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….

Forgive me for dropping this so last minute; I’m hoping most heads are already well aware of this event, however for those of you that aren’t, I feel obliged to share this now or forever hold my peace.

In saying that, I’m going to keep this short and sweet.

Being born and bred in Detroit, Amp’s got that natural tendancy to dabble in soul, hip-hop, jazz and electronic music…  His 3 solo albums are proof to this testament. The essence of Amp Fiddler, however is in all things funk. His profile up-to-date boasts collabos with pretty much anyone that has had anything to do with P-Funk. (Oh and if you didn’t know, he was also responsible for introducing J-Dilla (RIP) to the MPC-2000).

Tonight he will be performing a live PA set at East Village. Expect to hear both classic and new material. Having Alton Miller as support can only indicate how serious the vibe will be.

Party people, this is not to be missed.

East Village
89 Great Eastern Street
London EC2A 3HX
020 7739 5173

Amp Fiddler MySpace

After an inexcusably long hiatus, the Duke drops some fresh gems on y’all. Detroit House, Hip Hop, Raw Roots music from Africa to the Caribbean? It’s all here:

Duke Etienne Podcast #15

Tracklisting

John Roberts//White
Chez-N-Trent//All about You
Bookworms//African Rhythms
Donaeo//Riot Music (Shy FX Mix)
Marcé//Ca Ca Ye (Frankie Francis Edit)
Georgia Ann Muldrow//Jina Langu Ni Afrika (my Name Is Afrika)
Brittany Bosco//Black Keys
Will – I – Am//Money
Pal Joey//Breakin’ Necks
House Shoes//The Makings
Georgia & Dudley//Shine On
Dabrye//I’m Missing You
Reggie B//Spoken Lenny
Flying Lotus//Quakes
Jay Electronica//Exhibit A (Transformations)
Fatima//Higher
Black Joy Edits//Edit 10
Red Earth Collective ft. Manasseh//Hard Times Dub
Vincent Taylor//Living A Lie
Connie Bell//Vampires
Midnite//Enter
Nneka//Africans
Baloji//Karibou Ye Bintou

Looking back at the last few years, soul, funk and rare groove have returned to the forefront of the clubbing scene all over again… Walking through your standard non-commercial nightlife district in London, you can pretty much hear Motown classics booming from every other venue. However a genre that has superseded those already mentioned based on the sheer impact it has had in its re-explosion back onto the scene is disco music.

Before I go on further, to avoid confusion, this modern craze will be distinguished from what has always been available. Up until a few years ago, disco was a niche sound appreciated by those who used to club to it the first time around in the 70s/80s. These nostalgic clubbers tend to be older and enjoy sparse nights out only on ‘special occasions’.

There is also nothing groundbreaking about the cheesy medium-sized bed-town clubs that run a “Saturday Night Fever” fancy dress disco party every first Friday of the month.

However, the surge of interest from city hedonists willing to re-explore the sounds of yesteryear has been unfounded to say the least. This audience is young, cool and seeking danceable music that is not too hard on the ear. Not only do there seem to be more DJs around responding to this need but venues alike which may have previously had no connection to any old-school music can now be seen boasting a strictly disco only play-list forcing a change in the way people party.

For a month, I worked in the cloakroom of one of these bars that have transitioned in their music offerings from EDM back to disco and it was from here that I realised the sheer quantity and quality of songs coming from this era. Although at its peak, disco became too popular, a lot of the hits have been carried through time pretty well without been frowned upon. As a reader of this post, I’m sure you could hum a few disco melodies and even if not, I would bet my right arm that you would surely be able to recognise many disco tracks if played to you.

Disco itself stems from an era of discontent, rebellion and creation. In the mid 70s, whilst seeking a new form of expression, a mish-mash of black, latino and gay party animals formed disco together with DJs (such as Larry Levan, Tom Moulton and many more), artists, fashionistas and socialites all based in New York. They wanted to dance… and hard. Rock music wasn’t really rocking it and the earlier soul, R&B movement of the 60s was way too agreeable. The Hippies had failed in their west-coast countryside exploits but these east-coast urbanites adopted their drug culture and sexual promiscuity, exchanged the acoustic guitars for record breaks and electric basslines and made it a whole lot fiercer (check out West End Records or Casablanca for typical sounds). By the mid 80s however, the saturation and commercialisation of disco music resulted in a sharp decline in its popularity. Although general consensus states that July 12, 1979 is the day that disco died when Steve Dahl and his pro-rock, Chicago White Sox posse staged the Disco Demolition Night, in hindsight it is evident that it merely morphed into other forms of music and has since proved itself to be a highly influential catalyst in creating what we now know to be electronic dance music. What is significant about this very brief history lesson is that the evolution in disco music has now somewhat reversed.

The word disco itself has come a long way too. The first time around, it went from referencing a pioneering, post flower-power funky scene to embodying a highly unfashionable, cheesy movement that dribbled into the 90s epitomized by tacky moustaches, hairy chests, medallions and the Bee Gees. Strangely enough however, these days the word has come full circle from its tabooed connotations to once again representing all things genuinely cool. This is seen to the extent that party promoters who may have called themselves raves or club nights are now referring to themselves as ‘discos’ despite the fact that they may be spinning jungle music all night long.

Back to 2010, how has this sound managed to reclaim its former glories of being the music to dance to and what is responsible for the resurgence of disco? I think it’s due to these reasons:

> Its musical makeup. Sound-wise, disco is very easy to dance to due to its melodic yet edgy characteristics. It is the safest compromise between dance, soul and pop music and draws from a number of other conflicting musical styles such as funk, jazz, rock and classical. The basic four-on-the-floor beat, syncopated bass lines and enriched, layered sounds makes disco music very danceable. In composition, very few instruments are spared and it was not uncommon for producers to incorporate orchestral harmonies over reverberated vocals.

> The quality of disco by comparison to contemporary pop music. Whether you are a fan of disco or not, you must admit that it is well made music by comparison to today’s array of chart-toppers. Even from before disco when Motown was bigger than the US government, they comfortably churned out quality sounds that now leave new-age pop music looking rather weak. For example, anyone that listens now to the Donna Summer, Giorgio Moroder classic track “I Feel Love” gets the sense of a guilty pleasure but must still admit that by todays’ standards, is something to be very proud of.

> The over-fragmentation and homogeneity of music today. These days there’s an increasing multitude of sub-genres as newer sounds are developed. Individual tastes have become more specific than ever. No longer do people have to endure mainstream techno when in actual fact they prefer minimal tech or tech-house. The side effects of this imply that one may feel alienated if not absolute music snobs or enthusiasts of very niche genres. Conversely, most of popular music has become so washed out and dumb down to a homogeneous blend of crap that it either all sounds the same or of nothing. The fans of this scene can almost be generalised as those that are probably hammered in a student union on ‘2-4-1 Sambuca shots,’ not really caring about the music that comes on and are expected to hear the precise same set list the following week. People should expect and deserve more.

> Aspect of nostalgia.  The re-emergence of disco’s analogue, synth-driven sound is unique and distinctive of that era. Nostalgia is the ‘feel-good-factor’ that people experience when dancing to disco. Party people today can escape back into the more adventurous times of the colourful 70s and 80s. Disco also represents the very beginning of dance music (without being neurotic about the issue). Thus musically, this genre represents the oldest reference point of danceable music a non-niche venue can present without loosing their customers.

> Its cheapness. Disco so far is not an expensive affair. Bars, clubs and DJs don’t charge the over-inflated rates people expect to pay these days on a night out. This has helped wean people back into the genre.

> It induces inebriation. Disco although cheap to experience, is a wild money-making sound. Disco requires its young hearts to run free. People want to drink in homage to the era and the feelings the genre encapsulates. This is perfect for club and bar owners.

> The accessibility and inclusivity. Disco is neither threatening nor alienating. Although initially a black style, the big hits opened up the genre to all. Disco is also one of the few genres that doesn’t discriminate those that know from those that don’t; it is to a degree, highly predictable by comparison to jazz for example. Even the more obscure sub-genres such as Italo, Eurodisco, New Wave, Hi-NRG are still not too specialised to not be appreciated by all. The pioneers of the scene cast very long shadows when they integrated all styles into the genre. Most people know more than they realise regarding disco, which means that familiarity and initiation into the scene today is instant. There is very little learning to do for those that do not wish to explore deeper into the genre.

> The variety in the scene. Disco branched off into hip hop, new wave, post punk, electro, house as well as establishing DJ culture, which in turn branched off into many more contemporary genres such as techno. Disco therefore has the capabilities to capture a broad audience coming from its many musical descendants who can all find an aspect of disco that distantly relates to their personal tastes. Here are the three main types of totally divergent disco DJs that have been reawakened by the revival of the scene:

1. “Cool” DJs exercising a shift in taste towards the music that their modern stuff came from. The saturation of electro music presented the need to quickly stray away from their core sound by mixing it with something divergent for differentiation. Examples of this type of DJ are Erol Alkan and his Disco 3000 alter-ego. DFA Records, Horse Meat Disco (aka Jim Stanton) and Disco Bloodbath. They play massive venues and their loyal fanbase will enjoy anything these DJs choose to spin at marked-up prices, if that happens to be electroclash or Italo – so be it. With this category, there tends to be a focus on the more synth-led eurodisco aesthetics.

2. “Original” DJs who have always been renowned within the genre before the niche re-exploded. Frankie Knuckles for example, John Morales, Danny Krivit or Rahaan all from the States. This is probably the most quality you can find when hunting down a real retro set. Hardcore crate diggers who live and breath the stuff. Some of them are lucky enough to have established themselves in the house music scene and still sell out venues like “Little” Louie Vega (MAW). Their fans range from the accidental listeners to the hardcore lovers of the sound. Many of these DJs moved into house music but due to their thorough knowledge of disco will still spin anything from very early disco tracks to the more experimental house sounds.

3. “Wedding” DJs are a tad more difficult to define as they spin everything, yet essentially are not particularly attached to whatever is being played as opposed to the reactions they get from the crowd. They play the same tracks that ‘get the party started’ and rely on their audience’s inebriation to overlook the substandard mixing. Examples of these can be found in generic bars that have adopted the new music policy but are not prepared to pay for serious DJs since their customers probably won’t even notice the difference. Here, people are more likely to hear all the classic danceable disco hits.

Where will disco go from here? To be honest, I haven’t any idea but I do wish it the best of luck.  I also believe that disco may prove to have greater stamina this time around despite the danger of ‘wedding’ DJs killing the music again. Luckily for Londoners, contemporary pop music has taken on this role, running the risk of cannibalising itself as it bears the brunt for poor audiences and DJs.

So when next passing a venue in Shoreditch with the sounds of KC and the Sunshine Band blasting out, lets not be too hasty to raise our noses up at what was possibly one of the golden eras in popular music.

As the flyer says, you know the drill by now. 12 Tone Brass are hot (if you don’t believe me watch the video below), Heads High are heat, add them together and you’ve got extreme snow melting capabilities….we’ll see you there (Vibe sell hot drinks too so no excuses!)…

Don’t know 12 Tone Brass? Allow them to introduce themselves…

I’ve been bumping Andres‘ LP for a minute now. One of the reasons I love it so, is the way that the Hip Hop (Dj Dez) and the house (Andres) both have their say in the thirty tracks they have to orate with. Check Anthony ‘Shake’s’ discography too. You’ll find four to the floor 808 pressure pushing up against the sub 100 bpm roll of the breakbeat. Saying this, its rare to see the two styles co-existing in the same sonic space….it wasn’t always this way though…

We’re moving into the second decade of the 21st century. Those of us who like to reminisce (which is most of us I think) should be able to stretch our mind back to a time where a rapper needed to generate a 120bpm flow to pay his bills. A time where record companies dropped serious money ensuring that the love-children of Larry Levan and Russell Simmons could roam unashamedly. On a personal level, I remember locking in to Centerforce FM (88.6), Sunrise and Pulse and listening to the lines between Hip-Hop, House and Hardcore being consistently blurred. U.S. cats like Fast Eddie and Tyree Cooper jacked alongside the U.K sound of the Cookie Crew, Silvah Bullet, Merlin and more. As usual, I’m an honest brother so no frontin’ – I’m far from an expert on this time….but the important thing is, I remember the buzz. This mini-documentary brought it all back for me….enjoy….

BBE and Bugz in the Attic have named this night “Legends” and rightly so. Somehow they have managed to recruit Carl Craig (Detroit), John Morales (NYC) and Victor Simonelli (NYC) for the event. If you are not familiar with these people, just think about some of the pioneers of electronic music and you’re beginning to get an idea of the magnitude of this party. I can guarantee that the djs tonight will sample a spectrum of sounds from techno to disco – so leave your preferences at home.

I wont go on too much but if you were wondering where the party’s at on a Sunday night in London…? It’s gonna be here for sure.

… Oh and you also have BBE and Bugz djs keeping things ticking. See below for details.

Sunday 29th November at East Village.

8pm – 1:30am

£5

Hannah Holland brings her Star of Bethnal Green ‘Bastard Batty Bass‘ party to the ex-warehouse, Shoreditch venue: the Black Lotus Karate Club on Saturday 19th September.

If you’ve been to any of her shows, then you’ll be awarded no prizes for guessing the format of her repertoire. The successful London DJ accompanied by her ‘3 Wise Batty Bitches’ will undoubtedly be keeping the night banging with their signature raw bass lines and dancehall-influenced electro.

Dropped into the mix however, are the fresh-faced house sensations The Martinez Brothers. The masses remain undecided as to the credibility of these New York boys. With one camp firmly supporting their exponential rise to super-DJ stardom and the other left unconvinced, the jury is clearly still out on whether they are flash-in-the-pan gimmicks or the real deal.

The Martinez Brothers begun their journey in New York and rose to fame spinning old school/classic house music despite being in their nappies at the height of the scene. Both Steve and Chris were part of their church band and can both play a few instruments between them. Now at 16 and 20 years old respectively, the brothers have credited their father as well as Dennis Ferrer (who’s Objektivity label they are signed to) as major influences. Their undeniable energy has become synonymous with their sets and critics have gone as far as to compare them to MAW.

So far, they have a handful of years behind them, whether they stand the test of time and prove their worth or not – I’d say its worth checking them out and deciding for yourself… As they say, the proof of the pudding is in the eating.

Read RA’s interview with them here. For more details and tickets, click here.

Martinez Brothers MySpace.

Hannah Holland’s Myspace.

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

You want kicks and snares? Roska’s got you covered. His recent TWC EP is smacking it across the board, catching love from purists, polyrhythmists and pundits alike. I’m sending that love too. Why? Because Roska’s productions are testament to his willingness to embrace different forms, progress his art and balance the deep with the devastating. Tracks like ‘Proverbs‘ and ‘The Sheppard‘ verge on the deep sound of NYC while still offering enough bump to call the UK home. It wasn’t always submerged syncopation though…

Born Wayne Goodlitt in 1983, Roska was raised on a strict diet of soundsystem. Like so many youths growing up in 80s London, the speaker stacks and rhythm tracks left a big impression.

‘My father was a soundman back in the days, he used to be in a sound called Extacy with my uncles and played Ragga, Reggae and soul music. my mum was a collector and a hard listener to Soul and Reggae music so its been in my blood since I was really young.’

Solid foundations. Not surprisingly, a decade later he was ready to share his distillation of Soundsystem culture using the son’s and daughters of Reggae music as his vessels. Starting out as an MC backed by his cousin’s DJ selections under the ‘Krazy Brothers’ moniker, Roska was always producing in the background. Back then, people knew him by his MC name Mentor, evolving to Mentor Roska and eventually to the Roska we know today.

‘ I was always making music behind the scenes whilst MCing. it was more of a hobby then so I didn’t take it seriously…I made Hip-Hop, Garage, Broken-Beat from 1999…I moved to House then to Funky as it is called today. My back catalogue is 200 tracks deep from all those genres, released and unreleased…’

Tastes have changed vastly in the time Roska has been behind a mixing desk. The mainstream picked up UK Garage and wrung the life out of it, plastic R&B went super-platinum…taking the cream of the Grime scene with it, Dubstep rumbled and skanked it’s way out of London’s basements and UK Funky has been garnering attention from tastemakers way outside its original sphere of interest. I’m not gonna front like I was there from the beginning either. Far from it. I do know what good music sounds like though so I couldn’t sleep for too long. The elements of Roska’s sound automatically open the borders and encourage those on the ‘Housier’ side of the spectrum to get involved, something that is definitely intentional.

‘I feel the music is going well. With Funky there are a lot of aspects to it and it appeals to many people old or young. I prefer the underground style personally as it keeps me in touch with the ravers and the clubs that people go-to to hear new tracks…I thought through the TWC EP before putting it out….Deep-Tech is something that has always been there but its coming through the UK underground more alongside Funky. I decided to release something that will work in that scene but still be able to crossover in to Funky…it shows my versatility musically.’

Not stopping there, Roska has an entire alter-ego designed to further air out the diversity on his hard drives. Uncle Bakongo is the man charged with putting Roska’s African spirit on wax via polyrhythmic excursions he describes as ‘…more of a tribal style of House or Afrobeat.’. Both artists speak to the public through their Roska Kicks and Snares imprint. With the success of last years Climate Change and Elevated Levels EPs, the hot reception of the TWC EP and the fresh ‘Love 2 Nite’ White Label a forthcoming album project (early 2010) and an EP featuring Zed Bias on remix duties, it looks like the label is set for big things.

‘RKS is just an outlet for my own productions that do not get signed by a major label. I started it up solely to manage my own production via mp3 and vinyl and to push my own profile up in the music scene. I came to realise nobody cares about a nobody, so I had to try and make a name for myself by releasing my own tracks.’

Well, it would seem that the days of being a nobody are far behind Roska…..and his Uncle Bakongo.

Roska’s current Top 5 selections

1. Speech Debelle – Spinnin’ (DVA Funkstep Mix) – OUT SEPT 09
2. Roska & Jamie George – Wonderful Day
3. D-Malice – Praise
4. Geeneus ft Dynamite – Get Low (Crackish Vocal)
5. DVA – Nasty, Nasty, Nasty (Roska Remix)

Roska’s Discography

Roska’s Links

RKS Official Website
Roska’s Myspace
Uncle Bakongo’s Myspace