Mosca - Bax

Hands up if you would like a garage revival and a holiday to a beach.



Released on Numbers, bigger than big and available to buy from Glasgow's finest online record store.

http://www.rubadub.co.uk/music/house/done-me-wrong-bax

[Visuals] Deadmau5 - Meowingtons Hax Tour

Following up the post I made last week which had a video explaining how the Chemical Brothers Live visuals were made, we have this one from Deadmau5. Everyone has seen the cube now I know, and it doesn't quite go into depth about how they done but it does make you go 'whoooooooaa!'

[Gig Dates] KOBI Scottish Gig Dates

For all you music lovers in the South of Scotland suffering from the cold, heres something to warm you up. Couple of gig dates from the Alternative Indie-Rock 3 piece that is KOBI.

Edinburgh     ---      @ Sneaky Petes      ---      4th November

Glasgow       ---      @ Club 520            ---      5th November

''KOBI are an alternative indie-rock band based in the Highlands of Scotland; in hiatus since 2005, a newly energized KOBI re-emerged early this summer with a fresh set of material and a renewed vigor to perform together. Having spent the time in-between developing as musicians and songwriters, the KOBI of 2011 are an altogether bolder, more coherent prospect all round. ''

 ''Having impressed at a series of intimate dates and a selection of key Scottish festivals across the summer, the band are rapidly developing into a powerful proposition in the live environment, and quickly building a strong following throughout the country. ''

KOBI Facebook

[Video] Brett Domino & Steven Peavis - Ministry Of Sound Melody

Both big and clever. The other Brett Domino videos on youtube are a laugh as well.

[Interview] Stand Up Recordz & Zayn

Two massive interviews this week with some of biggest upcoming names in Scottish Hip Hop . Stand Up Recordz is a fresh label created by Steven and Craig Duncan that came to my attention after my obsession with the most recent Stand Up Scotland Mixtape that changed my whole look on Scottish rap music. Zayn, who is also interviewed in this post has been kicking out some brilliant tunes recently and is definitely someone to keep an eye on for the future. So enough with the intro, let the guys speak for themselves!

Stand Up Recordz Interview with Craig and Steven Duncan -

Running ‘Stand Up Recordz’ are yourself and Craig Duncan, what would you say to describe how you both got here? 

Steven - Well i originally started as a dj and still do that, then started doing mixtapes to promote the all round aspect of the scene together and promoting it to people who hadn't heard it before rather than just the artist fanbase stuff up here usually gets 9Scotland Standup mixtapes 2 and 4 available from djscubasteve.bandcamp.com). Then moved onto the Scotland Standup blog which i had been involved in for just over 2 years. I'd been told by many people including friends that i should start a label, and it's something i'd always wanted to do, and here it is.

Craig - Well, Scuba didn't want to do the label himself, so to get someone else to help, we needed high trust levels. I wanted to learn how to do promotion, so he asked if I could help out with the label. Also, he needed help with the money, so it's cheaper if we both put the money in and I also do the website stuff. Basically all behind the scenes things.

What do you think makes a good artist?/What are Stand Up Recordz ideally looking for?

Standup Recordz - i think what makes a great artist is consistency, and heart, theres nothing worse than an artist losing heart in his musical talent, you find it all too often in the music industry as a whole these days not just in Hip Hop. The whole im making money now so it doesn't really matter attitude just makes me sick. The artists signed to the label just now in my opinion have shown that their work ethic is there, their heart is intact, and simply make good wholesome enjoyable music. You cant really do anymore than that can you.

You have three artists currently on your roaster, which is a lot for such a young label, do you think this number will grow to much more in the near future?

Steven - We have already spoken to someone else, so there may be a 4th soon, but then again maybe not. There are a few artists out there we would love to have aboard, if there are any producers that want to sell their soul to the devil we would be interested in hearing from you haha. But yeh we will be keeping the label relatively small for a while yet.

Craig - As Steven said, there may be a 4th, but we're quite content for the time being. I do have a few ideas, but I'm not planning on doing anything about them until the label is a little bit more known.

So still on the subject of the artists currently signed to your label, how did they come about to signing for Stand Up Recordz?

Steven - Well ive known most of the guys for a while and enjoy all their music fairly equally. Zayn is relatively new to the scene and i heard his music a few months back and he's the first artist ever, where ive heard a first track ive got intouch with him personally and congratulated him, and became a fan instantly. Ratson ive always enjoyed his music it always has a really laid back feel that i've always liked in hip hop music, i listen to alot more aggresive hip hop most of the time just as a preference but when i relax or have a few beers Ratson gets chucked on. Nity and myself go back a bit, and ive known him for the longest out of the 3 guys. I actually didn't ask Nity to start with as with him doing so much stuff for the past few years i couldn't imagine him wanting to jump onto a week old label. But turns out he did and i'm happy he's on it. Dope artist as well.

Craig - Well, even just as we started thinking about starting a label, we thought about Zayn as an artist. He's just a very original writer, there's not a lot of people who match Zayn's style, so he was always an artist we were looking to sign, before we started. Ratson is an artist both me and Steven enjoy and we always said, we'd only sign a person if we both enjoyed them, not just one of us. Ratson has a good flow, good delivery, nice laid back lyrics, so he was a really good addition to the label. To be honest, Nity was just a luck signing. He's a consitent writer who was doing really good for himself for the past while, so we didn't think he'd be interested. But once we found out he was interested - that was that.

Would you agree that there is a lack of decent opportunities for Hip Hop artists within Scotland or are they just not looking hard enough?

Steven - In Scotland at the moment there is alot of regular nights and things but if your not involved in the scene alot of the time you will miss it all. It's really hard to get Hip Hop music over  to alot of people. I want to try and get the music a voice outwith The small scene we have up here, we will always support it but the hard facts are there is more than Scotland out there in the world. And thats where i think were doing something different.

Craig - Yes I would agree with that. It seems that if you're not American or English, no one takes any notice of you. Of course, there's Hip Hop nights in Scotland, but you're not really taken seriously outside of that scene. The Scottish scene at the moment seems quite compact. There's a few Scottish artists sneaking into the UK and further, but it's not happening enough.

What advice would you give to any rap artists looking to get signed?

Standup Recordz - Don't be lazy. You can't really complain about getting nowhere in a business sense if you don't put the work in. Keep that work ethic and keep promoting your music even if it is a gew months old. People may still enjoy it.

Anything coming out soon that we should keep an eye out for?

Standup Recordz - Well we got Zayn's mixtape Dazed and Diffused coming soon with a whole host of guest features, Ratson has a new project coming soon. and Nity is battling at Dont Flop's To The Test 9. And also a 7 or 8 track EP will be available for download after Zayn's mixtape is out which will feature the artists on the label, with new and unheard music.

And finally what’s your favourite flavour of Ice Cream?

Steven - Ben & Jerry's chocolate Fudge. Im a big dude and unashamed lol. And anybody that disagrees with the flavour choice is wrong and they know they are, unless they say chocolate brownie flavour then they maybe partly right, but wrong at the same time. And that my friend is the most in-depth Ice Cream based answer you will have had.

Craig - Vanilla, just to piss him off.

Thank you!

Thanks very much yourself mate this is all highly appreciated. And shouts to Justiceneversleeps.blogspot.com.

  Zayn - Life I Live by Standup Recordz

  Zayn and Konchis - Burst by Standup Recordz

Interview with Zayn -

Who is Zayn? (Short background story)

Well, i am Zayn. Hip Hop is Life. Born in South Africa, moved about there alot but i was proper young so I dont really remember much about it all. Came to Scotland when i was about five with my family so i was brought up here. I've stayed in Glasgow most of my life... it is the place to be ! I also moved around alot here but i'de consider myself a Shawbridge boy, Pollockshaws all day !

I've always had an ear for the English language, I've always loved to write. I think I actually penned my first verse on a school coach on some trip somewhere and had my pal record it on his phone which he ripped the utter piss out of for weeks, and still does. Recorded my first full song with like two Kareoke microphones taped together, tied to the top of the inside of my bedroom cupboard but since then i've upgraded my sheeit. I first started taking my music properly serious about this time last year. I'm pretty new to the Scottish Hip Hop Scene at the moment and am now working on my first release, the Dazed and Diffused Mixtape which is nearly finished so i'm grateful if you's scope dat !

If you had to describe your style without naming any genres how would you describe it?

Fresh as fuck, Baaaaaad !, One guy knows. But I still keep it real and use my music to express myself with as much honesty and truth as i can give and at times I just use it to tell cunts straight, but I'de say my style is more of showing rather than telling.

How do you get yourself into writing your lyrics?

It really depends. It could be that i'm outside and i'll see or hear someone or something and it just plants an idea straight away so i write something down. Or if im sitting listening to some instrumentals i might come across one i thinks nice and straight away get on it without even thinking twice. Most of what I write is dependant on how i was feeling at that moment in time or either what i can reccolect of my past.

I can sometimes pen a verse or even a full song and have it recorded in a day or other times i'll let something sit for a while, draft it, go through some beats to find which fits best, scope some past writtens i've done to merge some concepts. But to be honest it all really just depends on how my daimons are feeling at the time.

Who would you say has had the biggest influence on your music?

I'm influenced by alot really, music from the whole Native Toungues and Zulu Nation movement like ATCQ, De la Soul, Digable planets and so on. Hip Hop from the 80's/ early 90's mostly, there was alot of heart in the music back then, not to say that that there is'nt anymore nowdays, its just you have to know where to look. I take alot of inspiration from more modern artists aswell, at the moment, the whole Rhymesayers connect and anyone else who is making real music. Although I am inspired by alot of different types of music, aswell as films or what i read. In Scotland there are also a large amount of emcee's I look up to, who are extremely talented to the point where I find it insane how much they are slept on. So i'de say my music is also influenced by what life is like here and everyone i know and will meet. I think Influence is able to come from anthing when making music as long as you have someone who will listen so i leave this answer infinite.

Favourite track of all time and why?

uft, dont know if i can pick an all time favourite, but right now  i'm really enjoying :

Kristoff Krane - Leave the summer

A favourite of your own and why?

i'de say Zayn - Rock On , its not been released yet but will be on the Mixtape, i put alot of work and heart into the lyrics for this track so its definatly my favourite, in a way its the combination of everything i've wrote for the whole mixtape explained in one song.

Why Stand Up Recordz?

Well I signed with Standup because Scuba Steve is such a Standup guy. Really though, he's helped me alot so far with advice, collabs and instrumentals. He's really in tune with what he wants to be done with the label and is willing to offer any help needed by the signed artists, the label itself is well connected, has other very talented artists which I'm really proud to be signed along with aswell. Its a new label and as I'm also fairly new to the Scottish Hip Hop scene it will be good to help build the label and show what we're all about.

And finally what’s your favourite flavour of Ice Cream?

I wish there were Cream Soda flavored ice cream, i'de pick that

Safe for this man

Thank you!

And you can find more on Stand Up Recordz and their artists on their website here

[Guest Mix] Feedback Junkies October Mix

Free Download of this months mix from producer Feedback Junkie!

October Mix by Feedback Junkie

Tracklist: Zero Cash - I Get Down, Popof - The Chomper (lsd mix), Gabe - Sonar Room, Umek - Slap, Gaiser - Oolooloo, Dubfire - Roadkill, Audiojack - Enter The Drum, Fergie - To The Core, Chemical Brothers - Don't Think, Mark Knight & Wolfgang Gartner - Conscindo, Oliver Klein & Peter Juergens - Der Spatz Auf Dem Dach

[Tracks] Wednesday Whoppers

Whats happening you dirty dingbats!? Needing some free downloads up on here since yous all seem to be losing wood. Don't worry I have the cure, get yourself on these. Its alright, you can thank me later by liking my fan page Mackz Facebook

First up I got this cheeky number from Chemical Jump which seemed to be the only song on there worth mentioning this week. Its a remix from Moguai of that good old humdinger of a tune by the bulimic boy himself. Shake what your mama gave yaaaaa!!!

Fatboy Slim - Ya Mama (Push The Tempo) Moguai Remix 

This I kind of stole from WheresMyElectro, so credit to them for finding this one. Although the mixing of the Bond vocals in this are pretty dodge the song itself is dyno! The finger plucking bass is sooo addictive and the drop is magma with the one shot trumpets! Yeah Buddddddy!

Whitenoise - Thunderball (Original Mix)

I saw this one on YouTube a few weeks ago thanks to my brother. Since then it has been ripped down, from what I've heard the backing track may have been stolen. Stolen or not I still think the vocals are perfect with the track and if I was the owner of the original I would still consider releasing it with them on it. If it is stolen I apologise for not crediting the name of the artist but its too good not to post. The girl Azealia Banks that raps on this bad boy must says the c**t word about a million times which for some weird reason gets me a little excited.. but it is a damn catchy tune when the lead hits!

Azealia Banks - 212

And saved the best for last, just found out I had a couple of this guys tunes on my hard drive that I hadn't looked twice at and so when I was shown his latest stuff today I kicked myself in the face. Had to flex a little first but I managed.

NEUS - Wasted (Original Mix) 

Stick around for some more music posts! And I'm back in Inverness for the week so if anyone has a gig that they would like us to have a snoop at would be good if you could hola by using my facebook or email address in the links section.

[Article] Do You Have Danceaphobia?

Yeah. I made up my own word for this article, or maybe it is already a word, Im just too god damn lazy to check to be honest. Even the thought of starting up a new tab and searching 'Danceaphobia' seems like more work than to write out this full sentence explaining my laziness. Whether or not its a word, one thing is for certain and that is that it exists theoretically. First I should explain what I mean by this word...
In this day and age it is not hard to realise the world has become more judgmental on the way we look, think, eat and move. The result is that we have all been cornered into the 'safe zone' as I like to call it. A place where in return for following the same trends as everyone else and staying boring we are rewarded with false dignity which makes us feel safe when exposed to vulnerable situations. In this case the vulnerable situation refers to dancing. Individuality is hard to come by nowadays, even the people who think they have bought into a product which makes them stand out from the crowd have now become the crowd (referring to the likes of hipsters) and anyone who expresses themselves freely in public is quickly snapped up and posted on YouTube for all to point and laugh at how ridiculous they look. Twenty years ago you could bust a running man without a smirk in sight and now dancing has become some sort of awkward bridge between drinking and pulling that must be crossed with forced laughter and if your lucky some unnecessary dry humping. And now we have more side steppers than a drunk hobo at a busy bus stop and safer moves than a Russian chess player. This is the Illness I like to call 'Danceaphobia'.
Now not everyone is infected with this mild yet contagious disease because some people have seen the light, I'l admit Im guessing a lot of that light has a lot to do with drugs but there is some people out there who just let go on the floor and enjoy themselves the way it was intended. Others choose not to dance. This I find is the saddest thing that has happened to dance music. We have all been in that situation where we have taken a friend (or maybe you are that friend) to a nightclub and even after six shots and 7 pints they remain glued to the wall like they're waiting for a train or if they're crafty they will have found themselves in one of those comfy seating hubs with some stranger debating on the in and outs of stamp collecting. Why do they do this? You may choose to  believe that they are naturally shy or that jump they made over that small puddle last week has left them with a weak ankle and a variable excuse to avoid any unwanted movement for the next week or so. But it is in fact, YOU! Yes, you reading this article. To be more precise everyone is to blame (ok maybe that is not more precise).The point is that we are all designed to dance and somewhere along the line we fucked up. I kind of want to blame technology for allowing the globe to scrutinize dancing together so easily although I think music has had a huge effect on our dance floor personalities.

But what effect does this have on music? Well in my opinion I believe this has changed the face of music completely and the effects will not wear out until at least the next Die Hard film. But seriously think how much music revolves around how we dance... and how much has this changed over the past decade, with less people busting a move, DJ's have turned to new techniques like visuals experiences that sip the awkward stillness out of a room like an extremely fat person drinking pepsi through a straw. I've realised more and more that dance genres have blended into this petty competitive streak where the quality of studio listen has defeated its dance floor purpose and the result is we are left listening to 'banging' tunes that have no life in them. Every time I hear a good song now and I test mix it at home I'm left with a spot of cold dance floor syndrome because I can just see it dying in a club. Its a sign that our 'Danceaphobia' has made the DJ dessert his/her decks and climb into a studio instead.
So maybe the world just doesn't feel like dancing right now or maybe I'm just looking too far into it. Whatever the answer is I have one piece of advice. Enjoy the little we time we are given and don't let others decide how you enjoy yourself, oh and don't do the running man... you'll only embarrass yourself.

Bit Shifter - Strange Comfort

Not new out, but new to me. All the elements are made on an original Gameboy, something to think about next time you are cursing that new Native Instruments hacked plugin for not working.

[Visuals] Chemical Brothers

First of all I would like to apologise for the lack of posts recently, things have been pretty hectic for the last couple of weeks but exciting things are happening. I have taken on some new writers in different fields of music expertise that will hopefully give this blog a more universal appeal. So hopefully you will see some new posts from them soon.
So to step things back up again I thought I would post these videos that have been entertaining me recently. If im honest I have never been a big Chemical Brothers fan and before you start cringing its because I never saw them live. I enjoy there music but it compared to a live experience it seems almost pointless. This just proves my point, the visuals for their live show are just unbelievable and whats even better is seeing how much effort and skill is put into making them. If all superstar DJ's started doing this and not just turning up with a usb stick I think people would start respecting dance music a lot more.

 

[Tour!] How the Tour went!

Well first a huge thank you to those who came to Mad Hatters in Inverness last Friday! Good to see a lot of familiar faces there! And a big thank you to Hootanny's for letting it happen!

I was lucky enough to take part on the Ignite Records tour that left from Glasgow, our first night was in Inverness, where we enjoyed the fine Taste of Black Isle Beer and Desperado's to the early morning with you guys and what a Gig it was with Stations , Sonny Marvello and Cities and Skylines all putting on stellar performances!

In the morning some us got up, I was not one of them... for the first night of our tour we went pretty hard with you Invernesian Folk! we did eventually get ourselves on the coach to Skye to play at Saucy Mary's where after a tactical power nap by most folk, we rocked it up on the high of 1 - 0 to Scotland and American college students, not kidding about the Americans either! Another sensational show where much dancing and drink was involved and the whims of all our problems disappeared into a fog of booze and sin for another night!

And in the morning we hopped onto that coach again to return to our day jobs and regular lives! It's easy to lose yourself into the good times and I think that this weekend holds as example of how music can be such the powerful medium it is, I for one would like to thank the Venues! Haggis Tours for their Bus and Alley our Driver! Ignite Records! (Fin (For organising the whole thing!) and Sam (for waking us up so we could be on time!) and the bands for their Tremendous efforts! and Finally the most important folk of all, yourselves! with so much of your support we packed out the venues as am sure you know and made some great times!

On behalf of the bands and Ignite records I'd just like to say, THANK YOU for your support and we'll be seeing you again soon!

All in all the weekend could be described as some bands put it.... NO BAD!

Pictures and Video's to come soon!

Now in stereo - Away (Polymath remix)

Another belter from Polymath, I'm not going to waste words, press play, love it, then go and buy it on Beatport before they run out of stock!

Released by Satan's Circus

Now in stereo - Away (Polymath remix) by POLYMATH

Scarf Face- Let Them Eat Cake (Free EP)

Keeping up the Cake theme, here is a soulful lighter in the air from Scarf Face, a man who has never been to Cake but probably likes to eat it. Described by the label Schwa! records as "plunderphonics," it's a bunch of jazzy chilled beats for your listening pleasures.

Scarf Face - Let Them Eat Cake DOWNLOAD

Cake is Dead, Long Live Cake!

It was only a month ago that we posted a happy 1st birthday to Cake. Exactly one month on and the announcement has been made that come the end of October, it will shut down. I can't say how much I am devastated by this. But I won't say goodbye yet.

The decision was published on the Cake fan page this afternoon followed by hundreds of shocked DJ's and music fans all saying there farewells. Its no shock however that Cake have hinted it is not the end for the Quake sound system or the legacy of it name and people. While the electronic music scene grieves for its loss I will be saying goodbye Cake style. Make sure you do as well and get the most out of this month.

Off course I will be making a much longer post when the time comes.. maybe give it three days after the last night.

[Event] Reminder for Ignite Records!

Hello again! How are we all doing? Time to clear a space for the 7th of October at 10 PM folks, and were are we all meeting for this awesome event? Hootananny's that is! and what for??? just a reminder for our friends, Ignite Records show at Hoots! It is going to be a awesome Gig all round with 3 absolutely sensational bands making an appearance! If you want to rock out with your cock out and scrub your gnarly grinding snake on some roost till you have skidz sauce all over your box then get your epic face there!! I'l be seeing you there guys!

Here's the links to the bands!

Cities and Skylines

Stations

Sonny Marvello

[Review] The Side Fairwell Gig @ Ironworks

 

'Life is unfair' is a too familar phrase amongst musicians in this kneck of the woods although I've always believed if you work hard enough and believe in your music you'll get to where you want to go... until last night. The Side have been one of the most successful bands to come from the north, supporting Texas, Simple Minds and even Bon Jovi at the O2. There music has made its way across Europe and into the Mp3 players of many fans. Yet I can't help but feel that Inverness has let the side down. Now I'm not criticizing the local scene (Iv already been in trouble for that) but Im simply saying there seems to be some intentional/unintentional favoritism going on in certain places that if changed could lead to a lot more local musical growth. I'm not pointing fingers as Im just not that connected when it comes to bands in Inverness so I wouldn't know for sure but I get the feeling that certain acts seem to be getting a lot more push when others rely on there selfs and other cities for booking. I should point out at that I'm not talking on behalf of 'The Side' just generally commenting as a spectator. Im sure many of you will disagree and agree infact there is probably some fat sod spitting out his donut in disgust right now as his reads this (Don't take that as an insult on all you readers, im sure you live a very athletic lifestyle and your diet is as clean as jewish porn film). Be it or not, The Side are an amazing band! I even got myself a free DVD and Album on entry which regretfully I lent to a friendly friend of a friend to hold within his abnormally huge pockets who within ten minutes swigged 10 shots of Sambuca and was soon swigged from his feet as the bouncers dragged him and my free CD/DVDs out the back door. Still I was relieved to know my 'prentending to drink lots of shots while throwing it over my shoulder' technique was still intact.. the man standing behind me wasn't. When the performance started I could immediately tell this was a band that had put years into playing together  and as a result there sound was as tight as a ... yeah you know what, my mum reads this so I better lay of the similes. Last night I felt the emotion on there faces and unluckily the sweat of the Keyboard players chest as he ripped it from the stand and played a crowd leaning solo on his now adapted keytar. As this was the first and unfortunately the last Side gig I'l have ever gone to it was strange that I found myself singing the words to songs that I had heard maybe only once or twice (bare in mind I don't usually listen to this type of music). So I am genuinely sad to see them go.

However this is not where I stream tears of eye liner into my signed band merch and scream endlessly like a teenage girl at a Westlife renunion, no. Mainly because I don't have any signed merch, but seriously I can't see any of them giving up anytime soon, and why should they? Whatever any of them go on to do I would like to wish them the best of luck and lets hope the next successful band that comes along get the local support they deserve.