Kidz Rage !

Photo by Kelly Dean

To check the entire review go here

Introducing The Mole, one of Canada’s finest producers, gracing London next weekend at Fabric!

He has done an exclusive minimix for Fabric, download or stream it here.

photo by Sophia Drevenstam

The Mole moved to Montreal from Canada’s west coast where dance music fans in Victoria and Vancouver in the 90s heard a lot of the mole in his infancy. His mentors, believing he had a natural talent, pushed him from his DJ beginnings into music production. 7 years of residency at the Laika bar and numerous appearances at the Mutek festival have ensured his prime position in the Canadian electronic music scene.

Urb magazine named him one of the ‘next 100′ in 2004. His live set at Mutek 2004 was one of the top ten in the Village Voice Critics’ Poll 2004, followed by 2005’s collaboration with long time friend and band mate Mathew Jonson ‘Dirt Road and a Boat From Soundwave’ on Kompakt’s Speicher was received with critical acclaim. As were his releases that year on Philpot, Musique Risquee and Revolver. 2005 also saw the reunion of the Modern Deep Left Quartet on Wagon Repair, probably the greatest source of pride for el molito to date.

There is also what the mole refers to as the ’starchy root machine’. And with a title like that, it should spark some interest! Anyway, it is a performance in which a minimum of 5 turntables are all playing loops that are either manufactured or hand made. With this the mole then manipulates them, in a traditional dj sense, with some effects to bump it up (what he confesses is quite a psychedelic experience for him). And although he has, because of other projects had to put this endeavor on the back burner for a little while, he still gets questioned on when he will bring it back. ‘I’ve only ever done it in Montreal because I think the number of tables scares people and it is fairly experimental… though terribly techno as well”.

With his 2006 ‘In my song/Acadian’ being signed to a Sven Vath mix and a part time collaboration with Paddy from Cobblestone Jazz as the ‘Smokin Posties’ releasing their first remix on itiswhatitis, things were heading in the right direction for the mole. 2007 saw further standout releases on Wagon Repair and late in the year a relocation to Europe, where he’d spent much of the summer months touring.

Now 2008 heralds even greater things as The Mole releases his debut album ‘As High As The Sky’ on Wagon Repair and prepares to tour around it across the globe.

He loves music with a humble and honest gratitude that can be heard throughout his work.

The mole will be playing at Fabric on September 6th, alongside Craig Richards & Damian Lazarus…get there early as its gonna be a smasher.

Remember to either stream or download the mix here.

check his myspace:

http://www.myspace.com/eslamolita

Right…to begin this lesson im gonna have to give you the definition of a hustler. Now remember im not talkin about the street whore thug groupie hustler…playa please!

Hustler - pimp, playa, gangsta, baller and shot caller.

A hustler is someone who is forced to use their brain to make it in this world. They outsmart the smartest, know how to get connections/money and are skilled at doing so. To top it all off, my girl Sixx has fun while hustlin!

So Nikki tells me that shes chillin, drinkin smoothies with GZA from the Wu Tang Clan after his Portland show, up in the tour bus!

Taking this excerpt from her blog, heres 5 things she learned from GZA:

1. How to play chess. First, Gza tells me that chess is a great natural high. He does not like when people play “cubby” moves aka cubs scout moves that are super basic. His cousin taught him a few years ago and Gza loves to play on the tour bus. He will take any challengers and he never gives up.

2. That washing your hands after using the bathroom is very important. He tells me that this is where he starts judging people. Gza said that he knows girls are trashy if they don’t wash their hands after using the bathroom. Keep it fresh yo!

3. How to make a fresh late night smoothie while on a tour bus. Preparation is key. He cuts up fresh fruit, freezes it and then busts it into the blender with a little water. The smoothie he made had pineapple, banana, strawberries and a few fresh blueberries. I was impressed that after a show he just busted one out. Yum Yum!

4. How to have to softest skin in the world. Touch him, you will understand. He told me that once he met a little kid and the kid called him out for having super soft hands. His nails are really nice as well, he says it is all the good food he eats. I believe it after the late night healthy smoothie.

5. Time to stop smoking. As we rolled down the smoke filled halls of the hotel, he told me that he doesn’t smoke anymore. Gza is 42 now and feels like that it is in his past. He has better things to do now…time to evolve in a different way.

Check her original post out here

Somehow im feelin this beat & set of rhymes from Lil Wayne..check the video:

…im ok…but my watch sick!

I am a true believer of giving credit where credit is due! My west coast family over at MediaContender have been making waves in both the west coast and global music scenes, and by having checked out the back end stats over this weekend i gotta say GOOD JOB TO THE WHOLE TEAM! In all instances, bandwidth, direct traffic, organic search and referral site recommendations…the site is getting stronger and stronger with more and more traffic daily.

Spearheaded by Danny Johnson, with collaborative involvement from Jeff Tovar (Phear, Sucio, Statika Design) handling all design aspects and myself, mainly dealing with back end technical issues and aiding Danny with high level cross collaboration…our mission is to spread the word about the things we love…and hopefully you love!

We are the underdogs, you will find us on the streets representing producers, dj’s, graphic designers, photographers, graffiti artists, and people that pursue the things they love.

I am really excited to be back in Los Angeles working even closer to Danny and the team! Expect some exclusives from the likes of Rusko, Goldielocks, Loxy, Oneman & MC Asbo, Deapoh from Barefiles, Macabre Unit, Unorthadox plus a few more once i get back into LA!

DEFine…my road dog, good friend and event partner since i came to the UK in 2003 has just finished his new Winter 08 Mix of a few of his favorite anthems.

Download the mix here
(right click and “save as” if you dont want it to stream)

A short bio on DJ DEFine:

Introduced to dance music as a school boy, DEFine used to listen to and swap the latest mix tapes in school and venture into the local record shop to collect fliers for his bedroom wall. Through this activity a natural progression into the scene lead to more involvement in the music industry. Living in Milton Keynes, home of the legendary ‘ Sanctuary music arena ‘ and growing up with musicians such as Capdown, musical inspiration was always on his doorstep.

The late 90’s saw DEFine starting to dj out on a regular basis playing many of his first gigs on the illegal rave scene, being a part of Junction 14 crew and playing at such parties like Exodus, Survival and many others. It was here that he developed an appreciation for a heavier, more technical sound of Drum and Bass, influenced by the likes of Technical Itch, Dylan, Loxy, Kemal, Dom and Roland and labels like Renegade Hardware, Outbreak, Biotech, Penetration, Cylon and Flex.

His performance exposure further fueled his passion for the musical approach he strived for, and was soon co-running Milton Keynes first regular Drum and Bass club night. This lead to an addiction to the Drum and Bass sound and his keen enthusiasm and dedication secured an abundance of bookings and residencies both in the UK and Europe.

The next obvious progression for DEFine was into the studio - Mid 2000, alongside such peers as ; Infiltrata, Amaning, BTK and L Double he developed and mastered a unique, well engineered, original sound which lead to successful releases on DNB labels like Barcode, Human Imprint and Infiltrata Recordings.

Most recently DEFine has been captivated by the contemporary sound of Dubstep, receiving a lot of support and a residency at Sub Conscious and sets at events like Kontact and Stink Like Sock and future releases planned with SubConscious Recordings and Mode Recordings in 2008.

We eagerly await his cutting edge, exclusive sound.

aim - djdefine

email - djdefine@gmail.com

myspace - http://www.myspace.com/djdefineuk

To my surprise today my homeboy ASBO linked me with this website where the one and only Oneman looks like the new branding face. Big Big Big!! Im hoping that Oney gets a load of new shoes!

Fore more info visit http://www.feedyourobsession.com/

The Game ft Travis Barker…its good to see some new collabs going on! Tight rhymes n sick beats!

I saw Flying Lotus last month at his debut at the Warp party in Shoreditch alongside Gas Lamp Killer, Samiam, Rustie & Hudson Mohawke and Ras B. Lotus’ set was amazing and he is quite a down to earth guy. I found this video on youtube showing his skills on the mpc! Murkage!