The Aztext Mix Tape, Volume 1

The Aztext are giving away a damn fine mixtape -- you can get it one track at a time from DJ Big Kat's esnips account. Some solid freestyles, and great songs from Project Move, The Loyalists, Brother Ali and Granite State to boot. Worth checking out -- big thanks to the Aztext for giving this out free!

Vermont Hip Hop News

Since Dub Physics is only about the music I personally love and listen to all the time, I also wanted to provide an outlet for all other Vermont hip hop artists. There's some site called VT Hip Hop dot com, but they really don't have anything but myspace links there. So Vermont Hip Hop News will be an outlet for everyone's projects and events.

That link again: VERMONT HIP HOP NEWS.

If you're doing hip hop in Vermont, that site is a PR tool for you. If you've got news about shows or albums, let me know: egon.suskind@gmail.com -- I will be happy to help you promote that there.

I don't book shows and I don't have any idea how that works. I don't have any pull in the "scene," and I can't help your career or get you in touch with anyone. I'm just bored enough to give something back.

DJ Multiple Sex Partners -- The Japan EP

So World-Around Records continues to make hollow promises: they just updated the DJ Multiple Sex Partners website into a free downloads page. It claims there will be albums from him in early 2008. They're giving away The Japan EP for free, in it's entirety, to build up hype. There's also some sort of email list to sign up for if you're lonely.

There's a long pitch from Thirtyseven, but I'm pretty sure he's full of shit. From what I hear, either he makes the beats or a friend of his does, but there is no real Russian guy named Ivan making the beats. I guess artists (and critics) are into that kind of layered in-joke, but to me it's just dumb. They could make way more money just putting it out with a normal name and skipping the high-school pranks.

Whatever, though, that's just my opinion and the music is damn good. I put this on the last few times I got blazed and it's a great soundtrack, very dense and fast-moving stuff. Check out his myspace, too, there's a bunch of other great tracks there. He's definitely more electro than hip hop, but I like it.

THE JAPAN EP -- DJ MULTIPLE SEX PARTNERS

New Album from The Aztext: "The Sacred Document"

The Aztext have been hitting it hard for awhile now. It's rare to see a group so focused and clear about their path to success, and these guys are a case study in What To Do Right. They always provide high-energy shows, release high-quality tracks, and they're also polite, generous and outgoing dudes. On top of all that, their business game is nailed down tight: they get consistent high-profile gigs and they've netted a sponsorship with the area's best clothing company, Fundamental.

Their debut album, Haven't You Heard?, featured some impressive guests, like Boston legend Krumbsnatcha, Double AB, and even Lyricist Lounge heavyweight Wordsworth. The Aztext are outdoing themselves for The Sacred Document, however, bringing on One Be Lo (from Binary Star), Rich Mo and Mac Lethal.

There's going to a (huge, essential) album release party on November 24th at Nectars in Burlington. The evening will be hosted by E-Train of the Loyalists, and opening acts include Burnt MD, Wombaticus Rex, and The Truth. Apparently there's a lot of other special guests to be announced -- I'll keep updating this as news trickles out.

Stop Sleeping on The Loyalists

Vermont's best, currently paying dues over in San Francisco. These guys have been putting out quality product for way too long -- how are they not a national act? Seriously, listen to their music and enjoy. This is some of the best hip hop around these days.

Godforbid Interview from Brainsturbator

Brainsturbator just put up a lengthy interview with Godforbid that's got some funny shit and memorable lines. Godforbid is of course 1/3 of the infamous Alaskan Fishermen, the greatest hip hop group everyone slept on...and he's currently fronting the super-psychotic That Handsome Devil. Anyways, here's some of the best parts:

Q: Point blank: is the Game Over for the human species? Do you see hope on the horizon or is this just one big, long Final Party?

Hope by definition has no basis on fact; I’m a doer, fuck hope. That being said, when we find solace in things like hope we get comfortable, and there is no evolution in comfort. My opinions change constantly. I have no personal allegiance to the human species. I see us more as another piece in something larger; for all I know our reason for being was to blow each other to smithereens. Maybe make a big enough boom so that we slightly shift the moon, allowing sunlight to reach some new rock.

Was the Guitar Hero connection just a regular promotion, or did you guys know in advance it would plug you into the youth of America?

We had no idea how big it was. I used to have to risk arrest to get in the living rooms and bedrooms of the American teen. Now I travel freely through the wires right into their collective consciousness. It’ll make transition to my Friday night variety show that much easier.

Read the rest at BRAINSTURBATOR.

Seven Days Giving Coverage to Vermont Hip Hop

Dan Bolles gave Vermont Hip Hop -- or at least Burlington, VT Hip Hop -- center-stage coverage in the recent Seven Days, with an article titled "Livin' in the 802."

It's an excellent profile of two of the hardest-working guys in the scene -- Nastee and Burnt MD. (The only person missing would be DJ A-Dog...and possibly Fattie B.) Both of them offer their personal histories and their take on the current scene. Bolles has done a really good and diplomatic job of honoring the Vermont Hip Hop community since he's arrived, also giving favorable reviews to VT Union, Burnt MD, and the debut album from young Burlington area upstart Matty C.

He's still using the same fucking intro, though, and it drives me nuts.

"Vermont’s musical landscape has long been praised for its vibrancy and variety. But perhaps because the state is largely rural, or because it’s only recently begun to experience cultural diversity, Vermonters have been slow to grasp the rap/hip-hop distinction."

How many ways can we state that? To his credit, Dan Bolles has quite a few up his sleeve. Here's the remix from the Matty C album review:

"Phish. Snowboarding. Civil unions. Maple syrup. Heady weed. These are the things most people think about when they conjure up visions of Vermont — and, to some degree, rightly so. But there’s a new sound on the wind rustling leaves in the Green Mountains. And it’s got one hell of a beat."

Yes, Vermont is one of the whitest motherfucking states in the Union. I think we can all collectively agree we know that now, and move on. Shit, there was even an outdoor hip hop festival last summer, although from what I hear...didn't go so well. Dan Bolles also got the inevitable hipper-than-thou correction, which he was kind enough to publish the next week. It was just somebody sticking up for their scene, though...still no mention of Rhythm Ruckus. That's my favorite shit to this day, the closest thing to Slayer that Vermont Hip Hop will ever see.