Have a butcher's at this little film, YOKEL ADDICTS from Roundabout Town Productions. It's about a group of people in Swindon who all have one thing in common - a vinyl obsession.
I'm sure it'll strike a chord with some of you out there. And the interesting thing about it is that unlike some crate-diggers, it delivers with a rather humourous way about it, too.
Yes, the legendary Agent Finch (Disco Scratch Posse) has teamed up with his bro and done put out a mixtape of exquisiteness. As you may know, Finchy has the dopest collection of vinyl this side of Tipton - enough to rival Bambaataa himself - and has collaborated with DJ Jabbathakut - who himself is not afraid of creating waxacal trauma on the wheels of steel - to create one hell of a mix.
Using only the finest slices of beats selected by Mr Finch, Jabba has laid out an impressive gourmet of tunes from hip hop's history and funk's greatest breaks.
Even yours truly pops up in the mix. Listen to it below or grab a copy for later listening.
He uses all of the tracks from the Ultimate Breaks & Beats series and cuts them up and adds some examples of where they've been sampled. He's no slouch either and all the cuts come correct and he never misses a beat.
I've only got part 2 here but that's good enough. If anyone has got the first one please let me know.
I don't mind telling you that this is a bit of a special moment.
I've been waiting for volume 26 of Ultimate Breaks & Beats for something like 18 years.
This is the 'lost' 26th edition of the legendary breakbeat series of albums from Street Beat Records and contains that same dusty funk that you know and love right down to the Kev Harris artwork and Louis Flores edits.
We begin with the rather lyrically disturbing Joe Tex track "You Said A Bad Word" in which he dubiously remarks to a girl that he won't tell her mother about her cursing if "you do what I tell you" whilst simultaneously sniggering.
You'll be singing "Su-per...Casanova...naaaa, na, na, na, na, na, na", when you hear it. Fact.
Moving quickly on is a nice old school break, "Ever Ready" by Johnnie Taylor and then a great break I never even knew existed. I wasn't even aware that Herbie Luv Bug had gone digging in search of inspiration for Salt N Peppa's "Push It". Well listen to "Keep On Pushing" by Coal Kitchen and you'll hear for yourself.
The epic "The Jam" is a slab of psychedelic sloppy funk from the p-funk-ish Graham Central Station. I remember finding this at a car boot some years ago and hearing the MARRS break for the first time. 'Twas mindblowing I tells ya.
Those yearning for the days of the Soul II Soul massive will dance in glee for it was this track that introduced that famous beat (05.09s) which was soon sadly plundered by everyone with an Akai sampler back in the early 90's (Jimmy Nail, I'm looking at you).
Troublefunk is the sort of band that every hip hop dj will have at least one of their records in their box. And we have a beauty here in the form of "Let's Get Small" with it's monster use of percussion. Eagerly used by such champs as KRS-ONE, Coldcut, LL Cool J and a staple in Kid Capri's repertoire.
Now apparently an original 7" copy of "Sexy Coffee Pot" by Tony Alvon & The Belairs goes for a price so high that only DJ Shadow and Keb Darge can fork out the cash for it without their bank manager shifting uncomfortably in his seat.
The title comes from the story that a coffee pot was the inspiration for the world's first webcam. The coffee pot was located in the so-called Trojan Room within the old Computer Laboratory of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. The webcam was created to help people working in other parts of the building avoid pointless trips to the coffee room by providing, on the user's desktop computer, a live 128×128 grayscale picture of the state of the coffee pot.
It's true. The internet never lies y'all.
However why anyone would deem a coffee pot to be 'sexy' is beyond me. Although on second thoughts the Computer Laboratory probably consisted of mainly blokes with bad hair and zits and the only offering of females would be Beryl the cleaning lady.
And so to end this volume is probably my pick of a very good bunch. Hank Carbo's "Hot Pants Part 2" is a mid-tempo shigger-fragger which you'll know instantly as being 'that Big Daddy Kane break '. Marley Marl is a frickin genius.
It's worth remembering that this album was originally produced in 1991 in the midst of hip hop's Golden Age™ so a lot if not most of the subsequent tracks in which these breaks were used are some of hip hop's greatest moments.
I have a long, endearing love of breakbeats. And none more so than those found on the infamous Street Beat label, Ultimate Breaks And Beats. All 25 volumes*.
So I decided to have a look and just see which year, according to UB & B, was the most funkiest.
Well 1962 - 1965 have zipadeedoodah, but the earliest year is 1961 with The Monkees "Mary Mary" (which coincidentally was the first track on side A on the series' first volume).
The most recent track used was "Liquid, Liquid" by Cavern and this was 1983, believe it or not.
Suffice to say that if you wanted to make a funky piece of breakbeat coolness then you would be better off having gone in to a studio sometime around 1975 where you would have rubbed shoulders with some of the following:
UPP "Give It To You" Dynamic Corvettes "Funky Music Is The Thing" Johnny Hammond "Shifting Gears" 20th Century Steel Band "Heaven And Hell" Banbarra "Shack Up" Please "Sing A Simple Song" Magic Disco Band "Scratchin'" The Headhunters "God Make Me Funky" Chicago Gangsters "Gangster Boogie" Donald Byrd "Change" Roy Ayers "Brother Green" Grover Washington, Jr. "Mister Magic" The Black Byrds "Rock Creek Park" Lonnie Liston Smith "Expansions - Part 1"
Yes, 1975 is the funkiest year with no less than 22 breakbeats used on this series. In fact 1973 - 1976 were indeed the funkiest years altogether with the most breaks than any other years.
So if you are celebrating your 34th birthday this year then you may have a feeling that you possess the funk just that little bit more than anyone else. Me? I'm 4 years out, sheeeit.
*Yes, I know that a further volume, #26, has since come out but I'm discounting this one purely on the fact that it's too recent. And I STILL haven't got a copy yet. On ANY format!
And there are a few 'unofficial' ones out there too like 499, 500 and 508.
Anyway it's my game, my rules and my decision is final. So spin on it!
I feel a bit funky today so how about some Meters? You can't go wrong with them and this is one of my personal favourites, Cardova. There's something about Zigaboo Modeliste's ('tis his real name) super-syncopated rhythm that makes this so sexy. And the plucking bass combined with the gentle caress of the organ? Fuggedaboudit.
Here's a flyer from a club night organised by one of the hardest working men in uk hip hop, PRONE. Admiral Ackbar's busting some nice moves while the Sith and the Rebel Alliance look on in unity.
He did a similar one for a Breaks night in Reading but with LEGO. I'll try digging that one out.
You old school heads might enjoy this bit of digging from Marley Marl. I never knew the original source of Biz's "Something For The Radio" and it was quite a surprise when I was sent this.
Up until 2 years ago, Ultimate Breaks and Beats vol 25 was the last ever in it's series of breakbeat compilation albums.
For those of you who know, the story of volume 26 is a tragedy - Volume 26 was scheduled for release in 1991 but the untimely death of Lenny 'Breakbeat' Roberts, the founder of Street Beat Records and a tireless collector of original breaks meant that the UB&B series came to an untimely end and the next volume in the series was shelved, until, in 2006. The master tapes of Luis Flores edits were found and as a tribute to the late Lenny and Luis, the 26th release in the series came out as a very limted edition.
Unfortunately I haven't got the mp3 to put up. But being the avid/ anorak UBB collector that I am I will no doubt be purchasing this on vinyl just to add to my collection.
If anyone's got it digitally and they wouldn't mind sharing then please send a copy to me.
I want you to have a listen to this remix of the classic break, The Champ by some people called Bladerunners. I'm not sure if I like it or not. I mean it's not as if the record was dying for a remix, was it?
You might love it. Me? I'm still reserving judgment.
Great work on all these remixes and I love the artwork.
Bump these like crazy. Enjoy.
edit: i clarified the or in between the equations. i got gully backpackers rattlin' they sabres at me. thinkin' i was sayin' there were equal, when they aren't. hah.
South Florida's longest-running electronic dance music event goes down tonight in Fort Lauderdale. Historically known from bringing everyone out of the woodworks, I don't expect the 12th year to be any different. I'm looking forward to playing back to back with Chino and Burn for three and a half hours, should be fun.
I remember hitting this one up with Jaryd. It was a yearly thing. This year he'll be there in sprit.
There it is, March 25-29, 2008 -- Winter Music Conference -- Miami Beach Resort & Spa. This is annual jump-off, and it's going to be massive again this year. I've attended every year since '99 and this one will be no different. It'll be great to see everyone again and be able to catch up with those you only see once or a few times a year. It's a great week. If you haven't been, I highly suggest experiencing it at least once.
FloridaDNB.com is usually the best place for you to get information from the locals for almost anything. From event info, to hotels, food, dates, anything. You can usually find an answer to whatever you're looking for in the WMC 2008 sub-forum. Be sure to check the WMC 2007 discussion to see what you missed, and get up on the 2008 business.
From the demented minds of Evol Intent's own Knick and co-conspirator Ewun comes the ridiculous side project known as Ludachrist. Holy crap, is this first thing that came to mind when I first heard this. It's an absolute mind fuck in a mash-up styleee. It's crunk, ghetto, hype, bangin', dope, innovative, and any other creative adjectives you can think of. They just took the mash-up to some next shit.
It's that good. Check the shit out, I don't think you'll be disappointed. It's tight work. Just when you think they took it there, they switch it up on you and take it somewhere else.
This would be great for a listening party somewhere if it wasn't live. It'd bust the roof off. No question this is going on rotation in the vehiculars. Absolute madness.
Get on my Axel 1:27 Polar Bears in Africa 1:08 Toto 2 Hot 0:33 East vs. West vs. Bitches 0:55 Suck that news, Tiger 1:16 Hey you! Get down on the floor 2:15 Take on Me 0:46 The Golden Era 1:29 Metallitroy 1:06 Lunchbag 0:38 Predators 0:49 The Windows of Justice 1:15 Ghost Busta Rhymes 1:53 Only the Strong Eat Cake and get Hypnotized 1:44 Meet me in the Grind 1:15 Rock me Child 0:57 Cult of Brutality 0:21 Interlude 0:44 Dire Straight Bitches! 2:19 We are your Hoes 2:13 No Love 1:11 Owner of a Lonely .44 0:50 Daft Effect 0:57 Headbanger 1:35 The Swarm 2:59 The Legend of Curtis 1:49 Soul on Ice 1:52 Detatchable Pinky 1:46 Splash D's 1:43 The Pigs are Here 1:08 Se-bast-i-Am 2:01
Always on the cusp of something new, my boy Shawn Livewire who's posted up in the Far East hits us off with another slamming mix of some FRESH vibes currently busting up the circuit. Baltimore Club is like ghetto house's hot butslutty sister, and I lurve that skeeza.
She acts like she's all classy, but when it comes down to it, she knows. While the genre is primarily based on House, lately the genre has moved more towards a newer form of Hip Hop. Baltimore Club is to House what the Hyphy and Krump movement are to Hip Hop.
MIA - Bucky Done Gone (Risk One Bfix) Larry Tee feat Princess Superstar - Licky (Herve Goes Low Remix) Kelis - Bossy (Bamabounce Remix) Dizee Rascal - Sirens (Paul Devro Edit) Jay-Z - 99 Problems (DJ Tameil Mix) Busta Rhymes - Touch It (Deekline Bootleg) * 4Hero - Mr Kirks Nightmare (Ayres Re-Edit) The Cool Kids - Black Mags (Risk One Bfix) X-Con - Whoa Lil Mama (Mr Andersonic Remis) Kid Sister vs Chris Carter - Control vs Misnomer Lloyd vs Yuksek - Get it Shawty (Them Jeans Combination) Nate Dogg - All the Girls Get Up (Mr Andersonic Remix) MIA - Come Around (DJ Eli Remix) Nirvana - Smells like Teen Spirit (Bmore Remix) Timbaland feat Keri Hilson & DOE - They Way I Are (T-Wrecks Remix) Jackson 5 vs Dre Skull - Want You Back (DJ Skeet Skeet Edit) Fergie - London Bridge (Genetick and Gio Martinez Remix) * Blamma Blamma - Carry Me Home * Felix da Housecat - Like Something 4 Porno (Armand Van Heldan Remix) NIN - Capital G (Phones 666 RPM Mix) * Wu Tang Clan - Wu-Tang Clan Ain't Nothin to Fuck with (Bird Peterson Remix) Quad City DJs vs MSTRKRFT - Get On The Rave (2ALIVE Mix) Young Buck - Get Buck (Ooh-E & Tranters Bmore Remix) * Rob G - 12 Inch Therapy (Bass Kleph Remix) ODB - Got Your Money (Gingy Remix) ODB - Shimmy Shimmy Ya (M Vogel Diskotech Remix)
Since the rest of the blogosphere seems to be covering the whole Ed Banger side of things pretty well, here's a little something different from a crew of crazy Danes. Noisia. These guys are among the group of exceptional producers the industry has to offer. They manage to maintain their own sound and style regardless of whatever genre label or tempo is applied. Similarly, they still port over a lot of their Drum and Bass production skill into the other beats they produce. Their mixdowns are phenomenal and there is always a perfect harmony among the elements in their tunes. Previously they also did tunes as Hustle Athletics and Frizz, but now it's all Noisia. I'm actually into most of their alternate styles quite a bit (see Yellow Brick, Gutterpump, Raar, and the Hustle Atheltics stuff) and you can hear a lot of them on my Friday night radio show. Their downtempo sounds like some gritty turntablism, b-boy shit. Listen to Square Feet, trust me.
Enjoy thisthese showcase mixmixes and the video below from their '05 DVD release. Look out for TeeBee in the high grass.
Noisia & Phace - Cannonball (Vision005) Frenchi - Labyrinth - Phace Remix (Have A Break) Noisia & Phace - Levitation (Vision 005) Noisia - Concussion (Vision 001) Noisia - Concussion VIP (No Release) Phace - Alive (Dub) Noisia & The Upbeats - Untitled (Vision 005) ->Icicle - Nowhere (Rnegade) Break - Submerged - Calyx & TeeBee Remix (Substitles) The Upbeats - Anti Social - (?) Phace - Simplicity (Substitles Dub) Noisia & Mayhem ft KRS-ONE - Exodus (Vision 004) Phace - Hot Rock 2007 (Substitles DUB) Noisia & Black Sun Empire - Infusion (Vision 005) ->Noisia & Phace - Levitation Outro (Vision 005) Noisia & Phace - Cannonball Outro (Vision 005)
These guys are a riot and Thijs is a fuckin' sharp DJ. Best set I've heard on a random Tuesday night he happened to be in Miami performing a last minute set at Laundry Bar. Everything from their own beats (all kinds) to Chemical Brothers, Daft Punk, and Prodigy. Out-fucking-standing set.
"I don't give a fuck anymore, but I'm still the boss anyway." - Thijs
Laundry Bar proprietor Burn and Miami Electro bastion Wreck collaborate on what is the first in a series of promo mixes tied to the South Beach venue voted Best Place For a Second Date in the 2007 Miami New Times Best Of. I frequent the venue quite regularly and can say that it is certainly one of the better or best venues on South Beach. Intimate, always hosting diverse talent from all points, great music, with great sound, great bartenders, great drink prices, and with a radically different atmosphere than most clubs in the area. Check it out. Every single person I've told about or taken there, has said nothing but good things.
Now that I know my check is in the mail, I'll get to the goods.
This mix has been in my regular rotation for about a month now because it is so dope, that I had to share it. Some of my readers from FloridaDNB might know about it, but this one is for those who slept. The stylistic differences between two of Miami's best make for a really diverse and progressive mix. Watch out for that 1200 Warriors joint featuring Wu-Tang. Certified hot shit.
Burn & Wreck Laundry Bar Promo Mix #1
[mp3, 169.6mb, 1:14:05]
1: Klaxons - "Golden Skans" (Switch remix) 2: BSOD - "A Bit Sketchy" 3: Justice & Simian Mobile Disco - "We Are Your Friends" (Radioslave & Spencer Parker Re-Edit) 4: Onionz - "Woman of the Sun" (Magik Johnson Remix) 5: Brett Johnson - "Hot Potato" 6: Green Velvet - "U.F.O.s" 7: Sawtooth Sucka - "Crazy" 8: Jason Hodges - "My Style" 9: 1200 Warriors - "Loose Control" (feat. Wu Tang Clan) 10: Maetrik - "Sexus" 11: Ben Milstein - "Blah" 12: Bitstream - "Orange Room" 13: The Advent - "Womans Scent" 14: Cybotron - "Clear" 15: Nelly Furtado feat. Justin Timberlake - "Give It To Me" (dj Nasty bootleg remix) 16: Buckfunk3000 - "Utopia" 17: Ambivalent - "R U OK" (Ghosthack bootleg remix)
The Passenger label steps back to the forefront with another big banger LP, This Way Up. This double CD and multi-vinyl release features some of the label's heavier bits of catalog, unreleased VIP mixes, as well as a taste of the imprint's future.
Taking it into some next shit, label bosses, Aquasky, further blur the genre lines by enlisting Drum and Bass Superstar DJ Friction to not only mix, but also to feature original music on the long-player. Raising the ante up some more, Australian DnB producer Phetsta also get thrown in the mix with some original flavors. Florida breaks MC Acafool laces the booty-shakin' ghetto blastin' Have A Good Time.
'This Way Up' Album – Full Track Listing:
CD1 – Mixed By DJ Friction 1: Nick Thayer & Micah ‘Scrambler’ 2: Backdraft ‘Popcorn VIP’ 3: Dopamine ‘Flapjack’ 4: Tom Real & Rogue Element ‘Machine’ 5: Backdraft ‘Labrat (Aquasky Remix VIP)’ 6: Noisia ‘Gutterpump’ 7: Aquasky & Friction feat. Spyda ‘Control Freek’ 8: Kid Blue ‘Crunch’ 9: Backdraft ‘Freeze Dried’ 10: Klaus 'Heavyweight' Hill ‘Gurnface’ 11: Timmy Schumacher feat. Kyla ‘Who Wants Some’ 12: Aquasky & Elhornet ‘Girls & Boys VIP’ 13: Ragga Twins ‘Let Me See Your Hands VIP’ 14: Phetsta ‘Four:Eight:Three’ 15: Tom Real & Aquasky ‘Another Dimension’ 16: Rob Le Pitch & Aquasky ‘Wasted Music’ 17: Aquasky & Acafool ‘Have A Good Time’ 18: Rico Tubbs ‘Intoxicated’ 19: The Ragga Twins feat Aquasky and DJ Go ‘Everybody Hype’
CD2 Unmixed – All exclusive: 1: Nick Thayer and Micah 'Scrambler' 2: Aquasky and Tom Teal 'Another Dimension' 3: The Ragga Twins 'Let Me See Your Hands' 4: Rico Tubbs 'Intoxicated' 5: Timmy Schumacher and Kyla 'Who Wants Some' 6: Backdraft ' Freeze Dried' 7: Aquasky and Acafool 'Have A Good Time' 8: Aquaky and Rob Le Pitch 'Wasted Music' 9: Klaus 'Heavyweight' Hill 'Gurnface' 10: Dopamine 'Flapjack' 11: Phetsta 'Four:Eight:Three' 12: Kid Blue 'Crunch' 13: Rogue Element And Tom Real 'Machine' 14: Aquasky, Friction and Spyda 'Control Freek'
As always, Friday is radio show day here at BTB HQ. I broadcast twice on two different stations, playing a gamut of styles over both the shows. The schedule goes a little something like this:
