ABU Podcast - February 2016 - TONITE!

The monthly ABU Podcast is tonight.
Tune in from 9pm (GMT) for classic hip hop as well as new material from Hearts Of Darkness and Whirlwind D.
https://mixlr.com/repo136/

The chatroom is http://chatwing.com/discoscratch (don't use the Mixlr chatbox)

Last Remaining ABU Merch

If you missed out on the super-dope Ageing B-Boys Unite! fashion line from Style Warrior last summer then fear not as there are limited stocks left. When I say limited I mean LIMITED. Namely...

1 x Hoody - Size XL
1 x T-Shirt - Size XL

For more information head to this page http://www.stylewarrior.co.uk/abu-shirt/
Alternatively contact Style Warrior here http://www.stylewarrior.co.uk/contact/

Record Review - Hearts Of Darkness - A Journey of a Thousand Miles

I've noticed that the albums/singles I review in the blog seem to be well made and well worth my time. Now if that's by design or coincidence is anyone's guess and I'm not about to start questioning the mysteries of the hip hop universe any time soon so hopefully everything will all stay peachy.

Fresh into the ABU underground HQ is some brand new product from Style Warrior Records which I'm anticipating will not rock that boat - although historically will undoubtedly make waves. And after an initial listen it is clear that it is certainly keeping in the same vein and making my reviewing task a lot easier.

The Hearts of Darkness lads hail from the north of England (Manchester and Hull) and you may well have heard of them before. Having had some previous success with a couple of twelve inches in the mid-90s and an appearance on the Ruf Diamonds Volume 2 (all on the Ruf label) they ruffled some feathers and then went back to being ordinary, everyday citizens.

Something I find that troubles my noggin when it comes to music is that there is just so much of it. Perhaps too much of it. Day after day comes new songs, albums, mixtapes and it just. Doesn't. Stop. There are so many albums that I missed during the hey-day of hip hop's Golden Age that even now I occasionally find an album and am blown away that I didn't cop it at the time. That period seemingly has become an anomaly and even though some say we are experiencing hip hop's second 'Golden Age' there are still not near as many nuggets as there were back then. But that's not to say that it's as barren as Steady B's diary at the moment. Far from it. Thanks to UK labels such as B-Line Recordings, Soundweight and now Style Warrior Records things are looking good and further proof is in the debut album release on SWR from HoD.

This retro release consists of six previously-released tracks and three unreleased ones, A Journey of a Thousand Miles (obviously a cryptic ode to The Proclaimers...) is a really enjoyable listening experience with it's slower pacing and mostly downtempo beats. The emphasis being the same feeling I get from Quest at their peak - sultry jazz with hard beats.
Another great British crew hit home with this similar style, namely Caveman, although at times they were more frenetic. HoD don't aim for the dancefloor and instead prompt you to wear headphones for this collection of treats (What You Waited For perfectly exemplifies this).

Whilst having this on repeat on my MP3 player for a couple of weeks I came to the conclusion that MC Loire & DJ Sheik were quite probably ahead of their time - being that the majority of cuts were originally produced in the '95/'95 period. The fast, hectic beats so traditionally associated with the UK scene are strangely absent in this cluster of cuts and the overall tempo is a cool, plodding groove with an average BPM of 91 (the lowest being Reanimating Wildstyles with just 70) which to me demands you listen with no distractions as a calmer pace dictates more detail in the mix.

Production-wise, the beats are mostly familiar breaks to the average hip hop fan - with one particular loop later being used on the same DJ instrumental tool I confess to have stolen in the past - but are crafted into dark, cinematic pieces with the occasional piece of movie dialogue layered on top. With Loire's deft lyrical display and the always-welcome addition of a scratch or two though then this automatically lifts the song higher than a Kardashian hemline.

An album with all the trimmings

So what you have here is a great album of tracks but being that it is on the Style Warrior Records imprint you can expect that this is not simply 'job done'.
As with the many t-shirts SW have produced over the last decade you can guarantee you will receive that usual extra touch with a smidge of class. The very heavy, 180-gram vinyl itself is housed within a record sleeve with painstakingly-transcribed lyrics on both sides and sits inside a beautifully-designed colour cover (within a PVC jacket) utilising and remixing the original photography of Pinky. And if that's not enough then also included is an A4 press-release insert detailing the concept of the album. It's these extra touches that I've come to expect from Style Warrior releases which push them over and above the average record label.
And for the digital-happy kids amongst us there is also a download code that can be used to grab the album in mp3 format.

In short this is an outstanding album which had it not been for the foresight of Style Warrior may have just been another collection of songs destined to remain on a cassette master gathering dust. This is serious UK hip hop history and you should be willing to walk five hundred miles and possibly walk five hundred more just to get your hands on a copy.


The album is available to order NOW. Go to the dedicated Hearts Of Darkness page on the Style Warrior website to get your copy.
http://www.stylewarrior.co.uk/project/swrec003-hearts-of-darkness/

Side A
01 No Limitations
02 Take The Name In Vain
03 Reanimating Wildstyles
04 Scatter the Ashes
05 Mr Next Man

Side B
01 A Taste of Venom
02 Tried And Tested
03 What You Waited For
04 Don't Fight the Featherweight

Just-Ice Interviewed by Mike Allen (1988)

Here's an interesting piece of audio courtesy of a radio rip by the P Brothers.
Back in 1988 the late Mike Allen interviewed Bronx resident and gruff gold tooth enthusiast, Just-Ice for his Safe On Sunday radio show.
Only 10 minutes long but it is exquisitely, essential Mike.
Rest in peace.


Thanks to LG for spotting this.

Cornish Edit Agent Volume 4 by DREN

I had the pleasure of listening to this fantastic "1-hour cut & paste layered loops and samples edit mix using over 70 slabs of vinyl" from Cornwall's DJ Dren Throwdown of the Edit Alliance.
Some really inventive cuts, scratches and mashups make this one of the most inventive mixes of the year so far.
Recommended.





Source:  https://soundcloud.com/dren-1/cornish-edit-agent-volume-4?utm_source=soundcloud&utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=facebook

Hearts Of Darkness - Coming Soon

Coming soon. Very soon.
Details soon. Very soon.

Beat Street 30th Anniversary Article

Yes, the actual 30th anniversary of the film, Beat Street was two years ago but this article needs to be seen. Bringing together the stars of the movie, you can read the real story behind it and it really wasn't that pretty.
I'd say that we're all in agreement in that BS was mostly a Hollywood version of how hip hop was - it certainly is a far way away from original screenwriter Stephen Hager's vision of what should've been portrayed on screen, that's for sure.
This is a really interesting behind-the-scenes look at what went into making the film and what the cast actually thought about it.

Did you know that Kool Herc had to wear a false beard throughout his scenes? I need to rewatch this, NOW.

http://www.wonderingsound.com/feature/beat-street-movie-oral-history/

January WTF?!

What a month.
31 days into 2016 and it seems we've lost a years' worth of legendary figures from the world of entertainment (and politics) in such a short space of time.
I've never felt my childhood slipping away so quickly.

Rest in peace to so many.


January 2016
01  Mark B (45)
04  Robert Stigwood (81)
09  Ed Stewart (74)
10  David Bowie (69)
14  Alan Rickman (69)
15  Dan Haggerty (74)
18  Glenn Frey (67)
22  Cecil Parkinson (84)
26  Black (aka Colin Vearncombe) (53)
31  Terry Wogan (77)

And lest we not forget those from the end of last year...
 
December 2015
04  Mike Allen
04  Robert Loggia (85)
19  Jimmy Hill (87)
28  John Bradbury (62)
28  Guru Josh (51)
28  Lemmy (70)
31  Natalie Cole (65)

ABU Podcast #56 - January 2016

ABU - The ultimate in hi-tech promo

I decided to cut down the podcasts to just half the usual running time. Now they will be a new running time of a slim-lined 60 minutes which I think will be just right so that I need to get the best use of an hour.
This could of course backfire on me but for the purposes of showing face, it will work, no question.

So, onto this month's show and there is a distinct jazz-funk flavour knocking around the tunes. As usual a bit of the old, a bit of the new and the regular oddness that makes up an Ageing B-Boys' Podcast.

I quite like the new running time. Tell us what you think.

56 Ageing B-Boys Unite! Podcast - ABU! DS Takeover Show January 2016 by repo136 on hearthis.at

Here be the tracklisting.....

01  William Stuckey - Disco Fly (1977)
02  KRS-ONE - I Can't Wake Up (Return Of The Boom Bap, 1993)
03  Schoolly D - Saturday Night (Saturday Night! - The Album, 1986)
04  Run DMC - How'd Ya Do It, Dee (Tougher Than Leather, 1988)
05  Chrome - You Know Who I Am (2012)
06  Hearts of Darkness - A Taste of Venom (Journey Of A Thousand Miles, 2016)
07  J-Live - Them That's Not (The Best Part, 1999)
08  C.M. Dance - Off The Hook (1986)

The Funk Trunk
09  Jean Jacques Perrey - E.V.A. (Mood Indigo, 1970)
10  Donald Byrd - Dominos (Places And Spaces, 1975)

11  Camp Lo - Swing (ft Ish aka Butterfly) (Uptown Saturday Night, 1997)
12  Digable Planets - Time and Space: A New Refutation Of Reachin' (A New Refutation of Time and Space, 1993)

13  Lazy Ace & Sureshot - Powertrippers (demo) (1994)

Roots Of The Roots
14  David Bowie - Ashes to Ashes (Scary Monsters, 1980)
15  Peter Schilling - Major Tom (Coming Home) (Error in the System, 1983)

16  LL Cool J - Going Back to Cali (Less Than Zero Soundtrack, 1987)
17  Lakim Shabazz - The Posse Is Large (Pure Righteousness, 1989)

Crumplstock 2016

Crumplstock is back for 2016.

If you didn't know, it is an online DJ 'festival' where you go to different internet links and listen to various DJs for an hour each by clicking on their unique URL and join in the chat live (optional).

I'm on tonight at 10pm playing a selection of ABU classics, breaks and soundtracks. It's all live, all vinyl and all unrehearsed. Check it!

http://mixlr.com/repo136/