Zombie disco Squad appearing at Lovebox photo: York Wegerhof

2010 Rizla curators Grandmaster Flash, Hot Chip and Toddla T head to the legendary Rizla Arena at Lovebox.

Rizla’s second party for 2010 sees them return to Lovebox for possibly the best inner city festival in the world. After smashing it last year, Rizla couldn’t resist taking the famous Rizla van back to one of the coolest areas in London, Victoria Park.

From 16th – 18th July the Rizla curators, Grandmaster Flash, Hot Chip and Toddla T will each be programming a day at Lovebox, and have carefully selected an outstanding line up that is sure to give the Rizla Funktion-One Sound System the workout it deserves.

On Friday we see Radio 1’s In New DJs We Trust presenter Toddla T picking a heavyweight line-up that includes one of the godfathers of the UK garage sound, Todd Edwards, the Zombie Disco Squad who are residents at the notorious Panorama bar in Berlin, and Cooly G one of the freshest stars of the UK funky scene and a semi-pro footballer to boot.

Saturday sees hip-hop legend Grandmaster Flash host Soul II Soul’s Jazzie B, critically acclaimed hip-hop producers The Nextmen, reggae renegades the Trojan Sound System and don’t forget (your ear plugs) Hip-Hop Karaoke.

The final day of the festival will see Hot Chip taking over the reins and booking two of Chicago’s house legends, Derrick Carter and Larry Heard aka Mr. Fingers to play music all night long…say what?

Confirmed Line up of the Rizla Arena @ Lovebox Festival 2010

Friday 16th July – hosted by Toddla T

14.00 – 16.00                   Cooly G
16.00 – 17.30                  Sticky + The Heatwave ft Lady Chann
17.30 – 19.00                  Zombie Disco Squad
19.00 – 20.30                  Toddla T and MC Serocee
20.30 – 22.00                  Todd Edwards

Saturday 17th July – hosted by Grandmaster Flash

12.00 – 13.00                  Heavenly Jukebox presents HVN JBX
13.00 – 15.00                  Hip Hop Karaoke
15.00 – 16.30                  Trojan Sound system
16.30 – 18.30                  The Nextmen
18.30 – 20.30                  Jazzie B (Soul II Soul)
20.30 – 22.00                   Grandmaster Flash

Sunday 18th July – hosted by Hot Chip

12.00 – 13.30                  Peter Digital Orchestra (Eklektik – live)
13.30 – 15.30                  2 Bears
15.30 – 17.30                  Hot Chip DJs
17.30 – 19.30                  Derrick Carter
19.30 – 21.30                  Larry Heard

After Lovebox the infamous Rizla Arena will be setting sail on a paddle steamship in Glasgow and London, and launching four bespoke regional events across Manchester, Birmingham, Bristol and Sheffield. All events are set to be show-piece parties, building on Rizla’s already impeccable reputation as the place to go for great music and party times.

2010 Rizla Curators UK Tour Dates

Lovebox: 16th – 18th July
Glasgow Boat Party – Fri 6th August
London Boat Party – Fri 8th October
Regional event Sankeys Manchester – 26th November
Regional event Rainbow Warehouse Birmingham – 13th November
Regional event Motion Bristol – 20th November
Regional event Plug Sheffield – TBC

For more information visit www.rizla.co.uk

Grandmaster Flash, Hot Chip and Toddla T - Rizla Arena at Lovebox

2010 Rizla curators Grandmaster Flash, Hot Chip and Toddla T head to the legendary Rizla Arena at Lovebox.

In the 1920’s, Rizla toured the UK with a musical van hosting impromptu parties and playing tunes to the masses. As festival pioneers and arguably the originators of pop up raves, Rizla and the van grew in popularity and achieved critical acclaim in local media wherever it travelled.

Ninety years later and Rizla’s second party for 2010 sees them return to Lovebox for possibly the best inner city festival in the world. After smashing it last year, Rizla couldn’t resist taking the famous Rizla van back to one of the coolest areas in London, Victoria Park.

From 16th – 18th July the Rizla curators, Grandmaster Flash, Hot Chip and Toddla T will each be programming a day at Lovebox, and have carefully selected an outstanding line up that is sure to give the Rizla Funktion-One Sound System the workout it deserves.

On Friday we see Radio 1s In New DJs We Trust presenter Toddla T picking a heavyweight line-up that includes one of the godfathers of the UK garage sound, Todd Edwards, the Zombie Disco Squad who are residents at the notorious Panorama bar in Berlin, and Cooly G one of the freshest stars of the UK funky scene and a semi-pro footballer to boot.

Saturday sees hip-hop legend Grandmaster Flash host Soul II Soul’s Jazzie B, critically acclaimed hip-hop producers The Nextmen, reggae renegades the Trojan Sound System and don’t forget (your ear plugs) Hip-Hop Karaoke.

The final day of the festival will see Hot Chip taking over the reins and booking two of Chicago’s house legends, Derrick Carter and Larry Heard aka Mr. Fingers to play music all night long…say what?

Confirmed Line up of the Rizla Arena @ Lovebox Festival 2010

Friday 16th July – hosted by Toddla T

14.00 – 16.00                   Cooly G
16.00 – 17.30                  Sticky + The Heatwave ft Lady Chann
17.30 – 19.00                  Zombie Disco Squad
19.00 – 20.30                  Toddla T and MC Serocee
20.30 – 22.00                  Todd Edwards

Saturday 17th July – hosted by Grandmaster Flash

12.00 – 13.00                  Heavenly Jukebox presents HVN JBX
13.00 – 15.00                  Hip Hop Karaoke
15.00 – 16.30                  Trojan Sound system
16.30 – 18.30                  The Nextmen
18.30 – 20.30                  Jazzie B (Soul II Soul)
20.30 – 22.00                   Grandmaster Flash

Sunday 18th July – hosted by Hot Chip

12.00 – 13.30                  Peter Digital Orchestra (Eklektik – live)
13.30 – 15.30                  2 Bears
15.30 – 17.30                  Hot Chip DJs
17.30 – 19.30                  Derrick Carter
19.30 – 21.30                  Larry Heard

After Lovebox the infamous Rizla Arena will be setting sail on a paddle steamship in Glasgow and London, and launching four bespoke regional events across Manchester, Birmingham, Bristol and Sheffield. All events are set to be show-piece parties, building on Rizla’s already impeccable reputation as the place to go for great music and party times.

Rizla Arena Tour Dates:
RockNess: 11th – 13th June
Lovebox: 16th – 18th July
Glasgow Boat Party – Fri 6th August
London Boat Party – Fri 8th October
Manchester, Birmingham, Sheffield, Bristol- October – November

Check out the website for more information and updates: www.rizla.co.uk

Fresh from  heading the Top Billin night at the recent Amsterdam Dance Event, Nobody Beats The Drum are about to embark on their second UK tour in a year.

Hailing from Amsterdam, NBTD fuse together Sjam’s decks, Jori’s keys and Rogier’s visuals into a sensual assault that’s impossible to withstand.. or something like that. Big beats, hard-cuts, heart thumping rhythms and a party atmosphere is what its all about.

This is the new single Purple Cactus – Nobody Beats The Drum

To celebrate the release of their new EP released via UK based digital label Satan’s Circus Nobody Beats The Drum will be appearing at the following UK venues through November:

NOVEMBER
13 – Bangers and Mash – London
14 – Start The Bus – Bristol
19 – Rat & Emu – Dartington
20 – 93 feet east – London
21 – Rat & Emu – Dartington

For more information check the NBTD MySpace page.

M.A.N.D.Y

M.A.N.D.Y make their debut Renaissance appearance on this latest Mix Collection, joining an elite roster of artists who have gone before them.

Heading up the Get Physical label, DJing, producing or compiling mix collections Patrick and Philipp – aka M.A.N.D.Y – are among the finest and most exciting pioneers of electronic music around right now.

The pair have built a reputation for delivering quality, eclecticism and the damn right weird and wonderful, be it at club appearances or on their record releases, a trend that is set to continue with their brilliant and eagerly anticipated Renaissance Mix Collection.

“Eclecticism has always been the key to our approach in selecting tracks for our compilations and the broad brief of ‘The Mix Collection’ enabled us to carry on this way. It’s never an easy process and, as with all our mix comps, this was chosen, edited and produced with blood, sweat, tears as well as a lot of fun and love!”

Eclectic, the album certainly is, Patrick and Philipp have managed to squeeze a massive 44 tracks over the two discs into a beautiful hybrid that flawlessly blends and balances tempos, genres, moods and emotion.

‘Upside Down’ (Disc One) kicks things off and, although it may be the more relaxed mix of the pair, remains true to its audio rollercoaster promise. Be it the ambient intro of Shed and dOP; their own ‘Full Off…’ (a production recorded exclusively for the comp’); the impeccably sequenced mid-section that fuses Lopazz, Sebastien Tellier and Bronnt Industries, or the finale of Schneider TM & Kpt-michi-gan’s Smiths cover – ‘The Light 3000′, this is a body of music that delivers throughout its 70 minutes.

‘Downside Up’ (Disc 2) puts on its dancing shoes, snatches the baton and picks-up the pace, transporting the listener further into M.A.N.D.Y.’s unique musical world. It’s a constantly shifting, yet perfectly poised landscape crafted out of the 27 records that comprise the disc.

Key names such as Peter Kruder, Chromeo, DJ Koze, Martin Buttrich, Felix Da Housecat and Ben Watt rub shoulders before giving way to the inspired inclusion of seminal Miami Bass classic, the aptly titled ‘Bass Generator’. Keen to underline the entire album’s cohesive diversity, things come to fitting close with The Black Dog giving way to the cheeky use of the piano riff from Radio Slave’s take on Hell and P Diddy’s ‘The DJ’ and bonus track ‘What It’s For’ by friends and Get Physical regulars, The Junior Boys.

The Mix Collection by M.A.N.D.Y is released on October 26th.

M.A.N.D.Y Dates:

October 31.10.09 – L.A. sports arena, Los Angeles (CA)

November
05.11.09 – Club 101, El Paso (MX) Philipp
06.11.09 – Escenica, Monterrey (MX) Philipp
06.11.09 – Studio, Würzburg (DE) Patrick
07.11.09 – Moroccos, Juarez (MX) Philipp
14.11.09 – Desertica Festival, Parque Vicente Guerrero, Mexicali (MX)
17.11.09 – Flex, Wien (AT) Patrick
28.11.09 – Get Physical@Cable, London (GB) Patrick

Balance 015 is an epic triple CD mix which immerses itself into a deep electronic landscape of sound and textures, featuring a blend of artists from yesterday’s heroes through to today’s renegades like Burial, Smith & Mighty, Seth Troxler, DJ Koze, Ricardo Villalobos, Junior Boys, Sly & Robbie, Appleblim, Daniel Wang, Hercules & Love Affair, Jordan Fields, Mixmaster Morris and more…

The triple album will be released on October 29th and as a teaser EQ Recordings have just published the full track listings, as follows:
Balance 015 – Will Saul – EQ Recordings

Disc 1
01.  The Irresistible Force – Sunstroke
02.  Smith & Mighty – Anyone (Mellow Mix)
03.  Lawrence – Laid One
04.  Junior Boys – Work
05.  Karma – Beach Towel (I:Cube Cosmix Marathon Remix)
06.  I:Cube – Vacuum Jackers (Maurice Fulton Remix)
07.  Chromatics – In The City
08.  Studio – Life’s A Beach (Todd Terje Beach House Mix)
09.  Dølle Jølle – Balearic Incarnation (Todd Terje’s Extra Døll Mix)
10.  Cage & Aviary – Georgio Carpenter
11.  Daniel Wang – Panoramic (Acid Dub)
12.  Kerrier District – Let’s Dance and Freak
13.  Syclops – NR17
14.  Tensnake – Holding Back My Love
15.  Capracara – King Of The Witches (Rub ‘n’ Tug Remix)
16.  Bostro Pesopeo – Falls (Hercules & Love Affair Remix)
17.  Hercules & Love Affair – You Belong
18.  Sally Shapiro – Jackie Junior (Junior Boys Dub)
19.  I:Cube – Supernovac (Live at the Lanchonete Version)
20.  Recloose – Get There Tonight
21.  Bat For Lashes – Pearl’s Dream

Disc 2
01.  Isolée – I Owe You (Villalobos Remix)
02.  Cortney Tidwell – Palace
03.  DJ Koze – First Snow
04.  Ricardo Villalobos – Minimoonstar
05.  Lawrence – Rabbit Tube – (DJ Koze Remix)
06.  Isolée – Pillow Talk
07.  Konrad Black  – Medusa Smile
08.  Adam Marshall – Vespers
09.  Mathew Jonson – Typerope
10.  Will Saul & Tam Cooper – Sequential Circus
11.  Precious System – The Voice From Planet Love (Dixon’s Chic-A-Go-Go
Edit)
12.  Robag Wruhme – Robag’s Bobb 2005 Für F
13.  Appleblim & Ramadanman – Sous le Sable
14.  Model 500 – Wanna Be There (Dave Angel Remix)
15.  Will Saul – Mbira
16.  Burial – Shell Of Light
17.  Zomby – Test Me For A Reason
18.  2562 – Embrace
19.  Pangaea – Router
20.  Peverelist – Infinity Is Now
21.  Pearson Sound – So Far Ago
22.  Modeselektor – The White Flash feat Thom Yorke

Disc 3
01.  Pangaea – Memories
02.  Rhythm & Sound – King In My Empire
03.  Geiom & Appleblim – Shreds
04.  Sly & Robbie – Skull & Crossbones
05.  Geiom – Reminissin’
06.  TRG – Broken Heart (Martyn’s DCM Remix)
07.  Rhythm & Sound – Free For All
08.  Atlantic Conveyor – Nasty Things
09.  Patti Jo – Make Me Believe In You (Black Science Orchestra Re-Edit)
10.  Dapayk & Padberg – Island (Noze Remix)
11.  Wolf + Lamb – If U Had (Shaun Reeves Edit)
12.  No Regular Play – Lady Luck
13.  Jordan Fields – I Wanna Thank You
14.  Sebo K & Metro – Sax Track (Reboot Remix)
15.  Motorcitysoul – Vivid (Roman Flugel’s Desperate Dub)
16.  Will Saul & Tam Cooper – Teddy’s Back
17.  DJ T – Bateria (dOp Remix)
18.  Tony Lionni – Found A Place
19.  Shonky – Coco Feel & Love Shonk
20.  Seth Troxler – Love Never Sleeps
21.  Morgan Geist – Detroit (Carl Craig Remix 1)
22.  Liquid People – Son Of Dragon

BALANCE TOUR DATES

OCTOBER:
23 Oct 2009: Balance Launch Party
Logik/Brisbane/Australia

24 Oct 2009: Balance Tour
Chinese Laundry/Sydney/Australia

30 Oct 2009: Balance Tour
Adelaide/Australia (tbc)

31 Oct 2009: Balance Tour
Canberra/Australia (tbc)

NOVEMBER:
3 Nov 2009: Balance Launch Day Party
Alumbra with Steve Bug, Melbourne/Australia

DECEMBER:
4 Dec 2009: Balance Tour
Phonotherapy/Mirano Continental Rooms/Brussels, Belgium

12 Dec 2009: Balance Tour
Magnet/Liverpool, United Kingdom

19 Dec 2009: Balance Tour
World Head Quarters
Newcastle, United Kingdom (tbc)

Joe & Will Ask?

Building their status with cutting edge productions around the London club scene for the last two years the pair have an ear for the dance floor and with effortless musicality – not generally associated with techno.

The result of their work has earned them fans from across the musical spectrum, from Indie to New Wave to Rock to Die Hard Clubbers. Their next release on Andrew Friendly’s Gulp Communications, Fabric Of Win, sees Joe & Will team up with the amazing vocalist SaintSaviour.

SaintSaviour used to front and write for an electro band called the RGBs and is now also writing and performing with Groove Armada. Fabric Of Win is one of those fabulous songs that sticks in your head from the first listen. Perfect when heard on the radio, and bursting with energy that screams out to be heard on the dancefloor.

Joe & Will Ask? will be at the following functions over the coming weeks in the UK:

28/08/09 – Alwayz Frydaze @ The Egg, London – Live Set
04/09/09 – Dumfries, Scotland – tbc
12/09/09 – Audio, Brighton – Live Set
19/09/09 – Death Disco, Glasgow – Live Set

Fuck Buttons New Single: Surf Solar

The Fuck Buttons are back with Surf Solar, the first single off their new highly anticipated album Tarot Sport (ATP Recordings), out October 12th.

The synth- noise duo (Andrew Hung and Benjamin John Power) formed  in Bristol in early 2004, after extensive touring developed a large cult following through out the UK, and with the release of their debut album Street Horrrsing, the duo quickly grew to international fame with their own (almost pretty?) take on noise music.

Solar Surf is a powerful but mesmerizing opening track that serves as an excellent teaser to the new album, leaving the listener begging for more. The track demonstrates that the duo are still very much interested in the experimental music making process, letting a pedal loop endlessly and unafraid to let a beat pound on through out the entire track.

However, this said they also bring a number of new elements to the track borrowing from the sound of micro-sample artists such as the Field, relying on a repeating vocal sample, which they then slowly build synthesizer lines around.

With more of a focus on electronic elements in this track, it will be interesting to see if this stylistic decision is something that holds true for the whole album.  When asked about Solar Surf, Hung described the track as “a bridge between ‘Street Horrrsing’ and ‘Tarot Sport’….it has an emotion attached to it that is unique to us: one of anxiety. It’s an urgent track”.

Tarot Sport was recorded at Rotters Golf Club Studio in London with Andrew Weatherall taking care of production and is said to have really pushed the duo to reflect a new-found complexity of sound and a more layered depth to the recording.

As Power says, “I think it sounds a lot thicker than our previous work….our brains kind of went into meltdown”.

Fuck Buttons will be touring through out the UK this September in support of the new record.

SEPTEMBER
17th – Leeds, Brudenell Social Club
18th – Sheffield, The Corporation
19th – Oxford, The Cellar
20th – Manchester, Deaf Institute
21st – Nottingham, Bodega
22nd – Birmingham, Hare & Hounds
23rd – Newcastle, The Other Room
24th – Glasgow, Stereo
25th – Lancaster, The Storey
26th – Bristol, Colston Hall (as part of Geoff Barrow’s Invada Invasion event)
27th – Brighton, Audio

OCTOBER
27th – London, Heaven

In the US, the record drops on September 11, exactly 8 years to the day since the release of the first Blueprint album and also marks the anniversary of the New York September 11 bombings.

“The trilogy has come full circle”, says Jay Z.  “Blueprint encompasses the essence of those that influenced me.  It pays homage to the soul music our parents played, musically the album recognises that there is a generation of us that are influencing the next wave of artists. The album lays the groundwork for what can happen next”.

The buzz track - D.O.A (Death Of Auto-Tune), which questions the use of the voice correction tool ever-popular in Hip-Hop today, was released digitally on August 17.  The 1970’s-esque video that accompanies it, features a cameo from fellow Brooklyn-ite Harvey Keitel and is inspired in part by the film, Zabriskie Point, directed by Michelangelo.

Watch the Jay Z video for D.O.A

Jay Z will be performing in the UK alongside Coldplay in September, the dates are below:

UK TOUR DATES

September 12     Manchester L.C.C. Club (w/ Coldplay)

September 16     Glasgow Hampden Park (w/ Coldplay)

September 19     London Wembley Stadium (w/ Coldplay

Following 2008’s inaugural Rizla roadblock party, with the likes of Annie Nightingale, Greg Wilson, Derrick Carter and Richard Norris, this year’s party has a new improved arena, a fatter Funktion One sound system and a bigger name line-up.

Friday sees Rizla Invisible Players Gruff Rhys and Jon Carter get the party underway, and the evening will be hosted by cosmic prince Todd Terje and rounded off by Belgian dance act The Glimmers.

Saturday sees the likes of buzz band Man Like Me, Greco-Roman feat. Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs, legend Four Tet and House maestro Chris Duckenfield look after proceedings.

Sunday’s hosts include much hyped London Bashment act The Heatwave, original Funky Dread Jazzie B and Manchester’s finest party boys Unabombers.

There will be lots of free content on the Rizla web site following The Big Chill including set recordings, video clips and images and  exclusive set recordings (including Toddla T, Andrew Weatherall, Jazzie B and Jon Carter) plus loads of video and images.

Confirmed Line-up Rizla Arena @ The Big Chill 2009

Friday
11-2 – The Glimmers
8-11 – Todd Terje
5-8 – Jon Carter
2-5 – Coyote (Is It Balearic?)
12-2 – Gruff Rhys (Super Furry Animals)

Saturday
11-2 – Chris Duckenfield
8-11 – Four Tet (DJ set)
5-8 – Greco-Roman Soundsystem ft Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs
2-5 – Man Like Me (DJ Set and live PA)
12-2 – David Shrigley

Sunday
10-12 – Unabombers
7-10 – Jazzie B (Soul 2 Soul)
4-7 – The Heatwave
2-4 – Heavenly Jukebox
12-2 – Micachu (DJ set)

To follow a relaxing weekend at The Big Chill Festival, why not stay chilled by booking a cruise holiday?

Junior Boys: Begone Dull Care

Junior Boys’ last record So This Is Goodbye was a brilliant piece of spacey electronica. Coming at the same sort of time as Hot Chip’s The Warning, it often got lumped into the same group as this English band, but Junior Boys were nothing like as ironic; nor were their influences so popular. On Begone Dull Care, whilst still an electronic album, Junior Boys show even more just how much they take instead from the r&b world.

The tunes, first of all, on tracks like the opener ‘Parallel Lines’ and more obviously the single ‘Hazel’, are very much taken from this scene. Greenspan – one half of the Junior Boys duo – is like a distant, incredibly earnest (on tracks like ‘Work’ he accuses an imaginary subject with the stern “You’re too eager to stall / a bit too sure of it all”) early 90s funk and soul singer, and his treble takes the sort of tunes you’d expect from these songs and delivers them like they were repetitive samples in his and Didemus’ mix.

It is not just in the lyrics and vocals that these influences come through, though. The clean production and the basic, steady drum beats recall those funk records too, and as for the blips – if they were keyboards and guitars then Begone Dull Care would be precisely that funk record only one that had got stuck. The opening to the brilliant ‘Sneak A Picture’ in particular is so like this that it sounds almost like a pastiche – there are even a few funk guitar chords and a sax at the end.

This, however, is not to take away from other aspects on Begone Dull Care. ‘Bits And Pieces’ sounds a lot like the poppier So This Is Goodbye with its tuneful synths and ‘Dull To Pause’ is an interesting piece of laid-back melancholic pop over an synthetic background.

Whilst the album is less cohesive than So This Is Goodbye, and there is not the same persistently high level of catchy songs, there are still several highlights and it is interesting that at certain points on the album, Junior Boys seem grow a lot more into their skin tocome out from behind that distant vocal and opaque veneer of electronics.

The best moments are when Junior Boys are at their most fidgety and dancy – ‘Parallel Lines’, ‘Work’, and ‘Hazel’ are surprisingly the most lively points on the album, and it is then that we see the brilliance of Junior Boys that we were persuaded of by So This Is Goodbye.

The few UK tour dates Junior Boys have planned in early June are here on their MySpace.