T-Bird’s Minimal Finest:

So this week is dedicated to a minimal genius. I am almost embarrassed to not have mentioned him before as he is part of my TOPlist minimal producers and DJ's.

Marek Bois is Niklas Worgt's DJ alias. He is a producer DJ and not unknown on the minimal horizon. His irregular but contagious sound has had many clubbers on their feet for hours.
Marek Bois is the alter ego of Mo’s Ferry’s Dapayk.
His first record under his new guise of Marek Bois, devised to cover his more minimal techno tracks. He’s better known for releasing regularly as Dapayk on his own label Mo´s Ferry productions, as well as for occasional moonlighting jaunts, like the smasher for the Orac label. “You got good ash“ is an exceptionally cool minimal rocker with a slight Chicago note to it, drawing towards evident touchstones the aim is laudable, to strip down music to it´s rhythm essentials. The monster breakdown of the tune is a perfect peak time moment that yanks the track screaming up on the dance floor, and practically guarantees hysteria. His sound is strictly minimal and follows all the rules to producing a lasting minimal ear-worm. He bangs out out one rhythmical groover after next which suit a chilled out night at home as well as a manic night out.

Niklas normally releases his records under Normally releases on Trapez or Rrygular (The Label that represents him right now, great label) two renowned labels with a host of great producers. Below is a musical taster.
Enjoy with Volume!

P.S: I apologize for the unappealing look of the Youtube video. Clearly some idiot thought it would be good to have a weird image covering the song, but its the music that counts in the end. My tip, turn it up and have a little dance rather than looking at it.

Because it’s Wednesday:

So I have read about Nike giving new life to the iconic Trainer 1 first made famous back in 1989 by 2-sport legend Bo Jackson and the always colorful tennis star John McEnroe. The Trainer 1 was a multi-facted training shoe that got the job done across the board whether you were running, lifting weights, shooting hoops, playing baseball or just straight up engaging in almost any physical activity. The shoe is an all-round perfect trainer; works great looks great and is good for your feet.



Still very much desired and admired to this day by sneaker enthusiasts worldwide, Trainer 1 has come back onto the stage 20 years after its birth. Although the shoe has been somewhat updated, it maintains the same look and appeal that collectors and athletes enjoyed the first time round.




The shoe is great on many levels. You really have to try it on and give it a real go. It is lightweight and seriously comfortable, which will make it a great addition to the shoe rotation making for a nice pair of kicks to sport around, or something rugged to really tear it up in the gym with. Be on the lookout come July 1, 2009 when these hit retailers.

T-Birds’ Minimal Finest:

Guten Tag... having spent a fantastic weekend in Berlin, I gave the Bar 25 a visit. Listening to some great German Dj's made me think of another 'Berliner' who has long established himself as a producing genius.



Sebo K has long been a key figure in Berlin's electronic dance music community. Now, thanks to his releases on the Mobilee label, including "Rancho Relaxo", co-produced with Anja Schneider, and "Moved", featuring Prosumer, he's becoming an unstoppable force.

Like so many others, Sebo K began DJing in the early '90s. finding his footing as resident DJ at Alec Empire's Bass Terror, Berlin's first UK breakbeat parties. By the mid '90s he had discovered his love for Chicago house and Detroit techno — a passion that will be evident to anyone that's heard the vintage depths of his 2005 track "Moved"—and at the turn of the decade he began his residency at Berlin's legendary Pogo club. Today, Sebo K is a resident at Berlin's Watergate. He frequently appears at Berlin venues like Weekend, where he shares a regular date with Ewan Pearson.

Sebo K's productions for Mobilee have established him as a frighteningly talented producer and a formidable player in dance music. His collaboration with Anja Schneider, the "Rancho Relaxo"/"Side Leaps" EP, reached no. 9 on Groove's charts, and has gone on to be an enduring staple in the crates of DJs worldwide. With an unparalleled sense of pulse and soul, Sebo K is just beginning to hit his stride.

He frequently plays in London, Fabric, or some smaller venue parties. It is always worth the entrance so get yourselves hooked and enjoy with volume.

Has a Tory MP saved grime?

Could John Whittingdale a Tory MP be the savior of Grime and the wider “Urban” music industry by eradicating the 696 form?

John Whittingdale is the Conservative MP for Maldon and East Chelmsford, president of the Maldon District Chamber of Commerce, he seems like an unlikely candidate, but he may well be the source of common sense the UK urban music sense has been crying out for. But as chair of the House of Commons' cross-party Culture, Media and Sport Committee, he is responsible for a new report that could help free live music from the restriction of excessive bureaucracy and unnecessary police interference.

The committee's "post-legislative scrutiny" of the 2003 Licensing Act began last summer; its findings, quietly made public at 12.01am a few days ago, are encouraging reading for music fans. The committee heard expert witness testimony drawn from everyone from Peter Stringfellow, to the secretary of the Association of Circus Proprietors of Great Britain. Whittingdale's team concluded that live music in the UK is being suffocated by paperwork, with even the smallest of performances encumbered by "draconian" and "absurd" restrictions.

To remedy this, the report recommends that venues with a capacity of less than 200 be exempted from needing a license for live music; it also recommends reintroducing the "two in a bar" exemption, whereby venues of any kind can host one or two musicians playing unamplified music: anytime, anywhere, without having to apply for unnecessary licenses six months in advance, while needing to enclose copies of the musicians' dates of birth, (which in itself can be a task).

One of the huge ramifications of the 2003 Licensing Act was that it reinforced the Metropolitan Police's hard line and some would go as far as saying discriminatory use of "Form 696", a risk assessment form that has become instrumental in shutting down grime and garage nights. Upon hearing evidence on Form 696, Whittingdale's committee were convinced that: "Police authorities are taking an increasingly authoritarian approach, especially the Metropolitan Police … The report concludes that Form 696 goes beyond the Act and its guidance to impose unreasonable conditions on events and recommends that it should be scrapped."

An example of Form 696's use as an instrument of injustice is Project Urban, a major event that had been scheduled to happen at indigO2 on 3 May, this was deemed a "high risk" event by the authorities and cancelled with only weeks to go. The promoters' story bears reading in full – they had booked an all-star cast of performers, headlined by Tinchy Stryder, forked out for tens of thousands of flyers and a cross-media advertising campaign, and were offering to put on £4,500 worth of airport-style security to appease any safety concerns. So why was it cancelled you ask? According to Project Urban's promoters, the only concrete reason for it being a "high risk" event was some missing data from their 696 form: "The only reason the event was 'high risk' was due to an administrative error regarding a missing date of birth for two artists. There was plenty of time to resubmit the form (it requires 14 days' notice), but the venue had already taken the decision upon themselves to cancel, and inform all ticket-holders." By no means is this the only example of the misuse of this form, and consequently hampering the organic growth of the urban music industry. Many artists see the 696 form as a major reason as to why they have failed so scale the heights they had envisioned, which is a fair point given the fact that live performance is the future of industry.

However, following the committee's recommendations that live-music licensing be liberalised without delay, it is now up to the Andy Burnham MP, Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, to act. Let us see if he can become as much of a hero to fans of live music as the president of the Maldon District Chamber of Commerce, John Whittingdale.

Wanna Dance?

So I usually do my two post per week ritual. As I am off to Berlin this weekend I had a little look around as to what is going on over there... and don't get me wrong Berlin's offering is never to be dismissed, but for some reason London seems to have some of Minimal's finest Dj's in town this weekend.
So if any of you guys fancy a good night out, there is two places to go.

Tonight:
Boarder Community night at Corsica Studios. Not much else to say.. great music, great soundsystem and a shame to miss.



Saturday Night:
Claude von Stroke, Ekkohaus, Shaun Reeves, Craig Richards at Fabric. Beautiful line-up.



So if anyone goes let me know how it was.

Because it’s Wednesday:

So I am not a Trekki or actually a fan of Sci-Fi (matter of fact i find it quiet boring) but this remake is visually a great example of excellent retro re-branding.



The new Star Trek film goes back to the original series (the Coke classic if you will), distancing itself from the ever more portly original cast and more recent but less distinctive “new generations” of the brand.

With retro branding still a hot trend, the film’s marketing shows an inspiring approach which breaks with the familiar “dig out the old artwork” retro formula we see applied to revamps of confectionery and perfume brands. Rather than exploiting nostalgia for the original with 60’s inspired art direction, it has taken the core visual equities and brought them bang up to date: thus the potentially kitsch Starfleet badge is being used in the manner of a Nike tick, and the easy on the eye cast are presented photographed like Beckham selling aftershave. The conventional retro approach celebrates the past in a slightly tongue in cheek manner, but this campaign doesn’t play for easy laughs, and the result is something sharper and more relevant.

It is also a decent example of a film which aims for broader appeal than the original, devoted fanbase. As satirical website The Onion has it “Trekkies bash new Star Trek film as fun, watchable”.

T-Bird’s Minimal Finest:

This weeks minimalist is Patrice Bäumel. Another German Legend… and I promise I am not trying to show off how great Germany is, but fact is, that most pertinent minimal artist are from there.

So another guy who never fails to impress. Born in Germany and now living in Amsterdam, Patrice is a Dj/Producer for many years now. He is an artist who devotes all of his energy to the dancefloor, with his dynamic sets as well as his trademark climaxing productions. His music is full of emotion, dynamic and contrasts of cold, warm, soft and hard: “If you can feel it, it’s good music!”(Patrice)

This guy love to break the rules, crossing genres, melting opposed elements, but it always works out to become a homogenous fresh sound. He calls his sound “ Mutant Pop”, ecletic, eccentric, mutated pulp of modern dance music. He made his debut in 2005 with the release of Mutant Pop on Trapez Records.
Raised on a mixture of 80’s synth pop like Yello, Depeche Mode or Cabaret Voltaire and all kinds of other weird stuff ranging from Frank Zappa to John Coltrane (his dad being a music journalist helped in the matter), Patrice got into electronic dance music in the early 90’s. Illegal warehouse parties were held all over Germany, and your normal discotheque had to make way for a completely different order of untamed energy. Djing was the logical step and soon he had a residency secured at the BASE, one of East Germany’s hottest clubs at the time. Playing alongside guys like Richie Hawtin, Laurent Garnier or Claude Young he quickly learned the ropes of quality djing – mixing, track selection, crowd control. (ref:PAT)

The production thing really started taking flight after Patrice was chosen Dutch winner of the Red Bull Music Academy 2002. New school electronic dance music has a new household name.

Voila. Have a listen, and enjoy with Volume.

Because it’s Wednesday:

This delay thing is a bank holiday desease I have....
So today its all about Bauhaus.
Having to look and judge FMCG design all day it is quiet nice to go back and have a look at the foundations of today's designworld. Bauhaus! Clean, Slick, minimalist design... just how I like it.

The city of Dessau, in Germany’s countryside, had had their sucess peak in the 1920’s with the Bauhaus school, created by Walter Gropius. In the same city, Gropius also build houses for people like the painters Wassily Kandinsky and Paul Klee. But in the beginning of the 1930’s the school was closed by the Nazis with the excuse of producing decadent art.

Now, for the joy of 9 architects in 10, the school was reopened as a type of boutique hostel, that offers accomodations for one night with accessible prices, collective toilets and also uses the school’s canteen, where the students would sit down and enjoy their meals.

Besides the building created by Gropius, who also taught there, the school had amongst their most recognized students, Marcel Breuer. His famous chairs decorate the dorm rooms and the cafeteria. Another good example are the beds, made by the current principal of the Bauhaus Dessau Foundation, Philipp Oswalt.

T-Bird’s Minimal Finest

Repeat Repeat. is the voodoo electro brainchild of Dave Congreve and Mark Rutherford.
These two guys are a bit funky and it is almost a romantic story of how Repeat Repeat became one, and finally signed to Soma.

Two vinyl addicts, their paths crossed amongst the racks of experimental electronica in a Soho record shop. Their mutual love of off-kilter techno and acid house led them to the studio where they have cranked out some raw and dirty floor busters incuding their debut EP ‘Bounce Your Body To The Box’ on Soma which displayed their talent for producing demented machine-funk.

Dave Congreve needs no introduction, without doubt one of the UK’s finest and most respected DJ’s, he is currently the man in control at Stealth in Nottingham and prior to that the long-standing resident at Drop The Bomb. (ref: somarecords)
So to get you going this week, have a listen to this upbeat track, which never fails to put a smile on my face.

Enjoy with volume!

Tuesday's Tracks

This weeks Tuesday’s is distinctly British with a double dose of Bashy. If you haven’t heard Bashy’s mix-tape yet, you NEED to cop it, he’s been slowly but steadily stepping up levels for a while now, and now he’s ‘doin the damn thing’! Shout out to Bashy, your Hustlin Ard!!!

The first one’s Davinche feat. Clea and Bashy, the tunes ALOT, although there’s something not quite right about the video...

Davinche feat. Clea and Bashy – Riding For Love


The second one’s Bashy on his own, I’m feeling the chorus and the more I hear it the more I like it, plus I like the little dance routine, it’s not something you often see from an artist that came from the grime scene.

Bashy - Who wants to be a millionaire

Good morning Mr West

Ahead of his time when it comes to fashion, we spotted Mr Kanye West sporting a trend that is sure to bow you away. Wearing a spiffy red bow tie, Mr West looked dapper after a hard day in London. Being very kind he offered to pose so we could snap pictures of his look. The bow tie is an endangered timepiece of men’s accessories, we hardly see men wearing the bow tie as many are opting for comfort rather then donning the bow. Although, Mr West shows that you can still wear class with swagger. When it comes to fashion Kanye pushes the senses of style to the limit. The unforgettable stronger shutter shades took the Summer 07 by storm. Although making a little faux- pas recently and thinking it was cool to wear the skinniest of skinny jeans - that even Russell Brand would shake his head to- Kanye has now recovered and is bringing back the bow tie and has redeemed himself as top notch on the fashion scale.

Beacuse it's Wednesday!

So here I am again a day delayed. Work is keeping me on my feet and networking has been at the forefront of my mind this week. So I am not going to visually stimulate you with fashion or great design but give a little advice on how to use networking properly!

Everyone is talking about how important networking is. I certainly do, and in my experience it helps to maintain and nurture relationships with people you meet.

Now social networking is not a new subject. But is facebook, Twitter, Myspace really a way to get ahead in business? Hmm I doubt it, so which online tools are there that can give you that chance to meet interesting people, or be invited to events that connects you to your desired industry? (apart from Hustleard of course ☺)

Starting off with ‘A small world’. I have been a member for a little while, and its purpose is to give people a chance to connect via events (social, business, and cultural), business ventures, and start nurturing relevant business relationships, that can assist you in you career endeavors.

Then there is LinkedIn. You don’t have an account yet? Get one! It is a business people directory. People have profiles, in which the main information provided is about people’s current and past jobs.

Xing is another business networking website… not as well established as LinkedIn but definitely worth a membership.

We all want to become successful, and sometimes it helps to meet people who can help you on your way. So fill your roladex with relevant contacts and get out there, business ain't that difficult.
It has helped me on numerous occasions to meet interesting people, or just simply to identify potential clients (some of which converted into paying business). The hardest part is to make sure you send them at least a Christmas card. So get networking!

Rapidshare handing over user data to record labels

Apparently Rapidshare are providing record labels with details of users accused of uploading pre-release albums to the site.

The labels can then take this IP address data to ISPs to identify the users - with one person already saying he’s been the subject of a police raid after uploading a copy of Metallica’s Death Magnetic to his Rapidshare account a day before its release.

It’s a sign that the music industry is taking the piracy threat posed by sites like Rapidshare seriously, rather than just focusing on P2P. Research indicates that particularly for pre-release leaks, file-hosting sites are increasingly important.

For this to really work though, the majors have to take a hard line stance against everyone, starting off with making examples out of the first few offenders. Whether or not this will work… only time will tell, but if they really do want to take on the world of music piracy, these are the steps that are needed to be taken and this is a starting point.

T-Birds’ Minimal Finest:

DJ KOZE. (Or was it Adolf Noise. maybe International Pony) Bit of a weird name I have to say… very nineties… and honestly the first time someone spoke to me about him I was bit baffled as I didn’t get the description of his sounds. He’s got a light, subtle but eccentric approach and feel, keeping his listeners on their toes. You can’t put his music into a box, so he works under three aliases’ to not confuse the world too much with all the genres he dabbles in. One could say it is a delirium of music.

This guy has it all, he knows music and none of his tracks sounds alike, on top of that he is a notoriously talented remixer. Even better, this guy is from the motherland, so I am happy to introduce:

Stefan Kozalla aka DJ Koze lives and works in Hamburg as a club DJ, musician (International PONY, Adolf Noise) and successful producer and KOMPAKT recording artist (Kompakt being a label to know, but we will get to that at later stage). Originally being part of German Hip-Hop Collective Fischmob, he really shines behind the decks. Although he experienced success with Fischmob he has always been interested in experimenting with other forms of electronic music from ambient to break beats to wild sound collages from a range of musical genres.
Under his aka Adolf Noise he has moved into a deeper electronic direction, with more abstract and unusual samples (including football commentary). These tunes have to a big extent nothing to do with the DJ Koze minimal genius. So when checking him out make sure you remember the right alias, or you might end up hearing some pensive relaxing sounds that will take you on a dream wave.

As i couldn't decide what to put on here, you should most definitely investigate yourself a little more...and enjoy with volume!

Kanye West - Amazin' (feat. Young Jeezy)

Eminem Uses Album Cover To Tease New "Relapse" Release

To hype the release of Eminem’s upcoming his new album "Relapse", the media savvy rapper Eminem has combined the modern self-inflicted leak with a very old school marketing tool, the album cover, and delivered the message to his 39,000 Twitter followers.

"This is getting very real," wrote Marshal Mathers aka Eminem accompanied by a link to a hidden Interscope web page displaying only the new cover which recreates his image using thousands of pills .This morning a new tweet states, "I'm with Angela Yee on Shade45 Thursday morning. Listen carefully." Shade 45 is a satellite hop hip station co-created with Enimem.

In the age of digital downloads, album covers have been relegated to postage stamp size graphics if visible at all. Many complain about the loss, while others have tried to reinvent it. For Eminem’s fans, what was once old is now new again.

Because it’s Wednesday:

So the fashion world is hitting me at the moment. Matthew Williamson’s designs for H&M are hitting the stores, and my friend will be having her debut show, both which is going to happen tomorrow. As I still think it is unfair for designers to launch any line so close before payday, I am very excited to see FAJ strutting down the catwalk.
FAJ, Fanny and Jess, two insane but lovely girls who have made it to their mission to conquer the fashion world. They both hibernated somewhere in East London for months in order to sow, cut, and staple their designs to what I shall be seeing tomorrow. They have ambition, and are avant-garde, but what I like most about it, is that they put the effort into the detail.

So here is a little taster:












Will I be wearing it? I’d love to (some of it I would like to think I’d be able to pull off). But as the story goes, these items are practically their portfolio. But I am in line to try and get my fingers on FAJ as soon as I can.

From a marketing and branding perspective, the name is great, the product loud and proud, the story most sale-able. All in all, great foundations to build on for the future FAJ Empire.

AQA launches premium mobile micro-blogging service

AQA is one of those SMS Q&A services where you text in questions and it texts you back the answers. But now it’s launched a new service called AQA2U, which lets anyone set up a Twitter-style news feed that sends out the persons thoughts as texts to subscribers at 25p a time, up to a maximum of £3.50 a month.

That’s right, it’s basically getting people to pay for content they could get for free from a Twitter feed. Or, as AQA puts it, “AQA2U is micro-blogging with a business model”.

Grime star Tinchy Stryder is already using the service. I have to ask though, will consumers really pay for this? Considering the majority of people don't really want to pay for music these days, and given that Tinchy tweets lots on Twitter already, what on earth will be in his AQA2U feeds worth paying for? I have been a champion of artists endorsing technology and embracing alternative revenue streams, however, I do have my doubts about this one, but stranger things have happened…

Tuesday's Tracks

This week's Tuesday's track is a massive one, and the video's even better. I'm feeling where Dizzie's going with his recent singles, he's going "Ard" with the UK sound party tracks, it's a good look!
Dizzee Rascal - Bonkers

Black Eyed Peas - Boom Boom Pow

Hey guys, I know you've all been waiting a good while for this video...so remember you watched it here first at Hustle 'Ard! x

T-Birds Minimal Finest:

Lucio Aquilina… even his name sounds promising, when it rolls off your tongue. This is sexy minimal house. It is almost sinfully good. This young Sicilian is one of my latest ‘most listened to’ artists.

‘He is one of the up-and-coming talents from the south of Italy that will most probably take over the older generation of Markantonio, Gaetano Parisio, Danilo Vigorito and Rino Cerrone, all of whom put Naples in the techno scene at the end of the previous century.’ (And this is a hefty but true statement)

Anyway, his influences don’t draw as much from that techno as from Britain’s Nathan Fake and James Holden.
This boy is currently signed to Cocoon and his biggest success to date the release of the twelve inches Magic M. This record included the amazing track My Cube (the one I keep listening to over and over again). This track was also chosen by M.A.N.D.Y. to be part of his mix for Fabric (number 38)
When listening to his tracks one can imagine how the melodies form in his mind are being translated into robust rhythms with a very strong minimal sound palette. His tracks are as fresh as they can get with a whiff of childlike enthusiasm one gets when producing a track.
His production skills are as good as his dj skills and sometimes I ask myself what came first for this boy…?

Who cares, Enjoy with Volume!!

Flashback Fridays

In making up for missing last week i thought I'd bring two genres of music that were huge in the 80's.

Firstly, New Wave from Adam And The Ants - Prince Charming


Then onto Funk with Rick James - Give It To Me Baby

Because it’s Wednesday:

I somewhat operate on one day delay this week...That's what a bank holiday does to me. So this is meant for Wednesday.

So last week Wednesday I met up with my friend for some good old free gallery opening drinks.
We ended up in a gallery space, which happened to be the very first gallery I ever visited in London. The entrance consisted of a massive white wall with clean type saying “ A little piece of Mind”.




Walking further into the exhibition we ended up in a massive white room with a ridiculously long list of names of famous artist printed on the wall. On the far wall hung a massive quilt (or duvet in my eyes) and next to it a nice piece of graphic design pattern.





It turned out to be a private auction for this quilt, which was designed through contributions by each and every single designer mentioned on the wall. And honestly it wasn’t that impressive even though contributors were Vivienne Westwood, Stella McCartney and Swarovski.

We stayed for the auction (and some more cocktails) mingled with the PR lady who organized the event and finally chatted to the man who ended up spending nearly 10k on a duvet.

Got new business contacts, had a good hangover and saw the most expensive duvet ever. So all in all successful.

Here is the graphic pattern which I really would like to have on my living room wall:


Forgive the quality of the images, but they were taken on a phone :)

Michael's a Ledge!

Whether you love him of hate him there is no mistaking,Michael Jackson is a living legend. Currently we're led to believe that he is going through some financial troubles which almost led to the sale of pretty much all his goods yesterday at an auction house in America, but there's no doubt the man will be performing a bunch on shows at the O2 Arena in London this summer. Personally I’m a massive fan and the man's a natural entertainer, I mean I’d go to the show just to see him put his hip out or something. But if the performance is anything like the clip below, those that got hold of tickets will not be disappointed.

T-Bird’s Minimal finest:

A day delayed, here is this weeks minimal finest(but it was a bank holiday). So hope you all had a good weekend.

This weeks’ sound bite is one of my personal favorites. Shlomi Aber, one of Israel's most noted DJ's and producers in the field of minimal techno, Shlomi Aber's star has been constantly on the rise since releasing his 2006 breakthrough hit - the catchy and melodic 'Sea Of Sand', produced together with Guy Gerber (another well noted Israeli artist) and released on Cocoon Records. Aber has cemented his success with releases for Ovum, and London's progressive house imprint Renaissance. The best thing about Aber, is that he is one of the most versatile Dj’s around. Not limiting him to a genre, he once said; that he founded his Label BeAsOne because he couldn’t find enough music that he was really into. His trademark, are stripped back deep techno beats, which he translates into house, and dubstep beats.
No surprise this man is one of the most touted up and coming talents that emerged in today’s scene. His production skills are as good as his dj skills and experiencing him live is absolutely exhilarating. He has gained the respect from names such as Sven Vath, Pete Tong, Danny Tenaglia, and Tiefschwarz.

I found this extract on a website a while ago after seeing him live I have to say it is the best description of his music there is:
“His musical inspirations cannot be defined by one genre, as they draw upon jazz and funk, house and minimal, in addition to acid and techno, all of which contribute to the unique sound and style that Shlomi has slowly been grooming over the last few years. Shlomi’s sets are full with warm and unique sounds that makes you feel like you are going back to the better days of music, it was something I cant define just by one word, If I must I will call it something between house and techno”

Enjoy with volume!

Shady's Back

Eminem is officially back, with his first video release from the forthcoming album “Relapse”. To be honest it’s nothing particularly new in the sense that Em’s getting at a bunch of people in the industry with some kiddie pop rhymes. As usual the single’s a joke ting more like ringtone rap than anything else but I do hope the album has a lot more credible content, because the guy is undoubtedly a hip-hop legend.

Beacuse it's Wednesday!

So I was thinking a lot (too much) about what to put in my Wednesday posts. I will write about artists, maybe designers (in branding and fashion) or any other random events I sometimes attend. I do not have an immense repertoire of blogs, websites that I visit on a daily basis in order to “know it all”, so I can write about it. One can never know it all, and in my opinion, many blogs have become a way to show off, how much time one can waste online… or don’t you agree that posting 5-6 posts per day is excessive and shows a lack of interaction with the real world.(?)
So you will be hearing from me twice a week. That is enough time to give an insight to what I like and do in the other 167 hours per week, hustling’ard in real life :).


Because it’s Wednesday!
Michael Liebowitz is an Architect, lover of good design, and holds a range of important positions. He is founder of a company called Spaceship, board member of SoDA (Society of Digital Agencies), leads seminars across the globe on creativity and innovation and on digital engagement, and is a frequent juror on creative awards such as the Cannes Lions, Clio Awards and the D&AD.
So all in all, this makes me dizzy enough to respect this guy for his dedications to the creative world… and kind of makes me jealous. But I still have time to be a big shot.
So he published a collection of quirky hotel door hangers, which he inherited from his granddad. I think this I s a great way of showing simple and effective design. Almost like international sign-language. My favorites are the ones with less copy. They make sense and prove that our brains pick up on simple icons to understand a message. We all know what it means without needing to describe what it is. This is the simple basis of all successful branding design.







“ They are also a metaphor. As an entrepreneur, I’m constantly working out when to open doors and when not to, when to clean up and when to leave people be. But more than that, what does “Do not disturb’ really mean? It means, “Rest in piece”.





There are plenty more... but these are some of my favourites. Enough for today and back to the real world.

T-Bird’s Minimal Finest

So the music industry is in a bad place at the moment. Record sales do not increase revenue and artist’s royalties are diminishing. All this is due to the digitization of sales and music consumption. This in return has opened the floodgates for many genres to promote themselves and become as popular as the most recent signings to the likes of Warner or EMI. So what are we looking at? Minimal, Dubstep, Various Electro artists, that have grown due to a loyal crowd of listeners who expect the music evolution to continue. (Surely there are the talented indie bands, but I shall not mention those)



My first recommendation will go to one of my favorite labels: Border Community.
This label includes some of the most pertinent artists in the minimal house/techno scene, lead by James Holden, Nathan Fake and Jake Fairly (aka Fairmont). These guys have been about for a while and produced a series of mind-blowing tracks with simple melodies and genius execution. There are 13 artists on the label at the moment; a worldwide mix but all with the same passion for perfectly composed tunes. Here a few sound bites you should check out, I will be revisiting more of the artists at later stage. These guys could be the electronic version of factory records of the new millennium with their consideration for clean design, which is instantly recognizable when seeing album covers.
This week’s playlist includes tracks from this label, check them out and enjoy with volume:
Nathan Fake - The sky is blue (also check out the James Holden Remix)
Fairmont – Gazebo
James Holden – Horizons (its quiet Trance-y but still good track)

Flashback Fridays

I thought i'd bring a mixture of UKG tunes to the table this week.

Firstly an uplifting track by Wookie with Battle

Next, one of the biggest UKG tunes that used to get everyone dancing (those under 18 dances where jokes, everyone trying their best on the dance floor)!

Then finally a tune that every MC wanted to jump on. Phanz, remember 31 Flavour's when Mega Man & Romeo murdered this tune!!!! Those were the days...

The Tate Modern 2

When the Tate Modern opened in 2000, visitor numbers were expected to be 1.8 million a year at tops. Almost a decade on, the figure is 4.6 million. Even though Tate Modern's home, the former Bankside power station, is a huge, the sheer number of people visiting throughout the year has made an expansion the obvious evolution.

Today, the London Borough of Southwark approved plans for Tate Modern 2, an 11-storey, brick-clad pyramid – of sorts – designed by Herzog and de Meuron, the Swiss architects who transformed the redundant power station across the Thames from Wren's St Paul's Cathedral nearly a decade ago.

The extension, a dramatic origami-like unfolding of brick and glass, may yet take some while to open. The total cost is expected to be £215m and, currently, there is a shortfall of some £145m to contend with. Of the £50m granted by central government, £10m has already been spent on the details of the planning process.
TM2 has already been redesigned. First revealed in 2006, the original design was for a Mad Max-style glass ziggurat. Thought of as a bit too showy, this has since been adjusted to a current design which, clad in brick, pays homage of sorts to the great brick mass of Bankside. A redesign was also necessary to enable the Tate to make use of the three vast oil tanks lurking under the building; these massive spaces are to be used for performances, galleries and offices. They will be some of the most unexpected interiors in London, reached by ramps winding down from an entrance in the side of the Turbine Hall in TM1. Nicholas Serota, director of the Tate, suggests a completion date of 2013 or 2014

The new building will rise in tiers, some solid, others perforated, up 11 floors of galleries, culminating in a 150-seat restaurant on the 10th floor and a public viewing gallery on the 11th. As with a ziggurat, the floors get smaller as the building goes up. In stark contrast to the voluminous horizontal spread of TM1, it is a vertical stack. Ramps, spiral stairs and eight lifts will link the various floors and levels. The column-free gallery space inside will increase Tate Modern's ability to display artworks by some 65%.

TM2 will be a hugely popular attraction without doubt. If the design is well crafted and as dramatic as it could be, it will prove itself a happily eccentric addition to the London skyline. And to have a tower dedicated to art and creative expression rather than another construction reminding us of our fickle financial service industry will definitely be a breath of fresh air.

Source: The Gaurdian

Reading & Leeds 2009

If you didn't already know the Reading and Leeds festival is one of the summer mainstays of the UK festival period. The festival has two sites, as the name would suggest... in Reading and Leeds, with the acts performing at both over the duration of the weekend

This year's line up is SERIOUS!

Tuesday's Tracks

This week’s Tuesday’s track is an absolute banger. It’s been huge in the club and is blowing up the radio airwaves at the moment.

Flashback Fridays

I have to firstly apologise for slipping over the past two weeks were i haven't dropped any tunes on my friday flashback! Fear not, this week i bring to you 3 bangers you'll all remember!

This was our introduction to a female that would be crowned the Queen of R&B.

These guys are back...They've sorted out their differences and have reunited with tour dates to be confirmed...

No introductions needed...

Skywalker & Wretchroboys Clothing

Scorcher and Wretch 32 drop an advert for their clothing lines.

I think the ad works well and was a good idea. The pair go back to back on a regular basis and never disappoint!

What's the verdict?

Tuesday's Tracks

I’ve been talking about the UK garage/grime/urban/black whatever you wanna call it scene with a few of my friends recently. And personally I’m really feeling what Tinchy Stryder is doing right now. It’s a good blend of hip-hop/hip-pop/grime and pop, imagine that... I didn’t even think that was possible. In any case Stryder Man has come a long way since ‘Tings in boots’ and to me seems to be carving out his own place in the UK musical landscape, which is a testament to the guy as many “urban” acts have tried and failed in attempting to do so. This particular track has been getting loads of radio play and really has the potential to do things in the commercial charts.

Tinchy Stryder Ft. N-Dubz - Number 1

It's all in the frame

For a hot minute aviator rims have been the way to go and definitely the accessory of summers gone by. But this summer will see the re-birth of the Wayfarer Ray-Ban frames. Since 1952 Ray-Ban’s Wayfarers have been consolidating their position as an essential piece of kit for the modern man, however in recent years they have fallen off the spectrum somewhat, but now are slowly but surely coming back. These frames have the ability to completely transform an outfit, and the girls like them too, but a particular type of girl, the ones that appreciate a bit of the trendy or indie look.

This summer you can stand out from the frame wearing crowd with your own customised pair. The limited-edition kit contains a pair of white Wayfarers and coloured pens and paints to scrawl your own design on the frames. And for extra affect, Ray-Ban will donate £10 from every kit sold in Selfridges to Oxfam


Ray-Ban Colourize, £120, at Selfridges

A Lesson From Dad

The immediate family and I spent Mothers Day with my Grandmother and other family members in North West London. On the way we were listening to the radio and having our customary driving debate; I drive too fast, mum too slow and my dad is a better driver than the Stig!

After i had enough of arguing with my dad about who was the better driver we got onto the topic of me not going to see Erykah Badu last year or Musiq Soulchild who was playing at the Indigo2 later that night. With everyone knowing that both Erykah and Musiq are my favourite artists by a long stretch my Dad didnt know what was stopping me from going to see them both. I explained that I couldn't go as my partner in crime was out of the country. He looked at me and smiled while rubbing my back. A sort of understanding/heartfelt pat on the back...

Literally 10 minutes later my Mums mobile rang then Musiq's latest single So Beautiful played on the radio. Dad had heard the first verse and turned the volume down. He whispered 'Son, have you got this song at home' I looked at him confused at why this big old man is whispering to me and said 'Yeah'! He smiled and said 'Thats good son'. I had no idea what the old man was up too!

I had the tune on my Blackberry and had planned to send it to my partner in crime but the bloody thing wouldn't send...pissed!

Got to my Nan's and had dinner with the rest of the fam which was really nice. Relaxed, caught lots of joke and reminisced on years gone by with my cousins.

Fast forward to driving home & pulling up to my house, the old man pulls me aside and tells me to put the tune on a CD and give it to him. Although confused at why the old man was so eager i went upstairs and did as he requested. Back downstairs i gave my Dad the CD. He popped it in the CD player then pulled Mum into the front room and pressed play, walked over to her with his swagger intact, pulled her by the hand and thanked her for being a wonderful mother to his kids.

I'm not gonna lie, I was sick in the mouth for a hot minute until i saw how after 36 years of marriage they were definitely still in love!

I made sure i sent the tune to my partner in crime. The 22nd March wasn't just a special day for Mothers in the UK...

Ciara (Feat. Justin Timberlake) - Love Sex Magic

What do you think?

Rihanna Vs. Chris Brown

Now really we shouldnt be laughting at this kindda topic but.... This ish made me bus up!

Happy Mothers Day

Happy mothers day ladies!

“XO Man” One to watch

If you’ve never heard of XO-Man, you need to get to know! The 6ft 10 phenomenon (yes he really is 6ft 10) from Mitcham, South London has been doing his thing slowly but surely for a hot minute now, and in December 08 was crowned winner of HUGO BOSS URBAN RULES, and through winning it will go on to record a single with full backing from SONY BMG while playing a series of intimate live gigs.

Personally I’ve known about XO Man for a while now, from his humble beginnings as a garage/grime MC, XO has now diversified his sound and is a real breath of fresh air incorporating all sorts of musical genres within his sound. His live shows aren’t your run of the mill MC spitting bars on a backing track dropped by a dj, NO... These performances have character, including a live band and usually some off the cuff banter.

With a quirky swagger, an excellent live show, and great comedic lyrical content, I’m definitely shouting out XO Man as one to look out for, furthermore I’d recommend you go see him, and while you’re there you might as well cop some neat goodies. You can see him next at WIRED 6th April, @Shoreditch house, London.



XO Man
Microwave/ Lady Dog’
Double A-Side Debut Singles out April 13th
Available As Digital Download Package on iTunes and all the rest

http://www.myspace.com/xomanmusic

Tuesday's Tracks

Chin Chin are a band from Brooklyn, they’re not signed to a major label as yet and to be perfectly honest I don’t think they’ll be off the back of this. However, I am really liking this one and the video to match.

Chin Chin - Go There With You

Ghetts x Lil Silva = Came In The Game

Ghetts jumps on one of my favourite funky house tunes produced by Lil Silva called Seasons.

K.I.G. Family and Gracious K have shown that having little content on a funky house tune doesn't necessarily mean that you wont create a funky house banger. When it comes to Ghetts, content is something you always expect & Ghetts never disappoints!

Back In The Day

When D Double E was undoubtably the best Mic Man!

Good Few Days For Us Gooners

It's been an encouraging week for us Arsenal Fans! The season so far has seen a young Arsenal team show indifferent form with key players out injured for long periods of time and some will say losing experienced players and replacing them with 'Kids'. This week has seen us make the 4th round of the FA Cup, Quater Finals of the Champions League with a great penalty shoot out win against Roma and now placed 4th in the Premiership due to a good 4-0 victory over Blackburn yesterday along with some help today from our fierce north london rivals Tottenham with a 2-1 victory over Aston Villa (Sascha, thank your boys for me mate).

Something else that definitely made me happy was Liverpool winning away at Manchester United 4-1!

This next week could also be good with Hull in the FA Cup on Tuesday and a struggling Newcastle on Saturday. We could end the week 3 points clear of Aston Villa in the league as they travel to an inform Liverpool side.

Come on Arsenal!

Flappers and Fun: Cellar Door Vaudeville at The Last Days of Decadence.

So to hit off my first contribution I thought I would introduce you to a bawdy night of revelry I recently frequented. With live music galore this was a night not to be missed and for those who did there will be a repeat performance in the not to distant future. click here

I am not a wholesale supporter of fancy dress, but the 20’s vaudeville theme did lend the occasion a degree of class. The girls were elegant….



And the boys put on a good show too…
The night commenced with an avant-garde burlesque show. To what degree one could describe this as sexy depends on your personal leanings… “can I shit in your mouth” is not an offer I would typically find hot, or readily accept. But as they say horses for courses…



Continuing the theme there was a shoe buff boy,



which I made sure i utilised services… I fell over in the process, not so hot!



And a flower girl for all those lucky enough to have a not so cheap admirer….



The night was marked by the high standard of the numerous bands that played. Highlights for me were ‘the peeps’ with their fresh, ebullient style….





Check out their myspace page for upcoming gigs.
Click here

LaCie USB Keys

LaCie have produced really cool USB flash drives in the form of keys! The flash drives are available in three different forms; itsaKey, iamaKey both with 4GB or 8GB versions and PassKey, which is a microSD USB Card Reader with the ability to be expanded to 16GB!

Available to buy here