Fantastic Planet - Fantastic JJ Project

Back in 2004, I crawled through the used section of my local music store and came across an album called "Past Futuristic" by a North Carolina group named The Others. I wasn't sure what to expect from an album made to look like a comic book cover. Turned out to be one of my favorites that year. It also may have been my introduction to the now defunct Third Earth Music, who also released music by Science Fiction (Wale Oyejide) and Jean Grae. After that, I didn't hear much from them, other than a instrumental release by member Madwreck. I lost track after that.



I checked out their MySpace pages today and was happy to see they're still making music. I also got an update from a guy on the Stones Throw forums. DR is still DJing around NC, Madwreck is still making beats, and Mattic moved out to France to work with Wax Tailor. He also became part of a group called Fantastic Planet who released an EP which used beats from one of my favorite albums, Jneiro Jarel's Beat Journey. A nice full-circle deal for me, personally. You can download the EP for free below.

DOWNLOAD



As for the cover of Past Futuristic, it was illustrated by a comic artist named Scott Johnson who's worked for a lot of comic and game companies. He has a wealth of work in that vein on his website.

Fantastic Planet
The Others
Scott Johnson