BACK TO THE BENELUX

As hinted in last week's retro post, before I made the connection with Chicago House one of the biggest sounds in my life was EBM (Euro Body Music) and specifically the Belgian group Front 242. Having gotten over the shock that anything good could possibly be produced in Belgium, I was soon immersed in their particular brand of dark, semi-industrial dance music. I remember skipping a free study period in school to make the journey into town to buy their latest album "Official Version" in 1987, then returning to the Sixth Form common room at lunch time triumphantly brandishing this monumental release, slapping it on the stereo expecting my fellow students to be blown away by this record. This is what they heard:

FRONT 242 - W.Y.H.I.W.Y.G.

I was of course transfixed by it's relentless, grinding electronic embrace, in awe of the nameless dread and paranoia as the singer bleated out the line "They're coming down! They're coming down for you!" But, just like previous attempts to get them into groups like Cabaret Voltaire, Mantronix and even early Kraftwerk albums, the music was met with either blind incomprehension or outright hostility by my piers. Yes, it was a lonely road I traveled back then, without the sense of community that can be established with like-minded souls through the internet today. My only guide was the excitable reportage of certain journalists at Melody Maker, NME and Sounds, plus of course John Peel (who definitely played the odd 242 track) and not forgetting Janice Long, who had a good ear. She was the Mary Anne Hobbs of the '80s.

One of the things that I found most intriguing about Front 242 was their militant pro-European stance at a time when most music produced on the continent was generally considered to be worthless pap that slavishly copied British and American trends. In a Melody Maker interview from February '87, The Stud Brothers asked them if England was a major influence on their work, to which they responded:

"No England, in my eyes, at the moment, is just turning around, doing the same old stuff, going back to the old things like hip-hop for example. And anyway we always saw the electronic scene as coming from Germany not England".

This was an outrageous, egotistical slur on my nation's honour, but that made me even more excited about the whole concept. The very fact that they referred to hip-hop as 'old stuff' in 1987 gives some idea of how far ahead these guys were thinking. Undoubtedly it was Front 242 who bestowed an almost fetishistic interest in all things Belgian in me, that would carry me through the late '80s New Beat period into the Hardcore sound of the early '90s.

Ahhh, wait... let's spin back there and talk about New Beat for a while. I mentioned it last year in my first post on Belgian Hardcore (that was supposed to be a regular series, but other forces were at work moving me into new territories). One point I failed to make was that New Beat was a very different animal to EBM. Rather than being a militant anti-everything-else movement, New Beat, in essence, took inspiration from 242's lead, but by assimilating the new dance sounds from England, Chicago and Detroit synthesised a new bastardised Frankenstein hybrid that, if you'd asked me in early 1989, I would've probably said was the most awesomely strange and inventive music on the planet. Bar a few exceptions, the UK dance scene didn't really start getting interesting until about 1990 and although I was by that point very much 'involved' with the Chicago/Detroit thing, Belgian New Beat had, by accident or design, a distinct taste of it's own. It was darker than anything else, yet at the same time side-splittingly funny. It was tasteless, smutty and offensive yet resonated with a brutal, elemental force that simply couldn't be ignored once you got the virus. As a typically uptight Brit, I found the Belgian's unabashed flaunting of sexuality both seedy and appealing, a similar sensation to casting furtive glances at the outrageously rude adult magazines that lined the bookshelves in most european cities I visited on family holidays.

When I think of what the New Beat artists achieved in barely two years it's nothing short of staggering. Here was a nation suddenly finding a sense of purpose and identity through music, compressing the Acid House blueprint into a monotonous, pornographic netherworld, with the tracks sometimes slipping below the 100bpm mark to create a druggy warped alternative that probably comes from the fact that the style was accidentally discovered when dj's started spinning disco records at 33rpm. To give you a classic example of how New Beat mutated the American sounds, check this track by 101 - seemingly a straight cover of Reese's "Rock To The Beat", which manages to crush and spit out every last drop of euphoria, every nuanced element of 'soulful' funk inherent in the original, leaving only a ghoulish, plodding, emotionally numb aberration - music for acid zombies and decaying automatons. It's so fucking wrong, yet somehow I still feel drawn to it, in the same way that it's possible to feel aroused in the presence of a gorgeous yet extremely bored and disinterested female.

101 - ROCK TO THE BEAT

This is the opening track on "New Beat Take 3", part of the iconic series of compilation albums released by the Subway label, and invaluable to us Brits who wanted an affordable way to keep up with the prolific output from Belgium at that time. I don't know what possessed me to pull it off the shelf a few weeks ago for a spin, but it hit me like a ton of bricks all over again. As well as early tracks from future Belgian Tekno stars like Spectrum, The Project and T-99, "Take 3" also contains other stone cold classics like "Acid In The House" by Miss Nicky Trax, one of the most fearsome excursions into detached hypno-house of the era. Over a dirge-like 120bpm acid lockdown with off-key synth stabs, Miss Trax mutters the words "There's Acid in the House" sounding more like a dead-eyed junkie prostitute ushering you into some hellish backstreet drug den, rather than an ecstacy-fueled diva of the dancefloor. Then there's another personal favourite in "Something Scary" by Zsa Zsa Laboum which, with it's creepy sampled female voice saying "I was alone in my room...something grabbed me and smothered me" pre-dates hardcore's paranoid horrorshow phase by several years. When a second female voice hisses the word "Acid!" it conjures none of the hedonistic bliss associated with the UK Acid House scene - it's more like a cruel dominatrix taunting, teasing, hinting at dark illicit secrets lying just beyond your reach. Here's one more tune for now - the sort of record that could only have come from Belgium, with it's cheap, slutty samples and a sinister yet slighty silly male voice saying "This is New Beat Generation" (they all loved bigging-up themselves, and the genre, on the records), with snatches of sound hijacked from popular UK/US dance records of the day locked into a sluggish sub-Front 242 4/4 stomper. Damn, they don't make 'em like this anymore....

NEW BEAT GENERATION - SUCK THE BEAT

The more I thought about it, the more convinced I became that this was a cruelly ignored yet vital genre in the evolution of dance music, one that seems to have been brushed under the carpet; an embarrassing anomaly that bent the structure of dance the wrong way and is now best forgotten. Like Italodisco, I imagine that anyone who wasn't involved with it the time might now assume that it's true relevance (if any) is marginal. But I was there, man. I know how good those records sounded at the time and I'm sure they must've had some influence on the course of music, even if the influencies might not care to admit it now. I seem to recall that jungle/tekstep pioneer Ed Rush had a thing for the Belgians. My intention was to start researching it a bit more, start tracking down more of the key releases, labels and artists and present my findings over a period of time. Shame I sold off most of my original collection for the sake of shelf space years ago. Dammit!! Then, when I mentioned the idea to Simon Reynolds he informed me that, by a bizarre twist of synchronisity, the New Beat revival had already commenced, under the patronage of James Kirby, better known in electronica circles as the mischievous V/VM. Not only has James begun building a website for New Beat info and resources, he's even recorded a 12 inch EP that pays heavy dues to "The Sound Of Belgian New Beat".

On tracks like "Benelux (Ghent Mix)" and "Be-Dash - Must Do", James concocts a near perfect facsimile of the original New Beat blueprint. Although one could question the validity of such a straightforward homage, the fact that he's prepared to imitate such an apparently 'dead' genre is what invests this record with such a fresh sense of excitement. Yet he can't resist pushing things a little too far, as on "Viag.ra" and the outrageous "Anal Acid (butt plug mix)" (perhaps inspired by Edwards & Armani's "Up Your Bum"?!) which revel in new heights of scuzzy porno filth, whilst opening track "I Wanna Fuck Miss Nicky Trax" (boy, can I relate to that concept!) takes New Beat to new extremes of bleak, corrosive dirge-tronica that I never heard on the originals. For reasons too complicated to discuss here, this record is not available in the shops and probably never will be. However, James has already sold a substantial number of copies through the website by word of mouth alone. It seems the New Beat fans are still out there... somewhere. Actually, I know a few of them myself, which is why I made sure to get copies into the hands of some of my local bloggin' colleagues. You can read some early responses from Kid Shirt, Loki and (in his own inimitable style) Psychbloke, with more to come hopefully. My plan is to generate a 'Belgian Wave' of New Beat enthusiasm throughout the blogosphere!

Anyone who still needs convincing should check out the Mixamatosis "New Beat Take 0" mix, which features plenty of classic examples of the genre, including most of the ones I mentioned above. What struck me most about it was the fact that Mixamatosis is actually some young guy who, inspired by what he saw at the site, downloaded all the tracks off P2P and assembled the mix digitally, proving that New Beat can inspire a new generation of fans who's judgement isn't clouded by nostalgia.

Having corresponded with V/VM recently, it's obvious that he's way ahead of me in terms of research and enthusiasm for this sound, so for anyone out there who is intrigued by what I've written, make sure to bookmark his website and keep an eye out for future updates, including the original video for "Acid In The House" and further New Beat mixes for download. For my part, I'll probably do a few more little posts on the subject over time, perhaps focusing on certain key artists or labels.

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It's difficult to pinpoint exactly when New Beat transformed into what we now refer to as Belgian Hardcore. For me the transition from affirmed New Beat compilations to stuff like the utterly seminal early volumes in the "Reactivate" series was a natural progression. I was just following the scene's development, same as I am with dubstep now. I guess the key lies in Joey Beltram's "Energy Flash", first released on Derrick May's Detroit label Transmat in 1990 and subsequently licensed to long-standing New Beat label R&S. Although it had many of the ingredients for New Beat, "Energy Flash" took the sound into harder, more intense areas that spawned a subtle yet significant shift in emphasis. By 1991, New Beat was already a distant memory as the Belgian's powered forward with heavier sounds and faster bpms. That year saw Belgium strike it's biggest assault on the UK's consciousness, with a regular flow Top 40 hits, no doubt aided by the brief but fortuitous use of breakbeats. To the casual listener, Belgian acts like T-99 and Quadrophonia probably didn't sound much different from the UK breakbeat-rave of Bizarre Inc., The Scientist, Kicksquad etc. I started writing about that period in my second Belgian post, this time last year. Never got any further, though...maybe next year!

But the breakbeats weren't to last, and if any track could be said to pave the way for Belgium's headlong plunge towards the pure speedfreak machine beats of Gabber, it's probably this one:

LA STYLE - JAMES BROWN IS DEAD

After a crushing salvo of sampled choir riffs and brutal hammering four-to-the-floor kick drum , the (fake) newsreader announces "James Brown Is Dead" which, by association, sounds the death-knell for breakbeats in Belgian hardcore. The track's militaristic, almost fascistic elements could be interpreted as an utter refutation of all American, 'black', funky influence. A return to the militant pro-European purist ideology that Front 242 first put forward nearly five years earlier, heralding a whiter-than-white future for euro-techno. Taken on those terms, the track could be seen as unspeakably evil, but there's an almost cartoonish element, an over-the-top, jack-booted caricature that makes me think the whole thing was very tongue-in-cheek. The sentiment seems to have been lost on the UK crowd though, as this was one of the few true Belgian anthems that failed to chart in this country. Whatever, I still think it's a brilliantly produced piece of music that always makes the hairs stand up on the back of my neck. Interestingly, Dutch hardcore group Holy Noise recorded a splendid answer-back tune:

HOLY NOISE - JAMES BROWN IS STILL ALIVE!

An impassioned plea to the Benelux crew to keep their shit funky? - or a cynical cash-in? The jury's out on that one...

COMPILATION OF THE YEAR?

Well it is in my book, anyway. Matt Woebot's sublime collection of obscure German experimental new wave pop alternatives from the early '80s really is an outstanding document of the 'Neue Deutche Welle' scene (NDW for short), the culmination of months of research and probably spending a small fortune on e-bay tracking down all those artifacts. The fact that Matt must've trawled through hours of crap/average stuff to hone in on the real gems is equally to be applauded. Like No Wave, Italodisco and (dare I say it) New Beat, here's another 'Secret History' that absolutely needed to be unearthed and reappraised.

The full tracklist with some background on each can be found here. There's nothing that I don't like on this disc, although particular praise must go to Mathias Shuster for the incredibely primitive guttertronics of "Im Namen Des Volkes", the amazingly prescient dubtronica of Monoton's "Root Of 1=1" (I must get hold of the cd reissue!) and the weird yet extremely catchy electro-pop of "Wir Sind Gluchlicj" by Stahlnetz. The only act I'd even heard of was Die Krupps. I got into some of their later stuff when they were more like an industrial-rock group, but I never backtracked to 1981 when they released the mind-blowing 15 minute dub-funk whiteout that is "Stahlwerksynfonie". Yet most of these tracks sound like the soundtrack to a spectacular alternative pop universe where Neu!, Joe Meek, Suicide and early Sheffield pioneers like the Cabs and proto-Human League altered the DNA of mainstream popular music. The sound of my weirdest dreams....

Matt's only been handing out cd-r copies to a select few, so why am I bothering to blog about something that's unattainable to 99% of readers? Firstly, it's a public 'thank you' to Matt for sending me a copy, and second a plea to any discerning reissue labels out there to licence these tracks and put the compilation out officially, with a nice booklet 'n shit. And pay Matt a tidy little fee for compiling and writing the sleeve notes. Seriously, it needs to be done.

Fantastic work, Matt. Your chest....

TOXICITY

Wow, the final Toxic Dancehall was rammed. When I arrived the queue was spilling out all the way to the main road. This regular event at the Black Swan has obviously built up a huge following and it seems odd that it's all coming to a close now. But at least they went out on a high note, and I'm glad I finally attended, having managed to miss every other one to date! Of course, Toxic is all about the speed-thrill mentalism of breakcore-jungle insanity, which isn't really my thing these days. But I must say I thoroughly enjoyed Monkey Steak's junglist set, especially when they dropped down a gear for some skanky dancehall lockgrooves and occasional bursts of chunky Two-Step aggro. From a visual angle, there's something about the chemistry between Atki2 and Hanumann that makes me chuckle with glee. The way they bob up and down excitedly, occasionally throwing their hands in the air in an almost co-ordinated fashion gives them the appearance of malfunctioning android dancers. It's nothing they've actually planned, just the result of all that enthusiasm and love for what they do. I get a great 'feel good factor' from these guys...now I wanna see 'em doing another sublow set!

The problem with these big two-room multi-events is that it's hard to keep tabs on all the acts you wanna catch. Although I had the pleasure of meeting Drop The Lime, unfortunately I managed to completely miss his set, although I did catch fellow American Mathhead in action after hearing the familiar sound of "Skyjacker" coming through the walls. I featured an earlier version of this tune on GutterFM a few months ago and got some appreciative feedback. He's another artist who's come from breakcore but now incorporating the grimey sounds, of which there was much evidence last night. But the main bulk of his set was still firmly in b'core territory, and he obviously still loves that style cos at one point during a particularly hectic break mash-up he jumped up on the console, gurning like a psychopath, before launching himself onto the dancefloor where he proceeded to writhe around spasmodically like an epileptic for a few moments. Now that's what I call a performance! He was followed by Bong-Ra, but after a few more minutes of 200+ bpm Amen assassination, I'd pretty much had my fill of that style, thanks very much!

I figured it was time to chill out for a bit, but then bumped into Atki2 who informed me that I simply had to head upstairs to the second room and check out this guy called RLF. Never one to miss a good tip-off, I quickly made my way up to catch the last 20 minutes of his set. I immediately recognised the bearded figure of Mr. RLF, because he used to serve me regularly at Imperial Music, one of the best independent record shops in Bristol, before it tragically closed down over a year ago. He's now producing some very impressive beats, keeping it simple but intense, with some heavyweight sublow basslines and fierce metallic percussion sounds. But again, it was his performance that I found most striking. For a start he was playing live trombone over most of the tracks with occasional warbles from a Theremin, which he would wave his hand in front of when the mood took him. Then there was the way he said 'thank you very much' whenever the crowd cheered. The personal touch. I like that. He's currently unsigned but I managed to collar him for a brief chat and thankfully he knew who I was and said he'd sort out me out with a cd-r. Looking forward to that!

RLF was followed by Vex'd (well, one of them anyway). As soon as Jamie hit the decks I remembered why I'm such a dubstep head this year. Totally head and shoulders above anything else on the fucking menu, Jamie was reppin' the sound hard, spinning not just his own compositions but also some deadly dubs from Loefah, Skream, Distance, Wiley etc...it was fucking spiritually intense, maaaan. Everyone was shocking out to the vibes, including Pinch and, I noticed, young Mathhead - soaking up the vibrations and getting deep down and murky. Yes yes YES...this is what I'm all about. The weight, the space, the emotional intensity...Jamie's the fuckin' man. By the way, he had a famous fan in tow - Radio 1's Marie Ann Hobbs! I was introduced, and she was absolutely lovely.

Unfortunately I didn't manage to make it to the end of Jamie's set, due to what can only be described as 'a funny turn'. I swear I'd only had a couple of Red Stripes but suddenly I got all dizzy and nueseous and had to get outside to the garden area for some air...and promptly threw-up, although I did it quite discreetly into an empty pint glass. Felt slightly better afterwards, but realised I needed to get home fast. Pathetic or what? Maybe I really am getting too old for this shit?!!

CLICK & ENLARGE

So it's been twenty years since the Blissblogger started making a living from music journalism? Good god. Y'know back in the pre-internet stone age I call the '80s, writers like Simon were a lifeline for people like me. Through his writing at Melody Maker he regularly inspired and enthralled with his energetic (but never hyperbolic) frothings, giving me glimpses of fascinating futures and tickling my imagination with his keen descriptive language. It seemed that, wherever new innovative music was being made, Simon would be there to cover it. Although I wouldn't say he entirely shaped my tastes, he certainly helped guide me down certain paths, and often re-affirmed that which I already believed (such as his brief but totally on-the-money reference to Martin Rushent's Human League in the above Mantronix review, at a time when nobody was saying anything good about that sound). Although I would never consciously try to emulate his style of writing, I suppose that inevitably it must have influenced my own work here at Gutterbreakz. The very fact that I started blogging in the first place was because I was inspired by his work at Blissblog, along with other pioneers like Woebot, K-Punk, etc.

Anyway, I don't wanna lick his arse all night, so just to say congratulations on making it this far mate, and keep the inspirations coming. Thanks for the 'Spirals Tribe' link by the way (haha, good one) - I always get a shitload of extra hits whenever I get a mention at Blissblog!

HISTORY OF HOUSE - A PERSONAL PERSPECTIVE

So what was the tune or event or experience that got you into 'electronic dance music'? For people around my age maybe it was some ecstasy-fuelled adventure to one of the early illegal raves. By summer 1988, the tabloids were increasingly running frantic news features on the new Acid House phenomenon of E'd up youths dancing all night in an orgy of debauched psychedelic hedonism. I'd just turned 19 years old at that time, and you might expect that I was in the thick of this brand new Rave Culture. But I wasn't. I was just reading about it in the papers the same as my Dad was. I was not one of the early pioneers by any stretch of the imagination. I was still living at home at that point, in a small town called Yate on the very outskirts of Bristol.

Although me and my mates would occasionally take the bus into town for a night out, my social life basically revolved around the what was happening in Yate. We had quite a few pubs in the area, but the main focal point was Spirals Laser Disco, situated in the main shopping area. Thinking about that place now, it pretty much represents everything that I now detest about mainstream clubs. It was basically a 'cattle market' where the music was just a soundtrack for a bunch of young people to get pissed-up on lager and try getting off with a member of the opposite sex. But it was the only place you could go out drinking late and still stagger home on foot. Plus I was actually into drinking and pulling birds anyway, same as all my mates were. The music at the club consisted of the latest uptempo hits of the day (anything from Wham!'s "Wake me Up Before You Go-Go" to Whitney Houston's "I Wanna Dance With Somebody", which was a massive Spirals tune) plus a few hi-energy disco numbers, a bit of New Order if you were lucky etc, etc. If the club had an anthem at that time it was probably Simple Minds' "Don't You Forget About Me", which I freely admit dancing and singing along to when trying to gain the attention of females. And yes, it was one of those clubs that always ended with a couple of slow ballads at which point all the young lovers paired off, clasping each other tightly in a drunken embrace, swaying inelegantly whilst crudely groping each other and munching each other's faces off. Some nights I was one of the lucky ones playing tonsil tennis, but other nights not so lucky, reduced to standing awkwardly at the side of the dancefloor nursing a pint along with all the other sad bastards who failed to score.

But it all seemed so innocent looking back now. Back then, nobody in Yate knew anything about ecstasy or even marijuana. Alcohol and tobacco were the strongest drugs on the menu. We all got dressed-up for a night out at Spirals - the girls in their little frilly dresses, tottering on white stillettos, with freshly permed hair, the boys in a regulation uniform of white shirt, tie and dark trousers (you weren't allowed in with jeans and trainers!). I found this old photo of me taken one night in '88 just before heading out to Spirals (see left) , which kinda sums up the image. Ghastly, innit?!! Looks like I was still pretending that I didn't need glasses back then, too. I think the reason why white was such a popular colour to wear was cos it would go all fluorescent-purple when the laser lights were on. You became, in effect, a human glow-stick. Cool or what?! But the fact remains that whilst a cultural revolution was taking place elsewhere in the country, I was worlds away in this shitty little dump, locked in a depressing cycle of booze, birds, smart white shirts and Simple fucking Minds.

Yet strangely it was this scenario that facilitated my House Music epiphany. I was already well into various forms of electronic music by that stage, following a lonely path through Hip Hop, Industrial, EBM etc, but it actually took me a little while to really warm to this new Chicago sound that everyone was getting excited/annoyed about. I was appreciating some of the early crossover hits like Steve 'Silk' Hurley's "Jack Your Body", but at that point it was still a sort of novelty thing - nobody yet knew just how important those early signs were. The 'moment of clarity' hit me on the dancefloor one night. The fact that I was wankered on booze at Spirals rather than E'd up in a field is fucking irrelevant as far as I'm concerned. To be honest I never bought into that whole Rave dream anyway, I've always been more of a cosmopolitan clubber; more of a drinker than a pill-popper. But what was the track that triggered the thunder-clap in my psyche?

HOUSEMASTER BOYS & THE RUDE BOYS OF HOUSE - HOUSE NATION

I dunno what possessed the resident DJ to start dropping that tune, but it was the first big House anthem at Spirals and all the kids went nuts when it came on. Imagine all those fairly 'straight', naive, exclusively caucasion youths, dressed in their posh clobber flaring fluorescent purpley-white, bouncing around excitedly to House Nation's relentless 4/4 throb for the first time, with the laser's emerald green beams tracing weird scribbles across the dancefloor, penetrating through thick clouds of dry ice, flashing in time to the electronic handclap rolls and mind-bendingly repetitive "ow-ow ow-ow-ow-ow 'owse nation!" sample. That first volley of four crash cymbals leading into the closed hi-hats on 1/6ths still takes my fucking breath away. And the bassline just sucks me in everytime. Maybe it's not one of the most widely revered of the Chicago classics, but in terms of impact on me personally, "House Nation" is up there with the greats.

Maybe this was the start of a whole new attitude at Spirals, but if so I didn't get to see it. Within a few months I'd left home to live in a damp, freezing flat above a hairdressing salon in central Bristol and start building a life for myself. A few years later, having risen to middle management in the civil service, I took a young lad called Paul under my wing. He was a Yate boy too and only about five years younger than me, but during our occasional conversations I learned that in the intervening years since my departure, Yate had become a total Skunk hole, with all the kids smoking huge amounts of weed and listening to Ragga. Spirals doesn't exist anymore. Last time I was in Yate, I noticed that the building was now a Pool Hall or something. It's gone forever, which is hardly important in the grand scheme of things, but it was a small part of my life that I now have very fond, if slightly hazy, memories of.

RARE TRAX

Looking through my collection of early House, Techno, Jack Trax etc, I'm ashamed to admit it's nearly all compilation albums/cassettes and UK re-presses. My limited 'beer and vinyl' budget back then didn't stretch to buying expensive American imports, plus I had no serious interest in djing at that time. Since then my obsessive music collecting habits have never reached the point where I have to own original pressings, so it doesn't bother me too much. Consequently I don't really have much in the way of classic, collectible releases from that period. But here's one I'm currently in possession of:

I'd love to claim that this record is mine, but it actually belongs to my mate Mike (who I mentioned a few weeks ago). I taped it off him many years ago, but was going through some of his records in his loft a few months back looking for anything worth ripping, came across it again and persuaded him to let me borrow it. I think it looks better in my collection...hope he doesn't ask for it back!

I met Mike through my first proper job, when we both worked as junior admin. staff in the Department Of Environment in the late '80s. Although he's now somewhat removed from the whole underground scene (basically, he grew up!), back then Mike was a bit of a mentor. Although only a few months older than me, he was an inner city lad, born and raised, and seemed so much more 'switched-on' than most people I knew from the days in Yate. He smoked weed regularly, already had an impressive collection of tunes, and vaguely knew some of the people who would go on to revolutionise Bristolian music (Massive Attack, Roni Size, etc) . We'd sometimes go out vinyl hunting together on our lunch break (often spending our entire monthly budget on pay day!) and we eventually invested in some cheap decks and a mixer (the same gear that I was still using until very recently) planning our rise to DJ stardom. Although broadly similar, our tastes weren't exactly the same - Mike was more focused on hip hop and smoother House tunes, whilst I was into darker, more experimental stuff, but that was part of the fun - the exchange of viewpoints and ideas. Also bare in mind that back then Electronic Dance Music was nowhere near as segregated and compartmentalised as it is now. It was a very healthy, exciting and open-minded time.

But back to this record...I believe it's a genuine, original imported Trax release from 1988 (although the label is printed in inverse colours to the one shown on Discogs?!). It's still got the price sticker on it, which shows how much Mike paid for it at the time:

Doesn't seem much now, but nine quid was pretty expensive back then. I've no idea what it's worth these days. It's an eight-track various artists LP featuring classic cuts from Armando, Mr. Lee and Pier's Phuture Pfantasy Club, with the whole of side two by Jack Frost & The Circle Jerks. For years I had no idea that Jack Frost was actually Adonis (most famous for the brilliant "No Way Back") but I always loved these incredibly primitive, ultra-repetitive acid workouts. As far as I can tell, only "Shout" has been re-issued in recent years (on "Acid Classics" in 2004), so can't resist sharing a couple of the others...

JACK FROST & THE CIRCLE JERKS - COOL & DRY

JACK FROST & THE CIRCLE JERKS - TWO THE MAX

I was already formulating this post when someone at Dissensus linked to this Pitchfork article. It's a fascinating series of quotes from some of the big names in the early Chicago and Detroit scenes which significantly expands on what is already known about the relationship between the two cities. I was particularly interested in the section on Roland drum machines, as it's an area that I've sometimes pondered on. Just listening to the records, you can tell that the TR-808 was quite popular with both communities, yet the TR-707 was very dominate in Chicago whilst the TR-909 was favoured in Detroit, and this article goes some way to explaining that. For those who might not know the difference, on the above Jack Frost tracks "Cool & Dry" uses a TR-707, whilst "Two The Max" is driven by an 808, with just the right amount of gated reverb on the snare.

One thing that isn't addressed is Roland's TB-303, the bassline generator used to create that distinctive squelchly noise, first discovered by DJ Pierre, which is the basis of the Acid sound. I sometimes wonder why it wasn't used much by the Detroit crew. Presumably they didn't want to emulate the Chicago sound, but when you consider that Alexander Robotnick's 303-driven Euro hit "Problemes D'amore" was such a massive influence in Detroit it seems curious that they didn't at least embrace the unique swooping accented basslines that only the 303's onboard sequencer could create. Maybe someone else might know about loads of Detroit 303 tunes (I certainly don't claim to be an expert), but the only one that immediately springs to my mind is this one:

KEVIN SAUNDERSON - THE GROOVE THAT WON'T STOP

Recorded in March 1988, this Saunderson tune fuses a perfect 303 acid squiggle with the kind of busy 909 beats, emotionally charged arrangements and structure that could only have been made in the Motor City. Wonderful stuff!

Before I go, here's another one from Kevin, recorded the previous year under his Reese guise. It's was an attempt to bring in an eerie soundtrack vibe to Detroit's tuff funk grooves and paved the way for some of the darker tracks that were to follow. The reason I include it here will be made clear in a later retro post. I just wanted to make sure everyone was familiar with it for comparison purposes...

REESE - ROCK TO THE BEAT

"The way I interpret music is different from other people. I think a lot of music sounds great basic. I try to keep it simple. It's not weird to me but for some people it's so different, they say it's weird. It's electronic dance music."

Kevin Saunderson.

CAN I GET A RELOAD?

The link to ElSid's mix appears to be dead, so this one's for 'anonymous' and anyone else who missed it:

HOTFLUSH NOV.05

There's also a new mix by his partner in crime Paul Rose (in his guise as Skuba) doing the rounds this week. Interesting to see the contrasting vision, with Paul's gloriously self-serving, monomaniacal selection focusing on stiff half-step patterns, plunging cyberdub vibrations, economically applied splashes of spikey melody and amorphous reverberating textures. Quite similar to a DMZ set in some ways, but Paul's definately finding his own sound. I find his purist/minimalist approach just as stimulating as El Sid's eclectic/maximalist vibe. I don't know these guys at all, but on the strength of these new mixes one could assume that they have quite different ideas about where the underground is heading. Maybe I'm reading too much into it, but there's nothing wrong necessarily with a partnership in conflict as long as it stays healthy and open-minded. I would've been interested to see how they worked together when back-to-back at Noir last Friday, but it clashed with Plasticman's Level gig, so I had to pass on it. Maybe next time...

SKUBA MIX 22/11/05

BTTB-X-Series: Scuba
22.11.2005: 22.01 Uhr, FSK
Scuba - "Dub #1" (No Info 2005)
Scuba - "Kill Me" (No Info 2005)
Scuba - "Words" (No Info 2005)
Scuba - "Thump" (No Info 2005)
Scuba - "Plate" (No Info 2005)
Scuba - "Sleepa" (No Info 2005)
Distance - "Nomad (Scuba Re-Edit)" (No Info 2005)
Scuba - "Harpoon" (No Info 2005)
Scuba - "Aqualung" (No Info 2005)
Scuba - "Brown" (No Info 2005)
Scuba - "Timba" (Hotflush 2005)
Scuba - "Dream" (No Info 2005)
Scuba - "Thank U" (No Info 2005)

(Thanks to THC for discovering and hosting!)

Regardless of my ill-founded observations, the immediate future looks very bright for Hotflush, with the second Skuba EP due to drop before the end of this year, followed closely by the eagerly awaited 'Remix Series' early in '06. Keep an eye on their blog and website for updates.

By the way, I've got several 'vintage' Hotflush mixes in my archives - Paul's "Dub 'n' Breaks" mix from Feb. '04, plus another more recent one (no date specified, but I think it was from early this year), El Sid's "Collectibles" from Feb. 05 and a Pyrotechnics session from 27th May '05. As far as I'm aware none of these are currently available as an MP3 download, so if anyone missed them first time and is interested in checking a bit of Hotflush evolution, give me a shout and I'll reload them as well (assuming there's no objections?!).

PLASTIC FANTASTIC

Had a tremendous time at the Level club last night. Plasticman was once again unbe-fucking-lievably great. This time he was using his laptop with one of those clever programs that allows you to manipulate digital files using a standard turntable, giving him the flexibility and control that can only be achieved with a proper deck but still pushing new digital innovation. After a shaky start due to problems with one of the styli, Plastic proceeded to completely melt my brain with a crucial selection of beats. Not many of his own tracks though. True, he played "Cha" and "Vio-lent" but also Wiley's "Merkle" and "Ice Cream Man" (that's the one with the bleepy sound like a bar-code reader) , Slew Dem's "Grime EP", Skream's "Request Line" (was that a brief 4x4 remix I heard in there somewhere too?!) and the classic "What" by Wonder among many others. But it's the way it all gets channeled through Plastic's consciousness that makes it so special. I haven't heard any dj who can match 'n' mash beats as precisely and spectacularly as the Plasticman. Listening to him last night, or on any of his recorded mixes, I'm often struck by that 'what the fuck is this?!' sensation - there's a blinding culture-shock newness about the best Grime that, for me, is at it's most mind-fuckingly extreme when orchestrated by the guiding hand of Plasticman. There just aren't any reference points for this sound. It's like music's just been invented all over again and, for a jaded old raver like me, that's something to be truly treasured. His confidence seems unstoppable now. State of the art, at every level.

Maximum respect to Pinch, Blazey, Joker and the various MCs providing first-class support. Zero respect for Lethal Bizzle for failing to show up. Big-up Appleblim, Wedge, Tom and the gang for reaching, plus the surprise appearance of Jamie from Vex'd, who happened to be in town on 'business'. A pleasure, each and every...

Special mention for my bloggin' colleagues Psychbloke and Kek-W for attending, although Psychbloke left early as per usual and missed all the fun - here's his brief post on the subject. Kek came up all the way from Yoevil. Although he's been writing fairly regularly about grime and dubstep, I think this was the first event he's been to and, judging by his own post, he had a great time, even if he was the oldest swinger in town (I'm a spring chicken compared to Kek - I just hope I'm as enthusiastic about new music when I get to his age!). Kek's excellent account of the evening pretty much covers everything else so I wont bother repeating it. My only slight grievence was that the PA wasn't bassy enough and far too trebley - I was getting mild tinitus, which I don't normally experience at these sort of events. Plasticman and entourage were all heading over to Noir afterwards, and I reckon Kek would've gone along as well, but it was 2am and I'd had enough so we agreed to call it a night. Great to see him again anyway, and hope he bagged a few tunes at Rooted this morning before heading back home.

BLISS-BLEEPS

In one of my occasional e-mail exchanges with the mighty Blissblogger, Simon recounted how he recently played out some classic bleep 'n' bass, with a set that sounds uncannily similar to my own at Ruffnek Discotek a couple of months ago:

"I actually deejayed Geeta's birthday at Sub-Tonic at the weekend (clashing with Kode 9 who was playing a few blocks away) and did a 1990 set (cos that was when she first got into music seriously), played some 'Baggy' (One Dove, Stone Roses) but it was mostly Bleep -- you would have enjoyed it, inept mixing aside! -- and then I went from Warp/Unique 3, etc straight into Loefah's 'Bombay Squad' and Skream's 'Request Line' (thought I'd merk Kode 9 !) . The crowd (slight exaggeration) really dug it, heavy sub-dub presha."

Cool! Wish I'd been there to witness it. One of the things I found when assembling the tracks for my dj set was that, once you get past 'Warp/Unique 3', it's actually quite difficult to find other truly great, timeless Bleep classics. Sure, lots of tunes sounded nice to my ears in a nostalgic way, but it's hard to imagine how they'd make much impression on a new audience today. Thinking about it, a lot of UK House and Techno in those days was quite tepid in the sense that it focused on being soulful and smooth with very little aggressive content; very much in awe of it's Chicago and Detroit influences, which is probably why I was still listening to a lot of rhythm-heavy Industrial stuff (Front Line Assembly, Ministry, etc) and also taking a keen interest in the new hardcore sounds emanating from Belgium, which seemed to have a much heavier quantity of 'darkness' - an element I've always been drawn towards. But more on that another time - it's getting late here and I realise that I havn't prepared anything for this week's retro post. I know I keep hinting about recording a Bleepy mix for download, but right now my expectations for it are far greater than my actual capabilities! But I've been gradually ripping some of the old vinyls, so for now here's a couple of the tunes lying around in my harddrive. I don't think either of these are currently available anywhere legally, but if anyone knows different let me know and I'll remove 'em.

FORGEMASTERS - STRESS

Someone mentioned this one in my comments box last week, so thought I'd share it with you lot. It's definitely one of my favourites of the period, really pushing the sound into new experimental areas. It's from "The Black Steel EP", released on Network Records in 1991.

UBIK - HARMONISE ME

From the "System Overload EP", released on Zoom Records in the same year. One of the guys from Ubik has a little tribute site here. I really like this track, and I played it at Ruffnek. Dunno why really...too tired to even try explaining. I'm off to bed - I need my beauty sleep if I'm gonna manage the Plasticman gig tomorrow night.

VIDEO NASTY

Earlier this evening I was hanging out with my eldest kid in his bedroom, watching him on one of his Playstation games. I'm not really into those things myself. I'm not very good at them and the games are too complicated for my little brain to cope with. For some reason I started lecturing him about how simple, addictive and totally brilliant computer games were when I was a lad. My generation were the first computer game obsessives, trading cassettes in lunch break at school filled with all manner of primitive bleepy zero-pixel gaming nonsense and loading them into our ZX Spectrums and Vic-20s. Then I started regaling him with fond memories of the original iconic video game: Space Invaders. It came out as an arcade machine in the late '70s and was an overnight sensation. Whenever I saw one stationed in a public place I'd be pestering my dad for 10 pence (or however much it cost back then) so I could play it. My son seemed vaguely interested in what I was saying (which is quite unusual these days), so I thought I'd have a look on the internet and see if there was anything I could show him to illustrate what Space Invaders was all about. Lo' and behold, straight away we found this site, which covers the history of the game, along with many images, wallpapers, screen savers, merchandise etc, etc. AND....you can actually play the original game on your PC, for free. It does a pretty fine job of replicating the original graphics, along with that particular bloopy music that accompanied it. My boy found it quite amusing...a bit like looking at cave paintings for him, I suppose. He soon got bored and went off to do his thing, leaving me staring at the screen and drinking in the nostalgia for something that hadn't even crossed my mind for years. Problem is, I'm already getting addicted to playing it again. I've only just managed to tear myself away to tell you lot about it. This is bad fucking news. If the blog goes quiet for a few days...you know why.

PS. Don't play the game!!! It'll have you in it's grip quicker than a month's supply of crack cocaine.

Don't say I didn't warn you...

AOTEAROAN STEPPAZ

PROPERTY OF HELL SCIENCE DEPT

00:00 Capslock
04:38 Bill Trouble
13:55 W.T.F.O
17:12 Dubmugga
23:11 Grrrind
31:25 Sparticle (feat. Jordan Reyne)
35:53 Winter Mourning
39:58 Rainforest

Regular visitors to the Dubstep forum will no doubt be familiar with Dubmugga, the outspoken mouthpiece of New Zealand underground production team Hell Science Dept who, along with Baddie, are the only artists (that I know of) pushing dubstep influences on the Kiwi Isles. Listening to their mix, I was impressed by the production quality, in particular the drum programming which is hard and 'steppy' whilst maintaining an undeniably fluid funk factor that I could envisage working in, say, a Search & Destroy set. One big difference I'm feeling is Hell Science's willingness to get into longer, extended exercises in repetition. It's almost trancey, though not in the sense of Trancey Techno, more like 'eyes rolling in the back of head' voodoo mantra trancey - a sense of losing oneself in the rhythm of the drums, which is quite sharply in contrast with UK underground's emphasis on head-nodding bassline skank and restless, angular beats.

One thing I would've liked would be a few more riffs and melodies to add some extra 'hookiness' to the barrage of beats, bass and atmospheric dub effects. When I put this to Dubmugga he kind of agreed:

"Yeah, we got an old keyboard that just needs midi'd up so we can actually play melodies and stuff in real time as opposed to step-editing them in. Hence the lack of melodies cos it's a li'l bit hard faking subtle nuances one note at a time by shuffling little boxes around on a screen."

Also, I was thinking the basslines could be a bit more upfront and twisted ('wobbly') to get the UK scene's attention. Dubmugga responds:

"The wobbly bass thing is something we are almost trying to steer clear of cos it's almost expected and we don't really want to clone anybody's sound to the point where we even try to keep the beats pretty straight. Might do a Toasty/Boxcutter/Ve'xd type one for a change..."

I know that Dubmugga is keen to point out that, although influenced by dubstep, he doesn't see himself as being a part the whole dubplate culture thing we've got over here. So what are the aims of Hell Science, and how do they wish to be perceived...?

"I'm hoping we can carve out a little niche for ourselves with a readily identifiable sound that still registers with the dubstep community yet reflects the geographically altered strain of the musical virus which went underground after UKG died and mutated to spontaneously appear all over the globe as dubstep."

Hopefully this will be a good start...

OUT WITH THE NEW, IN WITH THE OLD: LET THE BASS KICK

Thanks for all the suggestions for other web hosting services. Some interesting options there, but I'm not gonna financially commit to anything until after Xmas. For now I'm just gonna be disseminating audio information by any means necessary. Aside from my own miniscule 100mb server space, Yousendit is limited but useful, whilst Rapidshare offers no restrictions on number of downloads, but only allows 50mb uploads at a time and you have to be a paid-up member to get hi-speed downloads. I've uploaded a couple of mixes that I wanted to keep online to Rapidshare and changed the links accordingly. It ain't perfect but it'll have to do for now. As I said previously, if anyone wants a mix that's currently offline, e-mail me and I'll get it to you somehow.

My server space is now cleared out completely. So what now? Well, there's a couple of mixes forthcoming at some point soon, and I'll figure out what to do with them when the time comes. But actually this situation is coinciding with my urge to get back into some 'traditional' MP3 blogging. I haven't been sharing individual full-length tracks for quite a while now, the main reason being that I've gotten too deep into the dubstep scene, to the point where I actually feel involved, rather than simply observing/appreciating, and I would feel uncomfortable sharing out tunes by people who, in a weird sort of way, I feel like I know and feel concerned for their rights and their welfare. The whole thing with me practicing my mixing and buying new decks etc is all about trying to create better MP3 mixes (which seems to be the acceptable way to share the music online) so that I can spread these amazing tracks as far and wide as possible without feeling that I'm hurting anyone or messing with record sales, etc. But it's so difficult! Nevertheless I'm gonna keep plugging away at it.

But then what about sharing a few older tunes? Since I 'dismantled' the Gutterbox back in the summer I haven't been pushing any classic cuts online, which is partly down to laziness and partly because I've been so obsessed with following the zeitgeist that I didn't have any appetite for it. But now I reckon it's time I started reppin' some old skool beats again, to once again start looking back at where I'm from, rather than only where I'm at. I'm aiming to do one post a week, with maybe 3 or 4 MP3s per post from now on. Here's the first selection, featuring some bass-heavy electronic shit from three different phases of dance muzik evolution...

N-JOI - RHYTHM ZONE

It's 1991. Drum'n'bass does not exist, yet electronic dance music is possibly at it's all time commercial peak, with all kinds of extreme ravey 12 inch sounds from London to Ghent ram-raiding the charts on a weekly basis. It sounds implausible now, but at the time it really seemed that the majors were running scared under an onslaught of independent releases from a rapidly expanding army of underground dance labels. Although easily bracketed into the 'chart-busting rave' category, N-Joi knew their production chops and had the enviable ability to combine sonic depth with accessible arrangements. "Rhythm Zone" comes from the "Adrenalin" EP (#23 chart hit in March '91) , and shows them at their most stealthy and intense, with sub bass pressure points worthy of any soundsystem fiend's attention, and enough bleep-factor to keep me excited nearly 15 years later.

NEURO-PROJECT - WIZARD OF THE FOUR WINDS

It's 1993. Drum'n'bass almost exists, in the form of early prototype darkcore/jungle. Everyone seems to have fond memories of that stuff now, but not many care to reminisce over the the golden age off album-orientated 'intelligent techno' that was developing in parallel. True, there was some absolute rubbish coming out, but still loads of fantastic music too that still moves me to this day, whenever I return to it. Neuro Project's solitary release was the album "The Electric Mothers Of Invention" on the Liverpool-based Three Beat label. I had a magazine article about them, but I seem to have lost it somewhere over the years, so can't tell you much about them, other than what it says on the sleeve notes (hey, wait a minute - "additional production on track 4 by Chris Reed" - wow, Plasticman would've only been about 10 years old back then, how'd he manage that?!). Anyway, they were a three-piece unit, augmented by several guest musicians and the album in general still sounds pretty listenable, covering most of the bases of the electronica spectrum at that time. But it's the twelve minute long "Wizard Of The Four Winds" that really sticks out for me now. Seriously dubbed-out head music, with a relentless bass undertow, strong eastern melodies and rumbling digeredoo drones. Almost like dubstep if it went from half-step to genuinely downtempo chilled-beats. Also reminds me of some of the stuff The Agriculture are releasing these days. Roll yerself a fat one and get hip to this shit, kids...

NINE MILE DUB - HOW IS IT POSSIBLE?

Who? Actually it's one of the many pseudonyms used by Richard H. Kirk who, as far as I'm concerned, is the father of modern music. Since his early '70s experiments in Sheffield with Cabaret Voltaire, Kirk has ploughed a singular path that has seen him embrace everything from dub, avant-funk, electro, techno, ambient and beyond. He definitely gets my vote for Greatest Living Englishman. This particular track was recorded sometime between 1995-97, but only released last year on the URP Vol. 3 'unreleased projects' collection. To all intents and purposes, this is dubstep, albeit an extremely prescient prototype. The way the rhythm functions at two different tempos, with the kick/snare on the halfbeat offset by the busy hi-hats is halfstep by any other name. Over the years Kirk has acquired an enviable arsenal of outboard fx gear, which he uses here to devastating effect for some truly vicious distorted delays. It's a mixing desk dubsession in the truest sense. I'm starting to hear something approaching that analogue-saturated echo extremity in some of Loefah's latest productions. I've been following Kirk's output religiously for 20 years now. Listening to a track like this, I guess it's hardly surprising that I felt such a natural affinity for dubstep...

LONG LIVE THE BLOGS!!

Okay, firstly a big thanks to everyone who left comments and e-mails over the last couple of days. Sometimes my conviction gets a bit shaky, so it's good to get a lift from you guys. The old egos firmly back in place now, so looks like I'm gonna keep spouting bullshit at this blog for a while yet. Then there's the contents of my real inbox this morning:

A promo of DJ Maxximus' "Bass The World" mix CD straight outta Germany, plus a cd-r of fresh joints all the way from New Zealand, courtesy of Hell Science Dept. The international community reaches out to the Gutta once again - it fucking exciting and deeply humbling at the same time. I'd be crazy to throw in the towel now. The story ain't finished yet.

A couple of points raised that need answering...

Robert thinks I should try blogging less often, which might be true. I'll tell you why I post so regularly: Guilt. I just can't seem to summon the strength to write those longer, more involved posts I was doing earlier in the year, and my insecure little brain thinks that by firing out lots of less substantial posts I can make up for it. That's fucked-up, isn't it?

The thing about comments. I do get a bit frustrated sometimes when I don't get much reaction to (what I consider to be) open-ended posts that invite opinion. But I know I get my fair share of comments, and I know I'm as guilty of not leaving them at other blogs. How do you think my man Patternloader must feel? Dunno how many hits he's getting, but here's a guy out in Milwaukee regularly writing thoughtful, deeply personal posts on his life and music and getting practically no feedback whatsoever! Dirt, innit.

Which brings me to Cyclic Defrost's suggestion that many people "just read the RSS feeds of various blogs". Probably some truth in that, but these site feeds are useful for keeping track of blog updates. I'm currently using Kinja to track blogs. It seems to be working okay and I like the way it only gives you the first couple of lines of a blog entry - you have to physically (in the most abstract sense, of course) visit the actual blog to read the whole post. Call me a sentimental prick, but I like to actually enter a blogger's personal space when reading their work. It just seems more personal than an endless stream of entries on a site feed. It's really easy to set up your own Kinja digest, and if you're still navigating the blogosphere manually, I reckon you should give it a go. Or just check my Kinja digest regularly (the button is always at the bottom of my links bar). Quite a few blogs on there that aren't on my blogroll here (I've been a bit lazy with updates I'm afraid). Also, any bloggers out there who aren't on my Kinja list who think they should be, get in touch! Let's keep the blogger momentum alive. And yes, Paul - you gotta get back on the blog trail too!

Btw, thanks to Headphone Sex for the link to this article on 'blogger-speak'. Haha! To be honest, most blogs I read seem to write in a pretty straight forward fashion, but I quite like the idea of a whole new language ('Bloglish'?!) developing from the frenzied minds of the bloggers. One of the problems I have with writing reviews, especially with instrumental music, is that it's hard not to keep repeating yourself with the same descriptive terms. Maybe I should just start making up some crazy batshit and let you lot try to figure out what I mean? I'm gonna start writing about "mong-tastic lightcone somascapes", "polarity-reversing neutron flows", "steel gate ionosphere trax","turd-inducing lofreq plexi-shimmers" and "fully fermented fruits of tha Fruity" from now on!

RINSING IT

Speaking of Rinse FM (well actually I wasn't, but Blackdown was), my constant companion for the past few weeks has been the epic 6xCD "Rinsessions Vol.1" mixtape pack. Each CD features hour-long mixes from some of the station's biggest names in Grime, including Roll Deep, Ruff Squad and DJ Slimzee (which all feature instrumentals with live mc's spitting mercilessly over the top, and yes - Roll Deep spin Skream's "Request Line" - the only evidence of dubstep's existence on the whole package!), a 'vocal grime' mix from Logan Sama which I'm enjoying far more than I thought I would (although I wish Logan hadn't doused his voice in so much reverb - it sounds too glossy/muddy) and a straight ahead UK Garage disc from Jiggy B, which sounds like pop music by comparison. My copy is one of the first 500 with the bonus DVD of interviews too (thanks to Tom @ Rooted for tracking down a copy for me).

All good, and a nice overview of the current state of Grime for those of us who don't follow that side of things so closely. But of course for me it's all about the Plasticman disc, surely one of his most amazing mixdowns so far. It's a four-deck mix featuring 51 tracks over the space of 60 minutes, and it blows my mind every time. Plastic is so fucking on it that words fail me. Kneel to the Boss, muthafuckaz! Along with established riddims like Slew Dem's "Grime EP" (that's the one with the 'machine-gun' snares that I've been a bit obsessed with since I first heard Kode 9 spin it on Rinse a few months ago - finally got hold of my own copy this month, but the instrumental version's only a couple of minutes long! Jammer's vocal version is brilliant though), IMP Batch's "Gimp", Mark One's "Plodder" and Jammer's "Murkel Man" (brilliant, once again), there's plenty of fresh beats to explore, like Plastic's own "Funeral Vibes", featuring superb haunting pads that remind me of Aphex circa "Selected Ambient Works" (yeah, its that good - please let it be on the album, along with the equally brilliant "A Walk In The Car Park" - not included in this mix unfortunately). One of my favourite sections is a real surprise moment ( also displaying Plastic's sense of humour) when he drops the instrumental of Mariah Carey's "We Belong Together" under an acapella of Crazy Titch's "Singalong" (trust me, it works) and from there straight into the "Cha VIP" - one of the biggest adrenalin rushes I've experienced in...ooooh...decades. The other big surprise comes right at the end, when he finishes with a grimey bootleg of "Planet Rock" by Ed DMX. I wonder if Plasticman's ever heard the original?!

Of course it's a bit disappointing that no dubstep djs were involved in the project (at least N-Type got to design the sleeve!) , but believe me - the Plasticman disc is worth the price of admission alone. Besides, six CDs for under 20 quid? Fuckin' bargain, mate! Comes in a fat DVD case too. If you buy this, along with Youngsta's purist "Dubstep Allstars Vol.2" and the new "Back To The Underground" mix CD from Search & Destroy & Quiet Storm, you'll have a pretty good overview of what's been happening on Rinse this year.

Whilst I'm all hyped about Plasticman again, it gives me great pleasure to announce his return to Bristol later this month, supporting Grime superstar Lethal Bizzle at the Level club on Friday 25th, with additional support from our own Pinch and Blazey.

This looks pretty unmissable to me. Who's up for it? Unfortunately this event clashes with Noir at the Blue Mountain club, so looks like I'll have to miss seeing Slaughter Mob and Hotflush in action. Shame, cos I would've enjoyed linking with Paul and El Sid, and I've heard reports that their set at DMZ was excellent (even though most of the audience had left by that point!). ThinKing's concept of showcasing breaks-affiliated dubstep crews at D'n'B events seems like a good move in terms of spreading the knowledge, and I will reach a future Noir , but put me in a corner and I've gotta go with the breakless pure futurism of Plasticman and co. everytime.

WOEBOT & THE BLOGS

Well it's already big news at other blogs, but I gotta add my piece. Y'know for the past few months I've been entertaining serious ideas about quitting the blog life, due to an increasing sense of irrelevance and the irrepressible feeling that all the energy was in the forums these days. Maintaining the blog seemed almost like an egotistical urge to maintain a certain cult of personality, when logic told me to just let my consciousness dissolve into the forum matrix - to become just one tiny fragment of the group mind. Yesterday my blog identity hit an all time low, partly due to Simon's decision to end his long-standing and highly respected blog Silverdollarcircle, and also the fact that Blackdown snubbed the bloggers in his Pitchfork article (and it's not a case of bigging anyone up Martin, it's about stating the facts). So yeah, I was pretty dispirited with the whole thing, yet somehow managed to tear yesterday's Rinsessions post from my guts in an effort to prove to myself that I still had something to say. Did I succeed? Dunno. Only one person felt inspired to leave a comment. I never understood why some blogs don't have comments boxes. For me blogging is a two-way thing. Gutterbreakz represents my headspace, but if nobody responds to it and stimulates me in return then what's the point? (incidentaly, have you checked Random Generator recently? The lack of comments has led him to honing his MP3 blog down to the absolute bare essentials. It's like "you can't be bothered, so why should I?" and I completely understand his reasons). There was a time when my comments box was a busy place, but now it's usually derelict - further proof that the forums are where it's at now.

But there is hope. Back in January this year Matt 'Woebot' Ingram, Wire contributor, one of the most respected bloggers ever and a personal inspiration for my own entry into blogdom, made the same decision that I have recently been hurtling towards: go with the forums. He created his own forum Dissensus and retired his blog indefinitely. But now, suddenly, he's back! Great timing Matt, you've lifted my spirits no end! I don't always agree with everything Matt writes about (still completely mystified by his dismissal of dubstep) but he expresses himself so brilliantly on so many topics. Take his recent thoughts on objectivity in music journalism, for instance. He totally nails that one - I hate boring objectivity too - and I'm totally biased and always favouring like-minded people who contact me and send me tunes, etc. But it's an unconscious thing that I'd never analysed before - Matt illustrates his point beautifully and hits me right between the eyes, makes me realise what I've been doing all this time (and will continue to do!) . Mind you, I have to take issue with him for not knowing about the Testone video. I thought you read my blog, mate?! Obviously not, otherwise you would've known about it! Congratulations on your return, anyway. Long live Woebot! The blogs will rise again!!

YOUR 12-STEP RECOVERY PROGRAM...

Gutterbreakz FM - November 2005

playlist:
Hell Science Dept - Cold Tap (dub)
Appleblim - Girder (forthcoming on Skulldisco)
S.N.O. - God Loves a Tryer (Terrain)
Skream - Skunk Step (Big Apple)
Skream - Affekz Rmx (Southside)
SLT Mob - Pull Up (Urban Graffiti)
Search & Destroy - Killamanjaro (Destructive)
Warlock - TV Controls Your Mind (Rag & Bone)
F1 - I Hate You (Southside)
Agent X - Killohertz - Alias Rmx (Heatseeker Recordings)
Imp Batch - Fusion - EJ Rmx (A.R.M.Y. Bullet)
Black Ops (DJ Dread-D) - Are 1 (L.D. Cats)

My first mix with the new decks, though I'm afraid they haven't magically turned me into a great dj. If anything it's even more inept and pitiful than usual, which I ascribe to the fact that I'm 'breaking them in' and they respond to touch in a different (probably more accurate) way to the old belt-drives. Never mind, give me six months with these babies and hopefully I'll be able to call myself a 'competent' dj at last. But for now it's all work in progress - guaranteed raw, live and messy. Gutter skillz alert! Still, 'God Loves A Tryer', innit?

Wicked selection of tunes though, if I say so myself. We kick off with a lush exclusive from the Hell Science Department that seems to be coming from the same zone as much of the material on the Vex'd album - harsh beats with spacious, atmospheric arrangements sending shivers down my spine everytime. Hopefully be hearing some more from these guys soon. Hot talent!! Also finally got my hands on the first release from N-Type's Terrain Records, and about bloody time too! He was spinning these tunes on Rinse and saying the EP was 'coming out soon' back in the summer. S.N.O. is apparently some kid from Manchester. The North will rise again!

Two tunes from Skream this month. I dunno, you wait for new material for ages and then two EPs hit the streets at the same time. The Southside EP is only a limited (and pricey!) test pressing at the moment though. Not sure when (and if) the full release will appear, but keep yer eyes peeled. And don't forget that "Request Line/I" has finally arrived, although I haven't actually picked that one up yet. To be honest I've heard those tunes so many times in mixes over the past few months I'm almost bored with them! But of course I'll be purchasing a copy regardless very soon. My man Kek's enjoying it anyway.

Some new personal discoveries including Warlock, who's material on Rag & Bone packs a serious punch. Check his biog at their website. Seems like he's been around as long as I have, which might explain the hard techno edge in some his productions. Nice to hear some brutal kick drums and busy 909 hi-hat patterns again on "TV Controls Your Mind". Then there's F1, who's had a couple of releases on Southside Recordings which I'm very impressed by. Don't have any info on this artist yet though. Anyone care to enlighten me?

Possibly one of my favourite tunes of the year is "Fusion" by Imp Batch (their "Gimp" is pretty sexy too), specialising in dramatic yet extremely catchy orchestral hooks that make me wanna go nuts and pogo around the room like an imbecile everytime I hear it. Why isn't this in the Top 10 National Charts?! Moving to the other extreme, I've been picking up quite a few Jon E Cash/Black Ops releases recently, including the mighty "Cash Beat", but had to go for DJ Dread-D's totally bonkers "Are 1" which simply defies classification. I reckon he must've been off his tits when he programmed that beat, which sounds like a Sublow/Jazz/Rock/Improv band falling down a flight of stairs. Enjoy...

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Looks like I'm not the only blogger who fancies himself as a dj. I notice this week that both Dozer and Headphone Sex are having a stab at recording their own extended MP3 showcases, both coming from very different angles. Dozer's latest Dozercast explores the outer limits of electronica in an unmixed form, interspersed oddities from the past cut with random found dialogue, whilst James' first attempt at a mix came out remarkably well. Ignore his comments about a 'few dodgy bits' - his mixing makes me look like a right fool! Mind you, if I stuck to 4/4 disco beats like that I'd probably have a bit more success.

Good on ya, lads!

EASY ALL...

Returned home early yesterday to find that my next door neighbour had taken delivery of the 'as new' Stanton turntables I bought off e-bay (see pic in previous post). Wahey! Okay, so they're not exactly Technics, but these entry-level direct drives are a big step up from those crappy belt-drive decks I was working with before, and I got them pretty cheap. Plus a fresh wad of vinyl that I ordered whilst away had also arrived (Blackmarket's delivery service super-fast, as always. Also ordered a couple of releases from Independence Records for the first time ever. Too pricey, but I needed those tunes. Excellent service there as well.) Spent nearly £100 on tunes. Now that's what I call retail therapy!

But what to do with the old decks? I'm gonna give 'em to my old buddy Mike. Or perhaps I should say 'relinquish my stake in their ownership', as we bought those decks between us many years ago. We wanted to make it as djs, but never really got very far. Basically, if anyone we knew was throwing a party, we'd turn up with our gear and play, sometimes right through till dawn. Ahhh, great days. But like most of my long-term friends (all now in their mid-thirties/early- forties) Mike let his music obsession slip into the background as the weight of adult life took over. I still manage to drag him out with me occasionally, so he knows a bit about dubstep now and is always up for hearing new sounds, but he needs to be led. He's got a great collection of vinyl collecting dust in his attic though and hopefully having our old decks will inspire him to start spinning them again. Go Mikey!

Anyway, I went to the Electrotoxic night in Belfast last Sunday and had a wicked time. As always the locals were very friendly and the venue (Lavery's 'middle bar') had a nice vibe with the black walls and the pink circles - like a kinky TARDIS interior or summit.

One slight problem: Boxcutter didn't play!!

It was so frustrating. Poor Barry was having some 'technical problems' with his lappy - basically it kept crashing. He'd set-up some unearthly drones with his guitar and delay pedals that buzzed Doppler-style around the room like malevolent mosquitoes - I was enjoying them on their own! But the goddam 'puter just didn't wanna join in the fun, so Baz had to admit defeat and walk off stage. Heartbreaking! But he took it well (better than I did anyway) and of course it was lovely to finally meet the man in person after regularly corresponding for most of this year. Hopefully we'll be seeing him play in Bristol at some point next year (although it might be worth bringing some cd-r back-ups next time, eh Bazzer?).

"Work, you bastard!!!"

At least I got to see Tim Exile in action. I'd heard reports that his live laptop performances were a bit special, and those reports turned out to be true. Okay maybe his junglist/breakcore style was a bit too messed-up and frantic for my current tastes, but it was fascinating to watch his energetic, humorous, improvised performance, which included processing his own voice in real-time. He seems to have a slightly irreverent approach that's quite similar to Shitmat in terms of his choice of samples. At one point he was playing around with 2 Unlimited's pop-techno hit "No Limits", and I'm sure I heard a loop of Boney M's "Rasputin" in there too.

"No No, No No No No, There's No Lyrics!"

Mind you, I was seriously hammered by that point, so might've imagined that bit. I had my crappy little digital video camera with me, and thought I'd have a go at capturing some of the vibe. Here's an 8 minute clip of Mr. Exile.

The audio is completely fucked, but I had an excellent view and it's interesting to watch what he's doing. Might give some of you kidz a few ideas about what can be done with a laptop and some extra bits of hardware. Might take a while to download though, so don't bother unless you're really interested.

WELL ROOTED

You might recall back in April I featured a jungle mix from Peverlist aka Tom Ford, proprietor of Rooted Records, Bristol's finest underground record shop. Top geezer. Anyway he occasionally plays out, even though he claims to 'hate djing'(!), and sent me a recording of his 4am set at Congo Natty last month. There's an MC giving it large for most of it, although Tom can't remember his name. Strictly old skool junglist bizniz, seen?

Peverlist at Congo Natty October 2005

Tracklist:
DJ Die - 'Live 'n Direct' (Full Cycle)
Roni Size - 'Fashion' (Full Cycle)
Krust - 'Set Speed' (Full Cycle)
Andy C - 'Roll On' (Ram)
The X - 'New Dawn' (Jump Up)
Da Intalex - 'I like it' Remix (Intalex Productions)
Ninja Man - 'Jungle Move' Remarc Remix (Street Tuff)
Major Popular - 'Good Body Girls' Jungle Mix (Jetstar)
Capleton 'Cold Blooded Murder' (Street Tuff Records)
The Godfather - 'Somebody' Shut Up & Dance Remix (Red Light)

Visit Congo Natty official website.

SUBLOADED III - THE AFTERMATH

I reckon at least 50% of the punters were wearing ear-plugs. Such is the reputation of Subloaded, powered by the Dissident soundsystem. I didn't bother with the plugs, cos I'm fuckin' hard. Not that it mattered, as #3 wasn't quite in the same league as the previous one in terms of sonic density. You see, the Black Swan has had the environmental people on it's back and has been forced to take measures to reduce the volume, which means putting in limiters and so forth. In fact, I understand there were some people from the council there on the night monitoring the decibels. Which means that, sound-wise, it was heavy, but not fucking heavy, if you know what I mean. And maybe it was the bad weather, but the turn-out was noticeably lower than at #2 as well. True, there were enough punters to keep the main room looking respectably busy, but then if you looked out into room 2 and the bar area, it was practically deserted. Factor in that the previous week's Toxic Dancehall at the same venue was apparently too busy, and you realise that maybe it's still too early to say that dubstep has taken Bristol by storm. It feels that perhaps #3 was a step back, rather than forward, but this is entertainment on the frontier of sonic innovation, and breaking this sound to a new audience is gonna take time, resulting in hard-won increments of success tempered by occasional set-backs and disappointments.

But for those who did show up...oh, what a night.

Having spent a little time in the bar having a couple of beers, chatting with a few local headz and saying hello to Skream, Vex'd and N-Type as they wandered in, I made my way into the main room where Thinking was already well into his set, kicking out some quality darkness with an emphasis on breakstep, although there was one really nasty tekstep tune that stuck out for me and I had to enquire who it was by. Turns out it was a cd-r dub from Cogent, a guy I've corresponded with a little, but who I haven't really heard much music from. On the strength of that beat, I reckon he's one to watch out for. Next up was N-Type, undoubtedly one of my favourite Rinse FM djs, due to his quality selection of tunes that always runs across the board from grime, dubstep and breaks, along with his charismatic personality and amusing chatter and it was great to see the man in action at last. Big tunes, as always.

Shortly before DMZ took to the stage, I made a quick exit to get some refreshments at the bar, only to be confronted by the slightly surreal sight of Jamie and Rollie (aka Vex'd - Planet Mu recording artists, fresh from an American tour and possibly the most high-profile act on the bill) playing strictly roots and dub reggae in the second room to an audience of, er, practically nobody. They seemed to be having a great time though - just a couple of mates playing a few old favourites and having a laugh together. As I stood there for a few moments, observing Vex'd at play, a voice came in my left ear saying "Hi, are you Nick?". I turned around to see none other than Mike Paradinas standing next to me. As you can imagine it was a bit of a shock, as I had no idea he was coming down to the event. Of course it was great to finally have a face-to-face chat with a man I've admired for many years, but actually it left me feeling a little dispirited. I'd assumed that Planet Mu, with it's long-standing reputation for innovative music, hectic release schedule and roster of established artists was still doing well, but according to Mike the truth is very different. I don't want to go into all the details, but the fact is that the label is barely keeping its head above water financially, and don't forget Mike doesn't even take a wage from it. Another strange point he made was that people keep telling him he releases too much 'old fashioned' music, despite that fact that he's been signing some fantastic new talent recently. It seems like a ridiculous idea, yet as I looked around the empty room - just me, Mike and Vex'd - I felt a cold shadow of doubt creep over me....could this really be the end of an era?

Thankfully my spirits were quickly lifted when I returned to the main room where Loefah and Mala, with Sgt. Pokes on the mic, were just warming-up for another devastating DMZ set. Awesome vibes as always and some seriously heavyweight dubs in evidence. Yet another spiritually uplifting set that included Mala's VIP mix of "Request Line" which sounded really fresh. Then there was that tune with the two-note staccato keyboard riff that reminded me of the intro to Abba's "Mama Mia"! Loefah's showcase revealed his sound is getting even more extreme, dropping ultra-minimal paranoid riddims awash with analogue-style distorted delay lines rippling into infinity like some distopian King Tubby cyborg. Pure dread vibes. I could've really used a break after that, but there was no time! Next up was a solo set from Skream that simply couldn't be missed. Like a one man Kraftwerk, his set started with a robot voice saying "Subloaded...are you ready?" before launching into a selection of immaculately conceived electro-tek-grime tunes full of sparkling melodies and phat bass wobblers. A few things I recognised from his recent mix, including that one with the Amen break (can't remember the title at the moment, but I'm sure someone will remind me!) yet also the surprise inclusion of DJ Distance's "1 On 1" delivering some uncustomary mid-range attack into the mix. Champion sounds from start to finish.

After nearly three hours solid of the DMZ/Skream experience I was just about knackered, emotionally and physically. It was 3am and a large proportion of the crowd had drifted off home by that point too, but I managed to hang-on for another half hour or so to watch the bulk of Black Ops' set, which was fantastic. Although I generally write about dubstep, whenever I'm in a situation listening to hardcore grimey sublow sounds like this I just feel like it's the best music ever. But these all-nighters are a bit much for my weary old bones and so I decided to drift off into the night. I think the final hour was the turn of our hosts, so sorry I missed them. Pinch seemed a bit edgy - possibly due to the fact that he was facing a big financial loss on this event - and poor old Blazey was very subdued, due to the fact that he's still not feeling very well. Mate, you really need to take an extended break. Hope their set went okay, but by that point Gutta was tucking himself up in bed.

Big-up all the crew who made it down - Pete, Kymatik, Appleblim (sporting a wicked Skull Disco T-shirt - I want one, mate!), Ali and Toxic crew representing, Jack and the guy from Bath who's name I've forgotten, plus the other Room 2 players Tom Peverlist and Dub Boy. See you all at the next one...