DMZ 8th Birthday is upon us!..

The DMZ 8th Birthday is approaching and all my dear friend M and I have been listening to has been dubstep!

Here you can listen the live recording of the on the 5th anniversary of Dubstep Warz on Mary Anne Hobbs' BBC Radio1 Breezeblock show. A remarkable show that brings together the most influential DJs and producers in the scene! Mala, Skream, Kode 9 & The Spaceape, Vex'd, Hatcha & Crazy D, Loefah & Sgt Pokes, Pinch, Benga and Distance.

Bring it on!...

Dubstep Warz by Mary Anne Hobbs on Mixcloud

Pinch and Shackleton release

Been listening to the latest Pinch and Shackleton release. I love every single track on the album! It's been a while since I listened to something I enjoyed so much! Then again, it was expected, put Pinch and Shackleton together and there is no way it can go wrong.

'how to dubstep'

Think it's the same guy as in the previous video I posted... He's too good!
...and yes, I'm still on YouTube checking people dancing dubstep videos... 

...and you thought you could dance?..

This morning I've been keeping myself busy looking at YouTube videos of people dancing to dubstep. Have a look at this.
Thanks for opening my eyes D! :)

Bestival 2011 - A retrospective - Day 3

On Sunday I started with Joy Orbison, followed by Kode9 at the Roller Disco, really enjoyed both sets. The left to go to the main stage to see Bjork, who was the last before the closing ceremony. She played really well, again you could really feel the dynamic in the crowd, everyone was dancing and singing. She looked amazing on stage and had a chorus with her. After the ceremony with the fireworks, balloons and these weird massive balloon men walking around the crowd and with some strange choices for music to go with the whole thing, I went back to the Roller Disco, where I briefly saw Joker and then moved on to Bollywood, where Tensnake was playing. I didn't like his set much, it a bit too funky for my taste, so I left to go for a walk in the Ambient Forest, it was magical! Loved it in there! I then rushed to the Big Top to see Derrick May, but to my dissappointment had changed times with DJ Shadow. I think I saw him playing 3 maybe 4 tracks, it was actually quite good, almost drum and bass, and the visuals pretty impressive! Then back to Bollywood to see Paul Kalkbrenner. This was exactly what I needed at that moment! Kalkbrenner played like always most of Berlin Calling which I love and the lights were super cool! And finally Derrick Carter, which for me was pretty dissappointing. We then left and were hoping to find somewhere else with good muysic to go, but we failed. It would have been great if they had organised a little after partty somewhere hidden for those of us still wanting a little bit more techno!.. Finishing at 2am is just too early... Hightligh for Sunday Bjork and Paul Kalkbrenner!

DJ Eprom RobotSexTape

Listening to this mix from Warsaw based DJ Eprom, not bad.Can be streamed it or 'pay what you like' to get it!

Mount Kimbie at Heaven

On Thursday 28 April I saw Mount Kimbie at Heaven. Great gig, nice venue, good sound, lots of people, quite young crowd. Didn't see any of the support bands or DJs, as I got there just as soon as Mount Kimbie were about to start. They played for about 45mins, would have been great to have seen more of them, but that was all. At the end when the crowd was cheering for more, one of them came out and made a rather funny statement... Apparently they would have liked to play one more track for us, but they had already played everything they had! Never seen anyone say that before on stage... But they did promise to go back to the studio and make more music for us to hear!

Dazed Live

Dazed & Confused put on an event yesterday taking over 5 locations in East London's Shoreditch; Tramshed, 18 Hewett Street, XOYO, St Leonard's Church and Village Underground. It started in the afternoon with several art and digital art exhibitions and installations, film screenings and talks and continued into the night with bands, DJs and performers.

Went around a bit, main reason I was there was to see Alejandro Jodorowsky, he gave a talk about one of his films; The Holy Mountain, which was then screened and later on he did live Tarot for a couple of members of the audience who volunteered. He's such an icon, I've seen I think most of his films. I never thought I would get to see him in person and seeing him at this event was just perfect! It was in the St Leonard's Church and it felt really intimate and friendly, with not too many people. Jodorowsky was really natural and genuine, he was exactly as you would expect him to be. One of my favorite quotes was: 'I believe not in political revolution, but in poetic re-evolution.' I wish I had recorded everything he said... He's so inspirational, 81 years old, looking so good and healthy, still working on his stuff, having a beautiful young wife. He must be doing something right! He wants to make a film about famous people's assholes... He believes in a previous life he was a woman priest, because he has the memory of female orgasm... I mean the guy is amazing! If I had a list of 5 things to do before I die, seeing Jodorowsky would definitely be on it, and it's been ticked off! 



Later on I went on to start seeing the bands and DJs. Pretty disappointing I have to admit. Everything seemed to be starting late, both music venues were not particularly busy... not sure where the people were... Stayed at Village Underground to see Darkstar, who have apparently now moved from Hyperdub to Warp. They started setting the stage up and then continued for what seemed to me as at least 1/2hr of having problems with the sound. I felt sorry for the guys, if I were them, I would probably have refused to play; completely unacceptable. And when they eventually got the sound sorted and Darkstar started, the sound in the room was horrible... The bass was too loud, your ears were aching even with earplugs on and the mics kept making this whistling noise. After a while they sorted out the bass, thank god, otherwise I think our ears would have started bleeding... Anyway, I was actually happy to see Darkstar as I'm a big fun. The sound as I said wasn't great, but hey that's life I guess... Things can't always work out to perfection... At least last time I saw them at Hoxton Bar and Grill it was good! I wanted to stay on to see Grimes and Actress, but I kind of gave up at that point...

Scientist's Dubstep Into Outer Space

On November 18th at Fabric, dub producer Scientist launched Dubstep Into Outer Space on Tectonic. I got there late and missed Scientist's live performace and Pinch; for once getting there late wasn't my fault and was really gutted... Anyway, got to see Mala, who was amazing as always and Loefah, who was pretty disappointing. At the beginning I wondered: Is this really Loefah playing? I looked again, and yes it was really him. It sounded nothing like the good old Loefah... No idea what he was doing... I haven't seen him play since, but I sure hope that was a one off...

So back to the album! It consists of 12 dubstep tracks that Scientist has remixed and has given them his dub touch! The original tracks were previously unreleased tracks from other dubstep DJs and producers such as Kode9, Mala, Guido and Shackleton.




Two of the tracks are available to download for free; King Midas Sound's U Dub Part 1 and Guido's Korg Back Dub.

Kode9 new release & free download

On April 18th Kode9 teams up with The Spaceape to release a new album on Hyperdub. Looking forward to listening to that, apparently Flying Lotus appears on one track...

Until then... you can download the new Kode9 essential mix and this new dub version of Time Patrol, the original version of which first appeared on 5 Years of Hyperdub.

Bloc Weekend 2011 - Day 2

I was hoping to start my second day of the festival at the Ableton RFID Dome. I arrive there and the queue is massive. Really wanted to see Luke Vibert, but it doesn't look like it's going to happen, there's no way I'm queueing... I quickly go to the Hotshots Sports Bar to see LuSINda, I really like seeing girls playing good techno! Then at the Tec:Bloc I see Geddes, who's also really good! Even though the room is pretty empty, as the time passes there is slowly more of a crowd and everyone seems to be having a good time.

Next stop is Red:Bloc to see King Midas Sound. Simply amazing! I love King Midas Sound, but this is so much better than I expected! Really powerful! You feel the bass vibrating everywhere inside you. I then move on to the Centre:Bloc to see Dopplereffekt.

Their sound is so dark and hypnotic. I then head off to see the first half of Jimmy Edgar and then the second half of dOP... What a performance?! The guy is hilarious! It's impossible not to get into it. It'a all about getting everyone into the party mood! He even gets a girl from the audience to dance with him on stage at the end... I have to admit I was a little bit worried at that moment, but thankfully the girl could actually dance! That was definitely a relief! Once dOP finish I naturally move to Soul Clap, to experience the funk!

Before ending my evening at the Jak:Bloc, I have to go see Venetian Snares. Aaron Funk is his usual self... grumpy looking, no eye contact with the audience, drinking beer after beer, getting off the stage and leaving the music playing in a loop. Can't say I understand exactly what he does or how he does it, but whatever it is I like it!

At 4am back in the Jak:Bloc! I have to stay till 9am to see Matilda, who plays a great set, finishes a few mins early and as soon as the crowd complains she's back on the decks! Class!

It would have been great to see Four Tet and Aphex Twin, but I've never seen a queue so long and I'm seriously not into queueing. I was glad to have seen them both before, so I wasn't too disappointed!

Track of the week

This has given a bit of trouble... Hate having to take decisions... So what should it be? Skeng (Autechre remix) or Tune In (feat. Roots Manuva)? Hmm... Ok! I'll have to go for Skeng because of the video, stimulating both ears and eyes! If Tune In had a nice video to go with it, it would have been without a doubt the winner!

In Mala we trust

Deviation at Cable, Saturday 12 February

Getting into Cable is almost as bad as going through security at the airport... I have my driving license scanned... (my friend, who doesn't have an id on him, has his credit card scanned instead...) Once I'm in, I have to squeeze through the crowds trying to get to the bar. Getting myself a drink takes me about 1/2hr. Such a small bar for a venue of that size... Well there is another bar in the other room, but come on... surely the bar in the main room should be bigger than that! Don't get me wrong, I like the venue... The soundsystem is great, the atmosphere is good, the staff is friendly, even the security is polite!.. It's just the bar in the main room... It's too small!.. Which is good I guess in a way, cause I end up not drinking as much...

I get to the club late (as always...) and miss Benji B, which is a shame. I don't miss Floating Points, which is also a shame, cause I'm really not liking what I'm hearing... That does take me by surprise, I really liked what I previously heard from him. This is the first time I see him play and I've been looking forward to it. It's kind of... I don't even know how to describe it... Definitely not my thing, maybe it's just me expecting to hear something different. While Floating Points is playing I move to the other room, which is actually really cool! Funkineven is playing some really nice electro housey tunes... Ramadanman starts and I'm back in the main room. Really good set! I'm at the front from the beginning till the end! And then the highlight of my night... Mala!

(photo taken from google images)

This man can do no wrong! I've seen him play so many times and he's always amazing! His DJing is so consistently perfect! His set is bassy, deep, dark, hard. He has a special connection with the crowd. He finishes his set 20mins before closing time. It would have been great to see him play for another 20mins, but at least I briefly get to see Benji B!

Darkstar in London

Darkstar, currently on their UK tour, with only three dates left, played at Hoxton Bar and Grill last night! (that would be Wednesday night...) I managed to get the last ticket for their sold out gig and was obviously well excited!!!

They set up the laptops and their equipment on stage, the lights are dimmed and they start... Very dark, very atmospheric, with the bass hitting you at the right moments, unique vocals and amazing visuals! Great great great visuals! The gig lasted about 1hr and really can't tell what my highlight was... probably the last track?!

Nice one guys!!! Simply great!