As one of the UK’s finest emcees, it was with great excitement that we listened to Jehst’s new album, ‘The Dragon Of An Ordinary Family’, due out on his own YNR imprint on 27 June.

The good news is that it’s everything you’d expect from the man – witty, incisive and intelligent. And to celebrate the new record, he’s giving away a free track.

There’s also a launch party at Fabric this weekend that looks pretty unmissable.

Music on the night includes DJ Mehdi and Riton as Carte Blanche, Girl Unit, Star Slinger, So Bones, Tensnake and Anika. It’s a large one.

All you need to do to get the freeness is answer this simple question:

What city is DJ Mehdi from?

Told you, easy.

Send your answer with your name and contact deets to competitions@fabriclondon.com

To get you in the mood for the Easter dance, here’s a mix from Star Slinger.
It veers from Three 6 Mafia to Fonda Rae via Dilla and Lunice.

And here’s some more info for the night:

THURSDAY 21 APRIL
ADVENTURES IN THE BEETROOT FIELD…
tickets: www.fabriclondon.com
Doors: 9pm – 6am
Price: £10 advance/£12 door/£10 students and fabricfirst

ROOMS TBC:
Carte Blanche (DJ Mehdi & Riton) (Live), Tensnake (Live), Creep (Live), Anika (Live), Tribes (Live), So Bones featuring Romy XX, Huw Stephens, Chad Valley (Live), D/R/U/G/S (Live), Girl Unit, Star Slinger (Live), Casper C, Crispin Dior, DJ Tearjerker (Numbers), Tri Angle, Sexbeat, Leather Boy, God Don’t Like It, Club.The.Mammoth, Jig T

If haven’t yet heard about Scientist’s remix album ‘Scientist Launches Dubstep Into Outer Space‘, released on Tectonic, get to know. As one of Jamaica’s finest dub engineers, he’s made heavyweight dub version of tracks by artists including Guido, Loefah, Mala and Shackleton.

Here’s a little sneak preview.

To celebrate the album’s release, Scientist is teaming up with the Red Bull Music Academy for a UK tour. It kicks off at London’s Fabric this Thursday with Pinch, Mala, Loefah and The Upsetters.

To get you in the mood, check out this mix from Tectonic label boss, Pinch.

Our friends over at Fabric have provided us with two tickets to give away – all you need to do is answer this question:

Which Hessle Audio artist has also released music on R&S Records?

A: James Brown

B: James Blake

C: James Bond

Email your answer to competitions@fabriclondon.com

Check out Fabric’s interview with Cosmin TRG, the man who had the first-ever release on Hessle Audio.

Benji B warmed up room one with songs to please the soul crowd in attendance, including Stevie’s ‘Too High‘, Yam Who’s long percussive edit of ‘Skyy, Can You Feel Me?‘, and Nas’ ‘Get Down‘. Eager to get a spot for the first of two live sets people edged towards the stage, before long Fatima and band began.

‘Higher’ opened the show, although it was in the second track (‘Lil’ Girl‘) when things really got going. Taking a backing role on keys, Floating Points’ solo in Shafiq Husayn’s composition demonstrated his terrific piano playing, skills often overlooked when he’s leading the show. Adding the final ingredient to a well-balanced line-up (others members being on drums, bass, guitar, and three backing vocalists) FunkinEven ghosted on to man his MPC and red microKORG XL, chatting into the vocoder to signal the start of ‘Kleer’.

Midway through, ‘Mind’ commenced. The most complete song to come so far from the Floating Points Ensemble, it’s one where Fatima seems to always excel, “What’s the use of running? When noone’s waiting at the finish line…”. Without the live strings of previous shows, super-crisp rimshots helped the fine rendition have necessary clout.

Charming as ever and witty in her on-stage talk, Fatima introduced ‘Warm Eyes’, a driving-with-the-top-down groove produced by Dam-Funk. ‘Soul Glo’ followed, complete with a brief cameo from Alex Nut that fell a bit flat but amusingly attempted to recapture the vibe in the video. ‘On the Go’ closed the show, though sadly the vocal harmonies were muddy in the mix. For Fabric to compete as a live venue these technicals need tightening. Minor hiccups didn’t distract from the overall quality of the performance; it’s a treat to see a  performer as talented and humble as Queen Fatima in such an ambitious set up. Another extraordinary Eglo production.

As Ronnie Herel DJed the crowd packed in even further, squeezing in tight during Jill Scott’s ‘Gimme‘. Shortly after midnight the main event arrived, Bilal with a 4-piece band.

Dressed in suit jacket and shades, it wasn’t long before ‘Something To Hold On To’ had spines tingling. The lead-in song from the album that never was (Love For Sale), it was one of many older tracks to send the crowd loopy. Cuts from 1st Born Second pleased Dilla heads, notably ‘Reminisce’. A breath-taking rendition of ‘Love Won’t Let It’ offered evidence on why Bilal’s vocals are so revered.

Weaving in material from the forthcoming Plug Research album, Airtight’s Revenge. The 88-keys produced ballad, ‘Think It Over‘ cooled the mood before ‘Restart’ showed how his new material has a rock-element, bridging soul with prominent electric guitar and crashing drums. Tight from their time touring the band backed Bilal brilliantly.

‘Sometimes’ was a joy to hear live, a 21st Century soul classic. Equally emotive, the new take on ‘All Matter’ contrasts to the Robert Glasper version but the familiar vocal means it still packs as much of a punch. Especially when audiences cry back “What is it?” to Bilal’s call of “What is love?”.  The delicacy of his voice never ceases to astound, as heard in the falsetto passages of ‘White Turns To Grey‘. Every bit as hair-raising as the recording, ‘All for Love’ showed his ability to ease through octaves.

Clocking in at almost two hours, Bilal fans could not ask for more. A wine-swigging encore finished with a female eruption when the man from Philly asked where his “Soul Sistas” were. Leaving the stage professing his love for London Bilal can rest assured that the feeling is reciprocated.

Fatima’s second outing with her band is at 8pm Saturday 17th July for Flomotion Live at London’s Royal Opera House.

Bilal’s European dates continue with shows in Oslo tonight, Saturday at the Dour Festival, and finally in Rotterdam Sunday.

Thanks to Ashes57 for the photos.

Snippets of the forthcoming Plug Research LP can be heard here: plugresearch.com/bilal

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The Sounds of VTech / Bilal: LEVELS

Not content with a knees-up at its spiritual home of Glasgow’s Sub Club last weekend, the crew is coming down to London’s Fabric to take over Room One with a line-up that includes Karizma, Roska, Ramadanman, Ben UFO and L-Vis 1990.

With Fabric no longer in administration, and more excellent music in the other rooms (Marcus Intalex, Shy FX and Ital Tek, to name a few), it’s celebrations all round.

Click here for tickets and more information.

And here’s some more music to whet your appetite:

Redinho – Bare Blips EP Sampler by Numbers

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The Sounds of VTech / Bilal: LEVELS

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