"A "scream" is always just that - a noise and not music."- Carl G. Jung.

A "skream" however...


[image re-lick courtesy of www.bruktoof.blogspot.com]

Le Boom!

Mark One RPM’s flyer. Front
Originally uploaded by sonicdesign.

Currently feelin...

the blues (series)
Originally uploaded by infinite.

Kingstown dub aka The Blues: Kode9 (Hyperdub)

Diff'rent Strokes and Dhobi Exhibition

Next Thursday (1st September), you'll be able to view some of my work shot exclusively for Dhobi Records at Brixton's Plan B. Dhobi Records and Diffrent Strokes DJ's Mek and cH!co (happy birthday!) are currently infiltrating South London after a variety of successful nights in Camden, Croydon and Brixton. Mek, who's Dhobi label is due to drop soon is a long time friend and huge inspiration so to exhibit alongside he and his wickedly feel good music is a great honour. Expect a huge dose of soul and funk from the DJ's and live artists performing on the night, plus a selection of images that are a little different from my usual club scenes.


DIFFRENT STROKES
EVERY 1ST THURSDAY OF THE MONTH @ PLAN B

ADMISSON: £5, Members/NUS Less £3 Concs
VENUE: Plan B
ADDRESS: 418 Brixton Road, London, SW9 7AY.

www.diffrentstrokes.co.uk

What they say....

"Now into it’s 2nd year Diffrent Strokes has sought to bring the best in live music of all varieties to the heart of south London without conforming to any of the generics required to fit into any of the ‘scene’s’. Constantly seeking to bring new and fresh sounds Diffrent Strokes have invited some of the most refreshing looking and sounding acts around down to brighten up the nights, alongside a variety of fashion designers and artists who’s works have embellished not only the walls but also the bodies of models, dj’s and performers too! Upcoming artists are invited to perform alongside established acts in an atmosphere completely lacking in pretension, where artists, performers and patrons all mix and mingle in their shared appreciation of the arts on display.

After a hugely successful year at Bug Bar (MTV attended and filmed the final party) the team have now moved on to Brixton’s number one spot Plan B to become an integral part of their new ‘live’ entertainment roster, Rock/Indie Promoters will fill the Monday to Wednesday slots while Different Strokes and other Thursday provide the perfect bridge to the weekend’s big name line-up’s.

Hosted by Keezerman, one half of rap group AMMO, the night is brought to you by cH!co and Mek of Dhobi Records (releases due later this year). In line with the night’s music policy both are dj’s unlikely to be pigeonholed within any one style; they bridge the gaps between acts of Hip Hop, Funk, Soul and many other varieties of music that the night hosts…

Previous live performers have ranged from shortMAN (Multi Award Winning Spoken Word/Poet/Rapper), Moorish Delta 7 (Birmingham’s number 1 rap group) to live drum and bass from Dead Silence Syndicate (a John Peel fave) and new boys on the electro-whatever circuit; Machines, plus many, many more. Expect to see more of the same and more over the coming months…"

The Apprentice

ash_0169
Originally uploaded by infinite.

Hot on my heels... Anyone need a Kids TV show music reviewer? My nephew Ashton's current recommendations are Bob the Builder, The Wiggles and Bird (aka Pingu).

Currently Feelin?

Mala Digital Mystikz- Ancient Memories (Skream remix)
Skream - I (Loefah remix)
Lethal B- Hitman
Coki Digital Mystikz- Stuck
Blackdown- Crackle Blues
Ann Peebles- Make me Believe in You
Notorious B.I.G vs Frank Sinatra- My Way
Fela Kuti- Zombie
Artwork- Red (golden oldie!)
No Lay- Unorthadox Chick
Loefah- Ruff Beatz
Mala Digital Mystikz- New Life Baby Paris (still!)

Earplugged

Skank
Originally uploaded by infinite.

"Stepping Up, Dubstep makes it's move"

"Then again, it's this underground mentality that keeps dubstep so open to new forms and concepts...."

Amen to that.

Kingdom of Dub

dmz_sept
Originally uploaded by soulsnatcha.

I'm pretty sure I can get away with not saying anything about DMZ Allnighters by now. Besides, all you need to know is 3rd September, 3rd Base Brixton.

Previous DMZ photos >

Shooting Stars Part 1

To mark the launch of Vol 2 of Tempa's Dubstep Allstars series, I've written a couple of posts about the release. Part 1 takes a look back at Volume 1 of the series which can be held accountable for a great deal of the inspiration behind Drumzofthesouth.


Dubstep Allstars Vol 1

It’s June 2004, and following a previous introduction to Dubstep through early Mystikz classics, I’m passed a copy of Tempa's Dubstep Allstars Vol 1 mixed by DJ Hatcha in which an introduction to my love affair with a new sound is firmly signed and sealed.

A few days later and I’m hooked on the escapism that the flutes of Highland Spring and Monsoon bring into car, home and work place yet somewhat ironically, they’re born out of the borough of Croydon, a place known more for it's Chav culture than musical culture. It’s Croydon too, where you’d find Big Apple Records and it’s cartoon Banana skin logo that up until this year stood on Surrey Street behind the fruit and veg stalls of the market where Hatcha, in between working the counter at Apple could be seen catching trader's unaware with rotten fruit to the side of the head.

From the very beginning, Big Apple along with Ghost and Tempa/Soulja typified what Dubstep is all about- representing Artwork, Horsepower Productions, El-B and the other artists that began the original merger of 2-step patterns and Jungle basslines with dread samples proclaimed as 'Dubstep' by XLR8R magazine in 2002, but the younger sounds of Digital Mystikz, Loefah, Random Trio and 16 year olds Benga and Skream amongst many other familiar faces.

Up until it’s closure, many of Big Apple’s artists and DJ’s were the people featured on both Allstars vol.1 and vol.2, with Skream now 19, being the only artist to contribute to both mixes. Listening to vol 2, is reminiscent of my first journey's with Dubstep Allstars, the difference being the inclusion of the artists whose growth over the past year I have been lucky enough to witness first hand, and whose sounds are central to Drumzofthesouth which began around this time last year.

At the same time as I started to shoot and document the scene, fellow South Londoners and Croydon borough residents Digital Mystikz and Loefah were beginning to carve their names into it, their first few releases; Pathways, Jungle Infiltrator and Twisup EP's signed to Big Apple care of DJ Hatcha and 14 months later and Digital Mystikz, Loefah and the DMZ name is etched deeply into our skins, the ever evolving parties, tunes and line-ups continuously causing jaws to drop and blogs to bubble. They, alongside the equally progressive Skreamz who adds the distinctive air of energy and the lush and cinematic beats of his label mate D1 collectively contribute to the deep and dubbed out vibe synonymous with 20 year old Forward>> resident and Rinse FM DJ, Youngsta who is second only to Hatcha to be titled Dubstep Allstar for the release of the same name due to drop next week.


Dubstep Allstars Vol.1 is available from all good record stores. Catch Youngsta's recent Kiss 100 fm set courtesy of www.dubstep.blogspot.com. Thanks to Hyperdub, XLR8R, www.dubplate.net and BM Soho for the links.

DMZ:005 ::: OUT SEPT 1:::

DIGITAL MYSTIKZ & LOEFAH present: DMZ:005


NEVERLAND - DIGITAL MYSTIKZ - mala

STUCK - DIGITAL MYSTIKZ - coki


www.dmzuk.com

Dubwar

dubwar_aug_b
Originally uploaded by infinite.

The News Man

Big Up's to Blackdown (aka Clarky) who after a little breather and a trip around Cali, is back to blogging with a vengeance. Not only has he pointed out that next month, Jammer (who's recently been seen brucking out at Plastic People) alongside Landslide and Slt Mob will be playing at Forward>>, but he's also posted up the tracklisting for the second Run The Road compilation which I'm particularly excited about hearing. To those unfamiliar with Run the Road, the first release came at a time when Grime was still a little mysterious and so, by featuring many of the different styles and sounds that the genre covers, gave people a little education. As a result, the compilation is now considered by both music fans and journalists alike as one of the definitive Grime releases and the follow up will undoubtedly receive similar recognition.

As with the first release, Run the Road 2 features many familiar and up and coming names including Kano, No Lay and Trim and is due out on September 5th.

For more Grime and Dubstep news read Martin Clark's latest pitchforkmedia article which in the spirit of open mindedness talks about a little bit of everything and this time features a rather mean looking photo of the Cubstep King Skream. Particuarly interesting is Martin's observations of the softer side of the Grime MC's as manifested in tunes like Roll Deep's "Heartbreak Avenue," which surely help to break down the
misconception that Grime is purely blood, fire and brimstone. "Perhaps it's overstretching the point, but you can't help notice the correlation between the MCs' sentimental sides and samples from music released when they were kids." I, like many eternal optimists get annoyed with over-emphasis on the negative aspects of city living that are often heard in Grime and Hip-Hop lyrics, but it's obvious that if you're willing to look deep enough, many of these MC's, like all of us, have the natural, in-built postivity to counteract London's darkness. I'm hopeful that soon enough, MC's will build up the confidence to focus on these concious sides of their personalities, something which is unfortunately perceived as weakness amongst many man dem. Who know's, maybe Jammer and Wiley's contributions to Forward's notoriously deep vibe will reveal to those haters that Grime MC's aren't simply a bunch of aggy teenagers from East London and that on the flipside, Dubstep despite it's lack of vocals and abundance of delicate sounds is anything but music for southern softies, but I guess, only time will tell.

Whilst I'm on the subject of journalists, shouts to Chantelle Fiddy who as ever has had me hooked on her very intimate words about life in Hackney- the lady narrowly escaped some trouble with a man on a bike after Forward>>, something which I'm lucky enough to have never experienced. Thankfully, in what is a bit of a World of Grime fairy tale Fid's was rescued by Skepta and co who happened to be driving past...whoever said chivalry was dead?

Western Ruffnek's

What am I up to this weekend...?

RUFFNECK DISKOTEK
 
    Main Room... Dubstep / Grim / Electronic Riddims
    DJ PINCH (Subloaded / Tectonic recs)
    ATKi2 (Werk / Shadetek recs)
    Forensics
    Star Delta
 
    Front Room... Reggae / Ragga / Jungle
    (Hosted by The Who?Crew)
    Madboy
    Dub Boy
    Conflux
    Rhythmical Thinker

 
    £2 all night, 10 till late...
 
    @ Timbuk2, Thursday 11th August

followed by:

Subloaded vs Heatwave, Sat 13th Aug

BLAZEY,
PINCH,
THINKING,
APPLEBLIM
PEVERELIST

@ The Croft, Bristol. 9pm-2am. £1 only.

www.subtext.co.uk

Dubstep Allstars Vol 2

Dubstep Allstars Vol 2
Originally uploaded by infinite.

Y'all might recognise the photo!

Tracklisting:

1. Untitled - Skream
2. Ancient Memories - Digital Mystikz
3. 28 Grams - Loefah & Skream
4. Midnight - Loefah
5. Request Line - Skream
6. Crack Bong (Loefah remix) - D1
7. I - Skream
8. Goat Stare - Loefah
9. Monsoon (Loefah remix) - Skream
10. Higher State - D1
11. Root - Loefah
12. I Believe - D1
13. Neverland - Digital Mystikz

See the Face You Love Light Up With Drumz Of The South.

Did it work?

http://www.thesurrealist.co.uk/slogan.cgi?word=drumz+of+the+south

Wu Name 2

or depending on wu u believe....



http://www.mess.be/inickgenwuname.php


(big-up the finchley fraudster for finding these)

Wu-Name

"Georgina Cook! Your Wu-Name is Sweaty Butcher Use it wisely, Soldier."

Which is a bit deep considering that I've very recently started nibbling on chicken after years and years of vegetarianism. Maybe it's a sign that I shouldn't go there again.

http://test.recordstore.com/wuname/wuname.pl/wuname.pl

Carnaval time!

The 7th Carnaval Del Pueblo, Sunday 7 August,
Burgess Park - Chunleigh Gardens
Camberwell, London SE5

11am-10pm

http://www.carnavaldelpueblo.co.uk/home.htm

The Kenny Loggins Clownstep

Pendulum Vs Kenny Loggins 'Danger Slam'>>

Dogs on Acid still has its uses