Teach me Grime.

There are also a couple of solid Matt Woebot CDRs floating around which are totally worthwhile and contain most of the stuff on these "grimers".

My friend IRL, and he posts here sometimes. This guy invests more heart and time into grime than anyone I know. His site's on hiatus right now but trust me, kid is DEDICATED.

1. Pay As U Go Kartel - "Know We"
2. More Fire Crew - "Oi!"
3. Musical Mobb - "Pulse X"
4. Dizzee Rascal - "I Luv U"
5. Kano - "Boys Luv Girls"
6. Danny Weed & Target - "Fresh Air"/"Hyperdrive"
7. DEE - "Birds In Da Sky"
8. Wiley ft. Dizzee Rascal - "Ice Rink"
9. Jammer ft. His Homies - "Destruction" (non-VIP mix plz)
10. Durty Doogz - "Hold Me Down (No No No)"
11. Big E-D ft. DEE - "Frontline"
12. Dizzee Rascal ft. Breeze & Jamakabi - "Win"
13. Sadie ft. Kano - "So Sure"
14. Target ft. Riko - "Chosen One"
15. Trim ft. DEE, Wiley, Footsie, & Riko - "Boogieman"
16. Crazy Titch - "Singalong"
17. Ruff Sqwad - "Anna"
18. Kano ft. slightly annoying femme vox - "What Have You Done"
19. SLK - "Hype Hype (Wonder Refix)"
20. Lethal B Ft. Hackney Glee Club - "Pow (Forward)"

That's part of what I was lamely attempting to request.

I was very fond of MC Creed back in the day, who'd do this kind of "bee biddabee bee biddabee" thing over the top of a lot of speed garage tracks. He had a kind of mix-album out in 2000, with a crew of MCs he was gathering called "Vocal Fusion". This was a straight mixed-compilation but where the MCs were definitely the stars (although they were relatively sparse compared to contemporary grime.)

Also, Zed Bias. Was listening to his "Sound of the pirates" album (from around 2000) last week, and what strikes me is how weird that sound was.

Basically smooth soulful garage singers or fairly easy loping, Jamaican MCs : compressed, diced and squeezed by various filters and effects. And accompanied by disturbing bass pulses and rather alienating shimmering chords or chunky organ bass.

There's sheen that's both totally slick, rich and yet disturbingly unfriendly and paranoid. See what Zed Bias does to the Artful Dodger's "Moving too fast" or the intro Summavybes on that Sound of the Pirates album. The voices here are completely *oppressed* by the technology and music.

Of course, what happened next, is the voices struck back. I appreciate the genius of what this evolved into : So Solid, Rolldeep etc. And beats from Wiley and co. are extraordinary.

But ...

the grime I've been downloading more recntly : Kano, Shystee et al. while their vocals are great, actually does seem to have lost something in the music. It *is* becoming more like hip-hop. Not the rhythms, which are still frenetic. (Although so are southern hip-hop beats) It's the quality of the sound : dirty, heavy, raw but somehow loose and lazy.

There doesn't seem to be any surpression or sublimation in the music. No desire to make a sound that stands-out or commands attention, because frankly the MC is gonna be stamping all over it. Today, these guys are off the hook and on the rampage, holding it down. But the music has simply lost the battle. As in mainstream US hip-hop, the beat is now just a vehicle for the MC.

I guess that's what happened to the "sound" in speed garage. I'm noticing how much you can trace back of what's striking on that Rephlex album to this Zed Bias sound.

OTM! as someone who is slightly OCD about punnery that drove me up the wall! i guess that means i belong in an institution or something

OTM! as someone who is slightly OCD about punnery that drove me up the wall! i guess that means i belong in an institution or something

thirded!! It's so obvious and satisfying it's a tragedy not to use it.

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