So, as you've probably noticed, things have pretty much ground to a halt here. I haven't really mentioned the state of weareie as John Eden has declared that apologising for a lack of posts makes Baby Jesus sad and is therefore verboten - but I think it's obvious that this place has been going down the tubes for a while. This has mainly been due to time pressure as a result of Droid Jnrs. appearance on the scene, time pressure as a result of changes in my workplace practices, time pressure due to other commitments (labels and magazines mainly), abandonment by the other contributors here (like rats leaving a sinking ship!), and general slothfulness and complete lack of motivation to actually write anything.
To top this off, I had a few technical problems with changing servers last year, as well as ongoing issues with RSS and Twitter, and now, Blogger are getting rid of their FTP support, the system that this place uses to run itself. Now, in theory it shouldnt be such a big deal to switch over to WP as I meant to do in 2008, but given the track record here I'm not sure that's going to happen, or, indeed if there's any point in it happening given that I spend more time fixing tech-issues than I spend blogging. I do have half a dozen or so mixes that I want to get up (a couple coming very soon), but to be honest, this place was never really a hub of industry and a return to even minimal levels of activity doesn't seem feasible at the moment.
So, this may just be another of those fake retirement post, and I would like to keep this place going, but is it better to just let it die with dignity rather than watch it slowly rot whilst hoping for a miraculous recovery which will probably never happen?
Barring intervention the estimated time of death is March 26th.
So, Colz has foolishly invited us to play at his birthday bash tonight alongside some of the best DJ's in the city and Irish scratch legend DJ Mek. We'll be there sometime after 10. You can tune in here.
Another bound-to-be-legendary night from the Reach Cru. If (like me) you're completely broke until the end of the month, Bodytonic are doing €8 tickets on their site. I had to skip Terror Danjah last week so I could fit this one in, but somehow I reckon it will be worth it. seeing as its almost certainly the line up of the year.
Only a year or so late with this. It's had a relatively positive reception so far though. The first of many (we hope):
Ruff Revival’s manifesto is simple: to liven up the dance by offering the best in raw bass-driven tunes for the floor. Jungle, garage, and dubstep vibes get mashed up together on each release, with the emphasis on fun, rudeness, rhythms, and bass experimentation.
Sharing the same space, different styles get the chance to interact and reach new audiences, all the while delving back to the roots of hardcore UK dance music at its experimental and unselfconscious best.
RR002 - Naphta: Fully Loaded/El-B's Soundclash Relick Kicking off with a heavyweight double-header, RR002 opens proceedings with the superlative Amen stormer ‘Fully Loaded’, Naphta’s first Jungle outing since his critically-acclaimed album ‘Long Time Burning’ two years back. This one throbs with militant intensity...watch out for the massive twist-up in the finale!
Burning up the flip, the legendary El-B (aka Ghost) delivers a killer remix of Naphta’s anthem ‘Soundclash 1’ that swings with panache between 2 step and dubstep, rolling out a hypnotically brutal bassline under pounding conga beats...
"...Dancehall chaos is already built in to the DNA of this plate: a deadly persuasive amalgam readied for multiple rewind situations. Naphta's 'Fully loaded' side restores muscular memories of Jet Star B-sides, Shut Up and Dance , Production House, Ibiza ...Spin Inn, blues... Potential BadBoy, Genaside II, G Double E and so many more spring to mind during this simply irresistible rinsing!
"...Fully Loaded' follows from the onslaught of his brilliant 'Long Time Burning' album with a proper amen rinse-off, done in a ruffneck rudeboy style associated with Krome and Time or early DJ Hype, rather than Shitmat. On the flip Ghost takes his turn at 'Soundclash 1' following Grievous Angel's mix also out this week, producing a heavy 'Relick' version with the gangsta samples still intact, but pushed into a hard-swinging stepper with shades of his seminal classics. Big, bad and heavy!." - Boomkat
"...Quality assured drum n' bass from Naphta with a ruff, Roddigan-esque hook. On the flipside, proto-dubstep producer, Ghost aka El-B, slows the frenetic tempo of 'Soundclash 1' and adds a little low-end wobble to his 2-step version." - Bleep
As previously mentioned here, Naphta's latest album was launched a couple of weeks ago. It's a 2 x 12" limited edition vinyl LP available exclusively from Road Records, City Discs, or direct from D1. Below is the Q + A session that took place after the launch (which consisted solely of the record being played at 100 people - no video or interpretative dance or anything!) which I filmed on my I-phone at a whim, so apologies for the poor quality of the video and the drunken ramblings of other attendees. The session was hosted by Bernard Clarke from Lyric FM who also did a special on the LP on his Nova show, and whom we've bigged up here in the past.
Needless to say, its a very accomplished LP that explores the old mans penchant for sample based collages and soundscapes and adds some heavy political overtones, but it is also a radical departure from his D+B & jungle based output - If you want to hear the music itself, check out the D1 site for previews.
It's been a busy time for weareie related releases recently. First of all - Naphta's Long Time Burning album got a full re-release a while back courtesy of the nice people at Baked Goods and is now available pretty much everywhere. Here it is at the listening post in the Rough Trade east store:It can also now be got in the US via Forced Exposure, and is in all the major web stores: Boomkat, Redeye, Sounds of the Universe, HB-Direct etc...
Excellent Steelie & Cleevie video from JA TV circa 1988. Features some amazing live riddim building from the duo. Who said digital dancehall doesn't require 'musicianship'?
