Blogariddims 22: Disintegrations « The Rambler
Unlike my previous Blogariddims contribution there was a plan behind this mix. But as I started putting it together I also decided on a different strategy for mixing too. On Voices from Afar the idea was very definitely to keep layering things, filling up the sound space as much as possible; I might have up to 5 tracks running at once. That was fine, but I was always a bit uncomfortable with the fact that I seemed reluctant to let any of the music – all of which I loved – speak for itself, without the friendly support of massive overdubs. Why not let the music do more of the work on its own?

Wow. Neo-classical ardkore mentalism from the man like Rambler. This should be heavy.

Bloagariddims is just incredible! You wouldn’t get another series of mixes anywhere else that would be this varied, yet connected, and above all, HIGH QUALITY. Droid exercises real sound control. It’s always a huge challenge to do a blogariddims podcast… Rambler’s last one was wicked so I’m looking forward to this.

lower end spasm.: FWD>>
It felt very much like a homecoming on Friday down in Plastic People at JME’s birthday party and Serious launch, as grime MCs once again re-addressed the balance.

Top notch review of FWD / JME birthday by Alex Bok Bok.

Sage – WOEBOT
Matt showing us his old Black Dog video. I should really write about Dust Science, the home of tBD…

wayneandwax.com » Follow Me Now: The Zigzagging Zungazung Meme

Wayne&Wax red hot, as ever, this time on the trail of Yellowman’s infection of US hiphop (and other) cultures.

Ummm… I have Boops, but I can’t remember the Zungazung bit! I am an idiot…

deeptime
Paul totally OTM on my recent Miles Davis orgy at Blogariddims.

This time last year I was waaaaay deep into a series of pilgrimages deep into dubstep, a process that is still ongoing, though not as spiritually all-encompassing as it was. And part of my response to the influx of dubstep vibrations that have been flowing into me since 2005 has been a re-connection with deep dub sounds of… Miles Davis. My connection with Miles has always crossed over with dub, electronics and industrial. I got heavily into Miles, especially the electric period but also the Gil Evans orchestral period, at the same time as I got into Cabaret Voltaire – when I was 13, almost 14. It was only a year or so later that I realised how much of an influence he was on Richard Kirk and Stephen Malinder; all I knew was that the sonics and spaces of 2 X 45 were identical to On the Corner. In the same way as the threads connecting from the Cabs to acid to ardkore and thence to dubstep are obvious, for me, the thematic connection from Miles to dubstep is also clear, but it’s more a matter of influence than direct connection.

So it was that when I was asked to do a solo outing in the brilliant Blogariddims series, I almost immediately decided to go on a voyage into Miles – in dub. I was going to include a lot of other fusion artists, but not much that I have in that genre really made the grade, so instead I threw in some of the soul and funk that influenced Miles in this period. And naturally, I used as my raw material much of Bill Laswell’s fabulous Panthalassa CD, which adds a layer of dub and re-edits to Miles’ originals. I simply re-edited and re-dubbed what Laswell did. All in all it’s an appropriate way for Blogariddims series to greet Beltane. I hope you enjoy it.

You can subscribe to Blogariddims, and download individual mixes, here: http://www.weareie.com/audio/blogariddims/Blogariddims.xml. This mix will be up for May 1st.

Tracklisting:

Liner notes:

0:00 Miles Davis: Bitches Brew intro
This snippet is so recognisable – those sharp parps are the perfect signal to wake up for the mix.

0:59: Miles Davis: Agharta Prelude Dub
Sheer, unadulterated, slow motion funk bliss. A dub of one of the tracks on Panthalassa, the original is from the Agharta album, which was recorded live at the Osaka Festival Hall in Japan on February 1, 1975. A lot of critics think is one of Davis‘ two greatest electric live records alongside Pangaea (which were both recorded the same day – Agharta in the afternoon and Pangaea in the evening). The band has its roots in the seminal group assembled for On the Corner. Saxophonist is Sonny Fortune, guitarists Pete Cosey (lead’n’headfuck feedback) and Reggie Lucas (rhythm), bassist Michael Henderson, drummer Al Foster, and percussionist James Mtume. Bill Laswell edited “Prelude,” down from over a half-hour and I took it down to five minutes so all you have here is pure funk jazz fire.

5:06: Miles Davis: Miles Runs the Voodoo Down (Edit)
Probably my favourite cut off Bitches Brew, this, at least it is now it’s had a bit of vigorous pruning. The album was recorded over three August days in 1869, right after the Woodstock Festival. Miles famously would assemble musicians at short notice, forcing them to think on their feet with minimal guidance – which must have been a total head-fuck. You can tell how the band are right on the edge of mapped territory on this tune, but they’re locked tight. It starts off all gorgeously loping, before slowly lifting off into heavy, fat jazz that almost has dubstep’s “wobble” in the low end. I took out a lot of the free jazz bleating in the middle and made sure there was plenty of Miles’ red hot but laid back groove, and even so we fit atonal jazz funk gold at around 10:39.

12:19: Parliament: Dr Funkenstein (Live) (edit)
God, I love Parliament. This is probably the best track off 1977’s Parliament Earth Tour album. It’s just a fat, minimal, drum and bass funk locked groove. The recording isn’t that hot but the playing is unbelievable so I slashed it down from its original 15 minutes and dubbed the fuck out of it. The end of it is very Apocalypse Now, the scene at the bridge as shards of Miles’ horn float through the wreckage of Parliament.

19:10: Miles Davis: What If
From one deep funk track to another, but dear god is this heavy. Previously unreleased track from Panthalassa, I edited it out of Laswell’s mix of Black satin/What if/Agharta prelude dub. It was called What If by Laswell because we was wondering, “what if this is Pete Cosey (on lead guitar?)”, but actually it’s Maclauglin. The real star is Michael Hendeson’s bass line, an awesomely solid, endlessly repeating syncopated figure that’s just irresistible. This one just rocks.

22:44: Curtis Mayfield: Stone Junkie (Live)
The marvellous Curtis in cheeky mood from this seminal soul live album, recorded at the Greenwich Village‘s Bitter End club on a freezing January ’71 night and released on the brilliant Curtis/Live! Album. Stone Junkie calms it down a bit from What If, but the chill factor is back with the FX. This is the sort of soul Miles was listening to pretty relentlessly throughout the seventies.

28:28: Miles Davis: Billy Preston
Another fantastic heavy funk work out, this is from the 1974 sessions that yielded the Get Up With It album. Most critics don’t seem to like this one but I love it, so much so I did a remix of it. This is just a dub of the original.

33:51: Headhunters: God Made Me Funky (Edit)
This is thee archetypal fusion track, here ripped to fuck. Herbie Hancock famously went looking for a bit of earth in 1973 and put together a funk band, The Headhunters. Yes it’s from the largest-selling jazz album of all time, but here’s it’s had the wanky sax solo ripped out, which makes the lush, faded out funk heaviosity that much more effective.

39:21: Miles Davis: Black Satin
From On The Corner – Kode 9’s favourite album of all time – and it’s a corker! Black Satin is built around a spanking hot cyclical break from Jack DeJohnette, with a set of discordant counter point tones bouncing around it and shimmering fuzz guitar drifting from the shadows.

43:14: Miles Davis: Bitches Brew (Edit)
This track is just mental. Absolutely dead serious, utter funk badness and jazz freakiness. This is just total, wailing madness which stays utterly the right side of formlessness, the energy surges and crackles and frankly it’s terrifying. The original edit loses its focus (sacrilegious though it is to say it) so I sharpened it up quite a lot by keeping the spotlight firmly on Miles – which doesn’t fit into the commonplace revisionism of praising the sidemen, but this is really about going with Davis into the nightmare. Across the chasm.

46:59: Miles Davis: In A Silent Way / Shhh Peaceful (Bill Laswell dub)
You simply don’t get any higher – or darker – than Bitches Brew, so it was time to let some light in with some lovely, twisted, sardonic chillage from 1969’s fantastic In A Silent Way album. If you’re reading this before downloading the mix and wondering if it’s all going to be a bit too much like onanistic jazz freakery, then fast forward to this bit cos it’s just lovely. Literally everyone in the country should own a copy of this album and we’d all be happier for it. And – despite the virtuosity on display throughout the rest of this mix, this is the one tune that absolutely anyone can learn to play on the guitar in half an hour. It’s that simple. But what Miles and his band do with it here is just priceless.

54:49: Curtis Mayfield: I Plan To Stay a Believer (Live)
Another one from Curtis / Live, and what a fantastic song this is. I won’t drizzle it with clichés (for once) but this simple, direct soul is the ideal partner for In A Silent Way, a similar cleanser.

57:30: Miles Davis: It’s About That Time
But Miles, even after his astonishing displays of malevolence throughout this mix, can out-do Mayfield when it comes to conveying purity and innocence, as he does on the very brief It’ About That Time.

That’s it. be interesting to see what Paul Nomos makes of this one!

Kode 9 destroyed Sheffield tonight.

He was playing on the Valve sound system opening up, with Julian C90 doing the early early set. And Julian was excellent, playing some dub and then a lot of very deep electro-y dubstep, bit angular and a bit brave but very enjoyable. The floor was very sparse, just clumps of people, but there was a bit of a mood of anticipation. People were listening. Then bang on 9.30 kode took over, opening up with Sine of the Dub, played in its entirety with Space Ape adding occasional deep inflections, before heading off into some lush instrumental dubstep deepness. I closed my eyes rocking out to it for a long time before opening them and finding that the floor had pretty much filled up. Space Ape was striding back and forth across the stage following some metronome within the beats while Kode gently inserted his groove deep into the crowd, and suddenly it all came together on Jah War, and with the first rewind of the night, the crowd just exploded. They’d managed to captivate a pretty big proportion of a crowd of new-school D’n'B heads. It was firing.

And then it got really good. Kode dropped a succession of devastating, fat, funky steppers that were an object lesson in magisterial bass inventiveness. Some were pure bass-and-drum throbbers, there was a couple with some excellent use of (I think) Wu Tang and Sizzla, and some were recognisable big tunes by other artists (that I’m a bit far gone to remember now!). It was just glorious. The music was alive. It was inspired. It hit some kind of peak with Mala’s Hunter, and then suddenly shifted up a gear with all sorts of crunchy, hooky subs and melodies. In fact there was quite a lot of housey-groove and acid riffage going on, which was both delightfully eighth-triplet hard-garage-y and seductively, oceanically tuneful in that nagging way that the best house has. Really infectious and even if this is not what people mean by the techno 4×4 sound of dubstep, I’m all for it – I’m even more interested in swinging house influences.

By half way through it was obvious that Kode 9 has an unbeatable arsenal of heavy , bouncy steppers. The most flavoursome of these was a quite shockingly fat Sleng Teng refix that simply convulsed the dancefloor. But you have to set that against the incredible atonal deepness of the heavily filtered version of Backwards Kode pumped out. Maximum-heaviosity dubstep dancehall devastation one moment, seamlessly segued into monumental emotive dub the next.
And Space Ape, while not as primally mental as when he played with Mala here last year, when he was able to get right onto the floor and raise hell, just got heavier and dreader and sharper and funkier throughout the set. Of course, he looked great, and danced even better. I’ll put some pix up later.

Kode closed with Left Leg Out – some 4×4, Hammond organ-led, deeply swinging dubstep brilliance that shows just how far down that house virus goes, and it was clearly a gauntlet laid down to the pure-breed d’n'b heads in the audience: can you touch your musical sensuality THIS deeply? And while it’s tempting to suggest, based on the music that followed, that the answer in most cases must have been kniown, the fact is that there were hundreds of people absolutely fucking having it to Kode and Space’s set, who were absolutely prepared to go wherever Kode 9 was taking them.

Because it was proper, full-on, emotive, grown up music. And it absolutely rocked.

A word about the legendary Valve sound system. It was very nice during Kode’s set – big, rich, beautifully clear and undistorted – like the best hi-fi you could imagine. Compared to the system in Mass, it was missing the “bottom octave” – there was a big chunk of low end missing compared to when DMZ is at its peak, and there was no comparison with Iration Steppas’ system for pure, world-encompassing, round / spherical bass. Nor of course with Shaka’s system, but that’s just something else again – it’s not a soundsystem, it’s a vehicle for spiritual transformation. In the hands of Mala and a few others, the system at Mass is capable of similar results. The Valve system sounds very nice but it is not capable of that kind of deep personal impact. With the system turned down (for “the warm up act”), it was really clean, very solid, but very obviously had some way to go before it could really overwhelm the senses. Unfortunately, when turned up for host clubnight Tuesday Club’s resident DJ MIkey J, or indeed for Adam F, actually had very little more to give. Yes it went louder, yes there was more low end, but by god you suffered for it. The volume was instantly accompanied by great gobfulls of painful mid-range distortion, the sort that really fucks your hearing, a nasty square wave on the whole of the low-end and a honking lower mid crunch in place of the sort of warm, deep rroundness you’re looking for from a big system.No wonder they were giving out (very welcome!) free ear plugs when you came in. By contrast, the Mass system would be much cleaner for a given volume level, and the really low end would be handled much more sensitively. Iration would have been something else again in terms of low end articulacy. But I really must hear it in the flesh to be sure – I have the session on Friday 27th April pencilled in as a possible first blood, though it’s likely something will come up to stop me…

In any event, I think Kode 9 and Space Ape had the best that the Valve sound system had to offer. Had they suffered being provided with the greatest loudness the system could provide, I suspect the result would have been unlistenable. Though not as much as the 180 bpm drum and bass (it wasn’t really “jungle”) that followed. I liked some of it and I really tried to get into it, but after two hours it was obvious that the modern incarnation of what was once the worlds most rhythmically inventive musical genre had finally succumbed to monocultural drudgery. I know this is both an all too familiar critique of modern drum and bass and yes, I really did enjoy one or two of the tracks (I was wryily amused by Mikey J selecting a Sleng Teng riposte to Kode 9) – but does EVERYTHING have to be at this dull 190 bpm funkless treadmill pace? And yes I SEE the connection with formulaic and functional hardcore, but it ain’t working for me. Does it all have to be that fast and that samey? No. During Adam F’s set I was just thinking “this is verging on heavy metal” when he dropped… a load of heavy metal, with funkless breakbeats under it.

It just wasn’t very nice at all, and the contrast with the multi-hued dubstep Kode was dropping couldn’t be greater. Dubstep really is the grown-up, music of the present (who knows what it the music of the future). I don’t know how long it will stay like this. Grab it while you can. For, right now, people like Kode 9 are playing records that are just about as much fun as you can get right now — so right on so many levels.

I queued up for an hour under the stars over the seven hills of Sheffield to see Kode 9 and Space Ape tonight on this, one of the last few days of my 39th year, and the sheer overwhelming musical delight of what they delivered made that sacrifice absolutely worth it, and it brought a large measure of the magic of DMZ up the M1 to Sheffield.
It was fab. I loved every minute of it.

It’s about time I reviewed the latest crop of dubstep releases. Frankly it’s a bit of a mixed bunch.

Lets start with Bristol’s finest, ATKI2, with the Guilty Pleasures EP. I suppose for a start you can say that the b-side is possibly the sort of thing Random Trio should have gone for after Indian Stomp. Distillers’ Riddim is a strong ragga beat with some amenz and the requisite dhol stylings over the top. This is fun! Little bit of glitch factor, the ghost of a tune somewhere in there, and no wobble at all, which for some people is a good thing. Duty Paid is great too – possibly even stronger. More vibed up, rave-styled ragga dubstep – not quite ragga techno but not far off and those pitched up 808 subs are pure UK garage. Love it. Not terribly smart, but great to mix with, even if it does reopen all those “is dubstep breaks?” debates from the autumn of 2005.

Unfortunately the original mix of Guilty Pleasures itself is, well, a bit of a mess. On paper it should really work. Slightly glitchy post garage beats, high tech subs, a fresh female vocal… but it just doesn’t stick together. Too many ideas. So does Pinch rescue it? He’s the reason people are buying the record after all. And of course it’s a vast improvement; the vocalist is transformed into some of the old sino-dub. There’s that gorgeous space Pinch is renowned for. But compare this with say a D1 tune from 2005 and it’s obvious – the raw material just wasn’t that inspiring.
So… on to the remixes of Pinch’s Punisher. Like everyone else, I genuinely think Skream is a genius, and his version is a good mix tool, but in the end it’s just a bit too repetitive. There’s no satisfying drop, there’s no real sub explosion, and overall it just slides off your ears. Compare with his amazing Ancient Memories remix and you’ll notice a big difference in inspiration.

Of course Loefah’s mix can hardly fail to deliver. The louder you play it the better it gets and he is just the king of the bass. And the beats. And the samples. However, I’m not sure it’s quite up there with his best, and I think he could have done a bit more with that junglist open hat sample. Then again the sheer hip hop weight of it compensates. Pitched up a bit it’s fantastic.

Which is something that Oris Jay usually excels at. Wear the Crown was one of the best tunes of last year and he is, without question, the ultimate old skool dubstep don. Rob One Seven is so nearly great: swinging breakstep drums, twisted vocal sample, droning triangle wave noise in the middle, fab Sweet Exorcist bleeps and rave stabs… but it should really be a lot more atmospheric than it is. The arrangement is too repetitive and the bass line is too unimaginative and your excitement just fades after a couple of minutes. From Country on the flip just doesn’t work. It almost has the space but blows it by being too busy, and the bass sound is off. What makes it frustrating – apart from the fact that I was really looking forward to this release – is that I know for a fact he has better tunes waiting to come out.

Which brings us to the Timeblind Ghostification EP. The main cut, Copy Copy, is definitely worth the price of admission; Timeblind is all about glitchcore styled dubstep, but he keeps his fiddling under control and puts out a nice little skanker. But as you might have guessed, he’s too clever by half. Put it this way – one of the tracks is called the Ontological Ground of Being, which immediately makes you think this is someone who’s been reading too much K-Punk before writing his tunes. Which should be a good thing, but not when you’re pulling dodgy moves like releasing four minute noise scapes. You’re about twenty years too late for that one matey. But Copy Copy is going on a mix at some point.

So lets head back to the big boys and Tectonic Plate 3. Doubtless it’s sold out by now, as it should. It’s bee around for a while and Loefah’s System is just a motherfucker of a track. Obviously I prefer my vocal refix but that’s me. On the other hand… I’m not sure Digital Mystikz have ever made a really bad record, though some of the early ones weren’t too interesting, but Molten isn’t really one of their best. It’s another Coki wobbler, almost the same sounds as on the others, but the minor key strings don’t really cut it, actually sounding like a copy of Digital Mystikz, and the bass sounds have no real forward movement to them. And no, I didn’t like it much played on a system either. So, a bit of a disappointment there.

Which brings us to Loefah’s Voodoo on Omen’s new 666 label. God, it makes you sweat with excitement just reading that sentence, doesn’t it? Especially since it has a quite superb spoken word sample to play with, and Loefah in full downbeat drone mode, with just a touch of innovation in the arrangement. And… well, it’s not a bad record. If I’d got this as a demo from a new artist I’d be interested, no doubt. And of course, we’re comparing Voodoo with records by, like, the best producer on the planet, cos that’s how good I think Loefah is.

It’s just a bit boring.

I mean, it’s alright, and you could mix with it, and if you were Youngsta you coiuld probably do great things with it, but… You have to wonder if this was ever really meant to be anything but a dubplate.

So anyway. Mala. Left Leg Out and Blue Notez. You’ve got this haven’t you? I mean, you must have. Because this is one of the best singles ever to come out of dance music or reggae. Yes, yet another solid gold classic from Mala. Left Leg Out has been around for what, a year? And it’s brilliant 4 x 4, dark garage swing and heavy / light Rhodes stylings make me smile every time. Blue Notez. Wheras Blue Notez is simply amazing. Just buy it.

And if you think that’s good… there’s Coki’s Tortured / Shattered. If Molten is something of a below-par Coki wobbler, Shattered is right up there… superb heavy industrial dubstep, built for eq tweaking. It’s great. But Tortured is something else again. A political dubstep tune to follow in the wake of Anti-War Dub, it’s probably the record of the year, with simply the most memorable melody of any dubstep tune yet released, the heaviest bass, and the most plaintive vocal sample imaginable. Could almost be Prokofiev. A truly wonderful piece of music. It just doesn’t go on long enough.

So what does all this mean? I suspect we’re now past the point when almost all dubstep releases were, if not brilliant, then pretty damned good. And I’m already nostalgic for the summer of 2005. We shall all have to be a lot more careful about what we buy from now on. And I have to say that the gap between the premier division and the rest is widening. There are just a few people in the middle – Headhunter, Caspa, Hijack – when there should be lots of challengers.

Nevertheless, the really good stuff is toweringly good at the moment, undoubtedly the best music being made anywhere in my opinion. And my copy of Disko Rekkah arrives in a day or so – my favourite dubstep tune ever will finally be out, on Deep Medi rather than DMZ as I had thought would be the case, and I will be a happy bunny. I just wish the quality went a little deeper.

Over at Lower End Spasm. Excellent stuff. Man goes to raves in a suit – respect.

Blimey. Dubstep Sufferah 2 has been nominated for best mix in the Dubstep Forum awards! Just to be in there is a huge compliment. And it’s not at the bottom either!

At last, Boomnoise is doing a bit of blogging. You’ll still have to spend a bit of time on Dubstep forum to hear / see most of what he’s talking about but it’s great that he’s back on it.

It’s been quite a busy year for me. January I put up the second 94 jungle mix, Jungle Got Dub. BTW, this is up at http://www.grievousangel.net/JungleDub94.mp3. I should really re-master it – bit bass heavy. People seemed to like it though. There was the first in a trio of Phil Hine interviews in January too. March was big – the first in the Dubstep Sufferah series went up. I put some time into that, I loved doing it and it got a bit of attention and a couple of thousand downloads between here and Barefiles. Plus I went to the inaugural night at BASH – fucking mental and I met lots of dubstep people for the first time, and even better, saw Mala play in Sheffield with Space Ape. Just beyond belief. In April I did my first “modern” dubstep tune, or at lest my first halfstepp-y thing, Lickle Friction. (As you may recall Kode 9 had got in touch about some of the old 138 stuff back in, IIRC, 2003.) Anyway, Lickle was built around the Jammy’s / Scientist phone call mp3s that were doing the rounds at the time and was quite a nice little roller, and it’s been played out a bit apparently. Even bigger, me and John’s mix for the wonderful Dave Stelfox’s show on Resonance FM went out on the nineteenth of this month. It’s still up here. And I went to see Mala play too… In May I put up No Sunshine, my refix of Bill Withers’ Ain’t No Sunshine, which had been going round and round my head since January. I still love this, so much so I did a remix of it in a mate’s pro studio later in the year. It’s been played out lots. Plus I finally got to DMZ. And John released the first RSI Radio, which was great, and which I did some editing and mastering on. In June I did the second Tense Nervous House Music mix, where I caught up with the glorious renaissance of techy deep house that’s been brewing for the last few years, best exemplified in my view by Ame and Trentemoller. In July, I think it was, me and John did our first contribution to the magnificent Blogariddims series. Didn’t do much for the next few months – other than work on Dubstep Sufferah 2, which took a while, though not as long as the first volume did. It finally went up in October. It’s only done a few hundred downloads, but I think it’s the best mix I’ve ever done; when it first went up the demand took out my server in hours. After that I was just too busy with work to do much. So – three solo mixes this year plus two collaborations with John, which isn’t a bad tally.

Besides my own stuff, it’s been quite a good year musically. Obviously I’ve been focused on dubstep, of which more in a minute, but there’s been loads of good house too. As for reggae, I have yet again failed to fulfil my new year resolution of buying fresh reggae every month, but not for want of trying. Just wasn’t feeling much this year. No doubt Eden’s end of year round up CD will show me where I went wrong. I think 2006 will go down as the year that dubstep finally fulfilled its potential on vinyl. Anyway, all my favourite tunes this year were dubstep. My top ten should hold no surprises really, but here they are in order of them embedding themdselves deep into my mind and obsessing me:

1. Loefah: Ruffage / Mud

Jesus. What a fucking tune Ruffage is. I think Loefah is the best producer in the world right now and I tell you, he’s only just started. Mud needs a big system to really work, though it sounded fab on dubstep warz, but Ruffage is just… “rough… beats…”. It’s an AMAZING record, deep and lush and throbbing and saturated with flavour, I just love the electro style Loefah’s been pushing this year. You think this tune is just all groove and no soul, but… it does… Obviously Disko Wrekkah is even better, the best record to come out of dubstep and it will be the biggest dubstep record of 2007, assuming it comes out – which I expect it will. But that’s not out yet… I’ve had it since the start of the summer – probably my high point for the year – but it’s been so much a Loefah signature tune I haven’t dared play it. Maybe it’ll go on a mix when the release date is coming up. In the meantime go to DMZ just to hear it, and listen to Ruffage. Fucking mental. I should put up the vocal dub mix of Ruffage I did for Sufferah 2, see if anyone wants to play it out…

2. Pinch: Qawalli (VIP mix)

Oh boy. The deepest, heaviest, low slung deep funker of a track that dubstep has produced. Ultimate squidge. Right up there with the great deep, aquatic techno and house tunes…

3. Skream: I (Loefah Remix)

Loefah sends this tune into a downward spiral of bass that never ends. It rocks. Loefah thinks I is better than Request Line – and it is now.

4. Loefah: System

There’s just nothing to this tune. Couple of synth horn stabs, primitive electro beat… there’s a couple of bars with a variation in the drum programming at the end that would take this track into a whole other universe, but he just casually slings in a taste of it… and it’s just unadulterated genius.

5. Skream: Dutch Flowers

The “big” Skream track you’re not supposed to like but what a tuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuunnnnnnnnnnnneeeeeeeeee!!! I know Blackdown doesn’t like the digidub influence in dubstep and especially in Skream’s work but I have to say, I just love it and this tune exemplifies that digidub template while taking on a ridiculously happy, bouncy energy. Love it love it love it and it’s a CRIME it didn’t get a female vocal version to take it into the August top ten… maybe next year…

6. Benga: Zombie Jig

Probably 2005 really but it was on the CD (which, ahem, was patchy IMO), so… Is Benga more talented than Skream? I guess they’ve worked so close to each other for so long that a comparison is pointless, but in any event Benga has truckloads, I just wish he could get a few more records out.

7. Virus Syndicate: Major List MCs

Is it dubstep or is it grime? I don’t know that, but I do know we need more records like this – unbearably funky but intensely spacious backing matched with outrageously tight ensemble vocal flow.

8. Mala: Left Leg Out / Blue Notez

I love Loefah’s stuff but I expect Mala will eventually be seen as the greatest producer to come out of dubstep – the spiritual force of his records ensures that. It’s almost a cliche now to compare Mala with Shaka – my favourite DJ ever as regular readers know – but the comparison really does stand. His and Coki’s records are, in the main, dub missiles designed to pulverise dancefloors on plate. Mala is as interested in the transcendent potential of sonics in and of themselves as any 1980s industrialist and much Digital Mystikz output this year has translated that vibrational arsenal directly, and gloriously, into vinyl. But it’s not the sucession of wobblerz that will cement Digital Mystikz’ wider reputation – it’ll be the more emotive tracks tracks like these.
9. Digital Mystikz: Ancient memories (Skream remix)

Feel the jazz funk vibes seep in tt=he darkness!

10. Headhunter: Sleepwalker

THE standout track from the Tempa All Stars two double pack.

And a few more that didn’t quite make the top 10:

BlackDown: Lata

Intimations of greatness here – Martin walks it like he talks it…
DQ1: Wear the Crown

The bad-man producer. Difficult to choose between this Headhunter.
Digital Mystikz: Earth Run a Red / Conference / Haunted

Sheer dread heaviosity. (Can get a bit wearing compared to the best of their contemporaries though.)

Digital Mystikz - Anti War Dub

Super 4×4 excursion and ubdoubtedly a classic (but doesn’t quite have the legs it might have done)
Random Trio: Indian Stomp (from the Cyrus EP)

Such space, such minimalism… terrific tune and a great mixing tool.

Caspa: Rubber Chicken

Great, laidback, deep funk tune, possibly the ultimate wobbler… but hold tight for next year’s LFO King, which I’ve had for fucking months and is dayglo rave aceness.
Toasty – The Knowledge (Vex’d Remix)

Boxcutter – Brood / Sunshine

Great, creative single package – didn’t quite make me want to get the album.

And lots more – this was the year it became impossible to stay utterly on top of all the dubstep releases. It was even harder to properly absorb all the radio shows, even with the help of the magnificent talents of Deapoh and Boomnoise. These two have between them rendered a hugely valuable service to both today’s dubstep massive and future generations by recording and hosting all the key radio sessions. Boys, this was your year.
Outside of dubstep? Well, as mentioned both Ame and Trentemoller have really rocked my world. In rock, I did not prove immune to the attractions of Arctic Monkeys. When my wife got the CD I listened to it all, then put it straight back on and listened to it all the way through again. And again. I haven’t done that with a CD for years – not even Burial’s. (And yes, it is a great CD, not for me quite as good as other people have found it to be, but a lot better than, say, the Hatcha mix CD -amazing selection, terrible sequencing… but enough dubstep!). So yeah, the Arctics are the best British rock group since the Stone Roses as far as I’m concerned – just looking at the festival shows on TV it was obvious to me how much tighter they played than all the other bands and how much better their songs are.

Anyway… a very good year, especially with the quality of dubstep and dubstep related events I’ve been able to make it to this year, principally DMZ and BASH. I didn’t expect it to be as good as it was.

I’ve done a second volume of the Dubstep Sufferah mix series.

It’s a similar format to the first one – select dubstep tunes, with significant additional dub FX and re-editing. However, this time there is even more emphasis on bringing out dubstep’s roots – and indeed the whole ardkore continuum’s roots – in reggae, especially in Brit soundsystem culture. Some commentators have denied that there is a cultural lineage between reggae, but I think that point of view doesn’t take into account some fairly well established history. Not that I expect anyone to agree with me when I say, somewhat exaggeratedly, that dubstep actually is reggae!

Also for this mix, I’ve focused on adding a significant vocal, or at least MC, element to this otherwise primarily instrumental music. It’s noticeable that most of the biggest crowd responses at DMZ are for the vocal tunes, of which only a small proportion have been released, and I really wanted to lighten a mix that would otherwise have been fairly relentlessly minimal with vocal colour.

It also helps to create a time travelling, cut up sense of dubstep emerging form an 80s reggae dance not only is the mix opened with some live Saxon and Asher Senator, and little known Brit digital dancehall mixed with some sweeter dubstep in the middle, but there’s loads of additional MC samples sprinkled across the mix. I’d like to thank Dublin reggae and jungle maestro Droid for his kindness in furnishing me with a generous helping of live dancehall, as well as John Eden for providing the Saxon material via his blog.

Technically, the mix is something of a hybrid. A lot of vinyl mixing, a fair amount of digital mixing, and a load of editing in Live. It’s not a purely authentic vinyl mix and I doubt you could do this on decks; that’s not the point. It is however meant to be a properly constructed mix you can return to.

The narrative arc of this mix follows a classic dubstep mix blueprint. Heavy, harsh, grinding first third, some sweet respite, and some bangers to close. Following a sweet reggae and dub intro, I went straight into an increasingly punishing selection of banging dubstep classics that becomes more industrial and claustrophobic with each track, culminating in a series of monstrous wobblers. I particularly like the cut up of Virus Syndicate’s Major List MCs over Pinch’s Qawalli VIP in this section; they seem made for each other. The heaviness is finally relieved by Iration Steppas’ classic Scud Missile dub, which takes us into an altogether softer, darker, dancehall tinged section.(I’ve been amused and delighted by Skream’s championing of digidub on his Rinse FM show, more power to your elbow Olly, even more so since you’re also championing the jazz funk sound of my Essex youth!) Dark garage originator and fellow Sheffield resident DQ1 does the bridge into deeper dub and more rolling beats; the last third is petty much ravetastic, focusing on Loefah re-edits. He’s the king of the beats and my favourite dubstep producer by a mile (my favourite producer in any genre in the world actually) and while he may be frustrated at not doing deeper tunes, at just doing beats, frankly they’re so great I don’t care.

And that’s it really. I’m very happy with the mix; while all the tunes are familiar to the initiated, I hope they have been dubbed-up and edited enough to sound fresh, and this mix wasn’t about showing off unreleased tunes, it was about creating some particular atmospheres, showcasing what has been arguably dubstep’s most fertile period thus far, and possibly, creating an ear-friendly route in for the uncommitted. I hope you enjoy it; let me know either way.

Dubstep Sufferah Volume 2.

A LAME-encoded 192K mp3 which weighs 104.5Mb is here.

A LAME (Insane) 320K mp3 which weighs 174.1Mb is available for a limited time. Down now!

0.00 Asher Senator / Saxon Sound Intro
1.11 King Tubby / Johnny Clark: A Ruffer Version (Jackpot)
4.45 Digital Mystikz: Ancient Memories (original mix) / (Skream Remix) (DMZ)
10:18 Skream: I (Loefah Remix) (Tempa)
13:48 Digital Mystikz: Conference (Soul Jazz)
17:34 Virus Syndicate: Major List MCs (Jammer Instrumental) (Planet Mu)
18:41 Pinch: Qawalli (VIP mix) (Planet Mu) / Virus Syndicate: Major List MCs (Jammer Vocal Mix) (Planet Mu)
23:36 D1: Degrees (Tempa)
24:59 Digital Mystikz: Haunted (DMZ) Grievous Angel Vocal Edit
28:28 Skream: Glamma (Tempa)
31:16 Digital Mystikz: Earth Run a Red (Soul Jazz)
35:11 Iration Steppas: Scud Missile Dub (Universal Egg)
37:48 Appleblim: Cheat I (Skull Disco) Grievous Angel Vocal Edit
39:57 Mickey Murka: We Try (Version) (Unity Sounds / Honest Jons)
41:29 Benga: Zombie Jig (BengaBeats)
43:27 Kenny Knots: Watch How the People Dancing (Unity Sounds / Honest Jons)
44.49 Skream: Dutch Flowers (Tempa)
46:48 Selah Collins: Pick a Sound (Version) (Unity Sounds / Honest Jons)
47:12 DQ1: Wear the Crown (Tectonic)
52:09 Headhunter: Sleepwalker (Tempa) Grievous Angel Vocal Dub
55:55 Caspa: Rubber Chicken (Tempa)
58:43 Loefah: Mud (DMZ) Grievous Angel “Signal” Dub
63:11 Caspa: For the Kids (Dub Police)
65:40 Grievous Angel: Lickle Friction (CDR)
69:07 Loefah: Ruffage (DMZ) Grievous Angel Vocal Dub
71:43 Loefah: System (Tectonic) Grievous Angel Edit
76:03 Ends

Around this time last year I did a spring-tide mix of old and new house, which I called Tense Nervous House Music. It was kind of a follow on from Beltane and was specifially inspied by spending time in the old temples on the island of Gozo. Now, as is very obvious now, this Spring was dominated by my going out to various Dubstep events, which have all been fantastic. And yet, in some way I can’t quite describe, my mainlining dubstep over the last of years has ineluctably led me back to house. Partly it’s because of a renewed appetite for that delicious syncopated deep house pulse. part of it was knowing that a favourite dubstep producer likes proper deep house, and increasingly seeing dubstep through a house lens. (The fact that quite a lot of people on the excellent Faith forum, which is the coolest house forum in the world, are quite into dubstep helped as well.) And part of it is the fact that this year I finally cottoned onto the fact that there’s been a quite fabulous renaissance in house with the emergence of the “minimal” style.

Now admittedly, not much of this stuff is that minimal. And yes, some of it sounds a bit too close to electroclash for my liking. In fact, most of it just sounds like deep house or tech house. But there’s some cracking stuff in there and most of all, it just demonstrates the indefatigable ability of house to renew itself.

Hence, this Beltane, I found myself splurging on reasonably fresh house music, and the product is Tense Nervous House Music Volume 2, a digital mix of new-ish house that has, as usual, been subjected to some heavy dubbing. It starts off all deep with a brace of Ame tunes – and yes, Ame do thoroughly deserve the hype they’re getting from every deep house head in the world right now – moves onto some increasingly twisted sleazy minimal, before climaxing with an edit of the very wonderful Carl Craig remix of Theo Parrish’s Falling Up and a couple of Trentemollers – who also thoroughly deserve the hype that is being showered on them at the moment – before winding up back where we started with an Ame dub.

I like it.

Tense Nervous House Music, Volume 2.
68 minutes 40 seconds. 157.2Mb. 320K LAME-encoded mp3 (at the “Insane” setting).
Find i here: http://www.grievousangel.net/TenseNervousHouseMusicVol2.mp3.zip

Here’s the tracklisting:

Tense Nervous House Music, Volume 2
0:00 Dimensions 6: Living In the Sunshine (Ame Ohio Dub)
3:18 Dimensions 6: Living In the Sunshine (Ame Main Mix)
7:19 Nigel Hayes: Augustus (Ame remix)
13:08 Blaze: Lovelee Dae (Carl Craig’s 70 Degrees & Sunny mix)
14:40 Kirk Degiorgio presents Esoterik: Starwaves (Jimpster remix)
19:15 Spirit Catcher: Street Hawk
22:18 Booka Shade: Blue Rooms (Original Mix)
25:38 Audio Soul Project: Reality Check (Mix 2)
28:55 Layo & Bushwacka!: Life2Live (Jesse’s Stripper dub)
31:25 Terra Deva: Fresh Start (Derrick Carter’s All Hail The New Ugly Re-Dub)
33:25 Sharon Jones: Want to Need To (Trentemoller remix)
38:38 Terry Francis: Music Freak (Nathan Coles House Mix)
43:20 Spirit Catcher: Voo Doo Knight (Grievous Angel Edit)
47:25 Theo Parrish: Falling Up (Carl Craig Mix)
51:06 Trentemoller: Serenetti (Original Mix)
57:31 Trentemoller: Minimal Fox (Original Mix)
62:20 Dimensions 6: Living In the Sunshine (Ame Ohio Dub)
68:00 Ends

Cos most of the tunes on here are just fabulous

http://www.grievousangel.net/RSIRadioVol1.mp3.zip

Undaunted by the fact that he can no longer blog, use forums, or do email due to his RSI, John has done the decent thing and become a [B]radio personality[/B]. Yes, rather than have to rummage forlornly through his old posts on Dissensus, UK-Dance, Blood and Fire and, of course, the mighty Uncarved itself for the pearls of wisdom he carelessly dispenses, you can now curl up with headphones, a good book, and the tipple of your choice while his calm, lucid voice oozes its way into your consciousness…

… for John has started recording his own occasional radio show.

It’s right here:

http://www.grievousangel.net/RSIRadioVol1.mp3.zip

And it’s total aceness. I shan’t spoil the surprise for you, but it features, a amazingly, an exceptionally good selection of reggae. And, errr, other stuff.

Try it. You’ll grow to love it.

And let him know what you think of it by dropping him a line at BM Box 3641, London, WC1N 3xx.

Man and woman and Pan and boom
And siren song and spiral pulse

Blood blessed by fire and touch and light,
of silver, quick, and hot, and bright

————————————————

Oh my god.

Fucking unbelievable.

That just went OFF.

Absolutely rammed, but a really sweet crowd and oh my god that music was just incredible. Aural warfare. Party rocking, crowd pleasing, bass wobbling aural warfare. The crowd was absolutely gagging for it, and it was really well mixed too. And even though it was way too full for my taste – it was pretty hard to get space to dance – there was still that fabulously happy sweet DMZ vibe. Other than one bloke who hadn’t clocked that you’re really not supposed to make space by throwing your weight around, and the knobhead bouncer. I reckon there will be twice as many people trying to get in next time cos every new DMZer is bound to tell all their mates how much fun it was. And it was rammed all the way to the end of the Mala / Loefah set, so the people dem were clearly well into it.

Kode 9′s set was the most artful of the lot, seriously progressive. Dropping Prince was a masterstroke (and demonstrated how sadly lacking in swing too much halfstep is). I think Loe pulled it up for him. 9′s set structure thereafter was really good, lots of chuntering breaky details. And his “On the Corner” t-shirt is the bizzle, I want one.

DMZ rocked it. Literally. On the stage I could hardly stand up from the bass pressure. Mala and Loefah were fab, nice bit of sleng teng action at the start, plus all the big tunes you wanted (could maybe have done with a few more new ones?) and Mud was just huge. There was a lot of soul starting to come through, especially on Mala’s sections which I would have liked more of, that “belaeric” stuff.

Skream was incredibly good — class tunes. His stuff seems mastered louder and with much clearer mid range (that “plasticky”vibe) than the other big producers. But enough nerdery — the three things I loved most about Skream’s set was first, the sheer bouncy energy of it, second, the magnificent hooky tunefulness of it, and last, those female reggae vocal samples — I want LOTS more of that please. Add them together and it was just huge fun. And he’s got some gorgeous melodies nestling in those tunes.

Downsides? Well, there’s still too many monotone, dull halfsteppers around. I’m aching to hear more vocals on dubstep (see Martin Blackdown’s recent blog post for some additional support for that idea). There were a few too many rewinds. And most of all I didn’t quite get that incredible spiritual sense of flight that I got from seeing Mala play solo. But then, we are at the other side of Beltaine rather than on the wild ride up to it.

But none of those minor criticisms matter. Oh, and the security were arseholes, for which there was absolutely no need, because…

Above all, that night was all about the crowd. Even though it was “moody” London, even though it was way too packed, even though it had loads of people new to dubstep, it was still an immensely sweet crowd. Not a trace of attitude despite the crush and the aggression from security. The massive just shrugged it off and got down.

I loved it.

Many thanks to Hijak’s mate Charlotte and Danny Bwoy fo additional pix – their’s are the ones that look good. Mine don’t.

This night felt like a pilgrimage. Getting there took a train journey from Sheffield to London; getting back, a long journey by foot via an old droving path in the early hours, to Hackney; via London Fields, with glowing blossom, while artful foxes stared at us.

It was a nice little meet up in the Barley Mow. This tiny little Victorian pub was my regular haunt over a decade ago when I worked on Rivington street. Dan, who is an old reggae head, translated from Brixton to Hackney and my host for the night, runs into an old friend as soon as we arrive, a guy who went to see the Abyssinians with us last year. I regard this as a good omen, given the connections I’ve been feeling between the spiritual overload of the Abyssinians, and of Shaka, with dubstep, and hence with Bash. Springtime vibes! Then the ever avuncular Martin comes over and I embarrass him by saying what a great writer he is, and it’s not long before John Eden shows up. I get a text from Woebot saying he is – surprise! – on his way, and one phone call and a few seconds later he arrives, resplendent in Stussy T-shirt and one of the nicest fleeces I’ve seen in a long time. (I’d like to say that one of Matt’s perks from his moonlighting as a restaurant reviewer is that he gets access to the latest threads from his colleagues in the style section, and that I anticipate him doing a Trinny and Suzzana soon, but of course, it wouldn’t actually be true…) The delightful and charming Boomnoise makes his entrance, before my gaze locks with a mysterious, wryly smiling, rakish figure across the bar… for it is Marcus.

To my surprise and delight, we have assembled what is effectively a Dissensus posse.

A quick trip to one of the worst shitholes in Shoreditch later (fuck knows why we went there but it did at least provide a violent contrast with Plastic People) and we were in – well, me and Dan were, we couldn’t stomach that place for long. I’d turned down a guest list we were sitting at a table in seconds anyway, soaking up the roots and lovers that Loefah was dropping. I really wish he’d been playing later because his selection was magnificent. It wasn’t really syrupy UK lovers, but big, fat, rolling dancehall with romantic slow-paced vocals. Sadly the place wasn’t that full by that stage, but then, Loefah going on first meant that Bash’s strategy of putting women centre stage was intact.

And so to Mary Ann Hobbs, who acquitted herself well despite a touch of nerves. Opening with Anti-War Dub, she moved on to some Sizzla and a bunch of roots, doing some nice set construction by noticeable taking everything down in the middle before slamming back in with a rocking Barrington Levy / Roots Radics tune.

I popped out mid-set to say than you to Space Ape for his superb set on Friday, and he said how much he and Mala had enjoyed playing Steel City. (Like, it seems, everyone else in the dubstep scene, he is an incredibly nice person.)


Yes, it would’ve been “better” to have had Loefah on second, but Mary Ann built the vibe just fine. Dan, who knows her quite well, gave her a big hug as she left the booth; lets have a few more live sets please MAH…

The Bug’s set was a real musical highlight; I’ll remember it for a very long time. As usual he was mixing high-tech JA ragga with his own angular distortion, but this time he was setting this against two – yes two – quite fantastic female vocalists. For we had the magnificent Nicolette, who was repeatedly and deservedly bigged up for being the Nina Simone of dancehall, by post-punk’s genius of skank, the irrepressibly dynamic Ari Up. Both were, well, brilliant.

Nicolette added righteous jazz-inflected roots vocals whose startling tonal inflections – all fifths, sevenths and other twisted but perfect harmonics – crunched gloriously against the body slam vibrations generated by the Bug.

But then her honeyed flow gave way to Ari Up’s fabulously tight, syncopated MCing which was a perfect contrast with Nicolette’s voice. The impact was multiplied as they continually swapped the Mic through each riddim.
Not everyone liked Ari as much as me, and it was amusing the way she kept telling off Kevin Martin for playing too fast and too hard, but then again – errr – she was right. But this just added to the fun. In the end the combination was just devastating and it all came together on an extended, hyperkinetic Bionic Ras section.

And near the end of the set a third voice was added to the mix – a gorgeous a country soul version of female roots that was a bit of revelation – I think her name was Diana Love but I’m trying to check.

And then, basically, Flight slew dem.

With Pokes back on the mic she assumed control of the booth with stentorian musical authority. Sticking firmly to a blue print of 100 per cent classic 70s and 80s roots, dancehall and especially dub, she injected the night with some much desired soul and dread. Clearly Flight is an expert and unimpeachably confident selector; the crowd was just putty in her hands all the way through, cheering every Tubby rocker and sticking with her right into the ska and rocksteady climax. Yes, truly, rocked it.

Around now Loefah is holding court at the bar, and I’m talking cod with strangers and friends of all ages, making up for spending the night carousing rather than circulating. Kode 9 reflects that, no matter how much he loves dubstep, he’s missing that dark garage swing, and I agree. It’s the end of a fine night, and it’s time to head off into the balmy night for a drift across a silent, deserted, dark-of-the-moon London. It is quite beautiful. We get back to Dan’s at 3.00 and I don’t think I slept till 4.00. Dan’s awoken before six by the baby; I make it through til 7.30. A long night and a short sleep and long journey home, and I am buoyed up.

In the brutal, cold light of day this Bash was not perhaps as great as the first two; the energy levels were a bit uneven. But with a handful of dubstep nights now being put on in strip clubs, it was a gentle assertion of the real inner values of the dubstep scene, even if filtered by that scene’s showcasing of a related music. And it works. Despite the fact that Rhythm and Sound are playing with Skream across town in Ladbroke Grove, the room is full, more so than at the first Bash. It’s a bit more than just another club night, is Bash.

Digital Mystikz’ set last night was the best thing I’ve witnessed in a very long time. I’m just going to tell you how it went and what it felt like. What I will say up-front is that Dubstep played live by a good DJ is just the most exciting music on the planet right now and Mala is an absolutely fantastic DJ.

It was a really sweet crowd and they just got better the longer the night went on. There was a massively friendly vibe, a real sense of community, and the same kind of atmosphere you get at a really nice reggae event, or like it used to be at old underground dance music nights. As you can see from the pictures the crowd was nicely mixed too, with plenty of women soaking up the bass vibes. I have to say I think the Mystikz bring this sort of inclusive, friendly atmosphere with them; it’s like they almost insist on it. Julian C90 did a very good warm-up set. When we got in D1’s Degrees was playing and he went from there to some really very sparkly tuneage. Tight mixing too.

Sure, there was a bit when he was dropping some very downbeat tekky halfsteppers and I couldn’t help thinking that I could see how people could be turned off dubstep if seems too, well, gloomy. I could see where the accusations of it being low in energy come from. But this didn’t last long – Julian rocked it, built up to a really cool climax, finishing with Rhythm & Sound – I think it was King of My Empire.

While bobbing around during his set I met Mala when he was coming in and we chatted for a while. Such a sweet, dignified, focused man. I broke off from talking to him to go dance when Julian played Loefah’s mix of Search & Destroy’s Candy Floss.

Mala came on at midnight. He dropped a bunch of reggae to start, which as you can imagine made me very happy indeed.
He and Space Ape were bouncing around in the booth in sheer joy but before long Space Ape got down onto the floor and started toasting from within the audience, and he stayed there the whole night. It was such a great way of hyping the crowd.

When Mala started, it was as if a whole range of subs had been added to the sound system. It was monstrous, but they were fiddling with the sound for much of the set, getting the sound guy in every now and then. I actually thought the sound was pretty good. It might not have had the cavernous, round, world-defining bass you get with Iration Steppas or indeed DMZ, but it was still low, full, and loud – excellent really.
http://www.grievousangel.net/MalaDeckle1.jpg
The dubstep kicked off with a bunch of incredibly banging, high-energy tracks that were just stripped down noise-weapons: one-note bass lines in lock-step with the kick that were all about working the bass. It was minimal and slamming but incredibly funky. Then there was a long section of bouncy dubstep rockers, including what has been my favourite tune for the last year, Coki’s Mood Dub – the tune I had most wanted to hear him play.

After the bouncy stuff there was a very long and unbelievably intense section of hard steppas – sufferah’s tunes, in the sense that Mala seemed to be challenging the crowd to go with these incredibly heavy, deep, hard tunes, to endure the sweet punishment of the low-end. And go with it the crowd absolutely did. The heavier the dub, the bigger the response, people were just going mad for it, and the pay-off was this sublime sense of being transported, a really deep sense of spiritual release. And Mala was driven, almost possessed, turning down most requests for rewinds, intent on making the journey ever more intense.

But never to the point of being torturous or worse, dull; there was always a finely honed judgement at work. And at just the right moment Mala relented, dropping an absolutely amazing, slow-burning almost jazz-funk dubstep tune, that I absolutely MUST have. It was a DJing masterstroke; build it right up to a peak of almost unendurable intensity and then drop it right back to nothing, just Space Ape talking you down. Mala is both technically and creatively a superb, almost supernaturally gifted DJ. It wasn’t just that his mixing was tight, it was the whole flow of the set – it reminded me of the flowing, artfully-constructed sets of the great house DJs.

Then it was time for some more up-ful tracks. The crowd was still thick and baying for more, and when Mala dropped Loefah’s Root they went wild. The sense of intimacy and recognition was extraordinary; the crowd were screaming at tunes they obviously had never heard before but were immediately captivated by. It was just awesome.

The last section featured a whole heap of devastating 4×4 steppers that was like really evil, groovy but wonky house, which was just fantastic. And maybe my favourite moment of the night was this massively long, extended mix out of (I think) the VIP mix of Request Line into Kode 9’s Seven Samurai – it seemed to go on forever with wave upon wave of EQ action twisting the sound while Space Ape declaimed over it. Just magnificent.

Finally the lights came on and the roar was vast. I’m not sure that the Sheffield audience was quite as demonstrative during the set as the Mystikz might be used to – that’s Sheffield for you, sweet, soft and laid-back – but the crowd really showed their appreciation at the end. The lights still blazing Mala pulled out one last tune and everybody, as Simon “Whistlebump” Haggis said of his visit to DMZ, “Having it right off really slowly”.

And that was it. I was just overwhelmed by that point, staggered over the booth and mumbled some thanks. It was one of the best musical experiences I’ve had for a long time. Regular readers will know how much seeing the Abyssinians meant to me, how utterly transported and deeply moved I was by their performance. Well, it wasn’t as good as that, but then again, it was a very different kind of musical experience, albeit one with a similar spiritual core. Regular readers will also know how much l love Jah Shaka; for me, at his best and with his system in the right room, he’s the best DJ in the world. Well, Digital Mystikz are very, very nearly as good as Jah Shaka – which is extremely high praise from me – and the music is pretty similar to the more savage steppers’ sections of his performances.

For what Digital Mystikz share with both the Abyssinians and Shaka is that to go see them play is to experience spiritual healing. In my opinion, the Mystikz and Shaka in particular are not just fucking around when they drop relentlessly hard, pounding, one-note bass skankers; it’s not just some metallic testosterone work-out; they’re deliberately putting you in a different spiritual place. It’s like there is SOMETHING LIVING IN THE MUSIC, something really good and strong and powerful.

Dubstep is doing something very special right now and I don’t know how long the beauty of the current scene will last – two years? Three? Forever? – but if you have any opportunity at all to go and experience it, you should seize it.

Dave Stelfox is one of, if not the, most important reggae writers in Britain. It’s a privilege just knowing him: he’s a force for good in the world. But it’s an honour of significant proportions to be asked to contribute to the radio show he is running on the wonderful Resonance FM. This is the second show we’ve done and it’s a fun thing to do! A lot of people have askd for an mp3 of the show and while I don’t have that (yet – I’m hoping to host as many of the shows as I can, for a while at least) I do have a good mp3 of the original file. The details are below…

Originally broadcast on Resonance FM on 19-04-2006

Selection and Mix by John Eden
Edits and FX by Paul Meme

0:00: YT: England Story (White)
0:45: Maxi priest: Sensimilla (White)
2:23: Papa Levi: Mi God Mi King (Taxi)
5:07: Tippa Irie and Daddy Colonel: Jus a Speak (UK Bubblers)
6:14: Daddy Rusty: No No Way (UK Bubblers)
7:08: Daddy Sandy: Riddle Bubble (UK Bubblers)
8:10: Asher Senator: The Original Car Style (Fashion)
11:03: Tippa Irie: It’s Good to Have the Feeling You’re the Best (UK Bubblers)
14:00: Leslie Lyric: Blind Date (UK Bubblers)
16:28: Smiley Culture: Cockney Translation (Fashion)
18:17: Papa Levi: Bonnie & Clyde (Island)
21:23: Asher Senator: Fast Style Origination (Fashion)
25.00: Ends

Email grievousangelsoundsystem@yahoo.co.uk for a link. Some invites have gone out already.

… I can feel the vibes… so excited… can’t wait for the bass weight…

I dunno if it’s the done thing or not but I put some requests in… I doubt very much if Mala takes requests from some random fan off the internet but you never know, I might strike lucky — and if you don’t ask, you don’t get… Here’s what I wanted:

Reggae:

Wailers: Hypocrite
Johnny Clarke: Don’t Trouble Trouble
YT: England Story (or anything on 85 riddim)
Asher Senator: Fast Chat Originator
Tippa Irie: It’s Good to have the Felling You’re the Best
Anything on the Hard drive riddim
Any Jammy’s versions of Throw Me Corn
Anything on Water Pumping or Boxing riddims

Dubstep:

DMZ: Mood Dub (please please please!!)
DMZ: Conference
Loefah: Mud
Dusk & BlackDown: Lata / Crackle blues
Random Trio: Indian Stomp
Qawwali
K9’s Kingstown… and Ghost Town
Skream: Dutch Flowers / Lightning / Smiley Faces

Here goes nuttin’…

The next BASH will be sweet and low and heavy and you’re gonna love it, for it is a women’s reggae special. I will be there again with full crew and I just KNOW that you will want to join me, for the DJs are:

The Bug featuring the magnificent NICOLETTE! Aaaaaaaannnnnddd… Warrior Queen!! Together! Plus further MCs TBC…

Plus we have… from OneExtra, drum’n'bass supremo DJ Flight dropping what promises to be a killer Dub/Dancehall set!

Aaaaaaannnd… by special request – your friend and mine, the woman who brought the heavy steppers sound to Radio One and exported the vibe around the world, we have the legendary… MARY ANNE HOBBS!!!

Plus, we have the big man himself, the best producer on the planet, the BASS SCIENTIST, the dancehall don: LOEFAH!!!! This time dropping, for the first time ever outside of SE25, an utterly irresistable, red hot, never-to-be-repeated, LOVER’S ROCK SET!!!!!!!! Loefah’s opening so reach early or miss out!

It’s the ultimate summer-lovin’ BELTANE BASHMENT BASH and if you are on the East Side on that Thursday you will NEED to be there. Come nice y’selves up. Herewith, the blurb from the Bug…

“To celebrate the joys of Spring, the ladies are hitting Bash… Massive Attack’s collaborator/Shut Up & Dance artist Nicolette joins forces with The Bug and Warrior Queen.

Drum & Bass heroine/Radio 1 xtra regular DJ Flight trades her jungle in for dancehall and Radio One’s Breezeblock pioneer Mary Anne Hobbs are providing the pressure at Bash on April 27th. And with Dubstep warrior Loefah dropping bass heavy lovers tunes for the opening set, the night promises to be large.”

“Rephlex records ragga renegade The Bug has joined forces with Loefah from dubstep bass dons Digital Mystikz to promote a new night at
Plastic People. ‘Bash’ will be aimed directly at dancehall partyseekers fiending for the latest bashment rhythms, classic ragga, deep dubstep, heavyweight dub and reggaefied hip hop. Nerds, trainspotters and the moody boys need not apply, as residents, guests and host MCs resolutely set out to ensure the bass will put a smile upon your face.”

“Thursday 27rd April (And the last Thursday of every month) BASH At Plastic People. (Presented by The Bug & Loefah). Policy : Bashment, Dub, Ragga, Rockers, Roots, Lovers, Soca… 10-2AM. £5/Conc..”

BASH is rapidly turning into one of the best reggae nights in London and as a complement to the pure love-fire of the DMZ nights it’s essential.

Dubstep Sufferah has had 141 downloads from Bare Files.

Wow. Most of ‘em are in the 20-40 d/ls mark. That’s a big surprise!

http://www.barefiles.com/download.php?id=456 — or drop me an email for the link.

Kode9 / Space Ape: Backward
More downbeat dub with anthemic plinking synth hooks. Not as good as Kingstown but fabulous nevertheless. Space Ape reasoning in particularly good form. 9 Samurai you should know — that familiar “Test Dept does Prokofiev” Soviet horn figure with really rather bouncy filtered breaks and a lovely near-square-wave descending bassline. Really, really good and shows again that Kode 9 is taking dubstep back into grime and then onto something else entirely. A record you really will still be listening to in five years time — get on with the LP please Steve, I want to listen to a whole record from you!

Scuba: Harpoon / Dream
Paul Rose delivers a very fine slice of spacey, rich yet discordant tekky halfstep. Got that whole Drexciya ting going on but at half speed. I very much doubt that the rumours of this being the final Scuba are true; I certainly hope not cos this is very cool. Again, when’s the Hotflush CD compo coming?

DJ Distance: One on One
I passed on this first time and probably will again — it’s good but just a bit too banging for no reason. I want a summer of dubstep soul. Call me an old fart.

Virus Syndicate: Ready to Learn
That “ready for love” helium sample turned into a crunchingly grrovy bit of grime-step. Cracking record from just over the Snake Pass. Trim, Jammer, Ears and Fallacy (who?) voice the remix flip, ‘Major List MC’s', which is more discordant but equally hooky. Great record.

I thought I’d blogged this once already…

DMZ comes to Sheffield. I’m going and so should you.

Here’s what Julian C-90 said about it…

“c90 presents…

DIGITIAL MYSTIKZ (DMZ, Rephlex, Big Apple)
MC SPACEAPE (Hyperdub, Kode9)

For one special night the stable at the very forefront
of the dubstep
movement travels north from its native South London.
Digital Mystikz
will be joined by Hyperdub’s MC Spaceape to represent
at their first
Sheffield dance for c90. Expect bare exclusive dubs
and devastating
bass weight pressure.

plus resident selector Juliun c90

Friday 21st April, 9.30pm til 2am (last entry strictly
midnight)

@ Matilda Social Centre
111 Matilda Street
Sheffield
S1 4QF

£6 entry

‘Invitations’ available from:
Dulo, Cemetery Road
Forever Changes, Hickmott Road
Record Collector, Fulwood Road
D’n'B Arena, The Forum, Division Street

Powered by the Sama Roots Soundsystem.

Another c90 rrroadblock. Brap!

www.c90.org / info@c90.org”

Deapoh should have it up at
http://barefiles.com/download.php?id=456

But feel free to drop by and say hi — we love making the connection with people…

Well, look, yes, I know you can’t download it RIGHT NOW, but you’ll need your copy as soon as the server is back up. Go on. www.riddim.ca. It’s not hard! Maybe barefiles will have it before May. I don’t know. Just use your loaf.

It’s brilliant, of course. The grime / dubstep mix from last year was, as you know, literally inspirational. The new one lacks vocal pressure — less grime — but it kicks like a mule. The re-edits are absolutely breath-taking. Seriously. It’s fairly obviou that my mix and his mix are close bedfellows.

BTW, Dubstep Sufferah is going to be up at Barefiles soon, but feel free to drop by here and get a link from me if you want a link.

When I was a kid, most of the music I listened to related to the twin poles of industrial and dub, and to this day these two musics are important to me. Industrial is now more of a historical interest, whereas reggae is still essential.) That’s why I like dubstep so much; it’s the near-perfect mix of industrial sonics and abrasion with dub’s space and sweetness. In fact I was going to do a full-on ritual mix of industrial and dubstep, but when I got into it, i really didn’t need to; dubstep has more than enough noise on its own. Hence the title of this mix: Dubstep Sufferah. In Jamaica in the mid-70s, Sufferah’s music was the term for deep roots reggae; personally I think a lot of that dread vibe is embodied in dubstep. It’s also partly a rhetorical or ideological device: I want dubstep to retain its reggae foundation and not turn into techno-ish boys music. Rather I want it to reflect industrial’s menstrual masculinity.

Now, it’s a fact that there simply aren’t enough dubstep records in the world (though there are a load coming out this Spring). A consequence of this fact is that many of the mixes you hear from non-name DJs tend to have a lot of tracks in common — an issue I have tried to address by dubbing the mix to the max and editing most of the tunes. Paul Autonomic’s first grime and dubstep mix from last year was a big inspiration of this approach, though as regular listeners will know, I’ve been ploughing my own digital mix furrow for some years now. And yes, this is an all-Live, all edits, no live mixing package; there are now many, many extremely good live vinyl mixes available, especially from Rinse sessions from Youngsta and Kode 9, plus a number from Joe Nice, so I think that angle is adequately catered for. I’m interested in producing mixes that let me listen to this music in all its widescreen, sumptuous, highly effected glory and for me, this one just about hits the spot. Dubstep Sufferah is made up of three parts: 20 minutes of slowly evolving, deeply dubbed classics, which build up to some roughneck breakbeats’n'noise, before slowly winding down into honeyed, dark, ambience. This mix might be merely a selection of the key tunes from the last year, albeit with as many top-notch ’06 cuts as I could lay my hands on, but I think it still sounds pretty fresh.

Particular stand-out tracks for me are…

Mood Dub: biggest ear worm of the last six months.

Loefah & Skream’s 28 G – TUUUUNE!

Skream’s I – feel the bass. One note is all you need. Better than Request Line?

Lightning – the Skream track that re-embedded Amenz in the dubstep end of the ardkore continuum

Vex’d's Lion — best-est, banging-est breakbeat track of the last five years. Ancient tune too — came out in 04.

Vex’d remix of Toasty’s The Knowledge – the classic “747 taking off” trick re-done fo dubstep. The biggest noise you will hear all year. And Search and Destroy have one of the best group names ever.

Loefah’s mix of Candy Floss — TUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUNNNNNNNNNNEEEEEEE! Love it love it love it…

Random Trio’s Indian Stomp. Absolutely gorgeous. I wasn’t too sure about the minimal down-step sound at first but when you add Indian samples to the mix it just works so well. I would’ve killed for a copy of Dusk & Blackdown’s forthcoming “Lata” to complete the effect but it’s not out for a few more weeks and, you know, I’m just not important enough to get plates or CDs! I really want to have a whole new sub-genre of near-ambient, Indian-tinged dubstep (possibly with a side order of country soul samples…) — the dubstep version of “gyal tunes”. I suppose most of you hate the idea!

Anti-War Dub – just a fantastic, deep, groovy steepers record. Tempted to mix it in with house. You think at first there’s not enough happening to make that relentless 4×4 beat work, but there’s HEAPS of melody here. Great record. should be on the radio (beyond Mary Anne Hobbes). Won’t be.

Dusk & Blackdown — yes I know I’m only using it as a backdrop to Anti-War dub, but this record hints at future greatness.
Kingstown — yup, still the most emotional (and political) record in dubstep. Fantastic piece of work and I thoroughly enjoyed chopping it about. We’re all proud of you Steve!

As before, in a bid to stop leach sites destroying my bandwidth (and get a chance to say Hi! to the people who download our mixes), this mix is only available through email. Just drop me a line at grievousangelsoundsystem@yahoo.co.uk to get the URL of the mix. It’s a 191K MP3 encoded with LAME which weighs 103Mb. Be warned though: the bass on these tunes is DEEP and the mix might sound a bit odd if your speakers / headphones don’t go down very far…

EDIT: Tracklistings are in the “lyrics” field — works on iTunes on a Mac, dunno if it works in anythin else.

Thank you to the (fairly large) numbers of people who have already go in touch with me for your support, and for not revealing mix URLs on message boards.

Dubstep Sufferah mix tracklisting

1. 0.00. Coki (Digital Mystikz) – Mood Dub (DMZ DMZ004)
2. 4.14. Digital Mystikz – Jah Fire (DMZ DMZ002)
3. 6.19. Skream - Traitor (Ital ITAL 001)
4. 9.07. Loefah – Horror Show (DMZ DMZ002)
5. 12.12. Loefah & Skream – 28G (Tectonic TEC003)
6. 17.08. Loefah – The Goatstare (DMZ DMZ006)
7. 19.48. Skream – I (Tempa 0.14)
8. 21.39. Digital Mystikz – 10 Dread Commandments (DMZ DMZ002)
9. 25.15. Loefah – Twisup (Youngsta and Task remix) (DMZ DMZ003)
10. 28.19. Skream – Lightning (Tempa 016)
11. 31.43. Vex’d – Lion (Subtext SUB002)
12. 34.31. Pressure Feat Warrior Queen – Money Honey (Vocal Version) (Hyperdub HDB002)
13. 36:50. Vex’d – Angels (from Planet Mu LP Degenerate
14. 48.43. Toasty – The Knowledge (Vex’d Remix) (Hotflush HFRMX001)
15. 44.27. Boxcutter – Brood (Hotflush HF010)
16. 39:23. Search & Destroy - Candy Floss (Loefah Remix) (Hotflush HFRMX001)
17: 53:39 Skream / Dizzee Rascal – Midnight Request Line (Grievous Angel Vocal Edit) (Tempa 0.14)
18. 56:34. Loefah & Skream – Fearless (Tectonic TEC003)
19. 1:01.19 Random Trio – Indian Stomp (Cyrus EP Tectonic TEC004)
20. 1:03:21 Digital Mystikz – Anti War Dub (DMZ 007)
21. 1:08:03. Dusk & Blackdown - Drenched (Keysound Recordings IDN001)
22. 1:09:51. Kode 9 & The Space Ape – Kingstown (Vocal Mix) (Hyperdub HYP003)
23. 1:14:30. Eschaton
Ends 1:15:23

No time to do label scans — been meaning to do this post for days already…

But… the remix double-header on Hotflush is FAB. Vex’d's remix of Toasty’s The Knowledge Loefah’s mix of Search And Destroy’s Candyfloss (I got caught out by the labels being transposed on my pressing!) is LUSH as you like. Gorgeous halfsteppin’ bassline wobbler. Meanwhile Loefah’s mix of Search And Destroy’s Candyfloss Vex’d's remix of Toasty’s The Knowledge is simply the biggest noise you will hear all year, for all the world sounding like Swans do dubstep (now THERE’S an idea for a boot! Soon come — Shards Fragments and Totems’ competition for best suggestion of a Swans track to remix…). Probably the best record of the year so far.

D1′s Degrees is, well, the one we’ve been waiting for since Youngsta’ sets on Rinse in May last year. Great Blade Runner-esque synth washes and corruscating bass. Yes he’ll probably turn into the Photek of dubstep, and probably very soon, but in the mean time can he PLEASE just bang ‘em out?

Skream’s Skreamism is, well, reviewed somewhat late here, but y’know, I’ve been working. And I was surprised by just how good these tunes are in the mix. Yes Hag comes a bit too close to Marcus Warp’s pet peeve of dubstep becoming second-rate digidub, but the rest is fab. The untitled one and Smiley Face are good beyond belief while Lightning is that “Amen-break dubstep” tune you’ve all been reading about, and it’s terriffic. Well worth your eight quid and the packaging is gorgeous — did N Type really do that illo? Cool!

And… DMZ 007. Digital Mystikz. Anti War Dub. You just KNOW it’s going to be magnificent, but this is special. Loefah might be my favourite dubstep producer, but Digital Mystikz are my favourite dubstep GROUP. Mala and Coki enlist Spen G to create dubstep’s second most emotional tune, and it’s deceptively simple and melodically direct, while the steppers’ blueprint is adapted to near-techno formalism and represents a new departure for dubstep. (Since you’re asking, Kode 9′s Kingstown is the most emotional dubstep tune yet made; Dusk & Blackdown’s Lata will be the third.)

It sounds better every time you hear it and (whisper it) there’s some politics in there. Makes a nice change. Buy it while you can.

Box Cutter: Brood b/w Sunshine

On Hotflush of course, Boxcutter shows off his phenomenal high tek skills — Brood is half step hyped up with vast timestretched breaks, and i wouldn’t be out of place in a Si Begg set. That’s a compliment by the way, I like Si Begg, and I like the way that a lot of Dubstep from Vex’d and Mark One outwards reworks the breaks blueprint. It’s not as good as the visceral cthonic impact of DMZ gear but then, what is? B-side Sunshine is, well, dubstep gone jazz funk — and it’s great!

Random Trio: Cyrus EP

Cyrus’ first proper release is an odd bag but it’s a grower. He doesn’t do the wobbly bassline thing (no, don’t tell me you’re bored with it, I don’t believe you), rather he focuses on extremely sparse tunes that lead on bongo hits with sub bass that is very, very subby — scarcely worth playing at home actually cos you simply won’t hear the bass (it’s present on my studio monitors but not on any of the hifi’s I’ve got). here is a bit of a “Cabaret Voltaire B-side” syndrome going on, but when it comes together on tracks like Indian Stomp it rocks — try this track in the mix, you won’t believe where it takes you.

http://www.randomtrio.blogspot.com/
http://www.randomtrioproductions.com/

Dusk and Blackdown: Submerged / Drenched.
On a similar note is Dusk and Blackdown, about whome one could almost say, welcome to the Drexciya of dubstep. We’re talkin widescreen, down-tempo, somewhat abstract dubstep that is occasionally (and wisely) laden with strings. It’s not a brilliant record, but it is very good, and it’s just a taste of what’s coming: the new EP, due in May, is vastly better and Lata in particular is going to catapault them into the stratosphere. Still, I’m glad I’ve got this one – though I quite fancy hearing it on CD. (Any chance, Martin?)

http://blackdownsoundboy.blogspot.com

D1: I Believe b/w Belong / Steamroller

I think this EP is maybe not quite as immediate as some of the D1 stuff out there; Steamroller is probably the most memorable tune here, but that might be just because it’s (to me) the most familiar. Even so, it’s brilliant music.

Loefah Vs Skream: 28g b/w FearlessLook, I’m not even going to review this. Just buy it while you can.

The consensus is that Bash was a triumph. It was wild! I’m sure it’s partly to do with the fact that Dubstep is the hottest sound on the planet right now. For this was an evening where the leading lights of dubstep, convened by your hero and mine (and key link between Dubstep and its industrial forebears) Kevin Martin in partnership with Loefah (the best producer in the world right now? I think so), got together, kicked back, and played reggae, in the knowledge that by the end of 2006, they will probably all be so famous a relaxed night like this just won’t be able to happen.

So it goes with the historification process.

So get Bash while it’s hot. I think John put it best when he said it was like being in someone’s front room — someone with both fantastic taste in dancehall (and jungle, for that matter) and a HUGE fuck off sound system. (Not quite the best sound in London, not while Shaka’s alive anyway, but not bad.) And obviously, it’s not quite as good as being in John’s front room and playing his tunes, but then not many people have a collection as good as his.

I loved it from the first minute — yo know you’re onto a winner when Loefah’s on the door selling tickets (or in John’s case, crossing you off the guest list, jammy bastard) — I tell you, I nearly creamed myself. I met a bunch of other people that night and all I can say is, these dubstep folk are really nice. The picture above is me giving it up for Kode 9, who played a blinder and reckoned it was the most relaxed DJ set he’d ever done — “Play a record, hit stop, play another record” — though he still managed to play that DEVESTATING ragga jungle classic, Krome & Time’s “Studio 1 Lik”, which is a big fave of mine and went down an absolute storm. Pokes reached across the decks and rewound it straight off. Class.

Anyway. Bash. Dancehall power!!!