TRACKLIST
1: Tonya Renee – About You (Karizma Boucha Remix)
2: Trackheadz feat. Zaki – Feel (Vocal Mix)
3: Nu Birth – Anytime
4: Smokin Beats Feat Lyn Eden – Dreams
5: Mosca – Done Me Wrong
6: Todd Edwards – I Might Be (MJ Cole Remix)
7: Todd Edwards – Saved My Life
8: Industry Standard – What You Want
9: Danny J Lewis – Spend the Night
10: TJR – Just Gets Better (TJR Dub) [feat. Xavie]
11: Somore – I Refuse (What You Want) [Industry Standard Mix]
12: Deetah – Relax (Bump and Flex Full Flava Groove)
13: Grant Nelson – Rhode House
14: Kele Le Roc – My Love
15: Dem 2 – Destiny
16: Fish Go Deep & Tracey K – The Cure & the Cause (Dennis Ferrer Remix)
17: Ill Blu – Bellion
18: Fuzzy Logic ft Egypt – In The Morning
19: Ramadanman & Midland – Your Words Matter
20: Falty DL – My Friends Will Always Say
21: George Fitzgerald – The Let Down
22: The Martinez Brothers – Debbie Downer
23: Jacques Greene – (Baby I Don’t Know) What you Want
24: Scuba – Adrenalin
25: Scuba – Loss (Original)
26: Jamie XX – Far Nearer
WOW, not something I was expecting to hear at all. MJ Cole has a new release, the ‘Satellite EP‘, on his own imprint, Prolific. This is a complete change in direction for him and it just goes to show that you can teach old dogs new tricks (assuming that the old dog didn’t already know those tricks and was just holding them back…). It is clear that talent is the key here and that if you’ve got it, you can make whatever you want. There are, of course, signs of the MJ Cole of old, classic strings we have come to know and love creep in now and again but on a whole an experimental sound for MJ. Listen for yourself and make up your own mind…
Not a lot needs to be said about this really, two legends in the UK dance scene have teamed up in Wiley and MJ Cole and here is a clip of their work, a VERY good look if you ask me. Check it out.
EASY, with only a few days to go it is time to unleash some music! Simbad has dropped a little mix, exclusive to GET SOME, and kindly let us interview him in the build up to Saturday nights rave, can’t wait! So have a read and have a listen, then get yourself down to Gramaphone and enjoy the party!
PEACE&OUZO
GET SOME INTERVIEW SIMBAD Who are you and what do you do? I make msuic & dj, have used many aliases when released in the past but im trying to stick just to Simbad deze days…
Where are you currently based? Mainly in London but spending 1/3 of every year in da US
When did you first get involved with music and what were you doing? As a teenager I picked up the saxophone and started playin in bands and got heavily into jazz & funk then moved to Paris in the mid-90′s where i was putting on Jungle & DNB nites with a crew, finally moved to London when i was 19 to pursue my dreams… Had to do many shitty jobs while playing with musicians on the side but got to do loads of session work in studios, mainly house & garage. Then met another french fella called Fred McQuinn and we started our own studio and label (we were releasing under Marathon Men) , thats when i really got into the whole production & record collecting (was workin in some record shops in Soho @ that time too)…
How has the music industry changed since you first got involved? In your opinion, has the online revolution has a positive effect on what you do and the music industry? Well back in da days we would press a 12” and live of it for months easily (as music was selling well in general) and everything was much more ‘physical’ or hand on hand, whether in da studio regarding the gear (hardware equipement like compressors, mixing desk, reverb units etc…) , record releases or carryin crates of vinyl to your gigs you know ? The whole digital revolution had some positive effects regarding freedom of expression & exposure via non-physical mediums but the whole game has changed tremendously, not only money-wise but also substantially…
Like nowadays i feel the information behind a tune or an album has been lost, no more credits attached to it too much and the sound resolution in quality has somehow diminished and we’re getting used to it !! It seems that there’s a lack of knowledge in certain areas and that kinda bothers me coz its as if technology has made our brains regress instead of progressing, we almost leave the computer to do all the thinking and thats fucked up in my humble opinion… I mean its amazing what we can do now with computers just digitally in creativity and all that, but its important to know also what we’re worth just as simple human beings and how we relate to our context in different ways… Hahaha not that i wanna sound patronizing but you know what im sayin ???
Do you find there to be a prejudice against DJ’s who use MP3′s and is software like Ableton Live bridging the gap? Mmmh not really, i mean again its a question of taste and creativity really… You can have the best tunes and not connect with an audience, wether its coz you’re playin’ low resolution mp3′s via your laptop (so the frequency spectrum of the music is totally diminished therefore we can’t feel it through the sound-system) or coz you just dont pay attention to the vibe and just look at your screen all nite LOL but naaaaaaah you can really exploit that digital side of playing in a positive way… Its about energy and emotions & fun @ the end of the day right? (and BASS hahaha)
Personally I still prefer vinyls and cds for the physical touch and the randomness of human error opposed to a robotic flawless pattern of a software… But thats me yo !!! Loads of my fellow dj friends do really great things with Serato and Ableton and i do admire them, somehow its all about being original and being yourself… The way you do it isnt too much of an issue no more… Just spread da love yooooo
What can we expect form Simbad in 2010? Few singles about to come out on a few labels (Defected, 2nd Drop and a few others TBC) and still loads of remixes (Simbad Remixes VOL 2 due any minute on Key Rec.), gotta mix down some collabs projects too (with Cooly G, Deetron, Von D, Fred P, Karizma , Son Of Kick etc…) and more travelling i guess… The Donn T album that i produced in Philly in 2008 has just come out (she’s Questlove sister) and im still rapping up this booogie / funk project featuring some dope singers in the states for a respected label from LA… Also finishing a compilation for Brownswood Rec. with exclusive material from various peeps, quite exciting actually !
If your career in music was to end tomorrow, what would you do instead? Good question haha ! I pretty much live day by day and find it a blessing to survive doing what i love so i dont think about it too much… Maybe i would retire to the Himalayas and become a buddhist monk LOL
Who should we be watching in 2010? What you eat LOL !!! Musically ?? A singer from South Africa called Brian Temba, a french producer named Klimaax, the next Stereotyp album all gone juke style, some Mark Pritchard newness that is out of this world, guys like ID & Baobinga, Airhead, Midland, Trilogy or DNB cat Steve Lynx makin sick beats … The next Disiz & Grems album (the 2 best french rappers) … Labels like Night Slugs, Deep Teknologi, Record Breakin’, Numbers plus all your favourite producers and bands haha
And finally, please complete the following sentence… GET SOME… love (let’s)
TRACKLIST 1: Earl Flint – People Hold On (CBS)
2: Mike Dunn – Prey (CDR)
3: Kink – E79 (Ovum)
4: Izzi Dunn – Nothing But Love (Bugz In The Attic Dub) (CDR)
5: Doc Daneeka – Hold On (Ramp)
6: Simbad – Pilgrimage (CDR)
7: Dubbel Dutch – Throwback (Palms Out)
8: Ave Blast – Glow In The Dark (CDR)
9: Mj Cole – Thekla Riddim (Prolific)
10: Africa Hitech – Do You Really Wanna Fight (CDR)
11: Midland – Play The Game (CDR)
12: LD Vs Cluekid – Jay’s Reese (Ringo)
13: Plan B – Prayin (Breakage Remix) (CDR)
14: Aquadrop – Hyper (Eight FX) (Edit) (CDR)
15: Unknown – Chatte Pa La (Edit) (White)
Todd Edaward’s has a new EP out and it follows the template we have come to expect from the seasoned veteran of dance music. Legend, yes, sometimes a little monotonous, also yes. The EP is free from Scion and you can get it from here, DOWNLOAD I MIGHT BE. It features remixes from FEADZ, My Dear Disco, Joy Orbison (which for once isn’t my favourite track where he has been commissioned to do his stuff) and MJ Cole. For me, this is a giant leap forward for MJ Cole as his name has been everywhere in 2010 but his releases have left much to be desired. Slightly lost, or still getting his head around a scene which he left in very good shape almost 10 years ago to make house music, he has definitely found his feet again and I for one am happy to see the man back as he is someone who has influenced my musical life so much. Here it is, check it out.
I have been chatting to some friends about the quality of releases so far this year and while there have been some really good productions, most people seem to be unimpressed, if not uninterested with what is happening in the UK bass space. Friends seem to be moving away from what is seen as ‘the scene’ and returning to their roots. While this isn’t a bad thing it is also quite surprising that within the space of 6 months I get the feeling that we gone through somewhat of a transistional period. I myself have also returned to my roots, although, I have been helped by the type of releases I have found the most exciting in 2010.
You could say that 2010 is going to be very exciting and that when we look back on this year we might be saying ’2010 has really shaped the future of bass music’. Unfortunately for me, I am getting a horrible feeling that bottom is falling out. I remember being around 14 or 15 when I first got excited about dance music in the UK. Discovering Tod Edward, Tuff Jam, Steve Gurley, Gerideau and Roy Davis Jr changed my life, I thought I had heard the future, and by the sound of things at the moment, I had. Groove Chronicles, EL-B, Sunship, MJ Cole, Wookie, Artful Dodger, Dem 2 and Zed Bias blew me away between 1996 and 2000 and pushed a new exciting sound that will forever be my (along with many others around London) one moment in music.
I got lost in 2003 and strayed form my musical path, mainly because whilst I was studying most of the people I knew turned their noses up at garage and I was a musical outcast. This was a positive in some respects as it opened me up to a broader spectrum of music. I discovered more of the electronica scene that I had only briefly touched on prior to this and also caught up on the history of some of the most inspirational record labels and artists in electronic music as a whole. I became obsessed with Techno, experimental stuff form the rave and hardcore scene, all things Warp records and started digging into the archives of Detroit and Chicago house and garage. This was a massive boost as by the time I first heard about DMZ and FWD>> things had changed massively. I met Whiskey in 2005 and he had been through the transition form garage to grime and then on to Dubstep. This was when I realised what I was missing.
The grooves and melodies I was accustomed to, listening to 2-Step and UKG, had been replaced by a hypnotic, head bopping, dubbed out future bass. There were obvious nods to the sound being pioneered by Ghost Records, EL-B, Groove Chronicles, Zed Bias and Wookie, but something was very different. Apart form the lack of Ralph Lauren shirts (which are once again very evident) and loafers with no socks, there were no girls and no real dance moves (if you ever frequented Liberty’s, Exposure or Twice As Nice as I did back then, you will know what I am talking about, UKG had it’s own moves and grooves and you could always tell a hardcore garage raver by these). Instead, what you had was a load of sweaty boys in hoods and caps, smoking weed and moving slowly on the spot, I loved it!
FWD>> was an eye opener, it was there I was exposed to the most varied of sounds as it was on a weekly basis but, DMZ was where I really felt the spirit of the scene and it became my second real moment in music when I first heard Mala drop ‘Anti War Dub’ and Skream play ‘Midnight Request Line’, I was mesmorised! These tracks will forever be ingrained in my memory, this was the new future and I didn’t know what the future held or where it would take me.
The point of all of this of course is what is happening now. As the scene has grown and become more popular it has fragmented opening itself up to more influences, collaborations and crossovers. There are plenty of young and exciting producers around and lots of very interesting music, which is obviously great! The music is the most important thing after all and the evolution of this sound had really stunned me. I never thought it would get to where it is now and I am happy and excited to have been involved for all of these years. From a Saturday night MC’ing with DJ Miles Slater on Flex FM to GET SOME, it has been an amazing journey. My issue right now is that the lines may be blurring a little too much and this is causing a little bit of saturation.
The Facebook phenomenon, Twitter, MySpace and Soundcloud have made this music more accesible than ever and opened it up to a huge audience. But things are beginning to sound very similar and apart form Joy Orbison, nothing has excited me very much in the last 12 months, nothing that dance floor ready anyway. Mount Kimbie, James Blake and Actress are amazing, but not something I would drop at 1 in the morning. I think the saturation has stunted the scenes growth, or creativity in my opinion and it is struggling to come to terms with the amount new music being released and is having serious problems digesting it. So much so that I think a lot of people are also struggling with the same things and are therefore being put off. In fact, I have gone ‘back to the future’ and started buying up a lot of ‘Future Garage’. For me, a sound that is around 12-13 years old, still sounds the most futuristic, exciting and progressive. As my friends are returning to their roots, I have returned to mine. I like to think that the first half of this year has been some kind of a reflective period for most producers and that this is the calm before the storm.
I would also say that the last year has been a period of growing pains for the scene, in my opinion, and that at some point it will come through this period of growth and return bigger, stronger and harder. But I have serious doubts as to when, if at all it will ever give birth to another ‘Anti-War Dub’ or if we will ever revisit the the kind of atmosphere that FWD>> created on a Friday night with there being so much choice nowadays. We are trying to produce this kind of new and exciting atmosphere at GET SOME raves and I think we are getting there, slowly but surely. Would be nice if we could eventually achieve, we will keep trying that’s for sure!
Here some tracks I really liking right now, a return to something deeper maybe? Have a listen and enjoy!
Please feel free to comment and add to the debate…
