Thanks to everyone who bought their ticket – you are in for one hell of a party!

Here’s a taster of what’s to come.

We stumbled across this beauty on Bloc TV the other day. Altern8 smashing the s**t out of Red:Bloc on the Sunday night at the sold out 2009 festie. Braindrop will be hosting this exact same arena this Sunday 14 March. Boom!

It is with deep regret that we have to lose the fantastic Congo Natty from our Tranz-mission bill. This is through no fault of Congo Natty – unfortunate circumstances beyond Slammin Vinyl’s control were to blame.

Loefah, Doorly, the McMash Clan and Broken Note will still be headlining Slammin’s Vinyl’s flagship event.

Big up to Congo Natty and Rebel MC – we will be getting the crew back to a Braindrop in the very near future.

In the mean time, check out the FULL Congo Natty crew at their show at Jamm, Brixton on March 19. Huge performances from the whole crew, including Rebel and Tenor Fly, plus some of their newer talent. PLUS King Tubbys infamous dub soundsystem, featuring the legendary Channel One. Follow this LINK to check the Facebook event.

Also make sure you check them at Bloc Weekend in a coupla days time!

Boom!

Only a few more sleeps until Bloc! And we’re bringing you the last of our Braindrop @ Bloc interviews. This week we have the incredible honour of speaking with MJ Cole, a true dance music legend and arena headliner for our Braindrop showcase on Sunday.

Mr Cole was one of the leading lights of the UK Garage scene. Responsible for many a UKG classic before (Talk to Me / Treat Me Right are 2 of our faves), it was the seminal Sincere which catapulted him into the limelight. A timeless masterpiece, it set the bar for his production style for which he would become famous. Tight, skipping beats, punchy bassweight, lush classical arrangement and his much copied off-beat vocal snippets. Pete Tong got hold of one of only 20 test pressings and the rest is history. A hugely successful and inspiring career followed – including a string of anthemic singles, a Mercury Prize nominated album, countless classic remixes, a hectic international dj schedule and the rise and rise of his label – Prolific Records.

Where as a lot of leading UKG producers have all but disappeared, MJ Cole has adapted and developed as an artist and remains a towering force on today’s bass music scene. His current musical output retains the musicality of his earlier productions and crosses them with the tribal riddims and shuddering bassweight of UK funky. Check out the massive AO ft MC Serocee, or Fly Up Ya Banner (produced jointly with fellow UKG legend Zed Bias) for a taster.

MJ Cole kindly took some time out of his busy schedule to do a quick interview with us. Enjoy!

BD – Hi Matt. How are you and what are you doing at the moment?

MJC – Life is good at the moment. We’ve just released the Nero remix of Sincere on Prolific and have a four track EP of mine lined up for an April release. Have also just finished remixes for Todd Edwards, Madd Slinky feat Omar, Toddla T and Serocee. Also working on a track for Examples’s album and have been DJing all over the shop (place-wise not mixing-wise I hope).

BD – You are widely acknowledged as being one of the key innovators of the 2 step sound. What were your major influences back then and what inspired you to push your sound?

MJC – Classical music was my first inspiration. This was closely followed by D&B / Hardcore / Jungle of the late 80’s. I think I contributed something to the 2 step sound mainly because I wasn’t into Garage as such before. It was my interpretation of the sound which made it different I think.

BD – Your new releases are a bass heavy, musical take on UK funky. What attracted you to the genre and what part do you see yourself in playing in its future?

MJC – I became suddenly inspired at about this time last year. The UK Funky sound really re-invigorated the Garage vibes that had been simmering for the previous several years. Again, I like to think that I’ve taken the bits I appreciated from that sound and incorporated them into the production melting pot. There’s so much good music around at the minute from producers both young and old. It feels really vibey out there.

BD – You first started releasing tunes in the late 90’s. How has your production / dj set up changed in the last decade? What did you originally use and what do you use now?

MJC – Studio-wise my setup is always changing. In the late 90’s it was Cubase, Akai samplers, sound modules like the Proteus, Vintage Keys, JV1080 etc and loads of outboard. Now, I use much more software-based processing (Waves plugs etc) but have still retained my beloved outboard kit (Neve, API, SSL, Focusrite etc). I’m using Logic Pro, Protools and Ableton Live. DJ-wise I used to be vinyl only for a good 10 years. Pretty much skipped the CD stage and switched to Ableton Live almost 4 years ago. I love this setup as it’s so versatile. I’m always adding extra functions to my controllers etc. I still like to run into 2 channels of the mixer so I can use the crossfader, Eqs etc but also have access to filters, loops, beat repeats, delays from Ableton

BD – What producers are you really feeling at the moment?

MJC – There’s so many good young guys around. Off the top of my head… L-Vis 1990, SBTRKT, Lil Silva, Ben UFO, Mosca, Bok Bok, Brackles, Foamo, Roof Light. Then there’s some more familiar names who are still running things in a big way such as Zed Bias, Zinc, Donaeo, Skream, Afrojack, Sinden, Diplo, Riva Starr to name just a few.

BD – You’re playing under the Braindrop banner at Bloc Weekend 2010, headlining alongside DJ Hype, Reso, Vent, Raffertie and Kanji Kinetic. What can we expect from your Bloc set?

MJC – If it’s anything like the NYE party expect a mashup of Funkee, 2 Step, Future, Dubstep, Crack House and a couple of classics added to the pot for good measure. Big energy Bass Music!

BD – What’s been your favourite club / festival to play in the world?

MJC – Wow, there have been many – Glastonbury and Big Chill we big points for me last year. Always enjoy playing in Japan as the systems are sooo good. Have also had some great nights in venues in UK such as Plan B, Fabric, MOS and Rainbow

BD – What are your 3 favorite tunes of all time (anything at all!)

1. Marvin Gaye “Heard it through the Grapevine”
2. The Police “Message in a Bottle”
3. Tower of Power “What is Hip”

BD – What are the top 5 tunes in your record box at the mo?

1. The Brockout “Shakedown”
2. Foamo “Centavo”
3. J2K feat Roses Gabor “Don’t Let Go”
4. Maddslinky feat Omar “Special”
5. Mosca “Nike”

BD – Favourite Youtube video?

Biggup MJ! You can catch him headlining our Braindrop @ Bloc showcase alongside DJ Hype & MC Daddy Earl, The McMash Clan, Reso vs Vent, Kanji KInetic vs Raffertie, AGT Rave Cru and Bass6 this Sunday 14 March.

Check his myspace

And check this excellent mix from the man himself.

You can now start counting down the days until Bloc Weekend hits Butlins Minehead. And it looks like it’s going to be another sell out year for the UK’s best out-of-season dance music festival.

On Sunday we’re taking over Red:Bloc for 8 hours of Braindrop. We’ve chosen the legend that is DJ Hype to bring the whole festival to a close, aided by his MC Daddy Earl.

We tried to get an interview with the man himself, however Mr Hype is very busy gent indeed and alas this wasn’t possible. So we thought we’d run a feature on him anyway and remind you as to why he deserves his legendary status.

DJ Hype - panda lover

New genres are created and consolidated by a handful of tireless visionaries. Fledgling producers, DJs and label bosses work together to create a brand new sound, establish its identity and build a scene around it.

Hype was a leading light in all 3 of the above categories. He got to where he is nowadays by building himself a sterling reputation as a highly technical dj, a respected producer and a driving force for breaking talent as label boss, A&R extraordinaire and hard working radio jock.

Hype and the Ganja Kru dawg

DJ Hype burst onto the young jungle scene in 1994 with the first release on his label, Ganja Records. He rapidly stamped his mark on the scene with successful and numerous releases from himself and the rest of the emerging Ganja Kru, his production collective consisting of himself, Zinc and Pascal.

However it was the absolutely MASSIVE Super Sharp Shooter EP – released in 1996 – which made Hype and the rest of the Ganja Kru a household name. Curated by the man himself and comprising of tracks by Hype, Zinc and Pascal, each tune on the ep is a classic (it’s not just all about the title track!) and heavily influenced the future direction of the then infant d’n’b scene.

The S, the U, the P the E the R

The same year Hype launched the iconic Tru Playaz imprint, kicking things off with his classic “Peace, Love and Unity”. Tru Playaz quickly became one of the most popular labels in drum ‘n’ bass, giving us tracks such as Zinc’s Reach Out, Casino Royale, Ska and 138 Trek, Pascal’s P-Funk Era and Friction & Nu Balance’s Robocop – just to name a very few. Tru Playaz became a huge brand in itself, selling swathes of merchandise and of course thousands of compilation CDs mixed and scratched by Hype. Tru Playaz was brought in by Fabric to become their flagship Fabriclive night – and still remains one of its busiest regular events.

Tru Playaz kicking off at Fabric

Fast forward a few years and Hype launched a couple more specialist labels. Liqweed Ganja was born in 2005 and attracted releases from Calibre, A Sides, Wickaman, Netsky and Drumsound & Bassline Smith. Ganja Tek started in 2006 and saw Hype sign the ridiculously talented Prolix. And Playaz took over from where Tru Playaz left off in 2007 – smashing the scene to bits with his new generation of jump-up dons – Hazard, Original Sin and G-Dub. Their latest release, Original Sin’s Therapy, is arguably one of the biggest tunes to hit the d’n’b scene for a while.

Hype & the Tru Playaz

Whilst he’s produced some truly classic tunes over the years, it’s his reputation as a dj that’s really cemented his place at the top of line ups worldwide. Hype comes from a turntablist background – back in 1989 he won the London DMC heats, and went on to represent the UK in the European DMC championships. This turntablist flair is something his sets have become renowned for – most notably his catchy scratching hooks.  We spent our teenage years constantly rewinding Hype mixtapes and these recordings certainly got us hooked to the drum ‘n’ bass sound.

Hype is still top of his game, and earns his place alongside Andy C, London Elektriciy and Goldie as visionaries who have not only shaped the direction of d’n’b, but have created their own empires along the way. Big ups and maximum respect to the Hype – we are truly blessed to have him closing the Braindrop arena.

Check out Hype’s myspace

Check the Playaz Online website

Check the Bloc website

Thank you to everyone who entered our final Bloc 2010 ticket competition. We had a silly number of entries and it’s taken all morning to go through the whole lot.

We had all styles of music entered – dubstep, techno, jungle, breakcore, d’n'b, gabba, hardcore, funky, old skool. And some very dubious remixes of Animal Hospital, Antiques Roadshow and ITV News.

The nature of this competition, and music in general, is that it is inherently subjective. So without further disclaimer, here is our favorite:

NOISIA – MACHINE GUN (16 BIT REMIX)

At this moment in time, and with Bloc Weekend in mind, we new this massive tune was the one. 16-Bit have really taken the bar up with this one and it is going to kick the place off HARD when we drop it at the festival.

Well done JIMMY ALEXANDER! You win a FREE ticket PLUS accomodation for the whole festival.

We’ll get in contact with you directly to arrange ‘tings.

HUGE big ups to everyone else who entered.

Tickets for Bloc are rapidly running out – snap yours up now while you’ve got the chance from the Bloc shop – http://shop.blocweekend.com/

x

Saturday 3 April sees Braindrop make our debut at Slammin Vinyl’s Tranz-mission @ Alexandra Palace. And we’ve drafted in man of the moment Doorly to headline alongside Congo Natty, Loefah, The McMash Clan and Broken Note.

If you don’t know about Doorly by now then . . . well . . . we’ll tell you about him! Doorly is a hugely talented and prolific dj, producer and promoter who’s career has enjoyed a meteoric rise over the last couple of years. In fact after looking at his recent CV I had to restrain myself from poking my eyes out with a fork out of jealousy.

His DJ sets fuse dubstep, electro and techno in an old skool block party style, mashing up an eclectic and bass heavy selection using 3 CDJs, 2 turntables, an EFX unit and Pioneer DJM 800 mixe

Doorly’s first big break came in April 2008, when he was invited by a certain Pete Tong to record a live Essential Mix for Radio 1. This led to many good things – some huge international bookings, as well as residencies at Wax:On, Metropolis, Ibiza Rocks, Ibiza’s Reclaim the Dancefloor, Annie Mac Presents and Zane Lowe’s “DJ Hero’ tour

His productions have been getting a lot of airplay as of late, most noteably his MASSIVE remixes for Dizzee Rascal, Basement Jaxx, The Prodigy and Groove Armada (to name a few). And his solo productions are banging – check out “Toys / Horse Step” which is out now.

We caught up with Mr Doorly whilst he was on his Austrailia tour to ask him some questions about some very important stuff. And the lovely guy gave us a brand new Annie Mac mix for download. Link is at the bottom of the interview. Enjoy!

BD – Hello mate – how are you and what are you doing at the moment?

D – Just got back a few hours ago from a 2 week Australia & Newzealand tour which was absolutely amazing and massively inspiring, just trying to stay awake to beat the jetlag of doom!!!

BD – How would you describe Doorly? What are your main influences?

D – Basically i’m a DJ first and kind of learnt how to make records along the way – The most important thing to know about me is that i’m genreless and dont want to be pigeon holed into one sound, my influences are drawn from Techno, Dub, Hip hop, drum & bass … well basically anything cool really!

BD – Any exciting news? Releases / remixes / collaborations / festival appearances etc etc?

D – I’ve just deliverd my remix on Groove Armada’s Latest Single “Paper Romanc” due out 22nd Feb, which is the best thing ive ever done i reckon!  I’m currently working on the next Marina & The Diamonds Singe “I am not a robot” which is wicked. After that i’m going to hold off on the remixes (I’ve done over 30 this year!!) and concentrate on some strong original tracks.  I have about 10 ready to go so for the next few months i will be collaborating with loads of amazing vocalists so watch this space…… Ultimatley i’m working towards an artist album.

Gigwise i’ve got 2 USA tours line up before the summer including loads of hype parties at the Miami WMC, I’m doing Snowbombing in april and returning to Ibiza for the summer in June to continue my weekly residencies for Ibiza Rocks & Recliam the Dancefloor.  I will also be hitting most of the major UK festivals and a few of the big Eurpoean ones too but theyre all just being confirmed now.

BD – Your first big break came from your Radio One Essential Mix back in 2008. How did that come about and how did that change things for you?

D – Yep that was definitly a big catalyst in what has happened since, I just got an email one day from Radio 1 asking me if i’d be up for it and i was, it was that easy!!  Things have just snowballed from there.  The biggest thing that did for me was to give me the kick up the ass to get stuck into production, because at that stage i was only known as a DJ so i made a big effort to get some tracks finished for the Essential mix and then realised how much fun it was ond continued from there!

BD – What equipment / software do you use to make your music? And what do you use to play out live?

D – Ableton all the way for Production.  For Djing i Use 3 CDJs & a mixer, i love the visual aspect of performing as a DJ so will never use a computer as part of my setup

BD – Top production tip?

D – If you’re starting out, Just get Ableton, its so user friendly, why over complicate things!!! and don’t wait about expecting for people to give you remix parts, just take a track you like, chop it up and use those parts to make a remix then get it out there for people to hear!

BD – Which artists are you really rating at the moment and why?

D – Sbtrkt is blowing my mind at the moment – His music is so “Future”

BD – What can we expect from your Tranz-mission set?

D – Expect a blend of loads of differnet sounds and lots of energy!

BD – All time 3 animals?

1. My Dog Timmy – He’s a tiny yorkshire terrier and a pretty cool dude!
2. My other Dog Maggie – She keeps Timmy on the straight and narrow
3. A Meercat – They remind me of kids that come and stand at the front watching me DJ : )

BD – Favorite Youtube video?

D – That A&R Guy clip becuase its exactly what i go through every day! I also always enjoy a little bit of Chav gets owned by wall

……………………………….

Thanks Doorly! Grab his Radio 1 mix from the link below.

Doorly Radio 1 mix for Annie Mac

Check out Doorly’s Myspace. And catch him at Tranz-misison, Braindrop arena on Saturday 3 April alongside Congo Natty aka Rebel MC, Loefah, The McMash Clan Broken Note, DJ Disowned & MC Cutter, Skinny & Clarkie, Silly Pundit and Bass6.

We’ve had 16 Bit to play at Braindrop a good few times now – they make some of the most well produced bass music out there and they always smash it when playing out. Big up guys!

Check out the 16 Bit Myspace

The mighty Vent join us for an exclusive back to back set with Reso at our Braindrop @ Bloc showcase.

This production / dj twosome have been smashing the global underground to bits as of late. They make big, fat, glitchy, thumping bass music that smashes down genre barriers and varies hugely in speed.

Their collaboration with Reso, Rumble, has become a crossover anthem, having gained a-list dj and radio support worldwide. 2009 saw them play storming sets at Glade and Glasto, work with Si Begg, Cursor Miner Tippr, Deekline & Wizard, Ctrl-Z & Stereotype – and enjoy successful releases on Hardcore Beats and Colony Productions.

2010 is going to be a big year for these immensely talented producers. Make sure you check out their Glade 2009 live set – which we’ve put up for download at the bottom of this page.

Enjoy!

BD – Hi guys how are you and what are you doing?

V – We’re taking a quick break, skiing in the French Alps, blue skies, killer powder, and wine.

BD – How would you describe your sound? What are your main influences?

V – Music: dubsteppyglitchyelectrobreaksdnb100bpmpartymayhem

As for our influences: People trying to be different

BD – Where does the name come from?

V – Its a secret!

BD -Any exciting news for 2010? Festival appearances / gigs / tunes / collaborations?

V – 2010 is looking very exciting so far.  Releases due include Deviant Creatures Parts 3 & 4, a collab with Reso, remixes for Si Begg, Meat Katie & Dominant Species, a collab with Ill Gates & Opiuo, and plenty more sneaky stuff! On the gig side of things we have BLOC confirmed for march obviously (!), and we’re currently working out the rest of our UK festival schedule (can’t say too much yet).  We’ve got a load of European and UK dates coming up as well, so its a great time for us.

BD -You’re playing under the Braindrop banner at Bloc Weekend 2010, playing b2b Reso alongside DJ Hype, MJ Cole, Raffertie and Kanji Kinetic. What can we expect from your Bloc set?

V – Basslines and multiple tempos!  Unfortunately we can’t play any Reso tunes, and Reso can’t play any of our tunes, so we’ll have to do some more crate digging or composing before we get there!

BD – The rest of the Bloc line up is silly, including Salt ‘n’ Pepa, Roots Manuva, Ellen Allien, Mixmaster Mike, Surgeon, Autechre, Kode 9, Congo Natty, Flying Lotus etc etc. Who else on the line up are you most looking forward to see?

V – There’s so many good people playing its hard to know where to be.  You mentioned a crazy amount of acts already!!!  Grandmaster Flash, Skream & Benga and Mikey Dread are some serious omissions though…

BD – Who would win in a fight between Reso and Vent?

V – Well there’s two of us, and only one Reso.  Sam would sit on him whilst I (Dan) poked his eyes out….  Then I could steal all his Garageband presets….

BD – What equipment / software do you use to make your music?

V – Logic 9, a very select and small bunch of plugins and softsynths, and some hardware we’d care not to mention

BD – Top studio tip for up and coming producers?

V – Be different, and work hard.

BD – What artists are you feeling at the moment and why?

V – Reso, Akira Kiteshi, Tipper, too many to mention here.  We like people who we feel are bringing new sounds and ideas to existing genres, and making different tempos.

BD – All time top 3 tunes (anything at all??)

V – We can’t answer that question but here are three releases to look out for in the next few weeks: Reso – Technitium, Ill Gates, Opiuo, VENT – Origin of Bass, DC Breaks  – Halo EP

BD – All time top 3 animals?

1. Bears
2. Monkeys
3. Pandas

BD – Favorite Youtube video?

V – The A & R Man (ed – we tried to look for this video but couldn’t figure out what vent were referring to. Braindrop family- if you know please tell us and we’ll link to it!)

…………………………….

Thanks guys! Download their fantastic Glade live mix (hosted by dnbshare) below:

VENT @ GLADE – LIVE MIX

Check out Vent’s Myspace HERE.

In one month’s time Bloc returns to Butlin’s Minehead for an almighty weekend rave up. The line up is HUGE! In fact it’s just plain silly. Acts so far include Salt ‘n’ Pepa, Roots Manuva, Ellen Allien, Mixmaster Mike, Surgeon, Autechre, Kode 9, Congo Natty, Flying Lotus etc etc

We’ll be hosting Red:Bloc for the entire of Sunday, joined by DJ Hype & MC Daddy Earl, MJ Cole, Reso vs Vent, Raffertie vs Kanji Kinetic, AGT Rave Cru, Bass6 and us – residents The McMash Clan.

We’ve got one more ticket to give away – so we’re running a Youtube competition. This time it’s all about your favourite tune.

Here it is . . .

For your chance to win a free ticket to bloc post a Youtube link to the sickest tune you know on the Braindrop @ Bloc Facebook event page.

FOLLOW THIS LINK to go straight there:

It can be ANYTHING at all – dubstep / techno / jungle / dnb / ska / Indonesian gamelan skwee / barn trance / fidget folk . . . It just needs to be HEAVY and kick a dancefloor off hard.

We’ll pick our favorite.

The winner will win a FREE Bloc ticket and we (The McMash Clan) will play that winning song in our set on the Sunday evening to a packed out, peak time Red:Bloc.

Competition deadline is Thursday 25 February – good luck!

Here’s one to get you started: