Attack of the cats

Out today, this is Sampology's debut release into the world of production. The curly haired man has toured extensively promoting his 'all things fun and super visual' DJ sets, however, Doomsday Release see's him move into production territory. A tidy release indeed.

Here's one of my favs. A homage to all the cat memes circulating on the internet perhaps?

TOKiMONSTA + Jodeci = Freakin' Dope

This remix is highly listenable. Enjoy

Fantastic Kon Edit of GSH

As heard on Gilles Peterson's Worldwide show on Feb 15th. Gilles is talking over the music a couple of times. Fantastic track nonetheless

Kindness House

Great track and even better video.

It turn's out he was in Melbourne earlier in the month. I had no idea.

Happy Reconciliation Week

 National Reconciliation Week (NRW) is celebrated across Australia each year between 27 May and 3 June. The dates commemorate two significant milestones in the reconciliation journey—the anniversaries of the successful 1967 referendum and the High Court Mabo decision.

The week is a time for all Australians to learn about our shared histories, cultures and achievements and to explore how each of us can join the national reconciliation effort.

 May 27 marks the anniversary of Australia’s most successful referendum and a defining event in our nation’s history. The 1967 referendum saw over 90 per cent of Australians vote to give the Commonwealth the power to make laws for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and recognise them in the national census. 2012 marks the 45th anniversary of the ’67 referendum.

  
On 3 June, 1992, the High Court of Australia delivered its landmark Mabo decision which legally recognised that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have a special relationship to the land—that existed prior to colonalisation and still exists today. This recognition paved the way for land rights called Native Title. This year is the 20th anniversary of the Mabo decision.

At Woo-Ha we're going to celebrate Reconciliation Week by posting the best indigenous house tracks ever made. Yothu Yindi – Treaty (The Filthy Lucre Remix) (you have to DL from the soundcloud page)

This is a rip of  the12 inch release on Razor Records posted to soundcloud by Gavin Campbell (who was one of the original producers). According to Gavin, the track was 

"the first A.R.I.A. certified gold record for an Australian DJ. 'Treaty' also won ARIA awards in 1991 for Song Of The Year, Best Single and Best Engineer. Filthy Lucre was nominated for Best Producer...which we didn't win, but somehow we ended up with the 7ft high, display ARIA award from the foyer :)" 

Nice one!

Also here's the video to bring back all those early 90s memories.

Seasons Of Change: Winter

Fourth edition in the ongoing exhibition series feat. Frost, Ulcer, Mayonaise & Pnoid. Official spiel as follows...

Brought to you by Revolver Upstairs in conjunction with GraffixCreative ‘Seasons of Change’ showcases local and international artists at Revolver's internal and external art spaces. The elements of each event is dictated by the event's artists, however all will feature a large scale mural on outside wall lasting for three months and a one night only exhibition. 

Limited edition commemorative prints will also be produced for each exhibition. Following the event prints will then be available for sale on the DangerFork online store (if not sold out).

Frost, Ulcer, Mayonaise and Pnoid have all made their mark on Melbourne over the years, beginning writing graffiti at different stages since the mid 1980’s. Tattooing since the early 2000’s they have diversified their skills and are all well respected in the Melbourne arts scene. Focusing on all styles of lettering and images this show will have something for everyone. Bombing, piecing, street, lines, trains, canvas, paper, skin. With Limited edition collaborative prints and canvas work this one night event will be one not to be missed.

Friday 1st June 2012

6pm - 9pm

Staring Frost, Ulcer, Mayonaise & Pnoid

With DJ Who and more

 

 

Jeans

A mix I did for local jeans manufacturer NOBODY. Check out some of their threads at http://nobody.com.au/.

Soundin' Spooky!

Cracker of a new EP titled 'Our Loving Is Hurting Us' by San Francisco's oOoOO (pronounced oh).

oOoOO is the brainchild of Chris Dexter Greenspan, and has been credited as one of the pioneers of the witchhouse sound.

Can't say I can make sense of the term as the genre has very little comparable to house music per se; though the witch part does make sense for the gothic undertones.

Anyway, to me it kinda sounds like a fusion of southern rap and bass music production styles, with some warped vocals thrown in over the top.

Solid package complete with 5 excellent tracks, lovely pressing, and nice cover art. Great stuff!

EY:EM Edits Vol. 1

First in a series of edits put together for my sets at EY:EM Saturday night's @ Lounge.

Picked this track up years ago and basically forgot about it until it resurfaced on shuffle on ma iPod recently.

Originally released on Strictly Rhythm back in 1995, the original and accompaniying mixes basically suck for lack of a better word. Armand however, does what he does best and turns it into a gritty NY house bomb!

Armand's mix originally runs 13 minutes long, and basically doesn't get to the point (that being the vocals) until half way through.

I am a big believer in editing tracks as simply as possible to get the job done.

Essentially all I have done is trim the intro in a way that makes sense structurally, to give it a better chance of holding it's own on the floor.

EY:EM launching this Saturday night @ Lounge!

Stay Together (Armand's "Crazy" Trauma Mix) Who EY:EM Edit

MIXTAPE: A Message From The Eighties

This mix tries to capture a certain mood in the early 80s. All of these tracks tell a story of hard times, of struggle against racism, unemployment, poverty, drug addiction, urban life, Reaganism and violence. But most importantly they also say “there has got to be a better way”

Many of these songs look to the future, some are afraid that there is worse to come, while others view computers and technology as a positive way forward. However, the overarching message is that change is possible, especially if you take the initiative.

Stay in school, get a job, vote, save your money and say no to drugs!!

1.        T.S.G – You Should Know To Say No [Jump Back 198?]

2.        Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five – New York New York [Sugarhill 1983]

3.        Mr. Magic - Magic's Message (There Has To Be A Better Way) [Posse 1984]

4.        Shahid – 1984 (Future Shock) [Clockwork 1984]

5.        CD III – Get Tough [Prelude 1984]

6.        Malcolm X – No Sell Out [Tommy Boy 1983]

7.        Abiodun Oyewole – There Was A Man [OBA 1985]

8.        Tranquilizing 3 – A Fact of Life [Apexton 1983]

9.        Carver High – Boogie With A Book (Let's Read) [Challenger 1985]

10.        Kool Kyle (The Original Star Child)* – Getting Over [Frills 1982]

11.        The Last Poets – Long Enough [Kee Wee 1984]

12.        Brothers Unique – School Daze [Sutra 1981]

13.        The Unknown Rapper – Election 80 Rapp [ALA 1980]

14.        Abdul Tariq – Education [Sutra 1986]

15.        Chill Fac-Torr – Cen’er City Rock [B Leaf 1984]

16.        I.R.T. (Interboro Rhythm Team) – Watch The Closing Doors! [RCA 1983]

17.        Cholly Rock And The Avenue B. Boogie Band – Cash Money [General Music 1981]

18.        Community People – Education Wrap [Max Music 1980]

Synth Britannia

 If you've got a spare hour or so, here's a great documentary on the rise of new wave and synth pop in the UK.  Synth Britannia looks at how in the late 70s, the combination of Kraftwerk, punk music, a desolate urban landscape and cheap synthesizers helped create one of the major musical movements of the 80s.


If you watch it you'll see great interviews and vintage footage of bands such as Cabaret Voltaire, The Human League, Depeche Mode, Yazoo,  The Normal, New Order and Gary Numan.

My one criticism of the documentary, is that it forgets to mention the presence and influence of black and American dance on British synth pioneers at the time. The only outside references it alludes to are Giorgio Moroder and Kraftwerk. This paints a very 'white-washed' picture of early UK electronic music and suggests that the lineage goes like this: Prog Rock > New Wave > Acid House. People such as Greg Wilson would argue otherwise. So if you intend to watch this doc, go over to http://www.electrofunkroots.co.uk and have a read to get the full picture. 

Despite this, its still a super interesting documentary. Here is the first of nine 10 minute parts.

Buhloone Mindstate Launch Party

"It might blow up but it won't go pop" is the philosophy at Buhloone Mindstate and features Melbourne's finest bands playing every Friday night, late. That's just how we roll. We're all about the late night boogie. The night will feature the best MCs and DJs our wonderful city has to offer, every Friday night. This week features: Cookin on 3 Burners with Kylie Auldist + The Psyde Projects + Eddie Mac & Cam + Slim Charles + Mr. Moonshine $10 from 11PM.

Bionic Boogie Radio feat PUBLIC ENEMY

Ma home boys Eddie Mac and Cam from Bionic Boogie Radio were fortunate enough to have caught up with Chuck D for a chat about all things.

Check out the show, it's a doozie! Much respect to the boys.

Secret Wars

I'm stoked to be a part of this awesome event. The Psyde Projects will do their thang at the launch at Order of Melbourne on Wednesday the 30th. BANG!

Here's a little background on the concept. It's dope. 

Secret Walls is the worlds premier live art battle. Originating from London, UK. It is now here in Australia having spread world wide, sprouting up in different cities all over the world.


THE RULES


90 minutes on the clock
Black paint and marker pens only - on white walls
No sketches/No pencils
Invisible middle line with an artist either side
Judged using a 3 point system 
Go big or go home!


http://www.secretwalls.com.au

Hair

Add a pinch of Ty Segall with Tim Presley from White Fence, then add a whole lotta fuzz, reverb, and crunchy guitars.

What you'll get is HAIR.

Great garage rock. How it should be done. Wild and unconstrained.

SLEEP D - BACON EP

The Sleep D boys (Corey & Mayros) are launching their debut EP this coming sunday at one of Melbourne's most interesting and progressive bars, Killing Time.

Their 'Bacon' EP is out on Sydney's Death Strobe Records, which is run by the hardworking man over at Disco delicious, Andy Webb.

The boys have been very busy, and have recently teamed up with Villa Savoye to produce Kawara. Lush, deep, after midnight vibes. Sexy. I think the free download limit is up on this one, but be sure to pop on down to Killing Time and support. Big things to come with these boys.

Footwork - Whats that all about?

Here's a great article from the Redbull Music Academy charting the development of the sub-genre which is now known as "Footwork".

What is footwork you ask? We'll here's excerpt that lays down the basics.

Among the various developments in UK club music over the last few years, one of the more surprising and fascinating has been the explosion of interest surrounding Chicago’s juke and footwork, and how they have in turn impacted existing club forms. Descended from house music, juke and footwork have common elements in their tempo range (160bpm) and repetitive use of samples leading many to use the terms interchangeably when, especially to those in Chicago, they’re not. While juke is closely aligned to ghetto house, and also refers to a style of ghetto house dancing, footwork stemmed from juke but introduced additional, frantic syncopation and an approach to sampling more closely aligned with hip hop. Confusing things further, footwork also refers to a style of dancing found primarily in technically-driven battles with footwork, the music, often made specifically for use in these battles – hence its stripped down, rawer and less commercial approach compared to juke.

http://www.redbullmusicacademy.com/magazine/flashdance-footwork-future

Like so much interesting electronic music that has emerged over the last 30+ years, this sub-genre formed as a result of people in the UK taking an underground sound from the USA and developing it into something new.

 I love this creative relationship between the two nations. Over the years it has produced so much fresh and innovative music. Yet for some reason, it doesn't seem to work as well the opposite way (see: Dubstep to BroStep). I wonder why that is? If anyone can name a good genre or style of music that has been adopted by the USA from the UK and done well I'd love to hear about it!

Melbourne's Finest Remixes

I made the cut! Stoked to be sharing the 'bill' so to speak with these very talented producers. Get into yaw'll! 

SPACES & PLACES - MELBOURNE'S FINEST REMIXES

Eight of Melbourne's finest producers remix Spaces & Places, the Tom Showtime single featuring Gift of Gab, Lotek & Ash.One taken from The Jam Thief.

With Dub, Breaks, Hip Hop, Lo-Fi and Future Beats this release truley showcases the diverse sounds of Melbourne's music makers.

FEATURING REMIXES BY -

Amin PaYne - Amin PaYnE

Lotek - LOTEK

Copycat - COPYCAT

Jects - jects

SNESmega - SNESmega

KelBeats - officialkelbeats

Moonshine - Mr. Moonshine

Skomes - skomes (aka oskar dun)

DL the bizness from iTUNES or have a preview on Soundcloud

Wow and Flutter @ Badger Versus Hawk

When you ask most people what to expect when a badger is pitted against a hawk in a fight to the death they would say:

"Probably the hawk would win because he has the advantage of height. The hawk would eye the badger off from miles away. Then it would swiftly dive-bomb the badger and gnash it up a treat with its courageous talons"

Others would disagree and bet that:

"The badger would definitely win. The badger is a crafty creature that would lull the hawk into a false sense of security. When the hawk bears down from above, the badger would strike at it with its mighty paws, smashing it to the ground in order to feast on its soft flesh".

It turns out both points of view are completely wrong. What happens when a badger is pitted against a hawk is that that cafe/bar is formed in a back alley of Melbourne. Instead of killing each other, coffee, cocktails, beer and tacos are served to all who enter. And on Friday nights they have DJs (Ben Houghton ❖ Mike Kay ❖ Oscar-O ❖ plus guests) spinning records at a gig called Wow and Flutter. 

This Friday one of those guest DJs will be me.Come down from 6 onwards to see me spin some of my early 80s rap secrets, boogie classics and other things tasty.  

333 Latrobe St / Enter from Flanigan Lane

Tomas Barford

Looking forward to this release! Out on FoF Music, 22nd May.