Now this was a really chill party! Public Assembly in Brooklyn is a popular venue, but the loft part of this place is really something special. It’s small, clean(ish), and has a wicked vibe (now that it also has AC, it is ideal!). The perfect place for NYC’s smaller but very tight DnB scene to host a dope night. The headliner was Original Sin (UK – Playaz | Ganja | Propaganda), half of the infamous producer duo Generation Dub. I will not explain who they are, google it (they just happen to have won the UK Dnb award for Breakthrough Artist, but seriously…check out their tunes). As mentioned before the vibe was great, everyone was smiling, swaying about, dancing and just enjoying Dnb in all its glory. I shot a little video which really says it all. So check that out, and much respect to Konkrete Jungle and the Outside the Cube crew for putting on this wicked event!
And here are some pics i took that night as well as the flyer with the full line-up below:
One of my favorite singers / mc’s out of Brooklyn has always been this cat: Jahdan Blakkamore. Extremely talented he can toast over dancehall beats, dubstep, hip hop, drum n’ bass….you name it. His star is rising more and more rapidly and it’s good to see that this guy keeps only getting better all the while staying super versatile. Check out this mixtape, that only lends a glimpse into his catalog. The beats are also great, going from super chill to hype to sometimes out there, but always intriguing, catchy and with very interesting samples. Much respect to Matt Shadetek and DJ/Rupture. Brooklyn Quality takin’ over!
Well known Drum N’ Bass producer A-Sides (Eastside Recordings), has been so kind to share a smooth Drum N’ Bass Rmx of Michael Jackson’s “Butterflies” with the world. I checked out the tune and it’s a sweet roller, nice laid back feel, perfect for the summer time. I highly recommend it.
LA’s MC XYC (http://www.myspace.com/mcxyz) has been putting out the B2B sessions for a while now, to some amazing feedback and success. I was honored to be asked to be part of it, and the newest edition features a set by me, back to back with DJ Toxic (http://www.myspace.com/toxicdnb). Check it out!
Here is a list of VST’s that are all free to download for Mac AND Windows. I have not checked out all of them as of yet, but will do so in the near future and give feedback on my favorite ones. For now though, here is the link on where to get them:
And below you can find a list of all the VST’s, just to wet your appetite. You can download them one at a time, to weed out what you might not like, or just get them all at once. Enjoy!
Bandisto – Multi-band distortion
BeatBox – Drum replacer
Combo – Amp & speaker simulator
De-ess – High frequency dynamics processor
Degrade – Sample quality reduction
Delay – Simple stereo delay with feedback tone control
Detune – Simple up/down pitch shifting thickener
Dither – Range of dither types including noise shaping
DubDelay – Delay with feedback saturation and time/pitch modulation
Dynamics – Compressor / Limiter / Gate
Envelope – Envelope follower / VCA
Image – Stereo image adjustment and M-S matrix
Leslie – Rotary speaker simulator
Limiter – Opto-electronic style limiter
Loudness – Equal loudness contours for bass EQ and mix correction
Multiband – Multi-band compressor with M-S processing modes
Overdrive – Soft distortion
Re-Psycho! – Drum loop pitch changer
RezFilter – Resonant filter with LFO and envelope follower
Round Panner – 3D panner
Shepard – Continuously rising/falling tone generator
Splitter – Frequency / level crossover for setting up dynamic processing
Stereo Simulator – Haas delay and comb filtering
Sub-Bass Synthesizer – Several low frequency enhancement methods
Talkbox – High resolution vocoder
TestTone – Signal generator with pink and white noise, impulses and sweeps
Thru-Zero Flanger – Classic tape-flanging simulation
Tracker – Pitch tracking oscillator, or pitch tracking EQ
Vocoder – Switchable 8 or 16 band vocoder
VocInput – Pitch tracking oscillator for generating vocoder carrier input
Combo – Amp & speaker simulator
Degrade – Sample quality reduction
Detune – Simple up/down pitch shifting thickener
DubDelay – Delay with feedback saturation and time/pitch modulation
Dynamics – Compressor / Limiter / Gate
Leslie – Rotary speaker simulator
Re-Psycho! – Drum loop pitch changer
RingMod – Simple ring modulator
RoundPan – 3D panner
Shepard – Continuously rising/falling tone generator
Stereo – Haas delay and comb filtering
SubSynth – Several low frequency enhancement methods
Talkbox – High resolution vocoder
TestTone – Signal generator with pink and white noise, 1/3 octaves and sweeps
Tracker – Pitch tracking oscillator, or pitch tracking EQ
Hospital Records really is one of the tightest run production houses / label / event and tour organizer / podcaster / dj stable / you name it, around. They sell awesome sample packs from some of their best producers on their site: http://www.hospitalrecords.com
I heard of them in their award-winning podcast which i can highly recommend (look for it on their site), and once i started exploring, i found out that they have 4 videos from their top producers on their site, going through everything from basic stuff to danny bird’s signature vocal chops. I found them very informative and inspiring. Check them out and go to their site for a ton more stuff. I have not bought the sample packs yet but they are definitely on my “wants” list.
I have always wanted to check out a show at the Bandshell in Prospect Park, so when i saw that Burning Spear is playing i obviously got really excited. It’s a nice outdoor setup they have going on there, a lot of it seating area, that you’d have to come really early for, but the entry fee is only 3 bucks so who can complain. It was a warm summer night, the place was packed and the vibes were amazing. Burning Spear is an incredible performer who still has a huge deal of energy, he dances and jumps around, sings, plays drums and whips the crowd into excitement. He played his classics and some newer stuff, some really dubbed tings and some roots reggae. The sound there is great as well, i can only highly recommend it. I took a few photos and some video footage, but also linked up some much nicer videos that i found, which highlight the event much better since i was a bit far from the stage (not view wise, but far enough for my little digicam to struggle a bit). Enjoy! As did i! Maximum Respect to Burning Spear, the living legend!
This was a dope dnb party. Considering the fact that it was in brooklyn, and the nyc dnb scene is rather small, i can gladly say it seems to be building back up, and completely without any dubstep (at least at this event). I was a pleasantly surprised to see the room packed and almost everyone dancing! Great vibes! This was the nyc debut for drumagick from south america, dj marky’s prodigy / prodigies. He played great tunes, but his dj’ing was a bit off. Most mixes could be heard and sometimes were a were not beat matched well, which made me stop moving at points, but the tunes themselves got me dancing again. It was nice to see a lot of heads from the scene out and supporting. All in all a successful party! Much respect to Dave Shichman from Driven AM for hosting this and making it a memorable night.
This is a really chill event i went to in the Gowanus area of Brooklyn. It had a killer line up, and a “secret” special guest who turned out to be LEE “SCRATCH” PERRY! i was stoked! The “venue” itself is pretty chill, alcohol a bit overpriced, but that’s nyc for ya. I like that it’s outside, and there are a bunch of trees in the space but i think they could clean it up a bit more and maybe put up some public art or cool benches and chill areas. it’s just a bunch of folding chairs placed everywhere. Either way, still a fun spot, maybe they’ll develop it over time. All the performers were good, i got there a bit later so i didn’t see everybody. Treasure Don and Jahdan killed it! Amazing “young” talent right here in Brooklyn. It’s really cool to see them develop their careers, as they are excellent deejays (jamaican terminology deejays i mean, not the record spinners) and a treat to see them live every time. Lee Perry’s “new” band is a group from Austria called Dubblestandart, with which he just released his latest album. I have not heard it yet, so i can’t say much about it, but the band is incredible live. They got the dub ‘ting wrapped up…amazing full dub sound, with clean riddims..just great all around. Lee Perry himself was amazing to see of course. His legacy is so immense it’s almost hard to believe i’m seeing this guy live. Even though he’s better off behind the controls, because his singing is pretty bad. You can’t deny that he’s one of the all time great producers, and the man who pretty much shaped dub as we now it today, but singing is definitely not something he should showcase. The days of locking himself into the Black Arc Studio and getting lost in his mind (or losing his mind ?) are pretty clear in his out there style: pink hair, pink beard, tons of jewelry, a crystal pyramid on a hat that’s overloaded with strange items and what looks like police badges all over. One strange cat! Anyways, it was incredible to see him live and direct. All in all a really dope event. Much respect to emch and subatomic sound (and whoever else was involved) for putting this one. Can’t wait for the next one! Here are some pics and a video:
