...written and compiled by spank.
| Oh what a summer, the sun was shining and the wine was a flowing. Well not so much the wine as the cocaine. It seems the days of the E-generation may be beginning to dwindle as more and more clubbers turn to alternative means to get their kicks. What effect this will have on the clubbing scene time only will tell...... |
| And the sound of the summer - it has to be Speed Garage. From Notting Hill to local Top Shop stores the sound rang loud. Love it or loathe it, the fusion of garage, drum and bass and early hardcore has certainly carved its niche. Rood Bwoys leading the scene include the Tuff Jam Crew, The Dream Team, RIP, Ice Cream and 187 Lockdown. Watch the sound spread as every major label signs up Speed Garage remixes...... |
| It is with great sadness we announce the demise of the legendary Fat Cat record shop. Coroners verdict - high rent increases in the Covent Garden area. However, the ghost of Fat Cat may live on at alternative premises...... |
| On the live front there were a fair number of wicked dance events over the summer...... |
| V97 in Leeds and Chelmsford rocked despite the no-show from Bentley Rhythm Ace. Richard Marsh, ex-member of Pop Will Eat Itself and founder of Bentley, managed to break his back while parachuting 12,000ft for the latest video. Sounds harsh, but luckily Bentley will be fit to continue touring again towards the end of the month. Nevertheless, Daft Punk wonderfully demonstrated their shade of French Funk and the Propellerheads completely rocked the joint: 4 decks, 2 keyboards, 1 Hammond organ, a drum kit, a sampler, bass guitar and 2 sweaty Propellerheads frantically running around playing them - Mental!..... |
| Notting Hill was a roaring success aside from the fact that it has gone commercial. It is now entitled the ‘Lilt’ Notting Hill Carnival. Diesel put on a sterling Speed Garage show with Matt ‘Jam’ Lamont and Karl ‘Tuff Enuff’ Brown at the helm. However if there is one figure that fully represents Notting Hill it must be the Ben Sherman shirt and straw hat that is Norman Jay. His Good Times set was as eclectic as ever....... |
| Congratulations to Roni Size and the Reprazent crew for running away with the Mercury Award. A truly ground breaking album..... |
| For the computer literates amongst us check out the D-Code CD-Rom. Released by the Health Education Authority it is a surprisingly unpatronising look into drugs and their effects which goes further than the usual ‘Don’t take drugs - they kill you’ attitude. Fantastic graphics, shame about the annoying cheeky Sarf London narrator. Get yours free from music shops and on the cover of MUZIK...... |
| Other multi-media extravaganzas worth noting this month are Coldcut’s ‘Let’s Play’ album with free CD-Rom and the Axe-Brazilian Percussion sampling CD and CD-Rom. Both allow you to build up mad beatz and make new tunes...... |
| Orbital contribute music for two soundtracks this month. First up is Michael Kamen’s British sci-fi film ‘Event Horizon’. The other is a heavy metal reworking of ‘Satan’ in conjunction with Metallica for ‘Spawn’, a super hero movie!..... |
| Hardfloor and Harthouse look set to part company over Eye-Q’s re-release of the seminal track ‘Acperience’. Hardfloor refused to allow a remix / re-release package earlier in the year so were shocked to recently find out that mixes had been commissioned by Baby-Doc, Herbert, Secret Knowledge and Dex and Jonesy. Promos are flying about but no official release date is set as yet...... |
| DJ Shadow and James Lavelle will work with Thom Yorke from Radiohead on their forthcoming U.N.K.L.E. album. After hearing James Lavelle’s reworking of the Verve’s ‘Bitter Sweet Symphony’ it certainly sounds promising...... |
| Finally the Ministry of Sound should start panicking for Cream is coming to London. The rumours were verified by Cream resident Nick Warren in a recent interview with ‘futureactive’. What ever the outcome the competition between the two superclubs cannot fail to be in the punter’s favour...... |