Sydney producer/DJ/commentator Blaze runs through a few of his favourite things from the last year, and includes a few blunt observations about hip hop’s flavour-of-the-month status.

Here’s something I put together for my fortnightly column in Scene Magazine – five local releases that moved me in the oh-six. A full review of Astronomy Class is on its way.

Astronomy Class – Exit Strategy: Straight out of the Elefant enclosure, Astronomy Class is producers Sir Robbo and Chasm with The Herd’s Ozi Batla on the mic. The dub sensibility makes it a departure from the usual boom-bappery and gives it a welcome cohesiveness. From the frantic Art of War Part 3 to the radio friendly, and no less dope for it, A Brighter Tomorrow, Exit Strategy finds Ozi Batla at his best. He’s on the space rap tip, but his feet are firmly on Earth.

Def Wish Cast – The Legacy Continues…: After years of threats, the pioneers of real Aussie rap are back. With an arsenal of rhymes equally inspired by their b-boy and graf backgrounds and their sci-fi steez, Def Wish, Die-C and Sereck spit with unparalleled energy. And what does it mean that three aging b-boys who last dropped product together in 1993 put out the most sonically devastating and futuristically produced album of the year?

Hilltop Hoods – The Hard Road: Sweeping the DMAs, locking down the Urrghban and Independent ARIAs and scoring the J Award to top it off, it’s been the year of the Hoods. All sensible bets would have been on a Suffa/Pressure/Debris backlash right about now, but the trio stepped up their already tight game on their fourth LP. Who’s challenging the title track for pure banging hip hop that is just as palatable to the mainstream? No one, that’s who.

Low Budget – Magnasound: Melbourne represent! The surprise of the year comes from a young duo going by the names Genetik (on the mic) and Polarity (on the boards and decks). Lauded by everyone from Cyclic Defrost to Rolling Stone, they somehow captured the essence of early dusty 90s loops and laconic flows without sounding like they even tried. Don’t sleep. I’m particularly fond of the Ralph Steadman-esque artwork on this one.

Tornts – Decimation Recordings: Let’s face it, there aren’t many Australian emcees that really have an astounding lyrical style. You know, the type that gives you whiplash when you reach for the rewind button on some “I can’t believe he said that” isht. One who does? That’s Tornts. The ex-Tasmanian mic controller paints gritty pictures that make you flinch with each bar. If Charles Bukowski was a rapper from Australia, he’d spit something like this.

Also worth a shout: Muph n Plutonic’s Silence the Sirens, Overproof’s The High Life and Rainman’s Fire In The Belly. The Tongue’s Bad Education is the EP of the year. That title beat is fire!

If there’s something I’ve slept on, hit the comment section.