gentle force

Im over here now...

2009-07-27T15:59:00.002+10:00

MALA from DMZ coming to Sydney!!!

2007-03-20T20:57:00.000+11:00

Full details are;

Inhale, Southern Steppa & Aquarium presents:

DMZ

Mala - Digital Mystikz UK
Thursday 29th March 2007
8pm to 2am
Abercrombie Hotel
Full Hijack Sound System
Free Entry!!!

Supporting:
Moving Ninja (Tectonic)
Mark Pritchard (UK/Warp Records)
Farj v Paul Fraser (Garage Pressure)
Eli v Zerodub (Southern Steppa)

... and as a little taster I did a small promo mix for the party that will be getting played on radio. Here is the tracklisting and link...

"MALA - DMZ"

Promo Mix for Radio by Eli. March 2007

Tracklisting;

1. 'Hunter' built by Mala - DMZ
2. 'Request Line' (Mala remix) built by Skream - TEMPA
3. 'Da Wrath' (vip mix) built by Mala - DMZ
4. 'Misty Winter' built by Mala - SOUL JAZZ
5. 'Anti-War Dub' built by Mala - DMZ
6. 'Bury da Bwoy' built by Mala - DMZ
7. 'Left Leg Out' built by Mala - DMZ
8. 'Cay's Crays' (Mala remix) built by Fat Freddy's Drop - KARTEL

Link for my mix through rapidshare here

learning to listen again

2007-02-17T10:39:00.000+11:00

It has been a while since I have written anything on here that I have really been happy with. The end of 2006 was pretty full on for me personally and I found myself becoming distant from my normal activties and just submerging myself in mostly folk records to sooth my fragile mind. It is amazing how healing this music can be for the soul when your mind/heart aches...

I had one of most amazing musical/listening experiences with my girlfriend Carla at the start of this year. I had bought Carla the new Joanna Newsom album on vinyl for Christmas and although Carla didn't own a record player at the time (that soon changed, he he) I knew it had to be bought and held in the hands to fully appreciate the sound and beauty of such a special album. Shortly after receiving this gift Carla came over to my house one late afternoon, and as I opened the front door she was holding the record in her excited hands with a massive smile on her face....

That afternoon/evening we sat on the floor in my room, hardly speaking a word to eachother. As the sun went down we just listened to the record from start to finish, clutching the record sleeve between us and reading the lyrics on the pages as the songs played. For a while time stood still and we were lost in the richness of the sounds that poured into our ears. When the needle finally stopped on the last song it was dark outside and Carla an I just sat there smiling at each other knowing we had just experienced something truely special....

After that night I thought to myself "this is how I want to listen to music more often!"... just to set some time aside in the day/night when Im not doing anything else but giving my whole attention to the music I am listening to. To turn off my phone and the computer, close the door and just play a album from start to finish on my record player without being distracted from the world around me. I think, for me personally, sometimes music can just become the soundtrack to my life, I listen to so much of it that it just becomes part of the backgound for my day to day activites, almost like becoming sonic wallpaper that just exists in each room I walk into.

So since the starting of this year I have decided to buy less, and not more, music. I want to try and give more time for each album I purchase and listen to it in the most purest way possible... and for me I find this experience to be most true when I listen to music on vinyl. It really is the closest possible way to hearing music a artist creates as it was intended and sounded when he/she plucked their guitar or sung a word from their lips. Buying and playing a album on record is such a physical experience, from the moment you open the record sleeve to placing the needle on the groove and hearing the sounds that come from it, it makes you become involved in the listening process in the most human way possible. It is a truely grounding and beautiful experience that everyone should experience at least once in their lifetime.

Funnily enough after having this revelation I came across a interview a few weeks later with Joanna Newsom, in Arthur Magazine, that really cemented my feelings about listening to music this way. Read on...

On listening to music;

Newsom learned a lot about listening to music from her boyfriend Bill, for whom vinyl recordings are as much an invitation as a storage medium. “The way he listens to music is one of the most endearing and sweet things I’ve ever seen,” she says, taking a sip of her beer. “He takes off his shoes, sets them down and gets comfortable. He kneels or sits in front of the record player, lifts the cover, reverently chooses a record, puts it on, closes the cover and just listens, start to finish. Whenever I go to see him and we listen to music like that, I register in myself how much better it feels than other ways of listening, which are like rushing to eat a meal because you’re super-hungry. You need to eat, just like you need to listen to music, but it never feels good if you do it like that. So I am trying to set my life up in a way where I don’t have to listen to music anyway other than putting on a record and sitting and listening.”

On Analog;

The hoary debate over analog vs. digital recording usually grinds through its fated moves over issues of technical fidelity and sensual perceptions like “warmth” and “sharpness.” But the wrangle also has a more intangible dimension, one that’s emotional, cultural, almost metaphysical. Analog and digital aren’t just different ways of handling sound – they are different metaphors about how we mirror and model the world. The term analog comes from analogy—the undulating grooves on your vinyl LP (and, more complexly, the magnetic fields captured and reproduced by the metal filings on magnetic tape) are very much like the material undulations of sound waves in the air. Digital comes from digit: an abstract numerical representation of a single slice of flowing sound, sampled at such a rate as to closely approximate a continuous wave. Analog hugs more tightly to the ways of the earth, with its flows and inevitable physical decay. Digital, which hypes the eternal life of the perfect copy, tends to dematerialize and disincarnate—just compare an MP3 or DJ software to an old 78 or a pedal harp. Faced with the dominant empire of the digital, some people don’t just choose to make or listen to more analog recordings. They choose to live more analog lives.

Full interview over at Arthur Magazine with Joanna here.

SUBMERGED this thursday!!!

2007-02-11T19:43:00.000+11:00

Mark Pritchard is coming back to Submerged to rattle our bones again! Nov. last year Mark's set at the Abercrombie absolutely blew us away and we are very happy that he is coming back for seconds! If you have no idea who Mark is (tsk, tsk) here is some info on the man.

Kodama is making a return to the decks for Submerged and is planning on doing something a little special... a 'Roots of Dubstep' set, playing tracks that carved the way to the sound that we now know as Dubstep today. Eg. Early El-B, Horsepower, Zed Bias, Benga stuff etc... looking forward to it!

Jeremy aka Zerodub is back from his overseas trip and keen as beans to play!

... and of course the HIJACK SOUNDSYSTEM will be in full effect!

SUBMERGED this thursday!!!

2007-01-08T18:52:00.000+11:00

Holidaze & Submerged

2007-01-05T07:15:00.000+11:00

Well... I had a bit of a break from everything. Went up the coast for Christmas with the family and spent new years at the Peats Ridge Festival. I havent really had any urge to write since coming back either, though as reality and work settle back in I think my mind will snap out of its 'holiday daze' mode.

So SUBMERGED is back on next week (thurs 11th Jan.), im so lazy I havent even got the flyer together yet! Anyway we have to great guests coming down to play for us which im excited about!

Bec Paton is a all round talented freak on the decks and off and will be playing a set on thursday. Bec runs the Patent Pending show on 2ser FM and alawys scares me when she gets behind the decks(to much talent)! Also we are having Semper-Fi returning to Submerged to no doubt get the place skanking! Semper-Fi recently released a EP on Dub Conspiracy with Mc Half Caste, its good stuff and well produced, lots of dancehall/hip hop/drum'n'bass mash ups with tight lyrics. Check it here.

Also, as always with Submerged we will be bringing in Paul Hijack and his lovely big soundsystem to rattle your chest and tickle your nose! Its FREE entry and it kicks off at 8pm sharp! Ill put up the flyer asap.

just doodling...

2006-12-18T23:01:00.000+11:00

I have decided to put up a drawing or two every now and then of things I have done over the last few years. So here is my first offering, and like most of my creative output... unfinished.

Shackleton Interview + Exhale tonight

2006-12-16T14:33:00.000+11:00

^skull disco artwork^

There is a really good read over at Blackdown's blog with a interview between Martin and Shackleton. Shackleton ran, the now defunct, Skull Disco label/nights and has always been a outsider in the dubstep community. This interview gives a really good insight into the man's mind and his opinions on war, digital mystikz and japanese culture!

Oh and if your coming down to 'Exhale' tonight at the Abercrombie pub, my set has been moved to 11:30pm til 12:30am! Hopefully see some of you there, doors open at 8pm with two rooms of sounds at only a $5 entry fee!

Dubstep Love in December!

2006-12-11T21:43:00.000+11:00

I was a bit bummed out I had to cancel the dec. Submerged when I found out I was going to be away on the date I booked in originally with the foreign dub boys... and since the next Submerged is'nt till January 11th I thought there would be no dubstep sounds around the city until next year, BUT alas! there are two great parties on this weekend where you can get your bass weight fix!

This friday is 'Space is the Place' at the Hermann's Bar (Sydney Uni). The theme is "deep rhythms from distant worlds". Our friend Simon aka Some Freak, whom early this year went to the Red Bull Music Academy in Melbourne (lucky man), has put together the nite and Scott and I are really happy to be apart of it! There will be a special screening of a film called "Mothership Connection" which explores the link between space and pan-african popular culture; it includes interviews with George Clinton, Juan Atkins, DJ Spooky, Carl Craig and Lee Perry. The film starts at 8pm sharp, followed by 6 hours of deep spaced out music in all sorts of styles and rhythms. Its only $5 dollar entry or $2 if you wear something cosmic!

Then on Saturday nite down at the good 'ol Abercrombie there will be a party held to farewell Jase (Foreign Dub member), called 'Exhale'! Jase is going back home to Vietnam for a few years to help out with the family business (very nice of him) and he will def be missed by many of us here in Sydney! So come down and see him off party styleee! Entry is a measly $5 dollars and the party starts in the afternoon and goes until late. Im playin a set from 10-11pm in the downstairs room so come along and say hello or buy me a a drink because Im broke! Yay!

Every now and then I click on Gutterbreakz blog hoping Nick has come back to the blogging world, I loved his blog + read it religiously and I was saddened when he stopped writing. Nick kept a close eye on the Bristol dubstep scene and wrote/reported about it on his blog regulary. So naturally I was very excited that he had put up a small post a few days back writing about a new Bristol Dubstep Doco called "Living Inside The Speaker"! Im def. going to order a copy asap (very limited supposedly) and look forward to watching it in its entirety. Go to Nick's blog and watch the trailer here

Well hopefully see some of you on the weekend.... ;o)

Im back...

2006-12-09T12:33:00.000+11:00

Its been a long time since I have written anything decent here at gentle force... anyway im back!

Im pretty excited this weekend as im going to two great gigs. The first gig is tonight at the Gaelic Club in Surry Hills, the band A Band Of Horses are playing and it will be their first time in Australia too. I have been playing their album "Everything All The Time" to death at the moment and Im well looking forward to seeing them live and in the flesh! Do yourself a favour and listen to the song "Funeral" by the band and feel the love! Click here for a bunch of free mp3's on their official site.

^band of horses cover art^

The second gig on Sunday night at the new Factory Theatre in Enmore and Amon Tobin, Kid Koala + Australia's own Triosk are providing the sounds! Amon Tobin was absolutely amazing last time I saw him play at the Globe afew years back, His music is densely layered and atmospheric, and when hearing it on a big system its... well, heavy!

^amon tobin^

So onto some music now...

Bass Clef aka Ralph Cumbers from Bristol (not to be confused with Australia's Bass Kleph) has just released his first full length album titled "A Smile is a Curve that Straightens Most Things" on record label Blank Tapes. The first thing you notice on this album is the warmth of the bass and drums, thats because its all recorded using analouge equipment! Dubstep is the most prominent sound explored on the album but its defintely a different take on it, which I find completely refreshing! Ralph is heavily influenced by early dub pioneers King Tubby, Prince Jammy and Lee Perry and this def. comes through on the album. There is also some really beautiful ambient moments on there too, namely the sublime "Thankyou for Starting Fires" track with early Autechre influences shining through!
At the moment unfortunately the album is only available on cd which I hope changes soon as I would love to have this on record! However, the "Clapton Deep" (the first track on my new 'Nag Champa' mix) 12" single which was released earlier this year and is still available to buy online + locally!

Read a excellent interview with Ralph here and check out his blog over here.
"A Smile is a Curve that Straightens Most Things" is available locally through Inertia Music.

^bass clef cover art^

On a physchedelic tip the new 'Acid Mothers Temple & The Melting Paraiso U.F.O.' Japanese based band released the "Myth of the Love Electrique" album and it has been making my day/nights a whole lot more colourful! From guitar led pysch outs to meditative synth drone love, this album has it all, and best of all the album finishes off with the most beautiful hypnotic anthem titled "Pink Lady Lemonade (May I Drink Once Again)" (over 20min long!) with the amazing Kitagawa Hao on vocals which is worth buying for alone!

^acid mothers temple^

Check out Acid Mothers Temple site here.
Listen to some free live recordings on Internet Archive here.
"Myth of the Love Electrique" album is out now locally through Inertia Music

to many ideas...

2006-12-07T22:20:00.000+11:00

to many ideas, such little time to write about them...

GREEN BEATS this Sunday!

2006-12-01T23:08:00.000+11:00

This sunday come down to Green Beats at Petersham Bowling Club! I had alot of fun at these partys last summer... here is what Zac the promoter has to say about it all;

"Green Beats returns for another month on December 3rd @ Midday! The last party was enjoyed by all who braved the wet weather, but Mother Nature will ensure that Dec 3rd will be sunny, fine, and very much the perfect Sunday that Green Beats is known for!
To those who havnt been before, Green Beats is an indoor/outdoor event, with music from many different genres by some Sydneys best Dj’s over 8 hours on a Sunday afternoon! Browse the market stalls, enjoy a game of lawn bowls against your mates, have as many cheap beers as you can handle, and enjoy The Flying Taco Mexican food, a sausage sizzle, and the bistro!

$10 includes bowls all day, or $5 just for the music!

Green Beats will return Dec 3rd. on the lineup:"

12-1pm Highly Dubious

1-2pm Dazed & Lazy

2-3pm Marishka

3-4pm Bec Paton

4-5pm Eli

5-6pm Kodama

6-7pm Decoder Ring (dj set)

7-8pm Foreign Dub

"The Collective hope you can make it to enjoy a day of chilled beats, cheap beers, great food, and some lawn bowls!"

Off to Melbourne tomorrow!

2006-11-21T20:59:00.000+11:00

I have been a bit slack on the posts of late. There is a few albums I want to write about that have been changing my life BUT, alas it will all have to wait as Im off to Melbourne for a week for holidays! Check back soon...

this weekend at the abercrombie!

2006-11-18T11:36:00.000+11:00

More info here

...and...

Info here

nag champa mix now available for d/load

2006-11-16T22:18:00.000+11:00

'Nag Champa' mix

Mixed by Eli. November 2006

Tracklisting;

1. 'Clapton Deep' - Bass Clef - BLANK TAPES
2. 'Berkane Sol' - Geiom - BERKANE SOL
3. 'Cocaine' - D1 - TEMPA
4. 'Surreal' - L-Wiz - DUB POLICE
5. 'Lighthouse Dub' - Monkeysteak - PUNCH DRUNK
6. 'Flesh Wound' - Timeblind - SOOT
7. 'Qwawwali' - Pinch - PLANET MU
8. 'Lata' - Blackdown - KEYSOUND
9. 'Indian Stomp' - Cyrus - TECTONIC
10. 'Guilty Pleasures' (Pinch rmx) - Atik2 - WERK
11. 'Ancient Memories' - Digital Mystikz - DMZ
12. 'Distant Lights' (Kode 9 rmx) - Burial - HYPERDUB
13. 'South London Boroughs' - Burial - HYPERDUB
14. 'Fat Larrys Skank' (Kode 9 rmx) - Benny ill, Kode 9 & The Culprit - TEMPA
15. 'From Country' - Darqwan - TEXTURE
16. 'Punisher' - Pinch - PLANET MU
17. 'Haunted' - Digital Mystikz - DMZ
18. 'Request Line' (Digital Mystikz rmx) - Skream - TEMPA
19. 'Plate' - Scuba - HOTFLUSH
20. 'Killers About' - Benga - PLANET MU
21. 'Monolith' - Gravious - HOTFLUSH
22. 'Punisher' (Loefah rmx) - Pinch - PLANET MU
23. 'System' - Loefah - TECTONIC
24. 'Left Leg Out' - Mala - DMZ
25. 'Mud' - Loefah - DMZ

Click here --->Nag Champa mix

Its through rapid share so click on the 'free' button, then wait for the timer to count down and right click and save to hard drive! Enjoy!

tectonic plates

2006-11-13T20:56:00.000+11:00

Tectonic, the dubstep label that is run by Dj Pinch in Bristol, has just released a double cd showcasing the tectonic sound called 'tectonic plates'. Since receiving this in the mail the other week, (thanks gutter) I have been listening to it repeatedly on my stereo simply because this is one of the best dubstep compilation/dj mixes I have heard since the dubstep sound was born! Tectonic came onto the scene only about 2 years ago and has slowly become one of the most prominent labels within the dubstep scene, showcasing sounds from big names like Loefah, Digital Mystikz and Skream, also Australia's own Moving Ninja and label owner Pinch himself. As well as this, the label has also been about pushing new talent and we have been lucky enough to discover the sounds of Omen, Cyrus (Random Trio), Hijak, S.N.O. and Armour all thanks to Pinch... so hats off to the man!

CD 1 is a compilation of the best tracks on the label to date and it doesn't disappoint! Highlights for me are Distance's beautifully sitar plucked 'Temptation' as well as Loefah's huge soundsystem crusher, 'System'.
CD 2 however is where it's at! It is a dj mix by Pinch himself and to be very Australian of me it's bloody beautiful! The mix is deep and mixed flawlessly and upon listening repeatedly you can hear subtle fx and atmospheric sounds that have been layered over the mix to create something new and fresh to the eardrums. Buy this on site!

Tracklisting;

CD 1 - SELECTED TRACKS;

1. Bahl Fwd – Skream 2. Temptation – Distance 3. Wear The Crown – DQ1 4. Slang – MRK1 5. System – Loefah 6. Molten – Digital Mystikz 7. Iron Man – Armour 8. Nightmarez – Hijak 9. War Dub – DJ Pinch & P Dutty 10. Murky – Moving Ninja (w&p by Farj & Jabba) 11. Fearless – Loefah & Skream 12.Frontline – Omen 13. Bounty – Cyrus (Random Trio)

CD 2 - DJ MIX

1. Indian Stomp – Cyrus/Random Trio 2. Temptation – Distance 3. Rebellion – Omen 4.The Haunted – Headhunter 5. Wear The Crown – DQ1 6. Changes – Digital Mystikz 7. Gud Money – DQ1 8. Nightmarez – Hijak 9. Pages – Pinch 10. Full Metal Jacket – Omen/Random Trio 11. System – Loefah 12. Molten – Digital Mystikz 13. Slang – MRK1 14. Bahl Fwd – Skream 15. Gutter – Cyrus/Random Trio 16. Disturbance – S.N.O 17. Third Choice – Vex’d 18. Punisher – Pinch (Loefah SE25 Remix) 19. 28g – Loefah & Skream 20. Iron Man – Armour

SUBMERGED and new 'Nag Champa' mix

2006-11-10T08:30:00.000+11:00

Last night at Submerged was banging.... just like my head is now! It was well worth it though! Great vibes, lots of friendly faces and great sets all round! Special thankyou for our guests Mark Prichard, Lorna & Sub Bass Snarl! All played wicked sets! Cant wait for the next Submerged already!

I handed out a bunch of cds containing my new mix on it, so to those people here is the details;

'Nag Champa' mix

Mixed by Eli. November 2006

Tracklisting;

1. 'Clapton Deep' - Bass Clef - BLANK TAPES
2. 'Berkane Sol' - Geiom - BERKANE SOL
3. 'Cocaine' - D1 - TEMPA
4. 'Surreal' - L-Wiz - DUB POLICE
5. 'Lighthouse Dub' - Monkeysteak - PUNCH DRUNK
6. 'Flesh Wound' - Timeblind - SOOT
7. 'Qwawwali' - Pinch - PLANET MU
8. 'Lata' - Blackdown - KEYSOUND
9. 'Indian Stomp' - Cyrus - TECTONIC
10. 'Guilty Pleasures' (Pinch rmx) - Atik2 - WERK
11. 'Ancient Memories' - Digital Mystikz - DMZ
12. 'Distant Lights' (Kode 9 rmx) - Burial - HYPERDUB
13. 'South London Boroughs' - Burial - HYPERDUB
14. 'Fat Larrys Skank' (Kode 9 rmx) - Benny ill, Kode 9 & The Culprit - TEMPA
15. 'From Country' - Darqwan - TEXTURE
16. 'Punisher' - Pinch - PLANET MU
17. 'Haunted' - Digital Mystikz - DMZ
18. 'Request Line' (Digital Mystikz rmx) - Skream - TEMPA
19. 'Plate' - Scuba - HOTFLUSH
20. 'Killers About' - Benga - PLANET MU
21. 'Monolith' - Gravious - HOTFLUSH
22. 'Punisher' (Loefah rmx) - Pinch - PLANET MU
23. 'System' - Loefah - TECTONIC
24. 'Left Leg Out' - Mala - DMZ
25. 'Mud' - Loefah - DMZ

Ill be uploading it within the next few days for d/load so keep checking back if you havent got the mix yet... cheers!

I wish I lived in Manchester

2006-11-04T11:37:00.001+11:00

Just received a email from the Voice Of The Seven Woods mailing list... I wish I lived in Manchester... well just for one day!

... now that is my idea of a good party! Read more about the night over at Mushrumps.

SUBMERGED... Thurs the 9th of Nov.

2006-11-01T20:48:00.000+11:00

Its nearly time again to all gather at the Abercrombie Pub for a night of Dubstep music... Im really excited about this one as we have some very special guests!

Mark Prichard is in town... for a while too! So I had to grab the chance to get him to play down at SUBMERGED while he is still around. Mark is really keen on Dubstep music at the moment, and this is not suprising considering he has always been into forward thinking music through out his life as well as in his musical creations! If you have not heard of him he also writes music under; Reload, Link, Chaos & Julia Set (w/ Dom Fripp), Series 7, NY Connection, Harmonic 33, Trouble Man, Vertigo (w/ Danny Breaks), Use of Weapons and Pulusha (w/ Kirsty Hawkshaw). As well as recording on the following labels; Evolution, Universal Language, Warp, Farout, Island records, Dedicated, Droppin science, Alphabet Zoo, Good Looking and Infonet/Creation. Mark is a top bloke and I will be excited to hear his set! For more info on Mark's music history go here

^mark prichard^

Local sound masters Sub Bass Snarl are playing a semi-live dubstep set using decks and effects (seb mixing & luke on sampler+fx). They have been playing out since '92 and putting on local nights like Frigid as well as playing overseas at such places like Tokyo, London, San Francisco and New Zealand. Check more about the 'Snarl' here

^sub bass snarl^

Also we have the ever so talented/lovely Lorna who has been playing+putting on parties around Sydney since '94, djing at such nights like Mad Racket, Kooky, Sabotage and Jus' Right as well as running a radio show on 2SER and more recently FBI Radio. To read more about her musical adventures go here

So folks its going to BIG!!! The night is FREE and it kicks off at the sane hour of 8pm sharp! Sound will be supplied by Paul Hi-Jack Soundsystems so that means big, warm subby love!

its my birthday and ill cry if I want to!

2006-10-30T14:18:00.000+11:00

Its my birthday today, at work at the moment, nothing special... although my mum is bringing over a big pot of homemade curry tonight! Anyway just thought id tell anyone that lives locally in Sydney ill be celebrating my b'day at Animal Collective @Newtown this Saturday night! So come down and celebrate with me and one of the most amazing current psych bands (well in my opinion)! Tickets are still available through mosxtix here at all local moshtix outlets!

^animal collective live^

soundsystem music

2006-10-29T10:38:00.000+11:00

What a weekend! Skream on friday night was down right heavy! It was really cool to meet the man (or boy) himself. Lovely geezer with so much passion and love for dubstep music, he has this boundless energy and now I can see why his music output is so frequent as he cant stop (literally) making this music that has become so a part of his life now. The turn out for the gig was pretty decent too, quite a few regular faces and some randoms that wandered up from downstairs in the pub, probably because the bass was rumbling the entire building. Apparently you could feel it several blocks away... thats some serious bass weight!

One thing that really struck a chord with me was Skream's record box, it was entirely full with ten inch dubplate records. I had already known that most of the heads in the dubstep scene cut all their tunes, and others, to dubplate, but to see/hear this in the physical was really something else! So many international djs that come to our shores are more so than ever bringing a bunch of cdrs or a laptop and final scratch in their bags. Now I know that people will argue several points over why its better to use digital formats for dj'ing these days but I still think that there is something special with hearing a physical dubplate as opposed to a non-physical digital wav. file or mp3 on a BIG soundsystem. Throughout Skream's set you could constantly hear the crackle and pop of the needle grinding its way along through the slowly disinegrating groove on the record. To some people that would sound terrible but to me it was like heaven to my ears... well nearly. Dubplates are, in majority, a dying artform but I think no long as there is soundsystem music (eg. reggae/dub/jungle/dubstep) this unique method shall live on!

DNBBQ last night at the Abercrombie was wicked! Im still buzzing from the experience! I arrived at 9pm which is quite late considering it starts at 4 in the afternoon. The Caca were playing on the outside stage... wow! Their sound is heavy! Part dub, hard rock, ambient and psych! Check them out if you can, they are starting to play quite a few regular gigs in Sydney. My set after they played went quite well I think. Still high on seeing Skream the night before I pretty much played heavy skanked out stuff, mostly Skream, Digital Mystikz, Loefah, Kode 9 and Pinch tracks. Throughout the hour I was playing the crowd became more receptive to the sounds. At first mostly head nodding and a small contingent of dancers down the front, namely Al, Jeremy and Brickwood, but then towards the end as I played tracks like 'Left Leg Out' by Mala and Loefah's remix of Skream's 'I' the crowd started really getting into it and I could hear screams of joy (or maybe pain) as the sub pressure began to make peoples bodies move in strange physical ways, almost spasm like. This was mostly due to the fact that there was a PROPER soundsystem in use on the night to let people really FEEL the music. It became not just a aural experience but a physical one... and that is definitely the key to people actually understanding dubstep music. It is the difference that makes people click and suddenly realise what this music is made for. People whom had only previously heard this music on their i-pods or home stereos actually for the first time had a revelation on the dance floor! So I have to say a BIG THANKYOU to Paul Hi-jack whom without his soundsystem, expertise and skills none of this would of happened at all! After my set I was listening to Sub Bass Snarl, they continued playing dubstep and kept the mix interesting with Luke on the sampler + fx and Seb not afraid to try different mixing techniques. I always enjoy hearing Sub Bass Snarl play out (needs to happen more often!). Whilst dancing I had several people come up to me and comment on my set saying they had not heard this music and asked where they could hear more! It was really encouraging to hear this. The future for this music in Sydney is looking brighter!

Whilst talking dubstep there is a really interesting post over at Dj Ruptures blog about Grime, Dubstep and the use of Voice titled 'GHOSTS IN THE TUNNEL'. What is more interesting is the comments section and different peoples opinions on the subject matter. I actually enjoyed reading Rupture saying in his original post...

"the Digital Mystikz anthem 'Earth a Run Red' snatches that snippet of Ritchie Spice's roots classic, stripping away the rest of his conscious poetry. The second Dub Police 12" contains a handful of standard dancehall hype samples -- all serving as surface gloss to contextualize it as dub, soundclash, virile macho, whatever fantasy patois boasts alight in the collective imagination of their target audience. I could go on; these are just 2 examples among many. There is no agency, the black voice is used as spice... These structural cliches bore me in breakcore, and they bore in me dubstep"

... and then wrote a day later in the comment section...

" i had a quintessential dubstep experience w/ Earth a Run Red. SoulJazz gave it to me, and i wasnt really feeling it at home, then I heard Maxximus play it out in Berlin, and the whole perspective of BASS / BEATS shifted, suddenly there was this massive low-end and the landscape changed and I was pretty much floored. So yeah, big up Coki on the boards, that is some incredible soundsystem music"

this weekend...

2006-10-24T22:39:00.000+10:00

Friday Night...

The night is nearly here that dubsteps wonderkid Skream will grace the decks for the first time in Sydney! This will be heavy for sure... Dont miss it!

Saturday Night...

DNBBQ has to be one of the best partys in Sydney, hands down! It goes for 12 hours straight, has outdoor and indoor rooms, two of the biggest soundsystems in sydney, free bbq feed, $9 jugs of beer, fresh line up of bands and djs and great crowd! Get down early as this will sellout! Im playing at 10pm between The Caca (live) and Sub Bass Snarl. Really looking forward to this!

"sunset is a all day process"

2006-10-21T15:04:00.000+10:00

Its gloomy and grey outside today... I didnt think my day was going to be exciting, especially nothing out of the ordinary.

I went over to Carla's house at lunch time and decided to go on a adventure with her to Annadale to the 'Bass Player' shop on Parramatta road where Carla was after some new strings. On the way out I noticed next door a second hand record shop called 'The Vintage Record'. I got the 'shakes' and asked Carla if it was ok to go in and have a quick squiz around. I drifted around the shop, kind of scared to do any serious digging as my wallet was light and it wasnt pay day any time soon. I kind of just followed my instincts and ended up in front of a sign saying 'assorted lp's'. After a quick flick through my eyes caught a familar image/colour that made my fingers freeze up and my body fill with excitement. As I pulled out the record my heart lept with joy as I read the words 'cLOUDDEAD' across the cover. Carla knew it was something special to me as I didnt really say any words, I just made funny little excited sounds and murmurings from my mouth.

So many memories came flooding back, feelings that had been buried deep somewhere inside myself, beautiful moments that are filled with friends laughter and pink soaked sunsets. For a moment whilst standing there in the shop I lost myself and all sense of time and place stood still...

Carla could tell that the album really meant something to me. Straight away she asked if she could buy it for me... "a early birthday present" she said. I could'nt refuse and moments later I was walking up Parramatta road feeling on top of the world, like a little kid who had just been given the most exciting gift he could of hoped for! I laughed out loud and didnt care if anyone walking by could here me. I love moments like this...*

You see I was never was the coolest kid and I never knew about the latest albums that had come out, so to some that might read this they would be saying "so what? I got that record five years ago" or if they were super cool they would say "I have all those 10inch singles that make up the cLOUDDEAD lp". Good for you! I didnt however know about this album when it was first released, I discovered it a while later through a friend of mine Greg(thankyou) who just handed me a burnt cd copy of it with the words "cLOUDDEAD" scribbled on it. Greg just told me "I had to hear it, it was like nothing else"... and it wasnt, it still isnt! That summer I listened to it religiously on my headphones (i def think its a headphone album) and had it playing whilst at home, work or travelling. It was the soundtrack to my life for a while, I needed that album , it soothed me and would make everything right. I often thought of owning it on record but I never really tried hard enough to find it and once I started working at Inertia Music I was told that it wasnt available through Big Dada Records anymore. I guess I just gave up to easily.

So you can see now why I am so happy that I found it and had to share this with you all (Im still actually buzzing now whilst typing this)! Now I dont care if its grey and gloomy outside today because my head is filled with sunsets and laughter...

excerpt from the song 'and all you can do is laugh' by Why?;

"...a leaf in the twilight looks like a million bucks,
like hot pink paint you couldn't buy before synthetics.
to sit under the first autumn tree in the park
and watch a tee-ball practice just before dark.
sunset is an all day process."

Check out about cLOUDDEAD here if you havent experienced them yet.

'Memories of the Future'

2006-10-17T20:53:00.000+10:00

I got handed a copy of Kode 9's new album 'Memories of the Future' today. At first I was to nervous to put the cd in the stereo in fear of what sounds might come out of the speakers... would this album live up to my expectations? Would it blow my mind and body just like Kode 9's dj set had done a week earlier at the Phoenix Bar(thats a different post alltogether)...?

I took a deep breath and gathered the courage to press play....

The opening sounds of 'Lime' hit my eardrums and instantly the hairs on the back of my neck stood up and I had a uncontrolable sense to laugh out loud and cry at the same time... I was just so excited! I thought how priviliged I was to be alive in this time in history and to be given the chance to hear such deeply moving physical music. What a blessing! It was like all the dance music I had listened, danced and collected over the years had lead me to this point in time when such a album would be made that would put everything in its right place. Its like Kode 9 and Spaceape were destined to meet and make such music together, it was written as a prophecy in some ancient old sacred dread book... maybe. Anyway (ahem) back to 'Lime'. The track has this immense sadness to it, a mournfullness to it. There is a heavy weight to it. Its like Spaceape is finding it hard to open his mouth and speak of the truth he knows, its a burden this truth he carries, this wisdom he has been given... he suffers for knowing it but still trudges on through the darkness around him with just a dimily lit candle and a book of poems to help guide him through this world. You, the listener, are transported into this world throughout the album and are invited to feel/hear what it has to show you, and if you listen carefully you might be able to hear the secrets that are hidden within the layers of Spaceapes words and Kode's future dread riddims.

For a great recent interview with Kode 9 hit up Fact Magazine here or check out Kode's footage @Red Bull Music Academy last week in Melbourne here
Read a 'proper' review of the 'Memories of the Future' on Boomkat here
The album will be out locally through Inertia Music within the next few weeks.

The Body Riddles

2006-10-14T10:47:00.000+10:00

Its saturday day, lunch time to be exact. Its dam hot, humid and sweaty outside... oh its going to be a great summer, i can feel it... a sense of excitement, new adventures... and new hope. Looking forward to those long summer days and warm balmy nights drinking cold beers on the verandah whilst watching the fat old sun go down. Funny thing is its still only spring and the weather is already like this! Hello global warming! Anyway...

^clark's new body riddle album'

Im happy because I have the day to myself and im playing records up loud in my room. One particular record Im playing alot of at the moment is Clark's new 'Body Riddle' album. Chris Clarke as he was formally known on his two previous albums (both amazing) has continued to create music that to me is filled with boundless freedom, (REAL) human emotion and a explosion of creative energy that would be to powerful for any normal human being to behold. To me its the most exciting electronic solo album ive heard in a long time... and to be honest (and this hurts a little to say) i feel embarrassed for Tom Jenkins aka Squarepusher who's new album 'Hello Everything' (on the same label Warp) has been released at the same time... and in comparison is his most non-creative/dissapointing album to date.

Ive decided instead of writing about the whole album track for track or trying to word such indescribable sounds/feelings I would put down quotes from the man himself to give you a better idea why you should run down to your local shop an buy this right now!

I wrote that there was 'REAL' human emotion in his music which I find is lacking alot in most electronic/idm music today, so here is a perfect example of it from Chris himself on writing 'Body Riddle'...

"...on completion of one track for the LP I was so chuffed I pegged around Birmingham on my bike for ages... partly shit scared that I would die before handing my LP in, whilst also laughing my head off, grinning maniacally and simultaneously weeping for joy. It must have looked a right sight."

On Chris's myspace page he wrote the following in his blog when trying to give a bio...

"A biog is the perfect opportunity for the artist to romanticise, simplify and reduce the mammoth complexities of his/her work in order to curry favour from any ole' crust earning journo that is willing to a) believe it b) allow it to affect their response to his work, which, whether they like it or not exists in a hermetic vacuum that no written word can ever affect. This is the nature of sound and music. That it prompts debate, discussion and tangential opinion is inevitable but it floats forever on the periphery of this; out of reach, inpenetrable; darkly invisible. It will never be fully " got". With this in mind my life has been like an all consuming mission to find something I have made a conscious and enlightened choice to decide that I will never find.

WHY?

Because music provides us tiny human mug-wits with something of the most beautiful transcendental significance in the universe. In music we forget our petty hang-ups, our worries, our phobias and become engulfed in hidden channels of consciousness that suggest a pilgrimage towards the pinnacle of human depth, intelligence and feeling. Or something."

Amen...

So check out his new site and decide for yourself here. There is a link to a wicked music/visual microsite that plays all his tracks through with animated loops. Clark also has some free mp3's to download there too! Available locally through Inertia Music.

"Fat Old Sun" (part 2) mix for download

2006-10-07T11:09:00.000+10:00

Well it only took me 4 months roughly to finally finish the second part to my Fat Old Sun mix. This second part is filled with the more experimental, darker and psychedelic sounds of the pink floyd. Most of the songs are lengthy instrumental pieces and a few songs by Syd Barrett himself. Hope you enjoy!

Listen to a stream of the mix or download mp3 (right click & save) here

SUB MERGE this thursday the 5th of Oct

2006-09-30T11:56:00.000+10:00

Almost forgot!... our local dubstep night is on next week at Inhale at the Abercrombie Hotel! This will be a good warm up for Kode 9 on the sunday. We have guests Farj from Garage Pressure as well as Chris J and Sakura from The Collective playing sets as well as Zerodub and myself. Its FREE and it kicks off 8pm till late, BIG extra sound brought in by Paul aka Hi-Jack Soundsystem! Hope to see some of you there...

dubstep releases & up'n'coming parties

2006-09-30T09:12:00.000+10:00

Alot of great dubstep music coming out at the moment, try and keep it short and sweet for each 12"...

^new tectonic 10"^

The new Tectonic 10" is out now... BUY IT! You dont need to listen to it first either because its friggin Loefah on one side and Digital Mystikz on the other! Loefah's track titled 'System' is along a similar vain to his 'Ruffage/Mud' release on DMZ. Music like this is made for big soundsystems! On the flip is Mystikz's track 'Molten', got a similar vibe/riddim to their track 'Haunted'. Eerie pads, echoing percussion and deep dread sub. Yes please! Listen and buy here

^skreams 'tapped/dutch flowers'^

So much coming out on the Tempa label at the moment which is good to see because for a while there was hardly any output from them for a year or more! I got a bunch of Tempa whites through work the other day and I was very happy to hear what they were when I got home that night!
Skream has been releasing a incredible amount of music at the moment, definately one of the hardest working producers/djs in the dubstep scene. Besides his two recent heavyweight 'Skreamisim' EP's, and on the verge of releasing his full length LP, he has given us a tasty 12" with the two tracks 'Tapped/Dutch Flowers'. Tapped has a real electro feel to it, on a similar vibe to 'Request Line' with its playful/simple melody. Not sure if Im really into this more ravey sound that Skream has been playing with at the moment...? Anyway when Skream writes his more dubwise tunes he nails it and this is what you get on the flip side... 'Dutch Flowers' is a dubby, up-beat, skanked out tune with its rolling 4/4 riddim and horn section, its quite similar to Mala's up-beat 4/4 track 'Left Leg Out' forthcoming on DMZ. Really digging these skanky tunes at the moment! Listen and buy here

^classic... fat larrys skank^

Kode 9 gets to do remix duties on the classic 'Fat Larrys Skank' by Benny Ill. I absoulutely love the original, its timeless and I always seem to fit it into my dj sets. So what does Kode 9 do...? He keeps the original intro/vibe and then does what Kode does best... takes it one million leagues under the sea! So deeeeeeeeeeeeep! The track is full of dubbed out harmonia and guitar stabs and a bassline that doesnt stop giving... just one long sub pulsing along with the music. Delicious! Listen here

D1 has been putting out a steady flow of tunes on Tempa over the last year. This new 3 tracker is on a similar tip to his previous output. Id like to hear him experiment a little more with his music, he seems to keep to a similar formula with his drums and strings and it can be a little tiresome... BUT he has made a beautifully deep tune titled 'Cocaine' which is worth buying the 12' for this alone! Dreamy pads and spoken word fill the track and the drums are just so big, crisp and clean! Get lost in this... check it here

^hyperdub = deep^

On Kode 9's own label Hyperdub I bought a limited repress of his first ever 10" 'Sine of the Dub/Stalker' with Spaceape on vocals! I have had these two tracks on cd for a while but to hold the record in my hand and call it my own is a experience that has to be had by anyone who is into dubstep music! This music is future dread at its finest... hurry up and buy this before its gone for ever! Buy on Boomkat here

^kromestar's debut on deep medi musik^

I bought the first release by Kromestar on new label Deep Medi Musik too, tracks on here titled 'Kalawanji/Surgery'. Both tracks are heavy sub workouts, not to much to them, devastating and directed at the dancefloor... who said you cant dance to dubstep music!?! Buy and listen to on Rooted Records here

Whilst on the subject of Dubstep music, October will be the month of dubstep for Sydney with two internationals gracing our shores... Kode 9 and Skream! This is really exciting news! Both parties are being organised by Aquarium aka Garage Pressure with big sound being used thanks to Hi-jack Soundsystem! Heres the details..

^kode 9, 8th of october^

and...

^skream, 27th of october^

See you there!

new inspiration

2006-09-25T22:55:00.000+10:00

Its been a while since my last post...

A few weeks back I got mugged on my way to work in the morning, I had a big steak knife pointed at me and that didnt make me feel to good, quite scared actually. Thank God I was not hurt that day and that I got to walk away with out being beaten or stabbed... other people are'nt always as lucky. Anyway the incident left me a little shaken and I found myself just wanting to be around my girlfriend, family and friends a little more than usual (as you could imagine). After experiencing something like that it gave me a whole new outlook on life, love and friendship and also more passion and drive to do what I really want to do... so I feel a bit more inspired now after taking a break from writing in this blog, so expect some more decent posts soon, I have some great albums to tell you about and some good events to plug, so keep checking back....

Cheers,

Eli.

Inhale's 1st Birthday & record fair

2006-09-13T07:59:00.000+10:00

This thursday its on so come and celebrate! Im selling a few crates of d'n'b myself, check the list here

need a holiday!

2006-09-12T14:15:00.000+10:00

I need a holiday! Need more time to myself, time to read, listen and take in whats happening around me. Anyway its not going to happen, not for a while... Im going to Melbourne for a week in November with my girl Carla which im excited about but until then there is no relief! Its frustrating as I have alot of stuff i want to write about on this blog but not finding the time... wish I could hit the pause button for a couple of days! Fingers crossed there should be some more decent posts just around the corner. In the mean time another great post by Kidshirt on special music... personal music. I can always rely on the Kid to show me new interesting music... as he says on his recent blog;

"Music like this makes me a little less scared of dying."

Wow!

SUB MERGE and more music digging

2006-09-03T19:41:00.000+10:00

Wow! SUB MERGE on thursday nite was excellent! Really happy to see people not only coming down to check out dubstep music but dancing to it as well! The sound was nice and heavy thanks to Paul Hijack and his big juicy subs! Will def be getting Paul to do the sound for future SUB MERGE's. Everyone played great sets and there was a great atmosphere down at the Abercrombie. So if any people reading this were there on thursday BIG THANKYOUS for coming down and making the nite what it was! Should be some pics to put up soon...

So... music. Ive been buying alot of it lately, getting the shakes ("you dirty vinyl junkie") alot and finding myself in record shops without even knowing how I got there! Oh dear...

Well there is to much to talk about so ill give a brief overview of some worthy purchases.

Dubstep wise the new Planet Mu releases by Pinch and Milanese are heavy!!! Pinch's 'Punisher' track and the VIP on the flip are heavy clean substeppers! The man can do no wrong in my opinion. Listen on Boomkat here
Oh my! The new milanese vs virus syndicate 12' is absolute filth! Milanese remixes the 'dead man walking' track with amazing results. I really dug his '1up' ep on Warp Records last year and I knew that this single would probably be heavy and distorted... I was right. Milanese grabs there vocals and shreds them into clean sharp digital splinters and when the bass and drums drop its just a pure adrenalin rush! So you have heard the Milanese remix and think it cant get more heavy? Well you forgot about Distance didnt you! His version is just all about devastating drums and subs that are just nearly flawless in production as well as power. You have beeen warned! Listen and buy here

^pinch single^

^pic side of milanese/distance single^

Also picked up a new 12' on Dj Rupture's label Soot by the artist Timeblind. WOW! I love it when artists outside the dubstep community here the sound, get inspired and then come out of their studio with their own twisted take on it. In the past people like Boxcutter, Atik2, Monkeysteak, Drop the Lime, Burial... etc. have all offered their own takes on the sound and now its Timeblinds turn! Heres what boomkat say in their review;

"Utilising a much wider palette of sound than the majority of the steppers fraternity, Timeblind draws upon his expansive knowledge of techno, electronics and dub science on labels from Plus 8 to Orthlong Musorck to craft some of the most ingenious interpretations of low-end pressure currently doing the rounds."

Listen and buy here. Also whilst on the Soot label check out Filastine's debut release called 'Burn It'. Amazing stuff! My mate Damo aka Clark Nova put me onto them. Its middle eastern music meets hiphop, dancehall, electronica and field recordings with some great rapping and deep vocals on it. Get it!

On a psych/folk tip I bought this amazing little 7inch by the 'Voice of the Seven Woods' aka Rick Tomlinson on Andy Votel's label Twisted Nerve.

There is two songs on it titled ‘The Firefly Dusk’ and ‘Winter’s Temper’, both delicious! You know a song is good when instantly heard for the first time you get this comatosed feeling and you cant move from where your standing/sitting because the sound hitting your eardrums numbs your mind into a blissful fuzzy mush (in a good way of course!), well this is the effect it had on me at least, so, so beautiful* The release is limited to 500 copies so get them why there hot! Here is part of a review on the release;

"‘The Firefly Dusk’ sees the man in full folk-out mode, strumming and singing to unseen forest spirits and evoking small familiars from the darkest corners of your bedroom. This is a wonderful example of why folk music is so important again, when there are young musicians creating music this deep and evocative it’s hard to ignore."

I also wondered down to Revolve records in Erskinville on saturday arvo and picked up a amazing Gamelan album titled 'Javanese Court Gamelan - Volume II' on Nonesuch Records. It was recorded by Robert E. Brown at the Istana Mangkunegaran in Surakarta in 1976. Gamelan music is deep, ambient, exotic and other worldly. My favourite track on this record is 'Gending Bonang Babar Layar', it goes for 21 min and 12 seconds and is transfixing from start to finish. The music has a very hypnotic quality and if you listen carefully you can hear distant sounds of Javanese frogs singing along to the melodys!

^Javanese Court Gamelan - Volume II^

So that is some of the music ive bought and listened to of late. I want to write more but ill save for another post. My belly is full of roast chicken and wine... time for some sleep.

CHANDAN mix being played on FBI radio tonight

2006-08-28T14:21:00.000+10:00

Damo and Tim from the 'Quadrasonic' show on FBI radio really dug my CHANDAN mix so they are playing it tonight on their show! Pretty chuffed about it and its a great way for alot more people to hear these sounds!
Heres the details about their show from FBI's site;

QUADRASONIC

Tim Colman and Damian O'Keeffe // electronica & glitch
Monday 11pm-1am

new local and overseas electronic / glitch

Each week your sonic terrorists, Damo & Tim will bring you quadrasonic sounds from electronic, IDM, glitch to experimental hiphop and leftfield sounds.

You'll always be surprised. Please find our playlists below.

If your're interstate or overseas, we're on at the following times via FBi's live streaming:

Adelaide: 10:30pm-12:30am, Mondays
Perth: 9pm-11pm, Mondays

LONDON: 2pm-4pm, Mondays
PARIS: 3pm-5pm, Mondays
BERLIN: 3pm-5pm, Mondays
BARCELONA: 3pm-5pm, Mondays
TOKYO: 10pm-Midnight, Mondays
NEW YORK: 9am-11am, Mondays
LOS ANGELES: 6am-8am, Mondays
RIO DE JANEIRO: 10am-Midday, Mondays
SINGAPORE: 9pm-11pm, Mondays
NEW ZEALAND: 1am-3am, Tuesdays

Please have a look out our friend's and their community website and forum @ www.singularitynetwork.org
Let 'em know Quadrasonic sent you!

You can listen to it either on the good ol' fashion radio or stream it here

things are right again

2006-08-23T20:53:00.000+10:00

Life just becomes so amazing again (especially when you have had a shit week) when you come across a really special album that makes you feel so warm, comforted and grounded again... this album for me at the moment is called 'Précis' and is by 20 year old Michigan resident Thomas Meluch aka 'Benoit Pioulard'.

The album is due out on the 16th of October and is beautifully deep from start to finish. Delicate guitar, soundscapes washed in reverb and analog warmth all come together with softly distant vocals that take you away somewhere.. somewhere comforting. Here is what record label Kranky whom are putting out this release said about Thomas's album...

"Precis is the first album from Thomas Meluch under his musical pseudonym Benoit Pioulard. Following a series of limited, handmade cassette and CDR releases for friends and family over the last several years, and the well-received Enge EP (Moodgadget 2005), Precis arose as a documentation of a coming to terms with impermanence, marked by analog residue and the imperfections of human influence."

Check out his website here and listen to some of his work here.

SUB MERGE next thursday nite (31st of August)

2006-08-21T23:44:00.000+10:00

From the deep sounds of Burial to the stomping steppas from Loefah, next thursday night its on at the Abercrombie Hotel...

...oh and yes im way overdue for a decent rant, will be back later this week with a proper post!

Good reading on a Monday afternoon

2006-08-14T14:21:00.000+10:00

Really good reading over at Fangirl's blog discussing with Seb, Editor of Cyclic magazine, what his thoughts are on why indie music shops in sydney are closing down recently. Check it out here

Also a beautifully written little piece at Kidshirt's blog about having 'wedding cigarettes with mr. lee'. I dont even know Mr Shirts friends but the way he describes the special day makes me wish I was there. Heres a little excerpt from it...

"We went up the hill, 8 or 9 of us, away from parents and children, giggling like naughty schoolkids w/ a combined age of 300, as we smoked Wedding Cigarettes under a hazy lemon-tinted sky. Someone was playing a squeezebox in the garden. South Petherton evaporated into memory and personal quantal-myth. That moment will now exist forever; it cannot be erased. Distant hubbub, voices melting, blending into faint birdsong. The scratchclick of crickets."

Read the rest here

Punch Drunk - new dubstep label!

2006-08-13T15:23:00.000+10:00

I was pleasently surprised the other evening to arrive at home after a long day at work to see a small cd sized package in the mail with the words "Scott & Eli - Southern Steppa" written on it. It was from Peverelist at Rooted Records in Bristol! Once opened a cd and small note fell into my hands with the following written on it;

PUNCH DRUNK #1

a: Monkeysteak - Lighthouse Dub (original mix)
b: Monkeysteak - Lighthouse Dub (Dj Pinch remix)

Release date - Autumn 2006

"Introducing the first release on Punch Drunk, a new label coming out of Bristol showcasing the UK's second city of dubsteps underground talents.

Having already established themselves in the international electronica scene with releses on Werk discs, the Grim Dub series and New York label Shadetek, Bristol's Monkeysteak (aka Atik2 & Hanuman) kick off the label.

'Lighthouse Dub' takes the dubstep sound into new textural territories. Deep and hypnotic with punishing bass pressure.

Tectonic boss, Planet Mu artist and Bristol dubstep scene Godfather, Dj Pinch flexes his remix skills for the flipside bringing a heavy steppers vibe to the track.

Punch Drunk the label is a new project set up by Peverelist from Rooted Records in Bristol."

Listen to "Lighthouse Dub" on Monkeysteaks myspace page here

Well first of all I have to say a BIG thankyou to Peverelist aka Tom at Rooted Records! This label looks really promising, both tracks on here are killer! This is proper dubstep music Bristol stylee! Outside of London, Bristol really have the biggest and healthiest dubstep scene in the world. It is home to many great producers and crews and has been closely followed and documented by Nick Gutterbreakz on his now ever so quiet blog (come back nick!). I was quite surprised actually to hear Monkeysteak's 'Lighthouse Dub' track so deep and spacious, most of their previous tracks that ive heard have been more up front beats with chopped up drums and dirty dread basslines. If you havent heard of Monkeysteak before here is what they have written about themselves on their myspace page;

"Monkey Steak are producers Hanuman and Atki2. We make rude and skewed bashment, dubstep, and jungle and have released records on Werk and Death$ucker. Brand new Hanuman DJ Mix available from Smokering featuring Monkey Steak exclusives and bootlegs. Heres the link"

^monkeysteak in action, pic by gutterbreakz^

Pinch's efforts over the last year or so have been nothing short of outstanding! He really made the whole world listen when earlier this year he released on Planet Mu one of the most beautifully deep dubstep tracks you will ever hear called "Qawwali". If you havent heard or bought this track click here to change your life! Anyway his remix of 'Lighthouse Dub' is excellent and twists the original into a heavy half step riddim with lots of space in the mix to make the drums and sub even more devastating! Pinch also runs his own record label called Tectonic and just recently started a new side label called Ear Wax as well. This man is busy!

^pinch's 'qawwali' single on planet mu^

Southern Steppa says goodbye... for now

2006-08-10T18:30:00.000+10:00

Kodama aka Scott Brown has decided that the Southern Steppa site as we know it will be leaving the internet world soon. It is a little sad but Scott and I have discussed it and we both agree its time for a change and a fresh start. The name 'Southern Steppa' however shall live on and a new website shall be formed out of the ashes with new direction, ideas and most importantly good music! Im excited about this and will keep you posted with updates about when the new site will come to the surface...

Here is, in his own words, what Scott wrote on the homepage;

"It's been an incredible couple of years to say the least. In the time Southern Steppa has been around, dubstep has evolved and developed into a living, breathing entity, quite able to step up to the plate and be noticed alongside some of the best music and producers around.

So, it's with a little sadness that Southern Steppa will be signing off for good in its current form very soon. While it's been a privilage and an amazing journey to have been a small piece in the early parts of what is now known around the world as dubstep, it is good to know that the community is in good hands and more than capable to continue creating some of the most unique sounds anyone has heard in some time.

Although Southern Steppa will still be around in a different form, this is a quiet 'goodbye' to the many people that have supported not only the website, but myself and Eli musically and personally in helping push dubstep in our little corner of the globe. We have appreciated each and every one of you.

For now though - thanks again to all of you for being a part of Southern Steppa and more importantly, dubstep. It's the entire community that will perpetuate the growth of the music, and everyone should be proud of the part they have played.

Peace.

Kodama."

^scott and i @convergence earlier this year^

So for now check out some of the articles, mixes and photos whilst there still online and available...!

My dreams have finally come true!!!

2006-08-08T14:54:00.000+10:00

Im running around work like a excited little squirrel!!!

Taken from Fat Cat Records official site;

"Animal Collective have just confirmed the final details of their tour of Australia, including adding two new dates in New Zealand to replace the previously scheduled ones in Thailand which have now been cancelled.
The band hit Australia in early November, and the full list of dates are as follows:

03/11 - The Zoo, Brisbane, Australia
04/11 - Newtown, Sydney, Australia
06/11 - Corner Hotel, Melbourne, Australia
08/11 - Kings Arms, Auckland, New Zealand
09/11 - Indigo Bar, Wellington, New Zealand"

So So So Happy!!!

Im a vinyl junkie!!!

2006-08-05T13:13:00.000+10:00

Ok, I have a weeks worth of ranting to get out here so here it goes...

Firstly thankyou to all the people that emailed me or pm'd me with positive feedback about my 'Chandan' dubstep mix! It keeps me inspired when I know people are listening and enjoying the music. Im keen to do a few more various mixes over the next month so keep checking back here! Im going to finish off my "Fat Old Sun' pt 2 mix asap and get it up on here for download too.

I was pleasantly surprised to get a mention on Kid Shirt's blog saying...
"Annnnd, all the way from Australia, comes Gentle Force, a blog covering both Dubstep and Psychedelia...a concept that surely gets my vote."
BIG thankyou mate and keep up the great work on your blog, one of the best blogs around in my opinion!

So I spent alot of money this week on music, what can I say Im a addict! Does anyone else reading this get the shakes when they walk past a music shop, second hand store or record fair?!? If so let me know about it as Im starting to worry about myself when I see that my shoes are old, smelly and got holes in them and I have been wearing the same green jacket all winter because I never spend any money on anything else but music!

So I bought a bunch of new Dubstep 12's! I finally have in my grubby little hands the new DMZ single by Loefah titled "Ruffage" & "Mud"... oh my!!! Ever since I heard both of these monster tracks on the infamous Dubstep Warz show on BBC1 Radio last year I have been wanting these heavy beasts for my own record crate! Words cant explain the power of these tracks! I wonder if ill ever get to hear these tracks properly in their natural environment one day... ie on DMZ's soundsystem! One can only hope! Also if you look closer on the actual record the words "OH MY GOD" are etched into the middle of the wax, obviously these songs had a big impact on whoever was mastering them at Transition studios, he he he. Listen here

^loefah's mud/ruffage single^

I bought the new beautiful Blackdown aka Martin Clark and Burial EP titled "Lata/Crackle Blues" on Blackdown's Key Sound Recordings too. I must admit I havent really been into Blackdowns tracks in the past but on this 12 he gets things just right on the amazing indian influenced "Lata". Close your eyes whilst listening and you may just imagine yourself sitting in a sacred temple, the sun is setting and you are listening to a womans voice singing ancient chants whilst the smell of incense floats around you... or maybe not, its up to you! Burial's remix of Crackle Blues is deep, sparse and distant, in other words all the good elements that we have gotten to know Burial for! Check out Blackdowns blog here and listen to the ep here

Next up is the new 12 by L-Wiz from sweden on Dub Police the offshoot label for Storming Productions. All three tracks are wicked! L-Wiz is all about the controlled, pressure building, percussive workouts and he nails it on this release. My pick is the deep/melodic track titled "Surreal". Listen to it here

^dubpolice records^

Other dubstep 12's i got was both new 'Southside Dub Stars' EP's by Skream and Benga. Both are banging floor stompers, designed for getting down and dirty to. Just pure drums and sub bass here. Get on your dancing shoes kids!!!

Also bought the "Roots of Dubstep" sampler on Tempa. The tracks on here go back to the old school (all of 4-5 years ago, he he) when the sound of garage was starting to mutate into darker hybrids and more skanked out riddims like the 4 tracks you can hear on this record. I already had "Sholay" by High Plains Drifter and "Red" by Artwork but the chance to own "Buck & Bury" by El-B on wax was to good to pass. The version of this track had been un-released up until now, sitting there in his studio all those years! If you want to hear where most of Burial's inspiration comes from its right here in El-B's tunes, particulary the drums! As Burial had said in a interview with Blackdown earlier this year;

"Burial: I discovered EL-B and garage at the same time. I heard his Brandy remix, then “Buck n Bury” and “Passage of time” - and I hadn’t even heard “Stone Cold” yet, though I’d heard of Groove Chronicles on something else I didn’t like. Then I heard “Stone Cold” and I was just like “fuck…”

Martin: The name says it all.

Burial: It's dark. That tune’s never left my head. That tune is still going around my head from the first time I heard it. And the thing about those drums: they’re still the future. It’s not a lost art – people still don’t know how to do those drums. It’s an unknown thing. It’s like the last fucking secret left in music: how you do those drums. I’ve tried. I’ve locked myself away and tried. And the thing about garage is: the more you look at it like some tech-boy producer, the less you get it."

^Roots of Dubstep on Tempa^

Listen to it and buy here

On a completely different tip I bought this amazing psych record simpily titled "TRAP DOOR". On the back it has a whole bunch of shoutouts and just the words "Trap Door is an international psychedelic mystery mix." Pretty dam cool if you ask me! Most of the tracks are funky acid guitar fuzz workouts with lots of great drum breaks on there too, will definitely get the party started (if thats your cup of tea)! Listen and check out the weirdness here

^The TRAP DOOR mix^

...cool, expect more ranting soon!

'CHANDAN' dubstep mix now available

2006-07-30T13:59:00.000+10:00

Yep, its up finally on southernsteppa! This dubstep mix I recorded a few weeks ago on a sunday afternoon, I just hit record and improvised and I was pretty happy with the results. The mix is quite deep and I allowed the tracks to roll out and breath a little, no rush here... a definite slow burner.

'CHANDAN' dubstep mix tracklisting;

1. 'Morning Blues' - Skream - Tempa
2. 'Harpoon' - Scuba - Hotflush Recordings
3. 'Temptation' - Distance - Tectonic
4. 'Cockney Flute' - Caspa - Dub Police
5. 'Indian Stomp' - Random Trio - Tectonic
6. 'Fallen' - Distance - Boka Recordings
7. 'Troy' - Random Trio - Tectonic
8. 'Egyptic' - L-Wiz - Dub Police
9. 'Disturbance' - S.N.O. - Earwax
10. 'Born Behind Cow' - Slaughter Mob - Halo Beats
11. 'Dreamscape 24' - Benga & Walsh - Immerse
12. 'Rottan' - Skream - Tempa
13. 'The Goat Stare' - Loefah - DMZ
14. 'Misty Winter' - Digital Mystikz - Soul Jazz
15. ' i ' - Skream (Loefah Remix) - Tempa
16. 'For the Kids' - Caspa - Dub Police
17. 'Candyfloss' - Search & Destroy (Loefah Remix) - Hotflush Recordings
18. 'Earth a Run Red' - Digital Mystikz - Soul Jazz
19. 'Cyclops' - Distance - Planet Mu
20. 'Twista' - Scuba - Hotflush Recordings
21. 'Mood Dub' - Coki - DMZ

Download the mp3 of it here

Chris Cunningham directs new clip for 'The Horrors'

2006-07-29T00:55:00.000+10:00

I was at work today and this guy from Etch & Sketch records comes in ranting about this cool new band from London called 'The Horrors', he is going on about how they sound like this and that, bla bla bla... but then he says the name Chris Cunningham and that he has directed a music clip for them titled 'Sheena is a parasite' and it has already been banned on tv!? My ears pricked up then and I asked him where I could view such a film and he told me I could probably find it on You Tube...

So here it is...

Vintage Syd Barret footage

2006-07-27T22:53:00.000+10:00

Below is vintage footage of supposedly Syd's first acid trip, not sure if it is from what ive read in books about 'that day' but still he is quite young, hair cut neatly and looks like he is wearing a school uniform perhaps?? Towards the end of the footage he is putting on his coat like a mad professor walking off into the woods, quite significant I think...

... and because of that acid trip and other problems here is the results...

'Jugband Blues'. A amazing song although dark, twisted and sad. It was Syds last song with the Floyd before leaving the band. More on Syds story and this footage at this cool blog called Sonic Pollutions.

A splendid weekend and up'n'coming gigs

2006-07-26T18:15:00.000+10:00

^splendour pic by 'lucymotorbike'^

Well I had a excellent weekend up the coast! Besides going to the festival I really had a great time catching up with my cousins at Lennox Head as well as being able to see my youngest sister Laura who lives there and studies nursing up at Lismore Uni. She is the coolest...*

There would probably be to much to write about over the two days at Splendour that I saw, heard, felt so Ive decided to write in point form some of the high lights and the lows of what I experienced...

*(High) Dungen was really good, probably one of the closest experiences I have had to feeling like I was seeing a rock/psych band play in the early 70's! Im definetly going to have to seek out some of their albums now. Swedish singing is cool...

*(Low) 17,500 people can start to get to you after a while, especially when most of them are drunk or chewing their faces off!

*(High) Tv on the Radio.... wow! They were everything I was hoping they would be and more. They were playing like it was the last concert they were ever going to do. So much power, passion and energy put into their music! Tunde Adebimpe (singer) to watch is like the equivalent of seeing a black preacher preaching the good word to his congregation on a Sunday morning, so heartfelt and passionate... Amazing!

^tunde from tvor pic by 'lucymotorbike'^

*(Low) It rained alot just before the festival so it was a bit of a mud bath (gumboots recommended)!

*(High) MOGWAI!!! Highlight of the whole festival for me... I havent had many times a band has moved me in such a powerful way. Hard to describe in words, a experience that is as much felt as it is heard. Their music when heard in the right setting/sitaution becomes a all encompassing emotional experience... absoulutely beautiful stuff. After seeing them everything else was just... well... entertainment! See them, please!

*(Low) Having a lady collapse on me and my friends just as Tv on the Radio was starting. She had obviously had alot of drugs and after picking her up and reviving her she didnt want any help at all and was covinced she was ok just as she fell over again, good times!

*(High) Seeing Sonic Youth finally! They are still rocking after creating music for nearly three decades! They performed '100%' from their Dirty album and I was suddenly transported back in time to year 8 in highschool when I listening to them on my walkmen and yelling along to the words on my way to school in the morning!

*(Low) Hearing the singer from Wolfmother yelling to the crowd with a put-on american accent... friggen phony! He wish he was cool but deep down inside he knows he is not, he he he, so funny!

*(High) Watching the Yeah Yeah Yeahs totally rock! They were born to do it and do it well! Karen O is so full of energy and excitement on stage, her voice can be so beautiful and peaceful then, within a few seconds, can roar like a lion and raise the dead with her screaming! Hair raising stuff!

So there you go, just a few things that I could remember for now. Now onto a few good gigs coming up this weekend...

My friends in the band Underlapper are headlining at a small gig on the northshore this friday. They are signed to the great Feral Media label and have released a album and remix ep already in the last year and are in the middle of mixing/mastering a new album as I type this. I have heard the demo and its really good! Underlapper have a real versatile sound and play a mixture of post-rock, leftfield hip hop and lo-fi electronica to create a beautiful music. Check them out before they become rockstars and dont remember your name!

Listen or buy their album "What came forth from the Sea" here

Also this Sunday in Newtown the launch of Cyclic Defrost Zine (Issue #14) and its free compilation CD Emergent (a joint project with Noise and Sound Quality) is being launched!

Here is what Seb Chan, one of the Editors, wrote in his email about the night;

"For the launch we are trying out a new micro-venue in Newtown called "Madame Fling Flong". MFF is on the top floor of 169 King St above Soni's tapas bar. It is a lovely intimate space with some very comfy furniture and a Melbourne feeling. There are cocktails and the tapas from downstairs and other meals can be brought upstairs.

From 7pm to 11pm you can sit back and relax and start making headway into the 80 pages of the new issue whilst Lars ollo, Bec Paton, Calico and Seb Snarl spin some tunes. There will be a small amount of complimentary snacks early on - but when they are gone dinners can be ordered downstairs.

Come down and pick up a copy of the new issue and your complimentary Emergent CD which features tracks from Australian artists 25 yrs and under including Dave Miller, Scissors For Sparrow, Moving Ninja and more!

If you miss out then the record stores will start getting copies nationwide over the next two weeks and the online version will be up on the weekend."

More info on the Madame Fling Flong venue here

Sounds good to me, its FREE and kicks off at 7pm!

Im really keen to hear the cd. A friend Jabba aka Moving Ninja has a track on the compilation which is worth getting the mag for alone! Jabba is signed to Pinch's Dubstep label Tectonic. He is also writing alot of music and sound for film and creates deep, ambient textures and soundscapes that you can get lost in if your not careful!

Check out Jabba's interview in the latest Cyclic online here

Animal Collective maybe coming to Australia...?

2006-07-20T22:06:00.000+10:00

Sorry I said I wasnt writing on this blog till next week but I couldnt help myself.

I was just about to go to sleep and i was looking at the Paw Tracks website and in the news section it said the following...

"There's a good chance the Animal Collective will go to Australia later in the year."

... one can only dream of such an amazing experience...*

Well im off to Splendour in the Grass...

2006-07-20T18:43:00.000+10:00

Yes thats right... off to Splendour up in Byron this weekend. First time actually, I couldnt resist with a wicked line up this year. I always promise myself to not go to another festival after each one but...

... I couldnt help myself! Really keen to see Sonic Youth, Tv On The Radio, Mogwai, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Brian Wilson, Death Cab for Cutie, Dj Shadow and Dungen.

Now I only found out about Dungen through Seb from Cyclic/Frigid, he put a link to their site and I just realised they were playing at Splendour! They actually just played @Newtown last night but it was to late...

As im writing this im listening to some of Dungen's music on their site, really good stuff!... psych/rock/folk with ambient and found sounds, quite floydish sounding mixed with hendrix and soft machine in parts! Listen to their stuff here

So ill be out of the blogging office till next week, when I get back im keen to put up a few new mixes, like my 'Chandan' dubstep mix as well as finish off my second part to the 'Fat Old Sun' pink floyd mix. See ya!

New radio show... 'Patent Pending'

2006-07-18T22:15:00.000+10:00

My friend Bec has started a new radio show called 'Patent Pending' on great local radio station 2ser. Im really excited about it as Bec has real good musical tastes and has an amazing record collection to boot! Bec is also one of the most talented djs I have ever heard... keep a ear out for her!

Anyway in Bec's own words here is what the show is about...

"Just a heads up that I'm starting a new radio show on 2SER 107.3FM on Mondays from 12-1:30pm at lunchtime. I'll be covering a wide range of music, from hip hop to electronica to booty shaking beats. I'll be coming at it from a really human angle, chatting about people's more personal takes on the tunes they love and making mini mixes on various themes - this week will be the soundtrack to cruising in a moonbuggy!"

Sounds good to me, tune in and show your support!

^Bec = good music^

"Dubstep is physical music"

2006-07-17T19:12:00.000+10:00

^crowd @DMZ party in London by Georgina Cook^

In my opinion I dont really think many people in Sydney have REALLY heard Dubstep... properly. I know for me personally I have had only a few experiences to hear this music properly on a BIG enough soundsystem to really 'feel it'. After all this music is made to be felt, it is pure soundsystem music, just like its predecessors, reggae, dub or drum & bass, this music is made to hit you in the chest, make your jaw rattle and massage you from the inside out... all in a good way of course! Dont get me wrong here, Im not one of those types that just wants the music to be bloody loud and drown out the thoughts from your own mind! Its just there is hardly any soundsystems around that can handle such bass weight (not that I know) for a all night sub session. Im talking sub pressure that you can really feel but also still be able to hear the sound at the top end (dynamics+acoustics) properly without bleeding your eardrums at the same time! The closest I have had to this experience has been on the High-Jack Soundsystem and at some of the later Frigid Partys.

The reason why im writing this is because lately I have had a few conversations with people about dubstep music and more often than not people reply with such comments like "yeah its ok, defintely not music that you can dance to"... or "its a bit repetitive and doesnt have much to it". Anyway you get the picture (or maybe not). What im trying to say is that I dont think many people have had the opportunity here in Sydney, or even Australia, to really hear dubstep music and because of this are greatly missing out on a music that to me is one of the most exciting sounds to come from the underground in years! This music is not designed to be heard on your bloody i-pod, on crappy headphones or at home on your stereo at a moderate volume... this music is made to engulf you within the sound and take over the senses... its as Joe Nice says on the BBC Dubstep Documetary...

"its emotional music, its physical music..."

^joe nice^

So after reading this far your probably saying "well what are you going to do Eli?"... Well hopefully some decent partys later on this year as it gets warmer. I have a few ideas in the pipeline... ill keep you posted!

Also I just recorded a new mix yesterday, its called the 'Chandan' mix and it runs in at about the 65 minute mark. I didnt prepare anything I just hit record and went for it and was quite pleased with the results. Its dubstep music (surprise,surprise) and I have kept the track selection quite deep and allowed the tracks to roll out and breath... a definite slow burner. Ill put it up for download within the next few days...

Here is the tracklisting for now;

1. 'Morning Blues' - Skream - Tempa
2. 'Harpoon' - Scuba - Hotflush Recordings
3. 'Temptation' - Distance - Tectonic
4. 'Cockney Flute' - Caspa - Dub Police
5. 'Indian Stomp' - Random Trio - Tectonic
6. 'Fallen' - Distance - Boka Recordings
7. 'Troy' - Random Trio - Tectonic
8. 'Egyptic' - L-Wiz - Dub Police
9. 'Disturbance' - S.N.O. - Earwax
10. 'Born Behind Cow' - Slaughter Mob - Halo Beats
11. 'Dreamscape 24' - Benga & Walsh - Immerse
12. 'Rottan' - Skream - Tempa
13. 'The Goat Stare' - Loefah - DMZ
14. 'Misty Winter' - Digital Mystikz - Soul Jazz
15. ' i ' - Skream (Loefah Remix) - Tempa
16. 'For the Kids' - Caspa - Dub Police
17. 'Candyfloss' - Search & Destroy (Loefah Remix) - Hotflush Recordings
18. 'Earth a Run Red' - Digital Mystikz - Soul Jazz
19. 'Cyclops' - Distance - Planet Mu
20. 'Twista' - Scuba - Hotflush Recordings
21. 'Mood Dub' - Coki - DMZ

Syd Barrett tribute on Pitchforkmedia

2006-07-14T19:09:00.000+10:00

There is a great article on Pitchforkmedia
paying tribute to Syd and his creation of the Pink Floyd. The article also has a good overview of some of Syd's finest works and what albums to find them on.

As far as his passing which is sad I am kind of scared of the repercussions of his death as far as the media is concerned. I bet in no time soon you will see a large amount of books, magazines, best of cds, box sets, dvds, tshirts etc... out in the shops as well as a boost in popularity for Pink Floyd being 'cool'. I guess some good things will come out of it but it just means shifting through the commercial crud to find the real diamonds.

A good book I read on Syd and the Floyd when I was 18 was "Lost in the Woods" - Syd Barrett and the Pink Floyd by Julian Palacios. Its a dam good read and gives you a great insight not only into Syds life but the rest of the band and what it was like growing up as they did and watching the whole rock/psych movement explode around them. It is also a sad book and at times not very uplifting but none the less beautiful and essential... I think im going to have to pick it up again.

Here is a small piece of writing from the book;

"Syd Barrett disappeared one night into the woods, but the man who created him, Roger Keith Barrett, remains still, preferring to live alone and far from the machinations of the world. As he walks down deserted Cambridge roads, Barrett must think of the thunder and lightning that was his music, and smile at how he passed it all by......."

Goodbye Syd...

2006-07-12T08:11:00.000+10:00

Shine on you crazy diamond...

News here

burial ep and a longneck...

2006-07-11T20:49:00.000+10:00

My copies of the Burial EP on Hyperdub landed today! I bought 2 copies so I can give a copy to my grandchildren one day... its going in the vinyl glory box with all my other special records!

I was so excited I had to take a small crappy picture of it with my mobile phone this evening! This EP sounds so good on record, I have had it on cd for a year or so but, really, nothing beats the sound of warm analouge love! This music was made for vinyl, I swear the sound of it is much warmer and fuller than listening to this as a digital cd file! Oh its going to be a good night tonight...

Buy this before it vanishes all together... you have been warned!

"Fat Old Sun" mix download

2006-07-09T21:30:00.000+10:00

Ok its time for a little teenage nostalgia...

When I was around 16 years old I would often go up to my friend Jonnys house on weekends and we would just hang out, talking, listening to music and drawing for hours. Jonny was the friend that I had that I would always go to for new music/film/art inspiration.

^floyd's atom heart mother album cover^

One afternoon whilst drawing at his house he put on a copy of "Atom Heart Mother" by Pink Floyd... I was pretty stoned at the time and it blew my mind. Before that I had probably heard "another brick in the wall" on the radio and never thought the Floyd were a creative/experimental band at all!

For the next year or so I spent tracking down all the Pink Floyd albums on vinyl or cd I could find. I bought everything up to "The Wall", (I dont really like what Roger Waters turned them into) and would often just sit down for hours on end drawing to the sounds of the 'floyd'. They were pretty much a big part of the soundtrack to my life for my high school years and beyond. Everything made sense to me with their music and I would often find myself coming up with creative ideas for drawings/films/music when listening to them. Of course alot of those ideas never materialised because I was just plain lazy or daydreaming too much (I still am) but every now and then something would actually work through one of my drawings or a short film that I would create with friends and I would find more meaning in my lost little teenage life because of it.

I found a drawing that I did the other day that I made when I was 16. It is a picture that I drew to the sounds of 'Echoes' on Floyds "Meddle" album. Just looking at it gives me so much memory of the time around when I drew that picture and what I was feeling/thinking. So I thought id scan it in and put it up here...

^my 'echoes' drawing^

Anyway the other week I decided to use my computer to create a Pink Floyd mix using the program Ableton Live that I have had for a while but not learnt how to use up until now, so I set myself a little project to just get my head around the basics of the program and make a mix. I kept it really simple, no special effects, just basic blending of songs and I grabbed a few nature sounds off some of the interludes on their albums which helps it give the effect that you are listening to the band playing outdoors in the warm sun in some green, grassy field...

This mix is full of floyds more chilled stuff, lots of folk and acoustic dreamy songs are on it, I plan to do another one soon with their more psych/experimental rock sound. Ill hopefully do that within the next few weeks!

So here it is in all its nostalgic glory...

"Fat Old Sun" mix tracklisting;

1. 'Cirrus Minor' - More (1969)
2. 'Fat Old Sun' - Atom Heart Mother (1970)
3. 'Grantchester Meadows' - Ummagumma (1969)
4. 'Remember a Day' - A Saucerful of Secrets (1968)
5. 'Burning Bridges' - Obscured by Clouds (1972)
6. 'Summer of '68' - Atom Heart Mother (1970)
7. 'Fearless' - Meddle (1971)
8. 'Wish You Were Here' - Wish You Were Here (1975)
9. 'See Saw' - A Saucerful of Secrets (1968)
10. 'Green is the Colour' - More (1969)
11. 'Alans Psychedelic Breakfast' - Atom Heart Mother (1970)
12. 'The Gnome' - The Piper at the Gates of Dawn (1967)
13. 'Scarecrow' - The Piper at the Gates of Dawn (1967)
14. 'A Pillow of Winds' - Meddle (1971)
15. 'Sysyphus Part IV' - Ummagumma (1969)
16. 'Jugband Blues' - A Saucerful of Secrets (1968)

Download a mp3 of "Fat Old Sun" mix off rapidshare here

Buck65 @Newtown

2006-07-07T18:17:00.000+10:00

Went to see Buck65 last night @Newtown, it was great, really fun. He definetly knows how to put on a good show, a real entertainer. I had seen him a few years back at the basement and the show last night was pretty much the same as far as his set up. It was just him, a microphone and one turntable which he used to do some quick scratching between him singing/rapping/speaking/crooning...

The only real difference from his previous show was that this time he had brought his beautiful french girlfriend Claire to sing on some of the songs. Claire was singing in french mostly and they would bounce the words off eachother effortlessly, even getting quite close and steamy with some sensual dancemoves in one song... quite a sight indeed. Buck did a few new songs from his up'n'coming album coming out soon, one song was really cool titled "spread 'em", a song about cops and robbers, the words conjuring up images of old ganster films and shoot outs!

I love listening to the fusion of hip hop beats with country music and blues within his music and the crowd, once comfortable, really got into it. The only thing I could say I was dissapointed in was that I was hoping he would do some of his deeper/reflective songs last night. Songs like "tired out" or "out of focus" are really moving, sad and beautiful pieces. Buck65 has a real gift with words/poetry and each sentence that is spoken brings up vivid images or strong feelings that I have seen or felt myself in my own personal experiences in the past... especially with relationships, love and heart ache.

For the first time on this blog I have uploaded a mp3! I am naughty! Its of Buck65's song "out of focus" as I dont feel I can really explain the power of this heavy, sad but beautiful song in words... maybe you can help me?

Download "out of focus" mp3 here

Animal Collective's cover of Polly by Nirvana!

2006-07-04T21:37:00.000+10:00

^sleeve that animal collective wrote to go with the record!^

I bought this amazing little 7 inch record off Boomkat the other week, its Animal Collective doing a acoustic cover of Nirvana's "Polly"... oh my!...do yourself a favour and buy it if you can find it on the net still!? I found a mp3 of it here to listen/download for now. The start of the record is a little scratchy on the mp3 version I found, hmmm I might record it off my vinyl and put it up here if people are interested??
On the flip side is there amazingly romantic/free song "Purple Bottle" sung with Stevie Wonder lyrics on the chorus... "i just called to say.. i like you". Beautiful stuff.

I could write about Animal Collective for hours and what there songs mean to me but ill save that for another blog time when I have a spare day and have drunk a mug of coffee!

Morning Coffee D.I.Y printable cover!

2006-07-03T14:23:00.000+10:00

I had intended to do this a couple of months ago when I first made my "Morning Coffee" dj mix available to download online and I finally got around to doing it last night thanks to Scott my mate who runs Southern Steppa putting it up on the server. Just click the link below and it will download a pdf file of the front cover and tracklisting which you can then print out, cut along the lines, and then fold and place in a single cd cover case! Bingo!!!

Download here

Oh and here is the tracklisting for anyone who hasnt seen it yet;

1. 'Absencen' - Kammerflimmer Kollektief (Sutekh Remix) - Leaf Records
2. 'Just Dont' - Unknown Artist - Unknown Label
3. 'Shocking Out Proud' - Atik2 & Renee Silver - Shadetek
4. 'Billy Hologram' - Milanese - Warp Records
5. '?' - Grim Dubs Vol. 1 (b side) - Werkdiscs
6. 'Money Honey' - Pressure feat Warrior Queen (Remix) - Hyperdub
7. 'Ghost Lawns' Antipop Consortium - Warp Records
8. 'Im Really Hot' - Various Production - Various Production
9. 'Distorted Minds' - Hexstatic feat Juice Aleem (Zero Db Remix) - Ninja Tune
10. 'Killamanjaro' - Search & Destroy - Destructive Recordings
11. 'Full Tilt' - Warlock - Rag & Bone
12. 'Strike Now' - Starkey - Werkdiscs
13. 'Major List Mc's' - Virus Syndicate (Jammer Vocal Remix) - Planet Mu
14. 'So Malleable' - Milanese - Warp Records
15. '?' - Grim Dubs Vol. 1 (a side) - Werkdiscs
16. 'Glassy Eyes' (Cufflings Mix) - Drop the Lime - Shadetek
17. 'Fenix Funk 5' - AFX - Rephlex
18. 'I love LA II' feat Hrvatski - Subtle - Lex Records
19. 'Intricate' - HP.Stonji (Gatehood Child Remix) - Phantomnoise Records
20. 'Glass' - Techno Animal feat Antipop Consortium - Matador Records
21. 'Felbomlasztott Mentokocsi' (Bong-Ra Remix) - Venetian Snares - Planet Mu

Enjoy!!!

Time Travelling...

2006-07-01T14:23:00.000+10:00

Well its been a week already since my last post, geez that went quick! Such is life ay! Anyway the last week that has passed I have been listening to lots of old folk/psych/rock albums (i have strong hippy blood thanks to my parents) that I have discovered through a bunch of amazing blogs on the net... I had no idea there was such a massive community of people out there that collected and shared such a diverse mix of sounds, alot of the music is really rare or hard to get which makes it all the more special. The thing I really like with most of these blogs too are that these people writing them are all about promoting the music and many have links to sites where you can purchase the records from. Obviously all the albums to download are available as mp3s (most of them not hq) and if you are really into the music on them this should encourage you to hunt down the vinyl or cd yourself... at least thats the idea im thinking?

Some of these albums that have been on high rotation on my stereo are;

Oriental Sunshine is a Norway band who make beautful mellow folk/sitar music. This album titled "Dedicated to the Bird we Love" was made in 1970 and is full of chilled guitar and sitar pluckings with really nice female/male vocals. Great stuff! Find it here on the Orange Cornflake Zoo blog.

Pearls Before Swine... wow! Where have I been, this album "The Use of Ashes" (1970) and there "Balaklava" (1968) are amazingly deep, thought provoking and highly creative pieces of music! Apparently David Bowie was a big fan of this band and you can hear on these albums why... really atmospheric and moody music. Its a blend of folk/psych/rock sounds with vocalist Tom Rapp's voice making you feel so warm and comfortable in his surreal sonic world (if that makes any sense)... this music is timeless and beautiful. Get lost in this, I dare you to! Find it here on the Garden of Delights blog.

Lastly this monster that was dropped in 1972 by Japanese band "Flower Travelling Band"! The album titled "Satori" is a heavy piece of rock/psych music... almost Metal music if I dare say! Sounding alot like Black Sabbath, although Sabbath only forming together a year before FTB, this music is still original and heavy! Most of the album is long instrumental pieces and has occasional vocals by what sounds like a very american vocalist...? If you feel like jumping around in your room doing sweet air guitar moves then check this out beast out! Find it here on the Garden of Delights blog as well...

^Flower Travelling Band rocking out in the rain!^

Saturday is a GREAT day

2006-06-24T11:18:00.000+10:00

Today is saturday and im happy! I had a hectic week at work and less sleep than usual thanks to the australian soccer matches being in the middle of the night. I dont really watch much soccer but when the world cup comes around, well... im glued to the screen.

^skream^

Anyway im happy now because i had a good sleep in and now im dedicating the rest of the morning to listening to alot of new music I bought in the week. As Im writing this I currently have the new Skream EP titled Skreamism vol 2 on the record player and my whole room is filled with warm sub pressure filling up my eardrums... almost like having a head massage! The ep comes on two 12 inches just like the previous vol 1 and is released through Tempa. Just like with vol 1, one record has Skreams more techy stuff and the other his more dubwise tracks. Beautiful stuff! Looking forward to his full lenghth album coming out later on this year (fingers crossed).

^front cover of burials album^

I also bought the Burial album finally on cd (hoping it comes out on vinyl though). I know its been out for a little while and there is probably hundreds of reviews out there on the net but I still have to say this is AMAZING! I have given the album a few listens through and this music is definitely made to be listened to by yourself on a good pair of headphones or a decent set of speakers. This is isolation music... music to meditate on. It has this sadness about it, a loneliness and a longing for something more... that more Im not sure what yet... more listens need to be had I think.
Yes the album is electronic and is based around 2 step beats and half time riddims... and yes its true that the man who is the mysterious Burial made the entire album using a old editing program called sound forge!... but to me this album has so much depth to it, it has a deeply personal sadness melted with a longing/love for how things use to be, the old ways and the good ol' days... thick with nostalgia. The album in some ways reminds me of Goldie's seminal Timeless album, not the sounds exactly but the same kind of spirit, the same kind of sad memory and the ghosts that haunted them that... if you listen carefully enough... you can hear crying out (or maybe ive just lost it)

^the crooked rain album cover^

Well on a completely different note I have been really getting into the band Pavement. The album I have is Crooked Rain and is a double disc that includes a thick colour booklet that has a whole bunch of great articles, storys, interviews and pictures of the band. Pavement fans that might read this will be thinking far out where has this idiot been, I know, I know im a little late but hey better late than never! Highly recommended!

Digital Mystikz release two heavy 12's on Soul Jazz!

2006-06-22T14:33:00.000+10:00

You need these... thats all i need to say!

Review from Boomkat and to buy here

Available locally through Inertia Music

some essential dubstep mixes

2006-06-12T10:08:00.000+10:00

ok there is a massive amount of dubstep mixes out there on the net and since the sound is blowing up world wide there is alot of people putting there mixes up to download. The following mixes I think are essential and are the definately some of the best out there to date (as there is alot of average mixes to).

SCUBA MIX

This mix is the original one by Scuba aka Paul Rose the man behind Hotflush Recordings , all the tracks are his and he is definately carving his own sound out on the dubstep scene.

Back To The Basics Scuba November '05

Tracklisting;

Scuba - 'Dub #1'
Scuba - 'Kill Me'
Scuba - 'Words'
Scuba - 'Thump'
Scuba - 'Plate'
Scuba - 'Sleepa'
Distance - 'Nomad (Scuba Re-Edit)'
Scuba - 'Harpoon'
Scuba - 'Aqualung'
Scuba - 'Browm'
Scuba - 'Timba'
Scuba - 'Dream'
Scuba - 'Thank U

SKREAM MIX

This is his best mix to date in my opinion, the man can do no wrong at the moment and this mix is a all exclusive mix of his own tracks. BIG!

Skream Mix August '05

Tortured Soul
Sound-trak
Bullseye
Sunship "Almighty Father (Skream remix)"
Hag
Fairytale
Groovin
Midknight Requestline
Herb
Smiling Face
Lightning Dub (Elektronica)
Digital Mystikz "Ancient Memories (Skream remix)"
Loefah "Indian Dub (Skream remix)"
Basstrap
Where Am I?
Glamma
Rutten
Deeper Feelings
Untitled (a little taster)

KODE 9's BURIAL MIX

This is a small but essential mix that Kode 9 did on Breezeblock Radio of new Burial material from his album. DEEP!

Kode 9's Burial Mix April '06

Tracklisting;

Burial - 'Pirates'
Burial - 'Forgive'
Burial - 'Wounder'
Burial - 'Gutted'
Burial - 'Night Bus'
Burial - ' South London Boroughs'
Burial - 'Gaslight'
Burial - 'Rain'
Burial - 'Shutter'
Burial - 'U Hurt Me'
Burial - 'Distant Lights'

DIGITAL MYSTIKZ's JOHN PEEL TRIBUTE

The DMZ did a amazing mix for BBC radio to give respect to John Peel shortly after his passing away in 2004. The mix is pretty much made up of their own tracks and definitely gives you a good idea of their dubheavy sound!

Digital Mystikz John Peel Tribute December '04

Tracklisting;

Augustus Pablo - Revolution Dub
Digital Mistikz - Intergalactic Dub
Kode 9 - The Blues White
Digital Mystikz - Changes
Digital Mystikz - Neverland
Digital Mystikz - The Wrath VIP
Digital Mystikz - Crystal Lake
Digital Mystikz - Stuck
Digital Mystikz - Save Me Dub
Digital Mystikz - Mood Dub
Loefah - Root
Digital Mystikz - Ital

BREEZEBLOCK DUBSTEP WARZ

The defining moment in the dubstep movement! This two hour special on Breezeblock radio has all the scenes big producers doing short mixes/interviews live on radio. Massive amount of dubplates on offer here! HUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGE!

Breezeblock - Dubstep Warz Febuary '06

Tracklisting;

D1 - Untitled (white)

Mala (Digital Mystikz)
Digital Mystikz - '10 Dread Commandments VIP' (white)
Digital Mystikz - 'Haunted' (white)
Digital Mystikz - 'Left Leg Out' (white)
Skream - 'Request Line' Mala remix (white)
Digital Mystikz - 'All Of A Sudden' (white)
Digital Mystikz - 'Anti-War Dub' (white)

Skream
Skream - 'Midnight Request Line' (Tempa)
Skream - 'Tapped' (Tempa)
Sunship and Warrior Queen - 'Almighty Father' Skream remix (white)
Skream - 'Glamma' (Tempa)
Skream - 'Deep Concentration' (Tempa)
Skream - 'Rottan' (Tempa)
Digital Mystikz - 'Ancient Memories' Skream remix (white)
Horsepower - 'Egypt' (Skream remix) (white)
Skream - 'Music 2 Make Us Stagga' (white)

Kode 9 and Space Ape
Benny Ill, Kode9 & the Culprit - 'Fat Larry Skank' Kode 9 remix (white)
Kode 9 and Space Ape - '9 Samurai' (Hyperdub)
Kode 9 and Space Ape - 'Backward' (Hyperdub)
Kode 9 and Space Ape - 'Kingston Dub' (Hyperdub)
Burial and Space Ape - 'Space Ape' (White)

Vex'd
Vex'd - 'Saturn' (white)
Vex'd - '3rd Choice' (white)
Vex'd - 'Wavescape Remix' (white)
Vex'd - 'Killing Floor' (white)

Hatcha and Crazy D
Benga - Untitled (white)
Benga - Untitled (white)
Coki - Untitled (white)
Coki - Untitled (white)
Coki - Untitled (white)
Skream - 'Request Line' Remix (white)
Benga - Untitled (white)
Benga - Untitled (white)
Benga - Untitled (white)
Digital Mystikz - 'Ancient Memories' Skream remix (white)

Loefah and Sgt. Pokes
Loefah - 'Mud' (white)
Loefah - 'Ruffage' (white)
Loefah - 'Sukkah' (white)
Loefah - 'System' (white)
Loefah - 'Root' (DMZ)

Distance
Distance - 'My Demons' (white)
Distance - 'Fallen' (white)
Distance - 'Tuning' (white)
Distance - 'Cella' (white)
Distance - 'Cyclops' (white)
Distance - 'Night Vision' (white)
Distance - 'Traffic' (white)

DJ Pinch - 'Qawwali' (white)

So that should keep your ears happy with the dubstep sound for quite a while! Most of these mixes have been sourced from Bare Files
a great site to check out for a HUGE amount of dubstep mixes, thanks mate!

this is where its at this saturday...

2006-06-05T14:37:00.000+10:00

Deep dubby listening for a quiet friday evening...

2006-06-02T12:39:00.000+10:00

Benny Ill aka Horsepower , one of the Grandaddys of Dubstep has a old mix to download on FWD's new website. The mix goes for just over a hour and its full of deep heavy smoked out dub riddims, new and old. Beautiful stuff! As Luke Envoy wrote in the dubstep forums, "its vintage forward!"

Dowload here

Venetian Snares

2006-05-31T22:51:00.000+10:00

^Aaron as a kid^

Found this picture of Aaron Funk aka Venetian Snares as a kid on his website tonight... wow what went wrong for him to grow up into this...

^Aaron now^

Ha ha, no seriously though I really like his music, all his albums are worth listening to. He has put out three albums on Planet Mu in just the last year!!! "Meathole" and "Cavalcade of Glee and Dadaist Happy Hardcore Pom Poms" are heavy pieces of wax but I really dug the Rossz Csillag Alatt Született
album the most.

I found out that the actual title is Hungarian and it means "Born Under a Bad Star" (poor guy)! The album has complex chopped up beats fused with huge emotive strings, some parts are so intense and other moments are just really beautiful ambient pieces! What drawed me into this album even more was what he wrote on the inside sleeve. The words are quite powerful and sad really and as Aaron wrote himself "these are love songs and grief songs"... here is what he wrote;

"What if, for just a day, we could both be pigeons? Sometimes one moment in time can take on such an important signifigance that it becomes an endless world unto itself and everything outside of that moment, past and future spots in time, become the folklore of that world. What if we could both fly over the Királyi Palota and see it just as these pigeons do? A beautiful culture of dissimilar angles as donkey angels above this city. But even in the world of the infinite moment, we cannot choose the feather of our bird and the pigeon may long to be the goose, the donkey the pigeon and so on. Furthermore as our world blossoms out of this single tick in time, it is for one pigeon a swirling romantic flood of euphoric possibility and fascination, for the other an inferior life of shitting on everyone from the sky, awkard and ashamed, resigning themselves to be the wretched nuisance they are painted as by those they shit on. Ultimately, as quickly as our world blooms, our world is discordant, and our pigeons are wounded, and as our world dies, we die, and we are extinct. If only we could kill ourselves over and over until we get it right. So just as an entire genre of music can be born out of one sped up ten second breakbeat, a full symphony orchestra can come together in harmonic unison to create that perfect moment in time, thus every moment can give birth to an entirely new world, and every world can house the perfect moment, and just as that breakbeat may be broken beyond any recognition, that orchestra may combine to bring forth a dissonant barrage of colossal sorrow, and so the moment disintegrates it's world and that world suffocates the moment under it's collapse. These are love songs and grief songs."

Check his complete discography here...
Check his fan site here.

... and its a happy day!

2006-05-30T14:39:00.000+10:00

Ive been busy over the last week and hadnt checked the net for a few days. I was pleasently surprised to see that Gutterbreakz had emerged from his bunker still alive and well! The blog is a little different now with a lot of his past writing been taken off, especially his more personal stuff, which is a little dissapointing but understandable.

^ Vibert in the mix ^

Anyway in further news Frigids 10th Birthday party is coming up quite soon (10th of June) and tickets are selling quickly! Its a exciting line up with Luke Vibert headlining! He is doing a 2hour dj set and that folks is very exciting... did someone say acid?!? Also Mark N will be playing (his sets I always enjoy) and a live set from the band Tooth, as well as the following djs; Sub Bass Snarl, Sir Robbo, Prince V, Gemma & Seymour Butz, Clark Nova, Ollo, Ali Reza & myself! There will be visuals on the night provided by Superlight and Fold.

Buy tickets here

Its a sad day...

2006-05-22T22:12:00.000+10:00

The one and only Nick Gutterbreakz has seem to have taken all of his content off his blogsite and "left the building"...

The story goes Nick decided to give away some free high quality mp3s of some older dubstep tunes from 2002-2003 on his blogsite for some of his regular readers. He posted them up on yousendit.com which means the files dont last very long and usually are taken off after 24hours. He said himself that it was a small gift, a thankyou to some of his loyal readers for supporting his writings over the years. Well some people didnt see it that way and got pretty angry with him, you can read what happened here on the dubstep forums.

Its weird as I can see both sides of the argument and can see how people could be upset about what he did but I still cant help feeling quite sad about the whole situation as I know Nick had good intentions and was really trying to do something right... but it backfired and I think it has really upset him, hence why his blog has pretty much dissapeared! All that is left now on his site is pictures of flyers for up'n'coming dubstep/grime nights in bristol, a scene that he lives and breathes in... and lets hope is still apart of in the future...?

Southern Steppa Sessions is back!

2006-05-21T18:17:00.000+10:00

Yes thats right after a few months off we are back at Inhale at the Abercrombie on Thursday the 8th of June! Its FREE and we are bringing in more sound then ever before... ok its not going to be a DMZ but at least we will be bringing in some extra subs and speakers!

More details here

Burial's SOUTH LONDON BOROUGHS E.P. re-pressed!!!

2006-05-19T13:46:00.000+10:00

Thats right the seminal debut from Hyperdubs mysterious producer Burial has a limited re-press of his first ep titled "SOUTH LONDON BOROUGHS"! I missed out the first time this was pressed and I was kicking myself for a long time afterwards. A while back I actually found a copy of the original on a German website but it was going to cost me around a $100 Australian dollars to get it shipped over here... well besides it being alot of money I was actually scared that if I ordered it the record might not ever even reach these shores! So you can imagine how HAPPY I am about this!

Pre-order it here on Boomkat before it sells out!

Read a great interview on Blackdowns blog here

Modeselektor... "well 'eavy!"

2006-05-15T22:03:00.000+10:00

Wow! What a wicked evening! High Jinks and Frigid "THANKYOU" for bringing these boys out! Sydney needs more nights like this, eg. diverse music, good soundsystem, visuals, art and a vibrant happy crowd!

I arrived a little after 10:30pm to see a line up outside the Hermans Bar to get in, I thought to myself "this is a first", as although Hermans Bar is a good venue everytime I have been there it has always been half full... Anyway I lined up and was greeted to my surprise by Seb from Frigid taking over the 'door bitch' duties. I exchanged hellos with him and passed over my ticket, got my arm band on and I was in! I passed through the small courtyard they had fenced off which was reasonably full already and headed inside towards the bar for a much needed drink. Once inside I was pleasently surprised to see the lighting and decor/art used throughout the room in such a effective/creative way. All the lights were rich reds and blue and there was a huge canvas on the side wall of half painted faces looking like they were caught mid motion whilst dancing to the music. As I looked around I started to see these little small boxes stuck to the walls throughout the place with little red glowing lights coming from them... hmmmm I thought I was tripping and had another drink! Oh and the drink prices were actually decent (loud gasp of air is heard)! Sydney clubs & bars have always pissed me of with overpriced drink charges but the Hermans Bar had gotten it right, and with $3.80 schooners of James Squire I was a happy man! Anyway onto more important things like the soundsystem and the music! There was two huge speaker stacks placed either side of the dj area and the sound coming from them was really good! The bass was warm with great bottom end and if I stood in a certain area of the room my nose would vibrate to the hum of the subs... Yum! The quality of the high and mids were great and although it was loud you could still hold a conversation (other promoters take note!).

Simon from High Jinks was playing on the wheels of steel and was doing a sterling job ! Deep, bass heavy, techy 4/4 riddims was the order of the day and Simon was dishing it out in big servings to a already growing dancefloor. Simons mixing was quick and he was constantly doing something behind the decks, keeping the mix interesting and energetic. Throughout the set Simon was bopping up and down to his records and really enjoying himself. I ran into a friend Tom and we were commenting that his set reminded us of the good old days at "Tweekin" at Club 77 when you would just walk down into that dingy sweaty basement and dance your ass off to Phil or Ray playing the 'machine musik', always deep, rolling and techy. Ahhhh I do get all nostalgic about that place when thinking about it... 'Ahem' anyway after Simon played one of the other boys from High Jinks jumped on (sorry didnt catch your name) and picked the pace up (and the bpms) playing harder, funky techno with good helpings of acid and percussion. I decided to chill outside for awhile and give my feet some rest and chat to friends.

At midnight Sub Bass Snarl aka Luke an Seb from Frigid began their set, I love watching these guys play as they mash up many styles of music and know how to do it 'real proper'! I like watching djs that take risks and try different things and Seb and Luke never fail to do this. By now the dancefloor was nice and full and the crowd was really enjoying themselves and there was many smiling faces... always a nice thing to see! Seb was mashing up indian music with dancehall, jungle, heavy dub rythmns and dirty beats, always switching up the tempo and keeping the music varied and the mix energetic! Come 1am though and it was time for the Berlin duo to take over the controls, the room was quite packed by now and Sub Bass Snarl had got the crowd into a nice little dancing frenzy, there was a excitement in the air and the crowd knew what time it was... 'MODESELEKTOR TIME'!

The music stopped briefly and Gernot Bronsert and Sebastian Szary stepped up, watching them staring out at the crowd and smiling you would of thought they were about to perform for the first time in their lives but in truth they have been doing this shit for well over 10 years now! 'BANG!!!' the music started and they went for it... and went for it they did! At this moment my friend Scott ran around the back of the stage and had a peep at their set up. It consisted of a large midi controlled mixer allowing them to play and control seperate parts of their songs and add fx as well as a laptop with their own custom built programs to run their music from, these guys are serious audio geeks... and I love it! The next following two hours was a bit blurry because a; i was going nuts jumping around to Modeselektors music an making love to the speakers and b; i was getting a little tipsy off the Squires... he he he woops!

Watching Modeselektor play was like watching two young boys with hyperactive a.d.d. given the controls of a musical toy machine and just allowing them to do whatever they pleased... IT WAS GREAT! They looked they were having a ball, jumping/dancing around to their beats and singing along to the words in the vocal tracks. At one point they even got out their lighters and held them high up in the air encouraging everyone else in the crowd to do so, i dont smoke so i just put my mobile up, stupid i guess but effective... and thats what was so good about Modeselektors music, it was wild, loud, fast and experimental but still so aimed for the dancefloor and to have a good time... and thats what everyone was doing!

The highlight for me was shocking out to their Black Barbie track... oh my! That track has a seriously hard dancehall riddim that rolls out perfectly with mad cut up female vocal hooks over the top. The speakers were well up for it to, pushing out the big kickdrums and sub bass with ease! Brillant! The two hours that they played seem to go so fast and before I knew it they had finished their set. Time flys when your having fun ay!

After Modeselektors set my dancing feet were a little shakey and I was quite tired and ready for bed so I said my goodbyes and walked out into the chilly night air... What a great night!

Morning Coffee mix now online

2006-05-10T22:33:00.000+10:00

My new "Morning Coffee" mix that I had written about earlier on is now available for download.

Enjoy!

Boomkat is tha Bomb!

2006-05-10T14:15:00.000+10:00

If your looking for a good online music shop then Boomkat is your answer! Ok I know there are plenty of good online stores out there but Boomkat seem to get so much good diverse music and really dig deep to find those tunes that you had only previously thought exsisted in your dreams! I just picked up the latest issue of SPECIALTEN dvd/magazine which has a whole bunch of great short films, music clips and interviews. One animated short on the dvd is visually stunning to watch. Titled "Imago" the animation is warm and emotive and the images are made using water colour paints over ink backdrops. Beautiful. Also there is a mind bending music clip by director Arvind Palep set to anticon member Alias beats... trippy!

I also picked up the new 12 inch by Atik2 titled "Guilty Pleasures". All three tracks of his are killer! Chopped up drums and percussion with heavy sub action is what this man is known for... however the standout track is Dj Pinch's remix, absolutely amazing, deeply spacious and beautiful! If you loved Pinch's previous masterpiece "Qawwali" on Planet Mu do yourself a favour and buy this! Your ears will thankyou for it... mine did!

The Necks live set on ABC Television - Free Download!

2006-05-03T18:29:00.000+10:00

The Necks are Chris Abrahams (piano), Tony Buck (drums) and Lloyd Swanton (bass). In my opinion they are one of the most amazing live musical acts ever to have come from Australia. They have produced 12 albums since 1987 and have played all around Australia and the world, captivating audiences wherever they go. When trying to describe The Necks words like avant-garde, minimalist, ambient, jazz and beautiful are often thrown around and I think all of these (and more!) fit the sound of their music.
Anyway ABC Television are doing a series of live recorded (audio/film) sets by various Australian musicians and the Necks were the first group to perform last night. I actually missed it on tv but was very happy to hear this morning that you can stream or download their set from ABC's site! So jump to it before the download is taken off and you stay up late at night in your room crying in the dark because you missed out on the opportunity of a life time!

Papa M aka Pajo aka Jackie'O'Motherfucker aka...

2006-04-29T11:12:00.000+10:00

Over the last year one artist I have found myself returning to listen to over and over again has been Papa M. I discovered his albums through my work at Inertia Music and have been listening to him ever since. There is something about his voice and guitar playing that sits very right with me. I find myself listening to his music late at night in my room or at work when I feel like escaping from my everyday surroundings. I was lucky enough to catch him playing at the Hopetoun Hotel a few months back and it was amazing show, just him and his guitar, a really special evening for the people that were there...

I dont feel I need to really write alot more about him here on this blog and there is probably plenty of reviews and writings you can find out on the internet or magazines. So do yourself and check him out, it could just make your day just a little more special!

Papa M's official website

"Morning Coffee" mix

2006-04-28T08:02:00.000+10:00

I just recorded a new mix, it should be up for download on southernsteppa within the next week. Its bit of a mash up, heres the tracklisting;

MORNING COFFEE mix by Eli.

Running time: 55min 3sec

1. 'Absencen' - Kammerflimmer Kollektief (Sutekh Remix) - Leaf Records
2. 'Just Dont' - Unknown Artist - Unknown Label
3. 'Shocking Out Proud' - Atik2 & Renee Silver - Shadetek
4. 'Billy Hologram' - Milanese - Warp Records
5. '?' - Grim Dubs Vol. 1 (b side) - Werkdiscs
6. 'Money Honey' - Pressure feat Warrior Queen (Remix) - Hyperdub
7. 'Ghost Lawns' Antipop Consortium - Warp Records
8. 'Im Really Hot' - Various Production - Various Production
9. 'Distorted Minds' - Hexstatic feat Juice Aleem (Zero Db Remix) - Ninja Tune
10. 'Killamanjaro' - Search & Destroy - Destructive Recordings
11. 'Full Tilt' - Warlock - Rag & Bone
12. 'Strike Now' - Starkey - Werkdiscs
13. 'Major List Mc's' - Virus Syndicate (Jammer Vocal Remix) - Planet Mu
14. 'So Malleable' - Milanese - Warp Records
15. '?' - Grim Dubs Vol. 1 (a side) - Werkdiscs
16. 'Glassy Eyes' (Cufflings Mix) - Drop the Lime - Shadetek
17. 'Fenix Funk 5' - AFX - Rephlex
18. 'I love LA II' feat Hrvatski - Subtle - Lex Records
19. 'Intricate' - HP.Stonji (Gatehood Child Remix) - Phantomnoise Records
20. 'Glass' - Techno Animal feat Antipop Consortium - Matador Records
21. 'Felbomlasztott Mentokocsi' (Bong-Ra Remix) - Venetian Snares - Planet Mu

Modeselektor coming to town!!!

2006-04-25T23:04:00.000+10:00

Im def going to this!!! Modeselektor are heaaavy!!!

Heres the deal....

It's with great excitement that High-Jinks and Frigid join forces to bring you the Sydney leg of Modeselektor's first world tour!

Gernot Bronsert and Sebastian Szary have been DJing and producing music together now for over 10 years, with their more recent releases forming an integral part of Ellen Allien’s influential Berlin label, BPitch Control. Their respectable release schedule is complimented with remix duties for the likes of Miss Kittin, Smash TV, Knifehandchop [Tigerbeat 6] and No Movement No Sound No Memories [Lux Nigra].

Their debut album "Hello Mom!" [Bpitch Control] received rave reviews globally, so the boys pulled up their pants & jumped on a plane to share with the world what one could only imagine is their LIVE sound!

The sound lies somewhere between Aphex Twin and Pharrell, or - for those more technically minded - let’s say Euro-Crunk and Broken Rave! Whatever the sound, they sure have a sense of humour and know how to rock; this will be a genuine treat for all decadents. Get ready to have your genres bust wide open with an truckload of stupid fun!

High-Jinks & Frigid present ModeSelektor Live (BPitch Control / Berlin)
Date: Sat 13th May, 2006
Time: 08:00 pm
Venue: Hermann's, Cnr City Rd & Butlin Ave, Sydney Uni
City: Sydney
Cost: $22 + BF (more on the door)
DJs: Sub Bass Snarl, The High-Jinks Three

Tickets available from :
inthemix (online), also at Fish Newtown, Spank Records and Red Eye CBD store.

Listen to a live stream of Modeselektor at Samurai FM

Check their website HERE

Southern Steppa Sessions

2006-02-13T11:47:00.000+11:00

If your in town this thursday night come down and check the local talent...
Moving Ninja aka Jabba will be playing his dark/spacious deep beats live on his laptop for us as well as the young and talented Sakura on the decks, looking forward to this one!!! We are bringing in the extra sound for more bass weight pressure! Oh yes!!!

why dont i live in nyc?

2006-01-30T14:33:00.000+11:00

wishing i was there...

BACK ONLINE!

2006-01-28T16:56:00.000+11:00

sub bass snarl @ frigid nye

Yes Yes!!! finally got the internet hooked properly in the house again!
New years at FRIGID was excellent. Compared to last years I think they got it right this time. Popfrenzy crew were down stairs and Frigid had the top floor with two rooms happening. I myself hung in the second room for most of the night except when the countdown happened and we all reached for the lasers! It had a 'warehouse party' feel in the second room with dark minimal lighting, a small but punchy soundsystem (warm bass) and a great diverse crowd dancing away to the music throughout the night. I was really happy with the way my set went down, I didnt start till 2:30am and was worried there wasnt going to be much of a crowd left and if anyone was going to get into the sounds of dubstep.... well I was pleasently surprised as after a few records the place went nuts and people started screaming + hooting to really deep half stepping riddims! It was really encouraging too see a positive response to this music and getting to chat to people after my set who were really excited with what they were hearing and wanted more! So BIG UP Seb and Luke for letting me play!

me @ dnbbq

Just last weekend I played at two more partys and had great responses at both towards dubstep beats. On saturday night played at DNBBQ and had a wicked time, the Foreign Dub boys know how to put on a good party as well as make good food (the marinated chicken is superb). The soundsystem there also packs a punch which always helps when playing heavy dread bass! James Brickwood took some wicked shots of the night which capture the vibe just right! Check them here. Then the following day I played down at Green Beats at Petersham bowling club! Sakura aka Zac puts this on once a month and the crowd is growing steadily each time. The deal is that Zac is trying to help keep the club open by putting these partys on and raise a bit of money for them, good cause I think! For $5 you can play lawn bowls all afternoon, drink $3 beers and sit your ass on some comfy couches. There is a bbq happening all afternoon with meat and vege on offer and Zac brings down a decent little system for such a occasion too! The next one is on the feb the 19th so come check it out if your local! Pics from the day here.

Over the last few weeks i have been giving my latest mix i did for Triple J mix up away at partys and getting really good feedback from it. The set is a Dubstep mix that goes for a little over a hour and im hoping to upload via Southernsteppa soon. Will keep you posted!
For now head over to dubstep.blogspot for all the latest bass weight action and a shite load of mixs to download. Check out Scuba's mix for the deepest half stepping space riddims you have ever heard! Oh my!!!

Wireless internet sucks!!!

2005-12-19T14:05:00.000+11:00

...well for me at least, our connection hasnt worked for the last week from home so it looks like ill be looking for something more reliable! Anyway I was going to write up something a little special for my friends 'Underlapper' before their gig but... well its too late now isnt it! It was a great gig anyway, Underlapper's live version of "Pas on Heat" was amazing and they even played a new song which was absolutely beautiful (hope they record it soon!).
Check out more about the band and their sound at Feral Media's site...

I did a little internet shopping last week so im getting excited as there should be some nice pre-christmas pressies in the mail anyday now! I bagged a copy of the new Boka release (BOKA004) by Dj Distance, if you have not heard it yet... oh my.... do yourself a favour and check it! "Fallen" is THE song to listen too... Dubstep tunes like this dont come very often. The track has a very hypnotic effect on the mind, its deep as and I seem to lose all sense of space and time when listening to it. Its the vocal on it that makes it, a constant repetitive chant that induces a trance like state. The voice does sound like it is constantly falling into some huge abyss (or something like that). So im declaring it as my Dubstep tune of the year!

Good gig coming up, stay tuned!

2005-12-06T14:07:00.000+11:00

Frigid and Popfrenzy's "Freaks and Geeks" N.Y.E. party

2005-12-04T19:13:00.000+11:00

Just landed a gig for N.Y.E. at Frigid @Newtown. Really excited about this! Frigid is one of the best local nights in Sydney. For more info check out their site at http://www.snarl.org/frigid/

down to business

2005-12-04T18:01:00.000+11:00

Ok no excuses, im finally back online and im just keen to start writing again about good music as there is so much of it out there at the moment! Beatwise ive been listening to a hell of a lot of Dubstep/Grime music and ive been buying a bunch of it on vinyl too! There is a whole lot of great mixes on the net to download if your interested. The best place to check is at http://www.dubstep.blogspot.com. The dude that runs this blog is from Croatia of all places and the site is pretty much the hotspot to check at the moment!

As far as dubstep music going down locally here is Sydney, things are looking good. The last 6 months or so Kodama (aka Scott Brown) and myself have been getting more opportunitys to play these sounds out and people are starrting to dig it! Some of the highlights have been starting a internet show on http://23break.com weekly at midday on fridays. Also Scott playing at Frigid a few months back was great, you can download the mix at his site http://www.southernsteppa.com, check it out for some heavy deep beats! The Foreign Dub Crew have really been supporting the sounds at both their weekly night 'Inhale', as well as their super fun 'DNBBQ' nights. So a big thankyou to the Foreign Dub boys for letting us play!
Also Scott and myself have played seperate gigs up in Newcastle to small but receptive crowds which was fun, its always good to get out of Sydney and check out other citys and their music scenes. We also got to play up at the Bellingen Global Carnival www.globalcarnival.com which is a three day world music festival which was absolutely wicked! The carnival is one of the most chilled festivals ive ever been to, very cool...

So yeah things are looking promising for these types of sounds here in Sydney, looking forward to next year and what will unfold... :o)

'DIY: The Rise of Lo-Fi Culture'

2005-06-25T20:02:00.000+10:00

Had a really good day today, went to the city with my sister to check out some art and ended up stumbling over this book called 'DIY: The Rise of Lo-Fi Culture' by Amy Spencer. I thought that this would be of interest to anyone that writes a blog themselves or is into zines or lo-fi music. I am well keen to delve into this book and will let you know what I thought of it when I finish reading! Here is a link to a great interview with her...

Dj'ing and confused minds...

2005-06-19T13:15:00.000+10:00

Well, well, well... shame on me, I have really turned into a lazy bastard. I really dont know what is wrong with me of late. I really have been struggling to put my creative energy into anything solid at the moment, not just with writing but also with my mixing, I really want to record some new dj mixes but everytime I nearly have a set worked out or something looks promising I just change my mind or get distracted with some other ideas for a mix. I think my brain is in "too many ideas at once" mode, as I cant seem to get anything out and end up feeling frazzled and stressed. Well at least I know Im challenging the ways I think about mixing and the way you can put two songs together at the moment. I really want to step up to the next level creatively as well as techically with my dj'ing and sometimes if there is not a even balance (for me) things just get to messy and the idea I had is lost in my confused little head! Although I feel that Im getting there over the last few weeks and if I keep pushing myself I'll make it to greener pastures! In the past I have had the same problems within my creativity and I usually have a breakthrough in the form of a new recorded mix. Anyway if this happens soon I will definitely be putting it up on this site to download and making copies for people that want one!
Hmmm I guess I just have to lighten up a bit and remember to have fun when it comes to mixing again... I mean thats why I started to do it in the first place!

Anyway I thought I would put some links to two of my older mix's fo people that have not heard them yet. One mix I did more recently was for "Outbreak" a party myself and 3 other fellow monkeys put on last year. It was a Dubstep/Grime/Breakstep party and the mix I did has all these styles thrown in the mix. The other mix is a downbeat/nu-jazz mix with splashes of brokenbeat and acid thrown in for good measure!

Here they are...

"Outbreak vol. 1" ... http://www.southernsteppa.com/sounds/eli_outbreakvol1.htm

"My life was boring until..." http://www.rebellion.4t.com/cgi-bin/framed/2394/images/mixes.htm

Where has the last month gone...?

2005-03-21T22:21:00.000+11:00

Well.... my plan when I started this blog was to write a blog every couple of days... and well that hasnt happened has it!?!
You see your life kind of goes on hold when You get a new full time job at a music distributing company and meet a beautiful girl called Carla who makes you want to just drop everything and go running off hand in hand into green grassy fields listening to "Strawberry Fields" by the Beatles!!! He he, well ok I havent done exactly that (yet) but it kind of feels like it...
So anyway I dragged myself onto the pc tonight to just type a few words into my Blog just to feel like Ive achieved something with this blog site since I started it last month! Im going to try and set aside some time each week to just get on here and get out some ideas and thoughts on music that has been moving me of late and other assorted goodness...
So anyway to the people that have read my Blog (prob all 5 of you) ill be back soon with some (hopefully) interesting banter for you to read!!!

Cheers,

Eli.

Aphex Twin and cassette tapes...

2005-02-23T15:15:00.000+11:00

I remember the first time I was really moved by Ambient music... I mean really moved! I was on a train with a good friend Sarah J. Herself and I were heading to Byron Bay on the East Coast of Australia for the Blues and Roots Festival. The train ride was long, something like 13 hours so I had alot of time to myself. It was at the beginning of the trip that Sarah handed me a tape. I remembered the little words scribbled across it saying "Aphex Twin - Selected Ambient Works 85-92". She told me that I had to listen to this album and I could really see the sincerety in her face. I placed the tape in my walkman, put my headphones on, and pressed play... Ah the sound of warm analouge tape hiss filled my ears (remember those days?)! After a few seconds I noticed some distant ethereal sound creeping up into my ear drums and before I knew it I was swept away by the heavenly sounding Xtal! My eyes were closed for only a few moments throughout the song but when I opened them I was changed. Everything around me took on a whole new perspective. The train started to pulse along in unison with the delicate rhythm of the song, outside the window the colours of the blue sky and the green hills seem to be enhanced and brighter than ever. Nature never seemed more interesting, the clouds, birds and trees seemed to be in tune with this music. Peoples faces on the train looked different, it was as if I had a new understanding of them, their lives, feelings and emotions. It was almost like this music was the soundtrack to life itself! That day I discovered a whole new world... and there was no going back.

I know reading all that sounds a little corny/mushy... but hey I love nothing more than reading or hearing about other peoples first experiences with this beautiful record! Listening to this album as I type these words today it sounds as fresh as it did all those years ago on that train ride... although now my copy of it is on cd (i have bought it twice since then)! It has such a timeless quality about it that has escaped all musical eras, genre or trends since its creation and I have a feeling that one day I'll be pulling out that album for my own children to dream and ponder to!

Listen to or buy album here!

I had done a little research on the net before writing this blog and found out that the master copy for selected ambient works was made off a tape that had been swapped, borrowed and copied several times! Wow! I think that is one of the main reasons that this album has such a nostalgic feeling to it. It brings me back memorys of giving or recieving cassette tapes. I remember recieving tapes from friends, that they had made for me, and it felt like they were giving me a little window into there life... into there soul. There was something very personal about it... the fact that someone had sat there in front of a cassette player pressing "record, pause, record, pause..." for two or three hours and created this little collage of sounds together just for you! As well as this they had written down each track in there own handwriting and sometimes even scribbled down a little personal letter or drawing. You dont get that these days, most people just open there i Tunes folder and just dump a selection of there favourite MP3's on there for you! Dont get me wrong there is still something special about recieving a cd from someone but it just doesnt have the same feeling/meaning as it was when recieving a tape back in the day. There is a labour of love that goes into making a tape for someone that cant be surpassed these days in the "digital era". Talking all about this "personal touch" has made me realise how much Aphex Twin aka Richard D. James has followed this theme on his own record releases over the years! Pretty much most of his albums have the tracklisting scribbled down by his own handwriting and the artwork/photos are done by himself too. Its as if he is still making that special little mix for one of his close friends (even though thousands of people are recieving it)!

The image above is a self portrait Richard did for the amazing album "I care because you do"

Maybe Richard still feels the same way as myself and some of you reading this. That nostalgic feeling of not wanting to let go of the past and the way things were with creating musical compilations or gifts for friends... the intimacy that is exchanged when someone gives you a personal mix of there favourite songs on a small tape cassette... that little window into there soul.

If you havent got this album already run outside right now and buy it, bring it home, listen to it, cherish it and then if you like make a copy of it onto cassette tape and give it to someone! It could change there life...

...it did mine.

Warp Goodness...

2005-02-18T13:03:00.000+11:00

Went on the Warp site today. To be honest I had been avoiding it for a while as it hurts to hear so much goodness but not be able to buy it! Anyway there was alot of good news to my eyes (and ears)! Firstly I was excited too hear that Beck had chosen Boards of Canada to do a remix on his new album which is due for a release at the end of March the 29th on Interscope! More news here.
This is definately going to be a interesting combination with Boards of Canada starting to do a lot more remix work of late which is exciting and kind of scary at the same time (thats a good thing)!

Off the topic of Warp Records Im a big Beck fan and look forward to every album he brings out! I actually tracked down his really early album a while back called "One foot in the Grave" and I have to say after a few listens its really grown on me! It was made just after "Mellow Gold" in 1994 and was recorded with his old friend Calvin Johnson whom was apart of the group "Beat Happening". After listening to this record one would have to say its Beck at his most rootsiest. The album is full of blues and folk rambilings and was recorded in Johnson's basement which creates a great ambience throughout the album. This is definately Beck at his most rawest...
Listen to tracks here.

Well ran out of time for the moment, I'll be back to talk about Boards of Canada as well as Aphex Twins new releases and how his earlier records changed my life... honest!!!

Umm... Yeah... Cool...

2005-02-16T10:41:00.000+11:00

Well I finally did it... I created my own blogspot! This has definately been a big step for me as I have been a little hesitant to start ranting my ideas and opinions off into cyber space for anyone one to read! Scary isnt it! Well I guess for the people that are reading this, particulary fellow bloggers, you might be thinking "scary?"... "whats this guy talking about?"... but do I have to remind YOU of your 1st blog experience!! Hmmmm??
I bet some of you were freaking when you put up your 1st blog on the net, wondering if anyone is going to read this and if so.. what will they think/say?? he,he,he... Anyway I'll get use to it soon and in no time at all I'll be hopefully shooting off my thoughts like there was no tomorrow!

So my mission now is to work out the finer details of blogging! I am very keen to work out how to upload/post mp3's on here as well as pictures properly! As I do that over the next few days expect some proper posts on music and sounds that im digging at the moment!

As for now... check my good friend Kodama's (aka Scott Brown) website "Southern Steppa" on Dubstep/Grime/Broken Beats music at Southern Steppa
The site is packed full of goodness! Worthy mentions are the new article/interview with Martin Clark from the UK as well as a new brokenbeat mix uploaded on the sounds page by Bec Paton. She is one talented dj but more about her in future blogs! Check back soon...

Eli.