Idjut Boys in discussion...

On a rare scorcher of a day back in June I managed to link up with disco edit dons the Idjut Boys for a lengthy discussion about them and their forthcoming album, Cellar Door. The biog over here by Bill Brewster really nails it but failing that, you can read the interview I did for Juno Plus via the link below: We also quaffed a wonderful dark ale called Nightwatchmen at the Clapton Hart. Delicious...

Idjut Boys Patience Pays interview

You can here an extended version of one of their album tracks below...

This is how we sausage roll

As anyone who bothers looking at these words on an irregular basis will know, greasy savoury snacks are one of main motivators getting us out of bed in a morning. So you can imagine the joy de vivre which greeted a plot to make sausage rolls. Like scotch eggs, there's a strange voodoo and air of intrigue which surrounds these high street, low street foodstuffs. But the kitchen reality is, you just need to purchase pastry and let your mind float free. Mannnnn.

We used the Metro recipe from the Jubilee weekend as our starting point and everything turned out wonderfully. It was easy peasy to nail these mothers down once we'd acquired the vital ingredients - egg, flour, pastry, butter, apple, onion and of course sausage meat. Perhaps the most exciting part of the process (other than eating the blighters) is rolling your sausage meat into one long tumuscent stick, then sheafing it in pastry. To boot we injected our meat with apple and onion, then baked the bejesus out of them. Now I know what Mr Gregg's must feel like. Satisfied as fook... 

That's shallot

Mustard and pastry together at last

Rolling in the meat

Two long sheafs of meat and pastry

 

Scoring our babies

Up close and personal

Done

Phone Line

Fresh aural heat has landed thick and fast in 2012 - and this biggie from Eglo Records crew Funkineven and Fatima is yet more proof of the creative fire currently being bandied around like an Olympic torch. Check the neon video of evidence...




And here's a video from FACT magazine on how they made it. It's like watching a surgeon at work...
 

Watch the Throne

If you went to the pub with nay sayers of the 2012 live gig experience and got involved in a bicker, it's fairly likely they'd argue that this whole racket has become too bogged down in nostalgia.

And tis true. A shit load of elderly acts have been restringing their instruments and getting back out on the road in search of a little more dollar - in a supposedly struggling industry, this is where many see the money as being at.

Thankfully, this year's must see show, Watch the Throne, is not one based on (too much?) looking back - and in many ways, it's upped the ante for what constitutes a spectacle.

Featuring two behemoths of hip, Kanye West and Jay-Z, the pair have been playing cavernous arenas probably only just capable of containing the former's ever-burgeoning ego, never mind the huge hip hop sound they bring.

We clocked them on a Sunday at the notoriously vibe-less O2 arena but lo, they brought atmosphere, character and even fire in buckets. Both adorned in leather gear and carrying enough hits between them to do something serious, they swaggered through nearly two hours of tight hip hop music to a rapturous and skunk-fuelled crowd. The whole ting culminated in almost six rewinds of the album's highlight, N***** in Paris. Audacious in the extreme...

 

Daniel Avery - Movement

The name Daniel Avery isn't one that immediately conjures up images of red lit strewn basements full of nefarious electronic activity. But, if your ears catch any of his records, then you can instantly tell that his blood was boiled in the night. He's succeeding in making Weatherall-indebted bleeps which sound as fresh as much they do classic. Which is no mean feat when many the aim of a current producer is to either go faster or louder.

Previously working under the moniker of Stopmakingme, Avery has taken a massive leap forward over the last 12 months releasing records on Relish, Games of Throne and then signing to the Phantasy imprint lorded over by zappy-techno merchant Erol Alkan.

Check out the review I did of his Movement EP over here and listen to one of the best bits from it below. Get to know this dude. If he's not large and in-charge by the end of 2012, then I'd be tempted to eat my hat. Or at least add a dollop of ketchup to its brim...

Levon Vincent's Fabric 63 work-out

Earlier up inside the year I was asked to review the Levon Vincent Fabric session for those blighters at Hyponik. Deepish house ain't totally my bag so, being (and still am computerless), the review took some time to churn out. And then the words never did see the light of day - so here they are in their entirety. Lucky youse innit...

Levon Vincent - Fabric 63 mix
 
House, house and even more fucking house - the words originally made up the tagline of revered dance music magazine Faith. But this lairy marketing speak is also an apt way of describing the electronic pedigree of esteemed DJ and producer Levon Vincent. House music? He’s steeped in the stuff…

For those unaware (or who missed his recent mesmerising set in the Boiler Room) Vincent is a New York-now Berlin-based house head. More importantly, he’s a man with a thorough schooling in the digital bricks and mortar which make up 4x4 tech movements. Since the mid-eighties, he’s been burrowing through the digital underground crafting music, working in record shops (NYC’s much-loved Halcyon) and releasing great records (‘Late Night Jam’ and ‘Games Dub’ to name but two). This latest Fabric session is Vincent sticking his head into the relative commercial sunshine following years of dedicated subterranean toiling.

So how does the man tackle his first commercial mix? Rather than the Shackleton or Omar S approach of ram-jamming the tracklist with his own work, Vincent opts for more sporadic, personal inclusions - but the seven rhythms borne from his fingers are among the most satisfying moments in the set. The rest of the music comes mainly from his New Yorkan contemporaries - Joey Anderson, DJ Jus-Ed and DJ QU all feature.

Vincent’s focus here is locked on ‘groove’ rather than creating extreme dancefloor explosions - and many of the tunes on this vinyl-only set are allowed the rare luxury of stretching to their fullest. Joey Anderon’s ‘Earth Calling’ begins the affair with a disjointed, glowering piano before the pistons and hi-hats of DJ Jus-Ed’s Blaze kick in and the ebb and flow of the 75-minutes begins - it’s much like an electronic tide flirting with a sea shore, which on first listen can be a disorientating experience. But there are some serious moments - Vincent’s Polar Bear brings some real bite to the previous ethereal electronic flutters. Anthony Parasole’s Tyson ducks and dives as nimbly as the boxer of the same name before he resorted to nibbling on ears.

But it’s Vincent himself who serves up one of freshest slabs of aural magic - Rainstorm II is a crisp bit of cosmic machine funk which sees the mix depart its rhythmical moorings and enter a whole new galaxy. The production’s mechanical slap bass is relentless amid the electronic swirl - and it’s one of the finest, rushiest moments on here.

With recent Fabric-endorsements including Vision Quest, DJ Sneak and Digital Soundboy, Vincent’s set is a more than worthy addition to their ongoing mission to act as a platform for underground talent. His mix isn’t showy - instead relying on drawn-out grooves rather than bombast to bring the wobble. However, once it sucks you in, it sticks to your inner ear like a limpet. This memorable session is really difficult to let go… 

Lads on tour

Even lads like to take little sea-side jaunts to pastures new and old. When you're constantly nailing lager and acting like a massive man, you need to take a little time out. We did it in Faversham. The word we continually came back to was idyllic...

Shithead goes on tour

Lad's eating tea

'Can you fuck off blogging my fucking face?'

Feet on a beach

Living it up laddish styles in Margate