Dem Bones Dem Bones Dem....

EVIL MASTERMIND
Originally uploaded by infinite.

Skull Disco's party....

Geeks

Interesting article on MTV.com about the UK's Grime scene and how the American's perceive it. Not only does it provide a small insight into the history and growth of the genre but it also mentions how blogging has affected it's movement...

www.mtv.com/bands/m/music_geek/grime_062505/

SKULL DISCO SOUNDSYSTEM
Friday 29th July 2005

@Zen Bar, 51 Leswin Rd, Stoke Newington, London

FREE! FREE! FREE! FREE! FREE! FREE! FREE! FREE!

10pm-4am

feat: Shackleton - Appleblim - Evil Mastermind - Necta Selecta


www.skulldisco.com

All Night Long

TECHNICALITY ALLNIGHTER 3.0 "THE SUMMER PARTY"

29TH JULY, LONDON



www.inperspectiverecords.com

Third installment in Inperspective's Allnighters which occur in secret locations around London. March's one was heavy despite the bass which got a bit too dark for a mashed me on my birthday but none the less had all the vibes of a memorable party.

. Previous Allnighter line-ups have included Bailey, Bizzy B, Paradox, The Wizard and The One as well as the Inperspective family members - Chris, Equinox, Breakage, Senses, Fracture & Neptune, Wilsh plus MC's Stirlin, Qdini and Lowqui.

Photos from Allnighter March >

www.inperspectiverecords.com

Jerona Fruits @ Jamm, 29 July 2005

Friday 29th July 2005

Room 1- Drum & Bass

Friction (Valve)
Sub Focus (Ram Records)
Jerona Fruits (Jerona Fruits)
Diablo Nuffness (Live D&B band)
Andyskopes (Jerona Fruits)

Room 2- Hip hop & breaks
Ben Jovi
Spliff Matt & Rolf Charris
Reza (Tempo Tantrum)

9.00- 4am
6 b4 11 8 Thereafter
www.brixtonjamm.com
www.jeronafruits.com
info@jeronafruits.com

JERONA SESSIONS @ JAMM
261 BRIXTON RD SW9

Key Sound Radio

keysound radio
Originally uploaded by Blackdown.

Check this beautiful mix:

www.blackdownsoundboy.blogspot.com


dusk + blackdown keysound radio

1 dusk + blackdown ‘keysound radio intro’
2 kode 9 + spaceape ‘ghost town’
3 random trio productions ‘indian stomp’
4 pinch ‘qawwali’
5 skream ‘sweetz’
6 dusk + blackdown ‘submerge’
7 blackdown ‘crackle blues’
8 digital mystikz ‘creeper’
9 kode 9 + spaceape ‘correction’
10 blackdown ‘keysound pirate radio refix’
11 roll deep entourage ‘me’
12 target + riko ‘hands up’
13 blackdown v crazy titch ‘dis/east v sing-a-long’
14 roll deep entourage ‘ground zero vox’
15 loefah v nasty crew ‘lightz se25 dub’
16 plasticman ‘funeral vibez’
17 lethal b ‘hitman’
18 dusk + blackdown ‘drenched’
19 blackdown ‘the danger line’
20 loefah ‘root’
21 blackdown ‘zgk’
22 digital mystikz ‘forgive’
23 dizzee rascal ft. breeze and flowdan ‘win’

Strictly Rubba Dub... Inna Da Pub

PUBSESSION
Originally uploaded by infinite.

Prang'd

How the funk do they do this to me? Even in my comfortable bedroom environment, Vex'd scare the shizzle out of me, no more so than during their remix of Toasty's Knowledge as featured on this week's Breezeblock show. For some reason, knowing the original Knowledge inside and out makes it all that much weirder; the Vex'd remix adding pure filth and horror, to the innocence and playfulness of the original Knowledge making it all that more twisted. Because of this the track pretty much brought me to tears- the shock of the darkness that they've given to Knowledge was all a bit much.

I remember catching the beginning of Vex'd's set at Bristols Subloaded night and after 20 minutes felt like I simply had to get out of the room due to the intensity of their basslines on a 10k soundsystem. Since then, they've grown on me thanks to the likes of Crusher dub which is a slightly softer tune that sounds a bit like someone trying to tune into a dub station on a crackley radio. I've been a quite a fan of Lion and Pop Pop since I heard Plasticman drop them a while back, but in many ways I feel Vex'd's music improves with age. Whether that's because it's ahead of it's time I don't know but interestingly I currently prefer the original Lion to the remix which I've heard a clip of via
Planet Mu, which has released their album Degenerate. Whilst I havent managed to get my hands on the album yet, the samples, bits and pieces I've heard on Rinse FM and the recent mix for Radio 1's Breezeblock show have made me very excited about doing so. Mary-Anne Hobbs often describes Vex'd as Dubstep pioneers, but I'd be inclined to describe them as Darkstep pioneers. Their music definitely incorporates the deep sub bass, ragga patterns and other styles that influence dubstep but the fury, overwhelming power and progressiveness makes for a sound that is truly individual.

Enough of my chatter though; here's the tracklisting for the Breezeblock show mix. Check for Distance's Fallen which is one of the most beautiful things I've heard for a while and provides a little space in which to be calm in the middle of Vex'd's extremely dark but addictive sound. Oh and watch out for the Knowledge remix if the Zombies in your garden aint buried deeply enough... they're coming to get you.


http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/dance/breezeblock/

Vex'd - Destruction
Vex'd - Bombardment Of Saturn
Vex'd - Thunder
Vex'd - Fire
Vex'd - Angels
Vex'd - Killing Floor
D1 - Crackbong (Loefah VIP Remix)
Distance - Fallen
Vex'd - Venus
Toasty - Knowledge (Vex'd Remix)
Vex'd - Gunman

Mix also available to download at www.dubstep.blogspot.com

www.vexd.blogspot.com

Soul Snatch

Spy
Originally uploaded by infinite.

Family Photos

2005 in love
Originally uploaded by infinite.

Recent photos from Forward>> and Repercussion!

I must admit the Repercussion ones have really been making me smile due to all of the smiling faces that are in them. I even crop up in a few photos which are hanging around the net but I aint gonna tell you where!

You might notice also that I've been reorganising my photo archives; I upgraded to a pro account on flickr which means I can store as many sets of photos I want in one place rather than having them all over the place. In some ways, looking back through all the photos of various events around London is like looking through a family album. It's nice to be able to share but I just hope that I never embarrass any of you by capturing you loose on the dancefloor.

Reviews below

The Great Escape

Forward>> @ Plastic People 21 July 2005

This weekend's getaway began at Hackney’s Plastic People, situated one corner away from the location of the failed bus attack that occurred a few hours earlier, where Forward>> played host to Target and DMZ.

Target’s set offered some much needed peace in the sounds of mostly instrumental Wiley music which in the abscense of MC's allowed his off key sounds and jagged basslines to be experienced in all their glory and avoiding Grime’s harsh lyrical styles that might have been inappropriate. Anti-war dub also spoke even more powerfully than usual, the words stating all that the crowd was feeling.

Unsurprisingly the dance floor was missing some of the familiar faces, partially as a result of the troubles outside and partially due to the impending Repercussion Allnighter, but for the headz that did reach, the dark, dubbed out basement bar provided a true escape. Even in the darkness, the scent of the fresh dubs in the DMZ bag could be smelt a mile off, and was no stronger than during Skreamz remix of Mala's Ancient Memories which incited a commotion at the front of the floor. Skream’s notorious energy striking such a beautiful, deep and peaceful piece of music created the perfect merge of light and weight and one that stretched the dance floor in different ways. Equally, Loefah and Mala's take on I and Request Line added some different energy to Skreamz sound, Mala adding contemplation to Skreamz restless Late Night Request Line and the booming authoritative voice of Loefah’s I remix bringing guidance to the bounce of the dancefloor before recalming it with the inclusion of some older, quieter Mystikz tracks.

Repercussion @ Egg, 22 July 2005
Those DMZ-Skreamz mash ups were also unleashed at Repercussion which despite a weight less sound system propelled the peaceful vibes of the past few days. Particularly memorable is the sheer volume of familiar and new faces that were out and for Chef, Skream, N-Type, Walshy, El-Sid and others, the party began on the dance floor of room two where 4 Hero's sunshine vibes had Skream proclaiming his love of cheese before a mass exodus to the Loft Bar for Bristol's ThinKing. Tracks by Oris Jay, Vex’d and Big Apple wound up the dub wise clock, ThinKing calling all feet to move before Digital Mystikz, Loefah and Pokes arrived to complete the family knees up. Transferring a group of people, used to low ceilings, low light and low bass to a room with high ceilings, high lighting and high bass, lit the dance floor up with conversation and laughter; meaning that Pokes that didn't have to work quite as hard to loosen us up in the absence of smoke and sub.

What really struck me though was the collective response to the lack of bass, revealing how strongly the DMZ sound is becoming known for it’s production as opposed to it’s name, so for those who’d come to feel it for themselves, the sound-system was a let down. A few faces departed as a result, but the body of people who stayed for the full set, soon found themselves dancing once again in the middle of a packed floor. Through conversation it was also apparant how many had journied to Repercussion specifically for Deepercussion and the other non DnB sets which highlighted how much the dubbier, spacious and seemingly deeper genres are being embraced at the moment.

Most of the evening thereafter was spent resting in the garden to the beautiful smells of the Jamaican BBQ with occasionally journies to the Drum n Bass room which like although filled with a hectic, deep vibe also suffered it’s fair share of sound problems. All that was left was for me was to locate my purse which I’d lost earlier in the evening, a task with a success that maybe reinforced how nice people were feeling. The journey home was equally as flawless (as opposed to the previous nights journey home from Forward>> which saw me completely lost around London) and the following afternoon I woke up tired but ready to continue the flight through to Sunday's Love Box which with soulful, jazzy vibes wrapped up the weekend in good vibes to take me through the week of predictably forthcoming media doom and gloom.

On Tha Run

To say that the past couple of weeks have been dramatic, eventful and rocky wouldn't do them justice. The senseless killing of innocent people around the world, Iraq, Zimbabwe and Palestine to name just a few has always affected me, but when it happens in your home city, the pain of injustice and sadness hurts that much more.

So far I’ve been blessed. I don't live directly in the centre of London so wasn’t directly affected by the two attacks further than having to change some travel arrangements and worrying about my family that do live in the middle. The nature and shape of this city however, means that when something big happens in one part of town, it shockwaves through to the rest of us- most noticeably on the police filled streets and their sounds of war. With them, comes a kind of fear that all have seemed to have noticed and the usually familiar streets have a distinctly unfamiliar feeling of tension.

Unfortunately, this tension has been creeping into my home via the dramatic and unnessicarily theatrical news programs, making it all that much harder to escape the negativity. The BBC in particular, with it's aggy red, black and white visual brand and fast talking, adrenaline junky news reporters bombarding me with images of anger, paranoia, sadness and death is making me sick but in a weird twist of fate is also moving me to live.

It's as if the sadness of the attacks on London and Egypt, the shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes (R.I.P) in South London and the after fear that these events have conceived has made us all even more determined to live our lives with as much vigour as possible, and in recent days I’ve experienced gatherings and conversations that have touched on the esoteric and mystical. With our homes under media attack, our streets out of bounds and our parks drenched in rain, the the only solid escape from the darkness has been the night life, and at the heart of it, London’s clubs and bars have been offering warmth and refuge proved by the weekends parties which have been particularly special.

Closer to the Dream

DOC SCOTT,4 HERO, MJ COLE, DJ LEE, LOEFAH, DIGITAL MYSTIKZ: *faints* and many many more...

I nearly had a heart attack when I saw this years huge Repercussion line up at Egg. This is enough good music to last you a life time and Egg is a blinding venue in the Summer months!! I'm amazed, I'm amazed, I'm amazed and I'm so excited it's silly.... *skips off into the sunshine*

REPERCUSSION presents…. ALLNIGHTER – part 2

FRIDAY 22ND JULY 2005 // 9PM-6AM
@ EGG, 200 YORK WAY, KINGS CROSS, LONDON, N7 9AP


main room - drum&bass
4HERO (classic Reinforced set - marc mac)
RANDALL b2b DJ FRICTION
KLUTE
DJ LEE b2b MARCUS INTALEX
TEEBEE b2b CALYX
REPERCUSSION DJs
AZONICA b2b LSB
Hosted by: GQ / RAGE / SP:MC / MC MG / MANIKULAR / LOWQUI


room2 - hosted by eyes down – www.eyesdown.net
MJ COLE feat. Elizabeth Troy
4HERO (marc mac)
FOREIGN BEGGARS (live)
MARCUS INTALEX
DOMU
KELVIN BROWN
Hosted by MC DRS & MC MG


room3 – deepercussion – dubstep / soul / funk / chillout
DIGITAL MYSTIKZ & LOEFAH <dmz>
MATTRICK
PEZ
THINKING
REASON SOUNDSYSTEM
MC SGT POKES


garden - 88-93 old skool session
DOC SCOTT (2 hour history lesson)
HASTE
GENIUS JONES


Tickets: £12 in advance, £14 before 11pm
Outlets: Blackmarket Soho, Piccadilly Records Manchester, Selectadisc Nottingham, Dance2 Guildford, Cage Kingston, Intense Chelmsford
Online: Ticketweb
Direct Tickets/Guestlist/General Info: info@heavyrepercussion.co.uk / 07746 568829

Supported by Don’t Lose The Music and THTC
Sound System by Funktion One
Visuals by Eyes Down & Reference
Artwork by Ollie K
Authentic Caribbean BBQ and bar available in the garden til late
R.O.A.R / No Dress Code

Further Information:
www.heavyrepercussion.co.uk, www.eyesdown.net /www.egglondon.net / www.dontlosethemusic.com / www.thtc.co.uk

Double Trouble

Brap
Originally uploaded by soul snatcha.

This weeks Forward>> is a bit of an Underground special and features Target followed by Digital Mystikz and Loefah with MC Sgt Pokes in a 2 hour special. Expect to smell the scent of fresh dubplate wafting around; I hear that DMZ have got a couple of new bits to listen out for...

10pm-2am, £5
147-149 CurtainRoad, London, EC2

www.plasticpeople.co.uk

Clownstep

Clownstep
Originally uploaded by infinite.

Whilst writing a review of Hysteria I've been pondering the roots of the 'Clownstep' label. I might have known that Dylan had something to do with it...

Clownstep
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

"Clownstep is a pejorative term used to describe a certain type of sound found in the electronic music genre drum and bass. The sound is typified as having a 'wobbly' bassline, simple beat structure and/or a large amount of swingbeats.

The name originated from producers Dylan and Keaton. Keaton created the term as a description of Shimon & Andy C's single Bodyrock, due to its swingbeat sound that inspired an image of clowns dancing. The phrase was popularised by Dylan on the drum & bass webforum Dogs On Acid. The phrase was censored by the site's moderators, appearing in posts as "*********", due to its derogatory usage. A "clownsteppa" smiley was spawned, and now appears in DNB-related forums worldwide.

The meaning of the term is less a musical description than an insult within the world of internet drum and bass culture, particularly the dogsonacid forum, which is renowned within the scene. The term clownstep may be applied to any drum and bass artist that falls from favour - even the synonymous description of 'wobble' is almost meaningless as the deep bass sounds of many drum and bass tracks would be described in these terms by many listeners.
 This article about a music genre is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.
Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clownstep


I particularly like the bit about wobble bass....

Home Boy

London
Originally uploaded by infinite.

Light Box

Light Boxing
Originally uploaded by infinite.

Hysteria, River and Sky >

A few pics of the London Bridge area after a nights ravin at Hysteria. Actual Hysteria rave photos will be online soon, I'm still trying to get over the shock of the madness of the weekend. More from me once I've regained my composure.

Pop goes the Eski

Roll Deep on TOTP was a very strange affair, I feel to send them congrats as despite the programme's decline (it's crap) every child in the UK wanted to be on that stage one day. Not surprisingly, they looked slightly out of place amongst the bright lights and polished with pop studio but believe me, next to Crazy irritant Frog (or Mee-mee as my nephew calls it) and Kanye West, their performance of 'The Avenue' was heavenly. Nothing though will ever compare to Nirvana's infamous performance of Smells Like Teen Spirit back in the day; "Load up on drugs, kill your friends" live on pre-watershed prime time telly.

www.bbc.c.uk/totp

Carry on Smiling, Carry on Shining

Tinkerbell
Originally uploaded by soulsnatcha.

It's back to work, back to partying and back to watching the sun set from our cities parks, like good music, the light of London's never dies and 4 days after the carnage, a smile is returning to the city's scarred face. 

Supported by the international community which has been sending it's messages of peace and condolences in abundance, there's been an overwhelming message that we aint afraid- a feeling that highlights not only that life must go on but that it must be cherished. With this in mind, I've been emersing myself in the good things that life brings- Music- particularly Hatcha's latest mix cd as posted on Blackdown's blog, some new N-Type beats and some of the cheesiest funk and soul known to man. I've also been looking at memories of last weeks incredible DMZ night which was one of the most beautiful 8 hours in London preceeding one of the city's ugliest weeks. Nice to look at images of smiling faces rather than images of crying faces but then as the name suggests, DMZ is a place of peace. Next one is the Post Carnival Shock-out on September the 3rd and will no doubt give the summer a damn good farewell party. Particularly exciting is the introduction of Baltimore's Joe Nice. FINALLY, after a good few years of pushing a sound that he is so obviously passionate about, he's getting a gig in London and judging by the countless sets and mixes that I've listened to, it's gonna be a big and hugely entertaining set. Big up to the DMZ crew for another wicked line-up. www.dmzuk.com

DMZ Allnighter 3 photos, © Georgina Cook 2005

On my stereo:

Way of the Dub- N-Type
The Truth- Truth All Stars
Breakin In Space- Key-Matic
Shaft Soundtrack
In the Mode- Roni Size and Reprazent inspired by "A Picture of Bristol by Roni Size" on BBC3 I dug out the album cos I haven't listened to it in ages... disappointingly it just doesn't do it for me at the moment
Bird- Cymande and Blondie's Funky Town
Here Comes the Drumz- Doc Scott (boo!!)

Is peace too much to ask for?

R.I.P fallen brothers and sisters.

Prayers and thoughts to my fellow Londoners and everyone affected.

London attacks (Reuters)

Olympic Sized Rant

2012_big
Originally uploaded by infinite.

The announcement of the Olympic bid has unleashed Tourette's syndrome in my household today. Call me a cynic but the prospect of increased traffic in London coupled with the knowledge that London has a habit of running things shabbily isn't something that makes me want to start training for olympic ping-pong. I'm sure it will be good for the kids and will hopefully inspire some of them to get involved in sport but what will happen afterwards? The huge arena's and centre's will probably shut down and they'll be out playing footie in the street as usual... don't even get me started on the higher taxes that Londoners are gonna be hit with. Maybe it's age but I aint impressed with the way this city is run despite my love for it's people and culture. The Millennium dome was a pile of poo, congestion charging is a joke, London transport is as shite as ever and you're lucky if you don't suffocate on the tube, the Live8 concert was shabby and our schools and youth centres are under resourced. What hope is there that the 2012 Olympics will work?

Answers to grumpygirl@gettingoldandcynical.com

Another fine party

Home Sweet Home
Originally uploaded by soulsnatcha.

DMZ Allnighter 2 July 2005

Third time around for DMZ and one which truly proclaimed that Dubstep has found it's spiritual home.

Shouts to all that were on board the flight, I know you're all still on a high despite the 8 hour jet lag. Am I right? Big tings..!

Peace xx

Photos and Reviews on their way...