NU-Rave filing

Coming soon to Diff'rent Strokes @ Plan B

www.myspace.com/joindots

inna 2007style

Band on the run

Sneak preview of a recent Size 9 photo shoot.
Styling by Ida Bergsforr

9polaroid5
Originally uploaded by infinite.

www.myspace.com/sizenine
photos by g.cook with assistance from edith bergsforr

Blimey

Photos from DMZ 1st birtday bash

"Noise, Dubstep and Metal"

Simon Reynolds on the sounds of 2006

Cheffle's Croydon...

Shirt n Tie
Originally uploaded by infinite.

Interview on riddim.ca

i know a song that will get on your nerves

Cold?

little balls of life
Originally uploaded by infinite.

in what was the warmest January since 1916. Does my face look bothered? Yep.

http://www.climatehotmap.org/

http://www.stopglobalwarming.org

Best of 2006

.

For me, 2006 was such a wicked year for art and music that I never actually got round to writing a round-up. I did however, send U.S magazine XLR8R a few of my highlights and low-lights (very difficult!), some of which appeared in the January edition. I'm most happiest about the inclusion of photographer Boris Austin who was nominated for best visual artist of 2006... reasons can be found here hopefully you'll need more so check his website www.borisaustin.com.

Below are the full answers that I submitted to XLR8R....note, the obsession with Shakira finally got some air outside of myspace comments box...

BEST MUSIC OF 2006:

Worst Artist:
Shakira. I'm glued to my screen everytime she's on tv in utter
disbelief. She can't sing, she can't dance and she's an offense to
people that can actually yodel properly. Pure torture.

Worst Album:
Lily Allen, Alright Still

Alright still (in small doses) but the album is unbearable after a
while. It's made up of the same components the whole way through (sing
songy voice, lalala's and boring lyrics).

www.lilyallenmusic.com

Best Record Label:
Hyperdub- Recognised mostly as a dubstep label but one which
consistently pushes genre boundaries. One of the first dubstep label's
to introduce vocalists (Warrior Queen, Space Ape, Ms. Haptic) to what
is predominantly instrumental sound, one of the first to utilise the
internet to full effect, whilst still respecting and promoting
dubplate culture. The first to bring us Burial and one of the few
contemporary labels that consistently goes where others are too
afraid!

www.hyperdub.com

Best Live Event/Festival:
The Secret Garden Party (festival); colourful, vibrant, crazy,
creative and well thought out. The atmosphere of sheer fun and freedom
at the festival which was set around a beautiful lake in Cambridge was
as enjoyable as the music that was provided.

www.secretgardenparty.com

Best Club or Venue:
Plastic People- Fwd>>, Bash, Co-op; Through it's various nights it's
long provided London with some of the freshest music around on a great
sound system. Rarely a week goes by when I'm not there or wishing I
could be there!

www.plasticpeople.co.uk

Best Music Trend:
Dubstep- possibly the most stay-fresh sounds that's around. This
year's really seen the sound flourish - there's a producer for every
taste and musical preference- rock, ragga, jungle, garage, soul,
house, jazz and hip-hop have all been incorporated into a genre that
can now only really be defined by it's notorious bass weight.

www.dubstepforum.com www.barefiles.com
www.blackdownsoundboy.blogspot.com, www.myspace.com/dubstep



BEST ART, STYLE AND CULTURE OF 2006

Best visual artist (graphic designer/fine artist/photographer):

Boris Austin- London based documentary photographer who's been
shooting some of the most interesting and well produced portraits and
event photography around. Working for the likes of Hospital Records
and Knowledge magazine, his energy and passion for photography is
dizzying.

www.borisaustin.com www.boxedlab.co.uk


Best art exhibit/gallery show of 2006:

Che Guevara: Revolutionary and Icon The V&A, London

A throught provoking look at Alberto Korda's iconic photo of the
revolutionary which went on to become the most reproduced image in the
history of photography. It's amazing how much the images has been used
all over the world in a variety of contexts- some good, some bad, some
very, very ugly.

http://www.vam.ac.uk/vastatic/microsites/1541_che/

Best t-shirt line:
Smut
Everything about them is smutty but very, very fun. A London based
company that started with a few hand printed t-shirts of, well... see
for yourself and is now receiving State side success.

www.myspace.com/smutclothing

Best style trend:

All the fun day-glo 80's clothes that remind me of being a kid!

Worst style trend:

Gold gem stone incrusted gun pendants. No, no, no.


What do you feel will be big in 2007? (Artist/musical trend/style
item/cultural movement)


Artist
Jamie Woon (singer): Straight outta South London, Jamie's gonna be
huge one day. Beautifully soulful and often ghostly sounding, he adds
extra dimension to his voice through the use of a loop machine.

www.myspace.com/jamiewoon

Cultural Movement-

After a few years of easily accessible software, myspace and other
forms of virtual communication that has fuelled many new scenes, I
suspect that next year there will be a greater emphasis on more
traditional and analogue methods of creating sound again and
performance through live music. Similarly, many artists and
photographers that were quick to pick up digital camera's and software
returning to the older tried and tested methods and/or combining the
two. (who knows what to call it!)

Best media item (book, movie, DVD):

Looking forward to 'This Is England' by director of Dead Man's Shoes,
Shane Meadows. A film about Skinhead culture in the 80's.

Brixton to Bristol

Youtubin it...

Back in December, I was lucky enough to witness the making of some of Jamie Woon's video for his release of Wayfaring Stranger on the youth run Live Recordings label. Director Sophie Clements is a genius; I'm not gonna give any of her techniques away but needless to say it involved Jamie standing around in the cold for hours.


Also on youtube is a trailer for 'Living inside the Speaker,' a tale of dubstep's grip on the city of Bristol.

It's a London thing, it's a London thing

Peace Passion
Originally uploaded by infinite.

>Dummy Mag's brilliant Emma Warren recently interviewed me and a few others for an article about Dubstep. Here is the final article, and below, my answers to some of the questions she sent me which I've decided to post so you can get a little insight into drumz.

Do you think Dubstep is street music?
I think that although it was born in the city, now it’s so diverse that it can’t really be defined as street. The emphasis on the instrumental allows it to exist without the barriers that much vocal music has so. The sound literally speaks for itself.

What’s appealing about it from a visual point of view?
Every aspect of it appeals; people’s clothes, the collective grimaces when an uncompromising bass line drops, delight when a classic is pulled up, beer cans laying around. It’s also fun observing the interaction between the dancefloor and the DJ’s.

Why and how did you get into dubstep?
I first heard the sound via Mala (DMZ) whom I knew through South London’s underground music scene. I was physically moved by it enough to want to document it.

How much of your life does dubstep take up? What’s with this tendancy for people to dive headlong into it once they get converted?
There was a time when I was living and breathing it! Now it’s no more than about an hour a day (except on weekends!!). Most people like to be part of something, a lot of people want to be part of the dubstep scene because it’s so fresh, positive and community orientated.


Is there a tight Dubstep family? There is a tight family but it isn’t confined to dubstep. You’ll find that most people involved with dubstep have ties within other underground music scenes.

Jungle had a tight family but was very inward looking. Is dubstep more open to newcomers? Why?
To be honest, I think Jungle was forced into being inward due to the amount of negative media attention that it received. Dubstep is so open to newcomers because it’s an immensly diverse sound that inspires and can be interpreted in many different ways.


How did you feel about the forum appeal to fund a new camera after yours was stolen? There seemed to be a genuinely tight family response to that…
It was pretty overwhelming! I always knew the scene was tight but the fund is next level. I’m immensely grateful.

When did Dubstep stop being a London thing?
As soon as it hit the internet via old sites such as dubplate.net and hyperdub. To my knowledge, Bristol (via Pinch) was the first city to give the sound a physical platform outside of London. I think though, that it will always be a London thing regardless of where it goes. You can take the sound out of London but you’ll never take London out of the sound.


How important is the fact that you have to go to a dance or get locked onto Rinse or subfm if you want to hear the music?
Going to a good dance and hearing it on a solid system is the ultimate way to experience the sound. Locking into Rinse and online stations allow you to hear the music via people directly involved with it. They're very honest stations and the people behind them are the most passionate and not in it for money, just the music.


There’s a global scene too, how come? How important is it to the scene? How do you see this affecting the scene over the year to come?
It’s natural for music to spread but I think the reason the global dubstep scene is so strong is largely due to the technological advances that our generation has grown up with. It’s valuable as it allows for a constant movement of energy and inspiration and stops it from becoming stuck on a little island, consuming itself. I imagine that this year will see the amount of international producers continue to grow, each adding further dimension.


2006 was a real breakthrough year, what do you expect in 2007?
It’s impossible to predict. I’m hoping that there are enough open-minded and experimental producers to stop it from becoming formulaeic. Also, I reckon that there’ll be a rise in the amount of women directly involved with the music and further use of vocals.


Where did you grow up?
Streatham (South West London) and Norwood (South East London).

The Vicious Ladies

http://www.laweekly.com/general/features/flying-high-with-the-vicious-ladies/15404/?page=1