Sunday 31 October 2010
Brookes Brothers - Last Night
Well this was a blast from the past. Heard it on the radio at work last Friday, apparently it's finally getting a release on BBK at the end of November, with the delightfully bonkers War Cry on the B side. About time too!
Haven't heard much from the Brookes Brothers this year and I've really missed their happy liquid sound. Apparently they've been working on an album for the past year, supposedly dropping early 2011,
Monday 18 October 2010
Artificial Intelligence - Stand Alone
Hurray!
After what seems like years of waiting, Artificial Intelligence are finally releasing their first album; Stand Alone.
Stand out tracks include the massive Three's A Crowd, the furious Rubber Bullets and Unforgettable (lol Jenna G vocals), but my favourite track on the album has to be Moment of Truth. Despite it being played out all over the place during the past year, you just can't get bored of it.
It's dropping on V this week, so get to Juno/Beatport/Amazon/whatever and sort it out now!
After what seems like years of waiting, Artificial Intelligence are finally releasing their first album; Stand Alone.
Stand out tracks include the massive Three's A Crowd, the furious Rubber Bullets and Unforgettable (lol Jenna G vocals), but my favourite track on the album has to be Moment of Truth. Despite it being played out all over the place during the past year, you just can't get bored of it.
It's dropping on V this week, so get to Juno/Beatport/Amazon/whatever and sort it out now!
Wednesday 13 October 2010
Chase and Status - No Problem
After spending the last couple of years messing around with Radio One-friendly pop/dubstep and whatnot, it's nice to have Chase and Status back producing decent D&B.
It's like 2008 all over again.
Monday 11 October 2010
Netsky - Radio 1 Essential Mix
2010 has been a huge year for Netsky, with the Hospital marketing machine pushing his album hard at the start of the year and plenty of business in the form of remix work for everyone from the Swedish House Mafia to Plan B.
However, despite being packed with massive tracks, I found Netsky's self-titled album a little lacking in substance. It's a completely stereotypical D&B album, the sort of thing you'd draw if by some dark magic you got "Drum and Bass" in a game of Pictionary. Whilst it ticked all the boxes for the modern D&B album (the liquid roller, the Jenna G vocal track, the dubstep track, several heavily-rinsed dancefloor tracks) it still felt like Netsky was struggling to transfer his individual style across from his singles and remix work into album form.
Anyway, I should really shut up, because Netsky's Essential Mix is fantastic, a serious contender for Essential Mix of the Year.
Grab it now!
Tracklist
However, despite being packed with massive tracks, I found Netsky's self-titled album a little lacking in substance. It's a completely stereotypical D&B album, the sort of thing you'd draw if by some dark magic you got "Drum and Bass" in a game of Pictionary. Whilst it ticked all the boxes for the modern D&B album (the liquid roller, the Jenna G vocal track, the dubstep track, several heavily-rinsed dancefloor tracks) it still felt like Netsky was struggling to transfer his individual style across from his singles and remix work into album form.
Anyway, I should really shut up, because Netsky's Essential Mix is fantastic, a serious contender for Essential Mix of the Year.
Grab it now!
Tracklist
Wednesday 6 October 2010
Return of The Next Level Show
Right, so this actually happened a month ago, but State of Mind's Next Level Show is back on the air (albeit in downloadable audiocast format).
There's been a massive gap in D&B airwaves since the Next Level Show finished last summer, and its return a very good thing indeed.
Get yourself locked in to their SoundCloud for some proper heavy/techy drum and bass music straight outta New Zealand.
Monday 4 October 2010
After Action Report: Ninja Tune XX 02/10/10
Twenty years for a record label is a lifetime, let alone an independent like Ninja Tune, and Matt Black and Jon Moore (label founders and the team behind Coldcut) should be incredibly proud of their achievements as they reflect on the last two decades. The label has brought together so many incredible artists, that it's quite scary to imagine the musical landscape without it. In celebration of this impressive anniversary, Ninja Tune have been running events all around the world, with the Ninja Tune XX night at the Ewer Street Car Park offering the most impressive of lineups.
From a personal point of view, Ninja Tunes' artists, albums and compilations have provided the soundtrack to a great number of important moments in my life and very many happy memories, and I was looking forward to Ninja Tune XX as an opportunity to bask in the golden glow of nostalgia, as much an opportunity to see some of the artists whose music I'd been enjoying live for the first time.
As a celebration of Ninja Tune therefore, XX certainly didn't disappoint. I lost count of the number of times tunes such as Timber, True Skool and Witness were dropped across the night, and it's always good to hear them played out. Also, the design team had done a fantastic job in converting the soggy Ewer Street railway arches into a Ninja Tune museum, with some awesome graffiti and design work from Mutate Britain.
Unfortunately it was all a bit of a shambles getting in to Ewer Street, so whilst we queued for about an hour in the rain, we managed to miss Kentaro and Bonobo, who are both fantastic DJs, and more disappointingly Kid Koala and Hexstatic, who I've never been able to see before. This did start the night on a bit of a low, but fortunately the always awesome combo of Strictly Kev and DK picked things up and soon everything seemed to be alright after all.
The DJ Food sets have always epitomised the live Ninja Tune experience for me, running the perfect mix of hip hop, jazz and electronica, with enough deviations into rock, soul and most importantly D&B to keep the crowd dancing from start to finish. Mr Scruff also played an incredible set, and one of the best I've seen for a while. I hate to say it, because I love his standard six hour sets, but the two hour slot seemed to make everything a lot tighter, with Scruff running out a constant stream of his own big tracks, and plenty of Ninja classics.
Over in Arch Three, Daedelus provided another of the evening's highlights, giving a wonderful live performance that managed to be chilled out, whilst thoroughly ravey at the same time. After this, The Bug seemed to be much louder and more destructive, although the real structural damage was reserved for the D&B mayhem produced by The Qemeists who closed Arch One, and King Cannibal whose face smashing dub/D&B mash was as ear-wreckingly heavy as ever.
As with Wang's 10th Birthday last year, Ewer Street remains a great venue for providing a watered-down simulation of the old skool illegal rave experience that many of us missed out on due to being at primary school when the scene first blew up, but it was really annoying to miss out on so many artists because of the poorly organized door system. Thanks to hitting the Brixton academy last week, the beer prices actually seemed quite reasonable at £3.50, which is in fact a terrible state of affairs, but as with petrol, beer prices aren't going to go anywhere but up over the next few years, so there's no point whinging about it (although I will continue to do so).
All in all however, a brilliant night, and a fantastic celebration of Ninja Tune. I hope that I live long enough to make it to the 30th anniversary party, and that Ninja Tune can keep doing what they do so well.
NINJAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!
From a personal point of view, Ninja Tunes' artists, albums and compilations have provided the soundtrack to a great number of important moments in my life and very many happy memories, and I was looking forward to Ninja Tune XX as an opportunity to bask in the golden glow of nostalgia, as much an opportunity to see some of the artists whose music I'd been enjoying live for the first time.
As a celebration of Ninja Tune therefore, XX certainly didn't disappoint. I lost count of the number of times tunes such as Timber, True Skool and Witness were dropped across the night, and it's always good to hear them played out. Also, the design team had done a fantastic job in converting the soggy Ewer Street railway arches into a Ninja Tune museum, with some awesome graffiti and design work from Mutate Britain.
Unfortunately it was all a bit of a shambles getting in to Ewer Street, so whilst we queued for about an hour in the rain, we managed to miss Kentaro and Bonobo, who are both fantastic DJs, and more disappointingly Kid Koala and Hexstatic, who I've never been able to see before. This did start the night on a bit of a low, but fortunately the always awesome combo of Strictly Kev and DK picked things up and soon everything seemed to be alright after all.
The DJ Food sets have always epitomised the live Ninja Tune experience for me, running the perfect mix of hip hop, jazz and electronica, with enough deviations into rock, soul and most importantly D&B to keep the crowd dancing from start to finish. Mr Scruff also played an incredible set, and one of the best I've seen for a while. I hate to say it, because I love his standard six hour sets, but the two hour slot seemed to make everything a lot tighter, with Scruff running out a constant stream of his own big tracks, and plenty of Ninja classics.
Over in Arch Three, Daedelus provided another of the evening's highlights, giving a wonderful live performance that managed to be chilled out, whilst thoroughly ravey at the same time. After this, The Bug seemed to be much louder and more destructive, although the real structural damage was reserved for the D&B mayhem produced by The Qemeists who closed Arch One, and King Cannibal whose face smashing dub/D&B mash was as ear-wreckingly heavy as ever.
As with Wang's 10th Birthday last year, Ewer Street remains a great venue for providing a watered-down simulation of the old skool illegal rave experience that many of us missed out on due to being at primary school when the scene first blew up, but it was really annoying to miss out on so many artists because of the poorly organized door system. Thanks to hitting the Brixton academy last week, the beer prices actually seemed quite reasonable at £3.50, which is in fact a terrible state of affairs, but as with petrol, beer prices aren't going to go anywhere but up over the next few years, so there's no point whinging about it (although I will continue to do so).
All in all however, a brilliant night, and a fantastic celebration of Ninja Tune. I hope that I live long enough to make it to the 30th anniversary party, and that Ninja Tune can keep doing what they do so well.
NINJAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!
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