Heavy Traffic...

                                             shamelessly lifted from ELPH'S FLICKR

Probably Well Stoned...

click image to enlarge, fool.

Styly Cee & Cappo - The Fallout (fish remix) by antisocial music

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

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.

King Of What...

Rest In Peace.

Dayse & Aver...

free downloads and limited vinyl pressing HERE

Manchester represent!!

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...