Davey D interviews Rev. Jeremiah Wright

The good reverend, Jeremiah Wright, interviewed by Davey D at the State of the Black World Conference held in New Orleans last week.
Thanks to Hypestyle at the Public Enemy message board for leading the way.

This is the link to Davey D´s site, from where the Jeremiah Wright interview above was 

posted .

Whenever anybody asks me 'bout Obama aka  Oh Man!, I think of The Good Reverand, when explaining the context of his "God bless, God damn" sermon, and OhMan! seemingly distancing himself from Rev. Wright. The Good Rev. said "That he (Rev. Wright) is a religious man and talks as such, while Obama is a politician, and he has to says what a politician has to say."


My point being, have we just witnessed the best marketing campaign of 2008?  Noam Chomsky thinks so.  People do need a change, ain´t no doubt about that and let the moment be savoured, it´s been a long time coming, howeverrrrrrr.......

  
Rapper NYOil was also present during the interview. If you know him it could be due to his insight which from what I´ve heard is on it, in the socio-political-music along the lines of KRS, Chuck D, Prof. Griff, Dead Prez et al.  Speaking of the Oh-Man!, check out NYOil's 'Father Father', using Marvin Gaye's 'What's Goin' On?'  and an Oh-Man! speech about parenthood.

Jay Smooth´s video blog expresses two points of view on the election outcome, one being the mundane politcal moment and at the same time a symbolic event. Both are true however the work has only just begun, meaning that voting was the first part. The real work starts Jan.20th next year when the OhMan! steps into the White House in Chocolate City. People are gonna have to be doing their bit as change never came from up top, it´s the people on the ground that bring forth the goodness.

Womad Las Palmas / Womex Sevilla

The Womad Festival rolled into Las Palmas de Gran Canaria for the fourteenth time, and it did not disappoint this one.  I was told that someone thought that it was 'too electronic'

Not sure who they were talking about because check who was on the bill....

Antibalas Afrobeat Orchestra, Tony Allen, El Guincho, Speed Caravan, Papirka Balkanicus, Mariem Hassan, Femi Kuti & The Positive Force, Umdumo Wesizwe, Bo Cissoko.

Speed Caravan must have been the culprits as they had a laptop with the beats, oh yeah, and that dastardly El Guincho, yeah, him, his drum pad and sequencer were plugged into the National Grid.  May the offspring of these two electricity-loving heathens be sold to the highest bidder and serve a life sentence  making drums out of the hardest of termite resistant wood. That will teach them.

A journalist friend in London asked me to take some notes of the festival, and here they are:

Antibalas Afrobeat Orchestra:  (Friday night)

This NYC-based group are one of the torch bearers for Fela Kuti and Afrobeat which was one of the themes for Womad Las Palmas '08, as this edition of Womad also featured Fela's son, Femi Kuti, and also Fela's musical director and drummer Tony Allen.  Antibalas have played over 1000 shows and they know how to involve the audience.  Their call and response method of presenting their msic worked the crowd well.  In typical Afrobeat fashion, their seventy-five minutes of allotted stage time was enough for six songs.

Tony Allen: (Saturday night)

Fluid, seven piece band. Climactic funk, hi-hats to the front, hammond organ smoothness, afro movements, colourful tom rolls and fills, give his drumming an expansive feeling, covering a huge range of  expression.  Along with Antibalas and Femi,  he presented the sound of victory for the oppressed.  "He is science.' said Mehdi/Speed Caravan.

El Guincho (Friday night)

His appearance represented a musical homecoming for Palbo Diaz-Reixa aka El Giuncho.  Born in Las Palmas but now based in Barcelona, the last 12 months have been very hectic, due to the totally unexpected reaction to his mega-tropicalistic Alegranza album, which was recently picked up the the quality label that is XL Recordings.  He has been developed his live show since I first saw him perform at the ECOS Festival in Tenerife earlier this year, as he is now armed with a drummer.  I've got a lot of time for El Guinch', however not sure his set is suited to a big stage just yet, however the spirit of rave, afrobeat and carnival is very much evident and I give him top marks for stepping out on his own, being a leader, not a follower.

Speed Caravan: (Saturday night):

This Algerian/French four-piece comprising of Mehdi Haddab on the oud; Hermoine Frank providing electronic beats; Pascal Teillet, bass; and Mohamad Bouamar on percussion and vocals turned in one of the most talked aobut performances which also included a vsersion of the Chemical Brothers' "Push the Button".  Mehdi's oud is plugged into two amplifiers giving in a presence and edge that one does not expect with this instrument.  Who'se gonna sign these guys and make them huge?  They deserve to be heard!

Umdumo Wesizwe: (Friday night)

This Zimbabwian group were another concert highlight, as was their workshop the following day.  Ten vocalists and two drummers showed how it is done.  Body-popping, kinetic dance moves while breathlessly delivering vocals.  It's not fair!

Paprika Balkanicus (Sunday night):

Weapons of choice, two accordians, a guitarist, weird violinist, an electric double bass that used to belong to Rhonda Smith, one-time player for Prince ("I lick it every time I go onstage." said the current owner, Jozef Secnik) and a great sense of humour.   This Serbian/Slovenian/Romanian quintet were very much appreciated, asking the thousands in the audience to all join hands and form a massive circle, to which the photographers went into a frenzied state trying to capture the images for the next day's front page.

The ever present 4/4 rhythms took a back seat as the Paprikans caught us with the 9/8 movement of 'Ne Kuni Me Majko' (Mother Don't Curse Me), a song about lost love.  Bodgan Vacarescu's violin moved over the strings of his violin at speds unimaginable, generating open-mouthed reactions and stunned-into-silence audience reaction.

Mariem Hassan: 

Her performance brought the Saharwian community of Las Palmas out in full force.  Polisario flags were abound.  At one moment the Muddy Waters blues filled the air, then rhythms that influenced Public Image Ltd during their Flowers of Romance period took over.

Darga:  (Saturday night):

When they hit the stage, once again flags appeared, besides the Polisario flags, those representing Morocco, the Canarian Independence movement and Amazig (berbers, the forefathers of the Guanche, the original inhabitants of the Canary Islands).  The flags swayed to the funk, rap and Marley-esque reggae flavours of this youthful group led by two vocalists and an 'Obama for Change'  T-shirt wearing guitarist.

DJ Mr. Benn (Friday night)

He is part of a DJ crew with Massive Attack's Daddy G, so I was eager to catch his set, as I know G plays quality music, and if somebody is down with him, then they too got the goods. However a scheduling change meant that as we were eating getting some tasty octopus he was finishing his set.  Grrrrr!!!!!!  I'll have to make do with his mix CD for the time being.

Ba Cissoko: (Thursday night)

Fantastic!  Great tones coming from the twin kora players, pounding beats from the calabah and top-shot energy from all players, made for a fitting opening night party.

Femi Kuti & The Positive Force (Sunday night)

The perfect festival closer.  A blazing entrance with a five-piece horn section, bass, two drummers, guitar, and finally some female singers/dancers who must be some of the fittest around.  There were several songs that lived in the 170+bpm range (drum and bass tempo) and they did not miss a step or shake of the hips.  The furious pace swept Femi into a state of musical intoxication, eyes rolling into the back of his sockets, while the horns burned around the rhythms that proved the bedrock for songs about poverty, greed, corruption and Aids.

For the encore....a classic from his father, 'Water Got No Enemy'.

Thanks  to Rod "The Hangman" Garrett and Nani, Tenerife's favourite percussionist for sound support...we must've done something right as the audience showed their love all weekend.

This week's radio program has some weight behind it, in my humble opinion.  It ain't about me, it's the music that players have generated.  

While at Womad,  the two Antibalas  guitarists presented me with cd's of side projects they are involved with.  One is....damn, where's the cd?!

Okay, can't find that one at the moment, however the one I got in the playlist for today is Akoya Afrobeat.

I didn't see Speed Caravan at Womex the week before Womad, but I did manage to get a copy of the Womex sampler CD, and there's SC track there, replayed on the show for your pleasure.

Bedoiun Jerry Can Band and Senegal's Mo-DJ also have contributions to the same cd.

Andres Argil was represented at Womex by the Mexican Independent Labels association.  His music stood out to me, as it was so unexpected among the more traditional 'Mexican-associated sounds' that one can come to expect.  Here, we have field-recording/ambient/texture exercises taking over.

Steve Goodman's Hyperdub label continues to leave behind those that want to remain solely in the 'dubstep' arena.  We have LV featuring Dandelion and the electrified Zomby.

Speaking of Zomby, over the next few weeks I'll be dropping some tracks from the forthcoming Zomby EP, yes on Hyperdub.

Okay, enough chat/write....

Ear Conditioning 

Radio Norte 89.4FM www.radionorte.com

18 November 2008

Zed Bias 'The Cauldron' featuring Jay Electronica and Ghost1 (Sidestepper)

Mo-DJ 'Dosso' (Womex CD)

Fosforo 'Mosquito'

Rev. Lonnie Farris 'A Night in the house of Prayer  (Mississippi Records)

El Hijo de la Cumbia 'Bombom Asesino Version'  (Bersa Discos)

Andres Argil 'Diógenes'  (Mexican Independent Labels CD)

Charlie Watts - Jim Keltner Project 'The Elvin Suite'  Coldcut Remix for Helen Dawn (Cyber-Octave)

Digital Mystikz  'Conference'  (DMZ)

Bedouin Jerry Can Band  'Ya el Yaladana'  (Womex CD)

Akóya Afrobeat  'B.F.B.F.  (Afrobomb)

Speed Caravan 'Kalaknik Love' 

Saul Williams  'PG Beat'  (Witchita)

LV featuring Dandelion  'CCTV'  (Hyperdub)

Zomby 'Spliff Dub'  Rustie Remix  (Hyperdub)

Ear Conditioning on Radio Norte 89.FM  www.radionorte.com

Tuesdays 20h30 - 21h30

Repeated Saturday 22h30 - 23h30

Oh, one other thing...my good friend Dani also put together a radio program that was dedicated to Womad, and you can check it here.....

Until next time.....

Squarepusher - Planet Gear

His new shit.....yes, he produced the video too.


Squarepusher - Planet Gear from Warp Records on Vimeo.

Only the poor man feel it

Our house is in a bit of a state at the moment, but nothing like what the people of the pueblo Cho Vito have had to go through.  Cho Vito is a little town, part of Candelaria, 20km from Santa Cruz de Tenerife.

There is a Spanish law that states that buildings are not allowed to inhibit access to the beach/coast.

Many houses have been built in contradiction of this edict, and now the demolition crews are moving in. The thing is, in many cases permits for construction where given by councils, and also many houses on the coast belong to fishermen....which makes sense. There are also many hotels on the seafront that contradict the law....however it seems that it only the houses of the poor man that gets marked for demolition, as witnessed in this link.  Big respect to some of the the police that reportedly didn't turn up for work that day, even 'monos' (monkey's, have a heart at times.  Mono's are the Canarian equiv' of 'pigs', so ya know.) 

There is a huge house not too far from where we live....sitting right there on the beach, the owner is a business man, well respected and all....the chances of his house being subject to bulldozers and police carrying him out are.....uh, zero.

Speaking of being Uprooted, this month sees the release of the freshest dj mix from the one called DJ/rupture.  The tempo stays around 70/140bpm hence in the dubstep / atmospheric zone, giving lots of room for space and subtle movements where necessary, balanced with caustic bottom end and shards of metallic plug-ins.  Clouds from Finland have a couple contributions, and they are treating my ears nicely.  Also new to me are Atki2, Baby Kites & Nokea.  Ekkehard Ehlers bring a super gorgeous piece of string-led melancholy to the arena, with a track called Plays John Cassavettes pt.2.  Maga Bo and Filastine are included too.

I'll have some more of this compilation to come over the next few weeks, stay tuned. The video is from Baby Kites & Nokea 'Reef', which /rupture initiates the mix with....

A few years back, my good mate Tony Thorpe called me to assist on a track for an album he was producing for a singer from South Africa called Lulu.  After the project was completed I was told that it was shelved as Lulu had got married and her husband did not want her to continue doing music.  So I thought that was that, luckily I had a test pressing of the vinyl (although I lost one of the two vinyls).  I did a net search at found out that the album did eventually come out under the name Lungiiswa Plaatjies.  I really hope Lungiiswa is still doing her thing.

Ear Conditioning
October 7 2008

Asha Bosle - Jhunka Jhulade (Super)
Bap's Three Bips & A Bop - Oop-Pop-A-Da (Blue Note)
Overtone - Give It Again (Redbud)
Trouble Funk - Drop the Bomb (Sugarhill)
Fear+APC+Pulsinger+Koas - Title unknown (!K7)
Root Down - Title Unknown (White Label)
G.A.F. - Two More Things I Need to Tell You (Ruin)
Panda Bear - Comfy in Nautica (UUAR)
African Head Charge - Dervish Chant (On-U Sound)
Lungiswa Plaatjies - Title Unknown (Melt2000)
Diplo - Diplo Rhythm feat Sandra Melody, Vybz Cartel & Pantera Os Danadinhos (Big Dada)
Atki 2 - WinterBuds (The Architecture)
Clouds - Too Much (The Architecture)
DJ Food - The Sky at Night (Ninja Tune)

Ear Conditioning is broadcast Tuesday at 20h30 (Canary Islands/London Time)
Repeated Saturday night 22h00 (Canary Islands/London Time)
www.radionorte.com 89.4FM

Thanks to Tally at the architecture, and all singers and players.

Return to the Airwaves

So, do you still think it's worthwhile putting your life savings in the hands of those on Wall Street?

Nevermind, as usual we had a mixed bag for the first program after the extended holiday break. As I mentioned in the previous post, Pedro, the man behind Txola, asked me if I heard of The Bug. Pedro, Pedro....you musta been too busy keeping the Txola clientele happy with the cervezas if you hadn't realized I play that shit every week!  Kevin, if your reading this, he wants to come back to Tenerife in December, and do a session.  Pedro knows he has to get  get bass-bins, and we know who to speak to about it.

While in Costa Rica for a couple weeks, I was able to get one CD. Actually that is a mistruth....that's what politicians call it innit?  When they say something that ain't correct?! 

We took a day trip over the border to Nicaragua, and it was there, in the city of Granada, that I was able to get my hands on some local tuneage, Marimba Tipica Nicaraguense con Los Mismos de Ticuantepe.  The music is very similar to what you find in the Pacific side of Costa Rica anyway.  On the Caribbean side of Costa Rica, Soca and Calypso infused rhythms run things.  

Gotta get back to CR as soon as possible.  It's name is very appropriate, believe.  Never seen so much fauna and flora.  Apparently they have over 2000 species of orchids!  We saw sloths, four species of monkeys, manta rays, turtles laying their eggs by the crate-load, tree-killing trees,tarantulas, pelicans, toucans, river flamingo's, the spectacular sight of lava flowing down the Arenal volcano at night, acres and acres of bananas and palm trees, snakes, crocodiles, caymans...it easily made up for only getting one cd.  Well, to be honest, before heading to Costa Rica, I set up the owners of Rough Trade, Soul Jazz, Honest Jon's and Phonica record shops in London for awhile...they were happy to see me after a year, "Oh, have you heard this?  How about this?"  Sons of bitches!

Ear Conditioning
Program Sept. 23/2008

Intro - The Original Broadcaster, Christopher Stone
Burial - 01 (Hyperdub)
Dub Colossos - Azmari Dub (RealWorld)
Dengue Fever - Oceans of Venus (RealWorld)
Riko Dan & Heatwave - Mind How You Talk (Heatwave)
MC Gringo - Alemao / Toddla T Remix (Man Recordings)
Cavaliers Unlimited - Soul Vein (Mississippi Records)
Marlene Shaw - Liberation Conversation (Cadet)
Los Mismos de Ticuantepe - Dona sapa
Fandango, Puede y Taraf - Granada (Producciones Alebrije)
MHV - Chroumous (Discos Konfort)
Jefferson Belt - Where's He At? (Round Trip Mars)
Cedric IM Brooks - Idleberg (Soul Jazz)
The Bug feat. The Spaceape - Fukkaz (NinjaTune)
The Bug feat. Ricky Ranking - Too Much Pain (Ninja Tune)
Unitone Hi-Fi - Up To Eleven (Round Trip Mars)
Incarnate - Blissed (Post Contemporary)
Burial - Untrue (Hyperdub)

Fandangdo, Puede y Taraf performing Granada

Ear Conditioning is transmitted on Tuesday evenings at Radio Norte, 89.4 at 20h30, and is now available online via www.radionorte.com

  

The Bug / Skeng: The Video

Fresh outta the box, Skeng featuring Killa P and Flow-Dan.
Directed by Anne-Marie Bergeron (Urler.tv)

Rethuglican Party Convention

September 1st, Labor Day in the US, it was also Day One of the Republican National Convention. The following video was released showing an apparent mass arrest of utterly peaceful concert goers at the SEIU Labor Day concert.

Here's the press release that came with the video, from the Glass Bead Collective:

BURIED TAPE REVEALS USE OF FORCE AND AN UNWARRANTED MASS ARREST OF BYSTANDERS DURING THE REPUBLICAN NATIONAL CONVENTION
ST. PAUL, Minnesota (September 18, 2008) Video released today shows the indiscriminate arrest of a crowd of two hundred at the waterfront across from a concert on Harriet Island Regional Park during this month's Republican National Convention in St. Paul. The video includes multiple angles of the event as well as an interview with the cameraman who buried his footage and was one of almost two hundred people arrested for rioting without probable cause.
More than eight hundred people were arrested in St. Paul during the Republican National Convention. This video shows that at least twenty percent of the eight hundred plus arrested were seized without due cause.




God Bless America, AND FUCK THE REST OF YOU THAT DON'T LIKE IT!

Love is a piece of wax, about 7' inches wide.

Txola, home of my dj residency, closed down for the month of August, so i took the opportunity to get to London, and get some new tunes, and also get some tracks mixed, however a faulty hard drive kicked that idea to the margin, years of work now in limbo!

"But didn't you have your tracks backed up?"
That's what the hard drive was for!

So I've now been told by somebody that knows, Lacie hard drives, they have a good solid metal case, but the power supply unit is shit...so back-up the back-up.


Meanwhile i'm waiting for the postman to deliver the records that I bought at Rough Trade, Honest Jon's, Soul Jazz and Phonica record shops, I had way too much in the excess baggage department.   For the moment I am content with the 7"s that i managed to bring back....Cutty Ranks, Wareika Hill Sounds, J*Star, Junior Reid, MC Gringo/Toddla T remix, The Beatles on a Nyabinghi tip, Burro Banton, Cavaliers Unlimited and more,  all due for a lashing tonight at Txola, action kicks off at midnight.  

Ear Conditioning, as in the radio program, should also be returning next tuesday, so if your in the Tenerife area, tune in Radio Norte, 89.4FM at 20h00 (www.radionorte.com)

More as it happens.

Womad Las Palmas 2008

Here´s the initial line-up /Cartel artístico for this years Womad in Gran Canaria 6,7,8,9 de Noviembre.

Ba Cissoko (Guinea-Conakry)
Babylon Circus (Francia)
D.WattsRiot (Reino Unido)
Darga (Marruecos)
DJ Mr Benn (Reino Unido)
DJ Yoda (Reino Unido)
El Guincho (España)
El Tío Carlos (España)
Femi Kuti (Nigeria)
Mariem Hassan (Sáhara Occidental)
Siyaya (Zimbabue)
Speed Caravan (Francia)
The F.E.O.S. (España)
Tony Allen (Nigeria)
Tulsa (España)

Mmmm.....Tony Allen, Femi Kuti, El Guincho, DJ Yoda....I know of the rest are new to me, that´s what we love about Womad, always bringing something fresh to the scenario.

The festival is free, and if you are travelling within the Canary Islands, you can get ferry tickets at a reduced fare due as the days of the festival will be considered "C-days" as in Culture, hence they got some special deal going on with the airlines and ferry companies.

DJ Yoda

I´m an everliving gobstopper, suck me forever

El-P was on tour recently and his We Are All Going To Burn In Hell Megga Mixx2 was initially only available to those who attended the gigs. Now it´s up on the DefJux site, available as a free download, well, part of it has, in all fairness to those that shelled out ca$h for the original item.
The shit is hot as hell, no pun intended, dropped about 30minutes of it in last week´s program.
A friend recently played me a demo of something he´d put together. After a couple listens, I said, "check this, and you will get an idea of where you could go (in production terms) with your track."

Actually I only said the first part, then I don´t know what the fuck happened, but his CD got seriously stuck in the player, and I could not get it out so he could hear where I was coming from.

What El-P has does with a steel pan sample, turning it into something that would sit inside an Harlan Ellison narrative, is beyond me. Great.

I´m an everliving gobstopper, Suck me forever. El-P


Ear Conditioning / 29 July
El-P · We are all going to burn in hell megga mixx 2 (Definitive Jux)
Idris Muhammad · Wander from the Black Rhythm Revolution LP (BGP Records)
Exciting Voices · God´s Chillun
Jazmin Sullivan vs. The Moody Boyz
Roots Manuva · Again and Again / The Moody Boyz Refix
Stacey Pullen · Vertigo (Science)


This past weekend, Charlie Faber (Satelit3) , Isidro (Afrodisia) and myself turned the Txola into a sweatbox as the funk pored out of every available cell. Isidro is a serious collector of rare grooves. His box of 7´s contains the foundations of hip hop....and Charlie´s selection had me salivating too....they gots breaks for days....the kinda shit that would make DJ Premier, Pete Rock or Jay Dilla turn around to have a word or two. Charlie and I did a back to back session which spawned an idea for a Txola compilation. More news on that as it develops, talk is cheap.
Txola will be taking a well-deserved break during August, see you in September/October.

Womad Las Palmas, consistently one of the best festivals in the Canary Islands will be taking place in 6-9 November, and I have had the pleasure of being asked to do a couple sets. Womad´s Spanish producers will be going to press this Friday, so can´t say anymore than that, although this will be the second opportunity this year for people in this area to see the one and only............
More details next week.

A friend in the UK was at the recent Womad in Charlton Park, and reported of a food stall called
'Asian Grub Foundation'. Her "mate suggested 'The Dahl Foundation' and our favourite - 'Fun^Da^Lentil'."

Bass Fiction + Science Fact

For the posse of women that hollered "More dubstep, more bass!" as I finished my set last week at Encuentro Boreal in Los Silos (pictured above)....following is Mr. Goodman aka Kode 9 talks his inspiration, motivation and friction. Congratulations are in order for his Hyperdub label as the Burial album has been shortlisted for the Mercury Music Prize. It´s just some different shit....out on his own, like El Guincho.

Txola Sound Clash

My next session at Txola will be 1 August, sharing the decks and mixer with Charlie Faber, presenter of the Sateli3 program / Radio Nacional España (RNE)
The first time i saw Charlie Faber spin, I felt like a pain in the ass, not giving the guy a chance to drink his drink, smoke his ciggie, select his nex´ tune...I was constantly asking
"What tune is this?"
"Who is this?"
"And this one?"

He has got a huge trunk of funk, rock n´ roll, good ole party music. He is a bad motherfucker.




The above video courtesy of Loquepasatenerife.

A Whale of a Time

I don´t give a toss if they i.D. Banksy. His art is important, not his image.

The Bug: the London Zoo album is getting great reviews in the UK music press. The Observer Music Monthly review comes with "But it's in daring to ask the big questions like 'How did we get here, and where do we go now?' that this record's rage-filled exuberance evokes the spirit of such classic state-of-the-world addresses as Specials, Marvin Gaye's What's Going On and Black Flag's Damaged." Yeah, i´d say impressive.

A couple week-ends ago was the Eolica Festival. The issue surrounding Eolica is the environment. As we entered the scenario we received a little portable ashtray, and I thought, ´cool, good idea´, that scores points. The location is on a wind turbine site in the south of the island, and the power generated by the turbines runs the stages, sound etc. Well, I thought it was, until I saw a generator pumping out the usual diesel fumes...oops, losing points already?

I played on the first night, an"improved" (their words) , Asian Dub Foundation headlined, previewing tracks from their new album Punkara as well as serving up classic material. They did sound better with their new vocalists, more mature than the previous two, one of which was an arrogant shit....i know from personal experience, when they came as a sound system a few years back.

Morodo, a reaggae outfit from Barcelona, I think, over-played their set as if they was the gigamegadon, driving people away with boredom plastered to their faces. All this after being in Madrid, when he shoulda been in Tenerife for his soundcheck. The first band hit the stage three hours behind schedule. One thing really missing from festivals in Tenerife, is a stage manager, one that knows what the job entails and how to do it.
"Stage manager? ask for Maria" pseudoym
Asked for Maria, "You the stage manager?"
"Uh....uh...I am half stage manager. Want do you want? "
Methinks, "Half?"
Asked for a beer, and a chair for the records.....didn´t see her again.

I eventually got behind the decks a bit after five am, and heaped spoonfuls of Iraqi choubi, Maghrebi, darabooka, tabla solo, nu-whirl breakbeat business before the clock struck six.

Curfew, no one said anything about a curfew!
What do you mean 10 minutes?, I´ve only just started! (40 minutes earlier)
I ain´t been able to bring out the futuredubstep bass jewellry yet!
We need to hear that shit coming through this massive system ya got!

Aguaviva Festival...pffft!
My bird-watching man and avid nature-lover friend Juan Jo (see below also) turned Ayoze of the the AguaViva festival people onto me to dj next to the NGO tent. Ayoze called me up, set up dates, then i got passed onto the booker, Alby.

He and I made an agreement that I would be paid after my second set.
When the time came, was he anywhere to be found? Nope!
Would he answer his mobile? Nope!

Knowing that I had a flight to Sweden immediately after my set, Alby ignored my calls and texts until I sent him a third text asking him if he treated all his artists like this? Fuckin´hell, that got his attention, as he replied "Have some respect!" Yes, Alby, you are one to talk. You paid Jamiriaqua (spell check ain´t working) in advance and you can´t even pay me my little monies as agreed.

Thanks to Ayoze from the production company, and Walter, they went all out to help me get paid.

Via magazine (Tenerife) has refused to run a review of the AguaViva Festival proper - not the NGO tent event - penned by Javi Jiminez because he lambasted the festival organization and of course, the magazine can´t bite the hand that serves up ca$h, so that´s it, my man has quit the magazine. Real shame, although it was kinda trendy hi-brow, glam, it had good photography, class images, interesting articles, bi-lingual to a degree, and it was good that Javi was able to contribute to their music coverage. He avoided the obvious stuff that it covered day in day out. I came across the magazine at the airport, and inside was a positive review of a Little Axe album. I was glad to see that somebody down this way had cottoned on to what Skip was doing with Little Axe. I met Javi about eighteen months later. He´s the one that brought El Guincho to town a few months back. Oh, El Guinch´t....he´s had to pull out of his summer dates in North America due to exhaustion. The few months have been full on for him. Hope your reading Future Music in bed Pablo.


Fun-da-mental played the 1st Internationalist Youth Resistance Festival in Greece last weekend. I went out a day early, and good thing too, Ojos de Brujo Sound System were also on the bill, so we hooked up at the studio of Iman Baildi for a little refreshment, (it was 33 degrees) and recording of ODB claps and me abusing the ears of the engineer, shouting into the mic.

The festival was organized by the communist brothers and sisters of KOE. Discussions, debates, events featuring people from Nepal, Bolivia, Haiti, Greece, Venezuela. Leila Khaled was supposed to be there, but the Israeli government prevented her from travelling, so a direct phone link was arranged as an alternative.

It was also the first festival whose portaloo´s were illuminated at night. Normally you wouldn´t want a light in there anyway, but this was real clean, hence no rim-ridding stinking mass was present to be highlighted.

Back home, full moon Friday was an event presented by the Fundacion Global Nature, that the aforementioned JuanJo is involved with. That guy has my back for sure, no? This week was the unveiling of a whale skeleton reconstructed with metal work support. I was told there are only five skeletons of this species, and not all of them are open to the public either, so if ya get the chance, the coast of Los Silos should be on your mind.

2 MC´s and 1 DJ under the name Demencia Lírica provided the old´skool flow & beats to a sparse crowd but appreciative crowd, bless ´em.

After I was done, a female voice, "..more dubstep, something with bass!"

It was true, it was one of the very few events where they had a system that could handle weight.

Been slack on the playlist front, if you´ve read this far you´ll understand why...

The program for this Tuesday is looking like this:
Radio Norte 89.4FM Online here could it be true?

Nubian Mindz · Urban Beats (Archive) / Trippy filtered slow moving
Max Roach · Absolutions (Atlantic) I don´t possess the vocabulary to express myself about this
Humbucker · Cincinnati Hawks (Klein) / 70´s NYC funk. Stuck right up your nostrils.
Boom Bip · Enjoy eating the diane musson´s hand (MUSH) Great use of Marvin Gaye music
Boom Bip · Doo doo science - Once again, great use of a sample, this time of the great purple one.
The Clash · Death is a Star (CBS) Delicate and sincere.
Sabu Martinez and his Jazz-espagnole · The Oracle - What was it like when you first heard him?
Gaby Novak · Caravan (Cosmic Sounds London) - Great jazz recordings saved from the rubbish.
Big Band RTS · Ne ga se prodavaj (Cosmic Sounds London) - As above, saved, and we are lucky.
Cymande · Crawshay (Sequel) I don´t play them enough!
Fourth World · Serra Do Relogio · London Elektricity remix (Melt)
Fourth World · Trip to the Fourth World · 4Hero remix (Melt) No let up from the Dollis Hill crew
Fourth World · Terra Mae · Nation World Service remix (Melt) When asked to do a remix that is also gonna feature IG Culture, BT, Herbalizer and the above, London Elek´ and 4Hero...your shit has got to be tight! We did it Rich!

Ear Conditioning · Jazz Absolutions
July 22 20h - 21h
Radio Norte 89.4FM Online here could it be true?

Adventures in Negro History

It´s been a lot of work, sweat, sleepless nights, having to deal with 60 year-old junkies shooting up outside the studio door, human excrement by the lift....fitting I suppose for an album titled London Zoo.

If your going to be in London at the beginning of August, and you like your beats hard like two day old shit, and lyrics flowing like the Amazon, head over to the album launch party at Brixton´s Mass venue. Also on the bill, Flying Lotus, Kode 9, Spaceape, Warrior Queen, Ricky Ranking and Tippa Irie. That´s a line-up that just makes ya piss don´t it?!

Last week´s program included five tracks from the album, plus a joint and a beat from the latest effort from The Roots, a fav´ of the BugMan.

Started the program with KRS-One´s classic, Sound of the Police. We´ll ya would if like me, you were heading to work then got pulled over by the men in military-blue. The first one told me to take the keys out and put them on the dashboard, all this with his hand on his gun. Another one stood in the middle of the street with shotgun in hand.

Where do they think they are? This ain´t Killadelphia, this is La Laguna, Tenerife for fucksakes!
Okay, so over to the pavement we go. Asked to get everything out my pockets, cool, I gotta get to work, so let´s get this over done quickly, so I can get to the club.

While checking out my id, I speak to myself, "What kinda manner is this they got going on?" Over comes 6" 3" steroid maximus cop, also fingering his weapon ("Skeng!"), nose to mine, "You are not permitted to speak English" or words to that effect.

So ya now know, it´s illegal to quietly speak to one´s self in English when being searched / harassed by the Spanish pigs.

In compliance with steroid maximus´ arrogance, I closed my mouth and put my hands in my pockets....may as well play some pocket-pool while waiting. Even that, a passive wank brought the steroid-hungry animal over again, all up in my face, trying to provoke me so he would have an excuse to beat me to a fucking pulp. No mate, I´m not playing your fucking game.
It´s people like this steroid junkie that put me off from joining the police force when I was in Toronto. I was actually naive enough to think that I would be able to make a change in police attitudes, fool me!

In the end they gave me a ticket / warning for having a knife in the car.....yep, the knife that we bought the day before when we went to the beach, so we could make sandwiches...yeah, you know, to cut the bread, tomatoes etc.

The lesson to be learned? Throw away any item that could be a weapon immediately after use, or better still, don´t buy it, leave it in the shop, and use yer teeth like you was in the Stone Age.
Don´t speak English, and don´t play pocket pool as it could unleash a wrath upon you like you have never seen.

The clip below is from last years demonstration against the Unipol (Intervention police unit in Santa Cruz Tenerife) after some of them beat the living shit outta a teenager. The pork-unit said he fell off his scooter while trying to evade a spot-check. The kid musta had one of them scooters fitted with a Harley-turbo engine, ´cos his face coulda been used as an airship for those above the stadium shots during the Euro2008 football championships. I really think that coulda so easily been me.



Ear Conditioning Playlist 24 June

KRS-One · Sound of the Police (Jive)
NWA · Express Yourself (4th & Broadway)
SuperCat · Scalp Dem / Wu-Tang Remix featuring Method Man (Columbia)
Public Enemy · 98 Posse (DefJam)
The Roots · @15 (DefJam)

The Bug featuring FlowDan & Killa P · Skeng
Keith LeBlanc: Technology Works
The Bug featuring Tippa Irie · Angry
The Bug featuring Ricky Ranking · Too Much Pain
Lenny Bruce: Gee, all you people can tap-dance
The Bug featuring Spaceape · Fuckaz
The Bug featuring Roger Robinson · You & Me

Filastine · La Muerte (Soot)
Cauto · Bona Vida (Dutty Artz)
Skream & Cluekid · Sandsnake (Disfigured Dubs)
Negitiveland: Helter Stupid
Mala· Left Leg Out (DMZ)

Pixies · Planet of Sound (4AD)
Tubby T · "Title ? / Photek Remix
John Cusack: "If your not going to become politically active in 2008, I don´t know when your are going to!"
Miles Davis · The Pan Piper (CBS)
Burial · Ghost Hardware (Hyperdub)
Altered Beats featuring DJ Rob Swift & Liu Sola · Ancient Style (Palm Pictures)

Reporter turns Ghetto in 3 seconds

Man dear, did this ever make me temporarily forget about the dickhead cops that I had to deal with on the way to work last Friday.

15th Century behaviour

Last weekend was the Clandestino Festival in Gothenburg, Sweden. Elements within the Swedish government are very keen to promote themselves as being friends of Africa. Trade, cultural exchanges, financial assistance etc. are pinned on their chests to say "aren´t we good?" When it came to issuing Konono No.1 visas for their appearance at Clandestino, the western superiority complex reared it´s ugly head, and visas were denied. They weren´t convinced Konono No.1 were a legitimate group, and the chances of members of this group would most probably not return home and would live off Swedish benefits ´til their dying days.

Unfortunatley another no show was El Guincho, he was hospitalized and was in no condition to perform.

On the positive, DJ Mutamassik´s set got Aleksander Motturi, the head of Clandestino, breakdancin´and poppin´.
With the controls set at full steam, leading up to the release in two weeks of the new album, London Zoo, The Bug and Warrior Queen turned up the heat with a set of blistering EQ-riding dancehall business, and Ghislain Poirier dropped a special Swedish language mash-up on the audience that was a welcome surprise. I love it when artists deliver something that is close to the hearts and minds of the local audience, it shows thought and dedication to one´s craft.

My dj-set was a fight against the Sweden vs. Spain Euro2008 football match. The stage became sandwiched between a giant TV screen around the corner and another screen inside the venue. I thought I was on the losing side, but there were enough people there to enjoy the nu-whirl sounds and daytime bass-line movements. Much thanks to Amir Sulaiman, Karin, Cecilia and the countless others that dropped by with dance movements, inspiration, smiles and comments.

A big shit to Alby, the booker for the AguaViva Festival who ignored my phone calls when it came time to get paid. Alby knew damn well I was heading to Sweden immediately after the AguaViva set and we had agreed I would be paid as soon as I finished. It seems that artists based in the Canary Islands are always the last to get paid. Hey Alby, was Jamiroquai okay with you paying them later? Hell no, you ass-wipe, you paid them upfront!

I had to change planes in Copenhagen to get to Gothenburg, so checked out the well stocked bookshop at CPH and bought Bad Men; Guantanamo Bay and The Secret Prisons by Clive Stafford Smith. This is the 21st century, somebody best tell those motherfuckers in Washington and Whitehall, ´cos what they advocate belongs back in the Middle Ages. Men having their penis repeatedly slashed with razor blades, being hung by their arms for hours on end, dislocating their shoulders, not being allowed to sleep, constant bright light throughout the night. The beatings continue while I read that British Foreign Minister, David Miliband thinks the civilized world should do something about Robert Mugabe. True, David, true, and while your at it.....
It´s good to see Massive Attack using the Meltdown platform they have to highlight the plight of the Guantánamo detainee´s.

Speaking of activism+politricks etc., the latest addition to the Guevara Convention is now up.
Filastine has given us La Muerte, inspired by the work and unfortunate death of Brad Will. Brad
was in Oaxaca, Mexico videotaping the teachers' strike when gunmen opened fire. Will was shot twice and died while he was being carried away from the area. Along with Will, two protesters – Esteban Zurita López and teacher Emilio Alonso Fabián – were also killed. The snare sound in the track is one of the shots fired at Brad just before he was killed.

Next week´s program will feature music from Amir, The Bug, The Roots, Flying Lotus and whatever else I picked up last week. You know where to find me. Have a safe week, and we will catch up after the jump....or if you make down to Txola, La Laguna tonight, I´ll be there from midnight to three.
Peace.

Ear Conditioning Playlist 17 June2008

Artist Unknown · Oh mother, the handsome man tortures me / From Choubi Choubi, folk and pop from Iraq (Sublime Frequencies)
Sadum Jabir · Ashhad Biannak Hilou aka I admit you are beautiful / From Choubi Choubi, folk and pop from Iraq(Sublime Frequencies)
Fathay Salama · Maqsoon featuring live cuts by DJ Mutamassik
Freeform Arkestra · Freeform Theme (Straight Ahead)
Seji · Second Nature (Bitasweet)
Afronaught featuring Tittla · Work It (Apollo)
Cutty Ranks · Who Seh Me Dun / Wake de Man (TVT)
London Elektricity · Rewind (Hospital)
Bo Diddley · Powerhouse (Checker)
Parliament · Moonshine Heather (Invictus)
Funkadelic · Hardcore Jollies (Warner Brothers)
The Black Dog · Psit-Cosyin (Warp)

The Ear Conditioning radio thing goes out on Radio Norte, Tenerife 89.4FM Tuesday 20h - 21h

Ralph Bakshi / Coonskin

Miss America / From Ralph Bakshi´s Coonskin.

Now who did i lend the video to?

Gotta a friend here who doesn´t lend any books, dvd/video/cd´s to nobody, never, ever, final.
Don´t blame her.

One Big Orgy, No One´s Taking A Bath

Had an itch to scratch, reached for Masters of the 1 & 2 : History´s Greatest DJ´s. This comp´features the likes of Premier, MixMaster Mike, Qbert, GrandWizard Theodore, Cut Chemist, Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five. Top selection, and unbelievably it´s got something to do with MTV?! I got this record when working at Virgin Records, and around this time, the Chemical Brothers had a new album out, and for their upcoming London show they brought the father of hip hop Kool Herc and Grand Wizard Theodore from NYC to open their gig, nice manoeuver fellas! That gig was a history lesson right there at Brixton Academy.

Back to the album, also some good liner notes from Stones Throw man, Peanut Butter Wolf, whose musical contribution to the album I rinsed for the program as well as that of Coldcut.
Not on the album, but coulda been, Public Enemy and Terminator X...oohh yeah, they just performed their classic album It Takes a Nation of Millions....´ as part of the Don´t Look Back series in the UK last week. The Bomb Squad, the Shocklee Brothers also made an appearance at those gigs.....damn!!! Photos of that show and the DMZ-sponsored jam at Third Base party are here courtesy of Ashes 57.

The program of June 10th has also got some deckwerk from Agzilla who hailed outta the Ronin/23Skidoo family....check it if yer inclinded. Back to last week....

Filastine has sent me over a contribution for the Guevara Convention online compilation that we have going on over at Ear Conditioning website. The track, La Muerte, features an very interesting snare sound. I should have the track uploaded by week´s end, then you can see for yourself what I´m talking/writing about.

Ear Conditioning · June 3 Playlist

Eardrum · City Collision (Leaf)
Tabla Beat Science · Audiomaze (Palm)
Taking of Pelham 123 Soundtrack · Main Title / Music by David Shire
Peanut Butter Wolf feat. DJ Design · Showtime at The Dump (Priority)
Coldcut · Beats and Pieces (Live in Koln) (Priority)
Public Enemy · Terminator X at the Edge of Panic (Def Jam)
Prince Charming · We bouncin couch, on the slouch for the pouch (Wordsound)
Subversion · Evil (FutureDub)
Reverend Wright on Bill Moyers · The Sermon (NPR)
Loefah · Disko Rekah (Deep Medi Musik)
Goth-Trad · Cut End (Deep Medi Musik)
Burial · Southern Comfort (Hyperdub)
King L. Man · The Aziz Vistation (Ear Con CD-r)
Filastine · La Muerte (Filastine pre-)
Himalayan Atmosphere · Mautias at Gaumulch / From the Source of the Ganges (Virgin Classic)
Luke Vibert & BJ Cole · Party Animal (Law & Auder)
The Taking of Pelham 123 · The Taking / Music by David Shire
Fun-da-mental · Che Bin Pt.1 (5Uncivilized Tribes)
Martides del Compás · Canne Canne

Ear Conditioning · June 10 Playlist

The folks at Dutty Artz, as usual have been pointing the way to gems of the sonic persuasion. ´Hurry On Now´ by Alice Russell and the Sonidero Nacional remix of Juliete Venegas´ ´Eres Para Mi´.

Also indebted to /rupture for putting out a 12" of Mutamassik, the NYC-based Egyptian producer. I´ve tried to keep tabs on her sharp-edged break workouts. The previous link takes you to info about her forthcoming album That Which Death Cannot Destroy She´ll be taking part in the Clandestino Festival which takes place in Gothenburg, Sweden next weekend. Also among the artists at Clandestino will be Bassekou Kauyote, El Guincho, The Bug and Warrior Queen, Ghislain Poirier, Konono No. 1, Amir Sulaiman, La Mala (hey Jace, La Mala!), Abi-Shanti, Echodek to name a few. I´ll be there on Saturday, and hopefully Mr. Martin will have a copy of his London Zoo album for me to share with the radio people and night-stalkers here and there. There is an mpfree of ´Fukkaz´ from The Bug circulating on the internets. This tune is voiced by The Spaceape, who comes with a different style as one has come used to in his Kode 9 work. He is well pissed off, and rightly so. Sorry I can´t remember the link for the download of Fukkaz, but it ain´too far from your fingertips.

June 12-13, I will be spinning at the Expo that is part of AquaViva Festival here in Tenerife. The Expo will be hosting a tent for various NGO´s, one of which recommended me for the gig. My thanks to you JuanJo and collegues. The decks will be mine from 18h00 to 22h00. With this enviromentally minded festival upon us, 4Hero ´Loveless´ fit the bill. Ms. Rucker recites as if she was Mother Earth riding on the phattest of phat contrabass rhythm:

Watch my foolish daughters and sons As the kill me Slowly, kill me Quicker, kill me

They loved me as would an unfaithful lover, part-time and and half-assed.

Such beauty in life, you will never have again.

The same goes for Privatize The Air from the OnU Sound family.

What a shit week for the families of Bo Diddley and Canarian timple maestro José Antonio Ramos. Bo Diddley was The Man, you know that, I´ve got one album of his (not enough, I know) but it does the job, The Black Gladiator. While I was putting this program together I got a nod from Dr. Das collaborator/producer/remixer Ramjac that his latest radio stream was featuring the Dr. Diddley. I mentioned that I had this album, and his response was thru the roof!

José Antonio Ramos was only thirty-eight when his heart gave out. He was the don of the timple, the small guitar that is synominous, synonimous...uhm, synonymous with the Canary Islands. I recently met him at a discussion and I asked him about possibly collaborating on some music.....he developed a midi-linked timple, so I knew he was somebody that would be open to stretching things. On the day of his passing a friend who works at the culture department of a town council called José´s management to confirm some flight details and the voice on the end of the phone was like "Haven´t you heard?¨
The Canaries have lost a true brother and teacher.

Pete Rock & CL Smooth · TROY (They Remin Over You) (Atlantic)
Richard Pryor · Pussy (Warners)
Agzilla Tha Deck Wrecker · DubStar/Dedication (Ronin)
Juliete Venegas featuring Anita Tijoux · Eres para mi / Sonidero Nacional Cumbow remix
Mapei · Night / Buraka Som Sistema remix
Alice Russell · Hurry On Now / Boub remix
Mutamassik · Doun Doun / The Crux
The Bug featuring The Spaceape · Fukkaz (Ninja Tune)
Gary Clail / On U Sound System featuring Andy Fairley · Privatise the Air (OnU Sound)
Mark Stewart + The Maffia · Strange Things Happen remix (Mute)
4Hero featuring Ursula Rucker · Loveless (Talkin´Loud)
Elixir · Trapdoor To Another Life · (Quartermass)
DJ Spooky · The Last Element (Asphodel)

Ear Conditioning goes out on Radio Norte / Tenerife 89.4FM
Tuesday 20h - 21h
Repeated Saturday 23h - 24h

The Txola / Festival Musicalia Experience

Last weekend was a busy one in the town/city of La Laguna; Txola Bar on the Friday night, and
the Festival Musicalia the following night. Txola was pumping.....they ran out of beer/cerveza. Pedro, el jefe de Txola has got some plans for some special events in August/Octubre, so keep an eye open...abries un ojo. The folks at Musicalia magazine (Estrella, Pino, Presi Nacho,Urena...que mas?) alongside Dani El Shiva Azul Medina brought La Kinky Beat from Barcelona to deliver their brand of rock·jungle·reggae sounds with force and kinetic energy. Local crew Tropico28 stepped up with their new line-up to give a taster of their forthcoming album, which I have been told should surface in two weeks. I did contribute to a song for their album, but their producer/beat-man did a runner with the files when he left the group, so who knows what the hell he´s done with them! Oh, i´m digressing....back to Musicalia Festival....the idea was to raise money for the next issue of the magazine, it has no advertising you see. Hopefully they will have got a few euros together, although I do think they had the price of the beer was a bit low....a bargain, one euro!
A very good deal, and it was free entrance. I don´t think people are really aware of the difficulties that exist trying to put on a festival of this magnitude...dealing with the council, a sexist and incompetent sound company.....then there´s the matter of posters being ripped and defaced by supporters of the Platano Rock festival that was taking place the same day in Santa Cruz. Come on people.....there ain´t no need for that shit, grow the fuck up. I was sorry to hear that the Platano Rock festival was cancelled at the last minute because of some bureaucratic police nonsense. GAF ,who I really like were due to take the stage, as were Marvel Hill, but the police, miserable fuckers seemed to be working on somebody else´s behalf who doesn´t like gigs happening if he ain´t a part of it or getting paid. Yes, it´s like that in these parts....fuckin´ third world shit going on here brothers and sisters.

The weekend before last, Fun-da-mental did a show in Prague. Always nice to be in Prague, we just don´t get to spend any proper time there.....pisses me right off! Before parting ways at the airport, bassman Lloyd gave me his copy of Naomi Klein´s latest book The Shock Doctrine. Fucking put me in a right mood. I know enough about what goes on, but jesus h ucking hell....unts like Bush, Dick ´So´ Cheney, Condoskeeza Rice, Rumsfeld, are worse than I thought....and that is real Bad. In all seriousness, they should be fucking made to walk around Baghdad totally naked and left to their own devices for a few hours, then publicly hanged, shot, pissed and shat upon, then burned alive for good measure. No need to privatize the killing, totally open to the public....a real public service. I am deadly serious. That ´Let God sort them out´stuff is bollocks. Kill them NOW, let t! I hate to pray for bad things to happen to people, but they deserve it, and you know it! Those motherfuckers have been preying on the weak and defenseless for too long, and they´ll go down in history as great figures too....you watch.

Change the channel.

Yes, The Bug album is going to be released in July, and the title is, as I hoped, London Zoo...very appropriate. This person is doing the album artwork. Next single will be featuring Tippa Irie on one side and FlowDan pon the flip. Can you handle it?! Soon see eh?


Before I split, if your into Cumbia check out Vampiros DJ....I did, bought me a couple CD´s one from him, and the other being the Sonido Martines mix he did for DJ /Rupture´s radio program last year. I´ ve been really trying to turn people onto the rebajadas sound.....it´s lively, fresh, and represents what is going on in the Southern hemishere. I have a radio interview at Radio Club Tenerife tomorrow (Friday at 11am) they want to talk about mixing Canarian folklore music with contemporary sounds, and methinks what Vampiros, El Hijo de la Cumbia, Sonido, Oro 11 etc., and without a doubt, El Guincho, are very good markers as to what is possible. More as it happens.

Ear Conditioning / 27 mayo
DJ Food · Valves / Journeyman remix (Ninja Tune)
Badawi · Bedouin Raid (Asphodel)
Amir Sulaiman · Danger
Overtone · Give It Again (Rosebud)
Os Campiones · Dos (Sou Jazz)
Afronaught · Golpe Tuyo Calinda (Bitasweet)
Naomi Klein · Shock Doctrine
Stereotyp featuring Edu K & Joyce Muniz · Jece Valadáo (MAN Recordings)
Megablast · El Ninjo / Luv Lite Massive Remix feat. DJ Collage (Stereo Deluxe)
Stereotyp (?) · Police and Soldier (Giguptight)
Music from the Ivory Coast · Gueglo (Radio France)
Congo Natty · Jungle Souljah (Congo Natty)

Vamprios DJ · Selection from La Sonidera Colombiana Mix CD
La chancha via circuito / Oro 11 · Damas Gratis Dub
Sonido Martines · Cumbia ron the Bronx
El Hijo de la Cumbia · Cumbia de los barrios
El Hijo de la Cumbia · Mara Tomaza
Karos · Por que te quiero

DJ Food · Scratch yer Head (Ninja Tune)
Murga Las Salamanquesas · Himno (Gofio)
Murga Ni Quito Ni Pongo · Pout -Purri (Gofio)
Rude Hi-Fi . Elzn in Dub
Zapotec Indians · Firework Music (Folkways)
Yaqui Indians · Deer Dance (Folkways)
Bio-Muse · Hurrey Hurra
Coki · The End (dmz)
Rusko · Cockney Thug
The Bug feat. FlowDan · Jah War /Loefah remix (Ninja Tune)
The Bug featuring Warrior Queen · Poison Dart (Ninja Tune)
Kode 9 · Stung (Soul Jazz)

Ear Conditioning at Radio Norte 89.4FM
Tuesday / martes 20h00
Repetidos sabado / repeated Saturday 23h00
! Tropico Photo by Encarneviva
Thanks to Arka/Tropico28 for the radio link

Dub, Instrumentals, Refixes and so on..

Ear Conditioning

This weeks program (May 6) was put together by 8 Islas Sistema Sonido. Sixty minutes of reggae, dancehall and such. I don´t have a tracklisting yet, but should it surface, I will share.
In the meanwhile, following is the playlist from last weeks (April 29) sonic adventure....lots of space with dub and instrumental versions flowing, a couple comedians thrown in to take the edge off, plus a handful of remixes.

For those who are new to Canarian music, I kicked off the program with Silbo Gomero, a language of whistling that people on the island of La Gomero use(d) to communicate with each other in the mountainous terrain. Words have been turned into an understandable whistle form...yes, amazing.

Speaking of Canarian music, well the El Guincho show here two weeks ago, caused enough ruptions on some of the online forums in Tenerife. There seem to be plenty haters here, people saying he..s all hype, but those that know, know that ain..t the truth. His concert was marred by rough monitor sound on-stage which threw him off course for a bit, but he pulled through, and had enough people shuffling and bobbing about. What killed me was people complaining about how repetitive or boring they found it.....while they were dancing. Methinks some people just like to complain for the sake of opening their mouth. I have been acting as a co-curator of the Clandestino Festival in Sweden, and really look forward to getting another dose in a few weeks....yep, one of the first things I proposed was the ..Guinch... His remix of Architecture in Helsinki is on the cumbia tip, which fits nicely with the following DJ Negro material that I..ve really been eating up. Oh, Blind Idiot God are back!

Playlist

• Iaso Sayo · Siete Estrellas (ZetaRecords)
• Creation Rebel · Starship Africa / Space Movements 1 (On-U)
• Richard Pryor · Africa (Warners)
• African Head Charge · You Learn (On-U)
• Jimmy´s Chant · DJ Tools (Indigenous Resistance)
• Supersoul · So Real So True
• Coki · The End (dmz)
• Blind Idiot God · Major Key Dub (Enemy)
• Kid 606 · Attitude (TigerBeat6)
• Manolo Vieira · Economista (Clodmodel)
• Sofa Surfers · Raffinere (Klein)
• Tigerstyle · El Tiburon
• Fun-da-mental · Red Light Tabla (Nation)
• Amit · Swaztika (Commercial Suicide)
• Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan meets State Of Bengal (realworld)
• Roots Manuva · Colossal Insight / Jamma Refix (Big Dada)
• David Toop & John Zorn · Chen Pe I Pe / Ocean of Sound compilation (Virgin)
• Thom Yorke · Harrowdown Hill / The Bug refix (XL)
• Kode 9 + The SpaceApe · Konfusion (HyperDub)
• Architecture in Helsinki · Like It Or Not / El Guincho Remix
• DJ Negro · Cumbia Callejera
• Reverend Wright · The Government Lied
• Yellow Magic Orchestra · Pong Too / The Orb Remix

For more of the same and different, I will be playing once every two weeks at Txola, La Laguna, starting this Friday May 9th. If your in the area, say hello, I don´t bite....unless your name is Talvin Singh and yer gonna fuck with the record thats spinnin´.

Musicalia Festival

Musicalia magazine from La Palma are presenting a festival with La Kinky Beat from Barcelona, local ragga-drum n´ bass outfit Tropico28, and music workshops with Tenerife´s favourite percussionist, Nani. Saturday 24 May in La Laguna.
The lastest issue of Musicalia is out now and features articles on Afel Boucoum, Rachid Taha and an interview with myself. The interviewer did say that some of the things i said could prevent me from getting certain gigs in the future. We´ll let the powers that be decide that then shall we? Much thanks to the Musicalia team; Estrella, Pino, Presidente Nacho, Urena, Dani SV.

No cockblocking please....

No cockblocking please.....eh?
Cockblocking is a term that refers to ´hindering a male as he attempts to get it on with a female´.
In my instance it refers to someone hindering my attempts to get some work. Fuck sakes, last week I had a little rant about some promoters being dickheads for not properly compensating DJ´s for their work...now I got fellow DJ´s giving attitude over sharing the decks, like they own the fucking club or something. No wonder things don´t progress in this motherfucker....and to think i was went into the situation with open arms with thoughts of trying to build something here with other DJ´s. Fuck it, just gotta get on with it, and try and rise above the bullshit which seems to be at an all-time high.

Back in the real world, an investigative report revealed the how TV military analysts have a vested economic interest in selling the Bush adminstrations happy talk about Iraq. In the summer of 2005, the Bush administration confronted a fresh wave of criticism overGuantánamo Bay. The detention center had just been branded “the gulag of our times” by Amnesty International, there were new allegations of abuse from United Nations human rights experts and calls were mounting for its closure. So the Bush administration went into overdrive, a damage control exercise that got together ´experts´ to hit the TV airwaves to defend their state of action...."Yep, let´s push forward this war agenda while making mad loot." This world is fucking insane, and what am i doing, playing records on a weekly basis, like it´s gonna do somethin´? I apologize.

Last week several men in the UK were found guilty of financially aiding and inciting terrorism, and sentenced to between two and four and a half years in prison. Eh, inciting terrorism? Everybody knows who encourages terrorism, and who is helping to swell the ranks of Al-Qaeda etc, but do they face the judge and jury? People who have incited an illegal and immoral war are suggested to be presidents of Europe and receive very well paying jobs while the common man has to take it whole, even if it doesn´t fit and tears the sides and leaves him bleeding....motherfuckers.

This weeks program featured some new joints to my ears even if they be released years ago. David Byrne´s excellent Luaka Bop continues to give joy, as i came across Asia Classics 1, Vijaya Anand....a man whose name means "victory" and "ecstacy". His music, mainly composed for films is the stuff that will keep ya going aaaaaaallllllll night long, jazzy brass, synths, hypnotic vocals, off-key quirks, the whole nine.
The well-loved El Guincho is here this weekend for the Ecos festival, his first show in the Canaries, the place of his birth, so it´s very timely that his remix of Like it or Not, by Architecture in Helsinki, was made available via mp3 this week. I have the pleasure of doing a set ahead of him...thanks to Javi at the Culture Dept. in La Laguna for arranging this event. Also on the bill, Echo and the Bunnymen and The Mistake.

The first time I heard Squarepusher it threw my mind into a frenzied state....it was ´Conumber´, then i was lucky to see him play at a Ninja Tune night in Hoxton Square in London...him, his bass and a drum machine. Hot as a pig on a spit! Ah, the good ole days....are set to continue.

See you at Ecos 08 then, like i´ve said before, it´s free, so ya got no excuse....action begins around 8.30, and i´ll be doing two sets, one before Echo and The Bunnymen, and the other after them.

Ear Conditioning Playlist 22.04
King L Man · Dear God - The Aziz Mian Visitation (Ear Conditioning)
Kode 9 · Konfusion Dub (Hyperdub)
The Bug featuring FlowDan / Loefah remix (NinjaTune)
Burial · South London Boroughs (Hyperdub)
Paradox · A Black Sun (Archive)
Ghislain Poirier featuring Radioactive · Propaganda (Rebondir)
Vijaye Anand · Desire Soars Up High (Luaka Bop)
Jepp · Superglue Low (Hut)
Architecture in Helsinki · Like It or Not / El Guincho remix (Mistletone mp3)
Mikey Dread · Saturday Night Style
Supacat & WuTang · Scalp Dem / Congo Natty remix?
Squarepusher · Conumber (Spymania)
Radar · Antimatter (Ohm)
Buckwheat Zydeco · Hey Joe (Charisma)
Emiliana Torrini · Dead Things (One Little Indian)

Ear Conditioning is broadcast via Radio Norte 89.4FM Tenerife, every Tuesday at 20h00, and repeated Saturday 21h00. www.radionorte.com

Promoters and Farts

Here in Tenerife, the idea that one´s only job is that of a musician / dj is something beyond comprehension.
"No, what is your real job?"
"That´s what is do."
It appears that most dj´s here do it as a hobby, and so many promoters/venues pay them as such.
"Come and play for fun."
Fun don´t pay the bills homie.
"Come and play for four hours and i´ll give you 30€"

I recently met a man who owns an Indian restaurant in Santa Cruz, and he waxed un-interuppted on for over half an hour about money, money, money, and how his brother recently bought a flat/apartment that used to belong to Paul McCartney. (Yes, he did tear up the floorboards hoping to find an old manuscript.) But I digress...."So, could you dj in my restaurant?" he asked.
That wouldn´t be a problem, I responded.
"What´s your fee?"
"200€ minimum normally, but i´m flexible, we can negogiate"
"Uh.... do you know how much I pay my normal dj"
"Yes, I can imagine"

Another dj/promoter recently asked if i would play his party. Sure, no problem, this is my fee.
He never bothered to reply to my email, which is weird cos he recently did an interview where he said dj´s should stick together, and not play for less than 200€, so promoters would respect us, and not take us for granted. Seems my man has a bad case of amnesia. There is an expression here for people that talk more than they should....His farts are bigger than their ass. Fitting.

Oh yeah, the postcard that´s at the top...well, picked that up on a visit to Belgrade a few years back. Found it recently, and put it up on myspace, where it lasted about 24 hours before they removed it, said it violated their terms, as it was either obscene, sexually explicit or violent.
I´m still trying to figure out which. The image refers to Serbian sentiments that they have been fucked over by the US in some way. It was explained to me that before NATO went in, there were laws that gave Serbian workers x amount of percentage and say in the companies they worked for. When NATO went in, these rules went out, and also they all of a sudden became recipients of foreign loans which they did not require, but were forced upon them, hence they now had a foreign debt which was something new to them. Before the Yank/Nato incursion they did not have a foreign debut, didn´t owe a single bean to the IMF etc. Kinda like Iraq, and how Paul Bremmer changed Iraqi rules and opened the gates to foreign corporate takeover. Fuckin´cuntz.

Yep, and now sports....I´ll be spinning at the ECOS 08 event, which is bringing Echo & The Bunnymen and El Guincho to town next week. Also on the bill is The Mistake, and I´ll be sharing the decks with the legendary Pili Txola. It´s free, so all you in the Tenerife zone, venga!
All the action is taking place at the University of La Laguna campus.

Ear Conditioning 15.04 / Radio Norte

The Roots · Da Lesson / Instrumental (Geffen)
High & Mighty feat. Mos Def & Mad Skillz / accapella (Rawkus)
J-Star vs. Mutamassik
Prince Fatty · Fe Fi Fo Fum (Anvil)
Rustrillos · Pendejo (Producciones PYP)
Red Snapper feat. MC Det · The Sleepless /Shut Up and Dance refix (Warp)
Malcolm McLaren & The World Famous Supreme Team Show / Would Ya Like More Scratchin?
Taking of Pelham 123 Soundtrack · Blue Green Money
Malcolm X · Taxes
Atmosphere · They All Get Mad (Rhymesayers)
Fugazi · Waiting Room (Dischord)
Pixies · Crackity Jones (4AD)
Pixies · La La Love You (4AD)
Poison Idea · We Got The Beat (American Leather/Vinyl Solution)
Bong Ra · Murder You
Shut Up & Dance / The Green Man (Shut Up & Dance)
Kode 9 · Find My Way (Hyperdub)
Kode 9 · Find My Way /Quantum Edit feat. SpaceApe (Hyperdub)
Kode 9 + The Space Ape · Konfusion (Hyperdub)
Cauto · Bona Vida (Dutty Artz)

The Good Reverend

The Good Doctor Reverend J. Wright.
Every time i think "Pfft, pah religion", i think of the time i went to a ´Black´church in New York when i was about 13 years old. It was on! Whenever i think "Pfft, religion!" I think of gospel music, and it kinda sets me straight, if even for a minute or two.
When i heard The Good Doctor Reverend speak, i was raised, he hit the nail on the head, he makes people believe that there is something better for man, and ain´t that the point of religion? Dealing with the issues at hand, is one way to attempt to make things better, and i think what he´s been saying is along those lines, deal with your business properly, and you won´t get hurt. See for yourself, the video that Faux News and other mainstream media AIN´T playing. He´s just saying a truth that people want to ignore.

Other ´ignored news´ of the week, Iraq Veterans Against the War held an event last week called Winter Soldier. Veterans spoke frankly giving accounts of their experiences in Iraq. Not a pretty picture, no wonder the US mainsteam media has donated zero coverage time to this event.
Mike Hoffman, founder of IVAW said “Everyone wants this to be a good war so they can sleep at night. But guys like me know it’s not a good war. There’s no such thing as a good war.” More of Mike Hoffman and IVAW, here , courtesy of MotherJones magazine.

I´ve been listening to a lot of Aziz Mian this week. I´ve posted before about him as i´ve previously played his music on the radio program. Dropped one of his tunes during the dj set at Txola this past weekend, so i have to put up some links should anybody that was at the Txola be lookin´. Think of Aziz Mian as a rapper with gospel….an awesone poet.

Ay Allah, waiz ki bandagi hai jahannum ke khauf se
Maine gunah kiye tujhe ghaffar samajh kar

The preacher is pious only because he’s terrified of hell, Lord.
Whereas me, I sinned freely, trusting in your mercy
(from Hashr Ke Roz Main Poochhunga)

One of my best experiences was seeing Aziz perform in a small town in Pakistan. Before my eyes i saw people become so entranced by Aziz´performance that only the quick thinking and actions of audience members saved the physical self of the entranced from crashing to the ground. The entranced were gone, their spirits residing on a different level than their physical self.

Kicked off the program this week with Singers and Players featuring Mikey (Dread at the Control) Dread, who passed away last week from a brain tumor, he was only 54 years old. I had the good fortune to be at an On-U Sound recording session when Mikey passed by, real friendly and no trace of ego at all. May his family be consoled by the knowledge that he is at peace now.

I dug out Grooverider, he´s serving four years in a Dubai jail because he had two spliffs worth in his pocket when he went there to DJ at the end of last year.

Thanks to Dani/El Shiva Azul for the cumbia contributions, including the mash-ups of cumbia versus Busta Rhymes and The Beasties.

Where the fuck is Imhotep? He was/is part of the legendary French rap group I AM. He released a Mahgreb inspired solo album Blue Print ages ago, and i was hoping for a follow-up, but it never happened.

Ear Conditioning 25.03 2008

Singers and Players featuring Ashanti Roy and Mikey Dread · Autobiography (On-U Sound)
Dennis Alcapone · DJ´s Choice (Trojan)
Prince Far I · Deck of Cards (Trojan)
Dub Syndicate · Shout It Out (On-U Sound)
Circus Klezmer · Freitog nokh´n tsimes (9é circ d´hivern)
Imhotep · Marble Mine (Source)
Institute of Dubology feat. Tuffhead & Squidly · Nova (Taste/Livestock)
Reverend Wright speaking the Truth
African Scream Contest Mix · Analog Africa
Lucas Luizao · Princess Gold (mp3)
Negromoreno · La Danza de Busta (mp3)
Mixter Pan · Beastie vs. Crucet (mp3)
Chain Gang Song (Folkways)
Grooverider · Where´s Jack the Ripper (HigherGround)
Iraq Veterans Against the War · Winter Soldier
Aziz Mian · Allah Hi Jane
Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan · Sari Sari Raat Teri Yaad
Burial · Title unknown

This program will be transmitted tomorrow via Radio Norte, 89.4FM Tenerife 20h00, and repeated on Saturday 29.03 at 21h00.