This compilation from Channel U, the digital TV channel and prime medium for grime, is proof that the regular bouts of handwringing over the genre's health - and the inability of major labels and mainstream radio to deal with it - are irrelevant. This is grime in its natural state, as heard blasting from kids' mobile phones on buses across London - and, like those kids, the artists here simply don't care what people think of them, which makes for an absolutely magnificent set. There are numerous club bangers par excellence, from the fidgety baroque drama of Danny Weed's Up in the Shoobz or the combination of soul horns and a children's choir on the Yorkshire Terrierz' celebratory What's Ya Life Like? The pick of the set is the terrifyingly feral Don't Talk, courtesy of Sickman, Lil Rascals and the highly impressive young MC Ice Kid - but the best single moment is to be found on BMD's Easy Big Boy, when Skrillz surreally barks "PANDA bears and POLAR bears and GRIZZLY bears and KOALA bears" out of nowhere.
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Various artists, Channel U: The Album
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