Harvard Bass...

So Ive been enjoying Tech - ier Electro or Elechno or as I have been calling it to my mates. This track is a perfect inbodyment of exactly the sort of sound I mean:

Beni - Maximus ( Harvard Bass Remix)

This is a proper club banger with the long drawn out build up expected in techno but the crazy electro riffs and elements which make this a total winner. I played with when warming up at the Mixmag night I played at back in October and the crowd loved it, even at 11ish!! Havard Bass has been ripping it up of recent with his production and have yet to see him on the bill at a venue in the UK?!

Havard Bass
@ Myspace
@ Beatport

Also check this beast.....one of my tracks of the month!!!



CHOOOOOOONNNNNNNNNNNNN!

Looking to the future....

Yoooo.....

So Filthy Boots its over and in its place comes a new free night for Derby. Hosted by Ground Level, who hosted the main room in which I played on so many occasions, it only seems right to keep promoting the only record label in Derby pushing Electro & Breaks. With head honcho Andy Mc on board and support from Bridge The Gaps, Chris Millward, this 'no headliners event', will provide the fix for all the electronic music lovers in the area and all for free.

Ground Level Nights Facebook Group

Ground Level Christmas Party Events Page

The launch is a 'Christmas Party', on Friday 11th December @ Bar Lisi, Saddlergate, where we so often ran the pre bar. This small and intamite venue is a real gem and with the aid of the BTG soundsystem, will get the party going for sure.

I have been busy trying to turn my hand to graphic design to keep costs to a minimum, and the fruits of my labour are above! Think its looking OK to be honest, seen many way worse, from established nights!

Any way back to the music.... Alex Metric.... was set to play Filthy Boots and has been causing havoc on dancefloors all over. His sqeeky clean filtered house sound and heavy breaks sound, ruin different floors in equal measures. Bizarelly this remix of Evil Nine, one of the biggest live breaks acts, is on a filtered house tip. Think along the lines of Grum.....

Evil Nine - It Starts (Alex Metric Remix)

Alex Metric on Myspace

On a filthier tip I have, as previous blogged, been looking for dubstep flavours for my set on Saturday at Bridge The Gap @ The Royal. This has seen me buy a few CDs on my recent travels as well as listening to radio shows etc within the scene. However today at work I heard a proper late night set online from Reso, who has recently been signed to Fat Agency! He has been dropping his sound at Pirate Soundsystem & Chew the Fat in London, as well a recent play at Dollop back in October. This mix for Rusko's 1 Extra show is a true masterclass, heavy and subtle at the same time.....

Reso - 1 Extra Mix for Ruskos in New 1 Extra DJs We Trust (MP3)

Reso on Myspace

The end?!

Last night was a success, great DJs....Grum, Boy 8 Bit, Andy Mc, the Bad Habits Boys, Pelly and co....with a strong crowd that where into the music! However the venue was just too big with the 450 capacity main room only half full all night, which took away from the atmosphere somewhat!

It seems that Filthy Boots will no longer run, as we found out last night. This is a shame as over the past year we have seen strong acts from around the UK play in the boring city that is Derby! For me the highlights where Drumattic Twins, Hostage and Andy George who played big peak time sets that kept the crowd going till the early hours.

However, the world carries on turning, and all good things must come to an end!

Next weekend however I play at Bridge The Gap @ The Royal (same venue where Filthy Boots was held, but in the smaller room). With Keenos dropping a techno set and Snaps playing Dubstep, this is bound to be a banger! I'm playing at around 11.30 and am playing my first ever Dubstep set, which I'm looking forward to!

Two big tracks I found in preparation are (Right Click, Save As):


16 Bit - Jump (Original Mix)

Recommended by a work colleague I checked this on YouTube and released what all the fuss was about. Recnelty signed to Fat Agency 16 Bit have been on everything from Grooverider to Annie Mac's show on BBC Radio1.


Noah D - Serrrious

This is a slow plodder of a track but dont let that put you off. When this the drops the wobble and synths mean that even the dubstep haters amongst you will have a smile on your chops. Found this on the latest Dubstep Allstars 7 release, mix by Chef, a seriously good mix!

Noah D @ Myspace
16 Bit @ Myspace playing @ Smack in Lemington Spa, on November 26th

Filthy Boots Preview with Boy 8 Bit & Grum!!!!

So the once monthly night that's shakes, rattles and roles Derby to its very core is back this Friday. At Filthy Boots HQ we see our ever expanding rank of residents (welcome aboard Pelican & co!) support two of the biggest names in electro at the minute: Boy 8 Bit & Grum.

Boy 8 Bit has been a prominent member of the electro scene ever since it gripped hold of me a few years back. With me first experiencing his sound on DJ Touche's legendary Mixmag CD back in 2005. Since then he has worked with the likes of AC Slater, Drums Of Death & remixed Florence and the Machine through to Drop The Lime, and every one in between!

First of lets start with 'Cricket Scores' an epic main room banger of a track with squelchy basslines and breakbeat backings!



'How I Roll' was the first track that I heard by Boy 8 Bit and knew he would do big things. This track which was around 2 years ahead off its time, is massive and is still played out by me today, even though its been in or around the record bag for some 3 years!



Last but not least is the essential track that is his remix of La Roux. Now La Roux has been remixed by everyone from Beni's chilled out grooves to DJ Zinc's wobbly house...but this....ahhh. It just sits comfortably in the middle, with the strong vocal and stubble trancey beats creating a perfect end of night anthem for hugging the random bloke you've befriended in the smoking area and since been gurning with all night (is that just me?!).

DANCEFLOOR DESTRUCTION!!!



After the bassline heavy Boy 8 Bit, we chill out a little with Grum who is more laidback and more filtered in his sound, but has been making massive waves with his sound. He hobbles the boundary between indie and dance so well, with good looping lyrics and guitars and synths galore! The biggest track I dropped when I played with Andy Mc in Camden was his remix of Friendly Fires:



Grums track 'Heartbeats' made his name within the scene with it heavily vocoded vocal and classic yet modern sound which has worked a treat everytime I have played it, below we hear the remix of the original, which is a bit more club friendly, from Joe and Will Ask? There plodding yet epic sound works so well alongside the original:



I am so excited about this booking, which I personally requested a few months back and am so happy that the Filthy Boots followers are as excited as I am about this guys performance this month!

We also see Fenech Soler play, who are good friends with new residents Giraffe, Pelican & Me... they are however not playing on a my mate plays in a band affair. These blokes are thoroughly sound, thoroughly impressive musicians. There Indie Electro cross over sound, all preformed live is a spectacle, and when I saw them earlier this month at a warehouse party in London, I was truely blown away. With big write ups in The Times this week and support from alot of Radio 1 specialist DJs, these guys are gonna smash 2010!

There latest single 'Lies':



This completes the main room, which is in my opinion the strongest we have ever had, and its a welcome surprise to have a live act playing the main room. I will be playing a techy electro set at 3.30 - close in the main room and can not wait playing straight after Grum, I feel very excited!

Hope you can make it, if not enjoy the links!

Filthy Boots
13th Nov 2009
The Royal, Derby

Boy 8 Bit
Grum
Fenech Soler
MusMus
Giraffe, Pelly and Me

Dom & Roland
Andy Mcallister
Foojay & Keenos
Lukie P
UltraMegaSafe!

£ 8 Advance / £ 10 O.T.D

Weekend Trip & The Coming Weelend!

So, with work etc all up in the air and holidays left I booked a hotel in Edinburgh for me and my girlfriend. We popped into Glasgow and Liverpool on the way to see friends and family on the way. Edinburgh last night was brill, got to check out a few cool bars, such as Kohl and The Villager, where the crowd and cocktails where like nothing I experienced in Derby or Notts. A very pretty city with a scene that seems outstanding!

The main club there was Cabaret Voltaire, who have had some massive nights there in the past including Hostage and Foamo, which sold out!!! Id thoroughly recommend it for a city break and to check the bars and clubs. Any of you lucky enough to be heading up there this Hogmanie (NYE to us in England) cant go far wrong with Erol Alkan, Aeroplane and Foamo all playing at Cab Vol in a huge one off extravaganza!!!

When I was up there I met with a long time friend of mine Dan and he said he was excited that Style of Eye was playing in the city soon. He is undoubtely one of the dons of tech - tech house sound and I will be dropping a few of his tracks at Filthy Boots this weekend. His tracks are pretty heavy affairs but have an uplifting feel unlike some repatative and boring techno inspired music at the minute. I have a little nugget for you:

Miiike Snow - Animal (Style Of Eye Remix)

This is an original we all known and love and the rework would be good in a peak time set, the vocals and the drop make for a banger!!!!

+ a bonus mix from Style Of Eye himself on Radio1's Essential Mix:

Style Of Eye - Essential Mix (from BLAHBLAHBLAH Blog)

Check him at one of these following dates:

13 Nov 2009 20:00	The Egg	London
14 Nov 2009 20:00	Filth Uk @ Mint	Leeds
26 Nov 2009 20:00	Market Bar	Nottingham
27 Nov 2009 20:00	The Tunnels	Aberdeen
28 Nov 2009 20:00	Berlin	Edinburgh

With the key date for us East Mids folk being the night in Nottingham, which is on Thursday 26th of Nov @ Dive, Market Bar.

Check him out!!!!

Style of Eye Myspace
Style of Eye Beatport

HAve a good week and write back soon with the details of Ground Levels GL16 release which is getting rave reviews in the promo lists...funky time!

Return Of The Jak (wob) !

So I have been away for many months, after being scarred away from the blogspace by a warning from MSTRKRFTs label. They removed a post I put up for you people and thought better of it.

After a couple of prompts from friends and my ever expanding musical taste I thought Id hit the blog again and put out some good free music and reviews, tips on the hottest club nights in Nottingham and Derby.

With many big releases since last time I spoke, I have taken a more tech-electro or elechno (as I have descirbed it to friends!) stance within my sets. I still love the breaks and electro vibe, but find its being ruined by poor productions being pumped out on the big blogs. Dubstep is also another genre that has come onto my screen in the past few months, I am preferring the laidback 'liquid dubstep' rather than the more popular 'jump up' that is very big at the moment.

My stand out track in the new dubstep scene is from a little know producer, who I hope can be booked in Derby soon, named Jakwob. Initially put on to him by my friend Dan ODell, who is in Leeds at the mo & an indie man through and through. His tracks are emotive yet still have the heavy drops and basslines that make dubstep so addictive.

His talent is clearly being noticed, with his signing to Coda Agency and his tracks getting plays by all the big underground DJs on Radio1 & KissFM. This track is an old one but a good one, with a remix by Jakwob of Ellie Goulding's 'Starry Eyed Suprise'. This track has a huge bassline half way through and the vocal sends a shiver down your spine, a proper late night banger!

Ellie Goulding - Starry Eyed Suprise (Jakwob Remix) (320KBPS)

Check his blog @ jakwob.blogspot.com
Check his myspace @ myspace.com/jakwob