Darko The Super Assembles Beat-maker Bedrock #8 to Coincide with One Day-only Watered Down Demon Fuzz Pre-sale Benefiting Transgender Law Center (Personal Archives x Bandcamp)
"Hey, what's up? I'm Darko The Super AKA Doc Heller, an Experimental Hip-Hop artist from Philadelphia, by way of Jupiter. These are a few albums that have influenced my production [work]. There's much more, but these were the ones I found easiest to write about. Obviously, Frank Zappa is the greatest musician of all time and has affected me in greater ways than just sonically, but I found it too difficult to choose just one of his albums to mention from his massive catalog. Also, Camu Tao's King of Hearts (2010) was on my list, but I couldn't think up something good enough to do it justice. Anyway, here's my Beat-maker Bedrock."
Charles Hamilton - My Brain Is Alive mixtape (2009)
"Charles Hamilton's my favorite producer and an artist who doesn't get nearly the credit he deserves for influencing a whole generation of rappers. Out of the 200 or so albums he's released, I chose My Brain Is Alive to highlight; this was the album I'd listen to on the way to high school everyday. It's the first of his that I heard and really connected with and gravitated towards. Some others of his I should mention are At Most I'm Just, a project he did sampling Incubus. As well as This Perfect Life, which was meant to be his first major label release. Plenty of others I could say, my main point being is no one has influenced my production more than Charles, besides my early obsession with J Dilla. My favorite track from this particular album is the opening, "Pleasantly Over-thinking." I once did my own version to his beat very early on, before I was "Darko The Super.'"
Beastie Boys - Hello Nasty (1998)
"This is my favorite album by the greatest Rap group of all time, the Beastie Boys. My favorite tracks are "Super-Disco Breakin'" and "Intergalactic," which happens to be my favorite music video, too. I had one corporate job in my life, I worked overnights at Kohl's one holiday season. This was the album I listened to every night [while] there. Especially, "Song for The Man." This is a Solid Gold Hip-Hop classic, nothing will ever match it. I wish I could make beats like these, this is the standard I strive for, but will never reach and I'm alright with that."
Kool Keith - Black Elvis/Lost In Space (1999)
"This is the album that stands out the most to me in Kool Keith's extensive catalog. It's a perfect album, minus the Sadat X feature ["Static"]. "Super-galactic Lover" is a beautiful masterpiece. This is the album that makes Kool Keith the greatest. Mathew (2000) was the first album of his I really loved, but Black Elvis is his magnum opus, in my opinion. He's a master of the game in The Rapping Hall of Fame."
Del The Funky Homosapien - Golden Era (2011)
"Del's Funk Man and Automatik Statik came out in 2009, but I didn't hear of those albums until they were packaged with Golden Era in 2011. These three are my favorite Del albums; an artist I consider to be one of the greatest rappers of all time. The production [work] on these albums are drowned in Funk. Every song's a hit, but my favorite has to be "Sometimes I Gotta Get Stupid." One of my favorite beats ever, the synth melts me into ooze every time. No one has more style than Del."
Since we last spoke with Darko The Super here at The Witzard, he's released DEVO-themed Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Darko! it's all down south from here (tour tape) with road dogs ialive and Torito, compiled his BUMMER EVERY SUMMER instrumental mixtape as Doc Heller, and unleashed Return to The Hell Hole Store with ialive on Already Dead Tapes. Now, Darko's back with the next sick and twisted beat-laden chapter of his never-ending tale, Watered Down Demon Fuzz on Bob Bucko Jr.'s Personal Archives imprint. Along with Shabazz Palaces and Daniel Johnston's rather eclectic output and a Beck-penned poem with Mellow Gold's CD insert, Personal Archives founder Bob Bucko Jr. was a major influence on Darko and is even sampled throughout Watered Down Demon Fuzz. While Watered Down Demon Fuzz won't become widely available until August 26th, Darko The Super & Personal Archives have joined forces with Bandcamp to make $6 cassettes exclusively available for one day only, today, Friday, August 4th; "on Friday, Bandcamp is donating their cut of sales to the Transgender Law Center. Personal Archives will donate their sales to the Transgender Law Center, as well as the Dubuque Rescue Mission. So, if you buy one $6 tape, Bob [Bucko Jr.] will send $6 to the Transgender Law Center and $6 to the Dubuque Rescue Mission. Let's take care of each other!" @DarkoTheSuper wrote on Twitter and Facebook Thursday afternoon. Watered Down Demon Fuzz is now available as an exclusive one-day special and will become widely available on Personal Archives this upcoming August 25th.