M9 - Orion's Stencil [Free album]

http://m9ether.bandcamp.com/album/orions-stencil

Bit of a change from my normal posts, but big ups to the dude on the street in Reading that played me some of these tracks on his CD Walkman (!!!*) ["Hey man, do you like real Hip-Hop? I'm promoting my artist"] from UK artist M9 aka @Melanin_9, off of his FREE album Orion's Stencil. I'm loving the RZA/Nas style beats and the lyrics ABOUT problems with violence and social deprivation and the damage they cause, rather than about BEING those problems. Both things that are far too rare in contempory Hip-Hop and rap.

Check out his blog http://melanin9.blogspot.com (with videos) and more free music on his Bandcamp page http://m9ether.bandcamp.com

This is #RealHipHop

*I didn't know those still existed hahaha

Moombahton

Uh oh... Yet another new genre with a silly name is on the way.
Introducing 'Moombahton' http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moombahton (a cross between Dutch House and Reggeton).

First I heard of it was on Toddla T's In New DJs We Trust show on Radio 1 on Thursday and apparently Diplo's been going crazy for it (it does sound a lot like Major Lazer at a different tempo to be fair).

A lot of the productions I've heard so far remind me a lot of Kuduro e.g. Buraka Som Sistema (not just because of the Portuguese samples).

Like Dutch House and a lot of recent Dubstep, there seems to be a bit of a lack of quality control out there, so there's a lot crap mixed in with the good. Oh, and I have no idea how I'm gonna get 108bpm tracks into my sets!

http://djayres.com/MP3/tanda/moombahton/MOOMBAHTON.mp3
http://djayres.com/MP3/tanda/moombahton/RUFFCUT%20-%20MOOMBAHTON%20DUB.mp3
http://soundcloud.com/munchi_productions/munchi-metele-bellaco-moombahton
http://soundcloud.com/munchi_productions/munchi-toma-essa-porra
http://soundcloud.com/munchi_productions/munchi-nosebleed
http://soundcloud.com/munchi_productions/datsik-firepower-munchi-moombahcore-rmx
http://soundcloud.com/munchi_productions/munchi-pero-que-lo-que-mujer

Rollz

I can't wait for Rollz new EP to drop, there are gonna be some massive tunes on there.

Here's a couple of tracks that are rumoured to be on the new release:
Addict: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KblzJVYkRAA&feature=youtu.be
Sustain: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HmE8rOXSPsA

I picked up the Plugged In / Voice Of The Mysterons double a-side the other day and they're both huuuuge!

In other D&B news Marky & SPY have apparently played their remix of Return To Atlantis to LTJ Bukem and he loved it, so fingers crossed it's going to be getting an official release on Good Lookin records. Can't wait for that either!
Check out Grooverider's show from two weeks ago for audio of that and also the VIP versions of Rollz - Plugged In and Voice Of The Mysterons --Drum&Bass-step (or Drum-step as Groove calls it) is getting bigger and bigger now.

Formula Dumb

I just watched the F1 'highlights' and, mainly because they've changed the rules AGAIN and still not sorted out the aerodynamics to allow overtaking, I'm predicting a long boring season of no one actually racing, everything barring retirements and crashes decided in the first 4-5 corners and lots of precessions to the chequered flags.

All the drivers will be staying out of the turbulent and dirty air of the cars in front so they can nurse their tyres and won't have to stop as often and will be looking after their engines so they last for 3 race weekends -BORING!

My advice: Sky+ it, watch the first 10mins, then fast forward to the end to see who survived the longest.

Riva Starr

Fantastic set from Riva Starr on early at Annie Mac Presents on saturday night, going quite deep in places, but mixing it up with a few of his productions and remixes. Some of them sound pretty crazy, like his gypsy folk influenced I Was Drunk, others are Funky/Latin/Dancehall inspired banging house tracks.

He continued the form with a wicked Essential Mix on Radio 1 on saturday night.

UPDATE: You can also download the Essential Mix from his Soundcloud page.

Toddla T

This guy is fast becoming my favorite DJ on the radio.

The hour he's given for his Radio 1 In New DJs We Trust show (every third Thursday of the month at 9pm) just isn't enough. Luckily, he occasionally covers for other DJs and, with this cover show for Ras Kwame on 1Xtra, fully takes advantage of the extra time available.

Crazily energetic on the mic, he goes everywhere from Dubstep to Bashment with a bit of dirty Fidget/Electro House, Drum & Bass, Grime, Funky and Garage past and present. The Boom DJ From The Steel City somehow manages to cover pretty much everything I like when I'm in the clubs right now.

He also has a monthly residency at Fabric, so I might have to get involved and get Skanky Skanky next time he's playing.

Annie Mac Presents

So it's Friday night and I'm chilling for once. This is usually my London mission night, but this week Saturday night sees our regular mash up at KOKO in Camden when Annie Mac Presents comes rolling back into town. We've been three times in the last six months, and if it's anything like the last ones it's going to be another mental night, so I'm on the download (literally) tonight, checking up on who's gonna be playing.

Big tings a gwan

 


In order of who I'm most looking forward to seeing:

• Jack Beats - Wobbly, dirty, nasty electro/fidget house. My favorite sound of last year.
• Rivastarr - Electro house from a relative newcommer on the scene as far as I'm concerned, having not really heard of him until hearing his tracks on the Loose Cannons' show after Snowbombing last year, but I've been loving his sounds ever since. 
• sbtrkt - Deep and bassy -just how I like it. Dubsteppy African vibes and some techy influences. I've not seen him before, so looking forward to checking him out. He's on first at 9:30, so no doubt I'll be the first one on the dancefloor, sticking my head in the bassbins!
• Annie Mac -  Mashes up the best of everything from Electro to Drum & Bass, passing through Dubstep, Disco and Techno along the way. Her show, along with Fabio & Grooverider's, has been my go to wake up call first thing on a Monday morning for a long time now. Expect to find Ian drooling near the front for the whole set.
• Wiley - While I'm not a big fan of his pop tracks, he remains the king of Grime. Back in the day (although not my day -I didn't get into Grime until a few years ago), when he was calling himself Eskiboy, him and the Roll Deep Crew were pioneering the Eskimo sound that has morphed into modern day Grime. Tracks like What Do You Call It?, Eskimo, Icerink remain amongst my favorites of the genre. I saw him live breifly at 93 Feet East a few years ago and he concentrated on the chart hits like Wearing My Rollex. I'm hoping he leaves them at home and gives us a pure, grimey masterclass in where the Eskimo sound came from.
• Sub Focus - He's made some monster tracks and no doubt I'll be going mental when he rinses out the D&B at the end, but I've seen him quite a few times recently, so I'm looking forward to the others more. He mixed Could This Be Real into Major Lazer into The Count & Sinden - Mega last time I saw him at Fabric though, so expect him to mash it up a bit as well.

I might just have to get my mixing fingers out tomorrow and lay down a soundtrack for the journey up there (not that I can actually mix yet!).

Can't wait!