Shout to Plasticman for this mix, first broadcast on the 1Xtra UK M1X show with DJ Q but exclusively available here for download. It's all about new dub A Walk In The Carpark. Deepness.
tracklist:
Plasticman featuring Shizzle, Fresh, Napper - Cha Vocal (Terrorhythm Recordings)
Plasticman - Cha (Benga Remix) (Terrorhythm Recordings)
Chase & Status featuring Roll Deep - Top Shotta (Dub)
Macabre Unit - Killer Bee (Dub)
Emalkay - Gut Feeling (Dub)
Wiley - Merkle Instrumental (White)
Wiler - Colder Remix (White)
Dexplicit - Bullacake (Dub)
Plasticman - Cha VIP (Terrorhythm Recordings)
Plasticman - Brassbeat (Dub)
M.I.A. - U.R.A.Q.T. (Plasticman Remix Instrumental) (XL Recordings)
Karnak - Flutes (Dub)
Unknown - The Low Riddim (Dub)
JME - Low Baraka (Dub)
Chunky Bizzle - Diss Me Like Dat (Dub)
Caspa - Home Sick (Storming Productions)
Wonder - Undertaker (Dub)
Wonder - It's All (Dub)
Plasticman - The Jackal Riddim (Dub)
Plasticman - Still Tippin Remix (Dub)
Plasticman - Export (Dub)
Wiley - Untitled (Dub)
Slew Dem - Grime (Slew Dem Productions)
Dreama - Stigma (Dub)
JME - Earth's Core (Dub)
Plasticman - Symptomatic (Dub)
Virus Syndicate - Slow Down (Plasticman Remix) (Dub)
Plasticman - A Walk In The Carpark (Dub)
Monday, August 15, 2005
Wednesday, August 10, 2005
Run The Road Volume 2
1. Low Deep Feat. Kano, Ghetto, Big Seac, Demon & Doctor – Get Set (Run The Road Edition)
2. Doctor And Davinche – Gotta Man?
3. JME – Serious (Run The Road Remix)
4. Big Seac – Nah Nah
5. Sway Feat. Bruza, Skinnyman, Pyrelli, Bigz & Triple Threat – Up Your Speed Remix
6. Ghetto Feat. Katie Pearl – Run The Road
7. Plan B – Sick 2 Def (Acoustic)
8. Kano Feat. Demon & Ghetto – Mic Check Remix
9. Crazy Titch – World Is Crazy
10. Lady Sovereign – Little Bit Of Shhh! (DJ Wonder Remix)
11. Klashnekoff – Can’t You See?
12. Mizz Beats Feat. Wiley, Jammer, Earz, JME & Sier – Saw It Comin
13. Trimbal – They Gave Him A Inch
14. No Lay – Unorthadox Chick
15. Bear Man Feat. Doctor And Fender – Drink Beer Remix
16. Dynasty Crew – Bare Face Dynasty
Compiled in-house by 679 Recordings. On road 5th September.
2. Doctor And Davinche – Gotta Man?
3. JME – Serious (Run The Road Remix)
4. Big Seac – Nah Nah
5. Sway Feat. Bruza, Skinnyman, Pyrelli, Bigz & Triple Threat – Up Your Speed Remix
6. Ghetto Feat. Katie Pearl – Run The Road
7. Plan B – Sick 2 Def (Acoustic)
8. Kano Feat. Demon & Ghetto – Mic Check Remix
9. Crazy Titch – World Is Crazy
10. Lady Sovereign – Little Bit Of Shhh! (DJ Wonder Remix)
11. Klashnekoff – Can’t You See?
12. Mizz Beats Feat. Wiley, Jammer, Earz, JME & Sier – Saw It Comin
13. Trimbal – They Gave Him A Inch
14. No Lay – Unorthadox Chick
15. Bear Man Feat. Doctor And Fender – Drink Beer Remix
16. Dynasty Crew – Bare Face Dynasty
Compiled in-house by 679 Recordings. On road 5th September.
Tuesday, August 09, 2005
Friday, August 05, 2005
Tuesday, August 02, 2005
dust and sun
I’ve been in the San Francisco and Bay Area for the last two weeks, being baked by a brittle sun in dry heat.
Despite two brief forays into US waters, I’ve never been to America before. Despite so much of it being comfortably familiar – thanks to blanket global media exports – there’s still so much to take in.
Naturally, Americans, particularly in shops (“stores”) and restaurants are as ludicrously friendly as expected. But contrary to expectation, the darkside Londoner in me doesn’t find it ridiculous. Or want to hit them. It must be the weather.
Their friendliness contrasts interestingly with their government, though not really California’s government, a point not lost on me while bashfully reading Philippe Sand’s Lawless World (America and the Making and Breaking of Global Rules) in restaurants, hoping no one notices the cover. Sitting in the US I’m a little outnumbered. Outgunned too.
Over ten chapters, Sands – a respected international law expert – describes how in 1941 Winston Churchill and Franklin Roosevelt built the cornerstones of global law as we know it by writing the Atlantic Charter, which the UN Charter went on to be based upon. As the chapters unfold, it describes how in recent years the US has cherry-picked the international laws it wants to honour. Trade agreements, Geneva Conventions (when US citizens are captured) and prosecutions of foreign ex-dictators like General Pinochet: yes. Kyoto Agreements on greenhouse gas emissions, Geneva Convention (when foreign citizens are captured), UN resolutions and the International Criminal Court: no. Doesn’t explain why people are friendly in shops (“stores”) though.
I do however understand why Bush starts war for oil. It’s a scale thing. One morning I walked from the local train station to an office in the same town. It took an hour. In that hour not one bus passed me. The road lead into an industrial park. With tech firms to the right and US Air Force and cruise missile manufacturers to the left, the road was five lanes wide. Each way. Dammit even the roads got supersized here.
When the first bombs went off in London this summer I was on the tube. London’s all about immersion but that was far too close for comfort. When it happened again I was out of the country. Expats kept saying they felt removed. To me it was beyond that, like it was happening to someone else’s way of life, while I was in a place where the lights had been turned on too bright, the hills bleached to dust and the weather gage jammed to “scorchio.”
Skanking round my hotel room to Skepta on Rinse started to feel weird. If you can’t feel the tube dirt in your lungs and your blood simmering down from some east London road rage, grime make less sense. Given this, how can grime have any US following?
As a teenager I dreamt of Detroit. Carl Craig and Robert Hood, Underground Resistance and Derrick May. But beyond the mournful melodic synths, my lasting impression is of a curiosity for a city far removed from my birthplace that had given us Motown and P Funk, Planet E and the Model T. Detroit wasn’t a sound, it was a narrative. Why else would I be daydreaming of deserted streets decorated with junk by local artists or of the white-flight phenomenon or decaying buildings? Like Kid Kameleon describes, I was an outsider looking in.
It was around 2002-3 that I felt the same should be assembled for London (if jungle hadn’t done it already), and in particular for Croydon too, so that Londoners didn’t have to be the outsiders looking to other cities. That thought set me on the journey towards learning to produce, and ultimately, to launch Keysound Recordings, a label that in essence acknowledges that it’s our surroundings that influences the feel of our sound. An essence that explains why dancing round my Californian hotel room to Skepta on Rinse felt weird.
Gazing out of the Caltrain to San Francisco felt weird too. American buildings: they’re all so large, cubic and flimsy. Flat roofed, square, stocky industrial units spreading as far as the eye could manage in the bright sun’s glare. Impermanent. Modern. Different. How could dubstep or grime ever make sense here?
Part of grime’s importance is that it threw away the rule book. It was ejected from garage. It in turn rejected garage. Its one big “fuck you” to the establishment, a multicultural punk revolution. And within this movement of change, the life cycle is punishing. To its young fans, 2003 is “old school.” On the RWD forum the other day no one could remember Wonder’s anthem ‘What,’ only Wiley’s recently released cover version “Morgue.” The past is irrelevant to grime. It’s not where you’re from it’s where you’re at.
But staring out across rows of Bay Area dusty industrial units zipping by, it occurred to me grime, whether it overtly acknowledges it or not, might be nothing without it’s past. Grime owes the Victorians, for row after row of terraces houses, or experimental 1960s city planners for ugly concrete brutalist towerblocks. Dubstep owes Croydon too, for it’s flyovers and motorways. Grime owing the Victorians, well I never. Well I never thought I’d think that.
Despite two brief forays into US waters, I’ve never been to America before. Despite so much of it being comfortably familiar – thanks to blanket global media exports – there’s still so much to take in.
Naturally, Americans, particularly in shops (“stores”) and restaurants are as ludicrously friendly as expected. But contrary to expectation, the darkside Londoner in me doesn’t find it ridiculous. Or want to hit them. It must be the weather.
Their friendliness contrasts interestingly with their government, though not really California’s government, a point not lost on me while bashfully reading Philippe Sand’s Lawless World (America and the Making and Breaking of Global Rules) in restaurants, hoping no one notices the cover. Sitting in the US I’m a little outnumbered. Outgunned too.
Over ten chapters, Sands – a respected international law expert – describes how in 1941 Winston Churchill and Franklin Roosevelt built the cornerstones of global law as we know it by writing the Atlantic Charter, which the UN Charter went on to be based upon. As the chapters unfold, it describes how in recent years the US has cherry-picked the international laws it wants to honour. Trade agreements, Geneva Conventions (when US citizens are captured) and prosecutions of foreign ex-dictators like General Pinochet: yes. Kyoto Agreements on greenhouse gas emissions, Geneva Convention (when foreign citizens are captured), UN resolutions and the International Criminal Court: no. Doesn’t explain why people are friendly in shops (“stores”) though.
I do however understand why Bush starts war for oil. It’s a scale thing. One morning I walked from the local train station to an office in the same town. It took an hour. In that hour not one bus passed me. The road lead into an industrial park. With tech firms to the right and US Air Force and cruise missile manufacturers to the left, the road was five lanes wide. Each way. Dammit even the roads got supersized here.
When the first bombs went off in London this summer I was on the tube. London’s all about immersion but that was far too close for comfort. When it happened again I was out of the country. Expats kept saying they felt removed. To me it was beyond that, like it was happening to someone else’s way of life, while I was in a place where the lights had been turned on too bright, the hills bleached to dust and the weather gage jammed to “scorchio.”
Skanking round my hotel room to Skepta on Rinse started to feel weird. If you can’t feel the tube dirt in your lungs and your blood simmering down from some east London road rage, grime make less sense. Given this, how can grime have any US following?
As a teenager I dreamt of Detroit. Carl Craig and Robert Hood, Underground Resistance and Derrick May. But beyond the mournful melodic synths, my lasting impression is of a curiosity for a city far removed from my birthplace that had given us Motown and P Funk, Planet E and the Model T. Detroit wasn’t a sound, it was a narrative. Why else would I be daydreaming of deserted streets decorated with junk by local artists or of the white-flight phenomenon or decaying buildings? Like Kid Kameleon describes, I was an outsider looking in.
It was around 2002-3 that I felt the same should be assembled for London (if jungle hadn’t done it already), and in particular for Croydon too, so that Londoners didn’t have to be the outsiders looking to other cities. That thought set me on the journey towards learning to produce, and ultimately, to launch Keysound Recordings, a label that in essence acknowledges that it’s our surroundings that influences the feel of our sound. An essence that explains why dancing round my Californian hotel room to Skepta on Rinse felt weird.
Gazing out of the Caltrain to San Francisco felt weird too. American buildings: they’re all so large, cubic and flimsy. Flat roofed, square, stocky industrial units spreading as far as the eye could manage in the bright sun’s glare. Impermanent. Modern. Different. How could dubstep or grime ever make sense here?
Part of grime’s importance is that it threw away the rule book. It was ejected from garage. It in turn rejected garage. Its one big “fuck you” to the establishment, a multicultural punk revolution. And within this movement of change, the life cycle is punishing. To its young fans, 2003 is “old school.” On the RWD forum the other day no one could remember Wonder’s anthem ‘What,’ only Wiley’s recently released cover version “Morgue.” The past is irrelevant to grime. It’s not where you’re from it’s where you’re at.
But staring out across rows of Bay Area dusty industrial units zipping by, it occurred to me grime, whether it overtly acknowledges it or not, might be nothing without it’s past. Grime owes the Victorians, for row after row of terraces houses, or experimental 1960s city planners for ugly concrete brutalist towerblocks. Dubstep owes Croydon too, for it’s flyovers and motorways. Grime owing the Victorians, well I never. Well I never thought I’d think that.
Wednesday, July 13, 2005
keysound radio
DOWNLOAD: keysound radio
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’
dusk + blackdown 12”
‘drenched/submerge’
[keysound recordings]
]via baked goods[
)available from boomkat.com and all good shops(
out july 25th
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’
dusk + blackdown 12”
‘drenched/submerge’
[keysound recordings]
]via baked goods[
)available from boomkat.com and all good shops(
out july 25th
Monday, July 11, 2005
Sunday, July 10, 2005
"We don't want no war tonight..."
Sorry for the delay. Somebody bombed London on Thursday. I've never walked so much in this city in one day, probably four hours worth. I've never walked through a bomb zone before either. Twice.
It was touching to see how everyone in this city could get on with things in the face of adversity and how quickly everyone reached out to their friends and family. As a trivial aside, the bombings also ment that when my broadband also went down, there were no engineers to fix it.
The city's getting back to "normal" now, broadband service is resumed and dubstep must go on. Watch this space in the next few weeks for the first Dusk + Blackdown Keysound Radio mix. Many months in the planning, many exclusives in the mix.
In the meantime here's that much anticipated Hatcha CD:
Hatcha Practice Hours June 05
It was touching to see how everyone in this city could get on with things in the face of adversity and how quickly everyone reached out to their friends and family. As a trivial aside, the bombings also ment that when my broadband also went down, there were no engineers to fix it.
The city's getting back to "normal" now, broadband service is resumed and dubstep must go on. Watch this space in the next few weeks for the first Dusk + Blackdown Keysound Radio mix. Many months in the planning, many exclusives in the mix.
In the meantime here's that much anticipated Hatcha CD:
Hatcha Practice Hours June 05
Sunday, July 03, 2005
DMZeehehehee
the post-DMZ glow.
the after-bass smile.
someone should bottle this feeling, they'd make a fortune.
the after-bass smile.
someone should bottle this feeling, they'd make a fortune.
Thursday, June 30, 2005
keysound recordings
myself and dusk are launching keysound recordings as a home for our productions. the imprint has been many years in the making, in the living, in the frustrating, in the struggling.
keysound thinking
the name keysound comes from the music itself, music which in turn reflects our London surroundings. a kick, a snare, a hat, a sub-bassline: in isolation, marked out on a clean sonic background, they’re sterile, contextless, adrift, culture free. “it’s just music”.
this is not just music. many dusk + blackdown tracks instead contain keysounds, a looped sonic keystone that underpins the whole track. tracks with keysounds are therefore build in a context: a constant sound that suggests an environment, a space, a culture, a city.
keysounds reflect our environment, not wistfully dwelling on the way things were, nor escaping towards imagined never-to-arrive future, but facing the pressures of today’s reality. they reflect the diverse multicultural micro-communities that surround us, and the spaces those communities live in.
keysounds are condensed shards of overheard conversations in heavy accents, hints of understanding of other cultures or keys to understanding different ways of living. keysounds are the echoes of decaying buildings, clanking trains, dirty streets and hidden urban communities.
reacting to that which changes, not that which is constant, the brain soon filters the keysound out as the track rolls on… but like the surroundings in which we live, its influence remains a defining one. this is keysound thinking.
dusk + blackdown
keysound recordings
LDN 2005
· dusk + blackdown ‘drenched/ submerge’ [LDN001] is out on keysound recordings via baked goods distribution late july.
· dusk + blackdown present the keysound recordings mix vol 1: watch this space.
'drenched'
‘drenched’ is a snapshot of urban underground living, spread wide across one 12”. tense, intense, compressed, it begins on a south London train, reflecting the rhythms and textures of our surroundings. the train heads south through some of dubstep’s birthplaces: streatham, norbury and norwood, ending of course, in croydon. the recording was made late on a sunday night, heading for one of Digital Mystikz’ Dub Sessions parties.
the name ‘drenched’ comes from London’s rainy experience. constantly under bombardment from sound, sights, information, fellow citizens ... rainfall like is a metaphor for London living. just keeping your head above water is a struggle. under pressure, you exhale to unwind… then inhale fumes. ‘north, south, east ...’ - a local MC marks out garage’s tribal regions, interlocked groups that seldom mix.
‘drenched’ was written in east london. It ends with more rainfall, recorded during a storm in turnpike lane, north london. rudeboys shelter under the park furniture, car breaks squeek down Green Lanes, police sirens wail. the tube station is located across the park, anecdotally said to be the focus of the most multicultural square mile in Britain, with over two hundred languages spoken.
'submerged'
’submerged’ is a testament to uprising. the first kick rises out of a ‘submerged’s’ keysound: a merky, bubbling, primordial soup. the kick coalesces into a live, organic rhythm, leading onwards. at first tiny shards of light filter through the mire, before a weak sun breaks through the grey clouds.
’submerged’ is dedicated to everyone who has dreamt but never acted; wished but never tried. no long ting rudeboy: what are you waiting for? if you want something done: do it yourself. not later. now. do it. grasp it. make it …happen. make the music you want. not the music they make you want.
keysound thinking
the name keysound comes from the music itself, music which in turn reflects our London surroundings. a kick, a snare, a hat, a sub-bassline: in isolation, marked out on a clean sonic background, they’re sterile, contextless, adrift, culture free. “it’s just music”.
this is not just music. many dusk + blackdown tracks instead contain keysounds, a looped sonic keystone that underpins the whole track. tracks with keysounds are therefore build in a context: a constant sound that suggests an environment, a space, a culture, a city.
keysounds reflect our environment, not wistfully dwelling on the way things were, nor escaping towards imagined never-to-arrive future, but facing the pressures of today’s reality. they reflect the diverse multicultural micro-communities that surround us, and the spaces those communities live in.
keysounds are condensed shards of overheard conversations in heavy accents, hints of understanding of other cultures or keys to understanding different ways of living. keysounds are the echoes of decaying buildings, clanking trains, dirty streets and hidden urban communities.
reacting to that which changes, not that which is constant, the brain soon filters the keysound out as the track rolls on… but like the surroundings in which we live, its influence remains a defining one. this is keysound thinking.
dusk + blackdown
keysound recordings
LDN 2005
· dusk + blackdown ‘drenched/ submerge’ [LDN001] is out on keysound recordings via baked goods distribution late july.
· dusk + blackdown present the keysound recordings mix vol 1: watch this space.
'drenched'
‘drenched’ is a snapshot of urban underground living, spread wide across one 12”. tense, intense, compressed, it begins on a south London train, reflecting the rhythms and textures of our surroundings. the train heads south through some of dubstep’s birthplaces: streatham, norbury and norwood, ending of course, in croydon. the recording was made late on a sunday night, heading for one of Digital Mystikz’ Dub Sessions parties.
the name ‘drenched’ comes from London’s rainy experience. constantly under bombardment from sound, sights, information, fellow citizens ... rainfall like is a metaphor for London living. just keeping your head above water is a struggle. under pressure, you exhale to unwind… then inhale fumes. ‘north, south, east ...’ - a local MC marks out garage’s tribal regions, interlocked groups that seldom mix.
‘drenched’ was written in east london. It ends with more rainfall, recorded during a storm in turnpike lane, north london. rudeboys shelter under the park furniture, car breaks squeek down Green Lanes, police sirens wail. the tube station is located across the park, anecdotally said to be the focus of the most multicultural square mile in Britain, with over two hundred languages spoken.
'submerged'
’submerged’ is a testament to uprising. the first kick rises out of a ‘submerged’s’ keysound: a merky, bubbling, primordial soup. the kick coalesces into a live, organic rhythm, leading onwards. at first tiny shards of light filter through the mire, before a weak sun breaks through the grey clouds.
’submerged’ is dedicated to everyone who has dreamt but never acted; wished but never tried. no long ting rudeboy: what are you waiting for? if you want something done: do it yourself. not later. now. do it. grasp it. make it …happen. make the music you want. not the music they make you want.
Friday, June 24, 2005
dub for dub
This evening I participated for the first time in one of urban music’s great rituals: I went dubplate cutting.
You turn east out of Forest Hill train station, deep in south London and head into a sprawl of houses. Transition Studios is tucked away down a terraced street. You meander around the side of pebbledash building hemmed in by people’s back gardens , until you enter the barred front door.
When your time in the waiting room is over, you enter a tiny, and in this current heatwave, sweltering room. There you present your CD to the cutting engineer - and the ritual begins.
He’s sat at an analogue desk. A stack of outboard equipment, valves, EQs and a tiny quaint flashing green oscilloscope, tower above him. Underneath the desk , exposed wires and curious exposed cables snake and writhe. There’s even a telephone, just like in that classic dub photograph (Augustus Pablo is it? Or King Tubby?).
To the right there’s the cutting lathe, part precision engineering tool, part sonic magic-maker. It’s littered with bizarre discarded tools, gas cylinders, a selection of lubricants and is built with three aluminium drawers, complete with green flashing lights.
The process from digital CD to analogue vinyl is not trivial. It’s part art, part science. Part experience, part emotion. After “pulling the tracks apart“ a bit with EQs, the cutting process begins. Soon – I say soon but it’s a process that takes a while and can’t be rushed – you have a freshly cut dark black 10” dubplate. It smells funny, like it’s soaked in some kind of solvent.
I’m not obsessed by tradition: just because something has been done one way before, doesn’t mean it has to be done that way again. I’m open to change: Ableton, Traktor or Final Scratch, I’m excited by them. But I can’t describe the buzz from having a pile of freshly cut exclusive dubs. This might be a routine feeling to Hatcha, Youngsta or Transition’s biggest customer, Jah Shakka. But tonight it’s anything but routine to me. Bring on DMZ03.
Transition Studios are on +44 (0) 20 8 699 7888
You turn east out of Forest Hill train station, deep in south London and head into a sprawl of houses. Transition Studios is tucked away down a terraced street. You meander around the side of pebbledash building hemmed in by people’s back gardens , until you enter the barred front door.
When your time in the waiting room is over, you enter a tiny, and in this current heatwave, sweltering room. There you present your CD to the cutting engineer - and the ritual begins.
He’s sat at an analogue desk. A stack of outboard equipment, valves, EQs and a tiny quaint flashing green oscilloscope, tower above him. Underneath the desk , exposed wires and curious exposed cables snake and writhe. There’s even a telephone, just like in that classic dub photograph (Augustus Pablo is it? Or King Tubby?).
To the right there’s the cutting lathe, part precision engineering tool, part sonic magic-maker. It’s littered with bizarre discarded tools, gas cylinders, a selection of lubricants and is built with three aluminium drawers, complete with green flashing lights.
The process from digital CD to analogue vinyl is not trivial. It’s part art, part science. Part experience, part emotion. After “pulling the tracks apart“ a bit with EQs, the cutting process begins. Soon – I say soon but it’s a process that takes a while and can’t be rushed – you have a freshly cut dark black 10” dubplate. It smells funny, like it’s soaked in some kind of solvent.
I’m not obsessed by tradition: just because something has been done one way before, doesn’t mean it has to be done that way again. I’m open to change: Ableton, Traktor or Final Scratch, I’m excited by them. But I can’t describe the buzz from having a pile of freshly cut exclusive dubs. This might be a routine feeling to Hatcha, Youngsta or Transition’s biggest customer, Jah Shakka. But tonight it’s anything but routine to me. Bring on DMZ03.
Transition Studios are on +44 (0) 20 8 699 7888
Wednesday, June 22, 2005
Thursday, June 16, 2005
Don't call it a comeback...
yesyes it's true: DMZ03 will feature me pon decks.
many thanks to DMZ for spreading the love.
in the meantime get ready for some fresh new dubz.
many thanks to DMZ for spreading the love.
in the meantime get ready for some fresh new dubz.
Wednesday, June 15, 2005
Digital dubz
Digital downloading isn't the future, it's the present. Over the last six months I've been busy putting together a legal download page with Bleep, Warp records' sister site.
Right now you'll find high res downloads from Digital Mystikz, Loefah, Kode 9, Skream, Plasticman, Macabre Unit, Reza, Vex'd and Mark One. Expect many more artists to follow.
Find it here: Bleep/road. If you run a label and want to get involved, email me.
Right now you'll find high res downloads from Digital Mystikz, Loefah, Kode 9, Skream, Plasticman, Macabre Unit, Reza, Vex'd and Mark One. Expect many more artists to follow.
Find it here: Bleep/road. If you run a label and want to get involved, email me.
Thursday, June 09, 2005
Digital pirate material
The feature below was first commissioned for The Guardian's Online section in autumn 2002, and published in Deuce magazine in spring 2003, when the first discussion of the analogue-to-digital radio switch over was suggested.
While everyone else was talking about if/when, of more concern was what would happen to pirate radio - the lifeblood of British urban culture. If they had sold off the analogue FM band then to mobile phone operators, who then jammed the frequency with other services, they would have killed off the nacent grime-to-be scene. Thankfully they didn't, but the question remained in my mind - where was pirate radio going?
In the last few months I think I've found an answer. Yousendit. Combined with online streaming, broadband connections and willing uploaders, Yousendit allows grime and dubstep to suddenly spread way, way beyond Bow and Croydon. Funny how things evolve.
Digital pirate material: what is the future of pirate radio culture?
In a dingy council flat squat a DJ releases the record from underneath his hand. The groove hits the needle and a signal shoots from the pirate radio station across urban Britain. Despite the authorities’ best efforts, it’s a very common event. Unbeknownst to the DJ however, he’s standing at a crossroads in British radio culture. It’s where international corporations meet determined amateurs, cutting edge digital technology finds D.I.Y. graft, the internet reaches the streets and the present looks towards the future.
Pirates have been either the thorn in the radio industry’s side, or an exciting explosion of grass roots UK culture - depending on your viewpoint - for the last 15 years. Many key artists, like So Solid Crew, Ms Dynamite and much of the specialist Radio 1 DJs, honed their craft on the medium. Up to 100 UK pirate stations broadcast illegally each year. There’s a few anarchists and the odd anorak, but the vast majority are commercial enterprises, promoting club ticket sales. Digital radio, by contrast, is a brand new way to broadcast clearer and with extra multimedia services. Its dominance, when the analogue to digital switch over happens in a decade or so, will be a landmark in British radio. But what will happen to pirates when the switch occurs? What is the future of pirate radio?
Looking from 2003 there seems three obvious eventualities: to go online, to stay analogue or to switch to digital. Each will change pirate radio culture as we know it.
Although the conditions should alter massively in the next ten years, digital pirate broadcasting appears difficult at this point. Currently the technology is hard to acquire, complex to use and expensive to buy. According to the director of engineering at the Radio Authority Mark Thomas, running a legal analogue station costs “a low five figure sum” per year. Upgrading that to a digital station converts it to “a high five figure sum.” He leaves us to make the illegal radio comparisons, but this cost is sure to be a significant barrier to pirates.
In the current market, there are very few suppliers of the required digital broadcast equipment and so market prices are high. With digital receivers expensive, the current audience remains small. But both these barriers should shrink over time, with encouraging news like Ford announcing digital radios in cars from last January. Also the way legal stations have to share the digital broadcast equipment called “multiplexes” works against pirates too. “Pirate stations are very much go-it-alone, chuck-up-anything-that-you-think-will-work merchants. That whole mindset is really quite different to the organised and collectivist approach that is inherent with [legal] digital,” explains Thomas.
Finally, because of the properties of digital, there are less numbers of frequencies for pirates to broadcast on. Most the available slots are now assigned. “Your only options as a pirate in London is to use a frequency in Kent, and interfere with that or use one in frequency in Southend. And how many pirates will be able to do that without interfering with each other?” asks Thomas. “The [digital] frequency planning environment is much more difficult.”
However it would be foolish to underestimate the determination and resourcefulness of pirate engineers. “You can never say ‘never’. 20 years ago you would have said they’d never get on FM,” remarks an Area Manager for the Radiocommunications Agency. “I’ve got to say I have a professional respect for what they’re capable of achieving, these pirates.”
When the commercial stations vacate the analogue FM band, could the pirates could just stay put? Analogue radios don’t suffer a lot of wear and tear, so a loyal audience might remain. But would they hear anything? As the 3G licence auction testified, spectrum is a valuable commodity. Some industry experts speculate that it could be sold off for other services to companies like mobile phone operators. Could the pirates broadcast over such a din? Technically it is possible as, according to Mark Thomas, broadcast transmitters tend to be at the upper end of the power range on the airwaves.
Why don’t pirates just broadcast online? Given artist royalties are collected by the Performing Rights Society, netcasting is a legal proposition and one some currently chose to take. Majorfm.co.uk have most successfully taken the pirate model online, suggesting it is viable.
Bandwidth costs might increase per user, unlike conventional radio, but they’re still smaller than the costs of running a legal digital radio station. The main drawback is that pirate radio broadcasts to a dense and compact local audience. Internet radio broadcasts to a disperse global audience – which is of no use if your core revenue source is ticket sales to raves in Hackney.
“Really the future of online radio is down to how available the internet becomes in day-to-day life,” explains DJ SL, who simulcasts London’s leading pirate station Rinse FM, over the internet. Penetration of broadband, 3G mobile phones and even in-car internet access will all determine the future of online radio. But for now it’s still a minor influence on the audience pirate radio tries to reach. “We are probably talking at least another 5 years before we see these [technologies] implemented and about another 5 years beyond that until these products are both available and cheap enough.”
Still it is a fruitful option for many artists and one DJ we spoke to had just recently switched from pirate radio to www.londonliveanddirect.com. “Whilst we were on pirate only Londoners could hear us and it wasn’t even like we could be heard over the whole of London,” explains a representative of the Frequency collective. “Since being on the internet the interest in us and the offers have been immense ... We feel like the hard work and sacrifices we've made are starting to pay off.” Now the collective are getting offers of work from Malaysia, Australia and Sweden.
As broadband and wireless internet access increases, European webcasters could yet gain ground over US counterparts. Given recent the effect of recent Congress developments on the US market - favouring big corporate players over grass roots providers - niche homegrown EU talent might be just what the world’s music fans are looking for. These are exciting times.
First published in Deuce magazine (RIP) spring 2003
While everyone else was talking about if/when, of more concern was what would happen to pirate radio - the lifeblood of British urban culture. If they had sold off the analogue FM band then to mobile phone operators, who then jammed the frequency with other services, they would have killed off the nacent grime-to-be scene. Thankfully they didn't, but the question remained in my mind - where was pirate radio going?
In the last few months I think I've found an answer. Yousendit. Combined with online streaming, broadband connections and willing uploaders, Yousendit allows grime and dubstep to suddenly spread way, way beyond Bow and Croydon. Funny how things evolve.
Digital pirate material: what is the future of pirate radio culture?
In a dingy council flat squat a DJ releases the record from underneath his hand. The groove hits the needle and a signal shoots from the pirate radio station across urban Britain. Despite the authorities’ best efforts, it’s a very common event. Unbeknownst to the DJ however, he’s standing at a crossroads in British radio culture. It’s where international corporations meet determined amateurs, cutting edge digital technology finds D.I.Y. graft, the internet reaches the streets and the present looks towards the future.
Pirates have been either the thorn in the radio industry’s side, or an exciting explosion of grass roots UK culture - depending on your viewpoint - for the last 15 years. Many key artists, like So Solid Crew, Ms Dynamite and much of the specialist Radio 1 DJs, honed their craft on the medium. Up to 100 UK pirate stations broadcast illegally each year. There’s a few anarchists and the odd anorak, but the vast majority are commercial enterprises, promoting club ticket sales. Digital radio, by contrast, is a brand new way to broadcast clearer and with extra multimedia services. Its dominance, when the analogue to digital switch over happens in a decade or so, will be a landmark in British radio. But what will happen to pirates when the switch occurs? What is the future of pirate radio?
Looking from 2003 there seems three obvious eventualities: to go online, to stay analogue or to switch to digital. Each will change pirate radio culture as we know it.
Although the conditions should alter massively in the next ten years, digital pirate broadcasting appears difficult at this point. Currently the technology is hard to acquire, complex to use and expensive to buy. According to the director of engineering at the Radio Authority Mark Thomas, running a legal analogue station costs “a low five figure sum” per year. Upgrading that to a digital station converts it to “a high five figure sum.” He leaves us to make the illegal radio comparisons, but this cost is sure to be a significant barrier to pirates.
In the current market, there are very few suppliers of the required digital broadcast equipment and so market prices are high. With digital receivers expensive, the current audience remains small. But both these barriers should shrink over time, with encouraging news like Ford announcing digital radios in cars from last January. Also the way legal stations have to share the digital broadcast equipment called “multiplexes” works against pirates too. “Pirate stations are very much go-it-alone, chuck-up-anything-that-you-think-will-work merchants. That whole mindset is really quite different to the organised and collectivist approach that is inherent with [legal] digital,” explains Thomas.
Finally, because of the properties of digital, there are less numbers of frequencies for pirates to broadcast on. Most the available slots are now assigned. “Your only options as a pirate in London is to use a frequency in Kent, and interfere with that or use one in frequency in Southend. And how many pirates will be able to do that without interfering with each other?” asks Thomas. “The [digital] frequency planning environment is much more difficult.”
However it would be foolish to underestimate the determination and resourcefulness of pirate engineers. “You can never say ‘never’. 20 years ago you would have said they’d never get on FM,” remarks an Area Manager for the Radiocommunications Agency. “I’ve got to say I have a professional respect for what they’re capable of achieving, these pirates.”
When the commercial stations vacate the analogue FM band, could the pirates could just stay put? Analogue radios don’t suffer a lot of wear and tear, so a loyal audience might remain. But would they hear anything? As the 3G licence auction testified, spectrum is a valuable commodity. Some industry experts speculate that it could be sold off for other services to companies like mobile phone operators. Could the pirates broadcast over such a din? Technically it is possible as, according to Mark Thomas, broadcast transmitters tend to be at the upper end of the power range on the airwaves.
Why don’t pirates just broadcast online? Given artist royalties are collected by the Performing Rights Society, netcasting is a legal proposition and one some currently chose to take. Majorfm.co.uk have most successfully taken the pirate model online, suggesting it is viable.
Bandwidth costs might increase per user, unlike conventional radio, but they’re still smaller than the costs of running a legal digital radio station. The main drawback is that pirate radio broadcasts to a dense and compact local audience. Internet radio broadcasts to a disperse global audience – which is of no use if your core revenue source is ticket sales to raves in Hackney.
“Really the future of online radio is down to how available the internet becomes in day-to-day life,” explains DJ SL, who simulcasts London’s leading pirate station Rinse FM, over the internet. Penetration of broadband, 3G mobile phones and even in-car internet access will all determine the future of online radio. But for now it’s still a minor influence on the audience pirate radio tries to reach. “We are probably talking at least another 5 years before we see these [technologies] implemented and about another 5 years beyond that until these products are both available and cheap enough.”
Still it is a fruitful option for many artists and one DJ we spoke to had just recently switched from pirate radio to www.londonliveanddirect.com. “Whilst we were on pirate only Londoners could hear us and it wasn’t even like we could be heard over the whole of London,” explains a representative of the Frequency collective. “Since being on the internet the interest in us and the offers have been immense ... We feel like the hard work and sacrifices we've made are starting to pay off.” Now the collective are getting offers of work from Malaysia, Australia and Sweden.
As broadband and wireless internet access increases, European webcasters could yet gain ground over US counterparts. Given recent the effect of recent Congress developments on the US market - favouring big corporate players over grass roots providers - niche homegrown EU talent might be just what the world’s music fans are looking for. These are exciting times.
First published in Deuce magazine (RIP) spring 2003
Wednesday, June 08, 2005
Thursday, June 02, 2005
freshness
Club Forward>>’s summer line up comes true to it’s name and ethos: moving things ... forward. If you’ve followed the fusion/purism debate on the grime/dubstep border on this blog, then this line up is some next level biz:
July 7
Horsepower
Logan
Hatcha
July 21
Target
DMZ & Loefah 2hr set
Reading between the lines with this, erm, lineup this looks like FWD>> embracing grime MCs properly. Of course MCs have always guested there, with Slimzee and Maxwell D reaching in about 2002 when Pay As U Go were together, but since then it's been all about Crazie D and SLT Mob MCs - bar the odd suprise slot from Crazy Titch and Roll Deep.
FWD>> has always been a producer stronghold, a place to test new 'plates, so it could never become a haven for MC Nobody, his 12 mates and their wasteman wannabe rivals brewing for a slewing. But it looks like it's now open to the cream of cutting edge grime artists - and rightly so. Tubby brought D Double and Footsie down on unannounced. Geeneus & Slimzee brought Sier B, Riko, Skepta, Dog-Z and Jammer. Watching Jammer and Skepta over Youngsta's dubstep set was a fascinating experiment of grime/dubstep fusion in action. So for Logan and Target, I'd predict the best of Roll Deep MCs, possibly more. Forward>> ... it's aptly named.
Crikey! The FWD>> line up debate has provoked strong opinion on dubplate.net . Check the views of Plasticman, Hotflush, Vex'd, Kode 9, Infinite and more...
July 7
Horsepower
Logan
Hatcha
July 21
Target
DMZ & Loefah 2hr set
Reading between the lines with this, erm, lineup this looks like FWD>> embracing grime MCs properly. Of course MCs have always guested there, with Slimzee and Maxwell D reaching in about 2002 when Pay As U Go were together, but since then it's been all about Crazie D and SLT Mob MCs - bar the odd suprise slot from Crazy Titch and Roll Deep.
FWD>> has always been a producer stronghold, a place to test new 'plates, so it could never become a haven for MC Nobody, his 12 mates and their wasteman wannabe rivals brewing for a slewing. But it looks like it's now open to the cream of cutting edge grime artists - and rightly so. Tubby brought D Double and Footsie down on unannounced. Geeneus & Slimzee brought Sier B, Riko, Skepta, Dog-Z and Jammer. Watching Jammer and Skepta over Youngsta's dubstep set was a fascinating experiment of grime/dubstep fusion in action. So for Logan and Target, I'd predict the best of Roll Deep MCs, possibly more. Forward>> ... it's aptly named.
Crikey! The FWD>> line up debate has provoked strong opinion on dubplate.net . Check the views of Plasticman, Hotflush, Vex'd, Kode 9, Infinite and more...
Friday, May 27, 2005
Slimzee v Carnage
Some audio grabbed from the Rinse audio forum, too tasty not to share. Slimzee v Carnage pon deckle, Wiley and later on Syre B on mic. Some wicked vocal and instrumental bits (inc an amazing Geeneus riddim at the end and the awesome Danny Weed or Target Heat Up instrumental) ... plus J Sweet gets merked. Wiley with fire in his belly.
Wednesday, May 25, 2005
Fusion confusion
A tight little mix over at Tempo Tantrum HQ from Reza brought something into focus.
It made me realise the relative merits of fusion v purism have been circulating around unresolved in my brain on several occasions of late. Specifically two types of fusion: fusion in production and fusion in DJing.
The importance of fusion or purism, essentially how a sound grows and evolves, is key. The wrong influence can drag a scene backwards to cover old ground. But to move forward, a scene needs new ideas, either generating them from within or consuming ideas from without.
This thinking on fusion v purism, change from within or without, was triggered by several recent experiences. A lengthy discussion of the porus membrane between the grime and dubstep cells with Kode 9 one evening, and his set last month at FWD>>, comprising of Mystikz dubs and Terror Danjah 12"s. Jay Da Flex's sets of late on 1Xtra and FWD>>, which have been fusing broken beat with breakbeat garage. A conversation with Loefah on the influence of grime on dubstep's "halfstep" flavours. Kid Kameleon's mixes. Semtex's "Crunk & Grime" CD and Dizzee & Semtex' Nike M180 mix, which includes a Neptunes mix of Diz, crunk MCs over grime riddims and Dizzee over a Lil Jon beat. And then of course there's Reza's mix (tracklisting below).
First to fusion in DJing. When the first dark hybrids of garage were emerging in 2000, there weren't enough Ghost, Wookie, Zed Bias or Steve Gurley bits to fill a whole set. I'd use what I had around me to fill the gaps: I'd play pitched up broken beat or techy breaky stuff, the odd bit of electronica or electro or even slowed down jungle. Soon though it began to feel pointless, probably around the time Forward>> began and 8bar/grime emerged. Dusk and I were presenting the Forward>> show on Groovetech.com (RIP) and mixing El-B and Horsepower with Plasticman, Dizzee’s “Brand New Day” with Hindzy D’s “Capsule”. Suddenly you could touch all flavours without leaving the same continuum. Furthermore, beyond a varied/inconsistent dancefloor experience, I began to question what could you actually achieve with a fusion set?
It was 2003-4 Hatcha sets, the foundation of the current dubstep sound, that proved how mighty purism could be and how much progress could be made by pulling in a concerted direction. Hatcha had Benga, Skreams, Loefah and Digital Mystikz productions on exclusive at this time allowing him to exert massive A&R control over their productions and pull his DJ sets coherently in one direction. The results, now on vinyl, speak for themselves.
This leads us into fusion in production. In the last two years grime has flourished. Reza and Jayda might be interested in the dubstep/broken beat boundary, Semtex and Dizzee in the grime/crunk border, but to me and other Londoners like Kode 9, the grime/dubstep boundary holds more fascination.
But is there a actually a boundary between the styles?
While we both know they come from the same roots in late '90s garage, my position is there are enough social and sonic differences to make them distinct enough to warrant fusions. Kode 9 has suggested that musically if you think they're separate strains - you're too close to them.
But then check his "'Kingstown' Dub," now forthcoming on his Hyperdub label. It is the perfect grime/dubstep fusion. Mark One-inspired tablas, massive sub bass drop, layered (not chopped) arrangements that develop - all themes from dubstep. Maximalist, in-yer-face, solid riff, starting from the very first bar, written on grimey synths, looping throughout the track ( all substance as opposed to the negative space/textures of dubstep) - all themes from grime.
Kode, ever the enthusiast on science-meets-society thinking then suggested his litmus test of any kind of fusion: does it form a hybrid or a mutant? Ie is the result (a DJ set or production) greater the sum of its parts, or merely the sum of it's parts or less? I think he's nailed a key issue there.
Here's what Kode had to say in full on the matter...
“To talk about fusions you have to be much more sonically specific ‘what is grime?’”
“So to talk about sonic fusions between grime and dubstep – if you subtract the MCs – you would first have to identify an identity to both grime and dubstep. It is precisely in order to reject solidifying grime or dubstep each into a core identity (purism) that I am rejecting the word fusion as a way of thinking about attempting to weave grime and dubstep instrumentals. If you reject purism, then what is left as distinct entities to fuse? Because I think it under-plays the mutations and meshing that these styles are undergoing, and limits future discussion of what can emerge as merely being hybrids, as opposed to mutants.”
“Most people, I’m sure, would think I'm just being too fussy about the word 'fusion'. We all know that these musics come from different microscenes, and different cultures with different outlooks. But it is enlightening to see the way the music spreads, not just its roots ... and its spread is unpredictable in a way that the concept of 'fusion' doesn’t do justice to. Get me? I just don't think its worth calling it a fusion to want more sub weight in my grime, and more mid-range excitement in my dub. It's just pre-occupations with different sets of frequencies, not radical stylistic differences.”
Whether they can be resolved into two parts, or are sub-units of a greater whole, a cutting edge interaction of some kind is definitely taking place. And, like Riko joining the blogsphere, it's no longer 100% one-way traffic. I can't say anymore on this, mostly because nothing's concrete yet, but expect some very exciting movements from different points through the porous membrane this year.
Finally an observation, not a coded hint, just an observation. Traditionally, bar the Rinse/Dumpvalve lot, grime artists have not repped for FWD>>, even if Slim and Maxwell D did a set in about 2002 at Velvet Rooms. But since Wiley first DJed at Forward>> recently, he's attended the last four in a row. He's not been booked, he just comes, stands in the back and listens. As Trim said last year in my Touch piece Wiley "quantum leaps." He foresaw MCs-becoming-artists, Dizzee's future achievements, the lessons to be learned from dancehall (on the Ice Rink riddim series), the street-marketing potential of clashing and the even beatless "devil mixes." Of late he's instigated producer-clashes, seen how to go commercial with "Shake A Leg" and why it's important long term to have a label ("your own situation") not to rely on expensive and short-term major label deals.
He's seen all this. And now he's checking dubstep ...
Some mixes for thought
Kode 9 in Brazil
Kode: “There is a zig zag sequence I'm particularly fond of from “Fuckaz” to “Late Nite Request Line” to “Thuggish Ruggish” to “Poltergeist Relay” to “Twisup original” to “Piano Madness” which peaks at 25:15 to 26min's…”
'Ghost Land' - Kode9/Spaceape/Digital Mystikz' (dubplate)
'Kingstown' Dub - Kode9 (dubplate)
'Stuck' - Digital Mystikz (dubplate)
'Changes' - Digital Mystikz (dubplate)
'?' - Skream (dubplate)
'Mood' - Digital Mystikz (dubplate)
'Fukkaz' - Kode9 & Spaceape (dubplate)
'Late Nite Request Line’ - Skream (dubplate)
'Thuggish Ruggish' - Skepta (white)
'Poltergeist Relay' - Roll Deep (white)
'Twisup' - Loefah (white)
'Piano Madness' - Terror Danjah (Aftershock)
'Slow Down' - Virus Syndicate (Planet Mu)
'Morgue' - Wiley (white)
'Fwd Rmx'- ? (white)
'Conference' - Digital Mystikz (dubplate)
'Shut Down Shop' - Essentials (Paperchase)
'Correction Dub' - Kode9 (dubplate)
Reza at Tempo Tantrum
Reza tracklist
1. Cold Mission - DH Shuffle
2. Cousin Cockroach & Shox - King Tut Fool
3. Afronaught - Golpe Duro Culinda
4. Dom Um Romao - Lake Of Perseverance
5. Darqwan - Said The Spider
6. Kelis - Milkshake (Freq Nasty's Hip Hall Mix)
7. Somatik - Reflections Of The Future
8. Seiji & Spoonface - Yin Yang
9. Misa Negra - Mixamatosis
10. Lady Sovereign - Chi Ching (Landslide Remix)
11. Almost Human - Criminal Minded
12. Loefah - Indian Dub
13. Solid Groove - Flookin (Domu's Lucky Dub)
14. Zed Bias - Old School, New School
15. Menta - Snakecharmer
16. Horsepower Productions - Classic Deluxe Part 2
17. Toasty - Angel
It made me realise the relative merits of fusion v purism have been circulating around unresolved in my brain on several occasions of late. Specifically two types of fusion: fusion in production and fusion in DJing.
The importance of fusion or purism, essentially how a sound grows and evolves, is key. The wrong influence can drag a scene backwards to cover old ground. But to move forward, a scene needs new ideas, either generating them from within or consuming ideas from without.
This thinking on fusion v purism, change from within or without, was triggered by several recent experiences. A lengthy discussion of the porus membrane between the grime and dubstep cells with Kode 9 one evening, and his set last month at FWD>>, comprising of Mystikz dubs and Terror Danjah 12"s. Jay Da Flex's sets of late on 1Xtra and FWD>>, which have been fusing broken beat with breakbeat garage. A conversation with Loefah on the influence of grime on dubstep's "halfstep" flavours. Kid Kameleon's mixes. Semtex's "Crunk & Grime" CD and Dizzee & Semtex' Nike M180 mix, which includes a Neptunes mix of Diz, crunk MCs over grime riddims and Dizzee over a Lil Jon beat. And then of course there's Reza's mix (tracklisting below).
First to fusion in DJing. When the first dark hybrids of garage were emerging in 2000, there weren't enough Ghost, Wookie, Zed Bias or Steve Gurley bits to fill a whole set. I'd use what I had around me to fill the gaps: I'd play pitched up broken beat or techy breaky stuff, the odd bit of electronica or electro or even slowed down jungle. Soon though it began to feel pointless, probably around the time Forward>> began and 8bar/grime emerged. Dusk and I were presenting the Forward>> show on Groovetech.com (RIP) and mixing El-B and Horsepower with Plasticman, Dizzee’s “Brand New Day” with Hindzy D’s “Capsule”. Suddenly you could touch all flavours without leaving the same continuum. Furthermore, beyond a varied/inconsistent dancefloor experience, I began to question what could you actually achieve with a fusion set?
It was 2003-4 Hatcha sets, the foundation of the current dubstep sound, that proved how mighty purism could be and how much progress could be made by pulling in a concerted direction. Hatcha had Benga, Skreams, Loefah and Digital Mystikz productions on exclusive at this time allowing him to exert massive A&R control over their productions and pull his DJ sets coherently in one direction. The results, now on vinyl, speak for themselves.
This leads us into fusion in production. In the last two years grime has flourished. Reza and Jayda might be interested in the dubstep/broken beat boundary, Semtex and Dizzee in the grime/crunk border, but to me and other Londoners like Kode 9, the grime/dubstep boundary holds more fascination.
But is there a actually a boundary between the styles?
While we both know they come from the same roots in late '90s garage, my position is there are enough social and sonic differences to make them distinct enough to warrant fusions. Kode 9 has suggested that musically if you think they're separate strains - you're too close to them.
But then check his "'Kingstown' Dub," now forthcoming on his Hyperdub label. It is the perfect grime/dubstep fusion. Mark One-inspired tablas, massive sub bass drop, layered (not chopped) arrangements that develop - all themes from dubstep. Maximalist, in-yer-face, solid riff, starting from the very first bar, written on grimey synths, looping throughout the track ( all substance as opposed to the negative space/textures of dubstep) - all themes from grime.
Kode, ever the enthusiast on science-meets-society thinking then suggested his litmus test of any kind of fusion: does it form a hybrid or a mutant? Ie is the result (a DJ set or production) greater the sum of its parts, or merely the sum of it's parts or less? I think he's nailed a key issue there.
Here's what Kode had to say in full on the matter...
“To talk about fusions you have to be much more sonically specific ‘what is grime?’”
“So to talk about sonic fusions between grime and dubstep – if you subtract the MCs – you would first have to identify an identity to both grime and dubstep. It is precisely in order to reject solidifying grime or dubstep each into a core identity (purism) that I am rejecting the word fusion as a way of thinking about attempting to weave grime and dubstep instrumentals. If you reject purism, then what is left as distinct entities to fuse? Because I think it under-plays the mutations and meshing that these styles are undergoing, and limits future discussion of what can emerge as merely being hybrids, as opposed to mutants.”
“Most people, I’m sure, would think I'm just being too fussy about the word 'fusion'. We all know that these musics come from different microscenes, and different cultures with different outlooks. But it is enlightening to see the way the music spreads, not just its roots ... and its spread is unpredictable in a way that the concept of 'fusion' doesn’t do justice to. Get me? I just don't think its worth calling it a fusion to want more sub weight in my grime, and more mid-range excitement in my dub. It's just pre-occupations with different sets of frequencies, not radical stylistic differences.”
Whether they can be resolved into two parts, or are sub-units of a greater whole, a cutting edge interaction of some kind is definitely taking place. And, like Riko joining the blogsphere, it's no longer 100% one-way traffic. I can't say anymore on this, mostly because nothing's concrete yet, but expect some very exciting movements from different points through the porous membrane this year.
Finally an observation, not a coded hint, just an observation. Traditionally, bar the Rinse/Dumpvalve lot, grime artists have not repped for FWD>>, even if Slim and Maxwell D did a set in about 2002 at Velvet Rooms. But since Wiley first DJed at Forward>> recently, he's attended the last four in a row. He's not been booked, he just comes, stands in the back and listens. As Trim said last year in my Touch piece Wiley "quantum leaps." He foresaw MCs-becoming-artists, Dizzee's future achievements, the lessons to be learned from dancehall (on the Ice Rink riddim series), the street-marketing potential of clashing and the even beatless "devil mixes." Of late he's instigated producer-clashes, seen how to go commercial with "Shake A Leg" and why it's important long term to have a label ("your own situation") not to rely on expensive and short-term major label deals.
He's seen all this. And now he's checking dubstep ...
Some mixes for thought
Kode 9 in Brazil
Kode: “There is a zig zag sequence I'm particularly fond of from “Fuckaz” to “Late Nite Request Line” to “Thuggish Ruggish” to “Poltergeist Relay” to “Twisup original” to “Piano Madness” which peaks at 25:15 to 26min's…”
'Ghost Land' - Kode9/Spaceape/Digital Mystikz' (dubplate)
'Kingstown' Dub - Kode9 (dubplate)
'Stuck' - Digital Mystikz (dubplate)
'Changes' - Digital Mystikz (dubplate)
'?' - Skream (dubplate)
'Mood' - Digital Mystikz (dubplate)
'Fukkaz' - Kode9 & Spaceape (dubplate)
'Late Nite Request Line’ - Skream (dubplate)
'Thuggish Ruggish' - Skepta (white)
'Poltergeist Relay' - Roll Deep (white)
'Twisup' - Loefah (white)
'Piano Madness' - Terror Danjah (Aftershock)
'Slow Down' - Virus Syndicate (Planet Mu)
'Morgue' - Wiley (white)
'Fwd Rmx'- ? (white)
'Conference' - Digital Mystikz (dubplate)
'Shut Down Shop' - Essentials (Paperchase)
'Correction Dub' - Kode9 (dubplate)
Reza at Tempo Tantrum
Reza tracklist
1. Cold Mission - DH Shuffle
2. Cousin Cockroach & Shox - King Tut Fool
3. Afronaught - Golpe Duro Culinda
4. Dom Um Romao - Lake Of Perseverance
5. Darqwan - Said The Spider
6. Kelis - Milkshake (Freq Nasty's Hip Hall Mix)
7. Somatik - Reflections Of The Future
8. Seiji & Spoonface - Yin Yang
9. Misa Negra - Mixamatosis
10. Lady Sovereign - Chi Ching (Landslide Remix)
11. Almost Human - Criminal Minded
12. Loefah - Indian Dub
13. Solid Groove - Flookin (Domu's Lucky Dub)
14. Zed Bias - Old School, New School
15. Menta - Snakecharmer
16. Horsepower Productions - Classic Deluxe Part 2
17. Toasty - Angel
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