David Shillinglaw’s innocent good looks hide an intricate mind that produces a very modern & macabre set of sketches & artwork. Some of this artwork look very like childlike drawings/ collages and upon closer inspection show a myriad of detailed, sometimes cheeky connection of thoughts and medical referances designed to make you think. Hence, The Hospital Club, an almost perfect setting for this set of paintings & sketches.
The very sophisticated chatter & cocktail sipping excitement aside, I did manage to take in the artwork. Although, a few days later, when writing the review, the
Mini book, Colourful Condition definitely jogged my mind into remembering the artworks vividly. Especially enjoyed the self medication zine ~ it has many twists & turns that surprise you and propel thinking about subjects you would not normally delve into.
David has travelled the world adorning galleries, walls, canvasses & wood impressively.
You can find Ave Nell’s fantastic artwork on T-shirts exclusive to Urban Species.
We are proud to support local and international artists like Ave Nell by giving them a platform to showcase their talent. ... Check www.urbanspecies.co.uk to see more work by all of our artists.
The Red Bull Music Academy and the Roundhouse have announced the second ever Culture Clash event, taking place on the 14th October in Camden's infamous venue.
Four contending soundsystems, five rounds of incredible beats and only one champion which is decided by the crowd.
Contenders include:
Goldie’s Metalheadz feat Andy C, Shy FX, Storm, MC GQ & MC JustyceSkream & Benga presents Joker & MC Nomad & ArtworkChannel One Soundsystem feat Mikey Dread, Ras Kayleb & full crewSoul Jazz Records Sound System presents 100% Dynamite
And all this will be hosted by the legendary Don Letts!
We thought we’d use this entry to share a little info about our very good friends at Streets United.
For those of you unfamiliar with Streets United, they provide the global base for street sports, arts and music. Not only do they work alongside the very best performers and entertainers from the street sports world, they are committed to making a difference by inspiring young people to participate in sport and positive, healthy activities.
We’re going to be teaming up with Streets United over the coming months to bring you a fantastic range of competitions and prizes. We’ll announce these through our facebook page, so be sure to keep checking there for further updates.
If you’d like to know more about the fascinating work that Streets United do, please follow this link: http://www.streetsutd.com/ to their amazing website!
It’s that time again, we are calling on you once more to give us as much feedback as possible on this range of Duffs trainers currently under construction here at H.Q.
What do you make of them? Let us know by leaving your comments bellow…
Spoonface and the FAADA fam are back from their trade mission in Japan, and word has it they had a truly amazing time!
Gaining first hand insight into the Japanese industry, the state of the market and what really makes it tick, the FAADA family were hard at work pitching their catalogue, consolidating links with other UK companies and meeting face to face with the movers and shakers of the Japanese media world.
Having been pre-advised that the deal making process can be a lengthy one in Japan, Spoonface has already been contacted by companies expressing an interest in the FAADA back catalogue!
With all the current interest in everything FAADA, Spoonface has alerted us that “right now we are mostly interested in album projects and over the next few months we will be exploring potential opportunities and ideas”.
And of course we’ll let you all know the score as and when things develop, so watch this space!
We've just received word from the legendary Spoonface that he's busy shaking things up in Japan at the moment, Shibuya, Tokyo to be precise.
There's been plenty of action in the FAADA camp recently with new releases including "Beloved Bass" from Andre DeLay , "Nu Sound Therapy (Slow it Down 2) from Black Russian and How Do I Love You from Taihisha.
Be sure to check out www.faada.co.uk for more info on all these artists.
Preparation is currently under way for a very special 10 year Spoonface anniversary release! You can check the promo here: http://bit.ly/b4veGW
Spoonface's massive summer tune "Love to Party" is exploding all over Europe right now, check out the video:
Like we told you, Spoonface is curently repping FAADA hard in Japan on a trade mission, here's a peak at what he's putting together:
If you want to be a part of the FAADA movement, donate now and get a credit in the forthcoming Spoonface Aniversary Book. Find out more at: http://www.faada.co.uk/?p=1562
"It's time to go back to the coolest school going - namely, UK hip hop MC Roots Manuva's Dub College where you can witness the fitness of electronic-fuelled rhymes, dubstep-influenced floorfillers, grime and, of course, plenty of dub and more as his label gang Banana Klan go head-to-head with record crew Big Dada over two floors. Cue sets from Jammer, Dels (live), the brilliant Offshore, Juice Aleem and Bang On on floor one and the BK's Ahmos, The Illersapiens, Lucy Pink and many more rinsing up the low-end tunes. Expect some surprises from the Roots man himself too…" -- Time Out (Recommended)
We’re focusing this entry on Urban Species sponsored FreeRunner extraordinaire Jordan Wilcox. As usual he’s been up to all sorts since we last checked in and this month has seen him leaping, flipping and climbing around the built areas of his home town Cheltenham.
With his life revolving around lots of training and plenty of events, Jordan’s somehow found the time to produce this awesome SUMMER SAMPLER video so we can all share a brief glimpse into the exhilarating life of a FreeRunner.
If that piqued your interest, and we wouldn’t blame you if it did, more footage of Jordan in action will soon be available. He’s just got back from performing at the 2010 Relentless NASS Festival and, lucky for us, there was plenty of filming going on!
To keep up to date with all Jordan’s latest video action, be sure to subscribe to his YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/freerunners2626
KING BRITT - THE INTRICATE BEAUTY - 31.05.10 [Album - Dance/House]
‘The Intricate Beauty’ is the final conventional dance album King Britt will ever make. And how fitting is it that this final chapter also marks King’s first release on seminal house music label Nervous Records.
'The Intricate Beauty' pulls together the different sounds that have inspired Britt over the years.
The process of how this album was constructed is quite advanced.Britt based the album on tiny micro sounds he has collected from various random recordings and CD's. He then took all these tiny pieces and dumped them into Ableton Live where he joined the dots and created about 50 workable combinations of tracks he the constructed the songs musically.
"in a few months I intend to realease all the bits and pieces from the album as a live pack. These will be sounds that people can use for inspiration and production" said Britt.
On the understanding of how Brit has constructed this album I have to say it is very well produced as the continuous mix takes you on a very smooth ride indeed. Starting out with light soulful female vocals over relatively sparse, progressing grooves 'Love What You Have' and 'Now' lead into slightly more Tech-sounding flavours which are graced by the legend Kym English. A true vintage sound with clean production.
20 odd mins in and the percussion picks up merging with the old school US house and garage sounds. 'Keep It Moving' picks the set up and takes us into more solid sounding grooves with tones of proper chicago and detroit styles. There is still a very chilled/smooth flow to the set which hasn't quite drawn me in as yet.
The dub latin flavour of J.Carlos/ zaguirre 'Los' brings away from the soulful sound of the first half of the album and neatly morphs into the broken harsh beats of 'Blackhand Side'. My personal highlight of the album which is a fusion of sharp,cracking snares and old rave synths and basslines.
This meets a vocal dub mix of the classic Byron Stingily's 'Get Up' which is growing on me.
'Peak Inside' is a more driving techno composition, with tough beats and morphing acid synths. It is still , however, quite bland and my initial expectations of this album seem a long way off but that was without the understanding of the construction of this album.
The last section of the set is harder with acid techno reflections and is the most relative for my personal taste but it is still lacking a certain something to make me want to return to.
The album is rounded up by the Title track which is a chilled female affair with decent instrumentation and lush strings but again i still feel that the 'journey' i have been on is not one i'll revisit.
'The Intricate Beauty' is a nice sounding album and very well produced/created but will have limited appeal to most fans.
As we’re sure you’ll remember, in 2005 Nas featured on Damien Marley’s excellent track “Road to Zion”. Now, five years later, they have reunited to release the “Distant Relatives” album, and it’s definitely been worth the wait.
Sharing an eagerness to address the bigger issues, and a genuine passion for each other’s music, the pair initially came together with the intention of producing an EP. Fortunately for us the music flowed and their inspiration couldn’t be limited to just a few tracks.
The consciously positive and inspiring nature of the album is infectious; their obvious enthusiasm for the project spills out of the music and you get a sense this goes far deeper than one album. When Nas says they want to do big things, and Jr. Gong mentions building a school, you know they’ve got plans.
For those of you who haven’t heard it yet, here’s just a little taste to put you in the mood….
As Urban Species will be providing exclusive Urban Artwork and clothing for the Cast and Sets of this next film, we have teamed up with the Director of Kidulthoodand are offering YOU the chance toappear in the new, cult, Brit movie by director Menhaj Huda;EVERYWHERE & NOWHERE,starring Adam Deacon and James Floyd.
EVERYWHERE & NOWHERE is a raw, powerful and funny coming-of-age film focusing on the identity struggles of Ash a young British Asian who is torn between the traditions of his suburban family life and his passion for music.
Check out the new official website www.everywhereandnowheremovie.com and follow them on twitter@EandNthemovie for all the news, music, photos and blogs from the set.
To be in with a possible chance of winning a part in the film and meeting the cast and crew, answer this question:
Where in London isEverywhere & Nowhereset? Is it:
A. Harrow
B. Brixton
C. Stratford
Text XTRA followed by a SPACE and then your answer A, B or C to 80008 Entries by text will cost £1.50 plus your standard network charge. Callers should be over 16 years of age and have the bill payers permission.
Winner(s) will be selected at random from all correct answers received after the closing date. The closing date for this competition is 2nd of July 2010 at midnight. Filming will take place over June and July in London, UK.
Service provided by: StealthNET Ltd, PO Box 202, Gt Yarmouth NR31 7ZS.
In Mid May I headed to the next 'Wonderland' installment at a new Location in Angel, Islington.
The night was being hosted by three different Event Organisers, which promised an eclectic mix of musical madness and live acts, shared between three floors and one mystical shed. Wonderland:
As in my Previous review - Wonderland was full of magical treats, face painting, live bands and smiley faces. If you needed a moment to recooperate, there was a separate food n chill section with gorgeous homemade cakes, hot tea and a Tube Carriage Bar/Seating Area. Alan:This was the room of Dubstep Mayhem, dirty beats and heavy basslines that rattled your soul and formed bubbles of happiness in your tummy. Complete with Metal dance cages and neon decoration. I spent a good portion of my night here, sweating hard and exerting my body to its weekly dance workout. Nice :-) Acidic Records (Virus Project): Now, I only went in here on one occasion but as I entered they were dropping some PHAT drum&Bass which made my whole aura smile with delight. The tunes were varied in there, sometimes House, sometimes Drum&Bass and sometimes electro. The room was rammed for most of the night and the energy was great to be a part of.I had a ball, and so did my mates, who were all virgins to this style of night. The cost was a measly £10 and if you join their Facebook groups you can get early tickets that are usually half price! Bargain! The people were lovely, no violent idiots or casual thiefs, just smiles, good chats and happy faces. So if you fancy heading to any of these events check out the websites below:
Check this out!Jordan Wilcox, one of our favourite up n comin Free runners sent us some pics of his latest stunts out and about his hometown of CheltenhamAt 17 he's well on his way to becoming a champion of his sport, entering regular competitions around the country. We think his style of PHAT!So what is Freerunning?Freerunning is a sport which is completed by performing many different movements to get through, under and over obstacles that surround you. They could be walls, drops, bars, rails and virtually anything. And in the last few years it has been brought to the media in many different ways such as adverts, movies, websites, Local media and much more.Jordan explains how he got into it:I got into this sport about 5 and a half years ago now when I was about 12. Always as a kid I would jump around the school climbing frames and over bars in local parks and so on but I never knew there was a name for it until I heard the name "Freerunning" and saw how people were throwing themselves in mid air and landing back to their feet on youtube. In the past 5 years I have made many life achievements. One of the achievements I am really proud of is my sponsorships and work i have received from companies. My Main Sponsor is with Urban Species and I'm proud of that. I train in many places and travel as much as possible going to jams around like London, Bristol or Wales. Freerunning is also very social and can also be used to meet friends and have fun as well as train hard.More images will be uploaded on our website soon. For video footage I recommend this!
Spoonface popped into the offices the other day for a lil catch up and to order some more customised Tees from our resident artists....He's been up to all sorts recently, so in the next week I will be informing you lovely people of all things Faada and we've even managed to sneak a little competition in, details coming soon!Recently a certain Hip Hop rapper visited the Faada Studios, and we have a snippet of the podcast right here for your enjoyment....So go make a cuppa, open those choccie bickies and chillax to the sounds of Ty...
And if you want to hear Spoonface's full radio show, - then you can download it here: http://faada.co.uk/podcast/01-05-10.mp3More details on this popular Radio show next week :-)Peace.
This week is a homage to one of Musical Artists Ty ChijiokeHe's been in the public eye so much these past few months and we're so proud of all he's doin, but somehow there are still peeps out there who aint in touch wit his vibe????So this is our way to make sure the whole world knows his style!
Ty has been on the scene for well over a decade, working with the true Guru's of HipHop, such as De La Soul, Arrested Development and even performed alongside Black Twang.
He doesn't just specialise in HipHop, Scratch Perverts and Basement Jaxx have all had a piece of him. So I bet there's at least one song in his repertoire that you'll know.
And in 2010 he's come back hard with a new Album titled 'Special Kind of Fool'. This time he's been collaborating with a real mix of up and coming Artists such as Roses Gabor - grime singer famous for recent collaborations 'Stupid' by Redlight and 'Dont let go' by the infamous J2K. Plus many more, I'll leave it up to you to do some self discovery.... So, his recent single is called 'Emotions' and its beautiful....when I first heard it, my heart tingled with happiness. Its a tribute to all things old skool, emphasising the sad decline of Soul in modern HipHop, where nowadays Rappers just bitch about gang rivals and how much dollar they got. Ty is asking the world to get in touch with themselves, get that community spirit and actually interact with your fellow man. Forget the front and be true to yourself! So thats why we've done our own competition! Where you can win a signed copy of his new Album! All ya gotta do is answer an immensely simple question...Details are HERE so get crackin!! More details coming up on Ty's events, and there's some pretty cool stuff I wanna let you know about, like a Ty Q&A showcase at the British Music Experience, Live gigs and even more competitions. WATCH THIS SPACE
Pinch - Promo Mix (May2010) by fabric Since its formation in 2004 Bristol based Multiverse has been one of the key creative studios for developing the city's flourishing culture of forward thinking electronic music. Based around their recording studio in the heart of the city the collective has consistently nurtured and supported electronic artists, both nationally and internationally, in the process creating a series of seminal releases that have helped shape today's current musical landscape. Through their network of labels which includes Tectonic, Kapsize, Earwax, Caravan and Build, the work of the studio has focussed on exploring the uncharted spaces between genres, bridging together today's cutting edge sonic possibilities with electronic music's rich and diverse musical history. This intention has been accomplished with a strictly artist led approach and a commitment to supporting the work of new and innovative musicians and composers. The fruits of this creative labour are reflected here in this celebratory compilation.In an interview withFabric Pinch discussed Tectonic's new quarterly residency,"The growing confidence and support has (luckily for us) led to Tectonic joining the FABRICLIVE family, and it is certainly testament to the growth and evolution of dubstep, in all of its multifarious permutations, that Tectonic will be diving straight into Room One come Friday 11th June."To celebrate the occasion Pinch has put together this promo mix - so get your ears round this and your groove in their direction :-P
PETE AND THE PIRATES, GAGGLE, LOUIS BARRABAS, JACK BEATS AND DJ GAMMER ADDED TO NOZSTOCK LINEUP…
THE BLOCKHEADS | STANTON WARRIORS| CASPA & MC ROD AZLAN | SUB FOCUS | HIGH CONTRAST | GABBY YOUNG AND OTHER ANIMALS | CHIEF | 3 DAFT MONKEYS | TALONS | APPLES | THE ANOMALIES | KONCEPT | SICKNOTE | DEX | OCTO PI | URBAN TRAMPER | KARMA JUNKIE | VIVIAN COMA | PETER BRUNTNELL + MANY MORE TBA
Deep within the rolling Herefordshire countryside there lies a secret waiting to be discovered…
And Urban Species is here to show you the way! This festival is small in size but well worth the dollar, with such an amazing line up, you really cant go wrong this July, so for all you ravers out there, CHECK IT OUT and be part of something fantastical....
Set within the idyllic grounds of a 17th century farm Nozstock retains a family friendly atmosphere thatpeople return to year on year. From the pear tree lined orchard to the converted barns, secret areas, cinetent, coppice and glistening lake guest promoters play host to a rich musical tapestry of punk, dubstep, drum and bass, psy-trance, ska, acoustic, classical, folk and blues. In addition there are a whole host of treats for the kids in this year’s all new Little Wonderland kids area. Here the little ones can learn how to make carnival costumes, puppets, listen to stories or just kick back for a well deserved nap.
However it’s not just the creative vision, performance art, and visual splendour that sets Nozstock apart, there is a real underlying sense of community with locally produced food, farmers market, craft workshops and the BBC Hereford and Worcester Introducing Stage promoting local talent. With early bird tickets costing a mere £65 (until April 12th) Nozstock offers unparalleled value for money and an opportunity to become part of the family. Get involved…
As I walked into the packed bar, I could feel the vibrations from the incredible sound system, and I in the distance I could see a young man rocking out on stage.
Akala’s performance was fast, furious & raw. His sound is really rocky, which mixes so fluidly with is incredible rapping skills. I was very pleasantly surprised, as this was the first time I’ve seen him perform his own music. The last time I saw him was at Shakespeare Hip Hop, a government funded charity helping kids to learn about Shakespeare, where he also blew me away.
Well onto the interview :
Congratulations Akala, how does it feel ?
Really good, amazing, pleased.
Your single XXL, I get the msg it sends out, let’s hear your actual msg to the boys & girls listening to your music.
I’m talking about the fact that how commercial Hip Hop has become & now has an inaccurate stereotype. It’s very clear, watch it on youtube, as it’s not going to be shown on tv!
How has your journey been musically, when did u start, what were the influences in your large family?
Music has been part of me since birth, my mum has always had lots of music around, Niomi & I used to put on performances for our Mum constantly as well!
Apart from u both, any other talents in the fam?
Watch this space, they’re on the way!
How has your sound changed over the yrs?
It’s getting broader, I’m thinking outside of the box more & more. I’ve created my own show & my own style & it’s getting better.
Where should we expect to see you this year.
A lot of festivals, and basically all over the UK this year! Next major gig is on Friday 28th May at the Roundhouse, Camden where's I'll be rinisin it out with the likes ofDJ Luck and MC Neat, Lazy Habits, Izzi Dunn (Gorrilaz, Roots Manuva), and swing hop duo The Correspondents.
Also check out myspace page for more UK gig details.
