After Action Report: That Mixmag Thing 4/2/2011

Lured down to Shoreditch by promise of free entry and a pretty stellar lineup, we didn't really know what to expect from The Queen of Hoxton, other than a lot of fancy trainers and stupid hats.


Unfortunately we arrived late because of work, but managed to get in after the post-Caribou exodus, meaning we missed Technicolour and Komatic. Word is they ran a good set and I've been keen to check these guys live for a while, with tracks like Daydreamer really nailing that soulful liquid vibe.


We did arrive just in time to get stuck in for some heavy business with Rockwell and Icicle, two producers who have both had an incredible year in 2010 and can only get bigger in 2011. Dreadnaught is really killing it right now, and Icicle's album is gonna do some serious damage when it drops in April.



Fabio and Grooverider played drum and bass music effectively and without incident. They dropped a few big tunes, but largely filled time before the Brookes Brothers, who absolutely levelled the place. It's always nice to hear Tear You Down, but the rest of the set was also fantastic. The album is about to drop and promises to be another must have for 2011.

All in all, a great night. Can't really argue with free entry either!

Hospitality @ Brixton - Live Set Recordings

Props to DNBA for recording the night. Pretty low quality recordings, and the whole lot are riddled with MCs, but still worth a listen back if you were there, or a first time run if you missed out on the night.

Unfortunately, there's no Andy C. Guess we'll have to make do with Nightlife 5.

B-Complex

Nu:Tone B2B Logistics

London Elektricity

High Contrast

Danny Byrd

Netsky

Fabio

Catching Up With A Month of D&B

Having been outta the country for a while, I've returned to the UK to find my computer crammed full of podcasts and various other mixes that have stacked up during my absence, some of which are so good I've gotta share the love:

• As usual, the Hospital Records Podcast is bloody marvellous, and it's always good when Tony Coleman goes off on a rant: http://podcast.hospitalrecords.com/HospitalRecordsPodcast.xml
• Fairly new to the scene, the Shogun Audio Podcast, hosted by Friction, is also worth subscribing to: http://www.shogunaudio.co.uk/podcast.xml
• Random Movement keeps things deep, with a lot less chatter: http://www.randommovement.org/
• Lifted Music also have their own podcast if you like your D&B dark, sweary and from Harpenden: http://www.liftedmusic.co.uk/podcast
• On a similar tip, there's the Black Sun Empire podcast. Always worth a punt, especially if you like NeuroDubstep for some reason: http://www.blacksunempire.com/
• Spearhead Records chief BCee is currently putting out a sort of monthly podcast on behalf of digital music provider Juno: http://www.junodownload.com/plus/category/podcasts/
• John B has also been running his podcast for ages. Grab it here for some high quality electro-tinted drum and bass music: http://www.johnbpodcast.com/

As for old-fashioned, "radio-casts" or whatever they're called, the Radio 1 D&B Show with Fabio and/or Grooverider is usually fairly enjoyable (http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00948qq). Guest mixes can usually be found ripped and uploaded to dodgy Russian D&B websites shortly after the broadcast. However, it's not a patch on Nerm's old Electro East show on the BBC Asian Network, which was sadly dropped at the start of this year.

Also, Ministry of Sound have started a Monday night D&B show with Hospital Records, Metalheadz and Artificial Intelligence taking turns at hosting. Listen to it here: http://www.ministryofsound.com/radio/artist/DrumBass

After Action Report: Hospitality At Matter

I bloody love Hospital Records. I love all the Hospital producers and I really love Hospitality. I've been to every one of the Matter Hospitalities bar the first and so far I've always had a really good time, and last Friday was no exception.



Turned up late to the Dome on Friday having been to see the Cinematic Orchestra over at the Camden Roundhouse, so unfortunately we missed Beardyman (apparently he was awesome) and Matrix. It wasn't all fail though, because we also managed to miss Fabio. Result!

We arrived just as London Elektricity was getting going, followed by High Contrast, who both smashed it as usual. We retreated to THE CAAAGE for a bit more space during HC's set and hung around the edges for Danny Byrd. I dunno if the number of tickets sold has been increased or something, but Matter definitely felt more rammed than usual. No room on the dancefloor for dancing and lots of shoving and pointy elbows instead. Perhaps I'm just getting old. Stuck my head in briefly to Room 2, but whoever was dubstepping it up in there almost sent me to sleep. Wish I'd caught D-Bridge's set though!

By the time Cyantific came on, we'd managed to smash our way to the front. This definitely proved worthwhile, because it's only when you get on to the dancefloor that you really feel the sub bass shreading your knees and whatnot. Ed Rush was on last to finish off the night, but everyone was really starting to lag a bit and we ended up calling it a night around half five, which was a bit of a shame.

I still quite like Matter as a venue, despite the fact it's always a bloody mission to get home from. However, I think I'll be taking a break from the Matter Hospitalities for a while. Although the beer prices have always been a rip off, £4.50 is just too fucking much for a bottle of Stella, and the crowd there seems to be pretty angry most of the time. Perhaps these two problems are related? My other problem with Matter is that I always feel really disconnected from the DJs/music. Room 2 doesn't have this problem as much, and nor do the Ram nights where the DJs are set up in the cage thingy rather than up on the stage. Perhaps it's all just a bit too big? Kinda makes me miss The End.

Hopefully taking a break from Matter will allow me to return there feeling refreshed and start to enjoy myself a bit more. Despite all my whining, Hospitality really is a great night and last Friday was throughly splendid and worthwhile. Wish there were more London-based Hospital nights though!