Favourite hip-hop records of all time

WITH the new year fast approaching I thought it was best to sort out all those 'things' I've been meaning to do for ages.

So today I've been putting all the music on my iPod I haven't got round to doing yet and after listening to some classic Eric B & Rakim tracks and some old school LL Cool J I thought I'd put together a list of my top ten favourite hip-hop records.

I've always prefered 'old school' hip-hop records as post 93 I think the music industry has been saturated with a string of dreadful 2Pac Sahkur gangster rap wannabe's that bare no resemblance to the true meaning of the genre.

I don't think I could pick a favourite out of the list but Public Enemy's It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back has to be one of the greatest records of all time.
The thing which makes me laugh when I listen to the record is the British announcer that appears on a few tracks and skits.
The MC is non other than BBC Radio 1's Dave Pearce who is now famous for his Dance Anthems radio show.
Anyway here is my list and I'm not necessarily saying these are the best hip-hop records of all time - they are simply my favourites.

A Tribe Called Quest - Midnight Marauders
Beastie Boys - Licensed To Ill
Blade - The Lion Goes From Strength to Strength
De La Soul - 3 Feet High And Rising
Eric B & Rakim - Paid In Full
Hijack - Horns of Jericho
Krs-One - Retrospective
LL Cool J - Radio
London Posse - Gangster Chronicles
NWA - Straight Outta Compton
Public Enemy - It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back
Roots Manuva - Run Come Save Me
Run-DMC - Run DMC
Slick Rick - Children's Stories
Ultramagnetic MC's - Critical Beatdown
Wu-Tang Clan - 36 Chambers

Slash's autobiography is hilarious

SLASH'S autobiography is the most entertaining book I've read in ages.
The funniest moment in the book is when Slash and Axl have their first ever arguement after Axl had told Slash's grandmother to fuck off.
Slash was told by his family he had to get Axl to apologise or Axl would no longer be allowed to live in Slash's family home.
So he decided to ask Axl to apologise as they drove to band rehearsal.
As Slash began to talk Axl started rocking back and forth in the passenger seat and then suddenly jumped out of the moving car.
Axl would rather jump out of a speeding car than apologise - that's so funny!

The alternative Christmas mixtape

I WAS thinking about how awful 99% of Christmas songs really are and it got me thinking about putting together an alternative Christmas mixtape.

The first song that always comes to my mind when talking about the subject is the Ramones' Merry Christmas (I Don't Want to Fight) which is far more apt given the subject matter as most families seem to fight at this time of the year.

And far removed from the cliche Nat King Cole image of happy families, log fires and knitted jumpers that we have to put with during this time of the year.
So here is my mixtape and while granted some may not fit exactly in to the definition of a 'Christmas song' this is after all an 'alternative' Christmas mixtape!

The Ravonettes -The Christmas Song
Air - New Star In The Sky
Neil Young - Star of Bethelehem
The Who - Christmas
The Dickies - Silent Night
The Pipettes - A Winter's Sky
Tricky - Christiansands
Hanoi Rocks - Dead By Xmas
The Long Blondes - Christmas is Cancelled
Lightspeed Champion - Another Song About Being Alone At Christmas
The Ramones - Merry Christmas (I Don't Want To Fight Tonight)
The Libertines - The Man Who Would Be King
The Byrds - Jesus Is Just Alright
Oasis - Born On A Different Cloud
Mogwai - Christmas Song
Manic Street Preachers - Last Christmas (Live)
Kings Of Leon - Velvet Snow
Jeff Buckley - New Year's Prayer
U2 - New Year's Day

NME Cool List 07 - No Kate Jackson!

NME recently announced their cool list for 2007 and I can't believe The Long Blondes' Kate Jackson wasn't in the top 50 this year!

Unlike last year, when she was in the top 50, The Long Blondes have actually been really active realeasing their debut album and a host of singles.

Her fame has gone up through festival appearances and through The Long Blondes appearing from a range of television shows such as Pop World and even Sky News!

Obviously now the NME only picks acts that aren't well known and in the process are trying to be cool themselves rather doing what the list should actually be - the coolest musicians of the year!