The big chill campsite, looking towards the main stage from the guest area
This was definitely one of those trips where the journey was an integral part as leaking what smelt like a large quantity of petrol from Bristol, we shambled our way down the motorway towards the picturesque Eastnor deer park with most windows open and the small black Fiat threatening to be driven apart into pieces at any moment (mum don't read this!). We actually managed to put the tent up in daylight, a step forward on last years pitch black pitching, and tented ourselves near a tree (theory being a good landmark makes it easy to locate).
Having done the transporting and pitching, we made it down into the main stage for Chemical Brothers Friday headline slot after being drawn to 'cubehenge' for some jungle. Chems put on a fantastic show though, dropping their hits in all the right places and with some expansive visuals on the big screen to support the Djing and samples. Our tickets were a kind gift from Vodafone so we were amongst the few who made it into the TV gallery, looking over the 30,000 strong crowd, it was a great experience.
Janelle shakes her Monae maker
A 3am finish, we woke on the Saturday and hastily set about making a plastic cups worth of tea, and eating disco's (the crisps). First up after we'd managed to get down to the main stage was Janelle Monae, who put on a great set once again (I was lucky to have seen her at wireless festival earlier in the season). Towards the end of her show she likes to put people to sleep, the aim being everyone at the front sits or lies down, as the band wind down and pretend to go to sleep on the stage, then kick right back up again with some rawkus. This also brought rain, which amusingly resulted in the guy in front hastily shaking his fist in anger at the sky. Luckily this year an umbrella was to hand.
Saturday night and we went to see Aloe Blacc play in the Revellers Tent, he created very much a lounge vibe and enjoyed one of his best album tracks in Green Lights before we skipped out to see if Kanye had turned up yet. Half an hour late he did but the performance, or what we saw of it, was fairly flat. Starting out singing from the tv tower, which turned heads (literally), he moved to the stage and sang a further 3 album tracks, before launching a 10 minute monologue about being lonely, persecuted, picking up a dud award at the German MTV awards and complaining he had lost his voice to 'bring y'all a great show, a great product'. It was a strange but also a sad moment. The crowd had been upbeat; now those who had been seeking to hear a carousel of his hits were leaving in their droves. From there we went to see Buraka Som Sistema with some samba house and set about finding a fire to sit round in the guest area.
Sunday AM heralded sitting in the tent rustling up some fish sandwiches, getting through the remaining supplies and reading the newspaper whilst listening to the excellent Delta Swamp Rock compilation on SoulJazz. We wondered down the hill to the stage area and the sun really did come out with DJ Derek's brilliant reggae set and Norman Jay before that with his mix of dnb, house and good times. On the Saturday a hyperactive but enthusiastic Craig Charles brought us some of his favourite records on the cubehenge stage, the former Red Dwarf actor and Robot Wars host turned 6Music DJ and funk champion.
Wearily returning to London late on Sunday night meant I missed Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings which was a shame, but for what was to become a week of riots and madness, Big Chill did not disappoint, and is still one of the UK's best festivals for dance, pop, soul and reggae fans. ****
'Sam Bakers Album' is the self titled and newly released Samiyam break. It's also the follow up to Rap Beats Vol 2. and the first album that's come through Flying Lotus' label Brainfeeder that has really caught and kept my attention. The man from Michigan relocated to the musical hub of Los Angeles and was previously known for his use of video game inspired 8-bit hiphop beats. His newest effort goes above and beyond that calling.
Seventeen tracks, essentially presented as mini-ideas, breathe with electronic soul taking in influence from deep eighties jazz funk, films and sounds that could have turned up on a re-modelled nite flight compilation.
An album geared towards after-hours listening, as warped, vibey keys blur with looped vocals, film samples and various beats, flittering between hip-hop, broken beat and dubstep. There's alot of limiter placed on each loop, which moves it to the notion that you've discovered a pirate radio station late at night, under the covers.
Whereas some concept albums can spread themselves too thinly, the majority here are thoroughly enjoyable. And whilst it's difficult to hum them after, when the record ends, it leaves you with a niggling to come back for more. It's more a soundtrack than a traditional album with singles, now all we need is the great film to match.
If you've checked out spoof blaxploitation flick Black Dynamite then you'll know about the highly authentic soundtrack composed by Adrian Younge (who also edited the film). The soundtrack itself stands when compared to those Younge took influence from, the likes of Marvin Gayes 'Trouble Man' , Shaft by Isaac Hayes and Willie Hutch's score to Foxy Brown to name a few. It was high time to catch up with the man himself and ask a few questions about Black Dynamite, his newly launched record shop and his next venture under the guise of Venice Dawn. Thankfully, he agreed, so peel your eyes and enjoy BristolFunk viewers :
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"An essential component, in old soul, is the warmth of the tape"- Adrian Younge
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BF: The artwork for Black Dynamite was an integral part of promoting the movie and album, have you decided on the art for the new album and are there any tips you'd give to artists when thinking about it?
Adrian: "The artwork was designed by Freddy Azures, of wax poetics magazine, for the black dynamite album. He was also commissioned to create the artwork for “something about April.” The artwork is an integral part of the new album because it explores notions that were frowned upon by many in a historically racist society. Can’t say too much now, but you should get it when you see the artwork. The time frame for the album is about 1969."
Sounds like a classic. You favoured an analogue only approach on Black Dynamite, do you think that some music today is over produced or could do with a return to warmer, more organic sounds?
"It all depends; if you are creating old soul music, I think it is unfortunate when recorded with exclusively modern technology. An essential component, in old soul, is the warmth of the tape. With the digital age, some music isn’t supposed to be that warm; however, some is. Modernly, many producers are lazy, or uneducated, and do not feel the need to inundate themselves with analog technology. Ironically, these producers spend so much time in post (trying to create an analog sound) that they should have just started the right way: recording in analog!"
How excited are you about the new album? Do you have a title and has it been hard work?
"Very excited. It was a lot of work and well worth the effort. I believe it is my greatest artistic accomplishment as a composer."
"The new album is entitled “Something About April.” The album depicts the ups and downs of a relationship through the eyes of a male and female. It will follow in the steps of Black Dynamite, but it is more progressive. For the BD soundtrack, I had to somewhat stay within the boundaries of classic Blaxploitation; with Something About April, I had the freedom to do whatever I desired. That being said, the new album is a darker album with more emotional content."
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"I believe Something About April is my greatest artistic accomplishment as a composer."
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If there is a message for people to take from the new album, what would it be?
"From a producer standpoint, there is one message: be yourself and don’t be negatively influenced by people critiquing your new sound. You must be the judge of your own music, and make your new music for yourself; then think of others. Basically, focus on your personal expectations of greatness."
You recently opened your own record store, were you inspired by record store day and what is your favourite record from the racks currently?
"The record store component, to our record store/salon, is operated by myself and my close friend Patrick Washington. We were just inspired by our love for vinyl. My favorite record on the racks currently is Portishead’s “Portishead.” "
Nice choice, is the Haircuts and records idea a new one? Why not a milk or juice bar?
"I’m sure that someone has thought about it; however, I have never seen another recordstore/salon. Also, this picture is our stylist, “Snag,” cutting Rob Swift of the Executioners:: "
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The first records I bought were Babylon Zoo- Spaceman and The Luniz- I Got 5 On It, both on tape, what was your first record and any regrets?
"My first record was michael jacksons thriller; no regrets."
If we were just playing musical top trumps, you would've won.. 11 and a half minutes of Greg Carmichael's Barely Breaking Even do it for me, but do you have a 'guilty pleasure' record in your collection?
"Everyone does…R.Kelly and public announcements first album: “Born into the 90s.”"
BF: Haha, that's some honesty! Thanks for your time- Anything to add??
Adrian: "Wax Poetics is releasing an EP of Venice Dawn soon. It will be a free digital download. And possibly playing UK at the end of the year"
-Venice Dawn's New Album 'There's Something About April is out Soon. Thankyou to Adrian Younge for humbly allowing me to interview him-
In our church homegroup we've recently been learning about how cities were intended to be places of refuge, cultural diversity and of prosperity. Tim Keller has written a very good book/DVD called Gospel In Life on it, and it got me thinking, how much does the city really means to us all in our daily lives? Should we go to the city for our career or to take from it, or should we be giving to it?
So this mix came about, a soundtrack for the city in the summer. Rare northern soul, funk and party to travel the trams to.
For the last 3 months things have really been ramping up for Record Store Day, a day where independent record shops get the much deserved spotlight. Excited queue's form outside record shops and extra staff are laid on. Now in it's sophomore year and whilst still fledgling, it's getting more support as it goes on with an increase in stores joining and more in the US, Canada, the EU and beyond. This year musicians such as Ozzy Osbourne recorded messages of support for it, acts like Primal Scream and The Fratelli's were interviewed on TV, and reporters flocked to some of Soho's finest indie shops. Because of the prominence this is receiving labels and artists release limited edition records (mostly vinyl) which sell out quickly.
So I set off from the breezy Parsons Green station at 9.30 this morning, cup of coffee in hand, tired but intrigued. My destination was Sounds of The Universe on 7 Broadwick Street, a shop i'd not been in before but had wanted to visit for quite a while. Their close affiliation to SoulJazz records means it's pretty much the shop for me, recent excellent releases and re-issues made sure of that- two Bossa Beat compilations, a Delta Swamp comp and a Roy Ayers vinyl amongst them. They don't stock indie rock (Guitar bands), but do stock crates of Disco, HipHop, Rare Soul & Jazz LPs a bit of techno, reggae and plenty of Funk. There's also some educational music dvd's and books.
Outside, it's 10.15 and a motley set of punters had started to form an orderly queue - "An Englishman, even if he is alone, forms an orderly queue of one."- (George Mikes), and so i joined 9th in line awaiting opening. Whilst there several of us, who hadn't previously known each other, started chatting about records we liked, what we wanted to get on the day and also traded some music stories. One remarked that the queue outside Rough Trade East was '500 strong' with a 2 hour wait, so it was quite nice to know that there was only 20 or so of us standing outside this shop.
At 11am there were over 30 in the line queuing just around the corner and then the wood framed doors were opened. Most of us went straight to the till to ask about the exclusives, no Beastie Boys but a decent number of 'Ubiquitous' by Dennis Coffey which I picked up along with the excellent Charles Bradley album on Menahan (Daptone).
Later and journeying back home to write this and listen to some music, I was quite chuffed to have been a small part of Record Store Day. In these times of uncertainty, with the news about HMV and the decline of physical sales, Record Store Day could yet be the fulcrum that the wider music industry would do well to take further note of.
Retro RnB/Soul artist Raphael Saadiq can really hit the spot with some of his music, and yet other times he seems like he's trying to be cool just a bit too much.
Take for instance the masterful 'Skyy Can You Feel Me' from critically acclaimed album 'Instant Vintage' or the edgy 'Rifle Love' then juxtapose with records like Sure Hope You Mean It which have such a close an affiliation to Motown that you wonder if it was in fact part of the legendary Detroit label's output.
On this first single from album number 4, he's definitely grasped an opportunity to blend both vintage soul with a modern twist. On Good Man he makes a statement about trying to do the right thing to support his family including working two jobs putting food on the table and loving the Lord.
Here too he has carefully crafted a very decent piece of cinema (directed by Isaiah Seret (Gogol Bordello’s “Immigraniada”) which pauses mid-way for a piece of controversial female fight-club footage whereafter his 'Lady' frames him for a crime he didn't commit and in the process he is humiliated. All because he can provide love but not an abundance of money. However the song doesn't end there and we see the moral to the story come the end.
In a similar vein to Aloe Blaccs I Need A Dollar (see previous album review on this blog), he uses the sample-soul sound to his advantage, overlaying thoughtful lyrics to a sassy RnB-come-neo soul hook written and performed by Taura Stinson (Destiny's Child). If Saadiq wasn't on this record now, then Marvin Gaye wouldn've been. Times are lean and people are more likely to be working two jobs, something Saadiq grapples with on this timely song.
Well worth spinning; this should be considered a modern soul classic. *****
Taken from the new album Stone Rollin , due for UK release on March 21st
