Sunday 19 December 2010

Christmastep

UK dance music seems to be constantly morphing and developing into new styles and genres. The latest and most seasonal of which is something I like to call Christmastep.

Exhibit A:



Surely a contender for Christmas number one. Its the Dubstep Snowman.


Exhibit B:



Mr Virgo's brilliant grime instrumental sampling the greatest Christmas movie ever made, Home Alone.

Season's greetings

Hello

So Gravity Skanker No.1 has given me the freedom of the blog.

I promise to use my powers wisely.

Here's a mix I made to celebrate. Enjoy!


Tracklist:

Footsteppin - Julio Bashmore
Revisit - CRST
Up In My Head - Cooly G
See Other People (Falty DL remix) - Cosmin TRG
Since Last Night - Cosmin TRG
Pineapple Crush - Lone
ILove04 - KidKut
Long Range - Roska & Untold
Forever You Dub - L-Vis 1990
You Don't Wash ft. The Spaceape - Kode 9
Left Hander - Martyn
The Let Down - George Fitzgerald
Good Love - CRST
Crossed Out - Pariah
Nervous - Jessie Ware & SBTRKT

Saturday 27 November 2010

DJ nights at Somerset House


One of the best attractions in London is Somerset House. I adore that place. As well as its year-round arts programme the riverside venue hosts a series of awesome outdoor film screenings in summer and the gorgeous skate rink in winter.

When I saw the listings for this year's ice skating DJ nights I did twirls of joy. My ex radio partner Edward Adoo is playing on Friday 17 December, and my super cool homeboy DJ Guide One of hip hop collective IRS is music maestro for Saturday 18 December. Both of them are brilliant DJs with an eclectic repertoire and some of the most knowledgeable music brains in the business. Strap on your skates and get your glide on, I urge you.

Other DJ night hosts include Ministry of Sound and Eat Your Own Ears. For more details, click here.

Wednesday 3 November 2010

Jesters clash with riot police at Holborn rave


Halloween is always a cracking night out in London. I spent mine avoiding a thousand devils' pitchforks at Urban Nerds in Old Street.

Meanwhile, down the road in Holborn, this week's most hilarious news story was breaking at an illegal warehouse rave. Police were called to a gaff near The Den where around 500 people were raving to 'deafening hard techno', says The Telegraph.

After asking people to leave (who probably couldn't hear them if it was so deafening), police panicked and called in the chaps from the riot squad.

The newspaper says: 'Ravers in boiler suits, bear suits, and jester costumes, and an array of hoodies, top hats, fluorescent caps and dreadlocks, were in the road. Some were drinking beer in the road, many were clinging to water bottles.'

Ahahahahahahhaha.

Newspaper quote of the week goes to squatter David Emeri, who told reporters: 'The only thing is I've been here since 3am and I haven't had the chance to go to the lavatory yet.'



Read the full story here. There's an alternative video of the event here.

Sunday 24 October 2010

Chase & Status album launch


Last Thursday I returned to a venue close to my heart, Kentish Town Forum, for the Chase & Status album launch party.

The gig was set up as part of the Q Awards, a rather bizarrely matched series of events to count down to the annual music prizegiving. (I say bizarrely matched because Q magazine is aimed at an older, mainstream market, whereas the music of Chase & Status is more commonly found on the iPods of hip young things with a Mixmag subscription.)

The launch party for 'No More Idols' was a packed, lively affair. There was much dancing, much singing along, and even a bit of crowd surfing. This is what I call The Pendulum Effect, where the habits of the rock scene have crept into drum & bass parties. Ten years ago, if you'd elbowed your neighbour while moshing on the dancefloor, or lobbed a pint of beer across the crowd, you'd have been given a slap on the wrists pretty quick. It just wasn't acceptible then. So imagine my surprise at seeing a mini wall of death form in the centre of the Forum.

Chase & Status are awesome producers and, having toured with chart toppers like Prodigy and Dizzee Rascal, aim high with their live production standards. This event featured lighting effects and visuals to rival any Chemical Brothers gig and even a rather natty drum kit on stage.

The music of Chase & Status - who have truly nailed the D&B, dubstep and breakbeat scenes - is crisp, anthemic and accessible, and I don't mean that in the patronising sense. The duo performed only a handful of tracks from their new album, but enough to show that it will feature a hefty dose of catchy vocals and infectious basslines. The rest of the shindig was devoted to bangers from their incredible first album, 'More Than Alot'.

MC Rage joined them on stage, doing his usual hype-man routine of bigging up London. More than a lot. The show also featured a number of guests including grime bod Tempah T.

DMC Scratch Championships 2010


The DMC World DJ Championships were held last week at the lofty Koko in Camden.

It's quite a serious and chin-strokey event to uncover the world's best scratch DJs, who are each allowed a six-minute mix in the final, voted on by a panel of judges including Scratch Perverts Mr Thing and Prime Cuts (team winners in 1999).

Across the competition this year there was a marked absence of the kind of showmanship and physical trickery you'd have seen from stars of yesteryear like Craze and Qbert. So with a technically speedy but uninspiring set, DJ LigOne - a very French-looking Frenchman (pictured above) - won the top prize, which included a red Vestax mixer, Technics decks and a DMC bomber. Kireek from Japan took home the team trophy the night before.

This year's competition was notable not for the quality of mixes, but for the announcement made by DMC and Mixmag founder Tony Prince.

He came on stage to report that from next year, Serato manufacturer Rane will be sponsoring DMC - and DJs will be allowed to use Serato in the competition. This moves the championship in a whole new direction, since it means DJs can use the digital mixing system and a laptop instead of getting hands-on with traditional vinyl and all those sticky labels.

Prince said: 'We will always protect true turntablism but the time is right to allow for new technology.' Proving the depth of feeling towards change in the 25-year-old competition, the crowd booed when they heard the news.

Prince's speech was accompanied by a bizarre choreographed pisstake in which another guy hopped on stage dressed just like him, with grey hair, black jeans and tucked-in white T shirt (bless). To lively up proceedings again we had a beatbox performance from some French guy whose name escapes me, followed by a set from the father of mixing GrandWizzard Theodore - who, at one point, wore a silky black eye mask and scratched blind.

Hottest tip for the night was this little beauty I discovered at the merchandise stall. It's the best thing since that four-croissant deal at Greggs.

Wednesday 20 October 2010

Dub FX

This week's Wednesday boredom alleviator is a video from Melbourne beatboxer Dub FX. It's a totally awesome street performance that I'm memerised by - and the track is beautiful.

Tuesday 19 October 2010

Free Toddla T party, Weds 20 October


Check this out yo - free Toddla T party in Kings Cross tomorrow!!! Free booze!!! Like, HULLO.

To celebrate its 4th birthday, the Big Chill House in Kings Cross is putting on a super megatronic party with a million DJs I've never heard of but who cares - Toddla T is headlining.

They're giving away a free drink if you sign up their mailing list first. (Too long-winded for me; I'll just smuggle in my own.)

Party starts at 7pm. Click here for more info. 

Monday 18 October 2010

Outlook Festival 2010

Reports of Outlook Festival this year were that it was amazing - which makes me totally gutted to have missed it. The fact that I can't make it next year either makes me want to cry.

Check out the promo video here:

Sunday 17 October 2010

Trouble Vision, 22 October


Another great night coming up: Trouble Vision at Corsica Studios.

I'll let the lineup speak for itself - and see you there...

Trouble Vision 2nd birthday
Friday 22 October
@ Corsica Studios, Elephant & Castle

DJ Zinc
MJ Cole b2b Zed Bias (History of Garage Set / 2 Hour set)
Scuba
SBTRKT
& more


Click here for more info.

Tuesday 5 October 2010

Bad flyers

And the award for shittest flyer of the month goes to... Fact Mag. This appalling attempt to usher us down to east London's newest club looks like it was done by the work experience kid using CorelDraw 1 and a mobile screensaver. In 1996.

Sunday 3 October 2010

Blow at Egg, Friday 8 October


Egg club has never been well known for its awesome lineups or excellent promotions. Instead, the notorious Kings Cross venue has kept going for seven years on the back of its reputation as a solid after-party spot, the place that's guaranteed to be open at 10am, full of London's messiest.

With events like Breakfast at Egg playing techno, minimal, house and electroey stuff until 2pm on a Sunday, it's the sort of gaff you end up in, as my housemate likes to say, 'When things have gone very wrong indeed'. Which sometimes can be quite funny.

So it's good to see Egg's new Friday night shindig, Blow, taking things down a more drum n bass and dubsteppy route with some top names. This week, STUN hosts room one with Nero and MC AD. Also on the bill is Chug, a London-based DJ you should definitely seek out if you like eclectic urban riddims - for some dope mixes, check out his Soundcloud page.

Friday 8 October
Blow @ Egg, Kings Cross
£10 adv, £13 otd
10pm - 6am
Lineup:  Nero, Macpherson, V Dubz, Matt Carpenter, DJ Chug

Click here for more info.

Metalheadz at Roundhouse, 14 Oct


Red Bull returns to host yet another event with a stonking lineup, this time at the Roundhouse in Camden. I'm not sure how I'd feel about paying £18 for a Thursday nighter, though.

Culture Clash @ The Roundhouse
Thursday 14 October
Lineup: Metalheadz feat Goldie, Andy C, Shy FX, Storm, MC GQ, MC Justyce; Skream and Benga presents Joker, MC Nomad and Artwork; Channel One Soundsystem feat Mikey Dread, Ras Kayleb + more.

Click here for more info and tickets.

Friday 1 October 2010

Urban Nerds Halloween special


Hope I didn't leave you distraught with Gravity Skank's absence these last couple of weeks, chums. Been busy with the non-raving side of life (yawn yawn).

But panic over – I'm back, with lots of raving fun times to update you with: Turning Point Festival, Hospitality at Brixton Academy, plus some interesting new artist releases.

In the meantime, check out this awesome little club night. Silly season is well and truly over, promoters have returned from their summer breaks and the parties are back in full swing. (In fact, October to December is perhaps the busiest time of the clubbing year, so I do hope you've prepared your brain cells for annihilation.)

Urban Nerds is one of the capital's most hip brands and the folks behind it are churning out parties like there's no tomorrow night. Interestingly they've linked up with some major promoters across the UK (including Newcastle's Wax:On and Brighton's Supercharged) and have just announced an event at the cool-as-ice Snowbombing festival in Austria next year.

At the end of October is this Halloween bash in London, with a super freaky lineup including Joker, Cookie Monsta, Flux Pavilion and Marcus Nasty. If you like dubstep, grime and trendy things, you must be there. The 900-capacity venue, Xoyo in Shoreditch, is a newbie that opens this month. Looks like a good'un!

Urban Nerds Halloween Bash
Saturday 30 October 2010
@ XOYO,        
32-37 Cowper Street, London EC2A 4AP

Click here for details.



      

Wednesday 15 September 2010

Plump DJs free track


Wednesday is undoubtedly the shittest day of the week.

To make yours less shit, here's a free Plump DJs track. Don't say I don't treat you!

Plump DJs were once the godfathers of the breakbeat scene. In recent years though, they've diversified and their sets are now more tech house and crunky electro than squidgy breaks (sadly us old-school-breakbeaters find this a bitter pill to swallow.)

As part of their musical evolution the duo have launched a new label, Grand Hotel, which claims to be a 'forward thinking platform for new electronic dance music' and will release tracks from the Plumps as well as other artists.

Click here to download the Plumps' 'Dirty Super Car- Get A Grip' Maximilian remix. 

Monday 13 September 2010

Rustie EP launch, Friday 1 October

Rustie, king of all things bleepy and bloopy, is having a party to celebrate the release of his 'Sunburst' EP for Warp Records.

Hosted by hip London promoters Deadly Rhythm (usually found packing out Plan B in Brixton), the event has a cracking lineup featuring Harmonic 313, Untold and of course the eternal child himself (Rustie still looks 12, bless).

If you get your skates on, you can still bag a £6 early bird ticket.

Friday 1 October
Rustie's Sunburst EP Launch Party
@ The Camp,70-74 City Road, Old Street
10pm-4am 

Click here for more details

Sunday 12 September 2010

Rinse 16th birthday at Fabric review


Judging by the queues to get into raves recently, it would appear the summer clubbing lull is over.

After Notting Hill Carnival there was a lack of after-parties in east London because most of the action stayed put in the west.

This meant Deviation, hosted just by Old Street roundabout and with one super mega lineup, was the party of choice for those of us on the other side of town.

Waiting for over an hour in the queue, I still didn’t get in (by 11pm it was one in, one out). This may have been a good thing, because those who were leaving the venue were complaining it was too packed and impossible to get served at the bar.

Fast forward to this weekend: the Rinse 16th birthday party at Fabric on Friday. Rinse FM is one of the biggest players in the UK underground music scene, so we knew this would be a big night. But when I rocked up to the club – no, in fact as soon as I left Farringdon Tube station – I realised just how much of a beast was in store.

Fabric is famous for its queues (it’s a classic club trick to make sure people bring their coats and spend that extra pound). But I’d never seen it this hefty – all the way down Cowcross Street, almost reaching the station. Look!

It’s at times like this I thank God (and the Fabric press office) for guestlists.

So luckily, we managed to get straight in. But every time I popped out for a cigarette, I could see a whole bunch of people waiting in that darned queue. You gotta love Rinse to put up with that. And love Rinse we clearly do.

You’d be mistaken to assume this was a wholly dubstep affair - in fact dubstep made up less than half the night’s playlist.

Sure, Skream and Benga did the business (though less of MC GQ would have been nice). Youngsta dipped his toe in there too, but veered towards the more ‘atmospheric’ dubstep. And of course N Type rocked room 1 with some gnarliness. But on the whole, the Rinse party was a mix of funky, grime, garage (lots of it), drum n bass, and jungle... all the stuff that makes London’s pirate radio soundscape great.

Having played the best set of the night, Shy FX has knocked my little socks off for the second time in a month now (see my post about LED festival). He did what he’s always done best: drum n bass and classic jungle anthems. But if it ain’t broke, why fix it?

Another highlight was Katy B’s live PA over Geeneus’ set. She’s a huge talent – her awesome first single, ‘Katy On A Mission’, was released on Rinse’s label at the end of August and hit top ten in the charts, while her forthcoming solo show in Hoxton Town Hall has already sold out. Plus she’s now collaborating with Ms Dynamite, another fantastic live performer.

As a dedicated garage head, it’s interesting to see how Heartless Crew have risen from the ashes of that scene to play the major venues again. Heartless were huge ten years ago – an anomaly really, as they didn’t have any big releases under their belt. They gained notoriety for their stage performances, often in fancy dress, and DJ Fonti’s trademark ‘Crisp Biscuit’ mashup style. They’re a good crew, and I’ll forgive them the fact that they’re still playing the same intro tune after a decade, because they dropped a fun set. Props for bagging a 3am slot in Fabric’s main room, old chaps.

It’s clearly onwards and upwards for Rinse, which is now a legal station. The weeknight parties at Plastic People are attracting queues to rival Fabric’s, and with good cause – especially since the venue got a new sound system.

Get in the birthday spirit and click here for the 16 free tracks Rinse gave away as part of its celebrations.

If you’re looking for more of a full-on dubstep fix, you haven’t long to wait: catch Fabric’s Dub Police night on 15 October. Early arrival is advised!

Sunday 29 August 2010

Show me your bass face




Inspired by the hilarious YouTube clip of Fred the raver putting on his best bass face, I decided to gather my own gallery of bass faces at LED Festival.

Big high fives to everyone who was game enough to take part!

Warning - it gets ugly...


Guide One = one totally mega DJ

'I'm doing a poo' face.
My bass face is revealed.
This guy was hauled over by his mates to be photographed because apparently his bass face is quite famous.

Basslines obviously startle this man.
Bass face of the very charming Professor Green.
Warface, more like.
I said bass face, not cum face.
The award for bass face of the night definitely goes to this man.

And finally, I met a very strange man with bare feet: