FACT Reviews*4
Singles:
Jammer and Lewi White: Countdown Remix (White)
Richard Whitely turns in his grave as Jammer and crew tear it up inna fine style 'pon the Countdown riddim. More balls than the original and boasting a vintage Ardkore flow.
Dogzilla: Hello (Dogenham)
Danny Weed delivers another of his Amphiteatrical beats and Dogzilla makes like an overweight sweaty East-end Maximus Prime and throws his girth around.
J Sweet Feat Aaron Soul and C-man: Marxmen (White)
Grimey-style take on Blackstreet's "No Diggedy". The baseline corners like a low-slung Cadillac taking the long arc, assuredly behind the beat. Exquisite, plaintive vocals full of male regret.
Essentials: Young Dot EP (Paperchase)
All Grime's hallmarks, inflexible drums, cascading string samples, horror bass, prismatised post-Swizz Beatz synthlines, rendered into something like a definitive vision of this music.
LPs:
Northern Lights: Sparked (VIP Recordings)
Do your best to sit still when you play this utterly danceable state-of-the-art Bhangra by Glasgow producers Tarv and Dev. Dhol and Dholkey romp across the soundscape and Sarangi weaves in and out of vocals from the Punjab's finest. 15 tracks with the consistent ability to send shivers down your spine.
Dr. Zeus: The Original Edit (Envy)
Another classic offering from Dr. Zeus, Bhangra's genius producer, the equal of 2003's faultless "Unstoppable". This time Zeus employs legendary vocalist Lehmber Hussainpuri across the length of the record, rather than for just a track or two and the results are spell-binding. Concomitant with Bhangra's current's roots vogue there are lots of exquisite instrumental colour from the Algoza (flutes) and Tumbi (the single-stringed mandolin) though the production style is, as you'd expect from Zeus, electro-chrome.