And earlier today 17 year old Grime producer J Beatz asked very nicely if he could send me a promo of his latest EP. So of course I said yes, even though most of the music I get sent these days is rubbish.

I’m not the world’s hugest fan of instrumental grime, but I’ll definitely take that over generic wobble-step if given the choice. This is good gear, thank fuck.

Dutty‘s beats are exactly the correct combination of swing and stiffness and all the freaky growling + airy synths over the top of them do some nice things to my head. Cash Point is a bit more full-on and ravey (i.e. exhausting, for old gits like me) with some good video game type sound effects.

Tazer really reminds me of grime beats circa 2003 – plucky strings, weird bubbling beats, sinister b-line. Top stuff – almost like a Jon E Cash / Black Ops joint!

Ragga Muffin obviously piqued my interest. Am I just biased or do grime people make reggae pastiches a million times better than dubstep people? This is great – some UK Dub-style skanking going on, lickle sample of a soundman and soundsystem effects. It works precisely because it isn’t a really obvious mahoosive bassline over a really obvious reggae vocal. I definitely want to hear an MC over this one…

Anyway, I reckon this is well worth investigation, but don’t take my word for it – there’s a youtube promo clip up here. (Ragga Muffin starts at about 4:35)

J Beatz: 1 Dutty EP – out on digital and vinyl on Crown Jules Records on July 19th.

http://www.myspace.com/jbeatzproducer
http://www.facebook.com/jbeatzmusic
http://www.twitter.com/jbeatzmusic

2. Augustus Pablo – East of The River Nile (Augustus Pablo/King Tubby production, 1977)

3. Dr Pablo – North of the River Thames (Adrian Sherwood production, 1984)

4. Digidub – South East of the Thames (Lee Berwick production, 1993)

Link

5. Tinie Tempah – South East of Thames (2005)

With thanks to Dan Hancox and Neil Transpontine.

To the Albany in New Cross, via the brand spanking new train line which joins the previously isolated South East and North East parts of London.

The journey allowed me some time to ruminate on the mixed feelings I had about the event. “Margins Music” was a bold album, linking up the psychogeography of London with its various sonics. Blackdown and Dusk gave great interview in Woofah issue 3 and Mr Blackdown himself shared a bill with Georgina Cook and I at last year’s Creative Edge event at UCL.

Oh yeah and they got my best mate to remix their album.

But but but… doing a live show based on their album? Really? Once again full marks for ambition, but horrendous memories floated through my brain at the thought of it. Not least being munted at one of the mid 90s Tribal Gathering festivals and stumbling into the Metalheadz tent as they launched into a piss poor “Jazz Odyssey” with much backslapping from Goldie about taking it to the next level with “real musicians”.

The Albany was far from full when we reached. Mr HistoryIsMadeAtNight and I caught up with Melissa Bradshaw at the bar. Blackdown paced about, impossible to miss because of his height (one of the few people I have to look up to in conversation, ha ha!).

And then, without much fanfare, it kicked off. Dusk and Blackdown took to laptops, another geezer fiddled with the backing film, two ladies on vocals up front, a female percussionist and I think a female keyboard player, but I couldn’t quite what she was doing from my vantage point. An encouragingly multiracial and non-blokey line up, I felt.

Full marks so far – they’d not gone for anything insane like string quartets or jazz saxophonists. It sounded tight, Farrah and Japjit’s presence at the front was an all too welcome deviation from the usual problems of “bloke playing with laptop” which make performances resemble offices.

The sparseness of the audience and the laid back nature of the first half of the show made it hard to really get sucked in, but the visuals helped – lots of gritty footage of London, mashed up with Bollywood films and some neat on-the-fly video scratching and distorting. Despite that, there were still moments when I longed for the venue to transform itself into a big tent at a festival… I felt a bit stiff standing there, pint in hand, shuffling about.

That said it was an impressive debut, I certainly didn’t notice any fuck ups. The set increased in intensity throughout and there were some ace bits of percussion soloing. Vocals were faultless and occasionally had the hairs on my arms standing on end. Volume-wise it was still alright for talking to the man next to me, but that also meant there weren’t any rib-rattling b-lines.

Farrah and Japjit departed after a while and were replaced by… Trim. Woah.

Margins Music features Trim and Durrty Goodz, arguably the two most accomplished grime MCs in terms of abstract vocal impact. Trim specialises in woozy poetics that take a few plays to suss out – but always grab your attention.

This was hardly his usual territory though. It’s not like he’s even a regular fixture at the rare grime raves in London. The only other time I’ve seen him was at Dirty Canvas in 2007. But the Albany was all arty and not exactly banging and… people weren’t exactly waving their hands in the air bawling for a reload. He did great though, sliding out some top abstract bars (and, uh, some slightly more base ones!). He even improvised some lines about kicking back and enjoying a beer when he spotted me and Mr H.I.M.A.N. doing precisely that.

Then Farrah and Japjit rejoined the group as they raised the roof for the final track – credits rolling on the screen behind them.

We showed our appreciation. As Blackdown himself says, it worked.

Dates in Brighton, Manchester and elsewhere follow. My man Grievous Angel is doing a set at the Manc show. Check this out if you have an open mind and want something a little way different…

EDIT: History Is Made At Night review now up also.

wrongtom – Tinie Tempah “Pass Out (Wrongtom’s Resuscitation – edit)”

Excellent remix of this grimey pop tune in a sleng teng style.

Good to see people drawing the lines between UK MCs of the eighties and now…

I’ve been playing this a lot!

Check it out…

If you have ever been there, you will want to sign this.

woofahmag.com

I can barely believe I’m saying it but the new issue is here and ready to get out to you all!

Believe me it’s worth the wait – up to a massive 92 pages this time and some incredible content that I am completely amazed we managed to secure. And it’s still the same price!

In the shops next week, but you can order direct NOW:

woofah magazine » Buy.

(copies to contributors and allies will be mailed out early next week, or can be got from me in person)

From rooftops to chart-topping, the music’s never been more popular, nor harder to hear in public. Dan Hancox on the Met’s attempt to banish grime from the capital’s clubs.

Great stuff as usual from Dan.

weareie: Finally!!.

Woofah issue 4 just landed at Chateau Droid. The shipment will now cross the Irish sea and reach London early next week.

Hit the link for more info or stay tuned to this channel…

I’m excited – you should be too!

Lots of sampling and rejigging of the classic film Babylon going on at the moment. Aswad’s “Warrior Charge” tune is of course the sonic conrnerstone of the film.

It features on Dizzee’s Rascal’s latest album (which I have previously yacked about here) alongside Brinsley Forde’s “Can’t Take No More of That” chant from the climactic final scene of the film:

The tune is produced by Shy FX, so it’s a nice meeting of Grime and Jungle dons.

Kevin Martin has been playing the original “Warrior Charge” out in his sets as The Bug with Flowdan over the top.

And now Brinsley has teamed up with top producer Curtis Lynch on a Babylon inspired riddim also:

Check it out at Necessary Mayhem or Dub Vendor.

Of course, people who have checked my Babylon subsite will know that the first use of this sample was by ‘ardkore merchants Satin Storm way back in 1991:

So that’s a little UK soundsystem meme for you right there!

Great stuff from 2am last Friday morning, now available courtesy of the rinse podcast. Elijah and Skilliam also present and correct.