Wednesday 30 January 2008

Ear Conditioning Radio 29.01.08

Job read about him somewhere; he told Javi; Javi told me. I listened, so I´mma telling you.
El Guincho. Originally from Gran Canaria, now a Barcelona resident, who may well be spending more time in airport terminals and foreign clubs soon enough....he´s got plenty love from a lot of people, the initial pressing of his album Alegranza has sold da fuck out, there ain´t even any promo copies left. A tropical breeze flows when El Guincho productions are connected to the speakers. Sample-based tunes that set the party alight. He´s got Canarian folkloric music in there in there, Brazilian vibes on a Naña Vasconcelos tip, doo-wop, Afrobeat guitar licks, Baul-esque rhythms, steel-pan sounds and more driving underneath his not-so-clear-vocals (that ain´t a dis....maybe my ears aren´t tuned into his pronounciation). He´s playing in Madrid the same day (Feb.9) myself and Tropico28 step to Madrid for a gig ourselves.....ahhhhh, piss me off! Pinchar aqui for an short interview Pablo/El Guincho did in English.




As previously mentioned here, DJ/Rupture and Matt Shadatek have formed an alliance under the name Dutty Artz, and the /r was courteous to provide some tasters of what is instore....77Klash with the legendary Johnny Osbourne, Cauto putting Barcelonian dubstep on the map with ´Bona Vida´.

Jay Electronica
"He´d ask the craziest questions."
"He´s one of the few artists that are willing to go all the way to the left."
"He´s a....I wouldn´t call him a person, ´cos he´s a weird looking cat...like an alien but in a beautiful way."

The above are quotes by Just Blaze and Erykah Badu taken from the Eternal Sunshine mix Mr. Electronica did that The Bug pointed out to me. Moody Boy Thorpe was talking about him too, so with those two telling me something, it´s gotta be check´d. The mix contains no beats, just heart-felt meloncholic chords, words and a few samples from films or TV programs that ring a bell but i can´t nail down.


Ear Conditioning / 29 January

  • El Guincho / Palmito Park (Discoteca Océana)
  • King L Man / Arando (Ear Con)
  • The Roots VS. Lata Mageshkar / In the Music (Ear Con Mix)
  • Elixir / Trapdoor to Another Life (Quatermass)
  • Unknown Artist / Ahl Al Aqil · Folk and Pop Sounds from Iraq (Sublime Frequencies)
  • 77 Klash feat. Johnny Osbourne / Mad Again (Dutty Artz)
  • Cauto / Bona Vida (Dutty Artz)
  • Buju Banton / People Kill People
  • The Bug / Poison Dart · DJ Baku refit (Ninja Tune)
  • Cotti / I Don´t Give A Dub (White)
  • Jeb Loy& The Oil Wells / Things that made the US (On-U Sounds)
  1. Foreward by Erykah Badu & Just Blaze
  2. Eternal Sunshine
  3. Because He Broke the Rules
  4. Voodoo Man
  5. Fyi
  • Mighty Zulu Nation vs. DMZ (Ear Con)

As for Suharto, good riddance you bastard!

Monday 21 January 2008

Why bother? Play the music man! / Ear Conditioning 22.1.08

In the run-up to the invasion of Iraq, experts warned Tony B.Liar that occupying the country and trying to impose a western-style democracy was doomed to failure. The Guardian´s Jonathan Steele has written a behind-the-scenes account of what happened when people with the knowledge briefed the former Downing Street occupant, not that he actually listened to what they had to say...

Wait, i must be looking at this from totally the wrong perspective. It´s not like anybody really gives two pence what the Iraqi´s think. The Iraqi Provisional Authority headed by Paul Bremer got what it wanted....or I should say, the US with Paul Bremer as head of the Provisional Authority, got what it wanted...as in carving up the country and giving slices of it´s businesses to foreign control, and privatizing war...see Blackwater, Haliburton, SAIC, et al.

Before the invasion, Iraq's non-oil-related economy had been dominated by 200 state-owned companies, which produced everything from cement to paper to washing machines. In June, Bremer flew to an economic summit in Jordan and announced that these firms would be privatized immediately. "Getting inefficient state enterprises into private hands," he said, "is essential for Iraq's economic recovery."
Naomi Klein/Harpers Magazine Sept. 2004


Meanwhile to take my mind off this shit....I was listening to Ethiopia´s great Mahmoud Ahmed, and instantly decided that the willing ears here in Tenerife needed a dash of his glorious tone.

Helping maintain the stereotype that us black folks are well-endowed down there, is Big Bamboo by Lord Creator. Being the one fly in the milk in this town, there is one shameless old woman who, whenever we pass in the street asks if it´s big, i tell her it´s small. I am tempted to be rude next time and tell her that it could bus´ her up, but i refrain....over-sexed natives eh?!

I´ve been asked to do a remix for TraceElements. Chris (z) of said group sent a CD of another one of his groups, Zodiac Project, which features former FDM bandmates, rapper Scalper, and Wajid, the sonic noise merchant also known as 2nd Gen. Some of the frequencies that make up Organic Drift are top-end frighteners, that is scary, could fuck-up speaker type sonics.

Dodo....what can i say? Got a sense of humour that i dig...."I don´t need a guy, I´ve got my gun." Electric Love´s kitchsy-´lectro-pop sensibilities hooked me from the off! Get the 7" vinyl through Freshly Squeezed Records...don´t be shy, she doesn´t bite. The last time i was in Ldn, she roped me in to do vocals for a multiplication times table CD that she made for kids, made me impersonate a dog, can you believe it?!



Elsewhere, i ´jacked the mix that Filastine did for Blentwell....he´s crammed so many disks into 30 minutes, i´ve had to get a sick note, won´t be in for work tomorrow.

Ear Conditioning at Radio Norte 22.01.08

Grim Dubs Vol.1 (Grim Dubs)
Guadi & Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan (Six Degrees)
Mahmoud Ahmed / Sidetegnash Negn/Samiraye (Crammed)
Lord Creator / Big Bamboo (Dynamic Sounds)


Filastine Unleashed (Blentwell mp-free)

  • Filastine - La Muerte (track in development)
  • "Cycheouts Ghost"- Simtek
  • Ellen Allien & Apparat - Metric
  • The Bug (featuring Flowdan) - Jah War
  • Horsepower Productions - Synbad
  • Dam - Da Dam
  • Dj C - Body Work
  • Filastine remixes unlabeled maghrebi cassette, we'll call it- Berber Sex Hat
  • Filastine remixes Maga Bo's - Nakhil - featuring K-Libre
  • Immortal Technique - The 4th Branch
  • Electromeca - Outromeca
  • Fairuz - Baatilak
  • Filastine - Blung rithm
  • Ojos de Brujo- Todo Tiende
  • Actitud Maria María Marta - Hijo Mio
  • Filastine - Quémalo rithum, Nuestros Suenos version featuring...
  • Rabah (MBS) & Beni (La7ma)
  • TTC - Paris
  • Filastine - Batalla rithm featuring...
  • Alesh acapella by Jawad/Maga Bo for unreleased Sonar Calibrado track
  • Fawzy Hafez - Suffara & Nay Solos
  • Saian Supa Crew - Blow
  • Sonar Calibrado - E daí (unreleased)
  • Morris Brown Drumline / Demetrius Hubert - X-Factor
  • Shystie- Get Loose
  • Filastine - untitled & unreleased, with...
  • Dead Prez - Hell Yeah
  • RDB featuring Elephant Man - Ishq Naag
  • Shyam Brass Band - Choli ke Peechhe

Danny Elfman & Steve Bartek / Prelude, from the film Psycho (Virgin)
Dodo / Electric Love (Freshly Squeezed)
Zodiac Project / Organic Drift (Urgence Disk)
Sandra Bernhard / Time of the Season (Enigma)
Barry Adamson / Under Wraps (Mute)
Barry Adamson / Epilogue (Mute)

Ear Conditioning at Radio Norte, Tuesday 21h00 89.4FM
Repeated Saturday 21h00

This is Freestyle,
But this style is not free,
It´s expensive....Roots Manuva

Tuesday 15 January 2008

Enviromental Impact Study

The Bug vs. D.WattsRiot Soundclash

There seems to be no shame in the way the power structure goes about it´s business.
Tony Blair is being touted as the new president of the EU.
Former Indonesian dictator, Suharto is reportedly close to death. Him, responsible with the likes of the US government during Gerald Ford´s term invaded East Timor in 1975, and killed a third of the population. With oil fields in the proximity, Austrailia turned it´s back on East Timor and the idea of human rights, even as Indonisian soldiers mutilated several members of the Australian media, and sucked on the tit of Texas Tea...oil that is, with Indonesia. Suharto reportedly skimmed between 15-35Billion dollars during his reign. As he lies in a hospital with machines running his system, even human rights groups are sending flowers to his bedside. It´s the fact that these %unts never have to account for their behaviour, never, no wonder our regards for politricians is at an all time low.....the ratings for Frat Boy, as the field-negro blog call GW is at 24%. Fuck ´im, and the whole cabal.

Onto the goodness, as mentioned a couple weeks back, when Kevin Martian came to visit, it was like old times in London, shooting the breeze over some ice-cream, cakes...and yes, tuneage. So today´s Ear Conditioning program (15.01.2008) was made up of selections from both our craniums, shelves, ipods and computa´s. One hell of an action-packed sixty minutes!

The repeat of the program goes out tonight at 9pm local time...89.4FM

Aziz Mian / Allahi Jane Kaun
DJ Krush & Mr. Lif / Nosferatu (Sony)
Cult of the 13th Hour / Wickedness (Soul Jazz)
Kode 9 / Stung (Soul Jazz)
DMZ / Thief in the Night (Soul Jazz)
Pinch / Chamber Dub (Soul Jazz)
The Bug / Jah War · Loefah Remix (Ninja Tune)
Baaba Mal / Call to Prayer
Burial /
Archangel (Hyperdub)
Vangelis / Blade Runner (mp3)
Mr. Scratch / Live (mp3)
Dutty Goodz / Take (mp3)
Dizzee Rascal / PussyOle (XL)
Ghislain Poirier meets Roots Manuva and The Clipse (mp3)
Roots Manuva / Witness the Fitness (Big Dada)
Hopha / Cake B (Immortal)
Caspa / DubWarz (Dub Police)
Thom Yorke / Harrowdown Hill · The Bug Remix (XL)
Sofa Surfers feat. DJ Collage / Passin´ (Klein)
The Moody Boyz / Dubland (Moody CD-r)
DigiDub feat. Helen McDonald / Obruumankwaa (Digidub CD-r)




Wednesday 9 January 2008

Rupture is at it again...

..And this time he´s got some mates, Dutty Artz is the name of the new label he´s set up with super-quick producer Matt Shadetek. New tunes are being cut now, so put dat name into yer bookmarks and keep checkin´.

Sunday 6 January 2008

Free Fouad Ahmed al-Farhan/BugStep



Fouad Ahmed al-Farhan usually blogs here, but since early December he´s been banged up in a Saudi jail for “violating non-security regulations”. Sounds vague dunnit?

In an e-mail sent to friends prior to his arrest, al-Farhan explained that he had received a phone call from the Saudi Interior Ministry instructing him to prepare himself “to be picked up in the coming two weeks” for questioning by a high-ranking official. He also stated in the e-mail that he believed he was being summoned “because I wrote about the political prisoners here in Saudi Arabia and they think I’m running an online campaign promoting their issue.” In one of his last posts before his detention, al-Farhan sharply criticized 10 influential Saudi business, religious, and media figures.

Saudi Arabia is one ´ucked-up place. Former British Prime Minister, Tony B.Liar definitely ain´t no sweet-bread, as his finger-prints are all over the decision to stop an investigation in a massive arms deal with BAE and Saudi Arabia early last year or in 2006. He claimed he had nothing to do with the investigation being halted, but secret documents acquired by the Guardian show the contrary.

In other news Ztohoven, a group of hackers/pranksters/artists...(take your pick) in the Czech Republic pulled a stunt reminiscent of 1938 radio transmission of HG Wells´ War of the Worlds. Word is though they may find themselves in the slammer for a few years ´cos they hacked into a transmission of a weather broadcast and inserted a mushroom cloud as the camera panned across a mountain scene. See the action here.

Nobody flies on Christmas Day, unless you got wings, which means your either a bird or The Bug. Mr. K-Mart took a holiday down our way, so we showed him the sights of Tenerife. He really shoulda been working his bugbutt off, to finish his album for Ninja Tune, but hey, one has a limit when it comes to being stuck in a studio in London´s Bethnal Green, and the cry for a break was louder than the scream he emitted when he stepped into our surrounding seas for a dip on New Years´s Day...bliss!
We shared words, food, music, photos etc., and my first radio prog´of 2008 will a BugStep/WattsRiot soundclash selection, taking in his remix for Thom Yorke, Loefah´s remix of The Bug´s ´Jah War´, Vangelis´extra bits for Blade Runner, and some Aziz Mian and DJ Krush with Mr. Lif from my end. Ear Conditioning return to the airwaves Jan. 14th.