While everyone is in reflective mood I want to turn your attention to some new music around at the moment which may have escaped your attentions while buying those Take That CD's for your mum.

Everyones favourite cockney geezers The Mitchell Brothers are hard at work with their follow up to A Breath Of Fresh Attire. Solemate is in a similar vein lyrically to Alone With The TV but sounds very different production wise as it takes a bit of an indie tip. More tracks should be unveiled in the next few weeks for this much anticipated release. Their label mate Example has some good tracks floating also.

Ghostface may not be able to say his name right in a rhyme but Mark Ronson has come on strong in the latter half of 2006 with work for Lily Allen and Amy Winehouse amongst others. His new album is called Version and features a very nice head nodder of a remix to Lily's Smile track which may not yet make the final cut. God Put A Smile is in keeping with his very eclectic tastes.

Laura Vane is a young talent to keep an ear and eye out for next year as she is busy recording tracks for a long player. She has already supported Gnarls Barkley on their UK tour this year and looks set to make waves in '07. Her voice is all over MJ Cole's new track Firin Up which sounds in the 2-step mould but with a very soulful edge. I'd love to see the more danceable garage make moves next year in a similar way to how Funky House has this year and this would be one of the tunes that could do it.

Spank Rock - yoyoyoyo
Ne-Yo - In My Own Words
Justin Timberlake – Future Sex/Love Sounds
Bugz In The Attic – In The Doghouse
Yungun & Mr Thing – Grown Man Business
Ty – Closer
JME - Derkhead/Tropical
Donnell Jones – Journey of a Gemini
Lupe Fiasco – Food & Liquor
Jay-Z – Kingdom Come
Akira The Don - When We Were Young
Slum Village – Fantastic Vol.1
Jay Dee – The Shining
Amp Fiddler – Afro Strut
The Roots - Game Theory
Rhymefest - Blue Collar
Skream - Skream
Wiley - 2nd Phaze
Strange Fruit Project - The Healing
Kidz In The Hall - School Was My Hustle
The Streets - The Hardest Way...

There was some hot debate in the clubhoppin section of Blues and Soul magazine recently where Mark Devlin brought up the subject of the state of club land and the increasing rise of pubs and clubs playing the same 20 tracks. It’s sad to read about it but the problem has been bubbling away for a while now.

Ultimately the real fans and DJ’s are losing out, as they have to contend with promoters and managers giving jobs to people who will happily play their Now That’s What I Call R’n’B CD and undercut the true DJ’s willing to play quality music. These scene follower DJ’s most likely were playing house music until black music became the choice of many of today’s youth. Anyone looking to get into the scene or are taking an outside look at it will think the black music world starts at 50 Cent and ends at the Pussycat Dolls.

The problem is more displayed in the regions outside the big cities where it’s harder for a dedicated R’n’B night to survive, although that doesn’t mean to say there aren’t any – but any flyer I see these days advertising R’n’B I immediately expect the depth to stretch as far as Destiny Child, with the Sugababes and Shakira thrown in. No lie. This attitude easily sways the casual punter who will not look outside of the same twenty artists.

The amount of times I’ve had to add a disclaimer to people when telling them I like R’n’B and Hip-Hop that my knowledge doesn’t stick at the commercial gloss you all know is untrue. The truth is that DJ’s need packed dance floors and clubbers want to hear what they know, which forces the DJ into admitting defeat and having to play those same tracks on the radio.

On a recent visit to an R’n’B club in Southampton straight after a recent Busta Rhymes hit the DJ played Wifey by Next, a guaranteed floor-filler yet the people next to me at the bar were heard saying that it was shit and wanted some Game played. This was a venue that is supposedly a haven for R’n’B, or it was when they launched it - in the last year they have played host to EZ, Trevor Nelson and Tim Westwood (ok scrub that last one). It seems the music knowledge only stretches the last three years since G-Unit music was everywhere but it just sums up that people aren’t willing to open to something they haven’t heard. If this is the sort of reaction to ‘Wifey’ then what hope is there for tunes like Omarion ‘Entourage’ to break through.

I like to think my music knowledge is up there with most and it was only a few years ago I would have had a choice of R’n’B clubs to go to - and it was a tough choice as all of them would play a great selection of records and even some cuts you were yet to hear. These would often make your night and be tomorrow’s hits. Time was you could hear a track go from start of the night warm-up to a peak time hit in the space of a few weeks, now if the tracks on the radio or MTV then just chuck it on and you know people will like. What chance does this give to the future ‘Wifey’ or ‘Peaches & Cream’?

One night in Southampton promotes itself as the best and longest running R’n’B night in the area yet on stepping through recently I heard nothing new or anything pre 2003 in the space of an hour as the club was going from busy to peak. Is this the clubbers reluctance to anything new, DJ’s not wanting to work for their money or pressure from promoters worried about people through the door and how many WKD’s are sold? On reading the comments from other DJ’s in Blues and Soul and from my own experience out clubbing it seems a combination of the three.

This year house music has come to the attentions of people again and there has been a shift in tendencies from a lot of people getting into the funky/soulful side of it, I myself have been popping to a few nights to broaden the mind - and because I’m actually tired of an R’n’B night. I’ll hear better R’n’B in my car than in a club at the minute which is something I thought I’d never say five/six years ago when all I wanted was for the dance prominent DJ to just throw a few cheeky R’n’B numbers in.

I’ve always felt like I have that music snobbery in me at times as I think a lot of passionate music fans have, but when you see the WKD/lager louts saying they love that new G-Unit or another recycled 2pac vocal it makes you laugh that you both love Hip-Hop – but are worlds apart. It’s going to take a lot to change the current trend, but I hope for the real music lovers sake that it does and ask that they keep supporting their local ‘quality’ music night before it turns into a happy hour drinks promo led R’n’B night.

On another note I saw DJ Greenpeace DJ last week at Orange Rooms, a local style bar hot on its retro vibe and host to plenty of quality music nights (Yungun, Numark and People Under The Stairs recently). Sadly after an excellent warm-up set of classic Hip-Hop and new UK stuff Greenpeace played mostly commercial hits like Justin Timberlake, Pussycat Dolls and that bloody Hips Don’t Lie Song. Yes it kept the girls on the floor but please know your clientele, you were booked for a place known for decent music and don’t need those Radio 1 hits to keep them there.

TI- Why You Wanna
Lily Allen – Smile
Ne-Yo – Sexy Love
Justin Timberlake – My Love
Wiley – Eskiboy
Skepta – Duppy
JME – 96 Bars
Sway – Products
Spank Rock – Sweet Talk
Aaron LaCrate – Blow
Fish Go Deep Feat. Tracy K – Cure & The Course
Nelly Furtado – Promiscuous
Christina Aguilera – Ain’t No Other Man
Sleepy Brown – Margarita
Yungun – Forget Me Not
Bugz In The Attic – Move Aside
Lupe Fiasco – Kick Push
Skream – Midnight Request Line
Omarion – Entourage
Donell Jones – Spend The Night
Cheri Dennis – I Love You
Chris Brown – Excuse Me Miss
Jay Dee & Common – MC2
Gnarls Barkley – Smiley Faces

It had to happen one day, the last beat on the second video is straight fire.

Welcome to the 2006 shiznit awards, a brief and often light look back at the years events. These are only my opinions and not to be taken too seriously, but do drop any thoughts in the comment boxes. I'll round-up the years in Grime, Hip-Hop & R'n'B later in the week with my top singles and albums of the year, plus some predictions for 2007.

Lily Allen

Myspace success, potty mouth popstar, only famous because of her dad etc etc. There isn’t much that hasn’t been said about Lily Allen this year, we even saw the obligatory topless shot in the tabloids, but with her mix of influences she more than connects the trends and bits and pieces of 2006 together. Her album was dubbed the soundtrack of the summer but really deserves longer play and is a joy to watch live. She may not have the greatest singing voice but was a breath of fresh air in a mild year for music.

JME

In a year where the music genre floundered, JME gave grime hope and someone to look up to with how he went about his business. From releasing four mixtapes to setting up his Boy Better Know label, entertaining via his blogs to selling t-shirts while all still getting his education on – 2006 is deservedly JME’s year. Although 2006 saw Sway release his first album a lot of his buzz was built up the previous year, JME may have taken inspiration from Little Derek but he has made the year his own and put other mc’s more focused on beef to shame. Proof to anyone looking at the genre from the outside that grime doesn’t have to just be aggressive.

The Clipse - Hell Hath No Fury
Dr.Dre - Detox (still waiting)
Busta Rhymes - Big Bang

Kanye West at the European Music Awards
Kanye West at the grammys
Kanye West at any awards night

B-More Gutter Music
Snap
Hyphy
Grindie

Mary J Blige & Bono – One Love

"Mary, this song is like, so life changing like when I helped Geldof with that charity thing in Hyde Park"

Crazy Titch
Fat Joe
Nelly’s weed carrier who shit himself when tasered

Yo Yo @ Notting Hill Arts Club
Dirty Canvas @ ICA
Sidewinder
Get Down @ Bar Rumba
Switch @ Ministry

Boy Better Know
Snowman
I Got It For Cheap
I’m a Big Man But I’m Not Thirty
Get Me Aftershock

RWD
Touch
Blues and Soul
Dummy
Hip-Hop Connection
Vice
I~D
Arena

Hyperfrank
Vice
Prancehall
Styleslut
Akira The Don

DMX

The flip-flops - he's just not the same...thugs don't do flip-flops," he added. "Yo, no matter how much vacation I'm on - we been to St. Thomas, Bahamas, all the little islands - I don't wear no flip-flops. I'm never that comfortable, not even in my own house,"

LL Cool J
Ludacris
Ghostface

EZ Kiss
Greenpeace XFM
Target 1Xtra
Ronnie Herel 1Xtra
Logan Sama 1Xtra

Busta Rhymes
L Dot Man
Bearman

Lupe Fiasco

Food & Liquor was a decent album but we all hoped for much more than we got, better luck next time.

The Mitchells Brothers
Example
Mike Skinner
Professor Green

Ghost Ride The Whip

The Migraine Skank

JME Transport
Wiley Publishing
50 Cent Water
E-40 Hyphy Juice

The first episode is up now...

The lovely Amerie is back with a new album for 2007, but before that hits the stores she is getting her Hip-Hop grind on with a mixtape titled Because I Love It, which features the single Take Control. The video which you can see above as she plays a double-agent.

Should Jay-Z have stayed behind his office desk?...

It seems apt that at a time when everyone is looking forward to christmas Jay-Z releases the comeback album that we always knew was coming since that 'retirement'. Like that feeling you get when you grow older, christmas is something you don't get too excited about any more and is all over with little fanfare. This is how I would describe Jay-Z's return disc Kingdom Come.

It's a shame really as everything starts off so well with the opener Oh My God and the single Show Me What You Got.

The title track really makes you think why Just Blaze hasn't received as much credit as his production deserves as he chops up to bits Rick James Superfreak for Jay to boast about being Hip-Hops saviour. It's a shame that the album tales off towards the end as he really had us believing it at the start.

The Dre produced 30 something answers the critics that say rap is a young persons game now over a nice head nodding beat that would work well on radio and as a club warm-up. But the highlights from there are few and far between.

The track Trouble will satisfy the Heat magazine readers out there as it half addresses the rumours he answered Rihanna's S.O.S - the housewife's will enjoy R'n'B flavoured Hollywood and their favourite pubehead Chris Martin on Beach Chair.

This album would be a decent effort if it was released by a Ja Rule or a Fat Joe. But this is Jay-Z we are talking about. We all knew that he was going to come back eventually but I get the feeling this album is more a reflection of someone stuck in 3rd gear and not quite ready yet to push on into 5th. For me Kingdom Come is on a par with The Black Album but doesn't touch The Blueprint.

This album was always going to be criticised by everyone for variety of reasons and its better that it's now been released and out there so the anticipation can stop. I would say it's a good bet that he won't be Def Jam president once his contract runs out at the end of the year and if we get another album, which I'm sure we will -it will be more like it from Jay-Z.

Jay-Z Lost Ones Video



Hip-Hop figures are the new action man, although I doubt action man will be quaking in his boots when he sees the Jay-Z doll...

Back in those glorious summer days of 2000 I left school and the sound of UK garage was making a dent in the charts. We all know what happened as just a year on the whole So Solid saga put off labels from going anywhere near any style of garage. Until the darker sounds started to come through under the grime term I had been slacking on any danceable garage apart from being in some sh*it nightclub that would play a token Artful Dodger track. Now 2006 hasn't exactly been a vintage year for grime and dubstep keeps pushing on which I like, but I've started to listen to a lot of EZ on Kiss of late. I was half being ignorant and expecting a show filled with what you could term girly garage (remember Ladies First?) and being stuck in 2000-01. Full credit has to go to the artists and producers for still believing in the genre and not letting the aftermath of the Top 40 era stop them from putting out quality material. Could 2007 be a year that the more danceable garage comes back into prominence? Especially with the ever increasing popularity from urban music folk for Funky House. Some big tunes on the scene for me at the moment are the One Dark Martian remix of Crazy and MJ Cole's Firin Up. Mr Cole himself recently dropped into Lizard Lounge in my area for a delightful two hour set of four to the floor pressure and other goodness. When he dropped his biggest hits Crazy Love and Sincere it got me thinking (well the next day, not when I was throwing gunfinger) about some of those classic tracks from those glorious summer days..

It's The Shiznit's garage classics

Sweet Female Attitude - Flowers
Artful Dodger feat. Craig David - What You Gona Do
Sia - Little Man (Exeman remix)
Gerideu & Robbie Craig - Who's The Better Man
Dream Team – Buddy X
Lonyo – Summer Of Love
Danny J Lewis – Spend the Night
Roy Davis Junior - Gabriel
Wookie - Back Up, Back Up
DJ Dee Kline – I Don’t Smoke
Amar – Sometimes it snows in April
Amira – My Desire
With A Little Bit Of Luck - DJ Luck & MC Neat
Imagine - Shola Ama
Tell Me It's Real - K-Ci & Jojo
B-15 Project – Girls Like Us