New Bohemia with the Wailers and more
The Wailers / Andreya Triana / Homecut / East Park Reggae Collective / Iration Steppas / Gentlemen’s Dub Club / Broke‘n’£nglish / Kidkanevil / Exodus / Noah
@ Stylus
Aston Barrett, called ‘Family Man’ because of his 52 children, is the man who taught Bob Marley to play the guitar. He played with Bob Marley and the Wailers and also with Lee Perry’s band The Upsetters. As well as writing many of the basslines for Marley’s tracks he was involved in their production and arrangement.
Since Marley’s death in 1981 Barrett has taken on the role of musical director of the Wailers, and it was he who lead the band onto the Stylus stage in April.
The occasion was New Bohemia’s fifth birthday. To celebrate reaching primary school age Leeds’ finest hip hop, dup and broken beat night had laid on quite a spread, the cherry on the cake being the Wailers performing Exodus in its entirety.
Exodus was named the 26th greatest album of all time by VH1 in 2001, 169th of all time by Rolling Stone in 2003 and in 1998 Time magazine crowned it the greatest album of the 20th Century.
As the band took to the stage it was fairly obvious that this wasn’t the original Wailers line up that recorded the album - the drummer looked about 19. Another quite pressing concern was the question of the lead singer. Who would attempt to step into Bob Marley’s Pumas, avoiding the poisoned needles that the CIA had hidden in there?
Our front man for the night was Elan Etias, who, despite dancing a little bit like a five year old - lots of jumping up, down and around, was really quite good. He definitely did the songs justice and held the capacity crowd captive.
So the band worked their way through Exodus, playing extended versions of every song, and the crowd cheered, danced and sang along. The biggest reactions were saved for ‘Exodus’, ‘Waiting In Vain’ and Marley’s ode to brewing tasty preserves, ‘Jamming’.
Supporting the Wailers, who left the stage to well deserved rapturous applause, was a stonking line up of Leeds’ finest purveyors of reggae, dub and hip hop.
Andreya Triana has provided vocals for artists including Mr Scruff, Bonobo and Flying Lotus. Now she’s going it alone, with an album coming out soon. She was on stage before the Wailers performing her own songs, a gorgeous combination of soul, funk and jazz. This lady really does have a beautiful voice. Keep an eye out for the album.
Exodus & Iration Steppas joined the dots between the live acts. They played reggae and dub in their own inimitable ways, and generally kept the crowd on the up.
The apparently ubiquitous Gentlemen’s Dub Club continued their march to the top with a tight set. These guys seem to be playing everywhere in Leeds at the moment, but when it sounds this good, no-one’s complaining.
My personal non-Wailers highlight of the evening was the live set from Kidkanevil. The Leeds-based beatsmith is undoubtedly one of the most exciting hip hop producers in the UK at the moment. His sophomore album Back Off Man, I’m A Scientist was released last year, and he’s already got to work on the follow up. His tight, stark, bassy beats were accompanied by Laura J Martin on flute, and the two of them put on a stonking set. They played at around 11pm, providing a seamless segue from the blissed-out reggae party atmosphere the Wailers had created to a more late night, edgy vibe, setting up the smiling revellers for a long and happy night.
@ Stylus
Aston Barrett, called ‘Family Man’ because of his 52 children, is the man who taught Bob Marley to play the guitar. He played with Bob Marley and the Wailers and also with Lee Perry’s band The Upsetters. As well as writing many of the basslines for Marley’s tracks he was involved in their production and arrangement.
Since Marley’s death in 1981 Barrett has taken on the role of musical director of the Wailers, and it was he who lead the band onto the Stylus stage in April.
The occasion was New Bohemia’s fifth birthday. To celebrate reaching primary school age Leeds’ finest hip hop, dup and broken beat night had laid on quite a spread, the cherry on the cake being the Wailers performing Exodus in its entirety.
Exodus was named the 26th greatest album of all time by VH1 in 2001, 169th of all time by Rolling Stone in 2003 and in 1998 Time magazine crowned it the greatest album of the 20th Century.
As the band took to the stage it was fairly obvious that this wasn’t the original Wailers line up that recorded the album - the drummer looked about 19. Another quite pressing concern was the question of the lead singer. Who would attempt to step into Bob Marley’s Pumas, avoiding the poisoned needles that the CIA had hidden in there?
Our front man for the night was Elan Etias, who, despite dancing a little bit like a five year old - lots of jumping up, down and around, was really quite good. He definitely did the songs justice and held the capacity crowd captive.
So the band worked their way through Exodus, playing extended versions of every song, and the crowd cheered, danced and sang along. The biggest reactions were saved for ‘Exodus’, ‘Waiting In Vain’ and Marley’s ode to brewing tasty preserves, ‘Jamming’.
Supporting the Wailers, who left the stage to well deserved rapturous applause, was a stonking line up of Leeds’ finest purveyors of reggae, dub and hip hop.
Andreya Triana has provided vocals for artists including Mr Scruff, Bonobo and Flying Lotus. Now she’s going it alone, with an album coming out soon. She was on stage before the Wailers performing her own songs, a gorgeous combination of soul, funk and jazz. This lady really does have a beautiful voice. Keep an eye out for the album.
Exodus & Iration Steppas joined the dots between the live acts. They played reggae and dub in their own inimitable ways, and generally kept the crowd on the up.
The apparently ubiquitous Gentlemen’s Dub Club continued their march to the top with a tight set. These guys seem to be playing everywhere in Leeds at the moment, but when it sounds this good, no-one’s complaining.
My personal non-Wailers highlight of the evening was the live set from Kidkanevil. The Leeds-based beatsmith is undoubtedly one of the most exciting hip hop producers in the UK at the moment. His sophomore album Back Off Man, I’m A Scientist was released last year, and he’s already got to work on the follow up. His tight, stark, bassy beats were accompanied by Laura J Martin on flute, and the two of them put on a stonking set. They played at around 11pm, providing a seamless segue from the blissed-out reggae party atmosphere the Wailers had created to a more late night, edgy vibe, setting up the smiling revellers for a long and happy night.
Some films
The End (2008)
Nicola Collins' over-long portrait of East End hard men, specifically her Dad and his mates, doesn't manage to shed any real light on its subject. At times it comes across as a constant stream of cliche- we are informed that gangsters like violence, weapons and their families but hate prison, paedos and people that tell on them.
The only genuinely surprising moment comes at around the hour mark when the documentary pulls a massive switcheroo and briefly morphs into a piece of evangelical Christian propaganda. Cue stirring, inspirational music, shots of ducks on a pond and images of hard guys looking wistful while describing how Jesus wants them for a sunbeam.
The Burial (2008)
A mother's last wish is that her body be taken from France to the river in England where her husband died, and so her three estranged sons set off together in a hearse with the coffin loaded in the back.
Handled less skilfully the film could have been either an unimaginative madcap farce or a slushy emotional cheese fest. However, for the most part Boucher and Mills' direction manages to tread a fine line between comedy and tragedy, providing humour without stupidity and emotion without overt manipulation.
Jasmine Women (2004)
Hou Yong's visually striking film tells the generation-spanning story of three women in the same family who seem destined to keep making the same mistakes. Zhang Ziyi, best known for her work on Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, House Of Flying Daggers and Memoirs of a Geisha, is impressive as the young female protagonist of three separate stories set in China in the 1930s, 50s and 80s. Early scenes set in pre-war Shanghai are particularly worthy of mention for their stunning cinematography.
Nicola Collins' over-long portrait of East End hard men, specifically her Dad and his mates, doesn't manage to shed any real light on its subject. At times it comes across as a constant stream of cliche- we are informed that gangsters like violence, weapons and their families but hate prison, paedos and people that tell on them.
The only genuinely surprising moment comes at around the hour mark when the documentary pulls a massive switcheroo and briefly morphs into a piece of evangelical Christian propaganda. Cue stirring, inspirational music, shots of ducks on a pond and images of hard guys looking wistful while describing how Jesus wants them for a sunbeam.
The Burial (2008)
A mother's last wish is that her body be taken from France to the river in England where her husband died, and so her three estranged sons set off together in a hearse with the coffin loaded in the back.
Handled less skilfully the film could have been either an unimaginative madcap farce or a slushy emotional cheese fest. However, for the most part Boucher and Mills' direction manages to tread a fine line between comedy and tragedy, providing humour without stupidity and emotion without overt manipulation.
Jasmine Women (2004)
Hou Yong's visually striking film tells the generation-spanning story of three women in the same family who seem destined to keep making the same mistakes. Zhang Ziyi, best known for her work on Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, House Of Flying Daggers and Memoirs of a Geisha, is impressive as the young female protagonist of three separate stories set in China in the 1930s, 50s and 80s. Early scenes set in pre-war Shanghai are particularly worthy of mention for their stunning cinematography.
Outlook festival at the Coronet, Elephant & Castle
Dubstep will probably get spoiled this year. At some point in the tragically near future some arsehole with gelled hair and a mate at a record label will produce some cheesy, watered-down dubstep-lite tune with a token female vocal or 'urban' rap on it that will smash its way to the top of the charts. In the industry it's called the Fedde Le Grand method. It's been brewing for a while, just listen to the wobbly bassline on 'Freakshow' by Britney Spears from Blackout (the album she released while she was still shaving babies and dangling her vagina over balconies).
So enjoy dubstep while you can, before it becomes 2009's funky house. One of the best places in the whole world to do this is in Petrcane, Croatia this summer, where Leeds scene veterans Subdub, Exodus, Vagabondz and their kooky cavalcade of freaks and geeks will be setting up a big top full of low frequency tomfoolery and christening the whole mess 'Outlook'.
There'll be Captain Eddie's boat parties, live illustration, guaranteed sunshine and a line up that'll definitely put a smile on your pretty little face. Confirmed acts so far include Rusko, Digital Mystikz, Jehst and Iration Steppas.
On Saturday 18th April they're having a bit of a launch party to get you into the swing of things. Shy Fx, Mungo's Hifi, Plastician, Joker, Ramadanman, Ruckspin, Tomb Crew and many more will be shaking the Coronet to its foundations and, as a tasty bonus, 20 free tickets to the festival itself will be given out.
In the immortal words of Tim Westwood: 'Bang! and the dirt is gone'.
So enjoy dubstep while you can, before it becomes 2009's funky house. One of the best places in the whole world to do this is in Petrcane, Croatia this summer, where Leeds scene veterans Subdub, Exodus, Vagabondz and their kooky cavalcade of freaks and geeks will be setting up a big top full of low frequency tomfoolery and christening the whole mess 'Outlook'.
There'll be Captain Eddie's boat parties, live illustration, guaranteed sunshine and a line up that'll definitely put a smile on your pretty little face. Confirmed acts so far include Rusko, Digital Mystikz, Jehst and Iration Steppas.
On Saturday 18th April they're having a bit of a launch party to get you into the swing of things. Shy Fx, Mungo's Hifi, Plastician, Joker, Ramadanman, Ruckspin, Tomb Crew and many more will be shaking the Coronet to its foundations and, as a tasty bonus, 20 free tickets to the festival itself will be given out.
In the immortal words of Tim Westwood: 'Bang! and the dirt is gone'.
Doorly
Every summer there's one dance track that gets everywhere. Last year it was 'Pjanno' by Eric Prydz, the year before it was 'Heater' by Samim and before that it was 'Put Your Hands Up For Detroit' by Fedde Le Grand. This year it looks set to be 'Bonkers' by Dizzee Rascal and Armand Van Helden. It's a track made from a similar mould to 'Dance Wiv Me', Dizzee and Calvin Harris' ode to poor spelling.
So far so uninteresting, but here's where the story picks up. Wax:On and Bad Robot resident, raconteur, bon viveur and general man-about-town Doorly has made a stomping dubstep remix of the track. Within a few days of being let loose the track has had the blog world losing its mind, and it has stormed its way to the top of the Hype Machine charts. This is the same Hype Machine chart which picked up on the excitement around artists like Simian Mobile Disco, Justice and Little Boots months before the mainstream media pricked up their noses. Get on this quick because it's going to be big.
Get it here:
http://www10.zippyshare.com/v/90658693/file.html
So far so uninteresting, but here's where the story picks up. Wax:On and Bad Robot resident, raconteur, bon viveur and general man-about-town Doorly has made a stomping dubstep remix of the track. Within a few days of being let loose the track has had the blog world losing its mind, and it has stormed its way to the top of the Hype Machine charts. This is the same Hype Machine chart which picked up on the excitement around artists like Simian Mobile Disco, Justice and Little Boots months before the mainstream media pricked up their noses. Get on this quick because it's going to be big.
Get it here:
http://www10.zippyshare.com/v/90658693/file.html
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