To go hand in hand with a series of features I’m doing on a new wave of hip hop and electronic producers, which I mentioned a little while back, I’ve finished a mix featuring tracks from these very same producers.

In the past some of that stuff has been labeled glitchy, more recently wonky or bassy even but really it’s not about a term or another box to put things in, to me it’s just some fresh and exciting music. Of all the terms that can be used I like wonky the most because I find that in a lot of cases it does really define the music some of these guys make quite well. But I use the term really loosely and it’s really more of an excuse to mix stuff together which has got me really excited over the last 6 to 12 months. To me all this stuff is really a throwback to the days of the old boom bap, when tracks just made you want to bang your head and break your neck. It’s a real breath of fresh air for hip hop and music in general.

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written by Laurent \\ tags: bass, dubstep, hip hop, kper, Music, wonk, wonky

For the last 8 to 10 months I’ve been thinking about a feature I want to write looking at what I’ve come to think of as a ‘new wave of hip hop boom bap.’ Music and producers that have got me excited about stuff again like I haven’t been in a long time, starting somewhere with Madlib and Dilla and culminating in the last few years with the likes of Dabrye, edIT, Prefuse 73 and more recently a whole slew of new producers and collectives.

Like most things in the last 8 to 10 months though, I’ve sat on my arse and never got round to it. That is until about a month ago when I submitted a rough draft of the feature to Serie B who I’d pitched it to. They liked it and want to run it alongside a bunch of interviews with some of the artists mentioned in the feature. Bonus.

And around the same time I finally got off my back and did all this I started seeing other people talking about the same thing, but with slightly different angles. Which not only makes me feel good because I know I’m not the only one feeling like this, but also because it only makes me more inspired and gives me more food for thought over the whole thing.

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written by Laurent \\ tags: bass, dubstep, hip hop, lazer bass, Music, wonky, writing

May 21st is the date of the next installment of BTC, now a bi-monthly all nighter affair held on the third wednesday of the month. And it’s also my last BTC for the foreseeable future, so I’ll borrow from Skepta’s lyrics book and ask ‘Are you dumb?’ No? good cos you’d better get your ass down there, it’s a celebration bishes.

I’ll be doing a back to back set with the man like Ske for the occasion while 100 Mado rocks it back to back with ENA and Goth Trad does his usual ting of murdering the dancefloor. As for the live end of things, we’ve got Skyfish and Chinza Dopeness doing what they do best in fine combination style and Dokkebi Q dropping a live set! And seeing as these guys are living in London and not Tokyo, I’d say this makes the occasion a special one if it wasn’t already.

Full details are below. The venue is Club Asia, ladies are free till 1am, and there shall be bass and funky shit, a lot of it, truss. See you there! Peep the BTC blog for more and all that jazz. Oh yeah and there’s also a BTC Facebook group for the FB massive out there.

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written by Laurent \\ tags: back to chill, clubs, dubstep, goth trad, Japan, mad rave, Music

Despite dubstep’s rise in popularity and consequent rise in numbers, from artists to DJs and labels, there is still only a core number of labels which are of real, regular interest to me. DMZ and Hyperdub are two, and Paul Rose’s Hotflush is another. And even though Hotflush has been one of the busiest labels release-wise, it still regularly comes up with surprisingly refreshing music.

And so, it was a pleasure to be able to catch up with Paul Rose, aka Scuba, recently after I’d first interviewed him (briefly) for my dubstep piece in Serie B back in 2006. And it was Serie B who asked for a round two, this time concentrating on the man and his forthcoming album. The article appears in Serie B issue 21, out now and available in Spain, South America and most good European importers.

For the non-Spanish speaking massive though, the good people at Spannered are running a slightly longer version of the piece, in English. You can check it here.

I’ll be posting up the Serie B version to the portfolio archive later. In the meantime get reading if you haven’t and don’t forget to check Scuba’s new album and the excellent new series of free mixes from Hotflush.

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written by Laurent \\ tags: dubstep, Music, portfolio, writing

A lot is happening right now so I haven’t got much time to post, but I managed to record a quick mix the other day.

Was feeling pretty shitty but the mix actually came out all right. Made in Ableton for bumping in the iPod, maybe you’ll enjoy it as well. Some new and unreleased bits alongside some favourites of recent times - turn up the bass and sit back.

Download link and tracklisting below.

Also the first two mixes I did in Ableton are still available online at the links below. Both these are varied mixes, over 2h long each:
http://www.lo-la.co.uk/2007/08/15/brand-new-mix-attention-deficit-disorder/
http://www.lo-la.co.uk/2007/01/12/packing-shit-up-2-hour-mix/

Kper - Dejitaru Mikusu
http://www.lo-la.co.uk/Kper_-_Dejitaru_Mikusu.mp3 (right click and save as - 256kbps, 135mb)

Flying Lotus - Spicy Sammich - Warp
2tall - Untitled 2 - Unreleased
Disrupt - Jah Bit Invasion - Jahtari
Digital Mystikz - Ten Dread Commandments - DMZ
Jazzsteppa - Jackin’ - Hotflush
Slaughter Mob - No Big Deal - Hotflush
MRK1 - Bones - Earwax
Nika D - Felt The Need (MRK1 remix) - Aphex
Toasty - Let Me At Em - Unreleased
Peveralist - The Grind (Bass Clef remix) - Unreleased
RSD - Corner Dub (Blue & Red mix) - Punch Drunk
Dz - Slum’s Dub - Hotflush
Kode 9 & Spaceape - Quantum refix - Hyperdub
2562 - Channel Two - Tectonic
Nyabingi - Japanese Wolf - Hotflush
RSD - Kingfisher - Earwax
Rustie - Response - Stuff
Various Productions - Bun - Various
Dysfunktion - Canton - Kursed
Kano ft Vybz Kartell - Buss It Up - 679 Recordings
Skyfish - Hesocha (Skyfish remix) - Unreleased
Lone Wolf - Low Rider - Unreleased
Scuba - Out There - Hotflush
Durrty Goodz - Take Back The Scene (prod. by COki) - Awkward
Distance - Fallen (Vex’d remix) - Planet Mu
The Bug ft. Warrior Queen - Poison Dart (Baku megamix) - Ninja Tune
The Bug ft. Warrior Queen - Poison Dart - Ninja Tune

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written by Laurent \\ tags: download, dubstep, kper, Music, Random

Birthday celebrations are behind us, so it’s time for the next instalment of Back to Chill. Lucky number 13 will take place at the usual venue, Saloon at Unit, on Thursday October 4th.

Goth Trad’ll be back in town from his extended European escapade, alongside regulars and guests Keihin from Honcho Sound and MC Mal from Rub-a-Dub market. I’ll be playing b2b with Goth once more.

If you come down, don’t be a stranger. It’ll be heavy as usual, and I’m sure Goth will be packing a heavy bag of dubs fresh from his European trip.

Full details on the flyer below. Oh yeah and this one starts at 8 not 7 as before.

Popularity: 3%

written by Laurent \\ tags: back to chill, clubs, dubstep, goth trad, Music, night life, Tokyo

Damn it’s been 8 months already since I first played at BTC. Time flies as they say. What started as a favour has turned into a monthly ritual and some of my best moments in a city that still feels alien a lot of the time. When Goth Trad came to Europe last year, I arranged a gig for him at the Dragon Bar (where I did a monthly open mic session). The night was great, Goth flipped it as expected and he invited me to play at his newly started BTC monthly session in Tokyo when I moved here. An offer I was only too happy to accept. Fast forward to February this year, and my first gig in Tokyo as the guest at the 6th edition of BTC. And I thought it’d be that, but Goth very kindly kept inviting me back, so much so that I’ve ended up playing pretty much every session bar a couple since then, something I definitely didn’t expect but which has been an amazing experience.

BTC has grown a lot since it started last year. With Goth Trad at the helm, who himself has had a pretty incredible year with his popularity and interest in his music blowing up worldwide, alongside Hyaku Mado, Ske, Kaji Peace and Diagram, BTC has become an amazing little night, showcasing the dubstep and grime sounds that have come (and keep coming) out of London (and in the last year or so the rest of the world) to a growing audience of fans. The parties are held at Saloon, which is basically the downstairs bar/room of Unit nightclub, one of Tokyo’s best clubs. And this venue has also been key to the success of the night, as is always the case, giving it an intimate atmosphere which is definitely reminiscent of FWD>> at Plastic People or the early DMZ parties at Third Base. The vibe and people are what makes the night and while these can be quite different from what I’ve experienced in London or Europe, the audience has started to change over the months I’ve been here and witnessed it, gradually becoming more open and a lot more vocal.

I remember when I played in February and both Ella and I remarked that the crowd reactions were totally different to what you’d expect back home. People seemed a little subdued, and their wasn’t a lot of the usual reactions you’d expect at parties like this. Not that it felt like people weren’t enjoying the music, just that maybe they weren’t showing their enjoyment in the same way as people in Europe would. The only people who reacted as you might have expected were the few foreigners who came down ceremoniously every month (Dan I’m looking at you mate! :smile: ). 6 months later when Kode 9 and The Bug toured and played 2 special parties in Tokyo, the crowd went absolutely bonkers and the vibes were most definitely on par with the best parties I’ve been to in London.

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written by Laurent \\ tags: back to chill, clubs, dubstep, goth trad, Music, night life, Tokyo

I think I might have mentioned this before when I posted the interview/feature on Goth Trad, but here are the official details. The man like Goth Trad will be returning to Europe in two weeks, for what can only be described as a thorough tour this time. After a few years doing small tours, this time he’ll be taking in 8 countries and playing 11 dates. Which should give everyone plenty of opportunities to catch his amazing live show.

All dates are live shows - not DJ sets. And as I’ve said on numerous occasions before his live shows are truly something to behold so I heavily recommend you check them out if he’s playing near you.

More info on the man and the music on his myspace and site (links on flyer and on the right hand side). Here’s some youtube footage to back up my claims re his live shows:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G_kVZifl7mQ[/youtube]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2HY7GDlKBvU[/youtube]

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written by Laurent \\ tags: dubstep, goth trad, mad rave

Finally… after 6 months of gestation inside my brain and another 2 months spent actually putting it together, my new mix is ready. Following on from the mix I put together last year before leaving the UK, this mix covers a lot of different styles and spans 2h25 - because I am actually unable to limit myself to making mixes that are within the usual 70/80 minutes limit. So I’ve decided to keep on making mixes which are a lot longer than usual, mainly because I find it to be a lot more fun than trying to limit myself (not that that’s a bad thing either).

As opposed to the last mix this one was done entirely in Ableton - because I have no decks here. Whereas last time I opted for a mix of both vinyl and digital, and used Ableton to wrap the whole thing together, this time the whole mix is digital (though quite a few tracks were ripped from vinyl on my trusty portable turntable) and done in Ableton. Which has proved more than a challenge at times but has been really enjoyable - on the plus side Ableton allows you to really delve deep into mixing, tweaking and effecting as much or little as you want, yet at the same time this means that you can find yourself getting really anal about things, whereas with a decks mix there is going to be some element of human error, or a human feel to it. I’ve tried to keep some of that in there though, but I’ve also gone deep into the anal side of things, at times managing to mix up to five tracks together and play a lot with eqs, effects etc… Something I couldn’t do live, not only due to skills but also due to not having the equipment. While the majority of files are digital I’ve stuck to using only hi res files, 320 mp3s, wavs and flacs, so the sound quality is still good. This ain’t no iPod mix :lol:
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written by Laurent \\ tags: bass, beats, dubstep, glitch, hip hop, kper, mix, Music

Oh yeah! Back To Chill first anniversary on the 30th of August at Saloon at Unit. This time it’s an all night extravaganza of beats and bass, with more guests than you can shake a stick at it.

Props to the BTC boys for pulling this one off it should be off the Richter scale :wink: Lots of MCs as well as live shows from Skyfish and Sak Dub I as well as guest appearances from Quarta 330, Mixmas and yours truly.

If you ain’t been before you can check some previous posts in the music section with some reviews and audio from previous nights. If you like your bass though this is an unmissable event!

You don’t wanna miss trust me, and at 2000 yen in it’s a bargain for Tokyo really. More info and details on the BTC blog and brand spanking new BTC site.

Right I best get practicing really :oops: See you there!

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written by Laurent \\ tags: back to chill, clubs, dubstep, goth trad, Music, night life, Tokyo

It’s been a hectic ten days, but damn has it been enjoyable. Kode 9 landed in Japan on the 12th, and what followed were ten days of non stop sightseeing, shopping, eating, fooling about and music. I also somehow managed to go to work during that time even with lack of sleep and a cold holding me down, I’m still not quite sure how.

It was all worth it though - everyone had an amazing time. Ms Haptic aka Jess aka my ex-tutor at uni came with him, and it was great finally catching up with her after a few years of not seeing each other. Same with mr 9 - we’ve known each other for a long time, but we haven’t had the chance to chill in a few years and so it was nice spending time showing them around Tokyo, doing stupid shit and also practicing my Japanese in restaurants and shops.

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written by Laurent \\ tags: back to chill, dubstep, goth trad, kode 9, mad rave

It’s been a while since I went out all night and raved till the early hours of the morning. But last week was a special occasion - it was golden week, my first holiday in four months, it was Ella’s birthday and I’d been invited to play at Back To Chill once more, and this time it was a special all night affair with the Japanese mad rave family taking over the second room at Club Asia, one of Shibuya’s main night clubs.

And it was a wicked night, as expected. The BTC crew squared off against the Zion Rise crew, with two rooms of electronic mayhem going on all night. It was a pretty weird mix on paper - breakcore, junglism, dubstep and more spread over 6 hours with DJs and live acts. The main room, hosted by Zion Rise, was host to Rotator from France, a pretty big breakcore artist (I wouldn’t know as it ain’t really my thing to be honest) on the Tokyo leg of his Japanese tour, Com.A, Melt Banana and Rebel Familia all playing live. While the second room was hosted by the Back To Chill crew, with Ske, Hyaku Mado, Goth Trad and Kaji Peace in full effect alongside guests Skyfish and myself.

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written by Laurent \\ tags: back to chill, clubs, dubstep, mad rave, raving, Tokyo

Last month was the 8th installment of Back To Chill, Tokyo’s only dubstep event fronted by the one and only Goth Trad and held at Unit in Daikanyama. Residents Ske, Hyaku Mado, Skinny K aka Kaji Peace and VJ Diagram were joined by MC Cardz and D2 for the occasion, as well as my good self.

It was a fun night once more, with a lot of drinking, laughing and people enjoying themselves. Though it was a little quieter than the last few events, it was still a success.

Hyaku Mado recorded all the sets on the night and I thought I’d spread a little love: so here are all 5 sets for you to grab in mp3 format. Click on the link below and you’ll be taken to a folder where you can download each set separately. Alternatively you can also stream them below to check before downloading.

Big ups to Hyaku Mado for the recording and to all the BTC crew for having me down once more. Next one is a special all nighter at Club Asia next week, 3rd of May. Bang in the middle of the Golden Week Holidays too, nice :mrgreen:

BTC vol 8 sets - Goth Trad, Hyaku Mado, Ske, Kaji Peace, Kper

And if you like what you hear don’t forget to check out Goth-Trad’s first releases on two UK labels out this month. The first one is the long awaited release of ‘Back To Chill’, as an EP and out now on Skud Beats. The second one is his Deep Medi Musik debut, Cut End b/w Flags, out in May. Go to Goth Trad’s Blog for direct links and audio.

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written by Laurent \\ tags: back to chill, clubs, dubstep, goth trad, kper, mad rave, Music, raving, Tokyo

Scuba feature - Published in Serie B magazine, 2007

A longer version of this feature appears online at Spannered.

——————————————————————

A deeper understanding

Two years ago when I first interviewed Paul Rose, aka Scuba, artist and head of the Hotflush label, he explained how the label was never “intended to be a dubstep label.” But intentions don’t always end up as reality. Today Hotflush is one of the most well known and productive label in a seemingly ever expanding scene, and Scuba’s debut album is about to drop. And while some things may not have gone according to plan, Paul Rose is more confident than ever about what directions to take from now.
In September last year, Paul decided to leave London for Berlin, a natural move considering his musical roots. “Techno is huge here, and it’s the music that originally got me into the whole electronic thing, so it’s like a homecoming for me.” It wasn’t just that though, “I was bored of London, I wasn’t really interested in what was going on there musically. When London works well it really works, but a lot of the time the music that comes out of there is terrible.” Like what? “Well Funky House. A lot of the stuff these guys play sounds like late-90s deep house to me.” Paul’s move from the ‘home of dubstep’ to the ‘home of techno’ echoes the recent minimalist influences heard in the crossover between dubstep and techno. “I love the concept of minimal. I love it that people go mad when a little hi-hat comes in. And I think that some of the most interesting dubstep being made today is the minimal-influenced stuff.”

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written by Laurent \\ tags: dubstep, feature, Scuba, Serie B Magazine, techno