums with which to spin for your remaining, ocean-gazing days, what three albums would they be?
For me, the first two albums were no-brainers. Paul’s Boutique by the Beastie Boys, and The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society by The Kinks. Choosing the proper versions, both albums are double LPs (1998’s Grand Royal reissue and 2011’s mono/stereo split), so you’re already a leg up on the island dwelling competition. The third and final album requires much more, overanalyzed thought. Do you play it safe and pick Abbey Road? What about The Beatles, also known as the White Album? Or, do you skip the 12” format altogether and grab your favorite song, which just happens to be a post-hardcore thrasher by the obscure Wisconsin band, Defacto Oppression? Certainly NOT an easy decision to make (in this overly voluptuous hypothetical), second-guessing is sure to follow after the inevitably dreadful decision is (finally) made.
Bruce Springsteen’s Nebraska garnishes some thought, but would probably be far too depressing… after all, these three albums will help feed, or deter the fact that you are, after all, stranded on a remote island. Emergency & I by the Dismemberment Plan is a considerably strong candidate, but would immediately be my number four pick. Bizarre Ride II (The Pharcyde), In Case You Didn’t Feel Like Showing Up (Live) (Ministry), This is Tim Hardin (Tim Hardin… duh), and Circa: Now! (Rocket from the Crypt) are all, exceptional lily pads on this thought pond, but none of them make the distinct cut.
London Calling (The Clash), Double Nickels on the Dime (Minutemen), Singles – 45’s and Under (Squeeze), Energy (Operation Ivy), Appetite for Destruction (Guns N’ Roses), which would easily be my number five pick, Black Monk Time (The Monks), and Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables (Dead Kennedys) all lay floating in the salted sea of “never to enjoy again.” Damn, this post is depressing.
And the winner goes to… The Shape of Punk to Come… the quintessential soundtrack to my evasive youth wins the number three spot, and with little hesitation, I might add. Refused’s best, and another double LP, this top three has quickly turned into the top six, and would respectfully demonstrate, and/or adequately demolish my headspace for the rest of my delusional life. To pick three out of 2,800 is certainly NOT an easy gesture… if asked again tomorrow, I’d have a completely different roster. Oh, the joy, and immediate pleasure of viable options.
Permanent Records Says: Stay Cheesy
I’ve been accumulating a fairly decent slipmat collection these days. The most recent addition is this deliciously clever little number from Permanent Records, a quaint little shop in Eagle Rock, and very tiny record label.
I’ve never been a DJ, but have always gotten a devilish kick out of clothing my turntables. Forever and a day ago, I posted about my newly acquired Grand Royal slipmat lot, and right now, under my More Charlie Barnet album (currently spinning on the platter), is a slipmat with the mummified RFTC logo from their “last show” in San Diego back in 2005 (they’ve, obviously, gotten back together since then, so the “last show” novelty has all but worn off… but the slipmat is killer!).
I passed up a Bizarre Ride II The Pharcyde slipmat the other day. Clearly NOT a necessity, I’m contemplating going back to pick it up. A steady stream of rotating slipmats makes the grooves happy, I find. At least, that’s what I’m telling myself these days.
Dear Pharcyde… Please Vacate the Back Porch of My Subconscious
The Prudent Groove 