EarPIPE

LTJ Bukem – FabricLive 46

Tuesday, June 16th, 2009 | Album Review | No Comments

We don’t really cover too much Drum n Bass on here. But that’s not to say we don’t like it. The problem has been, in our own honest opinion, a lack of decent drum n bass. Well probably not lack of, just its been pushed to the side whilst all the kids have been going made for the noisy jump up sound ala Pendulum et al. Which is fair enough. Its noisy, its mental its what kids love. For grumpy folk like us at EarPipe we’re more accustomed to the oozsing liquid sounds of drum n bass. Hence why we’re giving LTJ Bukem’s FabricLive mix the big lighter cru thumbs up.

It’s been a long time coming for LTJ Bukem to do this CD. But by god it was worth it. So what has the godfather of liquid drum n bass dished out on this mix? Basically 70 minutes of smooth luscious grooves and layers over itching, rolling percussion. You’ve got rolling pianos, soaring synths, luscious melodies and my personal favourite, double bass basslines ala Breakbeat Orchestra style. I can’t really give you any details of its credibility in drum n bass terms, but it is definitely the best D&B mix from FabricLive since High Contrast and Marcus Intalex. Nuff said, innit.

Buy LTJ Bukem – FabricLive 43 on CD

Tracklist:
01 Greg Packer – People’s Music
02 Tidal – Impressions
03 Furney – Eerie Indiana
04 Villem – Inflated Tear (Madcap’s Remix)
05 Paul SG Ft Eros – Forever
06 Paul SG Ft Caine – Lay Down
07 Paul SG Ft Andy Sim – Sweet and Fresh
08 Locksmith – 2 Minds
09 Specific – Time
10 Furney – Jambaleno
11 Phatplayaz – Fact Of The Unknown
12 Furney – Rhodeo Drive
13 Eveson – Kodama
14 Furney – Fearz
15 Tayla – Turn it Around
16 Locksmith – I’m Not Where You Are
17 Furney – Rhodes For D
18 Syncopix – So In Need

Tags: Breakbeat Orchestra, Drum n Bass, Fabric, FabricLive, High Contrast, LTJ Bukem, Marcus Intalex

EarPIPE’s Frivolously Fantastic Yet Quite Practical London NYE Guide

Wednesday, December 17th, 2008 | Event Preview, Events, News | No Comments

Since we’re halfway through December with Christmas right on our doorsteps I guess we should really cover what’s going down on New Years Eve. If you think you can bear the vomit laden streets and tourist clubbers who make it out for their annual party then read on. If not EarPipe recommends a house party or hired venue for you and your friends to get seriously pissed and whatever else you might want to do….

So what is the party to go to for us? Top of our list is Eastern Electrics. You may remember them from August Bank Holiday weekend, maybe for the wrong reasons. Here at Earpipe we had an OK night but it’s true it could have been organised better. But Eastern Electrics has assured us they’re one the case. So we’re definitely going to give it another shot because who could say no to some South London urban space. You may cry that its going to be cold. But fear not as you’ll be donning some kitsch 80s throw back tracksuit because as part of this year’s line-up Eastern Electrics have brought in Tayo and his legendary tracksuit party!! What better excuse to look 80s hip hop cool or more likely in our case Chuckle Brothers retro.

Tracksuits aside you may want to know what’s going on music wise. Well they’ve got three rooms in this warehouse location. The main room will have the formidable Mulletover who have brought in one half of MANDY Phillip Jung, they’ve also got Crosstown Rebeller Damien Lazarus, who might we add played an absolute stormer at the T-Bar closing parties, and to support these heavyweights they’ve got London faithfuls Geddes from Mulletover and Simon Morell form DDD. Tayo and Frank Tope take over room two with their tracksuit party canvassing support from ex Radioslaver Serge Santiago and to round things off those up and coming Man Make Music kids will be delivering the full spectrum of bass heavy dance music. So pretty fantastic if you ask me.

Tickets are still going at £20 from ticketweb here

And you might still be able to get some £16 ones from View London here

Not bad for New Years Eve!

But if bopping around a cold warehouse in a tracksuit doesn’t take your fancy then here are the next best…

Secretsundaze

Secretsundaze looks particularly good. They’ve taken Village Underground a rough and ready design space in the heart of Shoreditch. The location sounds fantastic and they’ve got a fantastic line-up too. Favourites from the year Omar S and Johnny D will be playing alongside Giles Smith and James Priestley. Expect nothing less than brilliant house music!

Get your tickets from here.

Horse Meat Disco

If you want something a bit off the wall then Horse Meat Disco might be right up your street. They’ve got plenty of delightful disco to see you through the night at Cargo and to give it that Studio 54 edge they’ve brought in show girl Johnny Woo of Gay Bingo fame.

Get your tickets from here.

Fabric

Now we move on to the big boys. Firstly Fabric has one big New Years Eve melting pot of styles. Its going to be a head on collision of Fabric vs Fabric Live. In room one they’ve got our Innervisions favourites Ame and Dixon along with Nottingham whipper snapper Matt Tolfrey. Of course the New Year wouldn’t be the same if the residents Craig Richards and Terry Francis weren’t present. Then over in room two they’ve got Yoda, Craze and the perverts. If you like hip hop and DnB there’s no point looking anywhere else.

Get your tickets from here

The End

The second big boy is The End. They do their final New Years Eve and who better to bring the club in to the New Year for the final time than the French master Laurent Garnier. All night the French wizard will do what he does best and that’s quality journeys through dance music. He’ll get a little support from Layo too and in the back room the most excellent Jimpster and Milton Jackson will have you buried deep in the ground with their deep deep stylings. Sure to be a fantastic party however you might be left a bit tearful not because it’s closing down but because of the ticket price.

Get your eye watering £40 tickets from here

Tags: Ame, Craig Richards, Damien Lazarus, Dixon, DJ Craze, DJ Yoda, Eastern Electrics, Fabric, FabricLive, Frank Tope, Geddes, Giles Smith, Horse Meat Disco, James Priestley, Jimpster, Johnny D, Laurent Garnier, Layo, M.A.N.D.Y, man make music, Matt Tolfrey, Milton Jackson, Mulletover, New Years Eve, NYE, Omar S, Scratch Perverts, Secretsundaze, Serge Santiago, Simon Morrell, Tayo, tayo tracksuit party, Terry Francis, The End

Sinden – FabricLive 43 | Album Review

Saturday, December 6th, 2008 | Album Review, Music | No Comments

Chances are if you’re older than 25 you might not have heard of this guy called Sinden. But for the past couple of years he and Switch have been getting the kids hooked into dance music. For a while it was looking like dance music in general was going to stagnate with an ageing crowd and no fresh blood since guitars made a come back. What happened is that the kids have just mashed it all together creating this danceable urban come indie sound. One slice of this pie is the sound put out by Sinden and the like. The sound is upbeat and littered with big drops and huge build ups. There are vocals, plenty of are wooshy noises and bleeps. It has urban influences yet is distinctly dance music. I’m not sure if this sound has a name. Some call it fidget house, others bassline. I’m not down with it enough to know what it is, but it seems like it’s a big amalgamation of everything.

His Fabric Live 43 release dots around through bleepy house, dub step and Baltimore breaks/Ghetto tech with a dash of 80s kitsch and a big dollop of acid house rave. It’s an interesting mix which is big on excitement. At times I’m thinking it’s extremely corny. The hip house style rap and vocals on the opening track is cringey but then it’s not supposed to be serious. It’s supposed to be easily accessible and danceable with no qualms about being underground.

There is a big afro Caribbean influence going on. Tracks like African Chant, Luanda Lisboa and Secousse bring in the frivolous fun of carnival and many of the other tracks have that Baltimore breaks rhythm. When it’s not the bouncy fun of the afro carribean tracks it’s the deep dark resonating sounds of dub step. Tracks from Skream, Caper, Joker and JME provide a momentary break in the high octane pace.

Another sound which Sinden is pushing is the comeback of garage under its cunningly rebranded name of bassline house. Sinden drops big wobbly basslines and pitched up vocals to a pacey 4/4 garage beat which is silly in every way possible, yet it is foolishly charming. You can see why the kids love it.

So the question is, is this CD any good. I’m afraid it’s a split decision. Its noisy brash beats and bleeps for me are you too in your face. The music is pretty obvious in its quest to excite the listener yet I find myself enjoying it the more I listen to it. Like I said before it’s supposed to be accessible danceable music leaving any snobbery at the door and Sinden has definitely done this.

Buy Sinden FabricLive 43 on CD

Tracklist (Click for MP3s):
1. Juiceboxxx And Dre Skull – Center Stage (Vicious Pop Records)
2. Yo Majesty – Club Action (Domino Records)
3. Aquasky Ft. Acafool – Have A Good Time (The Count & Sinden Mix) (Passenger)
4. Armand Van Helden – This Aint Hollywood (Southern Fried)
5. Scottie B And King Tutt – African Chant (Unruly)
6. Mujava – Township Funk (Sinden Remix) (This Is Music)
7. Tigerstyle Ft. Vybz Kartel, Mangi Mahal + Nikitta – Balle! Shava! (Sinden Remix) (Nachural)
8. Mixhell – Highly Explicit (Brodinski Remix) (BOYZNOIZE Recordings)
9. Buraka Som Sistema – Luanda – Lisboa (Fabric London)
10. Radioclit – Secousse (Instrumental Version) (Mental Groove)
11. Alan Braxe Ft. Killa Kella & Fallon – Nightwatcher (Show Me) (Instrumental) (Eye Industries)
12. Double S & True Tiger – From Day (True Tiger/Always) * Joker ‘Gully Brook Lane’ (Terrorrhythm)
13. JME – AWOH (Boy Better Know)
14. Skream – Fick (Tempa)
15. Zomby – Strange Fruit (Ramp)
16. Caper – Hybrid (Studio Rockers)
17. Project Bassline – Drop The Pressure (The Count & Sinden Remix) (Cheap Thrills)
18. Piddy Py – Giggle Riddim (Dress To Sweat)
19. Roisin Murphy – Overpowered (Hervé And Roisin In The Secret Garden Mix) (EMI)
20. Machines Don’t Care – Beat Bang (Machines Don’t Care)
21. Kudu – Let’s Finish (Sinden Remix) (Nublu)
22. M 83 – Couleurs (Gooom Disques)
23. SALEM ‘Redlights’ (Acephale Records)

Tags: FabricLive, Sinden