Wednesday 24 February 2010

Pursuit Grooves - Foxtrot Mannerisms



Pursuit Grooves - Start Somethin

Vanese Smith aka Pursuit Grooves is an electronic music producer, vocalist and live performance artist living in Brooklyn, New York. ‘Foxtrot Mannerisms’ is her first release on Tectonic, seeing the Bristol label stepping sideways to explore genres different, yet related, to the dubstep it’s famous for.

‘Foxtrot Mannerisms’ is a mix of hip hop, house and dubstep rhythms, and the title comes from Vanese’s obsession with dance competition TV shows. The focus is on production but as usual she’s delivered a few rhymes and vocals when inspired to do so. The older Pursuit Grooves productions are slower, more downtempo, but as a result of doing more live performances this past year recent productions have sped up - most of this album was recorded within the last 6-8 months. Vanese likes to dance which shines through in the trippy drum patterns and deep bass lines. The album reflects her personality of having fun, making the most of life and following your passions.

Raised in the Washington, DC area Vanese attended a performing arts school where she excelled in film and theatre all the while taking an extreme interest in music production. Armed with an analogue four-track cassette recorder, drum machine and years of studying her grandmother and aunt on the piano, she began her first productions at the age of sixteen and never looked back. Though she majored in film at Vassar College, after earning her degree she moved to New York City to work at a number of recording studios and record labels. A demo in the right hands landed her track ‘Push Up’ on the ‘Beat Dimensions’ compilation on Dutch label Rush Hour alongside some of the brightest up and coming electronic artists around the world. That was later followed by three mostly instrumental albums on her own What Rules label; ‘Fun Like Passion’, ‘Wild Art Forestry’, ‘And Sustainable Movements For A New Age’, the later available as a free download with titles focused on responsible consumer, health and agricultural practices.

Vanese was accepted into the 2008 class of the highly selective and all expenses paid Redbull Music Academy in Barcelona, Spain which resulted in her track ‘Renew’ featuring the legendary Motown guitarist Dennis Coffey being featured on the RBMA compilation.

The future looks extremely bright as 2010 brings an audiobook/podcast series about young creative professionals, a new group theatrical music installation based on myths and fables and the continuing success of monthly music podcast Nodding Grand, which reaches a subscriber base of over 34,000 listeners. Vanese aims to push herself with each new project, exploring the depths and moods of sound.

myspace.com/vjsmith

Dadahack - TAP3



Dadahack - Fuzzy Dunlop

The two musicians who sit, sequence, dream and programme at the centre of /dadahack/, are James Banbury and Pete Davis. They have existed, professionally, as technicians, programmers, producers, consultants, mixers, arrangers, players, theorists in a number of polyglamorous popmusic contexts – The Auteurs, Gwen Stefani, U2, Art of Noise, New Order, Human League, Infantjoy. As /dadahack/ they sent each other musical ideas that they played on traditional musical instruments, on computers, samplers, on rewired electronic toys, and via various contemporary forms of communication, file sharing, time dilation and system exploitation.

Plugged into their personal systems and lifestyles, /dadahack/ blended, bled and blasted together various elements of musical form and content to produce their compositions. Occasionally their writing process involved travel, and the pair would actually meet, somewhere, in one mysterious place or another, that was for a moment the home of /dadahack/. The routes to completing a piece of music therefore combine the mental, the physical, the metaphysical, the airport, the train, the car, random architectural spaces and the studio. Their music is very much a soundtrack to such a combination, the idea of a music that solidly exists in everyday reality and also tentatively vibrates around the edges, a music that is made up using bits and pieces, parts and remants of the past, present and future which are pieced together.

‘TAP3’ is both an album and not an album, and will therefore be available as both a thing and a thing that is not a thing. You will be able to download the finished sounds to add to your play lists and you will be able to buy it as an innovative piece of product that looks as though it is a cassette - to celebrate the mysterious, practical type of physical formats that electronic music was once released on. ‘TAP3’ the physical thing you can hold in your hands and explore is a combination of romantic found object and specialised industrial product that took many months to conceive, design and manufacture. It appears to be something that might appear in a 23rd century museum of Earth’s pop culture history that got it slightly wrong – /dadahack/ have created a personal history as though the cassette was invented after the iPod.

Indeed the physical piece of /dadahack/ can be played as a cassette, although, as if it is a cousin once or twice removed of Dr.Who, and something he would have as part of his collection inside the Tardis, it also plays itself. It needs no machine for the ‘TAP3’ sounds to be heard – by pluging in headphones and utilizing it as a digital music player. ‘TAP3’ is a souvenir of a fading time when music was only finished when it appeared on an actual object, and an acceptance of a future where music is finished as soon as it is let go into the cloud above/below/all around us.

***Edited version of full biography by Paul Morley snipurl.com/dadhackpm***

LIVE: 20th March @ The Luminaire, 311 High Road, Kilburn, NW6 7JR with Bass Clef, Robert Logan, P45.

dadahack.com

Thursday 18 February 2010

Glade Festival 2010



Glade Festival announced its initial headliners with Orbital, Simian Mobile Disco and Tricky being the first out of the bag. Nick Ladd, Glade Festival Creative Director says “there are lots more big guns to come especially as the Glade Festival line-up has been evolving in the past couple of years to embrace more crossover styles and different flavours. This year, we will definitely taking that a step further with lots of surprises in store.”

Following their dramatic reunion shows at various festivals last year, Orbital have been re-conquering the dance world with triumphant performances in Manchester, London and Ireland. Twenty years after they first recorded their anthemic hit ‘Chime’, the Hartnoll brothers will be bringing their signature head-mounted torches to Glade Festival for a headline set of floor-filling classics, from the euphoric ‘Halcyon’ to the irresistible ‘Doctor Who Theme’. Named Best Live Act of 2009 by IDJ Magazine, they’ve proved that a five-year hiatus hasn’t left a scratch on their ability to get a crowd moving - they’re sure to be one of the highlights of Glade Festival 2010.

Simian Mobile Disco should need no introduction. They jumped into to the popular consciousness with their hugely infectious 2006 crossover club banger ‘We Are Your Friends’, a collaboration with French electro-house pioneers Justice. SMD began life as the name under which James Ford and Jas Shaw would DJ before and after electro-folk 4-piece Simian’s shows. When Simian dissolved in 2003, Ford and Shaw rose from the ashes and transformed magnificently into a techno-edged phenomenon.

‘Temporary Pleasure’ is their second album and features their latest single ‘Cruel Intentions’ which has been remixed by Joker and features The Gossip’s Beth Ditto on vocals.

Also on the bill is Bristol legend Tricky, who made two of the best albums of the 1990s (‘Maxinquaye’ and its sequel, ‘Pre-Millenium Tension’) and still remains one of the UK's most fascinating musical legends.

Glade Festival 2009 was a resounding success, cementing its reputation as the UK’s premium electronic music festival. The atmosphere was fantastic with Glade again showing it has the friendliest, most peaceful dance crowd in the UK which enjoyed one of the most spectacular shows seen on these shores. The feedback indicated that this was a ‘next level’ music festival, and the best Glade yet. “We were really chuffed with the new venue. The late night sound levels were excellent and Matterley Bowl really lends itself well to all the site art installations we are now bringing over from Burning Man. We were dancing outdoors till sunrise... it was epic!” said Nick Ladd.

Glade now enters its seventh year – described as ‘Like Glastonbury for Electronic music lovers’ it continues to evolve as a unique hybrid between a rave and a fully fledged English festival. With ALL 500 early-bird tickets having already sold out they are kicking things off in style with the launch of a redesigned, revamped new website and the release of a limited number of discount student tickets at £110 – instead of the usual £135 will are available from gladefestival.com.

Monday 8 February 2010

The Cinematic Orchestra : Late Night Tales Trailer



latenighttales.co.uk

Bukola : Make Your Move Launch Party @ The Luminaire



Saturday, 27 Feb 2010
The Luminaire, 311 Kilburn High Road, NW6 7JR (map)
8pm - 2am
FREE entry

Basically, we have people coming from up and down the country, even overseas. There is no form of guest list what so ever, regardless. Please be early to avoid disappointment and most importantly, enjoy the quality 'free' entertainment that starts early!

The headline of the night will be Bukola, preforming a live set encompassing her new forthcoming single 'Make your Move'. The performance will be supported by Dilson Laguna and Eddie Hoffmann.

Throughout the night there will be live mp4 video mixing by the supernatural DMC and International Turntable Federation Champion DJ Ritchie Ruftone. If that is not enough to wet appetites - we are graced with the addition of UK underground pioneer and producer Marc Mac with a DJ set packed with heavenly soul claps no doubt.

It doesn't end there - please gather around, form a circle, as the almighty B-Boy crew Imperial Steps will be 'making some serious moves' - with reinforcements from Plan Zero. Hey, why not watch a move!

Oh...plus there's more! sssh!

One whole lotta jam. Family vibes. Simples.

bukola.biz

Ananésworld Launch Party @ Ministry Of Sound



The singer, songwriter, producer and DJ Anané follows up the 2006 release of her debut album ‘Ananéselections’ with ‘Ananésworld’, a mixture of dance, reggae, rock, R&B soul, world and Caribbean influences. She is a producer and songwriter who made a name for herself with her edgy remake of the 1970s classic ‘Let Me Love You’ by Bunny Mack, as well as her emotional version of Yoko Ono’s ‘Walking On Thin Ice’.

She has co-written nine of the songs with Grammy Award Winner Lisa Fischer, Duane Harden, Lem Springsteen, Kalu Montiero and Djim Djob. Music has been in Anané’s blood since her childhood in Santiago, capital of West African Cape Verde. Anané brought her talents to New York City armed with nothing more than a bag full of clothes and a heart full of dreams. There, she immersed herself in the city’s club culture where she met Producer/DJ/Grammy Award Winner Louie Vega who tapped her as an integral member of the Elements of Life Collective.

Described by Billboard Magazine as “combining earthiness with glamour and roots-deep house music knowledge with pop wise diversity,” Anané has forged an international career that has included appearances at Japan’s Blue Note Festival, Europe’s Montreux Jazz Festival, Finland’s Pori Jazz, Holland’s North Sea Jazz Festival, Cape Town’s Jazz and Britain’s Womad Festival. Cirque Du Soleil invited Anané to perform the opening song for the Super Bowl XLII pre-game show. Her performance of ‘One Dream’ was seen by more than 140 million people worldwide.

Anané is also an entrepreneur and philanthropist. She’s been involved in NextAid, an organization for African children who have lost parents to AIDS, as well as the Anané Vega Scholarship Fund.

‘Ananésworld’ will have a global release in April 2010 on Nervous Records. “It’s the essence of who I am,” she said of the project. “These are my hopes, my aspirations and my dreams. It’s my global expression; soundtracks to moments in my life”.

A launch party precedes the release on 11th March at Ministry Of Sound with DJs Gilles Peterson, Norman Jay and Louie Vega along with a performance from Anané.

nervousnyc.com

Sound Iration : In Dub



Released in 1989, Sound Iration ‘In Dub’ spearheaded a new age in homegrown British reggae, continuing a mission started by Nick Manasseh and Steve ‘Scruff’ Guilder which pioneered what became ‘UK steppers’.

For over 20 years Nick Manasseh has been at the heart of London’s roots reggae scene as DJ, producer and radio presenter, seeing the music turn into a worldwide phenomenon during that time. Based in Shepherd’s Bush, Nick had been working up to this album for most of the 80s, starting with launching the custom-built Manasseh Sound System at the 1985 Notting Hill Carnival, which he hit with a mission to play the proper roots reggae which had been neglected since dying down after its late 70s heyday. After making a booming impression there, Manasseh became in demand at blues parties, hooking up with future Young Disciple Femi and KISS FM DJ Norman Jay, who got them spinning at London’s big warehouse parties. In February 1987, Manasseh started a weekly Saturday night radio show on KISS, which continued with great success after the station became legit.

Nick began producing music for sound system dub plates in 1986, hitching up with Scruff, also from the Shepherd's Bush area and playing bass for legendary West London reggae outfit Night Doctor. The pair released their first single, ‘Seventh Seal’, on Rae Cheddie’s Mystic Red imprint in September 1988. It’s often credited with being the first new wave 'UK steppers' dub track. The album which would become Sound Iration ‘In Dub’ was recorded between 1986-88 at a small eight-track studio in Hounslow, West London and released in January, 1989, on WAU! Mr Modo, the new label started by Killing Joke bassist and producer Youth and Dr Alex Paterson, then getting under way with The Orb.

First in a series of reissues drawn from both WAU!‘s roots reggae and house archives, the original album presents eight beautiful excursions into deepest roots in embroidered skeleton dub form. Tracks like ‘New Style’ turned the London take on pure reggae rhythm into a different kind of art form with the new technology coming in, but the album is also a reminder of reggae before it lost much of its richness and spiritual current through digitalisation.
Nick and Scruff went onto release further albums on WAU! Mr Modo, while starting on a follow-up to ‘In Dub’. The second CD will be of particular interest, featuring seven tracks originally intended for the follow-up plus demos and unreleased mixes for the first album which only ever appeared as one-off dub plates to play on the Manasseh Sound System [literally mastered off the acetates].

With reggae still progressing and often in danger of ignoring its spiritual heritage, new generations still continue to discover the unique, timeless quality of roots music. The reissue of this long feted but much sought-after milestone is timely indeed. With the previously unreleased material, it stands as a vital document of a crucial time in the music’s evolution.

futurenoisemusic.com
facebook.com/ayearzero
myspace.com/ayearzero

White Mischief ‘The Great Exhibition’



White Mischief
‘The Great Exhibition’

3RD BIRTHDAY EXTRAVAGANZA
Vaudeville | Electrocuting Scientist | Six Foot Balloon Man | Burlesque | Steampunk Craft Stalls | Installations | Crazy Characters | Photo Booth | Fabulous Music

SATURDAY 27th MARCH
at SCALA, KING’S CROSS
£20 ADVANCE / £25 ON THE DOOR - 9PM – 4AM
[early bird ticket offers available at www.WhiteMischief.info]
"Interactive fun that’ll blow your fishnet socks right off" – Time Out
“... a fixture on the enthusiasts’ calendar” The Independent
“...people really push the boat out.” The Observer
“...one of the more prominent British exponents of a subculture.” The Guardian
“ more fun than staying in and watching a Mighty Boosh 12-hour box set.” Urban Junkies
“...awe inspiring.” Flavorpill

White Mischief – that sumptuous feast of costume, dance, music and spectacle - is celebrating its third birthday, and to mark the occasion it will return to the well-heeled (and, frankly, highly appropriate) Scala in King’s Cross for a night of performance, pageantry and wild abandon. Opening its doors at 9pm sharp on Saturday 27th May, White Mischief is curated by “tribal pop” band Tough Love and features multiple themed, decorated rooms where performance and music explode out of every hidden corner. They will also be hosting a party at Proud Cabaret, City the day before on Friday 26th.

The night’s theme will be ‘The Great Exhibition’, a reference perhaps to the grand and evocative World’s Fairs of yesteryear. There will certainly be enough to take in, with acts as many and varied as Voltini, the outrageous mad scientist who electrocutes himself with visible bolts of lightning from a tesla coil; Bruce Airhead, a six-foot man who climbs inside a balloon; Keda Breeze, who makes sparks fly with an angle-grinding routine; and Steampunk burlesque acts from Beau Burlington and Meg La Mania.

Having earned the reputation as one of London’s key alternative nights – with revellers attending from all over the country - White Mischief draws upon a decadent fashion sense embracing the aesthetic known as Steampunk, in which revellers in neo-Victorian outfits evoke the romantic ideals of Jules Verne and the industrial age. Costume inspiration is drawn from the period’s ladies and gentlemen, scientists, explorers, exhibitionists, exhibits and discoveries from around the Empire. Think bustles, dresses, corsets, top hats, tails and waistcoats... (Dressing up is always encouraged but by no means compulsory - attendees are entitled to a 20% discount at Prangsta Costumier in London’s New Cross).
Your compère for the evening will be the inimitable chap-hop purveyor extraordinaire MC Elemental, whose recent song ‘Cup Of Brown Joy’ has been setting YouTube alight. Sticking with the chap-hop scene they’ll also be live music from Brighton based Mr B The Gentleman Rhymer, the banjolele-playing, ghetto-blasting, pipe-smoking creator of 'chap-hop'. His subject matter centres on the finer aspects of old-school Brit culture (cricket, tea on the lawn, good manners) juxtaposed with a dryly inspired commentary mixed with urban licks and vintage beats.
Tough Love will be taking the stage, along with an eclectic line-up of sounds from ‘out there’. The Steampunk corner is represented by Hornicator virtuoso Thomas Truax; and Tankus The Henge (featuring members who grew up with parents working at Carter’s Steam Fair) who will be bringing their steam-powered piano. Roaming the venue on the night will be the Oompah Brass Band, fresh from success with last year’s Edinburgh Festival smash hit ‘Blow Up: A Credit Crunch Musical’, who will be playing pop hits (from Britney Spears to Kylie to AC/DC) in an oompah style while wearing authentic Bavarian lederhosen!

White Mischief’s third birthday party doesn’t stop at the stage show. Expect to find Steampunk craft stalls, exhibits from some of the UK's best steampunk installation creators, walkabout characters, vintage photo-booths and more. Thanks to White Mischief’s team of art directors (who have worked in film, theatre and on productions including Punchdrunk) rooms will be dressed to fit the retro-futuristic alternate-history theme. There’ll also be an array of musical genres covering antique beat, classical, vintage jazz, swing and rock n roll to keep you dancing.

Previous White Mischief artists have included British Sea Power, upcoming Sunday Best records stars The Correspondents, La Clique mainstay Miss Behave and many dozens more. In 2009 White Mischief were booked to bring their magic to Bestival. They also curated an exclusive theatrical Halloween ball in a Georgian mansion; and threw a massively popular New Year's Eve party which sold out two weeks in advance. Fans wanting a more regular taste of Mischief can do so at Proud Cabaret with the new White Mischief Revue on the last Friday of each month.
Editors Notes
Event: White Mischief 3rd Birthday Extravaganza
Date: Saturday 27th March 2010
Venue: Scala, 275 Pentonville Road, King´s Cross, London N1 9NL
Information: 020 7833 2022
Doors: 9pm – 4am
Price: £20 advance, £25 on the door. (Early bird ticket offers available at www.WhiteMischief.info)
Ticket Outlets: www.ticketweb.co.uk / 08700 600 100
Transport: King’s Cross (tube), buses, 10, 17, 30, 45, 73, 46, 63, 91, 214, 205 259.

whitemischief.info