So the tabloid's scaremongering and excessive daily coverage of Mephedrone has finally paid off.  In a knee jerk reaction the government has made Mephodrone a class B illegal substance after 25 related deaths. Even though there has been no in depth conclusive research as to wether or not there are any negative effects from the Drug and none of the related deaths have been proved to have been caused solely by the substance.

      However is banning the substance actually going to help?  Since it was made illegal the price of Mephedrone has risen from around £12-15 a gram upto £35 a gram.  Pushing the drug underground is not necessarily going to stop people taking it. If anything it has gone from being sold in retailers as a packaged product to a street drug which could be cut with all manner of substances and also fund organized crime as other drugs do. Sure the transition from Mephedrone being a legitimate product which could be bought on the internet with a bank card to an underground one will put some people off but a vast majority of users wont mind.     With more legal highs apparently being rushed to fill the gap in the estimated £10 million market left by Mephodrone, this is obviously only the beginning of the legal high era. 

       A leading UK medical journal entitled "The Lancet Medical Journal" said "the manner in which Mephodrone was dealt with signalled a collapse in integrity of scientific advice in the UK" they also state that... 

"It is too easy and potentially counterproductive to ban each new substance that comes along rather than seek to understand more about young people's motivations and how we can influence them."

      This is exactly where the government and the media have gone wrong.  Banning the drug won't help. Young people will still be exploited and put in danger. What needs to be adressed is the reasons that people want to take substances like Mephedrone.  Take it away and it will be replaced by another one.  However improving education about drugs so that people know the risks and look after themselves is a million times more constructive than simply slapping Class B on it and a potential five year prison sentence for posession.  "The Meow is for Pussies" campaign is doing exactly that. 

      Already, almost no sooner than the Lancet's words were printed and new legal highs are going into production. Rumours are flying around the internet of new analogues which apparently will be hitting our streets in a matter of weeks. 

1.  MDAI - an anti depressant with similar effects to MDMA (but they all say that)

2. NRG-1 - featured in this issue as a possible contender for Mephodrones spot and another one with similar effects to ecstasy. Described by the Sun as some sort of lethal crystal meth substitute. (NRG 1 ARTICLE )

3.  NOPAINE - a freebase Smokable Cocaine replacement which gives a Dopamine rush similar to Freebased cocaine.

4.PI PANES -  Blotters impregnated with chemical that is 3.2 times stronger than LSD.

5. Double Dunts -5ml phial of liquid that gives equivalent of 5 double vodkas.

6. XI - made up of three different non neurotoxic chemicals MDAI, MDMAI and MMAI.

7. XT - made up of two different non neurotoxic chemicals MDAT and MDMAT.

8. EUFORIA -4-Methyl alpha ethyl tryptamine. - who knows ?

9. CK1 - A ketamine analog with an added cocaine euphoria.

Some of these sound completely crazy.  But their being mentioned on forums. We found those ones on www.bluelight.ru one of many legal high discussion forums. As  Lancet predicted banning the substance hasnt helped and its easy to imagine this process of a drug becoming popular then banned only to be replaced with another legal drug happening over and over again.  I suppose we'll just have to wait and see. 

Mephodrone and Legal Highs in the news...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8623958.stm

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2010/jan/17/drug-legal-methedrone-high

http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2009/oct/11/legal-drugs-spice-kratom-head-shops

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2010/mar/17/ministers-urged-ban-mephedrone

How to live without social media part 1...

In todays world of Blackberry's, Twitter, Facebook and the international information superhighway that is the internet.  Its hard to find down time and disconnect.  But don't stress.  I have discovered the answer. I know its hard to believe but there are alternatives.  The best years of your life don't have to be frittered away staring at at a news feed telling you the various movements or opinions of 900 or so aquantences who you dont even care about.  In this multi part guide to living without social media (its a work in progress) i will bring you exciting and innovative activities which can fill your day without even having to touch a keyboard.  

Activity 1.    BED DRINKING

What you will need...

    •    1 bed (preferrably double with a number of warm duvets)
    •    1 Partner (optional)
    •    1 device capable of playing DVD's back to back (preferably a laptop)
    •    Several Comedy DVD's or Youtube (beware youtube is only advised  if you have a good amount of self control)
    •    Copious amounts of alchohol. (I personally find Strongbow works best and it also has an extra tramp factor which most beverages fail to match)
    •    A nearby Toilet
    •    Gaff Clothing eg Jogging Bottoms, hoodies

What you need to do...

Pick a day where you haven't got much on.  I chose a sunday afternoon but you could use a day off, an evening in the week or if you're a student or musician any day of the year.      Use the afternoon to source your equipment. (you wont have got up until about 1 by the time youve slept in till about 12 and then spent an hour on Facebook chat or perusing your exes photographs until you almost start crying) Aim to have everything sorted by about 5-6 PM.   Make sure your cider is in a cool location within reach of your bed. I find the carrier bag you carried it home from the corner shop in works well for this. Also ensure that your laptop charger is within reach of your bed to save uneccesary calorie incineration later on (if youre planning on using a television and not a laptop ensure that the relevant remotes are close at hand).  Change into your comfortable lounge wear and get into bed.  At this point it is essential that you turn your mobile phone off and log out of all social media sites eg Facebook, Twitter, Myspace, Linkedin, Tumblr, Digg anything along those lines.  Avoid any temptation to log back onto any of those sites until your bed drinking session has finished.   

     At this point begin to play the first of your comedy DVDs or get some stand up comedy on Youtube.  Start with something like Live at the Apollo for example and keep opening tabs from the related videos section.   Once your video based entertainment is playing open your first can of cider and take a hearty swig.  Be careful when lying down that the first swig will almost always result in you spilling some on your face. Something which i have failed to learn throughout my Bed Drinking career.    Continue to drink cider and watch Videos until you feel intoxicated.  Id recommend you keep going for around 6 hours.  At which point you should probably pass out.  It is VERY important that you dont drink any other sort of beverage such as water or Ribena before you pass out otherwise you will not wake up around 4am feeling an incredible need for moisture in your desert like mouth. (Which is the best bit).  You should wake up fresh faced the next morning ready to get back on your profiles to see what you missed.   Or if your feeling adventourous try and stay off them for as long as you can and enjoy the feelings of withdrawal as they wash over you. Also if anyone tries to call you a skank for lying in bed and drinking cider then tell them kindly yet firmly to get fucked they probably have a "Hair Do", wear their school shoes seven days a week even though they're at uni and spent all last night prancing around with their mates drinking VKs and singing along to Basshunter in between snorting creotine in the toilets every 20 minutes, not only that but they paid to do it and if that wasnt shameful enough they then went straight home and proudly tagged themselves in the narcissistic visual evidence.  At least you had some dignity.     

Ahh wow...this time last year. A third year student studying at Man Met, in the middle of an unholy turbulence full of exam stresses, essay hand in's, outdoor partying in the first catches of sunshine and triple D- Dissertation Deadline Day. At this time of year, one can expect the uneasy anticipation of the sum of three whole years of university life- results, soon followed by Graduation Day.

Graduation Day, July 15th 2009. A strange day spent feeling like an extra from a Harry Potter film. Parents uneasily mingle with other course mates families and their plus one's, photos are taken, small talk is shared. Amidst the gathering outside, and before the grand finale of the graduation ceremony, fellow course mates will gather outside this summer, as they have many summers before to share excited giggles and nervous exchanges between a fleetingly forged friend group- a last display of student one'ness.

 The moments before going on stage was an uneasy but ultimately proud moment, walking out in front of a mass of caps and gowns, formally shaking hands with some senior person at the university, who has a name and face you swear you've never even heard of. A faceless good bye to an untold future. Later, a cheesy smile will be captured a front of a faux-marble background*. 

*Note, this photograph will remain proudly nestled on mum's living room sideboard from now on. It will be a marker of  academic days past and a great display of mum one-up man-ship style boasting with your fake aunty.

 For me, the few weeks following these epitomising days were followed by dreamy days spent dancing in Croatia, and train hopping ourselves into comical European adventures. The freedom of time after graduating can be a beautifully unique point in life filled with clarity and, fleetingly, the empowered feeling of being above and beyond the chains of UK living and modern day responsibilities.

 Upon return from a happy 22nd birthday spent in Barcelona, I initially carried myself with a wistful walk in my step. A shining degree in my back pocket and a mind full of hope and energy for the next chapter. This chapter though, for me, my friends and probably the majority of the 300,000 fellow graduates across the UK found it, ...a bit shit. 

 Factoring in the mass of competition, reduction in externally advertised job vacancies (i.e. the good jobs) and of course the bloody credit crunch and you are stuck in a pretty grim time. Graduate depression is actually a real thing, just type it in Google.  I think, to overcome this you have to prepare yourself that a degree isn't instantly transferrable to a sick job e.g. fat pay packet, flexi time and creative space. 

 With this message firmly brought home to us, I, like the rest, found myself at the bottom of a dock-off career ladder that I didn't even fancy climbing. Stripped away of  distantly familiar student benefits including time, waves of money and partying hard (with some studying on the side). The average recent graduate is backed with a seemingly useless laissez-faire attitude and questioning mind, these simply have no place within the structured and archaic chains of paid employment.

 For the new worker, redemption can be found in the form of the regular monthly pay cheque, a step up from getting dough every few months I guess although it is riddled with tax and N.I. deductions, (lets try not to think about when the student loan repayments kick in). Joys are also found in the thrill of bank holidays, the true, unadulterated Friday Feeling, occasional career '1 ups' and self indulgent food shopping (including posh cereals, real meat and some fancy cheese, i.e. brie). City breaks can also help to re-enact the feeling of being a fully fledged Young Professional, however, the sheer minuses in your bank account may beg to differ.

 The point of this is to keep trying, get your head down, enjoy the thrill of the unknown and keep trying to take your situation to the next level.

Work hard, play hard.

G13 records have been going strong since mid 2008, a fresh label bringing the filthiest jump-up to DJ's record bags across the country.

Their first release, G13001: Bassline Terrorist - Death Rattle / Hoax & Butcher - Silent Strike set the pace for things to come, a sound so disgusting you feel violated, in a similar way to being shat on while you sleep.

With the launch of their new monthly night, Sabotage, a massive success and brand new sister label Smoke Screen Records almost ready to drop, things are looking very exciting for G13.

We caught up with G13 head honchos, Propz and Rowney, to get the low down on all things BASSEY, jumpy and to see what the future holds for the G13 Records camp.

Jonty (Example) - Safe lads, first off can you introduce yourselves with a bit of background information for the readers?

Rowney - "I've been dj'ing dnb since 99 and producing since 2002, started taking it seriously in 2005 ... only started producing cos I wasn't feeling much of the stuff in the shops, I knew what I wanted to play but wasn't seeing it in the shops".

Propz - "Ez now, I've been dj'ing for 10 years and living in Manchester for 6. I moved up here with some students and went into full time work. The first event I played on up in Manchester was Systems run by Al Sonar who runs Hit & Run every Monday. From here I started pushing the sound you know me for now".

Jonty (Example) - So what was the initial idea behind G13 Records?

Propz -" Through chatting to people online I was receiving a lot of unsigned music, and after taking the music to clubs, playing them on radio shows I was seeing some good response to the unsigned tracks and thought to research how I could start my own label and get these tracks to the public. With G13 I wanted to get music out that I loved and knew that other people loved to listen too". 

Jonty (Example) - So how would you describe the G13 sound?

Rowney - "Filthy jump-up, not your typical mainstream sounds, lots of distorted basslines and sinister sounds".

Propz - "At the moment we are loving the grimey sound that makes your body move without you having any control over it, in 2010 you will be hearing some new sounds coming from the G13 camp, we are diving into the techy, jungle and liquid sides with some sub labels".

Jonty (Example) - Nice. What's next for the label then?

Rowney - G13007 : "Smug - Roulette / The Ripper and releases from Cue & Dubcut, Dominator, Sly & Pasco and more" ... 

Propz - "Watch out for G13 digital releases too. Also Smokescreen Records starting very very soon.  SSREC001 A. Hoax - Utopia // AA. Rowney & Propz F Mc Logic - Regretamin".

Jonty (Example) - Your new monthly night Sabotage has got three huge nights under its belt already, Pleasure headlining the launch, Jaydan smashing it at the second one and Logan D rinising out at the last one, it doesn't really get much better!!! What can we expect at future events?   

Rowney - "Me, Propz and Frisko want to book artists who are doing big things in the jump-up scene, especially ones who haven't, or rarely, get booked round Manchester, the Manc scene needs educating, plain and simple".

Propz - "Haha, looking for some inside info there! April I have a link up with NAM musik boss Majistrate alongside Harvest  and James Bass".

Jonty (Example) - Heavy! G13 Records also have a new sister label, Smoke Screen Records on the horizon. Can you tell us a little bit more about this?

Rowney - "This label is to showcase the best new talent in our ranks". 

Propz - "Watch for this, we have some big, big tunes lined up. We aint 100% just going down the jump-up route with this label so keep your ears very tight to the ground".

Jonty (Example) - Any new tunes your working on at the moment we should keep an eye out for?

Rowney - "Just finished the wavs for Class A recordings 012 : DJ Rowney - Sexy Music / Challenge Me and Regretamin for Smokescreen. My PC fucked up recently so need to rebuild it, me and Propz are getting on Cubase and Logic this year so watch out for new stuff coming soon "...

Jonty (Example) - Where can we catch you guys playing out in the next few months?

Rowney & Propz - "Innovation in the Sun, Innovation vs Best of British, Sabotage, Hysteria in Manchester & Birmingham, Musik Hertz in March, Banger Management in London, Leicester in May, Trigga presents Flying Squad 1st birthday in may, other stuff no doubt" ... 

Jonty (Example) - Any shout outs?

Propz -" Frisko, Logic, Gemma, Sly, CKB, Trigga, Phantasy, Callide, Hoodlum, Sappo, Jaydan, Steppa, Origin, Pleasure, Logan D, Majistrate, Ruff Stuff, Kenny Ken, Haste, Sensa, James Bass, DRSS/Hectic kru, QC fammo Oh My God crew, Escape, Neil Badboy, Special T, Kre, Nu Urban, all the G13 artists, all the DJ's who support our music, all the DJ's and labels who send us tunes, all the promotors who book us, all the G13 followers and people who have helped us along the way ... last but not least my Mum and Dad for puttin up with my shit and helpin me out haha!"

Jonty (Example) - Do you want to add anything before we wrap this interview up?

Propz - " No that is all haha, well to all the people who do think that all we play is "wobble" pull your heads out your arses and listen to one of our sets and take note of the versatility".

Jonty (Example) - Finally, marmite, love it or hate it?

Rowney - "Its fucking wrong ... yuk!"

Propz - "I dont love it but i can handle it."

Catch Propz & Rowney live every Wednesday at 7.30pm-9pm  on http://www.ruthlesssoundz.com 

http://www.myspace.com/g13records

http://www.myspace.com/g13recordsdigital

http://www.myspace.com/propzg13recs

http://www.myspace.com/djrowney

http://www.trackitdown.net/recordlabel/113797/g13.html

Kiat and Alley Cat make their first release on the Kokeshi imprint, delivering two undoubtedly bass laced dittys for us to grind our hips to.    
    Starting with A side "Purple Clouds", the two combine to produce a wonderfully distorted electro-come-2-step beat, that drives the euphoric, glistening pads forward with ferocious aplomb. Swathing with sub bass and stylised glitch, the track's grit underpins the very clean over head melodies, and helps create a glaring contrast but one that ultimately works.

    The AA side is a solo outing from Singaporean, Kiat. "The Missing Channel" actually sounds like it has its roots firmly in 05/06 dubstep, with a delicious sub gliding at first beneath some arpeggiation, before being effortlessly guided by a pounding half step beat. Make no mistake, on a system of any note this one would be some "eyes down" business, at least until the glissando on the sub has smacked your head through the roof. Big beat.
    Overall, it's a tasty release. If you're previous musical journey's have taken in stalwarts such as Radioactive Man, Luke Vibert, or maybe more recently people like Tech Itch, then this ones a must for your bag.

   So, last month we got invited down to Bloc weekend in Minehead to take some pictures and write some words.  So here they are.  We headed all the way down from Manchester on the Friday with Don't Panic 's Manchester team and arrived in our "luxury chalet" after needing a piss for 5 hours.   

    Id never done a whole festival weekend before so it was good to have a house for the weekend rather than have to wake up horribly hungover in a large nylon bin bag. Something which sets Bloc weekend apart from most other British festivals.

    We decided to concentrate on the dubstep and Drum and bass that Bloc had planned and set out for Youngsta our first set of the weekend.  This was when we encountered, for the first time, a problem which recurred throughout our weekend.  Although looking back It appears we just went to the wrong place for some of the sets.   We arrived for Youngsta at 10:30 only to find N-type on the decks 4 hours early. From then on we were a bit confused. Youngsta had disappeared, (turns out he was on at 3 am in the end), So we went for a roam, caught some of Joy Orbison and Roots Manuva before settling on the FWD and Rinse Bloc.  Fair to say Zinc isn't really my thing but Ms Dynamite turned out pretty well and The Zinc - Dynamite combo made for a pretty hype set.  BBK were fun to watch and the night wrapped up nicely with Chef taking over the decks.  With the Tron VIP and Sweet Shop well and truly burned into our ear drums we called it a day for friday.    

    Saturday was spent holed up in our chalet watching the amazing Bloc TV.  I reckon despite the huge list of names playing at Bloc one of my highlights was the time i spent watching Bloc TV.  The festivals own TV Channel is beamed into every single chalet and plays nothing but random animations, crazy B movies, japanese lesbian zombie thrillers and crazy adverts.   Notable highlights include

    Chatterbox - A film about a woman with a talking Vagina which has a successful singing career.  SPOILER ALERT - turns out at the end her boyfriend Ted had a singing penis as well and they end the film singing a duet together on a cliff.  

    Penis Vacuum Advert - 3 minutes of complete bone chilling Penis Vaccuum marketing.  Which didn't actually encourage you to buy one. More just informed you that one existed.

    Attack Girls Swim Team vs The Undead - A japanese film which was so literally so random that when my girlfriend woke up i could not begin to explain what i had just witnessed.  Ends with the heroin killing the villain by shooting a bright blue laser from her vagina.  

    We spent saturday evening partying in some chalets, another advantage of having a tiny house for the weekend, everyone is having a house party.  In between the suburban frolicking we did manage to catch some Dj's.  16 Bit warmed everyone up nicely but then we got a bit confused and did a lot of wandering around.  We did manage to catch joker finishing his set with Eyez and Pon de Floor.  Before Pokes and Kode 9 took over.
         
    
    My personal highlight of the weekend though had to be Congo Natty.  Rebel Mc and Tenor Fly ruined Butlins. What made it even better was the juxtaposition of junglism with holiday camp cabaret style venue.  When Congo Natty put the records away everyone was left wanting more and not just because the programme had promised a 3 hour set until 6am.  

    Looking back it doesn't seem like we saw that much music.  But this is words and not time.  Bloc was sick though. The lineup included everything you could imagine, the tiny houses were great and there was even a pool. But no one we were with ever got up in time to catch it.  So next year, if you want to warm yourself up for the summer festival season book yourself into the Bloc Weekend and flex your mash up muscles. Bloc TV alone is worth going for.

Acre has been producing since his school days. His productions lean towards the experimental side of the dubstep that you would expect from producers such as Mt Kimbie. Making use of blissful 8-bit melodies and intricate percussion parts drenched in crackles and white noise his songs have a sleepy cosmic feel to them full of emotion and mystery. Hes been experimenting and developing his sound and only recently took on the persona of Acre towards the end of 2009.  He's a resident at Manchester club night 01:61 and has played alongside the likes of Goli and Ashburner, MRK1 and Synkro and Indigo.

Were giving away one of his tunes, PULSAR an Example Magazine Exclusive.

Listen to it below and grab it if you like it :)

www.soundcloud.com/acre
Follow on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Acre/107050635982191?ref=ts

I’m sure most of you reading this will be very familiar with party drugs, social drugs, unsociable drugs, uppers, downers, hallucinogenics and mind exploring drugs.
 If you’re not familiar and do not want to be, I’d bet a tenner that you’ve witnessed at least one embarrassment at a party, in a club or on the street whose taken too many pills and is shrivelling up in the corner.

The latest overwhelming ‘trend’ is Mephodrone, the drug has grown in popularity and absolutely exploded on the scene at clubs and parties. The legal high has swept over our city and is been believed to have been purchased by people who’d never tried any illegal drug in their life. Supposedly, kids as young as 12 have been buying the legal white powder for £10-£15. Mephedrone will be illegal in a fortnight.

Legal highs have been available for years in paraphernalia shops such as Dr. Hermans and stalls at festivals. The fear that Mephedrone has driven into the government’s drug advisers, after causing up to 25 deaths in Britain, is sending them wild. The investigation recently launched into the availabe legal highs in Britain is currently the talk of most tabloids.

It’s safe to say that this is only just the begining of the legal high boom. The tabloids and drug advisors have already moved onto a new drug that has been reported of growing in popularity faster than Mephodrone. It’s name is NRG-1.

There is almost no information about NRG-1 on legal high forums, drug forums and even on wikipedia. Which either shows that the drug is umpopular or that even less is known about it than. It’s formal name is Neuregulin-1 or Naphyrone, other names include ‘Energy’ or ‘Rave’.

A user of NRG-1 featured a report on a forum about his experience taking the substance. He did it due to the lack of information on NRG-1 and to inform other curious members of the forum the effects of NRG-1. He claimed that it’s a very sticky powder, he ingested it nasally and reported that he felt energetic and wide awake but at no point high.

Comments from other users mentioned experiences of slight euphoria and others claimed it simply felt like they’d had a lot of Mephodrone however many of the users said the side effects were horrible and the worst they’d ever experienced.

In contrast to reports of users, The Sun newspaper decided to write a very dramatic feature on this drastic discovery of another new and harmful popular legal drug to terrify parents in Britain. “Its thirteen times STRONGER than cocaine and twice as ADDICTIVE as heroin.” The classic tabloid emphasis on those words really makes this statement to seem just that tiny bit more truthful however the comparison between the users report and the Suns portrayal contrast starkly.

“It is the worst drug ever to hit the shores of Britain. It makes meow meow look like baby powder." claims the Sun's source Dave, “It causes paranoia and suicidal tendencies and permanently alters brain chemistry with horrifying consequences.” This seems to be a very over dramatic description of a come down and generally seems to be the crack with most stimulants, excuse the pun.

The Sun contradict themselves in the article; claiming it can be compared to a ‘mega speed-ball’ which is crystal meth, cocaine and ecstacy combined. But, they continue to describe how shocking this drug is and how its chemical compound is ever so slightly different to Mephodrone and both are ‘terrifyingly similar’ to ecstacy.

From what I’ve read about NRG-1, it’s difficult to imagine a bunch of people at a dubstep or drum and bass night floating around and dancing on this drug. Users claimed that they didn’t feel like dancing as such, just the average chatty and awake effects of other popular stimulants and amphetamines. The drug supposedly can cost 10p to make and just a mere 25p to buy. The best part is, The Sun claim you can make it with chemicals from school science labs and with a Chemistry GCSE. Exaggeration is an understatement.

NRG-1 is now considered the upcoming mephadrone replacement by the South-East Asian manufacturers and with its cheap price I’m actually quite curious to see if this does grow in popularity. If this drug does make users ‘feel like God himself’ for 12 hours then what is unattractive about that? Maybe it’s the comedown The Sun have described as ‘going to hell’. After you’ve been God for 12 hours, users will feel like they want to kill themselves for THREE days." Once again, exaggeration is most definitely an understatement. I also used the capitalizing emphasis there, so you all believe it is true.

All in all, everything we enjoy is bad for us in someway, I can’t even eat a footlong Subway without being told it’s packed with salt and is really bad for me. I’ve read enough to say NRG-1 seems like it has awful side effects, makes you feel grim and just isn’t worth bothering with. For now, stick to what we know about. Hopefully your cocks won’t fall off, your livers wont deteriotate and all your teeth won’t fall out due to abuse or benders on legal highs.

ORIGINAL SUN ARTICLE

For anybody who likes their drum & bass deeper, darker and slightly twisted, the label Nerve Recordings will be a very familiar name.

Set up in October 2001, the label has been going from strength to strength, with artists on board such as Noisia, Black Sun Empire, Pyro, Kemal, ICR and Kabuki to name but a few.

Example decided to catch up with the man behind Nerve, Paul Reset, to see what's going on with the label and what he's been up to.

Jonty (Example) -Safe mate, can you tell the readers a little bit of background information about yourself and Nerve Recordings.

Paul Reset - Well Nerve Recordings was born in October 2001, myself and Pyro had been working on some tunes together that'd seen releases on Trouble on Vinyl, Flex etc and we were approached by Dylan (he used to work at a distributors called Alphamagic) and asked if we wanted to start our own label. It seemed like the logical thing to do at the time as it meant we could release our own material on our own timescale and also give exposure to new producers who we thought weren't getting the deserved coverage.

Since then - we've been through a lot of different vinyl distributors, then decided to go completely digital in 2008 and in mid 2009 we decided to launch our new site by giving away the entire back catalogue for free and announced that all future releases would be available to download for free. Pyro has also left to take some time to work on other projects, although he'll still be involved as an artist.

I personally have been dj'ing for nearly 14 years and have been hooked on drum n bass since 1993 when I stumbled across a tape of Randall recorded at The Edge, 

Jonty (Example) - So what was the initial idea behind Nerve Recordings?

Paul Reset - Well, one of the main reasons we started the label was to give exposure to the newer producers coming through who were struggling to get noticed by the bigger labels. At that time there weren't as many labels and it was a lot harder for new producers - these days every man and his dog has a "label" but back then that wasn't the case at all and it was a lot harder to get material released. To that end we put out the debut releases of producers like Noisia and Psidream and also released early material from the likes of SKC and Gridlok.

Jonty (Example) - How would you describe the sound that Nerve is going for?

Paul Reset - Well when I play out I like to cover a variety of styles within drum n bass and I see the label as an open playing field for all styles - from liquidy rollers to hard as ya like monsters via dubby beats and the more techy style. We originally had a bit of a reputation for techy beats but my taste has diversified over the years and I think Nerve has reflected that. As long as it's got a groove, I'm digging it.

Jonty (Example) - Yes mate, agreed. Obviously, Nerve Recordings have seen some huge artists, for example Noisia's first release, Silicon was released on Nerve. Do you feel that you have helped push these artists up through the ranks and do you think that they have equally helped to raise the profile of your label?

Paul Reset - I don't really put too much thought into things like profile - I'm just happy that the artists liked the label enough to let us release their material.

Jonty (Example) - You also have an offshoot of Nerve Recrdings, Nerve Breaks for the more breaky styles. Can you tell us a bit more about it?

Paul Reset - Well I originally launched Nerve Breaks as a purely breaks label back in 2002 - dealing mainly in the darker side of the genre as I felt it wasn't being represented well in the vinyl market. It also gave me a chance to release some of my own material as at that time I was producing more and more downtempo material and much less dnb. I put out 7 vinyl releases and after a bit of stress with getting the planned 8th release out I decided to make it a digital only release in 2005, then put the label on hiatus. There was a wee EP of beats from myself in 2008 but the label properly relaunched in mid 2009 when we launched the new Nerve site - I changed the focus a little and made it just about lower tempo beats - from weird ambience to breaks, dubstep and everything else. There were 7 NB releases in 2009 and we've had two already this year with more lined up and I've got a huge amount of enthusiasm for it.

Jonty (Example) - Sounds good. Onto a bit more about yourself now Paul. Firstly, as your obviously a proud Scotsman, do you feel that the scene in Scotland differs at all from the scene in England?

Paul Reset - Definitely - especially on the west coast. We've always been fighting a bit of a losing battle for drum n bass in Glasgow and Scotland - it's a long story but the breakbeat goodness has never really been received too well - going back to the early 90s. The scene in Edinburgh is fairly strong but the huge influx of English students plays a huge part in this.

On the production side of things I feel that Scotland is really coming through again with producers like Morphy, Linden, Y2D, BZ etc.

Jonty (Example) - How did you get into the drum & bass scene and how did you make the break into it then?

Paul Reset - I first got into drum n bass after hearing that aforementioned Randall tape in 1993 - the tune that always sticks out was Bukem's "Atlantis" and to this day it still sends shivers up my spine - a true timeless classic despite it's simplicity. I first got into dj'ing and production through meeting up with Kemal and Rob Data and they gave me my first ever proper gig back in 1997 and were always up for giving me productive feedback on the production side of things. I then started a club night in 2000 called LiveVEvil (http://www.livevevil.co.uk) with a coupla close friends here and the rest is (kinda boring) history :)

Jonty (Example) - How would you describe your main style when producing and playing out?  

Paul Reset - I don't really produce anymore - main reason being time, not enough hours in the day! When playing out I like to play all styles of dnb and I like to mix it up a bit and take sets through peaks and troughs. I'm resident at a club night here called Xplicit (http://www.clubxplicit.com) and as resident I get to play all sorts of slots so it gives me the chance to play quite diverse sets and cover all the sub genres within dnb.

Jonty (Example) - Who would you describe as your main influences?

Paul Reset - Future Sound of London (circa Lifeforms) and Bomb The Bass were my main influences when I was producing - the atmospherics and depth of the FSOL material and the cut and paste element of early BTB really inspired me and made me want to make sounds!

Jonty (Example) - So, what's next for Nerve Recordings?

Paul Reset - Next up on Nerve we have an EP from a brilliant new producer called Megadrummer - followed by releases from Trisector & Dejaru, Saburuko & Morphy, Y2D, arQer, DBR and NotioN. For Nerve Breaks we have a brilliant release from an Edinburgh duo called The Setup - it's a big rumbly dubstep number with amazing remixes from Tactus and Ronin. 

Jonty (Example) - Quality. Finally, marmite, love it or hate it?

Paul Reset - Hate it!

Photo Credits - RJ Ramsay

http://www.myspace.com/paul_reset

http://www.nerverecordings.co.uk

http://www.myspace.com/nerverecordings

I came across these pictures on the internet last week and found them a bit weird to say the least. I wanted to post them up to show you all how weird they are. 

But obviously its quite ignorant and immature to just point and laugh at things without really knowing what they are. So i thought id do my research and fill you in on the background so that hopefully you dont leave this post with a new perception of spaniards as rascist nazis. 

These pictures were taken last week in Spain.  Last week was holy week (the last week of lent) a religious festival which is especially celebrated in Spain.

Basically people march through their hometown during holy week.  Wearing these costumes (pictured).  The Nazareno as they are called in spanish consist of a tunic, and a conical hood with an optional cloak.  Which can vary in colour.   Youll be pleased to know the spaniards were doing it first. 

Way before the Ku Klux Klan who i ended up reading about after this.It has to be said that whoever the KKK are getting to do their web design are fucking shit. Google them and see what i'm on about. Mind you i guess its probably quite hard finding an extremely rascist web designer. 

Anyway back to the spaniards...

Penitents would wear these robes in the medieval times so that their anonymity would stay intact whilst still demonstarating their penance during holy week. 

Some of the wearers today carry crosses and often wear bare foot.  Some even using shackles to demonstrate their penance. 

MORE PHOTOS

Night Audio is the brain child of Submerse & KingThing; two dominant figures who are helping to push the Future Garage scene to dizzy new heights. Night Audio, for simplicity purposes, is a record label, but really it is much more than a record label. Night Audio is a platform, a platform for new, exciting and most importantly, progressive electronic bass music.

Currently Night Audio has three releases. NA001 features up and coming producer Clueless, as well as Submerse & KingThing themselves. The release bares three tunes; Secret Love, Forgive Me and Trapped. The first two pushing deep, soulful sounds and latter hitting the listener with sharp edgedfunky vibes. 

 NA002 graces our ears with five tracks, provided by Submerse, Kingthing, Dawntreader, Sines & a remix by Sully. All tracks vary greatly on this release, ranging from deep, funky and even progressive. Definitely a must if you want to take a break from the noise and treat yourself to something fresh.

 The next release to drop will be NA003; April sometime (no info on the exact date yet). NA003 features four bangers from Garage veteran and Dubstep pioneer El-B. Previews are available below and the release will be available on 12” and digital from all the usual places.

 To finish, Night Audio is definitely one to watch out for in 2010. Expect great things!

Current release available here:   

Current release available here:   http://nightaudio.co.uk/store.html

NA003 preview here:    http://soundcloud.com/nightaudio

Myspace:    www.myspace.com/nightaudio 

NA003 preview here:   HYPERLINK "http://soundcloud.com/nightaudio" http://soundcloud.com/nightaudio

Myspace:   HYPERLINK "http://www.myspace.com/nightaudio" www.myspace.com/nightaudio 

It’s been five long years of waiting in high anticipation for the release of Jamie and Roly’s second album under the alias ‘VEX’D’, and from experiencing it one thing becomes clear; the wait was worth it. 

After living under a rock for the past few months and basking in the glory of their last remix of DJ Zinc’s ‘Killa Sound’ (Bingo Bass) and a few other lovely little promo mixes, HeavyFeet consisting of beat making duo Mike and James from Manchester have returned to give you, the devoted fan, a little something special.

Under Stamp! Beats, the exciting new music label from the two, HeavyFeet will be releasing 12 singles, each comprising of an original vocal track, a club mix from the magical fingers tips of HeavyFeet and one guest mix, over the next twelve months.

The original of each monthly release will be given away for free (yes you heard correct, FREE!) for your listening pleasure through a variety of online resources where you can download and give some very nice feedback on and share with your mateys.

The first, eagerly anticipated track from the label is ‘I Spy..’ featuring fellow Mancs Virus Syndicate (Planet MU/Contagious). It’s a hip hop one with string elements and Nika D, JSD and Goldfinger stamp their mark on it with their rapid fire lyrics that Virus usually brings to the table.

 Contrary to the title its not about sitting in a car playing I spy something beginning with ‘s’ (the most boring game ever invented). They twitter on about everyday life for young people like selling drugs and babies dropping but this all seems a bit repetitive, same old hardships that are broadcasted in most hip-hop tracks. However it is inventive and hard hitting in parts, “the baby’s mum she couldn’t take it, started taking it out on the baby, beatings daily, shocking, now the babies in the coffin.”
        
Jumping straight onto the next one and into a harder club track with a difference, HeavyFeet electrifies the original mix using a few well chosen chops of the vocal sample. Leaving the strings behind it picks up a kicking drum and percussion pulsating bass leaving your ears buzzing and satisfies the little rave monster in all of us. I spy with my little eye, a club banger.

Guest remixer, AC Slater (Trouble and Bass) from across the pond takes the original into a more dub-infected direction.

Surprisingly, it’s not up to the usual Slater standard, a tad minimal I would say. Holding onto those all important strings, Slater takes a turn into bass heavy, warp sounds but could’ve taken it a gear up the grime chart.

Apart from that it is pretty good but would probably sound better with the diseased trio spitting over it.

The label launches on the 5th April and ‘I spy…’ will be available for download from their blog.

Since their appearance on the scene in 2003, Dutch super producers Noisia have been laying waste to raves all over the planet with their uncompromising sound. The trio of Nik Roos, Martijn van Sonderen and Thijs de Vlieger who hail from Groningen in the Netherlands quickly established themselves as leading lights within the darker realms of dnb with a string of successful releases on high profile labels including Virus, Renegade Hardware and Moving Shadow before they launched an onslaught upon the mainstream with their punishing dnb workout 'Facade' which surfaced on Andy Cs Ram Records then re-emerged a few months later as the crowds went crazy all over again for the VIP pressing.

Noisia cemented their position in the scene when they were recently voted best drum & bass artists on the popular download site Beatport,
As one of the most respected partnerships in the business, Noisia were quick to capitalise on their success by launching the label 'Vision' to serve as a vehicle for their hard hitting tech drum and bass. Vision was followed by two more imprints 'Division' and ‘Invisible’, which have allowed for a wider spectrum of output.

More success followed with praise being showered on the trio for their heavyweight collaborations with the likes of KRS1 and Foreign Beggars before they took the reins in producing Hadoukens latest LP. Showing that that they are unwilling to be be confined to innovations purely within music Noisia have recently developed their own video game, a sonically focussed shooter called infection which will be surfacing this month.  Now, however, at long last Noisia have finished work on their debut album and now Example Mag brings you the lowdown track by track...

Weighing at a respectable 19 tracks, Split The Atom is the sound of Noisia making the album they always wanted to make. The record is a showcase of their taste in all things electronic and they've thrown in pretty much everything from their musical kitchen. Poor analogies aside, It's a diverse offering and to some extent this will make or break it for listeners.

Purist dnb heads might be a little disappointed at the amount of traditional drum and bass on offer as the genres throughout the record. Noisia deftly switch styles but always demonstrate the trademark synth manipulation and drum programming we have come to expect, whether that’s applied to complex darkstep, downbeat electronica, pulsing breakbeat, french tinged electro, brooding dubstep or rolled out vocal drum & bass. It's a testament to the musical identity they have developed over time that they can turn their hand to so many different styles while retaining their distinct and immediately recognisable sound.

Starting off the proceedings is the familiar robotic stomp of ‘Machine Gun’, a track that surfaced recently as an EP and has been tearing up dance floors for some time. The mechanical beats and industrial screeches give way to the deeper jungle influenced break of 'My World'.

Ethereal vocals promise to transport you to a better place before stomach churning synth dives bring you hurtling back to earth. After a brief bpm transition in the adorably named 'Shitbox', the title track switches to breakbeat territory with a nod back to Radio 1 fave 'Gutterpump'. Next up is 'Thursday', a dnb roller with harmonised synths and big trance atmospherics that melt away to dubstep flavoured funk in 'Leakage'.

'Hand Gestures' is Noisia at their most minimal using beeps, percussive noises and a low sub rumble before 'Headknot' goes all jaunty and halftime. 'Red heat' bring us back to house-esque breaks before Londons Foreign Beggars are let loose over ‘Shellshocks’ pots n pans workout.

Another tasty future funk diversion later and the mighty ‘Alpha Centauri’ demonstrates some of the tastiest synth modulation you’ll hear for a long time. ‘Soul purge’ features the Beggars’ second 2nd performance on the record and is catchy and moody in equal measure. It’s been doing the rounds for quite a while now but ‘Diplodocus’ is still one of the best of the bunch. Its quirky off kilter rhythms bounce around like cars on a rickety fairground ride and threaten to send the dance seven shades of loopy every time it gets dropped.

‘Paper doll’ is a genuinely moving piece of music that is sadly over far too quickly, its fragile beauty brutally trampled from memory by the mechanical beats and growls of ‘Dystopia’. Next up is ‘Sunhammer’, a collab with Brazilian audio terrorist Amon Tobin.  The tune picks up where Tobin left of with his 'Foley Room' LP creeping in with eerie clanks and atmospherics before Noisia take over and tear you several new ones. It’s fair to say that this is a bit special but I strongly doubt your mum will have it on in the car.

Penultimate track, the already popular ‘Stigma’ is a lesson in techy rolling drum and bass, amazing, high energy dancefloor napalm which sadly despite some really nice sound leaves the closer ‘Square Feet’ sounding a bit wet.
    
With all of this packed into one release ‘Split The Atom’ really does have something for everyone. For this reason I doubt it will keep everyone happy all the time but then the best records never do. In recent years the lines have blurred between genres and music lovers’ tastes have broadened so there has probably never been a better time for this record. If your willing to listen there is some truly engaing material but as always with Noisia, it’s the sheer technical brilliance of their studio wizardry that will wow you the most.

Split the atom is intelligent, futuristic, and devastatingly heavy without losing its accessibility. There’s a lot on offer and while at times the record might border on self indulgent, based on this evidence maybe some of the other producers out there should follow suit.


Split the Atom will be on sale from April 5th
Play Infection as of April 8th via the official Noisia site.
You can check out all things Noisia @ http://www.noisia.nl

Straight out of the USA comes a new record willing and able to stamp all over any expectations you might have.   Starkey's experimental style has been gracing the UK for a while now. After the success of his debut album 'Ephermeral Exhibits' released in November 2008, the Philadelphia based producer is back with another full length record ready to take you to another planet with its unique sound. 

Starkey describes his style as 'street bass' and the album combines a wide range of influences, everything from UK Grime, to USA dance and glitch hop.  The album seamlessly integrates these genres to form a futuristic, out of this world listening experience.  'Ear Drums and Black holes' is more vocal than Starkey's debut. 'Stars' featuring Aneeka is a personal favourite, her soulful voice sings of 'oceans of stars' with a dream-like quality and deep bass which creates perfect ambience and brings variation to the record.

Another track which stands out is 'Numb' featuring UK grime artist P-Money. The lyrics speak of the healing effects of music with a catchy style and electronic backing which will stick with you.  Half way through the album comes the rhythmic  'Spacecraft' which feels like a climatic interlude to the record, taking you off into space ready for the second half. 

Much of the album is high tempo and high energy. Those of you who have seen Starkey play a set will know this reflects his DJ style and love for the crowd.  Each track brings a new experience yet keeps a recognisable intensity unique to Starkey. I would say this album is a grower, I enjoy and feel it more with each listen.  Overall Starkey is set to make a huge impact in the UK electronic music scene in 2010, an album not to be missed.

You can listen to and purchase the single 'STARS' featuring Aneeka here;

http://www.chemical-records.co.uk/sc/servlet/Info?Track=ZIQ258

'EAR DRUMS AND BLACK HOLES' is released on 19th April 2010 on Planet MU records.

Track list:
01 – OK Luv
02 – Murderous Words (feat. Cerebral Vortex)
03 – 11th Hour
04 – Numb (feat. P-Money)
05 – Stars (feat. Anneka)
06 – Multidial
07 – Spacecraft
08 – Neck Snap
09 – Fourth Dimension
10 – Club Games (feat. Cerebral Vortex & Buddy Leezle)
11 – Alienstyles
12 – Capsule
13 – New Cities (feat. Kiki Hitomi)
14 – Pleasure Points
15 – Fidelio

Straight from Broke 'n' english's rhythm n rhyme bubbling pot comes DRS's solo debut... for those of you that don't know DRS can be more commonly seen standing ground alongside Strategy to form the acclaimed and much loved hip hop faction, Broke 'n' english.

Grown man biznizz plays out a treat, throwing down fun and bounce with the likes of 'weekend', the inspiring 'to everybody' all the way to the pop club-wobbler 'slow that flow' by Dub Phizix including also his dustup reaffix which carries with it the prime sound of the release, catchy, weighted and direct. This is a production which lets the narrative talk, simple wisdoms vibe with hip hop beats to achieve an understanding of growing older, living life right, knowing how to take responsibilities and most importantly, how to let loose.

A Salford sense of humour stays strong throughout, from the album artwork to the tracks “I'll pick from the bar like I'm shopping at tesco” and “Mary Jane's like a blanket, believe me she's stunnin”. Tunes such as 'til tomorrow' bring a knowing smile whilst lines like “credit crunch, my life's a credit avalanche” help to lend an optimistic soundtrack to daily living. 

Unlike many hip hop lyricists, DRS speaks his verses to you in a way you can understand, creating a narrative to a dubstep driven music culture often left without words.

Grown Mans Biznizz is available from NOTE SKATESHOP andHMV (Market ST)

www.myspace.com/brokenenglishestate

esp-agency.co.uk/artist/mc-drs