Sample Spotting

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Both great tracks if you ask me. I mean it.

Some news for whoever is reading: we've finally got our act together and recorded a podcast! Happy as Larry with the end result so keep checking back for updates or alternatively sign up to the podcast via iTunes using the link on our podcast page (see links on the right).

K-OS- 4,3,2,1

k-os - 4,3,2,1


Genre-defying Canadian emcee and personal hero of mine; K-OS, has dropped the video for '4,3,2,1'. This is the lead single from his fourth album Yes! (out March 31)

For those who don't know here a couple more videos from two earlier albums.

'Superstar pt.0' (Exit, 2002)



'Sunday Morning' (Atlantis: Hymns For Disco, 2007)

Half Asleep

... by School of Seven Bells from the album Alpinisms. You can hear more here.

Quirk

Some amazingly naff record covers here but also some ace ones too.. Get stuck in!

Üdio Returns - Friday March 6th 2009

This is what Greg Wilson had to say about our b'day party :
"Really enjoyed the night. You never know what to expect in January, but Friday was a brilliant vibe. Really good crowd you've got there – definitely a good thing going on. Perfect prelude for being back at the hotel listening to my mix going out live." Chuffed.

We're back on March 6th in the Gramaphone basement this time with special guest Trevor Jackson (Playgroup)! He's well known for his music productions under the guise of Playgroup (and remixes for The Gossip, Franz Ferdinand, The Rapture and more), his now defunct record-label Output (previously home to LCD Soundsystem, Four Tet, Black Strobe and mentalist bird Mu) and also his excellent graphic design work (campaigns for Soulwax, Vice, BMW, Nike and DFA Records amongst others). If you've heard his awesome DJ Kicks mix you'll know how much of a treat we're in for.

People interested in his graphic design work can see loads of it on his website but here's one of our faves (move away from the screen):

Son Is Shook

The 39Steps - Coming Clean from Bad Sneakers Records on Vimeo.

Holding onto something that was nothing in a dream....the universe of The 39Steps is calling. Scratchy horns and spring pianos, red reverbs and talk of ghosts- the details are sketchy but you know what they are saying.

The 39Steps are set to release their album Coming Clean in April on Bad Sneakers records and you can download the title-track on iTunes now. Since moving to Bad Sneakers their visual aesthetic has evolved and you can see just how on their new website and also their myspace.

Enjoy the video - it's worth watching just to see what Kato's up to when he's not making beats.

Eight-Oh-80's

Click me and listen to me nice and loud

Excellent CutTheFuckUp 80's party mix from Trevor Jackson (Playgroup) that he did in 2001 - 60 minutes of 80s disco punk funk breaks and more. Here's an excerpt of the tracklist:

...Rolling Stones - Miss You
Mikey Dread - Saturday Night Style
Pigbag - Papas Got a Brand New Pigbag
Double Dee & Steinski - Lesson 1
Coldcut - Say Kids
Afrika Bambaata & Jazzy Jay - Death Mix
Run Dmc - Sucker MC’s
Tear For Fear - Shout (Acapella)
Word of Mouth - King Kut
Biz Markie - Nobody Beats The Biz
EPMD - It’s My Thing
Schooly D - Saturday Night
Boogie Down Productions - South Bronx
Fred Wesley & The JB’s - Blow Your Head
Big Daddy Kane - Raw
Rob Base & DJ Easy Rock - It Takes Two
Sugar Bear - Don’t Scandalize Mine
Uptown - Dope On Plastic
Danny Krivit - Rock The House...

Following on from the best birthday ever back in January, our next session takes place on March 6th. Wonder who's playing..

Not your average pizza and lazer quest birthday

Utter elation must fall just short of an orgasm in an adjectives scale of positivity. Both would naturally precede "holy" with, i suppose other biblical terminology dominating that top portion. So then what, i ask are we left with to proclaim of Greg Wilson's gracing of the Udio den? To make a narrative of the whole thing I might begin with myself grinning in the back of the taxi all the way home (except as we are reversing here, back to the club). I would then recall the absurdities of a stunning patchwork of bubblegum pop (its ricky's party and he can cry if he wants to) and thunderous acid house courtesy of Ricky's closing set. Then but two funks of a clock earlier we have Greg's last few songs -being an extremely extended and particularly echoey Aint no Mountain High Enough, Voodoo Ray, Todd Terje's beefed up I Want Your Love and The voice of Q. Maybe then some time would be taken indulging in a compare and contrast of the different facial reactions to my distributing of Haribbo about the dancing bodies. Time of course must be taken out in remembrance of the cosmic/hiphop warm up, of Ali's successful deflating of each of our successully inflated balloons, and before that my pre party toilet extravaganza of nerves, hormones, anticipation and of course their secretion. 

jim 

G r e g * E l e c t r o F u n k * W i l s o n

Footage from various gigs to raise brows and get everyone nicely excited for our birthday this Friday!







Sign up here!

Üdio 1st Birthday with Greg Wilson!

Our last party was perhaps the best yet. We had Bill Brewster bringing some great afro-inspired house music to the Gramaphone basement and Sativo shaking the whole place nicely with his lively showcase of pitched-up bumpty hits. Massive thank you to everyone who came down and helped make the night what it was.

On the 16th Jan we are really happy to be celebrating our 1st birthday in the Gramaphone basement. We set up Üdio to push the funk (in all its incarnations... from deep funk to techno, disco to breakbeat) and with this in mind, who better to invite to help us celebrate our first year in London than one of the pioneers of the UK electro/funk scene... G r e g W i l s o n. There's loads of footage of him doing his live thing on youtube, suffice to say we are expecting a lovely night full of ace music and happy faces. Hope you can make it down too! The facebook event profile is here. Its rare to be able to see a dj of Greg's stature for a fiver in London but we are all about keeping the door prices down. We said that right at the beginning and there's been no deviation since.

I'm lucky enough to be following on from Greg on the night and have so much music that needs airing on the new improved Gramaphone soundsystem. You can see a couple bits on my phonica chart here. Just a slight correction... ignore the hercules LP right at the end - it was meant to be a nod to their "classique 2 / ROAR" EP. Most of the music is from later in the year because I didn't really have my thinking cap on but there's plenty of samples to get stuck into. Enjoy.

Happy new year!

Cherish The Day (Live)

Sade. Show some respect.

Full update to follow on our November 14th session which was an interesting night by all accounts and has got us nicely excited about our birthday party on January 16th.

My head is pounding from seeing Digitalism last night and I'm fighting off the temptation to use loads of nu-rave words in this post so that's all from me!

Exceptional Disco Headpieces

inspired by rose royce (see below)

odd outfits too. boney m forgo their normally bizarre lyrics in favour of snippets of suggestive male vocal (saucy) and a brass led instrumental disco funk workout thing.

Bauhaus, Hairspray, Bats, Edits

Having stumbled across Fernando's recent Bauhaus edit, 'kick in the eye' (on the Redux label) this sometime bloggers goth leanings have been stirring.... it's not quite as bad as it sounds, and doesn't involve any crushed velvet or floor length pvc macs (although bats and belltowers can come into it and there are some interesting Elnett hair edifices involved....)


the original version of 'Kick in the Eye' (in tuxes, throwing shapes, smoke machines, amazing)



and if you're still here, another classic goth punk song thing from sue and the boys

November 14th ÜDIO

We are really looking forward to this now.. Jamie Woon (whose live skills you can see in the post below) will keep things interesting during the early stages of the night and Bill Brewster will undoubtedly live up to his name later on. Support comes from friendly yank Sativo who somehow had the normally chilled upstairs bar jumping back at our April gig. This time around we welcome his charisma and flair to the basement for a block-party beatdown of crunkdiscofunk satisfaction. Sign up here

Jamie Woon - Spirits

Fantastic talent from London. You can read more about him here and also be sure to check out Burial's remix of Wayfaring Stranger. Can't wait to see him live.

Let The Spirit

Today I have that restless feeling that you get in the few hours before you see you're favourite artist perform live. It's all about Roots Manuva tonight who headlines at the Warehouse Project here in my hometown of Manchester. His current tour is, of course, in support of his latest (and possibly greatest?) album; Slime and Reason which has birthed his latest single and video; 'Let The Spirit'.

After the jump I've also included the only copy of Blak Twang's mid '90s tune; 'Queen's Head' that I could find online. It features a skinny Roots, in his pre-Manuva days as 'Baron Smith', outshining a rough-around-the edges Tony Rotton.

P.S.- Look out for Ty at the start of the video too.

Black twang ft roots manuva - the queen's head
Uploaded by dougpark17

Mahavishnu Orchestra

Finally got my hands on the Mahavishnu Orchestra LP The Inner Mounting Flame the other day and thought I would post up a live version of the standout track "You Know You Know". Watch Billy Cobham the drummer go mental around the 7 minute mark.

Üdio updates to follow soon..

Love Lockdown

LOVE LOCKDOWN from kwest on Vimeo.

Just as I was starting to wish unkind things upon T-Pain and the spread of his autotune influence, Mr. West went and released the video for 'Love Lockdown'. Whilst I couldn't get onside with the change in direction at first, the video, I think helps make sense of Kanye's new, refined sound. 'Love Lockdown' is the first single off 808s & Heartbreak out November 25th.

Universal Mind Control

It's a good thing he's no longer with the self-proclaimed Analogue Girl aka Erykah Badu, as she surely would not approve of this video. It's digital as a mofo!

The eagerly anticipated video for Common's 'Universal Mind Control'; the title track of his upcoming album, has finally dropped and it's looking sharp. Look out for Pharrell the robot.

Road To Where - Free Download

The 39 Steps are here to introduce you to what they call 'Dark Soul'. Leeds-based producer Kato has created a place where jazz, hip hop, psychedelia and filmscores collide. Built to a blueprint of bottom-heavy beats and guest singer Laura Fowles' spine-tingling vocals, their debut album Coming Clean showcases his manifesto of thoughtful and emotive music. Despite a low-key arrival onto the electronic music scene with no live output as yet, their studio project has been steadily acquiring interest on digital domains such as MySpace, where enthusiasts from all over the world variously described their music as 'awesome', 'melancholic' and 'beautiful'. Coming Clean is currently being prepared for release. Expect an album of hazy pianos, scratchy horns, confusion and clarity.

Massive congratulations to The 39 Steps on being signed by up and coming Leeds-based label, Bad Sneakers records. Surely a contender for best label name ever?

Before the album is released early next year there will be several goodies made available for you to enjoy such as videos and behind-the-scenes insights. To get the ball rolling, the label have very kindly released an excellent preview of the album in the form of "Road To Where". Download for free here!

Many Moons

If Kanye was to ever to get his wish for the Bible to be modernised, and rappers incorporated into its stories, then P.Diddy has got to be the hip-hop Samson. When Puff's shiny suits disappeared so did his musical relevance.

In an effort to acquaint his Bad Boy Records label with the term credibility, Diddy signed Janelle Monae in 2007 and made a lot of people nervous for the singer's career.

For those who don't know, Janelle Monae's quirky style brought her to the attention of Outkast's Big Boi which led to her appareances on the Idlewild soundtrack. Her underground following has grown ever since, hence the apprehension that greeted the news of her signing with Diddy.

Her debut video for 'Many Moons' however goes a long way to dispel the fears of her followers whilst announcing Janelle as a futuristic soul star to the rest of the world.

With a new material due out next year, check Monae's EP; Metropolis:The Chase Suite and the plentiful Youtube footage in the meantime.

Talk To Me

Man, you played the Johnny Cashcard.. Weepy old me is ducking out of this one as that video is the epitomy of a solid tearjerker (plus all I had was Chris Isaac..)

On a serious note though, there is a good reason for me to be upset tonight. I've just come to learn that DJ Vadim has unfortunately been diagnosed with cancer. I really hope the hardest working man in Hip-Hop will come out of this OK and my thoughts are with him and his missus, Yarah Bravo. In case you don't know of his work I've posted up one of my favourite beats from his most recent album "The Soundcatcher". Enjoy, and if you subscribe to the power of collective belief, read this and get involved.

Never one to back down...

...from a challenge. Mr Paul, I see your Rose Royce and raise you a Janet Jackson, circa 1997. Taken from Janet's The Velvet Rope album, 'Got 'til It's Gone' probably isn't in the tearjerker class but is gently affecting with a masterpiece of a video directed by Mark Romanek.

P.S.- I'dve posted up Romanek's video for 'Hurt' by Johnny Cash (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SmVAWKfJ4Go) if I'dve thought weepy Ricky could handle it.

Wishing On A Star

Not 100% sure why I'm posting this one up but it's Sunday night and it feels kind of right, so there you go. Make sure you stick around for the brief but excellent drum-break right at the end, and if anyone wants to step up and challenge this video with another tearjerker, give it your best shot!

Damme Chromeo

Grab a pen and take notes.

The Egyptian Lover Returns

This came out in 2006 on an album called Platinum Pyramids (Egyptian Empire Records). No idea what the rest of the album is like but if the artwork is anywhere near as good as the photo below, it might be worth investigating further. Listen to more of The Egyptian Lover on his Egyptian space.

Now On- The Willows

Now On - The Willows from Henry DeMaio on Vimeo.

A nice video for the easy-on-the-ears lead single from LA-based Now On's new album; Tomorrow Already. Check the Myspace (http://www.myspace.com/nowon) for more samples of the group's mellow brand.

New Q-Tip

The song itself has been knocking around for a while but the video for 'Getting Up', the first single off Tip's upcoming album The Renaissance, has surfaced online in the last couple of days. Feeling this song in an unhealthy way so it's nice to see the visuals don't let the audio down any at all.

I Wanna Kiss Myself

Spent the whole day in Phonica on Sunday so I'm feeling inspired enough to write a big post gorged full of all the badstuff I was lucky enough to hear. There's loads to get through so get nice and comfy. First up is Damian Lazarus' effort at the Sci-Fi-Lo-Fi series..


At first glance I wrote this one off, thinking that it was another instalment of the boring Sci-Fi-Hi-Fi series that generally equates to lots of average/semi-decent techno. To my surprise however, volume 2 of the more abstract Sci-Fi-Lo-Fi series showcases a bunch of genres, beginning with a tidy hip-hop number, sculpted by Sir Andrew Weatherall, which soon enough gets segued into Burial's "Etched Headplate". I pretty much handed myself over to old Lazarus from then onwards and was taken on an enjoyable ride through a soundscape which features MAW, Pulp, Jus Ed and Hercules and Love Affair amongst others. I really dislike Pulp, they have never done anything for me.. but the Moloko mix of their track on this compilation is bliss. Check out samples of the mix here and make sure you listen to the Kassem Mosse track.

Here's a couple of down-time albums:


Voice Of The Seven Woods - The Journey

This one floats by like a dream. It's only 16:48 minutes long but it feels much longer, and its length surprisingly doesn't take away from its value. You can hear some samples here - I'd say that "Breaking Moonlight" gives a good idea of the overall tone of the album/EP.


Lindstrom - Where You Go I Go Too

Not really one to bum Lindstrom, me. I can't say that I've ever bought any of his records (although I did pick up an album he did with Prins Thomas ages ago). Some of his work reeks of quality and norwegian dope but.. as is often the case, the hype around him unnerves me a bit. Perhaps I'm just a sucker for his buddy Prins Thomas who is still to this day one of the best dj's I've heard and he's also a savvy producer. Anyway, Where You Go I Go Too is an excellent listen, with 3 pieces ranging from 10 - 30 minutes in length and a relentless supply of great moments encompassing beat-less balearic rollers and ethereal disco chuggers. Have a mooch over here.


Dramatic Funk Themes Vol.1

Funk doesn't seem to be getting much of a look-in these days, it's all discotechnodiscoelectro on the blogs. This compilation is a deserving exception to the unwritten rule though, with bags of quality shining through on every single one of the 20 tracks it holds. Have a listen to the first track (reminds me of "jungle boogie") on the player here where you'll also find some informative blurb on how the release came to be.

I'm spent. Thanks for reading if you've made it this far!

(Just realised how dull all of those record covers were! I'll attempt to pick out some more colourful bits next time I post.. promise.)

Boom Bap of the Month

Whilst the 'Everyman' persona isn't the most identifiable image in hip-hop music, A tribe Called Quest made it look and sound like a natural element. What other group could make a video like 'Electric Relaxation' (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ERQzl4xDpXk), which consists of a cab ride to a diner, look like one of the illest days out ever? This month though, it's all about '1nce Again', the lead single off 1996's Beats, Rhymes and Life. The song was produced by Jay Dee/Dilla, who was a part of the production collective 'The Ummah' alongside Tribe's Q-Tip and Ali Shaheed Muhammad.

Dorian Concept (Live)

Dorian Concept rocked the Gramaphone Club last night at Deviation's monthly forée into the soulful underground, as Benji B likes to call it. I find that some of his stuff can be too hectic but he's an indisputable talent who is more often than not capable of musically 'hitting the nail on the head'. Besides, anyone who can slam their head down on the keys of a microKorg and still create something melodic deserves some recognition, right? His last track of the night was perhaps a glimpse of a more up-tempo future direction and is only available to listen to here at the moment. It's called "Vertical Output" and has got me all excited about his imminent releases.

Jussa-Jus

Forgot to mention another new recruit on the blog - this time round its the lovely Justine, an aspiring journalist who works at Phonica and doesn't eat sugar. Welcome, Justine!

Just a quick post from me so I can bring 3 things to your attention:

1) The Deviation Soundscape Mixtape - Just had a quick listen through this relentless beat journey and it sounds tough and educational all at once.
2) Dwele - "Too Fly" - Anyone remember this one from a few years back? Quality rejig of Stevie Wonder's too high with Stevie's original bassline left untainted. Ouch.
3) I can't stop laughing at this video. Am I weird? Give it a go, and don't read the comments until after its finished.

Visitors from the Cosmos

Two small tasters of the phenomenon that is Sun Ra and his Arkestra.

Whilst declaring himself, quite seriously, a visitor from outer space (who by the look of his threads spent some time in ancient Egypt also), he and his band the Arkestra are without a doubt the purveyors of the most cosmic, wigged-out, trippy, psychedelic and inspired and joyous jazz music mankind has ever known.

Animated GOODness

Afternoon people.

The aforementioned Mr Palmer aka Henny Lenry here. Thought I'd ease into my first post with a couple of nice animated videos from Kanye's GOOD Music camp.

First up there's the man himself with a full length version of 'Good Morning', the opening track off Graduation. It's nice to see it in a higher quality than the camera phone versions that appeared on the net a few months ago.



Then there's Common's video for 'Announcement' ; a track produced by and featuring Pharell. The new album, Invincible Summer apparently drops on September 22nd.

On-Point

Great blog by Alex Deforce from Belgium. Hours of perusal pleasure and plenty of interviews with people like Fly-Lo, Trus'me and Âme.

ICC gig next Friday..

..has unfortunately been postponed for reasons beyond the promoter's control.

On the plus side, the next Üdio is set to take place on November 14th and we have a great booking lined up. Stay tuned.

Savath Y Savalas

Forthcoming album on B-Music/Twisted Nerve records. Listen to samples here. Lush, Latin-Psych sounds from Guillermo Herron (the man behind Prefuse 73) and friends. Have a read of the blog on there called 'GSH talks about bad news and school..' which features the exceptional line: "All he did is smoke cigs and beat the shit out of Dennis."

Lacrimal

Dissident has become a bit of a buzzword here in the capital. They've been causing waves for a while now with their relentless supply of limited edition black-crack 12"s, and subsequently my music-savant friends have been cursing me for not being "italo" enough. Might get my eyes poked for saying this.. but I haven't been going loopy for every release on the label. This one however really got my attention: have a listen to 'Lacrimal' on Ali Renault's myspaz. Can't wait to hear it out somewhere and get my slow-mo chicken-wing groove on.

Also, who said Kompakt were allowed to release such an ace compilation in Total 9. I thought Techno was supposed to be going out the window?


Best track on there is fellow umlaut rocker Justus Köhncke's "No Thanks For The Add" - can't believe I'm sharing that one with you..

Calypsoul 70

Calypsoul 70: Caribbean Soul & Calypso Crossover 1969 - 1979

Absolute pleasure to listen to. Loads of uptempo funkyness as well as a few really nice emotive numbers. One of those albums that doesn't invite you to skip any of the tracks at all. If you could see me now I would be smiling with two thumbs up - genuine. Click the above link to hear some samples.

Welcome, Mr Palmer

Today we're lucky enough to welcome a good friend and talented writer to the blog: Elliot Palmer. He'll be bringing his own unique brand of optimistic cynicism and bags of knowledge on the realms of moving image, music and theatre amongst other things.

A few posts ago I made a reference to a friend of mine reminding me of Lenny Henry.. this had nothing to do with Elliot. Honest.