summerness (roadtested on highbury fields)
now that the interesting stages of the 2007/08 champions league have been nearly exhausted, here's a playlist to get us all through to autumn. everything here deserves more than a maybe, and you can safely regard most as tasters for righteous eps or albums too. we could only separate them using that old trick, the alphabet: the same dodge that makes bristol rovers currently lie 3rd in league one. shout if you have trouble tracking any of them down.
a-bomb and mindzeye featuring rayzabeek "we ain't free"
thoughtful, religiose leicester ukhh from 5-track downloadable promo ep
bad brains "until kingdom comes"
fierce, devout, frankly wondrous roots stuff from "build a nation" lp on megaforce records
badness "badman"
one of many great takes on the dva remix of mega's sublime '07 riddim used on trimbal's "war report part 1", "beef" etc: from bonus cd with trim's "soul food vol. 2" mixtape
beatnik filmstars "popular nazis"
a jagged, uncompromising kinda "curious role model" part 2, from "wild eyed restless & free" cd-ep on the international lo-fi underground
california snow story "begin again"
melodious and impeccably understated quiet-fi from "close to the ocean" cd album on letterbox records
celestial "brighton girls"
smiling, perfectly uncertain, early secret shine hommage from "dream on" cd album on skipping stones records. oh, and fuck nu-gaze
crunch "crunch"
preview of "crunch time vol 1" from trimbal's "soul food" mixtape. crunch is 15.
dubblestandart featuring ari up "island girl (j-star remix)"
sublime viennese reggae (!) from "immigration dub" lp on collision
durrty goodz "boi dem"
nice "police officer" update from brimful-with-confidence "axiom ep" on awkward
ghetto "top 3 selected"
dogged, scorching early highlight from "ghetto gospel" mixtape on j. clarke enterprises
the hi-life companion "times table"
willing and able 60s'-rooted indie-pop from "say yes!" cdr album sampler (stop press: now to appear on autumn cloudberry cd-r!)
horowitz "i need a blanket"
delectable, not-unpavementy slight return from forthcoming download ep on thee sheffield phonographic corporation
jammer "never get parred"
incessant and pleasingly aggressive statement of intent from "are you dumb vol.2" mixtape on neckle / jah mek the world
j2k "switched up"
scratchy, string-backed sino-grime (we know, enough subgenres already) from "heat on the street vol. 1" 12" sampler ep
julian liberator & guy mcaffer "rolling thunder"
clanking cut that wins the usual four-way battle on "minimized" 12" ep on 4x4
the nightingales "eleven fingers"
fabulous artfulness from "what's not to love ?" mini-lp on caroline true records - coming on like a swaggering fusion of the shrubs and the fall, the nightingales benefit from doing all the things that you can't get the youngsters to do any more - archly narrated and marginally surreal mini-plots, off-the-wall song structures and beguilingly random guitars that errantly fight amongst themselves...
shrag "hopelessly wasted"
disconcertingly powerful alt-pop from "talk to the left" / "hopelessly wasted" 7" on where it's at is where you are, limited to 300 or so
skepta "autopsy"
a dark, scabrous instrumental void aching with dusty hints of dubstep from a 12" ep, also featuring jme, on adamantium music
sway featuring chiefer "move back"
grime-influenced north london hymn from "one for the journey ep" on dcypha. he's def more than capable of outlasting mike skinner and co, although at some point it is probably worth him releasing a record that doesn't feature a version of "up your speed"
team shadetek featuring 77klash & jahdan "brooklyn anthem"
exhilarating rapid-fire stuff from "pale fire" lp on sound ink / baked goods - but there is plenty to treasure on this lp
trim featuring wiley "war report pt. 4"
high-energy, high tension dis cut from trimbal "soul food volume 2" mixtape
wiley "reply 2 dizzee"
as even the broadsheets have noticed, the eskiboy has released about eight full length cds in the last year, any of which would frankly be a shoe-in for any mercury music prize list we ever produced: this uncomfortable but most entertaining soul-baring is from the "eskiboy - tunnel vision volume 6" mixtape on boy better know
and looks like there's more to come. music is brilliant.
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