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74 minute special! Lyrical onslaught! Shocking out!

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00:00 Introduction
00:26 Neckle Camp feat. Jammer, Rinse FM
01:02 Turbulence acapella
02:06 Turbulence – Notorious (THC Muzik 7”) 2005
02:40 Trim & Radioclit – Turbulence remix (from Soulfood vol 1) 2007
06:45 Richie Spice – Marijuana (from Spice In Your Life 2004)
08:25 Jammer – Burning (from Are You Dumb vol 2) 2007
10:45 Bob Marley and the Wailers – So Much Trouble in the World (from Survival, 1979)
14:05 Mercston – Trouble (from Da End of Da Beginning) 2006
16:31 Skepta – Blood, Sweat and Tears (from Greatest Hits) 2007
19:32 All In One – Flows (from Bless Beats – A Hard Days Graft) 2008
21:14 Frisco – Skeng Man Mode (from Peng Food) 2008
23:24 Slix – Maniac (from Down vol 1) 2006
26:12 Neckle Camp feat Jammer, Rinse FM
27:39 Baby Cham & Mister Easy – Funny Man (Mad House 7”) 1996
28:53 Lady Saw – Sycamore Tree (Mad House 7”) 1996
30:01 Frisco Kid – Rubbers (Mad House 7”) 1996
31:05 Buju Banton – How It Ago Go (Mad House 7”) 1996
32:08 Tanya Stephens – Yuh Nuh Ready Fi Dis Yet (Mad House 7”) 1996
33:37 Slew Dem – Joyride Vocal (Slewdem Productions 12”) 2005
35:13 Dutty Doogz – Pum Pum Stealer (Night Flight 12”) 2003
36:35 Harry Toddler – Good Good (Night Flight 12”) 2003
36:49 Flow Dan – Galist (Night Flight 12”) 2003
37:16 Jamaka Bi - Zoom 4 Pum (Night Flight 12”) 2003
39:15 Kano and Vybz Kartel – Buss It Up (679 7”) 2006
43:16 Neckle Camp feat. Jammer, Rinse FM
44:01 Yami Bolo – Top Shotta (Black Diamonds 7”) 2002
45:48 Junior Reid – Rise Up (Black Diamonds 7”) 2002
46:32 Half Pint – Bounce (Black Diamonds 7”) 2002
47:37 Lukie D – One In Ten (Black Diamonds 7”) 2002
49:12 Rossi B and Luka – Nobody Knows (from The Legacy EP, Heavy Artillery 12”) 2007
51:29 Ini Kamoze – World a Reggae Music (from Sly and Robbie’s Taxi Sound, Auralux LP) 1984
53:03 Rossi B and Luka – Run 4 Cover instrumental (12” white label) 2005
53:48 Rossi B and Luka feat. Nasty Crew – Run 4 Cover (12” white label) 2005
56:45 Neckle Camp feat. Jammer, Rinse FM
57:13 Breeze – Ice Rink (Wiley Kat 12”) 2003
59:16 Tinchy Stryder – Ice Rink (Wiley Kat 12”) 2003
60:36 Kano – Ice Rink (Wiley Kat 12”) 2003
63:56 Riko – Ice Rink (Wiley Kat 12”) 2003
65:58 Sizzla – Give Me A Try (from Rise to the Occasion) 2003
67:18 Jammer – Give Me a Try (from Are You Dumb vol 2) 2006
71:04 Sizzla Vs Rhianna – Give Me A Try (remix) 2007

It’s war on the streets! Young people, out of their minds on hi-grade skunk and turkey twizzlers run amok on the buses, traveling free courtesy of insane communist overlord Ken Livingstone! No alley is safe, no tower block lobby can evade the evil mob of grunting hooded young thugs happy-slapping decency into the gutter of Brown’s Britain!

At the root of this epidemic of anarchy is the unholy trinity of the Playstation, liberal do-gooders and menacing Grime Music. Yes, that’s right, Grime Music, which is made entirely on Playstations by CONVICTED CRIMINALS beaming their amoral message into YOUR CHILDREN’S SKULLS. Grime Music cannot be heard by adults, the SINISTER SOCIOPATHS behind it have ensured that its atonal rhythms can only be picked up by the tender ears of stoned kids.

And as for the words…

I got into Grime via Dancehall and Reggae but I was never sure if the lines I was drawing between the two were actually there. Certainly it’s easy to see the similarities - MCing over mad riddims about what is happening on the streets, pirate radio, lyrical beefs, aggro, girls. Bass.

That made me happy, but I felt like an old fart saying it - “ooh it were a bit like this in my day! We used to love having a dance around the gramophone at the weekend to a bit of reggae”. Plus it seemed like a lot of grime fans and producers saw jungle as ancient history - further back than that things got blurry - prehistoric stuff best left to archaeologists.

Turns out I was worrying unduly, I just had to listen a bit more instead of making things up in my head. When I reviewed “An England Story” in The Wire I mentioned that Grime was the point at which cockney, yardie and a heap of other influences converged to form a new dialect which was pure London 21st Century. Those other influences include a tonne of African language and culture, but Jamaica is always there in the background - bashment patois being a fearsome weapon in the armories of Riko, Flowdan and Killa P to name but three.

And the ancestry isn’t just cultural - it’s genetic in some instances. Grime don Jammer has talked about his dad being involved with soundsystems and counts Benjamin Zephaniah as a family friend. Trim’s mentioned his father being a reggae artist. When rising star Skepta was interviewed for Woofah he went out of his way to talk about how great Ninjaman’s flow is. Through my nerdy glasses it looks like JA music has had just as much, if not more influence on Grime than hip hop has.

Grime Mixtapes are a weird artifact - 20 track CDs of often variable quality. It’s been argued they came to prominence when the raves started getting shut down and there was nowhere to go to jump around to riddims juggled on 12″ vinyl anymore. The two best things about mixtapes is their price (6 quid for an hour of music), and the space they give MCs to experiment with different styles, moods. They are an arena which allow the various influences on Grime to emerge, which allows opportunists like me to join up the dots.

Gathering together all the reggae influenced grime I could find and jiggling it about has been great fun, but as usual I owe everything to Paul’s technical skills in making it coherent. The original idea behind this mix was to create a gateway drug for reggae and dancehall fans - to seduce them into Grime. Right now I’m just happy to play the thing over and over again to myself and smile.

There is a lot we left out, and there is a fair bit which has come out since we finished as well. Not all Grime is as reggaefied as this by any means, so see this mix as a little glimpse at how things work in our heads - our personal selection.

Paul’s comments on the tracks and the blends and mixes are now up over at his place.

Track by Track

00:00 Introduction
00:26 Neckle Camp feat. Jammer, Rinse FM

I dunno where to start with Jammer, except to say we had to start with Jammer!

01:02 Turbulence acapella
02:06 Turbulence – Notorious (THC Muzik 7”) 2005
02:40 Trim & Radioclit – Turbulence remix (from Soulfood vol 1) 2007

Turbulence is from JA, Trim is out of East London and grime super-crew Roll Deep, and Radioclit are French.

I first heard Turbulence on a few Xterminator 7″ around 2000 time, but Notorious was a bolt out of the blue when it was released. It featured at the climax of the mix me and Paul did for BBC Radio Lancashire’s legendary On The Wire Show. I first heard Trim’s take on it on the way to work. Standing on the platform at Liverpool Street, mouth open, other commuters barging past me. Trim is lyrically out there even by Lee Perry’s standards - seriously deep, meandering stream of consciousness stuff which gets better the more you let yourself into his world. Investigate.

06:45 Richie Spice – Marijuana (from Spice In Your Life 2004)
08:25 Jammer – Burning (from Are You Dumb vol 2) 2007

Richie Spice gets refixed by a dubstep producer who shall remain nameless, Jammer leaps on board - inserting his flow in the gaps. Which is exactly how U Roy intensified the whole deejay thing in Jamaica - busting his rhymes in the spaces on old Treasure Isle rocksteady tunes to nice up the dance.

10:45 Bob Marley and the Wailers – So Much Trouble in the World (from Survival, 1979)
14:05 Mercston – Trouble (from Da End of Da Beginning) 2006

Tip of the hat to Paul for all his little touches here. And a doff of the cap to Mercston. What I like about this is Mercston’s denial of politics at the end of such a great conscious tirade. Grime isn’t usually the arena for people to bang on about international affairs or the Iraq war, but like a lot of great music its strength is its ability to articulate the concerns of working class urban yoot, which is probably more relevant in any case.

16:31 Skepta – Blood, Sweat and Tears (from Greatest Hits) 2007

Continuing the conscious theme, Skepta comes correct with some nice reggae references and good anti-gun sentiments. There’s a bit of schizophrenia in a lot of grime artists’ repertoires, which is another thing in common with dancehall. Skepta is probably best known for his “god forgive me if I bust my nine / If you diss my Mum then you’ve crossed the line” bars but here is coming on all responsible. This isn’t anarchopunk so I don’t think anyone expects the artists to have a rigid ideological framework for their lyrics and there is a playfulness to the MCs’ personae that I think outsiders can often miss.

19:32 All In One – Flows (from Bless Beats – A Hard Days Graft) 2008
21:14 Frisco – Skeng Man Mode (from Peng Food) 2008

Some more great mixing from Paul here - can you spot the transition between the tunes? Wicked riddim from Bless Beats who is out of Wiley’s Eskibeat camp - the minimalism here is so effective you don’t want it to end and it’s yet another grime riddim you want to come out on a 12″ doublepack so you can mix it up all night long. Anyway Frisco’s kindly warning everyone here that he is likely to go a bit mental on occasion, so people better watch out. One of the more awkward incidents in grime radio was the recent on air meet up between Frisco and some guy who had been openly sharing his whole mixtape online.

23:24 Slix – Maniac (from Down vol 1) 2006

Impossible to argue with this - stupendous riddim from Maniac, the teenage producer interviewed in Woofah issue 1, with vocals from Slix out of premier league crew Ruff Sqwad. As I’ve said before - the skank on this is ridiculously compelling and should knock any scepiticism from reggae fans who have listened this far into a cocked hat.

26:12 Neckle Camp feat Jammer, Rinse FM
27:39 Baby Cham & Mister Easy – Funny Man (Mad House 7”) 1996
28:53 Lady Saw – Sycamore Tree (Mad House 7”) 1996
30:01 Frisco Kid – Rubbers (Mad House 7”) 1996
31:05 Buju Banton – How It Ago Go (Mad House 7”) 1996
32:08 Tanya Stephens – Yuh Nuh Ready Fi Dis Yet (Mad House 7”) 1996
33:37 Slew Dem – Joyride Vocal (Slewdem Productions 12”) 2005

Getting a more bashy than reggae here with the exhumation of one of Dave Kelly’s classic riddims - in fact forget that - one of the classic 90s riddims full stop. Paul manages to include some records I feel guilty about owning, submerging Baby Cham and Mr Easy’s less than enlightened lyrics under Lady Saw’s dextrous verbal assault. Tanya also puts her hand over Buju’s potty mouth and basically gives all the boastful geezers a well deserved tongue lashing. You go, girl!

Slew Dem purloin the riddim for an epic pass the mic session of adrenalised geezers staking their claims.

35:13 Dutty Doogz – Pum Pum Stealer (Night Flight 12”) 2003
36:35 Harry Toddler – Good Good (Night Flight 12”) 2003
36:49 Flow Dan – Galist (Night Flight 12”) 2003
37:16 Jamaka Bi - Zoom 4 Pum (Night Flight 12”) 2003

When Woebot used to write about grime, this is the sort of thing he used to cover. There are clear lines between this and contemporary dancehall, not least because of the format - several sides of vinyl all featuring different MCs on the same riddim. Also Harry Toddler is an actual JA deejay who came up the rankings with Elephant Man when they started out in Scare Dem Crew in the late 90s.

One of the weirdest thing about the actual records is the labels, which are pretty gynaecological photos of… well, some lady’s pum pum innit. I can see the consistency and honesty in that, but it’s not something to leave on the decks really. What confuses me is why someone has gone to the trouble of sticking little gold stars onto some of them as if to prevent offending minors and the innocent. Or is it like a gold star to say “well done”?

Dutty Doogz, is now Durrty Goodz - cover star of Woofah issue 2. Flowdan is a Roll Deep stalwart who has also done major damage with The Bug.

This section actually features me doing a bit of proper vinyl juggling for a change - sometimes these things just work out ok…

39:15 Kano and Vybz Kartel – Buss It Up (679 7”) 2006

I think this ranks as the first actual vinyl collaboration between a grime MC and a JA bashment one and it’s pretty damn good into the bargain. Kano has had a disastrous foray into mainstream label middleground output which pleases nobody. “Buss It Up” is much more like it.

43:16 Neckle Camp feat. Jammer, Rinse FM
44:01 Yami Bolo – Top Shotta (Black Diamonds 7”) 2002
45:48 Junior Reid – Rise Up (Black Diamonds 7”) 2002
46:32 Half Pint – Bounce (Black Diamonds 7”) 2002
47:37 Lukie D – One In Ten (Black Diamonds 7”) 2002
49:12 Rossi B and Luca – Nobody Knows (from The Legacy EP, Heavy Artillery 12”) 2007

It amuses me that some people try to establish their reggae credentials by slagging off UB40 or Shaggy or Sean Paul, all of whom have made some brilliant records in their time and are held in high esteem by the reggae industry and fans in Jamaica.

One example of this is veteran producer Fat Eyes grabbing the riddim for “One In Ten” a few years back and getting a selection of foundation singers to voice it. Yami Bolo kicks things off with a message to all the badmen, whilst Junior Reid exhorts us all to stand up for truth and rights. Half Pint brings us back down to earth with an enthusiastic invitation to get down in the dancehall, and then Lukie D polishes off the selection with his take on Birmingham’s finest conscious anthem.

Which leads us nicely to Rossi B and Luka’s take on the tune. Nobody seems to have a bad word to say about these two - and the way manage to straddle both dubstep and grime is maybe a signal that garage various offspring are now ready to regroup. There are so many dodgy producers who grab a bit of reggae in the vain hope that a bit of “yard cred” will redeem their rubbish tunes that you forget sometime that some people actually know what they are doing. I guess that’s what this mix is about and we make no apologies for include two Rossi B and Luca productions here - they are dons at this and you should check out their releases every time you see them. Also check the myspace for mixes aplenty.

51:29 Ini Kamoze – World a Reggae Music (from Sly and Robbie’s Taxi Sound, Auralux LP) 1984
53:03 Rossi B and Luca – Run 4 Cover instrumental (12” white label) 2005
53:48 Rossi B and Luca feat. Nasty Crew – Run 4 Cover (12” white label) 2005

Damien Marley’s “Welcome to Jamrock” was a very welcome salvo of commercial one drop in 2005. I only hope Ini K got some decent dunza from being used as source material. So here is the original, an astounding bit of Sly and Robbie business from immediately before the whole world went digital.

Rossi B and Luca’s take is pretty brutal, not least because of the addition of Nasty Crew. NASTY apparently stands for Natural Artistic Sounds Touching You and I’ll leave you to be the judge of whether or not the excellently named Nasty Jack, Kassimo, Stormin and Teddy Brukshot live up to the acronym. The sheer energy here is stunning. I’m still kicking myself for walking out of Shoosh early and missing a set from Nasty Crew founder Marcus Nasty…

56:45 Neckle Camp feat. Jammer, Rinse FM
57:13 Breeze – Ice Rink (Wiley Kat 12”) 2003
59:16 Tinchy Stryder – Ice Rink (Wiley Kat 12”) 2003
60:36 Kano – Ice Rink (Wiley Kat 12”) 2003
63:56 Riko – Ice Rink (Wiley Kat 12”) 2003

Woo yeah! Back in da day Wiley was running tings with whacked out minimal riddims and everyone was begging for rewinds at his Eski dances and all that. Except me, obviously, I was listening to reggae and studiously ignoring it all on the grounds that I couldn’t afford a new vinyl addiction.

Paul really excells himself here. Even if you’ve played your copies of Ice Rink to death I think his mashup of 4 takes on the riddim are well worth a listen. Breeze is an original back-in-the-day Pay As U Go Cartel - the crew who kinda mutated into the juggernaut known as Roll Deep. I don’t know much about him tho. Ruff Sqwad member Tinchy Stryder must have been still at school when his cut was done? His voice has come on some in the last 5 years - the Cloud 9 mixtape is his latest release and is good. As I said above Riko has an incredible yardie flow going on his intense hatred of informers is legendary. This tune also makes an appearance on the “An England Story” comp which no doubt you have all picked up by now, but here we have Paul chopping away on the crossfader like a man possessed. There are another 4 vocals on Ice Rink but I’ve not been able to get hold of them for anything resembling a sensible price.

65:58 Sizzla – Give Me A Try (from Rise to the Occasion) 2003
67:18 Jammer – Give Me a Try (from Are You Dumb vol 2) 2006
71:04 Sizzla Vs Rhianna – Give Me A Try (remix) 2007

And so we finish things off with some nice garridge flava. Jammer pushes all our buttons once again, nice-ing up the place with Rihanna and Sizzla providing back up.

riddim / original label / producer

Broke Bottle / Q45 / Desmond & Rupert Blake
1. Egg Nog – Getaway Driver
2. Beenie Man – Always Be My Baby
3. Harry Toddler – Get Gal Easy
4. Version

Baddis Ting / Hi-Profile / Richard Browne
5. General Degree – Miss Gotti
6. Chico – Grudgeful
7. Mr Vegas – Jacket
8. Version

Black Widow / Shines / Shane Richards
9. Buccaneer – Sha La La La
10. Daddy Screw - Baby Bounti
11. Cobra – No One Style
12. Beenie Man – Gwaan So
13. Goofy – Anything Can Happen

Powerplay / How Yu Fi Sey Dat? / Redrose & Malvo
14. Beenie Man – Nah Bow
15. Delly Ranks – No Talent
16. Ghost – What Have You Done
17. General B – Ziggy Ziggy
18. Version

Bagpipe / Steelie & Clevie / Steelie & Clevie
19. Nitty Kutchie - Happy Go Lucky Girl
20. Zebra – You See Me
21. Squidley Ranks - Tek It Off
22. Beenie Man – Year 4 (Sticky Remix)

Medina / 2 Hard / Jeremy Harding
23. Monster Shack Crew – Wanna Make Noise
24. Tanya Stephens – Bounce Me
25. Red Rat – Yu Nice
26. Sean Paul – Strategy

Filthy/Filthier / Main Street / Danny Brownie & D. Juvenile
27. Beenie Man – Let Him Go
28. General Degree – Traffic Blocking
29. Mr Vegas – Heads High

Fade Away / Opera House / Andrew Bradford
30. Buccanner – Fade Away

Now Thing / How Yu Fi Sey Dat? / Redrose
31. Mad Cobra – Nuh Watch De Pum
32. Lady Saw – Sloppy In A Bed
33. Redrose – Red Red Red
34. Sean Paul – Report To We
35. Tony Curtis & Future Troubles – Can’t Smoke The Weed In Peace
36. Version

Playground / 2 Hard / Jeremy Harding
37. General B - Scream
38. Mad Cobra – Pet and Pamper
39. Dutty Cup Crew – Stick Up
40. Beenie Man – Who Am I
41. Sean Paul – Infiltrate

Earthquake / Big Yard / Robert Livingston & Sting Pizzonia
42. Merciless – Sharp Shooter
43. Rayvon – All Day All Night
44. Version

Sexy Gal / Big Yard / Sting International
45. Merciless – One of Them

How to get it

http://www.weareie.com/audio/blogariddims/Blogariddims.xml
is the link. Here is an idiot’s guide of what to do with it

You can also download the mp3 direct from http://feeds.feedburner.com/blogariddims/ or via itunes music store.

You really should subscribe - just take a look at the rest of the mixes at that feedburner link. You want them downloaded directly to your player every fortnight, yeah? Exactly.

Suckers To The Side, I Know You Rate My 98!

Following on from Naptha’s thunderous 1993 selection, I am contributing a hot 1998 bashment mix to the blogariddims series.

Nine years ago I was going out every weekend and a lot of this stuff gradually seeped into my consciousness over time. A band called Chin had a residency at Disgraceland on Essex Road in Islington - they were outstandingly good, a true combination of hip hop and a little bit of punk. After their set, Danny (their DJ) would play a load of brilliant records including some Aphrodite jump up and this tune that went round and round in my head… something about “zim zimma”…

Buying some Scientist and Lee Perry records in the Rough Trade shop, I heard this crisp bassy tune coming out of the speakers and was entranced by its quirky percussion and vocals. I asked the bloke behind the counter what it was and he held up a copy of the latest Ragga Ragga Ragga compilation LP. Another addition to my Lee Perry collection could wait until next payday…

The climax of these encounters was a house party off Green Lanes in Haringey. I’d been told to bring some records along but it became clear that the usual highly competitive young dj politics were in play and there was no chance of me getting a go on the decks. Two italian crusties had decided that as there was two of them they could play their godawful acid trance for a 2 hour set. But there was this one guy…

He had the biggest box of seven inch white labels you have ever seen, many of them tied together with elastic bands. He didn’t do anything fancy with them, just whacked them on the turntable and whizzed over the crossfader. Tune after tune came out of the speakers - bass, vocals, eccentric percussion. Someone asked him what the a particular track was and I was able to lip read him saying “I dunno - look, they’re all white labels!”.

Maybe it’s me, but 98 seems like a much more innocent time in retrospect. Certainly none of the tunes I’ve heard feature people trying to outdo each other in murderous homophobia. It was also a year when what was happening in JA was exactly what was needed to fill an aching gap in the UK pop charts. (This happened most recently a few years back with the slew of Sean Paul and Diwali tunes).

So here is my tribute to that year. I’d love to be all cool and say that I bought all these on the day they came out, but the truth of the matter is my buying patterns have been somewhat erratic. Quite of bit of “back filling” has been required to get this tracklist together, which has involved me at my most nerdy. After taking the piss out of trainspotters with their spreadsheets and matrix numbers, I found myself getting deep into excel after realising that greensleeves alone released over a hundred seven inches in 98, most with exactly the same stock labels.

The 2nd hand tunes cost me anything between 20p and 4 pounds, but there were very very few absolute stinkers. Indeed, my hardest job was cutting the mix down to an hour - so there may be a part two at some point, possibly extending into 1999. But that is another story…

Greensleeves phased out their seven inches a few years later in favour of the now ubiquitous “Rhythm Albums” featuring 20 cuts of the same riddim. I can’t help feeling that people now pay less attention to the actual vocals. Some of the riddims on this mix came out in just 3 cuts, i.e. the ones that they got right! There also seems less scope now for big labels like Greensleeves and VP releasing “one away” tunes like “Fade Away” and giving them a big push. At the time of writing it looks like JA vinyl production is slowing down as selectors switch to digital formats. So perhaps the time is ripe for Greensleeves et al to fill the gap by releasing sevens again? I doubt I could make a good business case for it myself, but one can hope!

more commentary to follow - you don’t think you get off that lightly, eh?

OK, so I have now had the chance to hear Paul’s mix. And very enjoyable it is too.

Contest aside, I would urge anyone who enjoyed my mix to check his as well (see link below). Taken as a whole our mixes cover (nearly) all bases of reggae from 60s rocksteady, to 80s dancehall, to early ragga, to bashment right up to the present day. It is up to people to decide what they like best (and vote here!)

That said, there are a few things which need to be commented on!

Paul showed up late, thereby disrespecting YOU: the listening public.

No MC. This is obviously fine for a juggling dance, but Paul demanded a “devastating” clash here!

No Studio One.

No UK artists.

No female vocals.

No surefire crowd-pleasers like “Rub A Dub Soldier”, “Walk And Skank” and “The Traffic Jam”.

Amateur!

If you look at his actual selection, then the first thing which comes to mind is “where is part two”? 11 tracks in 30 minutes is OK for a warm up, but I think people deserve more than that, y’know.

Paul starts with a classic: Dennis Brown over a hot Joe Gibbs dancehall riddim. But you have to bear in mind that he first heard that when I played it to him two years ago. It did briefly induce a pang of fear hearing it on his mix - but only because I thought Paul had been jotting down notes on his visits to my place.

Our Brigadier Jerrys also match. Fair play!

For my money Little John’s “What is Katty” has the edge over “Say What You’re Saying” on Paul’s. For anybody’s money Super Cat’s “Vineyard Style” (me) beats “Walk-A-Ton” (Paul) hands down.

There is no denying that Josey Wales’ “Kingston Hot” is a great tune, but I would argue that my Joe Gibbs twelves are even greater.

Similarly Jim Brown’s “In Time” is solid, but to these ears it’s outweighed by my mix of Early B and Carlton Livingstone.

I knew Paul would draw for some Blacker Dread because he likes his gear hard and mashed up. But I have to say I was suprised he opted for Anthony B over Capleton. Not only is the fireman’s tune the definitive version but I actually decided not to buy the Anthony B cut because of the lyric about “Prime Minister in a blouse and skirt / In the land of my birth”. This was one of many records attacking JA PM P.J. Patterson over his alleged homosexuality. Personally I feel that the ruling class should be attacked on the basis of their role in society and politics rather than what they may (or may not) get up to in the bedroom.

By including this tune in his mix Paul will not exactly be reassuring SusanC who has taken him to task for some “off colour” language in the comments boxes below. Now, I have known Paul for nearly 20 years and would be the first person to defend him against accusations of homophobia, but I will let him do the talking in this instance. I daresay there is a perfectly logical explanation, most plausibly that his finger slipped whilst buying all of his tunes off a certain german internet site.

This leaves us with the ragga selection that Paul signs off with. To give credit where credit is due, these would never have sat well with my selection. I personally don’t rate them over my tunes, but I can see that some people might. Paul has also been more choppy with his mixing. The contrasting styles make for a more interesting battle at the end of the day. It’s why I think we work better together, than against each other.

What I will say is that Droid has recently demonstrated that this era of JA music was far better when unhampered by riddimical history. Check his HUGE Blogariddims: Raggamortis Mix and be sure to read the wicked sleevenotes also.

But ultimately it isn’t my opinion on Paul’s mix which matters - over to YOU, the great listening public.

VOTE HERE.

Here is my contribution to this week’s big news.

 

 John Eden Answer Riddimclash! [44:28m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

45 minutes of prime reggae, rocksteady and dancehall - on varied (but all excellent) cuts of the Answer Riddim.

A one take live mix, with a few exclusive contributions from Hackney’s best female MC.

Tracklist:

1 Slim Smith - Never Let Go (Studio One)
2 Lone Ranger - The Answer (Soul Jazz)

Starting out with a foundation selection because building a mix without a foundation is like building a house on sand.

3 Brigadier Jerry - Pain (Roots Tradition)
4 Little John - What is Katty (Roots Tradition)

“Pain” is dedicated to my wrists. “What is Katty” is dedicated to Paul’s wrists.

5 Sister Nancy - Transport Connection (Techniques)

Moving nicely with Sister Nancy while other selectors stand still.

6 Carlton Livingstone - Rub a Dub Session (Roots)
7 Early B - History of Jamaica (Roots)

Carlton’s off to dance the night away while Early B educates certain people who are new to all this and perhaps don’t know the full story beyond tunes and warring.

8 Tippa Irie & The Colonel - Just A Speak (UK Bubblers)
9 Daddy Rusty - No No Way (UK Bubblers)
10 Daddy Sandy - Riddle Bubble (UK Bubblers)
11 Tannoi - Gunshot Salute (UK Bubblers)

Bringing it back to mid 80s London with the cream of Saxon Studio International in full swing. Meanwhile the enigmatic Tannoi has had enough of the macho warring in the dance ‘cos it’s ruined his date.

12 Peter Metro - Police In Jamaica (Jah Life Time)

Peter Metro also did Police Inna England for Jammys. On this tune he ends up in the nick with Nicodemus and is concerned that his sparring partner is cracking under the pressure whilst he remains calm and righteous. No further comment needed!

13 Paul Blake and The Bloodfire Posse - Rub a Dub Solider (Revue)

Paul Blake brings the digital vibe pre-sleng teng. Goes out to the all the 9 to 5 soldiers!

14 Dennis Brown - I Can’t Stand It (Joe Gibbs Music)
15 Junior Vibes - The Man In Me (Joe Gibbs Music)
16 Little U Brown - Locomotion (Joe Gibbs Music)
17 U Mike - Loving Galore (Joe Gibbs Music)

Everyone raves about Junjo in the 80s but Joe Gibbs’ stuff is just as good in my opinion. Proper! Little U Brown may or not be related to U Brown, but he is right about being “Big Inna London”. Surprisingly I haven’t been able to find any tunes about MCs being “big inna Sheffield” but I guess Paul has cornered the market on those with his mix.

18 Earl Sixteen - Batman + Robin (S.C.O.M.)
19 Jah Screechy - Walk & Skank (Blacker Dread / S.C.O.M.)
20 version (S.C.O.M.)
>> Stephen Marley feat Damian Marley + buju banton - The Traffic Jam (Tuff Gong)
21 Eek A Mouse - A Wah Do Dem (Blacker Dread)
22 Capleton - Punchline (Blacker Dread)
23 Super Cat - Vineyard Party (Wild Apache)

Possibly the definitive post- Studio One version of the riddim - and it was recorded in London! Credited to Blacker Dread at Easy Street studios with a line up including Jackie Mittoo, Horsemouth and Peter Chemist. Nice bit of rave crossover with Earl 16 going on to work with Leftfield and Jah Screechy forming the basis of SL2’s “On A Ragga Tip”.

At some point Blacker seems to have recorded a mentalist cross-fader dominator version which seriously does the business anywhere. I first heard the Capleton cut on the Still Blazing LP and, well, blimey.

Traffic Jam is dedicated to Droid. Shout out to all the pedantic posse!

24 Smiley Culture - Police Officer (Fashion)

Classics? I hate to belabour the point, but it’s a London/JA thing. Failsafe party stormer which still gets hands in the air when dropped by The Bug.

25 Marcia Griffiths - I Shall Sing (Penthouse)

Marcia’s singing and so am I. Because I only sing when I’m winning.

You can check out Paul’s absurd attempt to outdo me here .

Once you have listened to both you can vote for which mix is the best (i.e. for me) over at Dissensus. (You will have to register if you are not a poster there already. It’s easy to do and you should check out Dissensus if you like this blog in any case.)

Keith “Slim” Smith was one of the multitude of people who passed through the doors of Coxsone Dodd’s Brentford Road studio in the 1960s. A great solo singer, he was also a founding member of the Techniques and the Uniques.

Smith had originally been taken to Studio One by his friend Cornell Campbell, only to be rebuffed by the notoriously choosy Coxsone. He fared better for Duke Reid at Treasure Isle, gaining the confidence to give Studio One another go. He recorded S1 classics such as “Hip Hug” and “Never Let Go”. In the late 60s and early 70s he worked mainly with Bunny Lee.

All of his work is fantastic - soulful with a slightly manic edge.

In 1972 he was locked up in Bellevue Mental Hospital. In 1973 he smashed a window and bled to death from the resulting injuries. It is disputed whether or not this was a suicide attempt, but most people seem to agree that the action was the result of depression. He died at the age of 25.

As well as leaving a legacy of beautiful rocksteady music, Slim Smith will also always be remembered for being the first artist to record on the riddim behind “Never Let Go”.

In 1977 this riddim was revoiced as “The Answer” by deejay superstar the Lone Ranger. (An interesting side note is that Ranger’s innovative style is often credited to him growing up in the UK throughout the sixties, having moved here shortly after being born). “The Answer” has been a staple of dancehall music ever since its release. In fact at the last count it was the third most versioned riddim ever (after “Real Rock” and “Heavenless”, with “Sleng Teng” lagging in 4th place!) It doesn’t get more “Foundation” than that.

The Answer riddim (as it came to be known) has it all - crisp horns, a propulsive juggernaut bassline, the business. With so many cuts released over the years it is high time someone did a handy overview…

Every Night is a Soundclash: Paul Meme Gonna Get Mashed

Paul Meme recently challenged me to a “devastating” soundclash, using only the Answer riddim. Quite why he feels he will emerge intact from such an foolhardy venture remains to be seen.

A week today me and him will both upload our respective mixes, each with some killer selections (well mine are killer, and Paul reckons his are). YOU, the public, can decide who is the Don Gorgon and who is the dibby dibby apprentice.

Uncarved presents one hour and 23 minutes of music and commentary for your downloading pleasure!

Without giving too much away, this installment of RSI Radio is more eclectic than the debut. Fans of the first edition will be relieved to hear that I am less mumbly this time.

Comments welcome! People suffering from slow ‘net connections should get in touch and ask to be sent a CDR of the show.

 

 John Eden presents: RSI Radio vol2 part a [45:14m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

 

 John Eden presents: RSI Radio vol2 part b [38:04m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

“Jah man me go a kill you with originality
Me name Asher Senator at the mic MC
Me bredren them a call me human dictionary
Abbreviation Qualification a me speciality”

Asher Senator was born Peter St Aubyn and grew up in Clapham. At the age of 14 he was already grabbing the mic at house parties, eventually blagging spots on the Buchanan soundsystem alongside his lyrical sparring partner Smiley Culture. The pair appeared on sounds such as Black Harmony and Frontline before joining premiership sounds Coxsone Outernational and Saxon Studio International in the early/mid 80s. (Unusually they seem to have maintained a presence on both rather than settling for one sound?)

Like many youths of his generation, Asher was initially inspired by yard tapes. As he told the NME: “Them times we used to listen to Brigadier Jerry, Nicodemus, different different artists… but we started making what we call ’style’ by writing rhyming lyrics that went on and on without finishing… continuous style.”

It’s clear from the interview that Asher’s time on Saxon had been put to good use - flashing lyrics in the dance acted like a lightning conductor for creativity:

“The way I see it, some MCs live off six lyrics for years and years, never changing. Whereas we’re on the move all the time because time is running, y’know… Smiley and I took a break once and developed 10 new lyrics each and then appeared at the Nottingham Palais. We chatted on the mic non-stop right through to the end of the evening. A wild feeling.”

At the time of the NME piece, Smiley’s “Cockney Translation” had been released and was climbing the reggae charts. Asher’s first single was imminent…

Asher Senator - Abbreviation Qualification / Fast Style Origination (Fashion 12″ 1984)

The single was voiced and mixed at A-Class Dub Studio, located under the Dub Vendor record store on Lavender Hill. Asher’s vinyl debut included some tried and tested rhymes from Saxon sessions. Abbreviation Qualification uses acronyms as a lyrical base…

“Seh master of ceremony well that a M.C.
Seh very important persons that a V.I.P.
I’m best in a the business that a B.I.B.
For those abbreviations surely describe me”

…and a heavy rub a dub reworking of the “Feel Like Jumping” riddim as a musical one.“Fast Style Origination” is a quick-fire potted history of UK cockney chat, for people who needed to catch up. It notes that Saxon MC Peter King was the first to properly use the style in the UK, but the title of the song means that Asher is occasionally credited as being “the” fast style originator. It comes with a spacious dub mix. Crucial Vinyl!!!

Various Artists - Great British M.C.’s (Fashion LP April 1985)

It’s easy to chuck about words like “seminal” but this LP (the first Fashion released) managed to capture most of the rising stars of the scene as it happened. In places it’s a grab bag of non-released tracks and b-sides, but is none the worse for that. I imagine that Fashion still wanted people to buy up their stocks of the singles, so it made no economic sense to go for a “greatest hits” package at that time.

“Fast Style Origination” features, sandwiched between Phillip Levi’s “Mi God Mi King” and Peter King’s “Me Neat Me Sweet”. Of more interest is Smiley and Asher’s “It’s Coming Down”, which I think is the only vinyl example of their lyrical sparring. The two alternate lines and take an obvious delight in finally making it together into a recording studio - you can hear them smiling!

Johnny Ringo Meets Asher Senator - JA To UK M.C. Clash (Fashion LP 1985)

Papa Levi had already shown that the UK MCs could stand shoulder to shoulder with their compatriots from yard. Fashion tried to make this more explicit with their “JA to UK MC Clash” series.

In the first instalment Asher and Ringo take it in turns to do a rhyme apiece on the same riddim. Large chunks of this are reproduced on the Lyric Maker mix, but I would particularly like to flag up “Asher in Court” for its outstanding lyrics which encapsulate the cockney chat satirical style, and “To Whom Respect is Due” which has a riddim every bit as good as those coming out of the Roots Radics stable back a yard.

It seems like Asher was exploding with lyrics at the time, as A-Class studio engineer Gussie P put it when discussing the album: “Every one of those tunes had to be cut down. Just too much lyrics for the actual tune.”

Asher Senator - The Big Match / Asher At The Auction (Fashion 12″ 1985)

“A friend checked me to go to Tottenham V Man United at White Hart Lane. A week later I thought of all the goings on there and wrote a ’style’ about it. I sung it in the dancehall and then Fashion’s producer heard it and we developed it into a monster”

Arguably many of the fast chat tunes released in the mid 80s are “novelty records”. Indeed, dancehall reggae is always obsessed with the new, fleeting trends and slang get rhymed about in the dance and sometimes make it on to vinyl as well. The question is always “does it work?” and unfortunately the answer must be a resounding “no” in the case of “The Big Match”.

A horns intro of the “Match of the Day” theme, football chants, claps, whistles and lyrics about an all-black England side in the world cup could conceivably work quite well (see the On-U “Barmy Army” project), but it doesn’t quite do the business. I think it’s really the fact that the novelty here is so overt, coupled with a more commercial/shiny 80s production, which hasn’t aged too well to my ears. Mind you, Asher does get extra points for mentioning Luther Blissett!

“Asher and Smiley went to buy a car, and they just heard this guy chatting about a million miles an hour, you know what I mean.” - Gussie

In the ‘ABC of fast chat’, “A” is for “Asher”, “B” is for “Buchanan Sound”, and “C” is for “cars”. The role of cars in the scene cannot be understated - cars as space, a way of escaping from overcrowded flats, cars as income, for work, cars as a way of socialising.

“Asher at Auction” features a booming 80s metronomic drum machine, to which I am quite partial. The “expensive car sell cheaper inna auction” refrain is great, as is Asher’s accelerated cockney auctioneer schtick. The instrumental version adds skippier beats and some echoey keyboard fills.

“Original Car Style” is the reason you need this record, and it isn’t even credited on the sleeve! Known by Saxon followers as “Asher know everything ‘bout the car”, this tune expands the fast chat refrain used in “Asher in Court” on the MC Clash LP and makes it into a full length extravaganza. For those who didn’t hear it on the mix Paul and myself did for Breaking Ranks on Resonance FM, this is a vintage UK chat tune - lyrics fresh out of a Saxon session and a much rawer production than the other tracks on the record.

Asher Senator - Bubble With I / I’m The Man (Fashion 12″ 1985)

This was a return to form after “The Big Match”. Is the absence of a picture sleeve evidence of Fashion being skint, or deciding not to market the record outside of the core reggae audience?

“Bubble With I” is all laid-back runnings in the dancehall bizness, extolling the listener to get down.

“I’m The Man” features Asher over a riddim credited to “Germain Revolutionary Sounds” and this turns out to be a cut to “pressure and slide” which was the basis for to the Audrey Hall tune on Penthouse I bigged up here.

Flush with the success of getting the crowd moving on side A, Asher checks his woman dancing with another man! He overhears the interloper making his move, but his lady responds: “The way you were dancing, boy I thought you were gay! Me go home with you? Uh uh - no way!”

Asher Senator - Born To Chat (Fashion LP 1986)

“My voice was cut for 45 and not for LP
No RCA, CBS or HMV”

As if to emphasise the title, the cover of the album features a photograph of Asher as a boy, suited and booted in front of a massive speaker. He’d previously told Record Mirror about his plans for the LP “I’m trying everything - soul, calypso, electronic riddims and lyrics galore.” It’s a very different affair from “JA to UK MC Clash”, and I’m afraid to say it doesn’t really do it for me.

This is partly because the riddims had moved on from the classic A-Class sound of tighter than tight relicks of foundation riddims. By 1986, a whole new era of dancehall had begun, as set out in the tracks “Whole World’s Gone Digital” and “Live Musicians”.

The overall sound is “cleaner” - possibly because that was the vibe at the time, possibly because the LP was an attempt to launch Asher into the charts alongside Smiley and Tippa, both of whom had achieved some significant success in the national Top 40 by that point. (Unsubstantiated rumour #1. Asher may have appeared on Top of the Pops in unusual circumstances. It is alleged that when Sly and Robbie’s “Boops” hit it big in 1987, Shinehead wasn’t available to mime to his own vocals. So Asher appeared on Top of the Pops in his stead!)

Asher’s lyrics seem like they were constructed more for home listening than nice-ing up the dance. For example “Talk to the Animals” with its various impersonations of horses etc and the pleas in “Exercising” for physical fitness both seem very different to the routines previously recorded live or in the studio.

The best bits are “Duck and Head Out” (which is explicitly about the dancehall) and “Rule of England” (which retains the previous humour - combining megalomania and a cockney black consciousness). “Thank You Sah” is another highlight, but is quite similar to “Asher in Court” off the split LP…

After “Born to Chat”, the story becomes more hazy. Senator Records was set up in the late 80s as a way of releasing Asher’s own productions, featuring releases by himself, Smiley Culture, Tippa Irie and Joseph Cotton.

There is some talk of Asher and Smiley performing on their own soundsystem (Studiomix Sound?) away from Saxon, but this doesn’t seem to have been anything other than a temporary home.

In the 90s Asher recorded for euro-dance artists like Antares Project and Molela (unsubstantiated rumour #2: “Asha Senator” featured on a record called “Personality” with Michelle Gayle - aka Hattie from Eastenders). He also featured on:

Various Artists – Jungle Vibes Volume 2 (Red Arrow/SPV CD1995)

This is a jungle comp straight outta Germany which I know little about – it has some Lennie De Ice tunes on and some from Trouble on Vinyl. It opens and closes with tracks featuring the hero of our story:

“Respect due to you It’s true we insist
Jungle Music a English Business”

“Jungle Mania a sweep up the town
All foundation you fi shine up your crown.”

187 feat Asher Senator – “All Foundation Junglist” is proper “everything but the kitchen sink” mid 90s bizness – amens, sirens, rewinds, skanking keyboard stabs, etc. Asher’s vocal is in time with the bpms, the music had finally caught up with the rapid fire of the Saxon MCs some 12 years after Peter King kicked off.

Lickwood Syndicate feat Asher Senator – “Harder They Fall” is less frenetic (and slightly less successful) but does feature Asher singjay style in a similar vein to some of the Congo Natty vocals.

More interesting than this is Asher’s increasing commitment to community politics. C.O.D.E. 7 Music was set up by Asher as

a community based organisation that focuses on the Arts, in particular Music and Drama. The organisation provides training courses for young people who are referred from other youth support organisations. C.O.D.E-7 MUSIC also offers representation for clientele in the music industry and administers music sales. C.O.D.E stands for Community Organisation for Development and Entertainment. 7 signifies their purpose, which is development through:

1.Education
2.Employment
3.Youth Inclusion
4.Crime Diversion
5.Anti Drugs
6.Anti Gun
7.Unification / Unity

The C.O.D.E. acronym shows his continuing fondness for the abbreviation qualification! Asher’s background has enabled him to rope in many previous contacts to take part in Code 7 projects, including Ricky Rankin.

David Blunkett, Lee Jasper, Asher Senator

As Director of Code 7, Asher has been outspoken about policing, gun crime and drug issues. A piece in the Guardian about the film Bullet Boy gave him a platform for his current activities:

“Many within the black community believe that hip hop and urban culture with their connotations of violence and aspirational lifestyles form part of the problem, but Asher Senator, the director of Code 7, started the scheme in 1996 to use urban music as a positive outlet for frustrated youngsters. Senator is an enthusiastic man in his forties who sounds more like a CEO than a community worker. At his office in Brixton, he introduces me to two young proteges, Mizzery and Chalwa.
‘We do workshops that attract a lot of people who are youth offenders or have been excluded from school. Our objectives are to recreate opportunities for young people to do things that they actually want to do.’ As well as teaching music and business skills, he promotes conscious lyrics at his workshops. There is no place for unthinking gangsta rap at Code 7.”

It seems like he’s kept up to date with music as well – here is a stream of him over Diwali with Ricky Rankin and Champion courtesy of London reggae night “Return of the Boom Bap”

And here, in traditional uncarved style, is Asher on Saxon Sound back in ’83 during their legendary clash with Ghetto-Tone at Lewisham Boys’ Club.

zipped mp3 – Saxon Studio International vs Ghettotone, Lewisham Boys Club 1983.

I’m still unable to type too much, so I’ve decided to chat at you all instead.
Some of it is a bit rough and ready but pretty cool for a first attempt…

Thanks again to Paul Meme for hosting and tech support.

 

 John Eden presents: RSI Radio vol1 part a [25:58m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

 

 John Eden presents: RSI Radio vol1 part b [36:02m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

http://blog.grievousangel.net/?p=328

“Every man does his thing a little way different”
Errol Dunkley

“Don’t get downhearted because of the dementors out there, just slip them the odd nasty Debbie Gibson / Jive Bunny megamix or some Merzbow teeth-pulls every now and then to keep em on their toes…”
Loki

This mix is the first one I ever recorded, back in 1998. I’d got a new job a few years previously and used the extra cash, month by month, to gradually sort myself out with a decent hi-fi and then eventually saved up to buy one deck, a mixer, and then another deck.

The mix was originally conceived when I had one deck, a mixer and an ordinary domestic CD player. So, no beatmixing but some nice looooooong ambient pieces. It was eventually reworked with two records and a CD playing at the same time when I had amassed all the kit. I didn’t really do very much with at the time, partly because I had no way of copying tapes and partly because I was still labouring under the illusion that I’d become some kind of shit hot drum and bass DJ. Quite clearly that was never going to happen, but it was great fun mucking about with records. And still is.

A lot of these tunes represent the last gasp of my serious interest in industrial culture before plunging into dub in a big way. With the exception of one track, it still sounds fantastic to these ears.

In many ways it is a sister mix to Paul Meme’s classic Ambient Industrial selection

Another live mix. 48 minutes long because it was designed to fit on one side of a C90 (remember them?).

Download a zipped archive including the mp3 file, cover art and details of how to get a 4 page pdf of sleevenotes from here. (65megs).

Rules:

1) If I see people linking directly to the file, I will take it down. (Link instead to http://uncarved.org/blog/?p=790)
2) If my bandwidth goes ballistic, I will take the file down.
3) A very limited number of CDs are available for dial-up people who have already been in touch with me (or who I know from internet forums, etc) - email me or leave a comment.

The mix will be up for about a week, all being well.