I’m really loving the fact that a number of breaks artists are embracing the Nu-Funk genre at the moment. I can’t help thinking that breaks owes its very existence to funk, and so it deserves to be revisited and appreciated. Ali B paves the way in the Nu-Funk game with his weekly Saturday sessions at The Paradise in Kensal Green, and we featured an extraordinary Nu-Funk mix by him back in the summer. Thankfully, he’s back with Volume 2, and it’s a ray of sunshine to keep us going in a particularly grey Glasgow week. Superbly compiled and passionately mixed, it features original classic tracks and re-edits of some of the best in funk, soul, 60s, dub, disco and tons more. Try and spot a particularly well-established 80s/90s TV show theme tune here (inspired). If, like me, your ipod is full of bass-heavy bangers and lacking in some soul, you should get this and give yourself (and your neighbours) some down-time. Get on the download people!
1. Lou Reed – Walk On The Wild Side
2. Super Cat – Don Dada Vs Can I Kick It?
3. Steve Miller Band – The Joker (Dj Czech Edit)
4. Johnny Cash – Get Rhythm (Breaks Mix)
5. Wilson Pickett – Mustang Sally (Greg J Edit)
6. Justin Timberlake – Damn Girl
7. Featurecast – Whoah
8. Kool & The Gang – Jungle Boogie (Nick Thayer Edit)
9. Stevie Wonder – For Once In My Life (Breaks Mix)
10. Stretch – Why Did You Do It? (Different Strokes Edit)
11. The Temptations – Papa Was A Rolling Stone (Cosmo Baker Edit)
12. The Mccoys – Hang On Sloopy (Mat The Alien Edit)
13. Lil’ Mama Vs The Champs – Tequila Flavoured Lip Gloss (Smalltown Djs Edit)
14. Beat Conductor – Crazy In Kingston
15. De La Soul Ft Chaka Khan – All Good (Aldo Vanucci Edit)
16. Prince Fatty – Shimmy Shimmy Ya
17. The Specials – A Message To You Rudy (Fort Knox Five Edit)
18. Mark Ronson – Toxic (Paul Nice Remix)
19. Basement Freaks – Start Your Feet Like Dis
20. Jay Z Vs Led Zepplin – I Just Wanna Whole Lotta Love (Discotech Edit)
21. John Cougar Mellancamp – Jack And Diane (Dj Danny Diggz Edit)
22. Audited Beats – Blues Banger
23. Jamie Foxx – I Got A Woman (Bad Boy Crew Edit)
24. Sublime – What I Got (Dj Danny Diggz Edit)
25. The Dixie Cups – Iko Iko (U-Tern Edit)
26. Jackson 5 – I Want You Back (Dj Spinna Edit)
27. Bill Withers – Lovely Day (Dj Eleven Edit)
28. Vicki Anderson – Wide Awake In A Dream
29. Israel Kamakawiwo’ole – Somewhere Over The Rainbow
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We took a little time out to meet up with James Zabiela and catch up with the man! James Zabiela’s album ‘Masters Series – Life’ is out in April on Renaissance – www.renaissance.dj and you can see him in the many events during Winter Music Conference in March 2010! Enjoy the feature!
– Tell us about your new project
It’s a mix compilation with a sort of concept, the loose theme is ‘Life’. The cd is a snapshot into my life with field recordings I’ve made from my various travels. It’s a sequel to the first disc of my last Renaissance CD where I tested this concept but this time after the positive feedback I received last time I went all out and really put a lot detail in this one. I also employed the use of my American actor friend Joel Einhorn to add his vocal philosophies on life to give it the soundtrack feel I was after.
– What song or songs motivated you to begin DJing?
Probably anything on ‘Ima’ by BT. I was into a lot of the old Progressive stuff Sasha and Oakey were hammering out in the mid 90s that and my first acid house experiences courtesy of my dad in the form of joey beltram’s “Energy Flash” and a lot German Techno on labels like Eye Q.
– What are your thoughts on the many music blogs giving music away for free?
If the artists are okay with it then it’s good promotion for them. I think if the artists want to get paid for their work people shouldn’t steal it.
– What do you look for when shopping for music? Do you purchase music for? The name of who is producing it or for what you hear?
Almost always for what I hear but obviously if someone I like has new material out I’ll check it.
– Who is someone you would love to work with?
A bit of a weird one because all the people who are my heroes would intimidate me so I think unless I became best friends with them I’d rather just work on my own.
– Who do you listen to aside of dance related music?
Loads of different stuff really. A lot of electronically and weirdy bits. Bands, indie stuff, bad 80s music. Almost anything really.
– What is one of your favorite areas/venues to play at?
I just played at Sankeys in Manchester this past weekend and it was amazing. But I love playing in Eastern Europe, Russia, Mexico.
– What advice would you give to DJs starting out?
Do something different when you perform to stand out, be original. Get your computer and make some simple but effective tracks then send them out to as many people as possible along with your mixes.
– Do you produce any music style that others might not know about?
My new track is 112 BPM and is totally different from anything I’ve done. It features on my new mix.
– Any last thoughts you want to get off your chest?
Yeah, this flipping cold! It’s driving me mad. Aachoo!
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On the 31st of March one of Scotland’s finest nights ‘Switch‘ will be celebrating its first birthday at Snafu! What a year it has has been! We’ve seen some of the best and brightest Scottish DJs play at Switch over the months to fantastic Snafu crowds and we’ve also had two fantastic guest DJs in the form of the Rogue Element and Scotland’s premier producer/Dj, Hostage back in September. Resident and head honcho P.E.D.S will be putting on mammoth 3 hour set covering everything from Disco to electro. Check out his fantastic mix below!
P.E.D.S:
Aberdeen’s very own purveyor of electronic foreplay. Not for the fainthearted casual disco traveller. Expect computers going berserk, warped bass lines and tracks that leap up and down on your brain like a pair of 20-holed techno Dr Martens. For those about to rock. And then some. Anyone with a vague interest in throwing shapes will be hooked. Recently he has played alongside the likes of Felix Da Housecat, JoJo De Freq, Hostage and the Rogue Element.
It’s a truly massive day for dance. We’ve got a big one in the form of Elite Force’s long, long awaited LP of Re:Vamped dropping in our collective inboxes, Beatport and Juno crates. To celebrate, the man has allowed us to have a semi-exclusive chat to find out exactly what makes this new album great and why blogs are a fantastic tool.
Re:Vamped has several different outlets today, I highly recommend popping over to the Revamped store and picking up the bundles. VERY much worth it. Now for the interview and 26 Basslines. Enjoy!
You know we’re massive fans of what you’re doing with U&A and the crew on board already, how important has blog coverage been to you in prepping the release of Re:Vamped?
The blogs have been a major tool for us in ramping up for Revamped, and what’s been exciting from my point of view is how we’ve developed an understanding and a relationship with a lot of like-minded, passionate writers, like yourselves, who clearly put the music first. For me it’s been really refreshing to unveil a project in this way without having anything to do with the style-over-substance blogs – makes me cherish my independence from the self-imposed ‘scenesters’ all the more J
The mix is an unbelievably great mix of styles, how important was it meshing those styles rather than sticking to genres that are / were popular at the time?
Ultimately it just comes down the music really, and I completely stand behind what I’ve done on this album – I think the reason why the sound is a open and transparent as it is, is that I never intended to release any of it, so I never gave a second thought about what I could & couldn’t use … it was only when it came down to getting licenses granted that I perhaps wished I had (that being said, I’ll know for next time next to use anything on Kompakt with a view to releasing it at a later date :lol ). I really don’t care about people’s views on genres and what they think should be current and cool or how you should tow the line in your productions to fit in with someone else’s personal remit. None of that’s important – it’s just music, pure & simple, and hopefully people will take it at face value and enjoy it for what it is.
You’ve also revealed your further plans for future releases and gigs, making the purchasing of music much more relevant and worthwhile than it has been these past few years; what’s inspired to see yourself at the forefront of innovation? Both through this distribution method and also in crafting Re:Vamped?
I don’t necessarily see myself at the forefront of innovation or anything that bold & brassy – I think the sad fact of the matter is that most of the music industry has been stuck in a nostalgic mire for years & years now, back-pedalling when they should have been grasping the mettle and seizing the day. Finally there is now technology available that allows the musician and the label to wrestle back some control over their music usage and the way that it’s served up to their public, and it’s easier than ever to engage with the public and canvas what they really want. What we are doing at U&A is simply aiming to live out our own fantasies of ‘wouldn’t it be great if we could do X and Y and thereby reach these people and speak to them in this way’. For example, as a music fan would you like to be able to buy a ticket for a show and receive a recording of that exact show the following week – for me that would be a yes, so we’re working out ways of implementing it in the near future. Check out http://uaarecs.com and http://eliteforcemusic.com for working examples of some of this bundled content in action.
What about dealing with blogs that might post tracks that you never allowed? How does that affect you and the artists that you work with?
I’ve got to be honest – it’s a massive massive problem for the industry and it’s only getting worse. No one has made any real leaps to stop the organized cartels that are purely sharing things (in vast numbers) on Warez boards. Their goal is simply to create content to drive their own personal advertising revenue and that’s tremendously sad really – there’s no passion, no love of the music, no respect for the artists, and they contribute nothing whatsoever that isn’t completely negative to the scene and in doing so make a lot of artists & labels deeply suspicious of the blogging community’s motives. There are a middle-ground of bloggers who feed off these shared downloads for their own content, but generally you can tell where blogs are coming from by their attention to detail and their editorial comment … the more editorial, the more likely they are true supporters and from that point you can develop a relationship with them (like I’ve done with you guys!).
You’ve also grabbed a sweet little sharer of tunes (As we’ve featured in the past) that aims to spread the greatness of free music and the great sounds of that music, do you see yourself and the label collaborating more with the blogs? Especially with some writers very vocal support of Re:Vamped?
Yeah – these widgets have become real key tools for us in both helping spread the word, and helping us get a little something in return for the studio hours and putting tracks out there gratis. So as a special thank you for the continued support (and that goes for everyone out there reading this & consuming the music) we’re giving away the Benga – 26 Basslines (Elite Force Re-Fix) that’s been so much requested by beatsheads over the past few months.
We’re also streaming the entire album for free. There’s some seriously kick-ass tunes on here. Well actually, all of them are.
As well as these huge electronic dj’s Flux will be joined by the kindly people from WE OWN clothing (www.weown.org). They will be providing some photographic skills by the one and only MARTY BELL as well as the odd lovely modeling a now infamous “JACK KILLS” t-shirt.
As always your FLUX Residents TIM JAMES, GUS ARMSTRONG, and TONY NICOL will be on call to make sure you’re filthy needs are met. They will be punching electronic goodness through the 18,000 watts of FUNKTION ONE goodness along with the cinema sized visuals.
What do Ibiza Rocks, Wax:On, and Reclaim The Dance Floor all have in common? The cream of international DJ line-ups? Legendary tales of debauchery? A clutch of awards and critical acclaim? Yes, yes, and yes, and one more important ingredient; genre-hopping resident and rapidly rising UK producer/DJ, DOORLY.
Presiding over an ELECTRONIC MELTING POT of TECHNO, ELECTRO, DRUM’n'BASS and DUBSTEP doused with hip-hop and splashes of indie; DOORLY’s movement behind the decks is relentless. Scratching and splicing riffs, loops, beats and bass to form a sonically seamless, mash-up masterpiece as seen on his RECENT RADIO1 MINI MIX for ANNIE MAC; it’s understandable that Doorly is often described as ‘an old school block party DJ using new school technology’.
DOORLY’s own night, AFTERPARTY, in his hometown of Huddersfield, was recently voted Galaxy radio’s ‘BEST CLUB NIGHT’ and listed as Mixmag’s number one UK club night, attracting the likes of 2manyDJs, ANNIE MAC, Pete Tong, Armand Van Helden, Eric Prydz & Calvin Harris in the past 6 months alone. Indeed, spinning from the Ukraine to Australia, Germany to Egypt, Doorly has played directly alongside dance’s finest and most diverse such as GROOVE ARMADA, Chase and Status, KISSY SELL OUT, Tiga, FAKE BLOOD, Skream, Pendulum, BOYS NOIZE, Erol Alkan, DIPLO, Proxy, SCRATCH PERVERTS, Benga, Grooverider, SINDEN and SOULWAX to (literally) name but a few – as well as an epic 3 hour – 3 way back 2 back session with Zane Lowe and Mark Ronson in Ibiza!
JAIMIE FANATIC is making a name for himself with both his high octane DJ sets as well as his productions.
Recent releases include the widely played ‘Black Celebration’ ‘Whats Happenin To Ya’ and ‘Break Yo Neck’ being released on labels such as DIPLO’s MAD DECENT and STEVE AOKI’s DIM MAK as well as numerous remixes for the likes of MALENTE, DIPLO & LAIDBACK LUKE, THE GOSSIP and ARMAND VAN HELDEN.
FLUX resident DJs Tim and Gus will be playing their usual mix of jump up ELECTRO, TECHNO, FIDGET & WONK in a super fun, super fast 4 DECK Back2bacK set that will get your feet pointed at the dance floor in no time.
Playing together regularly across Scotland at Edinburgh’s FUSE as well as FLUX Glasgow and Aberdeen, the dynamic DJ duo are guaranteed to shower you in their electro goodness!
Edinburgh based fashion freaks WE OWN will be hosting a very special pre-party in Paramount from 8pm. With WE OWN residents joined by Blair Stuart on the decks, T-shirts, models and more it’s the best way to prepare for a messy night to come!
Where: The Forum, 3 Scene Terrace, Aberdeen
When: Saturday 13th March, 2010.
Tickets: £8 Advance, More on the door.
Line up: DOORLY, JAIMIE FANATIC, Tim James and Gus Armstrong
Gotta give props to DJ Deekline on an awesome video for his new single with MC Shystie. Check this out! Good style and we feel like we are almost watching a little flick from Guy Ritchie! Well… sort of, it’s definitely cool!
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Yes folks, March 12th celebrates the end of Az-Tech’s third full year tearing up The Caves in Edinburgh, and what a thoroughly banging time it’s been. Since March 2007, Az-Tech has tried to push the envelope of Edinburgh clubbing to embrace a whole new dimension of late-night debauchery, bringing you the finest in DJ talent from the length and breadth of Britain and beyond, and boasting one of the best, most up-for-it and most faithful crowds in the city.
Looking back over three legendary years’ worth of artists, it was hard to pick a favourite that would bring all the perfect ingredients for this party. After much debating and happy memoirs, one special set from October 2008 stood out beyond the rest… French master of his craft and Noise Porn favourite Maelstrom’s last set at the Caves was a mind-blowing journey through more styles than you could shake a dusty vinyl at, definitely one of the freshest and most forward-thinking sets we’d heard in a long long while… Performing live, he whipped through an astounding back-catalogue of breaks, beats & bumps, flipping tunes on their heads and barely stopping to catch a breath- those still standing at the end went off the hook…
The past two years have seen Maelstrom launch his own label in his homeland, and bash out a monstrous amount of extra-high-grade tuneage. He’s taken in a tour of the southern hemisphere and is one of the busiest of the continent’s dance artists. Never one to rest on his laurels, Maelstrom has also fashioned an alternative identity for himself, playing and producing up-tempo funk worldwide under the alias of “Misterstrom”… for a sneak peak at both sides of the alter ego, check the two brand-spanking new mixes below.
For discounted entry on Friday and free lifetime membership to Az-Tech, drop an email with your full name to az-techbreaks@hotmail.co.uk.
COMPETITION:
Az-Tech are giving away two guestlist places to Friday’s event especially for Noiseporn. To enter, please reply to the above email address with the subject line NOISEPORN COMP and the answer to this question:
What year did Az-Tech launch at the Caves?
Answers in by 10pm on Wednesday 10th March and we’ll notify the winner by email on Thursday. Good luck!
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Wanted to give a heads up to an awesome track which is gonna drop soon, only got the video at the moment but it’s the Bar9 mix of Sidney Samson feat. Lady Bee ‘Shutup & let it go’ coming out on Cr2 Records on he 25th of April. This release is the follow up to ‘Riverside’ which was undeniably massive whether you loved it or hated it. The Bar9 mix is big bass heavy dubstep at its best and follows suit from their recent remix of ‘I want you’, which has been getting big respect from Mary Anne Hobbs on her thursday night show for Radio 1!
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