Born to Chat – The Asher Senator Story

21 July 2006, 8:36 am

“Jah man me go a kill you with originality
Me name Asher Senator at the mic MC
Me bredren them a call me human dictionary
Abbreviation Qualification a me speciality”

Asher Senator was born Peter St Aubyn and grew up in Clapham. At the age of 14 he was already grabbing the mic at house parties, eventually blagging spots on the Buchanan soundsystem alongside his lyrical sparring partner Smiley Culture. The pair appeared on sounds such as Black Harmony and Frontline before joining premiership sounds Coxsone Outernational and Saxon Studio International in the early/mid 80s. (Unusually they seem to have maintained a presence on both rather than settling for one sound?)

Smiley Culture and Asher Senator

Like many youths of his generation, Asher was initially inspired by yard tapes. As he told the NME: “Them times we used to listen to Brigadier Jerry, Nicodemus, different different artists… but we started making what we call ‘style’ by writing rhyming lyrics that went on and on without finishing… continuous style.”

It’s clear from the interview that Asher’s time on Saxon had been put to good use – flashing lyrics in the dance acted like a lightning conductor for creativity:

“The way I see it, some MCs live off six lyrics for years and years, never changing. Whereas we’re on the move all the time because time is running, y’know… Smiley and I took a break once and developed 10 new lyrics each and then appeared at the Nottingham Palais. We chatted on the mic non-stop right through to the end of the evening. A wild feeling.”

At the time of the NME piece, Smiley’s “Cockney Translation” had been released and was climbing the reggae charts. Asher’s first single was imminent…

Asher Senator – Abbreviation Qualification / Fast Style Origination (Fashion 12″ 1984)

The single was voiced and mixed at A-Class Dub Studio, located under the Dub Vendor record store on Lavender Hill. Asher’s vinyl debut included some tried and tested rhymes from Saxon sessions. Abbreviation Qualification uses acronyms as a lyrical base…

“Seh master of ceremony well that a M.C.
Seh very important persons that a V.I.P.
I’m best in a the business that a B.I.B.
For those abbreviations surely describe me”

…and a heavy rub a dub reworking of the “Feel Like Jumping” riddim as a musical one.“Fast Style Origination” is a quick-fire potted history of UK cockney chat, for people who needed to catch up. It notes that Saxon MC Peter King was the first to properly use the style in the UK, but the title of the song means that Asher is occasionally credited as being “the” fast style originator. It comes with a spacious dub mix. Crucial Vinyl!!!

Various Artists – Great British M.C.’s (Fashion LP April 1985)

It’s easy to chuck about words like “seminal” but this LP (the first Fashion released) managed to capture most of the rising stars of the scene as it happened. In places it’s a grab bag of non-released tracks and b-sides, but is none the worse for that. I imagine that Fashion still wanted people to buy up their stocks of the singles, so it made no economic sense to go for a “greatest hits” package at that time.

“Fast Style Origination” features, sandwiched between Phillip Levi’s “Mi God Mi King” and Peter King’s “Me Neat Me Sweet”. Of more interest is Smiley and Asher’s “It’s Coming Down”, which I think is the only vinyl example of their lyrical sparring. The two alternate lines and take an obvious delight in finally making it together into a recording studio – you can hear them smiling!

Johnny Ringo Meets Asher Senator – JA To UK M.C. Clash (Fashion LP 1985)

Papa Levi had already shown that the UK MCs could stand shoulder to shoulder with their compatriots from yard. Fashion tried to make this more explicit with their “JA to UK MC Clash” series.

In the first instalment Asher and Ringo take it in turns to do a rhyme apiece on the same riddim. Large chunks of this are reproduced on the Lyric Maker mix, but I would particularly like to flag up “Asher in Court” for its outstanding lyrics which encapsulate the cockney chat satirical style, and “To Whom Respect is Due” which has a riddim every bit as good as those coming out of the Roots Radics stable back a yard.

It seems like Asher was exploding with lyrics at the time, as A-Class studio engineer Gussie P put it when discussing the album: “Every one of those tunes had to be cut down. Just too much lyrics for the actual tune.”

Asher Senator – The Big Match / Asher At The Auction (Fashion 12″ 1985)

“A friend checked me to go to Tottenham V Man United at White Hart Lane. A week later I thought of all the goings on there and wrote a ‘style’ about it. I sung it in the dancehall and then Fashion’s producer heard it and we developed it into a monster”

Arguably many of the fast chat tunes released in the mid 80s are “novelty records”. Indeed, dancehall reggae is always obsessed with the new, fleeting trends and slang get rhymed about in the dance and sometimes make it on to vinyl as well. The question is always “does it work?” and unfortunately the answer must be a resounding “no” in the case of “The Big Match”.

A horns intro of the “Match of the Day” theme, football chants, claps, whistles and lyrics about an all-black England side in the world cup could conceivably work quite well (see the On-U “Barmy Army” project), but it doesn’t quite do the business. I think it’s really the fact that the novelty here is so overt, coupled with a more commercial/shiny 80s production, which hasn’t aged too well to my ears. Mind you, Asher does get extra points for mentioning Luther Blissett!

“Asher and Smiley went to buy a car, and they just heard this guy chatting about a million miles an hour, you know what I mean.” – Gussie

In the ‘ABC of fast chat’, “A” is for “Asher”, “B” is for “Buchanan Sound”, and “C” is for “cars”. The role of cars in the scene cannot be understated – cars as space, a way of escaping from overcrowded flats, cars as income, for work, cars as a way of socialising.

“Asher at Auction” features a booming 80s metronomic drum machine, to which I am quite partial. The “expensive car sell cheaper inna auction” refrain is great, as is Asher’s accelerated cockney auctioneer schtick. The instrumental version adds skippier beats and some echoey keyboard fills.

“Original Car Style” is the reason you need this record, and it isn’t even credited on the sleeve! Known by Saxon followers as “Asher know everything ‘bout the car”, this tune expands the fast chat refrain used in “Asher in Court” on the MC Clash LP and makes it into a full length extravaganza. For those who didn’t hear it on the mix Paul and myself did for Breaking Ranks on Resonance FM, this is a vintage UK chat tune – lyrics fresh out of a Saxon session and a much rawer production than the other tracks on the record.

Asher Senator – Bubble With I / I’m The Man (Fashion 12″ 1985)

This was a return to form after “The Big Match”. Is the absence of a picture sleeve evidence of Fashion being skint, or deciding not to market the record outside of the core reggae audience?

“Bubble With I” is all laid-back runnings in the dancehall bizness, extolling the listener to get down.

“I’m The Man” features Asher over a riddim credited to “Germain Revolutionary Sounds” and this turns out to be a cut to “pressure and slide” which was the basis for to the Audrey Hall tune on Penthouse I bigged up here.

Flush with the success of getting the crowd moving on side A, Asher checks his woman dancing with another man! He overhears the interloper making his move, but his lady responds: “The way you were dancing, boy I thought you were gay! Me go home with you? Uh uh – no way!”

Asher Senator – Born To Chat (Fashion LP 1986)

“My voice was cut for 45 and not for LP
No RCA, CBS or HMV”

As if to emphasise the title, the cover of the album features a photograph of Asher as a boy, suited and booted in front of a massive speaker. He’d previously told Record Mirror about his plans for the LP “I’m trying everything – soul, calypso, electronic riddims and lyrics galore.” It’s a very different affair from “JA to UK MC Clash”, and I’m afraid to say it doesn’t really do it for me.

This is partly because the riddims had moved on from the classic A-Class sound of tighter than tight relicks of foundation riddims. By 1986, a whole new era of dancehall had begun, as set out in the tracks “Whole World’s Gone Digital” and “Live Musicians”.

The overall sound is “cleaner” – possibly because that was the vibe at the time, possibly because the LP was an attempt to launch Asher into the charts alongside Smiley and Tippa, both of whom had achieved some significant success in the national Top 40 by that point. (Unsubstantiated rumour #1. Asher may have appeared on Top of the Pops in unusual circumstances. It is alleged that when Sly and Robbie’s “Boops” hit it big in 1987, Shinehead wasn’t available to mime to his own vocals. So Asher appeared on Top of the Pops in his stead!)

Asher’s lyrics seem like they were constructed more for home listening than nice-ing up the dance. For example “Talk to the Animals” with its various impersonations of horses etc and the pleas in “Exercising” for physical fitness both seem very different to the routines previously recorded live or in the studio.

The best bits are “Duck and Head Out” (which is explicitly about the dancehall) and “Rule of England” (which retains the previous humour – combining megalomania and a cockney black consciousness). “Thank You Sah” is another highlight, but is quite similar to “Asher in Court” off the split LP…

After “Born to Chat”, the story becomes more hazy. Senator Records was set up in the late 80s as a way of releasing Asher’s own productions, featuring releases by himself, Smiley Culture, Tippa Irie and Joseph Cotton.

There is some talk of Asher and Smiley performing on their own soundsystem (Studiomix Sound?) away from Saxon, but this doesn’t seem to have been anything other than a temporary home.

In the 90s Asher recorded for euro-dance artists like Antares Project and Molela (unsubstantiated rumour #2: “Asha Senator” featured on a record called “Personality” with Michelle Gayle – aka Hattie from Eastenders). He also featured on:

Various Artists – Jungle Vibes Volume 2 (Red Arrow/SPV CD1995)

This is a jungle comp straight outta Germany which I know little about – it has some Lennie De Ice tunes on and some from Trouble on Vinyl. It opens and closes with tracks featuring the hero of our story:

“Respect due to you It’s true we insist
Jungle Music a English Business”

“Jungle Mania a sweep up the town
All foundation you fi shine up your crown.”

187 feat Asher Senator – “All Foundation Junglist” is proper “everything but the kitchen sink” mid 90s bizness – amens, sirens, rewinds, skanking keyboard stabs, etc. Asher’s vocal is in time with the bpms, the music had finally caught up with the rapid fire of the Saxon MCs some 12 years after Peter King kicked off.

Lickwood Syndicate feat Asher Senator – “Harder They Fall” is less frenetic (and slightly less successful) but does feature Asher singjay style in a similar vein to some of the Congo Natty vocals.

More interesting than this is Asher’s increasing commitment to community politics. C.O.D.E. 7 Music was set up by Asher as

a community based organisation that focuses on the Arts, in particular Music and Drama. The organisation provides training courses for young people who are referred from other youth support organisations. C.O.D.E-7 MUSIC also offers representation for clientele in the music industry and administers music sales. C.O.D.E stands for Community Organisation for Development and Entertainment. 7 signifies their purpose, which is development through:

1.Education
2.Employment
3.Youth Inclusion
4.Crime Diversion
5.Anti Drugs
6.Anti Gun
7.Unification / Unity

The C.O.D.E. acronym shows his continuing fondness for the abbreviation qualification! Asher’s background has enabled him to rope in many previous contacts to take part in Code 7 projects, including Ricky Rankin.

David Blunkett, Lee Jasper, Asher Senator

As Director of Code 7, Asher has been outspoken about policing, gun crime and drug issues. A piece in the Guardian about the film Bullet Boy gave him a platform for his current activities:

“Many within the black community believe that hip hop and urban culture with their connotations of violence and aspirational lifestyles form part of the problem, but Asher Senator, the director of Code 7, started the scheme in 1996 to use urban music as a positive outlet for frustrated youngsters. Senator is an enthusiastic man in his forties who sounds more like a CEO than a community worker. At his office in Brixton, he introduces me to two young proteges, Mizzery and Chalwa.
‘We do workshops that attract a lot of people who are youth offenders or have been excluded from school. Our objectives are to recreate opportunities for young people to do things that they actually want to do.’ As well as teaching music and business skills, he promotes conscious lyrics at his workshops. There is no place for unthinking gangsta rap at Code 7.”

It seems like he’s kept up to date with music as well – here is a stream of him over Diwali with Ricky Rankin and Champion courtesy of London reggae night “Return of the Boom Bap”

And here, in traditional uncarved style, is Asher on Saxon Sound back in ’83 during their legendary clash with Ghetto-Tone at Lewisham Boys’ Club.

reggae and soundsystem culture event

20 July 2006, 3:50 pm

Some notes off the top of my head about last night. It was a very interesting evening, I thought. The fact that I didn’t agree with everything which was said in no way detracts from what was a well organised and fascinating event.

The main difference between the panellists seemed to be one of traditionalism (Rodigan and Jazzie B) and progression (Stuart Baker from Soul Jazz). I was quite surprised to find myself agreeing with Stuart more than the other two on many points.

Some of the topics which were discussed were: (I can’t remember them all…)

“how did you get into reggae?”

“is there a soundsystem culture in the UK?”

“does the UK industry need a Sean Paul?”

“should gun man and other offensive lyrics be banned?”

“how is reggae perceived in the media?”

Jazzie B and Rodigan laid down a lot of history and wisdom which was great to hear. I think perhaps they fell down a bit by constantly referencing the best music of yesteryear in comparison with stuff that is coming out now. Obviously I agree that most modern bashment isn’t up to much, but I think it’s easy to view the past with rose-tinted specs and it’s maybe hard to stay in tune with the times when you’ve been into something for several decades.

However I do have some sympathy with the ideas of ‘graft and craft’ that Jazzie B and Rodigan put forward – the effort people put into lyrics seems to me to have declined sharply. “Soundsystems” now being a box of records rather than an actual system with all the crew and boxes and aggro that goes along with that has meant a loss of commitment. Pirate radio DJs can fling down x-amount of versions and talk nonsense over them instead of actually selecting and educating and entertaining their audience. (Yes, I think everyone in the room was conscious of turning into their parents…)

Stuart (Soul Jazz records head honcho) was surprisingly optimistic about current music, whether it be bashment or dubstep or whatever. He freely admitted that he didn’t have a huge background in the music, and my guess is that this has allowed him to look at everything fresh. He ummed and ahhhed a lot, but what he said was basically spot on in my view.

On the upside, everyone seemed to agree that reggae is now part of the DNA of UK music scene, and that in one sense a battle had been won there. There was general agreement that the future lay not in imitating JA, but in producing our own UK urban rebel music (for want of a better term).

There was also a lot of discussion of radio and other media.

There were no simple conclusions or solutions at the end, which is probably because there aren’t any.The homophobia issue was touched on, but certainly wasn’t done to death.

The Q+A’s were great, which is hardly surprising when you looked at the audience. I would say there were about 50 or 60 people in there. About 50-50 black and white. Probably 75% blokes. There was a lot of passion in the room and I think many people were surprised at the turnout and the level of interest shown in the event.

Roll call of the audience (in no particular order):

Dougie Wardrop (Conscious Sounds)
Barry (Reggae on Top)
Marky (RDK Hi-Fi)
Mykaell Riley (One of the original members of Steel Pulse)
Dr William Henry (aka Leslie Lyrics! Respect due!)
Bigfoot (Station FM)
Some of the Channel One Soundsystem crew
Some of the Heatwave crew
Various people off Dissensus and the Blood&Fire boards
and a rag bag of assorted promoters, writers, artists and fans who all seemed equally interesting and engaged with the discussions

The organisers will be doing another event shortly as part of Black History Month. There is talk of it being at City Hall, with the blessing of the mayor’s office.

A number of audience members seemed to have projectS on the go which sounded well worth supporting. I’ll keep people updated if I hear anything. ~~Photos also to follow.~~

Blogariddims

14 July 2006, 10:11 am

You like bloggers doing mixes for download, right? But maybe find it difficult to keep up with where the really good ones are?

Well… how about if you could subscribe to a podcast which would then zap a wicked hour-long mix straight into your player every two weeks?

Hmmm?

Well now you can! Droid over at Weareie has masterminded Blogariddims – a series of music mixes by an international cartel of wicked bloggers.

The first in the series is an excellent ambient mix by Droid & Slug entitled Shwantology : 2. It takes in everyone from Eno to Autechre, via Godflesh and Vangelis. Clink on the link for nuff sleevenotes and coverscans, as well as a link to the mp3 file.

Or better yet, go here for the full story on the blogariddims series and an “idiots guide” to podcasts. Upcoming mixes include some dancehall bizness from me and Paul Meme, and a great reggae/electronica/dubstep mix from Matt B.

‘reggae and the sound system culture’ in the UK event 190706

14 July 2006, 10:07 am

Press release: 07 July 2006:

Leading music industry specialists to discuss ‘reggae and the sound system culture’ in the UK

Music visionary Jazzie B, leading radio DJ, David Rodigan and the founder and owner of Soul Jazz records, Stuart Baker, will be sharing their thoughts, insight and experiences at a unique event taking place on the evening of Wednesday 19th July.

Arranged by the Urban Enterprise Network (UEN), Respect; The History of reggae and the ‘sound system’ culture in the UK will be an evening of visuals, photography, and panel style debate to discuss and highlight, the impact of reggae music, particularly the sound system culture in the UK. This event will look at the development of the roots and dub music movement in the UK, it’s originators, influences, its impact from a social perspective, and how the culture of reggae music is viewed today.

Amongst the topics of discussion will be:

· How can we enable a wider audience to fully engage, understand, and enjoy the history, culture and influences of the reggae scene
· What has been the cultural significance of reggae and dub music on urban culture
· How can those in the music industry help to address and alleviate some of the negative stereotypes associated with reggae music
· Where are the next generation of reggae music’s pioneers?

This event aims to bring together a specially invited audience, consisting of representatives from the media and the capital’s music scene to establish an evening which can educate, inform, as well as entertain attendees.

This event takes place at the, ‘Gramaphone Bar, lounge and restaurant’ 60-62 Commercial Street E1 6LT from 7pm to 11pm (panel debate begins at 7pm prompt).

To register to attend, email info@urban-enterprise.co.uk

Further information on this event contact Jeffrey Lennon, on 07772 643372 or visit www.urban-enterprise.co.uk , email jeffrey@urban-enterprise.co.uk

Notes:

1. The Urban Enterprise Network (UEN) is a promotions consultancy which aims to ‘celebrate the capital’s diversity, talent and success. ’
· This event will be delivered through the UEN’s music subsidiary ‘Kaleidoscope – more than just the music’
· Kaleidoscope will deliver a programme of activities which highlights and celebrates various aspects of London’s success and diversity, though linking activities with music.

2. Jazzi B is the founder of the internationally acclaimed ‘Soul2Soul’ brand, one of the UK’s leading music production companies. Soul2Soul boast a successful music label, artist management company, as well as being one of the UK’s leading club ‘sound systems’.

For further information and links to Jazzie B visit www.soul2soul.co.uk

3. David Rodigan is one of the leading and most respected reggae DJ’s in the UK. His career spans over 25 years in the industry, with extensive work with BBC London and Capital Radio. Much respected worldwide, his achievements were recently recognised as he was inducted into the ‘Radio Academy’s Hall of Fame’ earlier this year.

David currently broadcasts his weekly reggae show on KISS FM. For further information on David Rodigan visit www.rodigan.com

4. Stuart Baker / Soul Jazz
Soul Jazz has been described as “distribution powerhouse”, with an outstanding collection of both new and rare music, from reggae, jazz and world music, to electronic, deep jazz, punk, funk, gospel groove, east coast house, Chicago soul, ska and many other styles of music through its diverse catalogue.

Their approach to music also provides an important retrospective on the history of music, highlighted through their distinct and extremely successful series of compilations.

Soul Jazz also celebrates their music philosophy to the world through the ‘Soul Jazz Sound System’ who tour across the world and the much-loved ‘100% Dynamite’ club nights in Angel, London.

For more information on Soul Jazz records visit www.souljazzrecords.co.uk or www.soundsoftheuniverse.com

BASH #5

7 July 2006, 9:04 am

Jerry Dammers at BASH - www.bashsound.com

A strange one… this took place on the day after my birthday, so I turned up slightly worse for wear having already necked a few with my family and then Martin.

I staggered in, got up to speed with recent developments in The Bug camp and sat down to enjoy a blinding set by Doorman Dean. Having played the opening set last month (yes yes, had to get that in here, didn’t I?) I know that you can feel quite isolated playing to a virtually empty dancefloor, but the upside is that the pressure is off and you can stretch out and play some deep selections while the place fills up.

Plus, at BASH, people are listening hard to your stuff and appreciating it in the bar area – not ignoring it while they talk bollocks to each other. (Mainly!). Dean is a great bloke and clearly has a top record collection – hearing Little Clarkie’s “Selector Him Good” was a real treat – one of many highlights that had me jigging about in my chair.

The selections by Loefah and The Bug well were up to their usual standards of HUGENESS, but the evening was marred by the complete non-appearance of Nolay and Flowdan. BASH just isn’t the same without any MCs. I think I must have compensated for the drop in energy by drinking a lot more. That’s my excuse and I am sticking to it. Apologies to Boomnoise and Kode9 for my shambolic ranting.

And to Georgina Cook, who I introduced myself to. Georgina’s photos of dubstep events, BASH, and general south London ambience put my snapshots to shame. She manages to find beauty in the everyday. Her recent blog post on dubstep is the perfect antidote to my grumbling below.

Anyway, Georgina’s got so many damn photos she doesn’t know what to do with them, so was sans camera that night. In stark contrast I managed to stumble about getting in everyone’s way and ended up with a load of photos which were well under par, even by my standards. I can’t even remember taking half of them, including a couple of Boomnoise and Martin which I shall retain for blackmail/nostalgia purposes should either of them find the recognition and acclaim they so richly deserve. You can see the best of the bunch below.

Jerry Dammers was on last and ripped up the place with some junglist business. Obviously the bloke is a total legend and has already fast-tracked his way into the uncarved-hall-of-fame, but what is exceptional is that he’s quietly carried on, keeping up to date rather than rehashing his past. Reports of his recent DJ sets show a love of Congo Natty and Razor-X, perhaps the latest incarnations of the Two-Tone current’s commitment to musical and cultural cross-pollenation (at least before the arrival of Grime and Dubstep)? Legend!

At some point we staggered out, found a cab and headed north. I ended the evening swearing my head off on the pavement, watching the taxi speeding away with my camera still inside it. Fortunately for me, and indeed for the world of visual art (yeah, right), Martin was able to rescue it for me.

Still the best night out, anywhere – BASH #6 already shaping up to be a stormer:

Thursday 27th July (And the last Thursday of every month)

Coki (DMZ)
Skream (Tempa)
The Bug (Rephlex)
Loefah (DMZ)

10-2
Plastic People,
Curtain Road, London

http://www.bashsound.com/
http://www.myspace.com/bashsound

i&iTunes

3 July 2006, 12:38 pm

CUPERTINO, California—July 3, 2006—Apple® today announced the latest version of its revolutionary iTunes®, aimed squarely at the international reggae community.

“I-man bring the word sound and powa outernationally,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “Who feels it knows it.”

i&iTunes retains the world-reknowned flexibilty and user-friendliness of iTunes, but adds many new features especially developed for reggae and dancehall fans worldwide:

Functionality

Options now include fields for “riddim” and “matrix number”. Play all your tunes in order of riddim, or develop bad eye-sight by trying to read the run off grooves of the vinyl as if they were some sort of sacred tablet from on high.

Apple technicians have reportedly “ramped up” the bass frequency for both the .ogg and .mp3 import functions.

Playlists and Filters

Filters can now be activated alongside your existing iTunes playlists. After consulting reggae fans worldwide and lurking on various internet discussion fora, Apple’s technicians have created some tailor made reggae-specific filters to maximise your enjoyment of Jamaican music, and the wealth of music it has inspired.

Studio One vinyl repress filter – adds crackles, pops and skips to all your tunes!

Jah Shaka filter – selects your best, hardest, roots tunes and adds siren noises.
JA soundclash filter – plays 30 seconds of each mp3 before rewinding and then shouting insults about your mother.
ebay seller filter – chooses tunes at random and adds “Shaka killer – RARE!!” to their filenames.

Peter Tatchell filter – removes all violently homophobic content (NB will only operate for a few years at the beginning of each decade).
Rock Journalist filter – will only play songs by Bob Marley, and those which have been covered by bands such as The Clash and Blondie.

White Purist filter – Will only play Jamaican music which is at least 15 years old.
Greensleeves/Riddim Driven filter – Allows you to play 16,000 vocal cuts of the same riddim, at least 3 of which will be worth listening to more than once.

Big People Music filter – selects only quality, easy on the ear songs for our more discerning senior users.
Small People Music filter – selects only quality songs by Billy Boyo, Musical Youth and Shorty the President.

i&iTunes Music Store

Recognising that specialist music requires specialist knowledge, Apple has secured the services of the proprietor of a recently-closed London reggae emporium.

Our new member of staff has several decades experience in the business and has already added 7,500 classic tunes to our online shop, many of which have never been available for legal download. Please note that all mp3 previews have been replaced with a gruff vocal sample shouting “Fuck off! I sell tunes, I don’t play ’em!”.

i&iTunes makes growing your digital JA music collection fast, irie and legal.

bash bash bash bash

27 June 2006, 7:52 pm

No excuses, as there’s no footie this Thursday, the 29th. This month’s BASH features the legendary Jerry Dammers, who formed The Specials, set up the groundbreaking Two Tone label, and is notorious for djin’ the finest in ragga, roots, funk, ska and Jungle.

Additionally The Bug will be collaboratin’ with “Unorthodox Daughter” Nolay and Roll Deep’s dread mc Flowdan.

Loefah will be bringin’ on the finest in dancehall panache and Rootical specialist Dean I Grade will be celebratin breakin free from the door at Plastic People and killin a recent dj stint for, bizarrely enough The Rolling Stones of all people.

Having witnessed New Flesh’s Part 2 smashdown Shoreditch and Anti Pop’s motormouth rapper M.Sayid tear up last month’s night, alongside a slew of awesome dub poets, BASH has become a mecca for Bass fiends. With Nicolette, Warrior Queen, Ari Up, YT, Digital Mystikz, Digital, Jimmy Screech, Seanie T and Ricky Ranking having already played BASH, the temperature just keeps getting hotter.

Thursday 29th June(And the last Thursday of every month)

BASH
At Plastic People.
(Presented by The Bug & Loefah)
147-149 Curtain Rd., London. EC2

Policy :
Bashment, Dub, Ragga, Rockers, Roots, Dubstep, Lovers, Hip Hop…

10-2AM
£5/Conc..

DJs on rotation ;
Adrian Sherwood(On U Sound)
Trevor Sax(Saxon)
Coki, Mala, Loefah(DMZ)
DJ Rupture(Soul Jazz, Tigerbeat6)
New Flesh(Big Dada)
Jason(Transition)
Seamus(Ital)
Russ(The Disciples)
Kode 9(Hyperdub)
Tayo(BBC Radio 1)
Mary Anne Hobbs(BBC Radio 1)
The Bug(Rephlex)
The Rootsman(Third Eye)
Seanie T(Dark Horizons)

Hosts :
Warrior Queen(Rephlex, Casual)
Ras B(Rephlex/On U Sound)
Ricky Ranking/Jimmy Screech(Banana Klan)
Sgt Pokes(DMZ)

we don’t want no war tonight

26 June 2006, 1:41 pm

It’s very gratifying so see it all kicking off in the comments boxes below.

To give him fair credit, Red Eye has clearly paid his dues with this stuff. He’s thought about it a lot. If he is who I think he is, he’s been to endless sessions, bought tunes and given enough love to things he appreciates. There’s enough material in his postings to disagree with (not least the stuff about the last 10 years of reggae, which warrants another post) but he has touched a nerve for sure.

Dubstep isn’t criticised enough. I’m not saying that because I get some kind of sadistic buzz out of people slagging it off. I’m saying it because dubstep should be BETTER. The fact that it seems to be one of the most interesting musical developments at the moment isn’t good enough, because there is little else happening which is even vaguely interesting (to me, right now).

ancient memories

Red Eye has every right to compare dubstep to other scenes and other eras. In fact that depth of perspective is exactly what is missing from places like the dubstep forum, where dubstep records are compared to other dubstep records and people relentlessly big each other up. Of course having a mutually supportive scene encouraging newbies (and pros) is one essential element to keep the ball rolling. But in isolation it doesn’t make for very interesting reading and I can only think that it encourages more of the same rather than moving tings FWD.

word bombs

As well as being my best mate, Paul Meme has done some of the best writing about dubstep. Paul is relentlessly positive about everything, but can at least string a few words together instead of “your chest” or “big tune”. Ditto Boomnoise and Paul Autonomic. Ditto K-Punk and Blackdown‘s coverage of the Burial album, which I haven’t heard, but at least now want to. (Although Burial seems like a special case – and it is probably of crucial importance that the LP marks the exact point of re-entry of The Wire magazine into the debate, for good and for ill.)

my dubstep box is fully unloaded

I don’t own any dubstep records. The only dubstep records I own are:

Tempa02 12″ and some weird remix of WeareIE that Kode9 did (I have to confess that I picked these both up 2nd hand, dirt cheap)
A Hyperdub promo CD for “Spit” which Kode kindly sent me and I cursorily reviewed here. I liked it, but I have to confess it never really grabbed me despite Paul evangelising about it.

I was never really into garage, so I just missed out on all this stuff in the early days, despite Paul’s best intentions and his great tapes of pirates.

Virtually everything recent I have heard has been from online mixes, or stuff Paul has played me, or down at BASH. As Woebot has said, a lot of the tunes sound unfinished – like someone has forgotten to put the hook in. Kode9 has made a virtue out of this by saying that, post-jungle, we can use our imaginations to fill in the gaps ourselves. He was talking about beats tho, not the whole arrangement! Plus, he’s also said that there may be a need for more vocal tunes in the future, which shows as clear as a bell why he’s regarded as being facing the future – he’s prepared to tamper with the blueprint, the DNA. Ditto Loefah and the Digital Mystikz. I’m sure there are others. As I said in the comments box below, there will always be some people pushing, some not. Dubstep is not a monolith, but it could quite easily become one…

electricity runs through a cable, that’s how we get the power for the turntable

People say you can only understand dubstep when you hear it through a big system, which strikes me as being very limiting – or an excuse. Jungle still hit you when you heard it through little speaker via a pirate station. Reggae made sense when you heard it on John Peel or wherever. But yes, when you experienced either for the first time through a soundsystem, you got the full impact and it added another dimension (pay close attention…). If people are content to make music which only works properly in one particular environment then I respect their focus and integrity, but wonder about how long it will last. Plus, there seems little point in buying the tunes to play at home.

BASH revelations

That said, when Mala and Loefah dropped some of their productions during their sets at BASH, I loved it and did begin to understand what all the fuss was about. When Mary Ann Hobbs dropped Benga’s “Zombie Jig” I was off – glued to the floor, but floating somewhere else. I had to grab hold of Boomnoise and ask him (3 or 4 times!) what it was.

When Kevin Martin played the Mystikz’ “Anti-War Dub” last month I had the jump on him ‘cos I’d already checked it on Paul’s mix. But but but… when Space Ape came on the mic all the pieces in the jigsaw fitted together. “There’s a Bug in the system, there’s a Bug in the system…” Fellow novice Danny was next to me on the dancefloor and turned round to say “If that’s dubstep – I’ll have some of that!” we were both blown away…

ready for the dancehall tonight

People criticise the music because of their frustrations with it, not because they want to ruin the younger generation’s fun. There is no need to shoot the messenger because ultimately we should all be aiming for the same thing here. Surely the scene isn’t so fragile that it can’t withstand a few jibes from Red Eye and me? I’m more positive about it than him, true. But I still feel that there is something missing, and not in a good way.