By now, those of you with a penchant for gnarly basslines and swaggering bruiser beats may well have picked themselves up a copy of the new Timestretch EP from the West Coast master of such styles Bassnectar, which was due out this week but dropped early as it escaped from the Beatport cage like the Kracken in Clash Of The Titans. If you haven't got a copy then read no further, run over to here now and grab it (along with special DJ tools, bonus tracks, and bundle packs) before coming back and enjoying this delicious bootleg of the title track which features vocals from Nelly Furtado's Turn Out The Lights

Download: Bassnectar feat. Nelly Furtado - Magical World / alt link

Skitz ft. Rodney P & Buggsy from Studio JK:AK on Vimeo.

When Skitz dropped Countryman back in 2001 it marked a strong time for UK Hip-hop. His guest emcees such as Rodney P, Roots Manuva, Task Force and Skinnyman seemed to be on course to break through into the everyday consciousness of the nation. Although they definitely made a dent, it seems in hindsight that the only artist from the album to have 'crossed over' as it were is Estelle and since then the scene has been on steady decline. The long wait for the follow up album is nearly over and despite the less than hospitable environment, the first signs are that this could be just what the scene needs (unless the idea of an actual single genre music scene is slightly passé, in which case it will hopefully find some favour in the unclear space between worlds). The first single Requiem Of The Gods dropped a while back and thankfully showed that Skitz hadn't been ignoring Grime and Dubstep like many Hip-hop artists and there was definitely a more bass heavy, electronic tint to the production. The same goes for his latest single Born In The System, which despite being a straight up Hip-hop / Reggae hybrid that pre-cursors both the other scenes mentioned, still manages to hint at the sound of now, especially with the inclusion of Bristol's Buggsy on mic duty who rips a double time rasta rhyme that is straight fire. The whole album is due to drop at the end of May with the single dropping at the start of the month.

Skitz ft Buggsy - Born Inna System by Skitz

Mondays can be a vicious circle sometimes. We like to post these mixes to help you through this most difficult of days but after a heavy weekend it's tricky to get the motivation up to do that. However, with the help of these same mixes we managed to pluck up enough of our reserve energy banks and last few remaining braincells to bring you: A new DJ Moneyshot mix that will make you want to relive the weekend all over again; also another pair of Solid Steel family members, Hextatic have a mix to promote their new single Gammera which features big remixes from George Lenton and Akira Kiteshi (pick up a copy for just £1.50 here); and Aussie Dubstep diva Kito serves up a new Knowledge mix (there's also an accompanying interview).

If this hasn't quenched your thirst for music then the fantastic mixtape resource Mixcloud have just created a new Dubstep / Bass features section with some great mixes by the likes of Bassnectar, Terror Danjah, Oneman and a certain group of Chrome nippers.


Download: DJ Moneyshot - Promo Mix Up April 2010

01. Halcali - Peek-A-Boo
02. DJ Moneyshot - Mucky Wizbang
03. Toddla T - Do U Know (instrumental)
04. Casual - That’s How it is (acapella)
05. Don Diablo feat. Example - Pussycat Too
06. A.Skillz - Twang Banger
07. Stevie Wonder - Superstition (J-Roc of the Sould Out DJs remix)
08. Skibadee - Tika Toc (DJ Moneyshot 110 remix)
09. Profisee - Foolz Thinkin’
10. The Johnny Otis Show - The Watts Breakaway
11. Funkdoobiest - Bubble Butts
12. Big M - Hot Cowgirl
13. Riva Starr - I Was Drunk (Solly remix)
14. Jesse Rose - Touch My Horn (Mad Kids remix)
15. Dire Straits - Money For Nothing (PulpFusion remix)
16. Jay’s Soul Connection - Frank’s Party Life
17. Bassnectar - Superstylin’ Smashup
18. High Rankin - Pimp and Gambler
19. The Benga Boys - Crunk World
20. Hayseed Dixie - I Love Rock & Roll


Solid Steel Radio Show 19/3/2010 Part 1 + 2 - Hexstatic by Ninja Tune

Reso - Hyperglide - Civil Music
Eskmo - Sister You Have Got To Listen - Mp3
George Lenton - Cold Rocker - Wicky Lindows
Hexstatic - Gammera (Akira Kiteshi Remix) - Lower Level Records
Akira Kiteshi - Pinball - Black Acre
Massive Attack - GirI I Love You (She Is Danger Remix) - Virgin
Gorrillaz - Stylo - EMI
Outputmessage - Glintz - Output Noise
Joy Orbison - The Shrew Would Have Cushioned The Blow - Doldroms
Pantha Du Prince - Saturn Strobe - Dial
Groove Armada - Superstylin (Bassnectar Mashup) - Mp3
Justus Kohnocke - Yacht - Kompakt


Download: Kito - Knowledge Mix

01. Kito & Reija Lee - On The Jam
02. Cosmin TRG - Make Everything Alright
03. Worthy – Crack-El (Justin Martin's Stoopit Crunk-Lil Hyphy Mix)
04. Slevarance and Hackman – You And Me
05. Snoop Dogg - Sensual Seduction
06. Primary 1 - Outside (Kito Remix)
07. Uffie - MC's Can Kiss (Starkey Remix)
08. Kito - On The Floor
09. Kito featuring Reija Lee – LFO
10. DJ MADD - Corner Dance
11. Ruckspin & Quantum Soul - Venus Project
12. Vaccine - Cascade Failure
13. Cosmin TRG - Strobe Lick
14. Kito featuring Reija Lee - This City
15. Spor - Knock You Down (Eskmo Remix)
16. DJ MADD - Arpz3000
17. Pendulum - Watercolour (Emalkay Remix)
18. Joker - Taste The Rainbow
19. Skream - Amity Step
20. Massive Attack - Paradise Circus (Breakage Tightrope Remix)
21. Starkey - Starting Gates
22. ModeSelektor - Prototypes
23. Emalkay – Crusader
24. Kito – Don't Wanna Lose You
25. Numan - She Said
26. Skream – Arola
27. Vaccine – Fever (Kito Remix)

Many scoff at the idea of live Dubstep saying its alomst a contradiction in terms but there are a few guys who pull it off well. Jazzsteppa are most definitely up there in the top, but not to be slept on are the Engine-Earz Experiment boys who we caught at Glastonbury last year. Here's their new tune which we plucked from the excellent Suspect Packages site.



Download: Engine-EarZ Experiment - Faction 2 (Revolution) / alt link