uncarved.org blog

Here is my contribution to this week’s big news.

John Eden Answer Riddimclash! [ 44:28 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

45 minutes of prime reggae, rocksteady and dancehall – on varied (but all excellent) cuts of the Answer Riddim.

A one take live mix, with a few exclusive contributions from Hackney’s best female MC.

Tracklist:

1 Slim Smith – Never Let Go (Studio One)
2 Lone Ranger – The Answer (Soul Jazz)

Starting out with a foundation selection because building a mix without a foundation is like building a house on sand.

3 Brigadier Jerry – Pain (Roots Tradition)
4 Little John – What is Katty (Roots Tradition)

“Pain” is dedicated to my wrists. “What is Katty” is dedicated to Paul’s wrists.

5 Sister Nancy – Transport Connection (Techniques)

Moving nicely with Sister Nancy while other selectors stand still.

6 Carlton Livingstone – Rub a Dub Session (Roots)
7 Early B – History of Jamaica (Roots)

Carlton’s off to dance the night away while Early B educates certain people who are new to all this and perhaps don’t know the full story beyond tunes and warring.

8 Tippa Irie & The Colonel – Just A Speak (UK Bubblers)
9 Daddy Rusty – No No Way (UK Bubblers)
10 Daddy Sandy – Riddle Bubble (UK Bubblers)
11 Tannoi – Gunshot Salute (UK Bubblers)

Bringing it back to mid 80s London with the cream of Saxon Studio International in full swing. Meanwhile the enigmatic Tannoi has had enough of the macho warring in the dance ‘cos it’s ruined his date.

12 Peter Metro – Police In Jamaica (Jah Life Time)

Peter Metro also did Police Inna England for Jammys. On this tune he ends up in the nick with Nicodemus and is concerned that his sparring partner is cracking under the pressure whilst he remains calm and righteous. No further comment needed!

13 Paul Blake and The Bloodfire Posse – Rub a Dub Solider (Revue)

Paul Blake brings the digital vibe pre-sleng teng. Goes out to the all the 9 to 5 soldiers!

14 Dennis Brown – I Can’t Stand It (Joe Gibbs Music)
15 Junior Vibes – The Man In Me (Joe Gibbs Music)
16 Little U Brown – Locomotion (Joe Gibbs Music)
17 U Mike – Loving Galore (Joe Gibbs Music)

Everyone raves about Junjo in the 80s but Joe Gibbs’ stuff is just as good in my opinion. Proper! Little U Brown may or not be related to U Brown, but he is right about being “Big Inna London”. Surprisingly I haven’t been able to find any tunes about MCs being “big inna Sheffield” but I guess Paul has cornered the market on those with his mix.

18 Earl Sixteen – Batman + Robin (S.C.O.M.)
19 Jah Screechy – Walk & Skank (Blacker Dread / S.C.O.M.)
20 version (S.C.O.M.)
>> Stephen Marley feat Damian Marley + buju banton – The Traffic Jam (Tuff Gong)
21 Eek A Mouse – A Wah Do Dem (Blacker Dread)
22 Capleton – Punchline (Blacker Dread)
23 Super Cat – Vineyard Party (Wild Apache)

Possibly the definitive post- Studio One version of the riddim – and it was recorded in London! Credited to Blacker Dread at Easy Street studios with a line up including Jackie Mittoo, Horsemouth and Peter Chemist. Nice bit of rave crossover with Earl 16 going on to work with Leftfield and Jah Screechy forming the basis of SL2′s “On A Ragga Tip”.

At some point Blacker seems to have recorded a mentalist cross-fader dominator version which seriously does the business anywhere. I first heard the Capleton cut on the Still Blazing LP and, well, blimey.

Traffic Jam is dedicated to Droid. Shout out to all the pedantic posse!

24 Smiley Culture – Police Officer (Fashion)

Classics? I hate to belabour the point, but it’s a London/JA thing. Failsafe party stormer which still gets hands in the air when dropped by The Bug.

25 Marcia Griffiths – I Shall Sing (Penthouse)

Marcia’s singing and so am I. Because I only sing when I’m winning.

You can check out Paul’s absurd attempt to outdo me here .

Once you have listened to both you can vote for which mix is the best (i.e. for me) over at Dissensus. (You will have to register if you are not a poster there already. It’s easy to do and you should check out Dissensus if you like this blog in any case.)

Uncarved presents one hour and 23 minutes of music and commentary for your downloading pleasure!

Without giving too much away, this installment of RSI Radio is more eclectic than the debut. Fans of the first edition will be relieved to hear that I am less mumbly this time.

Comments welcome! People suffering from slow ‘net connections should get in touch and ask to be sent a CDR of the show.

John Eden presents: RSI Radio vol2 part a [ 45:14 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

John Eden presents: RSI Radio vol2 part b [ 38:04 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

I’m still unable to type too much, so I’ve decided to chat at you all instead.
Some of it is a bit rough and ready but pretty cool for a first attempt…

Thanks again to Paul Meme for hosting and tech support.

John Eden presents: RSI Radio vol1 part a [ 25:58 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

John Eden presents: RSI Radio vol1 part b [ 36:02 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

John Eden & Paul Meme Fast Chat Special [ 25:06 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Hosted by Paul Meme:

http://blog.grievousangel.net/the-fast-chat-special-for-dave-stelfox-resonance-fm-radio-show

Ladies and Gentlemen, we present for your delectation, a load of rough with a dab of smooth, the massive sounds of…

DJ Broken Yolk - Keep It Chopped Mix Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Now hosted by the good people at http://www.londonsoundscape.net/

Tracklist:

1. pierre henry – la dixieme symphonie
2. king tubby – a rougher version
3. sweet sweetback’s badass song
4. bong ra – soundwave
5. parasite – boombaklat
6. drop the lime – serious lover
7. patric c – vip
8. modeselektor – black barbie remix
9. ove naxx – warte
10. bogdan raczynski – i will eat your children too – track 1
11. blaerg – shower scene
12. drop the lime – sweet desire
13. norma fraser – first cut is the deepest
14. panacea – total destruction remix
15. parasite – innabong
16. dj scud – put up your lighters
17. jahba – warpigz
18. mully – boom boom hexagonal mushroom
19. shitmat – crap Idol
20. nathan barley icecream loop
21. venetian snares and speedranch – unborn baby
22. the alessi brothers – oh lori
23. barrington levy and beenie man – two sounds jungle (tom and jerry remix)
24. bad company – the fear
25. alice cooper – black widow
26. drop the lime – summat or other
27. schoolly d – saturday night
28. istari laserfarhi – bass terror
29. masonna – noisy shit
30. nathan barley squeaky loops

“oh and somewhere in there there’s a bit of venetian snares ‘twelve’ and a bit off panicstepper’s ‘the shuffler’”

Interview with DJ Broken Yolk, April 2005

Tell me a bit about your musical background – first influences, dodgy teenage bands and all that…

As a teenager, I got into a ridiculously broad range of music thanks to radio shows like John Peel and On the Wire and from mining the collection at the local library.

Got involved with the Molotov organisation – a group who liked to do anything as long as it was stupid – religious club nights with a preacher, fake tours of art galleries, and a fanzine called Idiot Soup, that was a bit like a flat A5 Stephen Hawking but without all the science, and mostly about wrestling.

They appealed to me, cos they were funded by this American culture-jam organisation called RTmark, which meant that I got paid loads of money to play records, as long as there was a CD running underneath with masked messages and speeches. At this time no-one would let me play anywhere, never mind pay me.

Afer the funding eneded, played out for a while with the Twonk sound system – highlight of which was a few events in a converted public toilet called spend-a-penny, with strict restrictions on themed playlists – easy listening and fucked up noise, the five elements – all crowdpleasing stuff – we got thrown out after three nights…

At this time, played in the only group I’ve been in – The London Toy Orchestra. We played toys. Sometimes I’d do vocals through a space-alien voice changer.

When and why did you first start dj-ing and what are the origins of Brokenyolk?

Seemed silly to not be dj’ing with a stupid large record collection, and most club nights scared me off with monotony and being trendy, and having DJ’s that were good and stuff. All that guff about seamless mixing…

The name Broken yolk came from watching a scene from Russ Meyer’s Beyond the Valley of the Dolls, which as part of an “excitement on entering the big city” sequence (skyscapers, planes landing, busy streets, also featured a shot of someone standing on an egg. I rewound it and watched it about twenty times I thought it was so beautiful. Some people believe the egg is a symbol of the soul…

For the completely uninitiated, what sort of music do you play?

Easy listening and records from charity shops.

Fucked up noise, ragga, dancehall, jungle, fast bleepy electronica that isn’t too speccy with bits of dirty hip-hop: in a word – yardcore.

Tell me about your involvement in the Sick and Twisted nights

I went along to the night nervously offering a mixtape. I hadn’t much of an idea of any type of scene or playlist – I just played the noisiest records I had and threw in bits of acid house randomly and circus music. The next month I was playing at the night and they kept inviting me back. It took about a year or so until I realised that I was a resident, and it wasn’t just that they had forgotten to ask anyone else.

It’s a wicked night – it’s all about the music and a wide variety at that: they’ve never given me any hassle (although there was a raised eyebrow the other month when I played a whole James Brown record without bringing in the gabba guns).

You’re generally stuck in the “warm up” slot at S&T – does that piss you off?

Occasionally I prefer a later slot, as its very rewarding seeing the dancefloor respond to something special – whether it’s a new tune or your mix, but it’s also an exciting challenge doing the first slot. Gives you the chance to build things up slowly and mess around a bit more without having to keep people dancing – but trying making sure they are by the end of the set. Gives me lots of freedom to play experimental stuff and recordings of films. (midnight slot at S+T on Friday 13th May)

Where else have you played and what are the maddest/baddest/best things which have happened when you’ve been on?

I did a hip hop and funk set on the ragga system that was at Brixton Reclaim the Streets – which managed to draw a huge crowd and a breakdance contest started – it was a exciting day and moment, and felt like I was in a film.

Having people Nailing eggs to a cross during a religious themed set at OMSK with a live preacher.

My favourite event was about a year ago. I collaborated on a German dance project in Dusseldorf. I played a short set that started very calm and peaceful and ended in absolute punishing abusive noise.

The audience had been herded into a very small scaffolding box covered in bin bags, in the dark. It was a very hot day indeed – an experiment to see how long they would take the abuse before they burst out. They lasted five and a half minutes. I broke the amplifier and had to scream instead. I’d love to do it again, but it is hard to find somewhere where no-one has a high regard for health and safety!

In the last year I’ve done a few sets at festivals in Europe – it feels good to play outside of London where people can be less reactive. It’s nice to be taken at face value too – next one is the wonderfully named Noxious Festival in France in June.

What other projects are you involved with – do you make tracks of your own, or plan to?

There’s an ongoing project of making short films about “Outsiders” – street poets, untutored musicians etc. I’ve gots some good footage of amazing subjects and can’t wait to edit it into very short films – I want them to be condensed – full of impact and interest.

What is it about noise?

I think there’s a catharsis and excitement and exaggeration that takes place with noise, that can just enhance the feel of it perfectly – like a Bo Diddley record or the Channel One sound system – it just takes the essence of a sound further into your ears, penetrating more deeply.

Radio 4 answer: Without silence, noise is empty… hmmmmm (strokes chin).