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 →])

Brit’s floor killers, Vex’d, stopped in SF and rocked a ridiculously packed house at Underground SF on Haight Street. It was bliss to hear Vex’d remixing their own music on the fly! This is just a lite review of their appearance in a room filled with old-school music heads from both sides of the Bay. It was a superb warm-up for the weekend of Halloween festivities still to come. ([More →])

Last week I mentioned that Ninja Tune and Big Dada would present an event curated by Mary Anne Hobbs in London on the 7th of July. I received more info about this event, so I want to share them with folks who will be in the London area that week.

Ms. Hobbs states that her desire for the lineup she has chosen is, “To bring together dark exotic underground textures of sound from the UK and internationally..”

You Don’t Know Lineup

Downstairs
Mary Anne 9:00 -10:30
dj’ing all the experimental sounds in her record crate
Ben Sharpa & Konfab 10:30-11:30
South Africa’s hottest hip hop duo. formerly known as SA’s best underground hip hop act, they’ll have to drop the underground tag now that they have received so much attention and radio play. They were recently added to the mega-huge Glastonbury music festival.
Oris Jay 11:30 -12:30
ever-extending the limits of grime and dark garage sounds
The Bug 12: 30 - 1:30
best live dancehall mashup madness you can get! if you don’t already know about The Bug, check out his music$pace page, and Ninja Tune which recently signed him onto the ninja squadron… On this particular evening, The Bug will be assisted by Ricky Ranking (Roots Manuva) and Ras B pon di mics.
Virus Syndicate 1:30 - 2:30
extra-London grime and dubstep, great stuff, original ragga influenced dubstep styley
Vex’d 2:30-4:00
Vex’d will be unveiling some new tracks from their upcoming album on Planet Mu.

Upstairs
DJ Red 6
The Sandals Of Justics

This event will be the last YDK at The Big Chill House in London. Ninja Tune/Big Dada/Counter Records will be busy with other projects over the summer months, and then will relaunch the monthly club night in October in a new venue.

LINKS

Ninja Tune
YDK music$pace
Mary Anne Hobbs on BBC Radio1

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

3 big parties with some very major players: Barcelona is already in party mode for this weekend’s SONAR Festival. Just about the time the post-festival fog clears, Wiley and Boy Better Know Crew will be throwing down at Wiley’s retirement party in London. Come July, The Bug and Vex’d come proper along with Virus Syndicate thanks to Big Dada, Ninja Tune and Mary Anne Hobbs.

BBC Radio 1 At SONAR Festival

The big one is of course, the SONAR Festival this weekend. So many great bands are going to be showcased and mingling in the leisurely Barcelona sun, including, but not limited to the Beastie Boys, Devo, Sunn O))), Wolf Eyes, Modeselektor, Richie Hawtin, FM3 and on and on and on…. For complete details refer to the Sonar Festival Lineup posting on HT and the SONAR website.

As promised, Mary Anne Hobbs has curated a showcase for BBC Radio 1 at the SONAR Festival:

RADIO1 UK DUBSTEP SHOWCASE

SONAR Festival, Barcelona, Spain

June 15th, SonarLab stage 12-3am

Skream
Oris Jay
Kode 9 and The Spaceape
Mary Anne Hobbs

Oooh ooh oooooh, I am SO jealous! I want to go melt away in the Barcelona sunshine with the sounds of Skream and Kode 9 and The Spaceape washing over me!

Instead, I laid in bed last night, listening to the sounds of Kode 9’s wonderful mix for the SONAR Festival that they are featuring on their website. It’s a stream, so you can’t keep it, but while you are there, you can find many other audio streams from featured artists.

SONAR’s website also featured a great article about Dubstep music, with Mary Anne Hobbs and Oris Jay. If you are curious to see what it’s all about, that’s one place to start.

Wiley’s Retirement Party

Or rather, Wiley’s record release party for Playtime Is Over in London:

WILEY Live (Playtime Is Over Album Launch Party)

@ Cargo, Rivington St, London - Thursday 21st June
10 Quid advance
Wiley, Live
Boy Better Know Crew (including JME, Skepta)
Loefah
Illa Man

My two favorite quotes thus far about the new album are:

“Snare-ripped tsunamis through to solipsistic mediations on lost friendships, all battered into shape though Wiley’s soopa-tight vocal style. Immense.” -Clash

“Playtime is Over is so important, not just to him, but to the future legacy of grime, and what it might mean in 10 years time.. Brilliantly grime, fuelled with anthems and sing-alongs and deserves to go down as his greatest work to date.” -Independent Music Magazine

BOH! Big UP the WILEY! Big Up the Boy Better Know Crew! Big UP the SPIRAL!

Finally (for today anyway), in July:

Ninja Tune And Big Dada Night: Curated by Mary Anne Hobbs

Saturday July 7th @ The Big Chill House.. Kings X.. London

The Bug + Ricky Ranking + MCs
Vex’d
Oris Jay
Ben Sharpa & Konfab from Capetown
Virus Syndicate
Mary Anne Hobbs

9-4am… £5… Funktion One soundsystem & heated roof terrace :)

For anyone who is a regular listener of Mary Anne Hobbs’ show on BBC Radio 1, you are already familiar with Ben Sharpa and Konfab, and recognize what a treat it is for them to be visiting the UK for this show. If you don’t know who they are, be sure to check out both of their music$paces. These boys are HOT! and spit fire into the microphone! Capetown was lucky enough to become the new stomping ground for D Planet who has a studio there, and records music, like what you hear these boys chatting over. Fine, deep, dubsteppy stuff. Check out D Planet’s music$pace as well…

LINKS

Ben Sharpa
Konfab
D Planet’s music$pace