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.

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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.

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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.

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Suggestion Of The Week - Suspekt - The Punisher

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

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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K-Sly's website