violently happy

i'm thinking about playing this in my funky sets.



there's even a MAW mix which i didn't know about.



but i prefer the original.

Ode to Headphones

There's something majestic about the total immediate connection with the music headphones give you. Contrasted with the pure submersion provided by a stack of amped up speakers, it is of course a very different thing. A closed, rather than open, listening experience. Totally antisocial. It's just you and your tracks; their acoustics juggling the air between your ears and phones. It's intimate. In a club you can get close but can you get this close? No interference. No chit chat. No bar queue. No brutal interject for a cigarette.

A track cuts in that wants to make you clasp your cups to your ears; the experience is like nothing else. This is of course assuming you've invested. This ain't no ting ting earbud thing. Only cans can give you serious sound-orama. Without synesthesia, sounds can emerge which are unrecognised from the reproduction of your home audio set up. It's an escape far better than trivial television, downloaded memories, youtube nostalgia or anything.

I find great pleasure in the fact the space around you is so comparatively quiet. It doesn't matter. It's just you and the music. The connection is a mantra. The rhythm is encompassing.

The notion of headphone club nights is a bizarre one as Transpontine points out. In a club, it's what happens between and during the sounds which validate your presence. At home, or in transit, it's your surroundings, if anything, which provide the context and even then you can shut them out in favour of you selection.
But right now, as i type, i'm listening to music in the dead of night. Flat mates asleep. I'm alone, truly with the tunes. In front of me i see my speakers, dead and redundant. And it's quite satisfying to bypass them. It feels as though the connection between the music is stronger. From source to ear; something has been eliminated, the sound is closer.

Headphone space is quintessential to the appreciation of music. Setting that time aside to connect, away from distraction is important. The difference between hearing you favourite tune in a club, blaring out of a passing car and on headphones in your own space is massive.

It's Friday night. I didn't venture into nightlife. I didn't saddle myself up next to the speaker stack. Instead i've had an intimate evening with some of my favourite records. And i think it's important to have that space. Like someone else talking about your favourite book, music in the social can mutate what it means to you.

Reese - Just Want Another Chance

A sexy bass rumble funk gallop with a grave digging smack snare work ethic. Elements.

Tonight, whilst drinking lots of rum and port, i have stumbled upon the fact that Crazy Cousinz sound alot like Senor Coconut sounding like Kraftwerk.





Maybe it's the rum. Maybe it's the port.

serious thangs

A google images web search link pops up in my inbox from my friend james. It's spectacular to say the least. As james says: 'it's hard to believe it's real. it's a big old world.' Couldn't agree more. It's new years eve. I think i might do some similar thangs later. Minus the bears.

react 2 rhythm - i know you like it

Ive been looking through my old house records trying to pick out key UK examples from time gone by, remembering that UK House is of course nothing new. Perhaps a 'Best of UK House' post is due at some point. This one jumped out at me. React 2 Rhythm's I Know You Like It. It's a pounding seductive rush of rave adrenalin. One of the finer cuts from the catalogue of 90s West London progressive house label, Guerilla.

React 2 Rhythm actually have a Myspace page. I wasn't sure to be surprised by that or not but you can click through and check the track in a better fidelity over there.

Now, i'm not sure how familiar Benga is with this record, but the track Pleasure from his debut album, Diaries of an Afro Warrior, shares a lot with this tune.  Too much of a coincidence not to have been an influence, surely?  Sadly its not on youtube but the mix on the flip side of GRRR027  is infinitely better.  It also has one of the greatest remix titles of all time. It's called: 'The Not For Love Nor Money Do I Remember Saying "I See Myself As Being Round For Quite Some Time" Remix'. And it sounds almost exactly like Pleasure. That said, the A side mix is called 'Scenes From A Fractal Blotter Mix'. Which isn't bad at all. More inventive remix titles today please.

Update: That mix isn't really the one. I will try to work out how to do youtube video tracks over the weekend and post it up.

pirate radio lament

Pirate radio is one of the reasons i moved to London almost 9 years ago. There's something so utterly vital and compelling about it. Whether it's the sound of MCs' rapidfire clashing or the premier of a killer new dubplate, it's something that commands your attention.

So i'm sat here recording Marcus Nasty on Rinse FM. A situation very familiar to me from 3-4 years ago when i was recording early dubstep sets pretty much religiously. The music excited me enough to do it. I lived in close proximity to the transmitter in East London and had a crystal clear signal. Now i'm in Peckham and listening via the internet but once more there's something about the current UK Funky movement exciting me enough to record and archive.

Tonight Marcus was running late and didn't bother with the usual obligation of running the between show adverts. A shame as i was looking forward to a dose. There's something equally special about the pirate radio advert, with its hyper intensity up in your face. Literally the audio equivalent of being smacked around the face with an oversized, loud and garishly designed flyer: a intense infoburst and often a decidedly quirky one at that.

This reminds me of a blog project idea i really regret not doing. It was to record, archive and blog as many pirate radio ads as i could. It would have made for excellent retrospective listening. I almost got a cd copy of a few from rinse once but it never materialised. It would have included an ad for a rave called Shenanigans and it was voiced by Jammer. It was serious. Those who heard it will surely remember it. I would kill to hear it again. Although maybe sometimes these things are better left in the memory. A thought i have often considered over the years recording pirate radio sets.

In 2005 Rinse wasn't broadcasting online, so the only way people could hear the shows was if someone recorded and shared an mp3. Things are different now. But if i'm listening, knowing that other people will want to too, I figure why not? Not to mention the unreliable Rinse FM podcast system.

Tonight's show wasn't vintage Marcus but there are some choice cuts nonetheless and Marcus makes an effort to ID some of them which is always quite useful. There might be some buffering and digital glitches - sorry about that. You just can't beat FM hiss and static really.

Marcus Nasty - Rinse Fm - 19.00-21.00 - 10 Decemeber 2008