Double S - From Day

Double S' single From Day - a taster of Eye Of The Tiger Volume 2 by the much respected True Tiger camp, and Double S forthcoming mixtape Monies [sic] The Motive - sorry to be a pedant but that should be Money's The Motive, I'm a stickler for punctuation, spelling and apostrophes, that's why I do what I do - out on Always Recording. Like Chipmunk (who he records with) Double S is another ridiculously young (17), talented MC. Big up Stanza for the link.

Wot Do U Call It? dubstep? house? techno? garage? funky?

A jellyfish with damn good taste in music has a dance and a prance to dubstep in the official video to Benga & Coki's Night - the biggest tune in clubland over the last six months. Wot do u call it? Dubstep, house, techno, garage or funky? Answers on a postcard please. Here's my review of Benga's LP that should be in today's Metro.

CD

Benga: Diary Of An Afro Warrior
Tempa
FOUR STARS

Benga is the king of explosive, energy-packed dubstep (or ‘bangers’ as he calls them) however he quickly breaks the shackles that might constrain the 22-year-old-Croydonite to an LP of club music, with dreamy opener Zero M2, although its wind chime like jangling cymbals eventually give way to suffocating sub bass. Despite Diary…’s dislocated, drifting feel, Benga’s dancefloor disciples won’t be disappointed as rough and ready anthems Crunked Up and 26 Basslines, which sounds like 26 shiny pin balls careering around a pinball machine, appear. However the cascading techno-house bleeps of Night - dubstep’s most whistleable (and biggest crossover) track to date – reveal what Benga’s about as he sucks electro, Detroit techno, bleeps, jazzy melodies, and moody chords into a vortex of dynamic bass while intricate, unexpected beat patterns, tempo shifts and key changes cast a hypnotic spell.

MIA in action

The first installment of MIA's UK tour diary.




The second part of the diary went live in the last week. Thanks to Rich XL for the 'news', subscribe to XL's youtube channel for loadsa quality sounds, like MIA, 'dirtiest sound in Britain' - too right sister, that's why we love ya.

Step to the rhythm made outta

My review of Roni Size's Reprazent from today's Independent

Roni Size Reprazent, Scala, London (Rated 4/ 5 )

By Rahul Verma
Thursday, 21 February 2008

Reprazent's return made me uneasy. Dance music dates quickly, and jungle/drum'*'bass's moment passed when Reprazent beat Radiohead, Primal Scream, Chemical Brothers and Prodigy to 1997's Mercury Music Prize. Surely your heyday is over when your music is being sampled by a new generation of producers, as is the case with Reprazent's "Brown Paper Bag" and dubstep prodigy Benga's track "M2"?

But no. Reprazent seize the moment within seconds of taking the stage as a seven-strong band (Roni Size on keys and samples, two keyboard players, drummer, guitarist/double bassist and two vocalists, Onalee and Dynamite MC) by opening with what should be the closer, "Brown Paper Bag". Its teasing intro – double bass, jazz melodies and dreamy atmospherics – spirals into a crescendo of skittering beats and funky, kinetic bass.

Reprazent keep a tight grip, launching into the punchy hip-hop of "Dirty Beats" from sophomore LP In the Mode. "Heroes" shows why Reprazent worked so well in 1997 and still do: it's an odyssey as Onalee harmonies glide over sparkling jazz that slowly unfurls into metronomic breakbeat, satisfying both sing-along and dance urges.

There's buckets of energy and perspiration in the packed Scala, and a sense that this is a rare chance to celebrate, and express gratitude to, the pioneers of a genre that's still dominated by faceless producers. You can count drum'*'bass's icons on the fingers of one hand – Goldie, Roni Size and LTJ Bukem – yet the music, familiar to anyone under the age of 30, is as much a part of the soundtracks of global youth culture as hip-hop or Nirvana. As if to emphasise the "it's about the music, not me" point, Roni Size doesn't utter a single word all night.

The new single "Don't Hold Back" is apocalyptic hip-hop, rapped by Dynamite but sounding like Ludacris's anthem "Move Bitch". One of the classics, "Trust Me", appears on the re-edited forthcoming update of New Forms, and is performed tonight. With 15 years' experience of playing raves, Reprazent are tight, relaxed and give us a thorough workout.

The encore is breathless as "Brown Paper Bag" is rolled out again, and another classic, "Share the Fall", brings the curtain down on Reprazent's triumphant return. It confirms the suspicion that New Forms doesn't need updating because the original hasn't dated one jot. However, as the hook for Reprazent's live comeback, the best of New Forms couldn't be more welcome.

Rider gets four years

Courtesy of The Times, today

The Radio 1 DJ Grooverider has been sentenced to a four-year prison term in Dubai after admitting to carrying cannabis into the country.

Grooverider – whose real name is Raymond Bingham – told judges at previous court appearance: “The drugs were in my possession and I forgot I had them in my trousers.”

He was convicted yesterday and given the minimum sentence for drug possession in the United Arab Emirates, where deeply conservative laws sometimes collide with the liberal values of the millions of tourists who visit each year.

Grooverider’s lawyers had tried to argue in his defence that he was unaware of the laws. The 40-year-old DJ, who co-hosts the weekly BBC Radio 1 drum-and bass programme Fabio and Grooverider, was arrested at Dubai airport on November 23, with 2.16 grams of cannabis in his pockets just hours before he was due to play a sold-out show at a popular nightclub.

“I just want this to end and to never come back. It was a small amount. Back home I would not even get prosecuted,” he previously stated, in a published interview from jail.

A BBC spokesman said: “He made a serious mistake and is paying a very high price.” Grooverider has been off the air since his arrest last November.

Although not officially suspended by Radio 1 it is understood that the BBC is not paying him a salary, as the DJ is paid for each show he presents. Bingham has provided his own legal representation.

Drugs are strictly banned in the United Arab Emirates, however there have been several high-profile cases of foreigners being jailed for smuggling small amounts into the country.

A British tourist, Keith Brown, spent four years in jail for the possession of 0.002 grams of cannabis. Bert Tatham, a Canadian UN official who advised the Afghan government was also jailed for carrying 0.5 grams of hashish and two poppy seeds into the country.

The rulers of Dubai later issued Mr Tatham a rare pardon, deporting him to Canada. Highlighting a new crackdown on drug smuggling, the UAE recently installed new drug-sensitive detecting equipment in its airports.

Grooverider, who made his name DJing at illegal warehouse parties, is recognised as a pioneer of the abrasive style of dance music known as drum and bass.

He is a recording artist and record label owner in his own right and an in-demand DJ on the international club circuit. His colleague Fabio will continue to present the Radio 1 show in his absence.

The former Radio 1 DJ Kevin Greening died of a heart attack last year, aged 44, after taking large quantities of cocaine, ecstasy and the drug GHB.

**************************************************************************************


Although I'm a firm believer in taking responsibility for your actions and more importantly respecting the culture of a country you're visiting, I can't quite believe Grooverider's got four years. Mind you the fact that 'A British tourist, Keith Brown, spent four years in jail for the possession of 0.002 grams of cannabis'is worse. 0.2gms isn't even a joint in anyone's book. Let alone .002 grams, that's nothing not even a speck. At this rate they'll be banging up any unsuspecting Briton with notes in their wallet with traces of cocaine on them.

I have to be careful here, as lots of good friends love the place, have gone out to work there and are from Dubai, but for me I don't understand why anyone would want to go to a crass mega-mall with ultra bling hotels and developments aimed at premiership footballers.

Do any tourists get beyond the cocoon of their five (or seven) star hotels and actually find out how locals get treated, or live? How do the Indian and Pakistani labourers and workers who construct all these penis extensions (sorry skyscrapers) and make the economy tick over get treated? Worse than a piece of shit. Each to their own I guess, personally I don't get it.

Back to the orginal reason for posting this: my thoughts are with you Grooverider, I hope the British Embassy/Consulate can do something to get you out sooner.

Update - You gots to chill

On February 12th I had a bit of a rant about the Big Chill and Pete Lawrence parting ways with the festival, how the festival has evolved and Big Chill Bar and Big Chill House. Well it turns out people actually read this blog - belief it was news to me - and more specifically I've been asked to sit down with Katrina Larkin who founded the festival with Pete, way back when, and a PR to discuss what I had to say. Eek. I'm sure it will all be very polite, I hope so. If anyone has thoughts or opinions they would like to communicate to the Big Chill's top dawgs drop me a line.

While I'm here, here's the latest line up news for your perusal,and allows me to include some ace music by Sengal's Orchestra Baobab for this posting:

NEW ARTISTS CONFIRMED FOR THE BIG CHILL 2008

Bill Bailey, Jilted John, Orchestra Baobab, Plaid and Racheal Unthank and the Winterset are the latest additions to the line up for The Big Chill 2008.

British Comic legend Bill Bailey will be joined by electronica pioneers Plaid; 1970's punk New Wave legend Jilted John, breathtaking folk from Racheal Unthank and the Winterset and Orchestra Baobab - eclectic African pioneers.

The new confirmations join an Eastnor bill that already includes....

Artists - The Mighty Boosh - Thievery Corporation - Random Dance - The Portico Quartet

If you're out and about this weekend

I'll be here tonight - mainly coz it's an ace night and I'm DJing for the second time in my life, woop woop. Here's the preview that ran in Metro as part of the clubs column on Thursday, apologies for the shameless plugging.

In the digital era of DJs mixing CDs and using laptops Size Doesn't Matter's policy of only spinning seven inch vinyl is a breath of fresh air. And over the last five years it's proved popular with public and DJs alike as respected names including Frank Tope, Mr Thing, Stu Patterson, and Pogo have jumped at the chance to join residents Mr Shiver, Si Kurrage, and Thor, and play an alternative set, dig deep into their collections and air 'big sounds with small records' with forthcoming guests include Bill Brewster, Fabric resident Craig Richards and X Press 2's Ashley Beedle. Tomorrow's Size Doesn't Matter, has a Valentines theme and features All India Radio spinning hopelessly romantic Bollywood 45s from the 1960s/1970s, and Hugo Mendez (Soundway Recordings and behind East London Latin warehouse parties) upping the ante with steamy Afro funk and Latin rhythms, with music from Ghana to Colombia via Togo to Colombia, and beyond.


I'd also like to go both You Don't Know and Stand And Point, but I ain't superhuman, so it's Size Doesn't Matter all the way, more info here:
Tonight, Size Doesn't Matter, Ginglik, 1 Shepherds Bush Green W12, 7pm to 3am, free before 8pm, £5 after (no entry 12.30am) £. Tel: 020 8749 2310. Tube: White City

Ninja Tune returns to London clubland with the quarterly You Don't Know, the label's first regular night since the days of Stealth. Whereas Stealth was at the compact, smart Bluenote, You Don't Know fills three floors of scuzzy, sprawling warehouse Electrowerkz, with a mind-boggling array of artists: the middle floor is Solid Steel and features beats and pieces cleverly threaded together by Strictly Kev (DJ Food), Coldcut's Jon More and Zero DB's incendiary beats, bleeps and bongos; the basement features Hackney producer Xrabit's experimental percussive, rowdy, retro beats, and Texam rappers DMG'. Upstairs Plastician navigates a path through dubstep and grime, while The Bug brings digi dancehall into the mix with Flowdan's (Roll Deep) bashy, patois flecked flow. Whether you chose top, middle or bottom, You Don't Know guarantees you've played your cards right.

Tonight, You Don't Know, Electrowerkz, 7 Torrens Street EC1V, Tel: 0870 060 0100. Tube: Angel

Music, fashion and lifestyle magazine, Notion begins a bi-monthly residency at Cargo with a line up of eclectic, cutting edge sounds: Seductively moody electronic indie duo The Black Ghosts (Simon Lord formerly of Simian Mobile Disco, and electro hero DJ Touche) headline, as fidget/thug house maestro Herve plays hip hop and dancehall flecked, jerking house, with support from Berlin trio Jahcoozi, who mash up grime and rap with glitchy electronica, bumping broken beat and anything sound that bubbles.

Tonight, Tomorrow, Notion, Cargo, Rivington Street EC1, 8pm to 4am, £10. Tel: 0870 060 0100.Tube: Old Street









This also looks good. Typically after my incessant moaning about having to trek to east London for decent nights, there's a kinda cool night less than ten minutes walk from my yard. But no I'm trekking to Shepherds Bush with a bag of records - no CDs for me - and Shepherds Bush tube is shut. Missions.

Tonight Southern Hospitality, featuring PA’s from Riz MC (www.myspace.com/rizmc) and the live debut of The Misphitz (www.myspace.com/themisphitz), DJs on the night: Dub & Frampster (Lady Sovereign's DJ),
Dex, 467-469 Brixton Road, 8pm til 4am, £5 before 10pm, £10 thereafter. Brixton SW9 8HH t: 0207 326 4455