RJD2 - Deadsides

RJD2's Deadringer helped put instrumental hip-hop on the map and complimented works like Endtroducing... by DJ Shadow both interestingly being debut albums for the respective artists.  This sample-heavy album is among my favorites and I truly consider it a masterpiece.

Compiling a b-sides album anywhere near the caliber of Deadringer I figured to be impossible, but when I purchased the album I found two obscure hidden tracks and discovered the EP Here's What's Left, which had the Part 1 of Good Times Roll, likely my favorite track from Deadringer.

Deadsides is organized to mirror Deadringer, with an intro song as track 2, Rain replacing Smoke & Mirrors, etc.  The cut off date was his second album's release, for I use two rare tracks from Since We Last Spoke.


RJD2 - Deadsides

1.  Before or Since
2.  Intro
3.  Rain
4.  Here's What's Left
5.  Bonus Beat
6.  De L'alouette
7.  Find You Out
8.  Holy Toledo
--
9.  Bus Stop Bitties
10.  Poorboy Lover Megamix I
11.  Poorboy Lover Megamix II
12.  Poorboy Lover Megamix III
13.  The Good Times Roll (pt. 1)
14.  Counseling
15.  Sell The World
16.  Thine Planetarium

Gorillaz - Happy Radio (2-discs)

One of the inspirations for Gorillaz was American pop music.  It was Damon Albarn, who lead the britpop band Blur which remained rather isolated from the West, at least until Song 2 was released.  Even with the success of that single in America, they quickly evaporated into obscurity.  Sad, because Damon Albarn is one of the greatest musicians alive today.  But much of the pop radio of the 2000s in America was dominated by Gorillaz singles.

Gorillaz obviously takes inspiration from the pop music at the time, usually in an over-the-top way and always significantly more aesthetic and catchy than the songs they were sandwiched between on the radio.  The opening lines from their first single are "Finally, someone let me out of my cage," bellowed by Del, poking fun at the hype machines that are many current hip hop acts. 

Being one of my favorite acts, I really took my time with this set.  I will likely delete P-Sides because it is now obsolete (new leaks and songs I was unaware of have made it into this set that fit the time period for P-Sides), though I may just do an upgrade.

This is a two-disc set, the first being "rarities" and the second being "obscurities."  The first disc includes a few early demos and various super rare tracks.  The second disc includes more strange tracks as well as some remixes of both songs by Gorliiaz and other artists tracks remixed by Damon.

Gorillaz - Happy Radio

Disc I - Rarities

1.  I Got Law (Tomorrow Comes Today demo)
2.  Happy Radio
3.  A Rappy Song (demo)
4.  Rappy Song (fan mix)
5.  Dub Dumb
6.  Untitled (with Kid Koala)
7.  911 (with D12)
--
8.  I Need A Gun (Dirty Harry demo)
9.  Sumthin Like This Night (with Snoop Dogg)
10.  Whirlwind
11.  Applecarts
12.  Christmas Bonanza
13.  Gotta Get Down With The Passing Of Time (demo)
14.  DoYaThing (with James Murphy and André 3000)

Disc II - Obscurities

1.  L'Amour Est un Oiseau Rebelle (Gorillaz Remix)
2.  Let's Get Dirty (Gorillaz Remix)
3.  Shigoto No Ato Ni (Part I)
4.  Crystalized (The XX cover)
5.  Mr. Softee's Balloon Race
6.  Hand Clapper
7.  FM
8.  Electric Shock
9.  Gliter Freeze (Alternate Version)
10.  Gor Beaten
11.  Turns To Monsters (Gorllaz Remix)
12.  Shigoto No Ato Ni (Part II)
13.  Samba at 13
14.  Gorillaz On My Mind