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…

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2. BT Digital Music Awards 08 - Vote for Blunted!
3. Ex-a-sketch: Graff Box Wall Video

The mighty Raekwon is due to play a show with an absolutely incredible support acts including Rahzel (yeah, I know!), Jehst, Lowkey, Micall Parknsun, The Last Skeptik and DJ Jazz T.  Get booking those tickets early to avoid disappointment.

Anyone who goes and wants to write a review for Blunted, drop us a line at info at bluntedpresents dot co dot uk

For any other queries - info@kungfu-london.com

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Tracklisting:

1. Let’s Stay Together
2. Call Me
3. Love & Happiness
4. Erick Sermon - Love Is
5. I’m Still In Love With You
6. Look What You Done For Me
7. Tired Of Being Alone
8. Nas - Rewind
9. I Wish You Were Here With Me
10. La La For You
11. Simply Beautiful
12. Talib Kweli - Good To You
13. What A Wonderful Thing Love Is
14. Brand Nubian - Momma
15. I’m Glad You’re Mine
16. Eric B & Rakim - Mahogany
17. Here I Am
18. What Is This Feeling
19. So You’re Leaving
20. I’ve Never Found A Girl
21. You Ought To Be With Me
22. Ghostface, Raekwon - 260

Download: DJ Mickey Knox - Love Is…A Homage to Al Green

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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.

“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.

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.

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…

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2. Forensics - Exile EP
3. Chase & Status Interview

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.

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

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3. Alton Ellis RIP - tribute from Count Skylarkin’

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

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Ozomatli 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!

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1. Doll & The Kicks @ The Providence, 29/11/08

Heres what The Guardian had to say about the latter performer - “An artist with sufficient confidence in her own greatness to exude a take-it-or-leave-it charm… startlingly good”

The nights strength lies in the commitment of all those involved with it. They at 5MM are not content with sitting back and focus on the music publishing 9-5 styles. Instead they have taken it upon themselves to showcase the cream of today’s up and coming musical talent. As with each 5MM Live! night,both Simpson and TM Juke can be found spinning some biggest tunes popping off. Both heavily involved in the London and Brighton music scenes, their sets are always guaranteed crowd-pleasers.

Off the back of our recent February show (our busiest and most successful to date) Five Missions More Live! is back with a bang! Our April line up is scarily exciting! Our palms sweated and our collective appetites whetted, 5MM is proud to present an evening of remarkable live music focusing on some really rather splendid young female artists. We’re as sure as sure can be that both Andreya Triana and Speech Debelle are destined for greatness in 2009, its simply a matter of time….

If you’re in the area, make sure you swing by, I doubt you will be disappointed. With live arts, give aways and more in store, you may find yourself trying to force more money into the palms of whoever is working the door than the paltry £1 fee they require…

Join the 5MM event here.

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Bridging the Gap (or BTG) takes place the last friday of every month and is just of Great Portland / Oxford St, its in an awesome little venue - Marketplace, which has ground floor and basement bars plus a street terrace and kitchen and its open till 3am*

On the 27th of March we see another amazing party where the vibe revolves around thick drums and drunk dancing. We’ve got some great guests this time around. Brothers Frain are big in the scene, and they are literally brothers. Nice ones at that. Seriously, these guys are so nice they’ll probably buy you a drink if you tell them how good looking they are. And my, are they good looking.

The Fat Controller is an old friend. His selection is impeccable. He might become our next resident dj if he plays his cards right. Sativo + Marmaduke Jinx disagree as to who A Tribe Called Quest’s best mc was. But we agree on pretty much everything with a beat. Especially if its four to the floor.

Le lineup:

SATIVO + MARMADUKE JINX
BROTHERS FRAIN
THE FAT CONTROLLER

Date: Friday 27th March
Door tax: FREE
Times: 8:00pm-3:00am
Venue: Marketplace, 11 Marketplace, London, W1 8AH Nearest Tube: Oxford St
Venue Website: www.marketplace-london.com/

For more info check out the Bridging the Gap Facebook Group

Come one, come all - be good to see some friendly Blunted faces.

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Rappers have often met media criticism of the violence in their rhymes with the idea that they are reflections of their environment, they hold a mirror to their surroundings and show what the mainstream media won’t - the “real CNN” if you will.

Tupac said he talked about where he lived to try and make a change, he described the ghetto because he thought that if he made enough noise then some one would have to do something about it. Whether that still holds true today is not an argument I want to get “blogged down in” in this particular post however.

I want to draw your attention to an Exhibition in London next month called War Poets of Now - Corespondents In Conflict. Artist Caroline Jaine is showcasing a collection of oil paintings highlighting reporters from conflict areas around the world:

“I was moved by the journalists I met in Iraq who presented me with decorative business cards describing themselves first and foremost as writers and poets” - Caroline Jaine

War Poets of Now - Correspondents in Conflict will be exhibited at The Frontline Club in Paddington, London, UK from 2 April  2009 until June 2009.

For more information and to see some of the artworks to be exhibited please visit Caroline Jaine.

Proper Education Always Corrects Errors

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Our friends at Free Range have been stepping up a gear of late. One of their latest projects “Local Produce” is a free mixtape series featuring some of the best Dubstep, Drum & Bass and Hip Hop available alongside locally produced talent, which focuses on Oxford.

The first installment is a 27 track Drum & Bass mix from DJ Charris and hosted by partner in crime, Burley MC. You can download/stream a 192 mp3 from the link at the bottom of this post or you can grab a full quality, full artwork, track seperated CD from Ryouki or SS:20.

Tracklist:

1. The Spirit - GDS - Unsigned
2. Shady Pastimes - Lynx & Hellrazor - DAT:Music
3. Subvert - Shinobee - Unsigned
4. Speak Low - Zero T - Liquid V
5. Shallow - Ben E - Unsigned
6. Close Encounters - S.P.Y vs Kiat - DAT:Music
7. Late Hours VIP - Icicle - Critical
8. Hi Note - Calibre - Signature
9. Break Up - The Funktion - Unsigned
10. Diplodocus - Noisia - Quarantine
11. I Wanna Know - Dillinja - Valve Recordings
12. No Witnesses - The Funktion - Unsigned
13. New Cons - Calibre - Exit Records
14. Metal Flange - Lomax - Co-Lab Recordings
15. All Around - Break - Symmetry
16. Artisan VIP - Lomax - Bounce Dub
17. Unbreakable - Icicle & Nymfo - Critical
18. Lead Us - Ben E & KDC - Unsigned
19. Is This What You Want? - Break - Symmetry
20. See No Evil - The Funktion - Unsigned
21. Crank - Noisia - Vision Recordings
22. Geometry - Data & Nebulus - Critical
23. Bambaata - Shy FX (Break Rmx) - Digital Soundboy
24. Dynasty - Ben E - Sound Artillery
25. Think - Subwave - Shogun Audio
26. Valve Sound - Dillinja - Valve Recordings
27. Box Forest - JJ - Unsigned

Download/stream: Free Range Present - Local Produce Volume 1

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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.

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Can you provide those who may not know you with a bit of background info?

Mackaveli: My names Mackaveli and I play UK Garage, Dubstep and Grime. New bangers and Old Skool gems from back when.

Outside of music who are you? What do you do on the daily?

Mackaveli:I’m always stuck inside the music ride as I work for fabric and matter looking after online press and marketing on a daily basis. Other than that I mostly enjoy… my Xbox, Gym and Browns.

How did you get into Djing?

Mackaveli:It all started with a brass as hell pair of Kam belt drive turntables about 10 years ago. My earliest memory of playing out has to be in a school sports hall in Essex on another bait pair of belt drive turntables with DJ EZ playing on the same bill, god knows how he coped with the wobble!

Can you name 3 artists/albums/whatevs that have most influenced your style to date?

Mackaveli:

Sticky
DJ EZ
Active Minds – ‘Hobsons Choice’

Current Top 5 Records?

Mackaveli:

In no particular order…

Zomby – The Lie
Darkstar – Aidy’s Girlfriends A Computer
Untold – Anaconda
Sticky – Triplets 2
Ramadanman – Humber

Mackaveli Mix Tracklist:

1. Headhunter – You Say
2. Joe – Rut
3. Joe – Grimelight
4. Ramadanman – Humber
5. Masterstepz – Melody
6. Scott Garcia feat MC Styles – A London Thing
7. Nesha – What’s It Gonna Be (Sticky 2 Step Mix)
8. M Dubs – Over Here (Iron Mike Vocal Remix)
9. Wideboys – Stand And Deliver (4 to The Floor Mix)
10. DJ Narrows – Hidden Heroes
11. Dexplicit – Resistance
12. Dexplicit – Might Be
13. Zomby – The Lie
14. Sticky – Triplets 2

Download: Mackaveli Mix

Check him out at Fabriclive on the 13th of this month:

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We’re doing things slightly different this time round:

We want you to drop a short rhyme in the box below using 1 or more of the headlining acts in your rap. Simple really.

The best answer wins!

Entries close on Monday 9th of March, after that comments and this competition will be locked! Remember to click the “Notify me of follow-up comments via e-mail” button!

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