Here's a wee heads up about a new Drum and Bass compilation from new UTR blogger Aiden Grant, an essential purchase for all you DnB heads!
It’s no secret that over the past fourteen years, Hospital Records has created a sound totally unique in the Drum and Bass scene, and they take the same mentality when sculpting their Hospitality club nights. So upon hearing of the release of Hospitality Drum and Bass 2010, I knew exactly what to expect, something typically Hospital.
Starting strong with Netsky’s herculean track Secret Agent, we are then taken on a journey through the various weapons Hospitality have at their disposal. Including the vocal based and more soulful sounds of Danny Byrd’s Sweet Harmony, and the highly anticipated VIP of B-Complex’s Beautiful Lies. Tracks such as London Electricity – Just One Second (Apex Remix), and High Contrast’s collaboration with Underworld atypically named Scribble fitting the canon of a hospital track.
In distinction to this sound, Hospital also includes a jump up element with tracks such as Reso’s remix of Your Revolution by The Qemists, and infectious Electro beats from Camo and Krooked’s History of The Future.
The album feels like Tony Colemans personal track list, and a possible glimpse into the future of Hospital Records.
With the advent of mp3s, YouTube, SoundCloud and 2 for 1 sales at music retailers, radio is a medium that is perhaps not as appreciated as it once was. However, one station that has kept its credibility since its launch in 1994 is RinseFM. Giving artists such as Wiley, Dizzee, Skream and Kode9 the air time that set them on their way to greatness, Rinse has been a gateway into the UK underground for almost two decades. They’ve recently just been granted their FM broadcast license, and have their own label: Rinse Recordings. The label previously released I Love Dubstep which held some of the filthier sounds in the genre.
Now though, the focus is shifted to UK Funky and Rinse Recordings have launched I Love Funky, a two CD compilation with hits such as Party Hard by Donaeo and the classic Pon De Floor by Major Lazer. The album has been mixed by resident Rinse DJ’s Supa D and MA1. MA1 has a weekly set on Rinse, 5-7pm on Thursdays and has a high number of views on YouTube for his singles I’m Right Here, featuring Sophia and Give It Up, featuring Simone. Supa D began DJ’ing using £5 decks bought from Hackney Wick Market under the influence of close friend and grime MC, Jammer (who recently tore the roof down at the UTR Summer Sound Clash on Sunday) . Nowadays he has his spot on Thursdays also on RinseFM where he plays the latest in house during his two hour show The Real Supa D.
We're looking for passionate and enthusiastic young people to join our team of writers over here at Under The Radar. Whether it's Drum n Bass, Dubstep, UK Funky, Grime, House and Electro, Hip Hop or RnB that you'd like to write about...
We want to hear from you!
We're looking for regular weekly contributions to the UTR magazine. Whether it's a particular single, album, or artist you'd like to write about and feature, then this is a great opportunity for any aspiring young writers to get their views and opinions heard about the music that they love to listen to. It also looks great on your CV!
Previous writing experience is not essential as some training will be given in the near future, but it is helpful if you have a passion for writing and your spelling, punctuation and grammar are up to scratch.
If you're interested in writing for UTR and would like to find out more please get in touch with our editor Lee Smart via facebook or email him... leeutr@gmail.com
Never has a new UK dance act made such a big splash on the scene in such a short space of time.
After signing to major label Columbia back in February, Magnetic Man have managed to grace the cover of NME and supply the latest instalment of the iconic BBC Essential Mix, despite having never previously released a single.
It’s a testament to the times these days, whereby on occasion, hype and hysteria can sometimes triumph actual talent and purpose. Fortunately, this is not one of those occasions.
Many of you will be familiar with two-thirds of Magnetic Man, the dubstep producers Skream and Benga, who have been welcomes additions to Under The Radar line ups since our inception. Yet it will be the other third of the jigsaw that will probably continue to elude many late into 2010. We aim to shed some light on this mystery member, known as Artwork.
You may not be immediately aware of the Artwork pseudonym, one of many for a man and producer who has truly left his mark on the UK dance scene in the past two decades.
Arthur Smith has been producing under various aliases since 1989 as with his partner in crime Danny Harrison. Together they have worked together in the garage collectives D’n’D and Bass City Rollaz. They also formed the partnership Bobby Blanco and Miki Moto, which has been known as Moto Blanco since 2003.
Together they have worked with an astonishing list of artists, remixing the likes of Xpress 2, Lionel Richie, Jennifer Lopez, George Michael, Mariah Carey, Rihanna, Mary J. Blige, Ciara, Danni Minogue, Annie Lennox, Anastacia, Shakira, Enrique Iglesias, and that’s just some of the older material. In just the past three years they’ve worked on singles released by Lady Gaga, Pixie Lott, The Saturdays, Leona Lewis, Miley Cyrus and also the Pussycat Dolls; a truly epic career that has been forgotten.
Now you might be wondering, where do Skream and Benga fit into the frame and how did their paths collide with such a mammoth producer. The answer is simple, and it dates back to the very roots of Dubstep back in the early 2000s at the small Croydon based store known as Big Apple Records.
The store served as a hang out for the likes of Skream, Benga, Coki, Hatcha, Mala, Kode 9, Loefah, Chef and other DJs and Producers on the hunt for dubplates of the darker exponents of UK Garage and deep bass music.
It was here where long term friendships were formed and the Dubstep sound found and built a scene, helped along the way by the enigmatic club night Forward>>.
Now, Big Apple Records may be long lost history as far as the global story of dubstep goes, but it is in remembering where the sound was formed, that we can start to understand where the newest of projects will take the genre in the future.
This week sees the release of Magnetic Man’s first single, I Need Air on Columbia Records. It may be attempting to reach out to the more commercial crowd in terms of listeners, yet it is the vision of that success that will inspire and spur on a new generation of producers that will take the dubstep sound late into this decade.
Morning all... hope everyone had a top time @ Ministry of Sound on Sunday night, it's a shame some of the evening was slightly spoiled early on, but Redlight truly tore the roof off with his set in The Bar (see what I did there?). P-Money and Jammer absolutely smashed up The Box and bigups to everyone else who performed on the night, it was magical.
Sorry for the late post on this weeks' mixes, but yesterday was spent sleeping much after not getting home until about 7am, anyway let's get to it.
Today's first mix comes from Rinse FM's Terror Danjah, launching his new mix series MC Sessions. This is Part 1 in the series, featuring new MC on the mic, Dream Mclean. You can also catch Dream on twitter, here.
D Double E - Woo Riddim
Hyper - Woooo Riddim
Dream Mclean - Woooo Riddim
Newham Generals Prang Man
Terror Danjah & Dok - Peanut Punch
Ginz & Baobinga - The Good Stank
Illmana - Skittlez
Mucktion - Skepta
Rude Kid - Screwdriver
DJ Wonder - What
Last Phone Call - Teddy Music
Dok - Golden Axe
Terror Danjah - Power Grid
Danny Weed - Creeper
Dok - Missing Step
Terror Danjah - Bruzin V.I.P
Terror Danjah & Rude Kid - Best Crawler
Benga - Descending
Dj Pioneer & Supa D - Congo Natty
Dok - Timberdok
Teddy Music - Miss Asia
Mucktion - Skepta
Terror Danjah - Space Traveller
Dok - Step
Rusko - Cockney Thug
Guido - Mad Sax
Tnt - Untitled
Terror Danjah - Menace
P Jam - Anger Management Remix
Exemen (Wookie) - Storm
Terror Danjah - Horror Story (Creepy String Edit)
Next up this week is Redlight and his guest mix for Mistajam's show on 1Xtra last week, which featured exclusive new remixes and material from Redlight, Roska, Roses Gabor, Mz. Bratt and DJ Zinc. Turn this one up loud!
Donae'o - I'm Fly (Redlight Refix)
Roska - Untitled
Katy B - Katy On A Mission
Redlight - Stupid ft. Roses Gabor
Roses Gabor - Love Sick
Redlight - Source 16
Redlight - What You Talking About ft. Ms Dynamite
Roses Gabor - Air
Wiley - Electric Boogaloo ft. J2K & Jodie Conor (Roller Express Remix)
DJ Zinc - Wile Out (Feat. Ms Dynamite) (Redlight Refix)
Magnetic Man - I Need Air (Redlight Remix)
Mz Bratt - Selecta (Redlight Special)
DJ Zinc - Bounce Up
Roska - Nasty
Last up comes the Radio 1 Essential Mix, this week from talk of the town... Magnetic Man. Almost 50 tunes in 2 hours, plenty of bangers and some great new blood that will surely go down as classics for the future.
Three great friends come together for surely one of the biggest mixes of the year, strap yourself in for this one!
Intro
??? - ???
??? - ???
??? - ???
Magnetic Man feat. Ms Dynamite - Fire
Benga - 808
Redlight - Stupid
DJ Zinc - Killa Sound (Skream Remix)
Nero - Welcome Reality
??? - ???
Benga - Smack Your Bitch Up
Nero - Innocence
Drumsound & Bassline Smith - Fu Man Chu (Dubstep Mix)
Redlight feat. Ms Dynamite - What You Talkin' About
Magnetic Man - ???
??? - ???
??? - ???
Joker & TC - It Ain't Got A Name
Magnetic Man - The Bug
??? - ???
Skream - Rollin' Kicks VIP
Magnetic Man feat. Angela Hunte - I Need Air
Magnetic Man - MAD
Skream - Raw Dogz
Skream - Wibbler
Crissy Criss - Kick Snare VIP
Sub Focus - Last Jungle
Skream - Stand Up
Mz Bratt - Selecta
Heist - I'm A Killer (140 BPM Edit)
P-Money - Left The Room (Skreamix)
James Blake - CMYK
Estelle - I Can Be A Freak (ID Bootleg)
ID - I Warned Ya
Trolley Snatcha - Pass Me By
TC & Jakes - Real Talk VIP
??? - ???
Skream - WTF?
Benga & Youngman - Ho!
Benga - Mini Motor Cross
??? - ???
??? - ???
Toddla T - Sky Surfing (Benga Remix)
Subscape - Just Because
Benga - Who Remembers
??? - ???
Skream feat. Sam Frank - Where You Should Be
??? - ???
Magnetic Man feat. Katy B - Perfect Stranger
Inaugural post of a new series, coming at you every Friday with some hot new filth... This week our featured tune comes from Drumsound and Bassline Smith, who you obviously know from one of this years biggest dubstep tunes... R U Ready.
What you also might not know is that Bassline Smith's nephew is featuring @ UTR this weekend at the Summer Sound Clash... none other than Crissy Criss, one of the dubstep scene's latest to delve into the Drumstep fad currently sweeping the scene.
Anyway, let's get back on track with this special VIP from Drumsound and Bassline Smith titled Mafia, a re-working of the epic classic from Lloyd Parks.
Check the original tune from 1975 below, then grab the VIP remix below.
Just two days until Under The Radar takes over Ministry of Sound. Two of the UKs heavyweight dance music institutions... Drum and Bass Arena and Get Darker will battle it out @ The Summer Sound Clash. We then have Dirty Canvas orchestraighting proceedings in The Bar and outside Inspector Dubplate will be headlining the exclusive UTR Red Bull Terrace, supported by our residents.
To get you firmly in the mood for the night here's a special remix of the classic Summertime from Soul Power. Knees up for this one! Click the link below to download the tune... and check out the original video below too as well.
Flatline are back with a hot new tune featuring Reggae vocalist and MC, Werd2jaH... earlier this year they produced a new dubplate titled Professor Dub, and here is the end result. If ever there was a perfect chilled out dub tune for the summer it's this.
It's a pleasure to listen to a Dubstep tune with substantially more character and substance, than just pure bass.
Auto-tune and delays all over the shop on this one, which really play well with the sub frequencies. Slow Down marks the beginning of a new era for the Flatline boys, who fresh from they're recently released Hollow Dub on Lot49 Recordings we believe are destined for big things in the near future. Watch this space!
Flatline will be in action @ both Mashed Up events next month @ Club Colosseum, you can grab two tickets for the price of one (£15) by heading over to the Mashed Up homepage.
A great heads up for you today on a young DJ from London who we recently got on board as a dubstep resident for Mashed Up.
Fixion aka Ryan Redican hails from Bromley in South London has been DJ'ing since the tender age of 14 and has been slowly building a name for himself this year with a series of awesome sets, sold out private shows and national radio coverage. He's a prime example for the aspiring DJs of today of exactly what you can achieve at just a young age. By simply from being himself and being persistent with his sound, his style and his own mixes that he sent us to start out with.
A couple of months ago he submitted an entry to Kiss 100 for their Midnight Mix competition. He was selected among scores of mixes for his mix to be played out live on Kiss (check the Kiss 100 blog), a great achievement for someone so young in the game, and a testament to his passion for the scene.
I've been consistently impressed with Ryan's tune selection during his sets @ Mashed Up. There has been a tendancy over the past 6 months or so, for Dubstep DJs to fall into the 'same old' routine of playing pure rinse out. Fixion disagrees with this approach and is always looking to mix things up and keep the crowd on their toes with oddball tunes, and he's not afraid to delve into the darker and deeper realms of the genre.
Fixion has just submitted an awesome new mix for the SW4 Festival DJ competition in association with Get Darker, where a set @ the festival is up for grabs alongside the likes of Andy C, Plastician, Foreign Beggars, Artful Dodger and DJ Luck & MC Neat at the Festival after party @ The Clapham Grand, Sunday 29th August.
Subscape - Midnight
Emalkay - An Explicit Intro
Magnetic Man - I Need Air
Doctor P - Badman Sound
Caspa - My Pet Monster
Zomby - Float (Skreamix)
Newham Generals + Breakage - Hard (Dubpolice Takeover)
Rusko - Ravers Special
Bar 9 - Piano Tune
Caspa - Marmite (Doctor P Remix)
Example - Dirty Face (Benga Remix)
Doctor P - Sweet Shop
Doctor P - Sweet Shop (Flux Pavilion Remix)
Jakes - War Face 2010
All you Mashed Up regulars will undoubtedly know our resident Ryder very well, our specialist DJ for all things grindin' n vibin'.
Ryder has been mixing and since 2000, having played up and down the country and abroad in some of the biggest clubs and for some the most renowned nights. Tt comes to no suprise that entertaining a crowd is his speciality, his knowledge of music and skill at read a crowd is second to none and this is made apparent at every event he performs at.
As well as his club residencies, Ryder is also well known for his radio shows. These shows have taken place on many different stations over the years, including the infamous Manic FM, Watford Council's Ways Radio, Middlesex University's MUD Radio and of course, his very own Heated FM.
Ryder DJ's admiration and passion to the music business can also be seen in various event and nightclub promotions in which he runs under various brands. He fronts up Ryder Promotions, has collaborated with a number of organisations including Glamstar Events, Urban Intake and Diamond Media. He has of course also been a resident DJ for UTR/Mashed up for the last year.
He's just finished a short remix of JME & Tempa T's CD Is Dead, which you can hear above. His sound is definitely shifting slightly towards the Dubstep end of the spectrum, but there's still that emphasis on the big party vibe within his style too.
You can also grab his awesome July 2010 podcast below, a little showcase of some of the Dubstep vibes he's feeling at the moment, you can grab the mix below and subscribe to his Podcast via iTunes. Ryder will be performing @ our GCSE results Mashed Up raves next month on August 13th and August 24th... all info and ticket prices are available on the facebook page.
Intro
Chasing Shadows - Amirah
Ikonika - Space Ugly
She Is Danger - Hurt You (Subscape Remix)
Shackleton - Blood On My Hands
Cheshire - How Low
Audio Bullys - Only Man (Jakwob Remix)
Lung - Afterlife
The One Hundred - Break Me Down (Tek-One Remix)
Rob Sparx - Casino
Fused Forces - Chemical Reaction
Rusko - Cockney Thug
Sub Focus - Could This Be Real (Joker Remix)
The Qemists Ft. Wiley - Dem Na Like Me (Subscape Dub)
Benga - Descending
Example - Dirty Face (Benga Remix)
Chase & Status - Eastern Jam
Breakage Ft. Newham Generals & David Rodigan - Hard
16BIT - Jump!
A great little promo vid here from Majestic for a more chilled out tune entitled, Listen, shot down in Newquay during the UTR Summer Break... pure caravan vibes from the main man!
Also be sure to check out the official video for his upcoming new single In The V.I.P, featuring Jammer, which is currently bashing the clubs nationwide and has made it's way onto the BBC 1Xtra playlist, BIG!
As, possibly one of the most exciting producers to come out of the UK music scene since Skream announced his prominence as the prince of Dubstep a few years ago, we can't wait to introduce you to Redlight in a couple of weeks time @ Under The Radar, when we take over Ministry of Sound once again.
Many of you will know Redlight also as Clipz, the Bristol-based Drum n Bass producer, but in the past 18 months he's been building a name for himself, completely from scratch as Redlight. When quizzed about what the name actually meant, he referred to the pseudonym as a continuation of the Clipz name... When a DJ mixer is peaking or distorting the sound naturally clips... and this is represented by red lights on a mixer... simple really ;).
Anyway cutting to the chase, Redlight will be appearing live on air on BBC 1Xtra tonight for Mistajam, talking about his new single What You Talkin' About, which features vocals from Ms Dynamite. The tune will be released next month along with B-Side Robot Chopsticks on Chase & Status' new label, MTA Records, which also recently released Nero's Innocence.
It's been a little while since we've seen some new material from one of the most respected producer's in the world. Zinc hails from East London, the home of everything dutty bass.
Over the year we've seen him pioneer Drum n Bass, Jungle, Garage, Breakbeast Hardcore and in the past few years, his own take on the House. Fusing together influences from Electro, Grime, UK Funky and Dubstep into his own unique sound.
Next Monday... July 17, sees the release of his Crack House Volume 2 EP... building on the foundations of his excellent first Crack House EP back in October which saw the release of the enigmatic Blunt Edge... an instrumental monster, which would go on to form the basis of arguably this years biggest club tune... Wile Out featuring Ms. Dyanmite.
Zinc is finally back with another EP this month, which is bound to be just as popular as the last. With collaborations from the likes of JME, Angela Hunte and Jamie George. You may have heard some of the tunes courtesy of Mistajam, Toddla T and Annie Mac through their radio shows over the past couple of months.
The EP will be released on July 18th on Bingo Bass Records, Zinc's new label, which he released the first Crack House EP on, as well as Wile Out earlier this year and his Killa Sound EP last year.
1. Zinc - Bounce Up (0:00)
2. Zinc - Nexx (0:46)
3. Zinc - Lets Go. JME (1:20)
4. Zinc - Huh? (2:05)
5. Zinc - Mouthfull (2:35)
6. Zinc - Gimme The Camera ft. Angela Hunte (3:09)
7. Zinc - Feel This Way ft. Jamie George (3:43)
We will keep you updated with the release as it approaches, until then... you can Pre-Order the EP from Play, Amazon and HMV. Until then, check out this sampler of the EP which Zinc kindly uploaded to his youtube recently. You can also grab Zinc's Killa Sound EP for FREE below... 4 hot tunes featuring Foreign Beggers and female Grime MC, No.Lay.
A heads up for you here on Grime/Funky producer... Mumdance.
The London-based Mumdance has slowly been building a big name for himself on the global bass scene with a series of hot remixes for the likes of Santigold, Radioclit, The Whip, Gucci Mane, Maximo Park, The Black Lips and Evil Nine. He's also been working on his own original productions, most notably collaborating with Brodinski. More recently he's just collaborated with AC Slater, one hell of a tune featuring Badness and 77 Klash, which you can hear below.... and purchase over at Juno Download.
Mumdance is part of the Mad Decent family, the Philadelphia based label run by man main Diplo, who you may know as the man behind Major Lazer,who also produced M.I.A's Paper Planes and who recently collaborated with superstar DJ, Tiësto.
Mumdance will be releasing his debut EP on Mad Decent next month, titled the Mum Decent EP... featuring several new tracks including Sacrifice Riddim featuring Grime MC Badness and Smasher... An oriental vibed Funky/Grime knees up if there ever was one.
Apologies for the lack of tracklisting, there wasn't one uploaded with the mix in the first place, I've done my best with the tunes that I can name myself, and I'll try and get around to editing some more in if I can get a tracklist off of Mumdance. Enjoy the mix, you're in for a real treat... New vibes from a UK producer so original and exciting that you have to stand up and take notice. Tribal and tropical Funky/Grime beats a plenty, I guarantee you've never heard anything like this before. There's a cheeky garage number near the end sampling So Solid Crew, big!
Here's what Mumdance had to say about the mix...
Mumdance's Different Circles mixtape is a mission statement confirming his kaleidoscopic tastes. With 17 original productions spanning ethnic tinged drunk funk woven into 1980's synth-pop, Balearic-tinged minimal techno, Baltimore gutter colliding with calypso, tribal guarachero & his very own home grown genre, 'kerplunk'. Collated as a precursor to his Forthcoming "Mum Decent EP" on Mad Decent (to be released August 23rd) as well as showcasing a host of other releases on Trouble & Bass, No Hats No Hoods, and Big Dada, this is a definitive guide to whats next. Different Circles features vocals from Esser, Trim, Jammer, Mc Sparks & Kie, Badness & Boy Better Know, as well as collaborations with Drums of Death, Shortstuff & Brackles, Toy Selectah & AC Slater.
I should mention there's also some bars from D Double E on this mix... and as ever the password for the file is "UTR".
As a special treat, Mumdance has very kindly made his track Kerplunk available to download for FREE... The tune will feature on his upcoming Mum Decent EP, dropping next month on Mad Decent. Also the password for this is "UTR"
After performing his charismatic Skydiving @ UTR's 1st Birthday bash back in February, Twizzle is back with his second single... LDN Sign, which will be released on Squarepeg Records very soon.
Linton Brown... one of the newest faces to hit the Dubstep scene in 2010. He's not what you would call a conventional Dubstep producer... he doesn't conform to the notion of Must Produce Filth. Instead there seems to be more of an intelligent take on the wobblier dubstep sound.
More emphasis is placed on trying to recapture that old skool sound. Something we've been seeing of late is a lot of tunes taking inspiration from the old Jungle and Breakbeat Hardcore days of yesteryear. Skream is probably one of the most prominent examples of this shift in sound... remember his remix of Zomby's Float or his own jungle tribute, Burnin' Up.
Another aspect of this style of production plays heavily on 2010's most popular tactic for a producer... employ a female vocalist.
We've seen Zinc, Redlight and now Benga go down this route, and I wouldn't be surprised if Linton follows suit. Yet, that's not to say that that would be a negative direction for Linton to take, I'm all for female vocalists and underground UK music running away into the sunset together until the end of time.
Let's put it this way... it gets the girls dancing, and anything that manages to achieve that, get's my shout.
Anyway, let's let the music do the talking... with Linton's new mixtape, the second in his Summer of Lovestep series. Big tunes, do not miss this!
Bobby Caldwell - What You Won't Do For Love (DZ Remix)
Kelis - Acapella (Linton Brown Remix)
Rusko - My Mouth
Linton Brown - Bliss
Linton Brown - Wave
Mindflow - Switched
Crookers - We Love Animals (Linton Brown Remix)
Mutiny - The Virus (Linton Brown Remix)
Millionaires - Stay The Night (Linton Brown Remix)
Subscape - Midnight
Linton Brown - Bloodline
Massive Attack - Paradise Circus (Breakage Remix)
Subscape - Lowlights
You can also grab Linton Brown's Horndog for free... simply follow the link to Mediafire below to download the mp3.
Morning all! I thought the UTR fanbase would enjoy this nice article by grime blooger Joseph Patterson, which went up on MTV project "The Wrap Up". Gwaarn P Money!
Grime music has been up and down over recent years and it’s only over the past few months that things have started to get back to how it once was. With the support of online platforms such as Tim & Barry TV, SB.TV, Grime Daily and Grime Forum pushing the genre like never before, it seems people are finally falling back in love with the sound that birthed the likes of chart-topping acts Dizzee Rascal, Tinchy Stryder and Chipmunk and that includes myself, I won’t lie...
More and more club nights are featuring grime acts again and the mainstream publications are commissioning more features on it, but when it comes to the music, artists have recently been having a few words with grime’s sister…Dubstep!
Gone are the days when grime MCs would jump at the chance to collaborate with rubbish indie bands and deadout electro producers, dubstep is currently the sound of choice at the moment. Grime MCs are the latest addition to the dubstep fan club but this isn’t new, MCs such as Newham Generals have been driving the dubstep train for quite a while now and it's just that nowadays that train has now got a few more drivers on board.
P Money and Blacks are leading the way and have really changed the way dubstep used to sound by adding their unique style and flows to it. These two south London MCs have taken this mix of sounds to higher heights after they recently took the stage at Glastonbury and were very well received by the festival goers.
"I can't speak for anyone else, but I've been into dubstep long before the whole hype,” says P Money. “I was 17/18 when I used to go to the FWD>> raves in Shoreditch, from when Essentials used to be booked there. The intro to my first mixtape had a little dubstep bass to it, I've always loved heavy basslines. In fact, I haven't even really heard many others on it. Grime is still cutting it though and always will, as you will hear from the new projects I have lined up. I've vocalled four dubstep tunes so far with ‘Slang Like This,’ ‘Left The Room,’ ‘Fruits & Veg’ and another one I'm yet to release. All my other tunes or tunes I've featured on are grime.”
Blacks says that he doesn't blame the lack of quality grime production on his choice to spit over dubstep more these days: “It’s not that the grime productions aren’t cutting it, because I love them too, it’s just that dubstep is a new wave what people like and it isn’t’ far off from grime, it’s just got a darker side to it. When it comes to the bookings side of things, there are more dubstep raves nowadays than grime ones and I've done a lot of dubstep work over the last year with P Money and the rest of OG’z. I would like to do my best in both worlds, because I love grime anddubstep.”
So with this growing trend, surely there's a name that we can call it? Well, myself and grime blogger Hyperfrank had a conversation about what it could be, she came up with the name 'GRIMESTEP' and I came up with 'GRUBSTEP' and yes, I know my one sounds a bit like a fat person that's about to tuck into some good cooked food, I just thought it sounded good at the time.
Afternoon all... got a big heads up for you all today on one of the newest members to the UTR crew. Our newest camera man and all round good guy, Sam Hurlock who you may have seen at the last two UTR events and the UTR Summer Break running around like a headless chicken trying to capture all those precious moments.
He's hard at work at the moment putting together his own special take on our last UTR party @ Ministry of Sound... and laying his graceful touch to our upcoming UTR Summer Break review video.
Sam has recently just finished his 2nd year of Film Production @ the University for the Creative Arts in Farnham, a university course which is proud to boast four Oscar winners among it's alumni. Sam has a huge passion for directing music videos and in the recent past has produced videos for a number of bands... including I Haunt Wizards, Steeling Signs, Collision & Consequences and Girls That Scream. There's also an upcoming mini video for Majestic coming in the next few months, so look out for that one!
He's has recently just been on tour with Smiler, who went on a four day tour of various venues throughout the UK... To get an idea of the potential of this young Cameraman/Director/Editor extraordinaire check out Sam's review video of the tour.
Morning... it's a new week and the start of a new chapter for Under The Radar... we've been running some ideas through the blog of late and now we're ready to shift things up a gear and start hitting you with a mass of new music, reviews and exclusive content. First up is a new post series coming to you weekly, simply called Mix Monday.
Every Monday we'll be hitting you up with 3 of the very best new mixes to get your week started... with everything from UK Funky and Grime to Drum n Bass, Dubstep, Electro and everything in between.
Some producers you will know, and some may be new, but the emphasis is always on great new UK music and big vibes.
First up this week is London Hip-Hop and Grime group... Foreign Beggers.
Foreign Beggers first came to light in the UK back in 2002 with their debut single Where Did The Sun Go, which was followed by their debut album Asylum Seekers in 2003. Since then they've released another 4 LPs and gone on to work with the likes of Bjork, Gorillaz, and even toured the USA with UNKLE.
Some of you dedicated Dubsteppers out there may be familiar with a couple of their singles last year... Seven Figure Swagger and No Holds Barred, which got given the remix treatment from Bar 9 and Excision & Datsik.
Here they keep things strictly Hip-Hop with some top numbers from E-40 and Suff Daddy, and also a classic soulful house tune from Om Unit... big love on this one!
Sir Lucious Left Foot You Aint No Dj Ft. Yelawolf E-40 - Undastandz Me Foreign Beggars Ft Guilty Simpson - Prove It Blame One Ft. Johaz - Past Your Thoughts Suff Daddy - Hospital Seemore Productions - Untitled Tribe Called Quest - The Hop Om Unit - Lavender Dorian Concept - The Fuckin Formula Onra - Robots Jaylib - The Red
Up Next is two producers responsible for smacking bass bins to pieces in 2010. With recent releases on Bass=Win Records, Ashburner has been turning heads for some time now, but paired with Goli and they are set for big things. Their new Dubstep rendition of Fatboy Slim's Renegade Master is currently destroying clubs nationwide, and with a huge catalogue of their own Dubplate's at their disposal, and future releases set to come out on Clandestine Cultivations, the remainder of 2010 looks bright for this promising new duo.
Get Darker will be taking over Room1 along with Drum & Bass Arena, at the next UTR event @ Ministry of Sound in a couple of weeks... and this new entry from Goli & Ashburner is a serious contender for the best Get Darker Mixtape of the year.
Bigups to everyone over @ Dubstep Forum for helping to get a decent tracklisting together for this one!
Plan B - Prayin (Breakage Remix) Biome - Drum (Dub) Biome - ? (Dub) Goli & Ashburner - Quasar (dub) Goli & Ashburner - Mimm (Dub) Goli & Ashburner - Have You Ever Vocal (Dub) Magenta - Gutwrench (Forthcoming For The Win Records) Goli & Ashburner - Madcat ft Pubman (Dub) Biome ft. Mr Fox - No Tomorrow (Dub) Goli & Ashburner - Beasts (Dub) Shredexx - More Goodbyes (Forthcoming For The Win Records) Goli & Ashburner - EFD (Dub) DOM - Ladybird (Dub) Goli & Ashburner - Field of Vibrations (Forthcoming Clandestine Cultivations) ? - Game Over (Distance Remix) (Smog) Shredexx - ? (Dub) Goli & Ashburner - One (Dub) Magenta - Time Killa (Dub) Goli & Ashburner - Dread (Dub) Ashburner - Get Up (RSD Remix) (Dub) Amit - White Trash (Darqwan Remix) (Forthcoming Commercial Suicide) Biome - Tarmac (Dub) J Da Flex - Dancefloor Crew (Goli & Ashburner Remix) (Dub) Goli & Ashburner - Levitate VIP (Dub) Ashburner - Badness VIP (Forthcoming Kraken Recordings) Goli & Ashburner - Gutter Riddem (Dub) Biome - Untitled (Dub) Shredexx - Intraverse (Forthcoming For The Win Records) Ashburner - Temper (Dub) Goli & Ashburner - Renegade Master Refix (Chemical Exclusive) Ashburner - Bullet (Dub) DOM - Ladybird (Dub) (Ashburner reprise haha) Goli & Ashburner - My Feelings (Dub) Dubkasm - Jah Is My Light (RSD Remix) (Dub) Magenta - Mercy (Dub) F - See The Light (?) Radic - Rankin (For The Win Records) Ashburner - Space Shank (Forthcoming Clandestine Cultivations) Goli & Ashburner - Enter 201 (Dub) Swarms - ??? (Dub)
Last up this week we have Mensah and his fantastic showcase mix for Mistajam last week when Seani B stood in for the big man due to the birth of his new daughter Olivia... big up Mistajam!
Mensah going in hard with a mash up of sounds from the lower end of the sub frequencies.
Gemmy - Back To The Future Mensah - 1986 Was The Future Mensah vs. Jakes - Pulse 80’s VIP Vs. Rhythm Major Lazer - Pon De Floor (Skandal Remix) DJ Zinc - Killa Sound (Skream Remix) Mensah - Stapleton Road L-Wiz - Tvangstrojjan Mensah - Untitled Future Funk Sukh Knight & P Money - Slang Like This Skream - Filth Badness - Nightmare (Mensah Remix) (feat. Skepta & Lil Narstie) Rude Kid - Electric Subscape - Midnight Nero - Innocence Baby D - Let Me Be Your Fantasy (Mensah Remix) MC Jakes - Warface 2010
Welcome to a new series of posts titled 'Top 10' coming to you on a weekly basis... first up is the Top 10 DJ No No's compiled by our resident Vesper.
"Becoming a DJ is a great career choice if your willing to put the time and effort into researching your own chosen genre. I'm really put off by the standard commercial DJs who play the same tunes week in week out. Ok fair enough if that is your job, when you work @ a box standard sub-urban Friday night 18+ night... your being paid to play those tunes. However, if that's your trade then spice things up a little bit with your own edits or mash ups, because these days your not going to get very far in the DJ game without being able to produce.
That was my little rant, but let's get back on topic. So say you've spent a few years in the bedroom honing 'your sound' and you've got a residency and your playing to the same crowd week in week out or once a month, you'll quickly notice a regular occurrence behind the decks. The dreaded requests. Now I'd say most requests are fairly reasonable... I've recently been getting a lot of requests for Yolanda Be Cool & Dcup's We No Speak Americano, which is fine I've had the tune since the day it was released and adore it. Plus it samples an old 70s classic Italian tune, so more reason to love it. However, it's when you start to get 'those' requests that you'll start to see why DJ'ing sometimes has its downsides.
Anyway nuff of the gloom, this is simply a list of those requests we all as DJ, hate to get, but simply have to laugh off at the time, due to the drunkenness of the punter. Yet, it doesn't stop them being pretty stupid."
10. I CAN GET LAID IF YOU PLAY IT ! No you won't so don't even bother.
9. PLAY IT SOON, BECAUSE WE’RE LEAVING ! Never say this, because the DJ will just drag it out as long as possible, and most probably play it right at the end of the night, so your left paying more for drinks ;). At the end of the day as DJ is there to serve the club, the better the DJ, the more likely it is that the Club will benefit from Bar intake.
8. I WANT TO HEAR THIS ONE NEXT ! The ONLY people who can get away with that statement, end up write the DJ’s paycheck!
Comprende?
7. WHAT DO YOU HAVE ? The average DJ probably has about 1,000 tunes with him at any one times so it’s a lot easier for you to go have another beer and figure out what you want to hear first, than it is for the DJ to recite the name of every record in his collection!
6. EVERYBODY WANTS TO HEAR IT ! Oh, sure… you polled everyone in the club and, as their spokesperson, you’re requesting the song.
5. EVERYBODY WILL DANCE IF YOU PLAY IT ! Unless that said tune involves many girls trying to enter the booth, then the DJ won’t. So I guess that blows a hole in that theory!
4. HEY, MAN, NOBODY CAN DANCE TO THIS ! It’s really NEVER advisable to say this, especially when the dance floor is packed (but some people do anyway) ! However, even if there is only ONE person on the floor, it STILL contradicts the statement your making!
3. I DON’T KNOW WHO SINGS IT AND I DON’T KNOW THE NAME OF THE SONG, BUT IT GOES LIKE THIS…. PLEASE DO NOT sing for the DJ. They sometimes have to put up with equipment that doesn't work properly, dangerous decibel levels all night long, and clubs that due to the smoking ban, smell like a tube train @ peak times… Do them a huge favor and DON’T give them a rendition of your favorite song.
2. WOULD YOU PLAY SOMETHING WITH A “BEAT” ! Excuse me, but I know of NO songs played in clubs that I play in that don’t have some sort of BEAT!
1. PLAY SOMETHING WE CAN DANCE TO ! This is the worst request you can ever make to a DJ, not only will they look in your direction like they've just been shot at, but we'll just laugh in your face. In theory all music can be danced to ... so open your mind, and your might hear something new.
"A riddim is an instrumental version of a song, which applies to Jamaican music or other forms of Caribbean music. Riddims usually consist of a drum pattern and a prominent bass line. The Jamaican Patois term riddim is derived from the English word... Rhythm."
It's probably not one of the most honest portrayals of the Riddim formula, but this new dub from Mensah, but it's certainly one of the most ear-catching.
Badonde is everywhere at the moment, he's even infiltrated the sub sonic frequencies, gold help us all.
Just a quick heads up for you here... a video outlining the making of Skream's new music video for his upcoming single Listening To The Records On My Wall, which features of physical depiction of Adam & Eve as they are first brought into the world... an interesting concept.
The final version of the video will be unveiled on July 12th.
Listening To The Records On My Wall is forthcoming as part of Skream's second studio album Outside The Box, which will be released on Tempa on July 26th... you can pre-order the album on Play.com. Also check out the closing track of the album, a truly Epic Last Song.
Also check out this teaser of another track from the album featuring Sam Frank... pretty leftfield, lots of autotune, Joker esq...
UTR Blogger, Jamie Doherty is back with another top review of Rusko's debut album O.M.G, which was released last month on Philidelphia based label... Mad Decent.
Rusko... a producer who shouldn’t need any introductions, but for those not familiar with him, (where have you been hiding for the past few years?) he’s Christopher Mercer, a Leeds University music graduate who burst onto the Dubstep scene with several collabs alongside his partner in crime Caspa... most notably on the critically acclaimed Fabriclive 37... he then famously went onto cave-in speaker cones worldwide with his incessant womp-womp anthem Cockney Thug.
Those people who know him best know his tried and tested formula when it comes to Dubstep already, but his long-anticipated debut album serves to break the mould that even his most devoted fans could not foresee. Everyone will be familiar with the enigmatic Woo Boost, probably the most blogged Dubstep tune of all time (and which was famously never leaked in full mastered 320mp3), which is a throwback to his early production days.
It’s pretty trademark him and has all the stylistics of his dark urban leads, twisted sirens and Rusko-written-all-over-it Bass that we saw on his banging remix of Adele's Cold Shoulder. The standout track of the album comes next, Hold On with Amber Coffman on the vocals. within the same frame as T2’s Heartbroken, an almost bassline/2-step hybrid with Rusko’s womp-womp pedigree thrown in for good measure.
The album ambles on with Rubadub Shakedown, a ska-influenced easy-roller featuring Dub Police MC extraordinaire and all round good guy Rod Azlan, and Dial My Number.
I Love You starts off with trippy epic pads and you could be forgiven for thinking Rusko has gone all soppy on us, but fear as the evil bass prevail on this one. A pretty heavy track if you can stomach the corny vocal sample!
As we progress deeper into the album we come across Kumon Kumon, a firm favourite here @ UTR, and one with a very distinct - Zomby / Where We’re You in 92' - feel on it, featuring a ravey synth intro, breathy female vocals, and a old skool breakbeat rhythm after the drop... top bombing!
A monster collaboration with Redlight comes next and he’s going back to familiar territory with this one. (Old skool/Nu skool... so the lyrics say), Scareware is a reminder of Rusko’s willingness to experiment with new vibes yet still retain the original sound that launched his career.
Ravers Special is one sound that is really resonating with Rusko's new sound, and definitely couldn't have been produced had he not upped and moved over to LA late last year. With homages to old french house, the Daft Punk influences are clear on this number, it's a sound that despite his critics, could not have been produced by any other Dubstep producer in the world right now... and that is what makes it special.
You’re On My Mind Baby again is danceable, but has that emotional undertone that Rusko has been attempting of late with an arped synth lead and dreamy piano keys, it helps to break up some of the more loutish tracks on the LP.
Got the Groove is the pick of the other tracks, with hip-hop elements a-plenty, he collabs with Mad Decent favourite a recently released from prison Gucci Mane on this one.
O.M.G almost proclaims, in it’s very name, to blow you away. And that it does; it’s a solid album overall bar a few weak points during the middle… yet it’s clear Rusko is a versatile and accomplished producer, whose sound has evolved along with the entire Dusbtep scene… or maybe the evolution is down partly to him? Who knows…. the album is out now so you can see for yourself.
There’s definitely some elements of cheese to it, but that’s bearable price to pay amongst it you’ll find the gems.
Also keep an eye out for some unlikely Rusko productions in the future... we hear he's producing the next Britney Spears album ;).
Also if you haven't already grab Sub Focus' top remix of Hold On above... we think it's better than the original, but we'll leave the judging up to you.
We hit you up a couple of weeks ago with a Free EP from the man that be Skream... well he's back with another one. Five delights this time around with four new exclusive unreleased tunes and one new remix of Loefah's Indian Dub... grab em quick, Blahhhhhh!
Howdy... it's been a while since we've posted on the blog... I've been away in Ibiza on holiday, then we had the UTR Summer Break and I've only just managed to get myself in order... Apologies for the drought here @ UTR.
Big posts be coming @ you from here on in... there will be no let up! Exclusive mixes, exclusive interviews and exclusive content coming to you in the next few weeks, so keep it locked!
Let's get things kicked off with a feature on West London duo Greenmoney who over the last year have drawn a huge admiration of respect across the DJ spectrum for their awesome sets and instrumental and playful UK Funky production.
They've been championed by the likes of Annie Mac on her presents tour of the UK last year with apperances at The Warehouse Project and London's Koko as well as going onto remix some of the biggest names, including Yo Majesty, Busy Signal, Boy 8-Bit, Kid Cudi and Kid Sister.
You may have previously heard of GreenMoney through their remix of Twizzle's Skydiving, which made it's way into the MTV Bass chart, the BBC 1Xtra playlist and was performed live @ UTR's 1st Birthday bash @ Ministry of Sound back in February.
More recently GreenMoney turned Gramaphondzie's Why Don't You into a UK Funky bomb and they've just released their new Gold Ru$h EP on A-Trak's Fools Gold Records, which you can grab over at Juno Download, Turntable Lab and Boomkat.
The EP features four new tunes... A collaboration with Serocee titled Suh Mi Stay, and one with Mz. Bratt titled Who's GreenMoney. Yet the most notable tune on the release has to be Political Hype, featuring Lady Chann.
Currently recieving a lot from the one and only Mistajam we foresee big things for GreenMoney in the second half of 2010. You can catch them playing on the Annie Mac Presents stage at the Underage Festival in Victoria Park on August 1st and next weekendon the Yo Yo stage @ the Lovebox Weekender.
GreenMoney put together a special mix recently to promote their Gold Ru$h EP... full of their own club worthy bangers and a couple of exclusive tunes. Make sure to check out a new tune from Artwork who you may know as the third member of Magnetic Man and also GreenMoney's own remix of Donaeo's hot new tune, I'm Fly.
Simply right click the link and click save as to grab the mix.
Greenmoney - Political Hype ft. Lady Chann
Mumdance - Smasher
Artwork - Red
JG vs Soultronic - The Flying Saucer
Bassanova - Terradactyl
Professor Green ft Lily Allen - Just Be Good To Green (Greenmoney dub)
Jan Driver - Tellyfoam
Busy Signal - Picantie (Greenmoney remix)
Seiji - Basslips
Donae'o - I’m Fly (Greenmoney Dub)
Greenmoney - Who’s Greenmoney ft. Mz Bratt (Melé remix)
Greenmoney - Who’s Greenmoney ft. Mz Bratt
Also... Don't forget there's just under 3 weeks to go until the next UTR events @ Ministry of Sound in London, Gatecrasher in Birmingham and Sankeys in Manchester!
Tickets will sell out for this event so grab them fast over @ the UTR Events website.
