Lectia de azi este "Compozitia muzicala ca un spritz de vara". E de soi, curge din cel mai apetisant album al verii. Turnati fara frica.

I really didn't know what to expect in terms of visuals, vibes, layout and the practicalities. I'd been warned about the loos (not as bad as expected), and knew about the music of course, but that's about all.

Friday

I had the arrival all nicely planned with military precision: park in car park E, and wheel my trolley-load of stuff to the adjacent, "quiet", campsite. Right. First off, there's no choice about where to park. This is probably old news and a non-issue to regular festies, but as a fest-virgin I'd no idea. For the last ten miles we were in a one-way system with a sole destination, so I was deposited unceremoniously in car park C1. I think it's the furthest one from my campsite. I was seething to the point of distraction but realised I'd better shake off that attitude pretty quickly so I got into the spirit and followed everyone through the mud. It was at this point that I first realised I had Too Much Stuff.  Y'know, Just In Case. I knew I wanted to get to the Quiet Campsite (hah! more on that in a bit) but no one seemed to know where it was. Eventually a nice young chap (sometimes it's quite good being at an age where you can say that) took pity on me and hauled my very heavy trolley some of the way and I found what seemed like a good, quiet spot to pitch my tent: towards the far corner, at the edge by the car park fence (remember that bit) for easy findability late at night.  Tent was pitched in ten minutes, as adverstised, and I felt inordinately smug and pleased with myself.

View from tent (yes I was there early)

More or less how it looked later on (not my pic) though I'd a bit more space around mine.

One cereal bar later, bag packed with loo roll and G&T decanted into a Ballygowan bottle, and I was ready to explore. What a huge site! There was so much going on it was head-spinning. Delicious looking food stalls, music everywhere, people in costumes, stalls for Oxfam, Amnesty and the like, a fully fledged carnival complete with big wheel and Fossetts Circus, a cinema no less (how the hell could you find time to go to the pictures? I barely had time to eat!) – the list was endless.

Amnesty Bingo

Going for a thong – tattoos instead of clothes

One of the many good food places – chilli chips and great veggie burgers

The Body and Soul area was beautiful, with sculptures, creative lighting, quiet areas and a very calm, chilled out vibe.  Veterans will know all this I'm sure, and possibly be less impressed, but I loved it.

The centre of the Body and Soul meditative area at night

But I was there for one reason only: the music. I found myself at the main stage for Kíla, though it says something for the state of my specs that I was actually expecting The Kills, even though I knew they weren't on until the next day...  and that was even before the first G&T. D'oh. They were OK, though I was definitely less than impressed with their dancing troupe of self-conscious, 'Brazilian' (no way!) hip-wigglers. Kíla reminded me of Horslips (remember them?). I was going to say they're an updated Horslips, but actually not so updated really.

Main stage

The rest of the day consisted of New Young Pony Club, Tinariwen, Joan as Policewoman, Digitalism and Think of One. I'd intended to go to Goldfrapp but messed up on the timing due to getting utterly lost (and misdirected) going back to my tent. And instead of choosing who to see for a whole set, I found myself rushing to get a bit of everyone...  well you do, don't you, as a newbie?  NYPC rocked, and are definitely on my 'must have' list. I enjoyed the Saharan sounds of Tinariwen too, though found them a bit samey after a bit. While they were hypnotic to listen to, and captivating to watch, I would have liked to hear more of their upbeat sounds. But yes, they're on my 'more' list too.  Joan as Policewoman was thrilled to be there, and I'm sure she put on a good gig, but she was too downbeat for me at that time of the evening and I wasn't pulled in. I applied the three-song rule and left: I needed to dance.  Lucky for me then that Digitalism were up next, and I danced hard after battling my way through the hordes to a better spot near the front. I do like being right up front. :)

I'm not a Sigur Ros fan but if I'd had any energy left by then I would have stayed to get their apparently fantastic show. I'd slept really badly the previous night (too excited!), so decided to get an early night and be ready for the rest of the packed weekend. Meandering back to my tent I passed an amazing dance troupe, Strange Fruit. "Their unique shows see the performers bend and sway to impossible angles on five-metre poles combining elements of theatre, dance and circus to create a truly original style of performance." Can't argue with that – it was beautiful and mesmerising.

Pics taken from the Nokia

Then as I walked past the IMC World Music Stage – via an incredible 10-minute head, neck, shoulders and back massage – intriguing sounds pulled me in: the Belgian and Moroccan musicians of Think of One creating Gnawa trance rhythms mixed with jazz, gypsy and funk. A great way to end the day's music and squeeze a last dance out of my tired body.

Oh yes, I mentioned the quiet campsite, didn't I? Hah, quiet apart from the rave in the adjacent carpark, that is. And the parties in neighbouring tents until 3 or 4am. Ah well, I had my earplugs, my tent was nice and cosy (and thanks to festival veteran friends I was well equipped) so I did manage some sleep, and felt surprisingly OK on Saturday morning. I heard other people complaining about it though, so I was glad it wasn't just me in my festival innocence.

Saturday

The next morning I met up with friends for coffee (wonderful coffee from Coffee Angel, hit the spot perfectly) and we swapped notes and plans. She'd noticed lots that I hadn't, and so my list of things to explore expanded even more. At 12 noon (armed with yet another coffee) I headed to a 'tweetup' – a meeting of twitterers – and about six of us turned up. It was a delight to meet twitterers (and friends) FrankieP, Maryrose, PeterD who had donated the fabulous boat from Casino Royale, David from Poetry Ireland, and Ciara in her superb costume.

PeterD's waterproof? camera...

After some grub (delicious sausages and mash from the wonderfully-named 'Hot S&M' stall) I was off to hear Dublin's Crash Ensemble. I was surprised and pleased for them that it was so well attended and it was great to hear them play in such a venue. They obviously enjoyed it too and it was a terrific performance.

More dancing beckoned then, in the form of The Herbaliser, who rocked big time, and I loved Jessica Darling's fabulous soul singing. Then it was over to the Electric Arena for Elbow. I only knew one or two songs of theirs and they weren't quite what I expected (yes I know they're huge) – though in a good way. But their set doesn't stand out for me, compared to the others, good though it was. However, after that it was Underworld, and wanting to be up front, I was bit early so also caught the last 20 mins or so of Grace Jones. While she's not really my thang, you have to hand it to her – the woman has style. Just as much of it as she ever did by the look of things: she put on a an amazing show and had the crowd in the palm of her hand.  I met a couple of lovely women, Ines and Pamela, and we hooked up for the following gig which was Underworld. As with many others I'd never heard of them (yes I know) but had been told they were unmissable. And they were! My new festival buddies were very impressed with my front-finding abilities and delighted to be up there where all the action is, but yet where it's less claustrophobic. And the security folk give you glasses of water too, which is pretty cool. What a show! Brilliant dancing, and we all had a blast.

Underworld from the Nokia

The view behind me at Underworld

And yet the night was not over! George Clinton was on the main stage from 12–2 and it was packed. We sidled right up to the front again and danced like it was 1979. What a weird setup though. I mean, what is the deal with the nappy guy? And I could have lived without the 70s air guitar from Michael Hampton (and yes he's amazing), but thankfully it was only the odd number and we were back to the funky beats in no time. Ooh yeah.

Back to the tent via the Neutronyx 'Rave in the Woods' which was beautifully set up, but not for me the right beats to follow all that funk, so I hit the hay. And then the rave proper started. And the party. The rave in the carpark (almost beside my tent) was, I'm told, 'dirty techno', ie not a steady pulse that you could kinda ignore in your sleep, but rapid fire hard bass on and off, so it woke you up when it started and when it stopped. Until 7:15am. Then people started getting up. So with no sleep I was very tired on Sunday. Yes I know, if I will insist of festivalling at my age blah blah... but soddit, a bit of sleep would make it so much easier. Still, Coffee Angel wasn't called that for nothing I'm happy to say and I perked up.

Sunday

And so another day of music dawned and it just kept getting better and better. We were serenaded during coffee by the excellent Dublin Gospel Choir on the main stage – they were loud, lively, and perfect for a sunny Sunday. Great stuff. I had a bit of time to explore, amazingly, so had a good poke around the Village Green and the Body and Soul areas.

Thank heavens for healthy juices: great for hangovers. One highlight was when Hot Chip's Ready for the Floor blasted out of a stall. About a dozen people spontaneously started dancing, giving it their all so I dropped my bag and joined them, wandering off at the end of the track. Magic.

Next up was Brooklyn's Hercules and the Love Affair, and yeah they were good and I danced to the disco beats, but would have liked a bit more variety in it, though I suppose that's just what they do. I kept thinking they were about to break into Donna Summers' 'I Feel Love' (they didn't)  though they did cover Blue Oyster Cult's 'Don't Fear the Reaper', an old favourite and not one I ever thought I'd dance to.  The lovely CSS followed and they were terrific, though I thought that the sound system really let them down with so much bass that the voices were quite lost. I definitely want to hear more of them.

Sunday evening was difficult. How the hell can you choose between so much funky goodness? I managed half-an-hour of The Roots who were superb, and let's face it how often do you see a euphonium (oops) sousaphone on a hip hop stage? Well quite. But I had to leave because then there was Grinderman. Now, I knew that there was a Nick Cave connection there, but in spite of being a Nick Cave fan (am seeing him in NYC in Oct) I'm still discovering his back catalogue and, embarrassingly, I did not know he was in Grinderman. Argggh! Imagine my surprise! There he was – in the flesh! OMFG I was starstruck and he was awesome in the true sense of the word. What a powerfully intense, superb performance. He was magnificent. Once again I was in the front row, and on a (natural) high for the whole set. Fanbluddytastic. Actually I still have the Cheshire cat grin from that. Sensational.

This photographer is a professional and his photos are stunning, especially this one of Nick Cave. Check out the rest of his photostream too.

So how do you follow that? Well, The Gossip did a good job of using up some of that overflowing pent up energy from the preceding gig. Beth Ditto was unstoppable and the crowd loved her. Again I wasn't so happy with the sound though, and don't think it did her any favours. The bass was so wallopingly loud (and I do love bass with a good amount of welly that rattles your whole body) that we didn't get the full force of her wonderful voice. And I even put tissues in my ears to prevent that physical slam slam a couple of times when right at the front by the speakers. But Beth Ditto really rocked and we all screamed along happily with her during 'Standing in the Way of Control'.

OK not from Electric Picnic, but you get the gist.

The final main-stage act was the Sex Pistols (what's left of them) and I caught some of it. Well it was sort of OK, and it was nice to hear punk rhythms after all the funk, electronic and what have you. They were doing their usual thing trying to whip up the crowd into a frenzy in a fuck you sort of way, but the crowd was not to be whipped. It just seemed wrong: nothing less than anarchy and a crowd going apeshit will do, really. Otherwise it's just not punk. I don't know what or who it would take to create that sort of vibe these days, but the Sex Pistols didn't manage it. The audience liked them but was basically polite, I thought. I tried Chromeo briefly after that, but wasn't really in the mood for that, so felt it was best left for another time.

I used the opportunity to have a good wander round and see it all properly at night – it really was stunningly beautiful. The wooden tower was to be burned at 12:00am so I hung around to wait for that and managed to pack in one more dancing gig, again in the World Music Tent: the African sounds of Mahmoud Fadi's United Nubians – sax, African drums and a DJ. Nice.

Preparing the tower for burning

Exciting displays from Arcadia

And close up

The burning turned out to be at 2am, but by now my feet were so sore I thought I wouldn't make it back to the tent, so I gave up and headed off to sleep, which I did. All night long, and with a huge grin on my face.

In fact the atmosphere throughout was jolly and, well, festive. Even the Gardai were friendly, laid back and chatty, and told me they thought it was basically a decent crowd. They didn't expect trouble and as far as I know they didn't get it. There was so much I didn't have a chance to see – even apart from the music I missed – you'd really need a week to get through even half of it. Poetry, comedy, theatre, art trail, cabaret... I just wish it had been longer. It was fabulous, and already I can't wait until next year (and will be eyeing up other festivals too). I'm a total convert.

The get-out the next day was another story, suffice to say that:
(a) I am SO buying a rucksack; and
(b) next time I will tie a balloon to my car.

But I still have my wristband on. :)

[All pics not from my lowly Nokia 6300 are reproduced with permission – and next time I'll bring my camera!]

For this week's New Music Wednesday, we've got two new tracks for you: some brassy funk from London-based The Herbaliser, and some Bowie-inspired rock from The Last Shadow Puppets.

Listen to the tracks below and then let us know what you think by voting for your favorite tune. We'll announce the winner next week.

Here are the songs:

The Herbaliser feat Jessica Darling - "Clap Your Hands"
[audio=http://radiomilwaukee.files.wordpress.com/2008/08/clap-your-hands.mp3]

The Last Shadow Puppets - "Stand Next To Me"
[audio=http://radiomilwaukee.files.wordpress.com/2008/08/standing-next-to-me.mp3]

Ollie Teeba und Jake Wherry als Köpfen der inzwischen auf mindestens Quintettgröße angewachsenen The Herbaliser sind solche Überlegungen mal schnurzegal. Auch der Hörer sollte sich nicht darum kümmern, ob „Same As It Never Was“ so klingt, wie es klingt, weil Amy und Joss Erfolg hatten, oder weil die Musiker einfach machen, was sie machen und mögen. So überzeugend, wie sie ihre Selbstbeschreibung „James Brown meets James Bond“ umsetzen, sind fast alle Beschwerden hanebüchen oder zumindest übertrieben.

Sicherlich, mit fragwürdiger Objektivität formuliert, kratzt auch „Same As It Never Was“ am Vorwurf des Anachronismus. Vollkommen subjektiv hingegen schwächeln The Herbaliser insbesondere dort, wo die eingeladenen Rapper zu hart daherkommen. Die subjektive Einschätzung kurz ignorierend, punkten Wherry, Teeba und Mitstreiter im Gegensatz zu Zero dB und genau wie Skeewiff jedoch damit, dass dieses Album – und sei es noch so sehr in dieser Form bereits vor zehn Jahren möglich gewesen – von vorne bis hinten Spaß macht. Seien es die großen Schläge, seien es die Seele, der Groove und der alle Wurzeln umschließende Gedanke des HipHop, über 95 Prozent des Albums fügt es sich harmonisch ineinander, reißt mit und verwebt geschickt alle Bestandteile von den groovenden Beats über stimmige Samples bis zu idealen Vocals.

Auf neuem Label – erstaunlicherweise verließ das typischste Ninja-Tune-Gewächs die alte Heimat Richtung !K7 – begrüßen uns die Kräuterhändler mit dem Titeltrack als zurückgelehnt dahingroovendem Sommerhit. „On Your Knees“ lässt mit dem Gesang der neu gewonnenen Sängerin Jessica Darling die klassischen Soullabel auferstehen, überzeugt neben Big-Band-Sound aber insbesondere mit den geschickt gesetzten Cuts und Scratches. Drei weitere Soulkracher sorgen dafür, dass der Gesamteindruck des Albums schon gen heimischer Soul Weekender tendiert. „You’re Not All That“ lässt dabei vor allem durch das verwendete Schlagzeugarrangement aufhorchen. Doch Ollie Teeba und Jake Wherry wären nicht The Herbaliser, käme nicht der qualitativ hochwertige HipHop-Groove ebenso zur Geltung. „Just Won’t Stop (featuring Yungun aka Essa)“ steht am Anfang, doch der Soundtrack-Funk „Street Karma (featuring Jean Gray)“ und der aufgedrehte Bucovina-Hop „Game, Set & Match (featruing More Or Les)" toppen ihn mit Leichtigkeit. Apropos toppen, sich selbst übertreffen The Herbaliser mit jedem der drei Instrumentals. Wobei die beiden doch arg brasilianisch-bossanesken „The Next Spot“ und „Amores Bongo“ – so sehr vor allem letzteres mitreißt – gegen das reduziert jazzige „Blackwater Drive“ verlieren.

Nicht nur beim aktuellen Frühsommerwetter bildet „Same As It Never Was“ die perfekte Begleitung. Mag der Abschluss „Stranded On Earth“ noch so sphärisch sein, The Herbaliser überzeugen hier mit einem dicht produzierten, mitreißenden Soul-, Funk-, Jazz-, HipHop-Album, das vor allem eins will: Spaß machen. Und das schafft es.

1. Intro
2. Scratchy Noise
3. Blomp
4. Styles
5. Interloodle
6. Bust A Nut
7. Herbalize It
8. Wrong Place
9. Little Groove
10. Da Trax
11. Up
12. Get Downs
13. K Doing
14. Chill
15. Real Killer (remix)
16. Repetitive Loop (remix)

DOC--Herbaliser's DJ-friendly jazz/funk/hip-hop fusion is well stated on this debut. Not your standard hip hop, with the Ninja Tunes influence far more apparent in this album. A bit clever, in an undergraduate sort of way.

Still, great music and a must for lovers of UK hip hop history.

DOWNLOAD

But after spending months working non-stop with co-founder Jake Wherry, Jessica Darling, and Easy Access Orchestra collaborators Ralph Lamb and Andy Ross, DJ Ollie Teeba doesn’t have too much time to bask.

This summer, Ollie is leaving the continent to pay a short visit across the pond and starting July 28th, he is scheduled to hit New York, DC, Cali, Colorado, Washington State, Oregon, Illinois, Maryland, and Georgia all in under two weeks.

On tour, Ollie is going to be playing tracks that largely influenced the making of the new record, which means that a lot of Soul and R&B is to be expected.

You can read more about the Herbaliser’s new record on our website or check out DJ Ollie’s full tour schedule on theirs. But before buying your tickets, make sure to check out this live interview with Ollie, Jessica, and several of the orchestra members in their recording studio:

- Tricky : 'Knowle West Boy'

- Leila : 'Blood, Looms and Blooms'

- Unkle : 'More Stories-selected Unkle works' (+War Stories Instrumentals) 2cd

- Saul Williams : 'The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of Niggy Tardust !'

- Mary-Anne Hobbs : 'Evangeline'

- DJ Spooky : 'Sound Unbound'

- Flying Lotus : 'Los Angeles'

- The Black Angels : 'Directions to see a Ghost'

- Aim : 'Cold Water Music' (1999-2007)

- The Herbaliser : 'Blow Your Headphones' (1997)

 Après le nouvel album de Portishead, le "son de Bristol" est bien de retour avec un nouveau Tricky (et en espèrant prochainement celui de Massive Attack). Après avoir fondé un label et réalisé un film, Tricky propose avec 'Knowle West Boy' la suite directe du précédent 'Vulnerable' (2003). Les guitares sont toujours présentes dans cet album punk aux racines jamaicaines, et les invités plus nombreux pour les vocals. Les morceaux sont courts, pas plus de 3 minutes. Le livret intérieur qui accompagne le cd est très sobre : feuillets jaunes, sans paroles ni détails de production, juste une photo noir et blanc au centre. Esthétique punk donc. L'essentiel est la musique. Celle de Tricky, musique anglaise métissée. On reconnaitra une reprise de Kylie Minogue, le superbe 'Slow', ici revue et corrigé à coup de six cordes électriques.

Avec 'More Stories' (import), Unkle sort pour ses fans quelques inédits et remixes (de qualité variable) issus des sessions de 'War Stories'. Et dans un mois, ce sera le tour de 'End Titles... Stories for Film'. Pas de nouvel album pour l'instant donc, mais quelques joyaux à découvrir.

L'animatrice et DJ Mary-Anne Hobbs sort une nouvelle compil' d'électro expérimentale, aux styles variés, et fidèle à l'esprit éclectique et exigeant de son émission hebdomadaire sur BBC1. On y retrouve, parmi les artistes les plus connus, Wiley (Big Dada/Ninja Tune) et Flying Lotus (Warp). Flying Lotus qui a d'ailleurs sorti le mois dernier un 'Los Angeles' très séduisant, et que certains ont comparé à DJ Shadow. Mais alors un Shadow à la sauce Warp, label anglais qui livre dans un même élan d'excellence un nouvel album de la trop rare Leila, 'Blood, Loom and Blooms'. Leila s'est attachée les collaborations vocales de sa soeur Roya Arab, de Terry Hall, de Martina Topley-Bird et du toujours fidèle Luca Santucci. 

Après l'Angleterre, jetons nos oreilles sur le continent américain. A New-York, le très productif et cultivé DJ Spooky livre un 'Sound Unbound' incroyable où il mixe art/littérature et musique/sons divers. Ainsi les voix de Jean Cocteau, Marcel Duchamp, Allen Ginsberg... rencontrent-elles Aphex Twin, DJ Spooky, les Masters Musicians of Joujouka, Sonic Youth... On apprécie particulièrement le final qui réunit William S.Burroughs et Iggy Pop pour une incantation destinée à nous faire traverser l'empire des morts, 'The Western Land'. De cette même contrée maudite, les Texans The Black Angels ont eux sorti au printemps un second album, le bien psychédélique 'Directions to see a Ghost'. A apprécier dès la nuit tombée, lorsque l'esprit se laisse aller au voyage. Mais pour redescendre sur terre, rien de tel que de pousser jusqu'à la côte ouest où Saul Williams s'est allié à Trent Reznor de Nine Inch Nails pour un 'Niggy Tardust' énergique (clin d'oeil à Bowie+hip hop+rock industriel). L'album est dans un premier temps sorti l'hiver dernier en téléchargement libre sur internet. Il est à présent édité en cd et avec 5 titres en bonus. Gros gros son, comme par exemple la reprise fabuleuse du 'Sunday Bloody Sunday' de U2.

L'été commence fort. "Pump Up the Volume !"

Tricky : 'Council Estate'

Saul Williams : 'Sunday Bloody Sunday'

Unkle : 'Burn my Shadow' (live-2007)

Der Bericht wird folgen...

[dailymotion id=x5lqgp&]

.

Johanna sez:

Ich radele an einem ruhigen Sonntagmorgen durch die fast leeren Berliner Strassen und höre dazu Stranded on earth (klicken fürs track sample) von meiner frisch gekauften Herbaliser-Scheibe. Ein leichter Luftzug und plötzlich ist die Potsdamer Strasse ein Wild West Trail und mein 3-Gang-Damen-City-Bike wird zu Sancho, meinem eigenwilligen, aber dennoch treuen, zotteligen Pony. Sancho und ich traben gemächlich durch die Großstadtprärie. Keine Menschenseele weit und breit. Wir kommen durch ein kleines Waldstück. Die Bäume spenden kühlen, erfrischenden Schatten. Ab und an kreuzt ein verschrecktes Wild unseren Weg, ist aber immer auf und davon, so schnell es die Nike Airs tragen. An dem großen Tor, das einst die Grenze zum Wild Wild East markierte, geraten wir in eine Herde einfältiger Büffel. Ich merke wie Sancho nervös wird. Die vielen Büffel sind ihm nicht geheuer. Sie kreuzen unberechenbar immer wieder unseren Weg. Ein Juntgier gerät Sancho fast unter die Hufe. "Ruhig, Brauner." Wir überqueren den Rio de Spreio und der Wind zerzaust Sanchos Mähne und mein Haar. Als der Weg leicht abschüssig wird, lasse ich die Zügel locker und Sancho gallopiert der Sonne entgegen.

Аз поне имам спомен да съм правила подобни зверски "вегетариански" затвори, за да се радвам на изсушените им "затоврници" по-късно.

Само че, сега не иде реч за това. Новият хербарий този път е дело на The Herbaliser. Те имат способността да затварят красивите неща, така че красотата им да остава за дълго и да й се радваш и радваш, и радваш, и радваш....и...

... да ги преоткриваш след време, сякаш никога преди не ти се е случвало...

"Same As It Never Was" (26.05.2008)- последният албум на 15-годишното дуо от западен Лондон затваря една стара глава от "билковата" книга и отваря нова, като линията на сюжета от jazz, funk, rare groove и хип хоп от началото на 90те е запазена, но и доразвита.

В началото на делата с автори Ollie Teeba и Jake Wherry бяха инструменталните бийтове, брейкове и семпли. После добавиха гост-MC-та и вокалисти, докато фестивалните им участия се превърнаха в изпълнения на мини-оркестър със сочни аранжименти! И дойде седмият ден и те решиха да си починат!

Да, ама не! Смениха си лейбъла - махнаха се от Ninja Tune и отидоха на друга "почва" да творят - !K7 Records. С нова основна вокалистка, 5-членна банда и фокус върху писането на музика за душата...

Гласът на Jessica Darling звучи адски автентично, инструменталите - не по-малко! Абе с други думи хем са се дръпнали някак встрани, хем са се върнали... в бъдещето!

Както сам Jake споделя: “It’s still a hip-hop inspired record, but at the same time it’s a lot broader because our musical and emotional horizons are broader”.

Чуй представянето на "Same As It Never Was" тази неделя - Деня на детото - в Groovy Sessions, от 23:00 часа, на честотите на радио "Nova" (101,7 MHz за София или чрез predavatel-я).

Tickets £15.00 available now on 0121 7803333 or book online

Tickets also available on www.ticketsellers.co.uk

Tickets include free launch drink, giveaways and more!

Presented in association with Birmingham Jazz.

A pós está me torrando a paciência, não vejo a hora de acabar. Menos de um mês; os dias estão sendo contados e riscados do calendário como se fossem os últimos cem passos da Björk em Dançando No Escuro. Eu nem quero parar e pensar se realmente valeu a pena fazer essa especialização. Se não valeu também, f***-se, o diploma é o mais importante no meio de tanta concorrência e de tantas faculdades que fizeram de seus cursos commodities baratas e sem qualidade. O dia em que começar a ganhar mais e puder pagar um curso decente - que ao mesmo tempo tenha nome no mercado acadêmico -, eu pago e começo a fazer sem dor na consciência e remorso no bolso. Resumindo, ainda não sei por que estou deprê. Talvez seja a frustração de não trabalhar com o que eu realmente quero, mas por outro lado não posso reclamar de nada. Saí de uma empresa multinacional que resolveu dar o fora, ganhei razoavelmente bem nas verbas rescisórias e automaticamente fui para outra empresa com um cargo superior e um aumento de salário - que na verdade foi a equiparação com a faixa salarial da área em que atuo.

Tentei me animar com o novo disco do The Herbaliser e suas músicas de jazz, funk e hip-hop, adorei o piano tocado pelos obscenos dos Fuck Buddies (me fez lembrar das músicas lindas e sem fim dos irmãos Montgolfier) e achei a voz da Caroline um doce. Srta. Bia me apresentou o electropop da Sally Shapiro e eu não tenho do que reclamar, só tenho a agradecer.

Esse é o ponto: não tenho do que reclamar. Não estou desempregado, tenho um cargo melhor, meu salário é maior, meu chefe é legal, o ambiente de trabalho é pacífico. Mas é o que eu quero para mim mesmo? Então, não sei...

Retired? Nah, hopefully not. These two tracks go against that notion and I'm excited about that. First up we got a remix to Jean Grae's Love Thirst, featuring Busta Rhymes and produced by 9th Wonder. Shouts to OKP for the hook up! Then we have a track my man Khal sent a few days ago. Off The Herbaliser's Same As It Never Was. Jean and The Herbaliser always come up with some dope collabs and this is no different.

DOWNLOAD: Jean Grae - Love Thirst (rmx) f. Busta Rhymes (prod. 9th Wonder)
BONUS: The Herbaliser - Street Karma (A Cautionary Tale) f. Jean Grae

i take this post as an occasion to throw up some stuff i somehow wanted to post in the et hop! series, but did in effect not post. until now. so you first might want to take a look back. so i have a free mind to write the final et hop!-posts that are still to come...

so what do we still have?

first let's get to some oldschool hip hop / electro, new york vs. l.a. beats - a mix of some of the most important tracks (some i mentioned in earlier posts) at the time that came out on vinyl on the streetsound label. for the tracklist you can go here. and for the music go here. since i did not digitize it: thanks to the original uploader!

so we are in l.a. - so i can post now dr. dre's compton swap meet tape no.1 - yeah, he did mix tapes back in the days. they started to pop up on the net lately, called either compton swap meet tapes or roadium (swap meet) tapes - i got number one and loaded it up here. there are a couple more floating around the www... but you'll have to source them yourself, i'm afraid. well - one of them from 1986 is up on mic check - i did not listen to it, yet - but the blog is in any case worth a visit!

let's stay in the 80's but change the coast again: i found in my boxes an early example of miami bass from the then quite known gucci crew II, truz 'n' vogues. maybe not the best miami bass record - but it certainly gives you a good idea. to get the four mixes (if you don't like the lyrics, there is an instrumental version), go here. and if somebody could finally tell me what truz 'n' vogues means...?

something newer? then i have something very fresh: the actual mix from rob hall (yes, the one from skam records), called chillin' with the wrong b boy. not your usual hip hop mix - well, get it at his website and have a listen. definitly recommended.

and so we are already in the u.k.. since i just brushed over "real" hip hop in the u.k. (well, my point was something else), i thought it might be nice to give you an example of early english hip hop: hijack. quite known at the time, i remember they had some problems with their record company not wanting them to publish them in the u.s. - their accents were too british...whatever. if you want to have a listen how they sounded, here a short concert of theirs from the jazzfestival montreux in 1990.

as a supplement to my post about hip hop in england i can point you in the direction of some more...eeer...japanese hip hop (yeah, it is puzzling, i know). more precise: dj krush. here you'll find a nice site with some sets of his and even some videos to have a look at his stunning technique.

relating to that same post i decided to also rip for your pleasure something from the label ninja tune. something very good, indeed. as with many ninja tunes releases, also this ones lets you think of movies: of not really scary scary movies, on one track you have some spaghetti western and then you have a lot of blaxploitation - aaah, this gnarling bass! it is a very pleasant, very musical, very wicked aural journey. so let me recommend something wicked this way comes by the herbaliser. ripped from vinyl@224 in 4 mp3-files: for each side one file... and don't worry: the tracklist is included. get it here.

then i would like to point you in the direction of the france & hip hop post. more precise: to the comments section. besides bragging on that lethal skillz left a comment on my blog you will also find some links he gave for everybody that is interested in some more lebanese hip hop. und @9 is calling out to everybody knowing more about arab hip hop to share her / his knowledge.

so - to conclude this mixed bag of stuff i propose you now something different and rather unrelated to my previous posts. but then it is a record i quite enjoy and that @9 has not yet posted (yep, i checked this time), but something he most probably knows. so how about some swiss hip hop? lpr (that stands for les poétes rapides) hail from berne and made an entertaining record with a charming touch of silliness. not much i know about them (but then i do not follow the swiss hip hop scene closely) - it seems they are at the moment rather inactive. at least their website hasn't been updated for quite a while. definitly fun, you can get their record bäredräck here.

to give you an idea of their sound, here the rather cool video to their single extro:

pfuuuh - so that's all for now, folks. enjoy - and see you around...

[audio http://www.psc.lv/punkts/audio/punkts12.mp3]

- Āķa albuma prezentācija - 14. decembrī „Sun Set Bar’ā”(links);

- Dj Ollie Teeba no The Herbaliser - 11.decembrī „Pulkvedī” (links);

- Edavārdi - albums „Ej ellē” jau decembrī;

- Drīzumā jauna relīze no 115 puses;

- Drīz jauna mājaslapa - Ritma Runas Bizness - riru.biz;

- Edavārdu albuma prezentācija - 30.decembrī „PULSē”;

- Jauna dziesma no Lāzeriem: „Stikli”.

Lejuplādēt / Komentēt / RSS

Punkts #11 / Intervija ar Edavārdiem

[audio http://www.psc.lv/punkts/audio/punkts11.mp3]

- intervija ar hip-hop izpildītāju Edavārdiem.

Lejuplādēt / Komentēt / RSS

Got a couple instrumentals.
1. People Under The Stairs - Jappy Jap
2. Pharcyde - Why (Jay Dee Remix)
3. Souls of Mischief - Shooting Stars
4. The Herbaliser - Wall Crawling Giant Insect Breaks
download

I've been meaning to share this track for awhile too. This guy Mickey Slim is bananas on the beats, check the Jump Around remix he did.

download

And the jersey of the day is Nick the Slick Van Exel. The jersey is in the dopest of the dope Lakers black. Straight up unfuckwithable. 1 left size 56. $80 US + shipping.