Happy 2012 dudes and dudettes and interdimensional beings and whatever the hell else is out there reading our humble lil’ blogging space. Whelp, we made it through another one. Go us. Go humans! We had a lot of fun doing whatever it is we do throughout these twelve months, and we hope you did too.

2012, apocalypse notwithstanding, is shaping up to be an awesome year for the brand and the blog, and we can’t wait to show you all sorts of new mysteries and treasures. We may or may not have figured out a way to resurrect some of the best journalists of the past century to come write for the Bloglin. Science! So, as we mumble through the words to Auld Lang Syne (are there actually words to that song? Does anyone really know them? I’m the first person to make this joke, right?) we’ll be thinking of you, dear readers. Good luck with your festivities, good luck with tomorrow morning (hair of the dog, I promise), and good luck with 2012!

Seriously though, he’s never given out his music in such high quality. Happy new years earth, here’s full quality 320kbps versions of 2011′s breakout producer Clams Casino‘s album Instrumentals available for the very first time. Fo free!

Already one of my faves of 2011, it’s even better all remastered and what not. Who knew this shit could his even harder? Now that we’ve got the definitive version of this one, let’s get a whole new collection in 2012 amirite? Clams? You out there? I’m gonna go drink some eggnog…

Download Clams Casino’s Instrumentals (Click Here)

As you may remember, at the end of every year I like to take a look back at all the best collectibles I’ve found on the massive digital fleamarket that is eBay and share them with you folks. As a collector, I can’t tell you how great eBay is for finding things I didn’t even know existed.

That being said, it was a bit of a slow year for me on eBay. I guess I was too busy, or maybe I wasn’t finding as many treasures, but I didn’t actually buy that much stuff. I think I actually only purchased 10 items this year, and this is them. I try to use the actual photos from eBay when I can, and the titles that you see are the actual descriptions from the auctions. These 10 items are in no particular order of favorites.

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• THETA NU EPSILON 1901 Gold SKULL Secret fraternity PIN

I got really into gold this year, I’m not sure why as I have always been a silver person. Maybe it was the fact that it was pushing over $1,700 an ounce, which really made me want to start buying gold. I forgot how I found this pin, but I am so into these right now.

They were made to put on lapels or hats from “Secret Societies” at different colleges. I have a few more of these on my list, but I think this is my favorite because of the condition, the fact that it’s 18k gold, the jewels are original, and it’s actually dated on the back from 1901.

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• TIN BLACK FACE DEXTERITY GAME W/ADVERTISING…GERMANY

If you know me, then you know I am not a stranger to the collection of the taboo. Honestly, I don’t remember how I found this auction, but I am pretty sure that I looked at the other items from a seller and I saw this item and knew I had to have it. It’s some sort of old German advertising game, where the goal is to get the white balls (teeth) in the man’s mouth.

This is, obviously, from a time before civil rights. It’s a racist caricature, and something to remind us of how life once was. The game is really well made, with a metal frame and the front and back made of glass. I have a feeling it was made for some sort of medicine or elixir.

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• CREEPY BODS – “DR. GUTS” – HEADLESS BODIES

This year I finished my complete collection of Creepy Bods. If you’ve ever owned a Mad Ball and wondered where the body went, then here’s your answer.

Well, sort of. They weren’t really licensed by the same people, but more power to the guy who figured out that for some people the heads just weren’t enough. This is Dr. Guts, he is supposed to go with Slobulous. Bootlegtoyz4life!

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• CREEPY BODS – “OOZE” – HEADLESS BODIES

Another Creepy Bod to finish my collection of four. This is “Ooze” and he appears to be some sort of carnivorous swamp creature, or perhaps a science experiment gone wrong and run amuck in the sewers.

Special shout out to all the Keep Watch-esque bloody eyeballs that are peppering his bod (his Creepy Bod!). Not sure which Mad Ball this goes with. Maybe he’s just a utility player.

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• vintage HUGE SILVER SKELETON RIDING MOTORCYCLE RING s15

I love rings, especially vintage Silver ones. This one is pretty epic. First of all it’s a size 15, which is HUGE, and it’s also a full size Grim Reaper riding a motorcycle. How bad ass is that!?

The coolest thing about this auction is that the seller failed to mention that it was made by “G & S”, which not only dates it (1980s) but gives it more value as there are people who solely collect rings by G & S. They were the ones that sold in the back of comic books and magazines, as well as what you could find at swap meets and flea markets aplenty in the 1980s.

Hit the Jump for the rest!

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2011 proved to be the resurrection of one of the rawest UK based genres to surface in this millennium. Grime originates somewhere between the late 90s – early 2000s Dark Garage days. It’s tinged with Jungle and UK Hardcore vibes and is characterized by an alternating 8-bar structure and vocals from street warlords that battle for mic supremacy.

The mid 2000s brought Grime to the US, with Vice pushing the Run The Road mixtapes. It was a time when Wiley and Roll Deep reigned supreme with JME, Skepta and Boy Better Know. Unfortunately, the genre was never properly promoted here and even the UK music industry discredited it, calling any generic hip hop “Grime.”

Most of the original Grime producers are still circulating and some still have Rinse.fm show such as Elijah and Skilliam. Their label, Butterz, has almost single-handedly kicked the scene in its ass. Score 5, Spyro, and Teddy also run weekly shows playing the newest in the genre. Plus you can’t forget Spooky on Deja Vu FM, and one of the originators, Logan Sama, who’s constantly setting the bar high on Kiss FM.

Spooky

Finally, Grime has some star MCs such as P-Money (who alongside Blacks released the best mixtape of the year, P and Blacks) and D Double E, both of whom have proved themselves on many tracks, even dipping into Dubstep and DnB influenced productions, which made making this list all the harder.

Producers and labels have come back in a big way, and if there is one person that has been turning everything to gold, it would have to be Spooky: applying a traditional structure and sound to his productions, he has brought us back to a better time, when music made your spine tingle and maybe even want to punch a guy in the face. The one label that has really made an impact, with their eclectic and forward thinking roster of producers, is Butterz: from the melodic and aggressive sounds of Royal T, to the more dubbed out crossover productions of Swindle.

The task at hand was arduous, and all ten tracks deserve as much recognition as the other. There are also a handfull of tracks that I had to include as honorable mentions, such as Bok Bok‘s “Silo Pass“, Neon Beats‘ “Attack”, DJ Shiftee‘s remix of Ayarcana’s “Allright“, Deset’s “Virus” and the majority of Preditah’s Eightsome EP. So enjoy the list, and lets make 2012 the year of Grime worldwide… Pray for Bass!

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10. Star Eyes – White Gloves [Trouble & Bass]

First we have a release from Brooklyn’s first lady of bass, Star Eyes. This DJ turned editor (XLR8R) turned producer hits a home run with the title track of her grime/house dubbed three track EP, giving us those bouncy basslines, ravey stabs and voodoo interludes.

Star Eyes, along side Drop The Lime and a few others, is one of the reasons Grime and Dubstep exist in NYC, and we all owe her a great deal of gratitude. If you are not convinced, or for some reason you’ve not been living in the same rave cave, then you are in for a treat.

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9. J-Sweet – Can’t Stop My Grime [Slit Jockey]

Throughout the year, J-Sweet has turned out copious amounts of really heavy tracks, starting with his collaboration with the legendary Alias on their MarxAlias EP, and the Spartan remixes to “Street Hawk/Tell Them” and “Clash.”

J-Sweet’s tracks sound like rolling thunder, and as this track states, you can’t stop them! Honorable mention also goes to his track “Kerb” but even more so to (Slit Jockey head) Starkey’s remix.

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8. Big Narstie – Gas Leak (prod. Dexplicit) [Dice]

Dexplicit’s Rise of the Centaur would have been in my top 5 EPs of 2011. His track “Futurian” is possibly the more demure of the 6, and yet it stands out here in it’s other incarnation as “Gas Leak” thanks to Big Narstie’s heavy flow that tends to peak at the end of each verse.

“The Centaur” and “Pirate Cave” are definitely heavier tracks that have been circulating the airwaves as well for quite sometime, yet this one is probably the one with the most crossover potential because of its half-time tempo and of course Narstie’s hyper lyricism. Dexplicit has been turning out tunes for quite sometime. After a stint in bassline and hip hop, he is back to his Grime roots, providing some of the heavist instrumentals of the year and standing up to the weight of his classic battle riddim, “Hench.”

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7. P-Jam – Aryzona Skyz [Hardrive]

I am making an exception for this track as it is actually a forthcoming January release for Hardrive Records, but the fact that it has been spun so much on the radio over the past six months has to speak for the magnitude of the track. This track has all the qualities that you would look for in a great track: old school breaks, soothing melodies, glitchy stabs, and a heavy rolling bassline.

Released earlier this year, the Anger Management EP (Hardrive) is a further example of why you should be watching out for this producer in 2012; keep watch for a second january release on Score Five’s Plain Face label.

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6. Terror Danjah – Full Attention (feat. Ruby Lee Ryder) [Royal-T Remix] [Butterz]

This combination made my eyes bleed: Terror Danjah, one of the rulers of the dark and experimental Grime world since the early 2000s, gets remixed by Butterz’s prodigal son Royal-T. The outcome is a lethal track, too hard to even be on the original release, yet worthy of a Butterz monthly mailout. It blends Ruby Lee Ryder’s vocals into a tornado of kicks and melodic breathers that will leave any dancefloor in a frenzy.

Terror Danjah, a household name in Grime after having released for years on the iconic Hyper Dub and Planet Mu imprints, runs the futuristic label Hardrive Records which avails itself of artists such as D.O.K., the man responsible for “Missing Step.” Royal-T has had a big run this year providing the instrumental for P Money and Blacks’ “Boo You” and “Orangeade.”

Hit the Jump for the Top 5!

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So, let me just qualify this list. Briefly. As of right now, I’m slightly more than a blip of nobody on the hip hop radar. My opinion, while valuable enough to qualify me to write for the Bloglin, doesn’t carry weight in the public sphere. While they should, the New York Times isn’t calling and asking for my input, Red Bull isn’t asking me to host Music Academy events, and I don’t get invited to Combat Jack or other popular radio shows. And so, I’m not writing this list as someone who observes rap, and orchestrates stuff off the page. I’m writing this list as a very excited artist, and fine tuning it as a uniquely informed critic (are there any other rapper/critics out there?).

Most of these folks are my friends, and I’ve made music with several of them. I’m sure there are tons of totally unknown producers out there making dope tunes, and making moves, but I don’t know that I should be watching them in 2012. Likewise I’m sure there are tons of equally-watchable producers out there who are more widely known, but I don’t know who they are. MP†C asked me to make a list of the folks to watch, and so as a rapper/producer/critic my take on this is informed by my own work as much my own observations.

These are the folks doing stuff that I’m excited about, and who have gotten enough of a buzz in 2011 that they could take off in 2012. But even if they don’t take off in 2012, these are all folks who will be delivering music in 2012 that will likely continue to raise the Wave and change the tide (with the exception of Mike Dean and Ken Lewis cause those dudes are way too big to be Wave).

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• Beautiful Lou (San Antonio, Texas)

What do you get for the man who has everything? New gear. It’s going to be an interesting year for Beautiful Lou. He’s been gaining steam steadily through 2011, as his beats on Live.Love.A$AP seem to have spread his name even further. His work with Tink has been nothing short of amazing and I’m pretty sure 2012 is going to show him a lot of love.

But the real question is what is his music gonna sound like as his rig changes? It’s not one of those “Will he still be dope when he’s not super lo-fi,” type of things because you can hear so much variety in his music that it’s clear his brilliance isn’t embedded strictly in the process. Get on it now, because once dude really hits next year it’s probably gonna be tough to keep up.

Download Beautiful Lou Thinks Ur Beautiful 2 (Click Here)

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• Skywlkr (Detroit, Michigan)

Skywlkr is in a very similar position as Lou, except without the A$AP features, so he’s not quite as fast-tracked. But again, the gear is going to play a role. I know he just got an MPC, and he’s got more new gear coming, so it’ll be interesting to see where it all takes him. Skywlkr is really good at sampling. He has a great ear for engaging samples, and he knows how to do the least that will do the most. And that’s what really good sampling is about: discovering amazing moments in sound, and finessing those moments into new soundscapes.

And with collabs from at least a half dozen Wave People already completed it’s gonna be tough not hearing his name next year.

Download Skywlkr’s Strawberry Cough (Click Here)

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• SpaceGhostPurrp (Miami, Florida)

I think SGP and Lou are in very similar boats. While you can draw some comparisons in their sounds, they are very different, but the both seem to be equally well-positioned for some heavy hitting in 2012. 2011 was definitely Purrp’s year low key. He was brought on to ensure the rise of the A$AP crew, and then promptly returned to Miami, where he has continued to mine the darker and more sinister side of Miami’s musical heritage.

Hip hop is nothing new at the bottom of the USA, but Purrp’s take on it is certainly a break from what the world might expect. And yet, with all the intrigue that has been sparked, it would seem that we haven’t even gotten the slightest clue of what he’s capable of. Yet. Expect that to change in 2012.

Download SpaceGhostPurrp’s Blvcklvnd Rvdix 66.6 (Click Here)

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• Nem270 (Ottawa, Canada)

I still don’t know much about Nem, aside from the the fact that he is grindin’ it the fuck out, and slowly building a rep as one of the hardest working dudes on the Wave. His sound is super-polished, and perhaps a bit more accessible than some of the other dudes on this list, but it’s still every bit as unique.

Nem takes very familiar sounds and rolls them out in unpredictable ways. It’s like he moved into the house of hip hop and totally renovated. Actually, no. It’s more like they tore down the house of hip hop and Nem got ahold of the best pieces of the house. And then he took them somewhere totally foreign, and used them to build something new.

Download Nem70′s Dank Worries EP (Click Here)

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• Friendzone (San Francisco, California)

This odd duo manages to crank out a steady stream of music that is anything but odd. But perhaps it’s odd that their beats have the majority of the hip hop blogs using word like “dreamy” and “peaceful”. But it’s accurate. Friendzone makes music for people who don’t like stress. Unlike a lot of other folks on this list these dudes went to school for music, and they clearly have roots in electronic musics that are not hip hop. But, that don’t mean shit because hip hop doesn’t care where you’ve been as long as you can drop bass. And drop bass they do.

But they have created a uniquely tempered sound that has played a noticeable role in the Green Ova sound. And, if everything is everything, they’ve got collabs coming with _________ and _________. The suspense could kill you, I know, so stay with these cloud seeding dudes and see what kind of weather the year brings.

Download Freindzone’s Kuchibiru Network 2 (Click Here)

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• L.W.H. (Dallas, Texas)

Imagine if you could give your video game LSD. Now hold that thought, sample it, and put some bangin drums under it. Now you’re ridin’ with L.W.H., AKA Aerobiz, aka the dude behind the camera for Unforgivable. While unexpected is a word I’d use to describe a lot of producers on this list, unpredictable seems to be more suited for Aerobiz.

His knowledge of music runs very deep, his sample library is filled with obscurities, and he can go from beats that were barely finessed into existence, right over to intensely composed works. If you like music that sounds good, you should be checking up on dude. It. Is. Just. That. Simple.

Download L.W.H.’s The Tape Hiss Hooligan (Click Here)

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Two favorites coming together like chocolate and peanut butter, whiskey and grappling hooks, epidermal microdermabrasion and occult obfuscation, Diddy and Aaron Paul. Crim3s got this fresh new remix from M△S▴C△RA for their track “Breed.”

Crim3s, who used to the Story of Isaac and were featured in our Fall 2011 Lookbook, have been on their grind since the name change, and bringing M△S▴C△RA in only makes this track even better. And the Power Rangers. Let’s not forget them.

At first I was like “alright I see where this is going” but then I was all like “okay, I fucks with this.” Internet presence slash violinist Jordan Ware has a habit of covering ASAP Rocky songs with his violin, but I wasn’t really on board until this new one for “Palace.”

He saves himself from gimmick-dom by just going in hard on what is already a dope track, or at least as hard as one can go in when playing a violin on a webcam. Dude is pretty ill. Maybe he can become the in house violinist for the ASAP crew. Rap and violin haven’t looked this good since the Tri-Lambs.

Hoodrat kids, we see you! Julian, a little rapscallion who last night made an appearance on this episode of A&E‘s endlessly lolzy Beyond Scared Straight program just happens to be a Mopster. Though he did get in trouble for fighting, druggin’, and just generally being a little ingrate, he certainly isn’t getting cited for lack of swagger.

Good to know our demo don’t take no shit from the po-lice, as Julian ended up acting pretty much exactly the same after his visit to the slammer. Sidenote: at one point in the episode an inmate yells at the kids that they think they can just “break bad.” I didn’t realize people actually said that. The more you know!

Okay, so maybe I’m a little bit of a sucker for these amazing holiday deals that Steam is having, but they’re just so damn good and allowing me to catch up on all the downloadable titles I missed without breaking my piggy bank let alone my bank account. Yesterday was The Binding Of Isaac, and today it’s Trine 2. Trine 2 (the sequel to 2009s Trine, shocker I know) is another round of the physics based puzzling that made that game an underground little hit.

Once again you can actively switch between 3 characters on the fly each with different abilities a la MDK or any number of other titles, this time in the usual configuration of a heavy (the knight, Pontius), a magic (wizard Amadeus), and a stealth/ranged (thief Zoya). The first thing I noticed was that the game looks amazing, way better than it’s predecessor, with gorgeous and varied art across levels and especially fantastic lighting effects.

It also plays quite tightly, seeing as it is mostly physics based, and you get that sort of fluid bounciness that comes with that territory, where objects are very precisely and consistently reacting to stimuli and whatnot. As you rid the kingdom of the evil Goblin King (real groundbreaking stuff here folks) you’ll encounter all sorts of dastardly puzzles that will have you scratching your head but never too long that you want to smash your keyboard.

The game is full of moments of elation as you finally figure out for yourself what to do. The game is very good about not holding your hand. There’s also a good 3 person co-op multiplayer if you, y’know, have friends. For under $15 bucks, Trine 2 is a must get for anyone who likes puzzles.