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Too Many DJs…
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Bare cones
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Pushing The Boat Out (Zomby Round 2)

Not only is ‘Natalia’s Song’ by Zomby a wikid tune; emotive, reflective, ravy in a subdued way, intelligent, euphoric even…I could carry on stringing adjectives together all day, it’s that nice, but also it’s obvious that a lot of thought has been put into the design and visual impact of the release. Look above, see what I mean?! Talk about getting your money’s worth! The portrait of a women poised in a moment of deep thought goes nicely with the female vocals on this track.
The beautiful soft keys suit the mood perfectly, I just wish it would quietly explode at some point (if that makes sense), there isn’t really a ‘drop’ so to speak. It is, however, as Mary Anne Hobbs I’m sure would agree (she played it as her final tune on her final show on Radio1 last year), a perfect opener/outro piece.
Despite his tough exterior and (slightly) dodgy attitude (cancelling on ATP, notorious for pulling out of gigs without much/any prior warning, and so on), Zomby shows a sweeter, more ‘sensitive’ side with this composition (of course this could all be speculative bullshit on my part, god knows what he’s really thinking - I don’t know him). Make up your own mind:
Zomby - Natalia’s Song
For me, this would go so perfectly with another favourite of mine, a deep one from East LDN producer Ornine..
Since the beats in Natalia’s Song have been described as
‘Broken hiccups which dance across the icy vocals and trance chords creating something rather unique and much more special than the sum of it’s [sic] parts!
I find it quite fitting that Ornine named the style of ‘Draco’ as being ‘Molten Hiccups’.
Conclusion is, Aw#9; badman producer: watch out!!
So Zomby is getting some seriously Ltd releases this month (both of which have a very dreamy, introspective tip), what with ‘A Devil Lay Here’ getting a 7” pressing on 4AD (the actual album ‘Dedication’ coming out 11th July). Man’s on a roll!!!
Above: Zomby
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Ornine & Hulo - Before The Violence Ensued, Allen Gardens, E1 bang bang
Photo by Ornine
<beef>your mum should have swallowed you!</beef>
Vybz Kartel - Me Talk With Gunshot
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A New Burial

Hermit-like dubstep producer Burial has a new single out on 28th March on Hyperdub.
Supposed tracks:
1. Street Halo
2. NYC
3. Stolen Dog
This is his first solo single since 2007.
Unfortunately there are no clips, nothing! Typically elusive. All they know is the combined length is 20 minutes, 41 seconds (cool).
Preorder on Cargo
In the meantime, here’s a refresher from ‘07…
If, like me, you’re intruiged where Will Bevan samples from, click on the album names below and see for yourself!
Burial (2006)
Untrue (2007)
Film sampling discussion here. Shouts out to VHS digger Ornine on this one:
the intro to untrue is from Inland Empire, the last David Lynch film
” i saw your light, it burns forever “
absolutely incredible filmKode9 DJ’ing for the ‘Untrue’ release party at FWD, Plastic People in 2007 was the single most intimate, beautiful club experience I have ever had. Everyone seemed unified, no fights, no beef, no champagne bottling like they do at Garage nights, just pure admiration and people sharing their love of something.
Burial’s style still goes unrivalled, despite there being some mountebanks (sorry, that’s a bit harsh cos I do genuinely like Synkro’s tunes)
Rich sampling and stupidly addictive beats. Deep and emotive, like staring back at your memories and having a soundtrack to accompany it.
And yes! It’s not about what software you use, you can have ten thousand soft synths that cost a bomb and the latest copy of Logic but it could still sound flat and boring; Burial is living proof (hoho) that it’s how you manipulate what you have. I quote from an interview:
“I thought to myself **** it I’m going to stick to this shitty little computer program, Soundforge. I don’t know any other programs. Once I change something, I can never un-change it. I can only see the waves. So I know when I’m happy with my drums because they look like a nice fishbone.”
Fuck quantizing, he doesn’t even do that! Read more of the dialogue here
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Intro Biznis

Been listening to a bit of Juke recently, and those tinny hi-q’d percussive sounds paired with a fast, hyperactive pace are starting to get quite addictive!
This one by DJ Rashad particularly stood out for me when I was listening to a Footwork Mix by Azizaman. It’s called ‘Reverb’ (Unreleased).
DJ Rashad - Reverb by Ghettophiles
It reminds me in a bizarre way of Brian Eno’s ‘Force Marker’ (as you can probably tell by now, I love soundtracks!), just in a more minimal, urban sounding fashion. It’s repetitious, but not to the point where you want to just turn it off..
Other standout tracks in the mix have got to be Gant-Man ’Footworkin’ Orchestra’, DJ Earl ‘Lie’ (the pitched up vocals really remind me of those on Zomby’s ‘One Spliff A Day’, check the classic Rustie RMX here) and DJ Spinn ’Studio’ (check them out in the mix). Had to throw in the original Billy Boyo for some variety:
From the perspective of someone who has (maybe not so recently) bought Dubstep on wax, Planet Mu’s decision to take this speedy genre of hip hop under its wing is something of an intrigue, but refreshing.
My favourite is without a doubt the mighty DJ Nate ‘Da Trak Genious’. 808s all about, percussive and hypnotizing flurries mimicking the frantic foot movements, egging on the dancers with poignant repeated sample lines such as ‘I’ll murder any n***** that step in the circle’ and ‘hatas our motivation’.
‘Back Up Kid’ is more on the modern r’n’b front, less grimey and dark compared to some of his other tracks such as ‘Footwork Homicide’
Take them to the Peach Tree Dance!
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Bigups as ever to Ornine for the knowledge
Shouts out to Azizaman for the inspiration
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Ornine Ital Stew Riddim Remix
Take an intriguing and dynamic riddim instrumental, Ital Stew (‘Boy Shorts’, Mr Vegas, you know it), produced by Jah Snowcone (nice name!), ask Ornine to remix the ting, and voila, you have the Ornine Version. Clever sampling of the original bassline, mixed into something a lot deeper, more minimal, abstracted and fidgety. This is one I can’t wait to mix in, its big!
Ital Stew Riddim (Ornine Version) by ornine
And now for the original. I considered posting Boy Shorts, but y’all know that one!
This is another Ornine favourite, the simple shifting melody and the slow stompy rhythm, with additional stuttering mid and high range vocal cutups (‘molten hiccups’) make this a pretty immersive one. Reflection time!
Click here for Ornine’s myspace





