Archive for August, 2009

V for Victory

Tuesday, August 25th, 2009

A victorious weekend – played both V Festivals and have to say they are two of the best shows I’ve done this year. I arrived at the first on Saturday up in Stafford and wasn’t too sure about how it was going to pan out – not many people dancing and a subdued vibe but going out in the crowd I sensed people were ready for some action. The guy who was meant to go on before me didn’t show so they asked me to play half an hour extra/earlier. I took this as an opportunity to do the same trick I pulled at the Cargo gig the previous weekend. I went on and played some 4/4 bangers and immediately the crowd picked up. I think V attracts a more mainstream crowd in general so playing house seemed a good way to build up the crowd and the vibe before unleashing the jungle. So when I dropped the Show Me Love mashup I concocted the crowd were fully primed for detonation. I wondered whether dnb would hold a festival crowd like this for 90 mins but they were there the whole way, loving it. A great gig with so many happy faces in the house. I didn’t think the next days show at Chelmsford could possibly top it but… I think it did.

Got a bit caught up making my way to the fest and showtime got too close for comfort so I ended up being able to drive my car all the way through into the middle of the site, right to my stage, which is always a winner. I had to jump on with only ten mins to go. I did feel a bit sorry for the band on before me because the crowd were chanting my name during the few songs I heard. The crowd were gagging for the dnb. And when the first tune I played dropped, I think that’s the most kinetic reaction I’ve ever seen at a show – the place just erupted and it seemed like everybody just spontaneously threw their drinks into the air and at each other. If anyone has video of this please post it here, shit looked crazy. That crowd was LIVE. Even the security were brocking out, something you don’t normally see at fests. And at the end, think we had to do four one-more-tunes. Heavy gig.

UPDATE: Here’s a clip that conveys some of the mayhem at Chelmsford.

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Carry On Up The Andaz

Tuesday, August 25th, 2009

In stark contrast to the previous hotel ‘review’, here’s my take on the Andaz Hotel, Liverpool St, London – SICK.

The indoor garden. You might have to be there to appreciate fully.

The indoor garden. You might have to be there to appreciate fully.

Any hotel with a faux Guggenheim stairwell is A-OK in my book. Informal check-in procedure, five restaurants, an indoor garden, FREE mini bar selection. But where’s my industrial strip lighting above the bed?! Stayed here while in town to play at Cargo for the Next-Men’s album launch which was hella fun but hellishly hot too. I did a mash-up set, whatever that means – well, it meant I played half house / half dnb, which I thoroughly enjoyed. People didn’t know what to expect from my set going in but the room took to the housey/electro beats enthusiastically. However when I dropped the little Show Me Love – Robin S bootleg I knocked together (starting out as house and then speeding up to dnb) the whole place just erupted. The dnb beats kicking in really hit me and the crowd, total europhoria after the housey buildup of the first half of the set. House tunes just never drop as hard as dnb can.

Checking out the next day, the very helpful lady at reception had a chat with us about Tarantino re IB and she hit the nail on the head – “He does does seem a bit odd but I guess it takes strange people to make really good films.” Amen, sister! Amen.

Where's the Rothkos?

Where's the Rothkos?

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Stop the War on Film

Wednesday, August 19th, 2009

IBTube

As the above poster testifies, this is Tarantino’s most personal film yet – you don’t even need the title, just his name! (Okay, that decision was probably made for this tube poster due to the possibly offensive actual title but still, it’s pretty telling of the film itself.) The film is a virtual stand in for the man himself and his pre-occupations (which might put off some) what with the conversations about obscure movies, the dismantling of macho mythology, the assent of the empowered female and more than anything else the depiction of how films are made and exhibited.

But let’s be clear. Inglourious Basterds. If you don’t love this film, you don’t love film. It’s that simple. This is pure cinematic heroin of the highest order. I came out of the cinema reeling from so pure a hit. I found it a very disorientating experience. I haven’t reacted like this since seeing ‘There Will Be Blood’. And although the films are thematically and stylistically opposed, they both share some fundamental essence. Time and space as we know it (especially as we know it in film terms) get thrown out the window. Both films are massive, immersive epics that at the same time deal in microscopics, scenes play out in overwhelming length and detail, a dream like stasis is achieved only to be periodically blown apart by geysers of kineticism. I found it most apt to hear in this interview Tarantino talking of his admiration for TWBB and that he considers PT Anderson the peer to beat.

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Cruelty to Soft Animals

Wednesday, August 19th, 2009

CarDogI’d knock the stuffing out of the owner who did this.

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“Ah, ze students are revolting!”

Friday, August 14th, 2009

Pertaining to those pistol-packing Parisian policemen I perused last weekend, my pal Laurie sent me this pic his girlfriend took of some next level French copper clobber…

Looking cool apart from the dorky boyscout caps.

Looking cool apart from the dorky boyscout caps.

Part Robocop. Part Demolition Man. Part Ichi the Killer?!

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Awards and all

Friday, August 14th, 2009
The Saddam style Contrast double picks up the award to draw them snipers.

A Contrast impersonator (you know, Saddam stylee) picks up the award to draw them snipers. And grabs one of Hospital's while he's at it.

Well, who’da thunk it? I went to the Drum n Bass Arena Awards in London last night really not expecting to pick up the Best Producer award I was nominated for as, well, I’ve only really put out a ‘greatest hits’ style album this year – and won, so I really need to make some more tunes to prove myself worthy of getting this!

But many thanks to all who voted for me and to those putting on the event – was probably the best awards ceremony I’ve been to because 1. There were only a handful of categories so the whole thing went by quite swiftly. 2. It was an informal affair, no wine & goose soiree, resulting in a nice, casual, non-stuffy atmosphere. 3. The lack of allocated seating meant everyone mingled and I had a good chance to catch up with a lot of peeps I hadn’t seen for a while.

What a strange moment it is when you have to go up and get an award, like a rabbit in the headlights. I don’t think I embarrassed myself too much but inevitably spoke very fast and rambled on about jungle history or something. I was in good spirits too as my Cardiff road crew drove up with me, wearing unintentionally matching army shirts no less. And the night got progressively sillier due to their lack of eating and delight at the free bar. By the time we hit Tesco it was all over.

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Eggsistential Angst

Wednesday, August 12th, 2009
Eggs

Contrasts bedside selection - scrambled or smashed?

Haven’t posted for a hot minute due to moving house and a rather long engagement in Brest, France, where I played at the very enjoyable Astropolis festival last weekend. I never seem to take pictures of, you know, people I meet and regular human stuff, I always seem drawn to abstract images I randomly spot, so you get the tenuous egg pic and bad pun above in lieu of some lastnightsparty shit. But here’s what I learned in France anyway:

1. Don’t try and get into a conversation about nihilism at 6 in the morning in the back of a cab with a drunken Frenchman (who thought I had a bottle of vodka and then said ‘I zink you ARE a bottle of vodka!’)

2. French trains  - ils sont fantastiques! I thought I’d be clever and go for the train instead of flying to France, not realising to get to Brest would take 9 and a half hours each way. But thankfully, the trains in France are way better than in the UK (leg room, lack of odours, lack of headphone bleeds, no football chants, no abusive drunks) and the whole journey felt like something out of a Renoir movie with passerbys chipping in with some (I assume) witty remarks to what ever business was going on in the carriage.

3. House people are very nice. Met Erol Alkan (who dropped some Welsh on me, gwaan) and also The Proxy, who sang the bassline of Return of Forever to me. Awww. And there I was thinking Proxy was gonna be some dark, aggressive character, based on the facemelting electro smashers he makes. But actually he was a very pleasant and down to earth guy who revealed he got signed after sending out a cut&paste message on MySpace to Tiga without even knowing exactly who Tiga was. It’s that easy, kids. As long as your tunes bang.

4. French cops are packing some serious heat. Are machine gun patrols really necessary at Montparnasse station?!

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