new ish...

- Glen Brady / DJ Wool is due to release an lp sometime in 2000. Backing up Wools instrumentals will be a slew of guest MCs from all over the country; Cork, Galway, Limerick, Belfast and Dublin...


- the Stonecutters (Cool-C, Mayhem etc.) have been at work in the studio recently, so be checking for a release from them soon...


- a compilation CD organised by Cork clothes shop 'Prime Time' is due to drop shortly, it will feature a variety Cork's music talent, including at least one track from Exile Eye and Harvey. Also on the CD will be 'Black Soul', the production team of DJ Stevie G and DJ Dennis C. Their production work has included a remix for Only Child ( featuring lyrics from Q-Ball and Curt Cazal of JVC Force ) on Manchester's Grand Central label...


- the 12" 'Good Wool Hunting' EP from DJ Wool/Glen Brady on the Influx label is currently in rotation - four tracks long, including the track 'earthy' as seen on 'no disco', it's electronic edged break-beat instrumentals - samplewise the classic track by black sheep 'this or that' is incorporated - veterans the Jungle Brothers also feature contributing shout outs...


- The new EP 'Back from the 'ILL-Dependents' crew on Galway based label 'Secret Records' is out now, a more than worthy follow up to their first release, the 12" is five tracks long, four instrumental works ( 'innacitytears' / 'shatterproof' / 'move it on' / 'dead man talking' ) and 'for what died', the spoken word verse of the Dubliner's Luke Kelly, originally recorded in the 1960s, now woven into Hazo's beatscape. A track from the EP was recently featured in a documentary on the the World Poker Championships called "The Million Dollar Deal" - also Hazo will be appearing on a forthcoming release by Galway band 'cane 141' - playing turntables on one track and remixing another...


- Dublin crew 3Deep will be releasing a cd shortly, the tracks will include two of their 'Up Against The Wall' and 'I'm a Celt' and around 5 or 6 instrumental tracks... One of the bands older tracks 'Spoofer, Spoofer' was recently played on the Uptown Rap Show on Nova 94.7 FM...


- Homebrew: Headliners at the second annual Irish hip-hop w/end 'Short Fuse', Homebrew consist of veteran Irish scratch D.J Cool C and three MC's. Currently working in the studio, their lyrical style is reminiscent of Scary Eire at their best- very Irish and very real. Homebrew are due to be releasing their material on 12" shortly..


-There is a new T.V documentary being shot at the moment on Irish hip-hop, the director is Cork-based - more news on that soon...


-Graham Finn from Bass Odyssey has done two remixes for an upcoming release from Def Jam mainstay LL Cool J, also Bass Odyssey's track 'remote control soul' ( in a slightly remixed form, due to having been totally rerecorded in New York ) appears on the soundtrack to LL's new movie 'Deep Blue Sea'...


- worth checking is the current issue of 'UPROAR' for an interview with mek which tells of what happened to ScaryÉire and his plans ( an album this summer featuring the likes of rodney p from London Posse and hopefully some of Scary ) , he also mentions in the interview that Ri-Ra's working on an Irish - Jamaican connection type project with dub reggae veteran Adrian Sherwood, should be cool to hear how the Scary will sound in the 99...


-Cork representing - a new mini album should be doing the rounds soon, it's called 'Badaboo Troopers' and was a collaboration between MC Strict, Exile Eye and DJ Harvey - It's currently doing the rounds on demo tape and should be available in some format soon enough. Currently a few tracks are have been taken to the studio, Stricts work with Bass Odyssey means the finished project won't be out for a while yet, but the lyrics and tracks are all under constant development...


-Some new ScaryÉire tracks from the vaults are been circulated by underground heads - they are 'Dole Q [Hatch 42 mix]', 'R u a friend' (featuring Tricky), 'That's no good to me' and 'Peek a boo' ...


-Before ScaryÉire became well known, there was tracks been put together by two heads from Tallaght who backed up ScaryÉire on tour: Ghost (vocals) and Jay (cuts). Produced by DJ Mek around 1992/1993, two tracks by the combo, '2 Innocent' and 'Good N' Evil' have recently surfaced proving hiphop here has more history than heads thought... a number of independent record stores around Dublin including Abbey Disks, B-Boy, Deadline and Bigbrother have this stuff...


- ex Marxman member Hollis Byrne is back as part of 'Offside', based out of Bristol in the UK, their track 'Limelight' is featured on the cd bundled the with the May/June issue of Knowledge mag, so snap that up if you can find a copy about - (actually the whole cd is a killer, mixed by the multi award winning DJ Craze, its one half drum n bass, half uk hiphop _featuring tracks Bury Cru, Taskforce, Numbskullz, Blak Twang and a load of other dope artists)...


-In Limerick, MC Poetic (formerly Chaotic Scene) is emceeing live, including recently at the 'Coco Collective' event in Limerick along with Hazo plus a host of djs. Poetic also hosts a weekly event in McKnight's ( 9.00 - 11.30 )of Limerick every Sunday - featuring live rapping, drum 'n' bass and hiphop...


-Emcee wise presently at work is Cork resident Exile Eye from 'The Invincibles' crew, whos tape 'Optic Nerve' was the standout vocal hiphop release from Ireland for 98, featuring Buster C and with production aided in part by Galway dj Hazo (who runs the 'Ill-Dependents' label) the whole package is consistently dope. Also, The Invincibles have just released a new mix tape and an Exile Eye 12" ep should be out this summer.


-Since the split of ScaryÉire, DJ Mek has been keeping busy, he's worked on some remixes, including a mix of 'Blow The Whole Joint Up' for Monkey Mafia and 'Monument' for the Frames DC, he's also been gaining worldwide recognition for his turntablism skills, including bringing the house down at the battle of 98 mixing championships in Dublin, releasing some class mix tapes [1] [2] and is working on an album this summer on 11 records. He'll also be in New York this September to represent Ireland in the Technics/DMC world championships...


-check out the pure instrumental hiphop of 'Deep Burial', on Ultramack. Anything but some limp 'trip hop', the recently released album 'Blood Samples' is some filthy raw headnod fodder. Nine tracks long, the albums yet another strong progression for Irish hiphop.


- Theres also a band from Dublin called 'Heavy Flow' that incorporate a scratch dj (Troubled Soul) and a French speaking emcee into their music who I've been told are dope. [if you can volunteer any further info on this band give us a shout!]


- There's some Info at the Peak Records website on their A Nu Dioce$e instrumental 12" from 1995, featuring tracks from Johnny Moy, Billy Scurry, Glen Brady, Joe Mc Hugh and Stephen Mulhall - the same producers returned with a sequel wax, A Nu Dioce$e II in '97...


- 3deep (based in Dublin) was formed about 2 years ago. The 2 rappers are Jesse & Karl. They have three tracks fully recorded at the moment; 'Up against the wall' (anti Garda track), 'I'm a celt' (pro Ireland - Anti Violence track) and 'Wanna be 3' (the first track ever recorded). The band has about 15 tracks written and know what they want them to sound like, so hopefully when some money comes around, they'll put out an ep. Check out this interview with the crew...


-from Cork, eclectic electronic heads Bass Odyssey [ who provided back up for the Jungle Brothers on their recent shows here ] have released their ep 'Remote Control Soul', whilst they specialise in high speed drum n bass, their musical styles don't stop there, as shown by the aformentioned song which slows down the tempo and features vocals from MC Strict and Malvina McCarty, the video has recently been recieving healthy rotation.

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