Tom Caruana Re-visits Wu-Tang & Jimi Hendrix Mash-up Left-overs for Black Gold - Spare Nuggets & 2LP Vinyl Re-issue (Tea Sea Records)

Not to be confused with similarly-named Davey Havok-fronted Horror Punk band, Son of Sam is a Soul/Funk-inflected Instrumental Hip-Hop band hailing from "Cinder Hill," UK. Founded by Sam Brothers John (drums) and Joe (bass & guitar) Son of Sam unleashed their 2017 debut, CINDER HILL with assistance from fellow bandmates Dutch Halligan wielding keyboard, flute & sax) and Tom Caruana helming percussion & production. Tea Sea Records-released CINDER HILL features a slew of emcees and vocalists including John Robinson, Sadat X, The Black Opera, Guilty Simpson, Organized Konfusion's Prince Po, Denmark Vessey, Quelle Chris, Masta Ace, and Large Pro. Tom Caruana, actually, runs Tea Sea Records, which boasts Son of Sam, The Menagerie, Professor Elemental, Dr. Syntax, Klondike Kids, longusto, Boiler Room Collective, and Grand Agent amongst their eclectic roster, as well as Caruana's own original works and mash-ups. Yes, while Tom Caruana has actively been creating and releasing music since 2002, he's likely, best know for his iconic genre-eschewing mash-up albums; sonic benchmarks of his mash-up cannon include Wu-Tang vs. The Beatles - Enter: The Magical Mystery Chambers, Wu-Tang & Jimi Hendrix - Black Gold, Okayplayer: The Bollywood Remake, and Dan Lish-illustrated An Adventure to Pepperland Through Rhyme & Space.

While he's working on a number of as-yet-unannounced top-secret projects, it seems as though Tom Caruana has been doing a bit of seasonal hard drive cleaning; in recent weeks, having released the latest installment of his on-going Rough Versions Remix Series: BIGGIE (Vol. 6,) Son of Sam CINDER HILL Sessions left-over "Where The Hearts At" with Stones Throw affiliate Rasco, and most recently, Black Gold - Spare Nuggets. A stylistic continuation of his 2011 masterpiece, Wu-Tang vs. Jimi Hendrix - Black Gold, Spare Nuggets consists of "a bunch of tracks that got left off the Black Gold album—mostly, beats from Black Gold with [different] acapellas." Even Tom Caruana himself (@teaseacaruana) seemed a bit surprised with some of the dusty nuggets he dug up for Black Gold - Spare Nuggets, writing on Instagram: "there's some interesting bits on there that I had completely forgotten about..." Tom Caruana Presents: Black Gold - Spare Nuggets is currently available to stream or download on Tea Sea Records' Bandcamp page, along with the rest of Caruana's expansive back catalog. Next up for Tom Caruana is a collaborative 7-inch/digital EP with Boog Brown, which should become available within just "a few weeks."

"Whilst going through files in preparation for doing Black Gold on vinyl, I found a bunch of stuff that got left off the main album; so, I threw them together... super-rough, quick mixes/master. I think, there's some vocals that are a bit out of time... the kind of stuff that I would do, if I worked on them for longer... anyway, if you like the main album, this is the better of the scraps that didn't make it onto the main album, for one reason or another... enjoy!

PS: double-vinyl coming soon!
LP1 - Wu-Tang vocal tracks
LP2 - [Hendrix] instrumentals"

- Tom Caruana (Bandcamp)

"Let Me Shine for You:" Lindsay Lohan for Playboy (Winter 2011-12 Leak)

Lindsay Lohan essentially embodies exactly "What NOT to Do In Hollywood :" Fame, fortune, success... sex, drugs & Rock "N" Roll . Within a fairly short period of time, Lohan somehow managed to obtain a plentiful helping of POWER @ a very young age. This gradual rise-downfall was captured on film; Between 1998-2010, she portrayed a wide array of roles across the silver screen in movies including: Mean Girls, Bobby , Herbie Fully Loaded , Georgia Rule, Machete , and Freaky Friday . Between rapid-paced film shoots, Lindsay Lohan also found time to record 2 Pop Rock albums for Casablanca , Speak (2004) and A Litter More Personal-Raw (2005). Needless to say, Lindsay Lohan has gotten roped up in a lot of troubles and woes with the law over the last 3-5 years... a vicious cycle of drugs, arrest, court, rehab, "daddy issues," jail time [Repeat]. That's the pure basics of it - But Google that shit for additional info, if necessary. Towards the end of...

[W]reckless, Topless American Youth: Lana del Rey - "Born 2 Die" (Britney Spears Birthday 30)

Lana del Rey [Lizzy Grant] effectively became 2011's "It Girl" with the release of her phenomenal debut single, "Video Games" (Stranger) . Like many struggling singer-songwriters, Grant has been signed, dropped, and significantly changed her public image since bursting onto the scene (2009). With that said, it can be assumed that Lana del Rey has collected just as many "haters" as she has avid supporters. To be perfectly honest, the only other artist I can think of that made this much commotion... garnered so much wide-spread buzz/hate and critical acclaim -- right out of the gates -- with just one track is Britney Spears . And maybe in this post- Mike musical era, that's the true synthesis of Pop Culture: Britney Lynn Spears . After months of repeated teasing and speculation, Lana del Rey 's major label debut, Born 2 Die will [finally] be released this coming Jan. 30-31, 2012. Pitchfork reports that it will feature "Off to The Ra...

Liberty Bell Cracked In 1/2: Ween - "Freedom of '76" (Gene Ween's Final Send-Off)

Chocolate & Cheese (1994) was one of the first albums I bought with my own money. I was in some sort of BMG Music Club , where you'd buy 5 CD's and then get 10 for "FREE." It was all sent through mail order and you picked the titles from some special booklet. I'm almost positive that Chocolate & Cheese's side boob-baring album cover was what initially drew me in... mind you, I was 12-15 and the zany Ween logo/middle finger CD graphic really didn't hurt either. Honestly, I forget how I really felt about it @ the time, but a few years later, my older cousin Josh told me that Ween were this BIG college "jam band." CKY did some sort pf 93.3 radio takeover to promote their new album and played "Freedom of '76" late that night on air. Needless to say, I re-visited Chocolate & Cheese @ about 20-something this go 'round and I fucking loved it! Ween were really weird, yet talented... almost too talented. I can vaguel...

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