Sorry Tom but...

Hype Machine might as well be called Justice Machine...it's either that or Simian.

Collabo Connections #3 - Rodney P

The links - Rodney P made Mark B & Blade’s ‘We stay rough’ his own in, you know the year; 2001. Rodney also featured alongside Skinnyman and others on ‘Twilight of the Gods’.

2004 saw Low Life Records release Rodney’s album ‘The Future’ on his own Riddim Killa imprint. The two main MC collaborators on here are M.C.D. and Mystro but production comes from Joe Budha, Skitz, Pepper, Dobie, Stone and The Sea.

Before all of this Rodney made moves with Bionic (and Sipho and DJ Biznizz for a while) under the moniker ‘London Posse’ and had big UK tracks like ‘How’s life in London’, ‘Money Mad’, ‘Live like the Other Half do’ and ‘Pass the Rizla’. They also toured with Big Audio Dynamite (with Mick Jones from The Clash).

But all this pales into, well, not insignificance, but rather lighter shades of grey when compared to this list of collaborations:

1996
Bjork – I miss you (dobies rub)
1997
Us3 – I’m thinking about your body
The Brand new Heavies – Shelter remix
The London Allstars – London Convention ft. ESP, Fallacy, Funky DL, Kwestmann, MCD, Phoebe One, Q-Tee, Rodney P, Skinnyman, TY, Taipanic
1998
Dobie – Consider
Dobie – Luv n hate (can never be friends)
MSI & Asylum – Northernly winds ft. Rodney P, produced by Baby J
1999
Simply red – aint that a lot of love (desert eagle discs remix)
Pharoahe Monch - Simon Says Skitz remix ft. Rodney P & Roots Manuva
2000
Deckwrecka – Frontline ftr. Intenz, MCD & Rodney P
2001
Skitz – Dedication
Skitz – The Killing
2002
Deckwrecka – The Juks
Desert Eagle Discs – Bigger Better Deal (Big Deal mix)
Angie Stone – Brotha remix
Roots Manuva – Witness the swords ft. Big P, Blackitude & Skeme
DJ Die & Skitz – It’s on
Blak Twang – Dirty stop out uncovered
The Nextmen – I’ll try
Moorish Delta 7 – Where we from ft. Rodney P & Venom
Joni Rewind – Rude Boy Link ft. Rodney P & Cocoa Brovaz
2003
Nightmares on Wax – 70’s 80’s (upbringing mix) ft. Rodney P, Roots Manuva, Toz 180 & LSK
Roots Manuva – Swords in the dirt ft. Rodney P & Fallacy
Fallacy – Rap Folly
Freq Nasty – Come let me know
MJ Cole – Foot to the Floor
The Nextmen – Firewalking ft. Rodney P, Dynamite MC & Cutty Ranks
The Nextmen – Hear what I say
Various – Freestyle Frenzy ft. Canibus, Masta Ace, Maylay Sparks, Mr. 45, Rodney P, Scor-Zay-Zee, Scorpio, Skinnyman, Wordsworth
I Kamanchi – Sounds of the culture ft. Rodney P, Tali, Retna & MC Darrison
Gemma Fox – Messy
Nitin Sawhney – Rainfall
Joe Buhdha – The Big up (re-edit) ft. Estelle, Klashnekoff, Rodney P, Scor-Zay-Zee, Tempa & Wildflower
2004
Roni Size – No trouble
2005
Blacknificent 7 – ‘Ere comes the Black ft. Estelle, Jeff3, Karl Hinds, Roots Manuva, Seanie T, Skeme & Rodney P
David Banner – Ain’t got nothin’ (UK Remix) ft. Rodney P & Durrty Goodz
King Bicuit Time – C I Am 15 (C. Swing remix) ft. Braintax & Rodney P
K-Ners – I am K-Ners (remix) ft. Skeme & Rodney P
Timo Maas – Release
Keith Lawrence – Style & Fashion
2006
Stanton Warriors – Dip & get low
Braintax – What the Huh?
2007
Dub Pistols – Speakers and Tweeters (album)

Phew, I’m sure there’s more too. This is a busy man, if I was getting paid for this Collabo Connections series I’d be eating for a long long while. Just to point out a few collaborations that are a bit different: Bjork, Nithin Sawhney, Roni Size, Freq Nasty, Angie Stone, Simply Red & The Brand New Heavies. Rodney P certainly gets around.

The Blacknificent 7 - Ere comes the Black!.mp3
The Blacknificent 7 - Stay Black.mp3
Rodney P - The Nice Up.mp3
London Posse - Pass the Rizla.mp3
Rodney P - Big Tings (Mark B Remix).mp3
Rodney P - I believe.mp3
Rodney P - Can you see me.mp3

Right, now I'm off to post that list onto wikipedia.

Here are a few extras to fill some gaps in Collabo connections #1 & #2.

DJ Mentat - When I give my heart to you ft. Skinnyman.mp3
Omni - The Hot ft. Blade.mp3
Sway - Up Your Speed remix ft. Skinnyman & More

Dipskate

I wondered when this would happen; my two interests have collided. I've been skating (at the moment I'm out due to injury and physio) for 11 years now and I've been into Hip Hop for a similar amount of time. Now I'm not so much into the whole Dipset thing, I like a couple of Juelz Santana tracks but that's about it, but if they want to put money into the skating game then that's fine by me.

The one gripe I do have is this: Why do away with the name we've been happily calling it for all those years (Rollerblading) and giving it some jumped up fancy name; Freestyle Rolling? Yes it describes it well, but it's nothing new Jim.

Anyway Calvin Sayles and Ramelle Knight seem to be holding it down, not sure on the Evisu jeans but each to their own.

P.S. Do you think I could join? ^^^ Hmmm...not black enough.

Round ups and Thank yous

Thank you to everyone who has supported this blog so far! Due to sitemeter I'm fully on top of who's coming and going and from which pages they come via links. Thanks to all the other bloggers out there who keep me informed and up to date and for putting links on your pages. It's really nice to see that people actually want to hear about and hear the music that I like. Special mentions to Eclectic Hermit and Snow Day Music and basically all of the other blogs on my links, take time to check them all out! It's great to see readers from the USA, Canada, Europe, Australia, Africa, Finland and Thailand...to name a few. If you have a minute please leave me a comment!

I have heard the Beastie Boys new album and in my humble opinion it is fabulous, just what I was expecting (once I knew it was to be all instrumental). Don't ask me how I got it, but it is out there somewhere and I will be buying a copy when it's out. Trust me, I cannot have an incomplete collection of Beastie Boys albums!

I think I will begin posting the Top 100 Rap Tunes (according to HHC) quite soon as it seems people are chomping at the bit, I know people are checking back for it! So watch this space, literally.

If you like Hip Hop mixtapes and don't mind trawling through piles of trash from the likes of Dipset, Fiddy and all of those guys who release everything that isn't worth putting on a proper album, you can find some quality stuff at Datpiff. I've sorted myself out with some weekend listening from there this week.

I've thoroughly enjoyed writing on here and I look forward to writing alot more. The Collabo Connections series seems to be promising a fat load of posts as does the Top 100.

Collabo Connections #2 - Skinnyman

Skinnyman featured on Mark B & Blade’s ‘The Unknown’ in ’01 on the track ‘The long awaited’, a banger for sure. Skinnyman, considered by many to be a UK Hip Hop veteran, spent his childhood in Chapeltown, Leeds, moving to Stoke Newington when he was 10. These two locations schooled him in the art of toasting lyrics at reggae sound system clashes and after Malcolm Mclarens ‘Buffalo Girls’ introduced him to Hip Hop it was inevitable that the two styles intertwined.

The year before Baby J dropped ‘F.T.P.’ he produced 3 tracks on Skinnyman’s long awaited debut album. The two big tracks were ‘I’ll be surprised’ and the Bobby Byrd sampling ‘No big Ting’. This led to Skinnyman having the first track on F.T.P. – ‘None of them (ft. Laurissa)’. Also producing on ‘Council estate of mind’ were DJ Flip (producing the title track), DJ Noize, Stone and Adam M. ‘Council estate of mind’ was released on the number 1 UK Hip Hop label – Low Life Records (owned by Braintax whos Biro Funk set featured Skinnyman on ‘Opening Titles’).

Taking it back Skinnyman was, and still is, a member of Mud Family who released, most famously, ‘Itchy Town’. Mud Family at the time comprised of Skinny himself, Chester P (Now of Taskforce) and (Blak Twang hater) Mongo. The changing line up of Mud Fam meant that Skinny also worked with SupaNovar, Mr. Ti2bbs, Farma G (Chester P’s Brother/other half of Taskforce) and others. Before Mud Family, in the mid 80’s, Skinny was a member of the Bury Crew also with Chester P and Mongo as well as Intenz, Mike Skilla, Keith and Sparks.

In 2000 Skinny appeared on ‘Twilight of the Gods’, a Skitz track which also featured Rodney P, Wildflower, Riddla and Prime Cuts. Skinnyman was on Westwood’s second compilation (2002) holding up the UK’s tiny section (2 tracks) at the end of the 2nd CD was ‘Straight Outta Jail’, a song probably written straight after Skinny got out of jail (“I ain’t sayin’ what I do//I ain’t gettin’ catched”). Skinnyman also featured on a track with Mystro and Jargon called ‘Put the word out’.

2003 brought a teaming up with Foreign Beggars on ‘Asylum Speakers’ and 2004 saw a couple of collaborations with Karl Hinds; ‘Have Patience’ and ‘Let’s av it’.

In ’05 Skinnyman (along with Blade) featured on First Rate’s album ‘Walky Talkyz’. His track Barfight is a song all about…well you know…over a wobbly piano led beat. In the same year he featured on a remix of Sway’s ‘Up your speed’ with Pyrelli, Triple Threat, Bruza and Bigz. Skinny also worked with Life (of Phi-Life Cypher) and Sway on ‘The whole nine’ in this year.

Skinny’s latest track is ‘Live Right’ featuring Monkane, an ex-label mate at Gilles Peterson’s Talkin’ Loud records before it folded.

There are plenty more leads to take here as well as the ones from the post on Blade, this is just gonna get bigger peeps!

(There are so many collabos, for a full list of appearances check out Wikipedia)

Skinnyman - Ill be surprised.mp3
Mark B & Blade - The long awaited ft. Lewis Parker &.mp3
Mud Family - Itchy Town.mp3
Skinnyman - Straight Outta Jail.mp3
Skinnyman & Baby J - none of them ft. Laurissa.mp3
Skinnyman - No big ting.mp3
First Rate - Barfight ft. Skinnyman.mp3
Skinnyman - Council Estate of Mind.mp3

Collabo Connections #1 - Blade

Here begins a series which after some thought I realise could run for a long time. Collaborations and rap go hand in hand. There are few rap albums out there that don’t feature a cameo from another rapper or group. Some artists rely on paying a bigger rapper to help them either launch or revive their career. Other artists have the insight that fans want to hear two (or more) of their favourite MCs together on one track. Often collaborations are frowned upon for the first of the above reasons but I would be so bold to say that without them the rap world would be slightly boring at times.

There is no reason for starting this thread off with this artist other than I wanted to write a post on him anyway. Whilst meditating a post on Blade I realised he had worked with many other artists who in turn have worked with other artists, and so on. Then (slightly influenced also by ‘Comedy Connections’ off the telly and maybe my mums obsession with family trees) I came up with the idea of creating a string of posts that map out who’s worked with who and how hip hop eventually links up into one big family.

Growing up in Yorkshire and being born in 1984 means I missed out on all of Blade’s earlier work. I haven’t yet had a chance to familiarise myself with his back catalogue it so most of this post will be focussing on his work following Mark B and Blade fame.

In 1989 Blade released ‘Lyrical Maniac’, his first official single (go here for more info). In 1997 during depression he released ‘Rhyme Bomb’ (go here for more info).

2001 saw Mark B and Blade being played on Radio 1 with their track ‘The Unknown’ and then ‘Ya don’t see the signs’. The former was released with, amongst others, a remix featuring France’s premier rap collective; Saian Supa Crew. The latter hit the airwaves in the form of a rocky remix by Grant Nicholas of Feeder and frankly rock and rap rarely sounds this good together. The album, also entitled ‘The Unknown’ featured collaborations with Rodney P, Lewis Parker, Skinnyman, Chester P and Westwood (!).

In 2002 Blade reared his head on Lewis Parker’s ‘It’s all Happening Now’ on ‘The Chase pt. 1’.

Blade’s next big move was in 2004 with the release of ‘Storms are Brewing’, an album on which he collaborated with only session musicians and DJ’s, he produced and wrote it all himself. The flip to the single ‘Reflection’ was ‘Soldiers’, a track featuring Life (of Phi-Life Cypher) and Respek BA.

2005 was Baby J’s year in the UK and Blade was making moves with this modern superproducer. He appeared on J’s excellent album F.T.P. on Mumps (also featuring Laurissa). This hook up obviously worked so well that Blade decided Baby J would produce his entire second album, my personal favourite being the excellent ‘UK Hip Hop’, a track with which Blade hopes to educate people about the roots of rap in Great Britain simply by name checking all the greats (note – I’m not going to use that fact to make tenuous links to all and sundry in Brit Hop!).

2005 also brought us a solo album from The Scratch Perverts DJ First Rate. Blade cooked up a feast on the tasty ‘Hamburger’; a semi-hilarious ode to eating fast food on tour.

Blade has worked hard for decades now so please go buy some of his music if you do like what you have heard. Visit his website and go to the store.

I’m sure you’ll agree there are many roads I can now take and I shall endeavour to explore all of them. I’m pretty sure I’ll get quite confused on the way and we’ll see how truly intertwined the web of the hip hop spider is.

If, during any of this series, you have tracks and collabos to add then feel free to leave comments or drop me a line. I’ll gladly add them to expand the wealth of knowledge available here!

Blade - Lyrical maniac.mp3
Blade - Rhyme bomb.mp3
First Rate - Hamburger ft. Blade.mp3
Blade - Soldiers ft. Life & Respek BA.mp3
Lewis Parker - The Chase pt.1 ft. Blade.mp3
Mark B and Blade - The Unknown ft .Saian Supa Crew.mp3
Blade - UK Hip Hop.mp3

Missing Tracks *updated*

For those who like doing good deeds and helping out fellow rap fans here is the list of tracks from the Top 100 that are still missing:

OC - Time's up
Mos Def - Ms. Fat Booty (Tom?)
De la Soul - Plug tunin' (Really should have this album!)
Ultramagnetic MC's - Watch me
Hardnoise - Untitled
Rammellzee vs. K-Rob - Beat Bop
Big Daddy Kane - Wrath of Kane
Brand Nubian - Punks jump up to get beat down
T la Rock - Breaking Bells
Dr. Dre and Snoop - Deep Cover
BDP - Poetry
Slick Rick - La-Di-Da-Di (Used to have this but lost it!)
Run DMC - Runs house
Hijack - Style warriors Revenge
EPMD - Headbanger
A Tribe Called Quest - Description of a fool
Blak Twang - Red Letter Day
Mantronix - The Bassline
Just Ice - Cold getting dumb

I haven't had time to look for all of them yet but if you do have them and want to upload them somewhere and then send me a link i'd be grateful!

Top 100...

Yeah it's coming along nicely for all those who don't care 'cause the only people who seem to come to my blog come because of an image search result for pigeon. Stupid pigeons.

There are now 72 of the required tunes safely in an itunes playlist, some are proving tricky to find. Anyway, once I've got them all, I'll probably post them in tens, in reverse order. For those who were wondering how the top 100 SINGLES were decided:

-the top 100 was compiled from [HHC readers votes], those of Hip-Hop Connection's writing staff and a quick poll of a few valued professionals. One crucial point though...is that all entries from 2001 onwards were disqualified. Why? Because a single's real test is whether it can transcend the place and time it was released in and enjoy a life of it's own. All our top 100 clearly have.

Old magazines + itunes + blog = procrastination

...indeed. Today I got my old HHC's out to find something for a future post. I picked up a copy dated March 2002 and flicked to the 20-page supplement entitled '100 Best Singles of All Time'. Hmm, do I have all of these tracks? A quick scan reveals I don't, but, how many do I have?

Turns out on itunes I have a mere 27 out of the 100, on CD it appears I have 40 of them and 33 are missing from my collection. It is now my mission to complete the list and have an itunes playlist dedicated to 'HHC's 100 Best Singles of All Time'. Yes, I'm a rap nerd.

Here are a few tracks that I anticipate having some trouble finding straight away:

OC - Time's up
Ultramagnetic MC's - Watch me now
The Crooklyn Dodgers - Crooklyn
Hardnoise - Untitled
Marley Marl ft MC Shan - Marley Marl Scratch
Rammellzee vs. K-Rob - Beat Bop
T la Rock - Breaking Bells
Hijack - Style Warriors Revenge
Just Ice - Cold getting dumb

If you can help me out, let me know!

Blind as a post

There are not many tunes that I would post before I've even listened to but when I find Jurassic 5 have a new song then I will post it. That was just a a thought, but by complete coincidence here is a new track by J5 that I am only just listening to for the first time.

Jurassic 5 - Hood in the USA (produced by Large Professor)

If you like previous tracks where they do a singsong chorus then this is for you. This style of harmony is a clear nod to the freestyle fellowship. For a excellent taster of them go to missingtoof for a selection of downloads and a loada knowledge.

Jilted John Shuttleworth

Imagine my delight when two of my musical comedy...erm, favourites, became one. Today I was looking up some of the comedy I enjoy listening to on BBC 7. I googled John Shuttleworth as his thoughtful but ridiculous northern comedy makes me chuckle when I'm tucked up on an evening. Then I went to his website and low and behold, John Shuttleworth is Jilted John of Jilted John fame.

In 1978 Graham Fellows provided the soundtrack for my mum's day trip to Silverstone with 3 of her male friends with his alter ego's number one hit, Jilted John. Many years later, listening to her old Blue Oyster Cult and Sham 69 tapes I discovered this one hit wonder. Then I found it on 7 inch and my sister saw it on one of channel 4's awful 'top 100...' shows (one hit wonders). Nowadays, an older John is regularly gracing the airwaves as John Shuttleworth, a sheffield born 'Versatile singer/organist' who sings about everyday occurences in a serious manner.

John Shuttleworth - Two margarines

Jilted John - Jilted John

www.shuttleworths.co.uk - for loads more videos/audio

http://punkmodpop.free.fr/mp3.htm - for more mod/punk music of the time

www.bbc.co.uk/bbc7 - for to find out when you can listen

UK Hip Hop - 'We are the unknown'

Any Hip Hop head dwelling in Great Britain worth his/her salt will be a fan of UK Hip Hop. I am a great believer in what is sometimes termed as Brit-Hop and I honestly prefer it over the majority of the products of our American counterparts.

Now let me counteract some common retorts to that statement before they are said; I don’t like ALL UK Hip Hop, I like what I deem to be GOOD UK Hip Hop. Let’s put it this way, just because it’s on Channel U it doesn’t mean I like it. I could get on Channel U if I wanted, they show anything.

In this post I aim to provide a sample of some excellent Hip Hop that may have passed by even the most avid fan’s radar. There are obvious acts that would be recognisable by many, even those who have just scraped the surface of UK talent; Skinnyman, Blade, Klashnekoff, Sway, The Streets, Roots Manuva, Jehst, Rodney P, Blak Twang and erm… Goldie Lookin’ Chain. Getting hold of UKHH is hard - simply because it’s so much more expensive to buy.

Chester Copperpot – Moneygrip ft. Braintax – Not 100% British as I believe Copperpot resides in Roxbury, US, but featuring Leeds born label owner/vinyl presser/MC/UKHH legend. Braintax spits his usual easy on the ear and witty lyrics over this funky beat.

Asaviour – Money in the bank (remix) ft. Kyza & Yungun – 3 great British MC’s here; Yungun being my favourite mainly for his quotable lyrics. You should def listen to his album ‘The Essance’. This track is produced by Jesht so best believe it’s good.

JTWR – Backlash ft. MCD – There may be a reason why this guy went unnoticed but I do like him. His moniker stands simply for John the White Rapper, cool eh? No. However, this track featuring one of the UK’s stalwarts is just goodness.

aRRO - 1066 – Yes! A medieval knight rapping about rescuing princess and killing folk who rape and pillage in his village. This is concept rap at it’s best and although I’ve heard a couple of other similarly themed tracks since I think this was first. The chorus even contains battle sounds! This Geordie born, one time leeds resident would be the first round my round table should I ever create one.

Inertia – Hostile Takeover ft. Analyst, Gentleman & Trotter – Rap from red rose country, Lancaster to be precise. I met Inertia whilst at uni and I don’t just like his music cos I know him. Check it out, he’s talented on the mac and the mike. Listen carefully to analyst’s verse, this guy is funny and has a quick mind; his freestyles are possibly better than his written lyrics. Check the website.

Zionnoiz – And What? – Look, their name spells the same both ways; clever! This London collective are all professing Christians and both versions of this are heavy, party orientated slices of rap.

DJ Pager – The Product ft. Ironbridge – A tuba loop and a scratched chorus with witty simile and metaphor laden raps from Ironbridge, a duo from somewhere in this country. Jibberish is probably the fastest rapper in the UK - fact.

SK Crew – I wreck the Mic – First time I saw the SK Crew live supporting Adam F they did a track along the lines of ‘If you go down to the clubs today’, based on…you guessed it, Teddy Bears Picnic. Then in their DJ/freestyle set after they rapped about me. Then I discovered Stoopid Ill was actually the cousin of a girl on my course, so I invited them to perform at the hip hop night I had. Again, great, hilarious freestylers and always with tongue firmly in cheek. Go to theirspace.

Infinite Potential – I excel ft. Amber MC – From Brighton’s Catskills records comes this short track featuring lots of scratching and some rhyming about how Amber MC is better than all the rest, classic Hip Hop fare.

Mark B – Ya know we don’t stop ft. Tommy Evans – Wooo, another Leeds born MC, this came off the flip of radio played ‘Move now’. A more classical driven beat here, some solid hip hop.

Mr. Spleen – 1st Class Delivery – As far as I can work out, Spleen is the producer of this Andrew Lloyd Webber raiding, fast paced banger. Various MC’s and a DJ provide verses and scratches. Some Yorkshire rappers here too.

I guess the main reasons I like UK Hip Hop are it's fun, fresh and closer to home.

Every other household's got PCs

Downloads are killing music. How many times have you heard that? And do you agree? Have you actually thought about the implications of such an accusation? Why are MP3s apparently heralding the end of music in more tangible formats? Is it because all the kids are downloading illegal files for free and not contributing to the industry? No, in a word.

Little Johnny gets an MP3 player (its not an i**d, just a regular, generic MP3 player) for Christmas because they’re cool and his mates have them. He wants some music, he’s only 13 and hasn’t built up anything resembling a record collection. His choices are 1) get dads CDs and rip them, 2) go out to buy a CD, or 3) get on that computer and get loads of good tunes for free. We all know which one he opts for, but before we continue, lets explore his other choices:

Dad’s music; yes he likes it. The Beatles, Eric Clapton, Billy Joel, Simon and Garfunkel, Black Sabbath – a brilliant musical grounding for any aspiring music fan – but in front of his friends; No way Jose (as I believe all the ‘hip’ kids are saying these days).

A trip to HMV; he doesn’t get enough pocket money, he doesn’t have a paper round and mum certainly aint gonna buy him that Eminem album even though she can pick it up at Sainsburys for £7.97 along with the weekly groceries.

Downloads; yes he downloads. This kid is not ruining the economy, without the internet he would simply just not be listening to music. He would have no means of doing so. This child does not represent the people who buy actual CDs. He represents a new cross section of society; the youth who now have access to almost everything they want. Pre internet he’d be playing the CDs he got as presents or after a big save over and over again. And he would be appreciating it.

Appreciation. LP. These words are synonymous in my life. There are probably only two albums (and only one actually springs to mind) that I regret buying. The rest I cherish and enjoy for one reason or another. The complete embodiment of an artists work is a treasure. I remember sitting in my room with liner notes; scrutinising the artwork, production credits, who did the scratches, who played slide guitar on one track, how the line up changed for that particular song – I still do it now and it is nothing short of satisfying.

I contrast this to myself post-mad download spree. First 10 seconds - Whack. Next track – hmmm, OK I suppose. Delete or keep? Yeah I’ll keep, might not listen again. Next track – forgettable. Oooh this tracks good, I’ll remember that one but…let’s see what else I got. Skip. 30 seconds. Skip…and so on. An average mp3 player now will contain tracks in their thousands. How can one teenager possibly listen to and love all of these? They can’t, portable audio collections have meant music becomes a backdrop – it becomes another element of overall fulfilment that people seek in multiple pleasures. Will these kids ever sit down and devour the text and images whilst listening and consuming a whole product? Or will they be content in their skittering, whimsical, non-committal competition to have as many days worth of music on itunes as possible? Will they appreciate an artist and their work this way? I don’t think so. I have cherished and loved the albums I have bought. Many of them were the result of hard work, anticipation and deliberation. When downloading is as easy as right click, save target as, save; the personal value is immediately deleted, along with 50% of the downloads that didn’t sound good after 30 seconds.

The lack of appreciation leads to the increasing popularity of bands and artists being 'the next big thing'. These days anyone touted so is pretty much destined to fall off the conveyor belt before reaching anything resembling a career pinnacle. Their heady ascent to a plateau someway below the peak is their highlight, it is their achievement. The modern consumer wants more, wants it new and they want it now. Artists, and indeed albums, are not given the chance that past generations would have afforded them to mature. They are now flung into the spotlight in front of a baying crowd who 6 months down the line will reject them and will have had flirtations with numerous bands and several musical crushes since.

Downloading isn’t all bad, but it’s not all it’s cracked up to be. Album buying comes with a greater degree of certainty once you’ve heard a couple of cuts of it. Finding a tune or group you absolutely adore is easier now you can afford to explore. But don’t let these advantages put you off buying an actual product that you can hold in your hands. Multi-sensory stimulation is not a thing of the past; the internet is not the only medium available to us. You are depriving yourself, it wont affect the artist; they’re probably minted already, it’s only CEOs who care about their sales figures. And anway, if artists do want more money, they should do more shows instead of flooding the entire world with second rate product called ‘mixtapes’.

What do you think? Am I barking up the wrong end of the stick? Hit me up with some comments.

Ain't a problem that we can't mix

Popes on dope mix

The Hermit and I spent last night mixing a bit of electro up, here for you, is the result.

Track listing - this is also in the lyrics section of the ID3 Tag for you itunes users.

The Knife – Silent Shout
Scroobius Pip – Thou shalt Always Kill (Live on XFM)
Booka Shade – In White Rooms (Neo mix)
Metric – Monster Hospital (MSTRKRFT remix)
Knightlife – Ambopop (demo)
Kavinsky – Testarossa Autodrive
Busy P – Rainbow Man (K.Christmon's Slight Tamper)
MSTRKRFT – Paris
Celluloide – Audio Therapy
Audio Bullys – The Things

Just download, that's why you're here

Here are some tracks that have been making waves down my ear canal in the last week.

Paul Wall - Bangin' Screw - Pauls charm is in his effort to be a cool southern rapper, this is hot though, don't get me wrong.
Royce da 5'9 - Hit 'Em - Royce seems to fall on and off the radar but he's pretty consistent and this is good hard hip hop.
Skyzoo - The Paper - Unashamed about why he raps, he wants to make money, at least he's honest.
Prodigy - Raining Guns And Shanks - Wow! The best of the bunch here, what is this beat? It's amazing!
Young Jeezy - Mr. 15 - Good album, good track.
MED - All I Know - Produced by Madlib, this is a heater.
Clipse - Nightmares ft. Bilal and Pharrell - Chilled out track from Virginias finest cain slingers.
Sway - Sky is Falling - Didn't make the new EP but tis truly great Brit Hop

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