The 10th Wonder

It's sort of hard to concentrate on anything other than 808's & Heartbreak at the moment because Kanye has - I think - dropped one of the most revolutionary albums of recent years, but apparently the world keeps turning for people who aren't utterly fascinated by Mr West. Prolific mix-taper Mick Boogie has yet another, this time with flame-spitter Cynicus. All the beats are produced by 9th Wonder which should make this a repository of heat. 9th Wonder's material is super fresh at the moment, possibly my favourite going around. And this is a beautiful thing because, between him and Kanye, we now don't have to put up with listening to the tween pop-rap that Will.i.am continues peddling and all the d-bags who choose the music in shops force on us.

Mick Boogie presents Cynicus - The 10th Wonder (rapidshare)

That is alot?!

So you may have noticed that Burnt Waffles has gone a little quiet lately. Well as we wait for the last few big albums of 2008 to drop and put the finishing touches on our best of's I thought I would point you too a few albums that have been locked in my pod.

Whenever other genres are feeling a little limp I find a trip to the deeper, heavier end of the spectrum is in order. The new Chase and Status album that dropped recently has filled that need quite nicely. Entitled More than Alot it lives up to its title with a buffet of different, dare I use marketing speak, urban sounds. While many of the bigger singles have been kicking around for a while and are made for losing your shit too at 3am such as Smash TV, Pieces and the massive Hurt You it is the dub step inspired Running which I find sticking in my head day after day. Enjoy the cheeky contrast of rattling bassline and soulful hook below.

Chase and Status - Running

Myspace

Moving to the deeper sound, specifically that of Cambridge, England. Hospital has recently release the third volume of their acclaimed Future Sounds of Cambridge compilation and it is smacking. Its filled with productions by drum and bass heavyweights Commix, Nu:tone and Logistics and even sports a number of collaborative tracks to sweeten the deal. Standouts include Cosmonaut and Intervention by comparative new comer Logistics and the collab track Ghost Snare. Ghost Snare can be found below, all clicks and deep grooves. For those who like to enjoy the subtlety of the jungle genre.

Commix, Logistics and Nu:tone - Ghost Snare

Hospital Homepage

Tiny Masters of Tomorrow

A school in Montreal started an after school program for kids to get involved with making music and lo-fi video clips. The results were stupendous... more at Naked Eye Magazine.

Viva La Hova

Stone Fact: every 12 seconds, someone, somewhere uploads a new Jay-Z mash-up. 

Mere Opinion: Viva La Hova, the latest mixtape effort from Mick Boogie and Terry Urban, might be the best yet. Not straight mash-ups, but more beats sampling Coldplay and using Jigga's vocals, the mix includes tracks like this banger from 9th Wonder, as well as a slew of others including Mick Boogie and, apparently, Coldplay themselves. Cop a sample below, and you can grab the full .zip via EastOfLA.

Jay-Z & Coldplay (prod. 9th Wonder) - Cold Success