Got around to catching the audio for the final UK Cup Clash. The line-up was the usual suspects, with one big exception: Killamanjaro was in, with good old Ricky Trooper at the helm. Can’t beat that combo, right?

Well, actually you can. Trooper played some classics but then ran into the typical “technical difficulties that we shouldn’t hold against him”, resulting in Jaro dropping out around the fourth round. Hearing the serial killer curse out Robbo Ranx afterwards during the post-elimination interview was great though.

But the real reason to check out this clash would be for Mighty Crown spectacular nose-dive during the 45 round. I have heard them give lukewarm performances before, but never play in a way that drives the crowd into a frenzy of boos and “fuck off!”-s.

This was really amazing. None of the gimmicks the Far East Rulers pulled worked, they just managed to piss people off more and more. All Bass Odyssey that came on afterwards had to do was to play one tune to completely shut them down. No need to take a vote to see who went home after that round.

The one-for-one with Rodigan vs Bass Odyssey turned out to be very even and pretty exciting too, actually, so overall this was more interesting than I expected it to be.

So you feel like The Bug sold out? That DJ Scud has started making easy-listening pop records? Then it’s time to head up to grim northern Sweden for the fine Rastafarian power electronics stylings of Danger Hilton (www.myspace.com/realdangerhilton). They sound something like the bastard child of William Bennett and Peter Tosh.

These guys are clearly nuts, but in a very consistent way. Thanks to Petter for the tip.

The best reissue so far from the Deadly Dragon camp comes in the form of an obscure track I had never heard before: Daddy Freddy’s “Bad Boy Patrol”.

Produced by none other than the mighty Fatis Burrell, but far from the neo-roots we love that guy for. This one is much earlier, from back in 1987, and a fast, full on digital riddim. Daddy Freddy keeps up with the pace (of course) and drops some typical reality lyrics. And an added bonus is the impressively quirky dub on the b-side, with dissonant guitar effects sweeping in and out of the mix.

These are limited so grab one quick.

Mad props to the riddim master DJ Algonquin for pointing me to the trailer for the new Grand Theft Auto game, which features Mavado’s old track “The Real McCoy”. The vocals have the phrase “Liberty City” added so they must have been recut especially for the game. That’s what we call a successful dubplate business.

Wait for the anti-violent-video-game lobby to hear about Mavado’s latest run-ins with the law and blame it on his XBox.

I was listening to pieces of Who Cork The Dance?’s easter special while fighting with the Weblogic server today, and it made the whole process almost pleasant. Make sure you check out these monumental seven hours, especially the Jammy’s segment — it’s got John Wayne over the Sleng Teng riddim played in “slow motion style” at 33 RPM. Onglebang-anglebeng!

I also highly recommend pointing your browser at Deadly Dragon Sounds radio show. Queen Majesty and company playing high quality dancehall cuts for two hours every week, served up by East Village Radio in New York.

You have to hand it to Soul Jazz and the Heatwave crew for taking this on. Documenting the history of the mc in the UK through a compilation album is a tough task. I mean, no studio tracks by the Saxon mcs will be as exciting as “Coughing Up Fire” or other old soundtapes. I’m sure the same thing goes for the new grime kids too — the mp3:s that showed up on MySpace and the message boards last week will kick the ass of anything that has managed to get the record labels’ attention.

Still, this is a solid compilation. If you listened to the mix over at Blogariddims about two years back you’ll recognize most of the tracks - mcs from all over the spectrum with heavy reggae influences as the common denominator. The two main cuts for me are Jah Screechy’s “Walk And Skank” and Riko’s “Ice Rink Vocal”. The first being a straight-up answer-riddim killer (with some importance for the rave scene), and the second just what grime should be: Super Mario Bros samples and high-speed rapping.

YT’s “England Story” is of course included, this version on the as-close-as-you-can-get-to-the-85-without-getting-sued riddim. It’s still genius. I’m also liking Warrior Queen’s “Things Change”, produced by Heatwave themselves who are taking things in an early nineties Steely & Cleevie-ish direction. Good choices of tracks from the rest of the old school guard as well: Top Cat’s “Love Mi Sess”, Papa Levi’s “Mi God Mi King” and Tippa Irie’s “Complain Neighbour”.

With some 20 tracks on two double LPs, there’s bound to be a couple of duds too. The Freestylers’ “Roughneck” would be best left in the “big beat we’d like to forget” pile. I guess I was always a bigger Monkey Mafia fan but he never worked that much with mc:s if I remember right. Tenor Fly’s “Bump And Grind” is a bit too much as well (ehm, are those actually Jackson 5 samples?). and there should be sharper Roots Manuva tracks out there. Estelle’s cover of “Uptown Top Ranking” may not be great, but it’s cute and I’m sure it gets the girls dancing so there’s no point in complaining too much.

Realtime blogging! “Vendetta” Bennett just showed up on that “Finding the next Pussycat Doll” show. He’s apparently been called in to produce some track that sounds like crap.

Hmm, isn’t House on tonight?

I haven’t been able to figure out what the actual line-up is for next weeks final installment of Death Before Dishonour. Probably something like Black Kat, Mighty Crown, and Bass Odyssey. More promising is the “Vintage Tribute” that will open the night, with Jammy’s, Black Scorpio, Downbeat and Rodigan playing together. That should be some decent entertainment.

It may be possible to find out more details at the Irish & Chin site, but it’s unclear.

The second issue of the great Woofah is just out, featuring all the dancehall, grime and dubstep you could ever want. On paper! Yours truly is involved too — see if you can spot my review.

Order your copy from http://www.woofahmag.com/ (and do it right now cause they go quickly).

Barry Brown - Juks And Watch - 7″

Classic track on the “Get a lick” / “Billie Jean” riddim, repressed on the Time 1 International label. Even includes the correct dub version on the B-side! Roots Radics heaviness.

Three new Greensleeves 12″ reissues

I’m working on a theory right now that Style Scott and Flabba Holt are in fact machines sent from the future back to 1978 to save the world. It’s the only reasonable explanation.

The Bug with Warrior Queen - Poison Dart - 12″

Probably the best track so far from this combination, released on two mighty 180 gram pieces of vinyl by Ninja Tune. The original mix is a successful update of The Bug’s sound to sinister new heights, and Warrior Queen drops some insane gunwoman lyrics. Flowdan’s version is no joke either.

The remixes are not as spectacular though, neither Skream nor Stereotyp deliver anything special. The South Rakkas crew are more entertaining, with their typical high-speed electro style taken to a “we have no clue what the hell to do with this” level.