“Feel The Heat EP” is finally out and marks a good start of the year for the camp based in Brussels. Maëlan makes his official debut with the title track which is produced by Alchemyst. Reggae vibes aplenty, catchy lyrics and badbwoy beats makes this a firm party anthem. “Bitch Smackin’ Killa” does exactly what it says with its hammering beats and ground shaking basslines in a simple but effective number which begs for double drops and peaktime tracklisting. Last but not least we enter the world of Grimelock and their dense and sub heavy soundscape of “Total Recall” which rewinds all we already said in a storming clash of bassline pressure and surgically edited breaks.

The full color vinyl cover features photos made by Melika which depicts an industrial and deserted Brussels’ outskirt location. Perhaps this is a subtle ‘push things forward’ message for the Belgian scene given its content and delivery and most of all it’s a true testament of the Stainage sound and vibe.

Tracks have received good feedback, been rinsed out at parties and radio shows all over the world – from Bucharest to New York city and on the internet. Besides the Stainage crew (Grimelock, BunZer0, Saviour, Alchemyst) supporters include names like: Starkey, Von D, Nick Argon, Dj Wonder (Rinse.FM), Cal & Sikey (StuBru), Palotai (Tilos Radio – Budapest), Matty G and Sukh Knight.

Cargo Records takes care of the worldwide distribution and you can find it also in mp3 format in most of the good record stores.

> buy vinyl

> buy mp3

Dynooo Gum Dragon EPK from ddanceswithwolves on Vimeo.

The Ep's tracklist is looking like this.
 
1   Tranch
2   Fuh Real  with Naboobia
3   Furbee  
4   Cawf Drop
5   Will Flattened  with Richard Colvaen  
6   Fuh Real Luigi rmx  (cd exclusive)

sampler

Although the EP is centered around the track with Swedish singer Naboobia, our favourites are the dancy 80's track Tranch  and the crazy, messy and surprising track by Richard Colvaen - Will Flattened, with an amazing last 2 minutes full of melody and hiphop breaks.

Go out and buy this and give your full support to this quality release. 

Don't miss out on the release party at Kavka, tonight!! And get your copy of the vinyl (or cd) at the entrance.

Digsville
Mac Fly

IYB favourites are: 

Untold – "Bad Girls" (great grimey roller) Mosca – "Gold Bricks, I See You", Starkey – "Black Monolith" and Caspa & Rusko – "One Of The Same" (a surprisingly sweet and sensual track by these two producers)

fabric presents Elevator Music Vol. 1
Release Date: 18th January 2010
Full Details: here

1: Hot City – If That’s How I Feel
2: xxxy – Sing With Us
3: Doc Daneeka – Drums In The Deep
4: Hackman – Pistol. In Your Pocket
5: Julio Bashmore – The Moth
6: Untold – Bad Girls
7: Octa Push – Doctor Bayard
8: Shortstuff – Behave
9: Skinnz – Ukraine
10: Mosca – Gold Bricks, I See You
11: Martyn – Friedrichstrasse
12: Vista – Elixir
13: Caspa & Rusko – One Of The Same
14: Om Unit – Encoded
15: Starkey – Black Monolith
16: Shortstuff & Brackles – Melvin Blue (Digital Bonus Track)
17: Hackman – Pistol In Your Pocket (Hypno Remix) (Limited Digital Bonus track)

fabric presents Elevator Music: Vol. 1 from Fabric London on Vimeo.

The story is continued with 'Gorilla March' alongside Alchemyst. Dub heavy pads and stabs coming straight from a big rave flashback that echoes and glows until the bass drops and the beats kick in pumping out the air out of your lungs.

Not a bit of cheese in this pair but pure merciless frequency flows ready to get into your mind and take you far away. Off the records...

Dog Politik - Grimelock

Gorilla March - Grimelock feat. Alchemyst

Cat n°stainOTR001

mastered at Dubstudio (UK)

picture by laura

One year ago two young Antwerp boys addicted to the sounds of dubstep and in love with documentary decided it was time to give a view to the public what goes on in the Belgian world of dubstep. The amount of talent present in our country that is busy  working on this musical genre deserved to be shown to the outher world.

So during one year Jeroen and Jonas went on the road with their camera to take interviews of all the people busy in the scene.  You already want a sneak peak of it? Check this video: 

dBstep Teaser from Jeroen Visser on Vimeo.

Are you interested in viewing the full version, then make sure you don't miss out on the official premiere, or check the documentary before the Untitled party on Fri 6 Nov 2009 at Trix.

Can't be there on neither of these events, then you still have a lot of opportunities:

13/11: (free) Dungeon, Leuven (w: Scandalous Unltd, Bunzero,...)
13/11: (free) Langweiligkeit Festival, The Hague NL (w: Untold, Pangaea,...)
21/11: (free) Echoes, Dendermonde (w: Clouds, Quest, Sub Scape,...)
21/11: (free) 't Stuk, Leuven (w:...)

We are already looking forward! 

http://dbstep.be/

Dj Premier, one of the most famous hiphop beatmakers of the nineties will hit the decks of Nexx tonight! (8 ch de boondael 1050 bruxelles - 10&euro

It's always good to remember that 20 years ago, before the youtube-hit hype, some real hiphop warriors build their carrier on an impressive discographie. With real improvement for the scene and a soul and message in their work.

Co-producer with Guru of GangStarr, he's also responsible for thousands of collaborations with the biggest artists of the 90's and 2000's s such as Jeru the Damaja, MOP, KRS-One, Jay-Z, Mos Def, Christina Aguilera, ODB,...

Lately, he started his own label "Year round Incorporated", on which he produces BlaqPoet and NYGz and even if the year 2009 seems to be quite for him, he still continues to produce beats for people with real talent rather than big names that could "afford him".

If those songs remind you of the good old days of hiphop, then you certainly have to come and support the producer responsible for those immortal beats.

    

Come Clean - Jeru The Damaja

Crooklyn Dodgers 95 - Return of the Crooklyn Dodgers

Gang Starr - Mass Appeal

Nas - Nas Is Like

Krs-One - MC's Act Like They Don't Know

Years ago we booked Koyote for the LeGazon parties, for the occasion he played back to back with his partner Goon.

He was wearing a huge Koyote Ice Hockey t-shirt, this in combination with his Akhenaton face, sure gave him quite a style!

I remember I was thinking it was really weird doing a b2b set when one dj was just playing 30 minutes, followed by the other that played 30 minutes. But whatever, it was still a cool mix filled with booty, old skool dance and a selection of hits that made you jump up.

For the record, they say the duo is responsible for bringing ghetto house in to France, but who gives a damn about that in Belgium .

Just listen to this exclusive mix Koyote made for the occasion, and make up your mind if you want to go party with him and the Freak and Geeks gang this friday at CBS!

DJ KOYOTE - Exclusive Mix

download

The show will last a massive 4 hours! Tune in trought http://subfm.com

download

Mister Wallace is producing dancefloor beats for more than 10 years now.

After releasing several tunes on Stainage Records and other labels he decided that it was time to do something a bit different and take a fresh start. Thats when he created the alias Hush.

The music choice of Hush can be described as a combination of hot garage, dubstep bassline and grime beats completed with sexy acapella's. 

You'll probably not hear those songs in a club, but u can be certain that tons of drivers will carry the cd on their roadtrip this holiday!

Listen to this bright summer mixtape fully loaded with quality Brussels beats and discover the garage side of Mister Wallace!

So download it, burn it, love it, spread it!!! This is quality!

If you want this exclusive mix on a cd, then mail us at info@inyourbass.com

More info on http://myspace.com/hushprod

WORLDWIDE REPORT DAY 1

Beautiful sunny day here in Brussels right before leaving to the airport, I heard it was a bit overcast in Sète but wasn’t too worried about that, knowing the weather is coming good in that part of France.  Arrived 2 hours late in Sète, yeah my plane had a flat tire, can you believe that sh*t?  Finally arrived in this fishing town, so many memories here from last year and nothing has really changed…  On our way to the “phare du mole” I saw homeboy Franck from the Worldwide Festival, I told him we were starving so he showed us a nice restaurant called “Bistrot du Port”, got nice food and I paid him a “pint”… a word they’re not really familiar with here, ain’t that right Franck? You owe me one, I mean a drink, not a beer…!  Man, I was so excited to see my Worldwide family I almost ran after dinner, happy to see some faces I haven’t seen in a minute, reminding me of a good time in Singapore.  Stereotyp was there, some WF Singapore crew members, bPm, Gui & Boris, Jonathan, of course “le patron” Gilles, my brother Simbad, I mean…so many familiar faces.

   

I arrived late though, couldn’t witness the talent search winners, Beatspoke but catched a few minutes of Principles of Geometry which was good, especially for that time of the night.  Sundae took over, throwing some nice gems until Gilles came on stage to introduce the next artist.  Theo Parrish brought his own mixer, which wasn’t the best thing to do I think; first, it took time to set up; second, no soundcheck for that mixer which was actually the main reason why you had a bad sound by moments during his set, (but it didn’t seem to bother the bPm as he was dancing right in front of that main speaker for an hour, man watch out for them ears).  As the festival has a very good technical team we knew the mixer was the reason, we trust them boys behind the consoles.  Anyway, I really liked Theo Parrish’s set.  He went deep but then again, it was all good, I know there’s people out there really loving that deep shit, yeah you know who you are .  Theo is really a cool guy, after his set and while listening to Diplo’s set we talked about the similar sound the B-more sound has with old rave music.

Talking about Diplo, his set woke up everybody out of their deepeness; you know the style and you know how hard that sound goes… incredible vibe at that time, the crowd really enjoyed that sound; that Lynn Collins break man… I’ve had enough of that.  Stereotyp was up next, too bad my camera died, wanted to film him badly… He started with his hard sound, nice bass, was dope.  Diplo stayed on stage drinking a beer on stage with Stereotyp.  That’s the true Worldwide spirit, drinking with the other boys while playing beautiful records for the crowd, a festival made by deejays and music lovers and I’m sure the crowd can feel that.  If you know my blog, you know I can’t leave you without a video, so here it is ladies & gentlemen:




WORLDWIDE REPORT DAY 2

Woke up at 1pm and went to sleep around 8am after a good breakfast at the hotel with Simbad; it was really necessary.  Was the first awake as usual, the other one still dreaming and me ichatting with the bPm who was definitely not ready to bounce to the beach.  Finally, 2 hours later we arrive at the Acd beach where Son Of Kick is playing heavy tunes for the crowd, chilled with my Italian buddies for a minute, cool guys. I heard Fuzati (isn’t he from Le Klub des 7?) did a great job playing jazz and related stuff, too bad I didn’t see his set.  I think it’s better to play it smooth at the beach, let the people breath for a minute…  Everybody was in the water, muscles, hot sun and nice bodies laying on the sand.  Acd beach, a nice spot where we all playing on sunday on a bigger soundsystem, should be nice.

   

At night it was all about food and nice music.  Went to le “Grand Bleu” restaurant with my girl, for the suggestion of the day,grilled fish, grilled potato and a salad…delicious!  Soil & Pimp was about the start at the “Theatre de la Mer” and I didn’t want to miss that because I knew it would be something legendary in there, an amphitheater by the beach where other artists like Fela Kuti performed back in the days.  I saw the last song of Sebastien Schuller, that song was nice, dunno about the rest, where you there?  Then Soil & Pimp, it was time for a mad session; after two songs the band asked the crowd to show them how they dance, damn, the whole place started dancing in front of the stage, a pretty crazy view but oh so beautiful.  Like I told Gilles, we need Japanese people around us, they are so special and different, you gotta love ‘em. Soil & Pimp Ichiban.



At the lighthouse it was Grfld warming-up the crowd with a nice set, right before Dorian Concept’s set.  A set that would become one of the craziest sets Dorian ever did.  It all began smoothly, but then came the lightning and then the rain started falling down the sky.  It would’ve been a horrible thing if we hadn’t those plastic things to put over the gear and Dorian’s computer.  Me & Franck were keeping that plastic over Dorian’s gear for 30 minutes, Simbad came to help too, we were dancing in the rain and Dorian tried to keep his shit dry, a computer, microkorg etc… shit’s no joke!  I’m sure we’ll remember this for a long time.  If that wasn’t not bad enough, boom! no electricity anymore.  Try to explain a crowd without mic that it will take 5 minutes haha, but Gilles had it under control, check it out in the video.  Then came Martyn, cool guy with a very nice album and dutchman, feels good to speak dutch with that cat, he did a splendid set, probably one of the best sets so far, big up!  Then, finally, the master arrived, el maestro, Carl Craig… what can I say, he’s a big man in the world of music, always something to see someone with his status, he ripped it, raving like the love parade in Berlin, I think the bPm is still dancing on his music right now haha.  That was the perfect time for me to leave the building, in the car with Martyn back to the hotel and here I am, writing at 6am.  Goodnight.




WORLDWIDE REPORT DAY 3

It all started at the “acd beach”; Da Vince & Aline were killin’ it with a nice blend of afrobeats, hiphop and funky music.  I was happy to hear that kind of music at the beach, really.  The bPm took over for another 30 minutes of beautiful music, someone was playing congas and flute, a deadly combination when used over a beat.  Alex Barck came in, was happy to see the man again, he told me half of his stuff didn’t arrive and that it could be a problem for his set tonite…wow;  Strange, I heard the same thing about Laurent Garnier’s gear, his music should come in around 10.30pm by plane, let’s hope it will all come to a good end.

   

Time to go to the beautiul Théâtre de la Mer where Mocky and Jimi Tenor had to perform.  Had a nice dinner with some Sète traditional food, was pretty good, don’t ask me what it was though and met the guy from Fulgeance, a dope act on two Akai Mpc’s, this guy rocks, if you don’t know the music make sure to check it out.  Mocky Live was very entertaining, funny dudes on stage, beautiful music, all that in a beautiful environment, what else do you need? A couch….  The whistle song was very nice and I definitely have to check out this album.  Then came Jimi Tenor, always dressed up, reminding me Sun Ra, and his drummer reminded me of Rick James (biiiiitch!); a nice set, better than the one I saw couple of months ago, going uptempo all the way, you could see Jimi loved it and so did the crowd, again standing right in the front like yesterday.  Let’s go to the lighthouse…

Went to the lighthouse with Fulgeance and Simbad, beautiful Mpc set up, I really wanted to play for a minute on the samplers with such a soundsystem, aah next time maybe…  Son of Kick was on the decks right before while the whole Laurent Garnier crew got in, telling us the gear, actually the cables for the gear didn’t make it at all.  Can you feel the kind of stress it is for an organisation? Knowing there’s a crowd of 2200 people in the front expecting Laurent to come on stage and kill it… Daaamn!  Meanwhile, Fulgeance was killin’ it on the samplers and also using the effects of the Pioneer mixer.  Using the effects so much that at a certain point he just lost it… thinking that the mixer was tripping…haha, he had to start it all over again.  While the crew was calling everybody in Sète for cables it was Alex Barck’s moment of shine.  He ripped it, I don’t even know if he had all his music with him in the end but he did a superb set, the crowd enjoyed it, I enjoyed it, it wasn’t too deep, just the way I love it.  Alex, merci!



Finally, after a thousand calls, asking artists backstage, the crew, all sweaty, found every single cable necessary to connect Laurent Garnier’s music, what a relief!  Gilles explained the whole situation to the crowd, I love that, it gives the show another dimension…  2200 people into it, for some it was a really crazy show, for others it wasn’t that great, I dunno, I just think it wasn’t my thing but good for what it is… can’t really judge.  But what I’m sure about is that a majority in the crowd really loved his set, and his greatest hits at the end of the show (which I liked better haha&hellip.  Anyway, props to the whole crew for finding those cables, you guys did a hell of a job.  I’m going to bed now…  Tomorrow it’s a whole dj line-up at the beach. Word!




WORLDWIDE REPORT DAY 4

Wow, is this the end ? Is it the final day of the 2009 edition of the Worldwide Festival in Sète ? That’s the feeling I woke up with this morning… on my way back to Belgium on a Tgv from Montpellier, it should take another 5 hours to get home…

Yesterday was super nice.  I left the hotel around 2pm and met the drum&bass legend that is DJ Suv outside, he’s amazing and a super friendly guy.  Heading towards the beach where I had to deejay at 6.30pm.  Enjoying the beautiful but too hot weather in the afternoon (chilled with Fulgeance, funny cat), had a crazy good steak at a crazy price (that’s when you know you’re in southern France) ; then checked out Shuya’s set of Kyoto Jazz Massive, very gentle guy I met a couple days ago, I love the jazz vibe he brings.  Yanna and Eddy were next, from Croatia, she’s singing and he mixes, very interesting, at first I didn’t know she was singing, it sounded like a record, excellent.

Then came DJ Suv, expected him to play drum & bass but actually played more house and broken beat stuff, a nice set with a MJ tribute in the beginning… I had to tell him to slow it down a bit because he was going nuts on the beats haha…Gilles, luckily, introduced me so I could start from scratch.  You know the deal, from hiphop and beats to soul, brazil, broken beat, house and more, in 60 minutes.  Michael Rutten from Soulpatrol, Frankfurt Germany was up next and did a great set, really enjoyed his set. Too bad I wasn’t around for DJ Oil’s set… how was it ?

I was happy Gilles slowed it all down a bit, good downtempo music, heard the “Gentle Smilles” edit by DJ Day,  Jill Scott, a beautiful Joey Negro record (tu me l’envoies patron?), you know, it feels good to hear something different than the usual boom boom of uptempo music haha.  I mean, it’s not bad but diversity is cool sometimes.  Earl Zinger was doing a hell of a job, on the mic (especially on that Jose x Joy Orbison track), he killed it…period !  Then Simbad took over and did a splendid set and gave the night another dimension by playing MJ’s “Thriller” as it was full moon last night, incredible.  Next? Ow yeah we did a back to back session with Eddy, Michael, Shuya, Simbad and myself, very pleasant set, short but rich in music, different genres, different styles of mixing, interesting…

Homeboy Todd Terje was up next, you know how that goes, disco and what not, excellent.  We had D.O.P. from France doing a live set, very nice band, uptempo, singing, going wild on stage… the guys are actually a bunch of friends who know each other for more than 15 years, all have the same tattoo on their arm, cool guys, a bit crazy though…  Finally met the guy called Trus’Me, he makes very nice music and the label is going well (Prime Numbers), expect some good music coming your way in september and october, looking forward.  I didn’t even hear his set, shame on me.  And fuck my camera, it died after Gilles‘ set…



After him it was all family on the turntables, Suv killed it with a monumental drum&bass set, very very dope, mixing acappella’s from Kanye over the beats, man you killed it.  Passed the headphones to The bPm who ripped it with that Babylon record, one of the only times I heard raggamuffin on the festival, I need that record Thristian.
It all ended with Simbad and myself, and the crowd singing to the vibes of Laos’ “something beautiful” ; the crowd was fantastic during the festival, big up, we need you guys to spread the message, spread the music and the good vibes.  Worldwide Festival baby, Freshly Cut crew, GP until next time… Merci !

With all the following elements combined, it seemed impossible not to have a perfect night:
- a bold and fresh line up
- an assumed exotism
- Audrey P****
- a nice place in the centre with
    - 2 rooms (one up to 500 heads)
    - 3 balconies
    - at least 2 KW Soundsystem
- Max le Daron and his hand dance, a bit like starting a harley davidson
- We didn't had to wait till 3 AM to see the guest and the sets were short and efficient.
- No line at the entry or at the bar
- nicoboups who came to give flyers because it's his life
- a cheap entry fee (which include  efficient security)
- a mature and peaceful crowd
....

The music style programmed for the evening was baile funk, but the sound was everything but monotone:

• - Joyce Muniz did a great job by dropping some minimal bangers, with sharp mixes, exclusive songs and no provocative dance. It was the perfect mix and I don't give a damn if it was a boy or a girl.
• - Dj Edgar rised the brazilian "swagger" to an unkown level : a semi-live set with his friend the "mpc1000" and his remix collection, that he burned in the plane to Brussels. He also made an honour to our friends from LowUp , who booked him a couple of months ago.
• - Daniel Haaksman, massive and eclectic, the way we like it, killed it with a mix of batucada and famous bassline tracks. This 40 years old, label owner of the infamous Man Recordings label, is still as agressive and diverse as he was at his debut.

Aight, the promotion of the party wasn't crazy, we didn't hear any dubsptep and Deiza Tigrona canceled her show, but still: thanks to the KVS and all the people that I've never seen in any other parties, this crazy enterprise succeeded in making the main room of KVS fill with clubbers. It was a small step away from the renewing of the Brussels nightlife.

I still have a message for the nice Flemish crowd I've met there, what you experienced last night is what some promotors like Lowup, Stainage, or even me with Jurassic Pump and Freeks and Geeks, are already doing for some years, so COME COME, we are waiting for you at Momo's, Plan B (ndlr:finito) or CBS. Join our facebook, myspace or twitter group, we are there to make the Brussels nightlife better for everybody without any cultural and linguistique barriere!

ps: emma i love you

Rob Sparx is not exactly a young gun in the electronic music production area.
The guy started to release tunes back in the nineties on Twisted Individual's label's Grid, Zombie and Up Yours.

He was making mostly drum n bass at that time, but has experimented with other styles like Electro, Breaks and House. Then he decided to concentrate on writing dubstep as he knew a few of the scene's key players (as he grew up near Croydon and loved the creative freedom of dubstep that other genres lack).

So he had a good amount of dubstep 12" releases on labels like Dubting, Dubbed Out, Audio Freakz,... with big remixes made by guys like Reso, TRG, Distance or Random Trio,...

His release, called Faced Rasta, is even one of the best dancefloor stuff dubstep has seen back in 2007 and was hugely supported by tons of djs like Ramadanman, N-Type, Skream, Walsh, Rusko and many more.

So till now Rob was mostly known for making big tunes for the floors, but now the time has come for him to explore deeper areas for an album.
And indeed that Trooper album which is about to be released on Z Audio does the trick quite nicely.

 
CD 2 will only be available for the first limited editions of the full album and is gathering previous remixes and some stuff only released before on vinyl.

So our attention is more focused on CD1 which is telling us a real story from the first till the last second.

The tunes are full of energy and they nicely avoid the wobbles dubstep cliché.  His tunes introduce you to intense grooves,at some points uplifting atmos and at other times deep and beautiful sonic landscapes.

The album is not only dedicated to dubstep, u can also get some d&b tunes like So Good or Wildlife that are pretty liquid and smooth sounding.
Fully Booked is a wonderful Tech House germ with amazing warm pads and soulful vocals. Thanks to a beautiful sub bassline, that tune, if played in a dj set, can be the bridge between different genres.

My favorites tunes are Bloodbath and Trooper for their amazing tribal beats work on the former and a real meditative vibe in the latter.

ROB SPARX - Bloodbath

But dubby tunes like Messiah Dub or jazzy downtempo songs like Black Sheep are bringing a nice variety in the whole tracklist.

As a conclusion we can say this first CD is full of musical maturity and is surfing in a very nice way between genres. The album is a personal artwork of an artist who is also a good Double Bass, Piano and Guitar player and a very skilled sound producer. So if you like nuanced albums composed out of different deep vibes and that is sounding pretty fat on the soundsystems, jump on this trooper album !

More about Rob Sparx : http://www.myspace.com/sparx3000

He also put his wonderful warm voice on Glory a tune produced by another American dubstep hero called Moldy. That one is on the Earwax Bristol based label.

After all this, the time to release his own album has come, and that's what is interesting us right now.
With the contribution of some producers like Kush Arora and Matty G, along with co-resident, Dub War honcho Dave Q, but also the UK based producer called Forensics and XI one of the most talentated Canadian dubstep producer Juakali is proposing you the excellent 'Come From Yard'.

What is really interesting with this ‘Come From Yard’ album, out now on http://www.foreignfamiliar.com/ is the fact that instrus there are far upon any genre boundaries. Of course all those guys are known for their dubstep works but here the musical spectrum is wider.

Sometimes dubsteppy, the instrus can be really grimey or very electro dancehall orientated with some tribal flavors here and there.

The Kush mix is even really electro funk sounding and reminds the P Funk golden age.

So from deepness to funkyness the Juakali wonderful voice is  evolving very nicely on any kind of music which makes this guy truly amazing.

Don't sleep on that release folks !

more about juaKali : http://www.myspace.com/juakali

To paraphrase Freq Nasty’s interview for Knowledge Mag: generation iPod is not fussed by genres and is less sectary than its predecessors – whether is a dubstep banger or a great indie tune, it all goes in the mix naturally.

Add to this the accessibility to travel; brought by low cost companies, the expansion and impact of internet networking and you can have a whole new dimension of what means globalization nowadays. Our attention was caught this month by these particular three releases that essentially prove this point of view.

Caspa – Everybody’s Talking Nobody’s Listening (Sub Soldiers)

Hailed as one of the dubstep prodigies, Caspa’s rise on the scene is gaining further momentum with his critically acclaimed and much anticipated debut album. He is definitely one of the guilty parties that brought dubstep mainstream attention and lead to commissioning hugely advertised remixes for artists like Depeche Mode or Deadmau5.

The album itself tries to assume and keep the hype alive which means it doesn’t go too far from the successful recipe that got him where he is: simple and straight to the jugular basslines and trademark puncturing beats. David Rodigan, a legendary figure that could only be described as an institution in the reggae world (Discogs.com) introduces the 12 tracks that also feature the vocal talent of MC Dynamite, Uncle Sam, Rod Azlan and Beezy.

Surprisingly, D1 is the only collab at the production desk. “Victoria’s Secret” is one of the tunes that comes in an unexpected jazzy breakstep shell with a 90s vibe. And speaking of the noughties, “Back in ‘93” is the second tune that stands back from the wobbly norm in a delightful exercise in style that uses the old skool jungle aesthetics and has a deep atmosphere complimented by an enormous analogue bassline. Even though it’s not a creative standout, Caspa’s debut is definitely a landmark for dubstep this year.

more about Caspa : http://www.myspace.com/caspadubstep

buy the album : http://www.juno.co.uk/artists/Caspa/

Martyn – Great Lengths (3024)

“Great Lengths” may represent the unofficial sonic story of a Dutch beat wizard relocated in the US.  Regarded as one of the most innovative and crossover artists to come in the past few years, his debut album is worthy of every cent it costs.

Genres blend under his hands, switching effortlessly from Detroit techno, Berlin dub house and minimal to UK broken beats and the usual dubstep patterns creating a unique amalgamation that can only be described as “the Martyn sound”.

It can equally satisfy the stoned couch potatoes and the avid-for-bassline ravers. The collabs with D-Bridge of Bad Company fame and Kode 9 and Burial’s vocalist Spaceape shine along with the already established sounds of “Vancouver” and “Seventy Four”. As Boomkat says “Martyn can sit proud knowing he's made one of the most soulful, rhythmically rich and inviting albums of this year.”

more about martyn : http://www.myspace.com/martyndnb

buy the album :  http://www.boomkat.com

Deekline & Wizard - Back Up, Coming Through (Against The Grain)

Two of the most well known and best selling breakbeat artists have joined their forces again to release their first album after a 5 year hiatus and countless singles and bootlegs.

The follow-up to an exclusive signing to Krafty Kuts’ label Against The Grain comes in the form of a 12 tracker plus a hidden bonus that showcase a sound which bounces from Miami bass to hip hop, UK garage, 80's B-Boy electro and nonetheless breakbeat.

Collaborations with artists like Yolanda (Bugs in the Attic), Top Cat, Fallacy, Dj Assault, Ed Solo, Stereo:Type and Freq Nasty make the package more attractive but it’s the sound itself that make it an essential purchase and makes you put it on repeat.

“It’s all about the rise / Essential is the journey / Enjoy the ride / That way nobody cannot break it” (Back Up – Love For The Music) seems to be the headline description for the whole album and it definitely does what it says. Expect involuntary booty shakes – on the dancefloor, at home or wherever this is played.

more about Deekline :  http://www.myspace.com/djdeekline

more about Wizard : http://www.myspace.com/wizardgreg

buy the album :  https://www.beatport.com/

You definitely need to go there if you’re in Tokyo, the panorama is incredible, they have a beach there and a nice park close to the bridge, man it’s so nice.  We took a nap in the grass under the sun then went to this shop around the corner dedicated to cats, haha, i know it’s funny!  Actually the funny thing about this shop is that you can pay to get in a room full of cats well treated with couches and everything.

Time to get back to the city, we’re leaving soon so we don’t have much time to chill.  We went straight to Yanaka, a neighbourhood that survived WWII bombings so buildings are still from that era, it also has a lot of cemetaries and very nice temples.  It’s probably a perfect spot if you’re looking for a quiet afternoon, and talking about cats, the cemetaries are full of em, dunno why, every cat seems to have it’s territory, it’s grave, weird i know.  We took our time there to enjoy the area right before heading back home to prepare for the night and me replying to some emails of course.

Yeah, tonite is photographer Sho Kikuchi’s Photo Exhibition dedicated on “Wild Style 1982-83 Street Real From NYC to Tokyo“, my homeboy here Shigeru organises this with some other peeps, playing music there as well.  It’s at Nos, a very nice, i mean very very nice place to have a drink. We arrived around 8.30pm at the spot, we thought it would be something like an expo room, you know, white walls, little frames with pictures; haha hell no, it was crowded, projections of pictures while people eat on tables, and to check out the pictures on the wall you had to slalom around the tables, i felt a bit bad for the people eating though but the pictures were splendid.  Another splendid thing, something my lady told me, the toilets were dope haha.  My homeboy was spinning the Wild Style soundtrack and other gems, me drinking the only alcohol i can, amaretto haha.  For the ones that don’t know, yeah i don’t drink nor smoke.  Anyway, we just got home, it’s 11pm and have to wake up early tomorrow morning, have to record a show in the morning for.  How was your day?

Tokyo ichiban. Sayonara

LA MADAME AVEC LE CHIEN

The artist you can find on this release is ANIMALS ON WHEELS. This name probably rings you a bell, because Andrew Coleman released already two albums on the renowed label: Ninja Tune.

The Dummy EP presents you 5 dubstep influenced tracks, all in the IDM atmosphere. Dark and Deep is what Andrew gives you on this release.

The release is limited to only 500 copies, so make sure you are quick to buy it.

If you want to check Animals on Wheels live, then this weekend is your lucky weekend because Animals on weels will share the line up with Danny Breaks on saturday in Recyclart. So our advice is simple, go there enjoy the party and support them by buying this release!

Buy it here

UNTITLED 

Dice and Kastor, the Antwerp dubstep gang, secretly planned a release. So it was to our big surprise that we received the news of an UNTILED 001. After their succesfull parties, it's time to see what the future will bring for their new project. 

On the 12" you can find three tracks:

DJG - Buena Vista

COMMODO - Green Piece

SINES - Love Becomes She

Our favourite track on this record is definitely the third one, with it's chill garage feel to it, it brings us in a nice summery vibe. 

Listen to the mini mix 

Buy it here

STAINAGE

If you haven't already bought the vinyl release, you should surely buy their MP3 release.

Grimelock and Saviour bring you 4 tracks that are all 4 of them worth a release: Glow, Justice, Stampede, Darkness Fall. 

Buy it here and here

We left early in the morning to Shinjuku station (it's 3 million travellers a day passing through this station, can you believe that?) and took a "Odakyu" train there to Hakone-Yumoto. Funny thing is probably the automatic switch for the seats in the train so you will always sit in the right direction, and you can also switch them yourselves.  The fucked up thing is that they told us the Hakone Free Pass is only available if you stay 2 days in Hakone, well that's absolutely not true, but we knew it a bit too late unfortunately, anyway...


It takes more than 30 minutes to get outside of Tokyo but then nature comes in and there's some parts we saw that definitely could look like Brazilian favelas or as my girl would say, a bit like Guinea because of many different colored rooftops in the hills and lots of cables and antennas.  After a while I could see the massive Fuji at the horizon, like it's overlooking other mountains... and then dissapeared again. 

Arrived at the station we took a small bus to Hakone-Machi, that's the place, a big lake in the mountains, ropeways and boats, that's the main attraction but there's more. We walked a bit in this beautiful and quiet nature, had the chance to witness a couple of eagles flying in circles and of course the Fuji in the back. 

Then we took the boat to the other side of the lake to take the ropeway to the active sulphur vents they have up in the mountain. You could definitely smell we were getting closer since sulphur smells like rotten eggs, really, it's disgusting and it gets worse the closer you get... Impressive, there's people taking baths in there, well, I'm not, it's about 80°C and smells very bad so I don't feel like it haha.  After a quick taste of what a green tea based candy tastes like we took the 2nd part of the ropeway to a cablecar that would take us back down the valley, back to the real world.

Talking about Mount Fuji, the homeboys of Jazzy Sport climb the volcano (with their skis on their back) every now and then, taking more than 5 hours to go up (3800 meters up) and then 60 minutes to ski down the Fuji, make sure to check their pictures out taken by Rai. Incredible and definitely worth a trip next time.

So I stopped by the Naka-Meguro station with my lady to enjoy this beautiful Spring time.  Two long rows of Sakura are separated by a river, a typical river like in the manga, it’s actually pretty long, we didn’t even see the end of it.  Around us, a lotta people filming, taking pictures, mostly Japanese, I didn’t see any tourist really except us.  People enjoying their lunch sitting on chairs, watching cherry flowers going down the river.  The weather is really nice this week, warm and no clouds at all, no wind which gives me more days to enjoy the blossom period.  The blossom actually starts around January in Okinawa and then traditionally gets to Kyoto and Tokyo around the end of March.

Then we headed from Naka-Meguro to Uêno; It’s a park with a zoo inside (they got Pandas) and a museum.  The park isn’t really one to sit in the grass but more one to enjoy to walk through it, under the cherry blossom with a couple of thousand others drinking and celebrate.  I think they even reserve their place under a specific tree, colleagues, enterprises doing meetings, groups of students coming together, man this is really a nice way to celebrate the beginning of Spring.

Word, I just got surprised by my friend Masaya (from Cro-Magnon & TettoryBad), he passed by the house so say hi. 

It’s all family here, I didn’t know what Tettory meant until he told me it means “walk/run fast, but not too fast” in Japanese. 

He’s a real creative athlete, works for Jazzy Sport, makes music with Cro-Magnon & Tettory Bad, produces for other artists out here and does a mini-football game on the other side of Tokyo bay every thursday night around midnight till 3am with other Jazzy Sport members, I am invited and definitely will do that. 

I now understand what “Jazzy Sport” means. Goodnite, Day 3 is coming….

The only thing I really hate about airports in general is the time you waste waiting at the customs/immigration; asking you tons of questions, asking to put your fingers in little machines and at the same time making a picture of your face.  Asking me who you stay with, euhm with “Taro“, ok but “Taro who?“, I dunno, just “Taro“…haha; that man looked at me like I was trying to play him.  Finally got through all this mess and arrived at the station to take the JR Express straight to Tokyo.  All the way to Tokyo it’s mostly an unlimited amount of buildings, some more crazy than others but all so different from what we used to.  I can’t really tell you how it feels to be around but everytime I see something it reminds me of the manga’s I used to check when I was a kid; it’s very similar and all so real.

This train to Tokyo took me to another station where I had to take the metro to Shibuya station, that’s the place where Jazzy Sport is located, still one of the dopest recordstores I know and definitely family.  I’m hooking up with Taro who’s one of the gentle people behind Jazzy Sport.  Located on the 4th floor of a building in Shibuya I couldn’t even put all my bags in the elevator haha;  I love to see Sakura, the cherry blossoms are in full effect right now and it’s definitely a must see in Japan, so if you plan to come over, plan it for end of March/early April, it’s very beautiful.

I’m staying at the Jazzy Sport house, close to Shibuya but a complete different in Tokyo called Naga-Mekuro.  A peaceful neighbourhood, quiet like I love them places in Tokyo and very nice roommates, it’s all artists here.  When I arrived it was Mitsu who was in the building, finally I had to meet the guy, really friendly and smiling person and very humble I think.  We were listening to some of his latest works and like always it’s fresh and funky, Mitsu style.  Sugoiiiii.  What I like most is probably trying to live the Japanese way or at least eat the Japanese way, I can’t say it’s easy since it’s based on fish but it’s definitely different and it might be good for the body from time to time, re-generating myself here I think.

Hard to wake up after a 29hours of no sleep, completely smashed, jetlagged… but definitely down for day 2.

I really love London when it’s sunny like that, beautiful people in the streets, little birds singing in the parks, enjoying music and public transport is more fun haha.  Going straight to the Roundhouse, a nice building you guys got there, reminds me of a similar building we have in Brussels where the festival Couleur Café takes place around end of June, you should come through by then. 

Anyway, I didn’t see any of the opening shows, when we arrived it was all about Semtex I think and then straight to Gilles introducing Q-Tip.  I saw the show in Brussels last wednesday so I knew what to expect but I know how I felt when I saw him coming on stage the first time.  This guy has a lot of energy to share, and from what I saw, the crowd could really feel it down there.  Going from “The Renaissance” joints to his ATCQ all-time classics, no wonder people go crazy about all this fiiiiiiire on stage. 

The atmosphere was very positive, it was all about the “love movement“; love for the music, love for the culture. Being such an innovator and key producer to A Tribe Called Quest’s succes Tip mentioned Dilla a couple of times and I thank him for that, Dilla was and still is one of the greatest if not THE greatest.  Ok, I was expecting an encore from Q-Tip but I guess that he couldn’t make it because of the timing, curfew was at 11.30pm that prevented him to come back with “Oh My God!” and “Can I Kick It?“, he did that in Brussels.

Then, the afterparty! 

I was still at the Roundhouse when they told me I should’ve been at the club an hour ago…euhm, seriously? So, it was a bit of a television show where you have to run across town in 10 minutes and jump into a airport shuttle and tell him to go to the club, meaning he lost it, turning around for 5 minutes with a bad gps system ;-/

But that wasn’t the baddest part for me; When I arrived, I noticed there was a Rane TTM57 mixer connected, and I use Serato but forgot to install the plug-in that goes with it when you use that mixer, in other terms, my computer couldn’t connect to that mixer and bugged. Can you imagine my face?!!!  Luckily I had Simbad with me so I just used some of his cd’s he had, going back 2 back until Gilles arrived (who had a crazy day, you can imagine) and I had to tell him the bad news

I was so lucky, he had blank cd’s with him giving me the opportunity to do at least a little something, a little.  It was a crazy moment during that night, burning cd’s as fast as my computer could, then, water on my computer dripping from the top, Q-Tip coming with a bunch of people backstage, packed.  Gilles trippin’ on Serato because not only mine but also Tip’s computer was freakin’…”bullshit” haha.  I mean this shit never happens until you get a stressful day and then everything might go wrong.  Lucky you guys didn’t really see much of that, enjoying the music. 

Q-Tip went on, and I knew he was a great deejay, he actually did a very nice set from ol’skool hiphop to discofunk and more. Did he play Leon Ware? Think so.


Then I got on, with my 3 burned cd’s haha; I don’t know what it was that night but even my cd’s were trippin’, actually it stopped at a certain point, at “California Soul“, remember? 

You guys were singing acappella, great, you actually saved me right there.  Then into some other gems and (fighting against the rain) until Q-Tip decided to come back, after I spinned “Electric Relaxation” and Superlover Cee’s joint. Q-Tip at me: “I want to spin another couple of joints, can I?????“  (euhm!) then put the Common joint “E=Mc2“..BAM!

After that I got back on and thought it was the perfect timing for “Life Is Better“, and again you guys were doing an amazing job singing along.  I passed the decks to my buddy BPM rippin’ it…  What a legendary night in London; Q-Tip should come back in the summer, if he comes to your town make sure to support again, he’s the man and Gilles is the King for hooking it up.

Big thank you to the Brownswood crew, Kspace.tv and Need2Soul for everything, and thank you Tottenham for helping Arsenal on sunday.