LimeWire Music Blog

Let’s face it, there are plenty of things to detest about the holiday season — obnoxious commercials for crappy Christmas gifts, rampant materialism masked as “the spirit of giving,” and of course, those goddamn Christmas songs, endless variations on the same dozen or so sappy tunes, exhumed every year for the sole purpose of making us want to garrote ourselves with a string of brightly colored Christmas tree lights. That said, one of the beautiful things about December is that the major labels mostly take a break, leaving the playing field open for the little guys (whose output is usually much more interesting) to prance around and puff up their plumage. This week, our proud peacocks include a stalwart underground hip-hop collective, a psych-folk moon goddess, some powerful punk souls, and an updated art-funk outfit. Thank heaven for the holidays!

Souls of Mischief – Montezuma’s Revenge
Let’s hear that roll call — A-Plus! Opio! Phesto! Tajai! All four members of long-lived West coast underground hip-hop pioneers Souls of Mischief are present and accounted for on Montezuma’s Revenge, and a group doesn’t remain unaltered in the hip-hop game for nearly two decades without a clear vision. On their first new album in nine years, the Souls are likely to have more tricks up their sleeves than ever, especially with Prince Paul occupying the producer’s chair. And don’t get the wrong idea — the album got it’s name for being recorded on Montezuma St., not on account of any unpleasant incidents with Mexican cuisine.

Bouncing Souls – Live At Lime With Bouncing Souls
Speaking of long-lived bands, Garden State punk legends Bouncing Souls have been plying their penetrating-but-partylicious sound for a full 20 years now. So how did Basking Ridge, NJ’s favorite punk sons decide to celebrate this auspicious occasion? By recording an exclusive live EP for us, that’s how. So forgive us if our pride is showing just a bit, because not only did Greg, Pete, and the gang show up to slam through some of their finest tunes at a furious clip, they also happened to bring along a couple of stellar guests, including Fishbone singer Angelo Moore and Lou Koller from Sick Of It All!

Josephine Foster – Graphic As A Star
Josephine Foster has been a leading light of the psych-folk scene since…hell, since before there even was a contemporary psych-folk scene. And now she’s bringing her hypnotic, you-are-in-my-power sound and swan-elegant vocal ululations to bear on an unusual, intriguing project. Graphic As A Star finds Foster making songs out of the poems of none other than Emily Dickinson. On this double-length album, Foster finds appropriately graceful-but-quirky settings for the striking words of one of America’s greatest poets, so prepare to swoon and stammer.

Manicured Noise – Remixed: The Pocketnoise EP
So you’ve picked up all the requisite Liquid Liquid, ESG, A Certain Ratio, and Medium Medium reissues and you think you know all there is to know about the esoteric end of early-’80s punk-funk, eh? If your stack doesn’t include anything by the even more under-appreciated Manicured Noise, you can think again. The indefatigable post-punk archivists at the Caroline True label have already lovingly reissued MN’s awesome Northern Stories album, but this batch of new remixes by golden-eared mixmasters from both sides of the Atlantic brings the band’s legacy hurtling into the 21st century.