Merry Christmas from A Grumpy Old Man With A Beard

It's been quite a year, this one... lots of good music and good times, indeed. And now, I'm on holiday. Again. Yussss.

I'll try to update the site as often as is possible over the next few weeks, but the record stores of San Francisco and the family and friends of New Zealand will probably keep my attentions elsewhere.

But I can't leave you without a wee parting gift on this festive day, can I? So let me break you off a little somethin' somethin' to keep the Christmas cheer flowing: Uncle Snoop, chopping it up in a yuletide-style story session, like only he can. Merry Christmizzle, ya'll.

New Music: Skream - The Freeizm LP

The Christmas giving just keeps on flowing, with the mighty Skream - who you might remember has already been more than generous this year by giving away three free EPs as part of his Freeizm series - getting back in the act with another free download.

This time around, it's a free LP, titled the Freeizm LP (makes sense). The world must be downloading their fill of post-turkey movies to fall asleep half way through, because this is taking an age to hit my computer. But if it's anything like the other Freeizm releases, it will be worth the wait.

You can download the Freeizm LP here, and check the tracklisting below:
‎

1. Intro

2. No Ready
3. Cold Outside
4. 10 Bit Dreamz
5. Minor

6. Back From The Zoo

7. Krazy Snares

8. Lightnin VIP

9. Left The Room

10. Commercial SellOut

11. CTO

12. Skwelcha

13. Emotional Shizzle

New Music: Mancini & The Creepers - 'Trouble'/'Gold Sand'

In the spirit of giving, UK group Mancini & The Creepers have taken it upon themselves to send over a couple of their tunes, 'Trouble' and 'Gold Sand', for your listening pleasure today. How very Christmassy of them.

As I'm busy preparing for Santa's visit tonight (don't even try and tell me the big dawg isn't real - some dreams aren't meant to be crushed), here's a rundown from Mancini and the crew about what they do:

"Bristol and London-based Mancini & The Creepers continue to blur the lines between Hip Hop, Soul, Indie, Electronica and Jazz, fusing sounds and styles with an impeccably British twist.

"Vocalist Mancini combines rolling raps and melodies in a uniquely soulful style, breezing through stories of life in modern day Britain. Production is handled by Tommy Tempa and Frank Laws, who together hold down The Creepers' organic sound." There you have it.

The group have been making friends in high places, with the likes of DJ Vadim, 4Hero, Laurent Garnier and Domu giving these tunes the props they deserve.

My thoughts? Well, those geezers above obviously know what they're talking about, don't they? Both tunes are right fresh, alright (although I'll take 'Trouble' as my top tune of the two if push comes to shove). You can check them out below:

Mix Tape: The Brothers of Chico Dusty

The rapid approach of the end of year means that people are beginning to look back over the last rotation of the earth around the sun, taking stock of their personal highlights, as well as the things that didn't work out quite as planned.

Funnily enough, a handful of things that I consider to be good and bad moments of 2010 (musically speaking, at least) have been flung together to create the subject of this post.

On the positive side, we have two of the best albums of 2010 - Big Boi's hip hop masterclass, Sir Lucious Left Foot: The Ballad Of Chico Dusty, and the rocking blues of The Black Keys' excellent Brothers LP.

So what's the negative in the equation? Mash-ups. Regular readers will know that I've never been afraid to voice my dislike (I stop short of hate... just) of people who think beat matching Deadmau5 and Frank Sinatra is in any way a good thing.

But I've also not been afraid to admit when I'm wrong. And today's mix tape, The Brothers of Chico Dusty is a fine example of a case where I am indeed wrong - because it shows that when mash-ups are done well, they can work.

As you might have guessed by now, The Brothers of Chico Dusty (which has been put together by a geezer by the name of Wick-it The Investigator) borrows the beats from Brothers and the lyrics from Sir Lucious Left Foot, slapping them together to create what is a fresh take on a couple of stellar LPs.

Okay, so it's a touch cheesy in places... but it's worth a listen. The Black Keys know a thing of two about hip hop obviously, and the project has been given an official Big Boi seal of approval trough the wonders of Twitter. And you know what else? It's Christmas. Get drunk, get over it and let your hair down a little. Listen/download below:


The Brothers of Chico Dusty (Big Boi vs. The Black Keys) by wick-it

Podcast: The Nextmen - Podcast #3

The silly season is in full swing, with Christmas rapidly approaching along with all the excess boozing and merriment that is part and parcel of this festive time of year.

It's not all roses, though. December can be a tough time for music snobs, with good releases few and far between as labels go for the king hit by pumping out naff compilations. That's What I Call R&B 62? Wigga please.

And if that's not bad enough, there's also the added peril of the work Christmas party, and the generally rubbish soundtrack that is par for the course at these soirees (that's my excuse for spending the waning hours of my end-of-year shindig in an 80's bar. Really. Don't ask... please).

But wait! There's some sunshine peaking through the snowy skies! Here come The Nextmen with a new podcast. Thank gawd. Over to the boys: "Want some non-naff party tunes to make your festive soundtrack right and exact? Third time's the charm with The Nextmen Podcast EP 3, an hour-long special. 70,000 downloads and counting can't be wrong.

"Includes exclusives from us, Sigma, Top Cat, Agro, Future Sound Of London and heat from James Blake, Emalkay, Lopez, Total Science and much more. This truly is a stocking filler."

As an added bonus, once you've downloaded the podcast through iTunes, listen in to get a secret password which you can use on The Nextmen's website to unlock the Nextmen exclusive - a cheeky little bootleg of the highest quality - that's on the mix itself. Check it below:

You can download the third podcast from The Nextmen here (using iTunes). To get your free download and to check the track listing, visit http://www.thenextmen.com/.

New Music: Lil' Wayne - 6' 7"

Lil' Wayne walked out of the clink recently, and - as you would expect from one of the most prolific hip hop artists ever - walked straight back into the studio to pick up where he left off after being nicked for carrying a loaded gun on a tour bus back in 2007.

Not only is Weezy back in the studio; he's also returning to past glories, stashing the electric guitars that punctuated his last release, the critically unacclaimed Rebirth, in favour of reviving his Carter franchise. Let's hope he does a better job of stashing his musical gat than he did with his life-threatening one.

Regardless of what your thoughts are on the Lil' Wayne legal and musical circus, it's hard to argue against Carter IV being one of the most hotly anticipated hip hop albums of 2011.

But will the album's first single, '6' 7"' featuring Cory Gunz, pack the same punch that the Carter III's big hit, 'A Milli', did? Well, producer Bangladesh has hooked up another epic beat, which is being described by some sources as being like "'A Milli' on steroids". Scary thought, that. You can listen to '6' 7"' below, courtesy of Nah Right.



'6' 7"' premiered earlier today on Funkmaster Flex's radio show. But is it a hit in the making, or does it miss he mark? Have your say in the comments section. If the Carter IV sounds like your cup of tea, head over to Nah Right to hear Wayne chop it up with DJ Drama as he discusses what's happening with the album.

New Music: Fashawn - '4 The G's' (Feat. Grafik)

Young Fresno, California spitter (rhyme spitter, rather than filthy lack of social skills spitter) and weed enthusiast Fashawn has been on a bit of a tear as of late, knocking out a string of top tunes for his Sunday School series.

We're up to week four and counting in the series now, with Fash deciding to cover a stone cold classic by a fellow Cali cannabis sativa connoisseur - the one and only S-N-Double-O-P (who, as an aside, has his sights set on entertaining royalty at a certain future King' stag do).

'4 The G's' sees the Fash call in his Grizzly City Boyz running mate Grafik to tackle Snoop's legendary tune 'Gz And Hustlaz', recorded way back when in the Doggystyle days. From what I can tell, Fash was 5 when that album dropped. If I didn't feel old already... but enough of my old man complaining. Listen to '4 The G's' below, or download here:



'4 The G's' will appear (I think?) on Fashawn's upcoming mix tape Higher Learning 2, which is apparently on its way to a high speed internet cable near you soon.

New Music: Kid Loco - 'Theme from the Grafitti Artist' (Suburban Dream Remix)

I haven't heard much new music from Kid Loco, the master of all things downbeat, in the past five or so years.

But it's reassuring to know that the French producer is still turning out quality tunes that are perfect for soothing slightly fragile minds as the last hours of the weekend tick over.

One of the many songs by Loco that has passed me by during the last half-decade is 'Theme from the Grafitti Artist', a film soundtrack number which shows that the Kid hasn't lost his ability to craft dreamy electronic tunes of the highest order.

But we here at Grumpy Old Men With A Beard are never afraid of tunes that offer a little more bump for your buck - and that's where Irish down tempo/hip hop producer Suburban Dream (a.k.a. Ciaran McCarthy) comes in.

Loco reached out to Dream a while back and asked him to give 'Grafitti Artist' a bit of a re-work. The result is a fine remix which remains faithful to the original, while adding in a few more electronic flourishes and a slightly fatter drum arrangement. A top quality tune for a sore head... you can listen below:

Kid Loco - Theme from the Graffiti Artist (Suburban Dream Remix) by Suburban Dream

Loco's given this tune his seal of approval, describing the remix as "beautiful and powerful". The 'Theme from the Graffiti Artist' (Suburban Dream Remix) will appear on a Loco release sometime in the new year.

If you like the sound of the Suburban Dream, you can also check out an EP of his work released earlier this year below:

We Long To Be by Suburban Dream

New Music: KRS-One & DJ Premier feat. Grand Puba – '5%'

DJ Premier has been threatening to release an album of his own for years now. So many years, in fact, that I've lost track. So it was a nice surprise to find out today that one of hip hop's true greats is finally getting around to putting his name to a solo LP.

Okay, so Year Round Records: Get Used To Us is really a compilation (meaning you've probably heard a few of the cuts before). But it's not everyday that you get to hear an album which is made up entirely of Primo-crafted beats from go to whoa.

It's even less often that you get to hear three bonafide legends - namely, Premier, KRS-One and Grand Puba - on the same song. So for that reason alone, today, I am a Happy Old Man With A Beard (hang on...that just doesn't sound right).

Get Used To Us showcases the talents of the sizable roster of arists that Premier has assembled for his own Year Round label (including Blaq Poet, Nick Javas and the like). But while there's some quality business on offer here, it's tough to go past '5%', which features Preem, KRS and Pu doing the damn thing. You can check it out below, courtesy of Nah Right:

If you want to check out the rest of Year Round Records: Get Used To Us, which is out now, you can stream it below:

Mix: Christopher Tubbs - Heads Down vs. 6 Mix

On Sunday evening, Christopher Tubbs (of Heads Down fame) took over the controls of the good ship BBC 6 Music for the second time (following his debut mix last year), making the most of the opportunity by serving up another fine mix of soulful musical fare.

There's a little something to cater to most tastes in this two hour mix, with quality offerings of the disco, techno, afro and Balearic variety on tap from start to finish - including stand out tracks by the likes of Jamie Woon ('Night Air'), Four Hands ('Hizou') and Floating Points ('Truly').

If you didn't get a chance to listen to Master Tubbs' mix out on the night, log onto BBC's iPlayer this week to check out the goodness. And don't forget to peep the tracklisting below for all your trainspotting queries. If you're like me, there's bound to be more than a couple:

Joe Worricker — Bobby Blue (Lissvik Remix)
Chairmen of the Board — Life & Death
Cube — Somebody Told Me
Bilgeri — Video Life
Xr7 — Xr7
R.S Hot — Slow Blow
Double — Woman
Jamie Woon — Night Air
Floating Points — Truly
Emmanuel Jal — Kuar (Olof Dreijer Remix)
African Disco Power — Disco Music (Atlantic Conveyor Remix)
Mim Suleiman — Mingi (Instrumental)
Seun Kuti — Many Things
Shina Williams — Agboju Logun
Oby Onyioha — Enjoy Your Life (Time)
Sophie Zelmani — If I Could (Rune Lindbæk Version)
Jonathan Jeremiah — Happiness (Morgan Geist Remix)
BEGIN — Velocity
Fever Ray — When I Grow Up (D Lissvik Remix)
Backwoods — Pass It On
G.C. Cameron — If I Love You
Four Hands — Hizou

New Music: Supreme Team (Madlib & Karriem Riggins) - 'Interview #4080'

Madlib has been at his prolific best in 2010, digging through stacks and stacks of dusty wax in order to concoct the looped creations for which he and his many alter egos have become famous for.

Now, after taking a brief break from his well-oiled beat assembly line, 'Lib is firing up once again to release the 11th installment of the Medicine Show series.

That's 11 albums in 12 months, folks. Most artists are luck to release 11 albums in their whole careers... work ethic is clearly not an issue with this man.

So, what's the flavour for the 11th MS release? Hip hop, funnily enough... a 28 track smorgasbord of it to be precise, including collaborations with the likes of AG, Guilty Simpson, MED and Strong Arm Steady, among others.

There's also the debut track from 'Lib and younger brother Oh No's new group, The Professionals, and a Jaylib-era track from 'Lib and Dilla's unreleased, uncompleted second album.

As a sneak peak, Stone's Throw has released a tasty track by the name of 'Interview #4080', featuring an appearance by Dilla's old running mate Karriem Riggins (who has joined up with 'Lib to create a partnership by the name of the Supreme Team.) You can listen to and download below:

Supreme Team (Madlib & Karriem Riggins) - Interview #4080 by stonesthrow

As is normally the case with Stone's Throw releases, the production is all quality, especially for the limited edition triple LP, which contains 14 additional Madlib beat instrumentals and hand silk-screened covers by Hit+Run, which have been created with Hennessy-infused paint. Classy. More info here.

New Music: Talib Kweli - 'Cold Rain'

How's about a new tune from Talib Kweli today? Alright then... here's a joint by the name of 'Cold Rain', expressly for your listening pleasure.

What can I tell you about 'Cold Rain'? Well, it's off an upcoming digital-only North American release Gutter Rainbows due out January 25 next year. Not sure if it's a Kweli album, a film soundtrack or something else totally unrelated.

Hmm... what else? Ummm... oh, it's produced by Ski Beatz, who has hooked up a nice, piano-laced beat. And... that's all I got. Short on info, this post. Luckily it's a good tune. Let's let the music do the talking:



You can listen to 'Cold Rain' above, or head over to Nah Right to get your down load on.

New Music: Yungun & Colonel Red - 'Holla' (Remix)

A few months back, a soulful haze descended over the AGOMWAB Mansion courtesy of the sweet, sweet strains of 'Holla' - a rather spiffing tip of the cap slash reinterpretation of Marvin Gaye's legendary 'Inner City Blues (Makes Me Wanna Holler)' by modern day UK soul man Colonel Red.

Now, fellow British bad man Yungun has decided to jump on 'Holla' to drop a verse or two, in a joining of forces between the worlds of UK hip hop and soul. The result is the 'Holla' remix. And it's pretty damn slick, as you can imagine.

Here's Yungun's take on things: "[Holla is] a homage to one of the greatest of all soul records. It takes guts, talent and flair to take on such an iconic track. I think you'll agree that Colonel Red pulls it off in fine style.

"I heard his version and just had to...well...'holla'...(sorry, couldn't resist!). He kindly agreed to let me add a little hollering of my own and we decided to send it out there to see how people react."

You can listen to and/or download the 'Holla' Remix below:

Mix Tape: Redman - 'Pancakes & Syrup'

Damn, how long has it been since I posted up a mix tape? A good month and change, that's how long. Shame on my game.

Luckily, Redman, the grimy prince of New Jersey, is on hand with a new mix to save the day and my blushes.

It's been a minute since I've listened to any new music from the 11th official member of the Wu-Tang Clan (who knew?), but Red has been diligently plugging away at this hip hop thing by all accounts.

He's got a new album, Reggie, dropping next week, don't ya know. And that's a good thing... 'cause a dose of beats and rhymes from Red can brighten up even the dreariest of days.

Before Reggie hits the shelves, Red has decided to break his fans off with a little sumthin' sumthin' for free (spot the old guy who thinks that people still buy hip hop albums). And that's where Pancakes & Syrup comes in... 17 tracks of Red being Red, plain and simple.

You can get your fill of Pancakes & Syrup here.

New Music: Saigon - 'Get Busy'

How long have we been waiting for an album from Saigon?

I can hear the cynics already: "Long enough to stop waiting and turn our attention onto other much-hyped releases that have a better chance of coming out... like Dr Dre's Detox... or the new D'Angelo LP."

But lo and behold, here comes Sai-gizzy (best known to your non-hip hop mates as the rapper guy who was mates with Turtle in season whatever of Entourage), sauntering back into the spotlight.

And whaddayaknow - he's finally got around to dropping that LP. Almost, anyway.

The Greatest Story Never Told is the name of Sai's magnum opus, and it's going to finally be told on February 15, 2011.

It's kind of a redundant title when you think about it... but I guess The Greatest Story Never Told (Until 15 February 2011) doesn't really roll off the tongue, does it?

Tracks are of course leaking at a rate of knots, including 'Get Busy', a Super Mario Brothers-sampling head-nodder which shows how ill Saigon can be on the rhyme front.

The beat's pretty cool too, although I have to say that it doesn't top Cocoa Brother's 'Super Brooklyn' in the Super Mario-sampling stakes.



You can check out 'Get Busy' above, or head over to Nah Right to get your download on... and while you're at it, you may as well check out 'Super Brooklyn' too - for nostalgia's sake.

New Music: Prince Fatty - 'Dry Your Tears'

The first snow of the season is falling here in Ol' Blighty today, setting the scene for what will be a looooong-ass winter for us UK folk.

With that in mind, I'm pretty sure there won't be too many people who disagree with me when I say that the idea of a little sunshine music sounds right nice right about now.

Thankfully, iTunes have joined forces with Prince Fatty - a new school master of sun-drenched musical vibes of the reggae persuasion - to offer up a nice slice of musical goodness as their free single of the week for UK and Irish users.

The tune in question is 'Dry Your Tears' - an apt title when it's only a matter of time before seasonal affective disorder sweeps through the Northern Hemisphere - which features Winston Francis on vocal duties. It's a wonderful little piece of classic-style roots music. And it's free. Nothing to lose, really.

Okay, so 'Dry Your Tears' won't melt the ice and snow... but it might help take your mind off the downright nasty cold that looks like it's going to hang around until May. You can check it our below, or click here to download:



If you like what you hear, you can check out Prince Fatty's latest LP, Supersize, which features 'Dry Your Tears' and a ton of other good beats and pieces.