21st November 11
COMPETITION: Win Copies of Rinse 017: Elijah & Skilliam
Posted in Competitions, Reviews
Given all the buoyancy of its lead riffs, its truncated energy and the sheer level and frequency of snare attacks, grime isn’t really a type of music that you can relax to. And that probably goes a long way to explain the seemingly never ending run of activity from London DJ duo Elijah & Skilliam: resident DJs on Rinse FM, owners of the Butterz label and two of the hardest gigging DJs on the circuit. They’re also incredibly vocal about the scene their besotted with (there’s a three part interview epic currently being serialized on Blackdown’s blog). Committed to their cause they invested their money in a physical output at a time when a higher percentage of grime artists were solely releasing mixtapes and to date their iconic black on yellow imprint is the home to releases from producers like Swindle, Royal T and Terror Danjah and esteemed vocalists like Trim and P Money & Blacks and Rinse’s latest compilation, the 17th in the series, pays a little homage to the duo’s work rate as well as highlighting their obsession.
As a mix it’s presented as grime with ‘a real beginning, middle and end’, but aside from the jumps in tempo, the synth dips and the mood stabilizers, Rinse 017 is a great snapshot of where instrumental grime is at the tail end of 2011. Producers like Starkey, Rossi B & Luca, Mr Mitch and Faze Miyake, whose anthem ‘Take Off’ marks a poignant section of the mix (following as it does Preditah’s remix of Trim’s trademark delivery on ‘I Am’), rub against the Butterz elite squadron with their tracks feeding and exemplifying the health of the scene behind what it is that Elijah & Skilliam encapsulate.
Whilst for some grime music makes more sense with the emcees sprawling their words across it, Rinse 017 manages to prove with distinction that there’s a level of producership that goes beyond the hyper snares, cut outs and bass drops. And more so than an exhibition of intelligent mixing, the CD serves as a roll call and a tenable record of all the producers combined work – an asset that doesn’t just focus on the hyper-spraying club ready tracks, and one that feels like it’s been a long time coming.
To win one of five copies of the CD simply email us the answer to the following question by this time on Friday…
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Q: Whom out of Elijah & Skilliam cannot swim?
Winners will be notified by email.
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Rinse 017 is out today. You can catch Elijah & Skilliam DJing around the UK but their Rinse FM compatriots are uniting for a special Boxing Day takeover of fabric next month.
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