it's finally coming...
Storming dance floor remixes from Izmabad (Karizma & Simbad), Daz-I-Kue (Bugz In The Attic) and a drum n bass offering from Nu:Tone (Hospital Records) sit alongside dubs and an extended DJ/disco 45 edit of the original album version.
Our music is the best...no our music is the best...we dont think it's as cut and dry as being American vs. British, Male vs. Female but there is some truth in those observations.
excerpts from an article read this morning on the BBC website:
Boasting used to be a very un-British trait - but in a world of work where its hard to measure one employee against another, it's increasingly important, says Lucy Kellaway.
Humility - one of the seven virtues - rules out bragging about how many sea monsters you have slain or discussing the vastness of your IQ on national TV.
...now boasting is back with a vengeance and is seen as cool. Pop songs used to be about love of other people, but now they are about love of self: The rapper R Kelly sings "I'm the World's Greatest", and Christina Aguilera responds with "I am beautiful, in every single way…"
Bigging up
The self-esteem movement has a lot to answer for by dictating that unless we learn to love ourselves we won't be able to love others, which strikes me as an extraordinary hypothesis. Where is the proof?
full article herequick on the money with this one...interview with Marc Mac recorded Saturday night/Sunday morning after a dj set for Hoya Hoya @ The Music Box, Manchester....shout out to Jamie who did the interview and Ryan who runs the night, great hospitality and a good set of peoples.
MG on the mic, Marc Mac on the decks.
p.s. that's not our can of Red Stripe!
R.I.P. Martin Luther King, Jnr, shot at 6:01 p.m. April 4, 1968.
...the shot still echoes!
The Nobel Peace Prize 1964
Thousands due at King anniversary
Martin Luther King, Jr. assassination
this past week has been a significant one for UK music so it's only right that we give props to Estelle at #1 in the UK Charts. her track from a few years back '1980' had the potential to hold the top spot but never made it and with the lifespan of artists being shorter than ever these days it's good to see her persevere and get there in the end...well done!
on the reality show tip now, Leona Lewis became the 1st British Female artist to top the U.S. Billboard chart in some 20 years...and she didnt need any headline grabbing party binges to do it...just a small appearance on Oprah.
it's refreshing to see 'good' people with clean cut images getting their props this year...nothing personal against those that choose to intoxicate themselves but it was getting a little too acceptable with little shock value attached to people doing drugs upfront...says the guys who brought you one of the biggest rave anthems from back in the day 'Mr. Kirks Nightmare'...would you believe us if we told you we dont sniff, inject, smoke or even drink?
anyway...congratulations to them both...there, we said it!
when we put out 'Play With The Changes' last year, it was about independence among other things, being able to make our own mistakes, own decisions and as Mr.Roy Ayers advised...owning our own masters.
having run the blueprint drum & bass label Reinforced Records for 20 years this year(damn time flies) there's some experience we have that we often taken for granted, but is essential in this ever changing landscape called the music industry.
we've witnessed many good companies fall by the way side over the years with the likes of Goya Music Distribution, a key hub of the Broken Beat community closing down in a not very good climate for vinyl sales.
as a result there will be some who may never put out a record again as Goya was their reason to do it...seeing others making things happen is enough inspiration for some to do things they thought previously not possible, Goya made many realise their potential and it's sad to see them go...but, the soldiers will soldier on finding new outlets, be it online sales, collaboration projects...Broken Beat will never die and the spirit of Goya and all who were a part of the movement can currently be seen online at the Coopr8 community...you have to be strong to survive in this climate and you definitely need a gameplan..."if you dont have a plan your sinking in the sand" ©Jay Dilla...R.I.P
there's a major difference between making your music and having a label release it or doing it yourself...contrary to what a lot of people are saying at the moment with artists moving from majors and what not, there are 2 sides to the equation and it's definitely not for everyone by any means...but if your adamant, give it a go!
we've moved passed the train of thought that said you need to sell a million to survive, although we're always aiming sky high...embracing new technology and trying different things outside of the norm has always been at the heart of what we do and continues to be so.
there's a buzz online at the minute about this article by Kevin Kelly titled '1,000 True Fans'...if your in entertainment/arts it's an essential read, take from it what's valuable and make a move.
we're gonna read it in full and come up with a gameplan for something???
when we figure out what that something is we'll let you know on MySpace, Facebook or right here.
The long tail is famously good news for two classes of people; a few lucky aggregators, such as Amazon and Netflix, and 6 billion consumers. Of those two, I think consumers earn the greater reward from the wealth hidden in infinite niches.
But the long tail is a decidedly mixed blessing for creators. Individual artists, producers, inventors and makers are overlooked in the equation. The long tail does not raise the sales of creators much, but it does add massive competition and endless downward pressure on prices. Unless artists become a large aggregator of other artist's works, the long tail offers no path out of the quiet doldrums of minuscule sales.
Other than aim for a blockbuster hit, what can an artist do to escape the long tail?
One solution is to find 1,000 True Fans. While some artists have discovered this path without calling it that, I think it is worth trying to formalize. The gist of 1,000 True Fans can be stated simply:
A creator, such as an artist, musician, photographer, craftsperson, performer, animator, designer, videomaker, or author - in other words, anyone producing works of art - needs to acquire only 1,000 True Fans to make a living.
A True Fan is defined as someone who will purchase anything and everything you produce. They will drive 200 miles to see you sing. They will buy the super deluxe re-issued hi-res box set of your stuff even though they have the low-res version. They have a Google Alert set for your name. They bookmark the eBay page where your out-of-print editions show up. They come to your openings. They have you sign their copies. They buy the t-shirt, and the mug, and the hat. They can't wait till you issue your next work. They are true fans.
read the full article 1,000 tru fans
a few years back on the Creating Patterns album project we did a track called 9by9 which got a d&b remix by M.I.S.T.(Marcus Intalex & S.T. Files) and we released it as a clear vinyl 12" on Reinforced.
the vocalist on that track is Imani Uzuri
this track by her has a badass video...web only we suspect:
