Grime in Australia

Hi Keith!

1. Me of course
2. No, but DJ Erica (wot used to run the 2-step night at Double O bar back in the day) mentioned to me that she was trying to set up some sort of irregular event. This was a few months ago and I haven't heard of anything since.
3. She's also been importing and onselling some grime mixtapes and a few 12 inch records, but not many and not often. I got Aim High 2 and Guns & Roses off her a while back. I also saw Guns & Roses at Second Spin in the city! It's probably easier though to use the internet, esp. if you order quite a bit at once so that the packaging costs aren't disproportionate. I got both Street Anthems mixes and the Essentials Heating 2 Mix through independance, it was fast and (in the case of these particular cds) quite cheap! Sadly they have sold out of the Aftershock mix :-( I'll see if I can find Erica's details for you though.
4. I'd be interested but not sure about the actual legwork side of it! Can't DJ, don't have decks, certainly can't MC (much as I'd like to be an Aussie equiv of Discarda or something...). But will help out if possible!

1. I'm not Australian (NZ), but I live here!
2. I got given a flyer for the night Tim was talking about outsde the Dizzee show last year. But that's all I know. There were some people who did a garage show on Street FM, but I think it stopped. That was the first time I heard grime (I Luv U).
3. I saw a copy of Hype Hype in that house record store on Greville St last year, but that's again about it. Given how hard it was to get UK Garage records here, I'd be surprised.
4. I'm increddibly busy, but if you need help putting on a night, let me know. But I'm less skilled than Tim!

The Street Anthems mixes are good but also a bit frustrating, perhaps because I already knew almost all of the tracks on them - number 2 is ace for the first half but then trails off somewhat in the second, number 1 just feels kinda old and overly familiar. Nice to have them all compiled on CDs though. There's a bit too much Davinche on both really, and he can get a bit draining, for all that he occasionally comes out with the best grooves ever (e.g. "Mr DJ").

The Essentials one I need to listen to more - though I was pleased to find them freestyling over "Str8 Flush" and there's an odd but compelling indian-flavoured remix/version of "Jenny". I don't really have a sense of the separate MC personalities in my head yet so they all blur into one another a bit.

<i>Aim High 2</i> is definitely next level stuff, astonishing grooves yeah but the MC performances in particular are just amazing - esp. Breeze, Dream, Flo Dan, Scratchy, Discarda, Taliban Trim, God's Gift... In a funny way, despite them only gracing about a third of the tracks it's possibly the best advertisement for Roll Deep ever. Far and away my album of the year.

1. Hi, yes, I'm in Melbourne. Love grime, 2step, dnb etc.

2. DJ named Cammo/Kammo from Melbourne has been playing a few sets recently. Lady Erica plays a little bit on her radio show on RRR sat nights. Haven't seen her DJ in a while, but I heard she might be doing a grime set fri night? Anyway, as far as Melbourne goes, you wanna get your butt down to Fractured at Brown Alley - there's a grime set played once ever couple of weeks. Things are growing. Very slowly. Punters are starting to get used to the idea. Crooked is also on a Friday night at The Croft Institute. They play some hip hop, 2step and dancehall and possibly grime - I'm yet to attend.

3. Lady Erica (as mentioned above) runs this site www.showponymusic.com.au . I've not ordered anything through her, but I'm sure it's reputable. Second Spin Vinyl (on swanston st above record collectors corner) gets a little bit of vinyl in every now and then, as well as grime dvds. Lynt at DMC in Commercial Rd (i think?) is also getting some stuff in - though mainly dubstep and instrumentals. Until people start buying it, there aren't many imports. Even then it's damn expensive. We live SOOO far away it hurts sometimes.

4. There is a little bit of interest around, though it's not even big enough to call a community just yet. I'd suggest going to Fractured and seeing what they play. Keep an eye out for Cammo. Like you, I'm very keen to see something get off the ground. Importing vinyl is so expensive and the crowd so small it's very difficult to start. But things ARE growing. Sydney has a bigger scene. And I wouldn't be surprised if there is some interest in Perth, as they have quite a large dnb/jungle crowd out there. Likewise with New Zealand. Perhaps just a matter of time? As long as the scene in general stays fresh and keeps releasing things.

For grime to move OS, we really need people to hear the music. More albums with good distribution will help. A tour would be fantastic, but perhaps not economically viable. Such is life...


Interesting links:

www.melbournebeats.com (for melbourne-specific stuff)
www.southernsteppa.com (aussie dubstep portal)

Thanks for the tips greeneyes.

greeneyes said:

Crooked is also on a Friday night at The Croft Institute. They play some hip hop, 2step and dancehall and possibly grime - I'm yet to attend.

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I've been a number of times and sort of know K Tel who plays there a bit. Never heard any grime played.

Likewise with New Zealand. Perhaps just a matter of time? As long as the scene in general stays fresh and keeps releasing things.

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It's a funny thing. I always thought people would love 2 step in NZ, with the dnb connection. But it never happened. There was a tiny crew of us in Wellington, a few people in Auckland but that was pretty much it. I doubt that grime will take off in NZ. A few of the more open minded DJs will drop some grime (well, non-dizzee grime. People love dizzee) but I'd be surprised if it ever made any kind of a real hold.

Huh... just checked out Erica's site and she's playing a grime set tomorrow night at fractured:

http://www.djerica.com/dj/news.jsp

Hmmm. Father in law arriving but might make it down later. Any idea what time she'd be on?

And then checked out her distro too. Hmm. Should I get Aim High 2 or Underground Express? Opinions? Those prices are alright for imported stuff I reckon.

I do sort of wish the grime scene would just put out straight CDs. Those DVDs are an extra $20 for something I'll probably never watch more than once.

"And then checked out her distro too. Hmm. Should I get Aim High 2 or Underground Express? Opinions? Those prices are alright for imported stuff I reckon."

Aim High 2 definitely worth $50 just for the CD - the DVD is quite interesting but i've only watched it once. I'm planning to buy Underground Express too though so I'll let you know what I think if you don't get it before then.

I've been in Tokyo for a year but when I left Brisbane, 4ZZZfm dj Tommy R.O. was doing a great job of promoting grime & dubstep... I'm sure he's still rinsing the latest stuff on his "original drum" show... maybe friday nights from 10pm or 12 and his grime/sublow nights were starting to get decent crowds.

Melchior said:

Hmmm. Father in law arriving but might make it down later. Any idea what time she'd be on?

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I believe it's 1am-2.30am. Look for the guy with the long blonde hair and eagle shirt! Should be a good night.

Duzzent Antony Carew on RRR play grime in amongst queer-core and twee-core trendy indi-shmindie stuff? Is he having a sex change operation, becuase his voice and attitude is that of a 16 year-old virgin-girl that digs the Cure? He pronounces 'Umm' as 'Om'.

I didn't make it out of the house on Friday, but did pick up Underground Express from sEcond Spin on Friday afternoon. Haven't even broken the seal yet.

Anyone make it to Fractured? How was it?

what about now in 2007? anything happening? nights or anything. i'm over in sydney now so i want to know.

get Aim High 3 for the All-In-One freestyle n all, the track speeds up, it's wicked

Haven't really heard any grime out and about lately, but dubstep is certainly taking off in Melbourne. There are a few shows happening every now and then, and many dnb nights are now booking dubstep djs to mix it up a bit.

Moriarty

Hey all, I'm Moriarty for Roshambo up in Sydney. We do a show on Tuesday nights on FBI 94.5fm (Sunsets 6-8pm). We try to throw in a bit of grime, but really, its a little hard to justify dubstep at 6pm to the station heads. Drive time ya know? But in Sydney radio you can't go past garage pressure on FBI on friday nights. They're monsters.

does anyone else not want to hear australian grime ever? lol.

some guy played ruff sqwads died in your arms instrumental mixed in with sidewinder instrumental ripped from rinse like 20 minutes ago on fbi. pretty random. probably first time ive heard something from the grime scene on fbi so it was cool. they play fucking heaps of dubstep but i never heard any actual grime stuff


im waiting for all the sudanese kids to jump on grime