Cassette Week 2025 runs from October 13 to October 19, and Hand’Solo Records has two releases officially link to this weeklong celebration of cassette culture. The preorders for both releases dropped today, just in time for Bandcamp Friday. We have Chadiohead 2, the follow up to Pasquale’s Chadiohead, which sold out quite quickly when it dropped, and a cassette by a duo who is new to the Hand’Solo Records fam, Hey Motherfucker from Proteus x Black Art Ninja. Check some sample songs out from each down below, and consider picking up one or both for CW2025.
“… il y a quelque chose de Sixtoo dans les meilleurs passages …” – Indie Rock Magazine
Indie Rock Mag provides a short review of Max Moon’s The Grand Howl, likening him in his best moments to Canadian underground rap legend Sixtoo.
Translation:
Plucked strings of the double bass, discreet deconstructions, weighty atmospheres and minimalist flow: there is something of Sixtoo in the best passages (Little Do They Know and Next Time in particular) of this new album by the Canadian Max Moon, one half of Magick Show alongside Mickey O'Brien, enough to make us appreciate all the more that The Grand Owl is supported by Hand'Solo Records which helped to reveal thirty years ago this little genius of adventurous indie rap that we never talk about enough. For the rest, we navigate between excellence and ordinary, with a little too many skits perhaps but short enough not to break the atmosphere too much. The bonuses that do feel good: Fresh Kils of Backburner as co-producer, ShrapKnel and Ultra Magnus as guests... family in short.
The debut solo album from Max Moon, The Grand Howl, is out now. And you should check it out!
Tucked within the rugged landscape of Northern Ontario, Canada, Max Moon has been steadily carving out his own distinctive place within rap music, and his debut record is a testament to this. The Grand Howl, a reference to the collective noise of human emotion, is a blend of dusty, moody production, and free, contemplative rhyme schemes, with field recorded poetry and harmonic vocal segues. Max Moon may have previously been best known as a rapper/producer with horrorcore trio Magick Show, but his solo effort veers madly off in alternate directions. Max Moon assumes most of the album’s production duties, save contributions from Juno-nominated MPC wizard Fresh Kils (“Little Do They Know”) and acclaimed Ukraine rapper/producer Smuff Tha Quiz (“Rendezvous”). And only impactful features appear on The Grand Howl, with Max Moon enlisting the prolific duo ShrapKnel (PremRock & Curly Castro, Backwoodz Studioz) for the stream-of-consciousness barrage of “DEAD END$” and friend, label-mate, and Toronto fire-spitter Ultra Magnus for the boom-trap anthem “Scrawlings”, The end result is an album that is ultimately true to this MC.
Written and performed by Max Moon and guests Produced by Max Moon and guests Artwork by Apdtum
The second single and title track from Proteus x Black Art Ninja’s upcoming collab album Hey Motherfucker is out now with three different versions to suit whatever your tolerance level for crassness might be…
For the second single and title track from Proteus and Black Art Ninja’s upcoming new collab album, Hey Motherfucker, producer BAN builds the beat around a metal-style garage-punk Volca bassline with squealing electrolobotomy synths in the background, rebirth and Volca drums, and catchy backing vocals by the Black Art Ninja Choir (Peachy Tickles, Misty Beavers and Jimmy ‘Poppa’ Noodles) on the hook. It makes for a weird but catchy tune. Lyrically, the single is raunchy and risqué, pushing the boundaries of good taste as you might expect with a song called “Hey Motherfucker”. Proteus presents hentai hip hop in all its glory, loading the lyrics with sex and violence – and plenty of anime references! Should you prefer something safer, you would best digest “Hey Motherfunker”, the radio edit that is both much cleaner and shorter – and lyrically rearranged. And if you want to go more extreme, you would want to explore “Hey Motherfucker (THINK Reimagine)” on which producer THINK includes a longer vocal cut that increases the crass quotient, the length of the song, and also assaults our eardrums with an extra layer of guitars added throughout. Pick your poison level on this maxi-single and jump into the deranged world of Proteus and Black Art Ninja.
Written and performed by Proteus Produced by Black Art Ninja
We’re doing another Bandcamp Listening Party for an upcoming album on Hand’Solo Records. This one is for Max Moon’s solo debut, The Grand Howl, and it’s going down at 7 PM EDT on Sunday, Sept 21. The album is a mix of experimental hip hop, barstool rap, and spoken word poetics. Come add your voice to The Grand Howl!
“Kaboom Atomic … builds some of the most intellectual rap lyrics I’ve ever heard.” – Copy This Cassette
Copy This Cassette ‘zine has written a most excellent review of the cassette version of Kaboom Atomic x The Dirty Sample’s latest collab album, 2 Cents. Give it a read right here:
Shortly after the official release of Max Moon’s debut solo album, The Grand Howl, the Nickel City MC will be playing a couple of big shows. In Toronto he will be opening for Blueprint alongside his Magick Show homie Johnny Bizness and local rap hero D-Sisive. The show is at The BLK_SPACE on October 10, 2025, and it will be hosted by Hand’Solo’s own Mickey O’Brien, another of Moon’s compatriots in Magick Show. It should be a crazy show!
And then on October 24, 2025, Max Moon will be celebrating the release of The Grand Howl with his album release party at Townehouse Tavern in his hometown of Sudbury. He will be joined by Mickey O’Brien and Johnny Bizness, as well as Karnival and experimental rock band Magic Pelvis. Folks in Sudbury are in for a treat!
