Wiley---2nd Phaze

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simon silverdollar

Guest
finally got this today (ukrecordshop are slooooow).
excellent record, i think. it's difficult to hear how good it is in a way, cuz some of these songs have been around forever, but abstracting from that, it's clearly pretty special. sure it dips slightly in the middle, but the first 4 or 5 tracks just KILL, and the final few non-bonus tracks are stunning.

best of all i think is 'friday night' which pretty much eclipses dizzee's more melancholy tracks, and also shows mike skinner how it should be done.
 

Logan Sama

BestThereIsAtWhatIDo
You know what, I have nothing to do with CD. I earn no money off this CD. I am not releasing or gaining anything from this CD.

It is actually the best straight up Grime CD I own, and I own every CD release from Grime.

Dizzee's CD is the superior album. Home Sweet Home is alround a better album.

But as an honest straight up collection of Grime music there's never been anything as good as this. There is at least a half a dozen fucking amazing Grime tunes on there, and 4 other very very good ones.

Dizzee's first album had about 2 amazing Grime tracks and 3 very good ones. The rest were experimental sounding hip hoppy diffeent music. Very good none the less, and Dizzee was still doing his Grime thing on the beats, but I don't think some of the music was actually Grime.

In terms of Grime music, the beats on 2nd Phaze and what is done with them, the amount of quality on there is higher than any other CD I own.
 

Logan Sama

BestThereIsAtWhatIDo
simon silverdollar said:
best of all i think is 'friday night' which pretty much eclipses dizzee's more melancholy tracks, and also shows mike skinner how it should be done.

Respect. Friday Night is Wiley at his retrospective best, and Rapid displaying his production calibre.
 

tom pr

Well-known member
Logan Sama said:
Dizzee's first album had about 2 amazing Grime tracks and 3 very good ones. The rest were experimental sounding hip hoppy diffeent music. Very good none the less, and Dizzee was still doing his Grime thing on the beats, but I don't think some of the music was actually Grime.
I don't follow you logan.

If the production on those tracks were grime, what was it about the mcing, or the attitude, that suddenly meant they weren't grime? there's such a diversity amongst styles of mcing on the scene that I don't think you can dismiss something as 'not grime' just because dizzee switched up his flow a bit.
 

shudder

Well-known member
Blackdown said:
i'll give you The Streets, he's a shockingly bad producer

I always sort of thought the bad production on the streets was kinda intentional.. but then I saw interviews w/ M. Skinner, and I can just see him being really lazy... :)
 

petergunn

plywood violin
simon silverdollar said:
best of all i think is 'friday night' which pretty much eclipses dizzee's more melancholy tracks, and also shows mike skinner how it should be done.

totally... i think Wiley's EMO stuff is the best of anyone's... "why you taking all your problems out on me?"
 

boosted

Active member
shudder said:
I always sort of thought the bad production on the streets was kinda intentional.. but then I saw interviews w/ M. Skinner, and I can just see him being really lazy... :)

Funny thing is I just read a review of "Hardest way to make an easy living" where the reviewer said that this latest Streets album was so much better produced than his other albums because he's now raking in cash and such. I don't know 'bout that ... I think this latest release is the worst quality mixdown yet.

But yeah, back on topic ... strange drops of levels between some tracks on 2nd Phaze noted, Blackdown. Still, I think the actual production on the individual tracks is on par with major release product.
 

Logan Sama

BestThereIsAtWhatIDo
tom pr said:
I don't follow you logan.

If the production on those tracks were grime, what was it about the mcing, or the attitude, that suddenly meant they weren't grime? there's such a diversity amongst styles of mcing on the scene that I don't think you can dismiss something as 'not grime' just because dizzee switched up his flow a bit.

The productions werent grime
 

Blackdown

nexKeysound
shudder said:
I always sort of thought the bad production on the streets was kinda intentional.. but then I saw interviews w/ M. Skinner, and I can just see him being really lazy... :)

even just beatwise it's dead from the waist down. it's shocking...
 
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simon silverdollar

Guest
Blackdown said:
even just beatwise it's dead from the waist down. it's shocking...

i read a little piece that mike skinner wrote after 'original pirate material' was released, he was giving run-downs on each track, and each one it was like, 'yeah this beat's shit', 'pretty boring beat on this one' etc.

so he's shit, but my gosh doesn't he just know it. (sorry!)
 

stelfox

Beast of Burden
well, the first two streets albums are two of my favourite records of the past few years, but the hardest way is a truly shocking record from start to finish. it's really, really terrible from the production to the subject matter. while you could get with the thinness of the production on original pirate material (he's called the streets and it sounded like he was standing on the corner talking over passing car stereos half the time) and it worked as a series of bedroom vignettes on a grand don't... it really doesn't here. it's bigger sounding, cleaner but totally flat. in a way i guess this works hand in hand with the sort of coked-out ennui he's talking about on most of the record, but to me it would be a lot better if it had a real maximal kind of trashy wallop to it, too. regardless, skinner isn't, wasn't and never will be grime to me. he's not even a rapper, more of a spoken word artist and, at his best, a killer humourist. 2nd Phaze is bloody good for my money - sure, we all know quite a lot of it but I can't say I often listen to that much wiley all in one go. listening to him one track after another for over an hour really backed up how good he is.
 
S

simon silverdollar

Guest
stelfox said:
. listening to him one track after another for over an hour really backed up how good he is.

yeah, definitely. also, when you compare 2nd Phaze to treddin on thin ice, it's really clear how much he's progressed- on his first album, after an hour it was difficult to keep yr attention focussed on him, but he's so engaging on 2nd phaze that yr attention never wanders.
 

tom pr

Well-known member
Logan Sama said:
The productions werent grime
How were they not? Simply because of the tempo? You said yourself dizzee was doing the grime thing on the beats - maybe the tempo was slowed down on some of the more introspective type tracks, but I don't think that alone can disqualify something as grime.
 

Logan Sama

BestThereIsAtWhatIDo
He was doing his grime thing...... on the beats.

Some of them were experiemental hip hop sounding stuff. They didnt have the vibe of Grime. The way dizzee approached and vocalled them were Grime though.
 

Immryr

Well-known member
i would say all the tracks on boy in da corner were grime apart from fix up look sharp and just a rascal. and i think i would have prefered it if those tracks werent on the album really.
 

Tha Megatron

Well-known member
Soon as i secure some much needed funds (jus dropped $400 on a new Technic...long story) Im gonna cop this album via online overseas order. Im lookin forward hearing the album especially since most of the tracks that came out on vinyl before are on the cd along with some other goodies. Anyone know if the "So Amazing" bonus track is a vocal or instrumental? I missed out on a copy on vinyl and its one of my favorite riddims of the year :mad:

Im feelin the new movement these guys got goin on with Boy Better Know especially since alot of the stuff coming out from the label featuring some of the most prominant folks from the scene. Its like on some Voltron shizzle for realz. These fellas are lookin to make some serious power moves in the underground the rest of the year and goin "ghetto platinumn".

Them t-shirts are pretty dope too. (Hope i can find a XXXL size shirt.)
 
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