Executive Decisions
This is a quick note to introduce the newest member of weareie - Executive Steve. Some of you will know him from various forums as 'Tyranny', and regular readers might recognise him from the Slick DJ Naphta interview that was posted here a while back. Steve is a great writer, and is far more up to date with new music than the rest of the willfully ignorant and decrepit archivists that reside here (including myself). I hear that he actually leaves his house to go to gigs and stuff as well! So he should bring a bit of freshness to these increasingly anachronistic pages, and as an executive I expect him to have those two other wasters whipped into shape in no-time!
Saturday Síbín
This should be a good one. I saw General levy a few years back in Germany and he was great - expect a few rewinds of 'Incredible'. Storm is playing an old skool set, Subtle Audio's Code is playing with the Reach lads, and there'll be some serious bass pressure from soundsystem stalwarts Worries Outernational and Firehouse Skank.
Only a few miles outside the city too. if the weather holds it could be a very pleasant day indeed...
Blogarididms - The End is Nigh
To end this string of blogariddims posts on a slightly morose note - some of you may be saddened to hear that the cast is due to end at episode 50 - in approximately 20 weeks or so. There's various reasons for this, the difficulty in finding new and dependable candidates and the amount of time it takes to organise and manage the cast being the main two. It may not seem like a lot of work but (cue violin), the podcast (along with the production of Woofah), has taken up a sizable chunk of my free time this year, to the detriment of this blog and the various other pies which my fingers habitually find themselves in. I'll save the weepy thank yous for the final episode, but it goes without saying that I am tremendously grateful to everyone who has participated and bigged us up over the last couple of years and I have been extremely proud to be involved with this project, and more importantly, extremely happy to have such a great collection of mixes for the archives.
The line-up for the last ten episodes is looking very nice though, and who knows what the future will bring?
Blogariddims Top 40
Seeing as we've made it to 40 episodes, I thought this would be a good time to refresh things and offer up a summary of where we are at the moment whilst collating all the essential info. This post is intended replace the old and cobwebby blogariddims post currently in the sidebar, so apologies to regular readers for any repetition.
For those that don't know, Blogariddims is a fortnightly inter-blog podcast which was started in June 2006, with the aim of showcasing the high level and variety of selecting, mixing and writing talent in the small corner of the music blogosphere inhabited by nuumskulls, faded-junglists, genre-nerds and bass addicts of every stripe. We took a short break in the summer of 2007 after 24 episodes, and are now speeding towards our golden edition. Weareie's role in all this has been to manage and host the cast whilst also making the occasional contribution - basically, we're the blogariddims bureaucrats.
We like to encourage subscription to blogariddims, but the episodes are also available for download individually. Here are the options:
Subscribe using I-tunes (launches I-tunes).
Subscribe using your own RSS aggregator or software (direct link to XML feed)
Review and download each episode(or subscribe) at Feedburner (external site).
One thing thats been lacking since Paul Autonomic stopped doing regular updates on his blog, is that there is no central resource for accessing the mixes and the accompanying blog posts at the same time, so without further ado - here is the Blogariddims top 40, complete with a link to each mix (the title) and relevant post (the description):
Blogariddims 1/Shwantology : 2
A 1 hour ambient/classical/electronic mix performed live on 6 decks by droid + slug..
Blogariddims 2/Gutterbreakz
Compiled, mixed and edited by Gutterbreakz, July 2006.
Blogariddims 3/Idle Thoughts
Episode 3 by Matt b from the Idle Thoughts blog. one hour of electronica, dubstep and reggae.
Blogariddims 4/Dancehall Pressure
Episode 4 comes from Uncarved.org and Grievous Angel's Shards, Fragments and Totems, courtesy of John Eden and paul.meme respectively. It's an hour of premium quality 80's dancehall and roots. Rock the disco, baby!
Blogariddims 5/Bassnation
Episode 5 comes courtesy of Marc Dauncey (bassnation.uk.net - now defunct). Its a 1 hour journey through dark grinding hip hop, bass-heavy bleepy acid, hardcore and dubstep, performed using a mixture of decks, Acid and Ableton Live.
Blogariddims 6/Collide+Coalesce (1950-2004)
Mixed by SoundsLike - a one-hour beat/voice/texture/blip mix utilising over forty elements in sixty minutes.
Blogariddims 7/Voices from Afar
Episode 7 comes from Tim Rutherford-Johnson of the Rambler blog and is a thick mix of avant-garde and modern classical compositions.
Blogariddims 8/Mr.Bump: Rude Interlude
Episode 8: Mr.Bump (aka autonomic) via deeptime blog. 1 hour Ableton mix of dark garage, 2step, grimey 4x4 and a bit of sweetness. Inspired by DJ Slimzee and the Rinse FM archives.
Blogariddims 9/Absolute Norwegian
One for all the Nordic Subverts, and fans of ambient and warped Scandanavian folk/jazz. (Blog post seems to have vanished!)
Blogariddims 10/An England Story
Blogariddims 10 is a special extended edition from Heatwave.'An England Story' traces a lineage of UK MCs from 1984-2006 covering reggae, dancehall, hip hop, grime, jungle and more...
Blogariddims 11/Another Crunk Genealogy
Blogariddims 11 traces out another crunk genealogy, seeking the overlap between crunk and clave, reggaeton and ragtime, bhangra and bounce. Connecting the music of the Caribbean, the American South, and the Middle East, the mix winds its way through common grooves and feedback loops.
Blogariddims 12/Office Party
Episode 12 comes from uncarved.org courtesy of John Eden. It's a one hour eclectic selection of divas, teenagers, ice queens and those in between.
Blogariddims 13/Electronicack : 1
The first episode of the new year offers a delectable selection of late 90's electronica mixed live by droid + slug.
Blogariddims 14/Norwegian Postpunk 1979-1985
60 minutes of Norwegian Postpunk 1979-1985 from our man in the North, Hal Halverson. (Blog post seems to have vanished!)
Blogariddims 15/Beyond the Valley of the Smurfs
Episode 15 comes from DJ FLACK - an hour long blending of dub, hip-hop, rock, dancehall, dubstep, southern bounce, punk, baltimore breaks, bhangra, jungle etc...
Blogariddims 16/Raggamortis : 1
Blogariddims 16 comes correct with a stalwart set of 2nd generation digital dancehall oddities, novelty tunes and killer riddims dominated by slack styles and unrepentant raggamuffins.
Blogariddims 17/Tons of Boxes
Episode 17 comes courtesy of Grievous Angel's paul.meme. Titled "Tons of Boxes", it is an hour of roots reggae and dub, produced with two decks, a mixer and an Access Virus fx machine. Dub 'pon dub... (Dissensus Post)
Blogariddims 18/Rough
Episode 18 is a storming mix of 1993 hardcore classics from weareie's Naphta.
Blogariddims 19/Bounce me back to 98
Episode 19 comes from John Eden. It's a 1 hour ragga flashback to 1998.
Blogariddims 20/Shwantology : 3
Another CD length special to mark our 20th episode. Shwantology : 3 is a continuation of the series which featured in our debut cast, and features 80 minutes of ambient, industrial, classical, avant-garde, krautrock, world music, experimental, electronic, drone and various other beatless pieces of music spanning over a century's worth of compositions, all mixed live using 8 sound sources and various effects.
Blogariddims 21/Fusion Dub
A mix of Miles Davis-inspired jazz, funk and soul in dub from Grevious Angel.
Blogariddims 22/Disintegrations
The Rambler presents Disintegrations/Blogariddims 22 - a modern classical/avant-garde mix.
Blogariddims 23/La Ola De Calor
Like Ini Kamoze sings in the opening track, there's a world of (reggae) music on La Ola De Calor: sung, rapped and MC'd almost entirely in Spanish, from reggae to soca, dancehall to cumbia and reggaeton to hip hop. Artists featured hail from Panama, Cuba, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, Argentina, Mexico, Costa Rica, Spain, England, Canada and the USA. Thanks to Rhythm & Flow [Barcelona], Kinky Music [Madrid], King-Der [Badalona] and Topa Top Productions [Costa Rica].
Blogariddims 24/Moving South
The final episode of the current Blogariddims series. Paul Autonomic presents 'Moving South,' an Ableton mix of up-style beats from the pioneers of the mutant groove.
Blogariddims 25/Echospace Odyssey / Towards Infinity
Blogariddims returns with a mix from veteran blogger Gutterbreakz: 'Echospace Odyssey / Towards Infinity' - a podcast in two parts. 'Echospace Odyssey' explores the dubbed-out techno of Deepchord and similar artists in the post-Basic Channel milieu, whilst 'Towards Infinity' showcases new and rare music from Bristol's dubstep underground.
Blogariddims 26/This Is The News
Episode 26 is a dubstep mix by Ben UFO, showcasing the sounds of the Hessle Audio label and unreleased material from across the genre.
Blogariddims 27/Everybody Loves The Sunshine
Episode 27 comes from Per of computerstyle.org, changing tack from his investigations into reggae and dancehall to produce this selection of soul, funk and hip hop: Everybody Loves The Sunshine.
Blogariddims 28/A Selecao do Gringo
Episode 28 (or vinte e oito for the Lusophones out there) from the Beat Diaspora. Gregzinho, as the locals call him, unloads a funk massive of whatever has perked the gringo's ears from two consecutive summers of baile-hopping in Rio - Miami bass loops and samples, tamborzao off the 808, avant-garde electronic beats, and a slew of MCs holding it down for their favelas.
Blogariddims 29/69 Allstars
Lower End Spasm fam (dot-alt.blogspot.com) presents Blogariddims 29: 69 Allstars - a mix of classic grime riddims. "Before the ego of MCs took over radio was all about rollage - a steady, nervous momentum. A momentum we've tried to respect by matching grime's frenetic energy - that's why you've got 69 tracks in 60 minutes. The mix is largely instrumental not because we want to devoice a voice-heavy genre, but because grime started as club."
Blogariddims 30/Rufen Sie mich nicht "kraut" an
Episode 30 comes from weareie.com couresy of Slug. Its a 74 min Ambient/Kosmische Musik special performed live on 2 decks, 1 CDJ and 1 Zen.
Blogariddims 31/It's So Different Here Volume 1
Episode 31 comes from Blogariddims stalwart Hal with "It's So Different Here Volume 1". One hour of mostly electronic music and vocal treatments.
Blogariddims 32/One Drop and You Don't Stop
In episode 32 music critic Dave Stelfox selects an hour's worth of new roots reggae and one-drop killers. (No blog post for this one unfortunately.)
Blogariddims 33/An allegorical mix
Episode 33 comes from modyfier-modifying.blogspot.com and www.weareie.com courtesy of a modyfied slug. it is a 1 hour ambient/techno/avant grade mix performed live via MAX/MSP. track selection by modyfier, MAX/MSP patch development and music interpretation / mixing by slug.
Blogariddims 34/2step Heaven
Episode 34 comes from Grievous Angel of the shards, fragments and totems blog. It's an hour of classic, heavyweight 2step garage performed live. Crack open a bottle of Bolly and put your dancing shoes on...
Blogariddims 35/Electroacoustic ambience : 1
Episode 35 comes from weareie.com couresy of Slug. Its a 1 hour ambient/classical/post rock mix performed live on 2 decks and 1 CDJ.
Blogariddims 36/Roots Reality and Culture
Episode 36 comes from dancehall reggae and bashment DJs/producers The Heatwave - an 60 minute selection of positive, conscious and uplifting dancehall songs.
Blogariddims 37/Maga Bo - Os Cacos
50 minutes of transnational bass - dubstep grime cumbia hip hop ragga kuduro baile funk dub chaabi soca crunk. (Tracklist Only)
Blogariddims 38/The mouth, the feet, the sound
Changing the pace a little, episode 38 is a 1-hour mix of texture-matched avant-classical and modern composition for careful listening.
Blogariddims 39/Journeys by non-DJ
Episode 39 is an eclectic one hour journey through dub, beats and bass from self professed 'non-DJ': Paradigm X.
Blogariddims 40/Grime in the Dancehall
Episode 40 is a spectacular from John Eden and Grievous Angel's paul.meme with a special CD-length mix of dancehall and grime, exploring the intimate links between the two genres.
Well thats it so far. Any questions or bad links please feel free to comment and let me know. I'll be updating this post periodically so bookmark it if you're too lazy to keep an eye on things yourself.
Blogariddims 40 / Grime in the Dancehall
So we've hit a weary but respectable 40 with an absolutely spectacular set from Messrs Eden and Meme, the Jam and Lewis (or maybe the Jam and Spoon?) of Blogariddims: Grime in the Dancehall.
Though its something Ive taken for granted since I first started delving via Deuce magazine some years back, the seemingly intractable connections between dancehall and grime have been debated time and again, with Southern Hip-Hop/Crunk often put forward over dancehall as grime's 'prime catalyser', marginalising yard influences in the process. There are of course wider implications to this debate, as, like Paul Meme ' I tend to see the whole ('ardcore Conti)nuum as essentially the story of how reggae got rooted in (the UK) and mutated', which is point of view probably shared by most ex-junglists who got sucked deep into the whirlpool of Jamaican music.
Of course, crunk and hip hop have had a strong influence on grime along with garage, in fact, with a bit of judicious selecting you could almost produce a similar mix exploring these genealogies without a single reference to dancehall - and thats why this set is so good. Apart from being full of great tunes, nice mixing and fresh edits, it's fleshed out a narrative that was previously (unless you knew the koo) the domain of forum polemics and self appointed (non) scene historians, something substantial to point at the next time someone claims that 'Grime is basically UK Rap'...
All that said, this episode is kind of like an audio version of an issue of Woofah so I wouldn't be surprised if its all an exercise in subliminal advertising on behalf of their burgeoning publishing empire, in fact, I'm almost sure I can hear the chilling sound of John Edens rasping tones whispering 'Buy Woofah... ...You slags' beneath some of those edits...
DJ Producer Old Skool Mix
Truly excellent mix from the legendary DJ producer - one of the few artists in his field that I have a lot of time for, due to his clean production style and instinctive grasp of dancefloor dynamics. This is an Ableton mix, and having delved deep into this stuff myself I can say that using a computer is probably the only way you could mix a tight set of tunes from this era, and this set is seriously tight - with loads of extra little touches. As the man himself says:
Another "cut to bits" megamix executed solely with ableton live.
And featuring another dose of my heritage, this time shit-kicking breakbeaters from the realms of 1992--this is the REAL underground oldskool rave shit right here!!!!
At a time when music wasnt quite jungle, but certainly had nothing to do with house music. We just called it "uk hardcore".
And yes---there are a couple of piano’s in there.
But i truly dont give a fuck.
This about 1st gen beat breakage--and true to that style only minamal filtering was used--this is mainly about emulating old school tape edits. It sort of worked -
But ill let you lot be the judge + jury.
1.FUTURE SOUND OF LONDON-PAPUA NU GUINEA-AMBIENT + ORIGINAL MIXES INC. EDITS + EXTRA DRUMS).
2.THE JOKER--ROOTS
(EDITED, + FEATURES EXCERTS FROM RHYTHM SECTIONS "CHECK OUT THE BASS BASS" + DRUMS FROM 1ST PRODJECTS "RIGHT BEFORE REMIX).
3.THE MEN FROM DEL BOSCA-A FISTFUL OF EL PESO’S
( WITH RESPECTS TO DJ HMS--R.I.P MY SKREWFACED BROTHA).
4.RELEASE-SPIRIT OF SPACE
(MIXED WITH ATMOSPEHERES + DRUMS FROM HOLY NOISE’S "FATHER FORGIVE THEM").
5.MASTERS AT WORK--JUST A LIL’ DOPE (PLAYED@45RPM)
6.BAD INFLUENCE--UNTITLED
(MIXED WITH EDITS FROM T-POWER’S "SOAPBAR 1" , MUSIC MADNESS 001 + NOISE FACTORY’S "I BRING YOU THE FUTURE").
7.UNITY-UNITY (F.S.O.L’S UNITY + TUFF CITY MIXE’S SPLICED TOGETHER,
+ MIXED WITH 303 LOOPS FROM MUNDO MUZIQUE’S "ACID PANDEMONIUM".
8.KAOTIC CHEMISTRY--DRUMTRIP 2
(WITH EXTRA BREAKZ).
9.FUNTOPIA--IN A SUMMER PLACE (CAUTY MIX @ 45RPM).
10.KAOTIC CHEMISTRY-SPACECAKES
(MIXED + EDITED WITH HITS FROM THE UNTOUCHABLES "TAKE NO CHANCE" + SUCCESS-N-EFFECTS "ROLL IT UP (BASS KICKIN BEATS).
11.FOUL PLAY-RAGATERE (INCLUDING ESTRA DRUMS , REWINDS+VOX--
WITH RESPECT TO SIMON BASSLINE SMITH FOR DROPPIN THIS @ MIND, BODY, SOUL + THE UNIVERSE--92 CREW!!).
12.DJ TONE--WICKED.
13.ESP--FOLLOW THE LEADER.
14.DJ DECKJAMMER--SUB SONIC
(INC. EDITS FROM THE KICK ASS PROJECTS "ALWAYS HIGH NEVER DOWN).
15.TIC TAC TOE-EPHEMEROL
(BECAUSE GREATNESS NEEDS NO EDIT).
16.SMITH + MIGHTY--KILLA @ 45RPM.
17.DANCE CONSPIRACY--DUB WAR-- CHAPTER TWO.
18.UNKNOWN ARTIST--ALPHA WAVE (A1 MIX).
19.DJ MAYHEM--METRIX (THE REMIX).
20.UNKNOWN ARTIST--HORN TRACK SINGLE SIDED BOOTLEG
(FEATURING LOOPS FROM FRANKIE BONES "JANETS REVENGE" TAKEN FROM BONESBREAKS VOLUME 5).
21.MOLE THE DIPPER--IMMORAL DEPTH
(EDITED, MIXED WITH LOOPS FROM L.F.O’S "LFO REMIX" AND TIME ZONE’S "PRAISE GOD" + MORE HITS FROM "ROLL IT UP (BASS KICKIN BEATS).
22.DJ MAYHEM--COLD ACID
(MIXED WITH EXTRA AMEN LOOPS).
23.NEBULA 2--X-PLORE H.CORE
(EDITED + MIXED WITH EXTRA LOOPS FROM T. LA ROCKS "BREAKIN BELLS" ).
24.UNKNOWN ARTIST--JACK IN THE BOX 2 -A1.
25.DJ DECKJAMMER--THE PRINCE OF DARKNESS
(FEATURING VARIOUS BITS OF BREAKS).
26.THE ASCENDANT MASTERS--PUT THE BASSDRUM ON
(WITH EXTRA AMEN EDITS IN FUNKY MODE).
27.ACEN--TRIP TO THE MOON PART 3--KALEIDASCOPIKLIMAX.
28.DANCE CONSPIRACY--DUB WAR CHAPTER 1.
What a great tracklisting - Dubwar chapters 1 + 2! And Papua New Guinea! Get it here and when it blows your mind, offer your thanks here.
Big up Mark Gabba on SC for the tip.
Long Time Burning MP3s
In all the kerfuffle of sorting this out I forgot to post about it here. Its paypal only for the moment until it gets picked up by some of the more established MP3 stores. The MP3s are DRM free 320s with full printable artwork (including the CD surface). Click on the image above to get it.
Enos' Expanding Asses
Whilst browsing in vain for a promised FACT review of the Naphta LP, I stumbled across Kek-W's 'History of Ambient' articles:
Now, as always, there are details to grumble about, but all in all its a pretty solid primer, and to be honest, if I was asked to write a history of ambient in just a few thousand words I would probably fail miserably. One thing that does wreck my head slightly about FACT is the haphazard emboldening of random sentences... gives a very tabloid feel to the articles (though I imagine thats an editorial style more than anything else).
Also found this Brian Eno cartoon that everyone has probably seen already since its been around for about 10 years (click to enlarge):
And last but certainly not least - more Eno trivia, this time of a momentously scandalous nature.
Slug mentioned this to me last year when we were out one night and it's utterly tainted my view of the mans work. I, (like many others no doubt) have always pictured Eno as being the epitome of calm contemplation in the studio, bathed in white light as he patiently ekes out minimal aleatoric masterpieces whilst drinking organic green tea... perhaps with pristine Asian women fanning him with giant palm leaves to prevent even a single drop of sweat falling from his unnaturally smooth brow.
But no. According to his published diary 'A year with Swollen Appendicies' Eno spends his time in the studio EXPANDING WOMEN'S ASSES in Photoshop. The exact quote (from Page 4 - January 2nd) is:
"created some novel pornography in Photoshop - modifying back views of women to expand their bottoms to cosmic proportions"
So the next time your marveling at the 'Stark minimalism' of 'On Land', or find your self hypnotised by the 'repetitive piano tinkling and synth washes' of 'Music for airports', just think about Eno in the studio, hitting play on one machine, record on the other, and expanding those asses like there was no tomorrow...
