R.I.P. Gregory Isaacs (1950-2010)

.A.K. - Grime/Bassline Mix

.A.K. drops another mix with a selection of some of his favourite grime, bassline and bass house tracks, download it below:

 Grime / Bassline / Bass House - .A.K. by .A.K. 


Tracklist:


01: Youngstar - The Formula
02: No Lay & Silkie - Unorthodox Daughter (Kingdom Refix)
03: Roll Deep - Eskimo (Vocal Mix)
04: DJ Zinc - Killa Sound (Skream Remix)
05: Lucy Love - No V.I.P. (OK Formula 4x4 Vocal Mix)
06: Wizzbit - Aquarius (RMX)
07: Breakage Feat. Newham Generals & David Rodigan- Hard
08: Landslide Vs. Slaughtermob - Spulrt
09: JME - Famalam
10: Rude Kid - Jack Daniels
11: Maxsta - East London Is Back
12: P Money - Left The Room (Prod. By Sukh Knight)
13: D Double E - Street Fighter Riddim
14: Foreign Beggars Feat. Stig Of The Dump, Dr Syntax, Farma G, Remus, Kyza & Skandal - 7 Figure Swagger (Plastician Remix)
15: Yoof - John Conner

DRUNK GUY STABS GERMANY POLICE WITH A DILDO!

Breton_ 'Counter Balance EP' (HEK010)

The latest release from the Hemlock camp has finally reached the surface. Untold introduces newcomer Breton_ to the masses and, as always, is a pleasant surprise. Production is crisp and the beautiful vocals in 'December'are already stuck in my head after a few plays, backed by what I can only describe as a epic hip hop beat. Check it out:

  HEK010 BRETON_ Counter Balance EP by Hemlockrecordings

Release date: Dec 6, 2010 

New Mix + Interview by Spatial for Bassmusic blog

Bass Music Mix 24 - Spatial by Bass Music on Mixcloud

Gon - dub

Darling Farah - Berline (Funkineven Remix)

Lone - Raptured 

Lamin Fofana - Dance In Yr Blood

Unknown - Anaconda (Tribal Guarachero mix)

Jamie Grind - Same Old Me

T.Williams - Chop & Screw

Spatial - dub

Spooky - Hayfever Riddim

Bob & Major Grave - Imperial (Gon Remix)

Spatial - dub

C.R.S.T - May Not Be Real

Mista Men - Sure footed

KingThing - Mad Hatter

DJ C ft Ms Thing - Jump Up and Bounce

xxxy - Body Moving

Production Unit - With An X

Spatial - dub

Samo Sound Boy - Taking It All (Melé Remix)

Schlachthofbronx ft. MC Gringo + MC Nem - Fock Me Avontade

Check Spatial's interview over at Bassmusic Blog

Infra 004 is out now - BUY HERE

R.I.P. Eyedea

We lost another one of the most skilled MCs in the game, Michael Larsen, aka Eyedea, at the age of 28.

Big L and Jay-Z's freestyle (Stretch & Bobbito Show 1995)

No one can touch Big L and THIS IS WHY.

TAM 2010

Today I've attended Tam 2010. Lots of refreshing talks, ideas, laughs and calls to activism.

For more info click on the logo below:

Also check:

http://www.randi.org

http://www.senseaboutscience.org.uk/

The AK review: TUBE10 009

From Fundamental:

Having first stumbled across this producer’s efforts on the cloud sometime back in late 2009 I was immediately taken by his versatile use of melody in creating brooding, lingering and spacious tracks.  With early productions seemingly far more sonically related to the bleak grey cityscapes of these rain nourished isles than his native sun drenched Texas State, VVV had tapped in to the emerging sound that would come to be called future garage as he continued his transatlantic sonic explorations.  Now no stranger to the pages here at Fundamental, or indeed to the release sheets of late, VVV steps up to the plate and delivers the latest installment in the quality Tube 10 series.  The list of artists to previously grace this ten inch specialist label reads like a who’s who of the past few years of bass music and Vertigo & Flames / Slacktide is a sure testament to the status of VVV in the cadre of producers pushing the sounds of future garage ever forward.

Vertigo & Flames, the A-side of this release, is a tasteful melodic builder set to a proper skippy garage beat of crisp high hats, a boomy kick drum and a classic sounding flat tight snare.  The intricate drum programming keeps the beat flowing smoothly throughout, dropping in occasional swooshes and squelches on a fully future garage tip.  As synth stabs and swells introduce the melody, delayed and dubbed out vocal snippets punctuate the proceedings adding to the melodic atmosphere.  Not quite full words or phrases but ooohs, ahhs and half words weaving in and out of the listener’s focus.  The level of effects and their use is pronounced but never overbearing and alongside a wash of icy background winds the track stands as a real display of the producing chops VVV has to offer.

Slacktide, on the B-side, drops the BPMs down a few notches taking on a more tribal and syncopated feel to the beat.  In line with the flip side, the vocals continue with the dubbed out regime but the thick synth chord stabs invoke a Dubtech sentiment while the bass line pushes some serious air through the bins.  Overall Slacktide is a somewhat more aggressive and brash sounding affair to Vertigo & Flames’ meandering melodic sensibilities and will surely find favour among the cavernous spaces where raves still get deep and dark.

These are interesting times for bass-centric music.  Perhaps never before have there been so many competing sub genres or emergent scenes.  Never before has so many producers’ output been so readily available to the dance conscious public.  But no matter how much music is out there, it always seems that some individuals encapsulate certain aesthetics with a vigour that others can only emulate.  To me, VVV is one of a small number of individuals who best describe what Future Garage is.  With this release on Tube 10, he continues to be one of a number of producers who keep me checking the sheets every week to see where the future is going.

Vertigo & Flames (TUBE10 009) is out now on Tube 10 on digital and 10′ vinyl.


VVV INTERVIEW ON FUNDAMENTAL

Tom Waits Releases 78 RPM Record and Player

From Pitchfork

Colz - Infomatics 2010 Riddim

Colz must have posted this little gem on his blog while I was moving because it has slipped my attention.

A refix of a remix he did a while back, borrowing a vocal sample from an Infomatics' tune. Top stuff!

Bassweight DVD

From the Bassweight website:

BASSWEIGHT is a feature length documentary that offers an unparalleled insight into the subterranean world of Dubstep.

Charting the genre's growth from its obscure origins in south London to global recognition today, the film features in-depth interviews with many of the DJ's, producers and promoters who have been instrumental in Dubstep's ongoing evolution.

Skream, Benga, Kode9 and Mary Anne Hobbs are just some of the key players who have contributed, reflecting on the movement they've helped shape; a movement that has come to define the importance of underground music in the 21st Century.

This highly stylised film travels from Dubstep's birthplace in Croydon to Europe, Brazil and Japan, demonstrating just how huge an impact this initially indigenous scene has made at an international level.

Directed and produced by The SRK (Soka Afrika, Graffiti Asia, Rackgaki, Scratching the Surface: Japan), BASSWEIGHT documents this most clandestine of movements on its own terms and in its own voice

Spatial - infra004

The new 10" from Spatial is out next week, the release includes a free track downloadable from XLR8R's website. You can already buy mp3 or Flac HERE.

  infra004 preview by spatial

Spatial live @ Freerotation:

  UP#11 Spatial Live at Freerotation by unsound

Infrasonics

The AK review: Swamp 006

My good friend Ak was asked to review some releases for the great newly born website Fundamental and here's what he thinks of Ramadanman's efforts for Swamp81:

Without doubt Ramadanman is a producer and DJ at the very epicenter of the ever evolving UK dance music scene. As part owner of the mighty Hessle Audio imprint (alongside Ben UFO & Pangaea), ex-Sub FM / now Rinse regular, Ramadanman has all the while managed to find time to release tracks and remixes on his own and other notable labels like Soul Jazz, Applepips, AUS Music, Hemlock and Tempa amongst others. There is every indication that David Kennedy is one of those plucky individuals who’s furrowing of new aural pallets will continue to see him at the forefront of the scene for a long time to come. For now though, Ramadanman’s first outing on Loefah’s Swamp 81 label is an interesting development in both the label’s and the producer’s sound.

Following on neatly from Addison Groove’s introduction of the UK Juke variant, Swamp 006 sees Ramadanman lending his considerable talents to the exploration of this nascent sound. “Fall Short” on the A-side of this double A-side release juxtaposes the rude and bashy bass sounds of the now with soulful vocal musings of the kind Ramadanman has been pushing in his recent works. A pulsating soundtrack of 808 inspired percussion lines boom, bap and zap the speakers while tight snare rolls break up the beat and punctuate the intricate but flowing rhythm. Splashes of cascading synth melodies dot the track tying in the sublime vocal line that delays and swells its way to the eventual payoff when the bass drops to decimating effect. No huge departure from recent form then really and even perhaps more accurately a furthering of the recent evolution in Ramadanman’s output, this track stands as testament to the producers talent of blending brash bass heavy rhythms and melodic or dare I say even sensual / feminine pressures like those alluded to by Blackdown in his effusive testament to Hyph Mngo’s defining of a new direction in the sound previously known as Dubstep.

Ramadanman - Fall Short (SWAMP006) - Swamp81 by stholdings

“Work Them” on the flip steps things up a notch and delivers a speaker work out that from start to finish harkens back to early Miami electro bass beats given a 2010 relick. Like “Footcrab” before it, the song’s title is mercilessly chopped and repeated like a Chitown Juke crew’s name being constantly repped at a Walacam battle. Except this is 130bpm business, not the frantic pace of Juke from which it borrows the aesthetic. After two minutes of straight banging, 808 tom drum sounds increasingly pitched up reach a crescendo before a cheeky scratch break drops the beat back in. Shortly thereafter the track’s sole melodic element, a massive pad swell, washes the track out in a breakdown before the beat drops again increasingly invigorated as Ramadanman puts his programming chops to the test. This is a track that is made for peak times and will work the crowd in to hysterical fits of bass propelled hip swaggering motions, and while comparisons to “Footcrab” will be inevitable, I would argue that “Work Them” is a more robust and accomplished foray in to the emergent sound that Swamp 81 has unleashed upon us.

The question has to be asked though, how many records does it take to define a genre? And UK Juke is an interesting case in point. On Soundcloud you can easily find examples of producers willing to try their hand at emulating this sound, but will such efforts translate in to more releases along these lines? The quality of Swamp 81’s last two 12”s have obviously struck a resonant chord in the UK dance scene’s subconscious, with “Footcrab” garnering more than its fair share of column inches and continual rinses on the FM and interweb spectrums. But with Ramadanman’s “Fall Short / Work Them” we are treated to something more than just emulation. This is evolution through genre mutation.

Ramadanman – Fall Short / Work Them [Swamp006] is out now on Swamp 81

Major Grave - Major Beatz Vol.1

Major Grave unleashes his first instrumental grime EP upon us and he does it with a bang. Labels, ya hear?

  PROMO MIX- MajorBeatz_Vol.01 2010 by Major Beatz

GET THE EP HERE

Des Demure

As always, if you dig deep in soundcloud , you come up with the goods. This time I was lucky enough to stumble across Birmingham's Des Demure, another space cadet from the UKG School:

  Des Demure - Arpoon by Des Demure

  Des Demure - Money Beet by Des Demure

And for the wobble heads:

  Des Demure - Big Tuna by Des Demure

He's label hunting so if you're interested there's lots more to hear at his Soundcloud.

Ari Gold

A couple of months ago I started watching 'Entourage' and within 3 weeks I was already up to date with the runnin season (7), especially due to this guy, enjoy:

Biga - El climatico

Last time I was back home in Florence I ended up in a clothes shop near my house and the dude behind the counter suggested I check this crew and their mixes and he was right, top notch stuff, hear for yourselves:

From their blog post:

Recorded in a very early morning in August 2K7 after a "Notte Brava" on the loose in some of the baddest BAR in Florence. This is another classic mix by the hand of my man Biga. Who knows Biga already has this mix, so...everybody in Florence have "El Climatico"...!!! from Salsa to Soul, passing by Hip-Hop underground hit and classic Funk with a couple of Augustus Pablo's regular...you can find every bad kind of music on it.

So...as Biga says: "This is "El Climatico" recorded and mixed by Biga in August 2007. The wonderful art cover is by Mateo Rivano. Many thanks to Bubu, Igor and Joao for the contribution in making it."

Duccio

Biga - El Climatico [RAPIDSHARE]

Biga - El Climatico [ARCHIVE.ORG]

 

Tracklist:

Freddie Prinze - Hunga Rican (Columbia 1975)
Willie Colon + Hector Lavoe - La Murga (Fania 1974)
Zack de la Rocha + KRS One - C.I.A. (Criminals In Action) (Rawkus 1998)
Augustus Pablo - King David's Melody (Alligator 1983)
Dynasty - Adventures in the Land of Music (Solar 1980)
Camp Lo - Luchini (this is it) (Profile 1998)
Bob James - Night Crawler (Cbs 1977)
Madlib + J Dilla - Take it Back (Stone Throw 2006)
The impressions - We Must Be in Love (Curtom 1970)
J Dilla - Love (BBE 2006)
Ahmad Jamal - Misdemeanor (20th Century 1974)
Foster Sylver - Misdemeanor (Pride 1973)
Ahmad Jamal - Ghetto Child (20th Century 1974)
Thomas Fehlmann - Hana (Plug research 2004) / Snoop Dogg - Drop it Like it's Hot (Geffen 2004)
Lusine - Everybody Under the Sun (Ghostly 2004) / Slum Village - Get This Money (Interscope 1999)
Jermajesty - Nothing Like Bomb Music From The West (Plug research 2006)
Nobody - Jose de la Rues!!!! (Plug research 2005) / Mood - Secrets of the Sand (Blunt 1998)
Lightheaded - Suprise Cypher 2 (Tres 2006) / Q-Tip + Busta - For the Nasty (Motown 2005)
Waltel Branco - Meu Balanço (Cbs 1972)
Kool & the Gang - Dujii (De-Lite 1971)
John Klemmer - Free Soul (Cadet Concept 1969)
Augustus Pablo - Unfinished Melody (Message 1971)
Alain Goraguer - Ten et Medor (DC 1973)
Quasimoto - Come on Feet (Stone Throw 2000)
Parliament - Dr. Funkestein (Casablanca 1976)
Heather B. - Do You (Hi Rize 1998)
Dudley Perkins - Separate Ways Stone Throw 2006)
Barry White - Playing Your Game (20th century 1977)
Black Moon - I Got Cha Open (Wreck 1994)
Fania All Stars - Lullaby From Rosemary's Baby (Fania 1976)
Augustus Pablo - Chant to King Selassie i (Message 1971)
Sonora Dinamita - Virgen de la Candelaria (Fuentes 1979)
Group Home - Baby Pa (Payday 1995)
Bob James - Golden Apple (Cti 1974)
Group Home - Skit (Payday 1995)
Common - The Light (Mca 2000)
Bobby Caldwell - Open Your Eyes (TK 1980)


Check out the blog:   http://ragnampiza.blogspot.com/