More Magma than Maxi Babydog

Watching Beenie Man live at the Dour Festival the other week I was struck by the strange realisation that Dancehall reggae performed live has more time signature changes than the average Emerson, Lake and Palmer recital. It's that greatest hits-megamix thing that Dancehall stars go in for - four bars of one hit, followed by 8 bars of another, etc, etc. Jive Bunny with street cred.

This is Niche

Disclaimer: I know nothing about Niche other than what I can surmise from watching a few videos and reading the comments on You Tube.

Niche (aka bassline) is a new genre of music sweeping the North of England and the Midlands.
Niche is a combination of UK Garage, Grime, 'Ardkore, and R&B.
Niche is named after a nightclub - Niche in Sheffield - continuing a fine tradition that includes House music (named after the Warehouse in Chicago) and Garage (named after New York's Paradise Garage).

Niche is not just in Niche - see also: Maximes in Wigan; Sheridans in Dewsbury; Malia, Greece.
Niche follows the classic North/South divide in UK clubland (think jungle vs. happy hardcore): a little less cool, a little more proletarian, certainly more utilitarian, a lot more fun.
Niche sometimes reminds me of Steve Walsh (Hello MC Bonez)!
Niche will be massive (like Manchester City). The Broomstick Song by Suspex will lead the way.
Niche will annoy the fuck out of a lot of people.
Niche is sik! (so I'm told).
Niche is dead (if an old man like me is writing about it).
Niche will never die!
Niche does not exist (says Billy CCS).

Genre-hopping

Love this mashup of Grandmaster Flash's The Message and La Revedere by Vienna's Dunkelbunt (featuring the Amsterdam Klezmer Band). DJ Typsy Gypsy from Belgium's very own Balkan Hot Step Sound System is the man responsible. While we're genre-hopping, how about a dash of Congrotronics? Konono No. 1 are hosting a four-hour Congotronics extravaganza at the Sfinks Festival near Antwerp on July 28th.
Perhaps Turbo-Folk is more to your liking. Dara Bubamara is one of the leading practioners.
Changing continents, what about a dash of Hip-Life? High Life's refined sound lends itself well to the smoother, chart-oriented end of the rap spectrum. I could imagine Will Smith blending some Hip-Life elements into one of his hits in the same way that Paul Simon incorporated Township Jive on You can call me Al, or Eurythmics hinted at calypso on Right by your Side.
And then there's Niche (see above).

East German postpunk

Ever wondered what postpunk from the DDR sounds like? An article on the very topic in Germany's excellent De:Bug magazine led me to this tasting menu for the CD that accompanies the book Spannung Leistung Widerstand: Magnetbanduntergrund DDR 1979-1990) ('Tension Power Resistance': tapeband underground East Germany 1979-1990 ) by Alexander Pehlemann & Ronald Galenza. These cassette recordings - taped and passed from peer to peer, usually no more than 40 or 50 times (what in the Soviet Union was called Magnitizdat distribution) indicate a vibrant underground risking arrest and imprisonment for their art.
My German is too feeble to be able to comment on the lyrics, but musically there are hints of the Residents, Young Marble Giants, John Foxx-era Ultravox, the Krautrock of Can, Neu! and the gang, the metal-bashing of Neubauten or Die Krupps, and other, unplaceable, but familiar, electronoise signals. Sometimes it's great, sometimes it's crap: it's brilliant that it got made at all.