Wordsound remains one of my all-time favourite labels (Dischord being the other), where I hoovered up every last release and inevitably played hell out of it all on the Rhythm Incursions show I used to present on Resonance FM here in London. That Spectre/Sensational partnership felt perfect. I'll confess that since then I've not kept track of Sensational's work, however, so this is a very welcome reminder to go and look up what I've missed. Wonderful stuff and a delightful surprise for my inbox this morning. Thanks Stephan!
Thanks Darren, happy to hear that! Yeah I was big on WordSound in the late 1990s too, but kind of lost track of them and Sensational by the mid 2000s. (I think WordSound stopped actively operating in 2006 or so.) Those two newer releases mentioned in the article reignited my love for Sensational's music, and I will go back to some of the Spectre stuff too.
By the way, Skiz Fernando Jr. alias Spectre (who lives in Baltimore now I think) has written a book on MF DOOM that I definitely want to read. A friend of mine is currently working on the German translation.
Hi Darren. Hi Stephan. This was a fascinating article. I am not well versed in all of these independent verse as either of you... so was really happy to read this one.
Speaking of books, I thought you both might like to know about a new book out from Velocity Press, Independent As F***: Underground Hip-Hop From 1995-2005, by Ben Pedroche.
Hopefully I will be a little more well versed after reading that one... and a shame to say, but growing up in Cincinnati, I missed all of those Scribblejam events... but their is a new documentary about it being made:
I really enjoyed your piece on the new Open Mike Eagle too... his Brick Body Kids Still Daydream, as I mentioned before has been a favorite of mine the past few years. Lots of great reading and listening on here as ever.
Sounds good! One of my wife's co-workers is the spouse of one of someone involved with Scribble Jam, and and they've filmed his interviews already. I'll try to remember to send you word when I hear anything about it coming out. Very neat about those mixtapes... I was too entrenched in the noise scene at the time, and missed out on those shows. My loss...
Lange nicht mehr an Sensationell gedacht. Vor 25+ Jahren habe ich sehr viel WordSound gehört, besonders die erste Crooklyn Dub Consortium lief viel, noch mehr allerdings Bill Laswell & Style Scott: "Duo Meltdown". Werde demnächst mal prüfen, wie mir das heute gefällt - müsste ja eigentlich ziemlich zeitlos sein.Danke für die Erinnerung.
Wordsound remains one of my all-time favourite labels (Dischord being the other), where I hoovered up every last release and inevitably played hell out of it all on the Rhythm Incursions show I used to present on Resonance FM here in London. That Spectre/Sensational partnership felt perfect. I'll confess that since then I've not kept track of Sensational's work, however, so this is a very welcome reminder to go and look up what I've missed. Wonderful stuff and a delightful surprise for my inbox this morning. Thanks Stephan!
Thanks Darren, happy to hear that! Yeah I was big on WordSound in the late 1990s too, but kind of lost track of them and Sensational by the mid 2000s. (I think WordSound stopped actively operating in 2006 or so.) Those two newer releases mentioned in the article reignited my love for Sensational's music, and I will go back to some of the Spectre stuff too.
By the way, Skiz Fernando Jr. alias Spectre (who lives in Baltimore now I think) has written a book on MF DOOM that I definitely want to read. A friend of mine is currently working on the German translation.
His DOOM book is a must-read. As is his Wu-Tang one, and The New Beats (if you can find a copy) too. All his writing is brilliant!
Didn’t realize he had written a DOOM book…still need to read the Wu one so now have to read both…
Hi Darren. Hi Stephan. This was a fascinating article. I am not well versed in all of these independent verse as either of you... so was really happy to read this one.
Speaking of books, I thought you both might like to know about a new book out from Velocity Press, Independent As F***: Underground Hip-Hop From 1995-2005, by Ben Pedroche.
Hopefully I will be a little more well versed after reading that one... and a shame to say, but growing up in Cincinnati, I missed all of those Scribblejam events... but their is a new documentary about it being made:
https://www.cincinnatimagazine.com/article/new-documentary-on-scribble-jams-impact-in-the-works/
Cheers!
Thanks for the book rec, Justin! I will read that soon, as indie/ug rap was basically my religion between 95 and 05.
I really enjoyed your piece on the new Open Mike Eagle too... his Brick Body Kids Still Daydream, as I mentioned before has been a favorite of mine the past few years. Lots of great reading and listening on here as ever.
Scribblejam! There's a name I've not seen in a while! I have some "Live at Scribblejam" mixtapes lying around somewhere...
Thanks for the book rec - shall get on that now. LOVE that a doc is being made about SJ too - shall keep an eye out for that!
Sounds good! One of my wife's co-workers is the spouse of one of someone involved with Scribble Jam, and and they've filmed his interviews already. I'll try to remember to send you word when I hear anything about it coming out. Very neat about those mixtapes... I was too entrenched in the noise scene at the time, and missed out on those shows. My loss...
Amazing stuff, this is great! I wasn't familiar with him. Killer.
On a similar note, did you know Schoenberg briefly worked with Pet Shop Boys? https://substack.com/@djic/p-169857646
Lange nicht mehr an Sensationell gedacht. Vor 25+ Jahren habe ich sehr viel WordSound gehört, besonders die erste Crooklyn Dub Consortium lief viel, noch mehr allerdings Bill Laswell & Style Scott: "Duo Meltdown". Werde demnächst mal prüfen, wie mir das heute gefällt - müsste ja eigentlich ziemlich zeitlos sein.Danke für die Erinnerung.
Oh shit I have some Spectre records upstairs. I'm reading this a second time because I am shocked that I don't know about this gentleman already
Sensational, if you read this, I want to collab, we should collab.