Saturday, August 6, 2011

Sample Set #170



Originally dubbed DVX (Devastating Vocal Excellence), SoCal's own Cypress Hill burst onto the music scene in 1991 with their single, "The Phuncky Feel One" (b-side: "How I Could Just Kill a Man"), followed shortly by the release of their eponymous debut LP. This upcoming August 13th marks the 20 year anniversary of Cypress Hill's first album. Compiling a sample set for Cypress Hill came to mind about a year ago, but I wanted to hold off until August 2011... and, well, here we are! Fifty-four tracks deep, this set's about as eclectic as it gets. What other playlist do you know features a song by Suicidal Tendencies followed by three consecutive James Brown tracks? Other gems include my favorite Sly & the Family Stone cut, "Underdog", along with some ancient audio of Fiorello La Guardia reading comics - so bizarre, and somewhat boring, until your jaw drops when you hear the sample in question (at around the 1:17 mark).


Every time I dig in the digital crates for these releases, I always gain a further appreciation for the producer(s) who had the insight, foresight, and of course technical skills to sculpt these samples into statues of sonic perfection. I can't stress this fact more than enough for DJ Muggs, the one producer I'm confident in calling the RZA of the West Coast. Add to that, Black Sunday, the group's sophomore LP with the crossover smash hit "Insane in the Brain", had been my favorite Cypress Hill album for years. But studying their debut LP for the past week or so, I may have to reassess that decision...


Which leads me to the other reason why I held off from releasing this sample set until now: To commemorate the 20 year anniversary of Cypress Hill's release, Get On Down Records is re-issuing the LP on vinyl: glorious, glorious red vinyl! Go cop that! And of course, grab this sample set, too! "I know you gonna dig this..." Turn it up!!