Back on track...

It's been a long time since I posted. So there.

Since my last post back in August I have visited New York and all of it's amazing sites AND moved into a brand new, £18m, state-of-the-art school campus where I work. It's all very exciting, and a good enough reason to have been slack on here - or so I tell myself.

By the way - New York is an incredible place, I had an ace two weeks there and recommend a visit to anyone that's willing to listen. On a music tip, I went to 'Rock The Bells' on Governor's Island with an allstar line-up, followed up by the last Pool Party of the summer by the water in Williamsburg, Brooklyn - again with a sweet line up. Add that to an interesting trip to Cielo, and an underground, little known Jazz place called 'Nublu' and we have a shit hot adventure in the Big Apple. Might put some pics up soon. Maybe.

For now though - back to the music the best way I know how... LIQUID.





Balance - For What I Want I Can Wait (You) by RolandDubbs

And then this beauty from Unquote which i'm not even going to pigeon-hole. It deserves better than that...

Juicy / Zimboouicy

Probably the best ever cover of Notorious B.I.G's classic cut 'Juicy'...

More more more...

Firstly - get this club tune out of my system. It's a good'un...



Now two videos from UNKLE. Same track ('The Answer'), two different directors. Both sync up really well considering the stark contrast in content.
The first, directed by John Hillcoat, stars Ray Winstone with a story to tell set to some thought provoking imagery.
The second video, directed by Ross Cairns, accompanies the dreamy, feel good music with film-like-footage tastefully shot of extreme sports - surfing and snowboarding.
Considering the differing focus of both videos you would expect one to really work and the other to maybe not quite fit right. Whereas infact they both pull it off. Which one is your favourite?





Thanks to Discobelle once again :D

Big Fat Dope Shit

Some durty beats... because we can.



Can't help but snap my neck to this Bassnectar tune with added vocals from King Fantastic.



Starts off as bassy beats, finishes as a big bassy mess. Brilliant.



Don't know much about this guy, just discovered him in the blogosphere. Maybe one to watch out for?



Redlight's 'MDMA' tune has got a new name and a snazzy Ms Dynamite vocal. The original was BIG, will this be BIGGER?

Some Hot Treats

Served fresh by some of the best and hottest producers out there, taRDyboy brings you some tasty little treats to bump to this summer. A little something for everyone right here...

First up, Jesse Rose lays down a bumpin' remix of one of House music's old boys, DJ Sneak. A tasty piece of southern fried goodness. Get your Cooper Shuffle™ on people! The Cooper Shuffle™ is a registered trademark.



Next up is a sweet little J Dilla instrumental, recently given away with 5 other Dilla beats for free courtesy of the good folk over at Stones Throw Records. It's simple, it's catchy and has an 80's ish synth... all ingredients add up to one tasty little donut!



This beat sits you down real comfortable on a blanket and feeds you fresh strawberrys at a summer's picnic in the long grass. Lay back and chill out with Flying Lotus' delicious remix of Andreya Triana while the sun's rays break through the trees and dance across the countryside.

Magnetic Man

I have been meaning to post about Magnetic Man for a while now - and during that time every other blog has done the same - but they're making so much noise right now it's definitely still worth mentioning.
I will always remember being at The Warehouse Project a couple of years back and watching Magnetic Man enter the stage...

The lights went out throughout the underground air raid shelter, except for a small ultra-violet glow which was emitting from the front, behind a seemingly smaller stage than I remember. Long, black curtains had deliberately been drawn in across the stage, and the screen lowered above the deck stand in order to create this tiny square of UV light - it was the focus of everyones attention.
Then, with no warning the three dubstep musketeers - Benga, Skream and Artwork - filed in. Appearing in almost military fashion one behind the other, all three in a perfect line and wearing striking, pure white hoodies which obviously caught the glare from the blacklights and created this almost sci-fi feel to what they were about to do.
They were in perfect sync, not only with how they looked and what they wore, but also with what they had in their hands. Their white Macbooks were clearly visible, and again with this jet-fighter precision they layed them on the table - in sync - and opened them up together. They connected them in unison and the first tune dropped...

It was way back then that it was clear Magnetic Man had a plan. Shortly after this I found myself in Brighton and recall a friend of mine, 'Figure Of Wax', bumping into Artwork and the gang outside his work. They were in town for a show, and from what Artwork explained to him it seemed like he already knew big things were on the horizon.

There will be many Dubstep purists who will listen to what Magnetic Man are doing right now and have a massive hate-up on them. Vocalists? Big, trancey synths? Music videos? "Dubstep has gone pop!" you'll hear them cry. Fuck them and the horse they rode in on. The UK has always, but always been about discovering new sounds and pushing them on. New genres break out and EVERYBODY has something to listen to. It's exciting. It's us.

What, it seems, Magnetic Man are doing - whether deliberately or not, is sending Dubstep into the stratosphere. It's no longer a genre for dimly lit underground caverns, or reserved for ravers bedrooms. It's the sound of now and the music of the people. It's become an event. If Daft Punk made Dubstep it would resemble something like Magnetic Man - huge stages, incredible light shows, thousands of unified music lovers, and a dramatic but effortless stage presence.

Get ready for chart attacks, get ready for sell-out shows, get ready for Dubstep-ageddon - because for Magnetic Man, the lights are now most definitely on.

Magnetic Man's album is out Oct 4th.

If you don't believe, then listen...








Also - they have just done an Essential Mix for BBC Radio1 - search it and you'll find it. It's there.

Future Beginning

It's been a while since I've posted a new Roland Dubbs production. Some recent efforts have found their way onto my Soundcloud page but no further. Mainly because they were just little experiments using a few ideas. Nothing wrong with that, but as they were tunes I wouldn 't normally make I found it hard to relate to them, if you will.
I've been busy in the studio recently and I can promise you at least two more House tunes on the way - one is filter housey, while the other is most definitely jackin'! Back to the wobble.

The track that I bring you today is almost of Chemical Brothers ilk. An electronic journey, a release, a feel-good tune. With some polished production and some tidy compression of which I'm fairly proud (although that is through my monitors which aren't perfect!), I present...
'Future Beginning'.

It's a tune for your summer that punches in all the right places. It has a wicked drop and It's available for free through Soundcloud (first 100 downloads).
Roland Dubbs - Future Beginning by RolandDubbs