Dubstep and D'n'B in West London. That's cool. All the music events are always in East London.
12/11/2009 20:00atGinglik, Shepherds Bush
1 Shepherds Bush Green, London W12, London, London and South East W12
Cost: £3
Forces Electric @ Ginglik dubstep, breaks & dnb/halfbeat Finally a chance to hear some quality breaks of different tempos in West London. Chromatic (dnbradio.com) C83 (en:vision records) Beat Hub Soundsystem 8pm-1am £3 GET INVOLVED!
Thursday, 12 November 2009
Friday, 6 November 2009
Grimelock- Glow/ Down In
Glow. A big tune of 2007... The soul, The Bass. Released officially in 2009, I think. Like the comment below it says, this track badly slipped through the net. Even as a collective these guys arent getting the props. Loads of their tracks have been uploaded this year though. The violin on 'Down In', yikes.
Wednesday, 4 November 2009
Blackdown "Happy Birthday: I Am 5"
Blackdown's blog is one I go back to regularly. He's a great writer and he's informative and he knows the scene he's in (Dubstep, Grime). He's been writing his blog for 5 years and has written a run down of dubstep from back in the day to now. Really interesting stuff. And he's put alink to a download mix CD from Hatcha from the early days. I've put a link to his site below 'cause I'm not getting the download button coming up properly.
blackdownsoundboy.blogspot.com
"Five years ago today I started this blog. It was an accident of sorts: I was curious how hard it would be to register for one. Answer: not very. Liberated to write about whatever I felt strongly, I quickly grew to love blogging... and so here we are.
Over the years I've published a bunch of interviews with Skream, Burial, Burial again in depth, Shackleton, Trim, Skepta, Grievous Angel, Appleblim, Spyro, Mala n Loefah, Loefah, Loefah and Kryptic Minds, Silkie, Newham Generals, DVA, Dot Rotten, Marcus NASTY and Zomby's parrot.
I've documented my trips to Tokyo, NYC once, NYC twice, LDN by night, LDN by Nico Hogg's bike, Southall and China (imagined).
Some of my favourite posts include the What do you call it: funky? with Supa D, Soulja and Gee, *ahem* wonky, where is dubstep, and Trim's flow.
So, as it's traditional to give presents on birthdays, I've got a little something to share: an exclusive vintage mix CD by Hatcha from the foundational days in high quality.
· Download the Hatcha 2002 mix CD: here.
In the earliest days of dubstep the scene really was a tiny collective, with perhaps no more than 50 or so interested participants. In those times the way music got distributed (long before broadband), was by the passing of CDs, often down at Forward>> and this promo mix CD by Hatcha is one of several he gave out. I have two or three (including the 2005 "Practice Hours" one) and I bet even more exist. They're unique records in the development of dubstep, not least because more than anyone ever has and perhaps ever will, Hatcha singularly had more influence over what dubstep was and has now become.
The hardest part is dating it. My educated guess is 2002 or failing that late 2001. You can date stamp it by book-ending it with producers it doesn't feature. At one end you have no Ghost, Zed Bias or warm garagey beats, so that rules out 2000 and early 2001. On the other hand there's no Mala, no Loefah or coki, so that rules out 2003 when "Pathwayz" and a whole host of DMZ other beats began to emerge through his sets. And it's long before he began blew up Scuba, Distance and Caspa by playing their new dubs. There's even a little bit of 8bar grime, from Jon E Cash and Soulo (aka Jameson), which was never a huge feature of Hatcha's sets, though it popped up from time to time.
(To go off on a tangent, this CD is from even before Rinse embraced dubstep but I remember one time a few years later listening to Hatcha on Rinse only to hear him drop a mashup of Danny Weed and Cage's "Creeper" and a Whitney Houston accapella! It was awesome but it stuck in my mind as so out of character, as his sets were 90% exclusive dubstep dubs.)
What this CD does have is shed loads of Benga and Skream plus a little Artwork/Menta and Horsepower. The first time I recall hearing of Benga and Skream is when Hatcha boasted he had two new protégés while in the coat queue for the Maddslinky album launch party at 2002. It was memorable because in those times dubstep (though it wasn't really named yet) couldn't get into clubs like Cargo. It seems unimaginable now that Skream's remix of La Roux is a chart anthem and Benga is producing for Eve but it's true - and that state of affairs persisted for years, really up until DMZ proved you could successfully do dubstep clubs on a large scale.
So let’s say this is 2002. What you do hear is a snapshot of the early Benga and Skream sound. In many ways it was this just a little of a broad body of work - they were prolific writers, with literally thousands of tracks made between them, many now lost due to hard drive crashes and PC viruses - that transitioned dubstep from the dark swung garage of El-B, Horsepower and Zed Bias to the mid era of Loefah, Mala, Coki, Kode9, and of course Skream & Benga themselves.
You can hear the differences. On one hand gone is the housey warmth and r&b soul that El-B scattered in his bassy tracks to create a potent sweet/sour mix. Equally this is before Mala brought this bright spectrum of technicolour to dubstep with expansive, visionary tracks like "Neverland" and "Forgive" (compare Skream's sound here to his 2005 promo mix, where he admits Digital Mystikz gave him a kick up the arse). It's also before Loefah popularised the halfstep beat: the structures here are all 2steppy, with snares on the 2 and 4. (Interestingly, I've since noticed that DJ Abstract's early classic "Touch" is sorta halfstep, with snares on the 3 and 4, though it never caught on at the time).
What you see in Skream, Benga and also Plastician's sound of the time is a vision that's dark, clipped, minimal and grime-inspired. Indeed Geeneus has said in interview to me that he and Slimzee (an early champion of Benga), when they weren’t busy smashing up raves as proto grime godfathers Pay As U Go used to refer to dubstep as "safe grime." Listen to their sound, built on Fruity Loop synths, and there's a coldness to it. The warping basslines, which became a signature at the time, were built on the TS404 plug in. It was to Croydon what the 303 was to Chicago in the late 80s.
While Skream and Benga have since made more emotive records, I'm nostalgic for this era, especially as it now no longer makes up such a large proportion of the output of the scene. But this proportion played a crucial role. Around these times UK garage as a scene was all but collapsed, grime was going it's own angry way and no one wanted to touch what would be dubstep with a barge pole. El-B got frustrated at the darkness in the Forward>> scene and disbanded Ghost to form El-Tuff while Zed Bias began to be interested in broken beats. So as the dubstep scene narrowed while everything around it collapsed, in retrospect these sparse beats acted like a palate cleanser. Some critics mourn loss the house/garage/r&b touches, and with good reason, but the narrowing into Benga and Skream's sound made room for subsequent possibilities. Here was a dark minimal plateau: what can we build on it?
Well next came "Pathwayz" obviously, then "Indian" and "B" and before you know it we're into "Horror Show," "Neverland", "Request Line" and beyond. As Snoop Dogg jumps on Chase & Status riddims it's hard to imagine, but at once stage, indeed for several years, dubstep's flame flickered perilously - it could have gone out. This mixtape is primary evidence of what kept it burning.
So anyway, there it is. I hope you enjoy it. To complete the birthday celebrations, I believe it's traditional to make a wish. My wish is to blog for another five years. God knows who, where or what I'll be in five years time, but I hope I still feel as strongly about music as I did on both November 3rd 2004 and 2009.
· Permalink to the wav: here."
blackdownsoundboy.blogspot.com
"Five years ago today I started this blog. It was an accident of sorts: I was curious how hard it would be to register for one. Answer: not very. Liberated to write about whatever I felt strongly, I quickly grew to love blogging... and so here we are.
Over the years I've published a bunch of interviews with Skream, Burial, Burial again in depth, Shackleton, Trim, Skepta, Grievous Angel, Appleblim, Spyro, Mala n Loefah, Loefah, Loefah and Kryptic Minds, Silkie, Newham Generals, DVA, Dot Rotten, Marcus NASTY and Zomby's parrot.
I've documented my trips to Tokyo, NYC once, NYC twice, LDN by night, LDN by Nico Hogg's bike, Southall and China (imagined).
Some of my favourite posts include the What do you call it: funky? with Supa D, Soulja and Gee, *ahem* wonky, where is dubstep, and Trim's flow.
So, as it's traditional to give presents on birthdays, I've got a little something to share: an exclusive vintage mix CD by Hatcha from the foundational days in high quality.
· Download the Hatcha 2002 mix CD: here.
In the earliest days of dubstep the scene really was a tiny collective, with perhaps no more than 50 or so interested participants. In those times the way music got distributed (long before broadband), was by the passing of CDs, often down at Forward>> and this promo mix CD by Hatcha is one of several he gave out. I have two or three (including the 2005 "Practice Hours" one) and I bet even more exist. They're unique records in the development of dubstep, not least because more than anyone ever has and perhaps ever will, Hatcha singularly had more influence over what dubstep was and has now become.
The hardest part is dating it. My educated guess is 2002 or failing that late 2001. You can date stamp it by book-ending it with producers it doesn't feature. At one end you have no Ghost, Zed Bias or warm garagey beats, so that rules out 2000 and early 2001. On the other hand there's no Mala, no Loefah or coki, so that rules out 2003 when "Pathwayz" and a whole host of DMZ other beats began to emerge through his sets. And it's long before he began blew up Scuba, Distance and Caspa by playing their new dubs. There's even a little bit of 8bar grime, from Jon E Cash and Soulo (aka Jameson), which was never a huge feature of Hatcha's sets, though it popped up from time to time.
(To go off on a tangent, this CD is from even before Rinse embraced dubstep but I remember one time a few years later listening to Hatcha on Rinse only to hear him drop a mashup of Danny Weed and Cage's "Creeper" and a Whitney Houston accapella! It was awesome but it stuck in my mind as so out of character, as his sets were 90% exclusive dubstep dubs.)
What this CD does have is shed loads of Benga and Skream plus a little Artwork/Menta and Horsepower. The first time I recall hearing of Benga and Skream is when Hatcha boasted he had two new protégés while in the coat queue for the Maddslinky album launch party at 2002. It was memorable because in those times dubstep (though it wasn't really named yet) couldn't get into clubs like Cargo. It seems unimaginable now that Skream's remix of La Roux is a chart anthem and Benga is producing for Eve but it's true - and that state of affairs persisted for years, really up until DMZ proved you could successfully do dubstep clubs on a large scale.
So let’s say this is 2002. What you do hear is a snapshot of the early Benga and Skream sound. In many ways it was this just a little of a broad body of work - they were prolific writers, with literally thousands of tracks made between them, many now lost due to hard drive crashes and PC viruses - that transitioned dubstep from the dark swung garage of El-B, Horsepower and Zed Bias to the mid era of Loefah, Mala, Coki, Kode9, and of course Skream & Benga themselves.
You can hear the differences. On one hand gone is the housey warmth and r&b soul that El-B scattered in his bassy tracks to create a potent sweet/sour mix. Equally this is before Mala brought this bright spectrum of technicolour to dubstep with expansive, visionary tracks like "Neverland" and "Forgive" (compare Skream's sound here to his 2005 promo mix, where he admits Digital Mystikz gave him a kick up the arse). It's also before Loefah popularised the halfstep beat: the structures here are all 2steppy, with snares on the 2 and 4. (Interestingly, I've since noticed that DJ Abstract's early classic "Touch" is sorta halfstep, with snares on the 3 and 4, though it never caught on at the time).
What you see in Skream, Benga and also Plastician's sound of the time is a vision that's dark, clipped, minimal and grime-inspired. Indeed Geeneus has said in interview to me that he and Slimzee (an early champion of Benga), when they weren’t busy smashing up raves as proto grime godfathers Pay As U Go used to refer to dubstep as "safe grime." Listen to their sound, built on Fruity Loop synths, and there's a coldness to it. The warping basslines, which became a signature at the time, were built on the TS404 plug in. It was to Croydon what the 303 was to Chicago in the late 80s.
While Skream and Benga have since made more emotive records, I'm nostalgic for this era, especially as it now no longer makes up such a large proportion of the output of the scene. But this proportion played a crucial role. Around these times UK garage as a scene was all but collapsed, grime was going it's own angry way and no one wanted to touch what would be dubstep with a barge pole. El-B got frustrated at the darkness in the Forward>> scene and disbanded Ghost to form El-Tuff while Zed Bias began to be interested in broken beats. So as the dubstep scene narrowed while everything around it collapsed, in retrospect these sparse beats acted like a palate cleanser. Some critics mourn loss the house/garage/r&b touches, and with good reason, but the narrowing into Benga and Skream's sound made room for subsequent possibilities. Here was a dark minimal plateau: what can we build on it?
Well next came "Pathwayz" obviously, then "Indian" and "B" and before you know it we're into "Horror Show," "Neverland", "Request Line" and beyond. As Snoop Dogg jumps on Chase & Status riddims it's hard to imagine, but at once stage, indeed for several years, dubstep's flame flickered perilously - it could have gone out. This mixtape is primary evidence of what kept it burning.
So anyway, there it is. I hope you enjoy it. To complete the birthday celebrations, I believe it's traditional to make a wish. My wish is to blog for another five years. God knows who, where or what I'll be in five years time, but I hope I still feel as strongly about music as I did on both November 3rd 2004 and 2009.
· Permalink to the wav: here."
Tuesday, 3 November 2009
MPC Beat Session (Budamunky, Bottomfly, Juco & OYG @ Solfa
The latest installment of MPC Beat Session @ Solfa in Nakameguro, Tokyo, September 2009.
Monday, 2 November 2009
ENA/ Dr.Pytor- F Camera/ Drive 54
A most exciting electronic producer coming out of Tokyo- and internationally. This new release is awesome not just for the music but 'cause it's a collaboration with an international beat maker which means that it's not gonna be long before music lovers outside of Japan know who ENA is. And not just DnB fans. Dubstep/ Hip Hop/ House fans too. I don't think there's a genre ENA doesn't cover. He's a musical talent like no other. His first official release with MC Cardz 'Deadstock' in 2008 was flawless. Exciting D'n'B that no one else is making at the moment. Have never seen him spin and hoping/praying he reaches the U.K. for a tour. The track not on sale on Juno yet, but can hear and buy it below on beatport.
https://www.beatport.com/en-US/html/content/release/detail/197209/F%20Camera%20/%20Drive%2054
https://www.beatport.com/en-US/html/content/release/detail/197209/F%20Camera%20/%20Drive%2054
Sunday, 1 November 2009
Friday, 30 October 2009
Sa-Ra Creative Partners in London @ Gramaphone 4th November 2009 (Deviation Sessions)
7 pounds on the door 9-2am, 60-62 Commercial street London
LIVE in Vienna 25.10.09
LIVE BERLIN, GERMANY 26/10/09
LIVE in Vienna 25.10.09
LIVE BERLIN, GERMANY 26/10/09
Wednesday, 28 October 2009
Burial- Fostercare
The unreleased track off the new Hyperdub 5 years album. Deserved a post on its own.
Tuesday, 27 October 2009
Various: 5 years of Hyperdub
2 CD's, 34 tracks. Hyperdub has THE most unbelievable artists under one roof, it's like a who's who list of the most musically talented in Dubstep/Grime. Artists that have made my last three years. Burial, The Bug, King Midas Sound, Flying Lotus, Zomby, Joker, the list goes on...
The first CD's unreleased material- Burial still doing his thing with 'Fostercare'- and the second's a back catalogue.
Kode 9 has an insane ability in picking up untouchable talent. What do I mean by untouchable... I guess that nobody else sounds anything like them, doing their own thing, they're in a class of their own.
TRACKLIST - CD 1 (EXCLUSIVE MATERIAL) :
King Midas Sound - 'Meltdown', Kode9 & The Spaceape ft. Cha Cha - 'Time Patrol', Darkstar - 'Aidy's Girl's A Computer', Samiyam - 'Roller Skates', Flying Lotus - 'Disco Balls', Black Chow - 'Purple Smoke', Burial - 'Fostercare', Cooly G - 'Weekend Fly', Zomby - 'Tarantula', Martyn - 'Mega Drive Generation', LV ft. Dandelion - 'Turn Away', Mala - 'Level Nine', LD - 'Shake It', Quarta 330 - 'Bleeps From Outer Space', Ikonika - 'Sahara Michael', Joker & Ginz - 'Stash'.
TRACKLIST - CD 2 (BACK CATALOGUE) :
Kode9 - '9 Samurai', Burial - 'South London Boroughs', Kode9 & LD - 'Bad', The Bug ft. Warrior Queen - 'Money Honey' (rmx), LV ft. Erol, Bellot - 'Globetrotting', Burial - 'Distant Lights', Kode9 & The Spaceape - 'Ghost Town', Kode9 & The Spaceape - 'Fukkaz', Samiyam - 'Return', Darkstar - 'Need You', Zomby - 'Spliff Dub' (Rustie rmx), Ikonika - 'Please', Zomby - 'Kaliko', 2000F & J Kamata - 'You Don't Know What Love Is', Joker - 'Digidesign', Kode 9 - '9 Samurai' (Quarta 330 rmx).
The first CD's unreleased material- Burial still doing his thing with 'Fostercare'- and the second's a back catalogue.
Kode 9 has an insane ability in picking up untouchable talent. What do I mean by untouchable... I guess that nobody else sounds anything like them, doing their own thing, they're in a class of their own.
TRACKLIST - CD 1 (EXCLUSIVE MATERIAL) :
King Midas Sound - 'Meltdown', Kode9 & The Spaceape ft. Cha Cha - 'Time Patrol', Darkstar - 'Aidy's Girl's A Computer', Samiyam - 'Roller Skates', Flying Lotus - 'Disco Balls', Black Chow - 'Purple Smoke', Burial - 'Fostercare', Cooly G - 'Weekend Fly', Zomby - 'Tarantula', Martyn - 'Mega Drive Generation', LV ft. Dandelion - 'Turn Away', Mala - 'Level Nine', LD - 'Shake It', Quarta 330 - 'Bleeps From Outer Space', Ikonika - 'Sahara Michael', Joker & Ginz - 'Stash'.
TRACKLIST - CD 2 (BACK CATALOGUE) :
Kode9 - '9 Samurai', Burial - 'South London Boroughs', Kode9 & LD - 'Bad', The Bug ft. Warrior Queen - 'Money Honey' (rmx), LV ft. Erol, Bellot - 'Globetrotting', Burial - 'Distant Lights', Kode9 & The Spaceape - 'Ghost Town', Kode9 & The Spaceape - 'Fukkaz', Samiyam - 'Return', Darkstar - 'Need You', Zomby - 'Spliff Dub' (Rustie rmx), Ikonika - 'Please', Zomby - 'Kaliko', 2000F & J Kamata - 'You Don't Know What Love Is', Joker - 'Digidesign', Kode 9 - '9 Samurai' (Quarta 330 rmx).
Sunday, 25 October 2009
Ras G + Illum Sphere @ The Macbeth London 29th October
Cool. Ras G finally here. Illum Sphere gonna be partaking too. He did the crazy remix of Kidkanevil's 'Real Wild'.
Oneness event: L.As Ras G and London vocalist Shuanise (LIVE) DJ’s Alexander Nut (Rinse FM) Illum Sphere (Hoya Hoya)
RAS G / Tha Message
Oneness event: L.As Ras G and London vocalist Shuanise (LIVE) DJ’s Alexander Nut (Rinse FM) Illum Sphere (Hoya Hoya)
RAS G / Tha Message
Saturday, 24 October 2009
Commix - Be True Burial Remix
Having a huge Burial withdrawl, going through you tube to see if anything new up, there is one new track Lambeth but it's got bleeps all through to stop bootlegging, I think that's the reason anyway, found this Commix be true remix, sounds nothing like the original, which is a good thing 'cause the original already too beautiful in it's own right. Love drum n bass, feel drum n bass, wanna live drum n bass again. Nothing more loving and peaceful than this liquid stuff.
Burial remix
Original
Burial remix
Original
Wednesday, 21 October 2009
DJ Baku in London@ Life (Old street) 28th October
I found out about this event last night. The way it happened felt like fate. I am more than grateful. This could have easily slept through the radar, after missing DJ Mitsu, am on a mission not to miss the best. Yeah I'm still slighting over that. DJ Baku in London town, next week. He's gonna be playing tracks from his new release 'The 12 Japs' and hopefully old releases too. I'm excited. When I wrote the other day that B.I.G Joe works with good people. I was thinking of DJ Baku. He featured on 'The 12 Japs album' on a track called 'PHOENIXION 09'. Other artists on this album are the mighty Ill Bosstino and Shing02. Maybe I Manifested. Happy.
Tickets 5pounds, 9pm-5am.
http://www.life-oldst.com/
DJ Baku site: http://www.disdefensedisc.com/index2.html
Cuts of Culture 2 - The Podcasts: DJ Baku 'Spin Street' Live
Tickets 5pounds, 9pm-5am.
http://www.life-oldst.com/
DJ Baku site: http://www.disdefensedisc.com/index2.html
Cuts of Culture 2 - The Podcasts: DJ Baku 'Spin Street' Live
Sunday, 18 October 2009
B.I.G Joe/Mick Jack Production- Lost Dope '09 (12")
There's something about B.I.G Joe. He works so hard. Works with good people. Love his beatsmith. He's conscientious. Gotta admire it. He's been releasing for a while. Second beat -Midnight Express- on this 12" is dope.
Friday, 16 October 2009
BLAK TWANG + LAZY HABITS @ Hootananny 21s October 2009
Real hyped about this event, really hope he does some old school tracks too, Westwood used to give Blak Twang so much airplay, hope he gets a good turn out, this guy started things in the U.K.
http://www.hootanannybrixton.co.uk/
Blak Twang Live in Session on BBC Radio 1 with Ras Kwame (tracks off the Speaking from Xperience album)
Dettwork SouthEast
Blak Twang feat Roots Manuva-The queen's head
http://www.hootanannybrixton.co.uk/
Blak Twang Live in Session on BBC Radio 1 with Ras Kwame (tracks off the Speaking from Xperience album)
Dettwork SouthEast
Blak Twang feat Roots Manuva-The queen's head
Thursday, 15 October 2009
Woosh @ Cafe 1001
This Joker remix track on its 10th rewind this morning, it's killing me... tonight at Woosh Om Unit aka DJ 2tall alongside Mr.Beatnick and Ahu...
Digidesign (Om Unit's Pop Lock Remix)
Mr Beatnick - I know all the bitches feat. Ahu (Bullion Remix)
Digidesign (Om Unit's Pop Lock Remix)
Mr Beatnick - I know all the bitches feat. Ahu (Bullion Remix)
Wednesday, 14 October 2009
Joker - Digidesign
Wanted to check out a night tonight at Cafe 1001 in Bricklane- Woosh- (with Om Unit, Mr.Beatnick and Ahu) and was listening to the digidesign remix (Om Unit aka 2tall)..... and came to Joker. Wow. He's got skillz.
http://www.myspace.com/thejokerproductions
Digidesign
Digidesign- Om Unit's Pop Lock Remix
Stuck In The System
Snake Eater
http://www.myspace.com/thejokerproductions
Digidesign
Digidesign- Om Unit's Pop Lock Remix
Stuck In The System
Snake Eater
Sunday, 11 October 2009
Saturday, 3 October 2009
Tandem- C'Est Toujours Pour Ceux Qui Savent
Off the 2005 album 'C'Est Toujours Pour Ceux Qui Savent'
93 Hardcore
Tu croyais quoi
93 Hardcore
Tu croyais quoi
Friday, 2 October 2009
Wednesday, 30 September 2009
Hunger
Hunger's ridiculous good. On the first track 'Jappcats', he's just rhyming his way through the names of all the Japanese HipHop artists.
Hunger-JAPPCATS
Cro-magnon feat. Hunger - SESSION LIVE
HUNGER featuring QUIZA、BOLDOO aka D-L - One Time In Mongolia
Hunger-JAPPCATS
Cro-magnon feat. Hunger - SESSION LIVE
HUNGER featuring QUIZA、BOLDOO aka D-L - One Time In Mongolia
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