Mighty Ethnic - Free Style

Re-up as requested below. Might get in to a few more posts next year, we'll see how much time I have to spare. Happy Christmas.

Download

Caveman - Talkin' Bout Streetlife (The Principle Remixes)

The Principle was a very important part of the Caveman crew and when he left I think Caveman suffered. Their first LP was a really excellent debut , the difficult second LP was a bit of a let down for me and that was mostly due to the fact that the music was pretty ordinary except for these two tracks which I think were the best two tracks on there. So the LP was sold and the 12" was kept and is the only Caveman 12" I still have today. And I'm a sucker for just about any song that uses that killer 'Letha' break. Ill.

Download

Bonus Break

S.O.E. - Verbal Assassin

Saw this on soundcloud, not the whole thing but the taster track, Verbal Assassin' is most definitely a magnificent bastard of a tune. Available for download at the time of writing and if this is anything to go by then I can't wait to hear the rest of it. Solid UK pressure for sure.

Pre-orders now live

Suggestion Of The Week - Sound Of Fury - Rising From The Ashes

This is one you don't want to miss. Six tracks resurrected and pressed up for the first time on wax and released on the excellent Britcore Rawmance imprint. Comes in colour picture sleeve and printed insert with a little history on the crew. Disorda's got 'em in right now and he's the only man in the UK as far as I know to be stocking copies so far. Essential.

Hear and purchase.

Suggestion Of The Week - The Mantis Chapter - Iceni Kings / Nightfall One

Just copped one of these, label states '2015' as the release date but the discogs entry states '2016' so I'm not entirely sure but there's plenty available and you should get yourself one soon. Perhaps somebody could clarify as I don't remember it being around any time last year so maybe there was a delay or something.

Hear

I got mine from this guy

Mighty Ethnic - Free Style

I've been lucky just of late to get a few records that have been on the wants list for donkey's, this being one of them. OK, so the label's somewhat knackered and the vinyl to look at you would say has seen better days but it sounds superb. Classic golden era UK business at it's very best is what we have right here and a personal fave from long ago has been added to to the crates nearly thirty years after it dropped. I am so not young any more.

Download

Suggestion Of The Week - 45 Brothers - Showtime / The Zone

This is good. Some nice instrumental pressure from that London. 200 pressed up and as you can see mine's a respectable number 102. See below for details on obtaining a copy for yourself.

Hear & Purchase

The Rapologists - The Hip Hop Beat

Ok, so you've all heard this one before but I feel I have a real connection to this record. Maybe it's the year hip hop music really took a form hold of me and I left all the punk and pop music behind. Maybe it's because it's a UK hip hop record although that wasn't a factor at the time. Maybe it's because I personally considered it to be the best cut on the streetsounds UK electro compilation. Or maybe it's because it's just a good record, period.
 I got mine from Beat Street records around 1987/88 I think and as you can see it's the US promo copy which I would say is a pretty scarce rekkid nowadays. It's exactly the same as the UK release on Billy Boy and I wouldn't be bothered either way I don't think but it's a nice addition if you can find one.
 If you've not heard it for a while give it another listen and depending on how old you are (feel) it might be the nostalgia injection you've been after.

Download 

Ragga Twins - Reggae Owes Me Money Sampler

It's kind of an embarrassing time to be English right now what with last night's piss poor performance against a very decent Iceland team who deserved to win against a shower of multi millionaire ass wipes who are average at best. Still, football fans are a fickle bunch and I dare say once the new season starts it'll all be forgotten and they'll all be everyone's favourite players again. As for the political situation in the UK right now, well, I'll save those views for another time. Or maybe never as here's not the place I feel. So, I have to play some music and tunes like '18" Speaker' always remind me of the good ol' days and so make me feel a little better. In fact I bought this for that track alone, not too keen on the album personally or the other two tracks included here. Nice to remember that we were good at something once. My advice would be to play this very loud and try to remember the good times.

Download

SL Troopers - Systematic Terror EP

Just lately I've been listening or re-listening in some cases to some John Peel radio shows from this blog over here and I had this show on and he happened to spin this while I was walking through the city centre this morning and I thought, what a fantastic tune this is. I've not listened to the others for a heck of a long time now and if I remember rightly they're not a patch on 'Terror' so I thought I'd upload it for your listening pleasure. SL Troopers were criminally under rated and I reckon there must be some unreleased or shelved stuff waiting to be heard somewhere. Dig 'em out and let's here' em please. Another UK golden era killer rekkid.

p.s. Don't forget to check out that Peel archive; it's made most of my days for weeks now and I still haven't downloaded all of them.

Download

Darkroom Presents....One

Not had a lot of hip hop on rotation over recent weeks but I managed to cop one of these a few weeks back and it's a very decent 12". I dig Mr Bohze's style and his flow is on point but it's difficult, for me at least, to take in his broad Glaswegian twang sometimes so I was pleased that this also came with a lyric sheet.

Download

Suggestion Of The Week - Sir Beans O.B.E & M.C. Kelz - Sagittarius Sound System

After a short delay I took delivery of this today and after the first listen it was worth the wait. Beans and Kelz knock out another sure fire winner, maybe a touch better then the last one even. Definitely one of the buys of the year so far. So good they even shot a video. Essential.

Hear and purchase here.

Suggestion Of The Week - DJ Supreme (Feat. Son Of Noise) - R.I.P.

Oh you should definitely buy this one. I managed to cop an orange one which, as you'd expect, sold out pretty quick but Disorda might have a few if you're lucky.

Hear & purchase.

Hear & purchase here also

Suggestion Of The Week - Whirlwind D - Other Side

Another excellent LP from UK veteran Whirlwind D and another great package from the small but essential B-Line label. Personally I think this one surpasses his debut effort, some great collabs (but not too many which is a refreshing change these days) and I hope there's more still to come. An essential purchase.

 Hear

Purchase here or here

Beats In Progress - Ill Grammar

Nice 12" in the BIP catalogue right here, 'Let's Break' being a great throwback to the sounds of the good old days. A decent 12" if you can find one and it shouldn't be too hard really. More from these lot some other time I reckon.

Download

Hardnoise - Untitled

The snooker's on just now and I like it a bit more these days tha I used to. Maybe it's my age. I didn't manage to get a ticket this year but I did go to five of the qualifying sessions and apart from the unfathomably uncomfortable seating I enjoyed it a lot. Even the missus had a good time. I think. Sat in the cafe opposite Alan McManus and Anthony McGill, had a pee standing next to James Wattana. Glory days. Anyway as I'm the only snooker fan here right now I'll stop but I upped this to let you know if I was a pro snooker player this is the music I'd be walking down the steps at the Crucible to.

Download

Caveman - Victory E.P.

I think 'Swift Sucker' might be the best thing Caveman ever did. For me, The Principle was a musical genius and the driving force behind High Wycombe's oddly named neanderthal trio.He went on to produce a few other random tracks and couple of remixes too and then disappeared off the planet for whatever reason which is a shame. MCM put out a compilation a few years back of unreleased and 'lost' tracks but I didn't find it that interesting and apart from a thumping version of 'Fry You Like Fish' it's not that desirable, for me at least. The few records they released were all very good records and an antidote to the shite all but two of my mates were getting in to. 'Swift Sucker'; that one's for them.

Download

Suggestion Of The Week - Suspekt - The Punisher

Buy this but be quick, only 2 left...

Purchase

Hear

Suggestion Of The Week - Hearts Of Darkness - A Journey Of A Thousand Miles

If you're a fan of the UK sound then this definitely will not disappoint. The best buy of the year so far for me. If you ignored all my other recommendations, well, that's fine really but as the saying goes, don't sleep. Really, don't. Buy this.

Hear and purchase here.

Also straight from the label here.

Hijack - Hold No Hostage

This was the first Hijack rekkid I ever bought and I remember just buying it without having a quick listen mainly because it was on Music Of Life and they were a fairly well known label so I went for it. It's great when you get home, spin a record you've not pre-listened to and, well, you know how it goes. I was fortunate enough to catch a live performance in Sheffield - The Leadmill - around 1991 I think when they were out and about with Ice T et al on the 'Rhyme Syndicate' tour. I went straight over to the concession stand first as my mates went to the bar, got the bullet hole t-shirt and stuffed it in my pocket. Can't remember the price tag but I wore it until it fell to bits.  Anyway, it was one of the best performances I ever saw. They had a stage show too not just the usual deejay and emcee routine, they really looked dangerous. Like terrorists. This could be not only the UK tune of '88 but maybe the tune of '88. The best they ever did by a mile and the djs were way ahead of their time too. Untouchable.

Download

D To The K - Hard But Live / Ease Up Your Mind

Another heavy hitter from '89 and another white label for the collection. I used to prefer the white label promo look when I was a young 'un but I would have certainly preferred the commercial release with the picture sleeve in this case but it's the record I wanted and this was pretty cheap, single figure cheap as it happens. I've had it yonks now but there was a time you could expect to drop 'owt up to 30 sheets on this one. A firin' tune to kick start the weekend.

p.s. If you're in need of any re-ups please request in the top post and I'll gladly oblige. I don't want to have to use one of those chat box things, too much spam to moderate.

Download

Gunshot - Crime Story

What more can be said of the UK crew that spawned the britcore genre, the name itself even. My fave Gunshot tune of all time. Proper UK pressure.

Download

Suggestion Of The Week - Dookie Squad - Let The Beat Drop

Dookie Squad come correct with another solid UK banger along with some special guests to boot. You should definitely save your pennies and buy this one. They work hard and constantly release only quality stuff and deserve recognition.

Hear and Purchase.

Suggestion Of The Week - Hijack - Doing What We Wonna Do

I like this. No I really do. It's a new Hijack tune innit? Maybe I prefer this to K-sly's recent solo stuff, especially his last effort. I have to say it was the beat that sold this one to me and not necessarily the lyrics. Once upon a time Hijack ruled the roost and not just this side of the pond either. And the lyrics K-Sly spat on original classics such as 'Hold No Hostage' and 'E=MC2" were some of the best at the time and remain so. Still, for me this is a worthy addition to my Hijack collection. I think they might be a little rusty after all these years and I do have one question. How come we don't hear DJ Undercover on here flexing the wax? I'm not 100% convinced by this comeback track but I do look forward to some subsequent releases in the near future. Please.

Hear

Purchase.

K-Sly's website