Dr. Dre - The Chronic 2001 - Ackrite , The Watcher , Xxplosive & Housewife

3 of the best from Dre 2001. RIP Nate.

Dre Dre ft. Xzibit, Defari, Hitman etc - Some LA Niggas

Another dope jam from Dre's 2001 album, with some very special guests.

AMG - Bitch Better Have My Money

No need for an indepth preamble for this track. Just an awesome tune from a 19 year old rapper named AMG.

Pegz - Back Then

Just realised - no Aussie rap thus far on the blog. Pegz from Melbourne easily gets the honours, with a very cool track reminding those of us who grew up in the 80's of some of the cool/uncool shit associated with that era. Let's go.

Yeah! Back then didnt need the buzz

Russian Alex had Reebok Pumps. Big Gaz had Nike T-dubs, everybody wanted nice sneakers.

I saved up for a pair of Jordans, and spent all day dubbin' tapes for walkmans.

Who remembers Ice-T was king? Flat tops were in, Swatches were bling.

I couldn't comprehend my sisters intrepidity - mohawks, cherry docs, Dead Kennedys...

Pegz memories are bona fide, but perceptions change over time.

Yeah I still love cars and motorbikes, give me coconut sauce and a bowl of rice.

Keep my soul alive, control the mic's, Bruce Lee versus Poltergeist.

Back then wasn't easy, back then things worked out, back then I wish you were now.

Duckin' transit cops and gumbys - Menzies Ave was a real Jumani.

Winsor flats, St Kilda junkies, steal your money like "which bank?"

Girls didn't seem so superficial, Levis jeans and a blue light disco.

Lets go back when baseball caps meant racking cans, police harassment,

Style Wars, Street Assassin, collectors porn I feed the passion.

Bootlegs from Central Station, KRS One's Revelation.

Knowledge and self preservation, fuck racism and president Reagan.

Remember days when I first started rappin' cabs were black like...

 Back then wasn't easy, back then things worked out, back then I wish you were now.

Everyone had humble intentions - DJ Koopz had a couple of lessons,

Belt-drives, double cassette decks, Tandy mic's with the budget connections.

Back then I scrubbed floors and packed shelves, and left school to get away and hang out.

Phone boxes, pinball parlours, showin off like an ignoramus

Whole crew had a crush on Tiffany, and got played like a Mozart symphony.

Bronx infamy, Compton attitude, flannelette shirts and Adidas parachutes

Bomber jackets, turtle Raybans, New Balance, purple stained hands.

Little Ben got burnt by spray cans, and I still hear reverbarations.

Back then didn't need the buzz, back then hadn't seen enough

Back then always dreaming of B-girls in the classroom steaming hot.

Homeboys at the station bein' hard - beatbox on the train, MC in the park.

Gettin chased by cops, piecin' the yards

Back then - I learnt the meaning of art.

Pixies - Hey

Time for a bit of a trip down memory lane with the Pixies. Here we have track 13 off their 1989 sophomore release "Doolittle" (#226 in Rolling Stone magazine's "Greatest albums Of All Time").

Jimi Hendrix - Red House (Live - Sweden 1969)

What can I say about this track...one of the best blues songs I have ever known. Hadn't seen this footage until tonight - and I reckon it rips - so up she goes. Enjoy. RIP Jimi.

General Surgery - The League of Extraordinary Graverobbers

Getting back to business, I'm happy to be able to share one of my favourite death/grind tracks from Swedish stalwarts "General Surgery". They formed in the 80s and since then have taken a massive hiatus of about 15 years, before re-grouping to record and release the 2006 album "Left Hand Pathology".

An aside - I have always really liked the band's name, although I can't explain why. I guess there's a simplicity to it, compared to other bands of this ilk, and that gives you (or me at least) some fucking inclination or something that the music is going to destroy. Killer track name as well, and album name for that matter.

Lastly, the riff. One of the best metal riffs I've heard. I guarantee there would have been more than a handful of guitarists who, upon hearing it, would have been spewing that they didn't come up with it. If your head doesn't automatically move in a steady back and forth motion to this song, see a doctor. Or better yet, a surgeon.

Wu-Tang Clan - Triumph

Skid Row - Youth Gone Wild

Beastie Boys - Fight For Your Right To Party

Another track from "Licensed To Ill" - which btw was The best selling rap album of the 1980s. This track was inducted into The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll. I know we've all heard it - but have we all appreciated it to the fullest?

( . )( . ) x 1000

Rolling Stones - Angie

I've always been a sucker for a good ballad - and this one is as good as they come.

Beastie Boys - Paul Revere

Track 9 from "Licensed To Ill" (1986) - MCA  and some other cats (not from the Beasties) wrote this jam. Way underrated and overlooked, it's a mock story of how the B-Boys met.

Beastie Boys - Pass The Mic

MCA has been one of my favourite MC's for a long, long, long time. I used to love it - and still do - how the timbre of his voice perfectly offsets the nasal stylings of Mike D and AdRock.

I also wanna give him props for being the realest and least "fashionable" motherfucker in the crew.

When he passed away I thought the best way to pay tribute to him would be to throw some of his music up here on the blog. Trouble was, he's done a whole lot of def jams and I couldn't decide which one(s) to put up. There are plenty of MCA tribute mixes out there, but to post one of those would be taking the easy way out - not to mention I would have no say in what songs were in the mix.

So as opposed to doing nothing at all, I decided to start by putting one of my favourite B-Boys tracks up. This is track 3 off Check your Head - my favourite Beastie Boys album, released over 20 years ago.

Gary Jules - Mad World (Tears For Fears cover)

Run DMC - Mary Mary

Now you're buggin' what's wrong with you! RIP Jam Master J.

Cold Chisel - Cheap Wine

The Bogan creed. Anyone who's familiar knows this is a cult song. Barnsey in his prime. Rocket Fuels all round!

Abramelin - Stargazer

Aussie death metal legends. This is my favourite tune from their self titled release (which was banned in Australia). I'm kinda lost for words when it comes to Abramelin. I wish I'd seen them when they were still together.

Entombed - Wolverine Blues

POUND FOR POUND, I AM THE MOST VICIOUS OF ALL!
Evil "Death 'n' Roll" from the Swedish metal pioneers.

Aerosmith - F.I.N.E.

Fucked up, Insecure, Neurotic and Emotional. Taking it back to 1989 - here we have what could easily be my favourite cut from the masterful PUMP album.