Tuesday, 3 February 2009
It's been some time now since Mary Anne Hobbes showcased the Bristol : Rise Up special back in December 2008, so BUG thought it was well worth putting up the full programme if you missed it. Put simply, this was a pivotal piece of programming which showed how far Bristol has come in terms of mutating the sound of Dubstep into something new and unique. A breath-taking display of sonic pyrotechnics from 12 of the city's best producers, it is an essential listen on many levels.
Running Order:
Hyetal - We Should Light A Fire
Pinch Mix
1. Moving Ninja and Pinch - False Flag
2. Pinch - Attack Of The Giant Robot Spiders
3. Pinch - Motion Sickness - Tempa
4. Pinch - Teleportation (edit)
5. Pinch and Pavel Ambiont - Poison-Remedy
Joker Mix
1. Rsd - Trample (Joker mix)
2. Joker - Untitled.Rsn
3. Joker - Digidesign
4. Joker - There She Go-s
5. Joker - Do It!!!
6. Joker and Ginz - Purple City (Pimp Style)
Gatekeeper Mix
1. Gatekeeper - Slow Motion Dub
2. Gatekeeper - Event Horizon
3. Gatekeeper feat Grilza and Dread MC - Ignite
4. Gatekeeper - Which Way
Komonazmuk Mix
Music for Mary Anne - Exclusive tracks written especially for the show
Jakes Mix
1. Jakes - Part Of Me Part Of You - Hench
2. Jakes - Forgotten - Hench
3. Jakes - Justice - ench
4. Jakes - Paper (VIP) - Hench
5. Jakes - The Mysteronz - Hench
Appleblim Mix
1. Hector - Tension (Al Tourettes and Appleblim mix) - Phonica
2. Appleblim and Le Ruffiant - Ravenous
3. Sideshow feat Tikiman - If Alone (Komonazmuk and Appleblim mix) - Aus Music
Headhunter Mix
1. Brendon Moller and The Spaceape - Strangers (Headhunter mix) - Deep Space Media
2. Aligning Minds - Way Back When
3. Headhunter and Djunya - El Presidente
4. F - Night Drive
5. Headhunter - In Motion - Tempa
Gemmy Mix
1. Gemmy - Kodama
2. Gemmy - Johnny 5
3. Gemmy - Temptations
4. Gemmy - Shanti Riddim
5. Gemmy - Rusty Tin
6. Gemmy - Wata Dwn Sound
Peverelist Mix
1. Hyetal - Pixel Rainbow Sequence (Peverelist mix)
2. Peverelist - Bluez
3. Peverelist - Clunk Click Every Trip
RSD Mix
1. Henry and Louis - Rise Up (RSD mix / edit) - 2 Kings
2. RSD feat G-Rina - You To Know (Versatile mix)
3. RSD - Good Energy
4. RSD - Naked Mariocart
Wedge Mix
1. Wedge and Aesoteric - If Symptoms Persist
2. Wedge - Bequest
3. Wedge and Rasha Shaheen - Backward Puzzle
4. Wedge And Aesoteric - Detachment From Reality
Forsaken Mix
1. Forsaken feat Ben Blackmore - Sagrada
2. Forsaken feat Ben Blackmore - Cross The Border
3. Forsaken feat Ben Blackmore - Evening Star
4. Forsaken feat Ben Blackmore - Learn The Hard Way
DOWNLOAD - Bristol : Rise Up Special
Tuesday, 27 January 2009
Lots of intriguing stuff coming up over the next few days, so stay tuned - but first let's see what's happening this week.
First up over at Bristol Pirate Radio Recordings they've dropped this blast from the past with a Power FM set by JNR and UNO in 1994 - straight up hip hop vibes with some outstanding tracks in the mix.
DOWNLOAD - JNR & UNO Power FM 1994 Set
Fast forward to Tuesday night and Gemmy & Wedge are dropping science on Sub FM alongside MC Scarz, if you can't tune in rest assured BUG will be catching the re-up for you later this week, so keep 'em peeled.
If you can't wait that long for some bassweight action then have a look at this outstanding mix Wascal composed recently for Trillbass Radio :
1. Headhunter - Prototype
2. WAR008 - WAR008A
3. DZ & Rob Cannon - Back To The Dub
4. Sukh Knight - Shooting Stars
5. Norrisman - Big Long Gun (MRK1 mix)
6. JKS - Elevation
7. Zen Militia - Smash The Empire
8. Joker & Rustie - Play Doe
9. Benga - B4 The Dual
10. Sharmaji ft Guilliermo E Brown - Hold You Now
11. Syntonics - Rock Tonight (Bombaman mix)
12. Downlink - 6 Million Wayz
13. Wiley - Wot Do U Call It (Igloo Instrumental)
14. Subeena - Justice
15. Plastician ft Shizzle, Fresh & Napper - Cha
16. Twisted - Dirt Cluster
17. Si Begg - Are You A Big Boy DJ
18. Benga - E Trips
19. Curtamos - Jungle Biz
20. Syntonics - Material
21. Landslide - Dreams & Visions (Compound One mix)
22. Wascal - Decide
23. Scuba - Twitch (Jamie Vex'd mix)
24. JKS - Obliteration
25. Bassist & Triage - Smoke One
26. Benga & Coki - Night (tease)
26. Pinch - Joyride
27. Misk - Tentacle
28. Kromestar - Badman
29. Blackmass Plastics - Suck Your Mum
30. TC - Wheres My Money (Caspa mix)
31. Zomby - Aquafresh
32. Von D - So Many Faces VIP
33. EMU & Pawn ft Werd2Jah - Headshot
34. Elemental & Lohan - Strange Brew
35. Dub & Run - Ghetto 119
36. J Suave - Fog Juice
37. Suspect - Modulation
38. Wascal - Submission
39. Tes La Rok - Do You Know The Future
40. Luthor - Music Gets Me High
41. Rakoon - Incoming
42. Gemmy - BK 2 The Future
43. Vista - Tek 9
44. EMU & Pawn ft Sonic D - Bumbaclot Star
45. Flying Lotus - Roberta Flack (Martyn mix)
46. Suspect - Rotary
47. Luthor - Sins Of Marvin Redon
48. 12th Planet ft EMU - Control (Skream mix)
49. Wascal - All I Need
Large indeed, and another example of why Wascal is rapidly becoming an essential connection in the rise of the new breed of producers taking Dubstep and bass-heavy sounds in exciting new directions.
DOWNLOAD - Wascal : Trillbass Radio Set
Something that's definitely exciting BUG this week is the long-awaited re-opening of Arc Bar, now to be called LAB (Live At Bristol). Arc was a pivotal venue in the initial success of many club nights and its eventual demise after a long decay was a sad sight to witness. Back in its glory days it held many great memories for BUG; the bizarre decor and mish-mash of personalities that the place attracted made it the location of many a truly odd (but fun) night's adventure. Despite many shortcomings including dodgy electrics and even dodgier pints, the knockabout charm of the venue helped carry its success for many years until the rot set in and mis-management and events leaving in their droves saw to it's closure.
The rumours of it's re-emergence have been touted for the best part of 2 years, and it's encouraging to know that the team who've finally succeeded in getting back on it's feet are some of the crew behind the original Clockwork. Word reaches us they've done a fair bit of work on the place, but haven't altered too much of the decor which made it such an unusual space. The opening party is this Friday and it's always a good day for BUG when another underground venue opens to showcase quality music in the city. More information on the nights due up there will be coming soon, so keep checking back this week.
Also on Friday the always excellent Teachings In Dub separates away from its highly successful partnership with Subloaded to take the foundation shaking bass to Trinity with the mighty Jah Shaka Sound System. Definitely going to be a sell-out so get there early!
The big event this weekend however has to be Dissident on Saturday, which is sure to be another ram-out session at The Black Swan. The line-up is massive, and the vibes in a Dissident rave are always outstanding.
Main Room - Drum & Bass
Calyx_Momentum
Doc Scott_31_Metalheadz
Cause 4 Concern_C4C_Hardware
Jubei_Coded Music_Shogun
Incite & Breach
Noisy Boy
MC's SP & Mantmast
Room 2 - Dub Step / Breaks
Headhunter_Tempa
Black Mass Plastics_Combat_Rag n Bone
Search & Destroy_Destructive
Forsaken_Soul Motive
MLR
Wascal
Smiffy & Golgot
The Black Swan, Saturday, 31/01/09
Tickets £7/£8 on the door.
Available from Rooted & Bristol Ticket Shop.
Wednesday, 21 January 2009
BUG is running a little late this week for the weekly pick, thanks in part to a bulging inbox of new content coming soon, so keep 'em peeled for more interviews and features in the coming weeks. In the meantime let's see what's been rattling our brains this week.
First up an unashamed plug for our Facebook group where you can show your support and post ideas for what you'd like us to feature and so on:
BUG Facebook Group
Secondly make sure you tune into Future Music Radio Thursday night at 8pm to check out Placid dropping some acidic 808 business for your body and soul.
Here at BUG we like our local history, and after bringing you the outstanding photography of Fray Bentos last year, here's something we found absolutely fascinating this week - very rare film of Bristol in the 1920s. Its incredible to watch - a very different world in more ways than one.
Back to the future and if you're looking for fun times this weekend you should head down to Cosies for BUG's clubnight of 2008 Ruffnek Diskotek, who will be showcasing one of our favourite artists of 2008, Forsaken. £2 all night, you cant fail.
The night before Native plays host to the first HENCH event there after there departure from former home the Tube, and it's looking HOT! BUG is looking forward to some serious bass therapy!!
Saturday, 17 May 2008
"Pirate radio has been an obsession for me since I was about 13 years old (I’m now in my 30’s.) In those days, my choice of listening was Hip Hop and a bit of House but I couldn’t afford to go record shopping very often and there was virtually nothing on legal radio bar a couple of specialist shows for 2 hrs a week each. Although the occasional track did enter the mainstream and get some radio play, this was not so in most cases. On pirate however, there are no rules, no play lists, nothing to hold the DJ back and stop him from playing whatever he likes. This means diversity, and not just constant rotation of a few selected albums or tracks.
Back in the summer of 1987, The Soul Twins, a soul DJ sound system from Bristol, started a pirate radio station by the name of B.A.D Radio. This was a huge change in the Bristol music scene. Most of Bristol’s top Soul, Reggae, House and Hip Hop DJs of the time were playing on this station and it was the first station of its kind in the city.
Two DJs from the B.A.D line up decided to start another station with different DJs and a stereo transmitter. This was FTP, which eventually got a licence to broadcast legally, but was sold to Chiltern Radio after less than a year with huge debts. The community didn’t support FTP because they changed their broadcasting policy slightly in order to try and stay afloat in the expensive world of legal radio.
Just before FTP went off air to seek their licence, there was a short lived station that grew out of it called R.A.W Radio. It was apparently set up to cater for an overspill of DJs from FTP. As a result, it was only on for a month or so before it too switched off to aid FTP in its license application. This is where I came in. A friend of mine at school had discovered R.A.W and told me about it. I had been eagerly listening to Tristan B on Radio Bristol every Sunday for a while, and after his show I decided to try and find this pirate station. Luckily for me it would seem, I did find it and managed to record half a C-90 of a Hip Hop mix show. From this point on, my interest in pirate radio grew. Here is the recording I made that night…
The signals were weak in those days and living where I live it was not easy to hear these illegal broadcasts, so I relied on people passing tapes of the pirates on to me. These pirates included FTP, B.A.D Radio and Emergency Radio as well as RAW.
Most of these stations died out before I could hear them live, but eventually a new station came on air, Black FM. Although I still couldn’t hear this station at my house, I’d managed to get myself a ‘walkman’ with a radio by this time and could tune in when out and about in town. Plus, I used bi-weekly visits to my nans flat in Bishopston to make tapes whenever I could. Black FM was joined by SPEC Radio later on.
Listening to these stations was not only providing me with somewhere to hear a bit of what I liked, but it was also introducing me to music I hadn’t really been a fan of before, i.e. Reggae and Soul. It really broadened my musical tastes.
By this point, I was so obsessed that every spare moment I got I would spend scanning the FM dial and moving my aerial around to see if I could hear anything new. Black FM and SPEC got transmitter upgrades and I was finally able to listen to them at home. More stations appeared, including Magnum Radio and two very short lived stations called Inner City Radio and Exodus Radio.
Through certain shows on SPEC, Magnum and Exodus I was introduced to the very early style of music that was to become Hardcore, Jungle and later Drum and Bass. I still listened to a little bit of Hip Hop, but I was starting to find it boring and the rave scene was producing music that was much more exciting. You still couldn’t hear a lot of this music on the radio in Bristol, but it was there, and it was mostly on the pirates where you could hear DJs mixing these tunes together to produce seamless sets. Of course, that was part of the fascination, the DJs themselves and the way they played the music.
Eventually, the rave scene blew up and the station that really represented that music for Bristol was one called SYT (Savage Yet Tender). SYT had been on air in 1988, but I never knew about it until it returned after a 2 year break in 1991. I saw a piece of graffiti on the wall of one of the ‘bear pit’ tunnels advertising the station, and eventually after a few weeks, it finally appeared one Sunday. In 1988, it had started out as a tape based pirate and one of its founders was a revolutionary Marxist, so you can imagine the style of some of the output. This was, ‘The station where you can call the Duke of Beaufort a fucking arsehole.’ In 1991, it was live every Sunday from mid-day until the early hours of Monday morning. It had a diverse selection of music during the day with a little Hip Hop, some Metal, Punk and eventually at about 10pm you could hear DJs like Cridge, Gizmo and Sam getting smashed on air and playing Hardcore. It was a very messy station presentation-wise, but fun to listen to, and I miss it even now. The station suffered 2 raids in quick succession and never came back.
By 1993, Raw Radio was back, or was it? Raw FM 101.1 had some of the DJs from SPEC such as Lady G and DJ Style, but it was also the first place I heard Roni Size. There was also a station playing Asian music called Pukar Radio run by two ex-SPEC DJs, Mac and Jab.
Magnum came back in 1994 as Ragga FM, a new station called Power FM had come on air, and we were into the Jungle era with Ruffneck Ting, Bunjy, Paz, Brooklyn and so on providing the sounds. Although there was a lot of Jungle on the radio at this time, the stations didn’t slouch on the other genres either.
Around the end of ’94, a station called Passion FM came on air playing a lot of Jungle, and the legendary Easygroove did an overnight stint of Jungle and Hard Techno. Whilst Roni and Krust were taking care of the legal Full Cycle show on Galaxy 101, Die and Suv were doing a show on Power FM. Power FM and Passion FM merged to become Dance FM at one point, but soon Passion FM returned in a slightly different form.
Probably the best pirate I’ve heard since 2000 was Storm FM. This was a Passion owned and run station that catered for the dance scene in Bristol. DJs like Clipz and Paz had shows on Storm. Bristol has never really got on with dance pirates though. Others that have tried have been very short lived. Storm managed for a couple of months, but they gave up in the end.
My life was getting busier, and I had less time for the radio now, I was making my own records and loosing track of radio. To me, the golden age of the pirates is gone, but I still love to tune in when I can and now, once in a while, I even play on pirate myself. Whilst pirate radio still rages on in London, there is very little room for it in Bristol town these days it seems. This is a great shame. There were two stations until recently, but due to legal stations in Wales and other places using up the frequencies and bleeding into Bristol, one of the stations was raided and is yet to return."
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