Fis-T - Night Hunter video

our friend DJ Oneman anounces the launch of his new label, simply called 502.
Expect nothing less than greatness.

Lil Silva - No Hooks

Lil Silva's tribute to Kenny Dope originally came out on white label 12" on Night Slugs earlier this year. Those whites have all but sold out so to celebrate the release of his new "Night Skanker" EP, we've decided to give the track away:

edit - new linkLIL SILVA - NO HOOKS (320)



Out today, the Night Skanker EP features 4 brand new, synth-heavy tracks from Lil Silva that signal a progression from his roots in up-front UK funky. Still as grimey as ever, the new tracks also possess a new million-mile gaze, a deeper celestial drive than before.
We've also included two of Silva's absolute classics on this EP, "Seasons" and "Pulse VS Flex". Both tracks have been key in shaping the development of the what-dyou-call-it UK zeitgeist we're part of today, and both have been next-to-impossible to get hold of digitally, so we've had them remastered, finally giving them the platform they deserve!

Buy the EP here:
http://boomkat.com/downloads/307395-lil-silva-night-skanker-ep

&
London crew: don't forget Friday's party featuring Lil Silva, Chicago's Juke master DJ Rashad, myself and LVis, Girl Unit and Jam City:

win a dubplate of Girl Unit's IRL!

This coming monday sees the release of Girl Unit's incredible "IRL" EP featuring the title track that is driving London crazy. With heavy support form top-ranking DJs and intense anticipation from everyone else, it's safe to say we're excited about this record.

So much so that we've decided to give away the dubplate you can see being cut in the above video to one lucky Night Slugs/ Girl Unit fan. This is a one-off accetate dubplate of "IRL" with another track from the forthcoming EP called "Shade On" on the flip. It was lovingly cut at Music House in London a few days ago specially to give away to one of you. Two runners up will also get test presses of the IRL 12" we'll be putting out.

Just answer the following question:

What does GIRL UNIT stand for?

Answers to nightslugs [at] gmail [dot] com

The winners will be picked at random from the correct entries.

And remember - for the London crew, we're celebrating the release of "IRL" this thursday at East Village at Night Slugs # 12 featuring Ikonika, R1 Ryders, myself and L-Vis 1990 and of course Girl Unit at the controls!

Slackk - Eski House Mix

When house started building a home in the UK underground around 2007, there was a lot of excitement about the new lease of life it might bring to grime production, which had become rhythmically weary, reduced to a less expressive, less experimental formula by its own failure to hold sway on London dancefloors. No grime raves meant no reason to make dancefloor-shocks; producers either gave up altogether or resorted to unimaginative retreads and 'bait hip-hop' (those words were inseparable on RWD/Grimeforum for about two years). 2007/8 presented great opportunities for grime's first generation to bring their avant-garde motifs and dynamism to house and funky - and back to the clubs ('building a funky igloo at FWD' in 2009). But the UK funky scene - Marcus Nasty in particular - have been vehement that they don't want grime kids scuffing their shiny shoes, pulling a hood down over its clean new haircut. They've won, sadly. Grimey house production and MCs jumping on funky riddims has been a glaring, unfulfilled promise of the last few years.

From the 2002/3 era Geeneus stands alone in having taken the simple, all-powerful synth stabs of early grime and moved them into a house template. At least one of Oddz or Eastwood (featured on the mix below) is now a devout Muslim with no interest in music; I forget which one. The Eski Kid himself is still groping for that number 1 slot any way he can - and the greatly-anticipated Wiley Eskimo Instrumentals CD was deleted before it was even released.

But there are newer names fusing the two styles. Grievous Angel has moved in this area with his fantastic 'Ice Rink' funky refix, Spooky continues to mix up grime and funky to great effect, and of course our Bok Bok and Jam City wear their grime influences high up their sleeves. Tommo's shows on Live FM are well worth listening to: check this fairground madness - a tune of Tommo's own called 'Gutter Walk' apparently (warning: may contain traces of Discarda).

All this is a long-winded way of saying that the man you want on this is Slackk: semi-professional scouser, www.grimetapes.com supremo, south-east London's biggest Mr Wong fan, Junior Spesh blogger and increasingly hyped producer (watch out for the brilliant 'Fire Flies' getting a release soon). The rhythms are loose and compulsively danceable, and the sound palette is grimey enough to demand a revival of the shower face. Whatever happened to the shower face? It's about fucking time it came back, anyway.

Slackk - Eski House Mix


Pony (Slackk vs Bok Bok Hands Riddim RMX)- Ginuwine
Crank- Slackk
Carnival- Wiley
Amazon's Night- Mista Bee
Crippled Sublow Assassin- Geo
Fire Flies- Slackk
Master At Work (Lucky Basterd Mix)- Freddy Fuori
Toothache- DJ Oddz & Eastwood
Marching- Slackk
HeartBreaka- Thunder Frix
Roach- Moony
Sea Monk (Slackk's Drum Jam Remix)- Grimbo
Peru- Slackk
Zen On- Paper Boi
Abacus- Slackk
Funky Bit- Doc Daneeka
Untitled- Jam City
Candy Floss- Spooky
Menace (Unfinished)- Slackk

Eski house. It's colder a lie?

GIRL UNIT MIX 2010

GIRL UNIT's already anthemic track "I R L" will be dropping on Night Slugs at the end of April.

His new promo mix is as epic in scope as his influences, and pretty much presents in an hour everything that makes Night Slugs tick: vibes from London via Chicago, Detroit, The Hague, Soweto, into outer space.

The juke segment at the end of the mix is particularly on point - There's been a wave of interest in the Chicago ghetto style out here recently, much of it fuelled by Addison Groove's incredible track "Footcrab". Where AG perfectly captures the half-time(implied)double-time vibe of 160bmp juke at a London-friendly tempo, Girl Unit's "IRL" draws inspiration from the downright unstable-sounding Footwork subgenre, with pitched 808 toms, tumbling triplets and percussive irregularities. ]
However as much as the juke influence is key to the track, IRL's signature neon beams of sawtooth FM synth along with its gaseous atmospherics position it in an entirely new place outside of the sonic geographics of both London and Chicago.

GIRL UNIT mix 2010 www.mediafire.com/?yhydtnjjyo2


1. GIRL UNIT - Temple Keys
2. Hardrive ft. Lynae - Never Forget When You Touch Me (Dubbel Dutch edit)
3. DJ Sdunkero - Choosing Love
4. Ikonika - Dckhdbtch
5. NGUZUNGUZU - Got U
6. Sekta ft. Spoek Mathambo - Peter Pan (Dubbel Dutch remix inst.)
7. Roulet - Kitamanda (GIRL UNIT remix)
8. Rishi Romero - African Forest
9. Marcus Price - Var E Naaken (Bok Bok remix)
10. Jay R. Revlon - The Godzilla Ha
11. Jam City - A/Arpjam
12. DJ Assault - Vandalism
13. K.G. - 808
14. GIRL UNIT - IRL
15. Jagged Edge ft. Trina & Gucci Mane - Tip Of My Tongue (Inst.)
16. GIRL UNIT - WUT
17. Terror Danjah ft. Swindle - Kiss Chase (Inst.)
18. Justin Timberlake - My Love (Inst.)
19. Asia Cruise - Boyfriend
20. Mike V. - Feelings
21. Leatherface - Requiem
22. DJ Solo - Juk3-tron
23. DJ Nehpets - GJM Trax 2
24. J.O.H - Goom
25. Kingdom - RedBaron Juke
26. Aaron-Carl - For The Money
27. DJ Spinn - Breezy
28. DJ Assault - Sometimes (Inst.)
29. Mister Ries - Sugar (Kill Frenzy remix)
30. DJ Rashad ft. DJ Gant-Man - U See Dem Hoes '09
31. DJ Deeon - I Hope Its U (Juke Mix)

more Save Plastic People

here is the official petition curtesy of Friends Of Plastic People.

http://www.petitiononline.com/PP2010/petition.html


SIGN IT !!!!!!!!

SAVE PLASTIC PEOPLE

"THE POLICE ARE TRYING TO SHUT DOWN PLASTIC PEOPLE

There is a notice outside the door saying there are 2 reasons why the Police want to take the license away.

1/ PREVENTION OF PUBLIC NUISANCE
2/ PREVENTION OF CRIME ANTI DISORDER

Plastic People have until the 11th March to appeal."

KEEP PLASTIC PEOPLE ALIVE Facebook group

Yet another example of the well-documented prejudice against London's underground music scene. Several times at FWD I remember police visits, a van waiting outside just watching for something to go wrong. Do this outside any club in London and you will see far worse than at this friendly, beloved club, unparalleled for its incredible sound and intimate vibe. I have yet to visit a club quite like it in ANY country.
To lose Plastic People would truly be the end of an era. This cannot be allowed to happen! Please join the group and loudly express your support for a true London legend.

Ayobaness (The Sound Of South African House)

Bigup Outhere Records for putting out a release of truly massive African house bangers. I've been looking for a good copy of Mujava's "Mugwanti / Sgwejegweje", otherwise known as Please Mugwanti, for what feels like years now! It's shocking to see how little of this stuff gets a proper release, so for that reason this one is even more welcome.

I first heard Kode9 play this and thought it was a Lil Silva refix of Masters At Work, because the drums are so hard and stripped down and the vocal is riffing on the theme of MAW's "Brazilian Beat":

I was wrong of course, but my assumtion says a lot about just how good and relevant this track sounds in Plastic People.

Outhere are giving away a low-bit copy of a tracks for the EP by another heavy hitter of South African house Aero Manyelo. We really love this guy, please go check him out on Afrodesia, where lots more very good African house is available too.

03 Aero Manyelo - Just In Time by OuthereRecords

BRAIDEN - Journey Home

As well as close Night Slugs fam, Braiden is also one of our favourite London DJs.
For his contribution to our podcast series, Braiden has put together a specially themed mix that showcases some of his key influences - synth-heavy old-skool electro, boogie-funk and technicolor-saturated techno.
For many of the current crop of UK producers and DJs, Drexciya has been just as important as Tuff Jam, So Solid or DMZ - their music resonates with the vibes of Detroit as much as those of London. Braiden's mixtape is peppered with a few modern-day synth-n-bass bangers too, neatly setting up a nuum-friendly context for some of the older styles to be revisited.

A few words from the man himself:
"My approach to the mix was to put together a mixture of electro tracks, both old and more recent, along with some other favourite tracks which fit into this aesthetic.

I entitled it "journey home" based on the Drexciya track of the same name, but also because I have sentimental feelings towards this kind of synth-based electro as it was the first kind of dance music i got into when I was about 16. I have always found something very emotive in analog synth lines - maybe it was all the Commodore 64 games I played as a kid."


BRAIDEN - Journey Home Mix




Zackey Force Funk - The Split [2009]
Luke Eargoggle - The Swedish Code [2003]
The Other People Place - Let Me Be Me [2001]
Drexciya - 700 Million Light Years From Earth [2002]
Bangkok Impact - Junge Dame mit Freundliche Telefonstimme [Legowelt rmx] [2003]
Drexciya - Journey Home [1995]
Little Jinder - Youth Blood [Bok Bok remix] [2009]
Egyptian Lover - Freak A Holic [1986]
Underground Resistance - Electronic Warfare [1995]
Legowelt - Disco Bitch [1999]
Ikonika - Space Ugly [2010]
Anthony Rother - Luzifer [2006]
Bass Junkie VS The Dexorcist - Robot Movement [2006]
Nukubus - Second Moon [2003]
Rebound X - Rhythm & Gash [2006]
Underground Resistance - Final Frontier [1991]

kind of a big deal

most amazing mix by Kingdom promoting his appearance at some club somewhere ;)

Kingdom FABRICLIVE / Fool's Gold Promo Mix by fabric

so good


1. Choice – Acid Eiffel
02. Cooly G – Weekend Fly
03. Roska – The Sheppard
04. Mosca – Square One (Kingdom Edit ft. Willie Carter)
05. Kingdom – Bust Broke
06. Shaun-D – Spanish Fly (Kingdom Remix)
07. Mike Q – I Am Legend
08. Kanji Kinetic – Thrill Seeker (Kingdom Remix)
09. Dj Toño – Nanue
10. Bok Bok – Citizens Dub ft. Bubbz
11. Untold – Don’t Know. Don’t Care.
12. Bionics vs. Slimzee – The Capsule
13. Kingdom – You
14. Kingdom – Mind Reader ft. Shyvonne (Todd Edwards Remix)
15. Kingdom – Mind Reader ft. Shyvonne (Todd Edwards Dub)

4 classic Geeneus riddims

This ain’t Sinogrime, but it comes from the same place. Rinse FM have just quietly given away four fantastic Geeneus/Wizzbit instrumentals from grime’s golden era - lost treasures unearthed from the irresistible late-garage/early-grime bleed period. Gee and Wizzbit are the same person of course - I never was clear what the pseudonym was about, since the sound is interchangable. The tracks are:

Geeneus - Raggo
Geeneus - Poltergeist Remix
Geeneus - Midnite Remix
Wizzbit - Aquarius Remix

Download the pack here. (or here)

It’s exactly the unimpeachable DJ-led rollage we brought you in Alex's brilliant '69 Allstars' mix-slash-history lesson a couple of years ago. Midnite Remix in particular is devastating - rarely has a grime producer been able to make a synth STAB so aggressively, while still having the drums push you to move so hard at the same time. It helps, of course, that we're getting these tunes in high quality for the first time.

On this subject, beyond Grimetapes I feel there’s a fairly urgent need for a salvage operation to rescue, archive and release more of these 2002/3 instrumentals. I’ve heard some terrible, heartbreaking things recently about crashed hard-drives belonging to Ruff Sqwad producers – if some of these unreleased classics really are lost to the ages, it would represent grime’s elemental transience being brought to its natural conclusion… some of those dubs might NEVER see the light of day.

But don't mourn for now… BRUCKOUT

************************

And while you're listening, some other little tidbits for your weekend:

I wrote a piece for the New Statesman explaining why funky’s egalitarian skank culture is part of human evolutionary history. Dance or get eaten by tigers, innit.

Tom Lea interviewed Mr Bok Bok and Mr L-Vis1990 for American mag XLR8R - a great read.

See you all at Night Slugs!

Manara's Miracles

Chiiiiiize!!

I'm jealous of this tracklist. Manara's completely banging and very concise (20 mins) new mix:

MANARA - Miracles Mix

Paula Abdul – Cold Hearted (Dubstramental)
Roska- Gone to a Better Place
Aero Manyelo – My 8 Kids
Aaron Carl – Oasis (Nick Holder Vocal Dub)
DJ Gregory – Klappa
DJ Gazzeto – Cruel 22
Shaun-D – Spanish Fly (Kingdom remix)
Ikonika – Brown Acid remix
GIRL UNIT – I.R.L
Dj Deeon – Freak like Me (Brenmar mix)

United Groove - Kingdom Remix

A 2009 classic gets reinvented for 2010

Check out the full remix package here

- each version is a banger in its own right, but of course Kingdom's version is a big favourite around here, and now after months of rinsing it in sets we've been allowed to give it away for free - DON'T SLEEP!

L-VIS 1990 - United Groove (KINGDOM Remix)

NIGHT SLUGS 001

Ever since myself and L-Vis 1990 launched Night Slugs back in March 2008 we've been dedicated to cutting-edge club music, and this year that focus will be manifested in the new Night Slugs label.

I'm proud to announce our first release: the debut EP from soon-to-be-star and posterboy of the UK crossover nu-skool, MOSCA


(photography by Steve Braiden)

NS001, The Square One EP is out on the 25th of Jan 2010 at your usual mp3 stores with a limited 12" doing the rounds around the same time. The 8-track-deep digi EP features the title track, already a dubplate anthem of 2009 and a bastion of genre-destroying UK Club. The B-side is Mosca's "Nike", a 10-minute masterpiece: "A sense of epic grandeur befitting global house, shuddering dub echoes straight from Jamaica, Latino percussion and still undeniably UK" writes Dan Hancox in the Guardian.

Completing the package are the "Square One" remixes from Greena, Roska, Julio Bashmore, myself Bok Bok and L-Vis 1990.




To celebrate our launch we're pleased to give away Greena's amazing Square One remix!


>MOSCA - Square One (GREENA Remix)

Taking the broken house of the original, Greena twists Square One into a pumping, respiring percussive workout, permeated by synth tones that are in turns warming, jubilant and unsettling.


This is going to be a busy year with releases planned from Egyptrixx, Kingdom, Jam City, Greena, Girl Unit as well as myself and L-vis.


Enjoy and stay tuned!

BOK BOK - Jan 2010 Mix

New decade, new dubs.



BOK BOK - Jan 2010 Mix

EDIT! alt download link:
http://www.archive.org/download/BokBok-Jan2010Mix/Jan2010Mix.mp3

01 - MR MAGEEKA - Diffrent Lekstrix [Numbers]
02 - APHRODISIAX - Unfinished Business
03 - EGYPTRIXX - The Only Way Up [Night Slugs]
04 - DVA - Natty [Hyperdub]
05 - BEEZY - Dejavoodoo (GEENEUS remix)
06 - MOSCA - Nike [Night Slugs]
07 - COOLY G - Digitally Higher
08 - GIRL UNIT - I.R.L [Night Slugs]
09 - BOK BOK - Citizens Dub ft Bubbz [Blunted Robots]
10 - BOK BOK - Hands Riddim (JAHDAN vocal)
11 - ENDGAMES - Ecstasy (JAM CITY Refix) [Night Slugs]
12 - BOK BOK - Ripe Banana VIP
13 - TERROR DANJAH - Sidechain [D.O.K Remix]
14 - MOSCA - Square One (BOK BOK Remix) [Night Slugs]
15 - UNTOLD - Bad Girls
16 - KINGDOM - Mind Reader [BOK BOK Dub] (Fool's Gold)
17 - 2562 - Love In Outer Space
18 - BAD AUTOPSY - MAG (Rare Cymbals Version)