"Some people think I'm bonkers..."

Rudeboy, don’t watch that
Cause if it’s arms-house, I’ll rock that
And if it’s on top, you know I got that
Come through with a big baseball bat

Like blood, don’t make me get old-school
Blood, don’t make me get old-school
Blood, don’t make me get old-school
Blood, don’t make me get old-school

I don't think there's many people that would label these lyrics as typical listening of middle-class white kids. But we live in a cosmopolitan musical world these days where Jay-Z can headline the biggest music festival in the country, and so I was definitely not expecting the expressions I got from my friends when I put the Dizze Rascal track "Pussyole" on.

Maybe a few years back, when we used to make fun of Lethal Bizzle's "Pow", it would be understandable. Most commercial hip-hop, even relatively restrained british grime, is mindless boasting over stolen samples, and for a long time I assumed that Dizzee Rascal was similar.

What turned me onto him initially was that string of commercial hits he's had over the last year - Bonkers, Holiday et al. Shallow fun? Well, yes. But Bonkers is perfect in its simplicity: its small number of lyrics means punters will have remembered it entirely within a handful of listens, and there is a darkness in lines like "I let sanity give me the slip".

that girl's from school, that girl's from college
that girl gives brains, that girl gives knowledge

Then I stumbled across "I Luv U". Dizzee's first hit (although by now pretty much buried by his later successes), "I Luv U" is dark, abrasive and unmistakably urban. At ten years old, it's dated as badly as most electronic music of its era but is still phenomenal. Sure, some might dismiss Dizzee's lyrics as "chavvy" in both content and slang, but its message is an important one. And are such lyrics significantly better than that of your average guitar-rock band?

My point, then, is that people shouldn't feel the need to restrict their musical tastes by class or anything. Should Dizzee Rascal be a guilty pleasure for me, a middle class white kid? Don't be ridiculous. Even back in 2007, he was collaborating with Alex Turner of Arctic Monkeys and Lily Allen, who are as "white" as you can get. Those who can't accept hip-hop - and grime - as part of mainstream entertainment to be enjoyed by anyone needs to fix up and look sharp. (Geddit?)

Revision music

When it comes to revision, I have to revise for hours on end, or I don't get any done at all. In this case I need an amazing soundtrack to keep me focused and motivated. Through this need, I've discovered the joy of full albums - that is, albums all the way through without shuffling or skipping any tracks or anything. With that in mind, here are some of my favourite albums to revise to. I've included links to them on Spotify or Youtube or in some cases the legal free downloads offered by the artist. Enjoy!




My Bloody Valentine - Loveless
Mmm, seminal shoegaze. Lots of lovely textures and dreamy vocals to get lost in. Flows like a dream.

Nine Inch Nails - The Slip
A few upbeat songs to get the blood pumping and your spiritis up, before NIN open up to a hypnotic instrumental second half. See also: Ghosts I-IV.

Boards of Canada - Geogaddi
I know it's a cliche to describe electronica as "taking you on a journey", but Geogaddi transports you to your own worst nightmare. I've yet to survive more than three quarters the way through.

Rage Against The Machine - Evil Empire
While listening to this one, imagine that Zack de la Rocha isn't in fact passionately rapping in favour of a new world order, but instead shouting words of encouragement. Then it'll make sense.

Forest Fire - Survival
Sure, they may be hipsters pretending to be a folk band - but what an act it is. And beautiful production, too.

The saviour of the music industry?

I've never trusted Spotify. Swathes of free music, interrupted by the occasional advert, sounds absolutely fantastic on paper. But if Spotify closes down, your main music collection (that you've spent countless years slowly building up through gradual discoveries) is gone, poof.

For those who enjoy listening to pop songs on the radio this won't matter - it's music obsessives like myself who not only consume music, but horde it like treasure, occasionally delving into its depths to appreciate a long-forgotten gem. Would I have got into Smashing Pumpkins if "Bullet With Butterfly Wings", downloaded years earlier, hadn't come up on shuffle?

Continuing with the treasure-hording analogy, Spotify is like being let loose in an endless sea of jewels and gold: there is as much as you want, but none of it ever feels like it's actually your own.

Which is why the new version of Spotify, being launched over the next few days, is so interesting. It allows you to add your own MP3s to the program, effectively turning it into an iTunes-style music library organiser - but with the killer feature of allowing free access to every song on the service.

With links to purchasing MP3 copies of each song attached to each streaming song, you could easily listen to an album for a few times before deciding whether or not it's worth paying for. It's a paradigm shift: instead of sticking your neck out and buying an album on the strength of a couple of singles, you get to try before you buy.

And Facebook integration simply tops it off, really. Friend lists are a no-brainer, and I can't wait to stuff my music recommendations down all my friends' throats.

The only thing holding me back from switching to Spotify as my full-time music player is the fact that it won't work on my faithful (non-touchscreen) iPod. Still, I can genuinely see Spotify as the future of the music industry. It's an ingenious business model - let's just hope that it can get through its teething troubles.