The Return of the dB assault

Ear Conditioning / dB Acrobatics

September 4th 2007

I´ve had seven weeks off from the program due to gigs and family commitments so plenty to catch up on.

Oh, where to start? Let´s make it simple...i caught up with fellow band members for a couple concerts in Russia in July. We flew into St. Petersburg for a festival sponsored by the British Council. The feel of St. Petersburg is so different from being in Moscow. The city is located on the coast, and canals and rivers flow throughout the city, very much a Nordic feel, where as the drive into Moscow last year was depressing as hell due to seemingly millions of vehicles on the motorway belching out tons and tons of diesel and petrol fumes (yes, we were part of the problem too), the drive into St. P from it´s airport is a lot shorter and we were greeted by the sights of people riding horses in city....not sure what that was about, but it looked good and not the type of thing i/we were expecting at all.

We were in St. P to take part in the British Council-sponsored UK Flavours event, featuring local band I-Iaska, Lily Allen, the Dub Pistols featuring former Specials vocalist Terry Hall, Tigerstyle (thanks for the 12" guys), Mad Professor and Misty in Roots. Click here for footage of our Ministry of Defence contracted dhol-player doing his solo. Seriously, he cant´t talk about the work he´s done for the MoD, as he had to sign the Official Secrets Act. Do they know he plays with us?

After the show, we had to take the overnight sleeper train to yup, Moscow for the Krylia festival. Eight of us travelling, four compartments reserved, two people to each compartment right? Not when you have a new monitor engineer that can´t share his assigned compartment for some unexplained psychological problem. So bass-man Lloyd had to sleep on the floor of another compartment. If it were up to me.....but it weren´t so enough about that, and back to Krylia. The festival was targeted in 2004 by a couple female Chechen suicide bombers, who took about fifteen people with them into premature retirement, hence the security at the festival was heavy as fuck, every two meters there was a cop or soldier present. Once again we shared a stage with New York´s Hazmat Modine who we played with last year in Moscow. They had a horn player with them who had the biggest horn i have ever seen in my life, surely most of their wages went to pay excess weight. Russian hardcore group FAQ continued the mosh-pit action after us with an energetic performance....well, you would if your hardcore. Speaking of hardcore, i caught a performance by Bad Brains at the Rogers Picnic in Toronto courtesy of old friend Errol Nazareth. Also on the bill was The Roots. Maceo of De La Soul was spinning during the stage change over, and he killed us with tunes...practically every track he played was a funk, disco, soul classic. I definitely rate him as one of the best party DJ´s, alongside DJ Premier and Rob Birch of Stereo MC´s. During The Roots set, Maceo Plug Won and Lupe Fiasco came out for an impromptu jam session. Most of us went home content.

While back in LDN working my way back home, i stopped of at Soul Jazz, Rough Trade and Honest Jon´s record shops for my fix, and came across a cd with a familiar image. Scratch the head, and ponder for a moment....ah yes i realized it was the mighty /Rupture that first brought this record to my attention with his superb blog. Choubi Choubi, Folk and Pop Sounds from Iraq, you know that had to be acquired.

Dubstep, or bass-lead music comprised the majority of purchase this time around, but it´s gonna be hard to find a system here in Tenerife that can handle the bottom weight. I will have to search hard, low and high to find a capable system so folks here can be ear-conditioned proper. in the meanwhile we in Tenerife must be satisfied with radio offerings such as the last 30 minutes of the program or DJ Mad´s selection on his Mextura2 program, also at Radio Pimienta. Other new joints include the Gaudi produced Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan album, and the cumbia of Lito Barrientos, high energy latin fiyah!

It all makes a lovely stew.....

FAQ / Intro (RebelRecordsRussia)
Ja´afar Hassan · They taught me / from Choubi Choubi(Sublime Frequencies)
Gaudi meets Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan · Dil da rog muka ja mahi (Six Degrees)
Unknown Artist · Segue Bezikh / from Choubi Choubi (Sublime Frequencies)
Unknown Artist · Oh Mother / from Choubi Choubi(Sublime Frequencies)

King L Man · When will Turkey apologize for the first holocaust of the 20^th Century? (Ear Con)
Mighty Zulu Nation · Mdavu the Man (Nation)

Dodo · Electric Love (Freshly Squeezed)
Lemon · Batman (Freshly Squeezed)
Liars · Plaster casts of everything (Mute)

Bad Brains · Give Thanks and Praises (Oscilloscope/Megaforce)
Bad Brains · Jah People make the world go round (Oscilloscope/Megaforce)
Bad Brains · Pure Love (Oscilloscope/Megaforce)
FAQ featuring Max Cavalera · Killing Song (RebelRecordsRussia)

Madlib · Enter Hot Curry (Stones Throw)
Lito Barrientos y su orquesta · Cumbia en dos menor (Soundway)
Tigerstyle · El Tiburón (Soldier Sound)
Buraka Som Sistema feat. Petty · Yah! (Modular)
State of Bengal · Breathe in (Betelnut)

John Lee Hooker · Walking the Boogie (Chess)
Manu Dibango · Soul Makossa (London)
Papa Levi · Mi God Mi King (Fashion)
Laurel & Hardy · You´re Nicked (Fashion)
The Beat · Noise in this world (Go Beat)

Prince Fatty · Milk and Honey (The Moody Boyz remix)
LV featuring Dandelion · Takeover (Hyperdub)
Coki · The End (dmz)
Skream · Moving Snares (Disfigured Dubs)
Coki · Sponge Bob (dmz)
ANS · New Worlds (Studio Rockers)

Thanks to Errol Nazareth and family for the time and presents, The Bug for busting some new tunes for me, Steve Goodman for the LV 12", quite possibly one of the year´s best releases. Also shouts to Mala - Digital Mystikz for a generous package and a good lunch and Marta at EMI/Mute España.

All meat, no fat.

Ear Conditioning 10.07.2007

No three minute hero´s here, well not for the first half hour of the program....four songs, 33 minutes, starting with the golden voice of Asmahan, followed by further beauty courtesy of Anuradha Paudwal . According to the info in the link, she accused the Mangeshkar sisters of indulging in monopoly. This outspoken nature at times landed her in trouble as the music directors of the industry feared to face the wrath of Lata Mangeshkar and Asha Bhonsle and they often avoided Anuradha Paudwal. Many a times Anuradha's songs were dubbed by Lata such as Main Teri Dushman (Nagina)...and here i was thinking that Lata was such a sweet lady!
The punk of Qawalli, Aziz Mian made an appearance last night too. Fun-da-mental performed with him and his group a couple times, including the memorable gig at Brent Town Hall, London. We did two tracks before the gig was pulled, because some people in the audience felt it was inappropriate that us noisy upstarts where sharing a stage with Aziz. Some in the audience shouted "Haram", which was strange considering they were pissed.

Nearly four years ago, an asshole deliberately hit me with his car, breaking my right leg and leaving me for dead. Consequently i wasn´t able to make it to the Peel Session recording of The Bug vs. SoundMurderer, and made do with tuning in. The Bug did pass on a digital copy which begged me for an airing /earing. The Bug stepped up to the plate with Ras Bogle, Warrior Queen and Mexican riding shotgunDigital violence, ragga / dancehaul / bury dem lyrics...serus bizniz.

The Dickheads of the Week Prize is shared by George W. for his consistent manner of saying Fuck You and Sr. Carlos Lugo, recipient of the prize for journalism here in Tenerife. The event was hosted at the Mare Nostrum Resort. Sr. Lugo won the prize (12,000 euros) for two articles in El Dia newspaper on Immigrants in the Canaries, how they aren´t really hungry, but are Muslims engaged in a silent conquest to take over. That ´lock up yer daughters-hysteria´shit never fails to work does it? People are fighting back however, and the recipient of the second place award has returned his prize. Voices of concern should direct their thougths and hit the following emails....these folks work at the hotel that hosted and presented the awards.

mnreservas@expogrupo.com; ehbreservas@expogrupo.com; comercialbcn@expogrupo.com; tcreservas@expogrupo.com; psreservas@expogrupo.com;



Asmahan / Aleik Salat Allah
Anuradha Paudwal / Mere Dost Hindustani from the film Shikari
Aziz Mian / Her Ghadi Iltija Nahin Hoti
Tinariwen / Matadjen Yinmixen

Animal vs. Buddy Rich / Drum Duel (The Muppet Show)
Buddy Rich/ Solo
Max Roach / For Big Sid (Atlantic)

Monaka / Full Metal
Horsepower Productions / Golden Nugget (Tempa)
Prince Fatty / Milk and Honey · Moody Boyz remix
Sound Murderer vs. The Bug / John Peel Session Nov. 2003 (BBC)
The Micronauts / CD3 Mix (Virgin Promo)
Scalper / Feed

Alt Delete Esc / Ear Conditioning Playlist 26.06.07

Ear Conditioning Playlist
26 June 2007

Mary Anne Hobbs provided the link to bring Nettle´s Sonar performance to our ear. Abdel Hak (violin, banjo), Jen Jones (cello) and DJ /rupture´s brassic beats and swirling fx hosting the sounds of US soldiers in Iraq or Afghanistan asking saying "Are we shooting people or what? I think this guy has a weapon."

Oh, did i mention Afghanistan?
Christian Parenti returned to the country to get more juice about what going on there. "The problem with the US is, they used Afghanistan as a stepping stone to get to Iraq, rushed the whole process and allowed the warlords to take over the government. The US-created Afghan government is a really pathetically corrupt kleptocracy where nothing gets down and most revenue is stolen, and this infuriates the people."

The Superjam with Led Zep bassist John Paul Jones, ?uestlove on drums and Ben Harper had to be served up...and oh, what a dish.

i can´t remember what led me to find Rodrigo y Gabriela, but i am grateful. Judging my their site, thousands have been snared by their fierce dedication to their craft. Metal heads doing flamenco.....uck me. Diablo rojo is an unbelievable piece of music, and when i think it´s just the two of them on guitar, no percussionist, the head rotates Linda Blair style.....goddamm it, i was hoping not to have the combination of letters that make up BLAIR in this week´s post as today the bastard with a T in front of them words resigns as the leader of the UK. War Crimes, war crimes, war crimes. No need for my thoughts on him apparently taking up the job of mediator in the Palestinian situ, ask the Palestinian´s what they think, that should be sufficient.

Anyway, the other hot find of this week was Buraka Som Sistema from Portugal who i first heard on the Babel program on rne (spanish national radio)..... Kuduro....think electro, carioca funk, breaks, block partys, sweat, grinding and yeah your there. Immediately after hearing them on the radio, i dove into net world to seek, but didn´t have any joy, ´cos i didn´t have the spelling right, but then was checking out Maga Bo´s blog and through there i found another jewel. Respect to Maga, who is on tour in europe right about now....need to link with that brother...Dr. Das already has done so on the remix tip.

Patti Smith....don´t know much about her really, or about horses, never the less, her rendition of Smells like Teen Spirit with it´s fingerpickin alt. folk vibe and her emotional vocal do the job superbly.

Moondog / Rabbit Hop (Astralwerks)
Miles Davis / Medley · Gemini · Double Image (CBS)
Patti Smith / Smells Like Teen Spirit (mp3)
Steven Lindsay / Monkey´s Gone to Heaven (mp3)
John Paul Jones, Ben Harper, ?uestlove / Dazed and Confused (mp3)

Konono No.1 / Infuala Ndongo (Crammed)
Muslimgauze vs. The Rootsman / Beirut (Third Eye Music)
One Chip / Trinity Rise (Zora Lanson)
7th Thief feat. Nawazish Ali Khan / Title unknown (M.I.B.)
Swami / Nachna (Nation)
Dr. Das / The Alchemist (VU)
Dr. Das / Free Agent (VU)
Christian Parenti reports from Afghanistan (The Nation Magazine)

Cottonmouth Texas vs. Bill Hicks / Senseless Census · Decadent Dub Team remix
Buraka Som Sistema / Wawaba
Rodrigo y Gabriela / Diablo Rojo
Nettle at Sonar Festival 2007
Eskiboy / Levels (Eskibeat)

Queens of the Stone Age / Auto Pilot (interscope)
Rage against the Machine / Microphone Fiend (Sony)
Slug & El-P / Revolutions (Counterflow)
Prefuse 73 / 7" Message (Warp)
Ricky Ranking / Doogoo Machine (Banana Klan)
The Bug / Live and Learn (Rephlex)


Ear Conditioning is broadcast on Radio Pimienta, La Orotava, Tenerife.
100.3FM
Tuesday nights from 8pm to 10pm
Repeated Saturday midnight.
No, sorry we are not online.

It´s our war, we are responsible....

For news, one of the stops is Alternet, and i came across a story about former US soldiers (veterans) that got together under the banner Iraqi Veterans against War
and they have called for the immediate withdrawal of all occupying forces in Iraq;
Reparations for the destruction and corporate pillaging of Iraq so that Iraqi people can control their own lives and future, and full benefits, adequate healthcare (including mental health), and other supports for returning servicemen and women, (which is something Michael Moore kinda tackles with his new film Sicko i think.)
On Memorial Day, when the US remember their war dead, IVAW staged Operation First Casualty in NYC. Several IVAW members, in full military clothing hit the streets of NYC as if they were patrolling in Baghdad, giving unsuspecting Manhattanites a little taste of what is going on thousands of miles away. One of the veterans says in an interview that they returned home from Iraq to find their fellow countrymen and women having no idea about what´s happening in Iraq. Shouting at people to lay down on the pavement, having their hands bound together with plastic cable ties, heads covered in hoods. Hardcore!

Reunion gigs seem to be the new black for the last few summers....actually i think it´s more than a few summers, but anyway, this week a Superjam is going to take place. Sharing the stage will be Ben Harper, Roots drummer/producer ?uestlove and Led Zep´s John Paul Jones......my mind fries at the possible scenario that is going to evolve.

At the beginning of this century i was witness to a collaboration with Gang Starr´s Guru for his Jazzmatazz project. Alongside Guru was Angie Stone and Herbie Hancock. Yep, Herbie Hancock sat next to me at dinner....what could I say? Not much to be honest, i didn´t wanna come off like some jerk, so i kept my mouth shut. All the questions i could´ve asked but was too something not to. The Headhunters, his p-funk inspired period, his soundtrack work....which leads me to The Spook Who Sat By The Door, an uncompromising film centered around the black revolutionaries giving some payback in the vein of the Black Panthers and Franz Fanon to name a few. Herbie Hancock did the music....of course.

Back in 2000, Digital Bled created an album featuring musicians from Orchestra Nacional de Barbes infused with bottom heavy crawlers and lashings of dubtronics, very similar to Imothep´s Blue Print album, which if you like Berber-step you may also dig. Haven´t been able to find anything by DB since, shame.


Ear Conditioning / 05.06.2007

Vieux Farke Toure / Sangaré (Modiba)
Rachid Taha / Tekitoi (Wrasse/Barclay)
Sargento Garcia / Je Seis (Virgin)
Rude Hi Fi / Elzn in Dub (Metak)

GAF / Two more things I need to tell you
Bigg Juss / Moss Pink Coat (Big Dada)
The Roots / False Media (DefJam)
Herbie Hancock / Revenge · The Spook Who Sat By The Door
Herbie Hancock / Training Day · The Spook Who Sat By The Door
Hairy Diamond / Givin Up
Portishead /Cowboys · Christian Parenti / War on Terror
Moody Boyz / Witness the Day
Recycler / 2 Pints Please (Kube)
Kocani Orkestar vs. Señor Coconut / Usti Usti Baba (Crammed)
G.W. Bush / "They want us to leave (Iraq), the world would be a better place if we did...uh..uh"

Digital Bled / Encontrade (Sony France) · Robert Fisk / The Betrayl
Border Crossing / Looking for Mr. Manuva · Mr. Scruff remix
Iraq Veterans against the War / Memorial Day Action
Scott Ritter "..it´s our war, we are responsible."
El-P / Up All Night (DefJux)
Material / Slow Murder (Celluloid)

Bio Muse /Hurra Hurrey (No Label)
Fun-da-mental / Electro G-Had (5 Uncivilized Tribes)
King L Man /FILHSF! (Ear Con)
Swami / Jawani (Nation)
ADF / Melody (Virgin France)

Prince Django / Hot Tip (Upsetter)
Dr. Ring Ding / Bombs over Baghdad (Germaican)
U Roy / Great Psalms (Virgin)
Future Sound of London / Papau New Guinea Dub (Jumpin & Pumpin)
Suga B / Untitled Dub (G-Stone)
Bob Marley speaks about politics



Ear Conditioning 12.06.07

Rhythm & Sound / Imprint (Rhythm & Sound)
Les Juifs d´Ethiopie / Tes lévres ont le goút du miel (Radio France)
Nana Vasconcelos / Futbol (Island)
Fun-da-mental & Javad Salamat Qawal / Just Bubbling (Nation)
Doudou Ndaiye Rose / Rose Rhythm (Virgin France)
Amr Diab & Khaled / Albay (EMI Middle East)

Radiohead / Little Happier (EMI)
Las Ratas / Know Your Rights
Soma Metizo / Had Ur Back (Somamestizo.com)
Tackhead / Crosstown Traffic · Live
TV on the Radio / Playhouses (4AD)
Teledubgnosis / In Heaven, A Devil · The Bug Remix (Wordsound)
Teledubgnosis / 80 Creeps · Techlevel 2 Drum and Bass Head mix (Wordsound)
SUV / Flamenco Cybernetico (Full Cycle)

Max Eastley / Elastic Aerophone (EG)
Shut up & Dance / No Doubt (Shut up & Dance)
Saian Supa Crew / Poison (Virgin France)
Bas-1 & Fanatik / Instant Rap Star (Bomb)
Wayne Lonesome & The Bug / Buckle Up(Shockout)
UFO presents Contact / Class of 89
Top Cat / Champion DJ (Congo Natty)

Indigeneous Resistance / Remember Galdino (tftt)
Indigeneous Resistance featuring Dubdem Sound System, Zumbi and Dr. Das / Instinto Revolutionrio · (tftt)
Indigeneous Resistance / Fuck Babylon (tftt)
Badawi / Stampede (ROIR)

J.Rocc Mix from Peanut Butter Wolf Presents Stones Throw Ten Years (Stones Throw)

Tino / Tino beat (Tino Corp.)
Kids in Tracksuits / We Make It Rock (Dealmaker)
DJ Yoda / Fertilizer (Antidote)
Cabaret Voltaire / Voice of America · Damage is Done (Mute)

I ain´t scared of Al Qaeda, I´m from Brooklyn!

I have seen two works now of Bill Moyers, a US journalist that doesn´t sit back and wait for stories to come to him, he does his footwork, and looks for others that also wear out their shoe leather...and those that don´t, simply taking the White House version of events. Much of the samples in the program listed below came from his film on the cost of the Iraqi war stroke occupation. Man, are Halliburton creaming it, and Clinton got into loads of trouble over a blowjob?! Puhhhleese!

Bill Moyers on how the US media failed to tackle their government over Iraq....here too

George Galloway, Respect Party Member of Parliament does his bit also, speaking of the British, Yankee and Israeli attitude to Iran and their nuclear aspirations, which incidentally is no more than what the puppet Shah of Iran wanted back in the day. Coincidentally the British Gov´t have recently been discussing spending 75Billion Pounds on updating their nuclear program.
Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament info on the subject

Chris Rock contributes once again with his views on the conservative/liberal debate..."Nobody is just one thing, I got some things I´m conservative about and things I´m liberal about. Crime, I´m conservative. Prostitution, I´m liberal." Also drops the bomb.....eh?! on Al Qaeda, actually on the Bush administration and "Crackas".

Musical gems come from Demon Fuzz, the underappreciated London based AfroFunk group from the late ´60´s.
Late 80´s hardcore group Excel doing their version of Message in a Bottle. I´ve always loved how they tore it up.

Mutamassik and Morgan Craft. Searched for something on Mutamassik, got her Soot label effort, and a disc of producer Fatham Salay that she did some turntable cuts on, so was looking for more and found she´s doing this collaborative effort with Morgan Craft. The book has been shred again.

Even folks that live on an island with plenty of sun need a holiday, so we are bouncin´ hence no program next week, but will be back in time for the launch party for Proximas en Santa Cruz event for the Drone Colectivo. Will be spinning alongside Postman. A chance to dprogram from the electioneering that is currently in full swing leading up to voting on the 27th....I ain´t even gonna go into that now, I´m thinking about packing the snorkel, flippers, goat´s cheese and red wine (vino tinto).

Thanks for your ears, eyes and imagination.

Ear Conditioning
15 May 2007 Playlist

Count Basie / The Daly Jump (Roulette)
DJ Food / Nevermore (Ninja Tune)
Charlie Watts and Jim Keltner / Roy Haynes (Higher Octave)

Baluji / Raag Todi (ARC Music)
Nation World Service / Skanking for Jallunder (Nation)
King L. Man / FILHSF (Ear Con)
Khal Nayak / Cholike Ke Peeche (Outcaste)
Juttla / Ghaber Singh (Nation)
Demon Fuzz / Past, Present and Future (Castle)

Chris Rock / "Bush lied to me. If Iraq were so dangerous, how come it only took two weeks to take over the country? You couldn´t take Baltimore in two weeks."

The Selecter / Celebrate the Bullet (Chysalis)
DJ/Rupture / Little More Oil · Rupture´s Reggaeton Remix (Soul Jazz)
The Bug / www · Kid 606 Remix (Razor X)
Future Sound of London / We have Explosive · Leon Mar remix (Virgin)

Chris Rock talks.."I ain´t scared of Al-Qaeda, fuck Al-Qaeda, I´m from Brooklyn."

Public Enemy / Son of a Bush (SlamJamz)

Bill Moyers on the Cost of War. Halliburton charge the government $100 to wash a bag of soldiers clothes. Blow up a brand new $75,000 truck because they don´t have a spare tire. Just bill the government, the taxpayer, and reap millions in profits.

Zach de la Rocha & DJ Shadow / March of Death (mp3)
Excel / Message in a Bottle (Caroline)
Bio-Muse / Rat Dog (Virgin)
King Tubby / Satta Dub (Tubby´s)
Subcomandante Marcos - "We are looking for another way."
Cuba / Havana
George Galloway MP on Iran, Palestine, Lebanon, Bush, Blair, Omert and nuclear weapons.

El-P / Drive (DefJux)
Shadatek / Brooklyn · Ghislain Poirier remix (mp3)
Pharoahe Monch / What it is (mp3)
Joe Beats / Fade (XL8TR mp3)
Mutamassik & Morgan Craft / RA_P Melank (mp3)
Killing Joke / Butcher (EG)
Fun-da-mental / Parasites (5 Uncivilized Tribes)



Radio Pimienta 100.3FM
La Orotava, Tenerife

In case you didn´t feel like showing up

Opinion on the Public Enemy concert here last month was expressed on the forum at http://www.lagenda.com One person stated that the government should not have financially assisted the gig, as "there are several Canarian acts that piss over PE anytime or day of the week." The money would have been better spent on the local rappers. The post did elicit a response asking who these rappers or groups were, and at this time of writing, the seven or eight us that contributed to the ´gig review´ are still waiting with moist anticipation to see who these groups are.

Did I say it before? If not, the concert was a history lesson, covering social-politics, global issues, racism, hip hop state of mind, the Canaries is not Spain issue, funk, soul, WuTang, RunDMC, LL, Led Zep, AC/DC, Sly, Bob Marley, Tommie Smith, 911 is a Joke, Fight the Power, By the Time I get to Arizona, Welcome to the Terrordome, Son of a Bush, 20 years of Public Enemy, now rolling with live drums, bass and guitar. Professor Griff, James Bomb and the S1W´s, the blues delivered by their road manager via harmonica, Jimi, P-Funk, Chuck Berry and Little Richard, the internet, running a tight organization and being in control of your thing. Vision and dedication, insight and understanding. Flava Flav and his drum solo....yep, plus a sense of humour. James, Louis, Malcolm, Huey, Bobby, Muhammad Ali, Martin, Mumia. That sound! Rebel Without a Pause, Can´t Truss It, Shut Em Down, DJ Lord....oh lord, what a solo, completly phhhhucked my head with his decknology and he weren´t smilin....serious as cancer. Chuck blogged that Lord was like Mobb Deep, hadn´t had any clean clothes for like 5ive days, I thought maybe he just had his game face on.

I was alerted to a written review of the concert and notes on the press conference,
where I brought up the issue of the gig having El Dia as a sponsor of the concert, as El Dia have been at the forefront of dissing African brothers trying to reach out for a better life, trying to get to Europe via the Canary Islands.
The writer said PE were on the verge of cancelling the show because of the sponsorship issue raised. Nah, not at all, I think the reviewer was trying to be a hype man like Flava, but he ain´t quite got it yet. Chuck and Griff responded to my information in a clear sensible manner...I didn´t expect them to know about El Dia, publishing articles about Africans bringing Aids and shit, I was just bringing some info to the table. Yeah, people did get tense, but not PE.

One of the issues of living on an island is that everybody knows everybody, and if you don´t play along with certain people, you are gonna get jacked, like not get work or contracts, or advertising revenue, etc. so people hold their cards to their chests, so as not to offend anyone, because that person could be the person writing their cheque some where along the line, and I think that mentality is part of the issue with people not saying exactly what they feel, and maybe siding with El Dia, while El Dia could have spoken for themselves, I mean, as media sponsors of the gig, you´d expect them to have a journalist at the press conference, innit?

Some at the press conference would rather I didn´t bring up the El Dia scenario, but it didn´t kill anybody. I have never had anybody say anything about my colour until El Dia and the nationalist Coalition Canarias political party started with their illegal immigrant subsaharian hysteria bullshit....the ignorant are sucking up the agenda laid out for them by their masters and dishing it out to anybody with darker skin...and nappy heads. Personally, I´m like, Fuck El Dia....well at least the crusty old fool that runs the ship, fuck Coalition Canarias too...their immigrant-bashing actions have been played out before, it just shows how desperate they are in lacking foresight and imagination. They and the people have forgotten that government works for the people and not the other way round. Oh, and fuck anybody that thinks that dressing up as a Sambo and thinking I´m gonna think it´s cool to do so.

There are elections here now and during a debate last week, the heads of the three largest political parties, PP, CC, and the supposed Socialists held a debate, and when the question of Africa came up, two of them said there should be a "Marshall Plan for Africa". Wasn´t the original Marshall Plan used by the US to get a financial strangehold on Europe through the guise of post-World War Two financial assistance? So, now the West can forget about the recent debt forgiveness thing and find new ways to plunder the African continent? Even the Live8 spawned promises of billions of cash never materialized, about ten percent of pledges have been received according to the UN and other sources.

....and now sports!

The PE influence was still simmering in some of of the selection for this week. Dug out some classic joints of the shelves, Fatback, Trouble Funk, WuTang, Cube, London Posse and Jim Ingram´s "fireside chat".
Many years ago, Fun-da-mental had the pleasure of going to Australia and New Zealand alongside Primal Scream and Ministry for the Big Day Out festival tour....some memorable moments let me tell you., but I won´t say more than that right now, except I caught every show of them two bands...full on 200%! So got a couple jams from them in there.

DHS, House of God, a classic old school cut and paste breaks joint.....closing with some gospel from Willie Mae....

Ear Conditioning
8 May 2007 Playlist

The Flaming Lips / After the Goldrush (Caroline)
Panteras Negras / Comunicando (Esan Ozeaki)
Mary Margaret O´Hara / Keeping you in Mind (Virgin)
Tom Zé / Toc (Luaka Bop)
Zim Ngqawana / You think you know me (Sheer Sound)
Natacha Atlas / Duden · Talvin Singh Remix (Nation)
Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan / Sari Seri Raat Teri Yaad (Magnasound)
King L Man / FILHSF (Ear Con)

El-P / Drive (DefJux)
Sean Penn / On US TV, he tells it how it should be... "Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld...should all be in fucking jail!"
Fatback / King Tim III (Polydor)
Trouble Funk / Drop the Bomb (Sugarhill)
Ice Cube / Jackin´for beats (4th & Broadway)
Wu Tang Clan / Reunion · Funkstorung Remix (Loud)
London Posse / How´s life in London · Ragga Mix (Wordplay)
Jim Ingram / Homebrew

Primal Scream / Blood Money (Astralwerks)
Ministry / The Missing (Sire)
Ministry / Deity (Sire)

DHS / House of God
Sir Menelik / So Intelligent (Rawkus)
DJ Krush / Transition (Sony)
Roots Manuva / Double Drat (Bid Dada)
Kode 9 & The Spaceape / Nine (Hyperdub)
Saul Williams / Twice the first time
Willie Mae Ford Smith / What manner of man is this

False Media

Public Enemy completed their 58^th tour with a performance here in Santa Cruz de Tenerife last Friday. Despite three flights, lost luggage and tired bodies, alert minds were present for the pre-concert press conference. Brother James, Professor Griff, Flava Flav and Chuck D stepped into the room, saying hello to all and shaking everybody´s hand….not sure how many musicians have presented themselves in that manner.

Connor, an Irish born, Canarian-raised radio presenter attending his first ever press conference, presented Public Enemy with a Canarian flag with the PE Logo embossed in the middle, nice touch. He raised the issue of immigration, I think trying to inform PE about what goes on here, and the media distortion of the situation. Either Chuck or Professor Griff, asked if there were people here before the Spanish came, and whether they were black or white. To the first part , several of us said yes, the Guanche, as to the second part of the question….somebody said they weren´t either, which threw a curve in Griff´s head, which was visible on his face, and the words “What does that mean?” came from his lips. I stepped to explain the Guanches roots, when some one else in the background interrupted to talk about the Phonecians. What the Phonecians had to do with Tenerife and the Guanches, who´se roots have been traced to the Berbers, I am not sure, and most of the other journalists in the room had that “What da fuck is he talking about?” face on them. Connor´s question never really got answered, but then it gave me the opportunity to raise the issue of False Media, presented by El Dia, one of the media sponsors/collaborators for the PE concert. The irony of El Dia being part of the PE concert, given their editorial stance and distortion under the banner of reporting when it comes to Africans arriving on Canarian shores seemed to wash over the heads of most, and the two promoters who book-ended the head table were quick to dispel any notion of political connections or sinister motivations, saying the link between them and the paper for the promotion on the concert had nothing to do with the editorial stance of El Dia. Griff said that they new nothing of El Dia´s history, which is natural, and that the promoter has to do what he was to do make sure he has the best promotion for his concerts, and take care of his business. I think I could have raised the issue in another manner, False media, we don´t need it do we? and hit it from another angle, however the shit did seem to hit the fan somewhat, creating a lively debate.

During the press conference we spoke about the N-word and the responsibility of us as artists, brothers, men, in trying to curtail the spread of niggativity. The two Russian visits we as Fun-da-mental had last year resulted in twice being greeted with this word or hearing it in a conversation between the vocalist Shamil and the promoter, who if I recall is a leading Hindu practitioner. I only think of going back to Russia now as an excuse for somebody to call be Nigger again, because that´s all they know. Yes, Fun-da-mental have been confirmed to play at an Anti-Racist event in St. Petersburg in July.

Chuck laid most of the blame at the feet of the corporate music labels whose number one priority is making ca$h money, social responsibility is of little consequence. Our responsibility at the end of the day has to overcome the corporations and PE are a classic example of doing it and leading by example.

Brother James spoke with me afterward on the origins of the word relating to dead, and that is how the white man considered us, since we no longer built Pyramids and were no longer scientists. The music we listen to dictates how we present ourselves and if all someone listens to is constant Nigga this and Nigga that, then that is what is going to be perceived as the norm. His iPod is loaded with classic soul and funk, Mavis Staples, Sly Stone, Funkadelic, Al Green, The Meters.

DJ Ripley http://djripley.blogspot.com hit me up a couple weeks back about the documentary by Byron Hurt,
Hip Hop - Beyond Beats and Rhymes, which examines the representations of gender roles that live and breath in hip hop and rap today. http://www.bhurt.com/
Interview with Byron Hurt in Vibe magazine
http://www.vibe.com/news/online_exclusives/2006/06/byron_hurt_on_manhood_in_hip_hop/

I couldn´t help notice the Thugged out image for the ad for Vibe magazine, which is the main points of discussion of the film.

I asked Chuck about Don Imus, his one word response, ANUS.

Now, hears an head-shaker, Imus gets canned for calling some college women basketball players "nappy-headed hos" and yet Rush Limbaugh plays "Barack The Magic Negro" on his show and he is still on the air?
http://www.alternet.org/blogs/peek/#50996

On a lighter note, check out ?uestlove on his Record Collection and why bootlegs are cool. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=62HSuccMUYY

Chuck D on Flava Flav
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NlhzKUx2nI4

Rich McLean aka Audio Shrapnel, who I consider one of the best DJ´s I have ever witnessed put together a 25 minute seamless mix of Fun-da-mental material from over the years for BBC Asian Network but they refused to transmit the mix. Mrs. Shrapnel gave me the news like this...

When I spoke to Aki he said "do a best of FDM, ya know, your own perception of what you think are the best material by us".

So Rich and I chose the tracks (16 tracks in 20 mins!!!), and I gave it to Aki the following day (tuesday).

By my understanding the asian network lot had it for at least 5 days but didn't listen to it. Fast forward to this tuesday and Rich gets a call saying they want to do a quick phone interview with him.

Rich being Mr Honesty says "so your happy with the content then?".

Meera from the show goes "what do you mean?"

Rich - "Well it's Fun-da-mental, it's got a strong political messages through it"

Meera - "Oh well, I have to get that cleared"

Rich - "Haven't you listened to it to check that?"

Meera - "Erm...no..."

A text was received by Aki from a bod at BBC Asian Network "if I knew about the content I would've got it cleared".

Clearly, no need for me to comment any further....

This week´s playlist....

Ear Conditioning at Radio Pimienta 100.3FM
24 April 2007

Radiohead · Climbing the Walls / Fila Brazillia Rmx (Parlophone)
Kode 9, Benny Ill & The Culprit · Fat Larry´s Skank (Tempa)
Mark One · Slope (Planet Mu)
Mike Ladd · Feb. 4 99 (For all those killed by cops) (Ozone)
DJ/Rupture · Descarriada / Rotator Rmx (Broklyn Beats)
African Head Charge Meets Professor Stretch · You Learn (OnU Sound)

Konono No.1 · Unguli Wele Wele (Crammed)
Sobanza Mimanisa · Kimwembo (Crammed)
Mad Tunes from around the world vol. 3 · Untitled and uncredited folk music from Greece (Metalanguage)

Grinderman · Depth Charge Ethel (Mute)
Wesley Willis · The Frogs (Sympathy for the record industry)
Kid Koala · Trick or Treat (Ninja Tunes)
Queens of the Stone Age · 3´s x 7´s (Interscope)
Queens of the Stone Age · Quick and to the Pointless (Interscope)

Little Axe · 15 to 4
Vernon Reid · Saint Cobain (Epic)
Georgia Anne Mudlrow · Patience (Stones Throw)
Public Enemy · Pump the Music, Pump the Sound (Guerilla Funk)
KRS-One · Sound of the Police (Jive)
Chuck D · Niggativity...Dare I disturb the Universe (Mercury)
Terrawrecka · Terradome (White label)

Fun-da-mental Radio Mix by Audio Shrapnel
Che bin 2
Bubbleman
Cookbook diy
Spycat
God devil
White tongue
Ja sha taan (jesus & mary chain remix)
Pollution
Sliced lead
No more fear
Electro g-had
No more fear
English breakfast
Dog war
Mera mezab
Screbinicia massacre

The Roots and Lata Mageshkar · In the Music mix up
King L Man · Carcass featuring Arka /Tropico 28 and Scalper
Razhel the Godfather of Noyze · If your mother only knew
King L Man · One36 / El-P · I´ll Sleep When Your Dead Intro


Thanks to Audio Shrapnel, Aki, DJ Ripley, PE, Javi Jiminez, Dani, DJ MAD