Thursday 18 June 2009

Bonus extra unity

(Just when you thought it was over...)
Whilst many of the readers of this blog will already be as familiar, if not more so, with the music under discussion as I am myself, I am aware that some of you out there may not be. So I thought a nice way to wrap up the topic (for now, at least) would be to share some of what I think are the best introductions to it.
I am rather wary of the blog becoming an mp3 dump cum link-fest, but I'm going to allow it in this particular case becasue it serves a specific purpose. I reckon that mixes are in many ways the best way to hear this music, partly because of practical reasons - many of the tunes are unreleased or from artists with so far a very small output - but also because, as I've mentioned a few times below, this type of music 'mixes well' in a way that's somewhat hard to specify; a lot of its excitement is generated by pushing one tune up against another, seeing how what might seem like disparate material can form a coherent whole. The Pangea mix for Reprise linked to in the last post would be an excellent place to start. I can also wholly recommend the following:
Jackmaster's recent mix for the Wire - A true musical thrill-ride from start to finish. (The degree of ecleticism here, I should point out, goes beyond what is the norm in UK music right now, particularly in the ammount of hip-hop material used. Though perhaps this is not outside of the norm for the Glasgow scene in particular: more to come on that at a later date).
Bok Bok's new guest mix for the Lucky Me family - Just beautiful, with loads of woozy psychedelic synths.
Jamie Vexd's mix also for Lucky Me - A bit older this one, but still sounding exciting and relevant.
Marcus Nasty MC special on Rinse FM - Bit of a different take on the unity concept this one, but a classic and pretty much an instant historical event from the moment it was broadcast last November.
Terror Danjah's May mix for FACT magazine - More recent excursion into grime/funky territory, with plenty of Terror's own amazing instrumentals.
Ben UFO, Oneman and MC Asbo doing a recent Ruffage Sessions show on Sub FM - high-energy stuff from start to finish with surreal hosting chat from Asbo.
Also make sure to check out Colz' blog, which hosts a proper shedload of relevant mixes, including plenty of recent radio sets.

Finally, I thought it might be helpful to share links to blog posts and articles that have been of use to me in attempting to get to understand 'the new music'. Along with those linked to in the original post, the following are well worth a read (tending perhaps to focus on the w*nky concept, but covering other stuff too).
http://blackdownsoundboy.blogspot.com/2009/04/new-nuum.html
http://splinteringboneashes.blogspot.com/2009/02/wonky-as-transversal-rave.html
(+ follow-up posts)
http://blackdownsoundboy.blogspot.com/2009/04/funk-phenomenon.html
http://www.lo-la.co.uk/2008/09/07/the-return-of-the-boom-bap-serie-b-2008/
http://rougesfoam.blogspot.com/2009/06/loving-wonky.html

3 comments:

  1. Thanks for this post Andy, you led me to that Terrah Mix, didnt have a clue he did one for fact, slipping @ the highest level!!..

    really nice collection of mixes you have there though....nice one :-)

    ReplyDelete
  2. No problem Alex, it's good to share, the more people that hear this stuff the better!
    Really appreciating the interviews on your blog at the moment btw, keep 'em coming. :D

    ReplyDelete