Ear Conditioning on EmergencyFM – Bea(s)ts of 2018

Clap yer hands everybody if you got what is takes…

I started this blog to expand on the Ear Conditioning radio program that was on the airwaves, initially on Radio Pimienta in Tenerife and eFM Student Radio Sarajevo. It’s that time again, shake off the dust, put the crank it and move it.

Creativity is thriving, new generations blossom finding their own among the digital furnace, and the old skool still feeding and being fed.  An act composed, built, mixed, mastered and sent, inbox, earphones, muscles respond, a twitch, an emotion awakened, alerted. What is that interference?

The fire burns and a voice from the past got in touch.

One of my first gigs as a press officer was working with the bleep originators Unique 3. Around that time, the band’s engine, Edzy was laying down a foundation with his pirate radio station based in Yorkshire, UK.

“On the 27th July 1990, I took a very deep breath and crossed my fingers behind my back. I only really prayed to God when I wanted something. As much as I wanted this, I acknowledged that I should save those requests for more life-threatening times. Fate was going to have to show up today and help me with THIS one.

It had taken seven months of seriously hard work and planning and a shit load of money. And now this was it. We were testing a brand new community radio station’s set up. So many things could be wrong. This WAS an exact science. The hardware and transmission equipment: all handcrafted, You couldn’t buy this stuff off the internet. There was no friggin’ internet!
You couldn’t buy this gear in the shops either, it wasn’t quite legal to make, to buy or to own. You had to find someone who could make this stuff, and these people were seriously undercover!”

Fast forward to now, as of November last year 99.9 EmergencyFM has has returned as an online entity. Being in the game for many years, Edzy has been able to call upon top selectors spanning years of experience and dedication to sharing that sound that moves. There’s DJ Food, Graeme Park, Frank Tope, DJ Randall, Nancy Noise, Phil Hortnoll (Orbital), Sirius 23 (Spiral Tribe) among the crew.

I’m well chuffed  to be a part of it. Big shout out to Edzy.

For the most part, the first chapter of Ear Conditioning takes in a lot of what was released and moved me last year.  One of the exceptions is Dudu Pukwana, from South Africa. This contribution dates from the 80’s ‘Baloyi’ is here as a mark of respect to ‘Jumbo’ Vanrenen, the legendary music lover, promoter, A&R man who sadly passed away last year.  He was a prime mover of African music, introducing a bigger world South African exiles Dudu, Mongezi Feza and Julian Bahula. He was the driving force behind Virgin’s Front Line reggae label and worked he Earthworks label with Trevor Herman releasing African classics from Mahlathini and the Mahotella Queens, Thomas Mapfumo and Shina Williams among others. I enjoyed catching a moment with Trevor when he came to the Virgin offices. For more depth on Jumbo’s dedication check Paul Bradshaw’s Worldwide Special hear (sic)

Another pre-2018 release is the two tunes from The Comet Is Coming.  Their album of last year, the gloriously titled Your Queen is a Reptile, is on the list to purrchase.

Press Playhttps://www.mixcloud.com/DWattsRiot/999-beasts-of-the-year/

Ossia Dub Hell
Dub Colossus Dr. Strangedub
Zuli Akhtuboot
Waahli Cap Fits
Dudu Pukwana Baloyi
Earl Sweatshirt The Mint feat. Navy Blue
DJ Filthy Rich Cash Award (A Clan Called Wu)
Joe_Armon-Jones Starting Today Dub Version
Nancy DuPree My People Is
patten Re-Edit 03
Khalab Shouts
The Comet is Coming Nano
The Comet is Coming Slam Dunk
Makaveli Nammiliki (Sounds of Sisso)
Juice Aleem My Jesus Got Gold Teeth 14 (with Myka 9)
The Last Poets We Must Be Sacred (Mo Kolours Remix)
Nazar Ceasefire
Waahli Horn Game (feat. DTCPU)

Enoch Light – Command Records

“Mira ese discos” said Jotti, the proprietor of Aguere Music Shop in La Laguna, as he dropped a few records in front of me.  I’d already put aside a record titled Big Drums in Stereo, so he knew my angle.   Oh shit, that was a good / bad move. I chose one, place the needle to the vinyl and within a second I shouted “So that’s where he got the sample from, that sly motherf…”  I was referring to Carl Craig.  In all these years it never dawned on me to find out where the sample came from that he used for his seminal ‘Bug in the Bassbin’.

Everything about the records recorded and produced by Enoch Light is premium.  The package, his dedication the getting the right sound during the recording process, everything. I bagged about four discs and promised to return as soon as the next cheque was due in. Crate-diggers disease, “Ain’t nobody here getting hold of these records!”

I had to play catch up, proper.  As I proceeded to listen in the comfort of my home stereo, the realization that many producers had got their sampling mits on Enoch Light, uh, came to light, besides Carl Craig, The Beatnuts, RJD2, Arrested Development, The Avalanches, Spank Rock, Ugly Duckling, Tipsy and Amon Tobin among them.

As mentioned above, the quality of the recording and the packaging, is second to none. The recordings were captured on 35mm magnetic tape to ensure the best possible recording method at the time. The width of tape ensuring that all the musical elements within had ample space to breathe and with that the best clarity. Josef Albers was behind the design of the sleeves.  His designs were way different to what was going on generally artwise at the time.

Off to the shop now, to see if there is anything I’m missing.

Brothers and sisters opting out of a raw deal

I normally take a recorder to capture dj sets, however there is always something falling foul of the correct alignment of the planets: forgetting the press the record button, running out of juice aka batteries when the power cable is too short to reach the socket….there is always a crap reason.  The run of DJ session’s this year has been memorable for more than a minute, from the Las Terasitas beach in Santa Cruz, Mojo Club in Las Palmas, GCMN at Druga Godba Festival in Llubljana, Clandestino Festival, Micromusic TEA, the Keroxen do’s in Tenerife and in Los Jameos del Agua, Womad Fuerteventura and all points inbetween.

Inspired by and for those that turned up throughout the year, and also the people behind the voices or stories and artists contained within.

Ingredients: Guantanamo Stories from Shaker Aamer, recently released from the Yankee enclave in Cuba; political discourse and opinions from Yanis Varoufakis, whose book The Global Minotour has got me wrapped up.  Also some news from Palestine / Occupied Territories via Electronic Intifada. The Arabic discussion before that piece, is taken from a documentary about divorce in Iran.

Regarding the music and sound, contributions from the likes of Batida, Maga Bo, El Mahdy Jr. Kink Gong, The Bug, Kode9, Stereotyp, Tupperwear, Morgan Craft, KingLMan, Kiki Hitomi, Mohammed Al Madloul, Waipoo Petchsuphan, Public Enemy, Stock Hausen & Walkman; MF Doom, SK Simeon, Machinedrum, Oh No, DJ Vadim, Sol Monk, Fun’da’mental, DJ Spinn, Danny Brown, Muslimguaze, Rootsman, 16 Bit vs. Dj Leo, Manolo Viera, Job Ledesma, Mizz Beats, Jeru The Damaja, Nochexxx, Sensational, Walter Gross, theUnderachievers, The Beastie Boys, Audio Two, Gil Scott Heron, Namebrandsound, Source Direct, CDM, and RP Boo. There could be several names missing, hope it doesn’t hurt.

Click here or on the image above to get to it.

First DJ set of 2016 to be announced soon in Madrid come early Feb., with an appearance on RNE.  More as it happens. Hasta pronto.  All the beats, and thanks for tuning in.

PEace.

 

 

 

Rock Solid – Música en la Bienal

Música en la Bienal at Los Jameos del Agua.

Impresionate total! / Incredible shit went down, off the hook by miles.  Never ever played in a place like this / Nunca en mi vida que he pinchando en un sitio como esa.Infuckincredible. Una initiativa muy supermegachachi. Gracias a todos. Being part of such a line-up and an environment that is Los Jameos was one of those moments that stick for a long time. 

Blistering performances from all crew.  Za! always take their surroundings into account when opening their show, this was no different, they have you wondering where the sound is coming from.  This time, the trumpet came from upon high, descending the stairs to setting in front of the reflective pool and illuminated volcanic area. Listening to Lara López’ program on RNE3, I discovered that Laraaji and Brian Eno played in this very same place many years ago. Damn, that was great, gotta say. No puedo respira!

Meneo lost his travel documents, but there was no way he was going to miss his date in Lanzarote.  He arrived late, but only having to plug in his sound source, a Ninetendo or Gameboy, and that was it, no massive headache when it comes to setting up and getting right into it.

Tenerife’s Resonance brought the live element to a close his his rack of synth driven uptempo electronica.

Video below with Gonzo at the Controls: Projections and Lights: Deaxis Mundi & Simone Marin  Sound: Daniel Badal

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Related post here

Les Negresses Vertes in Beirut

Ladies and Gentlmen, welcome to Beirut, December 1991

We were not prepared for anything like this at all.  I bear witness.

French band Les Negresses Vertes were about to release, or had just released their Famille Nombreuse album. The management, comprised of Assad & Jacques organized a concert at venue within the American University of Beirut. How do you say, ‘hostilities between factions had ceased’?  The eighteen year long uncivil war had come to pass, and this was to be the first performance by a ‘Western’ band in the country since the first bullet took a life.  I was the band’s UK Press Representative at the time, and the NME’s Stuart Bailie, photographer Steve Pyke and the Observer’s Philip Sweeney agreed to cover the venture.  At some point I ignored a directive from the Virgin boss Ken Berry: As the company’s insurance would not cover me or any of the personnel in a ‘conflict zone’, I was not to go.  “Sorry, didn’t get the message Ken.”  This was a unique opportunity not to be missed.

For most of us on the trip, it was our first proper real time facing a bullet and rocket scared city and it’s population.  The sheer destruction encompasses you full 360°.  It is painful to see what some will do to others.  People sacrificed regardless of postcode. People, families, and those strangers no longer, lived among the rumble, dust, bomb-induced craters in the streets, passing through militia checkpoints.

“This is the place where Terry Waite was taken hostage.” said our guide, pointing to a nondescript pavement by the road along the coast as the bus took us to Martyr’s Square.  Several of the windows on our bus were penetrated by bullets. What happened the previous occupants of these seats?  On my return to the city several years later, I was informed that the owner of the hotel we we stayed at first time around, was “taken outside and shot, boom, dead.”  Silence for a moment.

My colleague at Virgin France, top AnR person, Maya Masseboeuf is Lebanese, she was on the trip as well, and I recall, as we entered the airport there was a portrait of Syrian’s President Assad, not the current one, his dad, hanging proudly.  “Hey Maya, what is his portrait doing there?” I said a bit too loud for her liking. “Not now.”  I was learning.

During a day trip we came upon a block of flats across the road, the fourth and top floor was totally destroyed, concrete and steel hanging precariously, no surprises would it tumble right there and then.  Maya had family living in that building.  It was Maya that sent the link to the TV report, thank you.

The concert itself hit a cruising altitude of several thousand feet, those in attendance onstage, the audience, everybody unified to celebrate the a richness that had been kidnapped, separated, tortured, abused, murdered, sent into exile and so on.

The relevance of this period in time and what is unfolding right now could not be underestimated.

Négresses vertes á Beyrouth – French TV Report

The Special AKA ‘War Crimes’

Total Destruction: DJ Scud & Nomex

 

 

Fátima Miranda

 

¡Holy shit Batman!

Fátima Miranda performed in El Tanque, Santa Cruz de Tenerife a few nights ago.  Four octave range intact.  Too many people missed the show however those present were satisfied.

I think she can emit a sound that can register less that 0.01dB, your slightest move means you could have missed it.  The ultimate in breath and voice control.  You note the muscles in her face moving ever so slightly. She sings in more than one tongue.  What is emitted is evokes Tuvan throat singers,  or reminiscent of the Sufi lyrics of Nusrat Ali Khan and Aziz Mian.  We had a brief conversation afterwards and she told me she had seen Nusrat perform twice.  As Aziz would do, it seems that dialogues with a God were talking place during her performance.  Moments of discourse and possession, with deep voices turning child-like in less time than it takes to blink.  She knows how to play with the lighting, shadows and the surrounding space very well too well, at one moment slipping behind her companion Marc Egea – who was holding us together with the drone tones his hurdy gurdy – and without missing a turn, taking over his instrument with one hand, while he moved to play a flute. Fascinating all ’round.  Big hand of applause to Nestor Torrens and Pura Martinéz for bringing Fátima and Marc to our doorstep, and to Daniel Badal for precision handing of the lights.

Fátima: Entre Salamanca y Samarkanda (Cantos Robados)

Marc Egea: Hurdy Gurdy

 

Morgan Craft – The Living Mythology

No software was used for the generation of any sound.
All sounds made by, on, or through solo electric guitar.
Improvised and recorded live.

There is a part on this record that I ‘doubted’ the above sentence, but knowing the Rough Americana crew as I do, I believe in them and any statements that make.  “How the hell did he create that jungle break only with his guitar?” is another way of putting it. Hours, days, months of picking up his stringed instrument to delve into the vibrations that exist between one and two.  150 continuous days in the studio to be exact.

RA, Morgan Craft and Mutamassik always present their respective theories with their music, no change here, you can depend on them to be thorough, consistent and honest. If they were ever presented with a rule book but was burnt upon receipt.

“Science relies on precise mathematics to produce vibratory phenomena that is not seen as music, per se. Never trust anyone who claims that music is mathematics. I think we’ve all heard that before, time and time again, that music is mathematics, to the point where it becomes taken for granted, that music is mathematics. It’s not true. Music is not mathematics. Music can be approximated using mathematics, but will always fall short of the truth.”

Morgan Craft – The Living Mythology Bandcamp

Cover painting: Mutamassik

Rough Americana website

Update: Mutamassik will be doing a set in Berlin this Saturday.  See here for more juice

Apologies to RA for saddling them with my 666th post.

Música en la Bienal

A week today Spain, and it’s colonies, celebrate ‘el dia de la Constitución’, a bank holiday, so no work, for some.  The team from Keroxen here in Tenerife have linked up with the people running the Culture office in Lanzarote to present something to do in a very special place.  Música en la Bienal at Los Jameos del Agua in Lanzarote.

Los Jameos are located inside the volcanic tunnel created by the eruption of La Corona. It owes its name to the existence of an internal lake which constitutes a unique geological formation.

The line-up for next week features Gonzo, the head of the Discrepant label, which has released some real gems, the Kink Gong ‘Tanzania‘ album is easily my favourite release of the year.  Gonzo aka Gonçalo has this album  21st Century Drone Acoustics  scheduled for release soon.

Who else? Meneo is onboard, so the Tropics are going to be in full swing. Za! bring their Lololismo to the front, and Resonance celebrates two years since the release of his album Skygaze. I have the honour of the closing set.  Simone Marin aka I/O, the don of Keroxen visuals will be working the lighting element of the spaces.  Got a woody for this so badly, you don’t know!

Tickets are 20€

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Un lugar tan especial como Los Jameos invita a realizar un evento a la altura de este espacio privilegiado. Jameos Bienal 201 5 pretende ser una producción en el ámbito musical que re-configure este espacio natural a través de una intervención creativa amplia. Una experiencia que combine efectos visuales y acústicos con propuestas atrevidas y participativas en las que la exploración será una constante.

Un evento que aprovechará la textura original de los Jameos para convertirlo en un espacio generador de encuentros y vivencias artísticas y no meramente en una sala de música y baile.

Varios de los músicos de la programación se moverán por los distintos espacios de los Jameos interactuando con el público. Habrá proyecciones de videomapping sobre las mismas rocas y plantas del espacio, así como inesperadas performances artísticas.

Este evento, pretende ser una obra artística más de la Bienal y está pensado desde esa perspectiva.

 

 

The Return

Welcome back

Buenos dias y’all. To be greeted by a such a sight the first day back home after the latest episode of Planes, Trains & Automobiles, is fresh.

Scalper: Perfume

Back for another hit. That’ll Scalper I’m taking about.   Along for the ride this time is RiotMiloo on vocals for the sweet smelling bran’ new tune from The Emperor’s Clothes album.  He has been over in Europe this summer for some shows, and will be back soon.  Keep an eye out.

If you wanna cop his joints, or check out more, man has a website, don’t be shy, he doesn’t bite.  (Correction: He may do actually, sorry for the misinformation.)

Scalper bandcamp

Vinyl album available here