Wednesday 31 December 2008

MD'S TOUR DIARY, DECEMBER '08































The prospect of fatherhood was becoming a distinct reality by the start of December, with Parveen's expected delivery date falling on the 17th. This had a bearing on my movements; I'd had to regretfully turn down a couple of overseas offers, instead ensuring I was no more than two hours from home at any given time, should D-day come unexpectedly. A small price to pay for such a great reward!

Getting ahead of myself as far as possible, I'd completed my 2008 Bangers mixes by the start of the month. I'm giving out free CD copies at all my gigs, while the download links are available via the homepage of this site. As ever, the set included an R&B and a hip hop mix - the big hits of the year peppered with the odd personal favourite. On this occasion, the third mix covered the bassline/ grime genres, in recognition of how massive these styles have been in UK clubland during '08. This one should be of particular interest to overseas heads curious to hear how it's been going down in London and beyond. Hope you're feeling 'em.

Legendary guest artist time on my radio show on Wednesday 3rd as I got to chat to Erick Sermon and Parrish Smith, aka original veterans EPMD, now 20 years deep in the game, and having regrouped for the new album 'We Mean Business' and introductory single 'Listen Up' featuring Teddy Riley. Sadly we didn't get to meet, the interview being done over the phone to New York. With the album sounding just like anything the group put out in their 90s heyday, Erick pointed out that they continue to make music for the mature heads, and the current Soulja Boy generation can take it or leave it - they couldn't care less either way. Real talk!

Friday 5th marked the FM107.9 Christmas meal at the Royal Oxford Hotel. Having gone over ten years without attending such gatherings, (largely as a result of not having a proper employer in all that time,) these are still a kind of novelty for me. This year I managed the starter and main course before having to dive off to the palatial Regal in Cowley Road for my weekly resident set. After the meal, the radio lot followed on for an after-party and I got the opportunity to entertain my bosses and fellow DJs for the first time, bringing out the DJ demon in me.

There was strong evidence of the silly season in effect the following night at Que Pasa in Watford, and I succumbed to the temptation to drop Kurtis Blow's 'Christmas Rapping' for the first time. It was a cool night but an unfortunate element arose from a birthday party gathering. A girl from the group asked me to play a track she'd specially burned to CD. Ordinarily I wouldn't play anything other than my own tunes, but on this occasion I obliged. A while later, a less polite member of the same party asked me to play it again as she'd missed it. I pointed out that everyone else in the venue had heard it once, at which point she found it necessary to remind me her gathering was responsible for a lot of business that night, then went to the manager to ask for me to be instructed to play it. Unnecessary. It's the sort of scenario that belongs firmly in the 'Things You Should Never Say To a DJ' group on Facebook, (well worth an entertaining look for anyone that's not peeped it already) Just one of those occupational hazards, I guess.

The process of assessing my hottest records of the year has turned out to be illuminating. Although many heavy tunes got made and are always there if you dig deep enough, the fact remains that the majority of (U.S) mainstream hip-hop and R&B output has been pure garbage, making 2008 surely the lamest year yet.

So much of the blame has to be laid at the door of the appalling Auto Tune sound. How the hell has this vomit-inducing method of making ‘music’ been allowed to permeate so far into the culture? Why do consumers not simply refuse to support brainless school disco music, thereby forcing the makers to go back and return with something more credible?

The sound reminds me of those nasty Euro-cheese Summer records that you hear in shit holiday hotspots. Now comes the news that, following Kanye’s piss-poor album, P. Diddy is planning to contribute an Auto Tune album to the world. Why would you do that, Puff? If Kanye told you to go and jump off a cliff would you do that?

Hmmm. P. Diddy jumping off a cliff ... now there's a thought. Somebody give this man a map to Beachy Head.

The bulk of December consisted of regular gigs at venues I frequently play, so there’s not much of interest to recount, other than revisiting familiar territory – the dumb things that punters continue to say to DJs, (‘have you got anything good?’, ‘aren’t you playing any music?’ five minutes after the venue has closed and everyone else has left.) I keep myself going with thoughts of what I plan to say when I’ve decided to give up the whole DJing lark and I’m playing what will be my last ever gig.

Annoying bitch: Me and my friends want to hear Pussycat Dolls and we want to hear it next.
Me: That’s because you’re a spoilt little bitch who’s too used to getting her own way. You can’t always get what you want, which is something your parents clearly never taught you, but I’m only to happy to be your tutor. Now fuck off and get some taste.

Can you imagine? Fantastic! Anyway, enough of that. It’s nearly Christmas and I’m in a good mood…

Fast forward to the last Friday before Christmas, which Northerners always refer to as ‘Mad Friday’. Not that I was in the North this year. Location for the night was Que Pasa in Staines, deep in Ali G territory, a venue now run by Rodney Bennett. Rodney was formerly a part of the Gigolos DJ/ promotion crew who ran many memorable UK Sensations parties throughout the Thames Valley area in the early 00s. With a wide variety of ages and cultures in attendance a very far-reaching set was called for. It was the sort of experience that really tests a DJ’s versatility, and I appreciated the opportunity to try and keep everyone in the room happy for at least a fraction of the night. Hopefully I succeeded. More of the same was called for at the Watford branch the following night.

I had two radio shows going out in Christmas week, which for practical purposes were pre-recorded. 'Just Buggin' on Christmas Eve gave the opportunity to drop half an hour of Christmas hip-hop records in the run-up to midnight, which seemed the appropriate thing to do. As well as obvious contenders like Run DMC's 'Christmas In Hollis' I managed to unearth a copy of the Juice Crew's rarely-heard 'Cold Chillin' Christmas from 1988, featuring the strong line-up of Big Daddy Kane, Roxanne Shante, Marley Marl and the other Cold Chillin' kingpins. Boxing Day's show was a four-hour affair, repeating last year's format of running through the Urban Top 40 of the year - all the big hits that I don't generally play on the radio but have to in the clubs. NYC's DJ Drastic was recruited for guest mix duties. Both shows are still available for download via www.fm1079.com - just head to the Crew section and select Mark Devlin.

Christmas Eve itself saw me back at Que Pasa in Staines. It's fair to say the night did not run smoothly, and I ended up with a story that will come in very useful should I ever decide to publish a sequel to 'Tales From The Flipside'. As the venue doesn't have an in-built DJ console, a couple of Denon S-1200 CD players had been drafted in for the night. It's now clear what the 's' stands for. A short while into my set a CD jammed on me in front of a bustling dancefloor. Ten minutes later a different CD jammed on the other machine. Then another. Then another. In the midst of much heckling, venue manager Rodney was forced to switch to the in-house video/ music system, (similar to the automated system most radio stations now employ.) For half an hour, we scrolled frantically through the menu to find Christmas songs, just locating the Pogues with seconds to spare as I blurted out a Christmas countdown on the mic. Hectic, and comical in retrospect, but no fun while it was happening. I use the same CDs at every other venue I play and they've never caused a problem. In contrast, this was the first time I'd ever played on these particular Denons. These machines belong in the toilet.

Christmas was the usual family affair, and our hopes of having a Christmas baby were dashed as the day came and went. I went back to work at The Bridge in Oxford on Saturday 27th. Finally, at 1.40pm on Monday 29th December, our beautiful daughter Zaina Anwara Devlin was born, weighing in at 7lb 6oz. I appreciate that baby talk is really tedious for non-parents, (and even for those who are!) so I won’t dwell on it too much, except to say that my life has now been clearly divided into two halves – before and after 29/12/08. Life will never be the same again, and it’s an incredible feeling that nothing could have prepared me for.

My DJ mate Stretch Taylor became a Dad in late October, and warned us that we’d be busier than we’ve ever been in our lives. He wasn’t kidding. Parveen had to stay in hospital for a few days, so I was back and forth between home and the hospital like a yo yo. Fortunately, I had the three days running up to New Year’s Eve off. My venue for the big night itself was Que Pasa in Watford. The night peaked early with most punters already wasted by 10pm. It was a lot of fun, and I hauled out a bunch of tunes I can generally only get away with on nights like NYE. For the run up to midnight I dropped Prince’s ‘1999’, encouraging everyone to change the lyrics to ‘2009’. As ever, my trusty Big Ben CD had everyone going mental to the chimes, (synchronised with the radio-controlled clock on my laptop to ensure absolute accuracy, of course!)

… and that was 2008

Friday 26 December 2008

THE URBAN TOP 40 OF 2008. PLAYLIST & LISTEN AGAIN LINKS FOR BOXING DAY


















THE FM107.9 URBAN TOP 40 OF 2008, WITH MARK DEVLIN
BROADCAST BOXING DAY 2008, 8pm-MIDNIGHT
(WWW.FM1079.COM)

To listen again, just click on the following Download Links:

Part 1:
http://www.sendspace.com/file/2y8zci

Part 2:
http://www.sendspace.com/file/565ttq

Part 3 (Includes The Untouchable DJ Drastic Exclusive Mix):
http://www.sendspace.com/file/lpmqag

Part 4:
http://www.sendspace.com/file/itui5b


T.I: NO MATTER WHAT

KARDINALL OFFISHALL FEATURING KERI HILSON: NUMBA ONE (THE TIDE IS HIGH)

TAIO CRUZ: SHE'S LIKE A STAR

THE GAME Featuring KEYSHIA COLE: PAIN

LLOYD Featuring LIL WAYNE: GIRLS ALL AROUND THE WORLD

RYAN LESLIE: DIAMOND GIRL

LIL WAYNE: MR CARTER

50 CENT: GET UP

CHRIS BROWN Featuring T-PAIN: KISS KISS

MARIAH CAREY: TOUCH MY BODY

KERI HILSON Featuring TIMBALAND: RETURN THE FAVOUR

SOLANGE: I DECIDED

KANYE WEST: LOVE LOCKDOWN

PUSSYCAT DOLLS: WHEN I GROW UP

BRICK & LACE: LOVE IS WICKED

MARK DEVLIN 2008 BANGERS R&B MIX

DJ PALEFACE: DO YOU MIND

JANET JACKSON: FEEDBACK

MIA: PAPER PLANES

JAY Z: JOCKING JAY Z

SNOOP DOGG: SENSUAL SEDUCTION

WILL.I.AM FEATURING CHERYL COLE: HEARTBREAKER

LIL WAYNE Featuring BOBBY V: MRS OFFICER

BOY BETTER KNOW Featuring SKEPTA: ROLEX SWEEP

THE UNTOUCHABLE DJ DRASTIC (NEW YORK CITY) ’08 RETROSPECTIVE MIX

AKON Featuring KARDINALL OFFISHALL: DANGEROUS

JENNIFER HUDSON: SPOTLIGHT

NEYO: MISS INDEPENDENT

CHRIS BROWN: FOREVER

FLO RIDA Featuring TIMBALAND: ELEVATOR

MADONNA Featuring JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE: 4 MINUTES

BEYONCE: SINGLE LADIES

MARK DEVLIN 2008 BANGERS BASSLINE MIX

T.I FEATURING RIHANNA: LIVE YOUR LIFE

LIL WAYNE: LOLLIPOP

DIZZEE RASCAL Featuring CALVIN HARRIS: DANCE WIV ME

FLO RIDA Featuring WILL I AM: IN THE AYER

WILEY: WEARING MY ROLEX

USHER: LOVE IN THIS CLUB

RIHANNA: DISTURBIA

NEYO: CLOSER

FLO RIDA: LOW

ESTELLE: AMERICAN BOY

Monday 15 December 2008

AUTO TUNE - IF YOU TOLERATE THIS YOUR CHILDREN WILL BE NEXT


















P Diddy - somebody send this man a map to Beachy Head

The process of assessing my hottest records of the year has turned out to be illuminating. Although many heavy tunes got made and are always there if you dig deep enough, the fact remains that the majority of (U.S) mainstream hip-hop and R&B output has been pure garbage, making 2008 surely the lamest year yet.

So much of the blame has to be laid at the door of the appalling Auto Tune sound. How the hell has this vomit-inducing method of making ‘music’ been allowed to permeate so far into the culture? Why do consumers not simply refuse to support brainless school disco music, thereby forcing the makers to go back and return with something more credible?

The sound reminds me of those nasty Euro-cheese Summer records that you hear in shit holiday hotspots. Now comes the news that, following Kanye’s piss-poor album, P. Diddy is planning to contribute an Auto Tune album to the world. Why would you do that, Puff? If Kanye told you to go and jump off a cliff would you do that?

Hmmm. P. Diddy jumping off a cliff ... now there's a thought. Somebody give this man a map to Beachy Head.

Friday 12 December 2008

'08 - IT'S A WRAP!














TOP OVERSEAS GIGS 2008

DANCE SUMMIT, RIGA, LATVIA (APRIL)
LUX, LISBON, PORTUGAL (JULY)
BIKINI, BARCELONA (JULY)
BAR ROUGE, BASEL (JUNE)
RADOST FX, PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC (JUNE)
MARASCHINO BAR, ZAGREB, CROATIA (NOVEMBER)
SALONS DU LOUVRE, PARIS, FRANCE (NOVEMBER)
JUPITER, LJUBLJANA, SLOVENIA (JUNE)
SOUL CITY, SAN ANTONIO, IBIZA (JULY)
SEDUCTION, TALLINN, ESTONIA (JANUARY)


TOP UK CLUB GIGS 2008

BLOCK PARTY, THE WHEELHOUSE, WINDERMERE (JUNE, AUGUST)
FRONT 2 BACK, BAR RUMBA, LONDON (FEBRUARY, AUGUST)
CYBERNETIC SOUL, REHAB, SWINDON (OCTOBER)
JUNK, SOUTHAMPTON (APRIL)
VIBIN’, BLU, LIVERPOOL (APRIL)
LOUNGE 31, MANCHESTER (SEPTEMBER)
FAB FRIDAYS, BASE, EDINBURGH (MARCH)
THE APARTMENT, SWINDON (MAY, SEPTEMBER)
FORUM TEN-YEAR REUNION, NO. 10, CARDIFF (AUGUST)
THE WORKS, BIRMINGHAM (MARCH)


COUNTRIES VISITED IN 2008

CROATIA
CZECH REPUBLIC
SPAIN
ESTONIA
FINLAND
FRANCE
GERMANY
IBIZA
ITALY
LATVIA
PORTUGAL
SARDINIA
SCOTLAND
SLOVAKIA
SLOVENIA
SWITZERLAND
USA

MD'S TOP ALBUMS OF 2008


















1. LARGE PROFESSOR: MAIN SOURCE (Matador)
2. ESTELLE: SHINE (Homeschool/ Atlantic)
3. NAS: N*GGER (Def Jam)
4. JOLEON DAVENUE: MELLOW DEFIANCE
5. SIR SMURF LIL: A NEW BLOODLINE (Grindstone)
6. T.I: PAPER TRAIL (Grand Hustle/ Atlantic)
7. Q-TIP: THE RENAISSANCE (Universal Motown)
8. EPMD: WE MEAN BUSINESS (EP)
9. CHERI DENNIS: IN & OUT OF LOVE (Bad Boy)
10. BEYONCE: I AM SASHA FIERCE (Sony BMG)

MD'S TOP TUNES OF 2008















Singles:

(A combination of floor fillers and personal favourites, in no particular order other than chronological … although if pushed, top billing would have to go to THE GAME Featuring KEYSHIA COLE: GAME’S PAIN – a modern classic.)

ESTELLE: AMERICAN BOY
MARY J BLIGE Featuring SWIZZ BEATZ, PRECISE & LIL WAYNE: JUST FINE (REMIX)
USHER Featuring YOUNG JEEZY: LOVE IN THE CLUB
RYAN LESLIE: DIAMOND GIRL
RICK ROSS: SPEEDIN’ (REMIX)
JUGANOT Featuring SWIZZ BEATS, BUSTA RHYMES, FAT JOE & REEK DA VILLA: EN WHY CEEQUEL
CHERI DENNIS: PORTRAIT OF LOVE
NE-YO Featuring PLIES: BUST IT BABY
TRINA Featuring LIL WAYNE, RICK ROSS & PLIES: SINGLE AGAIN REMIX
GUILTY SIMPSON: KINDA LIVE
J RAWLS & MIDDLE CHILD: TIL THE SUN COMES
GTA: THE WAY
THE GAME Featuring KEYSHIA COLE: GAME’S PAIN
9TH WONDER & BUCKSHOT: READY (BRAND NU DAY)
LLOYD FEATURING LIL WAYNE: GIRLS ALL AROUND THE WORLD
DJ PALEFACE: DO YOU MIND
STREET POLITIKS Featuring ESTELLE & BASHY: I’LL RIDE
IDIOT SAVANT: MANIFEST DESTINY
NATTY: JULY
NIA JAI Featuring SWAY: HEY GIRL
JOHN LEGEND FEATURING ANDRE 3000: GREEN LIGHT
CRE-8: 3 YEARS LATER
BRICK & LACE: LOVE IS WICKED
M.I.A: PAPER PLANES
SKREINTAX Featuring GRAZIELLA: BREATH
QWOTE Featuring PLIES: 808
DAP-C Featuring TALIB KWELI, LIL WAYNE & ROYCE DA 5’9: MA MONEY
DAS EFX: CAN U FEEL IT
PEOPLE UNDER THE STAIRS: THE WIZ
MR LIVE: AT THE CROSSROADS/ I’M FRESH
DEVIN THE DUDE: CAN'T MAKE IT HOME
SHAUN BOOTHE: THE UNAUTHORIZED BIOGRAPHY OF JAMES BROWN/ THE UNAUTHORISED BIOGRAPHY OF BOB MARLEY
T.I FEATURING KANYE WEST, LIL WAYNE & JAY-Z: SWAGGER LIKE US
BEYONCE: SINGLE LADIES
THE RITZ: HEARTLESS
LEI-AN: IMAGINE
RZA AS BOBBY DIGITAL: DRAMA
SHEBA SAHLEMARIAM: LOVE THIS LIFETIME
LEA LORIEN: IT’S NOT EASY
EPMD: LISTEN UP

Sunday 7 December 2008

MD'S TOUR DIARY, DECEMBER '08














The prospect of fatherhood was becoming a distinct reality by the start of December, with Parveen's expected delivery date falling on the 17th. This had a bearing on my movements; I'd had to regretfully turn down a couple of overseas offers, instead ensuring I was no more than two hours from home at any given time, should D-day come unexpectedly. A small price to pay for such a great reward!

Getting ahead of myself as far as possible, I'd completed my 2008 Bangers mixes by the start of the month. I'm giving out free CD copies at all my gigs, while the download links are available via the homepage of this site. As ever, the set included an R&B and a hip hop mix - the big hits of the year peppered with the odd personal favourite. On this occasion, the third mix covered the bassline/ grime genres, in recognition of how massive these styles have been in UK clubland during '08. This one should be of particular interest to overseas heads curious to hear how it's been going down in London and beyond. Hope you're feeling 'em.

Legendary guest artist time on my radio show on Wednesday 3rd as I got to chat to Erick Sermon and Parrish Smith, aka original veterans EPMD, now 20 years deep in the game, and having regrouped for the new album 'We Mean Business' and introductory single 'Listen Up' featuring Teddy Riley. Sadly we didn't get to meet, the interview being done over the phone to New York. With the album sounding just like anything the group put out in their 90s heyday, Erick pointed out that they continue to make music for the mature heads, and the current Soulja Boy generation can take it or leave it - they couldn't care less either way. Real talk!

Friday 5th marked the FM107.9 Christmas meal at the Royal Oxford Hotel. Having gone over ten years without attending such gatherings, (largely as a result of not having a proper employer in all that time,) these are still a kind of novelty for me. This year I managed the starter and main course before having to dive off to the palatial Regal in Cowley Road for my weekly resident set. After the meal, the radio lot followed on for an after-party and I got the opportunity to entertain my bosses and fellow DJs for the first time, bringing out the DJ demon in me.

There was strong evidence of the silly season in effect the following night at Que Pasa in Watford, and I succumbed to the temptation to drop Kurtis Blow's 'Christmas Rapping' for the first time. It was a cool night but an unfortunate element arose from a birthday party gathering. A girl from the group asked me to play a track she'd specially burned to CD. Ordinarily I wouldn't play anything other than my own tunes, but on this occasion I obliged. A while later, a less polite member of the same party asked me to play it again as she'd missed it. I pointed out that everyone else in the venue had heard it once, at which point she found it necessary to remind me her gathering was responsible for a lot of business that night, then went to the manager to ask for me to be instructed to play it. Unnecessary. It's the sort of scenario that belongs firmly in the 'Things You Should Never Say To a DJ' group on Facebook, (well worth an entertaining look for anyone that's not peeped it already) Just one of those occupational hazards, I guess.

The process of assessing my hottest records of the year has turned out to be illuminating. Although many heavy tunes got made and are always there if you dig deep enough, the fact remains that the majority of (U.S) mainstream hip-hop and R&B output has been pure garbage, making 2008 surely the lamest year yet.

So much of the blame has to be laid at the door of the appalling Auto Tune sound. How the hell has this vomit-inducing method of making ‘music’ been allowed to permeate so far into the culture? Why do consumers not simply refuse to support brainless school disco music, thereby forcing the makers to go back and return with something more credible?

The sound reminds me of those nasty Euro-cheese Summer records that you hear in shit holiday hotspots. Now comes the news that, following Kanye’s piss-poor album, P. Diddy is planning to contribute an Auto Tune album to the world. Why would you do that, Puff? If Kanye told you to go and jump off a cliff would you do that?

Hmmm. P. Diddy jumping off a cliff ... now there's a thought. Somebody give this man a map to Beachy Head.

The bulk of December consisted of regular gigs at venues I frequently play, so there’s not much of interest to recount, other than revisiting familiar territory – the dumb things that punters continue to say to DJs, (‘have you got anything good?’, ‘aren’t you playing any music?’ five minutes after the venue has closed and everyone else has left.) I keep myself going with thoughts of what I plan to say when I’ve decided to give up the whole DJing lark and I’m playing what will be my last ever gig.

Annoying bitch: Me and my friends want to hear Pussycat Dolls and we want to hear it next.
Me: That’s because you’re a spoilt little bitch who’s too used to getting her own way. You can’t always get what you want, which is something your parents clearly never taught you, but I’m only to happy to be your tutor. Now fuck off and get some taste.

Can you imagine? Fantastic! Anyway, enough of that. It’s nearly Christmas and I’m in a good mood…

Fast forward to the last Friday before Christmas, which Northerners always refer to as ‘Mad Friday’. Not that I was in the North this year. Location for the night was Que Pasa in Staines, deep in Ali G territory, a venue now run by Rodney Bennett. Rodney was formerly a part of the Gigolos DJ/ promotion crew who ran many memorable UK Sensations parties throughout the Thames Valley area in the early 00s. With a wide variety of ages and cultures in attendance a very far-reaching set was called for. It was the sort of experience that really tests a DJ’s versatility, and I appreciated the opportunity to try and keep everyone in the room happy for at least a fraction of the night. Hopefully I succeeded. More of the same was called for at the Watford branch the following night.

Friday 5 December 2008

VINTAGE AUDIO – MORE TAPE RIPS FROM THE VAULTS














We’ve been busy with the plundering again this month. First off, as it’s year-end, we’ve got a couple more gems from the Swing Shift/ Galaxy 101 archives – the two retrospective shows on 1997 that went out at the tail end of the show’s second year.

The first was broadcast on Boxing Day ’97, followed by part two on 2nd January ’98. Loads of classic gems from a vintage year in there, along with a host of long-forgotten ones. Makes for very interesting listening comparing the sounds that rocked 11 years ago compared with the stuff we’re getting down to today. Here’s the links:

The Swing Shift, Galaxy 101, 26/12/97. Part 1:
http://www.sendspace.com/file/lovxa1

The Swing Shift, Galaxy 101, 26/12/97. Part 2:
http://www.sendspace.com/file/dsunao

The Swing Shift, Galaxy 101, 2/1/98. Part 1:
http://www.sendspace.com/file/z9xb8j

The Swing Shift, Galaxy 101, 2/1/98. Part 2:
http://www.sendspace.com/file/yyuhv1

The Swing Shift, Galaxy 101, 2/1/98. Part 3:
http://www.sendspace.com/file/x5mgs0


Next up – check this. To mark the arrival of 2008 Bangers, here’s the whole of the rest of the Bangers series available to download and enjoy. All the big tunes of every year from 2002 to date. Somewhere around seven hours’ worth of audio! Here they are.

2002 Bangers R&B Mix:
http://www.sendspace.com/file/g4xtvk

2002 Bangers Hip Hop/ Ragga Mix:
http://www.sendspace.com/file/64rjnx

2003 Bangers R&B Mix:
http://www.sendspace.com/file/5tc90e

2003 Bangers Hip Hop Mix:
http://www.sendspace.com/file/2ix2ss

2004 Bangers R&B Mix:
http://www.sendspace.com/file/wcy6hu

2004 Bangers Hip Hop Mix:
http://www.sendspace.com/file/7boyao

2004 Bangers Ragga Mix:
http://www.sendspace.com/file/62in7v

2005 Bangers R&B Mix:
http://www.sendspace.com/file/3fcq59

2005 Bangers Hip Hop Mix:
http://www.sendspace.com/file/cem9dn

2005 Bangers Dancehall Mix:
http://www.sendspace.com/file/upyjlf

2006 Bangers R&B Mix:
http://www.sendspace.com/file/upyjlf

2006 Bangers Hip Hop Mix:
http://www.sendspace.com/file/1vzmy8

2006 Bangers Dancehall Mix:
http://www.sendspace.com/file/ttxew5

2007 Bangers R&B Mix
http://www.sendspace.com/file/uonbld

2007 Bangers Hip Hop Mix:
http://www.sendspace.com/file/vbbto2

2007 Bangers Dancehall Mix:
http://www.sendspace.com/file/nzbhyd

'JUST BUGGIN' RADIO NEWS














WE’RE ONLY BUGGIN’

Check out 'Just Buggin' with Mark Devlin every Wednesday night from 10.30pm to 12.30am GMT. You can listen live from anywhere in the world (provided you get the time zone changes right!) on www.fm1079.com. Here’s what’s going on over the coming weeks.

Wed 7th Jan '09
Lock in for our second retrospective on all the big 'Just Buggin' anthems of 2008.

Wed 31st Dec ‘08
No show this week as it's New Year's Eve

Fri 26th Dec
A Boxing Day special on FM107.9. From 8pm to midnight Mark Devlin presents the Urban Top 40 of 2008 - all the big R&B and hip hop jams that filled the dancefloors over the past 12 months. Plus, The Untouchable DJ Drastic outta New York City, live in the mix.

Wed 24th Dec
Our first retrospective on all our favourite 'Just Buggin' anthems of '08. Plus, as it's Christmas Eve, we're giving you half an hour of Christmas hip-hop records in the run up to midnight!

Wed 17th Dec
Two hours of incredible tuneage, plus the USA's DJ Remedy in the mix.

Thursday 4 December 2008

'CLUBBED' AND OTHER CLUBBING IN THE MOVIES


EVERYBODY BOUNCE

Anyone who goes clubbing will have a bouncer story or two to tell. So what better than a whole movie based around the dodgy lifestyles of four Coventry-based doormen, inspired by the autobiography of real one-time bouncer Geoff Thompson.
That’s the new British flick ‘Clubbed’, and apart from being a cracking good drama, strong appeal comes from the fact that it’s set against the two-tone and soul scene of 1981, with a great soundtrack to match. That and a captivating performance as head doormen Louis by veteran actor Colin Salmon … although we think it’s really 1Xtra’s Ronnie Herel.
Older soul heads will delight at classics from the likes of Chaka Khan, Rose Royce and Gwen McCrae, along with plenty of reggae and ska moments. But whatever your age, ‘Clubbed’ makes for a tantalising glimpse into the darker side of clubland, and its tenuous links to the criminal underworld. It’s due for full cinema release early in the new year. In the meantime, you can watch a trailer on its promotional website - http://www.clubbedthemovie.com/index.html


CLUBBING AT THE FLICKS

Clubland has been depicted in a fair few other British movies in recent years. Here’s a few favourites.

HUMAN TRAFFIC (1999)
The entire movie was based around one debauched weekend of pill-fuelled raving and blunted after-parties in Cardiff, largely based on director/ writer Justin Kerrigan’s own experiences. The general consensus was that it was a fairly accurate snapshot of late 90s UK club life. Cast members included a pre-‘Life On Mars’ John Sim, and an entertaining cameo from Carl Cox as shady club boss Pablo Hassan.

TRAINSPOTTING (1995)
A memorable club-based scene sees the central protagonist Renton, (Ewan McGregor) pick up Kelly Macdonald’s flirty schoolgirl in a warehouse-style club. More entertaining, however, is psycho hardman Begbie’s drunken grope with what turns out to be a very convincing trannie.

RISE OF THE FOOT SOLDIER (2007)
The graphic account of the gangland activities leading up to the infamous so-called ‘Range Rover killings’ of 1995. Ricci Harnett plays real-life former crim Carlton Leach, who spent a spell running the doors in London and Essex clubs in the late 80s. One sequence sees him finally persuaded by his mates to drop E during the emerging Acid House ‘Summer Of Love’. Numerous accounts of this era claim that popping pills calmed many normally psychotic meatheads into friendly, smiling ravers.

YOUNG SOUL REBELS (1991)
If ‘Brokeback Mountain’ was ‘the gay cowboy film’, this largely unsuccessful attempt at capturing the spirit of the London soul scene of 1977 will forever be remembered as ‘the gay soul film.’ The plot centres around Chris and Caz, two pirate radio DJs broadcasting underground soul music against the backdrop of the Queen’s Silver Jubilee, and the capital’s emerging punk scene. Great soundtrack, but the film was marred by a muddled plot and over-emphasis on gay love scenes.

24 HOUR PARTY PEOPLE (2002)
Steve Coogan plays the recently departed Factory Records boss Tony Wilson, who, along with New Order, was behind one of the most seminal of all British clubs, Manchester’s Hacienda, in 1981. Naturally, the movie covers the venue’s opening, the set re-creating its look almost down to the last brick, and inviting back some original-era clubbers for added authenticity.

Tuesday 2 December 2008

MD'S TOUR DIARY, NOVEMBER '08














There are certain things that only psychopaths, raving nutters or DJs would do. I hope I fit into only the last of the three categories. Saturday 1st November marked the latest such incident, when I travelled from London to Paris to play a gig, stayed up all night, and came straight back first thing in the morning.

Despite having DJ-ed in almost every other country in Europe, bookings in France had always eluded me. I've always put this down to the fact that the nation has its own strong urban music scene, and really doesn't need any input from foreigners. It's either that or just a continuation of the long-running resentment that England and France have always had for each other! I scored the booking, at the upmarket Salons Du Louvre, with only 48 hours notice, and at that late stage in the day, all flights to Paris had become prohibitively expensive. The only remotely affordable option was the Eurostar Channel tunnel train - a highly practical one in the circumstances.

I'd only travelled on the Eurostar once before, in '96 when London departures left from Waterloo. Now they have a new dedicated terminal at King's Cross St. Pancras, where boarding procedures are very similar to that of an airport. I took the penultimate departure, arriving into Paris' Gare Du Nord at 11pm. The plan was to save further cost by avoiding a hotel and simply spending all night at the club.

Throughout the e-mailing and texting process I'd been liaising with the promoter in French, cobbling together as many phrases and words as I could remember from my A' level days of many moons ago. I was quite chuffed when he remarked 'your French is pretty good' - although the real acid test is in speaking it, rather than writing. I had plenty of practice of that too.

The club was still empty when I arrived at midnight. It was a slow burn warm-up process, but sure enough, a couple of hours later it was absolutely heaving. Salons is clearly where Paris' black clubbing population go to party, and the whole spectrum of urban music got an airing as I span my set between the Hard Level DJs Noize and Ou-mar. All in all a great night. Security and management were showing no urgent desire to get everyone out once the night had finished, and it took over an hour to empty, resulting in a few drunken brawls. That would never happen in England. Five minutes after closing, the bar staff and toilet cleaners are the only bodies left in the building. I made my way back to Gare Du Nord ready for my 8am return train, arriving home completely shattered at midday and sinking straight into bed. The things we (I) do in search of the perfect party.

Parveen and myself went to a press screening of ‘Quantum Of Solace’ the following week. Here’s my verdict, as delivered for a review in the Bucks Herald:

Second outings for new James Bonds are always tricky affairs. Timothy Dalton’s ‘Licence To Kill’ and Pierce Brosnan’s ‘Tomorrow Never Dies’ paled next to their superior predecessors. Now, all eyes are on Daniel Craig’s sophomore 007 performance.
CGI sequences notwithstanding, ‘Quantum Of Solace’ succeeds as a solid, gritty and consistently engrossing outing. It’s a lean one, too, clocking it at only 107 minutes as the shortest of all the 22 Bonds.
The plotline picks up where ‘Casino Royale’ ends, with Bond investigating the organisation that caused the death of Vesper, his former lover, and seeking the solace of the title by avenging her. Via diversions in Haiti and Austria, the trail leads to Bolivia, where oily philanthropist Dominic Greene, (Matthieu Almaric) is engineering a political coup, naturally involving vested interests. Bond links with Camille, (Olga Kurylenko,) who has her own personal vendetta.
Happily, 007’s cruel streak has been retained – he finishes off a disarmed enemy as calmly as if he were making tea, and dumps the body of a slaughtered ally in a garbage skip. And there’s further blurring of the lines between heroes and villains. The days of lip-smacking baddies skulking in their lairs and henchmen with amusing physical defects are long gone.
As well as those of acid-penned critics and diehard fans, all eyes at production company Eon are going to be firmly fixed on ‘Quantum’, as executives aim to make this Bond’s most successful box office outing. Based on what they’ve delivered, it’s a status that would be highly deserved.

300, the ultra-successful student night at the spacious Regal in Oxford continued its programme of big-name guests on Friday 7th with The Plump DJs. Although I was aware of who they were, I was largely unfamiliar with their style, which sounded very breaks-driven, and similar to that of The Scratch Perverts a couple of weeks earlier. There's a piece of footage from their set up on my Youtube page - www.youtube.com/markdevlintv

Sleep was regrettably lacking from the weekend's agenda. First thing on Saturday, Parveen kindly got up early to take me back to Oxford, from where I caught a coach to Heathrow Airport, ready to fly with Croatia Airlines to Zagreb. With our baby now only five to six weeks away, my days of travelling are soon to be temporarily curtailed. The strategy with November was to fit a few eleventh-hour trips into the diary, before remaining at home until January.

This was my fifth Croatian visit. On this occasion, for the purpose of spinning at Maraschino Bar in the capital city. I'd spun at the same company's spot in the Adriatic coastal town of Zadar during the Summer.

The day gave an opportunity to link with Phat Phillie, without doubt the all-round hip-hop Kingpin of Croatia. His Blackout show has run weekly on Zagreb Radio 101 for the past fifteen years, he's involved in production for US artists including Masta Ace and Rasco alongside beatmaster Koolade, and he's recently started his own Bumsquad Magazine, a franchise of the DJ collective of the same name. We caught up over lunch and a few beers. Vegetarians aren’t enthusiastically catered for in Croatia. A few slices of cheese and a bowl of tomato soup was all I could find.

Armed with a street map, I walked from my hotel to Maraschino. The venue was reassuringly heaving as I got ushered to the downstairs DJ booth for an immediate start. I played for four hours straight, ripping through styles and tempos, and the atmosphere was on fire, providing another reminder of just how satisfying playing to overseas crowds generally is.

There was a price to pay. Croatia has yet to get the public smoking ban - it's finally due in April next year. The thick stinking haze made my eyes sting, and my clothes and all my possessions, even down to my camera case, reeked sickeningly of stale fag smoke on the journey home. I'd forgotten all about this depressing aspect of the job, which used to be the case every weekend until just 15 months ago.

When I finally hang up my headphones, (which hopefully won't be for a good few years yet,) another factor that I sure won't miss is the sleep deprivation. I got barely an hour of shuteye before having to return to the airport for a punishingly early flight home. For the second Sunday running, I spent the afternoon asleep at home, catching some essential Zs.

I got a night off from G’s and a rare opportunity to play the main room at The Second Bridge in Bath on Thursday 13th. Twice a month the venue operates a specialist night called Second Bass, dealing with electronica for one session, followed by R&B and hip hop for the next. Considering it closed at 2, I was getting concerned when the venue was still empty at 11.30. But an hour later there was a highly respectable turnout of enthusiastic urban heads, (as opposed to mainstream randoms,) and the place certainly rocked. Friday night saw an equally rammed and lively session of 300 at the theatre-like Regal in Oxford. 48 hours after the last session, I was back in Bath on Saturday night for my monthly session in The Vaults. Short of anything really profound happening, (which it didn’t,) it gets difficult to think of new things to say about regular recurring gigs. So I’ll leave it at that.

By late November, our advanced training in sleep deprivation seemed to be in full effect. My sleeping ‘patterns’ have been shot to pieces for years anyway. Now, Parveen’s disturbed routines have been added to the picture. With our baby now less than a month away, it’s all useful grounding. With six late nights in a row starting on Wednesday 19th, daytime naps were the only way to cope.

The sequence contained mainly routine outings – the radio show, a Bicester, an Oxford and two Watfords. The standout was my trip to Scotland on Sunday 23rd – the last time I can afford to be more than a couple of hours from home until into the new year.

With Britain’s cold snap making the headlines, I checked the websites avidly, expecting the event, Iced Out at Espionage, to be living up to its name. In the event, although snowbound, Aberdeen was no less chilly than Birmingham. After watching ‘The Empire Strikes Back’ in my hotel room, I linked for bite to eat with my DJ homie David Craig, still the key player in Scotland, (now Glasgow-based,) before moving up Union Street to the multi-levelled Espionage. Dave’s been running Sundays there for an impressive six years. On this occasion the night wasn’t particularly busy, but we still had fun with the music, and there’s a recording of part of my set available for download at http://www.sendspace.com/file/3o44xl. Also hanging out in the DJ booth was off-duty DJ Kojo, a walking electronic database who has a phenomenal knowledge of artists, tracks, producer credits and labels when it comes to 90s urban music. We had the kind of avid anorackish chat that would make my wife yawn with boredom and head for the nearest exit.

There are certain things that only psychopaths, raving nutters or DJs would do. I hope I fit into only the last of the three categories. Saturday 1st November marked the latest such incident, when I travelled from London to Paris to play a gig, stayed up all night, and came straight back first thing in the morning.

Despite having DJ-ed in almost every other country in Europe, bookings in France had always eluded me. I've always put this down to the fact that the nation has its own strong urban music scene, and really doesn't need any input from foreigners. It's either that or just a continuation of the long-running resentment that England and France have always had for each other! I scored the booking, at the upmarket Salons Du Louvre, with only 48 hours notice, and at that late stage in the day, all flights to Paris had become prohibitively expensive. The only remotely affordable option was the Eurostar Channel tunnel train - a highly practical one in the circumstances.

I'd only travelled on the Eurostar once before, in '96 when London departures left from Waterloo. Now they have a new dedicated terminal at King's Cross St. Pancras, where boarding procedures are very similar to that of an airport. I took the penultimate departure, arriving into Paris' Gare Du Nord at 11pm. The plan was to save further cost by avoiding a hotel and simply spending all night at the club.

Throughout the e-mailing and texting process I'd been liaising with the promoter in French, cobbling together as many phrases and words as I could remember from my A' level days of many moons ago. I was quite chuffed when he remarked 'your French is pretty good' - although the real acid test is in speaking it, rather than writing. I had plenty of practice of that too.

The club was still empty when I arrived at midnight. It was a slow burn warm-up process, but sure enough, a couple of hours later it was absolutely heaving. Salons is clearly where Paris' black clubbing population go to party, and the whole spectrum of urban music got an airing as I span my set between the Hard Level DJs Noize and Ou-mar. All in all a great night. Security and management were showing no urgent desire to get everyone out once the night had finished, and it took over an hour to empty, resulting in a few drunken brawls. That would never happen in England. Five minutes after closing, the bar staff and toilet cleaners are the only bodies left in the building. I made my way back to Gare Du Nord ready for my 8am return train, arriving home completely shattered at midday and sinking straight into bed. The things we (I) do in search of the perfect party.

Parveen and myself went to a press screening of 'Quantum Of Solace' the following week. Here's my verdict, as delivered for a review in the Bucks Herald:

Second outings for new James Bonds are always tricky affairs. Timothy Dalton's 'Licence To Kill' and Pierce Brosnan's 'Tomorrow Never Dies' paled next to their superior predecessors. Now, all eyes are on Daniel Craig's sophomore 007 performance.
CGI sequences notwithstanding, 'Quantum Of Solace' succeeds as a solid, gritty and consistently engrossing outing. It's a lean one, too, clocking it at only 107 minutes as the shortest of all the 22 Bonds.
The plotline picks up where 'Casino Royale' ends, with Bond investigating the organisation that caused the death of Vesper, his former lover, and seeking the solace of the title by avenging her. Via diversions in Haiti and Austria, the trail leads to Bolivia, where oily philanthropist Dominic Greene, (Matthieu Almaric) is engineering a political coup, naturally involving vested interests. Bond links with Camille, (Olga Kurylenko,) who has her own personal vendetta.
Happily, 007's cruel streak has been retained – he finishes off a disarmed enemy as calmly as if he were making tea, and dumps the body of a slaughtered ally in a garbage skip. And there's further blurring of the lines between heroes and villains. The days of lip-smacking baddies skulking in their lairs and henchmen with amusing physical defects are long gone.
As well as those of acid-penned critics and diehard fans, all eyes at production company Eon are going to be firmly fixed on 'Quantum', as executives aim to make this Bond's most successful box office outing. Based on what they've delivered, it's a status that would be highly deserved.

300, the ultra-successful student night at the spacious Regal in Oxford continued its programme of big-name guests on Friday 7th with The Plump DJs. Although I was aware of who they were, I was largely unfamiliar with their style, which sounded very breaks-driven, and similar to that of The Scratch Perverts a couple of weeks earlier. There's a piece of footage from their set up on my Youtube page - www.youtube.com/markdevlintv

Sleep was regrettably lacking from the weekend's agenda. First thing on Saturday, Parveen kindly got up early to take me back to Oxford, from where I caught a coach to Heathrow Airport, ready to fly with Croatia Airlines to Zagreb. With our baby now only five to six weeks away, my days of travelling are soon to be temporarily curtailed. The strategy with November was to fit a few eleventh-hour trips into the diary, before remaining at home until January.

This was my fifth Croatian visit. On this occasion, for the purpose of spinning at Maraschino Bar in the capital city. I'd spun at the same company's spot in the Adriatic coastal town of Zadar during the Summer.

The day gave an opportunity to link with Phat Phillie, without doubt the all-round hip-hop Kingpin of Croatia. His Blackout show has run weekly on Zagreb Radio 101 for the past fifteen years, he's involved in production for US artists including Masta Ace and Rasco alongside beatmaster Koolade, and he's recently started his own Bumsquad Magazine, a franchise of the DJ collective of the same name. We caught up over lunch and a few beers. Vegetarians aren't enthusiastically catered for in Croatia. A few slices of cheese and a bowl of tomato soup was all I could find.

Armed with a street map, I walked from my hotel to Maraschino. The venue was reassuringly heaving as I got ushered to the downstairs DJ booth for an immediate start. I played for four hours straight, ripping through styles and tempos, and the atmosphere was on fire, providing another reminder of just how satisfying playing to overseas crowds generally is.

There was a price to pay. Croatia has yet to get the public smoking ban - it's finally due in April next year. The thick stinking haze made my eyes sting, and my clothes and all my possessions, even down to my camera case, reeked sickeningly of stale fag smoke on the journey home. I'd forgotten all about this depressing aspect of the job, which used to be the case every weekend until just 15 months ago.

When I finally hang up my headphones, (which hopefully won't be for a good few years yet,) another factor that I sure won't miss is the sleep deprivation. I got barely an hour of shuteye before having to return to the airport for a punishingly early flight home. For the second Sunday running, I spent the afternoon asleep at home, catching some essential Zs.

I got a night off from G's and a rare opportunity to play the main room at The Second Bridge in Bath on Thursday 13th. Twice a month the venue operates a specialist night called Second Bass, dealing with electronica for one session, followed by R&B and hip hop for the next. Considering it closed at 2, I was getting concerned when the venue was still empty at 11.30. But an hour later there was a highly respectable turnout of enthusiastic urban heads, (as opposed to mainstream randoms,) and the place certainly rocked. Friday night saw an equally rammed and lively session of 300 at the theatre-like Regal in Oxford. 48 hours after the last session, I was back in Bath on Saturday night for my monthly session in The Vaults. Short of anything really profound happening, (which it didn't,) it gets difficult to think of new things to say about regular recurring gigs. So I'll leave it at that.

By late November, our advanced training in sleep deprivation seemed to be in full effect. My sleeping 'patterns' have been shot to pieces for years anyway. Now, Parveen's disturbed routines have been added to the picture. With our baby now less than a month away, it's all useful grounding. With six late nights in a row starting on Wednesday 19th, daytime naps were the only way to cope.

The sequence contained mainly routine outings – the radio show, a Bicester, an Oxford and two Watfords. The standout was my trip to Scotland on Sunday 23rd – the last time I can afford to be more than a couple of hours from home until into the new year.

With Britain's cold snap making the headlines, I checked the websites avidly, expecting the event, Iced Out at Espionage, to be living up to its name. In the event, although snowbound, Aberdeen was no less chilly than Birmingham. After watching 'The Empire Strikes Back' in my hotel room, I linked for bite to eat with my DJ homie David Craig, still the key player in Scotland, (now Glasgow-based,) before moving up Union Street to the multi-levelled Espionage. Dave's been running Sundays there for an impressive six years. On this occasion the night wasn't particularly busy, but we still had fun with the music, and there's a recording of part of my set available for download at http://www.sendspace.com/file/3o44xl. Also hanging out in the DJ booth was off-duty DJ Kojo, a walking electronic database who has a phenomenal knowledge of artists, tracks, producer credits and labels when it comes to 90s urban music. We had the kind of avid anorackish chat that would make my wife yawn with boredom and head for the nearest exit.

Studio guests are now a regular feature of my radio show, the format normally consisting of a quick interview followed by a freestyle lyric session over some beats. On Wednesday 26th, I felt more like I was hosting Radio 1’s ‘Live Lounge’ as UK rapper Dap-C passed through alongside guitarist Phil Ashmore to drop a live version of their track ‘Gone Forever’ – no beats, just accapella vocals and an acoustic guitar. Definitely something a bit different. The footage is posted up on www.youtube.com/markdevlintv if you fancy a peek at how it went down. The remix of Dap’s ‘Ma Money’, produced by Quincy Tones and featuring Lil Wayne, Talib Kweli and Royce Da 5’9 is one of the hottest tracks of the year, point blank.

… and that was November.

2008 BANGERS - DOWNLOAD THE MIXES NOW














Yes people – it’s that time again. 2008 Bangers continues in the annual tradition with three quickfire mixes from Mark Devlin, blazing through all the big joints of the past 12 months.

There’s a new element this year – alongside the R&B and Hip Hop mixes, the third is an excursion into Bassline/ Grime territory, a reflection of the sound that has dominated UK clubland through ’08. This one should be of particular interest to those outside of the UK to give a taster of how Londonand beyond has been getting down.

The Download links are right here. Ride on out to these:

2008 Bangers R&B Mix:
http://www.sendspace.com/file/g6d2l4


2008 Bangers Hip Hop Mix:
http://www.sendspace.com/file/2nm9ns


2008 Bangers Bassline/ Grime Mix:
http://www.sendspace.com/file/175wit


And here’s the track listings so you know what you’re getting:

2008 BANGERS

R&B MIX

QWOTE: 808
NEYO Featuring PLIES: BUST IT BABY
NATALIA: PERFECT DAY
RYAN LESLIE Featuring 50 CENT: DIAMOND GIRL (REMIX)
LLOYD Featuring LIL WAYNE: GIRLS ALL AROUND THE WORLD
BRICK & LACE: LOVE IS WICKED
BEYONCE: SINGLE LADIES
TRINA: SINGLE AGAIN
CHERI DENNIS: PORTRAIT OF LOVE
JANET JACKSON: FEEDBACK
JANET JACKSON Featuring BUSTA RHYMES, JD & FABULOUS: FEEDBACK (REMIX)
FLO RIDA Featuring WILL.I.AM: IN THE AYER
FLO RIDA Featuring TIMBALAND: ELEVATOR
NEYO: CLOSER
USHER Featuring YOUNG JEEZY: LOVE IN THE CLUB (Mike D Bass Remix)
JOHN LEGEND Featuring ANDRE 3000: GREEN LIGHT


HIP HOP MIX

LIL WAYNE: MR. CARTER
T.I Featuring JAY-Z, KANYE WEST & LIL WAYNE: SWAGGA LIKE US
MIA: PAPER PLANES
T.I Featuring RIHANNA: LIVE YOUR LIFE
T.I: NO MATTER WHAT
LIL WAYNE: LOLLIPOP (Remix)
LIL WILL: MY DOUGIE
MANNIE FRESH Featuring LIL WAYNE: GO DJ
THE GAME: DOPE BOYS
RICK ROSS: THE BOSS
RICK ROSS ET AL: SPEEDIN’ (REMIX)
BUSTA RHYMES: ARAB MONEY
RON BROWZ: POP CHAMPAGNE
LARGE PROFESSOR: ROCKING HIP HOP
Q TIP: GETTING’ UP
JAY-Z: JOCKING JAY-Z
GTA: THE WAY
THE GAME Featuring KEYSHIA COLE: GAME’S PAIN
SMILER: CRAZIEST (REMIX)
BASHY: BLACK BOYS (REMIX)
COMMON Featuring PHARRELL: UNIVERSAL MIND CONTROL


BASSLINE/ GRIME MIX

STREET POLITIKS Featuring BASHY & ESTELLE: I’LL RIDE
NIA JAI Featuring SWAY: HEY GIRL
WILEY: SUMMERTIME
WILEY: WEARING MY ROLEX
BOY BETTER KNOW/ SKEPTA: ROLEX SWEEP
ROLL DEEP: DO ME WRONG
ESTELLE: AMERICAN BOY (TS7 Bassline Mix)
ESTELLE: SO SUBSTITUTE LOVE (Bassline Mix)
TAIO CRUZ: COME ON GIRL (Bassline Mix)
SWAY Featuring STUSH: F UR EX
FE-NIX: LADY BABY (MY BOO)
DJ PALEFACE: DO YOU MIND
DJ Q Featuring MC BONEZ: YOU WOT
ASHLEY WALTERS: WHOA PART 2
KID BASS Featuring SINCERE: GOOD GIRLS LOVE RUDE BOYS

Thursday 27 November 2008

LISTEN TO MD AT ICED OUT, ABERDEEN

A section of Mark Devlin's guest DJ set at Iced Out, Espionage in Aberdeen, Sunday 23rd November '08. Click on the following link to download:

http://www.sendspace.com/file/3o44xl

DAP-C ACOUSTIC FREESTYLE ON FM107.9'S JUST BUGGIN'

UK hip hop MC Dap-C performs an exclusive live freestyle on Mark Devlin's 'Just Buggin' show, alongside acoustic guitarist Phil Ashmore.

Monday 10 November 2008

THE PLUMP DJs PERFORM AT THE REGAL, OXFORD

Famed UK breaks DJ duo The Plump DJs put in a live performance at 300, The Regal nightclub, Oxford, 7th November '08.

MD'S TOUR DIARY, NOVEMBER 2008














There are certain things that only psychopaths, raving nutters or DJs would do. I hope I fit into only the last of the three categories. Saturday 1st November marked the latest such incident, when I travelled from London to Paris to play a gig, stayed up all night, and came straight back first thing in the morning.

Despite having DJ-ed in almost every other country in Europe, bookings in France had always eluded me. I've always put this down to the fact that the nation has its own strong urban music scene, and really doesn't need any input from foreigners. It's either that or just a continuation of the long-running resentment that England and France have always had for each other! I scored the booking, at the upmarket Salons Du Louvre, with only 48 hours notice, and at that late stage in the day, all flights to Paris had become prohibitively expensive. The only remotely affordable option was the Eurostar Channel tunnel train - a highly practical one in the circumstances.

I'd only travelled on the Eurostar once before, in '96 when London departures left from Waterloo. Now they have a new dedicated terminal at King's Cross St. Pancras, where boarding procedures are very similar to that of an airport. I took the penultimate departure, arriving into Paris' Gare Du Nord at 11pm. The plan was to save further cost by avoiding a hotel and simply spending all night at the club.

Throughout the e-mailing and texting process I'd been liaising with the promoter in French, cobbling together as many phrases and words as I could remember from my A' level days of many moons ago. I was quite chuffed when he remarked 'your French is pretty good' - although the real acid test is in speaking it, rather than writing. I had plenty of practice of that too.

The club was still empty when I arrived at midnight. It was a slow burn warm-up process, but sure enough, a couple of hours later it was absolutely heaving. Salons is clearly where Paris' black clubbing population go to party, and the whole spectrum of urban music got an airing as I span my set between the Hard Level DJs Noize and Ou-mar. All in all a great night. Security and management were showing no urgent desire to get everyone out once the night had finished, and it took over an hour to empty, resulting in a few drunken brawls. That would never happen in England. Five minutes after closing, the bar staff and toilet cleaners are the only bodies left in the building. I made my way back to Gare Du Nord ready for my 8am return train, arriving home completely shattered at midday and sinking straight into bed. The things we (I) do in search of the perfect party.

Parveen and myself went to a press screening of ‘Quantum Of Solace’ the following week. Here’s my verdict, as delivered for a review in the Bucks Herald:

Second outings for new James Bonds are always tricky affairs. Timothy Dalton’s ‘Licence To Kill’ and Pierce Brosnan’s ‘Tomorrow Never Dies’ paled next to their superior predecessors. Now, all eyes are on Daniel Craig’s sophomore 007 performance.
CGI sequences notwithstanding, ‘Quantum Of Solace’ succeeds as a solid, gritty and consistently engrossing outing. It’s a lean one, too, clocking it at only 107 minutes as the shortest of all the 22 Bonds.
The plotline picks up where ‘Casino Royale’ ends, with Bond investigating the organisation that caused the death of Vesper, his former lover, and seeking the solace of the title by avenging her. Via diversions in Haiti and Austria, the trail leads to Bolivia, where oily philanthropist Dominic Greene, (Matthieu Almaric) is engineering a political coup, naturally involving vested interests. Bond links with Camille, (Olga Kurylenko,) who has her own personal vendetta.
Happily, 007’s cruel streak has been retained – he finishes off a disarmed enemy as calmly as if he were making tea, and dumps the body of a slaughtered ally in a garbage skip. And there’s further blurring of the lines between heroes and villains. The days of lip-smacking baddies skulking in their lairs and henchmen with amusing physical defects are long gone.
As well as those of acid-penned critics and diehard fans, all eyes at production company Eon are going to be firmly fixed on ‘Quantum’, as executives aim to make this Bond’s most successful box office outing. Based on what they’ve delivered, it’s a status that would be highly deserved.

300, the ultra-successful student night at the spacious Regal in Oxford continued its programme of big-name guests on Friday 7th with The Plump DJs. Although I was aware of who they were, I was largely unfamiliar with their style, which sounded very breaks-driven, and similar to that of The Scratch Perverts a couple of weeks earlier. There's a piece of footage from their set up on my Youtube page - www.youtube.com/markdevlintv

Sleep was regrettably lacking from the weekend's agenda. First thing on Saturday, Parveen kindly got up early to take me back to Oxford, from where I caught a coach to Heathrow Airport, ready to fly with Croatia Airlines to Zagreb. With our baby now only five to six weeks away, my days of travelling are soon to be temporarily curtailed. The strategy with November was to fit a few eleventh-hour trips into the diary, before remaining at home until January.

This was my fifth Croatian visit. On this occasion, for the purpose of spinning at Maraschino Bar in the capital city. I'd spun at the same company's spot in the Adriatic coastal town of Zadar during the Summer.

The day gave an opportunity to link with Phat Phillie, without doubt the all-round hip-hop Kingpin of Croatia. His Blackout show has run weekly on Zagreb Radio 101 for the past fifteen years, he's involved in production for US artists including Masta Ace and Rasco alongside beatmaster Koolade, and he's recently started his own Bumsquad Magazine, a franchise of the DJ collective of the same name. We caught up over lunch and a few beers. Vegetarians aren’t enthusiastically catered for in Croatia. A few slices of cheese and a bowl of tomato soup was all I could find.

Armed with a street map, I walked from my hotel to Maraschino. The venue was reassuringly heaving as I got ushered to the downstairs DJ booth for an immediate start. I played for four hours straight, ripping through styles and tempos, and the atmosphere was on fire, providing another reminder of just how satisfying playing to overseas crowds generally is.

There was a price to pay. Croatia has yet to get the public smoking ban - it's finally due in April next year. The thick stinking haze made my eyes sting, and my clothes and all my possessions, even down to my camera case, reeked sickeningly of stale fag smoke on the journey home. I'd forgotten all about this depressing aspect of the job, which used to be the case every weekend until just 15 months ago.

When I finally hang up my headphones, (which hopefully won't be for a good few years yet,) another factor that I sure won't miss is the sleep deprivation. I got barely an hour of shuteye before having to return to the airport for a punishingly early flight home. For the second Sunday running, I spent the afternoon asleep at home, catching some essential Zs.

I got a night off from G’s and a rare opportunity to play the main room at The Second Bridge in Bath on Thursday 13th. Twice a month the venue operates a specialist night called Second Bass, dealing with electronica for one session, followed by R&B and hip hop for the next. Considering it closed at 2, I was getting concerned when the venue was still empty at 11.30. But an hour later there was a highly respectable turnout of enthusiastic urban heads, (as opposed to mainstream randoms,) and the place certainly rocked. Friday night saw an equally rammed and lively session of 300 at the theatre-like Regal in Oxford. 48 hours after the last session, I was back in Bath on Saturday night for my monthly session in The Vaults. Short of anything really profound happening, (which it didn’t,) it gets difficult to think of new things to say about regular recurring gigs. So I’ll leave it at that.

By late November, our advanced training in sleep deprivation seemed to be in full effect. My sleeping ‘patterns’ have been shot to pieces for years anyway. Now, Parveen’s disturbed routines have been added to the picture. With our baby now less than a month away, it’s all useful grounding. With six late nights in a row starting on Wednesday 19th, daytime naps were the only way to cope.

The sequence contained mainly routine outings – the radio show, a Bicester, an Oxford and two Watfords. The standout was my trip to Scotland on Sunday 23rd – the last time I can afford to be more than a couple of hours from home until into the new year.

With Britain’s cold snap making the headlines, I checked the websites avidly, expecting the event, Iced Out at Espionage, to be living up to its name. In the event, although snowbound, Aberdeen was no less chilly than Birmingham. After watching ‘The Empire Strikes Back’ in my hotel room, I linked for bite to eat with my DJ homie David Craig, still the key player in Scotland, (now Glasgow-based,) before moving up Union Street to the multi-levelled Espionage. Dave’s been running Sundays there for an impressive six years. On this occasion the night wasn’t particularly busy, but we still had fun with the music, and there’s a recording of part of my set available for download at http://www.sendspace.com/file/3o44xl. Also hanging out in the DJ booth was off-duty DJ Kojo, a walking electronic database who has a phenomenal knowledge of artists, tracks, producer credits and labels when it comes to 90s urban music. We had the kind of avid anorackish chat that would make my wife yawn with boredom and head for the nearest exit.

Friday 7 November 2008

CONSEQUENCE: JOB SONG

Check this out - hot Consequence joint and video, produced by the dude Koolade outta Croatia

Friday 31 October 2008

Thursday 30 October 2008

PARIS-ZAGREB














Mark Devlin hits a couple of European capitals for some DJing action this month.
First off, it’s all about Paris on Saturday 1st November. Despite spinning in almost every other country in Europe, this actually marks MD’s first ever time gracing a pair of decks in France. The party is an R&B Fabulous affair at Salons Du Louvres, a stylish upmarket spot in the city’s Rue Jean-Jacques Rousseau.
A week later, on Saturday 8th, it’s a return to the Croatian capital of Zagreb, for a musically diverse session to keep the punters bouncing at Maraschino Bar.
As ever, pics, diary reports and video snippets from each gig will be posted soon afterwards.

CLASSIC AUDIO – MD WITH DJ 279 ON CHOICE FM

Hold tight for another big batch of tape rips from the vaults soon. In the meantime, here’s the audio from when MD guested on DJ 279’s Sunday Nite Flavas show on Choice FM in April 2002.
The feature is Three From The Old School, where a guest selects a trio of all-time favourite hip-hop tunes, and explains why each means so much to them. To discover MD’s choices, just click on the download link below.

http://www.sendspace.com/file/ldun6b

Sunday 26 October 2008

MD'S HOT JOINTS, NOVEMBER 2008



















HOT JOINTS

The ten that are blowing up the radio airwaves and/ or rocking dancefloors this month.


SHAUN BOOTHE: THE UNAUTHORIZED BIOGRAPHY OF BOB MARLEY (White)

Inspired by Nas’ ‘The Unauthorised Biography of Rakim’, this is the second in a twelve-part video series appearing on Youtube, each volume paying lyrical homage to a particular black legend, (first was James Brown, next is Muhammad Ali. Toronto MC Boothe does an admirable job of fitting Marley’s life into a four-minute potted history, which is never short of fascinating.


T.I, KANYE WEST, LIL WAYNE & JAY-Z: SWAGGER LIKE US (Atlantic)

Taking a line from MIA’s fascinatingly original ‘Paper Planes’ as its central sample, any joint that combines the four most talked about US rappers of 2008 was guaranteed to be a hard-hitter, if only for the hype value alone. Happily, this goes further, each MC doing them over the slightly sinister resonant rhythm track.


DAP-C FEAT. TALIB KWELI, LIL WAYNE & ROYCE DA 5'9: MA MONEY (White)

A killer combination cut of the kind that comes along only rarely these days. Strictly on the underground tip – grimy lyrics over a stark, abrasive, relentlessly rolling beat. Hell, even Wayne sounds vaguely blazing on this!


BEYONCE: SINGLE LADIES/ IF I WERE A BOY (Sony)

The Knowles Hitmaking Factory, (powered as much by pops Matthew as by Beyonce or Solange themselves,) know a trick or two about pulling a catchy girl-friendly club bubbler out of the air, and it can’t have taken long to put all the elements together for ‘Single Ladies’. It’s no ‘Crazy In Love’, but it’ll get asses shaking and tonsils wobbling. ‘If I Were A Boy’, meanwhile, sees B slip into meaningful songwriting territory - even if the same theme was explored only last year on Ciara’s ‘Like A Boy.’


LL COOL J: OLD SCHOOL NEW SCHOOL/ IT’S TIME FOR WAR (Def Jam)

LL’s quality control may have been patchy at times, but you can’t take away the fact that he’s now been putting out hit records consistently for almost 25 years. Seriously, is there any other artist who can say this? His ’08 album, ‘Exit 13’, is a return to hard-hitting form, and these are the two standout cuts. Boom-banging energetic hip hop the way it should have always remained.


ESTELLE Featuring SEAN PAUL: COME OVER

Estelle’s style sits comfortably in reggae territory, as evidenced a few times on her excellent ‘Shine’ album, and this follows ‘No Substitute Love’ in semi lovers’ rock fashion. Sean Paul’s interjections join with the catchy melody to make this a mainstream winner.


DEVIN THE DUDE: CAN'T MAKE IT HOME (Cinematic)

... as opposed to Devlin The Dude, which is of course me. Known primarily as an entertaining sidekick of Dr. Dre, it’s only now that Devin stands to be recognised as an A-list artist in his own right. This certainly does the trick – Nate Dogg-style vocal meanderings about the consequences of a heavy night on the tiles, over a blissfully souled-out beat.


SIR SMURF LIL: A NEW BLOODLINE (Album) (Grindstone)

Don’t be put off by the nonsensical artist name. The Hackney wordsmith comes with a truly absorbing and mesmeric selection that’s enough to restore any cynic’s belief in the art of real hip hop. Standout cuts are the sublimely-rhythmed ‘Blossom’, the surreal ‘Graveyard Shift’, and the touchingly poignant ‘The Lord’s Chorus’, set to an interpolation of Grace Jones’ ‘Slave To The Rhythm.’


TRAEDONYA Featuring PATRA: ALL NIGHT LONG (Prohibition)

Jersey City native Trae’s been around for a minute, and was credited with creating the genre of ‘hip-hopera’ on her ‘Naked Gun’ of a few years ago. Here, she gives her considerable vocal powerhouse an airing on a cool update of the Rick James/ Mary Jane Girls evergreen, and deserves extra props for re-introducing the world to Patra, the undisputed queen of mid-90s reggae dancehall.

BOBBY VALENTINO: BEEP (DTP)

Not too complicated a songwriting formula here, and an ‘Umbrella’-style monster it ain’t. But I guess we can be grateful there’s no goddam vocoder all over it! Bobby stays in the familiar twittering midtempo mould for which he’s now known.

Saturday 25 October 2008

THE SCRATCH PERVERTS PERFORM AT 300, THE REGAL, OXFORD



The legendary Scratch Perverts turntablist crew put in a live performance as part of 300 at The Regal, Cowley Road, Oxford. Friday 24th October 2008.

Monday 6 October 2008

MD'S TOUR DIARY, OCTOBER 2008

Anyone who’s read my book ‘Tales From The Flipside’ might recall me mentioning a dude called Damien Mendis in one of the early chapters. We went to school together in the backwaters of Oxfordshire, and since then he’s gone on to become a highly successful record producer working on both sides of the Atlantic. A quick glance under his name on www.discogs.com shows his extensive track record so far, the highlights being remixes on Foxy Brown’s ‘I’ll Be’ and Brandy’s ‘Full Moon’. Sadly, we lost touch at the end of the 80s, and apart from a brief reunion when he visited a club I was spinning at in Bristol in 1997 with his act Akin, we haven’t seen each other since.

Damien’s now back in the UK for a short while, and in the first week of October, we finally got the chance to link up in a quiet pub in Witney. Catching up on twenty years of career memories was always going to take a while, and I feel we did pretty well to get it into three and a half hours. It was fulfilling to exchange stories on what each of us has been up to since the days when we used to bring radio cassette players into school on Tuesday lunchtimes to avidly catch Gary Davies revealing the brand new Top 40 on Radio One. Really shouldn’t leave it so long next time.

Regular business for Wednesday, Thursday and Friday with ‘Just Buggin’, G’s and 300 at The Regal respectively. Saturday 4th involved my monthly trek to The Second Bridge in Bath. The venue’s just opened its trendy new feeder bar upstairs, and I took a quick look before descending to The Vaults level. All town and city centres have their hazards at 2am on a Sunday morning, and Bath is no exception. The town’s got a high student population, and their levels of responsibility and tolerance when it comes to alcohol leave a lot to be desired. While in cities like Newcastle and Glasgow you might worry about getting your windscreen aggressively smashed, in Bath, naïve, spoilt college kids out of their minds of champagne and falling into the road is more the thing to watch out for.

When it comes to hip hop towns, Abingdon, just South of Oxford, isn't exactly up there with the likes of London, Bristol and Nottingham. I should know - I lived there for eight years. So I was intrigued when I came across an Abingdon-based MC by the name of Gillespie on Myspace, and promptly invited him in for a live radio spot on 'Just Buggin' on Wednesday 8th. Gillespie's made use of the mundane way of life in his hometown as inspiration for his lyrics. As a result, his songs come across as a kind of musical version of a Mike Leigh or Ken Loach movie - gritty social realism. As well as addressing heavy issues like Britain's gun and knife culture, however, he knows how to fool around and display a sense of humour. His resulting live freestyle made for another piece of classic radio. There's a piece of footage from the session on my Youtube channel - www.youtube.com/markdevlintv

Once the rest of the weekend was out of the way, (ending with Que Pasa in Watford on Saturday night), Parveen and myself were free to set off on a long-awaited luxury hotel break. She's now seven months pregnant and feeling the strain so I felt a spot of pampering was in order. Flying's out of the equation at this late stage, so we'd booked into the Alexander Hotel in West Sussex for the Sunday, followed by the Spa Hotel in Royal Tunbridge Wells for the next night. Being the last time we'd get away before the big occasion, we made full use of the hotel's facilities, (which notably marked my first time in a gym and swimming pool for an embarrassingly long time.) The weather held out, too. The pattern’s always the same; I get so entrenched in my work, I find it difficult to initially make the break and relax. But after a couple of days away from the computer, not to mention an incredible Destress massage, I’d have been more than happy to spend another week.

It was back to the grindstone on Wednesday. I now produce two weekly radio shows. Besides ‘Just Buggin’, I put together an hour-long revival mix called ‘The UK Throwback’ for K Sera Radio, a new black/ urban station operated by Australian Radio Networks. (Check it out at www.kseraradio.com) Only a few years ago, such an arrangement would have been nigh-on impossible; the time taken to get a DAT tape halfway round the world, even by courier, would have presented logistical and administrative nightmares. Now, in the age of FTP and upload sites, a show can be sent down under in minutes. My show airs on Sundays at 6pm Australian East Coast time, which equates to 8am on Sunday in the UK, a time when, if I’m not fast asleep, something has gone seriously wrong.

My newly-washed Case Logic CD wallet got exhumed for G’s on Thursday night. The previous week some careless twat had knocked an alcopop into it, causing sticky havoc. The only way to remedy things had been to strip the wallet of all CDs, (which had to be individually wiped down,) soak the wallet in soapy water, then dry out in the airing cupboard. (I’d overlooked the fact that the cover interiors were made of cardboard, so now the whole thing’s weirdly mis-shapen.) It’s this type of ‘accident’ that makes me so wary of adopting a laptop-based DJing approach. CDs can be replaced, but the impact of having some fool knock a drink in to your laptop just doesn’t bear thinking about. I’d also be terrified of leaving it unguarded in the booth even to go to the toilet for a few minutes. Maybe it’s just the DJ company I keep?

Although getting paid twice on the same night is never a problem for me, I can’t say I’m a great fan of playing more than one gig in a night. The racing around, combined with trying to put in a top-notch performance at both gigs, is just too hectic. The latest situation occurred on Friday 17th, anyway, with a schedule which at least looked neat and manageable on paper. First off was 300 at the massive Regal in Oxford, a night that’s turning out to be rammed every single week. My set was interspersed with a performance from an electronic one-man-band by the name of James Yuill, who looks more like an accountant than a dance music star. He sings, plays guitar and programmes live beats in a fusion of indie and electronica. Not entirely my cup of tea musically, but a fascinating performance from a name who’s seemingly poised to become big news.

On after me each week are a succession of student DJs from Oxford Brookes University, and for the third week running, the guy up next had failed to turn up with a pair of working headphones. Like the others, he’d simply assumed he could use the previous DJ’s cans, not considering the possibility that I might have to leave with them straight away. I’ve no idea how they’ve coped playing to a packed room from up on a stage when I’ve exited with the only working pair, but to honest, it’s their problem. Ensuring you’ve packed a working pair of headphones before you leave for a gig is fundamental to being a professional.

After battling my way across the Regal dancefloor, I had two hours to get to Bournemouth for a 2-4am set at Toko, right in the town’s lively club and bar hub. This marked the opening session of Sweet As Candy, a new night being operated on the club’s lower level by Bournemouth DJ Adam Bomb. For one of those inexplicable reasons that’s hard to put your finger on, the town’s venues had taken a hit on numbers, and Toko wasn’t busy. We did, however, manage to play some seriously heavy tunes to a few appreciative heads. Toko’s DJ booth was unlit, and the only way I could read my CDs was to constantly flash my mobile phone’s display light on them. I eventually realised that every time I’d been doing this, I’d been inadvertently entering the phone’s internet mode. It’s going to be an expensive bill next month. It was 6.30am by the time I eventually fell into bed. Twelve hours later, I was back on the road for the latest instalment of Vivente at Que Pasa in Watford, finishing at the blessedly ‘early’ time of 1am.

300 at The Regal on Friday 24th marked the appearance of The Scratch Perverts, and I had the job of hyping up the crowd before their performance. An extended job, as it turned out, with them arriving 30 minutes late. As is the standard DJ etiquette, I started to point out to Prime Cuts where the booth monitor control was on to the Pioneer DJM909 mixer. ‘It’s OK, I know,’ he said. ‘We designed it’. Oops. The Perverts went on to captivate the crowd with an energetic three-man, four-deck, two-CD, two DJ-mixer set, which was far more into electronica territory than anything resembling hip hop. I’ve posted a piece of footage on www.youtube.com/markdevlintv, where you can see just how rammed to the rafters this night was.

The only other thing to say about the weekend was that the extra hour of sleep after The Bridge owing to the clocks going back was very much appreciated!

I’ve visited a handful of European cities in a single day, and Madrid became the latest on Tuesday 28th. I headed out at the crack of dawn, arriving home after a very scary snow-bound return at 9pm. The occasion was a quick meeting with the European Vibe club promotions crew, who handle the city’s most successful urban music parties. It’s run by English ex-pat Scott Edwards, and we discussed some potential new contributions to their magazine, along with a couple of Spanish gigs in ’09. Sadly, it pissed down all day, the strong winds blowing my umbrella inside out several times, but being my first time in the Spanish capital, the elements had to be braved in order to take in some of the sights. My beloved Apple iBook is finally back from repair and the day marked the first time I’d been able to use it to pass the time on a flight for several weeks. Editing an audio mix on headphones sure beats crosswords.

The last excursion of the month saw another double-header, starting off with The Regal. Being Halloween, the queue of freakishly-dressed punters was already stretching round the block when I arrived at 10pm, and there was barely room to move on the spacious dancefloor. The 300 night is nothing if not diverse. A week after The Scratch Perverts, I was given the job of introducing an extremely camp snake charmer act complete with lesbian sex simulation, and a 12-foot python. You know, as you do.

Straight after finishing, I set off for Swindon to guest alongside Dale Colsell, aka DJ Cybernetic, at the launch of his new monthly Cybernetic Soul night at Rehab, (formerly The Studio.) This promised to be highly musically satisfying, having been marketed as a night of real music for people who feel music. As anticipated the night had drawn a quality mature crowd, and between us we dropped a very broad selection of 80s grooves, soul, funk, disco, old school hip-hop and neo-soul. This was exactly the sort of gig I’d choose to go and hang out at on a night off – and there’s not many I can say that about. The only thing that marred an otherwise perfect session was the club’s sound system, which had been set to eardrum-splitting decibel levels. My ears were still ringing the following morning. I recently read the account of Way Out West’s Jody Wisternoff concerning the acute case of tinitus he picked up from playing a gig with mind-melting decibel levels. It’s certainly a cause for concern.

… and that was October.

Tuesday 30 September 2008

A NEW BATCH OF CLASSIC VINTAGE AUDIO TO DOWNLOAD!














CLASSIC AUDIO – A NEW BATCH OF GEMS FROM THE ARCHIVES!

Yes, people, it’s classic audio time again, with a handful of new cassette and minidisc rips from deep in the vaults. The last batch got such a good reaction, that it’s only right we now make it a regular part of the website.

Here’s what we’ve mined this month:


MILLENNIUM NIGHT 1999/ 2000, APOCALYPSE, CARDIFF

Another chance to catch the classic New Year’s Eve jam from Apocalypse in Cardiff as the 20th century turned into the 21st. Kid Fury entertains on the mic, while Mark Devlin spins the monster tunes of ‘99, (and occasionally slurs, evidently drunkenly, on the mic.) Check the reference to ‘we made it – the world didn’t end’. Remember all those doomsday prophesies? Kinda an appropriate venue name in the circumstances.
http://www.sendspace.com/file/75ztfm


MD’S BIRTHDAY JAM, 2000

A recording from the days when I used to stage Birthday club gigs, (really can’t be arsed any more!) This is a highly memorable one from May 2000 at Colours club in Oxford. First off, The Chocolate Boys dig deep in the crates, with Tony ‘Naked’ Nanton spinning UK garage, weekender anthems and new jack swing, while Danny ‘MSD’ Whittaker puts in some wicked mic work. (Classic quote from Tony – ‘this one’s for people who don’t wear tracksuits to social gatherings.’) Then it’s the turn of Stretch Taylor, ending the night with an imaginative selection of revivals. Wonderful times. Now, THIS is the way to celebrate a birthday!
http://www.sendspace.com/file/v7dbpc


BLAZING FREESTYLE SESSION, RUBBER SOUL, CAMBRIDGE, 2000

I remember cutting short a mini tour of Germany and turning down a gig in Berlin in order to get back for this session of Rubber Soul, an incredible hip hop session that used to run at The Junction in Cambridge. Listening back to this, I have no regrets about my decision. This night was ON FIRE! Three MCs, the mighty Lethal, Kid Fury, and Master G of The Starlight Crew spit with a vengeance on the mic, while Stretch Taylor and myself juggle rhythms, and straight blaze with some reggae dancehall and hip hop killers. This was one of the livest club nights I’ve ever had the good fortune to be involved with, and the amazing atmosphere really comes across on this. This was cleaned up for radio play a while ago – check the reverse-swear-word edit on Akafella’s ‘Put It In My Mouth’ at the end – it’s nothing short of pant-p*ssingly hilarious!
http://www.sendspace.com/file/quvai9


MD AT STADT PALAIS, MONCHENGLADBACH, GERMANY, 2000

I played regularly in Germany around this time, and this gig happened in Feb 2000 at the big Stadt Palais venue. As I blaze through the joints, an unidentified MC, (forgot the dude’s name – but he’s hot!) handles the mic, before Germany’s DJ Sake steps up on deck duty.
http://www.sendspace.com/file/dobymz


MD & KID FURY RAGGA SEQUENCE, JOINTS & JAMS, 2000

A fondly remembered section of the ‘Joints & Jams’ show that Mark Devlin and Kid Fury used to present on Oxygen 107.9 was the ragga sequence. Here, Fury adopted the persona of his old Jamaican uncle (‘or ‘huncle’ if you say it in a Ja. Accent,) to pass comment on the latest reggae dancehall offerings, while Selektah Devlin spun the riddims. This one’s a classic example of the sort of fooling around that used to go on.
http://www.sendspace.com/file/4spf1j