She probably didn’t know it at the time, but my wife got me one of the best gifts ever when she ordered Company Flow’s Funcrusher Plus for me in the first year or so of dating in 1997. Twelve years later, Definitive Jux, the label run by Co. Flow’s El-P, is reissuing what rightly should be considered an independent classic on May 5 in CD, vinyl and digital formats. The digital release will include the pre-1995 tracks Juvenile Techniques and Corners 94, as well as the last post-Funcrusher Plus songs Simple, DPA and Simian Drugs. The album, originally released on Rawkus (don’t ask El-P about that label) has been out of print since 2006; I still have my CD and I even kept the insert with questions you’re supposed to answer and mail back to the label.
At the time, in ’97, I’d been hung up and somewhat obsessed with the Native Tongues, Hieroglyphics and the like. Then Funcrusher Plus came along and pretty much rattled my brain, its desolate production and bleak verses pretty much living up to the album’s title. I’m still not sure I’ve completely wrapped my head around this album.
Check out Pitchfork for a great interview with El-P, Bigg Jus and Mr. Len about the news of the reissue.
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