A lot of appreciation for this event right now because it's Grime, weekly. Big up Tim & Barry who are now in their ninth week of the Just Jam series, this week sees interviews with D Double E and Footsie who'll also both be performing their versions off S-X's (incredibly played out) Wooo Riddim plus a P.A of Street Fighter from DEE. Jammer will be spitting live plus showcasing some tunes from his fantastic new album Jahmanji, expect a couple of reviews soon.
Solo45 (who's new CD is available for pre-order here) will also be passing through with Shorty and Shifty alongside sets featuring P Money, Blacks, Trilla whilst producers/Djs Moky and S-X will be having a go on the decks.
If you haven't slit your wrists after the England game then catch everything live on www.dontwatchthat.tv or catch everyone down @ Alibi, 91 Kingsland High Street (E8 2PB).
On the 24th of April last year, the entire Grime scene past and present were of great shock to learn one of the finest MC's about, Gavin "Esco Big Barz" Defoe, had sadly passed away.
It was terrible news for other MC's and fans alike and whilst it was well known that Esco had taken a step back from the Grime scene momentarily, it was heartening to find out he had a CD recorded a while before such devastating events occurred.
"Bars To Bricks" is the projects name, and below is the official video for one of the tracks taken from that project entitled "I'm A General" featuring the ever-present Newham Generals, D Double E and Footsie.
Initially I was going to wait until the very, very end of the year to write this one. In fact this isn't even the one. Nominations for Grimeforum's 2009 awards have started (check them out here), and whilst all the users are busy posting who they think deserves to win what, I've pondered carefully on my own choices..
Best track of 2009...Breakage Featuring Newham Generals & David Roddigan - Hard.
I didn't even have to think extremely hard about this one. Breakage isn't even a grime producer primarily, listeners claim Dubstep to be his forte, but if his new found desire for beats at 140 continues on the yellow-brick-road it's travelling down at the moment then Grime's top producers have a new rival. The 'Gens are and will always remain grime scene royalty, everything they touch seemingly glistens, without much effort either. There's not much you can say about this tune without being over-emphatic; pressing drum patterns mixed with DEE and Foots' incredible verses combined with little mini-speeches from Dancehall boss David Roddigan make for epic listening. Catch a proper review here. Tunes that missed out slightly: Wiley - Where's My Brother, P Money - 1UP.
Best instrumental release of 2009...Maniac - New Age Grime
This however did prove to be a tricky decision. In 2009 producers have come into the limelight more than ever before with most releases containing relevant credits and instrumental CD's and EP's appearing regularly. The first initial release that came to mind was Nocturnal's CD offering Nocstrumentals. Followed swiftly by Silencer's Run The CD.But I dug deeper and went back to the CD I reviewed back in July, Maniac's New Age Grime.Whilst there is a wide range and much more popular selection of Maniac instrumentals about, N.A.G seemed to be a selection of the finest instrumentations 2009 had to offer, with orchestral activity on Ugly and heavy, pretty Dubstep like origins on Wobble & Ouch. Grime was showcased at it's purest on Headshot and the brilliance of this CD was summed up with my closing description:
"Like a PIMP, cock-slapping a virgin in her pretty little face".
Strangely, Newham Generals are not proprietor to what I herald as this years best CD, nor is Maniac actually who I think is the year's ultimate producer. You'll find out what I think about that tomorrow.... ;)
Breakage is a producer who of very recent times, could be held responsible for some of the best tunes about. On their previous EP Together/Rain, Rain is a laid back low-bass anthem, which appropriately goes down well when your doing coursework on a dimly lit computer desk, at 1 AM on a rainy Sunday. Together saw a link-up with legendary Dancehall/Reggae David Roddigan, but that was only the instrumental to what we've got on today's release, Hard.
Breakage has found form on his 140 BPM beats, the drum patterns on these are intense; sly snares at the start of this melody blend well into hard pulsing drum patterns, and immense synths intensify the song, particulary during the hook. It's reminiscent to something I heard on Tubby's show a while ago (I didn't catch any track details), D Double E and Footsie bring something of an old school vibe in their part of the bargain.
The release also comes with a remix from The Dub Police's Caspa, which strays none to far from the original with some typical Dubstep sounding bass thrown in. Plans for a Breakage album sound exciting - a definite must buy. For now, head over to Boomkat and grab this.
