The big (Valentine’s) day has come (and gone), which means Mickey O’Brien’s new Twin Flame – The Honey Bear Saga 6-song EP is now available to stream using your favourite service or to purchase on digital or limited-edition (only 100 copies!) gold-plated cassette with bold tarot card artwork. If you download the album through Bandcamp, you also get a hidden bonus track and the tarot card artwork for each song.
Check it out…
Every year Indie Rock Magazine compiles an exhaustive series of lists for their “Best Of” indie and underground music roundup, and it’s always a great honour to see an album or a song from Hand’Solo Records make the cut. And now a new decade has begun, so Rabbit uses the opportunity to highlight his Top 30 hip hop albums, Top 101 hip hop songs, and his favourite hip hop artists, all of the last decade (2010-2019).
While only one album from Hand’Solo made it onto the Top 30 Albums, it was pretty exciting that it came in at #1. That’s right, according to Rabbit, Backburner’s second crew album, Eclipse, is the best hip hop album of the last decade! Backburner also tops his list of recommended crews/rappers/producers… Awesome! Congrats are also due to Wolves, a Backburner affiliate containing a few crew members, also appearing on this list at #9.
And then there are the 101 Best Songs, which has a good number of songs that were released through Hand’Solo, with three in the Top 20! Here’s what made the cut, and the playlists on which they appear:
Ultra Magnus & DJ SLAM! – “Criddown” feat. Dan-e-o
Backburner – “In the Place” feat. Rift & The Mighty Rhino
The Library Steps – “Nothing Fri3ndly” feat. More Or Les, Wordburglar, Swamp Thing, The Mighty Rhino & Ghettosocks
Tachichi – “Light Skin (for the Win) [remix]”
Touch – “Great Sage Equaling Heaven”
Lucha Lonely – “Gold Bangles”
Chokeules – “Welcome”
Wordburglar – “Rhyme O’Clock” feat. More Or Les
Angerville – “Ain’t No Thang”
Check out the full lists here: http://www.indierockmag.com/article33277.html
Congratulations to Touch & The Dirty Sample for making it onto Earshot Magazine’s National Hip Hop Top 20 for 2019, just slipping in at #19 with their most recent collaboration album, Jawz, which continues to chart in 2020 with latest single, “A Touch Joint”.
Additional congratulations also go out to the homies Swamp Thing and Tongue Helmet, plus fellow awesome Canuck acts Sum-01, Shad, and Haviah Mighty, who received the well-deserved #1 spot.
See the full list here: https://www.earshot-online.com/charts/2019/hiphop.cfm
Listen to Jawz:
Congratulations go out to Tachichi, nominated for two East Coast Music Association awards in 2020 with Top Ten, his latest album on Hand’Solo Records. First up is the Bucky Adams Memorial Award, named for the legendary East Coast musician who passed in 2012, which recognizes a full length or EP recording in any musical genre by an East Coast African Canadian artist or group. The other is Rap/Hip-Hop Recording of the Year, but he faces fierce friendly fire from fellow Sipset crew members Ghettosocks and Aquakultre, who are also nominated in the same category as Aquasocks for their album HOLOS. Winners will be announced on the weekend of April 29 to May 3. Good luck with both awards, T!
See the full list of nominees here: https://www.ecma.com/news/ecma-2020-nominees
Listen to Tachichi’s Top Ten:
For the LOVE. That is what motivates Sudbury, ON-based rapper Mickey O’Brien to create music, his honest, no-bullshit rhymes about the actual trials of daily life. With the new single, “Get my Girl Back Day”, O’Brien marks a new era for himself as an artist. The first release from the upcoming 6-song EP Twin Flame – The Honey Bear Saga, produced entirely by Juno-nominated producer and live MPC button-masher Fresh Kils, “Get My Girl Back Day” meditates on what it means to be in love in the modern age. It’s an honest and open exploration of the challenges overcome on the twin flame soul journey to union, love and happiness.
And in true hip-hop style, like a beat maker with samples, Greenboots has chopped up romance film A Love Story, currently celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, to create the visuals for “Get My Girl Back Day”, including the addition of movie dialogue into the song. The video collage plays with classic and somewhat stereotypical images of what romance is, something a man like Mickey O’Brien rejects yet craves simultaneously.
Lyrics written and performed by Mickey O’Brien
Produced by Fresh Kils
Cuts by Uncle Fester
1. Get My Girl Back Day
2. The Tower
3. The Perfect Storm (feat. Attikus)
4. Gabriel’s Horn (feat. Anthony Rinaldi)
5. 11:11 (feat. Salvatori)
6. Sophia (feat. Sarah Craig)
All lyrics by Mickey O’Brien except for featured artists
Produced and mixed by Fresh Kils at Kilzone in Toronto, ON
Vocals recorded by Fresh Kils at Kilzone in Toronto, ON;
All scratches done by Uncle Fester in Halifax, NS
Mastered by Dorc at Banging Masters in Toronto, ON
Album Design by Selene Toffoli
Mickey O’Brien is releasing his new EP, Twin Flame – The Honey Bear Saga, on Hand’Solo Records on Valentine’s Day. He’s celebrating the release with a show in Toronto on Wednesday, February 12 at Handlebar and a show in Sudbury on Thursday, February 13 at The Townehouse Tavern.
TORONTO – FEB 12
Performances by Mickey O’Brien, Ultra Magnus, and More Or Les
Where: Handlebar (159 Augusta Ave)
Doors: 9pm
Cover: $10
More info here: https://www.facebook.com/events/212306976601805/
SUDBURY – FEB 13
Performances by Mickey O’BRien, Ultra Magnus, Magick Pelvis, and Matt Foy.
Where: The Townehouse Tavern (206 Elgin St)
Doors: 9pm
Cover: $7
More info here: https://www.facebook.com/events/2204191246555525/
$5 Rap Show returns for 2020 with possibly our last show at Handlebar now that ownership is changing hands. Come on out and celebrate with us!
Performances from More Or Les, Wordburglar, Sy-Fi and Swamp Thing, plus special guests!
When: Thursday, Feb 6, 2020
Doors: 9pm
Where: Handlebar (159 Augusta Ave)
Cover: $5
More rap than you pay for.
Check the Facebook Event page for more info: https://www.facebook.com/events/1357386544442808/
Indie Music Discovery recently did a massive interview with The Mighty Rhino. It’s a meaty one, so dig in!
Read the full interview here: https://www.indiemusicdiscovery.com/interview-the-mighty-rhino/
Indie Music Discovery did an interview with Alien Trap Lords recently. It’s short, sweet, and still leaves lots of mystery surrounding the Alien Trap Lords…
Read the full interview here: https://www.indiemusicdiscovery.com/interview-alien-trap-lords/
