Tuesday 30 December 2008

My Adidas!

It was only a few years ago that NIKE reigned supreme in the battle to supply hip hoppers with the freshest footwear. After years of asking, the legendary NIKE AIR FORCE ONE and NIKE DUNK shoes flooded the market in every conceivable material and colourway. Without doubt both iconic shoes, but it took NIKE years to realise the demand for these vintage models. Hip hop kids had been crying out for years for the basketball classic AF1 to hit the shelves again, and on re-release they filled sneaker closets across the globe. But have NIKE now overcooked it....? What's with all this NIKE ID and quickstrike, hyperstrike etc..?? To be honest I'm all tired-out with these limited edition sneakers by this and that designer. Yawn...what happened to simple straight-up funky fresh colourways?? If I wanted a laser tattoo I would grow my hair, join a rock band and get one done properly....not have it it on my NIKE AF1s!!
To the right is a flick taken by BIGGEST IRISH in 2001 of some of my kicks, and I've only just seen it recently. As you can see plenty of NIKE action.
For almost the last 10 years I have mostly sported AF1s, such is my love of the shoe, both in terms of comfort and absolute style. Of course rotating the colours and switching from lows to high tops kept me from boredom. Before that, the ADIDAS SUPERSTAR and PRO-MODEL high tops were my soles of choice (or shell-toes as I prefer to call them).
But lately ADIDAS have really pulled their fingers out in regard to re-releasing the dopest models in the freshest colours, without all that fashion nonsense attached to it. I personally do not care if your favourite trainers are 1 of only 100 pairs in existence....if the fact is they look shit! I just copped these ADIDAS CONCORDES in the sale at SIZE? for under forty quid - 1 of only 3 billion pairs!! ;O)
Damn, I guess I'm getting a grumpy sneaker fiend in my old age.... but I suppose I'm just disappointed with the way NIKE have shook the limited edition thing until it is stone dead!
So ADIDAS are getting my money for the moment....now where's that RUN DMC record....?

Kid Dyno

Monday 22 December 2008

Lucky Dip Hip Hop

As our name suggests, there ain't a day goes by where myself or the BEAT DETECTIVE ain't rummaging through someone's dusty attic in search of a forgotten pile of records. Whether it be charity shops, collectors spots, car boot sales, or record shops...we have been there and we've seen it all. If I had a pound for every time someone said to me "I know of someone who has some old vinyl you might like..." by now I would be spending my weekends playing poker with Bill Gates and Richard Branson!
So as you can guess we've seen many deep crates, and played many a dusty record. I even know one spot where we used to take a bottle of water, a towel and some soap - so dirty was the digging you couldn't leave without a full scrub up! We would be covered head-to-toe in years of shit and dust (I now understand why my man Oxygen takes a mask on a diggin' mission!) But amongst that dirt in that one spot, I found some seriously hard-to-find hip hop that I haven't seen since. A couple of examples being BARITONE TIPLOVE - "Young Ladeeez..." 12" and C$ MONEY & DJ CHASE- "Ladies Can I have your Attention" 12" on TRUMPET RECORDS.
During most of my missions (I like to fly solo on digging raids) I am set on autopilot and hit the regular targets like a computerised drone. And I truly maintain sometimes the old spidey sense tingles and I can smell a nugget about to surface!
In fact Johnnyroast once caught me "powerdigging", as he called it, at KILBURN RECORD FAIR (yo hi Roastie!). Apparently I was excavating all crates in my path at a rate of knots. So I guess over the years, those same old LP covers become a blur and I tend to steam through them searching for something a little different or a record that I've never seen before. And of course the term "powerdigging" was born.
Whilst powerdigging" this weekend I came across a Hip Hip record from 1993 that I didn't recognise and knew nothing about, which is unusual for a rap fiend like myself. The artist name and title gave no clues, and to be honest it could have gone either way, but I risked less than a tenner (£10) based on the home made appearance of the label and the fact that the title track "Gotta Get Over" made me think JAMES BROWN. Nothing ventured, nothing gained, so I copped it.
By the time I got back to the lab, I realised there was no JB connection, but I still kinda liked this tune when I eventually spun it on the 1200s. It has that typical '93 bounce feel to it (put on ya Carhartt & Timbos!!) but with various cheeky horn riffs that make the beat dope. A Flavor Flav intro (incidentally recorded at Brixton Academy) and a quick drop of MOUNTAIN's "Long Red" drum break before the track kicks in. Some of the rhymes could have been better in certain instances, but on the whole a great early 90s independent effort on the CRIMINAL RECORDS label from CANADA. Have a listen for yourself... as far as I know B KOOL himself hails from Canada, recorded very little else, other than one track on a CD-only LP entitled SIMPLY MAJESTIC again from Canada. mmm this CD sounds dope....if anyone has a copy please let me know the deal?

B KOOL - "Gotta Get Over"

thanks

KID DYNO

Thursday 18 December 2008

Highly Underrated

Every so often we stumble upon a record that has slipped under many collectors radars, whether it be because of limited release at the time, or limited airplay, or maybe it's an unknown artist so just didn't grab anyone's attention. I learnt a long time ago that a wack cover or wack DJ/MC name doesn't always mean a wack record. Hell, I have more than a handful of records that I have bought with dope artwork or covers, but the music sucks! Don't judge a book and all that!
So we thought we should pull out a few pieces that you maybe have not heard before, but need to take a peep at. You never know, maybe one of these joints is lurking in your local bargain bin just waiting to be picked up? You know, the one you flicked past a dozen times already...

First up to bat is this little gem of a track on CARDIAC RECORDS - and firstly I gotta say a mighty big "WORD" to MR. CRATEDIGGER as he first played me this joint and made me stop and say "hold up, what the ....?"

TRUE CULTURE - "It's So Good, It's Bad" CARDIAC RECS 1991
Banging beats is the flavour of the day here....and to be honest I can tell you very little about TRUE CULTURE other than that there is an LP and I don't own a copy. Oh, and also DJ FASHION's name is mentioned somewhere in the production credits. I like this track, and it sounds great played loud. I fear that if I find out more about this crew it will only put me off them (maybe you can tell me otherwise?). For now I can ignore the corny track title, and I advise you to avoid the "Good" side if you do find a copy of this record, and please just play the "Bad" side. I have warned you!!
Two things I love about this record are the use of firstly the electric guitar riff from FUNKADELIC, and secondly the crowd noise as used on BUFFALO GALS - very evocative.
TRUE CULTURE - It's So Good It's Bad

Another one to keep you busy is from 92 on SELECT records, and again another record I only picked up myself in the last few years. I still cannot believe no-one played me it any earlier! ESP - "Fingertips (Clap Your Hands" Funky Remix) SELECT RECS 1992 I remember seeing E.S.P.'s Long Player on SELECT entitled "Valoompadoom Pink! Or something else off the wall" in the record shops back in the days, but with that title (their marketing guy needed shooting!) and the fact that there is a semi-clad and rather well-built MC on the cover kinda put me off facing the shop's owner even for a brief listen. I think at a later date I picked up a copy for a £pound in a pile of "harder" looking records and I thus maintained my macho image LOL!
Anyway, the FINGERTIPS 12" release eluded me for some time longer, but on hearing the FUNKY VOCAL remix of this track I made it a must-buy. Without doubt IVAN "DJ DOC" RODRIGUEZ's assistance on the remix is what makes this track a surefire winner, together with the plentiful helping of scratching. And as for the funk loops....I'm hooked within the first few bars.
E.S.P. - "Fingertips"

Kid Dyno

Wednesday 10 December 2008

DAILY DIGGERS live at FUNKBOX

On SATURDAY December 13th 2008 you can catch us spinning our heavy selection at THE FUNKBOX in BIRMINGHAM with DJ CRO from MAIN INGREDIENT RADIO.
If you attended the KURIOUS launch party with us in FEBRUARY you will know the BIRMINGHAM crowd are amongst the best to play for. Man we've been looking forward to this return to BRUM for some months, so a big thanks to DJ CRO, ROY ROASTBEEF, WATTSY, RICHIE and the whole FUNKBOX crew.
In recent months the FUNKBOX guest DJs have included MR THING and DJ FORMAT, so you know we're gonna have to bring the noise!

If you can make it between 8.30pm - 2am on SATURDAY 13th DEC 2008, get your bad self along to....

FUNKBOX
The Hare and Hounds
High Street
Kings Heath
BIRMINGHAM
B14 7JZ
UK

It's gonna be a heavy breaks session for the dancers and b-boys, so bring ya linoleum and practice those elbow slides!!

Kid Dyno & The Beat Detective

Monday 8 December 2008

Mr Krum Dropping Knowledge

Yes party people, I'm sure y'all remember the guest mix from MR KRUM a few months back? Man that was super slick and full of classics! Well our fellow CRATE INVADER member and ILL TECHNICIAN is dropping some heavy record knowledge over at MR KRUM's WONDERFUL WORLD OF BIZARRE.
Now I warn you in advance this shit is not for the feint-hearted, and if you're not a heavy record digger then some of this may go over your heads...but guaranteed there some excellent reading and crazy soundclips, both for the hip hop heads and the beatdiggers and sample freaks.
BIZARRE is one of my favourite reads on the internet with posts on HIJACK the Terrorist Group, KPM library records, a BLANK C90 CASSETTE gallery, and some of KRUM's infamous mixes and downloads.It's compelling reading, and bound to make you reminisce about the good ole days...so get yourself over there and tell MR KRUM that the DAILY DIGGERS sent ya!

Friday 5 December 2008

Vintage Sneakers for sale

As the credit crunch hits the DAILY DIGGERS HQ, we've found it necessary to spring clean the sneaker closet and pull out some vintage kicks for an airing. If you've been to the HQ you will already have noticed the ADIDAS, NIKE and PUMA sneaker boxes are piled ceiling high and the trainer cupboard runs DEEEEP!
So to make room for some more records, I have added a few pairs on eBay....the infamous ADIDAS HEMP or "Chronic" GAZELLEs as they were known. A pair of fresh 100% DEADSTOCK ADIDAS INSTINCT LOW's similar to those on the TUFF CREW "Danger Zone" LP cover. And of course some limited premium NIKE AIR FORCE 1s - the classic Hip Hop shoe!

Here's a few of the pairs up for grabs...
























....and you can take a peep at the sneaker auctions here

Look fresh this Christmas!

Kid Dyno

R.I.P. Party Arty

Sad news this week - the death on December 4th of DITC affiliate PARTY ARTY from "health complications". Best known as being down with AG, BIG L and LORD FINESSE for years, and also being one half of the crew GHETTO DWELLAS with D FLOW as the remaining member. We here at the DAILY DIGGERS HQ, have always liked his gravely tones and, his hilarious appearance whilst taking a dump in the SBX video, and for killer lines like this....

"enough weed for ten blunts but I stuff it in one!"

Many of you will have also seen PARTY ARTY's appearance on the dope SBX DVD released in 2005, where he performs the grimey bronx joint "Everyday". But few will be aware of how PARTY ARTY could hold his own in an emcee battle. Of course growing up in the Bronx with the likes of AG BIG L etc.. the skills are gonna rub off eventually, and ARTY was yet to reach his prime as an MC. Hence it is a sad loss for the hip hop community, and he and his rhymes will be sorely missed.
Check out some footage of his battle with MURDA MOOK...the footage may be poor but ARTY's freestyle was 100% in E F F E C T!

PARTY ARTY featured on both BIG L's debut LP "Lifestyles of Da Poor & Dangerous" and also dropped science on SHOWBIZ & AGs "Got the Flava" way back in '95. DJ PREMIER has also expressed his sadness at this loss, and reminisced over AG's "GET DIRTY" LP studio session (for which PRIMO produced the cut "Weed Scented") where he worked with PARTY ARTY......no doubt the man had some serious skills. If you don't already consider yourself a fan of PARTY ARTY's lyrics, just take a listen to the following tracks and I'm sure you'll change your mind.

"Underground Life" feat AG, PARTY ARTY, D FLOW & FAT JOE prod. by LORD FINESSE


"Hold It Down" feat AG, PARTY ARTY, & A BLESS on DITC presents THE WILD LIFE EP produced by SHOW


R.I.P. PARTY ARTY (GHETTO DWELLAS / DITC)


Kid Dyno