OK, here we go, against my better judgement…<\/p>\n
I was skint and sleepless throughout 2003 so these lists are going to be a bit unrepresentative. Hardly bought anything myself this year and relied on blagging and the kindness of friends and relatives \\’96 so this is also an opportunity to say “thank you” to them.<\/p>\n
Singles (chart)<\/b><\/p>\n
Needless to say, I didn’t buy any of these except “Like Glue”. A good year for tweaky electronic pop, though, and the man Sean Paul surely gets some sort of prize for consistency and “representing”.<\/p>\n
1. Blu Cantrell feat Sean Paul\u00a0– Breathe
\n2. Sean Paul\u00a0– Like Glue
\n3. Sean Paul\u00a0– Gimme The Light
\n4. Beyonce & Sean Paul – Baby Boy
\n5. Lumidee – Uh Oh
\n6. Sugababes – Hole in the Head
\n7. Rachel Stevens – Sweet Dreams My LA Ex
\n8. R. Kelly\u00a0– Ignition (Remix)
\n9. Electric Six\u00a0– Danger High Voltage
\n=10. Jamelia\u00a0– Superstar
\n=10. Kylie – Slow<\/p><\/blockquote>\nSingles (breakcore mash up)<\/b><\/p>\n
A great year for this stuff as well, but I worry about 2004 being the time it becomes a little bit generic. Who will stay ahead of the game?<\/p>\n
=1. LFO.Demon – Rave for Communism 7″ (Sprengstoff) “hey big spender… put the poor people on your agenda”<\/i> this rules!<\/p>\n
=1. Aphasic – Yeah Yeah Yeah Whatever 12″ (Junk) see comments below (courtesy Jason Aphasic)\\<\/p>\n
3. The Bug feat Cutty Ranks\u00a0– Gun Disease Cdsingle (Rephlex) do-over of “Gun Man Lyrics” which is on the Dancehall Techniques LP (courtesy Marcus @ Rephlex)<\/p>\n
4. Leyton Breakers – I Drink Your Blood 12″ (Still Raven) “The strange thing for me is that I have never been to Hackney… I hope to God there isn’t a rave…”<\/i> Retro hardcore massif!<\/p>\n
5. Killahman Machine\u00a0– Amen\/Lighta 7″ (Clash) mashed madness from Bong Ra off-shoot.<\/p>\n
6. The Bug vs The Rootsman featuring Wayne Lonesome\u00a0– Slew Dem 7″ (Razor X) A proper seven. There needs to be more ‘version’ sides in this genre. (courtesy Kevin)<\/p>\n
7. V\/a – Speedhall 12″ (Koolpop) Loony distorted ragga biz including Snow’s ‘Informer’. Also a salutary warning against sampling stuff you know nothing about\u00a0– one of the tracks is called ‘Battybwoy’ and it seems that nobody involved particularly knew what this meant – assuming it was a general dis rather than homphobia. Plonkers.<\/p>\n
8. The Bug vs The Rootsman featuring Daddy Freddy \/ DJ\/Rupture split 12″ (Tigerbeat6) Mixed feelings about the spoken word stuff on the Rupture side but you can’2t mess with The Bug (courtesy Kevin)<\/p>\n
9. Base Force One – Expenditure of Excess Energy 12″ (Still Raven) “a little bit… harder!”<\/i> (courtesy Christoph @ Praxis)<\/p>\n
10. Sonic Belligeranza – Straight Edge Rastafari 12″ (Sonic Belligeranza) Bolognese insanity including folk music samples (courtesy Riccardo @ SB)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Singles (reggae\/JA\/etc)<\/b><\/p>\n
Hardly bought any new stuff and most of the stuff I did buy was 12 inches from the 80s. Hence impossible to keep up! (Also some confusion about what came out when\u00a0– for example Diwali was clearly 2002 despite Wayne Wonder’s smash hit this summer). It’s a mixed bag of roots and ragga, naturally.<\/p>\n
1) Immigration riddim (Al Ta Fa An) – Bouncy, nice bass, a proper new reggae riddim which made it onto the mix CD.<\/p>\n
Luciano – You Can Have The World
\nAdmiral Tibet – No Fear
\nAnthony B & Tafari – Rise Up
\nMark Wonder\u00a0– Rasta<\/p>\n2) Tai Chi riddim\u00a0– future style from early in the year\u00a0– nice oriental touches and great cuts from TOK, Sean Paul and Tanya Stephens.<\/p>\n
3) Coolie Dance riddim\u00a0– current madness which I intend to buy at the earliest opportunity.<\/p>\n
4) McKay – Take Me Over (Go Beat) – A nice do-over of ‘Double Barrel’ by the guy from Portishead. A UK production and release, no less!<\/p>\n
5) Ba Ba Boom riddim (Jammy$) – Nice bouncy reggae 2003 style. Came out of nowhere and then vanished.<\/p>\n
Ward 21 – Reggae Pledge
\nShocking blue – Artist War<\/p>\n6) Real Rock riddim (Xterminator)\u00a0– funky reworking which packs a punch. Again I ain’t got this but it’s top of my wants list, especially the Tanya Stephens and Michael Rose cuts.<\/p>\n
7) Luciano\u00a0– Sweet Mama Africa (Joe Frasier) on “A Darker Shade of Black”<\/p>\n
8) Party Time riddim –\u00a0another one from earlier in the year, based on an old chart rave track I forget the name of. (Strictly tape off Rodigan… again!)<\/p>\n
9) Roll Wid riddim (Black Scorpio)\u00a0– nice downtempo\/melancholic riddim with a funky tweaky guitar at the foundation and some nice stummy\/plucky bits on top. Cuts by Stretch (in a more hip hop style arguing that you should watch what company you keep) and Turbulence & Higher Trod (on Selassie). Courtesy Paul Meme.<\/p>\n
10) Jungle Rock riddim (Free Willy)\u00a0– more 2003 melodic bouncy reggae business courtesy of Paul Meme.<\/p>\n
Lukie D & Admiral Bailey – Gangsta Call
\nAnthony B & Norrisman\u00a0– We Have To Make It
\nSinger J & Egg Nog & New Kids\u00a0– Weed Flossing<\/p><\/blockquote>\nLPs and more to come…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
OK, here we go, against my better judgement… I was skint and sleepless throughout 2003 so these lists are going to be a bit unrepresentative. Hardly bought anything myself this year and relied on blagging and the kindness of friends and relatives \\’96 so this is also an opportunity to say “thank you” to them. …<\/p>\n