'B.O.R.N. Vol. 1' - Revilo (free download)

Those of you who've been with us since the beginning of the 'On The Radar' series may remember an MC called Revilo. Well, he's just dropped a new free-to-download mixtape entitled 'B.O.R.N. Vol. 1'. The title stands for Blakenhall Over Real Noise - a clue as to where Revilo is coming from; Wolverhampton.

The mixtape features fellow Midlands artists Reggiimental, Bigga and Joe Gutta (Unfriendly Neighbours) on '444 Formation' and as a whole it's a pretty good listen - it's not one of those tiresome, try hard collections of tracks that actually just torture your hearing apparatus for half an hour. You can download this at various different places including Bandcamp.

'Colours' - Beit Nun & Illskilz (EP review)

The first thing that struck me about ‘Colours’ by Beit Nun and Illskilz is a new-found positivity. This 9 track release really lives up to its title and as it’s playing time is just shy of 25 minutes, it’s an ideal blast of optimism for anyone.

‘A Good Year’ features a whole host of like-minded MCs and is a perfect tune for this time of year. ‘Summertime’ is not your average summer track – Beit chats hilariously about the ups and downs of the season over a west coast style laidback banger – “It’s the hottest day since records began, We getting’ a tan, But us Brits reckon that if you’re puttin’ on lotion you’re less of a man, And so we burn and turn red, peel and blister but it’s worth it, ‘til it hurts ya to get in the bath”.

Love song ‘Leave me Here’ features partner in rhyme 777 and is an honest walk through the minds of men devoted to living life with his partner through the peaks and the troughs – there are not many rappers brave enough to be this truthful (without making us all feel sick!).

We mustn’t forget the man behind the boards on this lovely little piece of work – dutch producer, Illskilz. His very professional sounding, largely cheery production really suits Beit’s new outlook on life – this boy has skills, watch out for him.

‘Colours' was released digitally on 29th December 2008 and the limited edition CD release date is 26 January 2009. You can get it from Amazon.

Rusty Jukebox Free Downloads

There's a whale, over there! Not really, but if you do go over there (to Rusty Jukebox's website of course) then what you will find is something larger than an aquatic mammal.

What you'll discover is a vast vault of vibrantly vivacious (sorry, watched 'V for Vendetta' the other night) Hip Hop tunes one of which is one of my most favourite tunes this year: 'Let me Be' by T.L.G. (The Lost Generation) which features Reggiimental, Ras Supa, Biggaman, S.C, Joe Gutta and Rukus. That track comes from their album 'Everything So Clear' which was made available at the beginning of this year.

Other treats on offer here are JVF Clique's 'Alternative Income Sampler', T.L.G.'s 'Infinite Potential', Jimmy B-Boy's 'The Mixtape', Shady Rezidents' 'Unheard Word' and a few other things. All I can say is, go get your download on!