Version culture may be one of the more elusive corners of the music industry as new riddims and their deejays circulate faster than we can organize them. So rather than trying to ride this many crested wave, I often turn to the incomparable Heatwave blog where my long-held love of Dancehall is constantly re-sparked.

Growing up on an island, we held the (mostly) naive notion that Dancehall and its roots were somehow soulfully connected to our water-bound lives of banality and bourgeois boredom. Tensions abound here, but Dancehall, Reggae, and its culture was steeped so heavily in my community that some have gone on to produce professionally and even adhere, however faithfully, to principles of Rastafarianism.

9/11 sizzles in everyone’s minds, that morning as clear as day for those in the West watching the horrors of the East , and amidst the tumult of my adolescence and the day itself, I bought Anthony B’s “That’s Life”, less symbolic than a distraction from the days events, but I’ll never forget peeling off the plastic and losing myself in croons and chats of peace, pseudo-feminism, and love.

Rarely do I offer the latest in Dancehall business, but lately it has landed in my hardrive and stuck to my play button like sticky icky. As I stumble and trip to the end of one of the last quarters of my college career, I curl my lip and wine to this quatro of solid gold hooks and chats over the Rooftop Riddim. With relentless energy and a truly diverse approach from each deejay, I’ll be bouncing and wining all the way to Austin on Mavado’s despairing laments of love and loss (my personal favorite) and Beenie Man’s rudeboi steez.

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Flippa Mafia – Naah Lef Him Again

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D’Angel – Come Over

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Charly Black – Turn Me On

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Beenie Man – Under Curfew

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Mavado – House Top

P.S. Yes, I’ll be in Austin for a blissful week of music and people. If for some reason you recognize the anti-gravity hair, show love!

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John and Daniel make up the quickly rising group LA Riots known for killer remixes. Since the inception of this duo, their tracks have rocked many a party and also have recently been featured in the IHEARTCOMIX compilation CD done for Scion.

I caught up with John recently at the poorly organized mess of a festival Hard 13 in Los Angeles to chat with him more about the duo’s growing success:

bisouK: Tell our readers about the inception of LA Riots

John: Daniel and I have known each other for a while, we both go back to the NC drum & bass scene in the late 90’s. We both ended up living in LA, he started DJ’ing electro, and we decided to try writing an electro track. Things took off very quickly from there.

bisouK: How did you hook up with Undocumented Management?

John: Adrian and Mike had recently picked up their first act MSTRKRFT and were on the lookout for a promising hometown act. We were it. This was very early on, before they called themselves Undocumented.

bisouK: Your remixes are known to be killer, when can we expect some original tracks?

John: They’re coming. I’ve put a lot into finding our sound and its taken some time, I want it to be something very cool. The first few are close to completion, I’m really excited about getting them out there.

bisouK: How do you find tracks to remix?

John: The labels hit us up with offers, and we choose the ones we like.

bisouK: What would you say is the overall identity of LA Riots as a brand?

John: Dancefloor killers. . that’s what we do.

bisouK: You’re known to be the behind the scenes guy, can you tell TM readers about the differences in roles between you and Daniel?

John: He’s the DJ, I’m the producer. We both recognized how strong we’d be if we teamed up, and the dynamic works really well. I’m only behind the scenes in that I’m not the primary performer.

bisouK: Fave festivals you have played to date and why?

John: I don’t go on a lot of the gigs, I mostly only roll out when its local, so I haven’t been at a lot of the festivals we’ve played. For me, it was the first Street Scene in San Diego. It was very early on in LA Riots, the first show where we had all access, free food and drinks, and a trailer. That was a fun time.

bisouK: What are the goals you try to accomplish when making remixes and how do you differentiate your sound from others?

John: With the remixes, I tried to distinguish us from others by remaining as true to the original music as possible, while making the track kill an electro dancefloor. Most producers do their own thing, and throw in a few samples of the original over it. I liked to work in as much of the original as possible. I’m talking past tense though, our production sound is shifting big time, I’m not currently taking any remixes, and my approach to remixing may change after finishing the originals. Our sound is at a turning point, so we’ll see.

bisouK: Where do you see LA Riots transitioning and moving into in the next few years as the scene changes? Any new influences we should look for in your upcoming releases?

John: Rock. On the production end, a lot more rock. My favorites of the originals I’m working on could be on a rock radio station’s daytime playlist and can also kill a peak hour dancefloor. The first few completed originals will most likely be along these lines. I also have some deeper, moodier tracks cooking, and some straight up dancefloor tracks.

bisouK: Finally, what do you want to see happen when people listen to your music?

John: I want them to feel like a badass on the dancefloor.

LA Riots will be playing in SXSW on the 19th, 20th, and 21st. Definitely a show to catch if you’re in Austin, Texas!

Bisous XX

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Late of the Pier first caught my attention as remixers, producing tunes infused with electro, rock, and pop elements with a dark edged tinge. They are now releasing “Fantasy Black Channel“, their debut album. The full length release gives you a better sense of who LOTP are as a band. “Fantasy Black Channel” pushes stylistic boundaries, contains infectious hooks, and the wide scope of their soundscape gives each track its own sound, dishing out a little bit of something for everyone.

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Late of the Pier – Space and The Woods – Patrick Plastix Remix

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Late of the Pier – Bathroom Gurgle – Artwork Remix

The fan’s and critics are all over it, and in agreement, LOTP is a “hot buzz band“, to keep on your radar. Over the past year, the Nottingham four some of comprised of Sam Eastgate (vocals/guitar), Sam Potter, (synths/samplers), Ross Dawson (drums/percussion) and Andrew Faley (bass), have been receiving massive acclaim and extensively touring Europe. They make their highly anticipated US debut this March and April, hitting SXSW, WMC, and all points in between.

‘Brilliant’ -Rolling Stone
‘This band are the future’ – NME
‘Grand retro-futurism’ –Pitchfork
‘Strange & Exciting’ -Blender
‘A wild pastiche of pogo-friendly pop music…Late of the Pier isn’t so much late as right on time.’– Interview
‘The most thrillingly imaginative album of the year’ -The Fly

LATE OF THE PIER ON U.S. TOUR SPRING, 2009
March 18 – 21 Austin, TX South by Southwest
March 24 Jacksonville, FL Jack Rabbits
March 26 Miami, FL Gansevoort Hotel (DJ set)
March 27 Miami,FL Vagabond Hotel (DJ set)
March 28 Miami, FL Bicentennial Park
March 30 Atlanta, GA The Earl
April 01 New York, NY Bowery Ballroom
April 02 New Haven, CT Yale
April 03 Brooklyn, NY Studio B
April 04 Philadelphia, PA TLA
April 07 Washington DC 930 Club
April 08 Boston, MA Paradise
April 09 Montreal, QC Les Saintes
April 10 Toronto, ON Kool Haus
April 11 Chicago, IL Branded @ Congress Theater
April 14 Seattle, WA Chop Suey
April 15 Portland, OR Holocene
April 16 San Francisco, CA Popscene
April 19 Indio, CA Empire Polo Grounds

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It’s the wave of new media – When traditional places like TV networks incorporate non-mainstream music into their off shoot website products to add personality and showcase something fresh. What’s the latest example?

Definitive Jux’s artist Cage is coming out with a new album this year that will be available for FREE for download on Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim.

Unfamiliar? Cage is an American rapper from New York, who does self described progressive rap and no longer condones drug use with his lyrics. His life was so tumultuous growing up (imagine helping your dad shoot up heroine) that Shia Lebeouf is making his directorial debut shooting the video for “I Never Knew You” here in rainy Los Angeles, which will actually lead up to a feature length film with Lebeouf playing the young Cage.

Cage’s new album (and the first in 4 years) will be the follow up to 2005’s highly praised Hell’s Winter. Vice Magazine called it “strictly for the grown, warped, and sexy” which sounds right up this Trash alley.

If you like the track below, you can find the I Never Knew You EP this spring on Adult Swim (Cartoon Network) and if you’re in the beautiful Austin, Texas at SXSW you’ll be able to see his first official performance this year.

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Cage – Nothing Left to Say

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Culn’Sweet are no strangers to the hustle and flow of circling their music ’round the blogs. Back in Nov 08, they were featured on the maddest blog of all, Mad Decent. Persistent through and through, this post has been long overdue on Trash and the culprit, lack of time, has surrendered. Comprised of Dj’s Spin Laden, Teenage Wolf, and Mario Barrio, the Dj/art collective have been throwing it down in the South of Texas and Mexico, infiltrating their style of what they call, “hard dance rave, jacking, ghetto, and fidget”, which you can also catch on their blog, Tejano Bounce.

“The scene in Mexico is really starting to catch on to the heavy bass sounds and extends further than Monterrey”, says Dj Teenage Wolf. And Culn’Sweet have a knack for pushing this sound, along with their best friends, MIAU Collective, whom they often collaborate with. Their monthly residency, “Fidget Disco” at Black n Tan, in Austin, Texas, is all about that. “We’ve played alongside and hosted with some of our favorites – Dj fame, juiceboxxx, Dre skull, Congorock, Zombie disco squad, Jak z, Scott Cooper, Rampage, Dj Sega, Toy Selectah, Suave, Bouncy Brunch Crew, and we have Wongo, Justin James, Gigibarocco, and Hijack, lined up for upcoming parties.”

Culn’Sweet are no strangers to SXSW, as it’s right in their backyard. This year they’ll play alongside label Dj’s from Pottymouth, Nightshifters, Brick Bandits and more. The future is looking bright for these eager young things, so what else is in store? Dj Spin Laden has an upcoming release on Acid Jacks label, Idiot House and Culn’Sweet Dj’s are preparing for an Ep release on Vicious Pop Digital, due out this summer. Catch Dj Teenage Wolf at The Heist, LA on 2/26 and enjoy these 2 mixes made by Teenage Wolf and Spin Laden, just for Trash!

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Dj Teenage Wolf February Mix for Trash Menagerie

01. Baobinga – State of Ghetto Jackin
02. Dj rockid – Girls (mighty fools remix)
03. Aniki – Evil Nugget (Van Villian remix )
04. Breakdown – Feel this
05. Doubble 99 – RipGrove (ant brooks & twisted blitz mix)
06. Blatta & Inesha – El Ritmo Barbara
07. yacek – Stoopid
08. Pete Vaydex – My Orange Vacuum Cleaner
09. Rob3 – The Chase ( Rampage Remix)
10. Tom eq – I need you
11. lissat & voltaxx – Let there be house (Dj bam bam remix)

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DJ Spin Laden February Mix for Trash Menagerie

01. Kazey & bulldog – For da Real G’s (french fries rmx)
02. lazy flow – Don’t Stop
03. dj rob 3 – Xplosion
04. Crookers – Alarma
05. Ursula 1000 – Zombies (hijack remix)
06. Mikix the cat – Wuz
07. edu k – Raver lovin (nadastrom remix)
08. Jon Kennedy – One time
09. Solid Groove Sinden – din da da
10. Destroy disco – Bring that lead back
11. Calvetron – like dat (aspin dipace remix)
12. Crookers – what up ya’ll
13. Dillinja – twist em out (proper villains remix)
14. Blackfinger – umf (supra1 remix)
15. Piddy py – giggle riddim

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We have 2009 and London/Manchester trio We Have Band, have a brave cover from the Buffet Libre Dj’s REWIND covers project, ‘West End Girls‘, by pop geniuses, Pet Shop Boys. They sing this so effortlessly, I don’t mind it being a cover at all. In fact, I’m rather glad they chose Pet Shop Boys to cover; perfect timing with PSB’s ‘revival.’

As 2008 neared its final months, there was a plethora of music that I didn’t get around to mentioning, including, We Have Band’s debut single, ‘Oh!‘, released 11/24, via the 50 Bones label. “Oh!” had a variance of remixes that came in droves from the likes of Micachu, Gentlemen Drivers, Andrew Friendly, Plugs, and Yo! Majesty.

While the repetitive “Oh!” was racing around in our heads, We Have Band’s “You’ve Had Band (Demo)”, was working its way ’round the blogs and “Hear It In the Cans (DIY Version)”, was picked up for the 6th compilation on the Parisian label, Kitsuné Maison. We Have Band is currently writing and recording songs for their upcoming album and have a list of gig dates (including SXSW in Austin, TX) that can be found on their myspace. Undoubtedly, the self described “disco-rock trio”, are taking shape, so keep an eye out!

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West End Girls (We Have Band – Pet Shop Boys cover)

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We Have Band – You’ve Had Band (Demo)

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We Have Band – Oh! (Micachu Remix)

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We Have Band- Oh! (Gentlemen Drivers Remix)

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We Have Band – Oh! (Andrew Friendly Remix)

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We Have Band – Oh! (Plugs Remix)

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We Have Band – Hear It In the Cans

Lastly, FACT Magazine’s last mix of the year was done by We Have Band.
Thx for providin!

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FACT Mix22 – We Have Band (Dec 08)

01. Deichkind vs. Yves Larock – ‘Remmi Demmi’ (Mashupmeister Bootleg)
02. DJ Mujava – ‘Township Funk’ (DJ Nonesense Mix)
03. Jackson & His Computer Band – ‘Rock On’
04. Ellen Allien & Apparat – ‘Do Not Break’
05. We Have Band – ‘Oh!’ (Plugs Remix)
06. Amadou & Mariam – ‘Sabali’
07. Mandy Warhol – ‘I’m Gay’ (Stereogamous Remix)
08. Munk – ‘Down in L.A.’ (Shazam Remix)
09. Noze – ‘Ethiopo’
10. Cassius – ‘La Notte’
11. Aphex Twin – ‘Bbydhyonchord’

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