Following February's exclusive mix feature, and in the run up to the release of the See We Roll EP, we're linking up with Promise One and OpenEarz once more to deliver this skippy, grime-tinged gem for free download. Nicely bringing things full circle, the acapella used was also previously given out as a free download on these very pages and here, in combination with Promise One's characteristically intricate drum patterns, lends the track a swinging, off-kilter groove.
'M.I.' is an ideal taster of the way in which Promise One's beats achieve that difficult balance between intricacy and allowing room for a vocalist to flow, as exemplified by the title track of the forthcoming OpenEarz 12", which sees Mouse Outfit, Voodoo Black and Levelz MC, Sparkz, twisting his way effortlessly through the beat. Cop the free download, and then follow the links below to preview and pre-order the full release.
The See We Roll EP will be released on the 14th of April 2014 on 12" vinyl and in digital formats a week later on the 21st. Vinyl copies are available to pre-order from Boomkat, Red Eye, Juno, and BM Soho now.
Bristolian's Asa & Sorrow - perhaps best known for the sort of emotive, garage-flecked numbers that have made up recent releases such as Asa's stunning 'Arcane EP' or Sorrow's masterful debut album, 'Dreamstone' - have been redirecting grime's attentions towards the South-West with a series of short clips being uploaded to Soundcloud. Combining a noted homage to some of the genre's classic sounds (be it Eski, string-driven, or just plain moody) with the advanced production and acute attention to detail so emblematic of their individual genre-leaping endeavours, the results are intensely controlled exercises in shifting a rave.
Regular visitors to Hedmuk will be readily familiar with the MC gracing this production showcase, but what sets M.I.K apart for us is not necessarily just his diverse flows or witty one-liners but his ear for a beat: his versatility as well as his willingness to vocal a huge variety of different styles is the sort of refreshing approach to making music that has been catching the attention of new listeners daily. As something of a sequel, then, to his recent hosting a mix from another Bristol resident, Kahn (who has himself done remixes for the young MC in the past), M.I. has linked up with Asa & Sorrow to reset the levels and raise every bar in reach...
If you want to see Asa & Sorrow doing this live in your locality then asaofficialwhat@gmail.com is the place to begin the booking process. And if you want MIK down too, then bookmik@live.co.uk is the address.
No stranger to remix treatment, some of our favourites of which are available for free download here and here, MIK today unleashes a whole new selection of re-rubs via his Bandcamp site. Featuring a full range of styles - from zoners reminiscent of Fable's recent remixes for us, to percussion-driven numbers and greazy synth-led approaches - the EP showcases not only a fine selection of new production talents, but also the versatility of the MC's flow patterns.
With this in mind, we thought it pertinent to suggest, after MIK got in contact about the release, that we give out the acapella as a free download for a limited period to encourage more producers to take on the challenge of combining their sounds and styles with an MC who lends himself to such a breadth of approaches; and he agreed, so here it is:
And anyone who does finish a tune which incorporates the vocal is, of course, encouraged to send it our way, to the hedmuk@gmail.com.
M.I.K, a core member of the inimitable Family Tree crew and one of grime's most exciting young MCs, has received some impressive remix treatment over the last year or so - be it Pedro 123's immaculately minimal remix of 'Donny Don', or Kahn's rework of 'Duppy & Leave' (which is available as a free download here) - and has an old-school flow which works hard in the spaces left by often threadbare instrumentals.
Fitting, then, that Fable, a producer who understands better than many the importance of space in a beat, should take on these acapellas for a revamp. In something of a follow-up to the DEM Recordings project which first surfaced around this time last year, 'Do It' is dubstep's mellow take on the rapid flips of 8-bar grime; rotating between an airy synth, hi-hat and vocal and an equally stripped-down pure beats and bass combination. 'Let's Get Busy' takes a similar approach but relies more on its synth for groove, though the warm bassline is still there and the drums are an almost minimal presence. Reminiscent of Wiley's legendary drumless 'Devil Mixes', the tune flows effortlessly with the looped synth and MIK's vocal forming the brunt of the driving force.
With grime having suffered somewhat at the hands of mid-range-driven dubstep, it's refreshing to hear them both reduced to their bare, and arguably most-effective, components.
Part of the Young Echo Collective and one of the most exciting producers to come out of Bristol, if not the UK, in recent years, Kahn has been gathering momentum with two 12" releases on scene veteran Peverelist's Punch Drunk label, the huge 'Way Mi Defend'/'Azalea' on Box Clever and a steady stream of much sought-after remixes and bootlegs. To celebrate reaching 5000 followers on Soundcloud, he has given away this four track collection of remixes and bootlegs which would otherwise go unreleased. Ranging from synth-led dubstep, to rumbling dub to straight-up grime in the form of his remix of M.I.K's anthem 'Duppy & Leave', this serves equally as a thanks to all those who have been following his progress over recent years as it does an introductory package to those not yet familiar with his productions. Follow the links below to preview/download the individual tracks or the download all four together as a .zip file.
Having put their formative imprint, For The Win, on hiatus for the past few months, Goli & Ashburner return with their latest project in the form of DEM Recordings. Backed by both Manchester-based agency Faze 2 and us here at Hedmuk, DEM is aimed at bridging the seemingly small, yet apparently huge, gap between grime and dubstep. Since taking on their own individual growth-spurts from the UK garage scene, the two have often been set in opposition with each other despite many of their obvious structural similarities. There have been attempts to draw the two together in the past, but with a somewhat inconsistent rate of success which has arguably and, at least in part, been down to the lack of a label aiming simply to bind the two together for a positive result: the hugely competitive market created by digital releases has meant that many labels are left trying to establish themselves as consistent houses for dubstep or grime, alongside a minority who are still willing to push the envelope to varying degrees of success.
Thus DEM taps into an area that has perhaps been wrongly disregarded by labels in the past, not wanting to appear inconsistent in their brand development. With the simple goal, in their own words, of looking 'to bring a bit of bassweight to grime and experiment with how the two genres can work together', the duos approach is suitable to the task at hand; not wanting to try and define or mark something out before it has been created, the label presents an intriguing prospect and one which the many fans of both dubstep and grime have no doubt been waiting for. Dedication to the cross-pollination of the genres is the key here, and is something that DEM seeks to provide from the off.
To celebrate the launch of DEM, we are collaborating with Faze 2 and Goli & Ashburner to release the first in a series of free Zip files and mixes exclusively through Hedmuk. Featured in the Zip is a free EP featuring tunes from the duo alongside the likes of Merky ACE and MIK aswell as an exclusive thirty-minute showcase mix among other things.
Core - 3rd Chamber (dub) Lurka - The Forgotten Ones (dub) Killawatt - Rolling Dunes (dub) J:Kenzo & Mosaic - Alone In The Darkness (New State Music) Biome - Swirls (M.U.D) Matt U - Voids (Black Box) Benny Page - Take You Back (Subway) Silkie - Sela Nova (Deep Medi) Sunship (feat. Warrior Queen) - Almighty Father (Badness) Subreachers - Machine (dub) J:Kenzo - Engage (dub) Mz Bratt - Selecta (label) Quantize - Alkaline (Forthcoming MIMM) Ashburner - Creeper Refix (dub) Royal T - RIP Hot Ones (Free) Taz - Arterial Girl (dub) Goli & Ashburner - Do It ft. M.I.K. (forthcoming DEM)
Linking up for the label's first release with one of the most exciting talents in the grime scene at the moment, Goli & Ashburner and Elementz' remixes of MIK of Family Tree's grime anthem 'Do It' is to join the first free Zip file as a serious statement of intent. Keep an eye out for the official release date, announced soon.
After sly sends on radio sets and over Twitter, the unrest between cousins and upcoming MCs Marger and Rival has now progressed to war dubs as Marger vocalled a beat from one of the scene's producers-of-choice, Mr. V. Introducing the track as necessary to 'clear something up', he goes on to call out MIK, another member of the group of MCs loosely joined together as the New Wave; and with MIK's reply already recorded and debuted on Logan Sama's show on Kiss FM it looks as though this could be the beginning of a series of exciting war reports which could either make or break the hard work already put in by the New Wave last year.
