Ring The Alarm playlist, BaseFM, Dec 26
Last show for 2009, big thanks to all the listeners during the year. Nice one!
Catch you on the Base next year.

Lennie Hibbert - Real hot
Sugar Minott - Informer/Informout
Dub Colossus - Negus dub
Umod - Just4funksake
Kraftwerk - Man machine (remaster)
Edwin Birdsong - Rapper dapper snapper
Patrice Rushen - Forget me not
Womack and Womack - Teardrops
Stargard -Which way is up
Trecherous Three - Bum bum bum bum (Freddy Fresh remix)
James Brown - Funky drummer (DJ Muro mix), Stone to the bone
UBB - I know you got soul (Inst)
Steppah Huntah - I don't know (Mitsu the beats remix)
J Dilla - Crushin' inst
Daktaris - Its a big hustle
Cesaria Evora - Angola (Pepe Bradock remix)
Bob Marley - Soul shakedown party (Afrodisiac sound system remix)
Manasseh - Skenga 12" mix
Ragga twins - Spliffhead
Schooly D and Joe Delia - The player (Ganja kru remix)
Kion and Murda feat Jr Murvin - #1 sound
Dub Asylum - Jump and twist
Dandy Livingston and Rico - Message to you Rudy
Phyllis Dillon - Woman of the ghetto
Lloyd Parks - Mafia/ Mafia version
Rhythm and sound - What a mistry
Original Tropicana steel band - Spanish hustle (Kon re-edit)

Merry christmas!
Wishing you a merry christmas, and hope you have a fine time surrounded by friends and family.

And, in remembrance of James Brown... RIP Dec 25 2006... some christmas tunes with some funk!

Benji B - Future music podcasts
For download, three podcasts thanks to Giant Step.

"Giant Step is pleased to bring you the second podcast in the SVEDKA Vodka Future Music Series. The podcasts are hosted by acclaimed London-based DJ, Benji B, of Deviation. Each episode features a wide array of artists and emerging acts from around the globe, crossing genres from soul and hip hop, to electronica and dubstep, to rock and much more. The best in future sounds, the SVEDKA Vodka Future Music Series presents just-released and unreleased music.

In this podcast, Benji B highlights the music of Little Dragon (Sweden), Electric Wire Hustle (New Zealand), Alix Perez (UK), DJ Mitsu The Beats (Japan), Yaw (Chicago), Bei Bei (California), Martyn (Holland), and Cubic Zirconia (New York)."


Listen to em here.

Roger Shepherd reclaims Flying Nun
From Radioscope: "Flying Nun Records is in for a new lease on life, back under the wing of founder Roger Shepherd thanks to a deal announced yesterday.

Part of the Warner Music group for the last five years, following the Warner takeover of Festival Mushroom Records in 2005, Flying Nun will once again be Shepherd's baby. The label will continue its association with Warners however as the physical and digital distribution partner for the label's catalogue and future releases.

Shepherd says it is a privilege and pleasure to once again be heading Flying Nun Records. "While the historic catalog will be maintained and promoted, the label will continue to promote new and innovative New Zealand music."

Edit: This is from Billboard: "... Flying Nun relocated to Auckland in 1988. Its status as an "independent" began to fade in 1990 when Australia's Mushroom Records took a 49% stake in the business. Shepherd cut his ties with the business in 1999. The following year, it was fully absorbed into the merged Festival Mushroom Records (FMR) operation. In 2005, Warner Music acquired the imprint as part of its purchase of FMR."

Bring the Paine
My fellow BaseFM DJ Dan Paine posted this list on FB of his favourite albums of the noughties.

D'Angelo - Voodoo (2000)...
Radiohead - In Rainbows (2007)...
Madvillain - Madvillainy (2004)...
Slum Village - Fantastic Vol.2 (2000)...
The Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Show Your Bones (2006)...
Outkast - Speakerboxxx/The Love Below (2003)...
The Flaming Lips - Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots (2002)...
Quasimoto - The Unseen (2000)......
Common - Like Water for Chocolate (2000)...
Cinematic Orchestra - Everyday (2002)



Dan's list confirms something I've been thinking (and noticed in other end-of-decade lists as well) - all the good albums of the past decade came out in 2000-2005.... I know that's subjective, but I think the first half of the decade was stronger than second half. And now we're all sitting round anticipating a new Sade album, who thought we'd end the decade thinking that?
Dan responded: "... I think that artists now think, make a couple tracks, mp3 it, post it, get as many hits and downloads as poss, fame. Albums take a lot of work, I think it is symptomatic of the digital age."




And as for my bad pun in the title... what's with promoters putting on separate gigs next month by Method Man and Dilated Peoples in Auckland ON THE SAME NIGHT?

Ring the alarm playlist, BaseFM - best of 2009 selections
Here's some of my favourite tunes of 2009, as featured on today's show.
I'm doing a bigger list with sound clips next week. Stay tuned!

Wajeed - Jeedo suave
Hypnotic brass ensemble - Balliki bone
Mulatu and the Heliocentrics - Cha cha
Chancha Via Circuito - Bussitpondem
Julian Marley feat Damian Jr Gong Marley - Violence in the streets
Beat pharmacy - Assassination of the mind (Teddy G remix)
DJ Vadim - Hidden treasure
Cooly G - Love dub
Unitone Hifi - Sneeze off
King midas sound - Cool out
Tiki - Burning fire (Oogun remix)
Mophono - The edge remix
Lee Fields - Love comes and goes
Mayer Hawthorne - The ills
Naomi Shelton and the Gospel Queens -What have you done my brother?
Quantic and his Combo Barbaro - I just fell in love again
Myron and E w Soul Investigators  - Cold game
Fulgence - Tribute to Masekela
VV Brown - Crying blood (Andrew Weatherall dub mix)
Andrew Weatherall - Fail we may, sail we must
Major Lazer  -Can't stop now
Donae'o - Riot music
Isaac Aesili - Use your mind
Staff Benda Billili - Staff Mosala
Breakestra -North east to Nippon
Lefties soul connection  - Have love, will travel
Dub Asylum - Ba ba boom (Oogun remix)

Askew X P-Money
Very cool collaboration from music producer P-Money and artist Askew.  Check it.

From P-Money's blog - "My friend, and incredibly talented graffiti writer, Askew asked me to get involved with this Killa Kombo video for Australian paint company Ironlak. With the concept being that the writer paints the producer's name and the producer provides the soundtrack.
So me and Askew teamed up. He went out and did a bunch of pieces using my name. And I made 3 beats to match the images. All the beats were made on Battery 3 and Logic Express using a Macbook and USB turntable while couch surfing at my mates place in London."

Conch Records best of 2009
Been busy working on my best of 09 list for my BaseFM radio show this Saturday, what a mission. Here's the best of 09 from the folks at Conch. (flogged sampled the pic idea from them too, he he)

Buju Banton arrested for attempting to buy 11 pounds of cocaine

The Joe My God blog notes that the recent arrest of Buju Banton has a number of reggae fans in Jamaica and the US claiming that his bust for attempting to buy eleven pounds of cocaine is payback from the gay community.
Miami Herald: "On Monday, in South Florida and Jamaica, callers burned up radio airwaves, calling the arrest a ``conspiracy'' to get him after his recent controversy that included protests by local gay-rights advocates over a Halloween concert in downtown Miami.
``They are convinced it's directly connected to the concert he had recently,'' said Winston Barnes, a Miramar city commissioner and host of a popular Jamaican talk show on WAVS (1170-AM). ``What they are saying is that he got off that time and they are fixing him now.''

Boom Bye Bye is viewed by gay-rights advocates as an anti-gay anthem because of its lyrics advocating shooting gays in the head and setting them on fire. It made and continues to make Buju Banton a target of protests by gays and lesbians who as recently as this month ratched up their protests against the artist after the Grammy announced his latest album, Rasta Got Soul, was nominated for Best Reggae Album."

Banton's possible sentence could be 20-30 years, or less if he cops a plea bargain.

Vinyl will kill the iPod.
"New York retailer J&R Music claims record sales for the 21 different analog and digital turntable models that it carries. Rachelle Friedman, the co-owner of J&R, said the store is selling more vinyl and turntables than it has in at least a decade, fueled largely by growing demand from members of the iPod generation..." Source: Sales of turntables increase along with vinyl. Shame that Ms Friedman uses the term 'ramping up'... hate that....

Here's an idea - if the vinyl revival really is being driven by the iPod generation, then is it a reaction to crappy sound quality of mp3s? I still have problems buying anything off iTunes, simply because their bitrate is low, and sounds like it too. This is why people still buy CDs - so they can rip them to MP3s at a better bitrate than iTunes. That's one of the reasons I still buy CDs.

I guess there's the tangible  element too - a record collection just looks better than an MP3 collection (which is like looking at a  hard drive - thrilling). It's like watching people when I show them my new Dub Asylum vinyl single - their eyes light up. It's exciting - who ever got excited about an MP3? Really?

Hiphop vs Drum n bass soundclash
"DJCXL represented Hip Hop in Base FM's Hip Hop vs Drum & Bass soundclash in early December '09 - this clip shows the journey from practicing the set (with MC Bling), to performing it live and performing it at a radio show two days later."
Much respect to CXL and MC Bling - mean, brothers, mean!

Benji B top picks from 09.
Just heard the mighty Chip Matthews and Mister Dylan C talking on BaseFM Breakfast earlier about well-respected UK DJ Benji B, and his end of year faves list which features a couple of locals, Julien Dyne and Electric Wire Hustle, nice one! Check Benji B's Best of 2009 part 1 and part 2. Part 2 is still available online for another 5 days if you want to listen in.

Another list? Try this. The best films of 2009 that you might have missed. Boom.