Monday, 12 September 2011
Sunday, 11 September 2011
Thursday, 8 September 2011
Blowing Up The Spot....
KINGBEE RECORDS
519 Wilbraham Road, Chorlton, Manchester M21 0UF
tel: 0161 860 4762
A ridiculously large percentage of my collection has come from this shop over the years; well stocked racks of funk, soul, rock, jazz, rap, soundtracks etc, mean that this place rarely disappoints when it comes to swapping coloured pieces of paper for slabs of black wax.
Without doubt my favourite shop, Kingbee is what all second-hand record shops should be; helpful, reasonably priced, slightly rough around the edges, chock full of vinyl and well worth of a visit...
Thursday, 1 September 2011
Wednesday, 31 August 2011
Sunday, 28 August 2011
Thursday, 25 August 2011
Dayse & Aver. Get some...
I was recently recommended the new release from Dayse & Aver, with the immortal, "try it, I think you'll like it". Oooooookay (Roger Moore eyebrow), I thought and made my way to their blog. At said blog I discovered that they were offering a free download of the E.P. and after listening for the third time in a row I found myself writing an e-mail to Aver asking where the hell I could buy a copy...
Aver's beats are not only accomplished they are made from breaks (remember breaks?), not one single sounds-like-you-just-followed-through modulated kick resides here, nor any horrid synth plug-ins from Pro Tools. The music complements the concept and content of the rhymes perfectly to create a whole. We don't have some half-arsed Malletesque word association over a beat purchased via the internet for a few quid from some bloke who doesn't know the MC; what we do have is a producer, DJ and MC all pulling in the same direction with undoubted talent.
In a time when the hip hop faithful are forced to endure squalid rhymes about keeping the label on your flat peaked hat (really????), the aspirational lyrics about fucking dykes , or some cat rapping about how dope he is when your great grandmother could merk him, we have in Dayse a guy who thinks about more than how he can blend in with the crowd whilst whining that he should be noticed for being even more the same than anyone else. Dayse has flow, he has wordplay and, most importantly, he has a point.
Socially conscious, darkly comic, conceptual songs (yes, songs!) with a down to earth narrative are strung cohesively together with skits and non-music that reinforce the stance and core message of the EP. All of which makes for an interesting and refreshingly challenging repeated listen.
I sincerely hope to hear more from Dayse & Aver and the Natural Curriculum camp in future and also hope that, re-invigorated by such releases, more artists feel moved to step up with similar clarity, purpose and unashamed celebrations of intelligent, heartfelt hip hop, giving us all some hope that this two-albums-and-six-mixtapes-per-annum drivel isn't where a culture that created kings sees it's demise.
Dayse & Aver, salute!!!!
show some support for NEW underground, independent hip hop and buy one of the remaining, limited-as-fluck 8 track vinyl EP 's HERE
Saturday, 20 August 2011
Blowing Up The Spot...
Sifters
117 Fog Lane, Didsbury, Manchester M20 6SN
0161 445 8967
After Kingbee (more on that another time...), Sifters has to rate as one of my favourite spots in Manchester. Mainly specialising in rock and pop albums with well stocked jazz, soul and soundtrack sections, this is definately the place to go if you're looking for doubles of Ultimate Breaks & Beats style records (Johnny The Fox and Fly Like An Eagle seem to breed like rabbits here).
One of a dying breed of record shops where you can walk out with a bag of vinyl, a smile and change from £20, this place is always worth a visit.
Except on Wednesdays and Sundays.
Friday, 19 August 2011
Monday, 8 August 2011
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