Tuesday 27 September 2016

Asthmatic Astronaut - This Is Not Pop

The Who: The beat maker, producer (and occasional rapper) with consciously positive live rap phenomenon’s Underling, and one of the directors of Edinburgh ultra-underground label Black Lantern Music, AA has been making music since 2005, and was first released on Japanese label dejine:rec . With Underling he played alongside the cream of UK and US hip-hop including shows with ElP, Roots Manuva, Mike Ladd, Aesop Rock, DJ Vadim and many others. Early solo productions surfaced on Tru Thoughts, and Wah Wah 45s’ acclaimed Stac Remixes compilations, alongside Blue Daisy and Bonobo. Since then, his solo projects and collaborations have attracted a strong online following. He has regularly played UK festivals as a solo performer, as half of tentacle-electro duo Church Of When The Shit Hits The Fan, and as one third of grunge-rap collective DUST. He works professionally as an audio engineer, producer and DJ in Glasgow, Scotland.

The What: The wheezy space traveler returns with his sophomore album This Is Not Pop. It’s been six years since the release of Super Intelligent Common Sense, the well received debut album but AA has kept himself busy in-between with side projects and experiments while releasing a slew of works with Church Of When The Shit Hits The Fan and Dust amid plenty of solo EP’s and further collaborations on Black Lantern Music. But here on his new album we see him return to his Hip Hop origin. He may have first come to peoples attention as the DJ with live Hip Hop band Underling where he clocked up over 400 live shows in a short few years and shared the stage with Hip-Hop’s hero’s of old and new, but his solo works have always shown a unique take andunderstanding of the art form.

This Is Not Pop was produced in 6 months from start to finish creating 30 beats with a turntable and sampler within the space of a week before sending the original tape out to 30 invited M.C’s. The end result is an 18 track album with 19 M.C’s with AA finishing the tracks as the vocals came in adding and rebuilding around the individual vocal takes of each artist.

The result is a classic Boom Bap style of production twisted with AA’s electronic leanings that bursts with some of the finest and most creative lyricists to have emerged from the underground Hip Hop scene.

So join Asthmatic Astronaut and Lifeshows, Solareye, Texture, MacKenzie, Replicator,
Mikel Krumins, Johnny Cypher, Ciran Mac, Conscious Route, Mic Calibre, Laughing
Gear, T!INK, Harlequinade, Sleeping Ingenuity, Warrior Bone, Loki, Tickle
and ONESP
on this uk hip hop classic in the making.


 Direct link CLICK HERE.

Monday 26 September 2016

Brian Jamieson - Cover [WCMCD063]


COVER is the new LP from Scottish HIP HOP Pioneer Brian Jamieson. The LP is a story set in the fictional notorious Glasgow housing scheme ‘Hainehill’, and follows the trials and tribulations of the main character, Sean McManaman, voiced by Brian.

McManaman must go through life disfigured by a terrible facial scar, with resulting judgement and prejudice from all corners. Sean’s life spirals into a complete chaos of vice - gambling, alcohol, drug addiction and unprotected sex. The album follows his journey on a road to near impossible redemption in a typical Glasgow housing scheme plagued by social deprivation.
 COVER features a mighty cast-list playing characters in Sean’s story – long-time collaborators, family, friends and guests – all consummate and inspirational musicians and performers.MC BUTTERSCOTCH of SPRING BREAK was the first artist asked to join the LP as he has a vivid imagination and similar sense of humour to Brian. When the idea of the two of them doing a song called RAGE AGAINST THE FRUIT MACHINE came up it was a no brainer in more ways than one.

10 year old Emily Moore is Brian's cousins daughter in real life and is fanatical about music, she wants to learn it all and was like a sponge in the studio, She nailed her part in one take and even came in during mixing and asked "right, what are we doing next?".
Natalie Lynch has worked with Brian before on various projects and always delivers a jaw dropping performance with a ridiculous range. Jillian Anderson is friends with Brian from the Fort William music scene and was asked on board because she is crazy as batshit, Brian was initially sceptical about asking Jillian to participate in such a song of horrid sexist subject matter but Jillian said "ach its a bit of craic" and kept the session in bits with her endless banter and energy.
Mark Lawrie is also a friend of Brian's from the Fort William music scene and he fitted perfect on "Baltic Revenga" with his EAGLES OF DEATH METAL-esque blues vocals. Mary Ann Kennedy joined in miraculously after being asked to jump on a "Ska-Grime" tune for a laugh. Claire Campbell is a stalwart of the folk/acoustic music scene in Glasgow and is well loved on the open mic circuit throughout the city and her tender voice fits perfectly playing against Brian's character's on various songs.

Nick Turner has done silly voices on Brian's songs since 1995 playing a "wack MC" / an "advertisement salesman" / a "Grandmother of a gangster" and this time a social worker where he raps along with Brian on "Psychiatrist meets Nihilist".   

Full Cast List:
NATALIE LYNCH who plays Sean's mother 
JILLIAN ANDERSON who plays Sean's ex-girlfriend
EMILY MOORE who plays Sean's estranged child
MARY ANN KENNEDY who plays Sean's boss 
MC BUTTERSCOTCH who plays a disgruntled cashier in a casino
CLAIRE CAMPBELL who plays Sean's new girlfriend 
MARK LAWRIE who plays Sean's enemy
 NICK TURNER who plays Sean's psychiatrist

 The music on the LP is produced by NICK TURNER from the award-winning Watercolour Music studios, with a multi-genre approach moving seamlessly from Ballad to Heavy Metal, Jazz and Funk to Grime, Hip Hop to Dance, and Acoustic and Blues to Drum & Bass. Brian’s vision was for an album that gives the vibe of a movie soundtrack rather than a conventional LP. And musically, COVER is equally large-scale, with choirs and live crowds involved in the sonics. 

 The concept of COVER was inspired by TV shows like BREAKING BAD, SONS OF ANARCHY and THIS IS ENGLAND, where the viewer is left on a knife edge at the end of each episode. The album track list likewise has the same effect on the listener. 

And if a film-maker hears the LP and is inspired to turn it into a film they have a soundtrack-in-waiting and Brian and Nick will know for sure they’ve succeeded in their ambition for COVER.

TRACKLISTING:

  1. Sean's Lament
  2. Sociopath Wardance
  3. Water Under a Burning Bridge
  4. The Fantastic Adventures of Iceberg Grim
  5. Playpen of Mayhem (Welcome to Hainehill)
  6. Clock In / Clock Out
  7. Rage Against the Fruit Machine
  8. Behind Every Bad Man There's a Good Woman
  9. Paint the Town Red (With Your Blood)
  10. Baltic Revenga
  11. Psychiatrist Meets Nihilist
  12. Cover
  13. Redemption?
  14. Sean's Away


Release Date: Thursday 13th October

SNOWtheDON - Need 4 Speed Ft. Just Farley [HD Video]

Tuesday 20 September 2016

Simmons Is Old (Mog / Lewis Findlay)



Thanks to Martin Oswald ( @ozsoundengineer) for his work on this album,helping to make it what it is. Mark McGhee (Girobabies/Mark Mywords/Jakal Trades) for all his outstanding help and organisation with gigging and touring in th build up to this release. Shouts to Steg G for the support,hook ups with gigs and promotion from day one. Thanks to our families and friends in Edinburgh. DUNT!

RB - Fire In The Streets

Tuesday 13 September 2016

Back to The Boom Bap - Conscious Route & Dj Pryzmat

DJ Pryzmat & Conscious Route take rap back to the roots with this classic sounding album. As the ethos of hip-hop gets lost in modern day commercialism, the pair head back to golden era to remind the youth of today what hip-hop really stands for. This album was built from MPC samples of funk and soul, punchline lyrics, conscious bars, and flourishes of live instrumentation all garnished with vocals from LaLa Love (on a couple of songs) and a few well-placed DJ cuts...




Direct Link CLICK HERE.


 

The Land of Oz by ONE OZ


 The Land of Oz by ONE OZ
 Released 11th September 2016


Direct link CLICK HERE.

Thursday 1 September 2016

Scottish Alternative Music Awards - 1st act announced


Scottish Alternative Music Awards (SAMAs) returns for 2016

THE Scottish Alternative Music Awards (SAMAs), in association with Rebel Rebel Barbers, are set to return this October with a massive main awards line-up.


Celebrating their 7th birthday, the awards will again be hosted by Jim Gellatly. It has also been revealed that Paisley grime MC Shogun will perform live at the main awards night at the Garage Glasgow on Wednesday 12th October.

The awards re-launched over the summer by staging a show at Highlands creative industries festival XpoNorth in June and hosting a networking event at Glasgow hotel citizenM earlier this month.

SAMAs Founder/Creative Director Richy Muirhead and his team have since been hard at work assembling an events schedule, with a successful Paisley showcase in the bag and one to follow in Perth (9th September).

The SAMAs have also been working on a new streamlined nomination process for the main awards which will see specialist judges working on each award. The judges will be made up of members of the Scottish music industry from areas such as; live sector, music publishing, journalism. Set to take place on Wednesday 12th October at the Garage, Glasgow. As always, you can expect a few SAMAs surprises in the line-up!

Of the latest SAMAs developments Muirhead said:

“We're absolutely delighted to be back after a summer of music research and attending all the festivals. This year, the SAMAs are going to be slicker than ever with our new nomination process and increased judges. Turning seven is a massive achievement and we're thrilled to be hosting the main awards in October!"


The awards to be handed out this year at the main awards in Glasgow are:

Best Acoustic in association with citizenM
Best Electronic in association with Assai UK
Best Hip-Hop in association with 1000fans
Best Live Act
Best Metal in association with Cathouse Glasgow
Best Newcomer in association with The Academy of Music & Sound
Best Rock/Alternative in association with Eventbrite

Tickets available are available from £20/£10/£6.50.

Scottish Alternative Music Awards (SAMAs)