Extra Curricular "Sleeping Giant"

Track up now on SoundCloud - here.

Mini-review = dope as fuck but you need to see these guys live to really appreciate how good they are.

And when I say need, I mean neeeeed - they are sick with it.

Myspace details here - NYE in Hudds should be a laugh although I will probably be elsewhere.

Masta Ace & Edo G @ Fresh Jive - The Review

My review of the night is up now at Traffic Magazine - click here.



I also want to highlight quickly a great piece on Verbal Contact's forthcoming EP "Literary Vices" at BritishHipHop.co.uk. It's by the legendary "Big" Phil Clark and is as you might hope a damn good read... take a look.

Oh and then buy the EP from Suspect Packages, naturally.

HHB Leeds New Archives - link

In my lengthy absence from the scene, the ever-resourceful boys at HHB Leeds have migrated to archiving their shows at house-mixes.com.



You can find Ant Black's "All Points North" shows here, featuring recent sets by Alphabetix, No Change and Verbal Contact:

house-mixes.com/artists/aNt_bLaCk

and Agent M (Mutant Productions/ Invizible Circle)has a few mixes out there via the following links:

djagentm.blogspot.com

house-mixes.com/artists/Dj_Agent_M/

M's blog is also set to feature some technology reviews and so forth as I understand it. Should be worth checking.

Inglourious Ol' Dirty

By far the dopest of the Hip-Hop mash-ups on offer at Empire Magazine's website.

PS: Masta Ace & Edo G gig review just gone to Traffic Magazine, online soon...

Masta Ace interview now online at TrafficMag.org

Check the link.

And of course don't forget to get your arse down to Fresh Jive on November 28th to catch Ace live with Edo G and a shit-load of dope support acts.

Masta Ace interview coming soon...

...I just today got an e-mail from the man himself with the answers to a few questions. The results should be up at TrafficMag.Org over the next few days and of course he is playing live with Edo G and support from Verbal Contact, East Park Reggae Collective, No Change, Alphabetix, J Bravo, Defenderz of Style and DJs T-Breaks, Sinical and Prolific at Fresh Jive @ Elbow Room, Leeds on Saturday November 28th.

In the meantime, check out the following video for Ace and Edo's new single "Little Young" - the tune and the video are both funny as hell.



NB: More videos, etc, at www.aetheduo.com

Competition time...

The end of this week has been a bit of a non-stop one.

I was out as follows:

- Wednesday night in a non-music-related capacity.
- Thursday night for Mikey Dizzle's birthday. The little lad is only 24, bless him... ah, the innocence of youth.
- Friday night for Crackhouse Recordings' "The Line Up" night at The Vault*; stunning set from Jack Flash and his band Extra Curricular, excellent show from Defenders of Style with Chenai and Bloxed; slightly disappointing performance from headliner Sonny Jim but overall a cracking night (no pun intended).

I had a full weekend ticket for Leeds Urban Festival but missed the headliners on Saturday due to exhaustion and a cumulative hangover from the previous three nights.

However, I did make it down for the after-party and competitions on Sunday. I placed second in the DJ competition judged by current UK DMC champ Jeppa, winning £150 worth of freebies from Sturban Clothing. First place went to Luke EP for his D&B set - you can check him out here.

There was also an MC competition judged by Double D Dagger which - there not being any other DJs around with Hip-Hop instrumentals in their bags - I was roped in to drop beats for.

Results were as follows:

1st - Lip (DS Fam/ Northern Hostility)
2nd Sage (Cut & Paste)
3rd Prys (Verbal Contact/ DS Fam/ Northern Hostility)
Joint 4th - Matter (Verbal Contact/ Northern Hostility) and Instance (Crackhouse Recordings/ Northern Hostility)

The standard in both competitions was high so congratulations to all who entered.


*soon to be relocating I gather but more on that soon.

A Return To Arms

So it's finally here...

I'm officially returning to writing - I've just e-mailed a set of interview questions through to none other than New York legend Masta Ace. Expect to see the full piece online at TrafficMag.org in advance of his sure-to-be-a-knock-out set with Edo G at Fresh Jive on November 28th, supported by Verbal Contact, Alphabetix, and I think also DS Fam and No Change.

However, for the benefit of various and sundry, I should stress that this is not the state of play as it was.

When I was first on the scene and started getting some minor profile, I went all out and ran myself ragged doing more interviews, more reviews and more radio shows that I could really do justice to. The quality undoubtedly suffered somewhat and I stopped enjoying the Hip-Hop scene, which was a crying shame.

That is, of course, why I backed off for so long. Now that I'm back, I want things to be different. Less is more... I aim to post more than once a month now but no more often than I need to and the same principle applies to the other work I do. I want every word I write, every scratch I drop, everything I do, to be at good as I can possibly make it.

That doesn't mean I mind anyone asking me for a review or an interview, as long as they realise that very often the answer may be "no".

That way, when it matters, I can say "yes" and mean it 100%.

Alphabetix Anonymous EP up for pre-order on Suspect Packages (plus - Verbal Contact)

Easy all, dope Yorkshire Hip-Hop release alert...

www.suspect-packages.com/artists/a-f/ALPHABETIX.php



I've been slightly involved with Alphabetix's label 30 Tonne Slug recently (watch out for a forthcoming interview at UKHH.com).

***UPDATE: Interview is online now right here***

30 Tonne Slug are also releasing "Literary Vices" by Verbal Contact (AKA Matter and Prys from Northern Hostility) in November.



It's a truly sick little seven-tracker, featuring production and cuts by Mike D (Subterrania) and guest spots from Mr Ris (Alphabetix) and Dialect (Senseless Records). I've had it on frequent rotation since getting an early promo version a couple of months back.

You can check a couple of free samples out on the Certified Banger blog (here) if you feel so inclined. I'd advise you to get on it...