PERTHQUAKE
UK hip-hop legendary Roots Manuva is coming to Perth for New Year’s Eve, and he’s excited. “It’s mad there, man!” On his last trip here, Mr Rodney Smith (as he is otherwise known) played at the Fremantle Arts Centre. “In an old mental institution! It was a mad show!”
Melbourne-based expats Midnight Circus are no stranger to our shores, with most of the band originating from Perth. Inspired by the progressive electronic sounds of Australian groups like The Presets, and the 80’s rock legacy left behind by Icehouse, INXS and others, Midnight Circus represents the new wave of Australian electro rock. Armed with a powerful sound and an infectious stage presence, Midnight Circus is quickly building a reputation as one of the best live acts on the east coast music scene. Having spent six weeks at number 1 on the JJJ Unearthed charts with their hits ‘Midnight’ and ‘Time has Come’, the band have been riding the airwaves and enjoying rave reviews for their high energy, packed house shows.
With James Dunn and Stu Copeland up front sharing vocal leads, Dave Robbins on lead guitar and Rick Stroud on drums, the band return home this summer for their first tour in two years which will include playing at Velvet Lounge on December 30th, Cuban Club Festival on New Years Day and Summadayze Festival on January 3rd. “We are pumped to be back home this summer and can’t wait to play our new stuff to what will basically be a home crowd for us”, says singer James Dunn. “It has been a huge year for the band and having just finished recording, we are counting the days until we hit Perth and finish the year with a bang.”
Boy Crazy Stacey put a link to this video on my Facebook. With my growing interest in old house/disco music thanks to him and Jackattack I feel I need to share it with everyone, just in case you haven’t seen it, like me. When the sample gets chopped up the first artist I thought of was Squarepusher, but not the track that’s mentioned, I thought of A Journey To Reedham. I’d love to know what tracks come to mind for you, so leave a comment at the bottom of the post.
The video makes some great points about culture and how copyrights can do more harm than good by limiting what culture is all about; building on what has previously been done (called Cumulative Cultural Evolution in psychology). Watch the video it’s worth the approx. 20 mins of your precious time!
Many people including myself are very excited to have you returning to Australia again. You keep coming back so you must like it here 
Are you yourself as excited to be returning?
Always good to return to your fair island. I like the clubs and the crowds
After watching a couple of episodes of Skins (third season, which is almost as good as first and second if you give it a chance) I decided I’d better get to Shape to catch the support acts for Les Petits Pilous. I missed the entire Time Travel Agents set, but I came in to catch most of Le Gab’s heavy dubstep sounds being blasted through the top level of Shape.
I saw a relatively full dancefloor of younger clubbers enjoying the dubstep set early in the night. I think the time of the night
“It’s busy! It’s good! We need some action!” was what my taxi driver told me after I waited around 45 minutes to find him in order to transport myself from a (the only?) South Perth hot spot to Shape nightclub on Friday night. The dude wasn’t lying either. Whether it was christmas parties, celebrating the end of another working/studying year, or reaquainting one’s self with a balmy summer evening, it seemed most of Perth was out and about. And what better way to spend the early hours of Saturday morning than a 2 level bass4yaface assault – local drum and bass pumping upstairs and on the ground floor dubstep boundary pusher, Appleblim of the UK was popping his Perth cherry. Break it down for the full review.
Are you looking forward to coming to Australia?
Very much so, we’re looking forward to some hot weather and away from the cold which
You are a very well travelled artist, and no stranger to Australia, Perth in particular. How does Perth/Australia rate among your touring experiences?
Since i played that Cottelsloe Beach Club party last year Perth is the undisputed No.1 on my list. And not even due to having a great party there….it’s the whole atmosphere of the city –
There are lots of stories about the birth of jazz and the beginning of rock n’ roll, but hip-hop has founding fathers: one of them is DJ Grandmaster Flash. The career of Grandmaster Flash began in the Bronx with neighbourhood block parties that essentially were the start of hip-hop – the dawn of a musical genre. He was the first DJ to physically lay hands on the vinyl and manipulate it in a backward, forward or counter clockwise motion when most DJs simply handled the record by the edges, put down the tone arm and let it play. By the end of the 70s, Flash had started another trend that became a hallmark of hip-hop: asking MC’s to rap over his beats. Before long, he started his own group, Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five. Their reputation grew up around the way the group traded off and blended their lyrics with Flash’s unrivaled skills as a DJ and his acrobatic performances—spinning and cutting vinyl with his fingers, toes, elbows, and any object at hand.
Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five went Platinum with their single, “The Message.” Meanwhile, “The Adventures of Grandmaster Flash on the Wheels of Steel” introduced hip hop DJing to a larger listening audience than it had ever known before; it became the first DJ composition to be recorded by a DJ. The group’s fame only grew with “Superappin,” “Freedom,” “Larry’s Dance Theme,” and “You Know What Time It Is”. Punk and new wave fans were introduced to Flash through Blondie, who immortalized him in their hit, “Rapture.” Now back with an all new album “The Bridge” (featuring guest appearances from DJ KOOL, SNOOP DOGG, Q-TIP, BUSTA RHYMES, KRS-ONE, PRINCESS SUPERSTAR, NATASHA ATLAS and more), and following some massive shows across the country at the FUTURE MUSIC FESTIVAL in 2009,Flash returns to teach a whole new generation how to party on the block!
Deep breath. It’s the biggest, best, most exciting act to hit Perth this decade. Are you ready? Pete Tong. The world’s best loved and most listened to DJ is coming to Perth for the first. Time. Ever. Playing exclusively at Villa.
The most popular DJ in the world, Pete Tong has conquered each and every form of media and audio-visual mediums in existence. He’s created and played at thousands of live gigs across the world and is the host of BBC Radio 1’s ‘Essential Collection’ – the most groundbreaking and successful radio show of its kind and downloaded across the world more than any other. Ever. He spearheaded and remained a music executive at his own record label, FFRR Records (Salt ‘n Pepa, Brand New Heavies, Fine Young Cannibals, Orbital, Armand Van Helden, Carl Cox, DJ Icey, Jay Z, Sasha and so, so many more) and as a promoter, booked the Culture Club as one of his first acts at his own club before he turned 20. Before he rocked our eardrums, he ruled the written world as an editor at Blues and Soul Magazine.
Pete Tong is the man. He is the business. He is Lord of the Dance (real nickname).
If anyone would need any more convincing, Pete Tong is such an icon he is part of the English vernacular with the phrase ‘It’s all gone a bit Pete Tong’, where his name is used as cockney rhyming slang for ‘wrong’. It’s All Gone Pete Tong is also the title of a 2004 film which portrays a fictional DJ’s experiences as he realises he is becoming deaf – a film where Mr Tong briefly appears as himself, so indeed add movie star to this resume. And musical director – creating the soundtracks on films Human Traffic and The Beach.
This is a man who works within the mainstream but gets the thumbs up from the underground. Here’s why:
Pete’s first DJ job was at a wedding. He was 15. After leaving school, he bought a Transit van and set up his own sound system. As you do. In 1979, Pete became a journalist for monthly magazine Blues & Soul. By the following year, he was features editor. Then he got his first break with Radio 1, presenting a regular 15 minute ‘magazine’ feature on dance music on Peter Powell’s show. Pete’s knowledge of the dance underground, coupled with his ear for a crossover hit, saw him appointed A&R manager at newly-founded independent label London Records in ‘83. While looking after the careers of pop acts like ’80s girl group Bananarama, he continued to pursue his budding radio career. Pete accepted his own programme on Kent’s newly-launched Invicta station in ‘84. Influenced by radio DJ heroes such as Robbie Vincent, Greg Edwards and Emperor Rosko, he hosted a soul show there for three years, before briefly returning to Radio London. Almost immediately, however, he was poached by Capital Radio, where his weekly dance programme became cult listening with London clubbers. In ‘88, in the wake of Acid House, Pete launched his own record label, FFRR, through London Records. His aim was to embrace the new wave of electronic music flooding into the country from cities such as Detroit and Chicago, and continue to promote his first love; black dance artists. Pete did both, simultaneously. FFRR’s next releases were cut’n'paste production ‘Bass (How Low Can You Go?)’ by Simon Harris and Salt’n'Pepa’s ‘Push It’, both cool club tracks which went on to storm the charts. They were followed by a stream of influential hits.
His ‘Essential Selection’ radio show every Friday evening instantly established itself as a welcome to the weekend for a new generation of young clubbers. Heavy on house, but with room for the best breaking techno, jungle, hip hop, funk and soul sounds from both Britain and around the world, it appealed to all tastes in contemporary merged the cutting-edge with the mainstream. Perhaps Pete’s biggest contribution to British pop to date was his involvement in the reshaping of BBC Radio 1. After Pete’s ideas were taken on board, the likes of Tim Westwood, Danny Rampling, Judge Jules, Carl Cox and, more recently, Fabio and Grooverider, started to appear on Radio 1’s DJ roster. The station’s daytime playlist began to reflect the extent of the impact of modern electronic music on British kids. The success of ‘Essential Selection’ spawned a series of compilation albums, released by FFRR, which to date have sold over a million copies.
He is a director of Wise Buddah, the production company which makes radio programmes and continues to work in A&R for London Records. His pop star credentials include A&R-ing Shakespeare Sister, played a big role in signing All Saints. Pete Tong hosted his own float at Radio 1’s ‘Love Parade’ – “standing on my float with Jon Carter and Darren Emerson in front of 250,000 Radio 1 listeners was just the best feeling ever – a real moment in history”, he recalled.
There is absolutely no other way to spend your first Saturday night of 2010. Set a standard. It’s Pete freakin’ Tong.
