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March 31 Back @ The EndLast night Terry, AJ and Myself when back to The End to see a master a work - Mr Steve Lawler.
Needless to say he didn't disappoint!!!! It was packed which gave it a wicked atmosphere.
Highlight of the evening!? Easy... When Hugs N Kisses and Aftermath were dropped back to back - that is one way to get a crowd going.
Once and Lawler was awesome and didn't once miss a beat - a true master.
Check out the pics. March 04 PragueSo on Thursday I went to Prague, just for a city break... nothing to hectic, just a get away with my mates Lou n G.
Got a flight from Gatwick Thursday morning and arrived in Prague around 2pm after a very bumpy and quick flight - I think it took just over an hour. When we arrived we got a taxi from the airport to our hotel for 650Kc, which works out roughly £15... not to shabby.
We stayed in the Grand Hotel in Rohacova, which really wasn't to bad, massive rooms, quite basic, but for the price and everything I really believe it was worth it - what was also ideal was that about 12ft next door to the hotel was a nice little bar, needless to say it only took us about an hour before we were in there.
Beer in Prague comes in half litre glasses and tastes beyond delicious - their main three beers are Starapramen, Pilsner and Budweiser Budvar (which has NO relation what-so-ever to the American Budwesier and it was infact brewed and enjoyed long before the classic 'Budweiser'... Yes an interesting fact for you all)... We struggled the whole 12ft back to the hotel at around 10pm, feeling more or less inneebreated - once we got back we just chilled out, had a few laughs, a bit of a natter and hit the hay.
The next day we did a lil sight seeing, I reccommend not to get to wasted before you do the sight seeing or its going to be a VERY long day. Our hotel offered a taxi service to the main sights and touristy areas, so we hopped into a taxi and went to Prague Castle and the Cathedral which was mind blowing, stunning architecture with an amazing history - for 100Kc per person you can do the Catherdral tour, which is well worth it... It allows you to climb 297 of the scariest steps ever to get to the very top of the south stand which gives the most breath taking views across the whole of the city from ever angle... We then headed (on foot) towards to river, with a brief stop off for lunch and yes of course a beer. We headed towards Charles Bridge and Wennseles Square two of the main sights to see in Prague - most if not all of the sights are all about the amazing architecture and the history, which never seems to get dull... Wennseles Square was a MASSIVE hive of shops and tourism and very town centrish. but at the very top was the Prague town all, which again was sooo impressive.
Having decided to go out that evening we decided to head back to the hotel. Lou was incharge of the city navigation doing the most superb job, with excellent judgement and perhaps a little luck where she thought that the M's in a red box on our map stood for McDonalds - whereas in reality - no - it stood for metro, it was only after we had been walking for 15mins in the wrong direction that this little fact presented itself, but we had a good laugh at her expense, figured it all out and were all very proud of ourselves once we finally saw our hotel at the top of the street... I think we even went to the pub next door for a congratualatory beer and then back to the hotel for a sleep before we went out.
We went out into the Old Town area, not really knowing where the main night life was going to take place - we found a resturant and went it, basically getting a very frosty reception - I still don't really understand what was going on - something about 15mins and then something else and someone had then decided we WERE allowed to stay and have food... and beer... either way after that little fiasco, the food was totally gorgeous and very reasonably priced. We then went to hit some local bars, went to a cocktail bar, full of pretentious little pricks and we all kinda got the vibe we were being monitored and discussed - needless to say we didn't stay long, but by this point we had had already quite a bit of alcohol... we then went to a bar called Tom Toms and had a few more before heading back to hotel around 12 - 12.30.
The next day we got up late, myself and Lou feeling a little delicate - G had his sensible hat on and probably rightly so. We headed to the Jewish areas to see some more sights only to find out, it was the exact same place we had been the night before, we strolled around and saw the astronomical clock which every hour does a little out of the ordinary considering its a town square clock - I won't ruin it for you all... We then navigated our way back to Wennseles Square and then back to the bar for pancakes and beer - spotting a theme yet???
We went back to the hotel for sleep and more sleep... For what ever reason everytime we tried to go to sleep so unholy demon would charge up the street where our hotel was and honk their horn, so G n I didn't get much sleep whilst Lou was more or less out for the count. We did just sit and chat, basically killing outselves laughing - about what I can't remember, but it was all very funny...
That night we went back to the 'frosty' resturant and got a much better reception - had three gorgeous meals, lots of tasty beer and wine and G - the pudding machine - had four deserts.... so much so, he got one free!! This bought high ammusment to our waiter who I don't think could believe what was going on. We then went back to the hotel, got some beers and chilled out and chatted way into the night - I think we got to sleep about 2am - which considering we had to get up for 5:30, was probably a little foolish... We got a taxi to the airport from the hotel at 6am and arrived back in the UK at around 10am...
The holiday itself was amazing, I had a totally, 100% superb time and would tell anyone to go there, just to check it out. My words of warning would be this...
- Stay near the centre for easy access to all of the sights, but be aware of the inflated prices... to go an extra 100 yards from certain areas alters the prices considerably
- Take and wear sensible shoes
- Have a decent guide book - ours was Eyewitness Travel Top 10 Prague!! SUPERB
- Haggle with the taxi drivers
- Make sure you have a camera - I did check out some of the pics!!
February 21 Gets Me Every TimeIf you're a fan of Family Guy - you will understand why this cracks me up......... everytime
January 13 New for 2007So as previously mentioned 2007 is going to be the start of my CDR mixing era... Very different to vinyl, but with the basic concepts remaining the same - get one track in time with another - SIMPLE!!
This mentioned I would like to introduce my first CDR mix ever and my first mix of 2007 - Sediment.
Sediment is a dark and underground electro house mix, named so bacause of its earthy, tribally undertones.
Its kicks of with an oldy 'Rise In - Steve Lawler' a most quality, quality track with then moves onto a track called 'Monday' by 'Maskio' - this has a great voxed lyric of 'Mondays our buisiest day'... Isn't that the truth. From there the music gets more and tribally with tracks from Black Russian Vs Cheshire Catz, Criss Source, Pure, PQM, Mark Knight, Suicide Sports Club and Pete Heller.
The final track is by Sultans called Nightvisions. Chosen for its most very chilled out element and a track that totally changes the face of the entire mix - you've been dancing solidly for over an hour and for the final 8mins you can finally sit down and enjoy a gorgeous number.
Sediment has been heard by many now - some quotes - "Very Good", "Mind Blowing" "Fucking Amazing"... All very nice to hear - cheers guys.
So 2007 has kick started with a BANG as has the CDR era.
Dance on!!!!!! December 16 In The Mix 2006So it's nearing the end O' 2006 and what have I been doing music wise... well if I'm going to be honest not a lot.
Earlier in the year I'm completed my first mix of the year 'Dark Matta' are very hard electronic mix featuring quality tracks from the likes of Mastronics, Tilt, Pryda and more... It was very well recieved almost a bit to dark, but if you're hitting an underground London club like I do very often - I do find it the perfect album to slap on in the car on the way up there....
More recently (aka this month) I completed what will be my final mix of 2006 'Electro-Fixation'..This ones a bit different - starts breaky, hits prog, turns dark, then funky and then it's very much hands in the air as the dark house returns in a big way... I'm loving it so far, one I can't stop listening to (and I'm not being big headed I just mixed it - the talent lies with the artist who created such f*cking great tunes). Fetured artists are - Sasha, DJ Remy, Paolo Mojo, Pryda, Kaskade and more....
Right now I'm starting to think forward - 2007!! Compiling tracks I want for my first mix, which I hassen to add will be my first full CDR mix EVER - not that I'm giving up vinyl, but 79p tracks from iTunes are cheaper than £7 from a shop - although I will be doing a 2007 12" mix also. Artists that I hope to feature will be as follows - BGB, Electric Press, Paolo Mojo, Motero, Pete Heller, Criss Source, The Fix and more...
So watch this space in 07... should be some interesting updates!!!! September 07 Funniest Thing I've seen for a while!!!!Poor Kid!!! You must have sound to appreciate this really....
July 17 Ministry of SoundOn Saturday night I went to Ministry of Sound... Not been there before, but considering its more famous than the Titantic itself, I was expecting an awful lot.
It took a while to find; driving around the same four roads for about 30 minutes, but in the end trusty Terry got us there - the man is like a walking GPS system. It was £15 to get in, which isn't to bad, but definately at the high end of what I'd expect to get into a place - depending on the line-up of course.
When we got in after watching some poor guy getting harassed by the bouncers, we walked in to the which was (what we thought at the time) the main room. There was some hustle and bustle, but nothing really to shout about - the music was pony and there was a 30ft bar that was getting full... After getting some drinks in we decided to have a look around, where we found a room about 3x the size of a garden shed, but it was loud, very hot and the music was awesome, so we stood at the back and had a bit of a dance...As it was getting beyond warm in the smaller room we decided to venture to the big crap room, our spirits were getting dampened that this was all the famous Ministry of Sound had to offer - that however was soon about the change.
As we went to the far side of the crap room, a new opening had appeared in the wall - so we went through it and a room called The Box was available to dance in - this room was huge, with a beyond impressive sound and lighting system
On the decks was Paulo Mojo - who was OUT-<enter expletive>-standing!!! I mean thats all I can really say - he was immense - real dark, driving house... Also perfomring was the Buick Project who again were really really really good I'd only heard one of their songs before on the Dave Seamen: Master Series album - the best way to describe their music was electro-rock!!! I will be looking for their album, although currently I can't even find one that is on the horizon.
Anyways... From 12:30 - 6am I was a man possesed only leaving the dance floor to use the toliet or fill up my bottle of water - 6am came round and I had been defeated by the pain in my feet, so I went and sat with my brother and took one of my shoes off - which turned out the be a mighty mistake as because I was dancing so much - my feet had swollen and I could get my shoe back on.... Doh!!
All in all it was an amazing night and I wil definately be going there again as the parking near it is good and they often have very very very good line-ups.. I took some pictures, although not many of them came out to well, feel free to take a peek. July 13 Blue Man GroupI'm sure by now most of you have heard of the Blue Man Group, but if you're like me someone who has heard of them, but not really sure what they are about... you should watch this <sound required>
I just wanted to see what all the fuss was about.... this is HIGHLY impressive!!!!
July 10 Dark Matta hits in 2006July 2006 and only now have I completed my first mix of the year...
I guess I've been putting off doing one as I've been so bored of my records, so the other week I treated myself to some new 12"... as dodgy as that sounds!!!
My new mix 'Dark Matta' has a strong german influence, tracks that I first heard on the Pete Tong Tongcasts and the John Digweed Transitions podcasts on iTunes nudged me gently in the direction for my new purchases... MYNC Project & Danny Rampling: Strobelight & Mashtronic: Supernova... along with some others
This hard electronic mix encaptulates a Steve Lawler essence also with some dirty riffs n synths...
Dark Matta has 10 tracks spanning just over an hour of playing time. Some artists include: John Digweed, Mashtronics, Vibe Dealers, Pryda, Tilt, Caged Baby and a few more...
No copies yet have been made, but copies will be made and given to those who I reckon will enjoy it and so far only I have listened to it...
The reaction so far is that Dark Matta has been very well received as is set to be my top mix of 2006...
The next mix I plan to do is going to be funky... so I will have to see what I've got in my box and what I can pull out the bag........
 July 03 Do you hate...?RONALDO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
June 20 Foo Fighters @ Hyde ParkOn Saturday I went to Hyde Park to see the Foo Fighters, who to put it quite simply were Outstanding!!!!!!!!!
Supporting were Angles & Airwaves, Queens Of The Stoneage and Motorhead, all of which were also excellent.
Highlight of the evening for me was the special guest appearances of Brian May and Roger Taylor from Queen came on stage and colabbed with the Foo's to do a rendition of 'Tie Your Mother Down'!! Sweet...
Anyways it was a gorgeous day (despite the chronic hayfever).
Check out the pics.... June 09 Bar 06On Wednesday I went to Bar 06....
This is an Exhibtion at Earls Court where people go and look at things relating to their field of work and the industry...
I used it to go and get pissed.... which I did!
Check out the Photos..... May 30 England B Vs BelarusOk, so our fringe players lost to the National squad of Belarus...... and that pisses me off......!!!
Ah well got some photos if you wanna check them out! March 15 Tri:State - Above & BeyondAbove & Beyond who I guess are more regularly known for their remixes of dance music have finally released their debut album - Tri State.
Featuring twelve original tracks, this album is the perfect blend of sadness and uplifting dance. For those of you who know your dance music; think of it as a mixture of Chicane 'Behind the Sun' and Paul Van Dyk 'Reflections'.
The song that stands from the rest is track 5 'Can't Sleep' a upbeat song with a stunning female voice over - which I believe if released back in the day would have rivaled Delerium - Silence as the tune of that summer. Unfortunately as trance/ uplifting dance has been ruined by the likes of Ian Van Dahl etc if released now I fear a song that should be quite successful would fall on its arse.
This is what HMW.co.uk has to say:
'Tri-State' is the debut artist album from Above and Beyond, one of the UK's outstanding dance music talents and acknowledged for their peerless solo productions as well as numerous high profile remixes for the likes of Madonna and Dido. 'Tri-State' showcases Above and Beyond's unique songwriting and production talents. It features twelve original songs written or co-written by the guys themselves. Guest vocalists include Zoe Johnston (Faithless, Bent), Ashley Tomberlin (Luminary), and Richard Bedford, who sings on the lead single 'Alone Tonight'.
I would go on to say that Tri: State is perfect for the type of person who likes dance music and are happy just to have it on in the background, but when you want to listen to it you can really enjoy it - Buy this album... Its gorgeous.
February 28 The EndFriday night I was back at The End where Steve Lawler was doing his residancy Viva Harlem Nights... It was - as always OUTSTANDING, hard work but worth it.
One of my highlights of the evening was when I asked Oilver Macgregor [the warm up DJ] what song he was playing as I liked it and he gave me the actual CD to keep, which I can tell you got played in the car on the way home. Thanks Oli!!
Anyways I won't go on about it - just check out the pics!! January 17 Causing a StirIt was just another day at work, when making what was probably my 6th cup of coffee in the day I noticed something that I hadn't noticed before... That being, that when I stir my drink I stir anti-clock wise... which isn't anything huge, but it did get me thinking...
So after asking other people, we got into the big stirrer de-bate, whether right handed people stir anti-clockwise and left handed people stir clockwise etc... Between people we asked we had a mixture of left handed anti-clockwise stirrers, right handed clockwise and anti clockwise stirrers...
I'm a right handed, anti-clockwise stirrer!!
What are you???  December 30 Suicide Sports Club - Electric MistressAnd finally... after waiting an awful long time, I have in my possession the debut album from Suicide Sports Club 'Electric Mistress'. In another blog about this album there is a review from a website, and I thought I would give my own.
So yeh... This album has DEFINATELY been worth the wait. A fantastic combination between electo and rock, with other aspects ranging from Rap and ChillOut... I mean that is a mix and a half of genres for one album me thinks, so there should be something for everyone.
The first track 'Looks Like A Star' is the perfect opener, its light and quite a fun song with the main vocal a mans whistle, which of course makes it beyond catchy and before you know it you're walking around whistling the same thing. 'Last Ghost In Town' also another very catchy number with the backing vocal... instantly hooked. The first release from the album 'I Don't Know!' is where the rap aspect falls into place as the song tells the story (as far as I can make out anyways) about a boy who has killed his dad with a hammer because he was annoyed.... pleasant no? But for those who think - oh no not rap - its not rap with the hip hop style... its rap that could almost be turned down to a spoken word song, with just a very funky bassline and beat...
'02.20 Girl' shows aspects of The Smashing Pumpkins and is the nicest song on the album... stunning. The rest of the album is a mix of chilled electro 'Hey! Fever', 'Freeky Boy From Outside' & 'Occupy Your Space' but are very very listenable where the other tracks 'My Black Dog & Suicide Girl' fulfil the rock aspect of the album very nicely.
I strongly believe this album is a must have for everyones record collection regardless of taste...very different, but very very cool...!!
http://www.amatodirect.co.uk/Music/Product/?productid=6852 << Check out this link for samples of the first 3 tracks. 'Looks Like A Star', 'I Don't Know' & 'Last Ghost In Town' December 10 Chemical Brothers @ BrixtonHello People,
Last night I went and saw the Chemical Brothers play at Brixton Academy - it was a very good set as they stomped out some classics from their earlier albums.
Not as good as Underworld Live - but was it an awesome night out... Check out the pics>>> December 03 The T:Doo & Wallace Unoffcial Dance Music RatingSo last night, myself and my dear friend Terry were discussing house music and came to the conclusion that we are acutally fanatical about it and while enjoying a nice Guinness we came up with the unofficial dance music 0-5 rating - soon to be used by... well probably only me & him.
This works on the premise of 0 being the lowest and 5 being the highest (cos its the highest).
0 - Operation Blade. Songs that fall into this are 'Operation Blade' and 'Castles In The Sky'
1 - Tap you foot. Songs that fall into this are 'Put Em High' and 'Call On Me'
2 - Flick of the wrist. Songs that fall into this are 'eSamba' and 'Pressure Cooker'
3 - Shake ya ass. Songs that fall into this are 'Feel the Vibe' and 'Slammin`'
4 - Hands in the air - Songs that fall into this are 'Halcyon' and 'Electric Poledancer'
5 - Reach for the lazers - Songs that fall into this are 'Hugs & Kisses' and 'Aftermath'
From that I'm sure you now have a pretty good idea of how this works cos it doesn't take a Stephen Hawkin to figure it out. If you fancy adding songs to the ratings - feel free!!! |
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