Blogariddims 44 / Éiretronica : Underground
Havent had the time to write something for this, and Im away for a week starting tomorrow, but in the interests of keeping to schedule, I thought it best to post this short note about Blogariddims 44, a set that we did for the 'Underground' exhibition running in the basement of Road Records here in Dublin for the next week or so.
droid + slug - Blogariddims 44 / Éiretronica : Underground(86.6mb.mp3)
A selection of Irish electronica from the late 90s to today. Sequenced in Ableton by droid + slug for the 'Underground' Exhibition 27/06/08 - 14/07/08 in Road Records, Dublin.
1.The Soul Gun Warriors - A Beginning - (Unreleased)
2. Slug - f minus d - The Fear Recordings (Unreleased)
3. Dennis McNulty - BabyBarioPool - Sao Paulo Se - http://dennismcnulty.com/
4. Deasy - The Closing Door (extract) - Music is not Hygiene - The Fear Recordings
5. Decal - Carpenter - 404 Not Found - Planet Mu
6. Deasy - New Generation MIx - Shut Up and Make - The Fear Recordings
7. Naphta - Tough Love (extract) - DEAF 2003 Sampler
8. Rollers Sparkers - Spumeral - Second Level Crossing - LazyBird
9. Sunken Foal - Colloidal Silver - Fallen Arches - Planet Mu
10. Daniel Figgis - Egg & Anchor - Skipper - Rough Trade
11. Decal - Remembering Waves - Little Sketches - http://www.decal-artifacts.com/
12. Margaret Noble - The walk home on Ashland - Acroplane
13. Ambulance - Hymn - Planet Mu
14. Solen - Block - Alphabet Set
15. Deasy - Pondlife (droid + slug's Pondeath mix) - The Fear Recording (Unreleased)
16. Spectac - Cyborgs in the face of every child - Front End Synthetics
17. Booger - Majik - Front End Synthetics
18. Colz - Salvia Remix - http://www.myspace.com/deejaycolz
19. Twoc - Attica Blue - Alphabet Set
20. BEW - Glock Dub - Acroplane
Loads more info to come!
Blogariddims 43 / Deep in Bludgrooves
(Droid sez:) We're limping rather than sprinting to the finish line with this severely delayed epsiode (thanks mainly to my failing organic components) from another Subvert Central regular: 'Sir Loris of Crowthorne'. Loris is another contributor from the non-blogging community who has put up some nice mixes in the past, and this set is no exception, featuring a sweet and mellow selection of roots and dub classics alongside an equally nice write up. Again sorry for the delay with this one, but the good news is that the schedule is (almost) back on track as 44 will hit the stands on Monday, which puts us only a week out of sync with only six episodes left.
Everything you need to know about the cast is here, including a rundown of all the earlier episodes, and you can download this episode by subscribing or getting it direct. Without further ado: Sir Loris presents: Deep in Bludgroves:
Sir Loris - Blogariddims 43 / Deep in Bludgrooves (79.7mb.mp3)
So then, number 43 already and time to present my podcast to the blogging world. As with the majority of music hobbits who lurk on the net, I don’t really dj on a professional level, instead I’ve got into the incredibly bad habit of amassing more records than I know what to do with and not really taking the ‘playing gigs’ part of the job very seriously. Despite all that it is still a huge amount of fun putting collages together from time to time and seeing what a hidden audience make of them.
The weekend before I assembled this mix I’d set my decks back up and dug out all my old reggae to listen to. After a few hours of non-stop listening I’d managed to put aside a worthy pile of favourites that I would later include in a blogariddims mix. Thanks again for inviting me to be a part of it Droid.
The overall theme of the mix was to use a collection of tracks that had some meaning to me. Music I enjoyed and understood. I’m not a devout reggae head but some of what I have picked up over the years I still get huge satisfaction from. This mix centres around dub for the most part but does include some roots and lovers rock in places, albeit quite sparingly.
Techniques - Born To Love
Love Joys - Jah Light
Grandpa Culture - Production Dub
The Travellers - South Africa
Kicking things off we start with the opening track off Winston Riley’s ‘Meditation Dub’ LP. This was first the first dub record I remember buying so using ‘Born To Love’ as an introduction to the mix seemed quite fitting. Fans of Scientist, Jammy and Tubby et al need to check the other side of the fence; this is rocksteady and it ain’t pretty! I followed this track with the Love Joys’ heavenly Jah Light off their dazzling ‘Reggae Vibes’ LP on Top Ranking.
Edging into number three with a classic Revolutionarys production, Sly & Robbie lay down one of their signature drum workouts for us here on the wondrous Production Dub. Unfortunately I can’t find very much info about this 7” other than it was a High Note release without a catalogue number. Moving back into vocal territory with The Travellers’ South Africa, Errol Nelson’s angelic voice is what really runs things on this track. Soul music on another level, you can play this virtually anywhere and it’ll always get a good response.
Ansel Collins – Portebello
Wackie's All Stars - Take Time
The next section features a couple of the more rhythmic, instrumental numbers I chose for this podcast. Ansel Collins’ lively Portebello with that dreamy, seductive melodica running through it and Lloyd Bullwackies’ unrelenting Take Time with its unruly pops and horns peppered over the mix. Complete musicality in these tracks, both of them as infectious each other. Straight up bad tunes – make no mistake.
Morwells Esquire - Never Gonna Give You Up
Barry Brown - Big Big Pollution
I thought we were due some vocals at this point so I opted for a couple of upbeat roots tunes to liven things up a touch. A nice contrast in style on these two with Never Give Gonna Give You Up highlighting the more traditional side of what reggae artists were doing around that time. Barry Brown’s Big Big Pollution is an altogether deeper affair with its lazy riddim and repetitious vocals propping it up. Light hearted reggae that does what it says on the tin!
The Arabs Feat. Prince Far I - Long Life
Linval Thompson - Roll RiverJordan (version)
The Simeons - 16 Track Rock
Dennis Bovell – Scientific
The next few tracks showcase the more experimental side of dub. Far I’s mesmerising Long Life off the amazing ‘Cry Tuff Dub Encounter’ LP was (and still is) like nothing I’d ever heard in reggae before. Drums literally falling over themselves, strings that sound like they’re being plucked from nowhere, and this vibe to it almost like it’ll go on forever. I chose to interrupt things with a version at this point – quite a well known one actually – Roll River Jordan. You only hear the odd glimpse of Thompson’s unmistakable voice in this tune, but that’s all you need, it’s the bassline and depth that really make this work. Deceptively laid back in style, this is relentless, purposeful dub at its best.
Like every other genre out there, occasionally you come across a gem hidden in the sale rack of a charity shop. The Simeons hail from the UK and only ever made one record. I managed to find this in Oxfam on Kentish Town Road a few years ago. Drawn to the cover with a magical Rasta bus on the front, it was pretty obvious this record would have at least a couple of outstanding cuts on it when I picked it up. Well worth purchasing if you ever spot it anywhere. Rounding off this chapter with the cosmic sounds of Dennis Bovell’s Scientific, I felt compelled to include this because of the crazy intro. The vocals are pretty nifty too - if a little cheesy.
Vivian Jackson - Tubbys Vengeance
Thompson Sound - Guide Me In Dub Style
Sugar Minott - International Herb
So, into the final hurdle with some real heavyweight records to round things off with. Vivian Jackson (aka Yabby You) produced some sterling work during the 70s, notably his best material with the late King Tubby. Tubbys Vengeance sits firmly in that bracket. Expertly produced and as deep as it gets. Check the arrangements on this one.
I tried not to double up on the same artist whilst putting this episode together, but felt the ending was lacking something so I bit my tongue and pulled ‘Guide Me In Dub Style’ out of its sleeve. Great percussion on this tune with Scientist doing what he does best behind the mixing desk.
We finish the mix with some downright eerie business from Sugar Minott. Spooky roots reggae at its best this. I had to stick this at the end because of how unsettled it makes me feel. The original version features on his Jamming In The Street LP but was later reissued by Wackie’s on 10”. A slightly different cut I think, though you can never be sure. Personally I’d buy them both…
Mechanical failure
Just got out of hospital after an unexpected illness, so apologies to all blogariddims fans and contributors for the gap in the schedule. Everything should be back in order here shortly, including a nice studio version of our recent REACH set.
Reaching for REACH
Possibly the best gig of the year goes down tomorrow night, so get out your dancing shoes and head down. Don't wear yourself out too early though, as myself and Slug are playing the final set in the main room from 3-4am. Way past our bedtimes, but I guess we'll make an exception in this case...
'92 - You know the Koo.
I'm well know for being a stingy git when it comes to offering praise on other DJ's mixes. I measure it out in thimbles and reluctantly dribble it around only when I hear something that satisfies my various (and extremely anal) criteria. That fact alone should tell you how good this set is. Illnoir on SC alerted me to this mix a few weeks back, and it's by far the best '92 hardcore set I have ever heard (and I've heard a lot!). Fantastic selection with a good mix of anthems and obscurities, pinpoint drop ins, tight beatmatching and EQ'ng, and super fast mixing. This Kid Bippy (aka Greg J) fellow seems to be US based scratch DJ and it also seems that the scratch-heads (SC regular DJ Madcap is another one) have the perfect set of tools to allow them to avoid the pitfalls of mixing the badly produced and wonky breaks, out of key stabs and fucked up bar structures that appear so often in hardcore tunes from this era.
This mixing in this set is so good, that some of the heads on SC and other forums have questioned its 'authenticity' - in other words, whether or not it was made on computer, or some of the mixes were pre-recorded in advance. Now, personally I thought that was unlikely given the amount of scratching and beat juggling going on, and after a bit of digging I found this thread on DnBforum, where some answers are provided, straight from the horse's mouth:
...I don't do or condone any computer mixing. I'm a turntables only kind of guy, unless you need to use a CDJ to play your own productions.
However, the speed really isn't as impressive when I let you in on the secret that I used 4 turntables for this mix ... if you pay attention a little more closely you'll notice that one out of every few records will play for considerably longer than the rest. I would have been getting 3 other records cued up to go through more quickly. Nothing incredibly stressful, all of the records were in their sleeves, and because I take care of my old vinyl, they all went back in their sleeves pretty much right after I played them .... but they were set in a stack that I played in a planned out order.
Did I forget to mention that he drops some of Jungle's most sampled Hip Hop acapellas into the mix as well? This is true archive quality mixing, and one for the vaults. Download it now.
Big up Greg J!
