As soon as I heard El-P's I'll Sleep When You're Dead on Hugh's kitchen hi-fi in Swansea I knew I wanted to hear more of his music. The next opportunity I got was from this copy of Collecting the Kid which I found in Bart's CD Cellar in Boulder, Colorado (worth noting that the LPs at the time were on the first floor; I'm not sure there even was a cellar. Or a Bart). I had no idea what was on the album, but the words "Limited Edition" helped convince me further that it was worth buying.
Collecting the Kid is, as the name implies, a collection of odds and ends from around the time of Fantastic Damage. The songs are mostly instrumentals, but some are beats El-P made for other rappers, so we get their vocals too - Jukie Skate Rock and Oxycontin are great examples of the latter, featuring my introduction to Central Services. The instrumentals vary from quite good to absolutely amazing. Intrigue in the House of India from High Water is quite possibly the highlight of the album and is one of the finest instrumental hip-hop tracks I know. One of my favourite raps on Run the Jewels is when Killer Mike drops "Producer gave me a beat / Said it's the beat of the / I said El-P didn't do it / get the fuck out of here". This album is further testament to Mike's words. Slow Sex, Constellation and The Dance are all great too.
Whilst Collecting the Kid wasn't the best album to hear after becoming a fan on I'll Sleep When You're Dead, it's a great listen. It also showed me a hugely different side to his work that I might not have discovered so quickly otherwise. A short while later I found a copy of Company Flow's Funcrusher Plus, which might have been a more obvious sequel for me. Over the years I've listened to El's work in various form and all of it has been mind-blowing in some way - it's impressive that one man can excel in so many areas of music.
Format: Double 12"
Tracks: 11
Cost: £9.21 new
Bought: Bart's CD Cellar, Boulder
When: 18/04/08
Colour: Black
Etching: none
mp3s: no
