big ups to Lebanon.
mix by DJ Subdog, his finger on the pulse.
recommended to right click and open in new tab.
the Lebanese underground is growing. Although vinyl may not be readily available in this once war-ravaged country, the love for cutting-edge electronic music cannot be quelled.
mix by DJ Subdog, his finger on the pulse.
recommended to right click and open in new tab.
the Lebanese underground is growing. Although vinyl may not be readily available in this once war-ravaged country, the love for cutting-edge electronic music cannot be quelled.
You should've seen it. Israeli bombs were falling just down there, Ali pointed toward the port of Beirut, but we were still up here partying man, music blaring out. We couldn't let that shit dominate our lives, we didn't know when that war would finish so we just got on doing the things we love.
More to follow in due course...
This Halloween saw the return of audio-visual extravaganza, Graffiti Breakz (GB), breaking through the generic patterns of our weekly working routines and taking us to another level of creativity.East London’s Rhythm Factory was transformed into a living beast, with graffiti artists Seak and Vein spraying through till the early morn on six by four canvases to the beats of various bands and DJs, many of whom played exclusive never-before-heard material, while VJs enlivened a screen with their ongoing trips via a computer.
Clarkie, one of the night’s organisers told Traffic magazine that GB’s music policy was originally about breakbeat, as its name suggests, incorporating an eclectic mix of the broken beat and all its sub-genres throughout the course of the night, proving that there’s more to breaks than meets the ears.
After a year on the backburner, organisers Clarkie, Skinny, and DJ Disowned decided to do things differently with the GB Resurrection. As well as bringing in top class Breakbeat acts such as Ctrl Z and Duel Calibre, the main stage also played host to some lesser known bands giving us some instrumental rhythms to stomp our feet to.
It was a risk that could have gone horribly wrong. I heard impatient snippets of complaints in the crowd, “where is the breakbeat?” But it didn’t take long for people to slip into different melodic grooves from the likes of ten-piece ska and funk band, Junkyard Scientists.
Sadly, this Halloween was the last time Junkyard Scientists played together with their current drummer for what could be forever or a long while, as he is off to expand his brain philosophically at one of those establishments of higher learning. The crowd wished him the best of luck with gusto before beatboxing extraordinaire Bass6, one half of the Doctor Rhythm and Bass6 duo, filled the room with manmade snare and bass; dubstep, D & B, and breaks like you’ve never heard it.
Up next was the top-notch Ocarina who took minds high and low in relentless waves, filling us with energy from within with their unique mix of psychedelic soul, trip-hop, and broken beats, using looped and scratched drum beats intertwined with violinists and a vocalist. Ocarina have come fresh out the Maida Vale Studios with a new eight track EP exclusively played out to willing ears last Saturday.
While bass carried bodies to a point of unstoppable motion, vocalist Emma Stockton’s harmonious voice led souls through the music and beyond to the next level. Without sounding like too much of a hippie, their set was an accumulation of the spiritual evolution of the mind all splurged out through the punch-packing sound system. Hopefully, Ocarina’s minds will continue to evolve and bring us more of this.
A strange sense of endless possibility lingered in the air all through the week leading up to that old clichéd night of other-worldly mystery and magic, and GB seemed to capture it. It is not a night for the faint-hearted, not for people who are afraid they might sense something that goes deeper than the music or what they see before them.
Ooh, this spooky life we live beneath the concrete pillars of this long-standing society. For some it can be too easy to get stuck in that rut, but those who know can see hidden beauty living in a ying and yang world of light and dark ruled by an elite keeping to their elitist mentality. Something like revolution hangs in the air in silence, teeter-tottering. Our strange habits stay out of sight of politicians’ eyes, far from their vision we can expand our minds.
No politics, please, at a Graffiti Breakz night. The world as we know it is left behind, refused entry by the burly bouncers keeping guard outside the Rhythm Factory, GB’s new quarterly home (the next event hopefully cometh in January,) after two years at Camden’s Purple Turtle. Now Graffiti Breakerz, as the organisers so endearingly call us, can party on till that very special time of day, six am (The Purple Turtle is only licensed till three.) For many, the fun did not stop there, a Squat Monster’s Ball was still in full swing further east (cue mischievous cackle.)
Despite brief ghoulish technological problems in the main room after the witching hour, the night never lost its electric atmosphere. Bass6 kept the crowd entertained while breakdancers filled the floor until Diverted began spinning burly breakbeats and the madness progressed further while Seak and Vein continued to spray out their imagination, but there were no complaints from the neighbours.
Raindance residents, Apply the Breaks, who always manage to tear up the tunnels of SeOne, applied their usual mash up of breaks tearing up the main room of the Rhythm Factory. Those who knew expected nothing else; they never cease to please. Ctrl-Z weren’t too shabby, either, carrying the crowd through a sea of dirty breakbeat bass. Graffiti Breakz - The Resurrection, just as the organisers promised, was a night of endless surprises.
Now that GB has returned to the London clubbing scene, up-for-it graffiti artists get the chance to showcase their work and even make a little bit of money. A twenty metre wall in what was formerly the club’s front room exhibited art from the underground. GB acts as another alternative outlet for an art form that often doesn’t get to go any further than a concrete canvas. Proceeds go straight to the artists.
"We found that there was something going on with the artists that we hadn’t originally though of. The art evolves through the night, depending on the atmosphere and how the music goes,” said Clarkie. It was an audio-visual trip, that is for sure.
This night has the potential to keep evolving, going from strength to strength. GB filled the Rhythm Factory easily after stepping out of the Purple Turtle’s shell. “The Purple Turtle is a great venue for live music but it’s just a little bit too small to sustain Graffiti Breakz,” Clarkie said.
There is now more space to work with artistically, and more time for a diverse mix of music electrifying the mind’s numerous frequencies. Roll on the next instalment, I say. I want to see where this thing is leading, there’s something happening here, something deeper than what mere language can define. Too much going on to fit into a mere article. You can’t sum up life, and if you did it would just be opinion, like this.
The grand Graffiti Breakz extravaganza will be returning at the end of this month, on the 30th to be exact, to bombard our ears and eyes with a whole mash-up of sounds and sights.
But things will be different this time round, you could even say that the GB concept has evolved. That means a hell of a lot more organisation than before for those behind this colourful brainchild but if it all pays off it will be worth it.
You could almost call it a variety show, as Mcs, tapdancers, breakdancers, and graphic artists flaunt their talent before the crowd who will ultimately judge a winner in each category. “Shall we go down the dancehall, dear, I hear they’ve got quite a variety of artistic talent to appease our senses.”
Only an act of diabolical sabotage would render Whitechapel’s Rhythm Factory silent and lifeless on the fourth Saturday of this promising year of hope in the face of impending doom (according to the news rags.)
Traffic met up with one of the organisers Clarkie who told how the night has developed since last time round.
If all goes to plan, I will hazard to say that nothing like this has been done before (at least not at 16-18 Whitechapel Road.) Such a diverse concentration of media-spanning artists all in one club, poor Simon Cowell wouldn’t know what to do with himself and people will be glad if he doesn’t turn up.
The night kicks off at 7.30 pm. It’s worth getting down early just to bare witness to this forthcoming sweet eclectic mix of music, (music being only one dimension in this space of time from evening till early morning.)
For the benefit of the cyber world, presuming that people still use the internet and will be logged on that Saturday, a large portion of GB will be streamed live on NSB radio. Presuming the internet hasn’t crashed by the end of the month, anyone with a connection will be able to tune in bringing the party vibrations into living rooms and bedrooms everywhere, people could even use their smart phones to check out just what the fuck is going on in this little corner of London.
Planning a good night in with good people? Why not tune in and see what happens? If you don’t like then move on. You’ve got nothing to lose, and that applies to most aspects of this crazy life as a whole unless all you aspire to is a long line of digits signifying the sum in your bank account.
Planning never works so well with me, but that’s just from my own personal experience. Sometimes strange things occur that no plan could have foreseen. But on Saturday 30th I intend on entering the Rhythm Factory, probably after a brief frisk, and then seeing what happens letting that sense of adventure within take over.
Life can be more fun when structure dissolves and politics doesn’t matter anymore, but for musical purposes Graffiti Breakz : The Battle has a structured line up easing us into dancing feet with some chilled roots and reggae courtesy of The Drop with elements in some of their tunes reminiscent of Sublime. Then some ska/funk/punk courtesy of GB residents Junkyard Scientists will take over the soundwaves till live breakbeat act Nursery of Naughtiness hit’s the stage with their subliminal beats and vocals.
There are more special dishes on the musical menu which can be found online at www.graffitibreakz.co.uk, assuming you’re not one of the millions of people on this planet earth with no access to this internet article or the internet. . .
So what’s new? We’ve all heard various new music before (but we haven’t and will never hear it all.) When it’s good we like to share it, and the experience it emanates. What better place to do this than in a place full of likeminded strangers/possible friends you’d never normally encounter in day to day life. There’s more to music than any decent night we grace our presences with, and we all know this.
Graffiti Breakz showcases a hell of a lot more than just music. Creativity is the key.
There be artists about, oh no. I’m not talking about Damian Hirst or any other contemporary artiste laughing while their bank balance triples once more after the sale of another blank canvas representative of all that art could be and the ignorance of those people foolish enough to spend their abundant wealth on it when they could go to any art shop and get a canvas for under a tenner.
Some swine stole artwork from the front room last time round. They were long gone before anyone noticed. They must have been slimy, seasoned criminals slipping through the busy room seemingly invisible despite their booty (that wasn’t small, either.)
Most the artists of this GB night can be found on the internet. Just a glance through their sites reveals that these guys actually have an imagination (something that could be said to be lacking in most the shite poured out through the mainstream, shame for those who are aware of no other mediums.)
As before they will be realising their minds on canvases in the front room of the club, but there will be more of these deviant beings than before creating alternative worlds in a second dimension. A winner will be picked at the end of the night. As an added twist, like adding an extra shot of rum and squeeze of lime to an already potent Mojito, there will be a speed Graffiti competition.
According to Clarkie, one week or so before the event, artists will receive an idea over which they can muse over. On the night they will be given a short space of time to recreate their vision, recreating the environment that many graffiti artists face on street level, when time is not always on their side with the old bill or a security camera always nearby. On the main stage, the willing will be able to see eight artists splurge out in speed their thoughts, far from the threat of the cops because we’ll be in a lawful licensed zone all behaving ourselves far from the eyes of the government. Unless an MP or the unelected PM tunes into NSB radio.
If that is the case, they may even take the time to watch the live video stream of the mayhem east ways via their computer screen. They’d probably never admit to it, just like they generally say they never inhaled when passed a spliff.
They may tune in at just the right time to find tap dancers tapping their feet to some accentuated electronic rhythms in a choreographed battle, another unexpected twist bridging the gap between the bands and the Djs in the main room. Talent Time usually embark on musical theatre and performance based dance projects, they have worked with companies in the West End but kind of show has never been done in a club before, organisers said.
Music wise, after this tap dancing with a twist, the main room will be taken over by Djs such as the mighty Slyde, and Richie Balboa vs. Kid Chameleon to name a few, spinning out breaks in all their various forms.
Boy Wonder is one to look out for, his sets are unpredictable, his mixing fluid from a sixties hit to a classic jungle beat. His sets can be surprising.
In addition, taking the break dancing theme of last October’s GB further, there is going to be a break dancing competition with breakers from London, Birmingham, and the Midlands hitting the floor with moves that’d have me in stitches.
Because we live in a democratic country, the crowd will choose the winners using the power of their bodies to make as much noise as possible. This will be the case with the MC battle as well, which is also a new aspect of the night.
Fluid visuals will be provided throughout the night by GB regular Cyder FX.
Tickets cost 8 squid advance, a tenner on the door. More info can be found at www.graffitibreakz.co.uk or on facebook.
Due to unforeseen circumstances, the writer was unable to attend this event in order to write a follow-up. C'est la vie...
photo courtesy of the amazing-nature blogspot. thanks.
Appearing in RELEVANTBCN...
A Life Juxtaposition: Crowstick music flips fiction
Crowstick could be a schizophrenic, a madman fleeing down the street while the masses scream "somebody section the rascal, quick!" Trying to lynch the fucker and lobotomise him because perhaps he struck a deep chord with his multi-faceted lyrics. Lucky for some, his voice is not that far-reaching at present unless he's been secretly communicating to the world telepathically from the safety of his west London lair. Lucky for others he can be found on the internet...
His beats, courtesy of himself and the likes of blood brother The Grimm Hermit, Burning Man, and electronic label blbx (www.myspace.com/blbx), are refreshing, reminiscent of UK Hip Hop's poetical glory days but taking things forward, evolving the sound then looping it back in time so that it defies linear time laws and never loses its roots, like a conscious mind moving into the future aware of some knowledge intangibly acquired from an ancient past.
“Crowstick has evolved over the years as my exaggerated alter ego. He’s become a sick-twisted fellow who likes to travel into further dimensions,” the madman says.
“I am inspired by life experiences. I have also become very influenced by DMT and other psychedelic experiences.” He has ingested molecular structures that are not to be taken lightly. DMT, released by the human brain at both birth and death, sold to Crowstick by strange chemists in English forests, is arguably the strongest hallucinogenic around supposedly revealing to the mind a timeless spiritual world.
“Other inspirations include books such as ‘the Holographic universe’ by Michael Talbot, and thinkers/writers/lecturers such as Terence McKenna, John Harris, Carlos Castaneda and old Ickey boy (to name only a few). I felt a real awakening in my second year at Leeds after reading ‘The Divine Matrix’ by Greg Braden.”
The stories that spawn from his head to be spat out in steady rhythms come from somewhere beyond, Crowstick tells me, but he is not sure where. Perhaps there are multiple sources. Like Terence Mckenna’s vision of the artist as a shaman, Crowstick’s mind occasionally slips away from this grounded concrete path into realms of the unknown. He returns and tells us all about life as a gigolo who fell in love with a client in “Here comes the train to smash my brain” (Killer Crow EP). Or he’ll wax lyrical more universal daring to insinuate that Space is bigger than we think. Bling will only feature to be mocked.
Like a romantic he has faith in the different perceptions of an open mind, an impression reflected in his recent November production; “Open Up the Brain Shutters”(In La’kech EP) with an opening note that zips the brain into a mirror of our universe where Crowstick tokes on broccoli before travelling space and time, haunted briefly by perverted pixies and demons. He addresses what is wrong with this world; discrepancies many of us already know living our lives beneath an institution trying to prop itself up on credit invisible and weightless, valuing our freedom.
“I do not decide what to write, the subject is never predetermined. I think that maybe my body is only a vessel through which the words and rhymes are transmitted. I just put on a beat and see what comes out,” he said. “Why I write? Just for the pure need of having to create. If it weren’t music, it would be something else, like art.”
Some of his music is not for the fainthearted, perhaps it should come with a mental health warning. “Tales From A Warped Mind EP” NOT SUITABLE FOR UNSTABLE KIDDIES. Some tunes may require a pinch of salt. His ideas can be far out, man, his little ditties twisted. But you don’t need to agree, these ideas could be of another world expressed in a language that tried to take over the planet (thankfully expression is still fairly free for now in England, otherwise there’d be a whole spectrum of artists persecuted or in prison for their thinking.)
