Tracks
P Money ft AJ Tracey – Them Guys (prod. By Swifta Beater & Sir Spyro)
Money Over Everyone 4 didn’t grab me. The lyrics felt dull in places, and the rap and drum & bass sections weren’t my favourite. However, ‘Them Guys’ did grab me, and it’s down a few elements.
Let’s address the big one: AJ Tracey. Yeah. He’s back on grime, and the return doesn’t disappoint. He’s lucid, sharp and clear, delivering each syllable like he never left the late-night radio slot. P Money’s on form, too. He elongates his verse ever so slightly and gives us a breather, delivers a tongue-lashing to the snakes and fakes, remixes AJ’s flow and keeps the energy high.
After that? It’s a back and forth, no pocket of the beat left unexplored. It’s what makes the track so good. The lyrics on ‘Them Guys’ aren’t necessarily insightful, but the energy between the two emcees is exhilarating. Add some intricately layered drums, and you’ve got a tidal wave of forward energy. I’m no cricket fan, but P Money and AJ Tracey hit a six with this one.
Jamzigg – NG Cali
Bugged-out clap patterns and classic grime samples make up Jamzigg’s latest track ‘NG Cali’, but the real highlight? That bassline. It’s mean, weighty and plunged into a dirt bath of distortion, gripping the senses and getting tighter as it progresses. A packed-out room with a low ceiling is where this instrumental belongs.
NEGATIN – Incident of Buri Buri Everyday
Another weighty instrumental grime cut, this time from Japan’s NEGATIN. ‘Incident Of Buri Buri Everyday’ features bone-snapping clap patterns and edgy, metallic one-shots, but like the last track, the low-end is king here. It devours the ears, rushing through the headphones like a rollercoaster with no speed limit.
Projects
Elijah & Jammz – Make The Ting
Back in the 70s and 80s, bands like Desperate Bicycles and Scritti Politti published the production costs of their singles on the sleeves of the record. DIY approaches are nothing new and have multiple histories, so we won’t explore that today. However, it’s interesting. The internet gives us more accessibility than the DBs and Scritti Politti could’ve dreamed of, but information and insights can feel out of reach. That makes music a closed shop situation only a few can access.
Make The Ting is part of a wider process from Elijah. A while back, he began posting yellow squares across his socials. Inside them? Thoughts on the underground, community, creativity and more. IRL moves followed, and here we are: an eight-track album made in collaboration with Jammz. There are remixes, too. So, you’ve got the initial project and versions from producers floating around on Bandcamp.
When I listen to music, I look for a story, a message or some kind of hook that draws me in. That can be a lyric or a sound. When the first few tracks from the album dropped, I wondered: can these statements stand up as songs? Where’s the story? Is Jammz just spitting Elijah’s thoughts? My own perceptions on what makes ‘good’ or ‘functional’ music were challenged. When I listened closely, it made sense. Jammz expands on the initial statements from the squares, adding his own thoughts and meeting Elijah in the middle.
With that in mind, the album goes from a fixed thing to an open-source document that can exist in different places. You can enjoy the record for what it is, and play some songs at home or in the club. If you’re a music maker, you can put your own spin on your favourite tracks, remix the album, or apply the messages to your own process.
The two are serving their music communities, just like the DBs and Scritti Politti did forty-odd years ago. Make The Ting provides food for thought on the subjects that might challenge creators, hopefully making the entry into music much easier one song at a time.
GoldTooth – Ragam Thanam Pallavi
I came across Ragam Thanam Pallavi the other night while randomly scrolling through Bandcamp’s grime section. For those that don’t know: it’s by GoldTooth, a Tamil producer/DJ from South London who makes a mixture of grime, drill and bass music. The EP consists of three tracks: ‘Bhairavi’, ‘Ragamalika’ and ‘Kaapi’.
There are a few releases on GoldTooth’s Bandcamp, but Ragam Thanam Pallavi is the first one I’ve heard. The kick drums got me first: smooth, crisp and impactful, they sound as though they’re about to burst right through the headphones. That’s always a good start.
Then, it’s the melody work. GoldTooth crafts lead riffs from either the string sounds found in Indian classical music or a set of vocal samples, which he then modulates. The lead lines sing, rising and falling in pitch to create a euphonious soundscape, but the key is in the modulation. As the riffs whizz and whirr, the tracks feel alive. It adds a depth not always found in instrumental grime.
It’s exciting when producers look into their backgrounds. I’m reminded of Nafs At Peace and Sega Boy, two records that mix Non-Western and Western music to create something new. As listeners, we’re getting to experience something we might not be familiar with, while the creator gets to bring together two parts of their identity that may be seen as disparate. Plus, it bangs – what more could you want?
Sir Spyro – Tekkers 003
Spyro’s back with his second record in three months. This time, it’s the turn of ‘Baraks’, ‘Tekkers 3’ and ‘Solder Wire’ to be freed from the mythical Sir Spyro hard drives. I, for one, am excited. ‘Baraks’ feels coarse, and its chugging lead riff sounds like an army of cybernetic machines moving around in the very environment Spyro named the tune after. ‘Solder Wire’, on the other hand, is high octane. The industrial sounds from the first track are still present, but they’re pushed to the background in place of an energetic bassline that screams: move your body. It’s grime for the clubs; make no mistake about that.
Spooky Bizzle – 6 Nuggets
Spooky’s latest drop is a record titled 6 Nuggets, which extends some of his previous Bandcamp-only tunes and gives them a new lease on life. The first three tunes stood out the most to me. ‘Dragon Breath’ mixes eerie lead lines with a creeping set of natural-sounding drums. It sounds like a perfect set opener and has this ominous atmosphere, which I love. ‘Easter Bunny’ brings the mood up a little, mixing distorted bass stabs with shape-shifting synths, and ‘Eton Mess’ has the kind of funky undercurrent sorely missing from instrumental grime. It’s a real head-bopper. Where Spyro’s instrumentals were on the peak time, mash up the dance scale, these tunes are on the opening hours, early set scale. You need both to make a great set work.
Shudan – Pak Choi
Keen-eared grime heads may remember Shudan from 2019’s London To Addis. June saw the producer drop Pak Choi on White Peach Recordings, a label they’ve worked closely with over the years, and what struck me about it first was the musicality. Among the low-end of ‘Snake Hands’ and ‘Pak Choi’ are gorgeous string runs and rushing synths. This continues on the final track, ‘No Shadow Kick’, which follows the same pattern as the opening two tunes until the closing section kicks in, a breakdown with all the drama and intensity of the score to an epic battle scene.
The second thing that struck me was the third track, ‘Jiangshi’. It ticks all the boxes on the sound system front: diaphragm rumbling kick drums and edgy clap patterns. But the gliding 808 that appears intermittently gives it a really modern vibe, the instrumental grime approach of the 2010s colliding with the more contemporary rap and drill styles we’re hearing from the U.K. at the moment. Grab Pak Choi for a nice slice of melody and madness.
Trends & Boylan – Ninety Nine EP
Trends & Boylan collide on their latest record, Ninety Nine EP. It’s released via Sneaker Social Club, and the best way to describe it as a whole would be: straight mutant music. The standout for me is EP closer and title track ‘Ninety Nine’, which also features Slimzee. Here, the three cook up something that elicits a perma screwface full of rugged, mangled, bass-heavy sonics.
SDLR – Execute EP
Rounding out the projects section of the piece is SDLR’s Execute EP, which lands via U.S-based instrumental label Kenyon Sound. Execute is loaded with sound system weaponry in ‘Ice Scape’, ‘Execute’ and ‘Flight Riddim’, but the record really shines on the last two tracks. ‘Pulse-Tekk’ is a pure brain-warping, techno and grime hybrid, sounding like a modern take on the type of tunes heard in Slimzee’s ‘Bingo Beats’ mixes. ‘It’s 05’ is on a similar tip, choosing to turn the cerebral cortex inside out with industrial minimalism. Real FWD music.
Radio, interviews and other interesting things
General Courts on Rinse FM – 2nd July 2023
Courts stepped up on Rinse earlier in the month, bringing a percussive, UKG flavour in the first hour and ramping up the pressure with some grime in the second. Kicking off that second hour is an absolute belter with Mez, Badness and Travis-T. Get involved.
Joe Muggs interviews Grandmixxer for Bass, Mids & Tops and the Rest
Music Journalist Joe Muggs recently started ‘Bass, Mids, Tops and the Rest’ over on Substack. It’s a continuation of the book he released a few years back, with long-form interviews going out on Mondays. The latest entry was an interview with Grandmixxer, who gives an insight into his craft, inspirations, thoughts on grime and more. It’s behind a paywall, but more than worth signing up for, especially if you’re a music head in general. Read it here
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Make More Grime – Kenyon Sound
Grime label Kenyon Sound recently launched ‘Make More Grime’. It’s aimed at producers, so if that’s you, send them a DM on Twitter and get involved. For the first project, the label is sending producers the stems to make a remix, with the best ones being selected to feature on a release later on in the year.
The Art of Grime 