All City Records, the Dublin based independent label specialising in electronic leaning hip-hop, continues to defy the odds in a David v Goliath type fashion with the type of releases that make other labels (with far bigger budgets, dare i speculate) green with envy. …Read More.
Much is made of the East Coast/ West Coast rivalry in the hip-hop world, with Southern rap coming into its own in recent years.
The same cannot really be said for the UK. Aside from London, Bristol and maybe Birmingham, hip-hop hotbeds are few and far between. Which makes the rise of beat maker Handbook all the more extraordinary. …Read More.
Dimlite
Grimm Reality
Now Again
One of the most praiseworthy things that can be said about record label Now-Again (and its parent label Stones Throw) is that they take a wonderfully eclectic approach to the music they decide to release. Concepts such as ‘brand identity’ seem gleefully alien when you place the cumulative roster alongside one another, and it is with this in mind that one comes to Grimm Reality. In actual fact, ‘gleefully alien’ is perhaps better put use to describe the deranged, jarring but ultimately brilliant third album of Swiss producer and musician Dimlite.
New World Generation
New World Generation
Now Again Records
Somewhere between the early and late seventies there was a sesmic shift in the soul music of America. At the beginning of the decade the emphasis was on the earnest and epic sprawl of albums such as Marvin Gaye’s What’s Going On, or the rasping sexual provocations of James Brown; it was music with dirt under its nails, a political edge and a street-wise strut. Within ten years the genre had shifted towards something more hedonistic and ephemeral, mutating into disco in the process. As Now-Again founder Eothen ‘Egon’ Alapatt points out in his sleeve notes, many of the bands that had earned their chops in the sweat lodge of the first part of the decade struggled to make the transition.
Love this short with Ice Cube celebrating and considering the work of design deities Charles and Ray Eames. Cube draws a parallel between the shared production values of rap and the Eames, highlighting the resourceful and innovative nature of both styles. But as Cube notes, the Eames were ahead of the game ’1949 style’. A compelling piece of film.
If you’re travelling home for Christmas and looking for some new tunage or just are looking for an aural escape from the annual family get together these little free MP3 nuggets might what you’re after.
First Word Records have released an LP handcrafted for your listening pleasure. Running to 12 tracks, Two Syllables Six Volume Six features label stalwarts Souleance, Ariya Astrobeat Arkestra, Kidkanevil, Homecut, Lotek & Amenta and is well worth getting on the D/L. For those travelling home for Christmas but don’t fancy listening to Chris Rea – most of our readership I’d hope – then Neon Neon can sate your music x travelling needs with their comback track entitled Wheels. Released by the lovely folk at Lex, it’s good to see Gruff and Boom Bip back behind the wheel of their DeLorean.
And last but not least, if you’re after some serious hours of new musical experiences, then why not cop the entire back catalogue of Bonafide Beats. Over the past 12 months we’ve had contributions from Vast Aire, Handbook, MC Sole, Ugly Duckling, Mexicans With Guns, Stay + , Mike-L and Lopez, purveyors of ambitious, experiemental, exciting and progressive musical styles. Maybe, just maybe, the best present you’ll find under the digital Christmas tree this year.
Woahhhh have Lex really been delivering the goods for 10 years?! Apparently so, and to mark this momentous occasion for a UK record label that has few contemporary peers – few other labels have consistently dropped new markers in the field that is designated ‘left of field’ in the world of hip-hop – are releasing 10. 10 is an compilation of 10 exclusive tracks by the likes of Jneiro Jarel, DOOM, Thom York, Neon Neon, Boom Bip, Dosone and Fog. Tracks are currently being released in digital sizzle format on a weekly basis, before they are compiled into a must have picture disc released in January 2012.
Also worth visiting to pick up a last minute Christmas present or two is the new Lex Store. The store is a great place to spend five minutes digging through. One of the main reasons is it gives you the chance to peruse a lot of the design work crafted by Ehquestionmark? which has the rare effect of making you want to buy the vinyl even if you haven’t heard the music – how nice is that cover for Boom Bip’s Zig Zaj LP? Also lurking is a great limited edition pack that features two screen-prints by illustrator Yu Sato, one commemorating DOOM & Ghostface Killah’s show at The Roundhouse, London, and Lex Records 10th Anniversary poster.
Another one from the YouTube vaults. A rotund and jolly DOOM does his best Andy Williams impression for Adult Swim. The Beeb should take note and think about how they could inject some much needed life into some of their more tired program formats. Westwood does Songs of Praise, Taskforce present Newsnight, Slick Rick goes on a Bargain Hunt… I will never look at the TV listings without thinking ‘What if?’
If Boom Bip’s recent collaboration with the Super Furry Animal’s Gruff Rhys, Neon Neon, demonstrated a growing pop sensibility, then Zig Zaj represents a consolidation into further melodic territory. …Read More.
In 2006 Spank Rock’s channelling of Miami Bass hedonism and dayglo hipsterism made his debut album Yoyoyoyoyo a refreshingly dangerous – even unhinged – break from rap’s standard macho scowl. It was filthy, bass-heavy, and fairly unrepentant about its fixation with drugs and x-rated dancing. Cycling forward to 2011 and it is probably safe to say that not a great deal has changed for Spank Rock, at least in terms of lyrical content. …Read More.
