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 PEOPLE UNDER THE STAIRS – The Om Years
(OM/Stomp)
People Under The Stairs have a new album out soon and this collection of the best-of and leftover is well timed to remind everyone who they are. Expect gentle stoner beats, party-happy rhymes and unusual samples courtesy of their love of crate-digging, paid homage to in the song 43 Labels I Like; PUTS are the connection between the Pharcyde and Ugly Duckling, for those interested in tracing the evolution of the genre. The second disc’s rarities brings to light funky tracks like Big Daddy Brown and the very Grandmaster Flash Hang Loose Pt. 2. Its instrumentals drag on for too long however, and you probably have to be as high as they were to appreciate them in full. This is still a good introduction to a group you’d do well to get better acquainted with, though.
***½
 VARIOUS ARTISTS – Major Flavours 3
(Universal)
The latest volume of the Major Flavours pop/rap/R&B series is mixed by DJ Sir-Vere. His main jobs are fading the tracks together so they flow better at parties and then filling them with name-dropping cameos from his famous friends along with shouts of his name to completely undermine that same flow. He succeeds at both admirably. Between Fergie and Lil Jon, most of Major Flavours 3 is the kind of club-filling musical guff that will send you scurrying back towards anything labelled underground, indie or even alternative at the speed of light. Just another compilation for people who haven’t figured out how to work the Internet yet.
*
 VARIOUS ARTISTS – Steppa’s Delight
(Soul Jazz/Inertia)
Dubstep: UK garage’s dark, half-time offshoot that takes the tension-and-release formula of dance music, removes the release and layers in twice as much tension instead. It’s the sound of urban paranoia and dread you can sort of dance to. Now we’re on the same page, we come to Steppa’s Delight, a two-disc set documenting some of the scene’s noteworthy elements. There’s no Burial or Skream so this isn’t aimed at the absolute beginner, more the listener who heard a few things on the Blogternet, liked that Untrue album and wants to hear more. Highlights include The Bug’s Poison Dart, with vocalist Warrior Queen ranting her claims of London rulership over concrete-crumbling bass, and Joker’s wobbly/spooky graveyard for treble, Gullybrook Lane. Some tracks will leave you scratching your head and wondering what the fuss is for, however. Maybe you had to be there.
***
 VARIOUS ARTISTS – Strange Hip Hop
(Albion/Inertia)
It says something about the nature of modern hip hop that even an album with the word strange in its title plays it safe and emphasises, as the liner notes put it, ‘moments where popular hip-hop took a leftfield approach’ rather than the truly oddball likes of Kool Keith, MF DOOM or Infinite Livez. Instead this CD contains slightly quirkier than usual excursions from Jay-Z, Nas and the compiler’s other favourites. The Wu are well-represented with Raekwon and Ghostface with U-God making appearances as well as the crew’s classic cut C.R.E.A.M. although for strangeness Ol’ Dirty Bastard would be the member to showcase. If the album you’re after is Slightly Unusual Hip Hop then this is for you.
**½
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