Categories
Skateboarding News

Boardmasters Wrap Up

The summer isn’t over! Well, almost… In any case Newquay was the venue for a “last of the summer wine” comp, the Boardmasters. UK heads were going off with Darryl Cashman and James Gardner grabbing the top spots in Street and the Andy Scott and Sam Beckitt getting honourable top 10 placings in the Vert comp.

Andy did his magic by winning the Best Trick comp landing a signature “Scrambled egg” i.e. a kickflip eggplant a.k.a. an upside down kickflip handplant variation!!! Sam Beckitt almost won with his amazing kickflip backside 360.

Check out the styles here.

Categories
Skateboarding News

Self Promotion?

With Uber-ams coming a dime-a-dozen nowadays, sometimes that little extra does count. You might not be familiar with the name Dany Hamard, but on French soil he is already an established veteran of the contest circuit and streets despite his young age.

Discovered and shot to major sponsorship (Almost, Globe…) through the annual Teenage Tour Contests, Dany has travelled around the world in search of new terrain to shred.

Dany recently launched his own website and I suggest you watch his video because there is a definite Mooove in there- Nose manual nollie heelflip nose manual..?

Get your mouse clicking here.

Categories
Live Reviews

Reading Festival Review 2006

By Dee Massey and Alex Gosman

Friday

Dee’s Friday:

Ah Reading. It seems to come round all too quickly, and before you know it you’re dragging out your tent from the cupboard, wondering what the strange smell coming from the bottom of your rucksack it, hoping to god your inflatable mattress hasn’t sprung a leak (invariably..it has), and you’re off down the M4 again.

Stumbling onto the site on Wednesday afternoon it’s clear this year is going to be somewhat crazy. With Glastonbury having a year off, it seems every man and his dog have descended on Reading, and by Thursday morning the site is totally rammed, and there’s an unnerving amount of punters who’ve just come to the festival to cause carnage in the campsite, without tickets or any intention of seeing a band. But more of that later.

Friday dawns sunny, and although some of us are slightly feathery we do manage to crawl out of the campsite in time to see Charlie from Busted’s ‘Fightstar’ slink off the stage, having had a healthy amount of bottles thrown in their direction. Dashboard Confessional’s Chris Carrabba looks so damn smooth in his shades that the crowd forget to throw bottles of piss and really get into their set. His upbeat brand of emotive writing seems to hit a note, new single ‘Don’t Wait’ rings true and clear across the arena, and with ‘Hands Down’ you seem to forget the fact you were woken by some twat from Eastbourne pissing on your tent at 5am and relax into the festival vibe.

Panic! At The Disco don’t fare so well as Dashboard, and frontman Brendon Urie is the unhappy recipient to a bottle to the face within seconds of their opening number. It knocks him squarely off his feet and he lies prostrate on the stage. Kudos to this 18 yr old for having the guts to come back on stage, the shakiness of his voice and the angry red bruises on his cheeks testament to how shaken he must be. Singles ‘ I Write Sins not Tragedies’ and ‘ But It’s Better If You Do’ are sung back note perfect, and Panic can leave the festival safe in the knowledge they’ve gained respect from the difficult crowd.

The Subways played mid afternoon on a smaller stage last year, and they seem a little dazzled by their main stage audience, but by the time they reach ‘Oh Yeah’ and ‘ Rock n Roll Queen‘ they’ve getting into it. Frontman Billy Lunn and bassist Charlotte Cooper curl themselves around each other, the tension tangible until the last chord falls. Fall Out Boy follow, and they completely win over the crowd, their bubblegum punk pop seems to placate the rowdy audience, ‘Sugar We’re Going Down’ and ‘Dance Dance’ have the crowd spinning, Peter Wentz is charming and witty, it’s a pity most of the crowd have seen pictures of the less than impressive ‘Little Pete’ on the internet.

Over on The Carling Stage, The Twlight Singers, featuring Greg Dulli of The Afghan Whigs and Mark Lanagan of The Screaming Trees fame, are an absolute pleasure, (resulting in this reviewer going on a spree in Fopp earlier today!), and after the OD of american pop punk storming off the main stage, they’re a pared down, simple pleasure, combining the best of both bands. Meanwhile The Kaiser Chiefs kick off on the main stage, cocky swaggering guitars and Ricky Wilson’s wonderful arrogance really work, and their set goes down a stormer, literally – it starts pissing with rain about mid way through.

Torn between Bedouin Soundclash, Primal Scream and Franz Ferdinand for Friday headliners, we end up dodging the rain in the caberet tent and missing all three. The ‘Stars in Your Eyes’ karaoke is better than all the bands, and kudos to the Girls Aloud girls, who got more bottles than Panic at the Disco and still told the audience where to go.

Alex’s Friday:

We’re not really in the mood for anything too challenging or cerebral at this early hour, so it’s pretty handy that Towers Of London are here to kick off proceedings on the Main Stage. Donny Tourette and co.’s punk n’ roll posturing is entertaining enough, but their spirited renditions of ‘Fuck It Up’ and ‘On A Noose’ are also potent reminders to the designer-wellies brigade that festivals are, ultimately, a chance to revel in your own filth. Amen to that.

Over on the Lock-Up stage, Send More Paramedics mission to swell the ranks of the zombiecore massive has been thwarted by a power-cut. No wonder that when they finally restart, vocalist B’Hellmouth looks hungrier than ever as his band rip through a venomous ‘Zombie Vs. Shark’. Today, the smart money is on the undead. Municipal Waste may be lacking their customary boogie-boards and beer-bong, but their party thrash anthems are still a welcome treat, as the likes of ‘Unleash The Bastards’ and ‘Mind Eraser’ incite a non-stop circle pit down the front.

Today is Lightyear’s second-to-last gig, so it’s understandable that vocalist Chas decides to do the whole set naked, in a remarkably successful bid to make his band’s live experience even more memorable than usual. Truly, these guys will be missed. The insanity continues with Gogol Bordello, who are not so much a band as a riotous, colourful gypsy-punk carnival. Unsurprisingly, they play to a packed Second Stage tent, with the crowd dancing, whooping and hollering along to ‘Not A Crime’ and shoulda-been-a-hit ‘Start Wearing Purple’. Awesome stuff.

Back on the Lock-Up stage, Rise Against are giving a typically impassioned performance, but are let down by sound problems that render Chris Chasse’s guitar almost inaudible. Things don’t improve much for the Bouncing Souls who nevertheless delight the crowd with a selection of old favourites and a clutch of excellent new tracks from their recent ‘The Gold Record’ album; ‘Lean On Sheena’ is quite possibly the best song they’ve ever written.

The prospect of seeing Ice-T this side of the Atlantic again has prompted much excitement over Bodycount’s appearance on the Lock-Up stage; but underneath all the band’s macho posturing, there’s precious little to get excited about. ‘KKK Bitch’ and the infamous ‘Cop Killer’ are rare highlights of a set largely made up of generic, uninspiring rap-core that genre leaders like Suicidal Tendencies and Biohazard would surely balk at. The main man’s bark remains as loud as ever, but on tonight’s evidence, his bite is sorely lacking. Still, it was sweet of him to bring his son onstage for the finale. Bless.

Saturday

Dee’s Saturday:

Saturday sees the rain clearing, although metaphorically speaking it’s cloudy in the campsite. Note to self, never camp next to people whose sole intention for the weekend is to snort, inject and pop every narcotic known to man, and think it’s ok to crap outside their tent. Fair enough the new long drop loos aren’t so pretty but come on people! Yes it’s a festival but that doesn’t mean it’s ok to be completely neanderthal. Following one festival goer losing an eye at Leeds, and a Reading camper losing a very delicate part of his anatomy (read it and wince boys), the emphasis this year is on a calmer campsite, with a stronger police presence, fire marshals and camp site attendants – but to be honest, I’ve never seen it so volatile.

Security at the main gates is lax, and the security team seem happy to let their mates in with without passes, and there’s even a tent protection racket going on. The rumours of kids being mugged on the campsite and other having their tents burnt down to the floor when they’re refused to pay local chavs protection money puts a dampener on the proceedings.

Anyway, back to music. Sadly Paramore have bailed, due to a throat infection, so Sonic Boom Six open on the Lock Up Stage, followed by the irrepressible Captain Everything who really milk every minute of their set, with their screamo, fast paced punk stylings. Milburn take to the NME Stage and are a bit of a disappointment, sounding like a lesser Artic Monkeys, but The Automatic are actually pretty damn great live, with ‘Raoul‘ and ‘Monster’ resounding around the packed out tent. They’ve shrugged off accusations of being manufactured, and this storming set will have done a lot to silence their critics.

One of the highlights of the weekend is The Spinto Band, who’s new album ‘Nice And Nicely Done‘ really sums up their set. ‘Mandy’ and ‘Did I Tell You’ are sublime, these indie boys are a total pleasure to watch, if only their set was longer that the standard thirty minutes. It’s catching bands like this that make Reading worthwhile.

We stumble over to the main stage to catch the last remnants of Dirty Pretty Things, with Carl Barat proving there is life after The Libs, and cradling a broken collarbone from a bike accident. Feeder take to the stage, Grant Nicholas looking genuinely delighted to be there. Swinging through all their hits, from ‘Come Back Around‘, ‘Buck Rodgers’ and ‘Just A Day’. The performance is flawless, Feeder just get better with age.

Coheed And Cambria bring big hair and big riffs over to the NME stage, their long experimental solos seem at times a little self indulgent, but it’s the perfect backdrop to lie back on the grass and just let the progressive guitars drift over you. Back to the mainstage for the headliners Muse, and they take the Reading crowd by storm. Matt Bellamy is quite simply breathtaking with his guitar wizardry, rolling over tracks ‘Feeling Good’, Hysteria’, ‘Time is Running Out’, ‘Plug In Baby’ and the like. Every intro has the crowd buzzing with excitement, and despite playing to a backing track, they sound amazing. Bellamy has had a chaos button engineered into all his guitars, the result being heartstopping solos and waves of extreme sound tearing across the crowds. Keeping the small talk to a minimum the band Muse show they are so very a home in front of thousands, and are the perfect headliner to the middle night.

Alex’s Saturday:

Saturday morning heralds two nice surprises: not only have mediocre American emo-poppers Paramore pulled out at the last minute, but they’ve also been replaced by the far superior Sonic Boom Six. Clearly delighted by the huge crowd that greets their Lock-Up stage appearance, Laila and the boys are a blur of energy as they rip through their potent fusion of dub, ska, hip-hop and hardcore. The sight of the whole tent bouncing to the closing ‘Monkey See, Monkey Do’ speaks volumes; watch out for this lot.

Flogging Molly are playing twice today, but their early Main Stage slot is the finer of the two; not least for a heart-stirring rendition of ‘Whistles The Wind’ that provokes a mass sing-along from all present. There’s a real sense of self-belief and honesty to Dave King’s crew; a common touch that ensures that even the most hungover punters are half-heartedly attempting a jig by the time ‘What’s Left Of The Flag’ kicks into gear. One of the finest folk-punk bands around, no less.

Wolfmother have been making big waves since their first visit to these shores earlier this year, although I personally prefer the Datsuns in terms of Aussie bands with a punked-up Led Zep fixation. Still, singer/guitarist Andrew Stockdale’s huge afro provides a great focal point, and their Sabbath-esque riffage is a fine accompaniment to a cold beer on a sunny afternoon.

With a tap-dancer in place of a drummer, Tilly And The Wall shows are always a spectacular affair, and their Carling Stage appearance is deservedly well-attended. Some thoughtful punter has brought a lot of balloons, which bounce around the crowd as the band play their sweetly mischievous folk-pop songs. ‘Nights Of The Living Dead’ has blossomed into a true anthem; an ode to drunkenly kissing your best friend under a starlit sky, and being unafraid as to what might happen, just enjoying the moment and…oops, sorry, lost myself for a second there. Sigh.

Back on the Lock-Up stage, Against Me! have packed out the tent and are doing a fine job of proving their doubters that, despite their recent major-label signing, they’re still the same band; passionate, satirical and sounding better than ever these days. Hell, the sing-along to ‘Pints Of Guinness…‘ is one of the loudest of the day. Millencolin are comparatively less exciting to watch, but they’re certainly not lacking in the tunes department; with the likes of ‘No Cigar’, ‘Bullion‘ and automobile anthem ‘Fox’ greeted like old friends by the crowd.

Sunday:

Dee’s Sunday:

Sunday morning. Oh my god we made it to Sunday. Having avoided more campsite malarkey by sleeping in a car (for future reference VW Golfs are super comfy), it’s Metric who ease us into the last day with some drawling pop.

Taking Back Sunday woo the crowd, Adam Lazarro’s wonderful campness and quirky vocals seem to win over the crowd, and it’s another stunning performance from these Reading regulars. Their set fizzles with intensity, and they win over the crowd who genuinely get into the set. Less Than Jake are hilarious, causing the best chicken fights ever seen, piggybacked couples racing at each other. The ska punk lifts the mood and you can’t help but grin at their on stage antics, they’re not out to impress anyone, they’re here for a good time.

But in stark comparison My Chemical Romance get an ice cold reception from everyone but their fans, and Gerard Way does nothing to help himself, baiting and antagonising the crowd. The actual set is great, when he’s not talking up a shit storm about The Daily Mail or daring the crowd to throw all they have at him. Did he not hear about Panic?! The most exciting thing about Placebo’s set is the technical problems that lead to ‘the boobie cam’ coming out. The best part being the guys getting in on the act, I’ve never seen so many hairey nipples in my life.

And so to the Sunday headliners, Pearl Jam. The years have been kind to Eddie Vedder, and his wonderfully familiar drawl, the way he clasps his mic stand, the way he flutters his eyelids when hitting a note, it all comes tumbling back. Having avoided festivals since their 2000 tragedy in Denmark’s Roskilde festival, when several of their fans died after being crushed, he pleads with the crowd to look after each other, but he seems nervous, and it takes a good few minutes before he begins to look at ease on the stage. Picking and choosing the best of their many albums, they even add in ‘Chloe Crown of Thorns’ from Mother Love Bone. ‘Better Man’, ‘Ever Flow’, ‘Jeremy’ and ‘Alive’ are topped off with an excessively long encore with The Who’s Teenage Wasteland being the pinnacle. It’s a pleasure to see Pearl Jam back where they belong, and long may it last.

And so Reading draws to a close again. With so many British bands on the bill it’s good to see the UK music scene is so vibrant. But music aside, the powers that be need to sort out the situations in the camping sides of things, before someone really gets hurt.

Alex’s Sunday:

By Sunday morning, we’re all feeling very much the worse for wear; a fact that Mastodon clearly couldn’t care less about as they give our eardrums their toughest test yet. Mixing bizarre, off-kilter dynamics with some thunderously heavy riffs, Troy Sanders and co take advantage of their extended set time to treat us to some new material from their forthcoming ‘Blood Mountain’ album, which could well be their strongest to date. We nervously salute them.

Killswitch Engage are not only one of the better metalcore bands around right now, they’re also one of the funniest; mainly thanks to lead guitarist Adam Dutkiewicz introducing every other song in a mock death-metal growl. Even at this early hour, the soaring choruses of ‘When Darkness Falls’ and ‘Rose Of Sharyn’ sound utterly huge.

If there was ever a band suited to the Main Stage on a sunny afternoon, it’s Less Than Jake. Whether organising a ‘chicken fight’ for the reggae-esque ‘The Science Of Selling Yourself Short’ or whipping the crowd into a bouncing mass for the shout-along chorus of ‘Gainesville Rock City’, Chris, Roger and co. simply cannot fail today, bringing great tunes and good-natured silliness in abundance. Come back next year, guys!

We wander off to the bar whilst Bullet For My Valentine provide a lesson in how to ruin some perfectly good riffs with too much unnecessary emo-lite whining, resolving not to return to the pit until a proper metal band arrives. Cue Slayer. Kicking off with a teeth-rattling ‘South Of Heaven’, the US thrash titans are on blistering form today. Tom Araya may not speak much between songs, preferring to let the crowd’s chants of ‘Slay-uh! Slay-uh!’ ring free, but who cares when thrash classics like ‘Seasons In The Abyss’ and ‘Disciple’ still sound as vicious as ever? Oddly, we don’t get ‘Angel Of Death’ this time, but the closing ‘Raining Blood’ ensures many a bemused/distressed face among the Kaiser Chiefs fans. Good work, lads.

Dee Massey and Alex Gosman.

Categories
Hip Hop Show

Hip Hop Show – September 2006

Even though Autumn is coming, DJ Zac Slack and Crossfire’s resident Hip Hop Head Abjekt are going to keep you planted firmly in the sunshine thanks to this latest radio show.

This month’s show has hip hop from all over the world, even venturing down to the outback of Australia for your listening pleasure. Click the flag above here to get the show and make sure you get yourself over to the request thread to get tunes you want on the next show.

1. Ohmega Watts f. DJ DNA – Where It All Started – Ubiquity Records
2. Pigeon John – Identity Crisis – Basement Records
3. Rodney P – The Nice Up – Lowlife
4. Offwhyte – Complex Destiny – Galapagos 4
5. Jehst f. Asaviour – People Under The Weather – Lowlife
6. Cut Chemist f. Hymnal – What’s The Altitude – Warner Bros
7. Ernie Rhodes – Never Really Gone – Modern Day Records
8. POS f. Slug – Bleeding Hearts Club – Rhymesayers Entertainment
9. Mobb Deep – Shook Ones ii – RCA
10. Kashmere – Playing With Fire – Receptor
11. El-P – Everything Must Go – Definitive Jux
12. Blue Scholars – Motion & Movement – Mass Line Records
13. The Crest – Heart Shaped Box – Uprising
14. Hilltop Hoods – The Hard Road – Obese Records

Categories
The Mix

The Mix – 06/09/06

Now people!

Just a few new decent albums to look at from me this month but that makes no difference in the world of Crossfire and now its the perfect time for the nitty gritty.

KIDS IN TRACKSUITS – New Kids Rock the Block
(Dealmaker Records)
www.dealmakerrecords.com
www.kidsintracksuits.co.uk

After the success of their debut hit 7″ Get Your KIT On, the Kids have been taking their unique beat-cutting mayhem all over the shop, from top to bottom of the UK as well as representing in France, Holland and the Czech Republic supporting heads like DJ Shadow and Luke Vibert. As we took a look at their latest single I thought it would be rude not to visit the full album.

There is some amazing scratching, cutting and producing on this album. The Kids use a massive range of sampling from language learning records to old films and programmes that we can enjoy and reminisce. The Kids In Tracksuits new cd “New Kids Rock The Block” has now been released for your pleasure. They are just about to set off on their second UK tour and then will be going on their first European tour after the launch party On Saturday the 9th September.

The launch party will be down at The Malt Cross, St James’ Street, Nottingham. As well the nyloned ones there’ll be appearances from Toulouse’s finest exports, Kaney King and Special Whity, plus visuals from Enjoy The Ride’s Stu Pearson, live art from Rikki Finn all for only £5 on the door (or £3 if your flossing your tracksuit)

Go and get this extremely experimental album and mash your brain up to some of the most weird and wonderful sounds I’ve heard in ages. Pre-orders are now being taken at www.dealmakerrecords.com and all HMV shops. For more info mail sean@dealmakerrecords.com

Upcoming dates for the ASBO Tour (inc. De La Soul support) can be found at;
www.myspace.com/kidsintracksuits2

GOLD DIGGING – As Sampled by Tupac
(Harmless Records)

This album is a must for any Tupac and P-Funk fan!! This is also the 3rd volume in the Gold Digging series, although it’s the first I have heard. I will be crate digging to find the other two. After listening to this one I just hope they can flood as many memories back for me.

The Gold Digging series presents 20 original songs as sampled by Tupac. Fans, critics and journalists consistently rank Tupac as the greatest rapper ever. He is listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the best selling rap/hip-hop artist ever, having sold over 73 million albums worldwide and achieving 17 top ten singles in the United States.

As in the previous Gold Digging volumes, (Kanye West and Jay-Z), this double CD brings you the original tracks as used on the worldwide hits Changes, Do For Love, California Love, I Aint Mad At Ya and many more. For Tupac fans and casual listeners alike, this is an impeccable selection of music. In fact, you can make your minds up for yourself…….here’s the track listing:

Bobby Caldwell What You Wont Do For Love Sampled for Do For Love
Bruce Hornsby & The Range The Way It Is Sampled for Changes
Ronnie Hudson West Coast Pop Lock – Sampled for California Love
Linda Clifford Never Gonna Stop Sampled for All Eyez On Me
Kool & The Gang – Winter Sadness Sampled for Picture Me Rollin
James Brown Spank Sampled for Trapped
DeBarge Dream Sampled for I Aint Mad At Ya
Dennis Edwards – Don’t Look Any Further Sampled for Hit Em Up
Quincy Jones Body Heat Sampled for How You Want It
Zapp – Computer Love Sampled for Temptations
Minnie Ripperton Inside My Love Sampled for Me Against The World
Funkadelic Get Off Your Ass & Jam Sampled for Holla If You Hear Me
Five Stairsteps Ooh Child Sampled for Keep Ya Head Up
Sly & The Family Stone Sing A Simple Song Sampled for Temptations
Mr Mister Broken Wings Sampled for Until The End Of Time
The OJays Brandy Sampled for Life Goes On
James Brown Blind Man Cant See It Sampled for Trapped
Cameo Candy Sampled for All About You
Peoples Choice Do It Anyway You Wanna Sampled for Holla If You Hear Me

If you want to know more about this album don’t hesitate to contact Ed at The Outpost.

DOC BROWN – Citizen Smith Volume 2: Nothing To Loose
www.docbrown.co.uk
www.myspace.com/docbrownpoison

Here we are for the second instalment of the Citizen Smith saga. For those of you that are familiar with volume 1, “Nothing to Loose” is coming from a completely different angle.

This album has 16 pretty decent tracks throughout. It does address the more light-hearted hip hop fan rather than going for the deep and dirty underground stuff. If im honest I prefer the mucky type of hip hop, but there are some great tracks on here. I’m particularly fond of the live freestyle at the end of the cd. Other tracks to look out for on this album are “Smash That” this is a good tune that could probably get even the shittest of parties rockin’. “Wake Up” includes the work of our old friend Mr Thing and Doc together. This tune tells the story of a one night stand going very wrong (oh dear) I like the skills involved in this one.

If you don’t know…..Doc has collaborated with the likes of Taskforce, Harry Love, Yungun, Tommy Evans and MCD. He has also toured with Busta Rhymes and De La Soul, and they are some heavy names to contend with. That’s quite an impressive line-up if you ask me. You can have a little listen at the myspace address above or go and buy it from the web address above. Remember that this album isn’t out until 2nd October so hold your horses for the next few weeks, it’ll be here soon! You will be able to buy it from www.suspect-packages.com as soon as it’s out.

And that’s that! Here’s a bit of graf for you to lay your weary eyes upon

Over to Abjekt for more delicious delights. See you soon and good luck in winning those tickets for the DMC’s!!!!

Kris Drew

The Jektmosphere

I’ve made my return from America, the land of hopes and dreams… ok, well, the land of fast food joints and fatties, and brought a whole stack of CDs home with me that I got free from Scribble Jam, some of which make it into this month’s Mix.

And after you’ve read this, make sure to pimp the Doomtree interview. They’re the best crew in hip hop as far as I’m concerned and put out some of the best and most original music at the moment. If there’s any justice in the world, they’ll be huge so make sure you read this interview so you can boast that you knew them before they blew up. And whilst I’m at it, I’ll let you all know that you should keep an eye out for the video for POS‘ Bleeding Hearts Club with Slug – You’ll notice a certain Abjekt in there as an extra dressed as a bell-hop.

So, I’ll begin with a firm favourite of mine and then move around from the UK to the US and back again with some lovely choice slices of hip hop for you. As always I try to bring variation so there’s something for everyone and I hope you find some stuff you like in amongst this lot. On with the show!

GLUE – Catch As Catch Can
(Fat Beats)
www.gluemakesmusic.com

I’m going to say it now – This album is my album of the year so far. And unless something absolutely incredible drops, I can’t see anything overtaking it. Glue have always worked hard and produced brilliant music, but this is where they take a step up and slide into the “great” category. Maker, the producer, provides arguably the best percussions I’ve ever heard on a hip hop album, standing above the monotonous drums that get lazily used on rap records. Even his interludes, like State Of The World, are amazing, and would wipe out tracks on other albums.

Beat Beat Beat pounds away with emcee Adeem battle DJDQ showcasing the talent of both, Hometown Anthem’s liquid guitars wash over the muted trumpets in homage to the group’s own cities, Glupies brings in some more horns but this time around a soulful sample and every track brings its own individuality to the plate as Adeem switches from fast to chilled rapping, never straying from his unique sound and lyrical prowess.

But it’s the track Vessel that proves to be the best track on the record. A track about a robot being made to believe he’s a human to get the chores done, the beat starts off with dreamy keys and are joined by some brushing drums. Adeem’s vocals get more aggressive as the beat steps up a gear with some fuzzy guitars joining the fray before DJDQ breaks out some gloriously effective scratching. The next stage of the 6 minute long track is an understated solo amongst the distortion before the final part rears up as the keys from the introduction of the song.

If you want to hear 3 masters of their crafts come together and produce one of the most consistently brilliant albums of recent years, buy this. Because you will continue to be amazed by it long after the purchase.

BONOBO – Days To Come
(Ninja Tune)
www.ninjatune.net

You’d think I’d get bored of saying how great Ninja Tune releases are, but its not my fault if they just keep churning out quality now is it? Bonobo is best known for his atmospheric, brooding instrumentals, and his style hasn’t changed for this new album, despite the fact that he has vocals on it. A lot of the time, putting vocals on tracks by a producer that’s used to doing non-vocalised tracks, is a mistake, but Bajka has a voice that just seems perfect for the music she sings on. But when he does do instrumentals, like Ketto, he shows you just why he’s considered as one of the best around.

Bonobo can even experiment with a soulful little pop song with labelmate Fink and get away with it because the little details in it, from the strings to the finger cymbals, give it that dimension that most other songs you’ll hear won’t have. That’s what makes Bonobo stand out, he doesn’t saturate his music with too many sounds, but he’s always got that depth that provokes extra listens. I can never get bored of this guy and this is a quiet slow-burner that’ll really get you if you listen to it in the right mood. Beautiful.

CUT CHEMIST – The Audience’s Listening
(Warner Bros)
www.cutchemist.com

When news came through that Cut Chemist wasn’t going to be on the new J5 album and would be doing his own solo thing, I got excited. And as soon as I’d heard the album once through, I felt as though he’d exceeded expectations. From the intro of samples introducing him, to the rolling drums of the outro, Cut Chemist goes from one style to another, excelling at everything he does.

The pounding bass drums on My 1st Big Break sets the scene nicely as the tremolo guitars, reminiscent of the Pulp Fiction theme, twang a melody around various samples. The stand out track, The Garden, gives a chance for the horns to excel quietly with some eastern vibes intertwined with the floating vocals. When the drums come in properly half way through, you get lifted out of your room and into some Mediterranean paradise.

Hymnal’s appearance on What’s The Attitude brings in a more traditional hip hop boom bap beat for his vocals and the guest spots by the ever-incredible Edan and Def Jux’s Mr Lif with a spaced out vibe spins the listener’s ear drums around and places them firmly into the beat itself. Who needs J5 when you have this?

BASEMENT JAXX – Crazy Itch Radio
(XL)
www.basementjaxx.com

Basement Jaxx are the sort of group you want to DJ your house party when you want to crank the volume up and piss off the miserable old bastards next door. They can switch to any type of music and still make the party jump and that is exactly what their new album does.

From the horn-led Hey You which sounds like what Gogol Bordello would sound like if they did dance music to the grimey Run 4 Cover with Lady Marga [a would-be Lady Sov sound-a-like], the Jaxx boys keep the beat thumping and give you no choice but to tap those feet, strum those fingers and swing those oh-so-snake like hips. Move it or lose it buster, this is another cracking album from Felix and Simon and you need to get out and buy it.

AMP FIDDLER – Afro Strut
(Genuine Records)
www.myspace.com/ampfiddler

Joseph “Amp” Fiddler does what most male singers can’t do – Get me interested. In the days where any fella with a high voice can wail over a beat with absolutely melody, it’s refreshing to hear someone with a good voice singing over a tune which you can actually hum to yourself afterwards. If I Don’t is a lovely bouncy jazzy number which leads off the album well and Right Where You Are has some wicked strings and mellow vibes to it.

I Need You shows his ability to throw a few surprises into the works with some bashment infused vocals and Funky Monday sounds exactly as you’d hope – some raw bass distortion which makes you think of Shaft strutting and striding down the street. This is the sort of BBQ in the garden type CD that you’ll be putting on when its raining, wishing you could be out chilling on the grass.

BABY J – FTP 2 – Fight The Power
(All City Music)
www.allcitymusic.net

Baby J is one of, if not the, most loved producers in the UK right now and his new album, hot on the heels of the first FTP album and his work on the beats for Blade’s last release, is set to get great responses. Getting Dynamite MC onto the tracklist early on is a good call, as his familiar flow raps over the sample of Young, Gifted And Black with some thoughtful lyrics on black society. Bluesy sampled Down Here It’s Raining sees Fallacy step up to the plate and deliver some fresh rhymes and the Poisonous Poets throw up an appearance over some more sampled beats.

Baby J could be seen as a little lazy because he seems to follow the same blueprint for most of the tracks, chuck in a sample, put a beat over it and loop it. But whilst this is true, a fair amount of the beats are catchy and the rappers he gets on the tracks are quality in parts and he ends the album with some real quality in the form of Mr Ti2bs on Thoughts. If you dug J’s beat for Skinnyman’s I’ll Be Surprised, you’ll like this album.

ALIAS & TARSIER – Plane That Draws A White Line EP
(Anticon)
www.anticon.com

This EP, the follow up to their album Brookland/Oaklyn [which was featured in a previous Mix], brings the talents of beatmaker Alias and singer Tarsier back together with some remixes and 3 brand new tracks. If you dug the chilled out, swirling beats from the album, then you will no doubt be into this EP. One of the new tracks, Nocturnal Eye, could be Bjork singing on the track, a diamond for sure.

The other two tracks are equally soothing, with Sleepy slightly more upbeat with its distorted bleeps and subtle vocal samples. The remixes are similar in that respected, with the exception of one, which offers something a little different however. Boom Bip’s remix of the title track hovers in electronica and speeds up the beat somewhat, giving it a slightly more hectic feel.

GON – Where The Truth Lies
(Urchin Studios)
www.urchin-studios.com

This was one of the free CDs I got at Scribble Jam and is definitely one that I would have spent money on. To start with, the artwork is great, nothing like some good visuals to make your stuff stand out amongst all the freebies. Gon raps over other people’s beats, as we’re getting used to on mixtapes, but he gives the tracks something extra when he raps, rather than annoying the listener by ruining a perfectly good instrumental.

When you have his elegant delivery flowing over jazzy Blockhead beats and sounding just as effective over a funky quasi-psychadelic RJD2 canvas, you know you’re listening to a very capable emcee. Lyrically he’s on point too and I’m really interested in hearing his next release. The best things in life are free – this may just be the proof you need.

KID KOALA – Your Mom’s Favourite DJ
(Ninja Tune)
www.ninjatune.net

Cut and paste hip hop is either great or really, really annoying. Thankfully you know when you stick Kid Koala on that you’re never going to get the latter. Opening up with some finger-click inducing swing and then melting that into funky basslines and drums is the perfect way to get those rumps shaking. By the end of the first of his 2 mixes, you’ll have swayed through some neat scratching, cocktail party pianos and some blues.

The second disc is just as interesting, with distortions, electric guitars and brilliantly sampled vocal slots, Kid Koala runs diagonally across a bunch of different types of music. Amongst all the change ups and scratching, the DJ still manages to keep me interested with his style and allows everything to flow seamlessly. A quality release.

DISTRAKT – Distraktions
(Yard Rock Records)
www.distrakt.com

Another CD I got given at Scribble Jam and another one that is definitely forking out some cash for. Distrakt, out of Colorado, used to run with Atmosphere’s Ant and this album is proof that he can easily go it alone. Shit Ain’t Sweet is a great track to put on near the start, with its simple but devastatingly effective melody and thumping beat whilst he shows his ability to switch up styles with more soulful vibes like Greed.

The pounding bass of Don’t Get Mad with its “girls pee pee when they see me” sample is a brilliant slice of hip hop and the honky-tonk piano in Too Bad sits nicely off-kilter with his more pushing vocals. Distrakt has put 21 tracks of quality hip hop up on this album, and with his quality beats and solid rapping, he should be checked out without a shadow of a doubt.

TOKI WRIGHT – Low Budget High Quality 2.0
(Self Released)
www.myspace.com/tokiwrightmusic

Everyone should know by now how much I love the Minneapolis/St Paul hip hop scene and Toki Wright is one of the hardest workers around. He passed me this CD of some of his work, guest spots and more to check out and I’m glad he did. His work with the Doomtree Crew – Sims’ Market Made Murder and POS’ Ants – were tracks I already knew, and loved. His verses standing up superbly against the Doomtree rappers, so it wasn’t a surprise when I checked the other tracks on here and found they were quality too.

Chilled out beats on Building Blocks, smooth flows on Schoolyard Bullies [which includes the fresh Nomi from Power Struggle] and the awesome jazz-tinged Cradle To The Grave provide fitting soundscapes for Toki to deliver his knowledge over and if you’ve got any sense, you will find out about all his projects, from his solo stuff to his work in The C.O.R.E and Aphrill. Twin Cities did it again!

ICE CUBE – Laugh Now, Cry Later
(Virgin)
www.icecubemusic.com

Former NWA man Ice Cube is back with a bang with his new album Laugh Now, Cry Later. From the heavy hitting single Why We Thugs, which sees Cube question the Bush administration and continual problems found throughout America and the world. He’s never been one to mince his words and this new record is no exception with tracks like A History Of Violence, Child Support and The Game Lord.

Hardcore pounding beats and aggressive no-nonsense rapping is what you get on this release and it’s a testament to Cube that after all his years in rap, and his progression to the big screen, that he can still deliver what his fans want. There are some guest spots on the album which help give another style to the tracks, such as those from Snoop Dogg and Lil Jon. But one thing is for sure, if you were ever an Ice Cube fan, this album won’t let you down. He’s as raw, impassioned and in-your-face as he ever was, and this album will make you remember just why you liked him in NWA in the first place.

ATHERTON & SIRE – A Different Way Of Doing The Same Old Thing
(Vinyl Tap Music)
www.vinyltapmusic.com

Canada’s Atherton & Sire first came to my attention when I heard one of their tracks which sounded like someone rapping over an old 1980’s console game. How pleased I was to hear that it was added onto the end of this album, it’s belting!

The beats on this album are brilliant, pure and simple. Atherton’s way of switching up numerous styles for Atherton to rap over is superb on this record, with Everything starting the proceedings off on some fantasy-strings vibe and haunting backing vocals before flipping the script to bring some honky tonk piano into the melody on ATM, where Atherton delivers his knowledge on money and lack thereof. Another standout track, Past Tense, is another floaty sampled beat with high strums and a simple piano beat and Three Simple Words, the duo’s love song, has some Spanish guitars twiddling under Atherton who hits the listener with original take on those three magic words – “headtrips and mindgames” as he puts it in the chorus.

This is a great album which varies in tempo and style but always maintains a high level of sound. Definitely one to check out!

This month’s art comes from Spain’s Flannmd who dropped by Crossfire HQ not too long ago. His art is nice and vibrant, cool and quirky, just how I like it when I’m pimping some graff. It’s always good to see artists move around to find new street canvases and it’s awesome that he came over to London to slam this badboy on the walls over here. Long may it continue!

Well folks, that’s your lot for this time around – An absolutely huge load of stuff for you to check out. If there’s anything on there you like, drop me an email by clicking on my name below and let me know what it was you liked, I’m always down to recommend more stuff to y’all! Until next time, keep those dunks kicking and those fingers clicking.

Peace,

Abjekt

Categories
Music News

Dead Kids Live

The rioting rocking and raving Dead Kids have announced they are playing some shows in September. The group, who have made fans despite deliberate lack of website with their debut single Dead Wife Pills / Ex Rays, have now got a myspace page, which you can check out here.

The tour dates are:

September

9th – Brixton Windwill (with Roland Shanks)
10th – Brick Lane Festival @ The Vibe Bar (with Selfish Cunt, Acoustic Ladyland and Battan).
12th – The Montague Arms, New Cross (with Headless).

Categories
Music News

Converge Album Due!

Boston’s Converge are to release their new album, No Heroes, on October 23rd through Epitaph. The album will revisit the sound of previous recordings like The Empty Sky and When Forever Comes Crashing. Of the new album, singer Jacob Bannon said:

“We don’t try to outdo ourselves each time in terms of making a heavy, ridiculous record, but this time we feel like we kind of did. We’ve never been a band who’s just going through the motions and I think that shows on this record.”

The album will be produced by guitarist Kurt Ballou at the group’s longtime studio Godcity, and promises to be as heavy as ever, with a few surprises thrown in for good measure.

Check out the band’s website at www.convergecult.com

Categories
Music News

Breed 77 Single

Breed 77, who were nominated for Best British Act at the Metal Hammer Awards, release their new single, Blind, this week. The single is taken from the upcoming album In My Blood which is scheduled for a September 11th release which will take in a UK tour as well.

You can view the band’s E-Card which lets you hear music from the album, by clicking here.

The tour dates are:

September:

10th – Stamford Corn Exchange
11th – Bournemouth Opera House
12th – Portsmouth Wedgewood Rooms
14th – Edinburgh Studio 24
15th – Glasgow Cathouse
16th – Sheffield Corporation
17th – Stockton Georgian
18th– Nottingham Rock City
20th – Manchester Academy 3
21st – Birmingham Academy 2
23rd – Stoke Sugarmill
24th – Wrexham Central Station
25th – London Underworld (Album launch after show at Bar Monsta,
Camden).
26th – Oxford The Zodiac
27th – Reading The Fez
28th – Exeter The Cavern
30th – Leeds Cockpit

October:

1st – Agincourt Camberley
2nd – Brighton Concorde

www.breed77.net

Categories
Music News

Akrobatik Album News

Boston’s Akrobatik is to release a new album in the early part of 2007. The Perceptionists member will call the album Absolute Value and will feature production from Fakts One, Illmind, Da Beatminerz, J-Zone and 9th Wonder.

Guest rappers will include Mr Lif, Chuck D, B-Real and Little Brother. The lead off single will be A to the K with Cypress Hill’s B-Real with Beast Mode featuring Mr Lif on the flip side.

www.akrobatik.com

Categories
Music News

Arctic Monkeys Grab Mercury Award

Sheffield’s Arctic Monkeys debut album Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not picked up the Mercury Music Prize last night. The band, who picked up a £20,000 cheque for winning, had been favourites to pick up the award, but the selectors usually pick someone other than the favourites to win.

Singer Alex Turner said:

“Thanks to everyone that’s helped us. Normally it (the award) doesn’t go to a band that’s sold so many records, to put it bluntly, but we’re pleased. They’re good tunes, that’s what we do and there aren’t any tricks, people are trying to do too many tricks.”

They beat off competition from Isobel Campell and Mark Lanegan, Editors, Guillemots, Richard Hawley, Muse, Hot Chip, Zoe Rahman, Lou Rhodes, Thom Yorke, Sway and Scritti Politti.

www.arcticmonkeys.com