OLD SCHOOL JAMS AT 411 CLUB, CARDIFF, SATURDAY 19th MAY

All set for this one next month. Old school hip-hop jams at Cardiff's heaviest spot, 411 Club, alongside my homie from Latvia, DJ Ai-va.

DEDICATED TO EVERYONE WHO'S EVER SAID ANY KIND OF DUMB SHIT TO A DJ...

STUPID SHIT PEOPLE SAY TO A DJ IN A CLUB/

THE EQUIVALENT THING TO SAY TO A CHEF IN A RESTAURANT

CAN'T YOU PLAY SOMETHING WE CAN DANCE TO?/

CAN'T YOU COOK SOMETHING WE CAN EAT?

CAN'T YOU PLAY SOMETHING WITH A BIT OF A BEAT?/

CAN'T YOU COOK SOMETHING WITH A BIT OF FLAVOUR?

IF YOU PLAY RIHANNA NEXT, EVERYONE WILL DANCE/

IF YOU COOK A SHEPHERD'S PIE, EVERYONE WILL EAT

YOU'VE GOT TO PLAY TO THE CROWD ... MAKE PEOPLE DANCE/

YOU'VE GOT TO COOK FOR THE DINERS... MAKE THEM EAT

I'M AN MC, BRUV. LET ME SPIT LYRICS ON THE MIC FOR A BIT, YEAH?/

I'M A COOK, BRUV. LET ME STIR UP A QUICK STEW ON YOUR OVEN, YEAH?

I DON'T KNOW WHAT IT'S CALLED OR WHO IT'S BY, BUT IT WAS ON RADIO 1 LAST WEEK/

I DON'T KNOW WHAT THE DISH IS OR WHAT'S IN IT, BUT JAMIE OLIVER ONCE MADE IT

DO YOU HAVE THE NEW SOULJA BOY?

NO

HANG ON, I'VE GOT IT ON MY PHONE. CAN YOU PLAY IT OFF THAT?/ 

DO YOU HAVE TAGLIATELLI VERDI?

NO

HANG ON, I JUST BOUGHT SOME FROM WAITROSE. CAN YOU COOK IT UP FOR ME?

CAN YOU PLAY BRYAN ADAMS 'SUMMER OF 69' AND JASON DERULO 'RIDIN' SOLO'?

(IT'S AN UNDERGROUND HIP-HOP NIGHT/ 

CAN I HAVE SUSHI, FOLLOWED BY CHICKEN KORMA?

(IT'S A MEXICAN RESTAURANT)

HEY MR DJ! (WHILST MIMING ACTION OF SCRATCHING RECORD WITH HEADPHONE CUPPED TO EAR)

HEY MR CHEF! (WHILST MIMING ACTION OF WHISKING AN EGG WITH ONE HAND AND ROLLING SOME PASTRY WITH THE OTHER.)

*

HERE'S THE BOTTOM LINE. NO-ONE WOULD BE MORONIC ENOUGH TO SAY ANY OF THE SECOND PHRASES TO A CHEF 

IN A RESTAURANT, (OR WOULD BE MADE TO FEEL LIKE A TOTAL PLUM IF THEY DID), AND NO CHEF WOULD PUT UP WITH IT.

SO WHY DO WE DJ'S HAVE TO SUFFER THIS MONUMENTAL STUPIDITY EVERY FUCKING WEEKEND!

NOW DO YOU GET IT?!

HOLOGRAPHIC ARTISTS: R.I.P ORIGINAL THOUGHT (FROM BLACK SHEEP MAGAZINE)

Black Sheep Mag's Shaun Shearer goes in on this one! (Taken from http://www.blacksheepmag.com)

*

2008: Kanye West announces he's releasing an Autotune album. P Diddy announces he's doing the same thing. 2012: Dr Dre unveils a Tupac hologram on stage at Coachella: Michael Jackson's family announce they're considering taking an MJ hologram on tour. 2013: Will.i.am jumps into an industrial food blender. Nicki Minaj follows suit. (Ah well, we can dream.)
 
Jeez, what a state the music industry must be in when holograms of long-deceased artists are now considered live show high points. If the corporate machine, (or those forces that control and direct it, at least) hadn't murdered all its best artists in the first place, there'd be no need for holograms. But seemingly that's the point. It all bears out the old adage that an artist is far worth more to a corporation dead than alive. 

Tupac is a case in point. Here's an artist who, at best, released no more than five good records during his living years, but has had absolutely every scrap of his output cynically exploited and wrung-out for the past 15 years and counting - most of it tracks that were rejected for release at the time. Why might that be, do we think? 

And the kids go for it every time, cos it's so cool to be into a slain legend, right, a fallen soldier? Does anyone think Tupac would have achieved even a fraction of his legendary status if he'd lived?  There's no doubt that if he was still around, he'd be churning out mind-poisoning, brain cell-killing electro pop shite with the likes of David Guetta, just like fellow hang-on-to-my-salary-at-any-cost-fuck-the-real-fans-that-gave-me-my-name sell-outs like Snoop and Busta.

Now, there's talk of a Michael Jackson hologram being taken on the tour circuit, and you just know that somebody watched the Coachella fiasco and thought to themselves, 'damn, we could squeeze even more money out of MJ with one of those!' I can't help but be reminded of the movie 'Weekend At Bernie's', where two teenagers accidentally kill their boss, then spend the rest of the film propping up his corpse and passing him off as alive.

It's an indication of just how creatively on its knees the industry machine really is, and it only has itself to blame as the conveyor belt continues to churn out soulless drones like Lil Wayne, Drake, Rick Ross and Nicki Minaj. The excuse for such banal tripe is always the same: 'We're only responding to demand and giving the people what they want.' But the truth is, the masses will take anything that's presented to them, so if the industry really wanted to be creative and innovative, and usher in new sounds and styles - and overall, music with a bit of soul, warmth and humanity - all it would need to do is unleash that style of output, and the public would embrace it is readily as they have all the garbage. Clearly, then, the industry has no interest in such moves, and it's suited its agenda to go on peddling shite.  Which now means it needs to rely on holographic projections of long-dead artists to generate excitement at live shows.

What's with the unquestioning reverence towards technology anyway?. Just because something is 'the latest breakthrough', does that automatically make it something to be embraced?  Who actually enjoys feeling the will to breathe slowly draining away whilst listening to robot messages and waiting a decade for a human being to speak to when calling a corporation?  Remember when, if you saw a car go over a cliff in a movie, they actually had to send a real car over a real cliff to film it? Remember when an artist performing on stage was actually alive and really there? Were those days so bad?

Anyway, if technology excites you, just wait til babies are microchipped at birth, cyborgs patrol the streets enforcing state laws, and there's no more cash. Great, huh?!

So quite frankly, anyone impressed by a 3D projection of a piece of footage that you can probably get on Youtube, and brainwashed enough to part with cash to watch it, deserves to be duped and conned for every penny.

But in an age where Nicki Minaj can go triple platinum, anything is possible.

FISH OUT OF WATER, BANK HOLIDAY MONDAY ON OX105FM

I'm getting set for what looks like being the most intriguing and unusual radio show of my career.

On Bank Holiday Monday, 7th May, I'll be hosting Fish Out Of Water on OX105FM. The idea is to invite in three of the station's specialist DJs to pick a handful of tracks that mean a lot to them, and to explain why.

The twist is that it has to be music that no-one would ever imagine them to be into. So whether it's a D&B DJ picking an indie track, a hip-hop DJ picking an obscure film score, etc, I'm looking to take these DJs outside of their musical comfort zones. Deep, dark secrets and the odd guilty pleasure throughout. I'll also be selecting a few of my own choices. Anything could happen ... and hopefully will.

The show airs from 7 to 9pm, streaming live at http://www.ox105fm.com. I'm looking forward to what promises to be a highly interesting couple of hours!

THE SOUND OF NOW. PLAYLIST & LISTEN AGAIN DOWNLOAD LINKS FOR 21/4/12

THE SOUND OF NOW, WITH MARK DEVLIN, OX105FM (WWW.OX105FM.COM)
PLAYLIST FOR SATURDAY 21ST APRIL 2012

Part 1:

Part 2:


MELEKA. LOVE YOU BABY (TS7 REMIX)

JODIE AYSHA. IT'S OVER (CANT GET MY LOVE) (ARDO DUBSTEP REMIX)

MILK. BROKE UP THE FAMILY (KENNY KEN REMIX)

STREET BEAT OF THE WEEK:
GAME FEAT. FAT JOE AND YOUNG CHRIS. GREY STONE

WILL.I.AM FEAT. TERRY DEXTER: LAY ME DOWN

M3NSA FEAT. TERRI WALKER & FANTI. LOVE SONG (REMIX)

OLD TO THE NEW:
CONSEQUENCE FEAT. JOHN LEGEND & KANYE WEST: SO SOULFUL

CONSEQUENCE: TRUST FUND BABY

WAZE & ODYSSEY. SAY YES

POUSSEZ VS DEMARKUS LEWIS FEAT. HANNAH KHEMOH: PASSIN THRU (SEAN MCCABE VOCAL REMIX)

THE SOUND OF THEN:
DIANA BROWN & BARRIE K SHARPE: THE MASTERPLAN (1990)

YOUNG DISCIPLES: APPARENTLY NOTHING (1990)

MASSIVE ATTACK: UNFINISHED SYMPATHY (1990)

JAY ELECTRONICA: DEAR MOLESKINE

BUDDY FEAT. KENDRICK LAMAR: STAIRCASES

EDUCATED CONSUMERS: PEACE OF MIND

DREADCHILD: THE DEFINITION

GAME FEAT. LUPE FIASCO. SKATE ON

GANG STARR: MOMENT OF TRUTH (1998)

JULIA CHANNELK: FOREVER AND A DAY (GARAGE REMIX)

SPIN DOCTORS: DJ PLAY (NEWCASTLE) OLD SCHOOL UK GARAGE 2 STEP MIX

FISH OUT OF WATER, BANK HOLIDAY MONDAY ON OX105FM

I'm getting set for what looks like being the most intriguing and unusual radio show of my career.

On Bank Holiday Monday, 7th May, I'll be hosting Fish Out Of Water on OX105FM. The idea is to invite in three of the station's specialist DJs to pick a handful of tracks that mean a lot to them, and to explain why.

The twist is that it has to be music that no-one would ever imagine them to be into. So whether it's a D&B DJ picking an indie track, a hip-hop DJ picking an obscure film score, etc, I'm looking to take these DJs outside of their musical comfort zones. Deep, dark secrets and the odd guilty pleasure throughout. I'll also be selecting a few of my own choices. Anything could happen ... and hopefully will.

The show airs from 7 to 9pm, streaming live at http://www.ox105fm.com. I'm looking forward to what promises to be a highly interesting couple of hours!

MD'S CLUB/ RADIO DATES, APRIL/ MAY '12

Friday 20th April
The Living Room, Milton Keynes

Saturday 21st April
The Sound Of Now, OX4FM, Oxford (6-8pm)
(DJ Play old-school UKG mix)

Saturday 21st April
The Living Room, Bristol

Thursday 26th April
The Living Room, Tower Bridge, London

Friday 27th April
The Living Room, Milton Keynes

Saturday 28th April
The Sound Of Now, OX4FM, Oxford (6-8pm)

Saturday 28th April
The Living Room, Bristol

Friday 4th May
The Living Room, Milton Keynes

Saturday 5th May
The Sound Of Now, OX4FM, Oxford (6-8pm)

Saturday 5th May
The Living Room, Bristol

Monday 7th May
BANK HOLIDAY MONDAY
Fish Out Of Water, OX105FM, Oxford (7-9pm)

Thursday 10th May
The Living Room, Tower Bridge, London

Friday 11th May
Yates', Bicester

Saturday 12th May
The Earl, The Second Bridge, Bath

Friday 18th May
The Living Room, Milton Keynes

Saturday 19th May
The Sound Of Now, OX4FM, Oxford (6-8pm)
(Latvia's DJ Ai-va in the live mix)

Saturday 19th May
Old School Jams, 411 Club, Cardiff, WALES
(With Latvia's DJ Ai-va)

Thursday 24th May
The Living Room, Tower Bridge, London

Friday 25th May
The Living Room, Milton Keynes

Saturday 26th May
The Sound Of Now, OX4FM, Oxford (6-8pm)
(DJ Diggz in the live mix)

Saturday 26th May
Funk'd & Blush'd, Club 8, Portsmouth

THE SOUND OF NOW. PLAYLIST FOR 14/4/12

No Listen Again download links again this week, sadly, as technology (it's "the future", apparently,) once again let me down, but here's the playlist at least.


JULIA CHANNEL. FOREVER IN A DAY (GARAGE REMIX)

BRIA VALENTE: 2NITE (DAVID ALEXANDER CLUB REMIX)

POUSSEZ VS DEMARKUS LEWIS FEAT. HANNAH KHEMOH: PASSIN THRU (SEAN MCCABE VOCAL REMIX)

OLD TO THE NEW:
GAME FEAT. 50 CENT. HATE IT OR LOVE IT (2005)

GAME FEAT. FAT JOE AND YOUNG CHRIS. GREY STONE

KOHN ACTED: THE ANSWER (SATOSHI FUMI REMIX)

WILEY: SKANKIN (THE 2 BEARS MIX)

STREET BEAT OF THE WEEK:
M3NSA FEAT. TERRI WALKER & FANTI. LOVE SONG (REMIX)

JODIE AYSHA. IT'S OVER (CANT GET MY LOVE) (ARDO DUBSTEP REMIX)

MELEKA. LOVE YOU BABY (TS7 REMIX)

JAY ELECTRONICA: DEAR MOLESKINE

BUDDY FEAT. KENDRICK LAMAR: STAIRCASES

DREADCHILD: THE DEFINITION

GAME FEAT. LUPE FIASCO. SKATES ON

THE SOUND OF THEN:
CHANTAY SAVAGE FEAT. COMMON: I WILL SURVIVE (1997)

ISLEY BROTHERS: BETWEEN THE SHEETS (1979)

NOTORIOUS B.I.G: BIG POPPA REMIX (1994)

VICIOUS: NIKA (1995)

SWV: RIGHT HERE (1993)

NAS: IT AIN'T HARD TO TELL (1993)

MONICA: DON'T TAKE IT PERSONAL (REMIX) (1995)

KENNY DOPE: GET ON DOWN (1994)

MILK. BROKE UP THE FAMILY (KENNY KEN REMIX)

DELILAH: BREATHE (SUB ZERO REMIX)

WAZE & ODYSSEY. SAY YES

MAVADO: SOULJA GIRL

SPIN DOCTORS: MARTIN 'IN FULL SWING' RAFFERTY BACK IN THE DAY 90S R&B MIX

THE SOUND OF NOW. PLAYLIST & LISTEN AGAIN LINK FOR 7/4/12

Listen Again here.


J COLE FEAT. MISSY ELLIOTT: NOBODY'S PERFECT

ADAM F: WHEN THE RAIN IS GONE (ORIGINAL MIX)

WILEY: SKANKIN (THE 2 BEARS MIX)

NATASHA WATTS: LOOK INSIDE (GLENN THORNTON SLAAG ORIGINAL)

STAFFAN THORSELL N MARCEL WALDBURGER FEAT. FREDA GOODLETT: LIVING THE LIFE (ORIGINAL MIX)

STREET BEAT OF THE WEEK:
MILK. BROKE UP THE FAMILY (KENNY KEN REMIX)

DELILAH: BREATHE (SUB ZERO REMIX)

FLUX PAVILION & DR. P: SUPERBAD

OLD TO THE NEW:
NAS: MEMORY LANE (1993)

NAS: THE DON

BUDDY FEAT. KENDRICK LAMAR: STAIRCASES

DREADCHILD: THE DEFINITION

MAVADO: SOULJA GIRL

APOLLO BROWN & OC: PROVE ME WRONG

THE KID DAYTONA FEAT. MELANIE FIONA: LOVE IS LOVE

THE SOUND OF THEN:
JAYDEE: PLASTIC DREAMS (1993)

ROY DAVIS JR. FEAT. PEVEN EVERETT: GABRIEL (1997)

SOUTH STREET PLAYER: WHO (KEEPS CHANGING YOUR MIND) (NIGHT MIX) (1993)

SANTIGOLD: DISPARATE YOUTH (RC MIX)

CHAOS IN THE CBD: NEVER DO

KRAAK & SMAAK FEAT. LEX EMPRESS: HOLD BACK LOVE

SPIN DOCTORS: DJ BOOGIEMAN (MACEDONIA) BUGGED-OUT STREET SOUL MIX

NEW RANDOM BATCH OF VINTAGE 1990s RADIO TAPE RIPS

Time for more trainspotter delights. The following are a bunch of recordings from various points in the 90s, (plus a couple from the 80s,) covering mainly Pete Tong and Tim Westwood shows on Capital Radio and early days on Radio 1, but with a few other oddities thrown in. Some of these have appeared on-line before, some are brand new. Either way, take your pick, and enjoy a nostalgic trip back to better days!

Swing Shift, Galaxy 101, 24/5/96 P1

Swing Shift, Galaxy 101, 24/5/96 P2

Swing Shift, Galaxy 101, 22/11/96 P1

Swing Shift, Galaxy 101, 22/11/96 P2

Westwood Capital Rap Show Nov 87

Westwood Capital Rap Show 22/12/90/ Best Of 1990

Westwood Live to London 29/5/92 P1

Westwood Live to London 29/5/92 P2

Westwood Final Capital Rap Show 3/12/94

Westwood/ Live To The UK from The GC2, 29/12/95

Westwood Live To The UK from Club UN, 23/2/96

Westwood/ Erroll Silver, R1, Jan 97

Westwood/ R1 old school. 4/1/97

WBLS Frankie Crocker/ Capital Radio Pete Tong early 1990

Flash FM Street Knowledge/ Top 30 Hip Hop MCs, 2002

Danny Rampling, New Year's Eve 1994, Radio 1

Pete Tong, Capital Radio, 5/3/88

Pete Tong, Capital Radio, 22/12/90

Pete Tong, Capital Radio, 29/12/90 P1

Pete Tong R1 Essential Selection of 1991 P1

Pete Tong R1 Essential Selection of 1991 P2

Pete Tong R1 Essential Selection of 1992 P1

Pete Tong R1 Essential Selection of 1992 P2

Pete Tong R1 Essential Selection of 1995 P1

Pete Tong R1 Essential Selection of 1995 P2

Pete Tong R1 National Anthems of the 90s P1

Pete Tong R1 National Anthems of the 90s P2

Pete Tong R1 National Anthems of the 90s P3

MD AT THE BLOCK PARTY IN THE LAKE DISTRICT, TOMORROW

Looking forward to getting back to the shores of Lake Windermere for this one. Always full-on and proper!

MD'S CLUB DATES, APRIL/ MAY '12

Thursday 5th April
Block Party, The Wheelhouse, Bowness On Windermere

Friday 6th April
GOOD FRIDAY
Grand Union, Wandsworth, London

Saturday 7th April
EASTER SATURDAY
The Sound Of Now, OX105FM, Oxford (6-8pm)

Saturday 7th April
EASTER SATURDAY
The Living Room, Bristol

Sunday 8th April
EASTER SUNDAY
Grand Union, Ravenscourt Park, London, W14

Friday 13th April
The Living Room, Milton Keynes

Saturday 14th April
The Sound Of Now, OX105FM, Oxford (6-8pm)

Saturday 14th April
The Earl, The Second Bridge, Bath

Friday 20th April
The Living Room, Milton Keynes

Saturday 21st April
The Sound Of Now, OX105FM, Oxford (6-8pm)
(DJ Diggz in the live mix)

Saturday 21st April
The Living Room, Bristol

Thursday 26th April
The Living Room, Tower Bridge, London

Friday 27th April
The Living Room, Milton Keynes

Saturday 28th April
The Sound Of Now, OX105FM, Oxford (6-8pm)

Saturday 28th April
The Living Room, Bristol

Saturday 5th May
The Sound Of Now, OX105FM, Oxford (6-8pm)

Monday 7th May
BANK HOLIDAY MONDAY
Fish Out Of Water, OX105FM, Oxford (7-9pm)

Friday 11th May
Yates', Bicester

Saturday 12th May
The Sound Of Now, OX105FM, Oxford (6-8pm)

Saturday 12th May
The Earl, The Second Bridge, Bath

Saturday 19th May
The Sound Of Now, OX105FM, Oxford (6-8pm)
(Latvia's DJ Aiva in the live mix)

Saturday 19th May
Old School Jams, 411 Club, Cardiff, WALES
(With DJ Aiva)

Saturday 26th May
The Sound Of Now, OX105FM, Oxford (6-8pm)

Saturday 26th May
Funk'd & Blush'd, Club 8, Portsmouth
(With DJ J Fresh)

THE SOUND OF NOW. PLAYLIST & LISTEN AGAIN LINKS FOR 31/3/12

THE SOUND OF NOW, WITH MARK DEVLIN, OX105FM (WWW.OX105FM.COM)
PLAYLIST FOR SATURDAY 31ST MARCH 2012


Part 1:

Part 2:


NATASHA WATTS. LOOK INSIDE (GLENN THORNTON SLAAG ORIGINAL)

POUSSEZ VS DEMARKUS LEWIS FEAT. HANNAH KHEMOH: PASSIN THRU (SEAN MCCABE VOCAL REMIX)

DELILAH. BREATHE (SUB ZERO REMIX)

FRICTION. LED ASTRAY

ZINC. JUICY FRUIT

STREET BEAT OF THE WEEK:
DREADCHILD: THE DEFINITION

SANTIGOLD. DISPARATE YOUTH (THE 2 BEARS REMIX)

OLD TO THE NEW:
DE LA SOUL: A ROLLERSKATING JAM NAMED SATURDAYS

DE LA SOUL. PUSHIN' ASIDE, PUSHIN' ALONG

BOOG BROWN. GROWTH (14KT REMIX)

SAVANT FEAT. CHARITY CLAY & DJ J20. SOUL MUSIC

THE SOUND OF THEN:
AALIYAH: BACK & FORTH (1994)

TLC: CREEP (1995)

DA BRAT: FUNKDAFIED (1994)

MARCUS D FEAT. FUNKY DL. DON'T HOLD YA BREATH

DTMD FEAT. GODLY MC & KEV BROWN: RAW (ODDISEE REMIX)

NAS. THE DON (PROD BY SALAAM REMI & HEAVY D)

KRAAK & SMAAK FEAT. LEX EMPRESS: HOLD BACK LOVE

TANJA DIXON. MEMORIES OF (JAMES VIBE REMIX)

P'NAU: UNITE US (WOOKIE REMIX)

SPIN DOCTORS: DJ J FRESH (PORTSMOUTH/ SOUTHAMPTON/ SOUTH COAST) DJ MIX

MD'S DIARY, MARCH '12

If everyone who ever asked me for a business card because they wanted to book me for a private party, actually did, my bank balance would look dramatically different from how it does. During January, I was approached by a stranger asking about booking me to play her 40th birthday party in London on Saturday 3rd March. Thankfully, this one did transpire, and it ended up being as musically satisfying as I'd hoped it would, given that I'd been specifically requested to play 80s and 90s revivals to a mature crowd.

The party was in a cavernous French restaurant situated just below London Bridge. As it wasn't equipped with a DJ booth, I needed to bring all my own gear, giving me a taste of what life is like for mobile jocks week-in week-out. It took a while to get folk moving, but the right selection of fondly remembered favourites did the trick. I realised at the end that I'd played no tune any newer than 1997, which is a result in my book!

Earlier that evening, the first of my new radio shows had gone out on the new Oxford-based station OX105FM which streams live here. The Sound Of Now is different to any io shows I've done in the past, which have all been hip hop/ urban-based. Although there's obviously some cracking underground hip hop being made, I have no desire to associate myself with the mainstream garbage being peddled by the likes of Nicki Minaj, Lil Wayne, 50 Cent, T-Pain, etc. So for this one, I'm happy to be selecting the best new offerings from across the genres - some soulful house, some garage, some D&B, etc - the only criteria being that it has to be creative, impactive and with a bit of soul. The hip-hop and R&B is still in there under the 'Just Buggin' section, and there's a strong line in classic revivals, and a different guest DJ in the mix each week. I'm on 6-8pm each Saturday, and the latest show is uploaded each week to my Soundcloud page. http://soundcloud.com/djmarkdevlin

The first in a couple of welcome trips away to break up the drudge came the following weekend. This was a return to Northern Ireland to spin at The Playhouse in the North coast town of Portrush. Again, this was to be a 90s throwback night, which was all good with me. Birmingham airport's as convenient for me as any of the London ones, and I flew from there to Belfast City, where I was met by my dude Needle Knievel and driven up to Portrush. Paul Oakenfold was spinning at the well-known Kelly's spot that night, but being trance, it was hoped this wouldn't harm The Playhouse's fortunes too much. Roots Manuva was performing down in Belfast. It took a while to get into my set, not least because of a CD machine with a mind of its own that started looping tracks spotaneously. But once past this, I was into a zone. Getting away with dropping the likes of Big Daddy Kane, Pete Rock & CL Smooth, Naughty By Nature, Dead Prez, Roots Manuva, Bob Marley, General Degree and TOK at peaktime on a Saturday night is a very rare thing! A couple of rare post-gig beers ensued.

I met with Gary and his wife Dione for brunch the following day, before flying back via Ryanair from Derry airport. This is a gig I look forward to getting back to sooner rather than later. I'm happy I had the foresight to record my set, which is available for download on this link.

My visit to the Slovenian capital of Ljubljana on Wednesday 21st was a useful experience, (not least for the amount of Masonic/ Illuminati symbolism I saw encoded in the old town's architecture, now that I know what I'm looking for ... but that's for another blog!) My experience at the classy Klub Top made me realise I'm still hungry to jump into a DJ set and tear the roof off after all these years.

Midweek gigs are a rarity these days. The R&B/ hip hop Wednesdays at Top have been running for three years, and are now a staple of the city's nightlife. I was met at the airport, (surely Europe's smallest for a capital city?) by promoter Aljosa, and we headed through stunningly beautiful scenery into the city, where I checked into the Slon hotel, ('slon' is Slovenian for elephant.) The club itself, as its name suggests, is on the top floor of a city centre block, accessible by a scenic elevator from the street. It crops up in the World's 100 Best Clubs website on-line, and it's clear to see why. I jumped into my set at 1am, and quickly realised that the crowd were very much up for the 75-85bpm slow bounce sound of the likes of D4L, Dem Franchise Boys, Rick Ross, T.I, Paul Wall, etc. It at least made a change from the 130bpm electro pop business.

Regular gigs for the rest of the month, although a new location was the Bristol branch of the Living Room chain on Saturday 31st March. I used to spend a lot of time in Bristol and very nearly moved there in the late 90s, but barely recognise it now. The City centre's been transformed almost beyond recognition in a big regeneration programme, giving it a very cosmopolitan and modern feel. Earlier on, I had South Coast key player J Fresh and his crew passing through my radio show in Oxford for a mix and a chat. They also filmed a video interview with me in which we jumped off the fencer and got down to some real talk! Links to that as soon as it's ready.