Tuesday 22 September 2009

Secret Garden Party: Your Niece in the master bedroom with the lazer crunk


I first came across Your Niece (aka. Rhys Clarke) in the Master Bedroom of The Dex Club in Brixton during the Secret Garden Party Bacchanalia Ball in early March this year. I was following the sounds of bass that I heard from next door and found a tiny room packed tight with revellers in faun outfits and togas bouncing to the ceiling, and all over the luxury four poster bed that was pushed up against one wall. This Spoonfed reveiw by their DJ editor Lowri Clarke says it all:

"A pair of Pioneer CDJ-400s rests on a desk beside the bathroom door. Behind them a topless, painted madman is hurling fireballs of monstrously heavy, glitchy turbo crunk into the crowd - who are reacting appropriately by creating an undulating carpet of flesh, whirling limbs and bared teeth. People are actually screaming."

Your Niece is Going to Jail Mix by Your Niece


To quote his profile on Spoonfed (one of the best London listings sites when it comes to what's actually going on):

"(My Neice is) of the first UK DJs to bring the sound of glitch-hop that's been cooking in California, he splices it with dubstep, techno, electro and drum 'n' bass and operates a strict 'whatever's rinsing' policy."

"It's the Glitch Mob meeting Beyonce in a less salubrious part of town and fucking her from behind while the whole of Ed Banger dance to her moans."

Since March we've been having an on and off Myspace conversation while I've been pestering him for mixes. To my delight, he's just got back from Burning Man and in in touch with a link to his mix archive on Soundcloud.

The first mix above is a recent one which reflects the dubsteppy lazer crunk I recall from the SGP Bacchanalia Ball . The second below is a party set live from the Tower of Babel (which was later burnt down) in the middle of the lake at the Secret Garden Party this year. It starts off with some tasty glitch-hop, veers off on a MGMT/Nirvana/Micheal Jackson medley and returns with some phat tunes at the end:

Your Niece live from the Tower of Babel by Your Niece

Unfortunately I missed out on all the tower action this year, but again Lowri's Spoonfed review gives you a pretty good flavour of what it was like:

"The final DJ on the Tower is Your Niece. No one ever knows what to expect from this DJ. The stage is set, the crowd couldn't be more gagging for it and the as turbo-crunk specialist throws down a few heavy numbers, the tower shakes. The rain has been threatening to inhibit the fun, but then in blissful cliché, as MGMT 'Time To Pretend' starts, the sun opens its eyes and everyone collected on the tower leave the ground as one. 'This is our decision, to live fast and die young, we've had the vision, now let's have some fun.' The words could have been written for this moment. When the first few bars of 'Man In The Mirror' twinkle in to existence we all join hands. Right time, right place. On a lake in Cambridgeshire, screaming at the top of our lungs and it feels as if we're on top of the world."



Check out My Niece's page on Soundcloud for more mixes. Thanks to Spoonfed for the pix and Lowri for the quotes!

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Meat Katie live from Rock Bottom


So, now everyone's back from Buring Man the mixes are coming out. This is an absolute gem from the UK's Meat Katie (aka. Mark Pember) who appears to have rocked the Opulent Temple Porn Palace with Elite Force. Since conquering the world with his rolling, deep and heavy breaks as the scene exploded at the beginning of the decade, he's now following a similar trajectory to Tom Real (Disco of Doom) and bringing in more disco/electro/tech sounds to the mix. It's sounding pretty sweet!

Meat Katie Live from Rock Bottom
(left click link for mix)
(Thanks to The Gough Street Sessions for hosting and posting)



Elite Force & Meat Katie - Non-Believer is *OUT NOW*


For more goodies like this, follow Meat Katie and DJ Elite Force on Twitter


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Monday 21 September 2009

Seattle rocks - Decibel Festival 2009


Continuing my obsession with all things West Coast and bass heavy, a number of random factors have led me towards Seattle's Decibel Festival which takes place over the course of the next week. I came across the event by accident last year while working towards the decibel Performing Arts Showcase 2009, a completely unconnected event, which took place in Manchester last week. The Google alerts from 2008 (Lusine, Deru, Tycho, Flying Lotus, The Glitch Mob, The Bug, and Superpitcher) were enough to get my mouth watering. Also last week, my mate Loz returned from Burning Man to tell me that Seattle is so cool she plans to move there to join my another friend, Mike, who moved there a few years back.



Anyway, to steal some text from XLR8R magazine:
"While everyone heaps (admittedly deserved) praise on long-running events like MUTEK and DEMF/Movement, it's easy to forget that Seattle's Decibel Festival has been not-so-quietly holding it down for the West Coast. Founded in 2003, Decibel has consistently shined a light on electronic music innovators big and small, from international stars to underground up-and-comers. This year's edition is no different, with a lineup headlined by U.K. noisemakers like Mala, Benga, Caspa, and Mary Anne Hobbs, not to mention some like-minded folks from this side of the Atlantic, including Martyn, Daedelus, Gaslamp Killer, and Nosaj Thing. Yet it's not all low-end madness—other notables include Alter Ego, The Wighnomy Brothers, Move D, Lusine, Derek Plaslaiko, Voodeux, and even U.K. dub wizard Mad Professor. In all, more than 100 performers will be scattered across Seattle over the course of four days. Plus, the festival also includes a number of panels, workshops, film screenings, and more."

(continues below)



So plenty of wonky, dub, dubstep and a lot of glitchyness. Check out this podcast from Seattle's KEXP to get a full flavour of the line up:

KEXP - Music That Matters, Vol. 166 - Spotlight on Decibel Festival 2009

Tracklist:
1. Nosaj Thing - Lords
2. Nalepa - Flatlands (Nosaj Thing Remix)
3. Michna - Bumper Car Masters
4. Take - Northbound
5. [a]pendics.shuffle - Saw Saw Soup (Robag Wruhme Remix)
6. Mike Slott - Knock Knock
7. Sub Swara - Hi Fidelity (Shambhala Riddim)
8. Tim Exile - There's Nothing Left Of Me But Her And This
9. The Gaslamp Killer - Baiafro
10. Daedelus - I Took Two
11. Pezzner - Chapter_Two
12. Lusine - Gravity
13. Tycho - The Daydream
14. Benoit Pioulard - Hesperus
15. Mountains - Map Table
16. Christopher Willits - The Greatest Rain

For more tasty videos, reviews, line-ups and mixes, check out bassfaced.com.

For decibel news, reviews and all other things West Coast bass orientated, keep an eye on DanceFever5000. They've also got this lovely heartfelt Burning Man review that chimes with everything Danielle's told me since she got back.




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Saturday 12 September 2009

duballstar: lonesteppa mixtape


While my girl Danielle has been swanning around the desert at Black Rock City, enjoying pool parties in Reno and shopping down Haight Street, my aim has been to get a mix finished and up on the blog. In the little time I've had to actually DJ I've started about 4 or 5 new mixes. In the end neither the nu-disco, electro-rock, glitch hop or dub mixes made the cut.

Having just downloaded a few new tunes though, I've just knocked out a fairly percussive and bass heavy dubstep/IDM/glitch mix with less that 12hrs before she gets back. I think it does a fair job of catching my melancholy at missing my girl (and Burning Man!) and my joy at her return. The start could flow better, but I'm really happy with the middle section - tell me what you think!

duballstar - lonesteppa mixtape - september 2009 (link to zshare)

TRACKLISTING:

Diverseconcepts - Open Porse
Nosaj Thing - Caves
The Heavy - How You Like Me Now? (Joker Remix)
PANTyRAiD - Get The Money (Original Mix)
edIT - Ants
Modeselektor - Godspeed
Don Goliath - Mrs U (Zeno Goddess Remix)
Harp & RyzeNFall - Irie Wan (Bass Science Remix)
Iration Steppas - Rasta Dub
Liondub ft. Jah Dan & Sotto Bless - Heartbroken (original)
Skream - Sub Island
Martyn - Hear Me
Milanese - Caramel Cognac
Joker - Stuck in the System


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Saturday 5 September 2009

Glitch FM: I can't believe it's not dubstep!


First of all, Glitch.fm... need I say more?

Last night they dropped a 10 hr "Feeling left out of Burning Man?" live broadcast from Vancouver, Canada, featuring artists from their Friday night BWAMP Radio show. If you missed it, check out the links below for free mixtapes:

# TAAL MALA (Lighta!, SUB-OSC)
http://www.myspace.com/taalmala
# Dj Global vs Bevy Swift (aka Glitchy & Scratchy)
http://www.myspace.com/glitchyscratchy
# Self Evident (Lighta!, SUB-OSC): http://www.myspace.com/selfevidentselfevident
FREE MIX:
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=113676786893
# HxdB (BFG): http://www.myspace.com/hxdb
# Myles Away (IGU): http://www.mylesAWAYmusic.blogspot.com
http://www.myspace.com/mylesAWAYmusic
# Deekay (The Woods,urban ninja): http://www.myspace.com/deekaysounds

I recommend this mix by BWAMP Radio's Myles Away for starters:
The Auer 17 mix by myles away


If you're still not sure what 'glitch' is, this interview with the Glitch Mob goes a long way to explaining what's happening state-side at the moment. This is quite possibly one of the best artist interviews I've watched in a long time.. it completely sums up what's so exciting about the scene in the US right now. Oh bollox, I can't help it... I WANNA BE AT BURNING MAN! Whaaaaa.... *sob sob*




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Wednesday 2 September 2009

PANTyRAID: pimping on the playa


So Burning Man's under way in Black Rock City and Danielle's probably having a ball with the 40,000 other playaristas and most of my favourite US noise merchants....

...including PANTyRAID, (who I've blogged about before) a collaboration between my favourite glitch-hop soundboy Oaah (Josh Mayer) with another guy called PartyMarty on the beats (Marty Folb).

Anyway, thanks to a heads up from MaryLee in June I've just found this mixtape on I AM LASER!:

PANTyRAiD :: PANTyRAiD MIXTAPE JULY 13.09
Download Direct (Right Click & Save Link As)

* Track list+
* PANTyRAiD – Git Durty
* PANTyRAiD – Crunkalicious / Ray Cash – Sex Appeal
* PANTyRAiD – Dreaming / Mims – This Is Why I\’m Hot
* PANTyRAiD – Worship The Sun / Jay-z – Dirt Off Your Shoulder
* Martyparty – Young Pimp / Chingy – Right Thurr / Currency – Where The Cash At
* PANTyRAiD – Like That / Brittany Spears – Toxic
* Ooah – Another Trashy Love / Kid Cudi – Day N\’ Nite
* PANTyRAiD – Enter The Machine / Three 6 Mafia – Fly
* PANTyRAiD – Beba / Lil Jon – In Da Club
* Dz – Get On Down / Lil Jon – In Da Club
* PANTyRAiD – One Mo / Beyonce – Bonnie & Clyde / Young Jeezy – Over Here
* PANTyRAiD – Get The Money / Pantyraid – The Future Is Far From Fair

...and this lush Mary Ann Hobbs mini-mix...

Tracklist:

* PANTyRAiD – Upset / Beba Mashup (with Lil John Acapella)
* PANTyRAiD – Crunkalicious
* PANTyRAiD – Worship the Sun
* PANTyRAiD – Headcase (with Ray Cash ‘Sex Appeal’ Acapella)
* PANTyRAiD – Enter The Machine

PANTyRAID in the mix - Mary Ann Hobbs (megaupload link)



PANTyRAiD have also now dropped their first single, with an album, The Sauce, due on 21 September on Marine Parade. Keep your ears peeled and your panties fresh till then!


Go to Beatport.comGet These TracksAdd This Player



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