55. Richard Youngs - The Naive Shaman (2005)

Richard Youngs has been a constant presence on the UK DIY underground since the early 90's, despite having stayed well below the radar of all but the most committed of exploratory listeners. This album from 2005, provided a way into Youngs world, being readily available on Jagjaguwar records, accessible, beautiful, and coming at a time when people were kinda interested in this stuff.

Youngs comes from Cambridge but has based himself in Glasgow since the release of Advent in 1990. His music embraces improvisation, psychedelics, folk, prog, electonica and pop, and he often cites Pink Floyd or traditional folk as influences. Also mentioned are artists as disparate as Pet Shop Boys, New Order, Pastels and Galaxie 500, along with the improvisers and noise makers within the UK underground circle who often also share a background in traditional prog and pop.

I often think of Youngs as a UK Arthur Russell, eshewing the spotlight with his zen like aura, existing to create music as elemental as stone or water, striving to provide a effect similar to sitting by a waterfall or looking at a rainbow. Youngs often improvises lyrics, choosing lines and words not for their meaning, but for their sound when repeated, or their double meaning, or their oneatopoeic effect.

There are literally hundreds of RY records/tapes/cd-r's, many collaborations, many tiny editions on his own No Fans records, Jagjaguwar release mainly solo discs.

The Naive Shaman came at a time when the popularity of the new weird America was at the peak, so that UK heads looking for a British equivalent to Sunburnt, Wolf Eyes, MV & EE, Acid Mothers etc.. had their ready made equivalent who had in fact been doing stuff similar in DIY attitude for yonks, and had been a major influence on all the US stuff, in approach and sound.

This album then was and is a perfect entry point into Youngs world, containing 5 tracks over 30+ mins, and not a wasted second. Life on a Beam starts with a typical Youngs trope of mantric chanting and overlayed vocals, words chosen for how they sound sung out loud, 'on a beam, on a beam, on a beam'. Illuminating Land then follows, a hushed, static piece of electronic burbles and guitar twangs building tension. Sonar in my Soul is 10mins of a hypnotic spacemen 3ish loop made of bass and a dripping noise, Youngs choosing his lines well, 'ocean on a roll', 'spectre of sunrise', 'I am the spier' singing in a high tenor, some Fripp like guitar shredding notches up the immersion factor at the end. Once it was Autumn, has Youngs looping his elemental mantras as effectively as any electronic processor. Finally, Summers Edge II is 16mins of beauteous bloops and clonks with Alex Neilssons free percussion rattling away, whilst Youngs mantras are carved into the sound reminding listeners that this music is all about that voice as an instrument sounding like hedgerows, hills, nooks and gorges, and as the musics becomes more cacophonous and cluttered nothing is able to break Youngs out of his reverie, and he sings on unflustered, like a monolith, beaten by a storm.

A visual story of Grime

56. V/A - Run The Road (2005) / Aim High Vol. 2 (2005)

Both of these releases came at the tail end of the first Grime wave,  Run the Road being the first available Grime comp in the US, acting as both a showcase of the new scene and as a consoladation of the scene to date.
Grime had been fermenting in areas of east London (ends) at this point for about five years post So Solid, forming organically from pirate radio stations such as Kiss FM & Rinse FM from various strands of Garage 2-step, Dancehall, Hip-hop and Jungle influences.
After years of UK hip-hop leaning heavily on US styles, Grime was the breaking point where the UK could finally match US hip-hop, with a style not derivative and with it's own production style, rhyme flows and subject matter.





Of course Jungle always had MC's, but the lyrics were always limited to bigidy-bigidy big up's to the DJ and nonsense fast chat, unfortunately Jamaican dancehall DJ's were much better at fast chat, and as Jungle became a D&B metronomic metal beast devoid of funk (Sir D'Voidoffunk), and thrill seeker urban types gravitated toward the smoother, Puff/Missy influenced bling and space of Garage. MC's voices could be heard and nonsensical gibbering just wouldn't cut the mustard anymore.

Thankfully then the nascent Grime MC's stepped up and developed original lyrics and flows, largely based on Dancehall and the dynasty/tribal images of late 90's hip-hop like Wu-Tang. Grime came in crews such as Pay-as-u-go-cartel, and Roll Deep, where each member had to have a recognisable style of their own, thus increasing competition.

This change in MC style also had a knock on effect of encouraging producers to minimise their sound further, creating sparse backings that often just changed rhythms every 16 bars, and had a cold synthy feel often making little sense without MC's battling aggressively over the backing. Produced by names like Wiley, Target, Terror Danjah, Jammer. Rarely mentioned as an influence on the Grime production sound but it can be heard, is the ice cold digital hip hop sound  created by the Rza for late 90's Wu-Tang under the moniker Bobby Digital, this can't of gone unnoticed by Wiley when he created the Eskimo sound.

The often violent slang, stories and descriptions of east London contained within these tracks were previously unheard outside of 2-tone, punk perhaps, but possibly ever before in music, although clearly a new language to many these were well established tropes and slanguage in these communities.

Run the Road and Aim High are as good a Grime comp as is available of the 1st wave Grime at it's peak, and the Aim High also contains a DVD showing many of the MC's freestyling, mucking about with expensive cars etc.

Classic tunes on these comps include, 'Cock Back' a Terror Danjah posse cut full of brooding aggression, and UK gun centric metaphors abound. Riko & Target's - Chosen One, is one of the best Grime tunes, and a UK no.1 that never was, Riko betrays a heavy dancehall influence and on the Aim High DVD comes across as a modern day Brian Harvey albeit with better taste in music, he even has a silly ponytail and can probably take 8 E's in one night! Target from Pay-as-u-go-cartel backs Riko with a fiery thrusting bounce, producing a everyday pressure tale with a positive, outward looking vibe, 'Don't strive for peace of mind, just keep an open one'.

Females are well represented in Grime and one time hopeful Lady Sovereign does 'Ch-Ching' which is as good as anything Bow-wow-wow did, and has plenty of sass and teenage attitude, shame she tried to crack the US, and got wrangled in record company politics and production sheen. No Lay however is as hardcore as they come, her name itself an arms length threat, like the US Boss, this is perhaps the most uncompromising grime gets, never mind female. Wileys Out Onez riddim rides a chopped and synthesised violin on Aim High allowing Crazy titch to spit mad anger over it, not long prior to his incarceration for murder, and this as he was being touted as a pin up amongst the grime scene, and the first nail in the coffin of Grime pt.1.

So Sure from Aim High explores an underdeveloped aspect of Grime, the Grime soul tune; Sadie & Kano sing a not corny at all duet, and Kano sounds both vunerablke, confident and in a first flush of love (fact fans: Sadie is Shola Ama's daughter).

Kano contributes perhaps the second best tune on these comps with P's & Q's, a force of MC control and UK advice for those who stray beyond their 'ends', or how to behave within your 'ends'. Other moments worth mentioning include Bruza's take on British cockney Grime styles (best heard on compilations), and Destruction VIP, the posee cut featuring the maddest spluttered verse from D Double E and future Grime wilderness hopefuls who kept Grime alive in the lean years, Durrty Goodz & Trim.



Clipse vids

57. Clipse - Hell Hath No Fury (2006)

Brothers Malice & Pusha T formed in Virginia, an area not previously known for it's hip-hop credentials. During the 00's it would produce two of hip-hop's most innovative producers, Timbaland & The Neptunes, both of whom grew up in the same community as Clipse.

When dirty south style crunk took over as the underground hip hop sound, Timbaland, Neptunes & Clipse recreated the old NY hip-hop, as a modern, ultra syncopated, pop flavored beast. NY couldn't compete then, and is still struggling to produce a great hip-hop act, relying heavily on old favorites like Jay-Z. In fact many states now have better hip-hop than NY; New Orleans, Texas, Georgia, Atlanta, Detroit etc.

Lord Willin' (2002) introduced the Clipse/Neptunes sound, and remains classic, especially the minimal funk of Grindin. Acclaim went largely to the production, however the Clipse would develop their Re-up, coke rap tales, and the next album would see the lyrics and rapping shine equally.

Clipse signed to Jive records, a label not known for supporting hip-hop.Then Jive got brought out by Sony, thereafter Clipse's second album was put on hold, frustrating the Clipse enormously. They released two great mixtapes We Got It For Cheap Vol 1 & 2, showcasing the extended Re-Up Gang, rappers Ab-liva and Sandman. Both these rappers have infectious styles, contrasting Pusha & Malices' nasal twang to Sandmans blunted drawl.

Hell Hath No Fury finally came out in '06, and was a darker and more bitter proposition. The coke tales spiked with paranoia, anger at having to return to the streets to make a living. Super focused rhymes dealt with the hypocrisies of coke dealing whilst trying to escape the ghetto, the benefits, cost, temptations of the lifestyle, and many veiled references to their disappointments with major label Jive.

In contrast the cocky swagger of Grindin' 'I move cain like a cripple, Balance niggas through the hood, Kids call me Mr. Sniffles, Other hand on my nickel, Plated whistle, One eye closed I'll hit you, As if I was Slick Rick my aim is still an issue, Lose your soul in...whichever palm I'm holdin', One'll leave you frozen, The other, Noddin' and dozin, I'm grindin' Jack'.

Following release the Clipse's manager was jailed for 35 years as part of a cocaine cartel, Clipse is the closest you can get to an audio version of The Wire TV show.

'No serum can cure all the pain I've endured, from crack to rap to back to sellin' it pure, And i don't know how then other niggaz built, And I don't know if ever they feel guilt'.

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