Bronx '79 Trailer

Oh motherflippin' yes!

"Bronx 79 will provide the definitive history of the birth of hip-hop culture – the largest and most impactful youth movement of the past 40 years. Employing first-person interviews of the people that were there at the beginning, original footage and photographs of that era, and unique recreations through stylized animation and live-action we will finally see the untold story of the pioneers, the fans and the world of the South Bronx in 1979."

https://vimeo.com/118854372

Bronx 79 Extended Trailer from Gen One Films on Vimeo.

Flashformer For Sale On Ebay

Do you know what a Flashformer is?

It is an electrical device that when hooked up to your mixer and turntables allows you to perform seamless transformer scratches by simply pressing a couple of buttons.
Also it was created and designed by Grandmaster Flash.

I bought one back in hmmmmm, 1988? 1989? I thought it was a bit clunky personally and I seem to remember that the whole sound level dipped whenever you tried to transform. Maybe I didn't hook it up correctly.
Nevertheless I soon moved onto a Citronic mix shortly afterwards which included 'Punch' buttons on either side of the x-fader. This was a lot easier and I loved it. Annoyingly though it made me rely too much on the buttons and I pretty much left the x-fader alone for scratching not good for my important, formative scratch years.
I also remember pouring a tonne of WD-40 into that mixer as well to keep the faders smooth.Then one day I tipped the mixer on it's front to fiddle about with the cables and a load of gunky liquid began to start coming out of the front. Ahh, happy days.

Anyway, if you'd still like your own Flashformer then there's one available on (UK) Ebay now the next four days or so with an odd starting bid of £92. Just click here.

The Seller ("flashlite23") also has a great-looking copy of Joe Conzo/Buddy Esquire's BORN IN THE BRONX book (unopened) for sale. Sadly, it's a little out of my price range. However if anyone else has one then I'll gladly swap my own Flashformer for one, haha.

Ageing B Boys Unite! Takeover show - April 2015

Waxer takes over the ABU show that takes over the Disco Scratch show! 

2 hours of old records, soundbites from the past, opinion & chat to a Hip Hop soundtrack...

Big, big, big respect to my man Waxer for taking my baby and corrupting it into this parallel universe version of the usual ABU show.
It was quite strange to be tuning into the show and not having any control over the content nor not knowing what to expect. But all worries were soon lost after the first few seconds while Waxer reached back into the days of yore and stole samples from previous shows, music beds, drops and just about whatever else he could get his creatively-criminal hands on.

Where else would you ever find a takeover show of a takeover show?
Disco Scratch. That's where.

Keep it dusty.


Reeps

Ageing B Boys Unite! Takeover show April 2015 by Discoscratch on Mixcloud

(Direct source here)

Chrome & Illinspired - All Days (Official Video)

Here's the brand-new promo video from one of the best acts in the UK hip hop scene right now.
Taken from their recent All C N I album (still available to download) this will be their next single release on B-Line Recordings.
Featuring some of the best digging spots in the pair's hometown of Norwich and again produced by the great AboveGroundMedia this is a nicely-shot video capturing the lads doing what they feel their most relaxed at - digging in the crates for that elusive gem or undiscovered break.

Chrome & Illinspired can be found each third Saturday of the month @No Half Steppin' (along with DJ Just-1, myself and special guests).
Chrome also does '45 Fridays' every month (with Just-1) playing -as the title suggests - nothing but 45s.
Most hard-working? Definitely.

Crumplstock 2015 - The Internet DJ Weekender

Starting this evening is a unique listening experience.
It's a music festival that you can attend from anywhere in the world.
Crumplstock 2015 is an Internet DJ Weekender consisting of three days of mashups and Hip Hop on two stages.
This has been running previously but with just the one 'stage' - Crumplbangers. This year the Vinyl Injury Unit crew is joining in the provide music for the second stage. Crumplbangers are notorious for their mad, chaotic music mashups while Vinyl Injury are strictly hip hop and funk.

How does it work?
Start by visiting the main festival page http://crumplebangers.com/crumplstock and you'll see a rundown of all the acts performing, times and stages.
Click on one of the stages and you'll be able to see a list and clickable links of the artists/DJs.
When you click on one of them their corresponding Mixlr (broadcasting app) will appear to the right and when the time comes will begin playing their set.
There will only ever be TWO sets available at any one time, obviously as there are only TWO stages. You can flick between the two if you wish - not however when the ABU set is on! Each act gets one hour to shine and it can be anything from a pre-recorded set to live dj set or an hour of random noises, it's a totally free experience - although fitting into the parameters of 'hip hop' or 'mashup'. And a few djs are doing video streams as well.

Below is the running list for the Vinyl Injury Stage. This promises to be a nice few days.
It'd be great if you could tune in for a few of the sets. Oh, and there is a chatroom too so you can mingle with other like-minded people.

It all kicks off at 6pm!

• VINYL INJURY STAGE TIMETABLE
• ---------------------------------------------------------------------
• Day 1 - Friday 24th
• ---------------------------------------------------------------------
• 18:00 -Brian Emery (Funky Friday) (Canada)
• 19:00 -DJ Demented Man (UK)
• 20:00 -DJ Bhose (Germany)
• 21:00 -RJ Scratch (London)
• 22:00 -DJ Dren (33 Throwdown) (UK)
• 23:00 -Myk Apache Throwdown (UK)
• 0:00 -Patti Astor (Fun Gallery/Wildstyle) (NYC/California)


• ---------------------------------------------------------------------
• Day 2 - Saturday 25th
• ---------------------------------------------------------------------
• 18:00- DJ Cougar (Maine)
• 19:00- Death Hop (Not Australia)
• 20:00- Juice MC's -Live Video link (UK)
• 21:00- Chrome (B-Line/Deftex) (UK)
• 22:00- DJ Shan (Trax FM) (London)
• 23:00- Repo 136 (Ageing B-boys Unite!) (UK)
• 0:00- Johnny Juice (UZN/Public Enemy) (NYC)
• 1:00- Laz-ee (Plastic Attack:RTE) (Dublin)

http://crumplebangers.com/crumplstock/

ABU Podcast - April 2015 - It's A Takeover Takeover!

Tonight being the last Thursday of the month is of course the ABU Disco Scratch Takeover Podcast.
But tonight it's a little different.

This month's show goes by the snappily-titled The Disco Scratch Takeover Of The Ageing B-Boys Unite! Takeover Of Disco Scratch Podcast.
Disco Scratch's own WAXER has fully-produced tonight's show using an assortment of my ABU bits and pieces.

Get ready to press 'Play & Record' for TWO hours of the finest in classic hip hop and chaos anywhere on your internet dial tonight at 9pm (GMT).

http://discoscratch.co.uk/radio/

No Half Steppin' - April 2015

This evening, in fact.


#ClassicHipHop #Vinyl# #Norwich #VeryShortNotice

Sunny Tunes: Dumpster Funk Collection

Some years ago whilst I used to be a regular and active member of the Old School Hip Hop Board forum one of the guys posted a mix he'd done featuring old funk tunes.
In time this has become my 'go-to' grab-bag of summer funk tracks whenever the sunshine shows it's face. I don't know why but these songs demand to be heard on a lazy, sweltering afternoon. It just sounds better.

Put together by a guy by the name of R-CHECKA, this mainly instrumental collection of cool cuts is mixed splendidly - not beat-match mixing but just played one after another with each song complimenting the next.
Funk breaks, hard soul and the occasional vocal snatch from a Blaxploitation film all combine to make your listening experience one of sublime lushness.

Download them here:

Dumpster Funk 1, Disc 1, Part 1

rchecka - dumpster funk 1 disc 1 pt.1.mp3 (27.78MB)
https://www.sendspace.com/pro/dl/7bp4xt 
or
https://hearthis.at/kxdhfWHR/dumpster-funk1/ 

Dumpster Funk 1, Disc 1, Part 2

rchecka - dumpster funk 1 disc 1 pt.2.mp3 (37.56MB)
 https://www.sendspace.com/pro/dl/hpgsgk

Dumpster Funk 1, Disc 2
rchecka - dumpster funk 1 disc 2.mp3 (109.98MB) 
https://www.sendspace.com/pro/dl/nbnadk 

Dumpster Funk, 2.
http://www.mixcrate.com/rchecka/dumpster-funk-2-27577 
or
https://www.mixcloud.com/musicselections/dumpster-funk-2-mixed-by-rchecka/ 



Tracklisting (taken from http://cratedigging.co/10/3108/dumpster_funk_pt__1)

disc 1

part 1

01 intro/harlem underground band-ain’t no sunshine
02 harlem river drive-harlem river drive
03 johnny pate-end theme
04 blackbyrds-love is love
05 young-holt unlimited-soulful strut
06 jbs-hot pants road
07 kool and the gang-funky man (live at the sex machine)
08 the dakaris-super afro-beat
09 first choice-love thang
10 gaz-sing sing
11 rhythm heritage-theme from s.w.a.t

part 2

12 bobbi humphrey-chicago, damn
13 roy ayres-king george
14 johnny pate-bucktown
15 billy brooks-40 days
16 ronnie laws-all the time
17 cymande-rickshaw
18 les baxter-hogin’ machine
19 carl holmes-black bag
20 mandrill-fence walk
21 donald byrd-dominoes
22 willie hutch-brothers gonna work it out
23 harold melvin and the blue notes-tell the world how i feel about cha’ baby



disc 2

01(intro)r-checka-black exploitation (voice bits taken from “The Spook Who Sat By the Door-Soundtrack”)
02 rudy van moore-the hitman
03 galt macdermot-harlem medley
04 solomon burke-cool breeze
05 curtis mayfield-the underground
06 sabu martinez-afro temple
07 bwana-lu jurumba
08 antonio pinto and ed cortes-na rua, na chuva, na fazenda (taken from “City of God-Soundtrack”)
09 mc-in my life
10 dorothy ashby-come live with me
11 bohonnon-save their souls
12 kenny burke-risin to the top
13 al green-still in love with you
14 willie hutch-the mark of the beast
15 madlib-steppin again
16 donald byrd-steppin into tomorrow
17 (outro)herbie hancock-the pickup  

(N.b. No tracklisting for Dumpster Funk 2). 

For more from R-CHECKA go to his Mixcrate page which is here: http://www.mixcrate.com/rchecka

ABU RECOMMENDS: The Shift - Low Budget - The Remix Mix

I heard a great little mix today brought to my attention by 'The Wonder From Boogie Down Under', Dayle aka The Shift.
I must confess to not knowing much if anything about this group but their sound, or at least the remixes of their songs displayed here on The Shift's compilation mix is a great sound featuring a heavily-influenced early 1980s funk sound.
This is a perfect accompaniment to a summer's day which is just around the corner.

New Style Warrior Tee: DUMP KOCH

Style Warrior don't sleep. Fact.

They're back with a new t-shirt design strictly for the ageing b-boys amongst us.
The simple 'Dump Koch' is a double-whammy. Using the infamous message from SPIN's famous NYC subway train piece from 1982 and marrying it with a certain other slogan's typography - Make Your Mark IN Society Not ON Society - this tee is a must for all old school fans.

Mayor Ed Koch was governing New York City at the time and faced a losing battle against the subway artists of the day who grew more fearless as well as progressively more artistic in their bigger and bolder productions on the Transit line.

Koch was a larger than life personality and was not one to mince his words. Anyone watching Tony Silver and Henry Chalfont's documentary Style Wars one could not help but secretly admire his staunch, old school beliefs. With strong views on "an eye for an eye" discipline and his partiality towards the death penalty, Koch seemed - at least to someone living overseas - like someone not to be messed with.
But mess with him is exactly what some did, especially when his office introduced the Make Your Mark IN Society... campaign in the early 1980s.
This operation involved an array of celebrities of the day all encouraging the youth of the city to stop writing on trains and go home and do something less boring instead. Did it work? Time, as Koch boasted, would tell.
SPIN took to the trains to provide the Mayoral commitee a hard-hitting, artistic retaliation in a manner that Koch would understand and by doing so would make an enduring image in the process.

Once again, Style Warrior prove they are Britain's finest hip hop designers with their unique twist on a fiercely-guarded property within the culture's community and come up with another sureshot.

This tee is a pre-order product which means you either order it right now or miss out. You have until Sunday 19th April to get ordering.

To order yours go here: 

http://stylewarrior.bigcartel.com/product/dump-koch-t-shirt-pre-order

And don't forget if you haven't bought your copy of the latest Style Warrior 7", Manners by Tough Crowd then click here to purchase one now.


Further reading:

https://paintist.wordpress.com/2006/05/29/style-wars-the-calligraphy-of-graffiti/

http://www.nytimes.com/1982/04/30/nyregion/celebrities-join-mayor-in-new-battle-against-graffiti-writers.html

http://www.at149st.com/ - Online mecca of graffiti history


Also watch this space for a Style Wars feature coming soon on ABU.

Disco Scratch Is Not Dead

Disco Scratch is back.
In a new easy-to-manage one hour slot for the forseeable future, Waxer will be dropping a weekly pre-recorded Podcast, ready to roll every Thursday at the same regular time of 9pm.
It will be repeated the next evening at 10pm which is straight after DJ Laz-e's Plastic Attack show (9-10pm) on 2XM.

I think things are going to be alright now.

Disco Scratch Podcast 19.03.2015 by Discoscratch on Mixcloud

http://discoscratch.co.uk/2015/03/28/disco-scratch-radio-is-not-dead/

Oh yeah, my favourite cut from the show was MF Doom 'My Mic Sounds Nice 'BTW, as you weren't asking.