Permanently Wasted Squirrels...

The PAINTWASTERS site is temporarily offline (...Carlo!!!!) so here's some recent flicks to appease the six people who aren't me that actually bother looking at it...

(clickedy click to make big )

Blowing Up The Spot...

Over the past few years, for various reasons (hindernet shopping and mp3's for a start...), the number of second-hand record shops in the UK has declined and it is with this in mind that I decided it was time to shine a light on some of my favourite places to spend my (arguably) hard-earned wedge.
If you ever find yourself in Manchester city centre with a few hours to kill and money to burn, you should check them out.


Beatin' Rhythm, 108 Tib Street, Manchester M4 1LR
0161 834 7783

There's worse ways to spend a day than digging through the seemingly endless boxes of 7"s within this almost claustrophobically small store. They mainly specialise in Soul but also have a good, varied selection of Funk, Jazz, Psyche, Rock N Roll and more besides...no rap though, unfortunately.
Look, if you can't find a good open drum break here, stop trying.  

Empire Exchange, 1 Newton Street, Manchester M1 1HW
0161 236 4445

Nestled in amongst the old comics, football strips, books, medals and other collectable guff are racks of reasonably-priced second-hand wax. This place can be a bit hit or miss but it's not unheard of to find a classic rap album or drum break whilst rifling through the racks. Besides which, if you can't find any records of interest you can always wile away the hours perusing the vintage porn.

 

Vinyl Exchange, 18 Oldham Street, Manchester M1 1JN
0161 228 1122

Vinyl Exchange have a good selection of all genres of music, knowledgeable, staff and a constant stream of new s/h goodies. The hip hop, breaks and funk sections are always pretty well stocked and while it can be a bit pricey, I never seem to leave this shop without something fresh for the racks and slightly less money for food/bills/tabs

So that's three spots to keep you busy for now. More soon.

Illegal Business...

thanks to 157 for pointing this one out

Bumpkin Beatdown...

To further prove that London is not the be all and end all of UK rap, here's a track from a lo-fi, home-produced cassette recorded in 1995 by the lamentably short-lived Four Eyez (FEZ) crew from Cambridge, featuring bumpkin graff legend PSYCHIC SYE63 in full-on battle mode. Recorded without the use of a sampler, this track is notable for the first and only reference in a rap song to Eaton Socon, a village in Cambridgeshire that, at the time of recording, had more writers than pubs...



"don't step or you'll all get wasted..."

Free 63!!!!!

Word to big bird.

Girls, girls, girls, girls...

Fresh For '86...

Recorded to multitrack tape machine using VINYL (no dibby dibby MP3 business!) this mix has been a 5 month labour of love by K-DELIGHT and features CRAFT WORK KINGS inspired artwork by NICKOS (TFB/PWS/CBM)

Find the download link, track-listing and long, unnecessarily detailed explanation (it's good - end of!) HERE

via HOLDIN' COURT

Infamous Last Words...

from THIS FLICKRRRRRRRR

The Natural Curriculum...

Manchesta an' wot!

Nostalgia's A Bitch...

This is my tribute to N-Sign radio, a late night video show presented by Mr Tim Westwood which was pretty much the only place to see rap videos on tv in the UK during the late 80's. My mum used to videotape it for me as I was usually tucked up in bed when it aired. I wonder where those old vhs cassettes are now?

Twenty Eight...