The Action Going on With Jackson

Some sweet action going on with Mr Jackson at the moment. Though he may be one of the soundest fellas I have the pleasure of knowing, I shall try not to allow any understandable bias to creep into my thoughts on his sounds. But, as I’ve just recently said to the man himself, his productions are going from strength to strength.

Haven’t heard him play out for a while. He used to spin some of the best Minimal sets around Brighton, but with many like minded people, I believe from what I’ve heard through grapevines, his new sets are now moving, from a kinda ethno-techno vibe, to the stuff showcased in these two lovely tunes. UK Funky? Not sure what to call it, but Mr Mole and I are super feeling it at the moment and will be posting more of it up soon.




So, without further ado... here are two tunes by Action for the delight of your ears:

Action Jackson - Face Food by actionjacksonlondon

Action Jackson - Mama Gets Deep by actionjacksonlondon

He has generously promised me to keep us up to date with when he’s playing out...

If you lucky enough to be hittin-up Outlook Festival you can catch him there, With other such likely looking chaps as Skream, Pinch, Scuba, Shackleton, 2562, Roska (video below), Ramadanman, Pangea, Untold, etc etc etc . Wish I could be there but prior Cuban commitments.

Otherwise watch this space for when and where Action is playing out nearer to home.

(I.E. Brighton and London)

For Free Youtube to MP3 Converter click here (intended for evaluation/promotional purposes only)

Outside The Box Review and Skream Retrospective

After his self-titled debut rode the crest of the Dubstep wave into mainstream consciousness and daytime airplay on Radio 1 (and the high level of quality maintained with his five Skreamizm Eps), I was pretty excited at the release of the Croydon lad’s ‘difficult’ second album.

On listening to the first two tracks on Outside The Box my excitement only intensified. After the lush opener, Skream enlists LA rapper Murs on second track 8bit Baby. I wasn’t familiar with Murs, but he’s good, spitting with enough aggression to give tune an edge and pace without resorting to any gangsta posturing. The production on this tune is top notch, recognisable as the boy who virtually became ‘Mr Dubstep’ with his debut, but updated with a gloss of the sounds which are making bass music’s permutations so exciting at the moment.

I have always thought of Skream as a mere babe, as he produced the titanic, seminal self-titled debut at such a prodigious age, but on checking up on things, he has aged at a pretty normal rate and now can firmly be considered an adult. As a grown-up, however, he should know better than the excessive use of vocoder present on this album. There’s nought wrong with a little vocoder here and there, but you need to be very subtle or innovative with the effects or you end up sounding like you’re making a cultural nod to Dane Bowers.

Later in the album the gentler Fields of Emotion flows into I Love The Way You love Me, the title suggesting Skream is a little more happily settled than when he penned tracks such as Tortured Soul. Whilst Where You Should Be makes you squirm uncomfortably at its self-indulgent crooning, the beat of I Love... bumps along well, breaking into a little Jungle at the end. More the auditory equivalent of coming up with your girlfriend next to decent bass bins. The Jungle continues with first single Listenin’ To The Records On My Wall (trippy video below) showing a consideration for the album form with set movements and developing motifs.



Wibbler like no nonsense varnish does what it says on the tin, no fannying around, it’s squarely aimed at the dance floors and I imagine it’ll grace a few. The doomy Metamorphosis makes way for Finally feat. La Roux, which despite having ‘single’ rather gratuitously daubed all over it is really quite decent. Without the catchiness of the Skream remix of La Roux’s In For The Kill, it’s not going to achieve such crossover success, but pop-music would be in much ruder health with more stuff like this displacing the usual drivel inflicted upon our ears.

The ever insightful Mole remarked in passing that, though possessing that sought after pop-sensibility, some of the tunes feel a little hurried despite the polished production. Though crowded with deftly programmed beats and synths to encourage heads to nod and feet to shuffle and skip across the dance floor, on revisiting the debut, it’s clear that Outside The Box doesn’t quite live up to its predecessor or the excellent Skreamizm Eps.

Outside the Box misses some the darkness and swagger off the first album, but with any debut, all the ideas that have been brimming in a creative mind find vent, making the second album a notoriously tricky affair. Skream has gone from a young man trying to break into the scene and make his crust, to a fully paid up member of the dance music establishment. So it’s understandable that some of the anger and attitude that gave birth to Tortured Soul and burst forth in the gun shots of the anthemic Midnight Request Line has now subsided.

For Free Youtube to MP3 Converter click here (intended for evaluation/promotional purposes only)

Stumbled across this on special person's facebook.


Genius:

Spoonbill - Feather Leather from Dropbear on Vimeo.

Playgroup Festival

This is gona be sweeter than suger coated honey. Put on by the ridiculously lovely Playgroup people, grab one of the thousand tickets if there's still any left, got mine.

PLAYGROUP FESTIVAL!! from PLAYGROUP on Vimeo.

Here's their pitch:

The First Ever Playgroup Festival

Friday 13 August 2010
Saturday 14 August 2010
Sunday 15 August 2010

A secret mystery bus trip / The most beautiful spot within 30 miles of Brighton / A secret theme / Live Music / Film / Games / Art / Relaxation / Crazy dancing / Storytelling/ Night-time displays / Good local simple produce / Over 350 musicians, performers, artists and crew / A well-stocked reasonably priced quality bar / Ambushes

The first year of the Playgroup Festival is small and friendly. Not weird you out friendly, but the kind of friendly that is an excellent three-day party.

The kind of friendly where you discover a lot of great new live music. Bands you’ll really love who are playing just for you, not the TV cameras.

The kind where you see a bit of magic. The kind where silly stuff happens that makes you laugh. The kind where you join in if you want, or chill out if you want.

It really is your festival – it is being made by the goodwill and generosity of a lot of the City of Brighton & Hove.

It’s a magical mystery bus ride for a long weekend.

We have chosen to start small.

It’s going to work better that way.

So, if you want to come, snap up one of the few golden tickets now.