Some people know they can find me at Phonica, others not. That aside, everybody knows that Phonica Records is one of London’s premier outlets for those 12″ pieces of plastic that some of us still choose to play music from. Our selection is wide and our taste refined, even if I do say so myself.

Until know, fans of Disco and House/Techno were the only ones receiving the monthly blessing of Phonica’s club excursions which take place at the Big Chill Bar, and T-Bar respectively. Thankfully, my esteemed colleagues Free-Care and A.Child (Nick and Aaron to their friends) are spearheading a new venture to cater for those of us who are more moved by that electronic bass music shiznit. Rather than try and claim all the glory for themselves, they’ve decided to use the sessions as a platform for some of our most loved labels/musical camps to showcase their freshest work. The twist is, that each event also includes a further guest whose work compliments the rest of the night’s offerings. Nice.

So, this Thursday 27th May, make the pilgrimage to Plastic People for the event’s maiden voyage. One Handed Music are in the house and are celebrating the launch of the Paul White and the Purple Brain project. They’ll also be presenting we the people with exciting noises from Bullion, Tranquill and Alex Chase. Veteran analogue B-Boy Danny Breaks completes the bill with our very own Free-Care and A.Child laying the foundations. It looks like a good one. I’m excited….

As you might have seen, our Vibe session was on pause last month so it’s only right we come back bigger and bashier….especially as its almost summertime!

This month the Heads High/12 Tone camps will be joined by Wara, a crew of young musicians forging an explosive new brand of Afro-Cuban groove, infected with hip-hop, soul and a whole heap more. Born in 2009, Wara took the London latin alternative scene by storm from their very first gig. Their sound is  tropical  with an extra dose of Cuba, shaken not stirred, asere!

See below for flyer (inna old school block party style).

So after the obligatory two month hiatus, we’re back in the basement on May 14th. Our last session in March went distinctly tropical at the request of the Samba dancing crew in the house and now the sun has got his hat on, we’re looking to turn up the heat even further. For the first time in Heads High history, the girls out-number the boys this month too. After two solid sets of all things boom and bap, Amaka is in the place again and still mourning the loss of a large chunk of music from a defective hard-drive, Miss Crawford steps up with the weight and crackle of a vinyl only selection. A last minute addition that didn’t make the designer’s deadline is Darren Judge. He’s been smacking it recently with the Clubb Rock podcasts he lays down with partner in crime Mikee Lazy so we’re expecting those Clubb Rock high-energy bass movements cut and pasted with his foundation Hip Hop selection. Naturally, the Duke & Cal provide the rock upon which the party is built….and the vocals? Expect something a little different this time as Connie Bell and Amaka conduct a little live experiment…tell a friend!!!!!

Sat 24th April marks the unveiling of a brand new Heads high vs 12 Tone session in the centre of our fair city. Having raised our east-end party the right way, the good people at Soho’s newest venue, Barrio Central have invited us to embark on a fresh leg of our beats, bass and brass tour with them. Erase all memories of the soundsystem at their sister venue Barrio North though. We’re assured that they’ve done the right thing with BC and come correct with the sound. You know we’ll do the same with our performance, and entry is free so it’d give us a warm glow inside to see some familiar faces in the place.

Easter weekend. Four days off and very few excuses not to record a podcast so here it is. Heavily inspired by the ritual bank holiday dig through the collection, a selection taking in rootikal dubwise, golden age pirate radio anthems, fresh boom-bap and forthcoming 130 BPM sub bass excursions…..enjoy:

Download Duke Etienne Podcast #17

The Observers//Organ Satta
Big Youth//Love Jah Jah Children
Horace Andy//Lets Live In Love
Jah Bunny & Ras Elroy meet Dougie Conscious//Dub 2
King Tubby//Antique Dub
ELUCID//Laser Days
SBTRKT//Inamillion
Blackpocket//U’re a Star (Martyn Remix)
Hem ft. Terrible Shock//On a Mission (Shortstuff Remix)
Ragga Twins//18″ Speaker
Pursuit Grooves//Whisper
U.N.I. ft. H.O.P.E & Shawn Jackson//Cali Soul
Ski Beatz ft. Mos Def//24 Hour Karate School
Bullion//Don’t Talk
Madlib//Floating Soul
Dabrye//Magic Says
Chico Mann//Levanta
Pursuit Grooves//Cosy
Portformat ft. Blaktroniks//It’s On (Swede:art Remix)
Erykah Badu//Turn Me Away (Get MUNNY)
Georgia Ann Muldrow//So Far
Ski Beatz ft. Mos Def & Whosane//Taxi

I hate Twitter. That living your life online ish isn’t for me. Tucking self-promotion between tweets about how good your Cornflakes taste and how you feel about sitting on a bus in traffic jars my spirit….I still use it though. And as much as it pains me to say it, I have to admit its not all bad because it’s thanks to a tweet from the Brownswood BPM that I found out about Bookworms.

His bumpy yet hypnotic re-imagining of Mi Ami’s African Rhythms is currently smacking up the real and virtual worlds and his dense, unreleased dubs have rumbled their way onto the playlist of Ms Mary Ann Hobbs more than once over the past year. With our current wave of hot beat producers, you’d be forgiven for thinking Mr Worms is yet another fresh-faced talent jostling for position in the Bass Music marketplace….not so. He’s been doing this for a minute.

“…since around the year 2000, I was 17 years old…making beats on PlayStation recording to boom-box. The first music I ever let anyone hear was a couple Bjork remixes I uploaded to this old website called bjorkremixweb. This was around 2000. Then I produced and worked with some punk and hard-core bands who met through friends from high school. I also made beats for a couple mc’s from around the way. Around 2003 I got really into making my own beats and instrumentals, mostly because other people were too hard to work with…I guess you could say it was a natural progression.”

Although other artists proved hard to work with, it would seem Bookworms has no problems making friends with different genres. Listen to any one of his original productions or remix efforts and you’ll hear traces of Punk/Rock, Hip Hop, Detroit Techno,Disco, Dubstep and Experimental Electronica all present, all correct and all somehow managing to compliment one another.

“My dad was really into stuff like Talking Heads,Brian Eno, Elvis Costello and Jazz. The first music I started buying was random Punk CDs, because I would hear those bands in skate videos. When I started high-school I got into Wu-tang and Drum and Bass…Lately I have been into Detroit Techno, Gucci Mane, Arthur Russell and Kate Bush. I have also been feeling a lot of San Francisco based bands like Tussle, Mi Ami, Roche, Steve Summers, Yao, Lemonade and CB Radio.”

I need to know more about the San Francisco scene. There’s some hot music out there and by the looks of Bookworms’ discography, he’s busy remixing a lot of it. Lemonade are a San Fran based band who have been getting some hype this side of the water recently and sure enough, who do we find on their ‘RemixTape’…

“My ex girlfriend used to work at a used-clothing store in SF with the Callan from Lemonade, so we knew each other from around SF and going to shows. They’re cool dudes, we talked about it at a show and they sent me the files to remix ”

Talking to Bookworms it soon transpires that many of his links are a direct result of long nights spent listening to loud music on herbal foundations. Take the Solos label that’s put out his version of African Rhythms as a case in point.

“Solos is on some crazy shit, it’s electronic music. It’s all across the board. I met Roche at a warehouse party Solos was throwing in Berkeley, I wanted to smoke and he was rolling a blunt, so we smoked and then I gave him a CD. A week or so later he asked me if I wanted to put some music out with Solos. The rest is history.”

Probing further, I discover that sadly, not all of Bookworms night-time trips have such a happy ending

“…back in about 2006 I went to Big Sur, California for this weird show where San Francisco bands Tussle, Brookhaven, Lemonade and the Drift were playing. Now Big Sur is way out in the woods and nature so I was a bit out of my element and it was hella dark….to cut a long story short I end up jumping off a motor home into the darkness and spraining my ankle really bad outside the show…not a good way to end the night…”

We feel you on that one…moving on to happier times we’ll focus on the music, or rather how Bookworms would like it to be received.

“I would like people to listen to my music on headphones while riding around a medieval city on Tron light -bikes. I am trying to expose parallels between sounds and samples and styles of music. I hope to share that with others.”

Shared it he has. Sounds to me that he’s read a little too much Sci Fi though. Well I guess with a name like Bookworms you can’t fault the brother for hitting the books…

“I like Simple Takes A Wife by Langston Hughes… anything by Isaac Asimov and [I read] lots of Sci-Fi end of the world stuff when I was younger..Reading helps me come up with names for songs…sometimes.”

DOWNLOAD BOOKWORMS’ HEADS HIGH PODCAST

DOWNLOAD AFRICAN RHYTHMS

DOWNLOAD LEMONADE’S REMIXTAPE

Bookworms Live @ Lipo 07/06/09 from Solos Records on Vimeo.

Bookworms’ Discography

Remixes:

Finest Dearest – Slow Going (Bookworms Rmx)
Brookhaven – Something Must Remain Of Us (Bookworms Rmx)
Brookhaven – Static In The Valley (Bookworms Rmx)
Mi Ami - How Can I (Bookworms Rmx)
Mi Ami – African Rhythms (Bookworms Rmx)
Lemonade - Sunchips (Bookworms Rmx)

LP’s, EP’s and singles

Bookworm Kills (Demo cassette)
The Hidden Staircase LP (Solos Records)
Mandarine Hits CD (Expel Records)
Folks: Remixes (Self released)
African Rhythms CD (Solos Records)

Links

Bookworms Myspace

Bookworms Blog

Solos Records

Big respect to Bookworms for his time, energy and exclusive Podcast!

Yeah I know, this should have been posted last Friday but it’s been hectic times at Heads High HQ. I could have done it yesterday but I promised myself I’d take one whole day off the LCD and actually interact with real people ALL day. It was nice. I’ll do it again someday….

Anyway, here’s the missing selection. One of those ones that I wasn’t too happy with when I recorded it but listened back and was pleasantly surprised…A little rags in places but the rawness is the realness. Enjoy….

Duke Etienne Podcast #14

Tracklisting

Dark Knight  // Mutant Funk
Bookworms // African Rhythms
Zomby // One Foot Ahead Of The Other
Silkie // Spark
Red // I Should Tell Your Mama On Ya
Baatin // Marvelous
Jimmy Castor Bunch // It’s Just Begun (Larry Levan Mix)
Holzer & Kamura // Pure Love
Players Association // Let Your Body Go
Don Armandos Second Avenue Rhumba Band // Deputy Of Love
Fallout // The Morning After
Martyn // For Lost Relatives
F // Epilogue (Ramadanman Mix)
Kode 9 & The Space Ape // Do You See What I See
Elemental // Talk

Synchronicity is alive and well in the digital age.

I first heard Amede & The Soundsmith via the ubiquitous Alex Nut and his All Young Kings promotion machine. Amede’s work stands out, somehow managing to herd adjectives like ethereal, celestial and melancholic together in a pen of neck snapping beats, subsonically supported basslines and frequent nods towards the past sonic experiments of Jamaica’s dub laboratories. A few weeks after my AYK gift, I bumped into Amede outside Deviation and broke bread, I liked his vibe. More weeks/tweets later and here I am, glasses on, Cornflakes in bowl and ready to explore the world of Amede & The Soundsmith…

Firstly, we should start on a foundation of truth. ‘Amede’ and his partner ‘The Soundsmith’ are one and the same person, an ‘internal-duo’ as he puts it. The separation coming from a need to individualize the creative entities of the vocalist, Amede, and the beatmaker, The Soundsmith. Both of these personalities are extremely well formed. Even a casual listen to ‘Will She Ever Know?’ will tell you that the man can sing, listen again a little more carefully and you’ll hear it, the man can produce. Once you’ve digested that, you’ve then got to come to terms with the fact that these skills are living in a man with less than 20 years worth of calcium in his bones.

“I am 19. Many see me as an older person. I believe that come from being well guided by my father and his Nigerian background, he has been a prominent factor to keeping my head screwed on….At 10, I started singing. I have no idea where it came from in all honesty, only God knows! I performed my first show in my first year of secondary school and then that was it, music it was! In the summer of 2004, when I was 14, a cousin of mine and I got our hand on Fruity Loops, we was so excited about the prospect of beat making, we thought we were hot then even though they sounded wack. He went off to develop his sound and I did the same, listening to the sounds of Dilla, Slum Village and Dwele. I feel it has been an organic musical journey for me as I didn’t have any musicians in my family. Many artists of today had musical family member or were pushed into learning instruments as a child. Sometimes I wished I learned more instruments as a child, I’m learning now but it just isn’t the same as learning young.”

I feel what he’s saying, but I think he’s being a little hard on himself. From my Jurassic Park perspective, Amede is learning young. How many 19 year olds do you know releasing innovative, introspective, soul-drenched music on their own labels? I know a few who push out the throwaway sound of now from their ReDrums and Subtractors, but music with longevity….a handful. On the subject of releases, Amede & The Soundsmith dropped their debut single ‘The Underground’ early this with their follow-up ‘Flat 17 Ep’ having hit the digital shelves in August. Why ‘Flat 17′ Amede?

“Flat 17 is where I was staying for my first year of university at the time of its creation, it’s the place where the idea came to fruition, where each track was composed. Flat 17 is the birth place of the EP. The project is aimed at letting people know what it is I do, what I am capable of and who I work with. Each track consists of different elements which are part of me. I wanted to show that I don’t just sing, I don’t just compose, I can also produce for others, beatbox, songwrite, create my own artwork…Another motive behind it was to lead a pack. I believe it’s good that a creative circle of artist has somebody who just goes ahead and puts plans in action, it was to inspire my creative partners too. I work with some amazing musicians, Nadine Ceaser who won the 219 Variety Show last year, lyricist & vocalist, T-funk and producer, Azekel. It was partly to show them that whether Flat 17 gets a thumbs up or thumbs down from people, getting it out there can be done by one of us. I believe it has inspired them to also get their music out there too.”

Big respect for that and incidentally, a clear ‘thumbs-up’ for the EP. Now I’ve heard it, I want more! Luckily for all of us, there is more to come. A&TS’s Bohemianmusic Label is currently germinating a ‘beat-trilogy of free downloads’ which will involve external remixers and live renditions of some of their material. There is also more to come from lyricist T-Funk and songstress Shanaz Dorsett. Nice. Maybe not too surprisingly for a self-confessed perfectionist who clearly wants to be in control of his own destiny, Amede, and his partner the Soundsmith also have set their sights on deconstructing the black art of Mastering…and growing beards?!

“The direction I’m heading into is actually more of the technical background of music. I have a love for mixing but mastering is where I really want to take it, I want to wake up early in the morning in my studio mastering and mixing music with my producers beard growing out of control… it’s where the love is at. As an artist, I simply want to be a big part of the evolution of today’s music and to primarily make honest music from the soul, what I may sound like a decade from now is something I’m not sure of but I know I will be knocking sounds out to my grave.”

Word.

Amede likes you people, so much so that he’s given us the ‘Flat 17′ Ep track ‘Vast!’ for free, and asked us to pass it on to you.

Download Vast!

He also let us in to the very personal space of what inspires him to do what he does right now…

Amede & The Soundsmith’s Top 5 Inspirations:

1. I’ve been listening to a lot of Fela Kuti’s ‘Expensive Shit‘ album, Samiyam’s ‘Moon Shoes‘, Hudson Mohawkes ‘Rising 5‘ and the classic by Tom Scott – ‘Today‘ that track is amazing!

2. Knowing that God has love for me!

3. My Fathers wisdom!

4. I went to watch Soul Power in West London two weeks ago. I found it very inspiring seeing all those great musician vibe with each other. It was pure love recorded in history and I hope I can be watched upon in such a manner one day.

5. My peers! God as allowed me to grow around very inspirational young creatives which I know will leave thier stamp one day and it’s a blessing to be part of that.

So there we have it, young talents with a luminescent future. Amede…..and the Soundsmith.

Links:

Official Website
Myspace
Twitter
Shanaz Dorsett Myspace

We’re gradually getting back on top of things in here. Decent content, regular podcasts, we’re loving you the right way. Here’s a selection from the Duke to make you feel nice. He lost his voice half-way through but it’s all good, the music speaks for itself…

DOWNLOAD DUKE ETIENNE 20/08/09 PODCAST

Tracklisting

Lizzy Mercier Decloux // Hard Boiled
Pearson Sounds // WAD
Sole Fusion // Bass Tone
John Robertson // Blame
Reggie Dokes //Walk In Deepness
New World Aquarium // Tresspassers
Block 16 // Morning Sun (Pepe Bradock Refix)
Lightening Heads // Message Beats
Nanyo Addo // Wo ba wo ba shue
Jimi Tenor & the Kabu Kabu // Fast Legs
Silkie // Purple Love
Elemental // Braindrops
James Blake // Air and Lack Thereof’
Build an Ark Remix (Unknown – Help us out!)
Amede & The Soundsmith // Tip Toe ft. Shanazz Dorsett
Sa Ra Creative Partners // Soul’s Brother

Mystique has long been a powerful tool in garnering interest from the dance music media. I remember picking up the latest offerings from Dillinja back in the day excited by the fact that I didn’t know who he was or what he looked like. The same rule holds true today but evolution has brought us more potent strains of the condition with artists like XL’s SBTRKT and Zomby (pictured) holding down healthy DJ schedules behind public personas they have crafted with the use of masks and subterfuge. Thankfully, both artists work is genuinely innovative and more importantly, damn good so it would seem masks and good music are now synonymous with one another….although i’m not too sure about Zomby’s stylist – looks a little dark if you ask me.

Helter Skelter comes direct from Zomby’s forthcoming ‘One Foot Ahead Of The Other’ offering on Ramp Records.

BIG!

Oh yeah…here’s an excerpt from Zomby’s ‘Godzilla’ video Ramp posted a few weeks back…nice