Kenny Dope Gonzalez

I wonder wevver London's ravers who are into 'funky' will go to this? I pretty much know they won't, even though the two sounds (funky and US house and garaaaaaahge) are so closely linked. I guess it's do with ownership of a scene and sound - the yout' dem love funky, and late twenty/thirtysomethings love US house and garage and the whole disco extension vibe. Never the twain shall meet.

100% Dynamite is back

Dancefloor Dale - FlyLo gets XRated

This video below contains some explicit cartoon scenes, flashing lights and is FOR OVER 18's ONLY.


Directed by Eric Wareheim (Tim & Eric) in association with Warp Records and Warp Films. Music by Flying Lotus. Co Directed/ Animation by Devin Flynn. Co Directed/ Edited by Eric Fensler. More info at dancefloordale.com

Grime be back in London

Check it JME at the Astoria in a couple of weeks. Next Tuesday it's Kano at Indigo with Wiley, Skepta, Tinchy Stryder, Neon Hitch and the Thirst in support. It looks like grime's back in London, at long last - the scene needs gigs and performances for artists to hone their live shows, and grow the scene and sound.

Part Of The Weekend Never Dies: Metro Review

Music DVDs are so rubbish it's not true. This is one of the exceptions, and well worth watching whether you like Radio Soulwax/2ManyDJs or not. Da review ran in yesterday's Metro.

MUSIC DVD
Part Of The Weekend Never Dies (FOUR STARS)
PIAS, no cert, £15.99

Just as the Dewaele brothers (better known as 2ManyDJs) smashed the boundaries between live and dance music, POTWND brings a radical approach to music DVDs. Up-and-coming Saam Farahmand (Late Of The Pier, Klaxons, Hercules & Love Affair) directs POTWND, which follows the Dewaeles on a 120-night, four-continent Radio Soulwax tour. At each date, they perform as indie-electro band Soulwax and then take to the stage as DJs. POTWND mixes documentary(road movie and fly-on-the-wall mobservation) with shaky live footage and interviews (James Murphy, Erol Alkan and Tiga), and contrasts the monotony and banality of touring with the intensity and energy of their shows. It’s refreshingly unpredictable and a remarkable record of a duo that embody the fusion of rock and rave. Extras: Audio CD, documentary, commentary.

Balti Britain by Ziauddin Sardar

A book review wot I did which appeared in today's Metro. It's well worth reading!

NON-FICTION OF THE WEEK
Balti Britain (four stars)
by Ziauddin Sardar (Granta, £20)

Writer and broadcaster Ziauddin Sardar’s Balti Britain is a rigorous exploration of the British Asian experience and is part-autobiography, part-history lesson and part-sociological study. Sardar deconstructs the term ‘British Asian’ and highlights homeland influences including tribal, family, religious and linguistic, and how life in Britain (covering geography, class and employment) has had an impact on an intricate, sophisticated, compound identity.
In Bradford, he finds tribal clanship alive and kicking among its Kashmiri community, yet discovers arranged marriage has evolved into parent-approved dating. Meanwhile, Sardar’s amusing analysis of the Balti curry – which confuses south Asians because ‘balti’ means bucket and is never used in cooking – reflects immigrants’ adaptability: modifying food and language to the British palate and ears.
He contrasts 1990s ‘Asian cool’ with the alienation and frustration of under-classes, examines his religion in 7/7’s wake and asks whether Britain wants to continue to celebrate cultural difference in these paranoid and vexed times. The answer impacts on all our futures.

Kmag brings d&b to East Village

East Village has to be one of my fave London clubs (Plastic People, DMZ @ Mass, The End and I have high hopes for the new Bar Rumba), while Kmag is the first magazine I ever wrote all the way back in 1998 - I still write for them (you gots to pay your dues). The two get together for a new monthly, from this Sunday. Dark, intimate basement club plus cutting edge, future music on a Sunday night... could this be the new Metalheadz @ Blue Note???

Dublime

Heavyweight bass pressure. Dublime's line ups are consistently HEAVY. I just wish I could deal with raving in Fabric, it's just not for me anymore. Press release for Dublime below.

Following the earth moving business of our massive May bank holiday Fabric takeover, Hyponik is proud to present the return of it’s flagship music event: DUBLIME. After the raging success of Lee Scratch Perry, Kode9, Loefah, Congo Natty, Sleeparchive, Dillinja, Pole and much more in May, we're proud to return to Farringdon's hallowed halls to present another sterling line-up of all things D.U.B.

Joining the dots between all dub influenced genres, from roots, techno and jungle, to the ever evolving sounds of dubstep, we've got an array of artists set to display their take on the heartbeat of modern electronic music.

We have a true UK dub legend playing exclusively live in the form of the mighty MAD PROFESSOR, the new crowned king of hard hitting bass-driven electronic wizardry RUSKO, the original jungle nuttah UK APACHE playing live, ANDREW STOTT rolling through his hypnotic tech-dub sound, dnb royalty with ED RUSH & OPTICAL, the serious low end weight of Bassbin soundboy BREAKAGE and the good time selections of our very own DJ ROOTSTEADY.

We've got the legendary Soul:R crew in Room 2 with MARCUS INTALEX, GOLDIE, CALIBRE, LYNX (live) ft. KEMO & DRS, DOC SCOTT and ALIX PEREZ bringing the future soul of drum & bass, PLUS holding down Room 3 is the awesome tech-dub of 2562, the forward thinking beats n' bass of TAKE, pumped up Year 3000 beats from NOSAJ THING and Rinse FM's very own ALEXANDER NUT. All in all a 110% heavyweight line-up set to rip up the script!

Of course we'll be bringing that special DUBLIME vibe, and you just bring yourselves! After the last event we're expecting a rammed affair so get your advance tickets here.

Late Night Audio & Electric Minds

Electric Minds & Late Night Audio host a wigged out disco in the basement of a Dalston video bar. I may well celebrate my birthday here, if I can get my south side mates to trek east. Check here for myspaz, which features new releases, and peviews of forthcoming tracks.

Brian Temba - Dominoes (new video)

Brian Temba's new single Dominoes, directed by the very talented Mighty Mo:
www.myspace.com/mighty_mo_vidz

Kashmere The Jazz Launch Party

Support!

New Q-Tip

Q Tip's back! This is very much on the Kamaal The Abstract tip... Q Tip's leftfield soul guise. He did an LP as Kamaal in the early noughties and his label canned it. Months later, Outkast exploded. Go figure. Anyways it's good to have him back, and pushing the boundaries of rap and soul. Big up UK rapper numero uno, Ty for the heads up on this.

Lil Wayne and Leona Lewis, LIVE!

Apologies for lack of recent postings... I've been in India for a couple of weeks. Unfortunately I left my camera in Delhi, so don't have any pix of the rap battle I went to in Bombay, or the rock band, Menwhopause, with a happy Singh on bass. Anyway Lil Wayne, much as I loathe the majority of mainstream US hip hop, is a rapper in a milli...