Archive for October 2008

There’s still a couple of hours of darkness left of Halloween and it doesn’t get much darker than these fellas right here...



The Incredible Torture Show Comprises of Welsh DJ, producer and Grindhouse masher extraordinaire - Trailer Trasher who uses incidental B-movie horror music and video to produce some dope but disturbing Hip-hop beats. And two well respected LA emcees- Matt Gaminwhose effortless yet effectual flow provides a sandpaper smooth vessel for his twisted lyricals coming off a bit like MF Doom’s evil cousin - and Roughneck Jihad from Third Sight (alongside D Styles) who has worked with the likes of Kool Keith and has a flow and style I can only describe as the Hip-hop manifestation of Superfluidity.

T.I.T.S. (Trailer Trasher & Matt Gamin) – The Grim Reaper



T.I.T.S(Trailer Trasher & Matt Gamin) – God Told Me To



(YSI) The Incredible Torture Show – God Told Me To

Check out the T.I.T.S. blog for updates.

We've just recorded our first podcast especially for the fantastic Kruger Magazine's 5th birthday. You can download or listen to it online here

Will put up another download link and tracklisting next week.

We’re currently collecting tracks together for a special Welsh hip-hop Mix (more details of which we shall reveal soon) and we just had a selection of absolute stunners from Cardiff / Barry producer Diverse Concepts. We thought we’d share some of the more twisted and disturbing ones with you, including a track with those emcees most evilest Quiet Poison (Squid Ninjaz)


(YSI)Diverse Concepts – Scream For Me

(YSI)Diverse Concepts & Quiet Poison – Quiet Concepts

(YSI)Diverse Concepts – Sharp

Two of our favourite Dubstep producers Monkey & Stagga have now officially joined the Chrome Kids family and will be going out alongside Kaptin deejaying under the Chrome Kids name. Anyone in the Wales area should already be familiar with their skills as Dubstep DJs, not to mention they're classic Hip-hop / Bashment sets as Optimas Prime but now Chrome Kids will also be incorporating the kind of music found in the blog. So depending on what night they play you can expect some Glitch Hop, Dubstep, Bmore, Grime and just any generally dirty bass heavy Hip-hop based badness. For bookings email whosthecaptain@hotmail.com


You can catch their debut outing at the Swn Festival in Cardiff, Wales. A weekend event across the city curated by BBC Radio 1 DJ - Huw Stephens.

Chrome Kids will be playing on Friday 14th November at Tafod just over the river in Riverside opposite the Millenium Stadium. It's a strong line up which is co-curated by us. Here's a quick breakdown of the acts playing that night.

TAFOD LINE UP - SWN FESTIVAL - FRIDAY 14TH NOVEMBER


SKINNYMAN

Veteran and legend are perhaps titles that are too throwaway these days to show the amount of respect deserved by ‘the original Nort’ London dark heart dapper dan’ himself.Who will be performing alongside...


DURRTY GOODZ

An emcee who has been murdering beats in all shapes and sizes for the last few years and remains one of the most exciting microphone terrorists on these shores today.

(YSI) Skinnyman - When I Give My Heart To You

(YSI) Durrty Goodz - Switching Songs Part II (The Good Ol' Days)


KING CANNIBAL (Ninja Tunes)

Hailed as Ninja Tune’s new Dubstep signing, but such boxed limitations hardly do any justice to the many levels of dark and brutal digital bass driven beats explored on his new album Aragami Style.

(ZShare) King Cannibal - Cannibalism Mix 08 for Solid Steel / Alt Link / Tracklisting


TOTALLY ENORMOUS EXTINCT DINOSAURS

Having served up some filthy electro remixes for the likes of Sugababes, DJ IQ (the mighty 8 Bars Of Fire) and of course the brand new remix of Foreign Beggars and Dubbledge's new track Gash (see below)and receiving Radio 1 support which included a live mix on Swn curator Huw Stephens show. The Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs descend on the night with a bag full of killer prehistoric dubplates made of granite.

(YSI) Foreign Beggars ft Dubbledge & Kyza - Hit That Gash (Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs Remix)


DEAD RESIDENTS

Having worked with the likes of Alkaline (Gunshot), Jehst, Cappo, Braintax, Task Force, Roots Manuva and Aspects you would expect big things from Junior Disprol’s crew Dead Residents (alongside DJ Stagga and Chud Jackson). Thankfully their new album Triple Crown is one of the finest slices of digitized Hip-hop this side of the solar system and this is a rare (and not to be missed) chance to catch them live and direct.

(YSI) Dead Residents - Smash Robot Vs Pacman Ghost


CHROME KIDS

And of course, DJ sets from a lethal combination of Welsh Hip-hop and Dubstep supremos MONKEY and STAGGA along with the party pirate himself KAPTIN who shall be holding it down for the digitally mutated bastard offspring of Hip-hop.

(YSI) Monkey - Join Us

(YSI) Stagga - Freight Dub

(YSI) Monkey - So High (No Vocal)

(YSI) Stagga - LSD User

(YSI) Monkey - Badness

(YSI) Stagga - Sick As Sin

Provisional times are as follows:

Chrome Kids - 9:30pm
Dead Residents - 10:00pm
Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs - 11:00pm
King Cannibal - 12:00am
Skinnyman & Durrty Goodz - 1:00am
Chrome Kids - 2:00am

There will be more information on the Swn Festival in the next few days but for now you can check the full line up over at....

http://swnfest.co.uk/site/

Check the Facebook Events Page and invite your friends along!

We’re a sucker here at Chrome Kids for any Dubstep that reflects it’s original Dub roots and so when we heard a copy of Tempest by Crackatoa we needed more…

Luckily the Nottingham based producer had tunes in abundance and they weren't limited to just the reggae vibe. He's developing a good rounded sound despite only having been producing for around six months. His aim is to produce beats which are ‘just as live to listen to in at home as they are in a club/rave.’ Well we haven’t given them a club rinsing just yet but we’ve got a mini mix he gave us on in the house and they sound pretty damn good from here. Have a listen for yourself…

(YSI) Crackatoa Mini Mix

As well as the 'Neva Argue' video I posted up a couple of days ago this video from Virus Syndicate has also just dropped for a track which isn't available on their Plant Mu released 'Sick Pay' album but is coming out via MRK 1's own Contagious Records. we presume some time soon.

After a fantastic slew of phat remixes, one of LA’s chief beat-scenesters Troublemaker finally announces his new album of original material The Maestro. The first single of which features rhyming from Baby Cashtrid, who lends the track an almost old skool Roxanne Shante flavor but with her feet planted firmly in the future.

(YSI) Troublemaker - I'm Famous (feat. Baby Cashtrid)

Oh Snap!! Follows up his brilliant ‘High Top Fade’ single on October 25th with a fresh new release. Unfortunately we don’t have any info on it at all yet, but we do have a new free track from him. I wonder if he can actually do the dances he name checks, now that would make a good video!

(YSI) Oh Snap! ! – Let Me Do My Dance

Also, if you’re in LA this week you can catch him at the following:

Oct 22 – Club Ave at Sevilla (Riverside, CA) – DJ SET
Oct 23 – The Heist at Florentine Gardens (Hollywood, CA) – LIVE & DJ SET w/ Stretch Armstrong
Oct 24 – OMG Fridays at the Avalon (Hollywood, CA) – LIVE & DJ SET w/ LMFAO
Oct 25 – Masquerade Warehouse Party (Downtown Los Angeles, CA) – DJ SET

Apologies for the lack of posts this week, been in Amsterdam and so decided to leave the computer for a while. Will catch up with everything and make sure I leave you a decent couple of posts this week. Was hoping to do some relevant to the Dam but have to say I found a distinct lack of suitable material while I was there. Even the clubs seemed to be missing some dirty bass driven goodness. There were a few things lined up for next week (typical) such as Caspa & Rusko and some D&B but couldn't really get a handle on any local people. If anyone out there can recommend any then shall do a special post for Dutch artists sometime soon.






Could have just been an off week of course but seems a shame as there's some perfect grimey venues out there. We ended up in a wicked little Reggae night at NDSM. A place which has it's own ferry so you'd expect a bit more than just a f**ked up bomb shelter looking building in the middle of an industrial estate. Thankfully though that's all it actually was, just a big warehouse with a phat stack of speakers at one end and the King Shiloh sound system at the other alongside LDM from Rome and their resident singer Dan I. Perfect for a bit of early morning skanking.




Before that we got lost in the same industrial estate and ended up on a massive party ship called the MS Stubnitz which had a Teepee pumping out jazzed up House on the top deck, Minimal Techno on the next floor and heavier Techno at the bottom. There was also a smaller room with a live band to the side. Almost a shame to leave it but the Reggae was calling. Definitely worth taking the trip to Amsterdam Noord for, most of the other places we ended up in were around the Red Light District but nothing really compared.


Just checking through the last few days post and have a copy of the new Food 4 Da Brain CD / DVD which has some exclusive tracks from the likes of Ghetto, Foreign Beggars, Terra Firma and Virus Syndicate. Haven't listened to it yet but had a quick check of the DVD which has 4 videos including these ones...

Terra Firma - Git Down



Virus Syndicate - Neva Argue



You can pick up your own copy from 24th November 2008. Check out f4db.com for more details.

Managed to miss 3 undoubtedly fantastic DJ sets last night from Annie Mac, Fake Blood and Rico Tubbs (although did catch some great ones from Max Looker, Metabeats and the Skinny White Boys) as had to go play elsewhere just as Annie was getting on the decks (she was delayed thanks to an over zealous security guard trying to confiscate her make up - what's that about? Had to smuggle in make up for one girl, hardly a terrorist threat now is it).

Saw footage of Rico Tubbs set though and it looked incredible. At one point he picked up the CDJ and started scratching it as if he was playing the guitar, much to the crowds excitement. Did manage to catch up with him at an after party (which I'm still recovering from so apologies if this post is slightly sketchy). He was locked in conker to conker combat with one of the Lost & Found crew, the winner of which I missed I'm afraid. I found out a bit about his native Finland though and what the scene's like out there.


One of the things I was interested to find out about was Skweee, a music which I know very little about but have been keeping an ear out for recently. To be honest I find some of it rather cheap and and so I was pleased to find out that it wasn't all meant to be taken that seriously. And Skweee nights sound rather more fun then other more 'serious' digital music nights such as Dubstep for example, with the DJs mixing it up with the 80s electro funk it was born from and a much larger female attendance (not saying anything about the seriousness here by the way, but the fun most definitely).

If you're not familiar with Skweee (or Conflict R'n'B as it is also known) at all, here's a few tracks from Swedish producer Beem who is signed to one of the main Skweee labels Flogsta Danshall (which is based in Sweden, the other label to look out for is Harmönia out of Norway).


(YSI) Beem - Is This the Future

(YSI) Beem - The Famous

(YSI) Beem - Ducker

You can download a torrent for these and more here.

For those that missed this as it keepS being taken down from YouTube... not suprising mind, wouldn't watch this in the office if you've got strict rules on rudeness.

Some brand new poetic agginess from Joe Blow's heavyweight EP 'Smoking Skills'.



Don't know the full story about this video but heard some of the fellas got caught up in the middle of a fight outside a club the night before filming and the blood you can see on the towel covering Cervantis' face belongs to Joe Blow's cousin who had his ear ripped apart by a knife. Cervantis himself could barely stand as he was run over by a police car in the madness.

I’ve picked up quite a lot of music from the Middle East over the years (admittedly most of it was rather cheesy, if anyone has some ‘real’ music hit me off), however Israel is probably the one country from that part of the world that has musically eluded me in the past. Aside from maybe Yael Naim (who had that song New Soul on the Apple Macbook Air advert) and The Apples (not sure if there’s some kind of strange link here) I would have struggled to name anybody else from the region.

But now thanks to a new compilation ‘Shirbul’ from Israeli DJ / Producer Nadav Ravid, I finally have a sonic door through which to slide through and take a peek at what’s happening there, and just to help us along, they are all tracks which he has remixed in a Chrome Kids friendly fashion over the past 5 years.


Nadav Ravid is one half of future funk duo Polar Pair who have some releases out on the Tru Thoughts label and Botanika, a musical collective who also host a regular podcast (the latest of which I have posted below).

‘Shirbul’ means remix in Hebrew, at least it should be as there’s no other word which exists for it. Might take a little bit of time before it surfaces in the Hebrew dictionary however.

The whole compilation can be downloaded for free here or as a 51 minute mix by fellow Botanika member Amir Egozy here and is made up of exclusively the remixes which Nadav has done for Israeli artists, although in our selection below we have also included a fantastic Polar Pair remix of Bone Do Role’s ‘Jabuticaba’.

(YSI) Emily Karpel - Freckles (NDV'S Dirty South Beach Remix ft Puffy Nelson)

(YSI) Electra - Better Sound (Worse Sound Remix by Nadav Ravid)

(YSI) Laroz ft Trevor Ranks & Daddy Colonel - Sabo Ital (NDV Remix)

(YSI) T-Slam - This Whistle (NDV'S B-More Edit)

(Direct Link) Bonde Do Role - Jabuticaba (Polar Pair Remix)

(Direct Link) Botanika FM 2.10.08 Download (full tracklisting can be found here)

Akira Kiteshi might sound more like a Japanese film director then a production duo based in Edinburgh, but a closer listen to their glitch riddled mutations of Hip-hop, Dubstep and Broken Beat shows that it is more than slightly fitting. The tracks carry the kind of juxtaposition between beauty and brutality that can be found in any Beat Takeshi film, the disjointed twisted lunacy of a Takeshi Miike movie and the eeriness at times of Hideo Nakata.


Plus if you played their album in a ‘Pink Floyd / Wizard of Oz’ type unison (if you haven’t done this already and don’t know what I’m on about, you can watch some of the Dark Side of the Rainbow here) you might find a similar synchronicity, especially the bit at the end when Tetsuo starts mutating. Do not fret however if you are unfamiliar with Japanese films, anybody with a taste for digitised, bastardised beats and bass should be more than satisfied. Here’s a taster to whet your appetite for their forthcoming EP on Black Acre Records, which will also feature Mike Slott (Heralds of Change / LuckyMe) and Clouds remixes.

(YSI) Akira Kiteshi - Albino Egg

(YSI) Akira Kiteshi – Style Hoppin

(YSI) Akira Kiteshi – Tea For Shree

The future is not bright. It’s a place where fantasy and fury combine as post nuclear life becomes more brutal the further we send our machines to seek out more habitable environments underground. As they dig deeper into the realm of myth and legend, there must inevitably be a showdown between a vicious reality and the dark corners of imagination.


I think High Rankin might just be getting ready for that future, if he’s not there already. His latest EP on Suicide Dub – ‘You Me & The Devil’ has some of the toughest and grimiest dubz this side of Satansville and for those who didn’t grab a free copy over at Palms Out last month. Here it is in full flaming glory for you now.

Direct Links:

High Rankin' - Control Room
High Rankin' - Sulfur Tears
High Rankin' - We're All Dead
High Rankin' - The Airloom
High Rankin' - Assault Weapon Religion
High Rankin' - You, Me, and the Devil

(ZShare) High Rankin – You Me & The Devil EP (ZIP)

Ratatat give ABBA a twisted make-over in their new video for the track Shempi from their excellent LP3 out on XL Recordings.



And for those who might have missed their last killer remix mixtape, here's a few of our favourite cuts...

(YSI) Saigon & UGK - We Gon' Ride (Ratatat Remix)

(YSI) Young Buck, TI & Ludacris - Stomp (Ratatat Remix)

(YSI) Notorious BIG - Party & Bullshit (Ratatat Remix)

Cyko Logic has been holding it down on the UK Grime scene for some time now with collaborations alongside artists such as Gappy Ranx and Tinchy Strider, regular DVD, Radio and Mixtape appearances plus video rotations on MTV Base and Channel U.


However, despite all this he is still yet to drop an official release. Hopefully that will soon change with the well overdue but ‘soon come’ release of his Down Wid It (also the name of his clothing label) Mixtape, possibly on the North London label Alwayz Recording. For now though you can download his ‘Listen Up Before You Get Down’ promo release here or check out a couple of our choice tracks below.

(YSI) Cyko Logic – 1234

(YSI) Cyko Logic feat. Juvee & Gappy Ranx – They’re Like

(YSI) Cyko Logic feat. Strata G – Get To Know Me

Was hoping to put up the two exclusive sessions from this week's Mary Anne Hobbs show separately both of them were killer slices of dirty grimed out Garage Zed Bias w/ Broke N English and MRK1 w/ Virus Syndicate. Unfortunately that didn't happen (though it still might later), but here's a link to the whole show. Should last longer than the 7 days usual 'listen again' that the BBC give.




Download Here

Don't really know much about The Cutler except that they consist of Steve Cobby (Fila Brazillia / The Solid Doctor / Heights Of Abraham / J*S*T*A*R*S) & Porky (Head Honcho of Pork Recordings) and they produce the kind of easy yet epic and edgy (entertaining, esoteric, extraordinary and exceedingly good would have simply been too many Es for a Thursday afternoon) type of tracks that Pork have been excelling at for years. Think I might have come across them by accident on Myspace but they were kind enough to send me a couple of tracks to share, so here goes.

(YSI) The Cutler - Weltschmerz

(YSI) The Cutler - Scimitar

They also have an album out on Steel Tiger, buy it here