When Stretford Road Hulme was reopened there was much official fanfare. Sir Alex Ferguson did the honours. Schoolchildren released hundreds of balloons. Bands played. A ceremony was concluded with a Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost (once manufactured in the area) driven over a new bridge reconnecting the two halves of Hulme that had been split since 1969 with construction of Princess Parkway.

By night huge fireworks were lit, cascading down onto the Parkway below from Stretford Road & its iconic new bridge

Stretford Road had once been a main thoroughfare lined with many local businesses, but during the concrete era of the Crescents was reduced to a pedestrian path (Hulme Walk) through a now notorious estate.

From Oxford Road & All Saints passed Clynes Wine Bar (now Cavendish), Red Admiral pub, Woodcock Square shops, Union Hall (still), St Phillips Primary School (still), over the busy Parkway via a footbridge synonymous with street-robbery, passed the Iron Duke pub, Church of Ascension (still), Hulme library (still), Clopton Walk shopping arcade, the White Horse pub, Zion Centre (still) & the four infamous concrete Crescents

Here's footage from Hulme Graffiti King Kelz taking this very journey (back in '94) up on You-Tube: 

 

Keen to be part of any Hulme-based festivities Barking Beer Monsters asked if they could contribute. Responsible for construction of a huge Viking Longboat (built & burned to commemorate the end of the Crescents) and the Naughty-Bus (built for a Punks Picnic then burned by local kids), they were neither financed nor encouraged by Hulme Regeneration Ltd, but neither were they prevented...

First they took 3 lamp-posts from the demolished footbridge to fashion a scaffold skeleton. In terrible weather, using only reclaimed wood from the staircases of a dozen flats, slowly but surely, day after wet day, The Beast They Named Brian began to grow

On the last day (10 May '97) they received a little help from construction workers with the loan of a digger to help raise their noble creation in recurrent rain. Disaster strikes when ropes suddenly snap, the belly of the Beast splits open & all their efforts seem doomed to failure

Then the sun breaks out & the mood lifts. As darkness falls this ceremonial & symbolic Phoenix was set ablaze. A new Hulme era rising recycled, reborn & reincarnated from the ashes of the old! Many people had a tear in their eye as they watched. I know I did

Check out our Photo Galleries for full set of images http://examplemagazine.com/photos/post/1004

Texan based label Warm Communications is now in it's tenth year, and with releases from the likes of ASC, FD and Seba under their belt, there are no signs of them stopping anytime soon.  The latest single from Fracture brings two very different tunes to the table. Soulful Lately ft Ella Jones on the A side, sets you up for the summer and Tunnel Track on the flip follows up with some more raw vibes.  

Warm021 drops today on vinyl and digital.  You can grab it on the Warm Surus store here ....  

Having just spent the last two months locked in a computer cluster with nothing but an 8,000 word dissertation analysing east German monuments for company, it is understandable that I have spent about a third of that time on the great bastion of time consumption that is, YouTube.  Over the last eight weeks I've seen lorries falling into canyons, asian women dancing on butter, and lots of videos about Berlin.  

 

One of my favourite topics on Youtube is girls doing rapping. I don't know if it's me but I seem to be seeing a lot more female rappers of late. It's kind of annoying since nearly everyone I know is a fucking rapper, all they do is watch rappers, talk about rapping or rap.  So I thought, to pass the time now my University life is over and I'm lost in a sea of having no direction in life, I would write a list of eight mad rappers with vaginas. 

 

Not all of them are sick at rapping, but as one industry lord told me a few weeks ago.  People don't buy records for the music, they buy records because they are buying into the character.  All of these women aren't the sickest rappers, but they have balls (ironically) and they are sick characters, except Kreayshawn.  

 

 

Mad Woman Rapper #1 - Nicki Minaj

Now before you get carried away, I know she's done those shit tunes with Rihanna and Drake and she tries to do that english accent all the time, but Nicki Minaj is sick.  Obviously she has assets, which everyone appreciates, but the reason I rate Minaj is for her mad tunes. Her releases tend to go in this sort of pattern; 1 Corny Pop Release, 1 fucking mad release, 1 corny pop release, 1 fucking mad release.  The tunes which fall in between the corny pop ones are the ones to watch out for.  Stupid Hoe is one of those tunes thats so bad it's fucking sick.  You know like when you eat Lidl Pot Noodles.  I understand those people that appreciate that repeatedly saying Stupid Hoe isn't very intelligent, but at the end of the day they didn't think of that.  I don't understand why something has to be difficult to be sick. 

 

 

 

Mad Woman Rapper # 2 - Azealia Banks 

Harlem 'rapper' Azealia Banks, why is she sick? She flips stereotypical gangster rap on it's head and it seems to be shocking. Plus she can sing and she can shout.  What's not to like.  She's definitely on a different vibe to Nicki Minaj though.  

 

 

Mad Woman Rapper #3 - Yolande Vi$$er

One half of mental south african group Die Antwoord who are sick just because they are committed to being completely insane. They are created characters, which were designed to take the piss out of pop music, but in the end ironically turned out to  be a commercial success.   Yolande's  weirdly attractive and the south african accent and the bits which slip into Afrikaans make her sound different to everything else. 

 

 

Mad Woman Rapper #4 - Kraeyshawn 

Unfortunately I just don't get Kraeyshawn yet. She's falling just short of the cool side of the fence for me.  And her friend in that video looks like someones mum dressing up as some sort of freak rapper's mate. Maybe it is Kreayshawn's mum?  

 

 

Mad Woman Rapper #5 - Iggy Azeaia 

I had never ever heard the word Azealia in my life and then all of a sudden two women appear with Azealia in their name. I wonder who started first. I can't be bothered to google it though. Iggy's style is still quite confusing, she certainly plays with the rap stereotype by replacing the video girls with herself, which surely must deconstruct some sort of feminist criticism of rap videos. Iggy shows that women just like dancing around in their bikinis and they don't just do it for multi millionaire guys. 

 

Mad Women Rapper #6 - Lana Del Rey 

Lana Del Rey isn't really a rapper, at all, but she shows that if she fancies it she can definitely spit sexy bars.  This collab with ASAP Rocky is coming out on his album later this year. 

 

 

Mad Women Rapper #7 - M.I.A

I always think M.I.A is a bit like the sort of student / posh sort of person you find in the uni library, but with a record deal. Although I don't think she is that posh and it's unfair to not like her just because of her gap year hippie values.   Not so much into rapping either, but she's still mad. 

 

 

Mad Women Rapper #8 - Lady Leshurr

Lady Leshurr makes it into this list purely for her recent collaboration with the Orb. MEOW MEOW MEOW. 

 

Thursday 3^rd May

 

UP! w/ Virus Syndicate at The Attic

 

Friday 4^th May

 

Metropolis & Tribal Sessions present Carl Cox & David Rodigan MBE at Sankeys

 

Saturday 5^th May

 

Selective Hearing w/ Objekt & Akkord (world debut) at Joshua Brooks

 

Sunday 6^th May

 

Fat City 20 Years BBQ at Kro Bar

 

PICK OF THE WEEK: It seems to get this every month but Selective Hearing do it once again, securing the world debut of Akkord is something not to be missed!

 

Monday 7^th May

 

Hit & Run w/ English Frank, Blizzard & more at Factory

 

Thursday 10^th May

 

Heavy Rain w/ Mickey Pearce at Joshua Brooks

 

Friday 11^th May

 

Just Skank 2^nd Birthday w/ Mala, Mungo’s Hifi, Phaelah & more at Moho Live

 

PICK OF THE WEEK: Mikey Pearce is a good shout but the HUGE line up for Just Skank’s 2^nd Birthday just can’t be ignored – big things from the Just Skank guys as they go from strength to strength!

 

Monday 14^th May

 

Hit & Run w/ Dub Phizix MARKA million at Factory251

 

Wednesday 16^th May

 

FutureEverything Opening Party w/ Deadbeat & Andy Stott at Islington Mill

 

Thursday 17^th May

 

Tri-Angle FutureEverything showcase at Islington Mill

 

Friday 18^th May

 

Urban Junglist w/ Nicky Blackmarket at Dry Live

Alt+J, Money & No Ceremony at Quay House

FutureEverything: DJ Cheeba at Islington Mill

Project13 presents DjRUM & Stickman at Joshua Brooks

 

Saturday 19^th May

 

Amon Tobin presents ISAM at Manchester Academy

Selective Hearing & iDiOSYNC: FutureEverything closing party w/ Marcel Dettman, Levon Vincent, Faulty DL & more at Manchester Academys

Consortium presents Night Slugs at Sound Control

Swing Ting w/ Marcus Nasty at Soup Kitchen

 

PICK OF THE WEEK: Massive FutureEverything night on the 19th , make sure you catch Amon Tobin’s massive live show and the equally epic afterparty from Selective Hearing and iDiOSYNC.

 

Thursday 24^th May

 

Everything’s Irie w/ Royal T, PYC DJs, Douglas Quaid & more at Joshua Brooks

 

Friday 25^th May

 

Sabotage006 w/ Logan D & Pleasure at Dry Live

Soul:ution w/ Fabio, Seba & more at Band on the Wall

Ghosts of Garage at Moho Live

 

Saturday 26^th May

 

Punx Inna Jungle at Antwerp Mansion

 

PICK OF THE WEEK: I’m gonna shout new kids on the block Everything’s Irie here with a nice selection of local talent backed up by Rinse FM’s Royal T

 

 

Wednesday 30th May 

Joe Kalius Project  - 2022

 

Thursday 31^st May

 

iDiOSYNC w/ Mario Basanov at Joshua Brooks

 

If you would like a future event featured in this event guide, please email events@examplemagazine.com. Safe.

One of our best friends Zara Khalique has launched her newest project this week. We've spoken to her a number of times since Example started. She started a clothing label called Dream Factory when she was under 18, and then more recently launched Keep It Bright (Example Article), which involved encouraging people to 'Keep It Bright' wherever possible by being thankful, mindful and content with what they do have in life.  

Her new project 'Someone's Everything' takes a lot of the ideas from Keep it Bright. By being aware that everybody in the world is special to somebody else people should be able to think more about their actions and before hurting someone else, perhaps take a moment to imagine what you would feel if that person was someone close to you. 

She's got big plans for the project and you can find out the full information over on the Someone's Everything' website.

 

The OKasional Cafe takes over redundant & unused buildings, turning them (for the brief time of their occupation) into meeting places & music venues, centres of collectivism for environmentalists & anarchists; often becoming after-hours drinking establishments. Not strictly squatting as people don’t intend to live in the properties only occupy for a few weeks, their intention to make something both transient & useful, OKaisional Cafes have sprung up all over Manchester in recent years.

Most recently the Game Cock (ex-) pub in Hulme became an OK Cafe (25^thFeb - 18^thMar 2012). One former site, an empty auction house on Charles St. behind the BBC, has been demolished but the very first recycled & reappropriated OK-Rave I remember attending (until the next day!) was in the then-empty Temperance Movement buildings (of all things!) on Oxford Road, in the heart of University campus & where Kro Bar now proudly stands resident

The weekend before court cases against protesters arrested at ‘Reclaim The Streets’ A57 demonstration were due to commence, the OKasional Cafe took over Manchester’s most iconic venue in order to raise cash for their defence 

Situationist theorist Ivan Chtcheglov had once proclaimed (since there would be no sleep, no resting place, just an endless drift through modern life) that: “the hacienda must be built."

In 1982 New Orders' manager the late great Rob Gretton did just that. Taking over the shell of a former yacht salesroom in a dead part of city centre the club. Forever tied to Factory Records bands, but also MCRs early Electro scene, proving pivotal & seminal in equal measure. Then the Hacienda was central to the explosion of Ecstasy, House music, Madchester & all the inspired fall-out of Rave culture ever since

Chief-constable James 'Gods Cop' Anderton wanted it closed. In June 1997, 15 years after it was first ‘built’ by Ben Kelly, the Hacienda pulled down its shutters for the last time amid feuding criminal gangs & £500,000 financial problems. People tore at its carcass for memorabilia

G.R.Moores Construction & Crosby Homes wanted it redeveloped as soon as possible. OKasional Cafe thought otherwise

A break-in occurs days prior. Electricity on & sound-system installed, all quietly done. Bill-posters & word of mouth catch the curiosity of a local clubbers & soon local police attention too. A thousand revellers turn up to the derelict Whitworth St. venue following a hastily-produced flyposter campaign. Mancs mainly, incensed by recently unveiled plans to demolish this iconic building and, like so much of inner-city Manchester, turn it into lucrative high-rent yuppie flats. Many seasoned clubbers saw this as a cut-diamond opportunity to express their disgust & have at least one last party where it all started

http://radicalmanchester.wordpress.com/2009/12/20/okasional-cafes/

Security shutters came down soon after midnight in an attempt to thwart entry by the police. This left about 500 people inside the club & 500 ravers stuck outside on Whitworth St. West. 70 officers + 20 from the Tactical Aid Unit (that’s Riot Squad to me & you) were forced back from the entrance by a shower of projectiles and (allegedly) covered in urine from the Hacienda offices above

All of a sudden the shutters flew up again & the crowd surged forward. Mounted police beat back the unsuccessful & once again shutters came down. Homemade rope ladders were lowered to the street to try to allow others to get inside. This, however, allowed police to move into the crowd ‘for their own safety’. 21 arrests were made in the ensuing chaos

By 2.30 a.m. with every entrance / exit blocked, Whitworth St. West cordoned off to prevent a much larger crowd accumulating, but still the party raged on unchallenged. A stalemate was set where police & party-goers were now trapped both inside & outside the club

Just before 8 a.m. Sunday, OKasional Cafe agreed to vacate the property voluntarily provided that there were no more arrests. Those who were already arrested, at both events, would face charges of Violent & Public Disorder

It goes to show that peaceful protesters do not like having the plug pulled under the auspices of Public Safety; that Criminal Justice Bill statutes are draconian & used for political purpose; that communities don’t like having their green spaces turned over to developers when they already have to live by motorways; that Manchester’s mad-for-it ravers don’t like having their heritage given away & sold off to profit wealthy out-of-towners

No-one likes being told what to do. No-one likes being told what they must put up with; what has to be done in their best interests; when, where & how they must object if they object, or even what time they should all go home to bed!

Scoop Nisker (1960’s San Francisco radio DJ) used to sign-off his KSAN-FM show with these words:

“And.., if you don’t like the news... Go out & make some of your own”

Veteran of North West D'n'B scene, Curtis Holligan (MC SAS) spoke to [Ex]: about the launch of his new label SLEEP LESS Records

What first got you involved with this wonderful beastie called DnB? 

I used to listen to old radio shows of people like Stu Allen, acid house tapes & recordings of raves from about age 11

A school mate used to come in with a massive walkman & loads of tapes. We would sit on a field listening to them, so I suppose it started then & progressed into jungle then DnB as music changed

Can you remember the 1st track that grabbed you? Or the 1st one you bought?

Now that’s hard. First tune that really got to me was ‘Charly' (the Prodigy –Ed.) That lead synth-noise they used had my mind working overtime. How they made it, where it came from

It seemed so different to every other tune. Plus the drums were more rolling breaks than 4-to-the-floor. The sample was from an old advert from the 80's (-ahem-! 70’s); I liked the advert as a kid so the two combined had me hooked!

Where did you start out?

In Liverpool at a night called Blade Runners in 96-97. I'd wanted to MC for ages and had been writing for a while, they were some funny bars when I think back! Kemistry & Storm were playing there. I’d been going down to the Metalheads nights so I wasn’t gonna miss one in my home town

None of my mates would come with me ‘cause they were all skint. So I was stressing out in the house and my mum pulled me over and said “They won’t be on stage with you on the mic so if you want to do it, do it on your own.” Wise words

(Good ol' Mum! -Ed.)

I went down to ask the promoter if he needed an MC and he said Yes. I was in shock ‘cause I couldn’t believe I would be MCing with Kemistry & Storm!

So I went on, they liked what I was doing, gave me their numbers and things carried on from there. More Liverpool nights then all over Europe started popping and booking me. The rest is history. Now here we are 2012, time flies!

What changes have you witnessed in the scene since you became involved? Better now or then do you think?

Liverpool has gone from a city that would only pull in around 300 people at each night (if you’re lucky) to over a thousand at some of the bigger line-ups like Chase and Status and Andy C, so it’s been amazing to see it grow and to have been a major a part of it

On the whole our scene has changed with the rise of dubstep, our so-called bad economy, and of course it has evolved a lot.

DJ Fresh hitting Number#1 will have a huge, lasting effect on DnB. I think that can only be a good thing for DnB no matter what style you play, make or spit over

You’ve hosted so many nights in Liverpool & across the North-West, what are your personal highlights?

I love getting over to do any shows but ones that have been really good have probably been that Spellbound BBC 1-Xtra live show in Sankeys; Metropolis NYE at Sheridan Suite 2004; Sophonic Sessions back in Liverpool; Creamfields, Chibuku, our SLRUK label launch & more -  Viper Recordings a few months back in the Magnet with Futurebound and Camo + Krooked...

There’s so many more in Austria like Morphed, Wicked, then there’s Mainframe with Bad Company; that was a huge night!

Tell us about Sleep Less Records, how it came to be

Sleep Less Records was inspired by late nights in the studio and the planning for Sleep Less Studios which I set up last year. I won a slot at the 2011 BBC Introduces at Abbey Road & Maida Vale, and the name came about in the realisation of how lazy I’d been as an artist, so I gave myself a kick up the arse, slept less at night and got to work on it

You’ve got new international artists signed up you’ve never met? Tell us about these guys

We hooked up on Facebook! Sikdope had a track he wanted me to lay lyrics over, I heard the tune and I was in! 

Never done much studio recording before, just live shows, I recorded it, we put it on YouTube channel called Underground Dubstep and it did OK; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nYoxazwiD9I&feature=plcp Got about 20,000 views 1st week or 2 so we kept in touch. I thought they would be good to have on board, on the label. After hearing their new stuff, I was right. We’re just working on a new one at the min that’s sounding tight called ‘Pyscho’ 

You’ve also got fellow veterans Mark XTC & Sappo on board?

I’ve worked with Sappo and XTC for a few years now, on big shows like 1-Xtra & gigs in France and I’ve always loved what they’d put out, so we are really looking forward to working with them again on SLRUK

Other label artists smashing it at the min are Kumarachi, Dan Danko, KSO, EKTO 1, NorthBase. All with totally different styles so there will be a wide range of dnb & dubstep coming out

(FB Page search for: Sikdope: EKTOL1: KSO-Dubstep: Dan Danko: kurmarachi: NORTHBASEUK)

Launch Night: Who What Where When?

 We had our packed label launch with Bass Knowledge on April 20^th and that’s with another 3 events on within 5 min walking distance. Futurebound , Kumarachi, Dan Danko, Erbman, Daddy Krunk, Skelator with me, MC Fearless, Miss Stylie, Nicky Talent. Big success. Looking forward to the next we plan with them

We always up for doing SLR nights for promoters & events so get in touch if you’re looking for something fresh to put in your line-up

(http://www.facebook.com/pages/Sleep-Less-Records/166193410099527)

Sleep Less Records available where? Upcoming releases to look for?

First two releases we are going through our Soundcloud as they’re free downloads. After that you will find us on i-Tunes, Beatport, Juno

My Editor also needs to know what your favourite dinosaur might be?

"If I had to be one? Pterradactyl so I can look at the world from the sky in all its glory"

Both SAS (ft. Alison Roberts) 'Sold Your Soul' and Sikdope 'Dub Step Haters’ are available for free download http://soundcloud.com/sleep-less-records-uk from today, Mon 30 April 2012

Reclaim The Streets is an environmental direct-action group whose main aim as bring to an end the 'tyranny of the car'. They object to a lack of funding for public transport, to the damage caused & British wildlife habitats destroyed in the name of Progress. They point out the effects of modern-day congestion in our cities; effects of exhaust fumes upon the health of an unsuspecting public, especially concerning our children, with a resurgence of asthma sufferers. (This wasn’t news to the people of Hulme, living on a council demolition site wedged between the A57 flyover & Princess Parkway). On top of this, they argue, further road building to increase capacity can only mean an acceleration of often fatal incidents. More accidents waiting to happen

Fri 30^th April 1999, Manchester. A peaceful demonstration organised to raise awareness of this issue ends in violence, arrests & the closure of the A57 for over 3 hours in a bizarre stand-off with authorities. An environmental protest which began on Oxford Road, in the heart of the University campus, one of the city’s main transport arteries. Their agenda was to challenge Manchester University to fulfil its’ promise (Transport Policy Document, 1996) to cut the amount of traffic on campus. Air pollution levels were recorded here 14(!) times higher than EU recommendations

From midday until around 3pm, in an Oxford Road side street, a slowly growing crowd of students, well-wishers & passersby danced to techno from a small sound-system van & relaxed on what was one of the hottest days of the year. A thoroughly welcome sight in our often rainy city!

Without warning or good reason 20 or so of Manchester’s Finest moved in intent on impounding a generator driving the music. There were obvious objections & people who tried to occupy the van were forcibly removed. Ensuing violence, bottles & beer cans were hurled at police injuring several officers, resulted in 8 arrests.

Many people then left the scene but both van & music moved further up Oxford Rd, followed by an incensed faction. GMP regrouped (with helicopter hovering over ahead) & formed a cordon, concerned that Town Hall or the city centre might become target for civil disobedience. Their misguided actions only served to further antagonise what had been a lawful demonstration into a grim determination not to disperse peacefully

The protest took a sharp turn into Hulme, long held site of challenges to authority, where it was met by yet more police. So they flooded onto the A57 Mancunian Way slip road, stopping the soon-to-be rush-hour traffic by sheer volume of their presence and, with cars soon backing up Bonsall St & Stretford Rd all the way to Chorlton, beginning a 3 hour sit-in that would cause total traffic gridlock south of the city centre

Commuters & constabulary were completely helpless. By this point there was nothing anyone could do about it. Manchester had simply ground to a halt. Some of those trapped in their vehicles were angry but others merely bemused and, resigned to a long wait, turned on their radios. People danced & played football in the sun. An arbitrary exemption process let through some elderly drivers & those stranded with children. A hairy biker edged his motorbike through but was prevented from passing. He got off, parked his bike & joined the crowd to great welcoming cheers. HGV drivers were not so impressed or as accommodating, leaning on their air-horns repeatedly in frustration. This, in turn, allowed local residents to exact revenge for a trucker’s dispute weeks earlier when many housed by the flyover were woken early by a fleet of vehicles blasting their horns. In the sunshine though the chaotic carnival mood remained

GMP helicopter hovered uselessly above watching the unfolding chaos of traffic strangling the city. The police remained in retreat nearby until such time as they could realistically disperse the crowd. Only a thin blue line existed between drivers & hundreds of protesters suddenly turned revellers in the sunshine. As is customary these days, a plain clothes officer recorded everyone present for later reference. Amid jeering & abuse from both sides, (chants of ‘We Know Where You Live’) anyone there with a camera immediately began to film him!

This was the state of play for more than 3 hours until the crowd began to move back into Hulme where the sound-system had been re-established in a nearby children’s park. Police moved in again. Further arrests were made. Perhaps learning from previous experience, however, the music in Hulme was allowed to continue long into the night

 

“The art of the future will be the radical overthrow of situations, or they will be nothing...” Guy Debord, 1967. ‘The Society of the Spectacle’