Archive for July, 2010

Quite possibly one of THE biggest Grime tracks of the year got it’s very own video earlier today, jam packed with animation and graphics, check it out now!

Fittingly with the release of En Karma’s album earlier today, I thought it would be awesome to highlight one of the pioneer bands from the UK Bhangra scene. The Safri Boyz released hit after hit from albums that included Bomb the Tumbi, Another Fine Mess and Get Real. Headed by legendary vocalist Balwinder Safri, the band rocked crowds up and down the UK throughout the 80s and 90s and it’s pretty evident from the video above, they rocked it!

Check out the new video for the new Chase and Status track which is set for release early next month. The video features the life of a ‘Jeremy Kyle’ chat-show host character who exploits the vulnerable and lower class but eventually gets dealt the wrong card.

Since the release of the video for the track Tere Bina Nahi Nachna, I have been anticipating the release of the En Karma debut album greatly. Following my previous comments within the previous En Karma post, this album really deserves high credit for keeping the element of the great live UK Bhangra sound. With the band coming from Canada, it highlights even more the fact that there is not enough emerging talent that should be keeping the UK Bhangra sound alive. I loved the section at the end of the album which features three pure live tracks which is now rare for any album and I think the last artist to do this was Dalvinder Singh way back in 2007. Other than the tracks that have been flying around including Tohar Naal Jeena and the En Karma Boliyan, a couple of tracks stand out for me. First being the track with KS Makhan and the second track, Morni Di Tor Waliye taken from the live recording section of the album. Have a listen above and purchase the album from iTunes now.

Addicted to this track right now, liking Sam’s flow on this one.

Recently brought you the trailer to The Roots video for the track The Fire which featured on their album How I Got Over. Now check out the full video, it’s dope!

En Karma seem to be showing the British up with their sound of live great produced music. Production in the 80s consisted of recording tracks in one shot where as now, production software and technology has allowed us to re-record/finer tune different elements to produce something ‘better’. In a way I think that this has hindered the UK bhangra sound a little and producers have become sloppy with use of reproduced loops of percussion and beats. I would love to hear an album which really brings back the rawness of the UK Bhangra sound when it was at it’s peak and I think En Karma are slowly making positive strides toward this goal. To be fickle I could say H-Dhami and Inder Kooner are not the greatest of vocalists but that’s not the point, neither were the vocalists that released way back in the day. Kaka’s, Pooja’s, Daghamia’s and Billa’s will always get chucked into the fray when it comes to raw Panjabi music but we musn’t forget our UK Bhangra sound and stick to our musical roots.

This is simply amazing, can’t really put it into words but you can find more about Martyna Baker on her MySpace now. In the meantime, just listen to the soul that radiates from Ms Baker.

Jr Dread feat Sonu - Teri Heer Nu Sohniya
JR Dread’s album The Debut released a short while ago and I openly admit that I liked it after the first listen. Featuring the common vocalists, Labh Janjua, Nirmal Sidhu and Kaka Bhaniawala it’s packed with 12 tracks which I feel aren’t any album packers. It’s a good debut album and I hope to hear more of his stuff soon. Also check out Nirmal Sidhu’s Put Sardaran De from the same album too!

Featuring on his upcoming album King Uncaged, T.I. teams up with Keri Hilson for a video for the track Got Your Back. Apprarently T.I. is trying to hit us with an album that will feature some of the hottest producers including Timbaland and Swizz Beatz.