Jammer – Jahmanji

 

Even though grime got glam and captured the ears of everyone from ringtone-buying teens to contemplative middle-class listeners since being commandeered by Dizzee’s Disco, it’s still refreshing to hear an album that keeps solidly true to its roots while wringing London’s non-stop music scene for all it’s worth. Jammer is an old hand in the grime game, and uses his influence to rope in plenty of producers, MCs and vocalists on this debut. The most familiar track is last year’s Party Animal, which loops his urgent, on-repeat vocals over producers Boy Better Know’s old-school jump-up beat and throbbing bass, but there’s a lot more to get excited about here. Ignore the perennially boastful subjects a number of tracks are burdened with (money, status, girls) and check highlight Back To The 90s – a hardcore stomper given the 2010 treatment, with a wonky keyboard line and in-the-know lyrics. Musically, Jahmanji is vital, dementedly inventive and impossible to ignore. [Euan Ferguson]