Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Acid House on National Geographic (march 2011)





Wayne Anthony (well a photo and our (Andrew Pritchard, Keith B) parties anyway) on National Geographic, cool, ok it wasn't because i discovered an unknown tribe in the thick jungles of Africa or South America and if i were an explorer of this elk then Im sure i'd be disappointed. Yes there were some misleading statements made on the documentary such as the ICF (West Ham football hooligans) were running our security when in fact only three members of the entire security team ever fought for West Ham. They ran their own warehouse parties. Carlton Leach was one such individual who i should also point out, wasn't under the guise of ICF. They were independent hard men from the shady pubs of London's East End who commanded respect from most of their peers. Originally this was orchestrated by another person who shall remain nameless and if not for this person my two partners and i wouldn't have got out without a few stitches. The east end had to be the obvious choice for our security otherwise an outside firm ran the risk of going against a local firm and thats always going to be messy.




As top policeman Kenneth Tappenden points out, bank robberies in London went down to zero at the time of Acid House. Now that shows two things 1. Bank Robbers put down their weapons and got right on one 2. They shifted attention to the loved-up water guzzling promoters of Acid House or 3. All of the Above.

Kenneth Tappenden also says that he wished he had us as his lieutenant and the military couldn't move people as quick as we did. Fairplay to Kenneth as he was head of the Police Pay Party Unit, the very department set up to stop us...  


My partners Andrew, Keith and I were all 22 years old, totally captivated by Acid House and everything it had to offer. This area of our lives was the most depressing  but we did have a choice. Other than one occasion when we were attacked by some doormen, our security NEVER HURT ANYONE AT GENESIS and it should also be noted that this wasn't New Jack City, where teams of armed guards stood over the dancefloor. Our security were very discreet and polite to everyone so no-one had a clue what was happening behind the scenes until my book Class of 88.



Thursday, March 10, 2011

Unique 3 releases 'Shades of Grey' on 28th May


I received this in my mail bag!! Remember Unique 3?

Unique 3 ˆ ŒShades of Grey‚ (MATE017)


Unique 3‚s seminal ŒThe Theme‚ was the starting point for thousands of House tracks, record labels and club nights, in fact, possibly the whole damn House Music Industry that followed! ŒRhythm Takes Control‚ and ŒWeight For The Bass‚ changed the whole soundscape and pushed the barriers, not only for club sound systems but mastering plants and record pressing houses, who had to quickly learn and adapt to deal with a totally new sound, levels and frequencies which Unique 3 were demanding, others would soon follow and imitate... 

Edzy aka Unique 3 returns on his own label, Mutate Records with ŒShades of Grey‚.   This package is a taster of the remixed version of Unique 3‚s last studio album ŒInvasive Signals‚ which is currently being re worked by a plethora of dance music greats and will be released on Mutate Records, forthcoming later this year.

SHADES OF GREY Tracklisting:

 1. Original Mix

 
Edzy avoids modern soft synths & electric trickery and heads down into his cellar to dust down some of the original hardware, dusty drum machines & classic synths used on early Unique 3 tracks, to re-create a sound forged back in the day. ŒShades Of Grey‚ alludes to a dark time recollected from the producer‚s recent past & this recording has captured all the dark emotion that period generated.

2. Akiri Kiteshi Remix
 
Those Kiteshi peep‚s certainly know how to smack their glitch up! from the haunting intro into organically sequenced beats Œn‚ bleeps, smothered with some serious squelchin‚ bass. Truly awesome!

3. Socco Chico Remix

 
Jacked up, subtle and bass driven all at once... a four to the floor reworking of synth rich techno, beautifully panned around your headspace.

4. Travino Remix

 
Canada‚s prodigal son Travino sets the scene with pounding kicks, and filtered synth licks before rudely hoofing your front door clean off its hinges, without knocking. More electro orientated with a rough but satisfying bassline moving in and out of squelchy acid lines, and jackin hard clap beats. One for the dancefloor!

5. Alison Marks Remix

 
The lovely Ms Marks switches the pace into a chilled 4/4 downtempo house affair,  prominent hi hat sequences and popping synths echo all around the mix carried along by a moody organ line and bassline grooves ˆ pure class.

6. TZR Remix

 
One for the dubsteppers! Seriously deep & moody from the outset, drum heavy beats lead you into a vast space before immersing your whole self into heavy heavy swelling basslines

7. Mad EP Remix

 
Downsampled drum sequences and lush pads rule the day within Mad Ep‚s mix, real attention to detail through the drum edits. Far too clever for his own good this fella!


 
Unique 3 releases 'Shades of Grey' (MATE017) on 28th May through Mutate Records.

 

Wayne Anthony, Carl Cox, Adamski - Pump up the Volume

If you've ever been clubbing, this History of House Music is a must see. Starting out with the funky disco days of 70s New York, it goes in-depth and tells how house music was born, what it meant and how it evolved into a myriad of different genres and spread across the globe. We are shown locations of legendary clubs, record companies and shops, introduced to different ways of dj'ing, and get to see how advances in technology has influenced the music. Long interviews of household names like Paul Okenfold, Carl Cox, Pete Tong, Goldie, The Shamen, Leftfield, Underworld, Youth, Tony Wilson,  Armin van Helden and Wayne Anthony to name just a few...





READ IN-DEPTH INTERVIEWS FROM THE PEOPLE THAT MADE IT MATTER