DJ Vadim to hit up the hip hop party of the summer

The fine folk at Soundcrash are putting on the hip hop party of the season at London's KOKO on the 18th of August. This event will feature some of the UK’s biggest and baddest acts; cats who have made history on the wheels of steel and who leave audiences slack jawed, sore and wanting more with nothing but  two turntables, a mixer, and a total mastery of that boom bap thang.

DJ Vadim is amongst the heralded few who can count themselves as true innovators and one of the hardest working men in show business. Never predictable, he rips the rule-book to pieces, unleashing a barrage of killer grooves from genres as varied as hip hop, soul, funk, grime, reggae, trip hop and bass music; he never runs out of ideas. Vadim draws upon several lifetimes’ worth of experience: his project is now approaching its twentieth year and has seen him tour across more than sixty countries and perform over two and a half thousand times.

One of the most highly regarded DJs to ever come out of the UK, DJ Format offers bombastic grooves, catchy basslines and body rocking beats. Never one to rest on his laurels, he’ll brandish the hallmarks of his Simonsound audio-visual set  - a collaborative project between DJ Format and Simon James described by DJ Spinna as “a refreshing mesh of the past, present and the future. It's like Mort Garson rocking shell toe Adidas with fat laces blasting into the galaxy in a funky space ship.”

Joining them is fellow heavyweight and the former DMC Champion Mr Thing, who has established himself equally as an absolute virtuoso behind the wheels and as one of most consistent purveyors of infectious grooves in the UK.

Tickets available from: www.soundcrashmusic.com / www.ticketweb.co.uk

Disclosure - Control

The Brits amongst you might already be familiar with Disclosure, (aka brothers Guy and Howard Lawrence, aged 17 and 20 respectively). They have been playlisted by Radio 1 (and considering Radio 1 seems to just play the same half-dozen songs over and over, that's an achievement in itself), been raved about by The Guardian, toured the UK and Europe and supported SBTRKT on his UK tour. If you haven't heard of them, you might be wondering what the fuss is about. Well, check out the above clip to find out. The song showcases the talents of rising British singer Ria Ritchie and is taken from their latest EP, The Face, which looks set to compound Disclosure's growing reputation as the UK’s most exciting new producers.

Blending deep house bass lines, Dilla-esque snares and melodic two-step top lines, The Face illustrates a sonic maturity beyond the brothers' years. And despite its uptempo BPM, it’s a sound that Disclosure insist owes as much to ‘90s Hip Hop as it does to Detroit House and UK Garage.
The boys are currently working towards a much-anticipated debut album. Keep up to date with them on Facebook.

Last chance to see Matthew Day's Intermission in Sydney

Acclaimed Melbourne-based choreographer Matthew Day is presenting the final installment of his solo series, TRILOGY to Sydney audiences this week.

Titled Intermission, the new work extends Day’s unique interpretation of choreographic forms. The show, focused around themes of time and body, builds on the minimal nature of the first two works in the series, Thousands (2010) and the sensory tension of Cannibal (2011). The result is a prolific and engaging body of work.

Thousands saw Day being nominated for the Green Room Award 2012 while Cannibal is to be presented by Dancehouse in November this year.

Against a minimal live sound score by James Brown, Day’s Intermission navigates a surrendering of the body to rhythm and momentum. Tension and relief are jointly created via repetitive circular movements and the beautifully hypnotic nature of Day’s dancing.

With his TRILOGY series, Day has established himself as an advocate for exploring and experimenting with new choreographic forms via an intensely physical and emotionally affective platform.

INTERMISSION runs until this Saturday 30 June at PACT Centre for Emerging Artists, 107 Railway Parade, Erskineville, Sydney.

Tickets $20 / $15 concession available through PACT. Get more information here: http://www.pact.net.au/2012/02/intermission-2/

Fred Falke at The Nest, Dalston

Jonjon checks out the ESM Launch Party, featuring Fred Falke, Starsmith and Burns at The Nest, Dalston, 17/11/11.

Dalston gets a lot of stick... and deservedly so. It’s a punchline to any attempt at social commentary on “youth” and “fashion”. However “The Nest” doesn’t really fit in... it’s a bit too commercial, a bit too slick. It’s missing the dank, a mysterious musk and sticky floors. How can I put this nicely? It isn’t cool. How do I know? It let me in without having to queue. Admittedly the place *was* near empty but still, that isn’t right.

When I say empty I’m not being completely accurate. It’s not often you walk into a small club on a chilly Thursday evening and see the crowd near the dj booth already packed five or six rows deep. Admittedly the space near the dj booth is cramped but at similar gigs I’ve attended you were able to get close all night... what is going on? The crowd... how to explain the crowd... how many people attend a sweaty club gig wearing chinos, brown leather shoes and striped collared shirts? Not me, but this crowd did – when did it become cool to be preppy in a club? Not faux preppy, I mean true, Animal House preppy. They even had US accents. Does Smirnoff Black wash more easily out of an oxford shirt? Was I the one out of place?

There wasn’t much dancing happening on arrival. The crowd, what there was of one, was massed near the dj booth and the dj (who according to the set times list was Burns) was playing an excellent set of French house/Italo disco, but the dancing was minimal. This changed quickly however... Burns (or whoever he was – I take care in my reviews) stepped back and the music was turned down a tad. That was when the chant started; “Golden CAGE! Golden CAGE! GOLDEN CAGE!”. These guys (and the crowd was overwhelmingly guys) were here for one reason alone: Fred Falke.

You should know who Fred Falke is (go buy Rubicon or Music for my Friends!). First garnering notice with Alan Braxe, he’s released some excellent, and some terrible, remixes. Tonight we were lucky. On arrival I’d been worried by seeing his set was only for one hour, but I shouldn’t. He opened with his recent remix of Metronomy’s The Look and played his greatest hits – remixes of Robyn’s Dancing On My Own, tracks from Rubicon and snippets of Daft Punk and finishing with his ever popular remix of Whitest Boy Alive’s Golden Cage, sending the collared shirt crowd into an ironically ecstasy-lacking ecstasy. Not only was his set excellent, but he also played the bass to his tracks live. Short, but amazing.

I felt a tad sorry for Starsmith. He’s talented and could have headlined on his own but the crowd had seen what they wanted to see and began to dissipate. I can only hope the money I presume he’s raking in from his high-profile collaborations and remixes is enough to sustain him.

ESM is next scheduled for January with Burns as the only act confirmed. Go if you get the chance. Burns is an excellent dj, the crowd can only get better (first nights and all) and the cost was minimal for the talent involved (£3? Bargain). If you usually avoid the East End don’t let that put you off, and if you’re a local take advantage of the talent appearing in your backyard.

Review by Jonjon