You can now listen to the upgraded Viral Radio of April 2008 on Last FM. In the second season, Viral will be joined by the inceptor of Beat Dimensions series Cinnaman. The sound has evolved from primarily bass-laden music to a more wide range of brain-tingeling electronica and experimental beats.

In this month's show you can hear new and unreleased track from Flying Lotus, Samiyam, Zomby, Rustie, Kode9, Darkstar, Martyn and Dorian Concept, and some older ones from Clark and Alog. The full tracklist will be added soon.

Viral Radio launched in March 2007 as a monthly show on public radio to follow developments in dubstep and future dub music. It has since then organised two events at club 11 in 2007 and 2008, with artists as Rhythm & Sound, Pinch, 2562, Peverelist, Kromestar, Mala and Rustie.

On 23 June, Viral Radio will host its first Viral Radio Festival at the Bimhuis and 11 in Amsterdam. The line up consists of amongst other the Moritz von Oswald Trio, Icarus, King Midas Sound and Kode9.

From audioculture.org

Sat 8 Mar – U Dub, Mala, Rustie, 2562, Peverelist, RsD, Cinnaman, FS Green

From: audioculture.org

In December of 2007, during the first Viral Radio Bash at 11, the industrial museum restaurant that turns into a club at night, it became clear that the architecture of the room fitted the acoustic quality of the ghost of jungle past we know as dubstep in a pleasantly natural manner. The sonic ecology of this monumental club space is mostly tested by the arsenal of minimal techno DJs like Laurent Garnier, Âme and Carl Craig; but not during these nights of sub frequencies.

If Rhythm & Sound paved the way for future dub music, scientifically refining their echo sculptures, the hyperdub generation of Digital Mystikz, Pinch and Rustie have added their imagination to the artform. Much has been said about the ontology of dubstep - read the excellent trails of chroniquer Martin Clark (Blackdown) and the preambules by the professor of bass Steve Goodman (Kode9) - but nothing approaches the tactile experience of percussive bass and the hauntological effect of absent rhythms.

Last night brought together artists who have mastered the art of the delusional drum and the intuitive intelligence of infrasonic architecture. And what a night this was. With an astronomical number of 700 people the second Viral edition was sold out - an unforseen‹icing on the cake› . I would like to thank everyone who visited for supporting this special night of experimental dance music, the kind people of 11 for their hospitality and sense of adventure, and finally the artists for delivering such stellar performances - FS Green, Cinnaman, Rustie, RsD, Mala, Peverelist, 2562 and host Andrew Makkinga. (It was also wonderful to see Pinch (with his 10 man army from Bristol), Aardvarck, T-mus, Derek Djons, Skeej, Bojcot and all the other artists and dubstep aficionados present again).

Next up will be Beat Dimensions at the Bimhuis, on Friday 2 May. The line up: Flying Lotus (Warp/Los Angeles), Hudson Mohawke (Warp/Glasgow) and Cinnaman (Beat Dimensions/Amsterdam). I look forward to seeing you there.

this month I liked a lot of

Autechre - Quaristice

Ólafur Arnalds - Eulogy For Evolution

Deepchord Presents Echospace - The Coldest Season

Godspeed You! Black Emperor - kickstarted the year

Rhythm & Sound - everything

Theo Travis - Slow Life

After 2 weeks of trying to narrowing the list down to 100 [and failing to do so] I present my favorites for last year in 2 parts.

First up, the top 25:


1. Shackleton - Blood On My Hands (R. Villalobos Mixes) [Skull Disco]

The epitome of recent crossover dance music, as described best on boomkat:
"...Villalobos' epic revision of Shackleton's 'Blood on My hands' classic refracted through an MDMA crystal into 18 minutes of tripping minimal techno genius"

2. Geiom – Zalim Maar Daala [Berkane Sol]

If, at the beginning of '07 someone claimed the best dubstep release of the year would feauture a Pakistani guy singing an Indian movie song,
chances are that you would not have taken that person very seriously.
Nonetheless, here it is and it is bloody good.

3. Echospace - The Coldest Season [Modern Love]

It has been a remarkable year for Rod Modell & Stephen Hitchell
and this their magnum opus, a mindblowing piece of ambient dub techno.

4. Burial - Untrue [Hyperdub]

A brilliant follow-up album to last year's self titled debut. Burial manages to build and collapse sonic landscapes like no other.

5. Moodymann - Technologystolemyvinyle [KDJ]

My choice over Kenneth Dixon Jr's other single on KDJ this year "I'd rather be alone".
A jazzy deep house masterpiece.

6. Ricardo Villalobos - Fabric 36

A groundbreaking "mix album", all tracks made by the man himself and featuring guests like Fumiya Tanaka & jorge gonzáles.
Highlights: Andruic & Japan / Primer Encuentro Latino-Americano / Fizpatrick / Won't You Tell Me

7. Âme - Balandine EP [Innervisions]

From the guys who brought us "Rej" in 2005 comes Balandine & Enoi, 2 twisted wildpitch techno bombs which can put any dancefloor on fire anytime.

8. Jegor Teplow - L A C / Russia [Stamp Release]

Sleeparchive once again does an outstanding job, this time as co-producer on this paranoid bleepy minimal release with occasional hints of dubstep influence - and also, brilliant use of samples on both sides.

9. Carl Craig - Paris Live [Planet E]

Future Jazz meets Techno on this essential 12", featuring live instrumentation by Mike Banks & Wendell Harrison

10. Jamie Woon - Wayfaring Stranger [Live Recordings]

Head straight for the Burial remix on this one, where he takes this old gospel and transforms it into a heart-wrenching piece of electronic music. Just beautiful.

11. CV313 - Dimensional Space [echospace [detroit]]

Very deep dub techno record consisting of 2 tracks which sound like a homage to the original Basic Channel releases back in '93-'94.
Both sides make heavy use of deep chords and complement each other perfectly.

12. Agnès - Dumbles Debuts + Remixes I & II [Resopal Red]

Excellent minimal house album with strong dub influences and lovely remixes by Ion Ludwig, Someone Else, Ripperton, Barem etc.

13. Efdemin / Carsten Jost - Split [Dial]

One of the deepest house releases this year, containing Efdemin's mighty "Just A Track" with the infamous Roland Clark sample.
Nice deep minimal cut on the flipside by Carsten Jost too. This split 12" crowns a very strong year for Dial Records.

14. St. Germain - Rose Rouge (Rhadoo Edit) [White]

Yes, the one that never got a proper release despite being played all year by the likes of Luciano, Ricardo etc.
A timeless classic made even better by the soon-to-reach-superstardom romanian.

15. Tolga Fidan - Venice / Tanbulistan [Vakant]

The breakthrough ep from this young french / turkish producer, advancing the classic deep & dark Vakant sound - very Onur Özer like in some places, but a tad better.

16. Peverelist - Erstwhile Rhythm / The Grind [Punch Drunk]

Atmospheric and jazzy cuts from a promising newcomer.
An essential, imaginative dubstep release.

17. LCD Soundsystem - Sound Of Silver (C2 Remix Rev.3) [DFA]

Classic Carl Craig techno workout madness.
I believe he should have gotten a Grammy nomination for this instead of his "Junior Boys - Like A Child" remix.

18. Far East Band - The Call Up (Martin Buttrich Rework) [Four Music]

Buttrich works the original reggea track into a spaced out 10 minute genre-bending trip. One of the most original remixes of the year.

19. cv313 - Subtraktive [Smallfish]

An almost beatless piece of abstract techno, surrounded by ambient dub chords and stretched out to 15 minutes.

20. Ricardo Tobar - El Sunset [Border Community]

Progressive neo-shoegaze from the colombian newcomer, one of the most emotional releases of the year and the best on the highly acclaimed Border Community label.

21. Surgeon - Whose Bad Hands Are These? Part II [Dynamic Tension]

Welcome to the darker side of techno-meets-dubstep featuring a killer remix from Robert Henke (aka Monolake)

22. Echospace - Obmx [Fortune8]

Warm analogue sounds, fuzzy atmospherics and and an excellent cv313 remix make this a must-have for all dub techno lovers.

23. Rhythm & Sound - Ruff Way (Afefe Iku Remix) [White]

Dub house remake of the 1997 original by Osunlade's protégé - hypnotic, deep and unmissable !..

24. Moonbeam - Eclipse [Traum]

Featuring 2 of the most memorable tracks made
during the short neotrance craze era earlier in '07
Very catchy and dreamy progressive tracks.

25. QUENUM - Agbaja [Alphahouse]

Minimal techno at it's best; deep, dark and uncomprimising.
With this 12" Alphahouse establishes itself further as one the leaders in modern minimal techno.

I finally got to experience a lot of live acts I'd been waiting years to see.

DEMF - Rhythm & Sound

They played 6 hours of dub reggae in the rain. I'm still not fully on board with the whole non-Burial Mix dub reggae thing, but one of the highlights of the festival was hearing them blast No Partial and smile.

DEMF - Monolake

Mr. Henke fucking brought it. Although the sound was a little on the quiet side for the first few minutes, after he got going he proceeded to destroy the main stage.

DEMF - Kate Simko

I was tired and not up for dancing to the crazy techno going on at all of the other stages, thankfully Ms. Simko was there to provide the cure. Great mellower minimal stuff which got a little on the twisted side further into her set. You can grab a recording of it from her site here.

Murcof & .PIG at SFEMF

I want to include this on the list because I've wanted to see Murcof live since I first started listening to him, but this concert was actually retarded. 30 minute sets and no visuals. Which was kind of incongrous during tracks like Cosmos and the climax of Cuerpo Celeste. It's like, "Whoa loud music awesome. And uh, Murcof looks kind of sleepy and is staring at his laptop. Oh wait he just turned a knob, that's the most exciting thing that's happened in the last 5 minutes!"

Biosphere at Recombinant Media Labs
I showed up late and the seating area was crowded as shit. Spent most of the show trying unsuccessfully to keep my legs from falling asleep. It was worth it to hear When I Leave on the RML sound system though. One of the close contenders for my favorite bassline of all time.

Sugar & Gold + Jessie Evans & Toby Dammit

2 incredibly energetic bands + tiny venue + up-for-it crowd + ingesting large amounts of alcohol = FUN

T.S. Monk Sextet, SF Jazz Festival

Pretty amazing show considering I blindly picked tickets for it for my dad's birthday solely on the fact that he's a fan of T.S.'s father, Thelonious Monk. T.S. Monk leads a great band and is a hilarious MC. It's worth seeing them solely to watch their pianist, Helen Sung.

Melt-Banana at The Independent, 12/07

Incredibly fun band to watch. Their vocalist, Yasuko Onuki, has a very odd stage presence. She spends half of the time shrieking into the mic and the other half kind of spacing out. They rocked so hard that I was inspired to go out and buy an electric bass the next day.

Viral Radio Bash

Rhythm & Sound with Tikiman
Kromestar
Pinch
Cyrus
U Dub

01-12-2007 | 11 | Amsterdam

Tracklist:
01. Kromestar - Creep [Dub]
02. Kromestar - Unknown [Dub]
03. Cyrus - Claret [Dub]
04. Cyrus - High Flyer [Dub]
05. Cyrus - Fool’s Day [Dub]
06. The Bug - Skeng (Kode9 Remix)
07. Martyn - Broken
08. Peverelist - Die Brucke
09. Kode9 - Stung
10. 2562 - Circulate
11. Cult Of The 13th Hour - Wickedness
12. Digital Mystikz - Wait
13. Digital Mystikz - Thief in da Night
14. Peverelist - Roll with the Punches
15. Kromestar - Unknown [Dub]
16. ASBO1 - ASBO1
17. Kromestar - Unknown [Dub]

Download

01 M. Ward Post-War
02 Trentemoller The Last Resort
03 Ghostface Fishscale
04 LCD Soundsystem 45:33
05 The Sleepy Jackson Personality (One Was A Spider, One Was A Bird)
06 Destroyer Rubies
07 The Roots Game Theory
08 The Elected Sun, Sun, Sun
09 Dudley Perkins Expressions (2012 A.U.)
10 Tiga Sexor
11 Justin Timberlake Futuresex/Lovesounds
12 Primal Scream Riot City Blues
13 Badly Drawn Boy Born In The U.K.
14 Lupe Fiasco Food & Liquor
15 Charlotte Gainsbourg 5:55
16 Booka Shade Movements
17 Shack The Corner Of Miles And Gil
18 John Legend Once Again
19 Pajo 1968
20 Oh No Exodus Into Unheard Rhythms
21 TV on the Radio Return To Cookie Mountain
22 Cornelius Sensuous
23 Josh Rouse Subtitulo
24 El Perro del Mar Look ! It's El Perro Del Mar !
25 Spank Rock Yoyoyoyoyo
26 Gnarls Barkley St. Elsewhere
27 DJ Spinna Intergalactic Soul
28 The Charlatans Simpatico
29 Pet Shop Boys Fundamental
30 OutKast Idlewild
31 Sébastien Tellier Sessions
32 Amp Fiddler Afro Strut
33 Hot Chip The Warning
34 Panacea Ink Is My Drink
35 BC Camplight Hide, Run Away
36 Miossec L'Etreinte
37 Georgia Anne Muldrow Olesi : Fragments Of An Earth
38 Midlake The Trials Of Van Occupanther
39 Oddisee Foot In The Door
40 Fujiya & Miyagi Transparent Things
41 The Streets The Hardest Way To Make An Easy Living
42 Aloe Blacc Shine Through
43 Kenn Starr Starr Status
44 Nashawn Nas Presents Napalm
45 Peter Von Poehl Going Where The Tea threes Are
46 DFA The DFA Remixes Chapter One & Two
47 The Flaming Lips At War With The Mystics
48 DJ Mehdi Lucky Boy
49 Herbert Scales
50 AZ The Format
51 Visionaries We Are The Ones (We've Been Waiting For)
52 Rhythm & Sound See Mi Yah Remixes
53 Boris Pink
54 J-Dilla The Shining
55 Jarvis Cocker Jarvis
56 Ed Harcourt The Beautiful Lie
57 HERMAN DÜNE Giant
58 Blue Sky Black Death A Heap Of Broken Images
59 Pharrell In My Mind
60 DC Recordings Presents Death Before Distemper

Вчера заказал первые свои пластинки. Думал об этом еще с прошлого года но лишь на днях желание окрепло до полного нетерпения. Причем нет ни проигрывателя, не акустики, ни денег, чтобы всё это приобрести. В принципе и пластинки то не на что покупать. Но страсть захватила меня - она и заставит предпринять какие-то конкретные действия для реализации задуманного.
Заказал альбом With The Artists от Rhythm & Sound, одну пластинку от Basic Channel и M6 от Maurizio - всё от одних продюссеров Moritz von Oswald и Mark Ernestus.
...
Жду. Не могу. Еще хочу.