Log #90 - Tentative Excursions Into Grime

Bookends this week are two hip hop / rap / grime albums - well, the Wiley one is grime (being the British form of this sort of music). The other one, by LA based Earl Sweatshirt is more low fi. I really don't know what you'd call it actually.  It's very minimal, interesting and entirely original. There are some nice laid back grooves with phased keyboards / organ and killer bass... but parents beware, this is one record where a Parental Advisory sticker is wholly necessary.

The Wiley album is louder and faster. It's more in your face. There are some amazing tracks on this energetic album although personally I think I prefer the grooves on the Sweatshirt record. I think amongst the fans of this type of music some think Wiley (who I've heard referred to as the godfather of grunge) is a bit old hat compared to current flavour of the month Stormzy for instance. You can hear the differences in style in the clips below:

1. Earl Sweatshirt - I Don't Like Shit, I Don't Go Outside

2. Jamie T - Carry On The Grudge

3. Peace - Happy People

4. Catfish and the Bottlemen - The Balcony

5. Hozier - Hozier

6. Wiley - Snakes and Ladders

I'm not going to go into the other albums in much detail this week suffice to say I think Hozier is very talented. There's something about him that reminds me of a young, fellow countryman, Van Morrison. Jamie T is a bit rock and a bit indie in a Jam sort of way. As for Peace and Catfish I don't find this sort of guitar based power pop music too inspiring. It's very derivative reminding me of Britpop type bands, and Dodgy.