PorkJacket

1000 Apologies...

2006-09-22T22:04:00.000+01:00

for the lengthy hiatus. I blame it on a lack of interent, now rectified.

Wiley is truely killing it at the moment. He's easily the most exciting UK artist for me at the moment. As well as the legit version of Da 2nd Phaze i also copped a version floated on the net which had some other great tunes on it. I have combined them into one version in my iTunes, making Da 2.1 Phaze!

His vocals on Stormy Weather are just superb, very on point, relentless flows.

And then to legally release two free mixtapes on the internet, announce the series is going up to 10 and get a deal with Big Dada. Add to this the absolute multitude of vinyl releases, especially white labels, across the Wiley Kat, Dumpvalve, XL and more. This fella here nails it.

Wiley's a don like wimbol. Nuff said.

Short Hiatus...

2006-06-13T18:54:00.000+01:00

I'm flying to Azerbaijan on Thursday for three weeks around that area so there will be a short intermission. Maybe I'll try and buy some local tunes and post them up when I get back! Thanks for reading.

Freshen Up

2006-06-09T14:40:00.000+01:00

Jungle is a funny thing. At Freshen Up last Sunday the musicians purveying it were markedly, even comically, polarised. Daddy Freddy, grown up in Trenchtown, looks battle hardened enough to merit a name change to Grandaddy Freddy, whilst the faces behind Junglist Alliance are extremely young and fresh. That is something I love about Jungle though, the many voices it has under a single umbrella label. It might sometimes result in slightly incongruous ideological interplay such as a Jamaican Rastafarian vocalist in his 40s exhorting a crowd of white 20-something students (plenty of whom were dreadlocked, though, but that's another story altogether!) to 'praise Jah' 'bun de sensi' etc, but perhaps that only mirrors Jungle's magpie musical nature.

I expected the smaller room to be more fully devoted to dubstep, but much of the music was the kind of stuff Zinc does on Bingo or Darqwan (Oris Jay) makes; a bouncy sort of beat perhaps best described as breakbeat garage. From 11-12 Deadman of Junglist Alliance played a rather nice selection of half-step dubstep, Loefah's Monsoon Remix and a couple of Digi Mystikz tunes amongst them. The sound was pretty nice, as the room was small and the bass ample. Local producer Rogue State was then up for an hour. I think he played a few of his own productions. It's really encouraging to see local musicians making dubstep beats and also interesting that their points of reference are firmly within the Jungle rather than Garage tradition.

Oris Jay (<) was perhaps the DJ i was most looking forward to in the whole line-up. He cut a pretty dapper figure in a natty Stussy tee and some cream Nike Air Rifts. Tunes were mainly on the upbeat tip. Bangers included DJ Distance's Traffic (or was it cyclops...), classic tune Said The Spider VIP and a Mark One production or two. The DJs on afterwards (Deekline and then RM Loki) continued the bouncy breaks vibe and the music got a bit cheesy and clean sounding for my tastes!

Throughout the music in the smaller room I popped into the big room to hear the Jungle action there. The shape lends itself pretty well to a club, with a back part full of chairs and rails to hold drinks. The emphasis for the evening was on vocalists really, rather than DJs. Daddy Freddy appeared alongside Jah Prento to rhyme over Chase and Status. I would guess that both have their roots in Ragga, with Freddy proving adept inna jungle, hip-hop or raggamuffin style. There is a hilarious video of him on his website going on Record Breakers and getting the record for being the fastest rapper in the world. He did a bit of super-speed rhyming but it didn't really sound like any cogent syllables i have ever heard! The two MCs were joined by another guy who seemed a bit strange. He sounded vaguely American I thought, and indeed looked somewhat like a used-car salesmen from somewhere deep in the bible belt.

And then Top Cat and Tenor Fly stepped up and did a showcase of around an hour. They are both good vocalists, and interspersed double-time MCing with some ragga style crooning. Top Cat did a nice little acapella about being kings and queens. All in all it was an enjoyable night, though i'm not sure I'm convinced by the quality of Corporation's soundsystem. It sounded a bit dirty in the big room. Must thank the promoters for guestlisting me too!

Articles 95

2006-06-02T04:00:00.000+01:00

Here are some PDFs of some excellent articles on Jungle from the Mid '90s. Seckle on the Dubstep Forum provided them, so big up him. Really interesting reading; an interview with Goldie and a round-table with James Lavelle, Dave Clark, DJ Rap, Orbital, Mr C, Norman Jay and some other heads.

Grey Cooper Love Band

2006-05-31T13:49:00.000+01:00

are playing DQs late bar on Monday 5th. Their Myspace (where you can listen to some tunes) has George Clinton, James Brown and Donald Byrd in the top eight (star-spangled or what??)! Local Sheffield cats too, so come and support.

GREY COOPER LOVE PARTY
Live at DQ THE LATE BAR,
Fitzwilliam Street (near the Washington/below Devonshire Green)
Sheffield
Monday 5 June 2006
9pm till very late! Free Entry

And come this Thursday Ray Keith is playing there too, definitely to be attended, doubly so since that day marks the end of my formal education!

Ever FWD>>

2006-05-30T12:48:00.000+01:00

The best Dubstep line-up ever. The chance to catch all those early garridgey DJs is amazing, shame i'm going to be on holiday for this and DMZ at Mass. I'm loving the fact that Plasticman, Tubby and Geeneus are billing, meaning the night is really gonna be a mashup of dubstep, grime and garage. Plasticman b2b with Geeneus on the fwd>> podcast is seriously tight mixing.

Still, the wording clearly implies this to be the start of something regular, my money is on a party every two or three months. Hopefully it will alternate with DMZ, providing big Dubstep parties every month! Going to be lots of trips down to London over the next year i predict! Thank god for cheap advance rail tickets, the Megabus can be severely wearing if experienced too frequently!

FRIDAY 23.06.06

FORWARD

Entrance: 23:00 - 06:00 | £10/£6 NUS on the door | £10 Advance tickets | Fully licensed bar until close

Main Room: Plastician, Youngsta, Digital Mystikz & Sgt Pokes, Hatcha, Geeneus, N Type, Tubby. Hosted by MC Crazy D

Lounge: The Roots of Dubstep - Horsepower, El-B, Artwork, Menta, Phuturistix, Landslide, Hatcha (2001 Set)

Grime and dub-step night Forward, kicks off a new Friday night party here at The End.

Do The Churchill

2006-05-22T14:24:00.000+01:00

DMZ Leeds

Soldier business on the train with Red Bull armaments, then trekking up to the West Indian centre and finding Clay Pit Lane turn into a large dual carriage way and thus negate my attempt to walk to the venue.

Walking past a room of old West Indian guys chilling out next to a room of the most thundering drum'n'bass imaginable.

The fact that the WI One Day International cricket match was being shown.

The fact you could buy curry goat over the bar.

N-Type was tight as ever, I didn't really recognise that many of his beats though, barring Iron soul's Kalawanji. Oh and I think he dropped Loefah's Ruffage too. The MC was Cessman (though at the time i mistook him for Rogue-Star, cheers UFO!) who together with IronSoul (who is know as Kromestar when making grime!) forms the Terraphonix production team. Cessman's spitting was pretty decenct, a doubletime dnb-ish flow.

Skream got the party moving, rinsing our plenty of his best beats; Dutch Flowers, Music to Make U Stagga, Lightening and others. Big response blending that last track into Loe's I Rmx. I don't think he is as technically proficient as most of the other DJs though, and he can be a bit rewind happy. Crazy D on mic, pretty decent. Great contrast to both Pokes and Rogue-Star. Its easy to see the ghost of garage haunting him still, in that slightly nasal delivery and the vaguely blinging sunglasses he was wearing.

Mala (Loefah was also due to play but wasn't there) playing a good one and a half hour set. Absolutely loads of bangers (I'll add more if I remember them) including what I always think of as 'the horses hooves tunes' with the crazy off kilter rhythm like dashing stallions. I was peering into the DJ bit and trying to see the names of the dubs and this is called Bury the Boy Dub (cheers Joe Nice!) I think. Also Left Right Left which is obviously pretty genius, Anti-War Dub (great crowd reaction), Haunted and more. I seriously might take a notepad next time to jot down the tracklistings but maybe that's taking the geekery a bit too far?! Pokes on mic, what a funny guy. My favorite line was when a tune demanding a particularly large degree of head-skank dropped and he urged the crowd to 'do the churchill'.

Youngsta and Task. Yunx is a great DJ but I find the mood of his tune selection to border on the homogeneous sometimes. He's also a real elitist, playing dubs from just Skream, DMZ camp and D1 I think. Mala's Blue Notes (great title) and a Skream tune called, I think, Morning Blues were new to me. I still really enjoyed the set, but at 4 in the morning some more bouncy ish may have been better - Youngsta's set would have been perfect for the smoked-out 4.30-6 slot. Task is a man of few words, which in Dubstep is often a good thing. Just a select few crowd urges and abrupt exclamations - 'Youngsta ya big!'

Females. Pretty good gender ratio of, say, 6:4 rather than the more traditional dubstep 8:2 situation. Probably to do with DJ Fresh, Commix, Bailey and Hazard in the other room. Some even had fancy skirts on. I would say peasant is defiantly out this year, though minor manifestations of asymmetry persist. The dnb wasn't too bad actually (I allowed myself a couple of ten minute jaunts), though I didn't know any of the tunes or the DJs. It was maddeningly fast though, and without the earplugs supplied free (props!) I don't think I could have stood it. As it was, the music was like a sonic Red Bull best enjoyed in short bursts, though my favoured spot at the front of any night seemed to be predominately a courting zone for illicitly enhanced mid-teens.

Slightly too many rewinds. Slightly. Not really a major problem.

Finishing at 4.30. It being a Sunday my train homewards wasn't leaving until 8.30, giving me a pleasant four hour early-morning interim in which to explore Leeds' semi-industrial outskirts. Nice. Maccy Ds in the station opened at 6.30 I think, providing refuge and unaccustomed entertainment in the unfortunate form of both The Daily Telegraph and The Mail. Their coffee is actually pretty good and obviously sausage and egg mcmuffins are the best thing served in the whole place. If somebody had stepped up at 4.30 and rinsed it out until 6 it would have been perfection. Perhaps I'm forgetting the somewhat blunted state some people seemed to be in as I was wholly sober and just riding the bass.

The bass-maddened strip of metal behind my head when sat in the third chair from the front on the left constantly vibrating and giving an unwanted percussive layer to the music. Remedied by moving chair.

Loefah not being there.

I'm searching for negatives here, but I suppose if it had been ragga-styled Jungle in the other room that would have killed it. Though I would then have been caught on the horns of an unsavoury listening dilemma.

Lil bit of aggro at kicking out time but nothing serious.

Hope everyone who reached enjoyed it as much as I did!! Big up DMZ gang for doing something special out of nothing but love for music.

Phlegm Comics

2006-05-17T18:02:00.000+01:00

More local business. These pics are from Issue 4. The covers of this issue are all made from old Indian newspapers or something. Check the site.

SMG

2006-05-16T10:22:00.000+01:00

SMG Productionz. Two MCs and one DJ, the classic line up. DJ Freddo spins the plates and Tw1st and X-Edus are the rhymers. I caught up (does e-mailing count as catching up in this modern age?!) with producer/DJ Freddo and asked him some questions about the Grime music we all love.

PorkJacket: Obviously grime is a pretty London derived music form. How do you think it translates to Northern cities such as Sheffield, Leeds or Manchester?

Freddo: I think it can translate into any accent or city, it's basically our version of hip-hop. As for the accent I think it's good to hear MCs with the different slang & accent, it adds personality to the music, as we use different vocab. I know there are a lot of London MCs who think grime should stay in London, but if we want to go international we need to move as a country, the same way the US has eastside, westside, dirty south, hispanic, midwest. I believe grime has the potential to do the same thing.

PJ: Did you guys get into grime through garage, jungle/dnb, hip-hop or just a mixture of musics? What other styles are you feeling?

F: We got into grime through a mixture of genres. I was brought up listening to a lot of dub reggae [as Newham Gens have also stated], old-skool speed garage, drum'n'bass and jungle. I started DJing at about 13, those times I was really into d'n'b and jungle, that's when I got interested in music production. I then got into hip-hop in a big way in my early teens, and have been influenced by a lot of producers such as DJ Premier, Pete Rock and RZA. This is which is why I use a lot of samples and big basslines in my beats.

Right now I'm really feeling dirty south hip-hop, it's got the rawness that I think a lot of modern hip-hop is lacking. In grime, lets see; JME, Skepta, Doogz, Flirta, Midland's Mafia, Low Deep are making some sick productions, Virus Syndicate. But seriously, Sheffield is about to explode in everyone's faces, with crews like, SMG, S.C.U.M, S.C.S, JD and much more.

PJ: How do you all know each other? Who is who in the group?

F: I met Tw1st through his brother TN. We had been friends for years. I met Tw1st, who always said that he wrote bars but not seriously, and one day I showed him some of my beats and he just said, "shit, we could merk man" so we bought a studio and the rest is history. The rest of the crew is just family & close friends; TN & Tw1st, you got Skinz & Big-D (also brothers), Spyda & Luda B (more brothers) then there's me and my little bro Siddo.

PJ: How important is the internet in what you do?

F: It is immensely important to what we do, it's enabled us to get into everybodys homes, make ourselves a household name. I've not come across a site for grime like ours as yet, we give people what they want to hear and on top of that we do it for free. We're averaging 100 visitors a day and because we are a 'dot com', we are easily accessible overseas. We have members from the USA, Austria, Germany, France, Japan and right across the UK. The world is on our doorstep.

You heard the man, hit the link and listen to some Steel Riddims!

2006-05-14T19:32:00.000+01:00

Saw the big mechanical elephant in London too.

Champagne Dance

2006-05-14T19:06:00.000+01:00

My hard disc died around a week ago. It has been a bit strange not having my music collection but has in some ways been an educative experience, if an enforced one! I have been rinsin Rinse FM all day instead, being too lazy to get my CD's out of retirement. Recently caught Kode9 (who dropped the first tune on MRK1's fresh 'Contagious' imprint, 'I Got To' (echoeing Masta Ace's classic 'I Got Ta'?) which is Sizzla over one of Mark's beats and very nice too), Youngsta & Task, Newham Generals with Dizzee Rascal (who has a new flow!), DJ Spyro (very jokes host) as well as Logan Sama and an old Oris Jay set on Kiss100. In the day there seems to be plenty of UKG on the station, today some vintage sounding 4x4 tracks were getting hammered as well as some 2-step action by artists whose names I actually recognised - El-B, Zed Bias and El-Tuff.

In the mean time here are a couple of sets that might be harder to find. I can't remember from where on the web I pulled em down.

Macabre Unit on 1-Extra 11.07.2003. (50MB)

Disturbed Man Dem Instrumental Mix by DJ Dowee, May '06. (13.5MB in RealPlayer format)
This mix is great. Very grimestep!

Big Body Workout

2006-05-09T22:04:00.000+01:00

Well trekking down to Brixton was definitely worthwhile! N-Type, Kode9, Mala and Loefah, Skream, Distance and Plasticman smacked it pretty fuckin' hard in that order.

Arrived around 11:15, anxious about the queue - worries that were in fact not assuaged by the large tail of people coming out of the doors of Mass. But it trundled onwards and by 12:00ish we were at the ticket office. Pokes was on duty there. Walking up the spiral staircase to attend Mass the bass was somehow being channeled by the shape of the stairwell into a handrail vibrating beast! Got in there for the second half of N-Type's two hour set which was quite banging and expertly mixed.

Kode9 then stepped up to the 1s and 2s which provided for me the highlight of the night. Over an hour he crafted an absolute gem of a set, dropping Prince's 'Sign of the Times' longside '9 Samurai' and a whole host of other raw shit. He did to dubstep what I have seen Matthew Herbert do to house music; get inside its space, bend its energies into such ebbs and flows that every minute seemed essential to hear. Looking back at the row of people light up on the stage at the back like a primary-school chorus line of dub-zombies and hearing my favorite SpaceApe rhyme (As a child I was always happy-go-lucky/As a man I believe I am just plain lucky/To be alive...) over some fresh new riddims was just fantastic.

Mala and Loe then stepped up for a 2 hour back2back set. Mala was shocking-out to every tune with his joyful body-racking head nod, Sgt. Pokes was larging up the bar staff (what other night would that ever happen?!) and Loefah dropped 'Ruffage', 'Horror Show', 'Mud' and other half-step gems. Popped out part way through the set for some Maccy D's which was convenient!

After Mala'n'Loe finished Skream stepped up. The DJ box was extremely rammed at this point, with all the DJs and MCs who had played plus Youngsta, Task and plenty of others crowding around and instigating rewinds. Skream looked like he had had a few at this point (it was 3:00!). Loads of bouncy classics got spun -'Dutch Flowers' and 'Music to Make U Stagga' being my two favourites - and there were plenty of rewinds, slightly too many perhaps. But it didn't really matter, this was the party set, the energy flashpoint of the evening. Crazy D rode the beats in his usual manner, at one point exuberantly ejaculating 'Cheese and peas' into the mic. I think he spits slightly too many bars sometimes, which can have the effect of smudging all the tunes into each other and make them sound remakably familiar. Skream treated us to a new track he has made with Warrior Queen. I must admit I found the opening lyrics slightly hubristic, detailing as they did, Skream being 'the greatest', 'the saviour' or some such. However, he really is the kid prodigy of the scene and you can hardly begrude him his propers.

Wonderful to see how much love and respect the DJs have got for each other. Immediately after stepping down from the turntables Mala begin dancing just as rigourusly to Skream's beats as to his own. And the special interaction between dubstep MC and DJ has always struck me as a rarely intense example of a male heterosexual relationship. Not to mention the co-orporation demanded by playing back2back with another DJ. Everytime Mala and Loefah play together it can only cement thier friendship.

The crowd was good natured and adoring every tune that dropped. The bouncers were surly and had ridiculously shiny jackets on. The beer was massively overpriced but I wasn't drinking anyway.

And then at 4:00 Distance stepped up for an hours spinnage. Only heard his first four tunes as tiredness was oncoming but they sounded pretty good, somewhat like a squelchy Vex'D sound. And then homeward! Very very large night. Roll on DMZ Leeds!

Junglism

2006-05-05T15:09:00.000+01:00

In a somewhat sterile bar, full of white furniture aimed at class but ending in tack, I was last night reminded of just how good sped-up drum breaks can sound. Kenny Ken was in town, playing a set of classic Jungle. I am not knowledgeable enough in this area to name the tunes other than the ubiquitous 'Original Nutter', but for around fifty minutes, before he moved onto souless modern DnB, I was dancing away on the small dancefloor. Such a great feeling to know that both the dread rhythm of reggae and dub and the cartoonish euphoria of hardcore were but a few knob twists away! It was fun. Fun is the crucial element I would characterise the kind of new DnB I dislike as lacking. It is unfunky, mechanical and grooveless.

Vinyl cheapness

2006-05-04T15:58:00.000+01:00

To balance the books I picked up these releases, each at 65p. The Roots compilation is great, very catchy and simple tunes. The Kenny Ball one is an album of his and his band covering traditional Japanese tunes in a Jazz stylee! Strange, reminds me of Tomita's 1970s tunes of him covering things like the Star Wars theme in gentle, plinking analogue-synths.

2006-05-04T15:47:00.000+01:00

The first four Big Apple releases have come up on 'Independance Records'. Not sure entirely how that occurred but, being such foundation material, I snapped them up. My card is getting a right hammering, I've got Skepta's 'Duppy', Loefah's Skream remixes, two Jon E. Cash 12"s, a Neckle Camp e.p. and DMZ005 in the post already!

Detroit Techno

2006-05-02T14:36:00.000+01:00

I have been recently listening to a compilation entitled 'Detroit Classics and Techno Diamonds'. Lots of tunes I have never heard of, longside tunes by the famous names such as (obviously) Atkins, Saunderson and May and others.

The one thing that has really struck me about the music (I don't know the exact dates of this stuff but I guess 80-85) is the cross-over into the disco/nascent hip-hop aesthetic territory of producers like Egyptian Lover. There are tunes on this compilation that could easily be woven together into a brilliant set of early house/techno/electro0flavoured hip-hop and disco by a skilled DJ. Some of tracks feature MCs, though they are in the 'toasting' tradition of simple rhyme-purveyors we have seen in the early Jungle and now Dubstep scenes, their voices often as not synthesised into a robotic groove. Easy to pick up on influences from both Parliament and Kraftwerk, which is something that perhaps can not be said all that often!

The other immediate impression is just how much they sound like sex. It is sweaty, dirty music and funky too, the funk of the vinyl grooves and the grinding body. DJ Funk has a tune called 'Pump That Pussy' and DJ Assault one called 'Tits-n-Ass'. Even Derrick May's breakthrough track, though instrumental, is called 'Nude Photo' and for me well encapsulates the fantastic paradox of the best electronic music - so obviously a machined product yet so obviously fitted for a human groove.

Anyway, I'm really enjoying the music and am in the process of procuring more Saunderson, Atkins and May to explore as well as some second-wave stuff like Jeff Mills. If anyone has any recommendations for me I'd love to hear them! Exploring the early Chicargo house scene might be an interesting project to run in parallel with this.

2nd Phaze

2006-04-30T17:39:00.000+01:00

Tracklist for Wiley's '2nd Phaze'. I'm not really understanding why he has put More Fire's 'Oi' on it given the history with Mr. Bizzle but it's all good! Available here only so far.

Check the latest Westwood appearance at Wiley's MySpace. Apart from the Big Dawg's amusing shouting it has new material from Wiley Kat.

Dizzee Vs Asher D

2006-04-29T11:20:00.000+01:00

As promised a week or so ago, here is the full radio recording of a youngish Dizzee Rascal clashing with So Solid's Asher D. It is taken from DJ Dopeman's 'The London Underground' mix. I felt that since its origins were in a pirate radio clash I could legitimately post it up here. I'm not so sure about something taken from a proper album or single release.

Selector Porkjacket in Full Effect

2006-04-28T15:48:00.000+01:00

My new set-up! Just need to master the art of mixing now. Listening to Skream's anarchic 'Stella Sessions' set from a couple of weeks ago with Mala and Chef tearing shit up at the end and the whole thing spilling over into a mammoth two and a half hour mix of fresh dubs, old classics and general brilliance. Sun outside and a beer festival ten minutes down the road, all is looking good today!

Heat Wave live bits

2006-04-27T00:32:00.000+01:00

Some mp3s to download here of few MCs from across the Grime/UKHH spectrum including Jammer, Skepta, Gods Gift, Riko, Blak Twang and Klashnekoff. I always think HeatWave looks like a great event; the Dancehall and Reggae sonic emphasis teamed with vocalists from a broad selection of traditions.

Bank Holiday Heat

2006-04-26T21:51:00.000+01:00

Just a comment reppin' Sheffield, lots of love for it at the moment! This weekend offers a pretty wicked selection of music-

Friday: Urban Gorilla with Sharam (DeepDish), Nic Fanciulli, Adam Freedland and Elite Force.
AND
DJ Premier, Killa Kella and DJ Format at the Plug.

Saturday: Pimp and Soil, Japanese dancefloor Jazz band at Phon-etics, The Room.

Sunday: 'Love Music Hate Racism' with Lethal Bizzle, Marc Mac of 4Hero, Blak Twang, c90's Julien and a host of other local talent.
AND
Big party at the Plug with line-up described below.
AND
'Warehouse Sessions' at Leadmill with Justin Robertson, FC Kahuna and DJ's Are Not Rockstars feat. Princess Superstar & Alexander Technique.

Large!! Given annoying essays etc. that must be written, I'm unsure as to what i'm going to get too. Probably just Phon-Etics and the anti-racism one. Still, one course i do is being effected by all the industrial action taking place at the moment, so if nothing is resolved in the next week or so our essays can not be given out or marked, so that'll be one less thing to do!

Tectonic 10" Series Starting

2006-04-26T11:53:00.000+01:00

From the Rooted blog.

'Very imminent...a 4 x 10” series of cutting edge dubstep from some of the scenes biggest names. Tectonic taking it to the next level! The first 10” due out in June features Skream’s ‘Bahl Fwd’ and Distance’s ‘Tempatation’, whilst part two will be DQ1’s ‘Wear the Crown’ and Mk1’s ‘Slang’. Two more 10”s will follow leading to a CD project. You heard it here first.'

Good to see Sheffield-er Oris Jay (DQ1) getting a new release.

Stateside Opinion III

2006-04-26T11:50:00.000+01:00

Xenon's Stateside opinion III available here. Trim, Wiley, Ruff Swad and other usual suspects featured. Also Jammer's remix of Roots Manuva's 'Colossal Insight', which is a great tune for inclusion.

Bank Holiday Business Part II

2006-04-24T17:25:00.000+01:00

Advance warning for a decent looking night about a month off. 'Freshen Up' at Corporation on Sunday 28th May. One (the only?!) redeeming feature to Coroporation as a venue is the extraordinarily cheap drink prices it sometimes offers! £1 for a bottle of Carlsberg sounds pretty appetizing. Reggae and Jungle mash-up in the main room. Second room sees Sheffield breaks/dubstep specialist Oris Jay (Darqwan) playing a set I am already looking forward to. 'Deadman does Dubstep' also sounds pretty promising! 'Duppy Man' perveyors Chase and Status in the large room longside local fave Daddy Freddy and large vocalists Tenor Fly and Top Cat.

Bank Holiday Business!

2006-04-24T17:13:00.000+01:00

First up is 'Jungle Central' Sunday 30th April at the Plug.

'LIVE//DETONATE
DJ MARKY & DYNAMITE MC
CYANTIFIC & MC RUTHLESS
TK & MC BALLISTIC // AGGERS // CONNECT

NEUTRAL//UPRISING
MARK EG // STU ALLAN
DEMAND // EXCEL
TOPGROOVE // JAKE NICHOLLS // SPINNER // HOOLEY

EARTH//JUNGLE CENTRAL
HOOD-E // MARKSMAN // ALEX DEADMAN
MR MEERKAT // PAPA AL // FATTA SOUND

Check this out for a monster of a line up, 3 rooms, 31 DJ’s and MC’s over 9hrs! Three nights go head to head in a clash of drum and bass, jungle, dub, hardcore and hard dance.

In the Neutral room we have the massive Nottingham drum and bass night DETONATE. Now in their 8th year they’re responsible for some of the biggest DnB events in the UK. This is their Sheffield debut and features the Brazilian superstar Marky alongside the explosive Dynamite MC. Hospital Records man Cyantific also joins in with MC Ruthless on the mic.

In the Live room we have a Plug debut for Sheffield night UPRISING. One of the longest running underground Hardcore and Hard Dance events in the UK, with more than 11 years under it’s belt, they truly know how to throw a party. Expect a mash up of hardcore, hard trance, techno, hardstyle and old skool all in one night.

Over in Earth we have the unique collaboration of Dub Central and Junglist Alliance. JUNGLE CENTRAL is a clash between two of the cities most dedicated and exciting promoters and will feature an explosion of heavyweight dub, reggae and steppas from around the globe slugging it out with Jungle both old and new and the mighty sounds of Dubstep.

9pm til 6am // £9.00 adv / www.the-plug.com / 0114 249 2208 /The Plug, Matilda St'.

Blurb from the Plug website. Think i'll probably go to this. Looks like a great party vibe should be happening. I'm loving the fact that each of the three rooms is being devoted to a different sound. 'Earth' is quite a pleasantly intimate and warm space, and some mid-90's jungle mixed with reggae, ragga and hopefally dancehall and dubstep could make for some very pleasing vibes indeed! Dub Central are excellent and i know that some of the Junglist Alliance are into Dubstep.

Stateside Opinion

2006-04-23T10:29:00.000+01:00

Tasty looking grime mix here, courtesy of Xenon. Plenty of stuff i don't recognise alongside familiar bangers like Ruff Sqwad's 'Jampie', Jammer's 'Marksman' and Stutta's 'Konk'. Your chest Xenon!

My first ever white labels!

2006-04-23T10:15:00.000+01:00

Hopefully a moment I will look back glowingly at in years to come! The other one is Digi Mystikz on Soul Jazz too - Misty Winter / Conference. Of the four tracks i think my favorite is 'Walkin With Jah'.

New SMG Grime Freestyles

2006-04-22T23:05:00.000+01:00

JD merkin All Out Krew

Tez Kid and Rudie Freestyle

Large up Grievous Angel!

2006-04-21T18:34:00.000+01:00

Thanks for linking me on your blog. I'm very new to the game, so even small tokens of recognition are welcome! Whilst browsing the site I discovered this excellent little mix of Dizzee clashing with Asher D of So Solid. Worth checking out. Originally on radio, I have a different, longer version of the clash with some of the presenters voice preserved. Will create a YouSendIt link for it in a couple of days for yr aural pleasure!

The Great Mix-CD Swap

2006-04-20T09:33:00.000+01:00

First up, I stole this idea from Dissensus forum.

It's a simple method of getting some new music (not that my clogged hard discs and brain really need any more) but in the most exciting way possible - the morning postman 's drop of goodies through the front door. It will cost very little and hopefully be quite good fun.

The Rules

A single CD of music is to be provided. If the creator wants to mix, scratch, cut it, scatter it with FX or manipulate it in any other way that is fine. A straight play of 10 or 12 tunes is also fine. CDs are cheap and quick to burn. The only cost incurred will be a little bit of postage.

Hand written tracklisting must be provided. I also encourage everybody to draw a little bit of cover art on the CD or its paper insert.

There will be three weeks to make your CD, encourage your friends to get involved and for me to recruit as many people as possible. After that three weeks is up, I will send a group email telling people to get their CDs in the post ASAP. I will, of course, provide them with addresses at this point, randomly selected.

That's it. I would perhaps advocate a mild sonic theme to your mix-CD, but this is not obligatory. Similarly, I would discourage adherence to a very narrow sub-genre, but again this is your prerogative to pursue if you wish. Good luck and hold tight for info!!! Get involved by leaving a comment here or email me at porkjacket '''at''' gmail '''dot''' com

2006-04-20T09:04:00.000+01:00

Some quality MP3s have hit Bleep. Tectonic, Keysound and Hot Flush have all added most of their (admittedly small) back catalogues. Planet Mu have updated their selection. Picks of the bunch for me has to be the classic Loefah & screams 12" '28g/Fearless', DJ Pinch and P. Dutty's 'War Dub' and HF005 by Slaughter Mob.

Since those are all old(ish) tunes perhaps the best bit on Bleep is the new Virus Syndicate EP - Major List MCs/Ready to Learn. Looking forward to hear the Major List MCs version which punningly features some, err, Major List MCs - Jammer, Trim (Trimothy, Taliban Trim anyone?) and Earz. Been loving Earz' flow since 'Happy Days' and Trim's cocky, rushy flow should grab the tune by the scruff of the neck.

Digi Mystikz Sheffield venue moved for Saturday

2006-04-20T09:03:00.000+01:00

Moved up the road to The Plug, should still be fine, if lacking the character of Matilda St.

Big n small ways, Short n tall ways

2006-04-19T09:29:00.000+01:00

Crazy D has joined Kiss FM. Its only other 'post-garage' rep is Logan Sama playing his excellent weekly grime show.

Thanks to Blacklay at the Dubstep Forum for this info - 'Crazy D will be hosting 4, 1 hour shows on Kiss 100 through the month of April. Each will have a different set of DJs playing back to back.

Show one April 7
Hatcha, Benga and Skream

Show two April 14
Prior (search and destroy) and Vex'd

Show three April 21
Kode 9 and Youngsta

Show four April 28
Mala, Loefah & Sgt Pokes'.

The show from the 14th can be listened to here, though the classic Big Apple line up of Hatch, Benga and Skream seems to have slipped under the radar.

The principle of the project is simply Crazy D hosting and toasting his way over an hours worth of tasty riddims provided by the guests. Now he may not be my favored MC about, but Crazy certainly has his place. He is garage's direct descendent to SpaceApe's dub-poetry and Sgt. Pokes reggae styled toasting. The Prior and Vex'D show somehow sounded a little less inspiring than your average Rinse session. I'm not quite sure as to why that might be, but the sense of urgent importance that I attach to listening to the latest Skream, Chef or N-Type slot on Rinse just doesn't spring from the Kiss show. Anyway, the line-ups are pretty stella, and definitely worth an hour a week.

Venn Festival Bristol

2006-04-08T20:10:00.000+01:00

I went to last years Venn. It was mainly rock derived, so wasn't exactly my preferred music but the atmosphere was great and there were some cool acts. This years looks good and I may try and attend, exams etc. permitting. They have lots of acts confirmed, the pick of the bunch so far for me being Hyperdub's Kode9, Planet Mu's Exile, wicked minimal jazz pianist Max Richter and Bristol's own Knowledge of Bugs who shared a split 10" with Asteroth a couple of years ago. It is a good place to go and almost enforce a variety of music upon your ears and soul. Last year I remember crazy Japanese psychedelic rockers 'Acid Mothers Temple...' whose music, whilst not altogether sonically to my taste, was certainly very memorable. Nice little friendly festival to support also.

Free Leafcutter John album

2006-04-08T15:06:00.000+01:00

The Sky is Darker Than the Road is a series of songs he recorded as a favour to a friend. They are firmly embedded in the folk side of his music, with no electronic augmentation. Most of the tunes are just John and his guitar.

His 'The Forest and the Sea' looks set to drop soon, with test pressings in production at the moment. I saw him perform a section from this at a festival of Digital Media in Sheffield and was impressed. It consisted of sections of folky guitars-and-voice cut with bits of laptop manipulation of live samples. He used wood, little metal boxes and guitars to provide the samples. Nice.

DMZ Badness

2006-04-08T13:39:00.000+01:00

Says it all. Hope to reach.

Grindie Vol. I

2006-04-07T23:35:00.000+01:00

Taxed from Prancehall but i'm sure he'll never read this lowly blog anyway. If you missed Statik's Grindie I on Logan Sama's Myspace (or anywhere else for that matter) here it is once again. Thanks to Tiny Prancer for that.

Creeper Mixtapes

2006-04-07T23:07:00.000+01:00

If anyone missed them Roll Deep's Creeper mixtapes I and II are available here and here courtesy of Logan Sama. Both worth getting but I'm especially liking the first one. Thanks to Logan for that one then.

Stepping at the BBC

2006-04-07T21:31:00.000+01:00

As reported at various sources, the BBC have created a Dubstep page of sorts! They are hosting it on thier 'Collective', which is described as an 'interactive cultural magazine'. The short video there features some short chat from usual suspects such as Youngsta, Skream and Kode9.

All noise to me mate

2006-04-07T19:05:00.000+01:00

Here is a yousendit link for Dizzee Rascal freestyling over Skream's 'Midnight Request Line'. It was on Logan Sama's Kiss 100 show and is important for two reasons. Firstly it is one of the most overt moments of cross-pollination between the Grime and Dubstep camps so far. Skepta, Wiley and co have been representing ata FWD, but this is perhaps the next step. Secondly it marks Dizzee's return to radio after a couple of years or so. Anyway it's good.

2006-04-07T01:08:00.000+01:00

One of the best internet pics ever??!

Rinse FM Schedule

2006-04-06T23:54:00.000+01:00

This is the newest Rinse FM schedule out (click to enlarge). Obviously lots of talent on there. 7-1 on a Sunday is a pretty brilliant evenings music with Newham Generals, Roll Deep and Ruff Sqwad playing. I'm loving Newham Gens at the moment. Some of their rhymes are quite simplistic, but they have a real fun aspect to their music. They even remind me of Phi-Life Cypher sometimes, though I'm not quite sure whether that is a good or bad thing! Footsie's production has been baaad though...

Skream's 'Stella Sessions' on Monday are compulsory listening for sure. He seems kinda off key, but in a good way. His cocky cockney attitude translates excellently across the airwaves. Loving the fact he shouts out Ronald MacDonald every week for his Happy Meal and clearly nails a good few of the eponymous beers every show! Check the brilliant Bare Files as ever for the archives.

Second Phaze

2006-04-06T16:33:00.001+01:00

Just seen the proposed cover for Wiley's 'Second Phaze' lp. Hmmmm....a little bit sketchy. Reminds me of all those seemingly interchangeable No Limit covers in a way. Pleasantly homegrown, with a laudable DIY vibe but not altogether aesthetically pleasing.

What Do U Call It??

2006-04-06T16:12:00.000+01:00

Made a trip down to Bristol for a few days. Friday night went to the Blue Mountain Club to catch Loefah and Skream. Pretty much confirmed Skream's status as my preffered dubstep producer. His tunes 'Dutch Flowers' and 'Music to Make You Stagger' were just so good and so satisfying when heard over the huge Dissedent sound-system. Whereas Loefah's joints were awesome in thier intense bass power, Skream's provided such a fun mood in which to dance. Read Gutterbreakz review here.

Saturday night saw a trip to The Black Swan for an awseome breakcore line-up. Unfortunately three hours at a house party previously saw me consume a little too much alcoholic refreshment and memories are blurred to say the least.

I also took some photos of graffiti around Bristol. It has been a modest project of mine to capture images of grafitti in various cities around the UK. Have done some stuff in London, Bristol and Sheffield so far, but hope to shoot Manchester in a few weeks. Check up top for a couple of choice shots. The killer choc muffin was outside a bakery with a huge wall of graff-ed products, croissants, biscuits, loafs - you name it!!

Vex'D and Loefah w/ Sgt. Pokes. Manchester.

2006-03-30T21:43:00.000+01:00

Just a quick heads up for these two heavywieght acts appearing in Manc. The Pheonix Club is very central. Hopefully going to reach this.

Big up Random Trio (which is actually just two people i'm pretty sure!)and the rezzies doing good steppa stuff in my fine home city!

Digital Mystikz in Sheffield!!

2006-03-30T20:55:00.000+01:00

Great news. First proper dubstep we had up in this neckle of the woods was Youngsta at 'Dark Crystal' put on by Junglist Alliance's Alex Deadman. This took place at Everyone Centre and I couldn't go. Gutted. I tried to console myself that Youngsta's minimal style wasn't quite to my taste but that was pure sillyness (though vaguely truth-derived). Must have sounded great on the big rig there, I went to the last Dub Central and thought the music was great.

So next installment comes from the c90 boys. Check the link to the right for more info. Joe c90 taught me some logic two years ago and he gave me a first for my essay on 'Backwards Speech', so you know he's on the level. Man, that theory was unbelieveably silly, ripe to be picked apart with some sharpass logic. They have got Digital Mystikz up, which i think is a wise choice. Digi Mystikz are wound so tight around the centre of the whole scene that thier name has travelled futher and wider than most. Im going to see Loe and Skream tomorow night in Bristol. Sicknezz.

I think its a great move getting Space Ape instead of the normal Mystikz MC Sgt. Pokes. I like Pokes but Space Ape dropped more gems than an aged diamond merchant on Dubstep Allstars III and I bet he will be brilliant live. Might not be able to attend though.

Details:::
DIGITAL MYSTIKZ
Friday 21st April
Matilda Social Centre, 111 Matilda St, Sheffield
10pm - 2am. Last entry midnight.
£6
Advance tickets will be available at the following places...
Dulo, Rare 'n' Racy, D'n'B arena, Record Collector, Forever Changes.

Yo

2006-03-29T20:46:00.000+01:00

Welcome to the bloggage. Ive just kicked it off tonight so there is nothing of even vague interest to see yet.