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´.