Moments in Space

Sometimes I don’t have time to talk about everything I want to, often videos and random links don’t get shared on Sonic Minefield, as I like to keep this space for words. This made me set up xpldr on tumblr: a news feed of sorts for this site where I could quickly put up links and share them via a RSS feed on Sonic Minefield and Twitter. Sometimes to remind myself to write about them later and others to just spread them around a bit more to anyone watching, so here are some of my recent favourite posts…

Listen: DJ Roc – The Crack Album (Via. Nasty Sonix)

Hype: ‘A resurrected DJ mix/album by DJ Roc, originally called ‘Juke City: The Crack Capital’ I believe, from a long gone internet archive/stream, pieced together lovingly by Drilla’. Juke’s raw energy is doing it for me right now.

Watch: JME & Tempa T – CD Is Dead



JME always brings it differently; his simple wordplay creeps up on you until you find yourself shouting ‘serious’ at passers by from your car. Tempz keeps it minimal too on this grime beat that seems to take inspiration from electro when it was electro (raw drum machines and synth bass) not lame chart fodder and blog house. Not quite as catchy as ‘Over Me’ but solid none the less.

Watch: Redlight ft. Roses Gabor - Stupid [Digital Soundboy]



Rough and slinky, the fine line UK funky walks when it’s at its best is pulled off in style here with an official video and forthcoming release on d’n’b lable Digital Soundboy. Big gnarly bass and R&B vocals keep the dance floor moving.

Watch: Golau Glau - ‘Held’



One of my favourite unsigned Silver Pop act has been moved by the current election enough to make some tracks, ‘Held’ sees them place footage from old party political broadcasts to their music. More from them on Sonic Minefield always.

Watch: Rude Kid – Jack Daniels



Massive grime instrumental gets an official video. The first I’d ever seen and the heads could only offer up Skepta’s DTI as another example from grime’s closet too.

Mix: Geiom for Soul Motive

GeiomixbySoul Motive

From Wolf Eyes to Sticky in minuets via Hizatron and more, I don’t need to say much here its Geiom…

Watch: Trim – Monkey



One of my favourite MCs drops a massive track complete with hood video. I love it when Trim goes in on a dirty swaggering beat, ‘Hands on my goolies’.

Listen: Slackk – Eski House Mix

Grimetapes.com founder keeps it raw with some Eski House renditions for Lower End Spasam. Taking inspiration from early grime legends like Wiley, Ruff Squad, Jammer and god knows who else to create a UK Funky variant that vibes off all that energy.

Watch: Ill Blue’s ‘Youtube Master Piece’…



Huge sounding track that will hopefully find its way out eventually. The rolling drums are too much, and that bass is just stupid.

Watch: Sun Araw – Deep Cover

DEEP COVER - SUN ARAW from CatCakes on Vimeo.

Super dubbed out and psychedelic rock jam from Not Not Fun’s Sun Araw. Heavy Deeds was a big album for me last year and this new track keeps that trend going.

Listen: oOoOO

HeartsbyoOoOO

Slow motion syrup drenched lo-fi indie leaning electronica from the mysterious oOoOO, who I picked up from uber hip blog xxjfgs: http://www.20jazzfunkgreats.co.uk/ who re-ignited my love for indie-geddon blogs no end, oh and they put up a killed mix by Darkstar late last year.

Watch: Dot Rotten – The Rotten Club News Report (Woo Riddim)



Dot Rotten has been one of my favourite MCs along with Trim, Durrty Goodz, D Double E and P Money for some time, Wiley too just for releasing his old instrumentals… The Woo Riddim has caught MCs attention, D Double E has killed it and so has Dot, I still can’t decide who’s is on top. Dot’s seems so personal and full of drama, plus he’s made an official video so he’s got to be the one for now, you also download it as part of Logan Sama’s Still Keepin It Grimy Mixtape. Hopefully D Double E will drop his sometime…

That’s it for now…

Dot Rotten – Something Out Of Nothing [Rotten Riddims]

Dot Rotten is back with the underground album Something Out Of Nothing the follow up to one of my favourite grime CD’s of recent times R.I.P. Young Dot and the free promo This is the Beginning that got him some well-deserved attention a while back, so SOON has quite a bit to live up too. Dot is on a fierce independent tip producing most of this himself and self-releasing, he’s got the fire to pull it off too.

After the opener with some dodgy teacher skit things quickly pick up with a solid first track before you get ‘Two Step Non Stop’ which sounds like the official lift off of SOON with a dirty broken beat, horn stabs and a skippy grime meets hip-hop funk feel welcoming you in and setting out the stall, ‘I’m Not Stopping’ has a similar thing going on. And before you know it you’re in deep and he’s playing to his strengths, Dot’s got skills when it comes to adding darkness and emotion to tracks; he comes out sounding like a UK version of hard underground southern hip-hop at times with grimy edge. On ‘Get Money’ and ‘Best Of Me’ he pulls off the emotional struggle bars brilliantly where as ‘The Roads Are Cold’ and to a lesser extent ‘The Days’ gets a little let down by the grating auto-tune hook that he’s no doubt got skills with but sometimes misses slightly, the beats and lyrics are dark and on point though. Not many people have pulled off the bars about struggling and reaching for more so well and with such emotion maybe since Boy In Da Corner Dot has got a knack for it and its refreshing to hear honesty along with hype in grime, which brings me to ‘There’s More To Life’ where Dot rips up Dizzee’s classic beat from ‘Brand New Day’ and more than holds his own.

It’s not all emo-grime though he can go hype when he needs to as his ‘Talking The Hardest’ remix and bars show, he plays Giggs at his own game and even ups the stakes by brining energy and aggression. He brings some greeze to some low down dirty synth funk on ‘I’m Going Hard’ with Faith SFX on the buttons turning in a beat that stands tall with Dot’s productions. He pulls it off again on the ‘Rowdy Riddim’ freestyle with a splattering of old bars I swear I heard on SB.TV/Westwood and all that; the remix bars still sound good. ‘Don’t Diss The Program’ is another highlight, maybe even my favourite on SOON. Dot’s production is deep, dark and skips along with energy while him and clipper go at it with bar after bar. The chorus is too much: ‘I’ll crack your head like a coke can’. ‘They Don’t Know About Me’ and the preview of ‘Violence In The Music’ show Dot has really been working at song craft, his stuff is sounding less like he’s just got a sick beat and rhyming on it and more like fully formed songs than ever before.

Dot shows his ambition on ‘Ride For Me’ on a quality Terror Danjah beat he drops a track with a bright and trancy Pop/R&B hook and lyrics about girls. Danjah pretty much has the perfect beats for keeping it grimy while having that musical ear for the mainstream, it reminds me of JME’s ‘Over Me’ produced by Deco and that’s the way I’d like to see grime go mainstream without to much compromise, bright and gully. Dot’s reaching for the money and he’s got the talent for it, but there are still a few more underground albums in him yet before that avenue is explored.

Something Out Of Nothing is a diverse affair with dark, gully, emotional, hype and a little bit of cheese all thrown together and it holds up well. Dot’s productions are on point as are his flow and lyrics. It’s a grower though it’s not all instant hype and cheap tricks, he takes it deep and it shows. You really have to stick with him a bit before it opens up. It sounds like he’s been working hard on song craft, every track bar the freestyles are a full on song where everything feels tied up and like one solid piece rather than just balling on beats full tilt with 8 bar rallies. He can do both and do it well mind but its refreshing to hear fully formed tracks on a grime mixtape. I might still prefer R.I.P. Young Dot right now but it’s still early days and you can see Dot is improving his craft and putting the work in, SOON is still dark and rough but it’s slicker than the last. He’s not done yet either with the Extra Attention CD due to drop pretty soon, it looks like a good year for Rotten. Dot is the full package he can write songs, spit bars and produce beats, if/when he breaks out and makes moves for the mainstream, which he’s threatening to do he’s easily the best placed to do his thing and keep his personality by making music and not just a quick buck. But who knows if that will happen the grime kids are seeing green and reaching for it, but for now enjoy the sounds because Dot nailed it.

Dot Rotten Interview & bars on SB.TV

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ugM2IcBt6wg

Dot Rotten - Two Step Non Stop

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hV1kls5Lktk

Download: Dot Rotten Presents – 50 Free Instrumentals

Download: Young Dot – This Is The Beginning

http://www.myspace.com/Itsdotrotten

Dot Rotten – R.I.P. Young Dot

Dot Rotten has killed off Young Dot and taken on a new alias for his new mixtape this is top quality Grime all the way. But first what about this Young Dot? Well he dropped a free mix tape under that name a while ago and it was an absolute beast, download that for free at the link bellow…

Y.D.O.T. This is Just the Beginning

Now come back and get ready for the death of Young Dot and the brand new Dot Rotten mixtape. Dot is a producer and MC who makes some big beats and started doing that, as he couldn’t get beats off producers to rhyme on. I think he made a good move as he has some beauty’s here and is prolific as hell and has loads of volumes of instrumentals for other MC’s to buy and do their thing on.

My favourite tracks bookend this release I’m Not One Of Them has a wobbly loop mixed with some rhythmic vocal samples before kicking off into some heavy grime beats with a slight American influence to it. Dot Rotten’s flow is wicked and he try’s to separate him self from the average crowd of grime MC’s in the lyrics. I’m A Professional is a sick sick track with doubled up vocal tracks to make a mad effect, with an ace double beat behind it, and some synthetic orchestral stuff to notch up the atmosphere. The sung hook is excellent and makes this track a cracker.

Is It War is a beef track about generally taking people down just the way these Grime heads like it. The beat is a good one mind with low-slung horns and stuttering vocal samples. MC’s Don’t Bother Me is a catchy number and Dot spits bars about not being bothered about the scene and doing his own thing. It has some real emotion to the track. Each tune has something top quality about it, be it the beat, hooks or bars, Dot Rotten just brings it. Under the Grime swaggering and posturing about beefs and being the best, there is a deeper emotional heart that often comes out in the backing track with its spooky atmospherics. The lyrics often touch on wanting to better your self and struggling with it all. This Year is a lo-fi minimal beat beast with some solid bars and hooks, ‘Calm down!’ it’s a bit like a proper underground UK version of Lil’ Wayne’s A Milli, but about getting cash rather than having a fuck load. This brings me onto the next tune I’m A Leader, which echo’s Weezy F with its auto tuned vocal hook and synth melodies. Pain And Strife is a bonus track and has some wicked bars, but the beat is a little weak compared to the rest of the tape, I guess it’s a demo or something. It’s got some heartfelt lyrics mind and for that I salute him. Picking a stand out track is hard as hell here Dot Rotten is solid.

Two instrumental bangers feature on this mixtape Grime And Bass is a beast with a real heavy swagger to it. It makes me want to duck for cover, as it sounds like a fucking war is happening its that heavy. Bazooka is some next level stuff that dropped a while back now so I gather. Low-slung horns and what sounds like a drill loop up then drop into some wicked vocal samples that remind me of old skool house tunes, ‘duh, doo’ ripped up reversed and made into a groove is irresistible. Dot Rotten has skills as a producer and MC.

Rest In Piece Young Dot but long live Dot Rotten…

Buy Dot Rotten – R.I.P. Young Dot here.