Energizer Medley featuring Bounty Killer, Mavado, Aidonia, and G Mafia:

A new compilation from Ninja Tune – You Don’t Know: Ninja Cuts – is filled with 50 tunes that map the sonic territory the label has explored during it’s 2 decades in the biz and adds sonar imagery of what lies ahead. The 3 CD set features tracks all the way 1998 reppin for the label’s early days (Mike Ladd’s rare classic “Blah Blah”) and big hits from every year since plus 9 tunes slated for release later this year! (Yet-to-be-dropped tunes like John Matthias’ fragile and ethereal “Evermore”, The Bug’s toxic dancehall slayer “Poison Dart”, and Pop Levi’s superb, princely “Dita Dimone”…) To celebrate such an amazing audio history, the Ninja Tune extended family is hosting a 3-room banger at Electrowerkz this month that features many of the artists on the 3CD collection!
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Ninja Tune is releasing an epic compilation album called You Don’t Know: Ninja Cuts that drops March 11th. It weighs in at 3 CDs, stacked with 50 Big Tunes from 1998-2008, from Mike Ladd to Pop Levi and from Roots Manuva to Wiley! Last year, HearingTest featured a few of the tracks that made the cut:

The version of “Free” by DJ Kentaro on You Don’t Know: Ninja Cuts is actually an “Armani XXXChange Remix” and the version here is the original edit from Kentaro’s Ninja Tune LP Enter. (I don’t have the remix yet)

The lyrics are en francais but the story told is universal. Here is the mini-movie for Admiral T’s “Ti Moun Ghetto” on the Guardian Angel Riddim:

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The video for Vybz Kartel – “My Scheme” on the Darker Shadow Riddim by Stephen “Di Genius” McGregor:

I live in the kind of haus where random zines and propaganda often appear and disappear like time-traveling nomadic visitors. This week, an issue of Cyclic Defrost from January 2005 appeared on the kitchen table. Cyclic Defrost, one of the most exciting and well produced zines on experimental music culture, is based in Australia; and the fact that I picked up an issue from January 2005 and thought it was something fresh will attest to how ahead of the game their content is. This particular issue featured an interview with DJ/Rupture about his travels, his music, his influences, etc. A Boston-native who was living in Barcelona at the time of the interview, Rupture is an extremely active experimentalist who mashes everything from world music to breakcore and makes it sound good. Rupture recently teamed up with one of NYC’s hottest producers, Matt Shadetek, to form the multi-media platform that we often Big Up on this site: Dutty Artz. ([More →])

David Katz, a music journalist and Lee Perry’s biographer, wrote a good review of the reggae book that I contributed to: “The Reggae Scrapbook”. The review was published in Riddim Magazine in Germany. Riddim was briefly published in english, distributed in the US and immediately became my favorite publication about reggae music. Many of the dub and dancehall artists I wish I had space for in the Reggae Scrapbook are regularly featured in Riddim. Unfortunately, the publishers halted the american edition and haven’t returned to it yet, so you can only get the magazine in german. Roger Steffens was kind enuff to email a copy of this review to me, so I thought I should publish it here for those who would otherwise never get a chance to read it. If you do speak german and you love reggae music, I highly recommend Riddim Magazine. In the meantime, here is David Katz’ book review of the Reggae Scrapbook by Roger Steffens, Peter Simon, Roy Sweetland and me, Molli Fire! ([More →])

New Sean Paul choon called “Pepperpot”:

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Send fi di fire department – Big Ship studio is on FIYAH!! That’s what neighbors might have been thinkin when Big Ship hosted a smokin recording session at the end of last summer. The recording session was for “Keeping It Gangsta” by Alliance with Mavado, Bounty Killer, Busy Signal, Wayne Marshall and Bling Dawg on top of a Stephen McGregor riddim! The crew just wrapped up the video shoot last month, so we should be seeing that real soon. In the meantime, we have the audio for the “Gangsta” production… ([More →])

Wyclef Jean dropped his new album Wyclef Jean’s Carnival II: Memoirs Of An Immigrant last month and it sounds pretty good, what I’ve heard so far. A wide range of artists guest on Carnival II, from Lil Wayne and Sizzla to Paul Simon and Shakira. Watch the videos and listen to a few tunes right here. ([More →])

Just in time for New Year’s resolutions, Elephant Man releases Part 2 of his Dancehall Gym workout series. I’ve been waiting for this, I’ve got all of Part 1 down pat, minus whipping myself with my own bling. E-man can keep that move! Check out Part 2, now with more sexy ladies! If this doesn’t get your heart racing, you’re not doing it right! ([More →])

What did Mavado once say about tryin to steal from him? Oh yeah, it’s the chorus to “Dreaming” and he repeats it twice every chorus:

I was dreaming that I’m floating on a thousand dolla bill
And if you touch my paper
And crush my dream up
Then you gonna get kill

So, Wud Was Dis Guy Thinkin? ([More →])

When asked to describe the sound of The Bug, Kevin Martin responds, “Beats, Bombs, Bass, Weapons, Congestion, Space, Concussion and Seduction.” !!Sounds Beautiful!! Martin [the man behind the bug] has refined an arsenal of tuff tunes (with Flowdan and Warrior Queen passing the mic) and wicked remixes (for Ghislain Poirier and Thom Yorke of Radiohead) into dangerous dubplate killahs! Perhaps the don of toxic dancehall finished construction on his urban-legendary soundsystem and now makes distorted ragga dubs on a barricade of bassbins instead of a pair of studio monitors! “Poison Dart” is The Bug’s most recent weapon of choice: a staggering riddim made razor-sharp by Warrior Queen’s defiant tongue. It’s a heavy tune that aches to be played BiG and LouD in an open space where the bass can unfurl into the wide wobbling synths that decay into long echoes.

HearingTest has the brand new video for “Poison Dart” and details on the remixes by Skream, South Rakkas Crew, Stereotyp and a Flowdan version that will accompany the originals to be released in December. I’ve even posted Warrior Queen’s lyrics for “Poison Dart” which aim Warrior’s wisdom at young shottas inna de dance. If your native tongue is more patio than patois, these subtitles might help. ([More →])

A love song to Julie’s babylons by fave youth correspondent (Ali G) and Mr. Lover Man (Shaggy)…

Ali G is insanely clever. (Don’t be fooled by the low-brow character he portrays in this video). He possesses the ideal combination of charisma, satire, intelligence, wit, insight and pure niceness that’s necessary to get away with the ridiculous situations he sets up. I can never get enuff, so I’m dropping this video into the archive for endless enjoyment.

BOOYAKASHA! Respek!

Ghislain Poirier – Montreal’s instigator of electronic mayhem – has a new album called No Ground Under. Ninja Tune released the LP in Canada, but it won’t be released in the US until early 2008. The first single off No Ground Under is the ragga/dancehall tune “Blazin” featuring Face-T. The EP single includes the original album edit and remixes by The Bug and DJ C. In the meantime, here are 2 different remixes of the same song that are not part of either release: a Modeselektor remix and a second remix from DJ C that’s more of a mashup. ([More →])