Nero 'Promises'

I love dubstep tag-team Nero. Like really, really love them.

A friend of mine started working with the duo recently and confirms that they're great lads. Which leaves me all the more heartbroken to have had marriage proposals refused and my underwear returned, still used, in the post. 

I managed to sneak onto the list for Chase & Status at Roundhouse for the iTunes festival which, according to the Gravity Skank survey, seems the only way of getting in these days - competition tickets are like gold dust, whereas the guestlist queue stretched way back up to where that glorious Banksy used to be. Corporate, much?

Having been to the Chase & Status album launch many moons ago and listened to 'No More Idols' a gazillion times, and, being familiar with the typical lethargy of a Roundhouse crowd, I thought I knew what to expect.

But badda bing! I was totally blown away. It seems the boys have taken a leaf out of the Chemical Brothers bible and invested in some cracking production. And Nero, oh, lights of my life, how you looked so handsome atop those massive speakers. If only that injunction didn't keep me at least 50 metres away at all times.

I jest. In seriousness those boys smashed it: I've never seen Roundhouse go so nuts. And I've gotten so used to dance music being treated as an underground phenomenon that it's good to see live performances being turned up to the max, a feast for the eyes as well as the ears.

So to celebrate, let's look at their latest video, for the anthem 'Promises'. The superb production on this tells a story somewhere between Big Brother and Brave New World.

The album, 'Welcome Reality', is due out tomorrow and I'm so excited about hearing it I might just wet myself.   

XOYO marks the spot - Aug 2011

On a fleeting return visit to London last week I managed to squeeze in a trip to XOYO, the 800-capacity club tucked into an alley behind Old Street station.

When nearby Herbal club closed in 2009 I was bereft, but this venue has filled that hole well. With a team including my ex Mixmag colleague and Bugged Out! founder John Burgess at the helm, you'd expect them to spot a good lineup from ten paces. Which they can.

Toddla T was playing - regular readers will know I'd never slate him. But the other DJs did a wicked job too, mixing up dubstep, garage, funky, jungle, and all other urban loveliness, into a bumpin' room with a great vibe. Rinse FM DJ Oneman took it a little too RnB but we forgive him for that because he also dropped LL Cool J's 'Doin It'. (Remember that one, kids? No?)

Anyway, the point of all this waffle is that XOYO is a fantastic club and you should all support it (and try to convince the council to let it open past 4am). So get your high tops on and jog down to Soundcrash on Saturday 20 August or the Urban Nerds Carnival Special the week after. Look!