Album Review: Big Dada “Grime 2.0” compilation

by Caile Michelle

Big Dada (the lil’ sister record brand to epic label, Ninja Tune) is offering up a 2-disc, 35-track LP called Grime 2.0, dropping on May 14th.  For those of you who only know Ninja Tune, Big Dada handles the heavier electronica and hip-hop, and Grime is certainly a bit of a heavy-stepper. (The album is definitely not to be confused with that Vancouver kid, Grimes, who looks like she’s spent way too much time in art school.)

This shit is grimy. Sludgy, stepping, muddy and noisy. Not only does the vast compilation feature Manchester’s MRK1 (who apparently is the originator of “grime”) Grime features Gumnaam from the Netherlands, Major Grave from Ireland, Prettybwoy from Japan, Juzlo from Australia and even some local stuff from Canadian Tre Mission.

If you don’t know who any of these artists are, or if you’re a fan of gnarly-ass electronica music but don’t know where to begin filtering the rad from the fucking terrible, Grime 2.0 is the answers to your fevered prayers; it is an encyclopedic volume of non-pussy electronic crazy tunes to throw on and be a hot mess to.

If you’re a fan of Ninja Tune’s melodic-beautiful-dream stuff like Bonobo, Cinematic Orchestra, Blockhead, or Jagga Jazzist then this grimy epic sage might not be for you. Unless, of course, you have varying tastes in music. Then you’ll explore any sonic craziness with an open mind.

Big Dada has taken the liberty of posting on their website a breakdown of the tracks with the fan-base stats, ability to listen and activity of the song. If you care about this, you can check it out at bigdada.com/grime.