Big up to all the independent brands that were there selling their creative pieces.
Drinks, Music, Art and fashion were in full flow, I hope there's a next one.
mister cee
Loving bntl like a fat kid loves cake.
Sunday, 28 February 2010
Soho House - Last Wednesday
Was a lot.
Big up to all the independent brands that were there selling their creative pieces.
Drinks, Music, Art and fashion were in full flow, I hope there's a next one.
mister cee
Loving bntl like a fat kid loves cake.
Big up to all the independent brands that were there selling their creative pieces.
Drinks, Music, Art and fashion were in full flow, I hope there's a next one.
mister cee
Loving bntl like a fat kid loves cake.
Glasgow FG / SS - Guest Article
Maintaining a fixie through a hard Glasgow winter is a hell of a lot easier than a geared bike, no question. So it’s no surprise that the cold and rainy mornings seem to do little to deter the burgeoning fixed gear collective that you can see speeding across town almost whenever you look in the centre of Glasgow. It’s hard to find that simple silhouette of a fixed gear bike with its simple geometry (and for the confident, brakeless) unappealing. Its success around bigger cities like London, San Francisco and New York is unsurprising. It seems like an obvious transgression to smaller cities like Glasgow. A bright idea by Andrew Leitch in 2008 to start a fixed gear forum (www.glasgowfgss.com) that was unique to Glasgow has brought faces to bikes and regular rides out and around the city every week, as well as bike polo in car parks, primary school playgrounds and practically any space with a flat surface and perimeter. For a while new fixed riders were brought to the forum by word of mouth or through simple spoke cards (“Fixed or Single Let’s Just Mingle”), put in the wheels of new bikes spotted around town by existing members.
The Glasgow FGSS stickers, plastered on most fixed bikes have now made their way around Britain and even to Mont Ventoux, the most taxing climb stage of the Tour de France. Last year forum creator Andrew and friend Shaun Murphy organised the ‘Easter Weekender’ which attracted riders from the Edinburgh forum and further afield. Fixed gear enthusiasts and Couriers alike got together to compete in Alleycat, Hill Climb and Sprint events with bike shops and manufacturers donating prizes for the winners. It spoke volumes for the way that fixed gear riding has been embraced by the wider cycling community. Well, to some extent at least. It goes without saying that there are those who deny any longevity in the movement. The hipster tag that it attracts is difficult to shake, especially with the trends in fashion that have followed. Simply though, the practicality of courier clothing and bags makes it hard to label the trend for the style of fixed gear as just a faze. On the rare sunny days Glasgow is a stunning place to ride. It’s growing continually and this is something I don’t see stopping any time soon.
Words : Dom ML.
Photos : Alexander Martin.
GLASGOW FG / SS
Saturday, 27 February 2010
BBC / Ice Cream EU - Online Store
As of yesterday the official BBC / Ice Cream EU online Store was opened for business.
stocking a small selection of the current seasons collection pieces.
be sure to check it out as new pieces will be added soon.
To check it out just (click)
Loving bntl like a fat kid loves cake.
stocking a small selection of the current seasons collection pieces.
be sure to check it out as new pieces will be added soon.
To check it out just (click)
Loving bntl like a fat kid loves cake.
Todays Drops
The Abington by timberland collection drops over at the Hanon Shop today.
The collection is quite nice and gives classic styles a modern twist. The entire collection is handcrafted from premium leathers and rich materials so expect good quality and a limited supply.
Available by just a (click)
Loving bntl like a fat kid loves cake.
Friday, 26 February 2010
Hideout Re-opening
Stussy 30th Anniversary tees, New Norse & fresh New Division stuff will all be available.
Crooked Tongues: Nike Football+ & Mercurial Vapor Superfly II Launch - Q&A
Ever since I got my first pair of Hi-Tec football boots when I was 7 I was fascinated. I always wanted the boots my favourite players had and I always wanted the best. I was amazed when the Predator came out and had to have a pair, the same when Nike produced the Mercurial R9 and then the Mercurial Vapor (even though they ripped my heels to shreds!) I'm sure you'll all remember the competition of who had the best boots in your PE lesson's and in your team?
Nike's dedication to pushing the boundaries of technology of the football boot is endless and is proven by their latest creation the Mercurial Vapor Superfly II. They were so proud infact they held a summet at Battersea power station and invited a selection of press and players to the event. The guys over at Crooked Tongues were lucky enough to get a Q&A session with Andy Caine the man responsible for the boot.
Head on over for the full article: http://www.crookedtongues.com/news/single.php?n=933
"Are you a football player yourself?
Not as good as these guys!
Did you try them out?
Yeah, I did. One of the things as a designer is that you're very curious to know how it feels and fits. This new traction system is also one of the most comfortable things we've ever made. The pressure distribution system is very even across the board.
What's with the colours?
The colours really come from a bit of science. There's the purple and the glow-in-the-dark colour so when you're running you get dark to purple, and that, bounced of the grass gives you a "flicker" which engages the peripheral vision. So there's more to it than just colours. The colour thing really came from Didier Drogba. He has a real affinity for understanding the fine detail in football boots.
So this one shoe isn't built with Drogba in mind?
No, for all players, traction is a big thing.
Why is traction such a big thing?
It's important. If you look at the stats, if someone slips, when you're a defender or an attacker - if you're a defender and you slip, the attacker can get in. If you're an attacker and you slip, you lose your chance. If you think of Ronaldo and Pato, they're all extremely fast and extra dynamic, and they have a lot of game-changing moments and you don't want to lose any of them. Traction for them is super critical.
Do any players ask for individual modifications?
Very few with Mercurial. Cristiano started wearing this boot when he was 15. Theo Walcott's the same. They're used to the fit and feel of this and there aren't too many modifications that we do for players - much of it is literally out the box and on the feet.
What's the strangest modification you've made?
We don't get a lot of odd requests. They're very serious with their boots. A better boot makes you a better player. So the partnership between us and the players is actually very good. Last year I spent 65 days traveling to meet these types of players. They're very busy people so they respect us.
How many players were involved in those 65 days?
We had a lot of the big players. Ronaldo, Drogba, Pato, Eduardo, Theo, Babel - we go to all of them. Quite a lot of players, and a good level of player too.
As a designer, which of the new innovations are you most proud of?
If you understand industrial design, the idea of designing a stud that moves is beyond complex. We have spent a lot of time designing and engineering it. We're pretty stoked about it if I'm being honest. The colours are pretty cool. We're pretty pleased with how this came out. It's an improvement on the last one - it's a revolution on the last one.
Has safety been considered in the Superfly II?
Yes. This composite is multiple set layers. It's been molded from the ground up. The components are more durable than they've ever been. It's actually less layers. It's lighter weight too. Protection is the key factor.
How long does a Nike football boot take to develop?
It depends on the shoe. It can be anything from 18 months to 4 years. We started developing around 2 and a half years ago.
How many prototypes did you go through leading up to the finished article?
We went through 43 versions of the upper leading up to the finished one. We slow motion filmed every boot to see that the boots are working. The studs are the result of 5 steps and there's a lot of process in those steps. To create a boot like that is really complicated. We've been testing for the last 2 years.
How do you test them?
We do lab testing, testing how durable they are. Slow motion filming, traction testing, on pitch real-life testing - we do that around-the-globe to get better perspectives. We do that a lot.
Was there a "Eureka" moment?
If you look at the science of it, we have an amazing facility in Portland - when you're working with those guys, we have bio-mechnical specialists looking at what we're doing, and you can see for yourself what you're after, but when the specialists say, 'That's perfect" you know you've nailed it. Then you test again. Can we get more? That's probably why there was 43 - you get to like, 35 and do this that and the other to see if it makes a difference. A professional athlete like Cristiano's training for 5 hours a day in his boots 7 days a week so it has to work.
Has the notion of retractable studs something that's been on the cards since Nike Football started? Is it an ideal?
It was probably a dream. The idea isn't to create a stud that moves - it's the benefit it brings. What benefit can we bring to the players. It's not about just making something we can make.
When you start the boot design process, what's the first thing you do?
A lot of it is the vision of what we wanted to achieve. The vision was to create the fastest boot we could make. And also, take speed to the next generation of what we can do, and the concept of adaptability came out of the first vision. Strategizing what we want to do. Once we have what I call "the vision" then you can start putting the pieces into place. Sketching starts at various different levels. Some testing things - "What about this?" "What about that?" Sketching then prototypes, more sketching, more prototypes - a whole evolve and grow process."
You've got to admit it is a sexy football boot!
Nike's dedication to pushing the boundaries of technology of the football boot is endless and is proven by their latest creation the Mercurial Vapor Superfly II. They were so proud infact they held a summet at Battersea power station and invited a selection of press and players to the event. The guys over at Crooked Tongues were lucky enough to get a Q&A session with Andy Caine the man responsible for the boot.
Head on over for the full article: http://www.crookedtongues.com/news/single.php?n=933
"Are you a football player yourself?
Not as good as these guys!
Did you try them out?
Yeah, I did. One of the things as a designer is that you're very curious to know how it feels and fits. This new traction system is also one of the most comfortable things we've ever made. The pressure distribution system is very even across the board.
What's with the colours?
The colours really come from a bit of science. There's the purple and the glow-in-the-dark colour so when you're running you get dark to purple, and that, bounced of the grass gives you a "flicker" which engages the peripheral vision. So there's more to it than just colours. The colour thing really came from Didier Drogba. He has a real affinity for understanding the fine detail in football boots.
So this one shoe isn't built with Drogba in mind?
No, for all players, traction is a big thing.
Why is traction such a big thing?
It's important. If you look at the stats, if someone slips, when you're a defender or an attacker - if you're a defender and you slip, the attacker can get in. If you're an attacker and you slip, you lose your chance. If you think of Ronaldo and Pato, they're all extremely fast and extra dynamic, and they have a lot of game-changing moments and you don't want to lose any of them. Traction for them is super critical.
Do any players ask for individual modifications?
Very few with Mercurial. Cristiano started wearing this boot when he was 15. Theo Walcott's the same. They're used to the fit and feel of this and there aren't too many modifications that we do for players - much of it is literally out the box and on the feet.
What's the strangest modification you've made?
We don't get a lot of odd requests. They're very serious with their boots. A better boot makes you a better player. So the partnership between us and the players is actually very good. Last year I spent 65 days traveling to meet these types of players. They're very busy people so they respect us.
How many players were involved in those 65 days?
We had a lot of the big players. Ronaldo, Drogba, Pato, Eduardo, Theo, Babel - we go to all of them. Quite a lot of players, and a good level of player too.
As a designer, which of the new innovations are you most proud of?
If you understand industrial design, the idea of designing a stud that moves is beyond complex. We have spent a lot of time designing and engineering it. We're pretty stoked about it if I'm being honest. The colours are pretty cool. We're pretty pleased with how this came out. It's an improvement on the last one - it's a revolution on the last one.
Has safety been considered in the Superfly II?
Yes. This composite is multiple set layers. It's been molded from the ground up. The components are more durable than they've ever been. It's actually less layers. It's lighter weight too. Protection is the key factor.
How long does a Nike football boot take to develop?
It depends on the shoe. It can be anything from 18 months to 4 years. We started developing around 2 and a half years ago.
How many prototypes did you go through leading up to the finished article?
We went through 43 versions of the upper leading up to the finished one. We slow motion filmed every boot to see that the boots are working. The studs are the result of 5 steps and there's a lot of process in those steps. To create a boot like that is really complicated. We've been testing for the last 2 years.
How do you test them?
We do lab testing, testing how durable they are. Slow motion filming, traction testing, on pitch real-life testing - we do that around-the-globe to get better perspectives. We do that a lot.
Was there a "Eureka" moment?
If you look at the science of it, we have an amazing facility in Portland - when you're working with those guys, we have bio-mechnical specialists looking at what we're doing, and you can see for yourself what you're after, but when the specialists say, 'That's perfect" you know you've nailed it. Then you test again. Can we get more? That's probably why there was 43 - you get to like, 35 and do this that and the other to see if it makes a difference. A professional athlete like Cristiano's training for 5 hours a day in his boots 7 days a week so it has to work.
Has the notion of retractable studs something that's been on the cards since Nike Football started? Is it an ideal?
It was probably a dream. The idea isn't to create a stud that moves - it's the benefit it brings. What benefit can we bring to the players. It's not about just making something we can make.
When you start the boot design process, what's the first thing you do?
A lot of it is the vision of what we wanted to achieve. The vision was to create the fastest boot we could make. And also, take speed to the next generation of what we can do, and the concept of adaptability came out of the first vision. Strategizing what we want to do. Once we have what I call "the vision" then you can start putting the pieces into place. Sketching starts at various different levels. Some testing things - "What about this?" "What about that?" Sketching then prototypes, more sketching, more prototypes - a whole evolve and grow process."
You've got to admit it is a sexy football boot!
Culture Clash Video Round up
A video round up of last weeks Red Bull Music Academy's "Culture Clash".
Metalheadz worthy winners with a team consisting of Goldie, Commix, Storm, Andy C & Caspa? I'll let you decide.
Metalheadz worthy winners with a team consisting of Goldie, Commix, Storm, Andy C & Caspa? I'll let you decide.
XLR8R - Martyn Mix
01 Washed Out "Get Up" (Mexican Summer)
02 Lukid "Veto" (Werk)
03 King Midas Sound "Lost" (Hyperdub)
04 Rotating Assembly "Orchestra Hall" (Sound Signature)
05 Anthony Shakir "Shake it Up Dub (Remix)" (KMS)
06 Robert Owens "Bring Down the Walls" (Trax)
07 Lone "Once in a While" (Werk)
08 Jacob Korn "Grosskariert" (Permanent Vacation)
09 Joy Orbison "The Shrew Would Have Cushioned the Blow (Actress remix)" (Aus)
10 Prince "When Doves Cry" (Warner Bros)
11 Dez Williams "Abandoned Emotions" (Cheap)
12 DJ Duke "Future Blast" (Music For Your Ears)
13 Glass Domain "Interlock" (Clone)
14 Drexciya "Lost Vessel" (Tresor)
15 The Future "Daz" (Black Melody)
16 Aardvarck "Tulti" (Eat Concrete)
17 Motor City Drum Ensemble "Raw Cuts #5" (Faces)
18 Basic Soul Unit "Hopy Unity Vision" (New Kanada)
19 Adonis "No Way Back" (Trax)
20 K-Alexi "Vertigo" (Transmat)
21 J Dilla "Nothing Like This" (Stones Throw)
Download: http://www.xlr8r.com/listen/22977/mp3/XLR8R_Podcast_Martyn_2010_02_25.mp3
Thursday, 25 February 2010
FAMILY w/ Newham Generals. 6th March
Nigel Cabourn Interview
Nigel Cabourn has been on top of his game for a while now, when I posted his AW/09 jacket on here last year he was only in a select few stores and not much press. Now every decent store and magazine are looking to feature his gear.
Specialist denim store Tenue de Nimes in France sent us this interview they did with Nigel Cabourn himself back in 2009.
From the interview you can see how thorough this guy is, his research methods are second to none and his passion is still evident....
Blackdown Interview Part 3
Here is the final part of the Blackdown interview.
If you didn't manage to catch parts 1 & 2 you can do so HERE and HERE
Do you find that there are a great deal of old classics that unfortunately never see the light of day nowadays particularly in terms of dubstep music? It’s slightly different with grime as the majority of the main djs in the scene still include a fair few of the old bangers in their sets along with the new stuff. Why do you think this is so in terms of dubstep?
Well, there are quite a few old dubstep tunes that didn’t come out but to be honest most of the strongest ones did. I’ve personally been responsible for the original of El-B’s “Buck & Bury” and Benga’s “Star Wars VIP” coming out, on top of the two Skream dubs. In reality each of the a-list dubstep producers has a few dubs that people are upset never hit vinyl but you gotta understand that back in those times no one wanted to know about dubstep. They really didn’t, for about 5 years. Only 300 copies of “Sholay” were pressed and even that struggled and I think that’s one of if not the best dubstep tunes ever. Sometimes tracks were unwanted remixes that remain in legal limbo. I helped Skream get the Almighty Father remixes, and they were “lost” for ages until he altruistically leaked them.
So if something didn’t get immediately released it got sat on and then you have the issues around how producers feel about their own work, especially as they evolve and get better at engineering.
We live in times of instant gratification now, where any track from the world’s music collection is accessible on YouTube via your iPhone anytime, anywhere. That’s wonderful but it can generate an impatient “gimme gimme gimme…” culture. Yet sometimes the inaccessibility of certain dubs makes them special – I’ve certainly resisted asking for certain amazing dubs for this reason, as contrary as it sound s – so you can only hear them played by a certain person, in a certain way, in a certain place at a certain time. That can make them all the more special.
As a sort of Michael Parkinson or Jonathan Ross of the underground music scene you have interviewed a huge amount of DJ’s, producers and MC’s during your career. Who would you say was the most enjoyable out of them all and why?
Oh my god, you didn’t just compare me to Jonathan “twat mullet gobshite act your age mate” Ross did you? #DASAPAR! ;-)
Pretending you didn’t compare me to Parky either, yeah interviewing is fun. Some of the best ones have been mind blowing, career-changing events for me. My two interviews with Wiley and Dizzee in about 2003 were amazing to be part of, they’re both such heroes of mine (these are archived at Deeptime.org). Dot Rotten was pretty amazing to speak to too.
Dubstep wise I think I’ll always enjoy speaking to Mala and Loefah. They’re just such different people. Loefah’s analytical but brutally honest. Mala’s so emotional, like every word and emotion he conveys comes deep from within. I’ve interviewed them several times each since about 2003 and it’s always been incredible. Finally both Burial interviews were fun, especially the second, longer one, though to be frank he talks like that all the time!
On a finishing note, I’m sure you are asked this regularly but where do you see the UK underground music scene going in say the next 5 – 10 years?
Forecasting the future is a mugs game so I’ll refrain from making any specific predictions. What I would say is that over the last 15 years or so I’ve begun to notice general trends in urban music, ones that occur cyclically. So I’d expect most scenes to grow in small steps at first but be more profoundly changed by big steps (drift v shift). This feeds into the rates of the cycles of how scenes form, grow and then splinter. There’s another cycle between warm vocal sounds that lead into dark instrumentals, which often spills into an over-hard, comically hyper angry that causes a sound to change audience (from urban to student/national), which I’ve seen several times.
So I am willing to predict that these cycles will continue to exist, as I think they have some basis in human nature and the relative proportions of certain demographics within the UK, which aren’t likely to change radically, on a grand scale… I hope (nuclear war might change that, but who the hell would predict or wish for that!?).
I think the next 5-10 years could be very interesting in technology terms. In 2000 the UK was just coming to terms with email and 56k dial up web connections. 5 years before that only drug dealers had mobile phones. Now we have super-fast broadband and anywhere portable broadband on your iPhone. I’d expect connectivity to increase, but I’m willing to speculate that the change between limited connectivity and now is larger than now and the saturation of the near future… but who knows! I raise this because it has one consequence, that the economic value of music tends to zero as the effort to transfer it falls to zero. What will happen when physical music has no value? Something or nothing? If someone finds a way to digitize live performance then bwoy, music will be permanently accessible but with no economic value… now that would be interesting times! Let’s hope the price of baked beans and rent falls with it
A big shout out goes to Blackdown for kindly agreeing to the interview and to all those who have helped promote it.
Expect some more great interviews to be coming this way over the next few weeks and months!
Photo credit to ASHES57
If you didn't manage to catch parts 1 & 2 you can do so HERE and HERE
Do you find that there are a great deal of old classics that unfortunately never see the light of day nowadays particularly in terms of dubstep music? It’s slightly different with grime as the majority of the main djs in the scene still include a fair few of the old bangers in their sets along with the new stuff. Why do you think this is so in terms of dubstep?
Well, there are quite a few old dubstep tunes that didn’t come out but to be honest most of the strongest ones did. I’ve personally been responsible for the original of El-B’s “Buck & Bury” and Benga’s “Star Wars VIP” coming out, on top of the two Skream dubs. In reality each of the a-list dubstep producers has a few dubs that people are upset never hit vinyl but you gotta understand that back in those times no one wanted to know about dubstep. They really didn’t, for about 5 years. Only 300 copies of “Sholay” were pressed and even that struggled and I think that’s one of if not the best dubstep tunes ever. Sometimes tracks were unwanted remixes that remain in legal limbo. I helped Skream get the Almighty Father remixes, and they were “lost” for ages until he altruistically leaked them.
So if something didn’t get immediately released it got sat on and then you have the issues around how producers feel about their own work, especially as they evolve and get better at engineering.
We live in times of instant gratification now, where any track from the world’s music collection is accessible on YouTube via your iPhone anytime, anywhere. That’s wonderful but it can generate an impatient “gimme gimme gimme…” culture. Yet sometimes the inaccessibility of certain dubs makes them special – I’ve certainly resisted asking for certain amazing dubs for this reason, as contrary as it sound s – so you can only hear them played by a certain person, in a certain way, in a certain place at a certain time. That can make them all the more special.
As a sort of Michael Parkinson or Jonathan Ross of the underground music scene you have interviewed a huge amount of DJ’s, producers and MC’s during your career. Who would you say was the most enjoyable out of them all and why?
Oh my god, you didn’t just compare me to Jonathan “twat mullet gobshite act your age mate” Ross did you? #DASAPAR! ;-)
Pretending you didn’t compare me to Parky either, yeah interviewing is fun. Some of the best ones have been mind blowing, career-changing events for me. My two interviews with Wiley and Dizzee in about 2003 were amazing to be part of, they’re both such heroes of mine (these are archived at Deeptime.org). Dot Rotten was pretty amazing to speak to too.
Dubstep wise I think I’ll always enjoy speaking to Mala and Loefah. They’re just such different people. Loefah’s analytical but brutally honest. Mala’s so emotional, like every word and emotion he conveys comes deep from within. I’ve interviewed them several times each since about 2003 and it’s always been incredible. Finally both Burial interviews were fun, especially the second, longer one, though to be frank he talks like that all the time!
On a finishing note, I’m sure you are asked this regularly but where do you see the UK underground music scene going in say the next 5 – 10 years?
Forecasting the future is a mugs game so I’ll refrain from making any specific predictions. What I would say is that over the last 15 years or so I’ve begun to notice general trends in urban music, ones that occur cyclically. So I’d expect most scenes to grow in small steps at first but be more profoundly changed by big steps (drift v shift). This feeds into the rates of the cycles of how scenes form, grow and then splinter. There’s another cycle between warm vocal sounds that lead into dark instrumentals, which often spills into an over-hard, comically hyper angry that causes a sound to change audience (from urban to student/national), which I’ve seen several times.
So I am willing to predict that these cycles will continue to exist, as I think they have some basis in human nature and the relative proportions of certain demographics within the UK, which aren’t likely to change radically, on a grand scale… I hope (nuclear war might change that, but who the hell would predict or wish for that!?).
I think the next 5-10 years could be very interesting in technology terms. In 2000 the UK was just coming to terms with email and 56k dial up web connections. 5 years before that only drug dealers had mobile phones. Now we have super-fast broadband and anywhere portable broadband on your iPhone. I’d expect connectivity to increase, but I’m willing to speculate that the change between limited connectivity and now is larger than now and the saturation of the near future… but who knows! I raise this because it has one consequence, that the economic value of music tends to zero as the effort to transfer it falls to zero. What will happen when physical music has no value? Something or nothing? If someone finds a way to digitize live performance then bwoy, music will be permanently accessible but with no economic value… now that would be interesting times! Let’s hope the price of baked beans and rent falls with it
A big shout out goes to Blackdown for kindly agreeing to the interview and to all those who have helped promote it.
Expect some more great interviews to be coming this way over the next few weeks and months!
Photo credit to ASHES57
Wednesday, 24 February 2010
'Air Kissing & Fierce Fashion'
Is it just me or has anybody else noticed all these shitty 'street style' blogs are becoming more and more waste by the day? Each and every one are chasing these desperado fashionista's for their pictures but all the pictures do is scream EFFORT! All the outfits look like they've taken hours to put together, the poses are straight 'vogue', the styling is hella busy and the accessories all seem to be totally non functional.
Well it turns out that it isn't just me who finds them weak but good old Donald Crunk. His new tumblr and him have taken it upon themselves to put these desperate souls under the spotlight.
My personal faves...
No doubt there'll be loads more 'street style' books and websites to follow.
Keep up to date with Donald HERE.
Well it turns out that it isn't just me who finds them weak but good old Donald Crunk. His new tumblr and him have taken it upon themselves to put these desperate souls under the spotlight.
My personal faves...
No doubt there'll be loads more 'street style' books and websites to follow.
Keep up to date with Donald HERE.
Gitman Brothers - SS/10
Gitman Bro's have gone back to their 1984 collection for inspiration to bring us their latest offerings. My picks of the collection...
Peep the whole collection HERE.
Peep the whole collection HERE.
Blackdown Interview Part 2
If you haven't had the chance to read part 1 of the interview with Blackdown then you can do so HERE
As someone who has seen the early stages of both the grime and dubstep scene evolve what are your feelings on how dramatically the sound has been developed in recent years compared to the perhaps beginning of the millennium?
It’s been really amazing watching them both grow from nothing, from fragments of UK garage. I feel really blessed to have been close to not just the birth of one genre, but two. Of course they’ve grown at different rates and times. Dubstep started first with grime not far behind. Then grime grew dramatically and mutated radically, while dubstep kept small and compact. Then dubstep began this explosive trajectory where it has established itself in the global club infrastructure and media, far better than grime did.
Yet in 2009/10, some of grime’s a-list have cracked the mainstream in a way dubstep never will, though on the most part, from Dizzee to Tinchy and Chipmunk, they had to water down what grime was to achieve this scale. That leaves the rest of the grime scene behind, which I still think is amazing, though it isn’t mutating as fast as it was in 2003/4. But acts like Trim, Durrty Goodz, Dot Rotten, Ghetto, Wiley, Rapid, Elijah and Skilliam, Logan Sama, P Money, Tempa T, Silencer etc are all essential listening, even if as a whole there may be less depth of quality in grime that there once was. I think it’s interesting that if you look at the other hardcore continuum genres like d&b and garage, grime’s managed to preserve itself without either a) ruining what was good about itself to gain a large audience (d&b) or b) imploding (garage).
Dubstep too has made its compromises, fatally I think. Large parts of it has made the same compromises that d&b did, and this is all the more shocking since it did it in the full knowledge of how things went down with jungle/d&b. I was very angry about this for several years but I’m tired of that fight now. If people want “dubstep” to be this homogenius, “snare-on-the-third-plus-distorted-angsty-wobble” sound then they can have that.I want to be positive, two write about great new music, release some, write some of my own. I’ve moved on, taking what I see dubstep as being – an open exploration of all the darker London garage hybrids – and working towards building something new. UK funky, 2step, garage, grime, non-wobble dubstep are exciting areas, and people are blending them with things like juke, crunk, chip tunes, the LA sound, kuduro, South African house and so much more to make the most interesting new music.
The forthcoming release on your’s and Dusk’s own label; Keysound Recordings, features two previously unreleased Skream tracks from 2005. Whose decision was it to release these two?
It was a impulse thing really, though I should say I’ve tried to sign the odd lost dub in the past *cough* Mala “Forgive” *cough*. Dusk and I always loved those two Skream tunes and used them in mixes we’ve done but it was clear after a while they’d been forgotten. This seemed a shame as they were such amazing pieces of music: dark but light, moody but physical.
So one day I just thought, “I wonder what Skream would say if I asked for them?” He was on AIM in some hotel room in Canada living the DJ dream and instantly just said “have them” which I’m immensely grateful for. I hear a lot of upfront of upfront Skream bits, which is a kind of loyalty I’m really grateful for. I’ve always got on well with Skream, I’m pretty sure I was the first person to interview him and Benga – in the café next to Big Apple Records in Croydon market in about 2002 – so it’s amazing to see how big they’ve become, fulfilling all their promise. I’m really hyped about his forthcoming album: we’ve been playing some tracks from it in our sets and they work really well.
Photos by Tim & Barry and John Kennedy.
Part THREE tomorrow!
As someone who has seen the early stages of both the grime and dubstep scene evolve what are your feelings on how dramatically the sound has been developed in recent years compared to the perhaps beginning of the millennium?
It’s been really amazing watching them both grow from nothing, from fragments of UK garage. I feel really blessed to have been close to not just the birth of one genre, but two. Of course they’ve grown at different rates and times. Dubstep started first with grime not far behind. Then grime grew dramatically and mutated radically, while dubstep kept small and compact. Then dubstep began this explosive trajectory where it has established itself in the global club infrastructure and media, far better than grime did.
Yet in 2009/10, some of grime’s a-list have cracked the mainstream in a way dubstep never will, though on the most part, from Dizzee to Tinchy and Chipmunk, they had to water down what grime was to achieve this scale. That leaves the rest of the grime scene behind, which I still think is amazing, though it isn’t mutating as fast as it was in 2003/4. But acts like Trim, Durrty Goodz, Dot Rotten, Ghetto, Wiley, Rapid, Elijah and Skilliam, Logan Sama, P Money, Tempa T, Silencer etc are all essential listening, even if as a whole there may be less depth of quality in grime that there once was. I think it’s interesting that if you look at the other hardcore continuum genres like d&b and garage, grime’s managed to preserve itself without either a) ruining what was good about itself to gain a large audience (d&b) or b) imploding (garage).
Dubstep too has made its compromises, fatally I think. Large parts of it has made the same compromises that d&b did, and this is all the more shocking since it did it in the full knowledge of how things went down with jungle/d&b. I was very angry about this for several years but I’m tired of that fight now. If people want “dubstep” to be this homogenius, “snare-on-the-third-plus-distorted-angsty-wobble” sound then they can have that.I want to be positive, two write about great new music, release some, write some of my own. I’ve moved on, taking what I see dubstep as being – an open exploration of all the darker London garage hybrids – and working towards building something new. UK funky, 2step, garage, grime, non-wobble dubstep are exciting areas, and people are blending them with things like juke, crunk, chip tunes, the LA sound, kuduro, South African house and so much more to make the most interesting new music.
The forthcoming release on your’s and Dusk’s own label; Keysound Recordings, features two previously unreleased Skream tracks from 2005. Whose decision was it to release these two?
It was a impulse thing really, though I should say I’ve tried to sign the odd lost dub in the past *cough* Mala “Forgive” *cough*. Dusk and I always loved those two Skream tunes and used them in mixes we’ve done but it was clear after a while they’d been forgotten. This seemed a shame as they were such amazing pieces of music: dark but light, moody but physical.
So one day I just thought, “I wonder what Skream would say if I asked for them?” He was on AIM in some hotel room in Canada living the DJ dream and instantly just said “have them” which I’m immensely grateful for. I hear a lot of upfront of upfront Skream bits, which is a kind of loyalty I’m really grateful for. I’ve always got on well with Skream, I’m pretty sure I was the first person to interview him and Benga – in the café next to Big Apple Records in Croydon market in about 2002 – so it’s amazing to see how big they’ve become, fulfilling all their promise. I’m really hyped about his forthcoming album: we’ve been playing some tracks from it in our sets and they work really well.
Photos by Tim & Barry and John Kennedy.
Part THREE tomorrow!
Deviation - Skream Disco & House Special
Deviation is back again next week with another fantastic guest on the bill at a one off, new venue.
This time round Skream will be playing a one off disco and house set alongside Deviation resident; Benji B and the up and coming talent from The Red Bull Music Accademy.
As per usual it will be a very busy event so be sure to arrive early!
FACEBOOK EVENT
This time round Skream will be playing a one off disco and house set alongside Deviation resident; Benji B and the up and coming talent from The Red Bull Music Accademy.
As per usual it will be a very busy event so be sure to arrive early!
FACEBOOK EVENT
K-Swiss - You Gotta Know Your Classics.
If theres a brand out there that need to fix up then that brand is definitely K-Swiss. This new campaign is a small step in the right direction...
The You Gotta Know Your Classics campaign is, as far as global campaigns go, a low-key affair, created as a one-on-one conversation with the sneakerfreaks and designers who have admired The Classic over the years. In deference to their way of thinking, K-Swiss purposely avoided creating a tedious tome or overly designed catalogue like other shoe brands. Instead, K-Swiss narrated the history of The Classic on the back of these 8 limited-edition posters. The 8 designers in question hail from Los Angeles, London, Berlin, Seoul, Amsterdam and Oslo.
Each poster, printed double-sided, reveals a chapter in The Classic’s story on the back, and a graphic visualization of that story on the front. The chapter names, like ‘Blond on Blond’ and ‘We killed canvas. Sorry’ provide historic and cultural context to The Classic, while the handpicked designers were given free reign to interpret that story in contemporary ways. Each poster is a stand-alone illustration, underscoring the lack of hierarchy in The Classics’s story.
Only 400 copies of each poster have been printed, and K-Swiss is going to great pains to make sure that they land in the hands of the brand’s most loyal fans. The posters will be available for free from www.kspace.tv throughout the whole of March.
http://www.cobbenhagenhendriksen.nl
http://www.grandpeople.org
http://www.valueandservice.co.uk
http://www.non-format.com
http://www.mariolombardo.com
http://www.lifeofthemind.net
www.sulki-min.com
The You Gotta Know Your Classics campaign is, as far as global campaigns go, a low-key affair, created as a one-on-one conversation with the sneakerfreaks and designers who have admired The Classic over the years. In deference to their way of thinking, K-Swiss purposely avoided creating a tedious tome or overly designed catalogue like other shoe brands. Instead, K-Swiss narrated the history of The Classic on the back of these 8 limited-edition posters. The 8 designers in question hail from Los Angeles, London, Berlin, Seoul, Amsterdam and Oslo.
Each poster, printed double-sided, reveals a chapter in The Classic’s story on the back, and a graphic visualization of that story on the front. The chapter names, like ‘Blond on Blond’ and ‘We killed canvas. Sorry’ provide historic and cultural context to The Classic, while the handpicked designers were given free reign to interpret that story in contemporary ways. Each poster is a stand-alone illustration, underscoring the lack of hierarchy in The Classics’s story.
Only 400 copies of each poster have been printed, and K-Swiss is going to great pains to make sure that they land in the hands of the brand’s most loyal fans. The posters will be available for free from www.kspace.tv throughout the whole of March.
http://www.cobbenhagenhendriksen.nl
http://www.grandpeople.org
http://www.valueandservice.co.uk
http://www.non-format.com
http://www.mariolombardo.com
http://www.lifeofthemind.net
www.sulki-min.com
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