*** The Anchormen
PUNK ROCK IS AWESOME
(Unstoppable Records)
Solesides
SOLESIDES GREATEST BUMPS
(Quannum Projects)
In the secret
history of underground hip-hop, no crew looms larger than Northern California's
Solesides collective, which features genre heavyweights like Blackalicious, DJ
Shadow, and Latyrx. Even as other independent-minded California posses
(Freestyle Fellowship, Hieroglyphics) were faltering in the aftermath of
major-label disappointments, the Solesides folks decided to remain independent,
digging deep into their crates, their rhyme sheets, and their wallets to
support their own hip-hop dreams. From 1993 to 1997 Solesides' slow-drip
release schedule, independent business practices, and impossibly high artistic
standards created an international fan base that far overshadowed its meager
discography of only 11 releases (mostly vinyl singles).
Solesides has since transformed into Quannum (same artists, different name),
and it continues to stoke the ?ames of its obsessive fan base with Solesides
Greatest Bumps -- a two-disc collection that compiles unreleased nuggets,
out-of-print tracks, and highlights from the pre-Quannum era. This lengthy set
will, one hopes, drive down the prices of Solesides ephemera on eBay, but it
offers more than just fodder for trainspotters. An essential document of the
West Coast underground, Greatest Bumps ?nds this earthy and crunchy Bay
Area crew setting the standard for trends (sampling rare soul 45s,
spoken-word/poetry in?ections) and entire subgenres (trip-hop) that are still
reverberating throughout the hip-hop world. Too ambitious to be contained by
even-tempered rhyme meter, these virtuoso MCs whisper, shout, flow, and sing
their way through tracks that stretch hip-hop to the breaking point but snap
back just before it shatters.
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