24Seven, Interview, Music, Writing

DJ Marky

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DJ Marky is one of Brazil’s best exports since nuts and waxes. He was discovered after fellow Brazilian Patife called the UK promoters of the Movement shows to see if he could use the name in Brazil. V- Recordings head honcho Bryan Gee flew to Brazil with Edo Van Duyn to see a scene they weren’t really aware of, and caught Marky playing at the now legendary Love Club. “Incredible, for here was a DJ who hardly spoke any English, lived 5,000 miles from the drum and bass Mecca [of London] and still managed to inject more energy, enthusiasm, originality and creativity into mixing drum and bass than anyone we’d seen before,” said Edo in a recent interview.

Marky gained his music knowledge in the way many DJs do – through family and working in a record store. “There was a really cool radio station that I used to listen to when I was a kid, that used to play old funk and proper hip hop tunes,” he says, “but mostly I got my musical influence from my Dad and his vinyl collection.” The vinyl bug must of rubbed off, as Marky worked in the Up Dance record store, which was vital in determining his tastes. “When you are working in the record store you have a lot of tunes from different genre that work for you. Maybe a techno track or a house track, something like that. But I remember when the first set of Jungle records came in and I was hooked!”

It’s clear from talking to Marky that he loves Brazil. Although at first his meteoric rise did cause some little problems. “At first, I won’t lie, it was hard,” he says of learning English. “I hadn’t had to speak it all the time like this before so I had to learn and learn fast, but having management there to support me and help me out was great and it helped me get to terms with it much quicker.” He also likes the fact that although he rose quickly, he’s still grounded in Brazil. “Yeah I got quite big in UK and Europe but I spend most of my time in Brazil so I can escape, and that time is golden to me.”

First time Marky played in Adelaide, he blew people away. His energy, his skills, and his scratching – a skill not too often seen at dnb shows – all shattered preconcieved notions of how dnb is played. However, on his last visit, on the back of a long festival tour, his performance wasn’t so spectacular, as there was only a little bit of scratching. But Marky realises that expectation and anticipation has it’s toll. “It is hard because everyone expects you to play the best set you have ever played, and honestly I try and do that every time I play,” he stresses. He also says the lack of scratching was simply an equipment thing. “Most DnB raves now will use an Allen & Heath mixer because a lot of people use it and it has effects but they are very hard to scratch on. It can lead to disappointment which is why I have got some new tricks in my sleeve to make sure everyone remembers this tour!”

Marky’s production is just as well respected as his DJing. He makes tracks with XRS, and I was wondering how it works. “We shared the work when we were producing together. I used to bring a lot of the samples to the studio and XRS would be really good at laying it out then we would both build the tune together. It was a really good partnership,” he says. More recently, he’s been colaborating with Bungle who he reckons is “gonna be massive next year! He is young but so talented it is unreal! Also,” he adds “I have done a few new tracks with Makoto and Total Science. In the future it might be nice to collaborate with someone like NuTone or Logistics for something a lttle bit different.” Those should get the dnb juices flowing!

Finally, whenever Marky is asked which is his favourite place to DJ, he immediately answers Australia. “The people are mad for it!” He exclaims. “Whenever I play in Australia I get a wicked reception and they just love the music. That is what I like when I visit somewhere is seeing people who are purely music lovers. Yeah it helps that there is a DJ there that they know, but really, they just want a good night out and want to listen to quality tunes. My kind of people!”

Review, Video Games, Writing, XboxWorld

Pro Evolution Soccer 6

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Ok, I’ll fess up – Until Pro Evolution Soccer 6 I hadn’t really played any of Konami’s soccer games. Sure, I had seen them in action, and had a kick around with a mate, but never really explored it at any great length. FIFA was my soccer game of choice, mainly because it was pretty, had players and locations I could identify, and was easy to pick up and play. But FIFA has its faults and I was always left unsatisfied, hoping that the next game would improve on the fact that the game always seemed like a poor simulation of the Beautiful Game.

Case in point – Apart from FIFA 2006 (for original Xbox) I’ve pretty much sold or traded my past copies of FIFA because I can’t see myself playing them beyond a few months. But there must be something about the number 6, as I won’t be trading my copy of Pro Evolution Soccer 6 any time soon, well at least until PES 7 comes out. Because when I play this game, I feel as I am really playing a game of soccer. It’s like every gripe I’ve ever had about any soccer game has been addressed and fixed. There are still some flaws though, which is of course to be expected, but call me a convert.

What strikes me most about this game is how it seems like a real soccer game. My major annoyance with other soccer games is you can punt the ball forward, but there never seems anyone to be in place. Even with complex team and individual placement organisation appearing in the very latest games, I always felt my team wasn’t up to the task of getting in position when plays were made. I used to think it could be because I tend to pick lower ranked teams (go Villa!), but even when picking Brazil or Arsenal team AI seemed to be lacking.

In PES, players actually take runs to get into position, they run on the ball, and the game never seems to lag behind the play of the ball. I can’t pinpoint for sure if it’s the fact that passes to teammates are tighter, or if their on field positioning is better, or even if the controls are more precise, but I’ve found myself much more able to do exactly what I want my team to do. I never felt I was wrestling with the player as if they were determined to do their own thing, like bolt down the pitch, even though the ball was behind him.

Players seem to respond quickly and more realistically to what’s happening around them. FIFA introduced the trick stick, but players in PES 6 automatically turn the ball away from an opposing player, or tap in through their legs to another teammate, and it’s all so smooth and natural, it’s beautiful. It’s the fact that it all seems so easy and seamless that makes it a truly better game. And, unlike so often in other soccer games, I never felt a mistake was anything but my fault… well, most of the time. If I shot the ball and it went wide, it was generally because I wasn’t in a good position, or was being pressured by the opposition so lost my cool, or held the button too long to shoot the ball. Frees and Cards given felt like the result of me tackling from behind, or slide tackling when an opponent was off the ball, not some arbitrary decision on the game’s behalf. If the opposition got through my defence, it was because of a mistake I made somewhere, either in having my defence too far forward, or by not concentrating on the play.

The main thrust of the PES 6 is the long and involved Master league, in which you select a team and work your way up through the various league divisions. This is quite in depth, and the ability to refine your team’s playing ability is quite daunting. From being able to choose not only formations, but variations within formations – so you might have a 4-4-3 formation but choose to drop the main striker back a little to provide more midfield support – to being able to determine individual runs, to determining forms of attack and defence, the serious soccer gamer can tweak to their hearts delight. And this does have an impact on how the game is played. A change in formation can be the difference between a win and a draw.

Because EA owns the rights to most of the teams with an exclusive deal with FIFA, many team and player names have to be substituted for others, which is a shame. Long time PES players may be used to this, but for someone new to the series it can be a little off-putting. However, given that PES has a lot more leagues and teams than FIFA 07’s pitiful line up, fans should be a lot more happier and be able to find their team here. There are 4 licensed leagues; Eredivisie, Spain La Liga, France Ligue 1 and Italy Serie A, plus 11 licensed international teams, including Australia, plus a further 15 licensed teams including Arsenal, Celtic and Juventus. One interesting omission is the ability to change team and player names. In the past everything was editable, so even though Aston Villa is called West Midlands Village, you used to be able to edit the team names, player names, and the kits to a much better approximation of the real team. This is absent from the Xbox360 version for some unfathomable reason.

PES 6 looks great too. Sure, it’s not truly next-gen as the game engine is the same one used in the past, but the player models look great, and their likeness is even better than FIFA, which to me is pretty strange given EA’s advanced technology in this area. The animations are smooth and quite varied, and the stadiums feel exciting. Having a ref on field jumping away from the ball as well as lines men who follow the play and signal with flags adds even more authenticity. Unfortunately I found other areas of presentation to be less than ideal. The icons are confusing and small, menus require far too many button presses, and the whole feel is positively archaic compared to other soccer games.

Audio wise the game is good, with the usual crowd cheers and players calling for the ball, but the commentary of Peter Brackley and Sir Trevor Brooking can be a little repetitive, and they lack the enthusiasm of other soccer game commentators. It is funny how they use fake player names though. The music on the menus sounds like something you’d hear in an old soccer review show from the 90s – it’s kind of European techno-ish, but it too sounds outdated.

Online the game plays OK. The set up and connection is fine, but the game suffers from terrible lag, especially when playing people from other countries. The rules and penalties for pausing and disconnecting are a welcome addition, although as in many online games there are a few people who use exploits and ruin the fun for everyone. And if you disconnect because of the bad lag, you get a negative mark against your name, but if it’s unplayable then that seems a little unfair too.

Conclusion:
PES 6 is one of the finest soccer games I have played. Everything when playing a match feels fantastic. Scoring goals takes hard work, and when you do you feel as though you really have earned it. You feel in total control over what happens, and although sometimes luck plays a part, it feels more like the luck you find in a real life soccer match, rather than a fault or glitch of the game. The presentation lets the game down however, and lack of ability to edit team names and kits is a feature sorely missed.

Pros:
Excellent simulation of the beautiful game
Long and deep Master League
Scoring goals takes work and patient, but the pay off feels great
Excellent range of teams and leagues to choose from compared to other xbox360 soccer games

Cons
Steep learning curve could put off players of other sports games.
Poor presentation in menus
Lack of team editing a real shame, given the lack of real life teams available
Very laggy when playing online.

88/100

dB Magazine, Event, Review

Enchanted Forest @ Adelaide Showgrounds on Sat 9 Dec

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Enchanted Forest brings the Adelaide Rave community out in force. Even though it was a stinking hot day, over 5,000 souls braved the harsh summer sun to head to the Royal Adelaide Showgrounds for the first Enchanted held during the day. I got there and met some friends at the Goodwood pub, and even that early it was clear people were in a party mood.

After a short line up, a line up to get a wristband, then another to get a wristband to drink, I was confronted with two stages immediately together. This normally would concern me, but even with very little people near the stage (they were all in the shade or at the bar) there was little sound bleed, a testament to the professionalism of sound engineers in this day and age. In fact, the whole set up impressed me greatly, and I have to admit it was the best use of the showgrounds for a rave yet.

After grabbing a drink and catching up with everyone, it was time to get into the music. John B was the first act I wanted to see, and he didn’t disappoint. Dressed in his 1980s short shorts, “I’ve been Stalking You on MySpace” shirt, big hair and make up, he certainly put on a show. The music was unusual, with dnb mixed with 80s stuff, but it was lots of fun. The crowd cleared noticeably for CJ Boland live, mainly because of the change in tempo, but I loved hearing the old school techno played live off his PC.

Killa Kella was the standout of the day for me. MC Trip ripped rhymes about Steve Irwin and Michael Jackson, whilst Killa Kella did his best beatboxing with the sun right in his Pommy face. Credit to him – I could barely raise enough energy to talk in that heat, and he tore it up! Goldie started on the second main stage, and I listened to him for a few minutes and liked what I heard, but it was a little too lively for me in that heat.

Funkoars played on the main stage during this time, and one of the MCs forgot his lines during one of the tracks, allowing the others to totally rip on him. It was funny how they kept dropping F and C bombs, then freaking out because Peter Coomb was after them. “He’s gonna think ‘who are these disgusting cunts'” was one of the shout outs. The crowd thickened considerably as anticipation for Peter Coomb grew, and he was welcomed by a hearty cheer when he stepped out. It was hilarious seeing thousands of grown people singing along to his kids songs, and clearly Peter, his band and the crowd were thoroughly enjoying themselves.

During this time I went walking about, catching up with friends. I also managed to catch John Doe play some awesome breaks, and then got to catch MPK back to back with Patch with MC Grif and Pase on the mics. I’ve got to hand it to our locals – they were a rocking it as well as any international I saw. I tried to get into Kid Kenobi and MC Sureshock, but their set was much like when I saw him in October at Parklife, which was disappointing, and I tend to find their brand of breaks to be a little lacklustre.

Another highlight at this time, besides the cool change sweeping through, was the Danger Zone area. Based on the Mojo West night of the same name, DJ Quazza span some classic 80s and 90s rock and dance anthems, much to the laughs and joys of the crowd. Quazza was resplendent in 80’s afro wig, Def Leopard T-shirt and bandana. He was joined on stage by Pratty, also in wig, rocking out the tennis guitar and giving shout outs on the Mic. Funny stuff indeed!

I really did try to give Kevin Energy a listen, but just found it dull and repetitive. I must have been the only one though, because the crowd was massive and everyone was jumping and cheering. But the crowd got even bigger for El Hornet of Pendulum, who whilst a little disappointing to me – I wanted more new tunes – rocked the crowd and turned in a very fine performance. It was a great end to a fabulous day, and I hope Enchanted at the showgrounds becomes an Adelaide tradition like the Shutzenfest and skyshow.

dB Magazine, Event, Interview, Writing

Enchanted 06 – MPK & Devious

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Since 1998, the Enchanted Forest rave parties have been an eagerly awaited event for thousands of people around South Australia. The excitement of secret venues, fabulous line ups and fantastic production values that has seen it be awarded party of the year time and time again. DJ Devious aka Chad Bergman and DJ MPK aka Daniel Michael are the promoters behind Enchanted Forest, and this year sees a bit of a change from the usual format of an all night rave at a ‘secret location’ in the middle of nowhere, which has been the par for the course over the last 8 years. This year the party will be held at the Royal Adelaide Showgrounds in Wayville, starting at midday and progressing until 11pm.

“There are a lot of reasons we chose to do a day party”, Michael says. “Night Parties were good at the time we started, but we always try and find the best venues and they’re becoming harder to find. The Showgrounds are safe, have good parking, no dust but lots of grass, public transport and decent, reliable power for sound.” “And good toilets. Everyone hates portaloos,” Bergman chimes in. “And we can put on a lot more acts during the day,” continues Michael. “We’ve been to a few interstate parties, and culturally they’re no different to what we’ve been doing here, and they have successful day parties all the time.”

“We’ve got a totally blacked out room for people who like the dark”, he smirks, “and they can always wear sunglasses,” adds Bergman, chuckling. “We’ve heard of people booking hotel rooms who are planning on going to go to Enchanted, then one of the after parties, and that’s a lot safer than having that long, horrible drive at 5 or 6am. I do get worried about what can happen on the roads at that time of the morning,” Michael adds. “I think three quarters of the people are going to like the idea, and maybe a quarter won’t, but what’s important is that people will be enjoying themselves.”

Enchanted has had its fair share of controversy, mainly because of the decision in 2003 to begin pill testing after suggestion from Dr Caldicott of the Royal Adelaide Hospital. It was a safety issue that the promoters felt strongly about, they were being briefed by a doctor, “and who are we to argue with a trained professional!” exclaims Michael. Other parties had pill testing, and the police generally turned a blind eye to it, until 2004 when the Advertiser had a slow news day and ran an “expose” and the dangers of raves and drugs. The police then had to take an interest “but they were just doing the job, I guess” Michael points out democratically.

He saves his anger for the press. “They’d ring me up for an interview at 6pm, and then the same people would ring up with the same questions at 7am the next morning. I’d be working all night DJing, and they would wonder why I’d be grumpy and refuse to answer their questions!” But furthermore Michael and Bergman had facts on their side. No one has ever died at Enchanted. Reports from previous Enchanted’s from police and first aid, who they get together with after every party, were quite minimal. “A Royal Adelaide Hospital report from a few years earlier showed that people were twice as likely to end up at hospital during a test match than during our raves!” the previously jovial Bergman says seriously. “Cricket is more dangerous!”

But both Michael and Bergman wish to steer away from controversy. “What’s important is people enjoying themselves in a safe environment, not what some middle age conservative journalist who has never been to a rave thinks.” To facilitate that fun, this year sees Peter Coomb join the ranks of DJs and MCs. An odd choice, perhaps, but Michael is correct when he says many ravers grew up with Coombs, and know his music as well as the latest from Pendulum or Keven Energy. “It’s so people will have a laugh,” he smiles. “I saw him at O’Ball and Shutzenfest and he rocked it. Absolutely rocked it!”

Even though the planning of Enchanter begins as soon as another is over, Michael and Bergman take it one party at a time. Though this is a day party essentially in the city, they don’t rule out having another ‘secret venue’ party in the future, and it’s certainly not the death of outdoor parties. “We’ve got Ultraworld in the Outback early next year,” they grin, although they hasten to add with a chuckle “good venues don’t grow on trees”.

Enchanted kicks off at the Adelaide Showgrounds on Sat 9 Dec and features a stellar line up including Peter Coomb, Pendulum, Tomcraft, Kosheen, Steve Hill, Keven Energy, Goldie, Jon B, Chicken Lips, CJ Boland and heaps more!

Review, Video Games, Writing, XboxWorld

FIFA 07

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Xbox 360 owners felt pretty ripped off by EA after the universally loathed Road to World Cup was offered as a launch title. Why they could have just slapped an Xbox360 sticker on FIFA 2006 is beyond me, as that was a fantastic game and easily the best in the series in a long while.

2006 FIFA World Cup improved the series greatly, providing a solid title that bode well for the future releases of EA’s franchise. Although it used the same FIFA engine as the xbox version, it featured brilliant presentation, a whole heap of options, and a gameplay system that somewhat refined the way FIFA has played in the past, a little for the better and a little for the worst.

Enter FIFA 07. EA has actually listened to gamers for once, redesigned the engine from the ground up for the Xbox 360. Here we have in actual fact a new game for our money, and this can only mean good things, right? Unfortunately a lot of what was looking promising in the old engine has been trashed, and I found the more I played the more I longed for the old version as I discover things that at first thought were cool, but suddenly become very annoying.

Like the physics on the ball. Finally the ball is completely untethered from the players, and has its own identity, which used to be a common complaint about FIFA. It bounces freely, and is deflected off various body parts in a natural and realistic manner. If you hit the ball with the edge of your player’s foot, it will shoot off at an odd angle. Spin and velocity can influence its direction. I have seen it spin under the cross bar and into the goal. However, at the same time you never feel as though you have control over the ball. It can receive a glancing blow from another player and scurry out of dribble range, bounce off the back of players’ head.

Combined with the AI, this gets quite frustrating. Many times you lift the ball in a pass to a player, and they’ll be running forward and the ball will hit them in the back of the head. When on a run forward, players never seem to turn around fast enough. It’s like players are on tracks, and won’t deviate from their runs, so if a ball bounces funny because of a deflection or interception, it takes too for the game to catch up. This sense of being somewhat behind the play appears to infect the whole game. In fact, because it’s so noticeable the commentary actually apologises for it!

“Commentary isn’t an exact science” quips Clive Tydsley quite often as the players scrap over the ball because they’re moving this way and that in response to your joystick movements and the ball bouncing of body parts. At first I thought this was funny and clever commentary, but after the 10th time in a match I realised it must have been included because this flaw!

Speaking of 10th time, I know soccer is a sport known for seemingly soft tackles and frees, but when you get your 10th foul and you’ve never hit the button to slide-tackle, it becomes incredibly frustrating. Players will push and jostle each other when running for the ball, and pressing the A button makes your player attack the ball with vigour, but if you tackle from any position than slightly in front of the other player, you’re issued a foul. Now, given your player is running on a track and will often run past the play because the response is slow, you player will be nearly always the player from behind the ball, so you’ll nearly always cause a foul when you tackle.

Some may argue that this is realistic to the game of soccer, but for a computer game it just doesn’t feel natural. You get worse at tackling and give away more frees the more you play. If it was a realistic play device it would work in such a way that the more you tackled the better you become. You’d figure out better strategies and a better way to play. I’ve played many, many games and am still not better at it. I’m better at corners and frees and passing and scoring, but this is a fault in the mechanics of the game.

The presentation of the game is superb though. The interactive loading screen with a keeper and your favourite player is great fun, and the option screens are very slickly designed. The ability to change not only team but an individual’s play style and level them up with skills is a very welcome change, allowing those who like the simulation side of soccer to tweak to their hearts content. You can also look at the stats a player has for an individual game, essentially checking their performance on the fly; their tackles, their main areas of play, where and when they commit fouls. And it has a greater impact on the field than the simulation in FIFA 06. Changing your formation or pinpoint the space a player should run when in attack can have a greater impact on the game.
Where the presentation fails is in sound. Whenever there’s a substitution, the sound stops completely. Sometimes the channels clash,

[NOTE: The rest is missing. I think the original file has become corrupted]

dB Magazine, Interview, Music, Writing

Soul Of Man

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The mighty breaks record label Finger Lickin’ would be nothing without the dedication of Justin Rushmore and Jem Panufnik, also known as Soul Of Man. From running the day to day admin work, to sourcing new talent, and designing the iconographic and wonderful album art, as well as produce fine singles, remixes and mix albums, they’ve certainly got reason to be a little less prolific than other artists. Add to this Panufnik’s recent marriage and Rushmore’s recent baby, and the fantasy of running a label starts to look less like a fun time sitting around listening to good music, and more like real work!

One of the things that make Finger Lickin’ stand out beyond the incredible music is the artwork decorating every piece of vinyl they release. It’s bright, funky and attention grabbing, and all done by Panufnik. “We wanted to have a really strong visual identity,” Panufnik says of his artwork. “It’s important that the music is upfront, funky and in your face and the visuals to reflect that. And it’s great fun for me to do that,” he adds with a smile, “and more often than not it’s a piece of music that inspires it. And especially now that vinyl sales are very much in the balance it really makes a difference to have something that grabs people’s attention and is something they want to buy and keep. It’s much more exciting than downloading an MP3.”

“However,” he continues, “doing the Artwork is a full time job, so on top of the admin it is very time consuming, and Justin and I want to do less of the 9 to 5 drag and concentrate on producing music now. But it is kind of hard to let go. Whilst I may moan about doing the artwork and other things I’m often frightened to let anyone else take it over, and the same with Justin really. It is our baby, and it is frightening to start to let go, but having said that the whole of this year has been geared up to let things run themselves and to let go of the reigns and let us get along with our own thing.”

Even as touring DJs they don’t do things by half. Last year I was lucky enough to see them at Field Day in sweltering 44 degrees heat in Sydney. “Field day was particularly agony because it was a pretty full on tour. By the time we arrived in Sydney we had already done a gig in Perth, a gig on New Years Eve in Hobart, had to go without any sleep to Melbourne to do Summerdayze in the afternoon, and then literally take the last record off, leg it to the airport, and, I think our plane was the last allowed to land before the tarmac was considered too soft for planes to land! The whole baggage system broke down because of the heat!” he laughs. “We were really lucky to get there – we arrived maybe half an hour before our set, we were stinking of booze and sweat and it was pretty hardcore but we soldiered on,” Panufnik chuckles again.

Due to their recording commitments, they unfortunately won’t be back in Australia until next year sometime, but the first step on their way to getting back amongst the music is to produce the annual Finger Lickin’ Thang mix CD. Always funky, vibrant and featuring the best Finger Lickin’ has to offer, this year is no different, but does offer a slightly different sound. With computers and music software becoming more advanced, breaks are shifting from sampling funk and hiphop to producing its own sound, becoming a little more electro in its direction. “The whole electro angle is a production thing, and I think it’s probably kicked a lot of breaks people up the arse when they realise that there’s some amazing music being made out there that has fantastic dancefloor appeal,” Panufnik enthuses.

“The grooves are wicked, and apart from anything else the production sounds absolutely amazing. That’s the sound we’re very inspired by at the moment, because of the way it’s heading really. It’s giving breaks a really good shake up showing there’s a lot of great stuff out there. For example, I think it was a good move to put the D.Ramirez remix of the Plumps on Finger Lickin’ Thang 4. He’s woken a lot of people up to this sound, and the Plump DJs track adapted brilliantly as well.”

Finger Lickin’ Thang 4 Mixed by Soul Of Man is out soon through inertia.

dB Magazine, Interview, Music, Writing

Mystro

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The name Mystro is well known to Aussie hiphop heads, as he’s appeared on a slew of records which hit their hearts and local charts. Resin Dogs, Downsyde and Adelaide’s own Hilltop Hoods featured Mystro on their major releases, and he’s toured around the country, impressing audiences with his flow and dialogue. Now he returns the favour with his own album ‘Diggi Down Unda’, due out January, alongside artists such as P Money, Hilltop Hoods, Dazastah (Downsyde), DJ Bonez (Hyjak N Torcha), Phrase, Macromantics, Maya Jupiter, and more. Released in the UK and Australia, it will hopefully impress the UK punters in the same way Mystro has impressed Australian audiences.

Mystro got introduced to hiphop at the age of 12 through artists such as NWA, Public Enemy, and De La Soul. He was also introduced to ragga, and even dabbled in a little bit of jungle MCing. “There was a time when hiphop kinda droped out for me,” he laments. “It wasn’t as interesting as when I first heard it, around like early 90s. There was jungle, and that was all UK music, everyone in the area was heavy into it. I had a friend who had a local radio station and people were going “you should go on the radio show” so we did. I lost interest in it quickly because people didn’t care what you were saying, just going “yiidayyiddayidda” to the music, man,” he bursts into laughter, and I have to admit it’s one of the finest dnb MC impersonations I’ve witnessed.

Luckily his interest in hiphop perked up as artists like MC D and Blak Twang appeared with a uniquely UK sound. Mystro set about impressing people at open mic clubs and battles which eventually led to Deal Real signing his first single ‘Kiss That Arse Goodnight’. His rise is not too dissimilar to the way a lot of Aussie hiphop acts start, and it’s no surprise he won many fans not only in the UK but Australia as well.

That fan base wanted to hire him to play in Australia. “I originally got booked to play in Australia in 2004 and it was only a 3 week tour, hitting the major capital cities. The promoter basically introduced me to anyone I could meet at the time, and it went from there,” he says of how he got involved with many Australian artists. “I came back and toured for 3 months, and we hit Adelaide on that run – it was actually the Hoods who booked us to do the show. We stayed at Debris house and ended up recording the track on their album. When I had a gig in Perth Downsyde booked me to support them. Most of the time when I got to a city I’d be approached by the promoters or an act I was working with to do stuff with them.”

Originally ‘Diggi Down Unda’ was just going to be an EP, but the talent here and Mystro’s love for making music led to a full album. “Australian hiphop has its own identity. Everyone I’ve got on there uses their own accent. There’s no body on there who sounds like anyone else they (the UK listener) ever had heard of,” Mystro says of the artists on the album. “There’s a range of different voices and flows. Whether UK people get into it is another matter, but I think it will be easier with a familiar voice there. But that’s the goal – to let UK people know there’s talent all the way over there.”

Although both the British and Australian scenes have strong local following, it’s still rather underground, and hasn’t made a blip on the American Radar. “The people at the top still don’t take it seriously. There are still people in the industry saying “ah, nah, UK hiphop will never blow up” and there’re still probably rednecks in Australia who say the same thing about Aussie talent,” he laughs. “But I think it’s just a case of being marketed the right way. It’s sad to say it, but that is what it’s turned into now.”

“It’s not about just having a good album, you’ve got to have a good album, you got to push the album, hit all the radio stations and posters, flyers, magazine interviews, and now even you’ve got to pay to get the front page and get slotted in the right place in the store,” he sighs. “And this makes it harder especially for the independent artist and labels to get their name out there and get their promotion done as well as all these majors are doing. The majority of homegrown talent isn’t signed to major labels and I think that’s the backbone of the problem – no body really gets to hear it because it can’t be promoted well and there’s not that much talk about it because it’s not on the big billboards and that.”

However, he doesn’t see all gloom, otherwise he wouldn’t be still in the game, and the success of the Hilltop Hoods has buoyed his spirits. “The stuff the Hoods are doing is really good for the scene. It’s not like they’re making stuff that all of a sudden changed for punters or labels. It’s good that a group like Hilltops won the Aria and not some bubblegum rap that Sony have just signed or something,” he chuckles.

24Seven, Interview, Music, Writing

Soul Of Man

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The mighty breaks record label Finger Lickin’ would be nothing without the dedication of Justin Rushmore and Jem Panufnik, also known as Soul Of Man. From running the day to day admin work, to sourcing new talent, and designing the iconographic and wonderful album art, as well as produce fine singles, remixes and mix albums, they’ve certainly got reason to be a little less prolific than other artists. Add to this Jem’s recent marriage and Justin’s recent baby, and the fantasy of running a label starts to look less like a fun time sitting around listening to good music, and more like real work!

One of the things that makes Finger Lickin’ stand out beyond the incredible music is the artwork decorating every piece of vinyl they release. It’s bright, funky and attention grabbing, and all done by Jem. “We wanted to have a really strong visual identity,” Jem says of his artwork. “It’s important that the music is upfront, funky and in your face and the visuals to reflect that. And it’s great fun for me to do that,” he adds with a smile, “and more often than not it’s a piece of music that inspires it. And especially now that vinyl sales are very much in the balance it really makes a difference to have something that grabs people’s attention and is something they want to buy and keep. It’s much more exciting than downloading an MP3.”

“However,” he continues, “doing the Artwork is a full time job, so on top of the admin it is very time consuming, and Justin and I want to do less of the 9 to 5 drag and concentrate on producing music now. But it is kind of hard to let go. Whilst I may moan about doing the artwork and other things I’m often frightened to let anyone else take it over, and the same with Justin really. It is our baby, and it is frightening to start to let go, but having said that the whole of this year has been geared up to let things run themselves and to let go of the reigns and let us get along with our own thing.”

Even as touring DJs they don’t do things by half. Last year I was lucky enough to see them at Field Day in sweltering 44 degrees heat in Sydney. “Field day was particularly agony because it was a pretty full on tour. By the time we arrived in Sydney we had already done a gig in Perth, a gig on New Years Eve in Hobart, had to go without any sleep to Melbourne to do Summerdayze in the afternoon, and then literally take the last record off, leg it to the airport, and, I think our plane was the last allowed to land before the tarmac was considered too soft for planes to land! The whole baggage system broke down because of the heat!” he laughs. “We were really lucky to get there – we arrived maybe half an hour before our set, we were stinking of booze and sweat and it was pretty hardcore but we soldiered on,” Jem chuckles again.

Due to their recording commitments, they unfortunately won’t be back in Australia until next year sometime, but the first step on their way to getting back amongst the music is to produce the annual Finger Lickin’ Thang mix CD. Always funky, vibrant and featuring the best Finger Lickin’ has to offer, this year is no different, but does offer a slightly different sound. With computers and music software becoming more advanced, breaks are shifting from sampling funk and hiphop to producing its own sound, becoming a little more electro in its direction. “The whole electro angle is a production thing, and I think it’s probably kicked a lot of breaks people up the arse when they realise that there’s some amazing music being made out there that has fantastic dancefloor appeal,” Jem enthuses.

“The grooves are wicked, and apart from anything else the production sounds absolutely amazing. That’s the sound we’re very inspired by at the moment, because of the way it’s heading really. It’s giving breaks a really good shake up showing there’s a lot of great stuff out there. For example, I think it was a good move to put the D.Ramirez remix of the Plumps on Finger Lickin’ Thang 4. He’s woken a lot of people up to this sound, and the Plump DJs track adapted brilliantly as well.”

dB Magazine, Interview, Music, Writing

DJ Craze

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DJ Craze aka Arith Delgado is one of those rare performers who can bridge the gap between various styles of music, and somehow please and impress everybody. He started out playing Miami Bass, a type of hiphop that’s bass heavy and sexually explicit, but received notoriety by spinning hiphop, winning the DMC World Championships three consecutive years, being the only solo artist to do so. He was also part of the Allies with Canadian DJ A-Trak, but lately has been focussing his attention on mixing and producing drum and bass.

He’s also one of the busiest DJs, and I had a very early morning (our time) chat with Delgado as he was driving to the airport to DJ in France. This was just after being in China, Japan, and the UK. “Word! You’re from Adelaide man? I love spinning in Adelaide,” he says when I blearily announce myself. “I really like Australia. I’ve been going since 1999 or 2000, and make sure I go out there every year. The parties are always popping out there!”

I ask him about his recent trip to China, interested to hear how he was received and what he thought of the scene there. “That was my first time to China, and it was dope,” he enthuses. “I was spinning at a jiggy (RnB) club and there were all kinds of people there, and it was hard trying to please everybody at once. I had drum and bass kids in there, I had hiphop kids, and the underground crew, and every time I’d spin one style the other would get mad. So that was kind of difficult, but it was dope because it was my first time in China. But I wasn’t even there for a day, I was there for a couple of hours and had to get on another plane and leave.”

With his departure to France imminent, I had to ask if the star liked travelling. “I like the meeting new people and spinning at different spots but I hate the travelling – the security, the immigration, the waking up early, the hours flying… all that I’m not a big fan of, but really I can’t complain, I’ve got the best job in the world!” he cries. “I’m used to getting on a plane and falling to sleep right away, but if I can stay awake I will always use that time to plan out a set, catch up on stuff, you know?”

As Miami Bass isn’t a music that’s heard too much in Australia, and is often unfairly lumped in the RnB basket, I wondered if he still played it. “I grew up in Miami and of course there’s a big Miami Bass and Freestyle scene. My Brother listened to it, and it was on the radio all the time. Lately, I have been getting bored of everything, but I’ve been listening to [Miami Bass] again, and thinking “man, this is some good shit!”

One of the biggest hiphop and drum and bass DJs getting bored of hiphop and drum and bass? “I’m not bored, I just want to do something else, you know? Mix it up a bit.” Delgado begins to explain. “I get bored of stuff real quick, and with drum and bass it’s not like I’m bored with it, just that lately I’ll hear stuff and think “Meh,” you know? I want to do something else; I can’t stick in the same scene for ever, it’s bad for me” he laughs.

I suspect it’s something to do with his perfectionist nature, and perhaps he feels, and listening to a Craze dnb set will convince anyone, he’s perfected the art of mixing dnb and needs to find a new outlet. This perfectionism stretches to his production, too. He’s only had a few releases of his own out on his own label Cartel, and also on A-Trak’s Audio Research imprint.

“I’m starting to feel a little more comfortable with the music that I make,” he says. “I’m a perfectionist though, so I never feel it’s really ready. I’ll let some people listen to my beats and they’re like “what the fuck you waiting for! You should put this out NOW!” but I always think I could make it better. I kind of hurt myself in that way, I have like a 100 or so beats in my computer and I’m only really feeling four or five, and others are telling me I should get my shit out there because I’m sleeping on a lot of good stuff,” he chuckles.

You can check out Craze’s new album and order his Cartel dnb releases through https://www.beatport.com/

dB Magazine, Music, Review, Writing

DJ Shadow – The Outsider

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Many people are going to listen to ‘The Outsider’ and simply think Shadow has sold out. The ‘hiffy’ (Bay Area’s latest hiphop fad) rapping about bitches and bling isn’t exactly what Shadow fans have come to expect of him. However, I think it’s more that Shadow wanted to do something different. If he wanted to go commercial, why chose relatively unknown rappers? Sure, Shadow and Eminem might be a ridiculous notion, but so is the notion that he has sold out for fame, profit and glory, especially in context of the album as a whole.

The release starts strong, with a poetic introduction talking about an Outsider who comes to save the population from evil forces. It could be something to begin a Manga film. The first track, This Time (I’m Gonna Try It My Way) is basically Shadow telling everyone to get fucked because he’s doing what he’s doing, and doesn’t care what people think. The singer is not mentioned, but it’s a great soulful track, harking back to the late 70s for inspiration.

He then proceeds to bombard us with rap that is pretty damn average. Keak and Turf on 3freaks, Droop-E on the creatively titled Droop-E Drop, and Banner’s Seein Thangs could all be rapping about third world poverty, but it’s so typical in style and structure of the popular (and in my opinion) dull RnB style, it lost me the moment they opened their mouths. On subsequent listening, it is all about bitches and bling anyway. It is all so generic and boring that it’s almost as if it’s a cynical satirical homage to the music.

In reality, it probably demonstrates Shadow should stick to making solid beats for good MCs like Gift of Gab or singers like Thom Yorke. Because the album does get better. Broken Levee Blues is a nice little slide guitar blues number. Artifact sounds like someone let a speed addict lose on a drum machine and guitar in the 1980s – very alternative for a ‘commercial’ album. It reminds me a little of The Dead Kennedy’s. Backstage Girl is a cautionary tale of Myspace fans, featuring Phonte Coleman on vocals, and is comparable to ‘The Private Press’s Mashin’ On The Motorway. That is, it’s damn good.

Triplicate/Something Happened That Day is also an odd number for a someone who’s supposedly sold out – there’s no beat; just guitar, piano and wind instrument creating a haunting piece of music that’s typical of Shadow. The Tiger, Erase You and You Made It (the latter two featuring the Thom Yorke sound-a-like Chris James) are very much Shadow in his UNKLE mode. Q-Tip and Lateef bust a party jam with Enuff, but the album closing with a couple more crap raps by E40 on Dats My Part and a “remix” of 3freaks which sounds so like the original I just had to use quotation marks.

I have to admit I am disappointed by The Outsider. There’s enough crap rappers about going on how much of a bitchin’ n-word they are that I feel Shadow’s talent is wasted here. Shadow has always been an outsider though, and this album just goes to show how willing he is at trying something completely different and unexpected, even if the end result will potentially alienate fans.

Gigs & Mixes from the 2020s. Writing from the 2000s.