Dan Hancox’s great article on Wiley’s trajectory over the past decade in Fact Magazine alerted me to the existence of grimetapes.com.  Compiled by Paul Lynch, grimetapes is a steadily growing online archive of hundreds of grime sets and tracks gathered primarily from the early days when the scene was still pirate radio based, before the emergence of myspace, mp3 blogs and mixtapes. As such, the quality of the recordings – many of which are taped radio shows ripped to mp3 – varies considerably, but the occasional static and feedback usually enhance the feeling of intimacy and geographic particularity (East London) while listening to the recordings.  

I remember once reading an article somewhere a few years ago (probably in Wire), in which the author writes about listening to a Wiley set on Rinse FM or someplace and Wiley messes up a line in a verse and goes back over it a few times until he gets it right. These recordings are teaming with the creativity and energy that made the scene so vital, and this mix of live experimentation and rehearsal is captured in these recordings. The contrast with much of grime’s more mainstream, polished, packaged and tepid manifestations is striking.

One of the highlights of the set is the grimetapes presents series, mixtapes compiled from the material in the archive – the Wiley one is particularly recommended.

Image by Janina Pedan.