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Welcome to the new site

Hello and welcome to the new look Blunted. If you are Blunted faithful then you’ll probably notice this is the 3rd incarnation of our website we’ve released. However, our ethos remains exactly the same as it ever did - showcasing the freshest Music and Street Culture news we can find.

So, the new site (currently ‘in development’) will evolve into one stop shop allowing you to read some of the best Blogs and Websites latest content, as well as media from Flickr and YouTube. If you have visited us before you’ll know what sort of stuff we’ll be featuring, if not check back to the home page and follow some links its all good.

We will continue to do our own stuff, occasional club nights, releases, mixes, competitions, etc… which appear on our Blog, so keep checking back and subscribe to our RSS feed.

Any ideas or suggestions?

If you have any ideas or suggestions for how the website should develop, or have any Blogs/Flickr or YouTube pages you want to see featured on the site drop some comments and links below. We are looking for the best of the best, popular, non-commercial sites, flickr groups/pages and YouTube.

Watch this space…


Borestep?

InstramentalIf minimalism is an art form stripped back to its fundamental elements then a genre of music built solely around bass & drums should have, by definition, the principle of minimalism at its very core. Yet the recent surge in minimal drum and bass, led by artists such as Data, Instra:mental, D-Bridge and others, has been a revelation, and given the anticipation surrounding forthcoming material by these artists and the favour it has found with numerous a list DJ’s, its rise looks set to continue. But where did this sound come from and why did it come about? And moreover, is it really drum & bass?

The where and the why can be answered easily by just one word – dubstep. Born out of the remains of UK Garage, which by the early 2000’s had been crushed by the weight of its own commercialization and mainstream success, dubstep took UKG and applied the concepts of minimalism to it, with its emphasis on deep sub bass and sparse beats. One artist that really caught the public’s imagination was Burial, and his sound and the influence it has had on drum & bass cannot be under-estimated. In a recent interview with everydayjunglist, Metalheadz’s Data pointed at the significance of Burials ‘Untrue’ album and the effect it has had on d&b.

Burial - Untrue

“That album, in my opinion, broke many barriers that had appeared within the music scene, the grimy, lo-fi sound seems to be the opposite of what was going around. Big bashy synths, over compressed drums, hard quantizing, were dropped in favour of crackles, off time loops etc. It’s music that let it’s vibe do the talking. I think that many producers came around again to the thinking that vibe was the most important part of a tune.”

Due to its nature, minimal music is very precise in its approach. There is no ‘filler’ in minimalism, as each element, note & sound has its own important place and it is this precise approach that has allowed producers a greater scope to experiment with their music. Slight alterations in the arrangement and composition of a track can dramatically alter the mood and feel of it. This spirit of experimentalism harks back to the days of drum & bass old, the time of its birth when it was at the cutting edge of underground British music. Back in the late 80’s and early 90’s, the boundaries between Acid House & Hardcore began to blur and producers capitalised on this grey area to create a more breakbeat orientated style that would later become drum & bass as we know it today. It is when lines cross and definitions of what should be what get lost that new ideas come to the fore, and it is just this that has allowed drum & bass to go down the ‘minimal’ path it currently finds its self on as producers and dj’s have started to play with the pre-conceived notions of what defines drum & bass.

It is worth noting that this dramatic shift in sound away from ‘the norm’ is not a one off. In the early to mid nineties, ‘intelligent’ drum & bass was king. Spearheaded by artists such as LTJ Bukem, Photek and Alex Reece, the style quickly gained mainstream popularity and success, with the latter two artists securing deals on major labels. Backlash against this from the more underground artists quickly followed however, especially in the case of Alex Reece who was ostracised by Goldie for his commercial leanings, and the result was the birth of darker forms of the music such as neurofunk and techstep, cemented and defined by Ed Rush & Optical’s seminal ‘Wormhole LP’. Much similar can be seen to have happened in recent years also. Pendulum achieved enormous cross-over success with their ‘Hold Your Colour LP’, which broke into the UK top 40, selling over 175,000 copies and getting regular airplay on Radio 1 and other major stations. Other artists followed in their footsteps such as Chase & Status and to a lesser extent the Brookes Brothers and this recent commercial success has no doubt contributed to dramatic shift away from this stylised ‘stadium drum & bass’ sound.

Alex Reece

As well as allowing greater scope for experimentation in production, another factor that can be said to have contributed to the rise of minimal d&b is the desire by DJ’s to add something more to their sets. Again, dubstep can be seen to have had an influence over this as given its tempo and structure, it lends itself to far many more differing types of music, and in turn has itself been influenced by a multitude of genres. Techno, Funky, Garage and Grime all blend seamlessly with dubstep letting DJ’s create multi genre sets that keep the listener entertained in a way that one style cannot. A criticism that has been levelled at some drum & bass dj’s time and again is their propensity to ‘anthem bash’ for an hour and be done with it. While short set times and the desire of promoters to fit as many different dj’s on the bill as once has undoubtedly contributed to this, the fact there is little music that readily fits into d&b sets has also had an effect. With music piracy so rampant, many have come to rely on dj’ing and live performances as means to sustain their careers in the music industry as so little money is made from releasing music today. As such, the desire is there from dj’s and producers alike to create more of a show for those paying money to see them play.

Yet can the product of this new found experimentalism really be called drum & bass? Many of the tracks being produced under this ‘minimal’ d&b heading do not conform to any of the attributes that make drum & bass drum & bass. In the same way that funky isn’t techno just because they mix together, it seems daft to classify something as d&b just because dj’s can mix the two together in sets. A perfect example is Abstract Elements’s track ‘Fourth Dimension’ which is currently doing the rounds on dub and getting played by Loxy, D-Bridge, Instra:Mental et al. This is a track written at 80-90 bpm, with no real drums to speak of, save for a muffled kick drum to anchor the beat. It has far more in common with downtempo or ambient music than drum & bass, yet it seems to be classified as drum & bass because some of the scene’s leading names have been dropping it in their sets.

Despite this forward thinking approach, it could be seen to be counter productive. Drum & Bass is undoubtedly music for the dancefloor. In a club environment, energy levels are high and the crowd rightly expect them to remain so. Ambient music is anything but energetic and it could be argued that dropping ambient style tracks in drum & bass sets kills the vibe somewhat. It has lead to some heavy criticism of minimal d&b with many branding it ‘undanceable’, which in turn could push it away from the clubs and into people homes and ipods. This would be no bad thing save for the fact that a lot of don’t pay for the music they listen to at home anymore preferring to download it illegally, and if people aren’t buying a producers music, or paying to see them play, then it will make it unsustainable in the long term.

Dbridge

What is needed is a happy medium, tracks fusing the gritty, atmospheric experimentalism of tunes like Data’s ‘Blowpipe’ with the dancefloor vibes of ‘Tear You Down’ by the Brookes Brothers. Ok, perhaps that would sound awful, but the ideal behind it is a good one. A lot of things have been written, debated, argued, blogged etc in recent times about the state of Drum & Bass. Many think it is dead, or dying, many have jumped ship to dubstep seeing it as the new sound of underground music in Britain, with producers pushing boundaries and creating sounds no-one has heard before. Many would be inclined to agree with the latter half of this statement. Dubstep is new and exciting, as Drum & Bass once was, but it is whether this can be maintained that is the question that remains unanswered as yet. It must be remembered that drum & bass is a music that has been around for the best part of twenty years now. It has years of history and the weight of expectation weighing heavy on its shoulders, but with producers still pushing boundaries today, and judging by the amount of quality music to come out in the first few months of 2009 alone, Drum & Bass is in a healthier state and is more exciting than it has been for some time and this wave of minimalism is playing a big part in this.

Words: Tom Stewart

If you have a view on this article, make it known and drop it in the comments box below…


Skylarkin’ Vs Blunted this Saturday!

This is gonna be a belter. Our versus nights always are! On Saturday, you are cordially invited to attend a party in the big smoke with Skylarkin’ and Blunted combining forces. In the main room Skylarkin’ will hold court with the likes of Natty Bo & The Original Rabbit Foot Spasm Band. Meanwhile in the basement, Blunted will be brockin’ out to the sounds of Para & Baila’s breaks, funk and scratches, The Ill Technicians getting their funky thing on, Simpson and Dutch Courage smashing up the dancefloor and Grande standardly dropping boms as only he knows how.

Words from Count Skylarkin’-

Another bank holiday weekend = an extra day to recover from some serious Skylarkin’ Soundsystem festivities. This month we bring the vintage swing…….

THE ORIGINAL RABBIT FOOT SPASM BAND!
Founded in July 1900, in East London, at the bottom of a rubbish bin. The Original Rabbit Foot Spasm Band play Jumping Jazz and Red Hot Rhythm and Blues Music. Rabbit Foot Spasm Band shows bring you red hot choruses, laughter, bad tap dancing, kazoo solos and authentic, prohibition style, serious drinking. Yes-Suh!
http://www.myspace.com/theoriginalrabbitfootspasmband

DJ NATTY BO!
London’s hippest hepcat, singer and band-leader supreme from Ska Cubano and The Topcats, Gaz’s Rockin’ Resident DJ and the best dressed chicken in town.

Plus fresh-faced envoy of 80’s dancehall DJ Indecision and fresh-from-being-The Wailers’ tour DJ Count Skylarkin.

AND THAT’S NOT ALL! Presenting THE BLUNTED BASEMENT:
Bassline bringers and veteran party-starters BLUNTED bring the noise in the basement. Hip Hop, funk, dub, dnb and more from Para & Baila, Ill Technicians, Grande, Simpson & Dutch Courage.

Skylarkin Vs Blunted

This event takes place this Saturday 9 - 3am at The Big Chill House, Pentonville Road nr Kings Cross Station, London. Check out the Facebook event


Blunteds Got Talent?

Blunteds Got TalentBlunted is looking to get some more fresh music on the site and we want to hear from you! If you’ve been playing for a while either DJing or in a band and finally think you have something to put out there for critical acclaim, we want to hear from you.

Of course we wont be able to post up all the entries but we will do our best. We’re looking for demos in keeping with the other sounds of Blunted. Check out our BITS mixes, Downloads section and Our Releases for an idea of the kinds of things we’re after.

  • 5-10 or 1-2 tracks
  • Artwork
  • Available to stream

Should we come across something particularly amazing, we will get in touch and offer you the chance to do a digital release of your project through the Blunted Presents website.

Email your efforts to info at bluntedpresents dot co uk


Ozomatli and Charlie 2na at The Fillmore, NYC, 20/3/09

Well, I moved flats and had a lil holiday in NYC and finally have internet connection! It’s been a bit since I’ve last done a gig review but this one was an absolute smasher and a bit special to say the least. I’ve wanted to see Ozomatli for a long time and 2na for even longer. I imagine like most people I came across the latter when I copped J5’s Concrete Schoolyard LP back in 98 (student rap baby!) Of all the MCs, his baritone flow stood out. Since then I followed his movements+ enjoying in particular his guest spot of Roots Manuva’s Join The Dots.

OzomatliOzomatli is one of the bands I just kept hearing good things about, particularly their live shows. One summer, a couple of years back I spotted they were playing a gig in London’s Hyde Park, unfortunately I never got my arse in gear kick enough to cop tickets. Since then I promised myself I had to check them the next time I saw them playing.

That time came on my recent trip to NYC. Having been spoilt by spending a week in one of the finest cities I’ve ever visited, I found myself flicking through Time Out’s events section. The city were spoilt for choice that week, Morrissey & The Courteneers, Fleetwood Mac, The Budos Band and The Roots all playing within days of each other. The last gig to grab my attention was Ozomatli and Chali 2na.

This time I didn’t chance it. The next day we went straight the box office to get tickets.

We arrived later than expected after a hefty steak unfortunately missing the support act Lioneyes (anyone seen them before?). Not long after The Spanish band took to the stage. I think what impressed me most was the fact that each member of the band was a proper musician. Their main MC would do a couple of tunes before going back to his drums, followed by the guitarist who would make his way forward to the mic and so on.

Ozomatli & Chali 2na - Super Bowl Sundae

The highlights for me were Super Bowl Sundae and the finale. Just when we thought they would be wrapping it up the band made their way into the middle of the crowd jamming away on their instruments. Obviously there was a surge as we all tried to get closer to the action. I soon gave up and turned away to catch up with my mates about how dope the gig was when suddenly Ozomatli and Chali 2na come past doing the conga through the crowd! Immense.

needless to say it was one the better gigs I’ve been to, topped off by meeting Mr.2na after the show and getting my picture snapped with him. Big night!


ThruYou - Kutiman Mixes YouTube

Kutiman

Props to Rough Quest James for the link. Basically, this is ridiculous. Kuitman (hailing from Israel) takes completely unrelated YouTube clips and mixes them together to form completely new tracks. The ridiculous thing is they’re good. 7 tracks have been made and are up on the mock YouTube site. I can’t even begin to name all the videos, instruments and vocalists - too many. Try listening to the tracks and not watching the videos too, just so you can hear how well they are pieced together!

Head on over to ThruYou to check it out.


Free Range Chase & Status Review

Having been abroad for the two weeks leading up to Free Range, and entrusting my mate with fifteen of the Queen’s pounds to buy a ticket, I couldn’t go. Touching down, and getting a text saying that it had sold out before he’d had a chance to get them, made the return to Heathrow after a 9 hour flight that much worse.

Chase & Status

However, my guardian angels must have been looking out for me, as I managed to get a spot on the guestlist just at the last minute! After several pints of cheap lager at the Hobgoblin, it was time for a jay and shortly afterwards, The Zodiac.. we arrived just in time to see Chase and Status, who were a good start to the night - with some classics thumping out. Kano’s short but sweet appearance lived up to my expectations. Ps and Qs was duppy, and I was really glad to see him grime-MC. I had heard big things about Beardy Man, and he did not fail to amaze, although different, I’d liken him to a young Biz Markie in some respects (Jazz Cafe 19th March).

JFB made the night by playing possibly the best track ever to have been produced: Paid in Full. I’ve certainly waited a long time to hear that played at an event. At the start of n-types set it was back to some serious jamming. I never made it upstairs, though have since heard good things from mates who did. All in all it was a fantastic night, perfectly concluded with a Bodrum’s on the way home.

Roll on the next Free Range….

Words: Sasha