This blog is going to go a bit dead the next couple of weeks as I embark on what is going to be the harshest 10 days my body will have ever experienced, starting with flying out to Ibiza in the morning for the 3rd time for 5 days.
Rather stupidly (or cleverly depending on your viewpoint), when I get back from Ibiza I only have 24 hours back home before I go to Amsterdam for 48 hours to ease the post Ibiza blues. Most definitely not the cleverest idea is going to be arriving back from Amsterdam at 11am on a Saturday morning and leaving at 1.30pm to go to Bangor in Wales to DJ at the marvelous Hoofer Doofer festival. I am dreading what I am going to feel like on the Monday afterwards. Ibiza->Amsterdam->Bangor, what a combination. Back in a couple of weeks!
Time for more Reggae cover version action, and this time round its the turn of some Diva's to be Reggaefied, starting with Beyonce, as Althea Hewitt tackles 'If I Were A Boy' and turns it into a bona fide instant classic, alongside one of my all time favorite Reggae tracks, The Marvels take on 'Rocksteady' by Aretha Franklin.
What is there left to say about Wiley? Innovator. Originator. Undoubted musical genius. All descriptions that have been attributed to him over the years which in my opinion can not be argued with, and its hard to imagine the likes of Chipmunk, Tinchie Stryder and Tine Tempah dominating the pop charts like they do nowadays without the influence of Wiley.
Its also become plainly apparent over the years, that he is a bit of a fucking nutter as well, and yesterday saw Wiley sack his manager and ditch his label through the medium of Twitter, which one might say isn't that surprising considering his past form.
But as always with Wiley, that wasn't to be the only drama, as he then proceeded to give away over 180 tunes he has been working on over the past year. Yes thats right, ONE HUNDRED AND EIGHTY FREE WILEY TUNES. A hell of a lot of tunes to give away, especially considering the quality level.
I have trawled through the first half of the folders now and to be honest a lot of it I am not really feeling, but there are flashes of genius throughout, especially in a couple of the real Grime bits, and there is an absolute bona fida Top 20/10 smash in there in the form of 'Loose Your', a collaboration with Mz Bratt which I suspect would have been absolutely massive. You can find this in Zip Folder 4, a highlight of what I have heard so far and a pointer of just how good Wiley can be.
So, I still can't quite believe I am typing this, but, here are the links to download pretty much the equivalent of 11 Wiley albums, for free!
Its Reggae cover version time again and seeing as though its Independence Day I am picking a couple of American bands for this installment. This time up its Kurt Cobains turn to get reggaefied as the back music to 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' changes dramatically, and Gwen Stefani and No Doubt get some nifty organ action to turn 'Don't Speak' into a certified monster.
One crew tearing up the rulebook in Dance Music at the moment is the Night Slugs camp, whose label, nights and artists all seemingly operate outside the constrictions of being associated with just one genre with ease.
They are Dubstep, Juke, Niche, Wonky Hip Hop, UK Funky, basically whatever they fucking want to be, and they are all the more exciting and refreshing for it.
Its always been label head Bok Bok who I have taken the most interest in, but recently after a couple of interesting releases I was really starting to become a fan of Mosca, who has a very unique style of production which is hard to pin down and describe. Listen to the sprawling, synth laden, Hip Hop into UK Funky, 10 minute epic that is 'Nike' to try and get the picture.
A couple of weeks ago the latest XLR8R podcast was revealed to be by Mosca, and after reading the write up on the site I couldn't help but get a little excited, with the promise of a mammoth track listing and a genre bending journey guaranteed.
I have now listened to the mix 7 times, and I do not say this lightly when I say, THIS IS THE BEST MIX OF 2010.
From any genre, any DJ, anywhere, will have a hard task of topping just how special this mix is, and how much I am absolutely in love with it. I'll say it again. THIS IS THE BEST MIX OF 2010.
Its a rip roaring, lightning paced journey through a slew of genres including Hip Hop, Dancehall, House, Techno, Garage, Nice, Grime, Cumbia, Jungle, and so much more, and the most impressive thing about it all is that it WORKS. The order of tunes, the flow, the mixing, everything, is just absolutely stunning, and I'm not gonna say anymore, as by now you really should be letting the mix do the talking.
This blog is an attempt to share some of the never ending stream of media I fall in love with on a daily basis.
A resident DJ at one of the UK's most famous club nights Chibuku Shake Shake in Liverpool, I play alongside some of the worlds best DJ's on a regular basis, and have in the past played alongside and warmed up for the likes of Chase + Status, Skream, Benga, Andy C, Mary Anne Hobbs, David Rodigan, Hype, Subfocus, Friction, Shy Fx and many more.
Every effort is made to ensure that all music posted on this blog is legitimately available for free and allowed to be posted, and not in violation of any copyright laws.
Anything I find on other trustworthy and popular blogs that is reposted here is posted with the assumption that it has been cleared and is allowed to be shared.
If there is anything on this blog you believe should not be, then please don't hesitate to get in touch and it will be removed immediately.
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