My blog has moved to rahulverma.org

As you might have noticed I've not been blogging or posting much here. Truth is I've been flat out studying a Masters for the last two years which hasn't left much time for work let alone blogging for fun, though I have been doing odd bits and pieces to pay the bills as I complete this Masters. So what doing a Masters and having a good long think about what I'd like to do going forward, it felt appropriate to get with the 21st century and set up a proper website that's my portfolio and blog and generally a polished web presence. I'm not sure I'm at the polished stage of the project yet, but I hope to get there, sometime soon. So this is a post saying this - rahulverma.org - where you can find me and what I'm up tohope to see you over there, sometime soon.

Back to the old school - Metro meets Plan B (2006)

Apologies for the lack of posting recently. I've been away on holiday for my good friends Ravi and Sapna's wedding in Goa. Very beautiful and super-chillaxing it was too. It's back to the grindstone now though and as you may or may not know, today Plan B won three Ivor Novello Awards - the Ivor Novello Awards are the creme de la creme of music industry award ceremonies, for people who write and craft proper songs.

And in honour of Ben Drew, here's an interview I did with him five years ago around the release of his debut LP, Who Needs Action When You Got Words, which for me is one of the most powerful records I've heard, eliciting a response both physically and emotionally. From the moment I first heard him, you knew he deserved greatness, so it's heartening that he's achieving that as the music industry - depressingly - is littered with supremely talented individuals who don't make it for one reason or another.

Thankfully by softening his sound, but in no way tempering his emotive storytelling, he's getting the recognition he deserves.




26/06/2006

METRO LIFE

Hip hop musician Ben Drew tells Rahul Verma why his lyrics are so blunt and how Eminem inspired him to rap


Ben Drew is restless, constantly tapping his box of Marlboro Lights on the table of a café in a smart West London recording studio.

The tapping becomes faster when the 21- year-old is discussing topics he cares about, such as David Cameron's comments about Radio 1 playing music that glorifies knife culture ('All he cares about is middle England') and how 50 Cent romanticises violence ('His message is: “I got shot nine times and I survived it. I'm a hero.” But the reality is if you get shot you're gonna die. He's a lucky motherf****r').

In person, Ben 'Plan B' Drew says what he thinks without hesitation or fear of offending. He's the same on record: debut LP, Who Needs Actions When You Got Words, sees the slight East Londoner address Damilola Taylor's murder, drug-riddled estates and their associated violent crime, as well as his own personal demons.

It's a brutal and engaging album, with Plan B literally spitting stories, told through an ensemble cast of familiar characters, over an acoustic guitar and beats that veer into R&B and pop soul territory.

On it, he provides an unflinching insight into a world that most of us only encounter when it hits the front pages of newspapers. But he makes it accessible by referencing popular culture (David Blaine, Basement Jaxx, City Of God) and current affairs (Ken Bigley, Jill Dando, Gary Glitter).

It's no surprise to find Plan B has been shaped as much by indie as hip hop. 'I grew up listening to Nirvana, Radiohead, The Prodigy and Rage Against The Machine, music that was really varied, rather than being part of one scene, I was never really into that,' he says. 'I've always stayed true to the artists that I loved – I have all my old jungle mix tapes and I love to hear old school garage on the radio. Or I might be influenced by one song, like Tracy Chapman's Fast Car; I love that song and will always say she's an influence.'

Despite myopic comparisons with Eminem, Plan B doesn't shy from citing Marshall Mathers as a major inspiration: 'When I was younger I always felt that I wasn't allowed to rap because I was white,' he states. 'Then Eminem came out and completely crushed that attitude for me because everyone had to accept he was a brilliant rapper. And I thought, “Why can't I do this?”'

Whether it's the schlock horror of feral youth running wild in an orgy of sex, drugs and violence (the song Kidz), directly challenging his detractors (No Good) or depression (Everyday), the frequently startling Who Needs Actions… puts the uncomfortable and awkward in your face.

Why?

'There are US rappers only saying, “I've got this car and these rims and I got this ring with a big diamond and you won't be able to afford it, ever,”' he explains. 'F**k off, man. I don't want to hear that – tell me something that's gonna help me grow as a person. They don't tell me nothing about themselves, like their relationships with their mum or dad. Write a lyric that's going to make me think or touch me in my heart.'

Plan B does just that, laying open his soul as if on a therapist's couch. He likens his absent father's religious zeal to being raised by Ned Flanders and pleads with his mother to escape a relationship with a crack addict. Bullying also rears its head. Is that something Plan B has experienced? 'Not in the typical sense but I went through phases of getting s**t off people at different times,' he says, tapping his Marlboros furiously. 'And that was down to being a little white kid in a multicultural school. I was on my own so I had to fight to earn my respect so that people wouldn't f**k with me. I went through that and it's daunting, it's one of the worst feelings in the world when someone's after you and your blood for no reason at all.

'What it makes you do is go and pick up a knife and say: “If that person comes anywhere near me, I'm gonna stab him.” That's knife crime for you. And it ain't no rap song.'

Who Needs Actions When You Got Words is released on June 26 on 679 Recordings.

Metro In Focus: Brixton Riots (or Uprising)

So here's a feature I wrote for Metro newspaper recounting the Brixton Riots of 1981 by three eye witnesses. It came out on Wednesday April 6, so apologies for the lateness in posting this.

It's a story that's close to my heart, as I've lived in Brixton since 1999 and remember when I was first looking to move to Brixton in 1998 after a hungover Saturday morning of flat viewings, my sister and I stopped off at a cafe just off the Brixton Road by the tube station and a Reclaim The Streets party kicked off - total mayhem, with soundsystems parked in the middle of Brixton Road and dancing galore, ensued. I remember being seduced by its counter culture, anti-establishment spirit. Thank god my sister and I couldn't afford Clapham, where we had originally intended on living.

One of the best decisions of my life, to be honest - Brixton's where I live and work (with young people from the local community as part of LIVE magazine), and feels like home, whether it's the Afghanistanis and Pakistanis bantering and haggling in the market, or the characters that come out to peacock when the sun's shining, I feel more at home here than anywhere I've lived including where I grew up.

Round up of current electronic music (3.11) for Metro

This ran in Metro on March 11. It's such a brilliant time for electronic music at the moment. I'd honestly recommend to all my friends that they buy all of these releases. And also keep an eye out for Africa Hi-Tech, Kode9 and Instra:Mental LPs due in April and May.

The Big Sleep Out - Metro feature 9.3.2011

So here's a feature I wrote that appeared in Metro last Wednesday on The Big Issue's 20th anniversary and their fundraiser The Big Sleep Out in May.

This is the first time I've managed to upload a PDF to blogger, so big shout out to the forums, that solved this problem which has been bugging me for years. (Now I've got five years worth of PDFs to upload, joy).

In summary here's a few bullet points about the story and Big Issue which might well entice you to read it properly, or even better sign up to do the Big Sleep Out.


* The Big Issue receives no public money, at all. That's despite working with OVER 3000 vendors and homeless people each year. Hence the need for fundraisers such as The Big Sleep Out

* Westminster Council is on the verge of banning homelessness in the borough. No really, actually ban homeless people from being in the borough. So instead of helping people, they're moving them on. (NB - I wonder if this has anything to do with LDN 2012?)

* The Big Issue provides support and services (medical, psychological, addiction treatment) to a multitude of people who aren't vendors.


* The Big Issue is 20 this year and is a social enterprise (it's a business that makes money for social good) founded in the midst of the recession of the early 1990s when homeless numbers soared through a rise in unemployment and repossessions. Which is exactly the perfect storm we're experiencing in 2011's 'economic downturn'


www.bigissue.com

Social Media Stole My Mojo - A Music Tastemaker Panel

Social Media Stole My Music Mojo from Raj Kotecha on Vimeo.

So a few weeks ago, it was Social Media Week in London, and I was invited to talk on a panel about Music and the impact of social media, which basically covered the do's and do not's, how it's changing the industry and how to best use it.

To be honest all you need to know is in the video above and genuinely a few people have contacted me out of the blue to say how useful and informative they found it.

I thoroughly enjoyed stepping out of my world of music journalism and chewing the fat with fellow panelists Raj Kotecha founder of Creative Content Agency, David Haynes VP of Business Development at Soundcloud, and MTV Wrap Up’s Babatunde Adefuye.

Sumit from the Hip Hop Chronicle chaired the lively chat.

It was definitely very good to step beyond social networking and meet interesting, insightful people and make real life connections.

Icicle - Dreadnaught w/SP MC

BIG CHOON, killing it on d&b floors right about now. Good to see the rolling, sludgy funk back. Sounds remarkably like a late 1990s/early 2000s Ed Rush/Optical production....

Judging the UKAMAs

So I'm a judge on the UKAMA (the UK Asian Music Awards), which take place on March 10 at The Roundhouse, and have been on the judging panel for a few years. It's nominations time at the moment which is always a fun opportunity to get on Youtube and check out some AMAZING music.

It makes you realize how caught up in your own little music world we can be and how weird and wonderful music can be. It's good to have your eyes and ears opened to what else is out there.

Here are some of the delights I've come across today:




Punjabi West Coast gangsta rap, about white people - Gora = white person.




This is Hard Kaur, Brummie rapper, who's absolutely smashing it in India.



UK Asian girl band action



Not much to say about this apart from WOW

Context MC - Off With Their Heads

Check this track from Context MC. I had the pleasure of meeting Context last week, as I'm making my music video debut in the promo for this track. **Cringe**

2011 should be a big year for Context MC, the year he makes his mark on the underground, solidifies his status as white-hot homegrown hip hop talent and moves onto the next level.

This will be out in early February, and available for FREE Download via http://contextmc.bandcamp.com

Keep your ears peeled for his The Cadmean Victory EP, and your eyes open for that music vidyo (as my missus says).

Metro Music Extra round up today

Riz MC - Get On It from Sam Pilling on Vimeo.

My round up of current indie hip hop which ran in in Metro today. You can access a PDF here, it's page 38.

For any journalism students, there's a worthwhile exercise in comparing this copy below (which is what I filed) with what actually appeared in print - it's not a million miles apart but will give you an insight into the editing process.

MUSIC EXTRA

Homegrown Hip Hop

Ghostpoet: Peanut Butter Blues & Melancholy Jam
Brownswood

Riz MC: MICroscope
Confirm/Ignore

Rewd Adams: Rewd Awakenings
Halal Beats/Kilimanjaro

Wariko: Natural Born Poet
7Music


The remarkable mainstream success of homegrown urban music in 2010 shows no sign of slowing in 2011. However away from the rarefied air of the Top 10, innovating, edgy Brit-hop is also blossoming as this selection demonstrates. Ghostpoet’s absorbing debut LP Peanut Butter Blues & Melancholy Jam evokes what it’s like to be up all night, thinking, and anxiously flitting between home truths, worry and self-doubt.
Self-spun, lo-fi soundscapes capture the half-asleep/half-awake state, as Ghostpoet murmurs and sleep-talks through the lonely twilight hours. He contemplates relationship breakdown through no job and little money versus surviving anything with his partner’s support, running away versus battling, and getting drunk versus fretting. Ghostpoet’s an everyday kind of guy, references including A-levels, biscuits, lemonade, pork pies, ‘Primarni’ (Primark), Rocky and James Bond, roll from the tongue like water thanks to his fluid, even flow. PBB&MJ is far from all doom and despair, Ghostpoet bluesy rap swell into rousing songs (Run Run Run, Us Against Whatever Ever, Liiines) as birdsong signals the end of a particularly dark night.


Late twentysomething Londoner Rizwan Ahmed splits his time between acting (Four Lions, Shifty, BAFTA 2011Rising Star nominee) and rapping (Riz MC). Independently-released debut LP MICroscope is a stiff examination of contemporary society – opener Radar notes the necessity to pigeon-hole, brand and box all and sundry in this age of information-overload, and is fittingly set to a racing heartbeat rhythm, that’s a racing, panicked heartbeat. Both People Like People, which observes style over substance, posing, and hipsters, and All In The Ghetto’s break down of gentrification (lattés, bikes, and nice bread invading ‘rawthentic’ neighbourhoods), are witty and impish. The stripped back Sour Times sees Riz offer an impassioned, poignant defence of Islam in the face of against crass demonization. His somersaulting wordplay leaves you pondering and unpicking torrents of keen couplets, consequently MICroscope rewards investing time with depth, humour and coruscating commentary.


Skandal’s Hunger Pains mixtape was a highlight of 2010, however 2011 sees him operating under more personal guise Rewd Adams (Rewd is an anagram, and Adams is part, of his actual name). Album Rewd Awakening (free from www.rewdadams.com) is intimate, openly talking about time in young offenders institute and contemplating ending it all, as well as sleights as a rapper struggling against the odds. Rewd’s interested in the wider world whether ‘on road’ realities ‘or mperialism. Although melancholy, emotion and honesty are stand out themes - this is hip-hop as therapy. At times it’s uncomfortable yet compelling, and whets the appetite for an LP proper later this year.

Nottingham’s Wariko is a well-known name in Brit-hop, grime (Ghetts hosts his current mixtape) and spoken word (he performed at Charlie Dark’s Book Slam last year) scenes. His forthcoming LP Natural Born Poet (available from www.wariko.co.uk), eases between all three styles, as well as bashment: Lies plays out boyfriend and girlfriend arguing about infidelity, The Way I Am 2 ruminates the nature or nurture question, and Out of My Window distills the intrigue of people-watching and paints a vivid picture of every day people. It’s heartening and refreshing to see MCs outside of London, and particularly the long established, rap-crazy city of Nottingham, making their mark.

LIVE Magazine: Vol 2 Issue 1

Metro feature: Slackistan offers a glimpse into young people in Pakistan

The average person's view of Pakistan is likely to feature a few of the following words - floods, terrorism, bombs, and corrupt cricketers. However these aren't the whole story, there are people getting on with their day to day lives and young people doing what young people do the world over.

Slackistan, an independent movie, provides a glimpse into the rich-kid slackers of Islamabad: I won't go into too much detail as this feature, for Metro newspaper of Nov 30, does. If you like the piece, I'd strongly suggest watching and supporting Slackistan - it's really worth watching.

A slacker’s guide to Islamabad

Hip new movie Slackistan is shedding a very different light on the lives of Pakistan’s youth.


Eating hamburgers, drinking coffee, smoking Marlboros, textual intercourse, Facebook flirting: these are some of the things privileged kids in Pakistan’s capital, Islamabad, do to kill time (or ‘time-pass’ as Islooites – people from Islamabad – say).

The surprising lives of early twentysomething graduates pondering what to do next in a country making headlines for all the wrong reasons is the focus of a new film called Slackistan.

Much like Slumdog Millionaire and This is England, first-time actors have been cast in a film that feels more like a documentary. It’s also a tribute to where director Hammad Khan grew up. Islamabad is dubbed ‘the city that always sleeps’ and this humdrum normality is a world away from the Pakistan of the news.
Slackistan director Hammad Khan Slackistan director Hammad Khan

Religious extremism, terrorism and bombs are the motifs of Pakistan’s failed state image, and this year’s devastating floods and spot-fixing allegations against several international cricketers have kicked the country while it’s down. But Hammad sticks to what he knows – the neat, green Islamabad of his adolescence. ‘The idea came through talking to my co-writer, co-producer and wife, Shandana Ayub,’ he says. ‘We know Islamabad and wanted to make a film about the city we love.’

The word ‘normal’ keeps cropping up in conversation with Hammad and 21-year-old Aisha Akhtar (who plays Aisha, best friend of Slackistan’s main protagonist, Hasan). ‘It’s far more normal than you imagine,’ says Hammad, 35, now based in London. ‘Fear of the unknown plus sensationalism makes for a warped image. Life in Islamabad is diverse and follows the nine-to-five lifestyle. It’s a thriving city and there aren’t bombings every day.’

The film’s soundtrack is also a world away from what you might expect. Hip hop, indie, rock and punk all feature. ‘I picked young artists from the underground scene. I was able to feature someone such as Adil Omar, a 19-year-old rapper from the city,’ says Hammad. ‘It blows my mind how this happens with no music industry infrastructure.’

The movie had a mixed reception in Pakistan, with concerns that the film doesn’t actually represent real life and paints a negative picture of the country. Akhtar adds: ‘People are offended by the word “slacker”. They’re saying, we finally get a film about so-called normal lives in Pakistan and you show rich kids doing nothing.’

Hammad says: ‘There is the universality of finding yourself in your twenties but in Pakistan it’s intensified. There’s a burden and uncertain future. Rather than do nothing, my idea is take a small step. If you want to be a filmmaker or an activist, take the resolution.’

Both Hammad and Akhtar have seen young Pakistanis, privileged or not, take these small steps. ‘Since the floods, people involved in the movie have set up NGOs and charities to help,’ says Hammad. ‘The slackers have become “slacktivists” and that’s so positive.’

Akhtar hopes the movie will stimulate a cultural youth movement. ‘In Islamabad, everyone wants to be a filmmaker,’ she says. ‘Cameras are cheap and every second person is making a film. I’ve heard about a slacker-style film in Lahore and in Karachi. It’s started something.’

Both Akhtar and Shahbaz Shigri (who plays lead Hasan) have had their lives changed by the movie. Shigri, an aspiring filmmaker, has made a video for Islamic punk band The Kominas. Akhtar has switched from a political science degree to creative writing and is penning screenplays. She is far more positive and dynamic than her listless character in the film – and upbeat on Pakistan’s future.

‘My mum works as the head of an educational foundation,’ she says. ‘I hang out at her office and she interviews thousands of students from all over the country who are not elite, privileged kids. And people from remote villages, who you don’t think have a chance, are off doing PhDs in America through grants. They’re extraordinary people and they deserve it. It makes me hopeful. I have hope for my country – at least as far as young people are concerned.’

Slackistan is out now. www.slackistanthemovie.com

My Chase & Status interview in Metro today

This video is epic. Tempa T is the henchest hypeman in the world.

Anyways onto the matter at hand - I've got lots of respect for Chase & Status. I first remember writing about Chase & Status five or six years ago when they collaborated with Gappy Ranks on Duppyman. It was clear then, that they had the X-factor when it came to crafting epic, banging d&b.

Early last year I interviewed Will and Saul for a piece in the Independent on how d&b is revitalizing itself with producers such as Chase & Status and Commix broadening the sonic well it draws from. And I popped back to their Southbank studio two weeks ago to chat to them about mosh pits, working with Rihanna and spotting new talent. You can read it on the Metro website here, or peruse it here.

And don't forget, Hypest Hype, out today is available as a free, yes gratis, download from Chase and Status website. You can find a link at the bottom of this piece.

Chase & Status: Marking their own territory
Chase & Status, the production duo of the moment, spill the beans on working with Rihanna and how they get the crowds pumped up at their gigs.


Saul ‘Chase’ Milton and Will ‘Status’ Kennard break off from opening bags of Fred Perry freebies to give Metro a guided tour of their upgraded studio. When we were there early last year, it was a smart, functional room in pop mogul Pete Waterman’s warren of studios in the iconic County Hall adjacent to the London Eye.

Now Chase & Status have enough space for two rooms of neatly arranged kit, a vocal booth, a private cinema and a chill-out area with a Street Fighter arcade machine and a growing collection of awards, including their recently scooped Q Best Video gong (for End Credits). So far, so pimp.

The improved set-up isn’t excessive for a duo who, in two years, have gone from drum’*’bass heroes to daytime radio regulars and Top Ten artists. Debut LP More Than Alot (2008) took their crackling arrangements of beats and bass beyond clubland to America’s rap and pop A-list: Snoop Dogg reworked Chase & Status’s Bollywood-dubstep monster Eastern Jam and before long they were producing Rihanna’s Rated R (2009) album.

This year, however, has been focused on developing Chase & Status as artists in their own right – they’ve toured relentlessly and written sophomore album No More Idols (out on January 31). Like More Than Alot, it’s a celebration of rising home-grown talent, including indie rockers White Lies, ferocious grime MC Tempa T, Plan B protégé Maverick Sabre, soulster Liam Bailey and emerging singer/songwriter Clare Maguire.

‘British music is the most exciting and fast-moving in the world. We set trends here and the new album is a big nod to Britain and how strong our music is scene is,’ says gregarious 29-year-old Milton. The laid-back Kennard, reclining on the sofa, observes: ‘It’s about spotting talent that has something different and these artists have something unique. They’re young, hungry and want to prove themselves. That’s when you get great material.’

The artists on No More Idols will hope to enjoy similar success to More Than Alot guests Plan B (who has two Top Three singles) and Digga (who, under the name McLean, was Top Ten in March). Do Milton and Kennard take pride in the British urban scene conquering the mainstream?

‘It’s great to see and be involved – the industry is no longer scared to support British urban talent and doesn’t rely on the US to take over the charts, which is what used to happen,’ says Milton. ‘The Americans have been keen to get us involved with working on Rihanna’s album, Snoop was on stage with Tinie Tempah at Glastonbury, and John Legend is on the Magnetic Man album. There’s a real coming together of worlds.’

There are two high-profile guests on the new album: one is Dizzee Rascal, whose jagged, fevered flow on the brutal track Heavy exhilarates; the other is Cee Lo Green. However, they seem slightly apologetic that an American should feature, even if Green is a man of the moment (‘He’s talking about London,’ reasons Milton, ‘and using London slang’).

Kennard and Milton’s club background means their transition to the live arena – Chase & Status live is breathless, replete with a rolling cast of vocalists, furious drumming, mesmerising projections – and rowdy crowd antics has not been without surprises. The video for supercharged new single Hypest Hype (out Monday), starring Tempa T parading his rippling torso as he works the audience into a foaming frenzy, hints at the madness.

‘At first we thought moshing at our gigs was strange but now it happens at our DJ gigs too,’ says Kennard. ‘It’s standard now – if there’s no moshing or people punching each other in the face, we think it hasn’t been a decent gig,’ jokes Milton. ‘The new thing at our gigs stems from The Prodigy gig we did at Milton Keynes Bowl in the summer. ‘Plan B split the crowd of 65,000 in two halves and on the drop of the bassline charged each other. I looked at Will with a look of horror and carried on playing the guitar.’

It’s these kinds of reactions that have encouraged Kennard and Milton to weave guitars and a rock feel into their high-octane, bruising sound. ‘It’s been inspired by our shows: we’ve kept the energy of dance production but layered a few guitars,’ says Kennard. ‘Also, we’re aware in Britain that everyone’s going for a synth and trance sound so we thought, let’s do something different.’

‘The great thing is we can do dubstep, hip hop, drum’n’bass, rock, pop – we were vibing to pop in the studio with Rihanna. If our friends saw us, they’d be ripping us to shreds,’ laughs Milton. ‘There’s no strict format or BPM: we have the ability and confidence to turn our hands to whatever we want to do.’

A free download of Hypest Hype is available on Monday via www.chaseandstatus.co.uk


No More Idols (Mercury) is out on January 31.

Out Of The Ashes - review

For those of you that don't know me, I'm more than a little mad for cricket. Love the stuff. I can't think of many better ways to enjoy a day off than positioning myself on the sofa in front of a riveting test match. That's why Metro's film editor Larushka asked me to review this film for the paper today.

If you're remotely interested in Afghanistan, but hate cricket, this is still very, very worth watching.

Out Of The Ashes (D)
FOUR STARS
Bungalow Town

‘There are lots of problems in the world today…. The solution to the problems is cricket,’ says Taj Malik, the avuncular coach of Afghanistan’s cricket team.

So begins Out Of The Ashes, a heart-warming documentary, following the team’s remarkable metamorphosis from rag-tag cricket-nuts playing for fun, to professional (ish) unit playing in April 2010’s T20 World Cup.

Adventures abroad for qualifiers in genteel Jersey, metropolitan Argentina and sleepy Tanzania are juxtaposed with lingering shots of the majestic Hindukush mountain range, Afghani kids playing cricket on rubble-strewn wasteland and talking heads.

Players’ child-like wonder at swimming in the sea for the first time and eye-popping reaction to witnessing tango and the fortunes of eternal optimist Malik and his merry band of men, counterbalance bleak truth – ‘I used to come to this stadium to watch football, I didn’t come to the Taliban’s public executions,’ says one player.

Out Of The Ashes is not only a gentle, powerful statement on sport’s unique ability to lift spirits amidst grim realities, but also a poignant testament to the fortitude and pride of ordinary Afghans getting on with their lives in the face of relentless devastation.

Metro clubs column today: Happy Birthday Trouble Vision/Deviation

You can read the Metro column in its full glory here. Alternatively here it is. And seeing as it's Friday it's got to be an excuse to post loads of DJ Zinc youtube vids:












CLUBS

Deviation
Trouble Vision

Tomorrow’s Deviation is a double celebration for founder Benji B: it’s Deviation third birthday and after eight years on 1Xtra, last week Benji B made his Radio 1 debut ‘exploring future beats’.

Deviation (and Benji’s radio show), eases through superficially unrelated music, linking for example, Slum Village’s dreamy hip hop soul, Wiley’s punchy grime, Dam Funk’s mesmeric synths and Skream’s devastating dubstep.

Deviation’s birthday guests Theo Parrish and Kode 9 specialize in underground music without boundaries: Detroit-based Parrish is a sound sculptor (his specialization at art school) who rails against genre straitjacketing. Stirring soul, heady disco, nourishing house and funky techno are part of the same lineage, and how he joins these dots – through re-edits and working the mixer like an instrument - has to be heard to be believed.

Kode 9’s set will personify the futuristic, thoughtful output of his influential Hyperdub label, and traverse apocalyptic dancehall, ghostly garage, android soul, surreal funky house, and beyond.

Tonight’s Trouble Vision is also a birthday celebration as the night honouring garage-inspired music is two: DJ Zinc, who’s been at the top of the Brit-bass game for over 15 years (he’s behind jungle classic Super Sharp Shooter, garage anthem 138 Trek and 2010’s ragga-house sensation Wile Out with Ms Dynamite), stars. MJ Cole and the unsung Zed Bias play ‘history of garage set’ back-to-back encompassing sing-a-long, champagne-swigging two-step, and the eerie, minimal instrumentals that inspired dubstep.

Room two stars masked DJ/producer SBTRKT’S throbbing bass and techno contortions, and Scuba’s deep blends of sub bass and house/ techno, which have made his Hotflush label, the toast of Berlin.

Tonight, Trouble Vision, Corsica Studios, Elephant Road SE17, 10pm to 6am, £10 adv, £12. Tel: 020 7703 4760.

Tomorrow, Deviation, Cable Studios, Bermondsey Street SE1, £10adv, £12 door. Tube: London Bridge.

Gold Panda - Lucky Shiner review

My review of Gold Panda's Lucky Shiner LP, from the Independent (on Saturday just gone). This is one of my fave LPs of the year and it's proving to be a vintage year for electronic music in 2010 - Caribou, Flying Lotus, Gold Panda are stone cold classics.


Gold Panda: Lucky Shiner
Notown

One-man producer Gold Panda’s debut album Lucky Shiner somehow kneads loping hip-hoptronica, crackly deep house, angular synths, thrusting techno, micro-glitch, gurgling R&B, and other worldly melodies (possibly drawn from time living in Japan), into an exquisite, coherent record. Whether it’s mood (melancholy to sunny in a flash), arrangements (pumping house, shuffling hip hop), or influences (folktronica, Chicago house), LS is a twisting and turning, rewarding meander through the unpredictable.

Kashmir Kid - Return To Bombay City

Badman tune. Goes beyond usual looping of Asian sample and big dutty bass, this has got melodies flying all over the place, interesting instruments in the mix and it's got a garagey rhythm (always a good thing). It's out on Goldielocks' Gut Instinct label, and you can cop a copy of it here

Skandal - Questions

Man like Skandal's latest joint and it's typically on point.

Beaut - Dark Star - Gold

Beautiful single and video for Dark Star who's LP is out on Hyperdub on October 18th. Think overly emotional, baroque analogtronica. Really excited about this LP. Hyperdub steps up, yet again.

Amazo