Bubblegum Cage III

Mix CD: Pirate Soundz Vol. 2

April 19, 2011 at 9:00 am 2 comments

Pirate Soundz Vol. 2

The first volume of Pirate Soundz got a pretty good reaction, so here’s volume two. This time around, the focus is on grime – which emerged, around the turn of the millennium, as a rave-spawned UK equivalent to Jamaican ragga or American hip-hop.

As you might expect, then, most of the tracks here focus on emcees spitting (sometimes) morally-questionable lyrics. The only instrumental tune  is Low Deep’s “Str8 Flush”. Nevertheless, this compilation should provide a reasonably accurate overview of the grimy production style – which mixes the bass-heavy rudeness of rave with the rhythmic itchiness of US R&B, all topped off with cheap-and-cheerful VST synth melodies. Notably, two of the songs here are credited to ace producer Terror Danjah, rather than the emcees they feature.

Actually, one way or another, the same handful of names and voices keep cropping up throughout the mix. The fact is, grime was (and continues to be) an extremely localized scene, centred around a small area of East London. Grime is inseparable from its very specific  place of origin, which may explain why it has never developed the kind of global prominence enjoyed by dubstep (a style which developed around the same time, from the same roots).

Still, listening to Pirate Soundz Vol. 2, you’ll have a hard time thinking of grime as any kind of failure. These tracks sound majestic and energizing and they were compiled to sound just that way. There’s no real attempt to be chronologically correct or historically comprehensive here, just a desire to present this music as something triumphant, uproariously witty and fundamentally unstoppable. That’s why the comp starts with “Don’t Give a Fuck” by Lykez – it’s hardly a classic grime standard but damn does it ever kick hard!

Basically, you’re going get a lot of pleasure out of this mix and you’re going to want to go out and spend some money on some actual product by the artists featured herein – plenty of whom have CDs and LPs in print. A good place to start might be with the first Run the Road CD – an epochal compilation, which was the source of several tracks presented here.

Two last things:

1. Big up to the Blissblogger, who inadvertently suggested a lot of the tracks that made it onto the final track-listing.

2. As ever, if you were involved in creating, publishing, manufacturing or distributing any of the music on this compilation and you object to Bubblegum Cage III sharing it, please just say the word and the right thing will done, without hesitation.

Here’s the full track-listing for Pirate Soundz Vol. 2.

1. Lykez – “Don’t Give a Fuck”

2. Roll Deep – “When I’m ‘Ere”

3. Ruff Sqwad – “Lethal Injection”

4. Trim – “Money Up Front”

5. Jammer – “Destruction VIP”

6. Wiley – “Pies”

7. Wiley – “Where You Gonna Run To?”

8. Terror Danjah – “Reloadz”

9. Terror Danjah – “Cock Back V1.2”

10. Kano – “Boys Love Girls”

11. Lethal Bizzle – “Pow”

12. Durrty Goodz – “Axiom”

13. Dizzee Rascal – “I Luv You”

14. Crazy Titch – “Sing Along”

15. Low Deep – “Str8 Flush”

16. Tinchy Stryder – “Move”

17. Slew Dem – “16 Bar”

18. Trim – “The Lowdown”

Download Pirate Soundz Vol. 2.

Entry filed under: dance, mix CDs, MP3s. Tags: dance, mix CDs, MP3s.