Brixton goes tropical every Friday night, and this week is hosted by kings of the dancehall Shimmy Shimmy and The Heatwave. Expect a tropical storm of epic proportions.

Friday 12th March @ The Rest is Noise, 442 Brixton Road, 8pm – 2am, free before 10, £2 thereafter.

WEDNESDAY 07/04/10
METHOD MAN
matter: The O2, Peninsula Square, London SE10 0DY
7pm-11pm £19.50 advance / £25 on the door

Method Man, DJ Mathematics, Streetlife, Cilvaringz, Ledr P

Words: Mr Beatnick

In the late 90s a movement began in West London that was to inspire a new direction in dance music.

Though this movement was never acknowledged in the mainstream music press, never had a crossover chart single, and never truly transcended its community roots, there was a unique alchemy at work – a fertile moment in UK music where a group of friends began to experiment with new cadences, rhythms and distilled influences, meticulously crafting a new genre.

Though “Broken Beat” was never a tagline that the producers anticipated, and one that they often publicly resisted, those two words would come to represent the scattered rhythms, rolling bass-lines and soaring changes that were inherent to this new music. Prior to the mid-2000s, only one tiny divider in Soho’s Sounds of The Universe store, marked “West London”, and one primitive website, that of Goya Music Distribution, were the sum total retail outlets of this sound. The music was heard only at a club night called Co-Op, originally based at the Velvet Rooms, and in later years, at Plastic People, and like many cultures rooted in the Jamaican soundsystem tradition, what was heard there differed enormously from what was released – dub-plates, alternative versions, beat experiments, all united in their emphasis on heavy bass, staccato drum machine rhythms and soulful feelings. Walking into Co-Op for the first time felt like experiencing a glimpse of the future – hand-held laser pens swooped over a frenetic dance-floor, illuminating clouds of collie smoke like sniper sights scouting a post-apocalyptic battlefield, whilst a toy dub siren rang out from the booth, and IG Culture’s deep Jamaican accent punctuated the pounding rhythms – “it’s a Co-Op thing, it’s Co-Operation – if you ain’t here to dance you can go home now.”

Many of the producers who created Broken were dance music veterans, who worked hard to keep the focus on the Co-Op club, keep the music played there ever-evolving, and collectively resist any temptation to fall into a comfortable template. In this sense there was a manifesto about Broken Beat which was specifically informed by past experiences. A sizeable number came from an ex-Reinforced records background – the legendarily aloof jungle and d’n’b label run by 4Hero’s Dego and Marc Mac (pictured above) – such as Seiji, Marc “G” Force, Domu and Colin Lindo. Others came from a house music background, like Phil Asher of Restless Soul, Orin ‘Afronaught’ Walters or Darren ‘Daz I Kue’ Benjamin. One central element of the sound was Kaidi Tatham’s keyboard playing, a virtuoso jazz-funk musician who had been part of The Herbaliser in the mid-90s.

UK soul was represented in the contributions of Demus from the Young Disciples and IG Culture, whose career arc had taken in early UK hip-hop and projects for the likes of Island records. Mark De Clive Lowe, Alex Phountzi and Dave ‘Zed Bias’ Jones also played major roles and the best known outfit was doubtlessly Bugz In The Attic, a cooperative production “super group”, whose signing to V2 was about as close as Broken Beat ever came to cracking the mainstream. Beyond this the network extended worldwide, resonating in releases on a fledgling Rush Hour distribution in Amsterdam, the work of Italy’s Volcov, Germany’s Jazzanova, and Inverse Cinematics (now known as Motor City Drum Ensemble), Japan’s Jazzy Sport records and more.

Broken Beat was as diverse as its parentage would suggest – the arrangements, beats and tempos could vary drastically between releases. With this in mind it’s hardly surprising that many people couldn’t work out what Broken Beat actually was – or is – until the mid 2000s when a characteristic groove eventually emerged. The mindset and the culture was eclectic from the outset, it was vibrant, afro-futuristic dance music for 21st century b-boys and girls. Its roots were in the scientific soul of the Mizell brothers, the afro beat rhythms of Tony Allen and Fela Kuti, the electro funk and boogie of the mid 80s, the spiritual jazz of Sun Ra and Norman Connors, the soulful techno of Juan Atkins and Derrick May. But the execution and production was grounded in MPCs, SP1200s, the hand-me-down samplers of the hip hop and jungle golden eras, which gave the drums a raw, choppy rhythmic feel – hence the “Broken” tag. Though Goya Music Distribution sadly shut down in 2007, taking down many of the better labels with it, it certainly feels like some of this tradition – in particular the stripped down and syncopated drum sounds, and eclectic approach to fusing genres – continues to live on today in the sound of UK funky.

4hero aka Dego and Marc Mac have laid the foundations of so many important genres that it almost boggles the mind. Nu-Era was a 4hero alias, later known as Marc Mac’s solo pseudonym, most associated with the beautiful and rare broken techno LP Beyond Gravity. On the flipside of this Cold Mission 12”, released at the height of dnb’s popularity, Nu-Era take an odd left turn and slow down the driving groove, syncopating and stuttering the rhythm back to front, early and late. It may seem trivial in 2010 but this is how new directions are formed – many subsequent releases on Reinforced by the likes of Nubian Mindz and Seiji and G Force also dabbled in these same waters, setting the stage for the aesthetic of broken – an experimental, slower, more dancefloor-orientated cousin of jungle. It’s fair to say this remix was at least 10 years ahead of its time, a prototype for what was to come.

When this dropped in September 1998 it’s doubtful that many stood up and took notice. ‘Spiritual Vibes’ is a humble slice of what the B-side describes as ‘Afro Boogie House’, presumably because no better descriptive genre terms have been coined at this point in time. Misa Negra were Daz-I-Kue on production, and Kaidi Tatham on the keys, whilst a remix dub by Orin “Afronaught” Walters fills up the A-side. Whilst by no means as sophisticated as their later work as a group, Spiritual Vibes sets the tone for their Bugz In The Attic collaborations to come. There’s an inherent musicality about this 12”, and a quirkiness in the rhythms – the Afronaught dub starts half time and doubles over on itself. Bell trees, shells and shakers abound, reminiscent of spiritual jazz classics like Norman Connors’ Dark Of Light, whilst Kaidi’s voice echoes over the beats, whispering “Spiritual.. Vibes..” It’s an off-the-wall blend but it works – deeply reflective, brooding, partly melancholic, but heavy as lead and custom built for a system. The eccentric, almost childlike approach with which influences are mixed and blended here, is the very embodiment of what broken stood for in its infancy.

Neon Phusion are Alex Phountzi, Kaidi Tatham and Orin Walters. ‘The Future..’ is an early broken album with a live mood, doubtlessly the result of many blazed jam sessions. It’s a great example of the melting pot of the time, the optimism of the music, the fall out of drum and bass. You can liken the vibe to jungle at the end of its jazzy period – the feel is blissed out, heavily influenced by the space funk of the 70s but still rooted in driving percussion. ‘Timecode’ is an early take of Orin’s ‘Transcend Me’ with a Headhunters theme to it, whilst ‘Kulu Macu’ has an Afro-Brazilian touch, and raw beats come in the form of ‘Hot Ice’. Annoyingly, the dopest track – the title track ‘The Future Ain’t The Same (As It Used 2 Be)’ – is only ever found on the CD version, along with some other killer bonus material. In that form it’s a particularly quality listen a decade later.

read on here

In our ongoing pursuit of worldwide dance fusion and music culture, Holy Roller’s Rollin’ D teamed up with Yassmin Foster of Universal Dance Theatre for a Rio meets London skank experiment!!!

The question is… What would you get if you fused Rio Baile Funk dance with UK Funky? The answer is The CORCOVADO! Both sets of kids from the UK to RIO and back, had the new skank down instantly! Follow the steps, you’re on to a winner!

www.nicoladracoulis.com
www.universaldancetheatre.com

Appearing onstage an hour late (with the venue repeatedly playing Diplo’s Fabric Live 24 mix in the meantime, ignoring the live DJ’s waiting) the crowd was sufficiently agitated by the time the instrumental to ‘Accordion’ finally took over.

Lost in the moment, all was instantly forgiven as a masked heavyweight waddled on stage with a hype-man shining a torch in the faces of the front row – both shouting distorted vocals and trying their best to jump around. The excitement lasted to the end of the first verse, when it became blisteringly obvious that this was not what we’d paid to come and see. In line with no-show and impostor rumours Doom psyched us all, sending some guy twice his size out in the mask.

With the fakers swiftly disappearing to a now eased and laughing audience, it wasn’t long before Doom made his presence known. Let me say this – no one flows like Doom. Cats like Lord Finesse and Lyrics Born have word perfect breathing and live shows where you can hear every syllable, and for me these are the rap shows worth the cost of admission. But Doom really is on another level. Hearing it live added a new dimension to his rhymes, and most importantly showed what a unique talent he is.

That said, it’s unfortunate that the sound was the worst I’ve witnessed in a long time. It’s a real credit to Doom that his hypnotic rhyming was able to cut through to a room of mixed reactions. Whilst some were just happy to finally see the legend in person, others felt ripped off that what they’d waited so long to see was a ruined by poor timing and sound. Looking around the crowd during the worst points, the hyped looks of pleasure that Doom induced from being on stage were often replaced with people straining to hear what was going on.

Blitzing through a set list that touched on some of our favourites of his work – King Geedorah, Viktor Vaughan and Danger Doom all making appearances, but no KMD shout-outs – for the full 45 minutes Doom was on stage he owned it. Displaying a respect for his craft and the audience that you see so rarely in this genre, the masked one destroyed rumours of lazy live shows, bringing everything we love about his recorded game to an embracing audience, and using the live appearance to take it one notch higher. It’s just a shame the venue let him down.

Over the past few years, One-Handed Music has continually pushed the boundaries of definition for hip-hop music. Releases from Paul White, Fulgeance & Bullion have continually redefined the UKs own distinctive beat sound, giving heads a new direction to run with. It’s no wonder then, that a straight rap release from One-Handed is something to sit up and pay attention to.

‘The Hidden Treasures EP‘ by Tranqill is officially out 15th of March digitally and in limited numbers on wax. Big tip on this one, and not just because it includes one of the best remixes Paul White’s ever done. In the words of label boss Alex Chase, “It might be madness to release a UK hiphop record by a relative unknown these days but I have a lot of faith in this guy and this record”.

You can check the official site for the release for pre-order and a free DJ IQ download. Release info from the label is below as well as a stream of the entire EP, which they’ve been kind enough to supply for us to sample.

via One-Handed Music

‘Tranqill is a reclusive South London producer and MC who tells brutal tales of street life with rare wit and panache. It’s like the first time you heard the Wu-Tang: raw, spontaneous, urgent paranoia that’s instantly compelling.

One last thing: there is no ‘u’ in Tranqill‘.

One of the most promising rappers to emerge from the Midwest in recent years, talks to Shook about Dame Dash, jazz in Jamaica and wanting to tour the UK.

Stalley what’s good, what you been up to?

I’m good man I just came from a photoshoot, right now I’m just chilling.

I see you’ve been running round a lot lately with the ever-impressive Creative Control. Is there some kind of deal or is that just a friendship thing?

Nar that’s family. There is nothing as far as a deal. They just blessed with talent. We pretty much shoot everything together. That’s the home team, we just basically do what we can do to help each other. That’s basically the two guys from Creative Control and Dame Dash.

STALLEY AT HIGHLINE BALLROOM from Creative Control on Vimeo.

How is it to have someone of Damon Dash’s stature fighting your corner?

It’s great to have someone like Dame giving me advice in terms of the next step. I actually met Dame through Creative Control and like Dame bought into my talent, like he was fan of everything I was doing, so that was an honour. Obviously someone like Dame can bring me into places where I can be seen and heard, because of his name, like you know my videos have appeared on MTV. Having Dame around is great you know, it’s a good thing.

I see recently you and Curren$y, went to Jamaica but apparently it wasn’t for a holiday, you went for a jazz festival. You weren’t just out there smoking?

Nah (laughs), like we was working real hard out there. We shot five, no four videos and recorded like four and a half songs for the week we was out there. Like we was really putting in work. It was also nice to catch another vibe, like another change of scenery. In Jamaica there were palm trees and sand, meanwhile back home it was snowing.

How is DD172, Dame Dash’s Tribeca studio space? Because that place seems like something else.

It’s hard work every day, we always recording and shooting videos. DD172 is real family -oriented, it’s like work, boom, boom, boom.

You recently went back home to Ohio after a long time away. What was that like?

Ar man, it was beautiful. It was such a joy to be back home. Went to my old high school, saw all my old friends, haven’t really been able to go back as much as like. Hopefully one day, I will be fortunate get to a level, where I can go back whenever I please and go and get some of that real food again.

Apparently you left Ohio long ago for dreams other than music?

That’s correct, like I left in pursuit to become a basketball player. Unfortunately I injured myself, and had to take a detour route. Basketball is not like no.2 for me, rap and ball go hand in hand, I love them both the same.

If you make money like Jay, you can then maybe build another team for Ohio (other than the Cleveland Cavaliers)

Right, right (laughs) that is the only reason why I am doing this.

You and Curren$y seemed to have a built strong following. Have both of you spoken about maybe coming to the UK and performing?

Yeah, we trying to get sort something out you know. Like the UK is a great place in terms of the music they like, like for my music personally, the UK would really appreciate the lyricism of my stuff, and would relate to like the day-to-day struggle and day-to-day happiness. Yeah we would love to come to the UK.

XXL just released their list of 10 Freshmen for 2010. You were not on the list, did you feel anyway or you don’t really pay attention to that sort of stuff?

Nar man I don’t really feed into all of that. Like a lot of publications are always the last to know what is good. They are usually the ones to miss the boat. All I can worry about is myself. People also tell me the type of artist I am, I can’t worry, because Apple doesn’t worry about what Pepsi is doing, they have different consumers, so I’m not upset or anything.

Your mixtape ‘MadStalley’ was impressive, but to me the mixtape was like really musical in terms of instrumentation. You also have a spoken word track, can you explain the title of that track and what made you do a spoken word song?

TinLizyFordToARollsRoyceBoy. Yeah basically, it’s about like coming from the bottom to the top, like from me being a country boy to now being a city slicker, it represents the growth. The reason why it was spoken word, it felt with the vibe of the mixtape – like you said the mixtape was musical – I personally did not use the mixtape as a chance to prove my skills or to exhibit them, it was more like a story so people could know more about me, like an introduction to myself. You see a lot of rappers do not make themselves vulnerable, like they have all of the women, whips and chains…

But the end of the day, they are still human beings.

Right exactly. After all is said and done, it’s easy to make punch lines but it’s hard to make a song people feel.

What time of music do you like listening to, in terms of rap?

I’m not really listening to anyone right now, like nothing is moving me now.  Like I listen to a lot Mos Def, Common, Nas like those artists constantly stay in my rotation. I really love OutKast too, ATLiens is one of my favourite albums. But anyone out right now, not really, only Blu.

Yeah he’s nice.

I think Blu is dope yeah.

His ‘Below The Heavens’ album with Exile, was a lot of stuff.

I felt that shit had the same formula as me, personal, he was telling you about his life and stuff. Then on the Johnson and Johnson stuff, he went super lyrical to show everyone he can go hard. When I listen to Illmatic, I felt like I grew up in that project. The same with Southernplayalisticcadillacmuzik, I feel like I am hanging out the Cutlass with Andre and both are elbows are just poking out. Like I believe good music takes you on a journey, like I mention a place back home called ‘Lincoln Road’, whenever I spit that the homies back home get a little hype.

At the moment you don’t have a label situation do you?

No at the moment there is no label situation. There are some labels talking to me at the moment though. For now, I am not really interested in signing anything. Just enjoying music, and working on my next project, an EP. I am also working on a separate project with Ski Beatz, halfway into that and that is sounding real classic.

Speaking of Ski Beatz, the 24hr Karate School when is that dropping?

Stalley March 30^th

24 HOUR KARATE SCHOOL TEASER from Creative Control on Vimeo.

Are you sure?

Oh definitely. You can get it from iTunes, some other different places. On that I am straight killing everybody on like it’s nothing.

Lastly do you have a Twitter account yet? I heard you speaking before, how you don’t feel it’s for you at this moment in time. Care to speak on that?

Yeah basically I am not really a fan of the whole social networking thing. The reason why is because it gives everyone a voice that shouldn’t necessarily have a voice. But the thing is people talk about me all day on Twitter, like asking, ‘Where is Stalley?’ and ‘Who is Stalley?’ Like I prefer people talking about me, rather than me talking about me. When they make me a trending topic, I might think about joining Twitter.

www.myspace.com/madstalley

www.stalley330.bandcamp.com

Floor violence from shottsman.

]]> http://www.shook.fm/content/2010/03/floor-violence/feed/ 0 http://www.shook.fm/content/2010/03/duke-etienne-podcast/ http://www.shook.fm/content/2010/03/duke-etienne-podcast/#comments Wed, 03 Mar 2010 14:59:46 +0000 shooki http://www.shook.fm/content/?p=5476 via headshighmusic.com

After an inexcusably long hiatus, the Duke drops some fresh gems on y’all. Detroit House, Hip Hop, Raw Roots music from Africa to the Caribbean? It’s all here:

Duke Etienne Podcast #15

Tracklisting

John Roberts//White
Chez-N-Trent//All about You
Bookworms//African Rhythms
Donaeo//Riot Music (Shy FX Mix)
Marcé//Ca Ca Ye (Frankie Francis Edit)
Georgia Ann Muldrow//Jina Langu Ni Afrika (my Name Is Afrika)
Brittany Bosco//Black Keys
Will – I – Am//Money
Pal Joey//Breakin’ Necks
House Shoes//The Makings
Georgia & Dudley//Shine On
Dabrye//I’m Missing You
Reggie B//Spoken Lenny
Flying Lotus//Quakes
Jay Electronica//Exhibit A (Transformations)
Fatima//Higher
Black Joy Edits//Edit 10
Red Earth Collective ft. Manasseh//Hard Times Dub
Vincent Taylor//Living A Lie
Connie Bell//Vampires
Midnite//Enter
Nneka//Africans
Baloji//Karibou Ye Bintou

A project worthy of getting excited about, Dublab are stepping out in style with their new documentary coming next week, titled Secondhand Sureshots. The main release is DVD/CD package, but it wouldn’t be right unless the beatheads had something special to grab a hold of. Collector’s don’t sleep as the tracks are also going to be available in very limited numbers on wax – packaged with slipmats, the DVD and hand-screen printed sleeves.

In my opinion this is one of the dopest, and most relevant music documentaries we’ve seen in a while. Check out what the creators had to say on the press release below, along with the 2 minute preview clip.

via Dublab

“Secondhand Sureshots is a filmed experiment in creative sound recycling. Dublab directors Bryan “Morpho” Younce & Mark “frosty” McNeill sent beatmakers Daedelus, Nobody, J.Rocc and Ras G on safari into L.A. thrift stores with orders to make new music out of five finds while the cameras filmed the whole process. The result is a mini-documentary about putting new life into old vinyl.

“But what about the music? Well, it’s great. Beat Junkies legend J. Rocc carves himself a timeless, funk-fueled Sunday barbecue rap beat. Poo-Bah Records’ Ras G turns in two entries: a skittering raga jam that plays with racheting loops and tinkling ivories, and dulcet-toned beat-music feast of record static and warbly samples. Ninjatune producer Daedelus creates psychedelic washes of thick electronic ether with percussive bits coasting in and out of the frame. And Low End Theory resident Nobody offers a piano and organ-featuring tune well-matched for a rainy day. On the B-side are a series of further recontextualizations — a remix by Daedelus, a megamix of Ras G bonus beats by Kutmah, and live, improvised versions recorded at Cinefamily. Gasp gasp. Drool drool.”