The Shape of Things to Come

An exceptional anthology of some of the best writing throughout the history of club music. It makes you immensely proud to be British, having spent a considerable amount of time in the States, it’s something uniquely ours, this club culture. Most people across the globe associate glow sticks, furry boots in neon colors, orbital style glasses with torches and thumping Trance with rave culture. Yes it can be these things, but to me it’s an experience completely different. Partying in England is like no where else in the World. Rave culture is our street culture, it is our nucleus, our epicenter. Whether you’re raving Drum & Bass at SE1 all night, or at Ministry popping champers in the glory days of garage, raving, and what that means has an overarching theme uniting people from Birmingham to Bogna, Liverpool and Leeds to Luton. It is what drives this youth of ours. And certainly drove me. From stealing Heltah Skeltah tapepacks off of my brother, or gazing with wonder at the flyers on an 18 year old family friends’ bedroom walls, wandering what it all meant. What happened at these places, what was the music like, the people, raving and that image has stayed with me since my pre-teen days, I thought I was something pretty special at the age of 10 with a Heltah Skeltah record bag. DJ Slipmatt tapes with MC MC on one side and Dougal on the other. Happy Hardcore and Jungle were the bedrock of my listening experiences. Then came Roni Size and the rest is history.

This collection of articles edited by Richard Benson charts a history of our youth culture in sweaty dirty night spots and it will resonate with the raver in you all. Buy it from Amazon.

TiMZED has just recently joined the BNTL team proper but has been rolling with that blog cartel for a little while now and It’s how I got to know Timbo Slice. A stand up chap, who’s actually a beast on the buttons. It’s often incredibly difficult to stay objective when people you’re mates with hit you up about music, art and the like, you either don’t want to slate it or absolutely love it, either way that opinion is often polarized due to the relationship. As a “blogger” I seem to get a few people hitting me up for my opinion on projects and the like, whether they be industry people looking for a soundboard or just followers of the site and twitter who just respect an opinion. I’m humbled by it either way, but if something isn’t great I tend to struggle with the on-going dialogue and relationship as I never want to feel obliged to post or retweet something I just don’t dig. However TiMZED has been sending me music for a minute and his production always captures my imagination. He’s a talented guy and is just starting on his journey. The production previews on BNTL are going to be coming regularly so keep checking there for more music in the near future.

Big up TiMZED and all the BNTL guys.

Skream dropped this one via Twitter today, I can’t wait for the full version of this. Big up the Gens and all the Dirtee Stankers.

“This ones gonna tear down the scene” – Yep!

I’m not too sure if you’re aware of the British Library’s typepad site, but as you can imagine it’s pretty special. One of the best archives and historical resources in the World is the British Library.  It has an abundance of amazing material, They have put together a selection of images taken in the 1870s and then revisited the same spots today.

They’ve also put together a handy google map so you can easily locate these places.

Check out the rest HERE

The Upsetters were the house band for Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry, the original line up included the Barrett brothers who later went on to join The Wailers with Bob Marley. This is an amazing record, and with King Tubby on the mic it really conveys a lot of vibes and sounds which remind me so much of Jungle, Grime and Dubstep raves. Musicologist far greater than me have already chartered the lineage of the sounds that have spawned out of Dub Reggae.  Noting in great detail how soundsystem culture traveled through second and third generation Jamaican ancestry here in the UK providing backbones for post-modern Electronica. So I need not clumsily add to that conversation, although I may hastily add, that I probably have just done so.

A huge congratulatory big up goes out to my good friends and comrades Derek and Pill. Pill is featured as one of the top 10 Freshman for 2010 in XXL Magazine, making the cover no less. I’m so pleased he got signed, my homies have worked harder than anyone I know to reach where they have in under a year. When I was in Atlanta in April they were making steady headway and facing many of the struggles young, stand-alone entrepreneurs face daily. However, they didn’t give up. They broke through, overcoming the most arduous of challenges and have achieved something in under a year that 99% of rappers and their teams fail to achieve in a lifetime. They’re living their dreams right now, at the very cusp of something heroic, I have such admiration for these guys, they inspire me, keep me focused and above all realize that with sheer single-mindedness, grit, determination and a little bit of faith you can achieve anything. They’re not where they want to be yet, but none of us are, we all want to do better, be better and strive further to achieve success.

I’m incredibly proud to call both of these gentleman friends, hospitable, gracious and successful people, if you don’t know, get to know, Pill is here, he’s staying and he’s a bloody awesome rapper.

VIA THE EDUCATED VILLAINS

I am absolutely loving this record, the beat is incredible, finally Nas is back sounding incredibly fresh. During my stay in Miami I was fortunate enough to experience two different Damian Marley shows.

The first was a free gig for the University of Miami’s Homecoming weekend. This was surreal, as the concert took place in front of the pretty spectacular library, right in the middle of campus. A huge PA and stage set up was installed, and Damian performed for about an hour. The second was at the yearly Marley Festival, held on Bob’s birthday at the Bayfront Park in Downtown Miami. The Festival is a huge get together for Miami’s Jamaican community and fans of Reggae music. The year i was there, I saw Sizzla and Capleton perform alongside all of the Marley family.

A pretty special occasion.

This latest track from Nas & Damian is the lead single from their collaborative album ‘Distant Relatives’ which is rumored to drop on in April.

This week I made my way down to Japan Center at Piccadilly Circus in search of print publications. I was initially after Popeye a popular menswear magazine that has had good reviews. A little on the commercial side apparently but I’m still keen to check it out. With a trip in mind to the Far-East in September, I’m gaining more information and as much knowledge as possible about what’s happening over there right now. I’ve a fairly good understanding of some of the more left-field inclination of Japanese sub-culture, but I really want to garner a better understanding of popular themes right now.

The magazines at the Center are a great reference source, they had a number of Bape catalogues and also the recent Supreme publication which came with a free gift, through the cellophane it looked like a leopard print towel, I’m more than likely wrong. I am slightly obsessed with digital design and layout, always searching for innovative sites and formats, but print is really where it’s at. A dying medium that should be treasured, I’ve got rid of stacks of magazines over the years and have been buying them since as long as I can remember. It’s this love of magazines and magazine journalism which probably has led to me blogging.

One magazine which I did pick up while I was there was +81 Magazine. The issue is a photography special featuring interviews with and work by Ryan McGinley, Desiree Dolron, Risaku Suzuki, Stephen Gill, Peter Sutherland, Tim Barber, Marcelo Gomes, Eugenio Recuenco, Cozue Takagi. A wonderful source of photographers, compiled in a beautifully put together magazine.

Macbeth is my favorite Shakespeare play, but King Lear is equally epic. On a long list of “cultural activity” sits a live Shakespeare production, corny as it sounds I do like the Theater. There is something incredibly engaging about live performances, constantly we disregard this experience during the era of throwaway culture. Music is better live, DJs are better with bigger base than your home Hi-Fi, culture as an experience thrives in the moment. I hate to see kids and adults at raves and gigs filming on their phone. Put it away, lose yourself in the bass, the sound, the interaction, the performance.

Continuing the theme of typographic furniture, this charming chest of draws is inspired by wooden printing blocks. Kent and London are Master Craftsman and this is delightful, their other work is rather more conventional but I’m really liking their Chest of Draws, this is the standout piece but the 30 drawer chest is just as wonderful in many other ways.

It’s coming, I can’t wait.

I’m a big fan of typography, and really like this chair.  It would be amazing if you could commission your own slogans to be incorporated into the design.

Via Stilsucht

Pharrell and Kaws recently sat down together in front of the camera and had quite an interesting chat, about art, Miami and stuff for Talk At Playground, which has some affiliation I believe with MTV, I see the logo, and that already leaves a sickly taste in my mouth. Enough so that I didn’t care to delve any deeper.

My interest for Pharrell waned quite considerably some time ago, I will always speak highly of him as a creative and he has put together some of my favorite rap records of recent years, so credit where credit is due.  Yet watching these clips he does grate on me.  Perhaps it’s the stupid hat.

These clips are interesting, especially from a personal perspective.  Listening to the two of them discuss the Miami Design District is engaging.  Back in 2007 I was out there for a year and would go down to the design spots and do the gallery walks.  I bet it’s changed immensely, and hearing that Pharrell has an office there makes me wonder what’s become of the area now.

I should talk to Jenny more often, she knows what’s up.

I began to witness the major changes beginning to take place, in that the gentrification, post the influx of artists, had ignited the flurry of other “like minded” individuals and the antithesis of Corporate America had somewhat diluted.  Mainstream introduction of chain stores in those obscene new-build complexes had began to take shape, but had yet to open.  The Design District I beleive is in what was once Overtown or relative close by and some of the worst race riots in the 80s were down there.  (Please heckle me if I’m wrong) But that’s gentrification across the Globe, first the artists, then the trendies, then the corporations.

It would be great to visit again and see old friends and experience the hidden gems of which inspired me greatly.  Lil Wayne in his Fader cover interview said “Miami made me a workaholic”.  I understand totally where he is coming from, it’s an inspiring, yet incredibly crass and obnoxious place, and while he was hidden in The Hit Factory I was leisurely taking in the University and all the ostentation and comfort it had to offer in the salubrious Coral Gables.  Good times.

Check the rest of the footage after the jump.

Read more…