Picnic Preview - Benga

Benga is a London dubstep producer and Dj. He is one of the pioneers of fusing the South London dubstep sound with the newer East London born grime sound. Benga's arrival to play on the Bodytonic Main Stage is first step in the dubstep (ahem) direction for the Dublin based crew. If I were in the country this weekend, I would be at Benga.

www.myspace.com/bengabeats

Benga & Coki - 'Night'

Benga (DJ Set): Bodytonic Main Stage, Sunday 19.00-20.00

BSITWT #27

Hercules And Love Affair - 'Blind'(feat. Antony Hegarty)





Some people will love this, some will hate it. I didn't think much at first but after a while it really grows. It has that something extra. Antony's lyrics are special. This will be a crossover hit, if it isn't already. Frankie Knuckles' Dub also deserves attention.

Hercules And Love Affair - 'Blind' (Frankie Knuckles Dub)

Hercules And Love Affair play the Electric Arena at Electric Picnic on Sunday at 3.15.

Picnic Preview - Rob Hood

Rob Hood is techno. Along with Jeff Mills and 'Mad' Mike Banks, Hood is a founding member of the seminal Underground Resistance label. Their influential releases throughout the 90's helped to shape the modern face of techno by fusing elements of acid and industrial with Detroit and Chicago house. He is often credit with being the pioneer of hypnotic stripped down techno and released his Minimal Nation MP on Jeff Mills' Axis label in 1994. Birmingham's Surgeon once remarked, 'When Hood released his pivotal 'Minimal Nation' EP in 1993, it was like a bomb went off.' Clearly ahead of the game his current releases are described as taking techno music to new levels of musicality and sophistication. He plays hard and fast techno often at speeds of up to 150bpm. He is know for using custom altered Technics which can pitch up to +16%.

Hood has shyed away from the mainstream as much as possible due to his desire to remain underground, he prefers to place emphasis on soul and experimentation over flash and popularity. When he started his own label, M-Plant, in 1994 he did so with the desire to create the music "I've always wanted to hear: the basic stripped down, raw sound. Just drums, basslines and funky grooves and only what's essential. Only what is essential to make people move. I started to look at it as a science, the art of making people move their butts, speaking to their heart, mind and soul. It's a heart-felt rhythmic techno sound. M-Plant is just M. minimal"

The return of minimal into the hearts of the masses over the past few years resulted in Hood completing a mix for Fabric's legendary series. Released in March, Fabric 39 is a stomping run-through of what is pure in techno music. It's hard but it's stripped down to the bare essentials and you cannot help but be sucked into the distinctive Detroit drum loops. For those Stradbally bound at the weekend, I would prescibe a heavy dose of Fabric 39 to get in the mood for this one.


Rob Hood headlines the Bodytonic Main Stage on Saturday night at Electric Picnic.

Peadar King - The Nature of Flaws

Peadar King is a singer/songwriter from Inisbofin Island, off the west coast of Ireland. He released his debut solo album The Nature of Flaws to a packed house upstairs in Galway's Cuba last month. We have been reliably informed that it truly was a great gig.
Having been involved in music since his early teens, he was a member of Cornerstone until they parted company to work on different projects. King moved to France and began to concentrate on his own solo material.
Peadar regularly returned to Galway to record his solo album which he then went on to release independently. It features many of the artists that had worked with him in the past. He is joined by vocalist Orla Gibbons on a number of tracks and the combination produces impressive results, each complimenting each other's style beautifully.
I can see the Inisbofin native achieving a good degree of success with his impressive first album and going on to big things in future.

There are a number of tracks to sample on Peadar's myspace page: http://www.myspace.com/peadarking

The Nature of Flaws is available to download here.

*Thanks to DR for alerting us to this one.

La Bomba de Tiempo - Buenos Aires

La Bomba de Tiempo is an improvised drum show under the direction of conductor, Santiago Vazquez. Every Monday the percussionists put on one of Buenos Aires' most electrifying spectacles. Completely improvised, two shows are never the same as the drummers adjust their rhythms and intensity at the sight of a nod or a hand signal from Senor Vazquez. Regular special guests and collaborators serve to expand the possibilites even further. Djs, guitarist and all manners of other performers have joined the drum troupe to create one-off musical pieces. The results are very impressive. The crowd is literally whipped into a frenzy as the rhythms slowly build up over long periods. The tension and sense of excitement grows to extreme levels before the drummers unlease a wave of fury as they attempt to break holes in their instruments using limbs, sticks and I'm pretty sure I saw someone headbutting a set of bongos at one point.
Every Monday the college crowd and a good portion of the city's visitors descend on the Centro Cultural at Konex to start the evening. Any visit to the Argentinian capital is not complete without witnessing these percussionists at their improvised best. You can sample some of their work on their myspace page.

http://www.myspace.com/labombadetiempopercusion
http://www.labombadetiempo.blogspot.com/

SiSi Take a Break

I'm the bearer of double bad news today. SiSi have announced that August 30th will be the last gig they are hosting in The Cellar. The lads have understandably decided to take a break from regular promoting and concentrate on other work commitments. There is, however, a silver lining. As you could expect the lads will be going out with a bang and will be saying goodbye to The Cellar, for now, with the visit of Berlin's Housemeister(All You Can Beat / BPitch Control). Sisi have not hung up the earphones just yet and will continue to appear at various gigs. They will continue to host The Hive at Bar 903 once every month (currently on second Fridays).

Electric City Powers Down.

Dublin's Electric City crew have decided after 5.5 years of providing the capital with a weekly jolt of the finest techno, minimal and italo to call it a day. The night which has moved from The Metropolitan to Traffic and finally to Wax over the years was behind bringing some of the most influential names in electronic music to these shores, and most importantly, in an intimate venue surrounded by like minded individuals. The lads will continue to run the larger Electric Shock parties at various Dublin venues. The last ever Electric City takes place on Thursday September 25th. It promises to be an emotional one and looks like this:

Wax:
Onur Ozer [Vakant - Istanbul]
Giles Armstrong [electricity]

Spy:
Alexander Robotnick [Fuzz Dance - Florence]
Simon Conway [electricity]

Access all areas : Tickets 12 euro + b/fee from Beat Finder and Spindizzy Records.
Admission on night e15

The penultimate Electric City on September 18th is also one not to missed, "Our Friends Electric" will feature:

Sunil Sharpe

Chymera - Live

Donnacha Costello - DJ Set

Tickets 10 euro from Beat Finder and Spindizzy Records.

BSITWT #26

Today's BSITWT: Miracle Fortress - Next Train (mp3) from the Polaris-nominated (and very Canadian) record Five Roses, released last year on Secret City Records.

Pretty much any track on this LP is worthy of praise. In that spirit, here's another one:

Miracle Fortress - Beach Baby (mp3)

Lovely stuff.

Body and Soul

Sorry to be seemingly oneupmanning Eoin, but here is the line-up for Body & Soul at this year's EP

http://www.electricpicnic.ie/html/body_soul_chill_lineup.html

Milosh - iii

Mike Milosh has released his third album, iii. The ambient electronica master's previous albums, You Make Me Feel and Meme are big favourites around here, containing some of the single most beautiful tracks we have ever heard. He returns to Ireland, having played a number of intimate instrumental sets around the country earlier this year, (or was it last year??) to play Body and Soul at the Picnic, late on Saturday night. We won't be missing this for the world.

Picnic in Wanky Campsite Name Shocker.

The names of the four campsites are up: Warhol, Wilde, Hendrix and Chaplin; apparently so named in honour of modern pioneers in the fields of art, literature, music and comedy. Although prone to pretentious misgivings ourselves, one can't help but think that this is a gigantic load of cock, as Wilde himself may have said.

In other Picnic news, the line-up gets better and better. See it here (without, as far as I can see, the line-ups for the two most important areas at EP: Body & Soul and bodytonic). An unofficial / highly reliable line-up is available here, complete with Modeselektor, Milosh, Spilly Walker, Somadrone et al.

BSITWT # 25

Tycho - Cascade (Ghostly International).

Since his 2002 EP release The Science of Patterns, everything Tycho has touched has turned to cloudy, airy gold. He only lists six people as his influences: Boards of Canada, Ulrich Schnauss, Manitoba, DJ Shadow, Zero 7, Cinematic Orchestra. Nuff said. Well worth further research.

Tycho MySpace

Donal Dineen's Summer Nights

The Great One is talking to Kilkenny percussionist / David Byrne impressionist / All-round lovely musician R.S.A.G. on his seasonal talk show tonight (he had Liam O'Maonlaí in last week). Anyone who knows us will understand that his weeknight show is easily the most pivotal event in our daily lives, so the development of this little series is an interesting one.

Donal's involved with the Body and Soul arena at Electric Picnic again this year, at which RSAG will be playing on the Saturday (along with the incredible Mike Milosh)

*** He just called two bodhrán players, Neil and Conor Lyons, the 'Seoige sisters of rhythm'.

**** He just called Martin Busden the Maurice FitzGerald of bass.

***** Lisa Hannigan, Damien Dempsay AND Liam O'Maonlaí are on next week!!!!!!!! A veritable who's who's of HiCoism, this is David McWilliams' wet dream of a radio show.

Cold War 2.0

From Yahoo.com's review of Olympic warfare on Friday:

"The baseball park played host to a couple of politically tinged thrillers which went down to the wire. It was a good day for communism: Cuba beat the United States 5-4, and rookies China defeated Taiwan 8-7."


Take that, capitalism.

Buenos Aires - Gig Previews

It was with great sadness that I stepped aboard Avianca Flight AV0092 in Bogota airport on Tuesday evening. I had said goodbye to 5 good travel companions and friends over the course of the previous week. I also had to leave the best country I have ever visited. The people:the friendliest, the women:the hottest, the weather:had everything but mostly good, the clubbing:excellent and as for the predicted danger:non-existent. Colombia is a subject, and country, I will return to shortly so I'll leave it at that for now. In the meantime, I was on the way to Buenos Aires.

Buenos Aires is an amazing city and it is for that reason that I choose to return here on the departure of my fellow backpackers. I had a pretty good knowledge of what to expect from BA and was lured back by Steak, Quilmes, Techno, Drum and Bass, and of course the women. I really could not believe my luck when I did a little research into what was going on over the weekend. What a way to blow away any gloom post-Colombia.

Friday 15/08/2008: Martin Eyerer @ Bahrein

Discard the fact that he is behind some of the cheesier music you've heard over the last couple of years(think Dj Sammy), Martin Eyerer has worked with some of the highest quality producers in the world. He has shared a studio with Gui Boratto and Oliver Klein amongst others, the latter is on remix duties on his current release on Kling Klong 'Furthermore'.
He has recently played at Berlin's Love Parade and at Dance Valley so his arrival in Buenos Aires is hotly anticipated judging by some of the reactions on Argentinian music forums. I have always kept an eye out for, and played some of, his tracks so I'm looking forward to this one.


Saturday 16/08/2008: Hell's Club on Tour with Mau Mau, Pil Marques and Carla Tintore @ Cocoliche

Voted Buenos Aires' best club by the worthy members over at Resident Advisor it has to get the nod for Saturday night. Cocoliche will be a welcome change from Pacha on a Saturday night. I'm expecting a true underground experience amongst Argentina's finest. Hell's club, based in Sao Paulo, Brazil, is regarded as one of South America's best club nights. This should be a highlight of my return to the Argentinian capital.



Sunday 17/08/2008: Dillinja @ Bahrein

To celebrate clubnight +160's 6th birthday the drum and bass crew are flying in Valve Recordings boss man Dillinja in to shake the place to pieces. Owner of the legendary Valve Sounsystem and self proclaimed purveyor of "Bad Ass Bass", Dillinja gigs should come with a stern health warning: "Bring ear-plugs".


Wednesday 20/08/2008: Florian Meindl @ Wacha, Bahrein

This one caught me by surprise. A huge name on the undergound scene Florian Meindl is rapidly becoming one of the world's most respected Djs, producers and label boss. I have been hoping to see this guy for a while and having missed his recent visits to Dublin, I cannot believe my luck in happening upon this gig. I had planned to move on to another city on Monday until I saw this listing and promptly changed my plans. If you don't know this guy, get to know him.




Thursday 21/08/2008: DFA sounds with Rub 'n Tug @ Cocoliche

I hope to be still alive at this stage and if so I will be making a return trip to Cocoliche to see New York's Rub n' Tug. Regulars at London's Fabric these guys have shared the stage with heavyweights such as Ricardo Villalobos. They are due to perform at The Warehouse Project with Erol & Friends at Picadilly Train Station, London in November. These are guys are behind Fabric 30 in the legendary mix series. If that isn't enough of an endorsement, I don't know what is. Dublin/New York's Shitrobot continues the DFA sounds residency in Cocoliche on September 18th. His track "Chasm" featured as one of our BSITWT recently.

Despite the fact that I've entered the solo leg of my travels, I know that I will be amongst good people at each of these 5 nights.

Picnic Preview: Ben Klock

The Bodytonic lineup appears to have fewer international heavy hitters than in previous years, with the focus seeming to lie more on Irish talent. One of the few names we can see from the major German labels is BPitch Control's Ben Klock. A resident in Berghain, Klock has been a regular face in all of Berlin's top clubs for years now. A seeming dark and deep master, evidenced by the excellent Journey, which can be listened to below, and Sean, available on his MySpace, Klock has the potential to spin a more hectic brand of techno, some of which is on display in his recent Bodytonic podcast, which is available to download below too. This more stomping style also characterises his Scenario EP with Marcel Dettman, fellow Berghain resident. We're not fully sure what to expect from a Klock DJ set at EP, but if the podcast is a telltale, it will definitely be worthy of a visit.

Ben Klock - Journey



Ben Klock Bodytonic Podcast

Ben Klock MySpace

BSITWT #24

Fairmont - Centre of Gravity.

Canadian Jake Fairley returns to the BSITWT throne with a dark, late-night, rolling piece of magic. James Holden has been playing this throughout the spring and summer. It finally got its release on the I need medicine EP, just out on Border Community

Ghostly Swim

Ghostly International, a recently-featured label on this blog, have released a compilation of their finest work, and that of some special guests including our beloved Milosh.We have it available to stream below. Happy listening!!

You can download, embed, or stream it for free here

1 Michna - Triple Chrome Dipped
2 Dabrye - Temper
3 The Chap - Carlos Walter Wendy Stanley
4 Dark Party - Active
5 Tycho - Cascade [Live Version]
6 JDSY - All Shapes
7 Deastro - Light Powered
8 Matthew Dear - R+S
9 FLYamSAM - The Offbeat
10 Cepia - Ithaca
11 Aeroc - Idiom
12 The Reflecting Skin - Traffickers
13 School of Seven Bells - Chain
14 Ben Benjamin - Squirmy Sign Language
15 Kill Memory Crash - Hit + Run
16 Osborne - Wait A Minute
17 Milosh - Then It Happened
18 10:32 - Blue Little
19 Mux Mool - Night Court

Picnic Preview - Deadmau5

For the next two weeks, we will try to alert you to some of the acts we feel may be worth a cheeky look at the Electric Picnic. First up is Toronto producer and DJ Deadmau5. Remember, when you drop his name to get the one-up in true hipster olympics style, be sure to pronounce it "Deadmouse". Up there with Pantha du Prince when it comes to crossing the Philthy-Pretty Spectrum, he was named "Most influential, forward-thinking and relevant person" by Beatport at their music awards 2008. Deadmau5 offers euphoric, almost trancey belters such as Slip and Give it up for me, guaranteed to make a room move. The most impressive aspect of his production is the way they co-exist next to the sinister basslines of Not Exactly and the marauding soundscapes of Brasil and Faxing Berlin, not to mention the gorgeous piano-driven, dubstep-style electronica manifesting itself in Creep, undoubtedly his finest track in our view. To add to the mix, there is "the tailor made giant Mau5head complete with powerful strobe lighting eyes" which he wears performing. That alone would surely be worth seeing...

Here is a video-MP3 of Not Exactly.




Deadmau5 Myspace

BSITWT #23

Yppah - Again with the subtitles


We love him, Dineen loves him, everyone should love this Texan gem. This guy has played guitar and bass in rock bands, and has been a scratch, hip-hop and house DJ, and it is all on show in his addictive album You are Beautiful at All Times

Playlist - 12/08/2008

No Age - Nouns









Neon Neon - Stainless Steel









Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes






Reviews to follow shortly. Listening to too much samba at the moment to focus.

Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago (4AD - UK, Jagjaguwar - USA, 2008)

Taking a break from the Caucasus for a minute, Vlad and the lads could all do worse than listen to Bon Iver's recently released debut record, For Emma, Forever Ago - a beautifully intimate collection of carefully crafted folk works, suitably written in solitude over a Wisconsin winter (Bon Hiver, tu vois). That, on the face of it, such a simple arrangement could cause such a stir is quite a feat, given the moribund state of the genre - isolated artists, bleak winters and mournful guitars have been dreary bedfellows for generations. But this is a chillingly intense record, thick with atmosphere and guided by layers of stunning falsetto that could stop even the most austere of Siberian power-brokers in their wonky vodka tracks.

AbkhasiaWatch continues...

T-bone's in the shit, really

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/rtrs/20080807/tpl-uk-georgia-ossetia-43a8d4f.html

My favourite part of this one is a Russian official saying that Georgian authorities have 'zero credit of trust'.

Pot. Kettle. Etc.

What the f**k is going on in: South Ossetia

When will Georgia ever learn?? OK, so Stalin divided Ossetia in 1922, giving the North to Russia and the South to Georgia. But that doesn't mean it's yours you idiots!! The South Ossetians have long pronounced a desire to join their northern brethren, and Russia is more than happy to have them. So surely Georgia would cede ground in such a scenario and let the natural order of things resume. If only they had the sense....
Temur "T-bone" Iakobashvili, the man with the world's worst job - Georgian Minister for re-integration of its rebel territories *- last week declared "Russia is not an honest broker, It's part of the problem, not the solution". Wrong T-bone... Russia is the problem, the solution, and the kitchen sink. Russia is everything!!! T-bone then claimed Russia was only supporting the South Ossetians to make up for the international community's support for Kosovan independence from Serbia earlier this year. Damn right they are!!! Haven't you been paying attention? To paraphrase a Serbian freedom fighter, Russia is "not violent, but I am vengeful". That, and the fact that Georgia is a slivering weasel in the way of the Russian juggernaut's path to world domination. "Get out of our way you slivering weasels!!!", Dmitri Medvedev was heard roaring towards Georgia last week.
So the way things stand Georgia has launched a few mortars and sniper rifles, and Russia seems ready to aid South Ossetian fighters with arms, cash and electricity. I know who my money is on, and they don't have a minister called T-bone. Much as in the Abkhazia debacle, the Georgians may well be left to feel the force, the force of Balla.

*Good old Temur was quoted last week as saying "I'd rather eat Mongolian yak testicles than do this stupid job"

Album Playlist - 01/08/08

M83 - Saturdays = Youth (Mute, 2008)

This is what would happen if My Bloody Valentine, Fleetwood Mac, New Order and Top Gun had a child. In a good way.





Max Richter - The Blue Notebooks (Fat Cat Records, 2004)

The German composer's second recorded album is still one of the most elegantly haunting pieces I've ever heard. Nods to Arvo Part and Brian Eno feature frequently, the works of whom he once commissioned and performed in his Piano Circus days. His newly released micro-music project, 24 Postcards in Full Colour, should make for interesting listening.




Efterklang - Parades (The Leaf Label, 2007)

Denmark's answer to The Arcade Fire, once lazily described as "Denmark's answer to The Arcade Fire".




www.myspace.com/m83
www.myspace.com/maxrichtermusic
www.myspace.com/efterklang