My friend recently raided a relative’s unused CD collection and came up with a number of gems—and turds—from mid-90’s rap and techno. Here are a few “highlights”:

Del Tha Funkee Homosapien - “Check It Ooout” (from No Need For Alarm)

A menacing, heavy track from someone who deserves to be known more for his solo work than the fact that he rapped on that one Gorillaz song, you know, the one with the cemetery. A slinking bassline and ominous ambient noises—well, okay, it’s not pop, but damn if it’s not listenable.

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Eazy-E - “Neighborhood Sniper” (from 5150: Home 4 Tha Sick)

Notable especially for the incredibly scary thirty-second intro in which said sniper mumbles to himself insanely before shooting people. Then suddenly joyous funk introduces Eazy’s stream-of-consciousness tale from a killer’s perspective. Scary, and not a great song, but incredibly interesting, especially for the dancehall break and the chorus, which seems to consist entirely of shouts and vocal approximations of gunshot noises.

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Aphex Twin - “Flim” (from the Come To Daddy EP)

A brief, surprisingly consistent, longingly beautiful track from an EP whose title song—and video—scared the piss out of everyone who heard or saw it. Richard D. James is full of surprises, but musicianship is not one of them; he shows off his normal knack for layering and hook within this more ambient piece.

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