"Westside" Black Ops/Johnny Cash.
I wonder if this is the tune Harvell heard streamed off some pirate? Dunno. Picked up it before I read that, and then made the connection. Actually everyone can get their laughing gear on, cos when I talk about Grime I'm greeted with nothing but derision. That's alright I think it's funny. When it comes to this music I feel confident; you see we make the canon. (sticking out chest) I've been buying London tunes like this for a decade. Ears don't fail me now. You hear a tune, you like it, if you've the courage of your own convictions that's all that matters. There's no guide to help you, you make your own heros, you don't have to wait to read who's hot in some urban magazine. Buying this stuff on vinyl! Who's that for anyway? Records per se are a bit anachronistic when it comes to Grime, I know this. At the end of the year I'm gonna burn a CD of all these tunes, and throw it off a tall building. What's with this sudden Nu Breaks thing? Mmm don't go there! Nu Breaks isn't some kind of "frowned on" musical ghetto, that's no tactic to win props either! It's middlebrow guv, safe garage innit.
Crackling B-Movie samples off some cherished VHS: "I want black ops assigned to this case." Sloppy yobs: "Westside be our side. WHAAT. Don't you know!" Hell this is some FUTURE tune: "The future, that's how we're rollin, dirty stinking." It's genuinely grimey. Centre-stage is a cavernous bass-stab, a foghorn tuned to C and played with alacrity. Drones patched in from The JB's "Blow Your Head" over those big floppy breaks. Definite Wu-tang influence, indeed this would play nicely beside the Ghost Dog Jap import (the Instrumentals). I've mentioned this everywhere but here that I see the Roll Deep thing going the way of the Wu. 5 great solo albums. The connections between Wu and Grime should be pretty darned apparent. Some rat-infested corridor stretching between the Bronx and (in this case) Acton. I like these guys attitood: "Fuck a Car, I'm a ghetto superstar." No it's NOT hip-hop.
"I can C U, U can C Me" Crazy Titch.
Another massive track. The MC-ing on this doesn't have the superb local color of the Black Op's ("I open up a shop on anyone's block"), more like a straight pitch, battle lyrics. What excels is the back-track, "Crazy Twitch on Crazy beats" indeed, it's got girth, it's got rabbit-out-the-hat splashes of electro, some staccato clockwork swaggering hip-hop inflected sample. Wah Wah wha! One of the best things about it is the intro which has a recording of some paunchy Blackpool Pier comedian (Norf ferreal!): "Don't make me laff...you fancy a song...alright get yer ears round this." Comparisons to Biz Markie have been over-made, but this one holds water. Titch remarks: "OK You can stop skanking now!"
"Pick yourself Up" DJ Target.
Bought this, then later found a review in Deuce. So for once I have some info about the record! Incredible! It's not just DJ Target as it says on my label, but Danny Weed (Cooper Bethea tells me "Rat Race" is a hot tune I missed by Mr. Weed), but also Wiley, Riko, J2K and Breeze. Supergroup! Once again art-lovers it's a down-tempo tune. (Congratulates himself by cracking open a jeroboam of Champagne, renting the Pink Lady stretch limo and smoking a fine cuban cigar). Down-tempo Grime rules cos (a) It's grimey (see "Westside") (b) Middle-class tourists like me can actually hear what folk are saying.
This is a dead depressing record, and very powerful for it. Some of the lyrics here cut straight to the heart of this struggling under-employed loser (Hankys out!) The riddim a stop/start struggling pattern with a medieval synth riff straight offa Jethro Tull's "Aqualung." Thats a dopey song-idea, the message being left on the mobile, but when the message is nasty as this! A bitching pigeon berates her boyfriend: "Get a fuckin' life, get a fuckin' career, you're not even motivated, get up off your arse and do something." Wiley hops in line behind the hunched inchoate beat: "Get up and move forward." A woebot. The chorus: "Pick yourself up. Don't be lazy. Wake up. Make yourself move. Life is moving faster now." Sounds like Crumbling Loaf! Elsewhere" "I am broke right now." Elsewhere: "Stuck in the hustle from around 16." Elsewhere: "Remember the days when you could go through on a five pound draw and that was you." (Yeah I remember. Now I need at least half an ounce of crack to get outta bed!) Elsewhere: "All you see is downward thumbs."
"I Done Told You Before" Dizzy Rascal.
An old tune this but apparently this is the original Wiley mix, different to the version on the More Fire LP. Grimespotters! Wiley evidently clearing out his attic. Not the sort of thing Dizzy would probably sanction a few months of celebrity down the line. Especially now he's officially split with Roll Deep. Front of The Financial Times that. It's a decent tune. Damn Rascal sounds so distinct. If you see any of the Wiley stuff around word is buy it as he's threatening not to reissue anything. Eskimo already a collectors item (yikes). There's a rumbling in the gutter, wonder if this kid can keep his crown? Disappointing Social Circles records this fortnight.
Posted by Woebot at October 8, 2003 08:35 PM