Chase and Status, Flux Pavillion, Doctor P and Magnetic Man live!

And I'm back after a VERY heavy day in Hackney yesterday raving it up on the marshes. Yes Radio 1'd Hackney Weekend was certainly a smash and I thought that today I'd give you a run down of who I saw.

So the day started off in the Dance Arena (well the bar first, obviously) and a warm up set by DJ Zane Lowe. Now many of you will know that I'm not a fan of Zane Lowe, I've been very critical of him for 2 reasons: 1) He plays odd music in the middle of sets and 2) he can't mix for shit. When I saw him before Skrillex in February he was pretty poor. Yesterday however he was truly on form and played a flowing, banging set with some very nice mixing. This got everyone pumped up for the following act.

Flux Pavilion took to the stage with Doctor P. I'm seeing Flux in October but I couldn't miss the chance to see him, especially as there was fuck all on the other stages at this point. The set was explosive, energetic and quite brutal. The bass was LOUD, now I've been to a few gigs over the years but none of them had the bass quite this loud. It was so loud in fact you could hear and feel it across the site at the Main Stage. But this just added to the frenzy as everyone went ballistic for "Can't Stop" and "Bass Cannon".

After a break for beer, food and to recharge I headed over to see a nice little set from Friction on the DJ stage, the young drum and bass outfit got everyone going and are certainly worth checking out.

I then went round to see Magnetic Man in the In New Music We Trust tent, catching the end of a very impressive and almost haunting set from Lana Del Rey, who by the way is very tasty! For those of you unfamiliar with Magnetic Man they are a trio made up of Skream, Benga and Artwork, as you'd expect from this group they are very almost old school in their sound. Proper dub straight from its origins. They certainly had the crowd going too, with their MC (the name eludes me) getting everyone going. Special guests Katy B (also tasty) and Angela Hunte added to the experience with their vocals. If you're into your classic dub then these are well worth seeing.


Finally the last act of the day that relate to this blog were certainly my favourite. Chase and Status are massive in the UK, not so much elsewhere but if they come near you, just see them, it really is that simple. They opened with the brilliant "No Problem" and from there I don't think I stood still for more than 20 seconds. The set from them was of course packed with energy and of course explosive bass. Guest appearances from Liam Baily and the absolute nutter that is Tempah T, just got everyone going even more. But without a doubt the loudest cheer came from "End Credits" and "Pieces" both featuring Plan B. A nice touch was throwing in a couple of old ones such as "Smash TV" and of course the ever enjoyable "Eastern Jam". Overall they smashed it with a sick set. Just book your tickets for them right NOW!

A fantastic day was had all round from my dubstep point of view as well as seeing Rihanna in very little shorts!

Cypress x Rusko EP - Review

I hope all of you have been thrashing around like nutters to Borgore's latest EP decisions. Today I bring you yet another EP, this time its a collaboration between Rusko and Cypress Hill. Now when I heard this, I couldn't really picture the two releasing anything together but I was proved wrong. Well initially anyway.

The EP consists of 5 tracks, rather typically of Cypress Hill most are about weed. But there isn't much new there. When I first heard about this I wasn't sure that either of them would really convey their own sounds and styles well but they do. The first track "Lez Go" has a nice intro that pines back to the more pop/dance tracks on Rusko's previous release Songs. But it has that dark sounding beat that Rusko has become well known for, at the same time the vocals from the Cypress lads work well over the top.

Following you have "Roll it, Light it" which is a repetitive track, which in dubstep isn't new, again Cypress Hill's vocals over the top rapping about what they like most (weed) work well over this particular beat. In the track "Shots Go Off" we hear the most typical Rusko bass line that we have all grown to love. When you listen you'll know exactly what I mean (the one with the pitch bend that he uses a lot).

We then move onto what is by far the best track on the EP "Can't Keep Me Down" feat. Damian Marley. This track really encapsulates all 3 styles: hip hop, dub and dancehall. The structure of the song isn't compromised which means than none of the styles overpower the other. If you like this track and haven't listened to Songs by Rusko then you really need to. The last track "Medicated" again has the stereotypical Rusko feel to it.

When I first listened to this EP I thought it was a decent EP and all the tracks have their own pro's and con's. However when I listened to it through all the songs tend to bleed into one another making it a bit tedious. That would be my main gripe with this EP, none of the tracks are really different. Overall a decent release.

6/10
 

Borgore - Decisions EP Review

It's here, every feminists worst nightmare!! Borgore's new decisions EP. Now many of you will remember I wasn't too keen on his last EP. However this one is a different story. 

This dirty little 4 track EP, has 4 different versions of the song "Decisions" on it in case you hadn't guessed. We have the original, a mix by Cedric Gervais (whoever the fuck that is) a mix by Dead Audio and then the Dub mix which is ever so slightly different to the original.

Firstly I really love the song Decisions and to be honest if you don't then this really isn't the EP, its Borgore back to his best, lyrics about nothing important and some nice dirty drops. The drums in the track are really clean and crisp which is important when you listen to the song, making it generally tidier. The structure follows a lot of previous tracks but he brings it together well.

The Cedric Gervais mix is a very house/electro/club style track, admittedly it won't be a lot of Borgore's die hard fan's favourite track but as a fan of house I like it, I think it's a good track and breaks the EP up well (if you can break up a 4 track EP based on one song).

By far my favourite track on the EP is the Dead Audio remix, its an absolute banger. The upped tempo I think really adds to the track without altering it too much that you can't tell its a remix which does seem to happen a lot these days. Again the drums are good in this mix and has that head bobbing rhythm.

This is a killer release from Borgore and a definite for fans!!

8/10

Weekly Bangers 13/06/12

Apologies that these a bit late, there hasn't been much going on in the dub world this week and the combination of piss poor weather and a shit Euro's has led to excessive drinking and gambling on teams like Qatar and Jamaica (what was I thinking?) but I'm back on the trail of the latest bangers.

So firstly today I have a track from a Chicago outfit, Adventure Club who released a track called "Rise and Fall" ft. Krewella, which by all accounts wasn't too bad. However that wasn't good enough for Krewella who then decided to release a new remix and its beastly. It has a lovely grizzly drop and some really nice drum loops with that punchy snare that I just love. Check it out, Adventure Club ft. Krewella - Rise and Fall (Krewella Remix), slightly confusing I know.

Another tune for you today is a really recent release on UKF and its a KillSonik remix of the Calvin Harris track "We'll Be Coming Back". Its a really nice remix with some of the higher pitched noises that we have come to associate with them and of course that heavy bass growl that is also very KillSonik. A good mix. Check it out here.

That's it for today my lovely readers. More soon! Keep it BASS!!! 

Chase and Status Mix and Skrillex and 12th Planet Mix

Whats up everyone from a very rainy Kent. I hope the weather is considerably better than it is here. Today I have a couple of mixes for you that, trust me, are quality. First up I have a sick playlist from the massive act from right here in the UK Chase and Status. I know they aren't massive in the US but just check this out. I have been lucky enough to see them live and I'm going again in a few weeks, they're fucking amazing! For those of you familiar with Chase and Status this is a very dubby mix, something which I didn't experience from when I saw them. Obviously with tunes like Eastern Jam, they are more than capable of cracking out some dubstep but in recent years they have become more drum and bass. Check them out - Live at Electric Daisy, New York.

OK secondly today I have another mix for you. This one comes from Skrillex and 12th Planet and along with dropping their usual array of bangers, some skillful mixing is involved in this one, with them performing some cracking double drops. It's well organised and they really get the crowd going. Skrillex is someone else I've seen live and he's a fucking lunatic, if you're a hater then don't listen, but he's doing some crazy stuff with electro/dub. Ignore the point where one of the mixers dies, not much I can do about that. This is a heavy mix live from B2b Ultra. 

Those should keep you going for now, back Monday with more bangers!

Weekly Bangers 04/06/2012

Another week and some more bangers coming your way. If you're in the UK happy Bank Holiday! Whatever you think of the Queen at least we get a couple of days off the normal grind. Unless you're working then well holiday pay? Anyway that's enough of me rambling on about nothing important.

First off today I have a track for you from someone I know very little about, Dank. He's not the most established of artists but hey this track just gave me an ear to ear grin. the track is called "The Hard Knocks" and yes it is a remix of the track from Annie/Jay-Z/Austin Powers, I'm sure most of you have heard it but I just really like this dubstep spin on and the real drum n bass feel in the second half of the song. You can find it here. 

Secondly today I have something that has been around for quite a while but its a track I'm surprised not a lot of people have actually heard. If you have then I apologise for this being a cop out. Captain Crunch & Fytch have been around for a fucking age and individually churn out decent tracks, so when they teamed up to produce the track "Raindrops" it was huge and I loved it. But when I then saw one of my old favourites Tomba had done a remix of it, I loved it even more. As you'd expect from Tomba its rather heavy and the drop will probably give you a nosebleed if you aren't careful. Fans of Tomba/Borgore and a like will be all over this: Fytch & Captain Crunch ft. Carmen Forbes - Raindrops (Tomba Remix)

That's it from me today, check back later this week when hopefully I'll be bringing you a rather tasty mix!