LV live - Paris

LV & Joshua Idehen live from the Batofar Keysound takeover. LV have really nailed the live thing, the swing & bump made me dance like a happy person.

Freshness

Win a dubplate & see it get made!

To anyone pre-ordering the LHF album, Keysound recordings are offering that all orders will be entered into a special competition draw to win a one of a kind 10" LHF dubplate, cut with your choice of LHF tracks.

What's more, you'll be able to view the whole process as you are cordially invited to the seminal Transition Mastering Studios (home of Hyperdub (inc Burial), Planet Mu, DMZ & of course Keysound). Here you'll be able to see your tracks cut to order and view the whole process first hand, then walk away with the fresh dub at the end.

Enter the competition here.

Hear two new LHF album tracks

"Inferno" and "Rush" here at RedBull Music Academy. "Chamber of Light" is over at Boiler Room.

On Record

Double Helix picks out an obscure d&b 12" and unravels a mystery for Fact. Check the LHF jungle special show here.

Sully interview...

...for BLTN blog, via Red Bull





Critical Beats #2: Place, Locality and Globalisation

Me having a waffle with  few people about dubstep and grime for The Wire.




PS... **cough**

Keysound takeover Fabric: LHF album launch

KEYSOUND PRESENT LHF 'KEEPERS OF THE LIGHT' LP LAUNCH

LHF
Dusk & Blackdown
LV
Sully
Logos
Vibezin

Friday, 20th April 2012.

In the other rooms, Grooverider, Ed Rush, Jubei B2B Doc Scott, DJ Die, Bailey, Youngsta B2B J:Kenzo & more.

Advanced tickets here. Show you're repping on the Facebook event here. LHF "Keepers of the Light" is out April 2nd.


Read full review of Keepers of the Light - LHF on Boomkat.com ©

Rinse Feb

Dusk & I were back on Rinse Thurs 22nd 11-1am.

DOWNLOAD the audio.


Tracklist:

DVA "Where I Belong"  [forthcoming Hyperdub]
Shox "Aztec" [Hundred2ONE]
Double Helix "LDN VIP" [unreleased]
Desto "Shadow Sole" [Noppa]
86 Baby "Word of Mouth" [unreleased]
Mista Men "Cardiac Arrest" [Green Money]
Presk "Kook" [forthcoming Fourth Wave]
Polar Pair "Days of funky mood" [unreleased]
Walton "Thunder" [unreleased]
Warlock "Space Junk" [Rag and Bone]
Reuben G "Frozen Planet" [unreleased]
Wen "Takin' Over" [unreleased]
Emma "Dream Phone" [Tones]
Mista Men "Daylight Robbery" [Green Money]
Zed Bias & Trigga "Booster" [unreleased]
Neon Jung "Delirium Tremens" [Magic Wire]

Destiny's Child "Say My Name (Palace remix)" [unreleased]
Evian Christ "Fuck It None Of Ya'll Don't Rap" [Triangle free download]
Evian Christ  "Go Girl" [Triangle free download]
Trim & Riko "King of Kings" [unreleased]
Tessela "Darlene, Please" [2nd Drop]
Kanvas "Dragon Fly" [unreleased]
Tessela "D Jane" [Punch Drunk]
Blackwax "Trapped Dub New" [unreleased]
Double Helix "Judgment Day 2012 VIP" [unreleased]
Real "Oak" [XVI Records]
Visionist "Pour water on a witch" [unreleased]
Sublo "Shinigami" [unreleased]
Champion "Crystal Meth" [forthcoming Butterz]
G3P0 "Lupo" [unreleased]
Portico Quartet "City of Glass (LV remix)" [forthcoming]
Sublo "Nocturnal Roadway" [unreleased]
Amen Ra "Taniainnaldn" [unreleased]
Drake "Crew Love (Shlohmo Remix)" [unreleased]
The Weeknd "Gone (Sines Slowed Remix)" [unreleased]

Last month's show is here. All our old Rinse shows are archived here

Gremino showcase mix

So there's a producer we've been playing on our Rinse show called Gremino. I think he's ruff and very underrated.

He seems to totally get the vibe of early '02 Slimzee 8bar grime dubs in way that's really fresh compared to a lot of the over-compressed grime and dubstep about at the moment. We've dropped tracks like "Rupi," "Storm" "Monster" “Accordion Tune (VIP mix)” "Lush Synth" "Ruffness," "Finneskimo" and "Drumbeat" on our show.

Underrated producers always deserve a little bit of the spotlight so here's an exlcusive Gremino production showcase for my blog.

• DOWNLOAD an exclusive Gremino production showcase

Turns out he's got an EP coming out on Fade to Mind, which weirdly I didn't know this when I commissioned this mix, though I'm really happy for him.

You can also download a bunch of his 8bar tracks for free. Check one here...



You can also buy for a mere $4 four VIPs of some of his best tunes here. Check them here...

• Photo, as ever, by Nico Hogg.

The roots of Detroit techno

So chatting to him, post "Unity" it seems Damu's been working on a bunch of new material, some of which is inspired by current techno. When he mentioned this, I instantly thought of the parallels between his colourful sound and the euphoric sweeps of classic techno. So I thought I'd put together a playlist of Detroit classics to share with him to see if he found something he liked.

Once I'd shared it with him, well, I thought I'd share it with you guys too as the idea of someone hearing World 2 World EP or "Desire" for the first time via this blog is really what it's all about for me.

I have a mixed relationship with techno, especially Detroit techno. I began listening to it in about '96. But as I outlined in my Resident Advisor chat with Todd, two factors separated me from daily consumption of it. Firstly was the realisation that I'd mostly been working backwards through techno, not forwards, and so when I'd unearthed all the main gems, it became a law of diminishing returns, literally in some sense, given Jeff Mills and Robert Hood's pioneering of minimal techno.

Secondly I fell in love with London, became massively inspired and influenced by its surroundings, multiculturalism and pirate mindstate and began to find techno as a scene uninspiring culturally as well as musically.

On reflection, when I look back to techno, my feelings coalesce into two camps.

Things I don't miss from techno:

• The rhythmic stiffness, lack of offbeats, corrupted rhythms
• The reliance on straight 4x4 kick as the primary driver
• The purist mentality and how it feels disconnected from multiculturalism
• Minimalism as an end unto itself

Things I will always love & cherish:

• The sense of pure, epic synth-driven euphoria (quite distinct from the drug-tainted chemical chords of trance)
• A love of detailed, mid and upper synthetic melodies
• An attuned sense of abstract texture, space and detail - esp from Basic Channel (though they're not from Detroit, obv).
• A spirit of an unbeatable underground movement

The Playlist:


Model 500 "No UFO'S"
Model 500 Night Drive [Time, Space, Transmat]"
69 "Desire"
Carl Craig "At Les (studio version)"
Rhythim Is Rhythim "Strings of Life (Original Mix)"
Derrick May "Icon (Montage Mix)"
Rhythim Is Rhythim "It Is What It Is"
Underground Resistance "Jupiter Jazz"
Galaxy 2 Galaxy (Underground Resistance) "Hi-Tech Jazz"
Galaxy 2 Galaxy (Underground Resistance) "Journey of the dragons"
World 2 World (Underground Resistance) "Amazon"
Red Planet "Star Dancer"
The Martian "Firekeeper"
The Martian "Voice Of Grandmother"
The Martian "Windwalker"
Reese "Just Want Another Chance"
Suburban Knight "Art of Stalking"
Robert Hood "Minimal Nation"
Robert Hood "Detroit: One Circle"
Robert Hood "All day long (b2)"

RIP the month in grime/dubstep on Pitchfork (2005-12)

It's with sadness that I have to write that my Pitchfork "month in grime/dubstep" column is over. All things come to an end; this one began in 2005 and seven years later finds its end here, 56 columns later. I'd like to thank Scott Plagenhoef, the man who originally commissioned the column and supported it throughout.

Before we get into any light messenger shooting, the column is being retired, I did not choose to stop writing it. I've been invited to pitch to other sections on Pitchfork but my grime/dubstep column doesn't fit into the new editorial strategy. I'll be honest and say this isn't something I really understand but naturally recognise their authority to make this call.

It does however, not come at a completely inconvenient time. While it's boring to winge about these kinds of things, the honest truth is personally I have never been busier and any free time I do have now gets split between preparing for Rinse, producing music, DJing, writing sleevenotes for compilations and most of all, running Keysound. In addition, while I have been determined to plough relentlessly on with the column, the increasing conflict between A&R and journalism in my life has made it tricky in recent months to find an endless stream of new scene pieces to write without risking conflict of interest or going over old ground.

A case in point: Andrew Ryce filed recently a detailed and well written piece for RA on the bass/house intersection, but having had my say on this increasingly all pervasive movement at least twice in the last two years the prospect of having to re-iterate these arguments again and again in another two year's worth of columns (is house boring? if you add dubstep to it is it more or less than the sum of its parts? etc etc) fills me with dread.

In 2012 I'm increasingly looking for ways to counteract the more tepid parts of that spectrum and in the past that would have been by writing and who I chose to cover. Now it's increasingly addressed by who I sign to Keysound, who I try to shine a spotlight on Rinse and how I make music with Dusk. I'm having a lot of fun right now and feel as strong as ever about underground music, just not necessarily by writing about it in the music press.

My blog will remain of course, as an outlet for writing, but the column is over. I felt no remorse when my NME column was cut last year (you didn't know I had an NME column? Exactly...) but this does come with sadness. I've spent days, maybe even weeks of my life on these 56 articles so I spent a little time this week making them accessible here (see below) if people want to find them.

If you took the time to read one in the last seven years and came across someone you'd not noticed, well then bigup: my work here is done.


Pitchfork month in grime & dubstep:

2012

Jan: JME (unpublished)

2011

Sept: Kuedo
July: Trim
June: Roundup: (Eastwood, P Money, Krept, Untold, Kid Smpl, Redhino)
May: The post-dubstep archipelago
March: Teeth
Feb: Falty DL
Jan: Maxwell D

2010

Nov: End of year roundup
Oct: Roundup (various)
Sept: Darkstar
Aug: Circle and dubbage
July: SA house
June: Kode9
May: SBTRKT
Apr: MJ Cole
Mar: Ikonika
Feb: Post dubstep
Jan: Elijah and Skilliam

2009

Nov: End of year roundup
Oct: Zomby & Ghetts
Sept: State of Generation bass
Aug: JME & LD
July: Dot Rotten & Grevious Angel
June: Rude Kid, The Bug and 2562
Apr pt 2 : Wonky
Apr pt 1: Jungle-influence dubstep and Ghetts
Mar: Ruff Sqwad, Cotti, Spyro
Feb: Oneman, Wiley, TRG

2007

Dec: End of year roundup
Nov: Various (Martyn, UK funky, BBK, House Party...)
Oct: Pinch. Peverelist, Burial, Ghetts
Sept: Skepta, LV, Hyperdub
Aug: Durrty Goodz, Skream, Dubwar
Jun: Various
May: Techno dubstep, instrumental grime
Apr: all-grime special
Mar: Joker
Feb: Exclusives and Beezy
Jan: awards and the underground

2006

Nov: End of year roundup
Oct: Plastician, Wonder, Skream, Kode9, Distance
Jul: The art of the rewind
Jun: Zomby, Headhunter, Quest, T.H.E. M.O.V.E.M.E.N.T. and more
May: Burial and Wiley
Apr: After halfstep, the Roots of Dubstep and Newham Generals
Mar: DMZ explodes, Fuck Radio
Jan: Dubstep Warz

2005

Dec: End of year roundup
Nov: Internationalisation of dubstep, Rinse FM
Oct: Yard MCs, DMZ, Subloaded, Distance
Sept: DMZ, grime adopts "Midnight Request Line"
Aug: Rinse FM station party and more
Jul: DMZ post 7/7, Aim High
Jun: Internationalisation of dubstep begins
May: DMZ, Roll Deep

All are archived at Pitchfork here.

96 reasons to rate JME

 

A few weeks ago a grime MC entered the UK top 50 charts. Five years ago this was pretty much unthinkable but in 2011-2012 it’s hardly news, as in recent times a layer of the grime scene’s a-list have migrated from east London badmen to saccharine sweet chart MCs backed by major labels. The difference here is the MC is the single is grime and the MC did it all by himself.

“96Fuckries” is the remarkable new single by JME, remarkable because as an actual grime track it’s not that distinct from previous JME material yet been successful. The track’s title comes from the number of lines he spits and indeed hand writes out on the YouTube metadata. The best line however has to be the first - “Oh please, I couldn't care bout your T&Cs” – amusing because who else in grime would spit about legal terms and conditions? Then again who else would spit about iOS5 or indeed get something into the charts with 96 bars but no chorus?

While much of grime’s lead MCs seem content making commercial tracks with token bolt-on chorus’ sung by irrelevant female session singers, JME’s too strong minded to pander to commercial clichés. The track’s final three lines, 94-96, seem a reference to those lost once-grime stars: “MCs think they're raising the bar/By spitting on 14 genres a day?/Safe. Raising the bar makes it easier for me to score anyway!” And score he did, using the fanbase he’s built up over years of hard slog to take the track into the national charts.

And this is the remarkable thing about “96 Fuckries”: JME has no record label as such and doesn’t have a PR team. “96 Fuckries” was not supported by national radio playlists nor sent out to journalists. Half the DJs in grime didn’t get it, not that their collective weight behind a track could put it in the charts anyway. JME doesn’t really do interviews with blogs or magazines per se. If there’s a PR rule book, JME’s ignoring it.

Though JME’s long since been an independent, free thinker, his hardcore grime credentials are unquestionable: he founded BBK alongside grime legends DJ Maximum, Jammer and his brother Skepta, and was part of Wiley’s Roll Deep and before that Meridian Crew (who had a serious street reputation). He came through the pirate radio scene on stations like Heat FM and Rinse. Yet if grime MCs turned themselves from garage hosts to “artists,” with grime a culture not a sound, then JME has pushed that expansion forward. He also went to university, is a technology “early adopter” and quickly established himself as someone who leads not follows. 


“Not following” is an apt term in the quest to understand “96 Fuckries” success. To date JME has built a 133,000 strong twitter following yet follows no one back, literally not one user. He’s tweeted over 57,000 times. His YouTube channel has 29,000 subscribers and has had over 17,475,000 views, with videos as diverse as records of every time he’s needlessly stopped by the police to BBK launching their own range of Pay As You Go top up credit. So as the “96 Fuckries” release approached he distributed his music on iTunes, dropped a music video and got a series of high profile music acts  (Tiny Tempah, Ed Sheeran, Calvin Harris) supported him by RTing the download link.

This is how the social media revolution was meant to be; a meritocratic system that put the tools of distribution in the hand of the people and gave them a level playing field with the established powers that be. Instead the reality was that dominant players just imported their reach, resources and reputation into social media, quickly dwarfing those attempting to work from the bottom up. Stars being “discovered on MySpace” was usually a quaint fabrication for PR purposes by the major label that had funded their development deal. But JME is completely different.

To celebrate its release, JME, his brother Skepta and sister Rinse FM’s Julie, alongside DJ Maximum, Jammer and friends did what any pirate station crew would do in 2012: took to Ustream, to play give-away games (“Snapback”) with their fans, wear silly hats, spit bars and bigup anyone who’d bought “96 Fuckries.”




UPDATE: since I wrote this piece, I bumped into JME's sister, Julie, lost at a train station. This might seem perfectly normal occurance in "blog land" but in a city of 8 million people, it is pretty unlikely. In my day to day life it's pretty unlikely. She didn't know who I was and looked pretty baffled by me randomly knowing who she was and offering to help, but I explained I  was on Rinse, had written her brother's mix CD sleevenotes four years ago and gave her some directions: I hope she got to where she was going safely.

Keysound takeover at Batofar Paris

Keysound takeover at Batofar Paris

L.V. & Josh Idehen (live)
Sully
Dusk & Blackdown

March 9th, Batofar Paris

More info here.

LHF "Keepers of the Light" Keysound Recordings

LHF 
"Keepers of the Light"
[Keysound Recordings]
2/4/12 2xCD and digital.

Video by Skely Tor, a Light Keeper who responded to some intergalactic signals. Shout to all the true Light Keepers.

LHF 
"EP3: Cities of Technology"
20/2/12 on 12" and digital

"Keepers of the Light" tracklist

CD1
 
No Fixed Abode "Secret Lagoon"
Amen Ra and Double Helix- "Steelz"
Amen Ra "Candy Rain"
No Fixed Abode "Sunset" (Mumbai Slum Edition)
Amen Ra "Essence Investigation"
Double Helix "Supreme Architecture"
Double Helix "LDN"
Double Helix feat Low Density Matter "Rush"
Low Density Matter "Questions"
Low Density Matter "Blue Steel"
Amen Ra "Simple Things"
Amen Ra "Low Maintenance"
 
 
CD2

No Fixed Abode "Strangelands"
Amen Ra "From Whence We Came"
Amen Ra feat Double Helix "Broken Glass"
No Fixed Abode "Indian Street Slang"
Amen Ra "Fairytales"
Amen Ra "Akashic Visions"
Amen Ra "Hidden Life Force 2"
Double Helix "No Worries"
Double Helix "Bass 2 Dark"
Double Helix "Chamber Of Light"
Double Helix "Inferno"
Double Helix "Deep Life"
Double Helix "Voyages"
Amen Ra "One Toke Wonder"

As we enta: the wonder of the intro tune

Check check: intro tunes.

Intro…

….tunes.

As a DJ, I’m obsessed with…

Intro tunes.Why?

Intro tunes have things to say, they say “here we are.”  You’ve begun, arrived and that other DJ, he’s finished now. For the next hour or ideally more, you’re in tune to us.

Intro tunes also say “this is who we are.” Those other tracks, by that other DJ they’re gone now. That was his vibration; this is ours. This is what we’re about, where we’re beginning from and as of now on you’ll begin to see where we’re going to.

Sometimes I wish you could have two intro tunes, but it doesn’t work like that.

Why? Because the second tune’s power is diminished by the first. There can’t be two firsts. That power is what makes intro tunes unique and so magical. And because they’re your first track, it has infinite potential. No crowd will leave after one track… I just can’t imagine how bad it would have to be, so far away from their expectations for a crowd to leave en masse after one tune alone. Yes it might be possible to empty a room with one tune, but it’s… unlikely.

(As an aside Dusk and I have emptied a room with five tracks but not one, but that was because Ghetts, Logan and 34 MCs had just left the stage of his “Freedom of Speech” album launch party all at once and took the crowd (their crews/mates) with them… oh and and technically the bar staff and two lads we’ve since realized were Elijah and Skilliam were still there, but who’s counting.)

So your intro tune is completely free, utterly unbounded by expectation. It is utterly liberated from any of DJing’s confines. And DJing does have basic parameters and confines under which it operates, just like dance music production, and it’s better for it, lest it descend into a chaotic, amorphous mess. The genius then is not how you can remove those confines (“I don’t need to mix! I don’t need decks! I don’t even need music!” “Err, OK mate, now what…?”). It’s who can find a new twist or a unique space within those confines.

Personally, I love a beatless intro.

To play beatless tracks in the middle of a set, well, you either have to be looking to grind things to a halt to segue into another direction (a garage -> jungle switch for example), have mind-melting amounts of influence like Wiley did during the “devil mix” era at Sidewinder or are just looking to be a little contrary. I recall some quote from techno godfather Derrick May saying that a good DJ should be able to take things down to nothing and back up. In any event, if you drop something beatless mid set you’ll need to rebuild all the momentum you’d built prior to that.

But with an intro tune you have no momentum, you’re starting from absolute zero and in some ways beatless intro’s are perfect for that. They’re like a palate cleanser, wiping away the expectations and momentum from the previous DJ and resetting things from which to rebuild.

Some DJs like to come in with an absolute banger; I’ve seen that a lot from dubstep DJs who are singularly focused on hype. The problem is: where do you go from there? If your intro tune is a 10/10, you better have about 9 more 10/10’s in the bag otherwise your set is an anticlimax. It’s that old adage about there being “no loud without quiet,” you can’t get louder than loudest, by definition (time for a “turn it up to 11” Spinal Tap reference? No, thought not…). Actually, thinking about it, those DJs who do intro with bangers, their sets tend to take a different shape. Instead of steadily building up in intensity, which I prefer, or declining in intensity, which seems a little perverse, each track is mellow/hype cycle in itself. 32 bar chilled intro followed by massive dynamic range change, mid-range drop and lots of compressed “loud” sounds… before the next intro comes in… Repeat cycle for an hour.

I also like the ability of beatless intros to express an another emotion other than hypement.  Yes I saw certain critics slewing of the James Blake/emotional end of the dubstep spectrum but really as a DJ what I’m looking to do is generate strong emotional reactions – and that doesn’t just mean “arrrrghfkjskJFKKEK RELOADDATBUMBA!!!!,” though that is fun. I’d also like to create intense warmth/happiness, heartbreak/melancholia and even introspection as well as disorienting and overwhelming urge to dance with every cell in your body. Because of their power and potential, intro tunes are a good place for that kind of emotion.

Intro tunes: as we enta.

• Both photos, as ever, by Nico Hogg.

Rinse Jan

Me & Dusk were back on Rinse this Thurs 11pm. It turned out to be quite an eventful one as Dusk's entire CD selection was refused by the CDJs and I'd only brought one CD per genre/tempo. Soooo I rolled out some of our club-only freshness, slipped out a few future Keysounds and Dusk & Blackdown beats.

Enjoy>>

Dusk & Blackdown Rinse FM Jan 2012 

Balistiq Beats “Concrete Jungle [Yardman riddim] (Beneath remix)” [unreleased]

Blackdown “Wicked Vibez” [unreleased]

Walton “Sanka” [unreleased]

Logos “Error 808” [unreleased Keysound]

Coobe Beats “Dutty Skank” [unreleased]

Gremino “Rupi (Dusk & Blackdown VIP)” [unreleased]

Funkystepz “Shocker ReFix” [free download]

Dusk & Blackdown “We Ain’t Beggin’” [unreleased]

Blackdown “Apoptosis” [unreleased]

Blackdown “Ridge” [unreleased]

Logos “King Mob VIP” [unreleased]

Dusk & Blackdown “Dasaflex” [unreleased]

Rihanna “We Found Love (Funkystepz mix)” [free download]

Champion “1994” [unreleased]

Fabien “Ride” [unreleased]

Clueless “On the Street Dub” [unreleased]

DJ Q “Final Boss” [Butterz Winter Zip 2012]

Blackdown “Hypergrime” [unreleased]

Blackdown “R in Zero G” [unreleased]

Trim “Notice Now (Elsewhere Remix)” [Butterz Winter Zip 2012]

Kuhn “Slime Beach” [Civil Music]

Slackk “Blue Sleet (from Raw Missions EP)” [forthcoming Local Action]

Slackk “90 Years” (from Raw Missions EP)” [forthcoming Local Action]  

Slackk “Fat City” (from Raw Missions EP)” [forthcoming Local Action]

Gremino “Another Take Me Away” [unreleased]

Amen Ra “Naysayings” [unreleased]

Donae’o “Move To Da Gyal Dem (Mensah RMX)” [forthcoming]

DJ Enme “Showtime ft MC Crazy D” [unreleased]

The Two. Fifteens “MBISON” [forthcoming Stripes album]

JME & Teddy “JME” [Grime: the compilation]

DOK “GRIMMMMMMMMMM” [Butterz Winter Zip 2012]

Teddy & Dot Rotten “Confidence” [Grime: the compilation]

Teddy & Tempa T “Spray Dem” [Grime: the compilation]

Ghetts “Karma” [Momentum free mixtape]

Ghetts “In a Zone” [Momentum free mixtape]

Orson + Hops “Kraut” [forthcoming Version]

All our old Rinse shows are archived here.

LHF "EP3: Cities of Technology"

LHF
"EP3: Cities of Technology"
[Keysound Recordings]
20/2/12

Hear "Supreme Architecture" exclusively here.

Kowton v Dusk clash! What was your dodgiest club experience?

What was your dodgiest club experience?

This week sees the release of the Kowton v Dusk EP on Keysound (digital here). To celebrate its emergence, I decided to propose a clash. It's Kowton v Dusk in a banter battle: every day this week sees one of their dodgiest club experiences pit against the other's. The funniest one wins: and you get to vote.

"What do you mean my name's not on the list?"


Kowton: round 5 (final)

"Toward the end of Rooted when only myself and Chris Farrell worked there, Caravan put on Kassem Mosse in one of the bigger clubs down here and it was a massive success, one of the best parties I've been to in Bristol.

By closing time an inordinate amount of alcohol had been consumed, we ended up in a lock in til about 8.30am, myself and Chris downing black Sambuca and berating anyone unwilling to risk hospitalisation for the cause of drunkenness. I only realised it was a lock-in once we'd left.

I'm awoken at 11am by a call from Rooted owner Pete asking if the shop is open, I reply probably not and cycle down the middle of the road to open up. I call Pete and cover for Chris, saying he's on the way up and everything's fine. Both lies.

A few hours later Chris wakes at home and makes a phone call 'Pete, what the fuck is going on? It's 2pm and I'm the floor of my spare room. Why the fuck aren't I at work?'

"Somehow we didn't even get a bollocking."

Dusk: round 5 (final)

"On a separate trip to the States, I can remember the sound being so bad at a Benga & Skream gig in New York that I had to leave the club, find an all night chemist and create some earplugs out of filter tips, MacGyver style. Incredibly, they worked.

At the same gig some guy barged into me and started getting larey that I'd nearly broken one of his teeth with the plastic cup he was holding by his mouth.

Then, on hearing my English accent he switched from threats of violence into a 5 minute mumbled rap which despite not being able to hear a word of it because I had 3 filter tips in each ear, I felt compelled to pretend to listen to, pulling what I hoped were appropriate facial gestures and manouevres at the correct moments.  At the end he simply shook my hand and walked off so I must have done OK.

That said, the pair of us must have looked pretty special to anyone walking past, me especially with those earplugs half hanging out..."


Kowton: round 4

"First gig I ever played in London was at the Coronet Theatre in Elephant and Castle. The main room was a-list drum n bass DJ's, complete with lazers and pole dancing; I was upstairs in a room headlined by Heny G and Slaughter Mob.

Vibes were bad from when we got there: my link for the gig was the MC for the evening and the moment we arrived he almost had a fight with the promoter. "Where the fucks your microphone?" Not the friendliest welcome.

I was playing at 6am, by that point the only audience left in that room was the cloakroom queue, a bunch of ketamised casualties and a group of long suffering mates of mine who'd come from the north just for this gig. I played about 5 tunes, fucked up every mix and decided playing any more was a waste of everyone's time. I didn't get paid a penny and lost my copy of Pev and Appleblim's 'Circling'.

That gig put me off DJing for about a year."

Dusk: round 4

"Whilst on tour with The XX last year we did some gig in a smokey bar in Philly.  It was one of those places that wangled a late licence by "providing food".  Which was technically true I suppose, if you cared to eat one of three wieners that spent the whole night rotating on some stinky grill on the back wall all night.

That night was the first time I've ever seen a woman sat on the taps in the gents eating pizza. I pointed out that this was wrong on so many levels and when she asked me to name one I went for "hygiene".  "Guess so".  Didn't stop her finishing that pizza though.

Quite a weird place that - there was some other guy mincing round in a pink feather boa who was complaining to Starkey and Dev79 that he kept getting hit on by guys in the club. When they pointed out it might be something to do with his body language and more importantly the boa, he was indignant that "they better recognise I got this at a strip club down the road!" or some such.

Definitely one of the odder places we've played.  And the first where I made a bit of a "2 nations divided by a common language" faux pas.  Someone came up, said they loved the tunes but that Philly was a town that loved vocals.  I said I'd drop something vocal for them and without thinking slapped on Tempa T.  With hindsight (and considering the state of that club) I'm guessing they were thinking more along the lines of Teddy Pendergrass!"

Kowton: Round 3

"At an Alfresco Disco last year (a Bristol music institution with a reputation for doing killer parties in unusual locations) Idle Hands were asked to host the third room, this time an unused court room in an old coroners court.

The decks were on the judges desk and by about 1am the place was heaving, people dancing in the witness boxes and jurors seats and all the DJ's playing incredible sets. There's a pitch black room to the side of the booth where people have been going to 'piss in a can' (this we soon realise is practically impossible) thats completely sodden with urine, but that aside the party is incredible.

At peak time, Bristol head Sell By Dave is smashing out a set of Sheffield bleep n' bass when from nowhere Don Letts appears and asks if he can takeover. Chris tells him no.

We had the best room at that party."

Dusk: Round 3

"A long while back I can remember being out one night and some spannered bloke in a chill-out area going on to me and a friend about his divorce, lack of access to his kids, hating his job and so on and so on, and us being a bit too done in to simply tell him we weren't interested, just nodding along and probably saying "Ah man, that's harsh" every now and then whilst trying to think up an excuse to escape.

We must have gained his trust as a while later he asked me to look after his bus ticket for him while he went to the gents.

Being young, somewhat naive and curious as to where he'd been on his travels I unfolded it and got covered chin to waist in white powder, true romance style - not a good look.  That said, if the guy's life story was anything to go by, he was the worst advert for cocaine you've ever seen..."

Kowton: Round 2

"Walking back from Sankey's after seeing Andy Wetherall circa 2003, a rough looking bloke asks for a cigarette, I haven't got any but offer him a roll-up as a decent alternative. "You taking the piss?"

He launches into me and I end up backed against a shop front. Several punches to the face later I manage to push him off at which he demands I go round a corner into an alley with him away from the CCTV cameras.

Fearing all sorts I refuse, at which point he becomes emotional and starts riffling through his pockets for change and hands me about 4 quid in silver. "Get youself a kebab mate, I'm sorry."

I went on my way."

Dusk: Round 2

"One of the most unfortunate things I've ever seen at a club was at the Black Swan (MIGHT NEED REPLACING WITH "WELL KNOWN CLUB" or "NAME REMOVED FOR LEGAL REASONS" - Dusk. DONT WORRY MATE MY LAWYERS CAN 'ANDLE IT - Blackdown) in Bristol.

For the uninitiated this is one of those Mad Max / Borderlands kind of places where the building feels like the sound system might destroy it at any moment, there's bonfires and a barbecue in the yard and more people queuing up at trestle tables to buy laughing gas than there are at the bar buying over-priced cans of Red Stripe.

Anyhow, alongside the yard runs a motorway flyover.  Some gatecrasher had had the skills to get up onto the motorway, leap down over the fence into the yard, but the misfortune to land directly on top of a lit barbecue.  To compound their bad luck, some crazy guy with a ponytail who wasn't even a bouncer tried to perform a citizen's arrest and essentially got their burnt arse kicked out of the club.

Harsh."

Kowton: round 1

"Driving back at 4am from a Lake District rave in an absurdly small toothpaste green fiat (a courtesy car) the police start to tail me as they often did round there, there's not alot for the police to do in the Lakes. After 5 awkward minutes they flash the lights and I'm pulled over.

I pass the breath test but I'm a bit stoned, not really enough to impair my driving but certainly enough to make being searched troubling, and give away the fact that there's very probably a quarter of skunk under the seat. I get the standard bollocking but plead my way out of a caution on the condition that they'll tale me all the way home, and I'm to drive at 30 the whole way.

Half way there, and literally in the middle of nowhere, a small chunky blur decides to leap from the pavement onto the road at the exact moment I pass it. The badger is squashed flat; I continue, half in hysterics, half terrified.

I pull up at my house and the police woman comes to speak to me: "what if that had been a child, you'd have killed it." I admit that's probably right, though the likelihood of a child being there at this time in the morning and diving under a car is unlikely.

We leave it at that."

Dusk: round 1

"In a 90% male yet most definitely straight club in Aviemore, I can remember some guy putting me in a headlock on a carpeted dancefloor for apparently looking like Andy Murray.

"Do ye like dooks Murray?" he kept yelling in my ear which seemed a bit strange. "Yeah they're alright to feed down the park or whatever". "No DOOOKS Murray!" This carried on for a bit.  Eventually it turned out he was asking if I liked dogs, I said I did, he released his death grip and began to gush about his border terrier puppies.

It was a funny old club, clearly full of bored stag parties and local psychopaths. Earlier in the evening we'd been treated to a stringy woman in a shellsuit doing an impromptu table dance (fully clad) for a couple of porky gents one of whom showed his appreciation by throwing a bottle at her.

It's the only place I've ever tasted a pint of beer so bad I went back for seconds to remind myself just how rank it was."

So that's Rounds One, Two and Three and things are getting tight. Who's winning for you?

Sounds

The Kowton v Dusk EP is out now on 12" and digital. Hear the tracks here:


Dusk - Fraction - Keysound Recordings LDN025


  Kowton - 'Looking At You'

Rinse December

The All Keysound Christmas party was on Rinse. Me v Dusk v Amen Ra (LHF) v Vibezin v LV v Logos v Visionist.

Audio HERE.


Balistiq Beats ft Riko “Rise the Machines (Yardman riddim) (Sully remix)” [unreleased Keysound]
Dusk “Fraction” [forthcoming Keysound Recordings]
Lumin Project (LHF) “Roll On” [unreleased]
Vibezin “A Little Higher” [unreleased Keysound]
Visionist “Journeys” [unreleased]
Logos “King Mob” [forthcoming Keysound Recordings]
Portico Quartet “City of Glass (LV remix) [unreleased]
LV & Joshua Idehen “Primary Colours (extended remix)” [Keysound Recordings]
Blackdown “Wicked Vibez” [unreleased Keysound]
Canblaster “Clockworks (Para One and Teki Latex remix) [Master of Complication]
No Fixed Abode “Indian Street Slang” [forthcoming Keysound Recordings]
Vibezin “The Sweetest” [unreleased]
Magnum “All Over Me” [92 Points]
Logos “Kowloon” [forthcoming Keysound Recordings]
LV & Mumdance “Get a Grip” [unreleased]
Heblank "Hydrangea" [Fullfridge]
Gremino “Rubi (Dusk + Blackdown VIP)” [unreleased]
MJ Cole & Wiley “From the Drop (Hint remix)” [Prolific]

Dubmonsters “Sweet Thang” [Fifty First Recordings]
Unknown - "Wait" [Doghouse Recordings]
Phuture “I’m Your Only Friend” [Trax]
M Double and Dangerous “Vibezin’” [Subbz]
St Germain “Sure Thing (Todd Edwards remix)” [Blue Note]
Groove Chronicles “Life’s What You Make it” [DPR]
Remi "Talk About It (Steve Gurley Dub Mix)" [Passion For Music Records]
Wookie “Weird Science” [Manchu Recordings]
Sky Joose - "Ride (U Want A Ride Pt. II)" [Monie Muzik]
Maxine “Crazy (Sky Joose Remix)” [0181 Records]
Deft “New York’s Finest” [unreleased]
Plasmic Life ft Alistar “Death Trip” [Brain records]
DJ Rashad “Drop Juke Out” [Juke Trax Online]
Leviticus “Burial (Philip K Dick remix)” [free download]
Origin Unknown “Valley of the Shadows (31 Seconds)” [Ram]
Elefo “Pomade” [BYRSLF]
Omni Trio “Renegade Snares” [Moving Shadow]
Bodysnatch “Just 4 U London” [Bodysnatch]
Visionist “Come In” [unreleased Keysound]
Starfox “Blink” [Slimzos Recordings]

All our old Rinse shows are archived here.

LHF mix for Concepto

From the fever zone out beyond the tropics, a new LHF mix emerges. The edge of a breaking storm for 2012.

  Concepto MIX #65 LHF by ConceptoRadio

Eski Clicks by Slackk

  ESKI CLICKS by slackk

I probably should have tried to sign "Eski Clicks" or at least tried harder... I forget now why I didn't. Either way it was a central part of my Eskifunk mix from February and it's long since been a persy.

Now Slackk's giving it away, you really should grab a copy.

Critical Beats #2: Place, Locality and Globalisation

Critical Beats is The Wire's latest series of talks and panel discussions, hosted with the University of East London at London's Stratford Circus. The discussions will examine electronic dance music in East London's club culture and the resulting impact on wider scenes.

 The second instalment of Critical Beats took place on Thursday 8 December at East London's Stratford Circus and is titled Place, Locality and Globalisation.

On the panel: Stuart Baker (Soul Jazz), George Mahood (Big Daddy), myself and moderator Derek Walmsley.

Online tickets are available here. Alternatively, ring 0844 357 2625 to purchase tickets from the Stratford Circus box office directly. More info here.

Photo: Nico Hogg.

All Keysound Christmas Party - Rinse FM

Video directors needed

Video collaborators needed

Keysound Recordings are looking for video directors/editors to collaborate on future projects with. Ideally they should be fluent with visual collage from a variety of sources, be able to create a sense of mysticism and wonder from found sights and multiple different visual sources, especially archive footage. A knowledge of UK rave culture, from jungle through to garage would be of real benefit.

• Would you be interested in collaborating?
• Could you recommend someone who might be suitable?
• Do you know sites or sources of portfolios to point us towards?

Email us on martin_clark7 at hotmail dot com or leave a comment below and we'll hit you back.