Critics commonly get an envelope of awesomeness. The publicist/record label/artist determines your worthiness by the shiz that's sent. For example, if you get a CD and a one page intro, they are just throwing darts hoping a decent review will be posted. Intolerance records sent me an inflatable fucktoy, key chain, poster, mouse pad (who in the hell uses those anymore?) . I need a hoodie damn it, but that's a little steep to e-beg for -- especially since this is an unbiased review. ;-)

J. Shepherd gave me a ring a little while ago asking me to review his artist. I was a little off from the Vicodin that I need to take and made my stoned responses as awkward as hell. I told him that I was launching Die Music Die, but it is obvious that he already drafted everything to Ape Quake. I can't be pissed because of the bounty received. I have no fucking clue what I'll do with these items, but they're sweet nonetheless.

**WHITE RAPPER (AKA BLIZZARD MAN) ALERT**



The CD does not include an image of the artist. Sure, many black artists use a pot leaf or cash money and what not on their cover, but the 1st thing I think these days when I see an entire booklet without an image is ... white rapper. In fact, I saw only one image of the artist in all of the stuff I was sent by Intolerance Records. It was buried somewhere between the white dildo and mouse pad.  Without doing that research, his moniker is Wally Boy Wonder ... enough said.

"Day of the Rising Tide" has a lot of tracks -- 18 in all. Intolerance Records clearly loved everything he laid down and apparently wanted to make sure you get your money's worth. For me, it's a little overkill for an unfamiliar artist. Some tracks feel like filler. For example, there are a number of cuts like "Swagger" that just don't stack up. With that out of the way, there's a lot to dig here.

Wally Boy Wonder (WBW from here on out) does not like to be pigeonholed. The ditties range from campy retro-inspired dance "Wobble Bobble" (with Duma Love of the disbanded Cibo Matto) and "See Saw" to personal "Simple Life", "An Angel and St. Mark" and "Fam" to bazaar "Prehistoric" and "Zodiac". Those tracks give you a glimpse inside the curious mind of WBW.



J. Shepherd produced "Day of the Rising Tide". His beats were not consistently mind-blowing, but felt right with the content. The dance tracks were shakeable -- "Wobble Bobble" made me bounce so hard, I nearly forgot that the song's hook was "body like a soda bottle". Other tracks, were molded around the lyrics (i.e. "Prehistoric" has a raw almost untouched production). 

A final note on the "Day of the Rising Tide". I'm  a sucker for kooky pop culture references in hippity hop. WBW provides many. In one delirious song, "That Boy", he managed to recall the director and stars (Alfred Hitchcock and Jimmy Stewart + Doris Day) from the 1956 flick, "The Man Who Knew Too Much". Other references include: Freddy Krueger and Jason Voorhees ("Simple Life"), Van Gogh ("Zodiac") and yada yada yada. Mixing oil and water (i.e. unfamiliar shout outs with hip hop), sticks with me and will induce me to revisit.

check this artist out here at his label's site!