Thursday, May 26, 2011

DOCUMENTING THE EARLY DAYS OF THE BELGIAN SOUL SCENE

Lander Lenaerts, better known as The Blast Kid is a dj and a record collector and, above all, a very decent human being. I really enjoy spinning with him as I always get to discover stuff I didn't know.

His passion for music and cinema led him to produce and direct this excellent documentary. This movie tells the story of the early days of the Belgian Soul Scene as told by it pionneering deejays ... Gerry and Gibbe obviously have great stories to tell ...

Belgian Popcorn from Laid Back on Vimeo.


As Lander puts it : "Belgium, 1970. While most radio stations and discotheques are playing the pop and rock hits of the day, a new venue opens in the small village of Vrasene, near Sint-Niklaas. The place is called The Popcorn and the dj’s play obscure soul records which they slow down in order to create their own sound. A few years later, music lovers and dancers come from all over Belgium, France and The Netherlands to enjoy this unique music. More and more venues start playing this style of music, which they refer to as ‘the Popcorn sound’ or ‘Popcorn Oldies’.
Somewhat the Belgian equivalent of England’s better known Northern Soul movement, Popcorn was an underground, at first regional, phenomenon led by dj’s who dug deep to find musical treasures that would please their specific crowd. Both scenes show a lot of similarities: the crowd (mostly working class youngsters), the dance temples (The Wigan’s Casino and The Twisted Wheel in the UK, The Groove and The Popcorn in Belgium), the own dance style, the quest for obscure soul records, the covering up of labels so that competitors couldn’t see what they were playing, the bootlegs and so on.
And although both scenes are sometimes named in one breath, they yield a lot of differences too: where Northern Soul is mostly uptempo, the Popcorn dj’s chose softer songs and slowed them down most of the time. Some artists who were popular in Northern Soul clubs, might’ve never been played in Popcorn venues and vice versa. Northern Soul is a name given to a specific group of soul songs, while Popcorn is a melting pot of styles, ranging from rhythm ‘n’ blues to latin and ska.
Fast forward forty years, and Popcorn is known all over the world. American specialized record dealers advertise some of their soul records with the typical afterbeat rhythm as ‘Belgian Popcorn’, although it are songs by American artists. In their landmark book ‘Last Night A Dj Saved My Life’, authors Bill Brewster and Frank Broughton write that Popcorn made Belgians love slow music, and thus paved the way for New Beat, Belgium’s most influential musical style yet and the foundations for a lot of today’s contemporary dance music.
And yet, in those forty years, mainstream media have hardly paid any attention to this phenomenon. Although the Popcorn scene is very vivid these days, the history of it is hardly documented. In an attempt to change this, I made the short documentary ‘Belgian Popcorn’. The film tells the story of Popcorn through the eyes of dj’s Gerry and Gibbe, two of the founding fathers of the genre. They speak about the early days of the scene, about record digging in basements in the UK, and they return for a last time to The Popcorn, which closed in 2003. As the building is currently in the process of being demolished, this is the last footage ever shot of one of the most legendary discotheques in Belgium.
This documentary is far from a complete historical overview of Belgian Popcorn. Making such a film would be nearly impossible, as there are many people who have contributed to the movement at different times and in different places. This short documentary puts the focus on the early days of the scene, as seen by two of its key figures."

More info HERE and HERE.



Blast Kid on Mixcloud

Blast Kid on Tumblr


Via Laid-Back

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

VERSION 1 : PHIL ASHER GOES YARDIE


Do not ask me why I got there (because i was thinking about a nice festival in a sunny location, maybe), but I stumbled upon this ... A Strictly Dub Mix by the Phlash Man aka Phil Asher from Restless Soul Fame. I have to say I'm amazed that the guy goes reggae, but hey, I love reggae and I like Phil. He is an inspiration even if I only heard him spin once.

As they say yardie style : "Brethren, di set deya fi blazin faya"

Enjoy.

STREAM

DOWNLOAD

Via Daily Sunsplash.


Tracklist:

1. DJ I ROY – TIGER FROM BENGALIE – SUCCESS RECORDS
2. PABLO ALL STAR – SKANKING VERSION – ROCKERS
3. CARLTON LIVINGSTONE – TALE OF TWO CITIES / DUB – CHANNEL 1
4. PRINCE FARI & CULTURE – MESSAGE FROM THE KING / VERSION – CRY TUFF WISDOM MAN
5. ROD TAYLOR – NO ONE CAN TELL I ABOUT JAH JAH / VERSION - CRY TUFF WISDOM MAN
6. MAYTONES – WHO CANT HEAR MUST FEEL / VERSION – COMMANDA MUSIC
7. MAYTONES – WHO CANT HEAR MUST FEEL – COMMANDA MUSIC
8. TENOR SAW – JAH GUIDE AND PROTECT ME / VERSION – FS001
9. TENOR SAW – JAH GUIDE AND PROTECT ME – FS001
10. TENOR SAW – JAH GUIDE AND PROTECT ME / VERSION – FS001
11. MICHAEL PROPHET – YOU ARE A NO GOOD / VERSION – JAH GUIDANCE
12. MICHAEL PROPHET – YOU ARE A NO GOOD – JAH GUIDANCE
13. THE UPSTETTERS – STRONG DUB – UPSETTERS RECORDS DISCO CORK
14. JACOB MILLER – TENEMENT YARD – INSTRUMENTAL DUB – ARAB RECORDS
15. MIKEY DREAD & KING TUBBY – PARROT JUNGLE – DREAD AT THE CONTROLS
16. BLACK UHURU – DUB OF EGLINGTON – ISLAND RECORDS
17. STEPHANIE SAMUELS – AFRICA WE WANT TO GO / DUB – CHANNEL 1
18. HUGH MUNDELL – ONE JAH, ONE AIM, ONE DESTINY/ VERSION ROCKERS ALLSTARS – ROCKERS INTERNATIONAL
19. AUGUSTUS PABLO – EAST OF THE RIVER NILE / VERSION PABLO ALLSTARS - ROCKERS INTERNATIONAL
20. I ROY – SATTA MASSAGANA – ATTACK
21. KEN BOOTHE - SATTA MASSAGANA – ATTACK

Sunday, May 22, 2011

2 NEW LIVE MIXES ON THE MIXCLOUD PAGE

This is the "One Night at Le Bar du Matin" mixes. As always, we are asked to choose a theme for the night. I went for the afrolatin side of things. Salsa dura, cumbia, latin funk, latin breaks, afrobeat, etc ...
I think this fits the wonderful weather we had in Brussels lately.
This are one take tapes recorded live, no editing, no overdubs, or anything like it.


Enjoy.

DOWNLOAD PART 1

DOWNLOAD PART 2





Saturday, May 14, 2011

Thursday, May 12, 2011

MO & GRAZZ : YOU GOTTA (VIDEO)

Several weeks ago, Dj Grazzhoppa contacted me and asked me to come and play the "party crasher dj" for his forthcoming video. That's ironic. Every dj is wack compared to Grazz, who is an artist, a human being and a dj I respect to the fullest. Of course, I accepted without a doubt. It was a day of fun and laughter. It was nice to spend time with Younes, Tradd, Yi Phun, Menno, Iron.

"You gotta" is a song featured on "Gemini", the second album by Mo (his wife) and Grazz. The links to go and cop it are below the video.




Itunes
Bandcamp

ELMATIC


Elzhi (from Slum Village fame) rereads Nas's classic album called Illmatic. It's very faithful to the original, the rhymes are (as always) sharp. The production (by Will Sessions) is dope too. Quality hip hop if you ask me ...


DOWNLOAD

Enjoy.

TRACKLIST

01. The Genesis
02. Detroit State of Mind (Houseshoes Shout)
03. Halftime
04. Memory Lane
05. The World Is Yours
06. Represent
07. Life’s A Bitch feat. Royce da 5’9 and Stokley Williams of Mint Condition
08. One Love
09. It Ain’t Hard To Tell (Pete Rock Shout)
10. Pete Rock Shout

APPEL A MANIFESTER CONTRE LE DECRET "INSCRIPTIONS"


INDIGNONS-NOUS face aux conséquences du Décret inscription
APPEL A MANIFESTER
MARDI 17 MAI 2011 à 17h00
Devant le Cabinet de Marie-Dominique SIMONET
Place Surlet de Chokier, 15-17, 1000 Bruxelles

Chers tous,

Comme beaucoup d’autres parents, nous sommes deux mamans indignées par ce qui arrive à nos aînés.

Félicien, élève à Saint-Dominique à Schaerbeek depuis la 1ère maternelle, est refusé dans la section humanités de la même école Saint-Dominique ainsi que dans les 9 autres écoles choisies sur le formulaire d’inscription. Félicien est sur la liste d’attente dans 10 écoles.

Elisabeth, élève à Saint-Dominique depuis sa première maternelle, est également refusée en humanités à Saint-Dominique. Dans les 6 écoles choisies sur le formulaire d’inscription, elle est sur la liste d’attente. Pour l’heure, Elisabeth n’a pas d’école ; n’étant acceptée nulle part.

Félicien et Elisabeth ne sont pas les seuls à vivre cette situation. Pas moins de 23 enfants de l’école primaire de Saint-Dominique ont vu leur inscription refusée dans cette même école en section secondaire! Autrement dit, 1/3 des enfants de 6e primaire qui souhaitaient poursuivre leur scolarité dans cette école (67 élèves sur 80 ont demandé à rester dans leur école) et bénéficier de son projet pédagogique voient leur parcours scolaire perturbé et fragilisé ! A long terme, cela signifie également que 23 fratries sont exclues de Saint-Dominique.

Parce qu’une des valeurs apprises à Saint-Dominique est la SOLIDARITE, nous souhaitons nous rassembler avec tous les enfants, les parents, tous ceux qui sont solidaires et tous ceux qui voudraient dénoncer les conséquences du décret inscription.

PROTESTONS pour le libre choix de l’école
PROTESTONS pour le respect de nos enfants
PROTESTONS pour la continuité du cursus scolaire
PROTESTONS pour le choix d’une école en fonction de son projet pédagogique et pas seulement de sa situation géographique
PROTESTONS pour que cela ne vous arrive pas demain.

Aujourd’hui, 849 élèves en Communauté française n’ont pas obtenu de place parmi leurs choix, dont 701 à Bruxelles.
Aujourd’hui, un très grand nombre d’enfants n’a pu être inscrit dans l’école de leur premier choix.

Mardi 17 mai, nous partirons de l’école Saint-Dominique à 16h00.
Vos enfants sont sous votre responsabilité.
Nous vous remercions d’avance d’être très nombreux ce jour-là et vous invitons à diffuser cet avis autour de vous.

Rejoignez-nous avec vos banderoles, vos affiches et vos dessins.

Monday, May 9, 2011

RARE ETHIOPIAN 45 MIX (VIA OKAYAFRICA)


Earlier on, I was telling you how much Quantic (yes ! It's him again ...) is productive ... here is another proof.
Will recently put together this mix of rare 45s he found in Ethiopia, calling it ”a mix of folkloric and outer-regional music of Ethiopia, all 45s and some records that I think need to be heard. Less of breaks & wah wah and this time more of krar, claps, howling sounds and organ melodies. For fans of previous mixes Axum to Addis and Addis Sheckla Explosion.” Listen to and download the whole mix by clicking on the link below, and let’s he hope he continues the crate digging!

Rare Ethiopian 45's Mix by Quantic

Via OkayAfrica

QUANTIC Y SU CONJUNTO LOS MITICOS DEL RITMO : HIP HOP EN CUMBIA EP


Via Paris Dj's, I learned that this project will officially see the light of day around mid-june. Quantic is definetly one of the hardest working man in the business. Between his productions, his live projects and his dj sets, the man takes lessons of accordeon with Anibal Velazquez, prepares a trip in Haïti to record some rara bands and asks his friends to suggest him some melodic hip hop tracks to go further with this "Hip Hop en Cumbia" business.
You heard some of these tracks on Back to Niceness in the past weeks. You know I'm quite impatient on this one.

This highly anticipated release is limited to just 2000 copies Worldwide and is pressed on green flecked vinyl. All tracks are previously unreleased and exclusive to this 12. The A side features Quantic paying tribute Cumbia-style to some Hip Hop classics and the B side is a Serato tone control. The idea for this musical project started when Quantic recorded Cumbia de Dilla as a special one-off track, to play at DJ parties, particularly those in LA where Hip Hop and Cumbia have a special place in people's hearts. The queue of eager fans crowding round to ask about the track inspired and set this new project on the road. This EP features covers of KRS One, Dr Dre, Missy Elliot, Pete Rock & CL Smooth, and a an original track, Cuarta Con Cuarta.

Tracklisting :
A1. Step Into A World (Rapture's Delight)
A2. Nutin' But A G Thing (Dre In Cumbia)
A3. Cuarta Con Cuarta
A4. Miss Jackson (Interlude)
A5. Get Ur Freak On
A6. They Reminisce Over You (T.R.O.Y )
A7. Rico Suave Bossa Nova (Cumbia De Dilla)
B1. Serato Tone Control

Press Release :
FOR FANS OF: J DILLA, DR DRE, KRS ONE

This highly anticipated release is limited to just 2000 copies Worldwide and is pressed on green flecked vinyl. All tracks are previously unreleased and exclusive to this 12.

The A side features Quantic paying tribute Cumbia-style to some Hip Hop classics and the B side is a Serato tone control.

The idea for this musical project started when Quantic recorded "Cumbia de Dilla" as a special one-off track, to play at DJ parties, particularly those in LA where Hip Hop and Cumbia have a special place in people's hearts. The queue of eager fans crowding round to ask about the track inspired and set this new project on the road.

Quantic has been learning accordion for three years or so in Colombia and Panama, including being taught by accordion master Anibal Velasquez in the Colombian coastal city of Barranquilla.

Cumbia, with roots in Colombia, has spread in popularity across Argentina, Peru, and into Mexico and the US, transforming as it travelled. There has been a resurgence of popularity for Cumbia amongst younger generations of DJs around the World, exploring the sound through electronic music. A new generation of Cumbiamberos (people who play Cumbia), and those experimenting with the sound, place it in a new arena with endless possibilities.

This EP features covers of the seminal KRS One track "Step Into A World", Dr Dre's "Nothing But A G Thing", Missy Elliot's "Get UR Freak On", Pete Rock & CL Smooth's "They Reminisce Over You (T.R.O.Y.)", "Cumbia de Dilla" and a an original track, "Cuarta Con Cuarta".

Quantic has previously sold in excess of 120,000 records, with support and acclaim from tastemakers and mainstream media the World over, from Gilles Peterson (Radio 1) through Mark Ronson and the Guardian.

The last Tru Thoughts/Serato collaboration (featuring Skream) created a storm and we expect this 12 to move even quicker!

Sunday, May 8, 2011

LDBK COMPILATION


Laid-Back and I have been walking a similar path for the last 8 years or so ... I saw them grow bigger every year, I saw them improve their product and go from strictly "airwave radio" to strictly "web radio". The walk the walk and talk the talk. Therefore, I respect Julius and the Crew to the fullest. No bullshit; with them, reflection leads to action.
Now, they decide to go one step further and cook up a compilation. You may or may not know some of the artists featured on this project. But they all deserve your careful attention.

Here is the trailer and you can preview the tracks below. More info HERE.

Enjoy.

Introducing the LDBK compilation from Laid Back on Vimeo.


LDBK compilation by LaidBack

Saturday, May 7, 2011

"START OF UR ENDING" PART 1

Via Put Me On It

MOBB DEEP "Start of Ur Ending" from Q-Butta on Vimeo.



As she suggests ...

Three suggestions for best viewing results -

1. Allow video to buffer, skip to 1:40 [thus avoiding waste of life watching pointless close ups of Mobb Deeps fish etc].
2. Watch fascinating Prodigy monologue, [remind self not to drive around with a gun in your car in order to avoid three years of incarceration].
3. Ensure you switch video off before 12:30 if you have epilepsy. Or functioning eyes.

Thursday, May 5, 2011

33 MINUTES OF PLEASURE WITH DJ FORMAT (MIXTAPE)


As D Day is getting closer (only 9 more days of patience, folks), I asked Format to record a mix exclusively for your listening pleasure. Considering the amount of work the man has to do, he couldn't do it but sent this one instead. A "Special Latin" mix he recorded a while ago to promote his compilation for Fania Records. He told me this : "The mix starts off quite slow & mellow and gets faster. It's an ok mix but nothing special so i hope it's ok for promotion..I don't usually play so many Latin records,i prefer to mix things up and play Funk/Rock/Hip Hop/Latin etc all together to keep it interesting for everyone but i made this mix for a UK radio station when i was promoting my Fania DJ Series Vol.2 CD a while ago".

33 minutes of pleasure indeed ! And it is more than ok for promotion purposes ...

Enjoy.

DOWNLOAD

There are more mixes to be listened to HERE

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

ADVENTURES IN NIAMEY (DAY 5 AND BACK IN BRUSSELS)

Armand The Tailor, Bruno Dj Cool Coulibaly (Burkina Faso), Big Ismael The Fixer, Dj Rim K (Senegal)

So, there it is. Everything has to come to an end. This trip obviously had to come to an end. So I'm back in Brussels after a messy journey where my bag got lost between Casablanca, Niamey and Brussels. And I got stuck in Paris for a night due to the curfew in Ouagadougou (but that's another story). Alister G and Jean-Luc, the guys from Togo, had to leave on monday morning. And hit a 24h bustrip to Lome. In total, they were something like 50 hours on the bus. All this for a show that lasted approximately 14 minutes and 47 seconds. Frustrating !
Monday, we had a very nice day of shopping, the crate digging session didn't happen because I forgot my portable turntable. I planned to go back to the spot the next day then realized there would not be a next day because I had to come back home. So, Nicole organised a big meal. Karim brought his decks and we gave a worshop for 5 very enthusiastic kids. To see them with stars in their eyes was the reward for the rest.

Jean-Luc, Rim K, Philippe, Jean-Marc, Nicole, Alister G, Bruno Dj Cool

So, there you go ... Good times ! Hope we all see each other again next year. Until then, whatever you do, do it good !

Les Roniers by night



Shout out and massive thanks for the wonderful times in general to : Nicole, Jean-Marc, Philippe, Ismael The Fixer, Bruno, Karim, Alister, Jean-Luc, Hotel Les Roniers, Docteur Plume, Jacques Le Rebelle, Cyriac, les kids (Lucas, Tayane, Lanna, Mathilde, Kylian, Nazim, Kali, Kezia), the mangos, the Flag beer, the marvelous sun, the laterite, the Niger River. Hope to find you all in shape, laughs and smiles somewhere next year.

Sunday, May 1, 2011

ADVENTURES IN NIAMEY (DAYS 3 & 4 )


So ... Where to start ? First, of all, let me introduce to you my excellent friend the mango tree ... Spent this afternoon in his company and under his shadow. Here, you might, like me, redefine the term "heat". So, the mango tree was more than welcome. Nicole and her friends (festival crew, families, kids) invited us to their refuge on weekends. We had a barbecue along the Niger River (20km away from Niamey), we swam less then 100 meters from Hippos (kinda scary actually).

The festival was a mess. So, no spins, no workshops. But very nice encounters. That's the most important ! We got to play approximately 20 minutes per head, thanks to DJ Rim K from Dakar who brought turnatbles. Not cd ! Turntables ! In Africa. Where, except for Dakar (where people still play and by wax). So, as the guys had cd's, they couldn't compete. And anyway, there were not enough conpetitors. 5 out of eight never showed up. Bummer ! Dj Cool from Burkina Faso did his thing after a 5 minutes explanation about Serato. And smashed it.

Boubey on the mangotree.

Yesterday night, after the mess, we went out in a club right along the River. Beautiful place. Like Waow ! Horrible soundsystem. We heard lots of coupé-decallé, international hits like Stromae or Black Eyed Peas, and even Gabber Techno. Some girls were stunningly gorgeous. But a gorgeous bounty hunter is still is a bounty hunter. So, take some distance ! As I said, "Flag" is an old friend of mine. We had to celebrate our second meeting.

Tomorrow, I'm playing my "Voodoo Kwak" in the dustbins in Niamey. Crate digging !




Shout out to Big Ismael, the perfect fixer.
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