Sun Ra has Always Liked Grime - a post about Mall Grab
Updated: Nov 26, 2023
20 May 2023
a shedding of something old so that something new can emerge from within it
My mate Charlotte mentioned the name Mall Grab when I last caught up w/ her - Charlotte is some years younger than me, and we met in a rather conservative environment given the context of this post. I cannot recall exactly what she was saying about Mall Grab cus my attention deficit’d brain switched off at exactly that moment as the name she just uttered was all that kept replaying over and over - a bit like Rafiki when he holds Simba up @ Pride Rock after being born, but in a Bonobo - Kerala jolted music video style playback.
Match that to the fact Mall Grab has recently collaborated with someone like Nia Archives and it’s clear to me that this thing we called the ‘underground music scene’ really has come on leaps and bounds since my first Mall Grab 12” vinyl purchase @ Phonica Records back in 2016.
And just like that, the tone has been set.
Which Mall Grab releases do we care about for context of this post?
The Sun Ra release was one of the top selling records of that year.
As you can tell by some of the comments on the Discogs page, there was probably a grumpy boomer sat in front of his laptop somewhere frantically typing out things like 'who is this kid who has the gaul to reference the legend that is Sun Ra, I bet he hasnt even listened to a day of Spiritual Psychedelic Jazz in his life, what is all this lo fi riff raff'.
I won't bore you yet with my opinion on the whole 'lo fi' thing, but it was this and the references to other areas of pop culture, like the Alicia Keys sample on ‘Can’t’, or the choppy bleep bloops on ‘I’ve Always Liked Grime’ from the Menace II Society release that enticed and drew me in - the comments weren't reserved to nerd dungeons like Discogs, even ones on Soundcloud or YouTube (although tbf, also nerd dungeons) is evident that this guy was a polariser. A shedding of something old so that something new can emerge from within it. Old heads reminiscing of their brightly coloured 90’s shell suits or noughties sun drenched Ibiza days now having to make way for the Boiler Room generation. Heavy lo fi textures on rough production all cut onto marble grey vinyl… These kids are going to prove to you, and your terrible tribal tattoo, that you will regret having sold your Technics and all your Trance records. I'm talking to Bournemouth here, in particular.
Next they'll want to change their proclivities and experience sexual freedom ffs.
We always think things were better back in ‘our day’
We always think things were better back in ‘our day’ but it’s guys like Mall Grab that have taken a classic sound, especially that Kerri Chandler-esq tough New York housey kick drum, and carved his own path within a never ending cycle of innovation, gentrification, stagnancy, rinse repeat. I believe people who bridge this gap for newcomers to enter the scene and find what fits them is exactly the sort of thing Carl Cox meant when he said ‘we fought so long for dance music to be respected’.
It might not always be your cuppa tea, however I do think there is space for everyone to thrive within this culture, despite all the bullshit, beauracracy and politics that we inevitably feed into it.
Currently we all seem to care about the 30 second video clip from the last DJ gig which we all played at, and yes I am addressing the DJ's here:
Asking someone to record the moment while you are at the helm is very different from looking up at the room, while you are at the helm, to see it already happening organically, my brother. Have you not watched Inception?!
If you do struggle to see the difference with what I'm saying then let me spell it out for you...
One is contrived, pre-meditated even. You shouldn't need to prompt your pals to gas you up like that, let alone after the fact. The moment is already happening.
The status is mythical when these moments occur genuinely, and trust me, everyone in the room can feel when it's genuine.
I often miss the days of just being an innocent punter - before I decided to take a look behind this curtain…
Taking yourself off into the dance, get right up close to the speaker, in what feels like another universe - and convince yourself that the sound is physical as you can feel it playing with, and tickling, the top off your ears…
I dread to ever see a 30 second video clip online, of myself, reenacting that very specific moment, but I digress!
Long may Mall Grab continue and long may my friends, like Charlotte, climb the ladder down into the depths of the Underground, to join me where I firmly belong.
My favourite track:
'football chanting in an Irish bar'
I recall spending quite a few hours on my own in Barcelona while on a 3 day stag weekend around July 2016. It was a time of transition for me hence slipping away from the lads at midnight each night was important as I was not on the 'football chanting in an Irish bar' vibe as some of them still were at that time.
By doing this I carved out some memories which will always be personal to me, including one where I was serenaded by a girl who was fluent in Macedonian. Whilst smoking a joint on the beach too. She was odd and gave me a heavy Grunge meets Game of Thrones vibe, but we had a lovely time nontheless.
I'd listen to Mall Grab's Can't (SPOTIFY LINK) through my phone speaker on the long walk back to the hostel as daylight started to show it's head, singing "can't get you out of my miiiiiiiind", all gleeful.
It's exactly for this reason that I enjoy collecting music, and all of the imagery you see on this website - I can pick one of many and it'll send me down a rabbit hole of stories and memories that are connected to that song, or that photograph, or that person, and I am very grateful that I have the energy to share these with you.
Until the next one x
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