Thursday, February 16, 2006

Stateless - 2/24/06 - Soon Come!



Trodding forward with more thick and serious sounds to rock the foundations of Babylon, Roots and Wires Hi-Fi and Six Degrees Records present another round of Stateless:

Friday, 2/24/06, starting at 9 PM, again at Amnesia (853 Valencia, between 19th and 20th)...

The special agent k (Roots and Wires Hi-Fi) and D. Wurker (Six Degrees Records) will be dropping opening sets. As usual, the special agent will be playing a wicked selection of roots reggae, lover's rock, outernational dub, UK steppers, bhangra, dubstep, and south asian breaks - all while dropping rootsical samples, playing the siren unit, and tweaking the mixing board in his usual dubwise style... D. Wurker will once again work the crowd into a dancing frenzy, this time with the special agent providing dubwise treatment to his set. As well, Alex (Lemonade), will be playing kit drum and electronics for parts of both their sets.

We also have a special guest for our live performance this go around. Maneesh the Twister (Dhamaal) will be spinning his usual wickedness, with Ferhan on live tabla, and MC Daddy Frank in from NYC on the mic.

Finally, Tomas (XLR8R, Voltage Music) will again join us as guest DJ, but this time with a special guest providing dubwise sounds on keyboards and via effects units.

We will continue in March, this time as part of the Dhamaal Sights and Sounds Festival - stay tuned for more details!

Wednesday, February 08, 2006

Roots and Wires Hi-Fi Delhi Recording Session

More details are soon to follow, but we have another round of Stateless coming to you Friday, 2/24/06 @ Amnesia. We again feature DJ Tomas (XLR8R) as the guest DJ. Maneesh the Twister (Dhamaal) will also drop serious beats, with Ferhan on tabla and MC Frank on the mic. L'emire (Alex from Lemonade) will be playing kit drum and electronics over D. Wurker's and the special agent k's sets. The special agent k will continue to drop rootsical samples, play the siren unit and dub his set live on the board...

Get ready for another evening of raw, bass-heavy, experimental (yet dance-floor friendly) sounds from the Stateless/Roots and Wires Hi-Fi crew... Be sure and check it.

On with the blog posting... The special agent k was married this winter in India. The joyous occasion was itself full of music, with live dholak and bhangra a constant pulse throughout the several days of ceremony...




The last day in India was a perfect conclusion to the trip, a significant sonic thread that wove together as part of the larger, synchronistic tapestry of events. We had a full-night recording session with some of India's finest classical musicians... In 2006, Roots and Wires Hi-Fi will be coming to you with original tracks that incorporate dubstep, grime, breakbeat, UK steppers, and dubwise elements - organized around virtuosic classical Indian compositions... This won't be any lightweight business (e.g. the usual sample of an instrument looped ad naseum), but will instead aspire to highlight the classical compositions in a deeper manner...


The recording experience itself was a truly wicked experience. My tabla guruji, Vishal (above, on the right), and I have been dialoguing about this project for a few years. I've introduced him to everything from Asian Massive artists such as Karsh Kale, to UK steppers artists like Jah Warrior, and even grime/dubstep/sublow producers such as Vex'd and Skream. These sounds have been percolating between us and led to the selection of specific musicians to create the mood we're aiming for with this project. Vishal picked a truly gifted selection of musicians - I felt deeply honored to be in their company and will introduce them now (though wait until you hear the recordings)... We were blessed to have Ghanshyam Sisodia (above, left) record sarangi with us (over dark and gritty grime beats!)...


Preetam Ghosal (above), a top disciple of Ustaad Amjad Ali Khan, brought tears to our eyes with his sarod work. Stay tuned for some wicked jugalbandi between Preetam and Ghanshyam floating over two-step drum and bass breaks...


Finally, Ujwal Nagar, brother to Vishal Nagar recorded some moving classical vocals. Prepare for the next step in classical vocal vs. breakbeat riddims...


As well, I definitely have to give mad props to sound engineers Dhiman Bhattacharya (above) and Tapan Roy for staying strong until 4 AM!

Anyway, stay tuned for the first Roots and Wires Hi-Fi dubplates. I will probably drop some at the March edition of Stateless... If all goes well, we will then shop the tracks around to various labels afterward... Soon come!

Thursday, February 02, 2006

Stateless - 1/28/06 - Audio Snippets!

As promised, here are some audio snippets +/- playlist info for the last Stateless Event:

(1) Special Agent K (Roots and Wires Hi-Fi) - opening set

link to streaming audio

playlist:

Kazufumi 'Echo' Kodama - Cloud Rack
Karukaya Makato - Family Plan (HAV remix)
Unknown - from Roots and Culture We a Deal Wid
Bitty Mclean - Tell Me
Iration Steppas - No War Dub
Kenny Knots - Run Come Call Me
Selah Collins - Pick a Sound
Manasseh - Bonafide
Kazufumi 'Echo' Kodama - Light and Wind
with Jawaharlal Nehru - Speech
The Mighty Three's - Sinking in the Mist
Kode 9 - Dislokated
with Winston Rodney - Jah no Dead
DJ Abstract - Boozey
with Jawaharlal Nehru - Speech
Freestylers - Bad Boy Love
Horsepower Productions - Special 131

(2) DJ Tomas Palermo (XLR8R, Voltage)

link to streaming audio

playlist unavailable

(3) Lemonade - Live Act

link to streaming audio

recorded off the board - unforunately the drums and bass weren't mic'ed, so the mix is off

(4) DJ D Wurkur (Six Degrees)

link to streaming audio

the minidisc recorder turned off after 30 minutes, so this and my closing set (south asian and ragga drum and bass) are recorded only as memories...