"Gutterlectuals unite, down with middlebrow!"

Yeah! Great rallying cry from Blissblog, there. On the subject of Grime, I've never written anything about it and I don't think I've any right to write about it, as I've always been a fairweather Garage listener, merely dipping my toes in occasionally but never committing any allegiance. A lot of it leaves me cold, especially when it gets a bit too 'urban', but prior to the imminent release of Wiley's long-player I'd just like to say a few words on the subject of Eskibeat. I bought the new single "Wot Do U Call It", but other than that all I'd heard previously were various MP3's. I like the instrumentals best. Tracks like "Freeze","Blizzard" and especially "Icepole" are definitely on my wavelength. To me, Wiley should be viewed outside the confines of UKG/Grime, as the latest visionary in a long line of electronic innovators within dance music. I hear echoes of Richard H. Kirk's early-nineties electro experiments like "C.C.E.P." (as Sweet Exorcist, with Parrot) and "The Mood Set" (as Xon, with Robert Gordon). I would also put forward the idea that Wiley is Britain's answer to Juan Atkins. I always felt that Atkin's sound was colder than that of other Detroit artists; soulful but with a dagger of ice through it's heart. He developed a new sound, 'Techno', from the ruins of a previous genre, 'Electro', just as Wiley has created his Eski mutant from the ashes of Garage. And it took one of Juan's disciples, Derrick May, to 'break' his sound to a wider audience, much the same way that Wiley's protege Dizzie Rascal broke into the mainstream first. "Wot Do U Call It" is as potent a statement of intent as Model 500 classics like "Off To Battle" or "Techno Music". Whether or not you think that's just bollocks, I'm really looking forward to hearing "Treadin' On Thin Ice" next week. ....

Excellent piece on Rephlex Grime by K-Punk. I've really gotta hear this shit too!