It seems like only yesterday our little monster was rampaging around the Bay Area like a bass wave on a sugar high. Hard to believe this will be the 5th time the loosely associated autonomous mobile soundsystems of the mutant variety have convened on an undisclosed, secret underground location for maximum sound reinforcement and fun times. That’s right – 2 monstrous walls of sound will be erected, combining the earth-trembling bassbins of 5lowershop & Army of Love with the massive mid-range towers of HAVOCSOUND, crowned by Czech-technology rocket tweeters of the notorious S.P.A.Z. soundsystem for ONE MASSIVE MONSTER OF LOVE 5!!!

Deets: ([More →])

Truth is, this video is way to hippie-trippy for me. The tune is wicked and I cranked that ish as soon as i heard the bubbling synths and fidgety breaks come bouncing out of the speakers! But, I just can’t watch more than a minute of the groping hippie hands + nekkid ass hairs blowing in the wind (yeah, totally not “safe” for work among other places)… Bostonian audio/video team Zebbler “Get To The Truth” – the whole truth and nothing but the bare, naked truth:

Press play because the tune is wicked. But don’t be afraid to turn off yr monitor, close yr laptop, close yr eyes and just enjoy the audio onslaught…

([More →])

I wonder if Koda’s Oakland crib is littered with bruised and battered amen breaks, too chopped and screwed to run away? Perhaps that’s why I’m sneaking them out of the Bay Area for a much-deserved break. The new EP, Keep On Destroying Amens Volume 1, features 15 killer jungle choons in a 112MB zipper – 100% FREE and as legal as jungle gets. ([More →])

Venetian Snares, recently emerged from his studio with a fresh barrage of breakcore madness, eager to bully our eardrums (again). Dentrimentalist will be unleashed via Planet Mu on July 15th only to spread like a morbidly-popular plague of zombie strippers. If nasty breakcore is what you seek, look no further and listen to 2 MENTAL selections right now! Here’s the audio for “Gentleman” and “Poo Yourself Jason” off Detrimentalist:

Venetian Snares – “Gentleman”:

“Poo Yourself Jason” from Detrimentalist:

([More →])

Bay Area producer Mochipet is set to release his genre-jumpin new album, Microphonepet, everywhere on April 1st. Until then, you can listen to 3 tracks right here – “Get Your Whistle Wet” featuring the Hustle Heads; “Mr. Malase” ft. Dopestyle, Human Beings and Casual; and “Hope Again” ft. Mykah9 & Taiwankid:

([ Click To Add "Get Your Whistle Wet" To The Player ])

([ Click To Add "Mr. Malase" To The Player ])

([ Click To Add "Hope Again" To The Player ])

-Click the album cover to hear more song samples on Amazon.com-
([More →])

As soon as I saw the lineup for the Bang Face Weekender, I started researching flights to England. It’s that exciting! Alas, the dollar is weak and gas ain’t cheap, so it’s only wishful thinking for now. This happens every year with some music festival or another and the lineups just get more siiiiiick every year. Bang Face hails itself as “A Neo-Rave Explosion of Acid, Jungle, Rave Hardcore, Drum & Bass, Breakcore, Techno, Electronica and Abstract Dance” which only hints at the range of amazing talent presented each year. The 3 day festival takes place at the end of April at Camber Sands and features three different staging areas – the Rave/Jungle/Breakcore Room, The Electro/Bass/Techno Room and a round-the-clock chill-out room. ([More →])

I live in the kind of haus where random zines and propaganda often appear and disappear like time-traveling nomadic visitors. This week, an issue of Cyclic Defrost from January 2005 appeared on the kitchen table. Cyclic Defrost, one of the most exciting and well produced zines on experimental music culture, is based in Australia; and the fact that I picked up an issue from January 2005 and thought it was something fresh will attest to how ahead of the game their content is. This particular issue featured an interview with DJ/Rupture about his travels, his music, his influences, etc. A Boston-native who was living in Barcelona at the time of the interview, Rupture is an extremely active experimentalist who mashes everything from world music to breakcore and makes it sound good. Rupture recently teamed up with one of NYC’s hottest producers, Matt Shadetek, to form the multi-media platform that we often Big Up on this site: Dutty Artz. ([More →])

Continuing with our REWIND! of 2007, here are the Top 10 Electronic Musings on ([HearingTest]) in 2007… All but “Lion” were released this year, and most of them can be found on BLEEP.com or Boomkat.com. 2007 was also a great year for watching the magic of electronic synthesis and we enjoyed watching loads of wonderful videos. I consider myself very lucky to have attended some of the Bay Area’s hottest live electronic music performances and somewhat capture them on video. It’s all here as we REWIND! 2007’s Greatest Hits! ([More →])

Ninja Tune is planning another fantastic weekend of electronic mayhem for the Montreal area! On September 28th, they will have their Ninja Tune Clockout monthly with Ninja Tune artists from the UK vs. Ninja Tune artists from Montreal – plus “exceedingly special guests!” That’s all they are revealing at this time, but you can try to guess based on the following two days of festivities… ([More →])

Machine Girl (End.User and Line 47) once was half of a limited edition split with 3 tracks from End.User himself on the flip side. The record was released in 2003 and quickly sold out. But, for those who are looking to plump up their breakcore/noise/electronica collection, Sonic Terror has just provided a fresh opportunity to own this gem. Meanwhile, if you can be in the SF area on September 6th, you can catch End.User, Exillon, Fluorescent Grey and more electric Circuitry live and loud! ([More →])

We’ve got two grand tours by Ipecac artists: The Melvins with Big Business and Otto Von Schirach with The Locust! The Melvins have announced a jam-packed tour of the US from mid-September to mid-October where they will be screening the new DVD they created with hipster cartoon toy designer Dalek – “Purge of Dissidents” at each show! Big Business will be opening the shows, but first The Melvins play one show with Mudhoney in LA (which will also screen the new DVD). If sludge rock isn’t your mug o’music, but weirdness is, you might want to check out the Otto Von Schirach tour with analog afficionado insectoids The Locust that is winding around Europe! Ahhh, I remember when Otto was just a lad, playing underground warehouse shows in SF and The Locust were scaring kids at The Gilman… ([More →])

Some of the hottest musicians in the US’s electronica/ mash-up/ breakcore/ jungle scenes are being reunited this weekend in Boston. Bouncement 2 brings together DJ/rupture, DJ Flack and Wayne And Wax! It’s quite a homecoming for many of these fellas, and well-deserving of a party – Flack is returning from tour down unda, Wayne and Wax recently returned to Bean town after living in Chicago for a bit, and DJ/ rupture started his musical career as a youth in Mass. Unfortunately, noticeably absent from the lineup is long-time Boston resident and Beat Researcher, DJ C who recently moved to Chicago. Nonetheless, this party is going to blow the roof off of the Great Scott! If you are in the area, you can’t afford to miss this much music history being made for a mere $5. ([More →])

Fans of extreme music, experimental electronica, ragga and grime – I have a fantastic treat for you! There is an excellent interview with The Bug over on the french DubStep website. Kevin Martin (The Bug) talks about everything – how he first got involved in music, his time spent working with Justin Broadrick (Napalm Death, Jesu) as Techno Animal, his brief stint with Warner Brothers, and a whole lot more that has led up to him being a brilliant pioneering musician that blends ragga, breakcore, dubstep, dancehall, electronica, and extreme noise into totally original music. ([More →])

Glastonbury music festival descends upon the English countryside on Friday June 27th. The full lineup is absolutely insane, I can see how this is the biggest rock festival in the UK. Over 200 bands fill the lineup, and a press release states that over 177,000 people are expected to attend! Since I can’t possibly fit the full lineup here, I’ll give you one serious tease instead. In addition to the many stages already announced, I just discovered today that BBC Radio 1 has added their own stage to the festival. The additional lineup includes Tigerstyle, JME, and Ben Sharpa.

BBC Radio Stage Added To Glastonbury:

Friday 22 June

3:00 Jag (BBC Asian Network)
4:00 Tigerstyle (BBC Asian Network)
5:00 Riff Raff (BBC Radio 1)
6:05 Broke’N'£nglish (BBC 1Xtra)
7:10 Riz MC (BBC Asian Network)
8:15 JME (BBC 1Xtra)
9:20 Breaking The Illusion (BBC Radio Humberside)
10:25 Tor (BBC 1Xtra)

Saturday 23 June

3:00 Ben Sharpa (BBC Radio 1)
4:00 How’s My Pop (BBC Radio Lancashire)
5:00 New Cassettes (BBC Radio Northampton)
6:05 OK Tokyo (BBC Radio Berkshire)
7:10 The Ting Tings (BBC Radio Manchester)
8:15 Headliners (BBC Radio Sheffield)
9:20 The Neon Plastix (BBC Radio Sheffield)
10:25 The Ripps (BBC Radio Coventry & Warwickshire)

Sunday 24 June

3:00 Cate Le Bon (BBC Radio Wales)
4:00 Sam Isaac (BBC Radio Hereford & Worcester)
5:00 Eugene McGuinness (BBC Radio 1)
6:05 Rose Kemp (BBC Radio Bristol)
7:10 A Silent Film (BBC Radio Oxford)
8:15 Doll & the Kicks (BBC Southern Counties Radio)
9:20 Pint Shot Riot (BBC Radio Coventry & Warwickshire)
10:25 Radio Luxembourg (BBC Radio Cymru Wales)

More info on the BBC Radio Introducing Stage.

Glastonbury Partial Lineup:

Friday 22nd June 2007

Bjork
Arctic Monkeys
Spiritualized – Acoustic Mainline
Aliens
M.I.A.
Kasabian
The Fratellis
Bloc Party
Amy Winehouse
Gogol Bordello
Arcade Fire
Squarepusher
Rufus Wainwright
Super Furry Animals
Bright Eyes
Modest Mouse
Hot Chip
Maccabees
Mum Ra
Hold Steady
The New Pornographers
Tokyo Police Club
Neds Atomic Dustbin
Tarantism

Saturday 23rd June

Steven Marley with guest Damian Marley
Iration Steppas
Fat Freddy’s Drop
Daddy G
Mad Professor
Vexd
Scotch Egg Band (Drumize)
Shitmatt
Bong Ra
The Killers
The Kooks
Ganga Giri
Paul Weller
Paolo Nutini
Lily Allen
Dirty Pretty Things
The Pipettes
Iggy And The Stooges
Editors
Maximo Park
Gruff Rhys
Babyshambles
Klaxons
CSS
The Long Blondes
The Twang
Get Cape Wearcape Fly
Patrick Wolf
You Say Party We Say Die
Holy Fuck
Four Tet with Eat Your Own Ears DJs
!!!
Ozric Tentacles
Bonde Do Role

Sunday 24th June

The Who
Kaiser Chiefs
Coldcut
Manic Street Preachers
James Morrison
Marley Brothers Present The 30th Anniversary Of Exodus
The Chemical Brothers
Vitalic
Carl Cox
Pendulum Live
The View
The Go! Team
Pete Doherty
Mika
The Rakes
Get Cape Wear Cape Fly
Coldwar Kids
Mark Ronson
The Horrors
Noisettes
Aqualung
Eatstatic
Dub Pistols

For the entire lineup go to the Glastonbury site.
BBC also has a feature-packed page to keep you fully informed right up to the day of the fest itself.
Here is another article that discusses the details necessary to pull off an event of this size, like the £1mil “super fence” built last year to keep out fans who didn’t have tickets. Previous fences were not capable of keeping out thousands of fans who jumped in…

LINKS

JME on mice bass
Ben Sharpa on mice bass
BBC Radio Glastonbury page
Glastonbury Festival website

Well, it sure took awhile for me to finish editing and uploading the fotos and videos from the last 5lowershop shindig, but alas, here they are!

Doormouse, End.User, Kontroversy 396, Arson, Bonk, HRock, 666 Gangstaz, the_Stapler_, Planetsize, Rtype, Fishstix, Heartworm CELEBRATE THE RECORD RELEASE OF TEEN SUICIDE 002

this was the flyer for the event:

I apologize that so much of the foto and video footage is so dark…it is after all an underground warehouse with minimal lighting except for cool trippy stuff that doesn’t translate well to film.

here are the fotos:

Sorry! Fotos will be back tomorrow.

AND here are the videos:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dnvFxD5_PVI]

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zVI-nBXA8ps]

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bdlQy2RpQVo]

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2gfgPnErElM]

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ac5cWKOcckY]

this one is my favorite: it’s 5am at this point, listen to the crowd still cheering & yelling!
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JwOcqAKBAwE]

Thanks to everyone who came out an supported this event! Thanks to all the performers – every single one ROCKED the house! This party was off the hook fun until at least 7am! thanks to Doormouse and End.User for traveling to SF to show us a good time! Thanks to local heroes Kontroversy 396, Arson, Bonk, Heartworm, and Fishstix! AND A HUGE BIG UPS AND CONGRATULATIONS TO RTYPE – for getting Teen Suicide 002 pressed to gorgeous vinyl, mastered by the one and only Tim Xavier! Also BIG UPS & THANKS to the Teen Suicide 002 superstars – HROCK, 666 GANGSTAZ, THE_STAPLER_, & PLANETSIZE r.i.p………

To everyone else- you missed out, your only redemption is to be at the next 5lowershop bru-ha.

Here is the info on the record release, Teen Suicide 002 :

previews of the tracks are available at http://www.myspace.com/teensuicide

Teen Suicide 02 – Welcome to Bayshore EP
Four tracks showcasing the best breakcore, hardcore and jungle artists
associated with San Francisco’s 5lowershop soundsystem.

666Gangstaz – Tricknology
A native of Ann Arbor, Michigan, a hop, skip, and a jump away from Detroit,
Todd Cook (aka 666Gangstaz aka DJ Crackhouse aka the Slime Lord) grew up
equally influenced by Jeff Mills as Soundmurderer and SK-1. His track
“Tricknology” combines the frenetic chaos and vst trickery of breakcore and
IDM with the bass and tempo of dubstep and techno. Don’t worry, a DJ
friendly intro/outro will make it a snap to mix in.

H-Rock – This One is for Ramo (Julian’s Reprise)
Victor Evans is fast becoming a rising star in hardcore techno. His track on
the first Teen Suicide melted clubs from Rotterdam to San Francisco. This
track is even better. A dedication to the movie Beat Street and graffiti
writers worldwide, this track caused teenaged girls to hug and kiss each
other with excitement in Portland. I swear, I was there. H-Rock produces
speedcore and noise as Vankmen. The “H-Rock vs Vankmen EP” is scheduled to
be released as Teen Suicide 04, as well as a debut release on Fathme
Records, good friends of ours. Look out!

The Stapler – Coldf33t
The Staper (aka DJ FVK aka SoFat! Soundsystem aka DJ Heathrow) was first
exposed to ragga jungle and hardcore through squat parties in London’s
notorious Hackney Wick. After moving back to New York City,
the Stapler started SoFat! Soundsystem, playing the finest in dub, ragga
jungle and breakcore. Now a resident of San Francisco, the Stapler has been
producing original and distinctive ragga jungle. You don’t need a duthmaster
to enjoy this, you’ll be hooked with the first bass note.

Planetsize – Binary Brotha
This record is dedicated to the memory Planetsize. A close friend to
everyone involved with Teen Suicide Records and 5lowershop soundsystem, he
passed away shortly before this record came out. “Binary Brotha” is
definitely the most insane track on the record. Breakcore without limits and
designed to rock a soundsystem, the track is also a reminder of what we
lost.