23/04/2010

2009 – Belgian Special

This week our second special to celebrate the first anniversary of our radio show goes on air. This time we play only Belgian productions. Because we feel promoting quality, local music is one of our tasks and because we had a lot of the producers involved as guests in our show last year. We hope to repeat this on a regular basis. If quality and output stays as good as it is that shouldn’t be much of a problem.

The show will be broadcasted between 10 and 11pm CET (98.8fm or online) and will be available through streaming all week after that. Exceptionally we’ll podcast the show after that. We’ll let you know where you can find it once it’s online.

This time we’ll give you more than just a play list. As we hope to promote Belgian music a bit through this we’ll provide extra info on the artists involved. If you’re a Belgian producer and you’re not in our mix don’t feel left out. It’s probably because we haven’t got your music or couldn’t fit it in. There’s much more talent than this. Names like Cupp Cave, Dr. Kwest, Mugwump and many more spring to mind. So keep hooking us up with your latest tunes. If we like them we’ll play them. Simple as that.

LuiGi / Louie Gee Ensemble / Infinitskills
Louis aka LuiGi is part of the Infinitskills beat collective (together with Pat Gonzales and Eric P.) and of the online radio pioneers Laid Back. The Louie Gee Ensemble is his joint venture with some seasoned Jazz cats (and Mo from Mo & Grazz on the cut we play). Their rendition of René Costy’s ‘Scrabble’ will be out soon on Jazzy Sport. And they are working on a new project which should surface in a few months. The opening tune of this show is an exclusive. Brand new and good for you as an revered English colleague would say. The Infinitskills cut is something from the Polarized beattape which you can download for free (click on the links above and you’ll find it). Big, talented colleagues / friends.

I-Sa
Crew from Leuven / Antwerp making quality wobbly beats. They have some beat tapes floating around on the net which you definitely should check. They have worked with Kissey Asplund. The Beat Session they organised a couple of months ago is one of the things that got us convinced Brussels / Belgium needs more Beatminded events. But more about that after the summer. The track we play is called ‘De Haan’ which is a Belgian coastal city. Staying focused on our theme even geographically, haha.

Dyno
Man who’s been active in the Belgian Hip Hop / Beat community for ages now. Currently making spaced out beats and keeping an excellent shop called MacFly in Ghent (for all your needs in stylish clothes, dope music or other well-designed treats). Had a tune on the genre-defining first Beat Dimensions compilations, an album on Citywurl and some other releases you need to track down. Didn’t feel the ‘Donny Drop’ track at first, I must admit, but got into it after a while. A big sound system helps to discover it’s beauty.

Made In Japan / Citywurl
Citywurl is Billy Palmier’s label which has released, among other things, a compilation put together by Infinitskills with lots of Belgian beatmakers and Dyno’s album. They had something of an underground hit with Made In Japan’s ‘Babyspace EP’ last year (played by Benji B a couple of times). Made In Japan is producers Billy and Gusto + singer Vinilyc. We play the tune we love the most of that EP. A tune I’m still going to remix one of these days. If I ever get the parts. Haha.

Lefto
Making it worldwide nowadays as part of Gilles Peterson’s crew. But we knew he was good way before that. Excellent party dj, funny guy and occasional producer. Did some edits of African funk tunes which are out now on Melting Pot Music aka Mpm. And like Billy, Gusto and soon Kwak almost a neighbour of us. If he isn’t playing in Korea, Japan or London, that is.

J to the C
By far the most energetic guy we know. Part of DJ Grazzhoppa’s Big Band, the PPKLTS / On-Point crew (he’s Vic from Vic ‘n Lloyd) and producing quality music in his spare time. The epitome of being Funky. As you can hear on this tune with Brooklyn-based MC Incks.

Celesto Saint

Aka DJ Kwak and Simon Le Saint. The first you should know from the Strictly Niceness parties (biggest quality, soulful party in Belgium) and the Back To Niceness radio show. The second produced Uman’s latest album but made quite a career as beatmaker for numerous Belgian Hip Hop acts before that. Together they pieced this Brazilian dance floor monster together.

Onda Sonora
You know. Us. Haha. We’ve been fiddling with Disco tunes for a while now. Expect more of that and some tunes of our own soon.

San Soda / We Play House Recordings
San Soda and Red D started their We Play House label last year and have since put out a nice series of banging House vinyls. We had them in our studio right after San Soda returned from the Red Bull Music Academy. Expect to hear more from these guys. Getting better with every release. We play one tune of WHP001 (their second release) and a cut I’m not sure will be released. Exclusive as they say.

Homerun
Also someone we had in the studio. Now residing in Switzerland but a Brussels cat pur sang. Making Techno with lots of emotion. ‘Sean Penn’ has to be one of my favourite tunes of last year. Had hoped to play some new ones (which sound amazing) but Laurent isn’t the most prolific and self-promoting guy around. And that’s a big understatement. That’s probably why you won’t find much of his music in the shops. The one we play is exclusive, of course. He has released on Eskimo, Tiga’s Turbo Mind View and Freerange but his best tunes are still on his laptop.

Boddhi Satva
As counterweight to Homerun we end with Belgian’s most prolific House producer. Shamefully underrated in his own country but hailed by greats like Osunlade and Little Louie Vega. And those are BIG names in the genre. Has releases on labels like Yoruba, Vega, Offering, Seasons and many more. ‘Isa’ is by far our favourite tune of him.

Play List:
LuiGi – Calibration ( CDR )
I-Sa – De Haan ( CDR )
Dyno – Donny Drop ( CDR )
Louie Gee Ensemble feat. Monique Harcum – You Belong With Me ( CDR )
InfinitSkills – Dill With Her ( CDR )
Made In Japan – City At Night ( Citywurl )
J to the C feat. Incks – The Mantra ( CDR )
San Soda – Billy ( We Play House )
Gyedu Blay Ambolley And The Steneboofs – Simigwa Do / Lefto Edit ( Mpm )
People’s Choice – Boogie All Over The World / Onda Sonora Edit ( CDR )
Celesto Saint – Implorar Kai ( CDR )
Touch – Love Hangover / Onda Sonora Edit ( CDR )
Homerun – Sean Penn ( CDR )
San Soda – Just In ( We Play House )
Boddhi Satva – Isa ( Seasons Ltd )