Mighty Asterix: It's a sin

From the Deepgrooves website, Mighty Asterix from 1992, versioning on Ram Dancehall, a tune by another Deegprooves act, Sound Foundation. 

Described as an unmixed track by Deepgrooves, one that was recorded for a proposed album by Asterix. "Over quite a few months we compiled an albums worth of material, some early original tracks from Mr. Morton, some all ready recorded Deepgrooves tracks used in a digital dubplate style and some tracks recorded with the 12 Tribes band."

Ring The Alarm playlist, BaseFM, Jan 12

Bomb the bass - Bugpowder dust - Kruder and Dorfmeister remix
Art of noise - Beatbox
Koliphones - Jungle concerto (moog)
Gwen Guthrie - Rockin chair dub
Funky 4 + 1  - That's the joint
Wajeed - Jeedo suave
Hot 8 brass band - Ghost town
Souleance - Strongest love
Backini - Cream
Blurum13 -Futuristic b-boys inst
Wrongtom and Deemus J - Old time stylee
Butch Cassidy sound system - The pressure
The Clash - Bankrobber dub
Black Uhuru - Party next door
Prince Fari -African queen
Tosca - Heatwave
Menahan st band - Sleight of hand
Gloria Gaynor - Tell me how
The Dells - Learning To Love You Was Easy (It's So Hard Trying To Get Over You)
Eddie Kendricks - Son of Sagittarius
Ray Terrace - You been talking about me baby
New swing quartet - Monkey see monkey do
Mongo Santamaria - Funk up
Ryuichi Sakamoto - Riot in Lagos
Cubalooba - Cubalooba

Nile n Bernard before Chic

From 74, a vocal group called New York City, their backing band included Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards, pre-Chic. Live on German TV.

SB & Cosmo - Songs We Listened To A Lot In 2012

Skratch Bastid & Cosmo Baker - Songs We Listened To A Lot In 2012 by Skratch Bastid on Mixcloud

"Although using the calendar year is a great tool for cataloging and referencing releases, music moves at it's own pace, and we have found that songs have a way of finding you when they are supposed to find you.

Songs you grow to love are discovered in many ways: through hearing them at a club night, on a DJ mix, in a movie, in a friend's car, at a restaurant - and those songs aren't always new songs, or songs that came out the year that you hear them first. But they are songs that are relevant to YOU that year. And in each of our individual music experiences, they play a role in shaping your musical taste.

So here's our mix. A different take on things. Skratch Bastid & Cosmo Baker - Songs We Listened To A Lot In 2012."

More info & writing & DOWNLOAD: http://www.skratchbastid.com/?p=2832

New Charles Bradley in April!

A new album 'Victim of Love,' from Mister Charles Bradley, out April 2 on Dunham/Daptone. Look for the first single and tour dates to be announced soon.

Earlier this week I posted up a great list of music docos from 2012, on eof the films listed was a doco on Bradley - if you haven't seen the trailer, watch it below...it looks amazing...

Peanutbutter Wolf in AK Jan 26

This is gonna be a fun gig....[updated - gig has moved from Britomart CC to Galatos]

FINE-FORM and ARCADE in association with Conch Records Present PEANUT BUTTER WOLF (VJ SET) (USA - STONES THROW) 

" We are very proud to announce the return of Peanut Butter Wolf. Founder of indie raps most influential record label STONES THROW RECORDS (MF DOOM / J DILLA / MADLIB / MAYER HAWTHORNE) and long time producer and DJ, PBW will be performing one of his world famous VJ sets. PBW seamlessly blends between the decades and genres of visual achieves to create a spectacle for both ears and eyes.

With a huge line up of local support including Cian, Submariner, Truento, Ev Love and Joel Paydirt this is not a show you want to miss. Tickets are $28, available at UnderTheRadar and instore at Arcade and Conch.

New Tosca album

Richard Dorfmeister (of Kruder & Dorfmeister) and Rupert Huber return with a new album Odeon, dropping Feb 5. Here's a free taster.

"'What If' was the first track that we finished for Odeon," says Tosca's Rupert Huber. "The song's basic idea -”what if this was not the case”- can serve as a layout for the whole album: what if noise was a song? What if the sound of the sea was a symphony? What if the ears could listen?

Video: Mala in Cuba

One of my favourite albums from 2012 was Mala in Cuba, a great record mixing electronics, dubstep, and Cuban rhythms. Via Factmag, Gilles Peterson has posted this live clip off the album.

Matty J feat Dei Hamo - Somewhere you're there

Matty J feat Dei Hamo - Somewhere you're there, single peaked at #21 in the charts, late 1994. Film Archive credits the video to Craig (Jax) Jackson but it kinda looks like a Mark Tierney production. Song is produced by Mr. Tierney.

Music docos: 2012 snapshot

From Musicfilmweb, read this great article, titled "The Rodriguez Syndrome: Our Favorite Music Films of 2012". Hat tip to Jay for the link.

"No use denying it: in music documentary terms, 2012 was the year of the Sugar Man. Malik Bendjelloul’s dextrous telling of the too-good-to-be-true tale of lost bard Rodriguez opened the yearstealing everyone’s thunder at Sundance and closes it seemingly certain to cop an Oscar nomination, having hoovered up festival awards and critical kudos in between.

Little surprise, then, that Searching for Sugar Man dominates our annual review of the year in music film, wherein we asked an unscientifically selected baker’s dozen of judges to pick the best of 2012 (one top choice and a handful of honorable mentions). It showed up in seven of the 13 lists (it would’ve been eight – see below), topping three. A few participants seemed to feel almost obligated to offer homage, while one explicitly framed his choices as the anti-Sugar Men..."

Among the films they highlight include the Bad Brains doco, the Ginger Baker doco Beware of Mr Baker (above), Charles Bradley - Soul of America, This Band Is So Gorgeous! Sham 69 in China, Rock ‘n’ Roll Exposed: The Photography of Bob Gruen (dr: Don Letts), Punk Syndrome (About a Finnish punk band whose members are mentally disabled), United States of Africa: Beyond Hiphop, and many more cool sounding films... some trailers below...

The Son

From the debut album Kaupapa Driven Rhymes Uplifted (Tangata Records) from Dam Native, now sadly out of print. Production on the album mainly by Zane Lowe, with the Submariner and Hamish Clark (Breaks Co-op) on a few tracks. Someone needs to reissues this! Video directed by Steve Morrison.

Watch Urgh! 1981 live show

Urgh! A Music War (1981) ... 2 hours of great live footage... "... Featuring Devo, OMD, The Cramps, Pere Ubu, Wall of Voodoo, Echo & the Bunnymen, XTC, Klaus Nomi, Gary Numan, Joan Jett, Gang of Four, Magazine, and X... Urgh! is a two hour compilation of live performances by both well-known and obscure bands of the early 80's punk, new wave and electronic genres recorded live in LA, London, New York City and elsewhere..."

Watch out for Steel Pulse doing Ku Klux Klan, at 00.43.14... and The Cramps with Lux Interior (RIP) rocking out like a madman...

Scotch Bonnet newies

New releases from Scotch Bonnet, out Jan 14 on vinyl/digital, preview below...

"Here are the next 3 SCOB's out 14th January 2013, with debut releases from Tradesman & Subactive sound system, the first excursion from Mungo's on the label since Jahtari artists, Disrupt & Rootah. This is bolstered with the first ever white label, featuring an exclusive vinyl only remix of the 90's classic "Your love", with the Mungo's Riddim on the flipside. Releases will be available from Scotch Bonnet Records shop.

Marbecks Dunedin refocuses on cafe

Otago Daily Times reports Marbecks Dunedin is shifting its focus away from music and books to the cafe side of its operation. The store will also take on much of the stock after the closure of Marbecks Queens Arcade in Auckland. Dunedin store manager is David James, ex Dead Flowers.

"... Marbecks managing director Roger Harper said ... there were no plans to close the store in the Wall Street mall. The Queen St store, which sold only music, had proven to be ''obsolete'' when faced with competition from online sales, but Dunedin's store opened three years ago with those new commercial realities in mind, he said.

Dunedin's shop mixed music with books and a cafe, which was proving successful, he said. Changes this year would shift the shop's focus more towards the cafe operation and away from music and books, although the sale of both would remain part of the business, he said..."


TV3 covered the closure of Marbecks Queens Arcade on their evening news on Jan 3, watch the story here.

"The owners of the old store say closing down is a commercial reality. People get their music online now, so they're going to focus more on developing their cafes. “It's just change, you know,” says Marbecks managing director Roger Harper. “Things have evolved over time. We've had a great run in the music business, but that business model just can't be sustained.”

RELATED: Marbecks closing/opening...