grime
Album: The Streets - None of Us Are Getting Out of This Life AliveFriday, 10 July 2020
Given the collaborator list on this album, it should be a bit of a mess. Brit punks IDLES, Aussie woozy pop auteur Tame Impala, pumping bassline house producer Chris Lorenzo turning his hand to drum’n’bass, as well as Ms Banks, Dapz On The Map,... Read more... |
Album: Footsie - No FavoursThursday, 21 May 2020
Footsie might not have the profile of a Skepta or Wiley, or even his Newham Generals partner and recent IKEA advert soundtracker D Double E. But anyone halfway schooled in grime will know that both as MC and producer he's a key player from grime's... Read more... |
Kate Tempest, BBC 6 Music Festival review - more personal than politicalTuesday, 10 March 2020
For those wondering if performance poet Kate Tempest would be upstaged or introduced by either pandemic panic or International Women’s Day – know that a) she’s fearless and b) she practices equality always. As such, there’s no pre-amble, other than... Read more... |
Albums of the Year 2019: Little Simz - GREY AreaWednesday, 08 January 2020
In 2019, music kept its place as a vital means for expression and escapism in an increasingly troubled and troubling world. Happily, there were plenty of brilliant albums to get lost in over the course of the year. Sharon Van Etten’s Remind Me... Read more... |
Albums of the Year 2019: Terror Danjah - InvasionThursday, 19 December 2019
This is a bittersweet recommendation to make. On the one hand, it is simply one of the mightiest electronic albums of the year, an exemplar of how grime continues to be a vital part of the British sound palette long after it was pushed aside as the... Read more... |
Kano, Brighton Dome review - simply joyousMonday, 07 October 2019
Kano’s lyrics often sound like a wake, mixing mournfulness and anger as they raise a toast to fallen friends on abandoned estates, casualties of crushing pressures alien to the authorities who pronounce on them in the tabloids and parliament.... Read more... |
CD: Kano - Hoodies All SummerThursday, 29 August 2019
Of all grime's original generation, Kano has a strong claim to being the greatest rhyme-constructor in the old school hip hop sense of dense rhymes packed with multiple meanings. Add movie star looks and a penchant for fur coats in photoshoots and... Read more... |
Wilderness Festival 2019 review - marvellous misbehaviourWednesday, 07 August 2019
The thing about Wilderness is that it’s just so jolly decent. Acres of decadence, sprawled safely over the yawning magnificence of Cornbury Park, Oxfordshire, combine to create a scintillating country fair reverie – a heady mix of good music, high... Read more... |
Superhoe, Brighton Festival 2019 review - a darkly vital one-woman showWednesday, 22 May 2019
Tonight comes with a caveat, delivered before proceedings begin by the one-woman show’s writer and performer Nicôle Lecky, who’s sitting in a chair centre-stage. She damaged her foot during Sunday’s matinee at the Brighton Festival, dancing about,... Read more... |
10 Questions for actress and playwright Nicôle LeckyWednesday, 24 April 2019
Nicôle Lecky’s one woman show Superhoe has added fire to the reputation of an already fast-rising actress and writer. Based around Sasha, a Plaistow girl who aspires to pop stardom, it’s a clear-eyed, very modern play, filled with its central... Read more... |
CD: Shy FX - Raggamuffin SoundTapeWednesday, 20 March 2019
Everything about this mixtape oozes confidence. It crams 12 tracks plus interludes – all produced by Andre “Shy FX” Williams – into barely more than half an hour. It happily leaves “Roll the Dice”, the single which conquered club and radio... Read more... |
Yxng Bane, Brixton Academy review - all the fam on stageSaturday, 16 March 2019
There’s a wolf howl and Yxng Bane (pronounced Young Bane) jumps off a block on stage and his furry hooded coat flies open and the arena erupts in screams. The pit is filled almost exclusively with seventeen year old girls, excellently contoured and... Read more... |
