SoundCloud, a sort of insider trading site for musicians, DJs and labels is finally ready for its premiere and it's starting with a bang. Tonight's celebratory party starts early with an invitation only performance by Swedish jazz trio, Nils Berg 3, food and drinks (don't fret, three lucky readers can snag these, just sign up for our newsletter if you aren't subscribed already). But this is just the build-up to the actual bang--Tel Avivi, Guy J makes his German premiere, Remute promises an enthralling live set and at midnight SoundCloud has a surprise for all the party-goers.

SoundCloud knows how to throw a party, which is why they are using all available space at Picknick--the upstairs, downstairs and courtyard will be filled with DJs and dancers until the wee hours of the morning.

For the next two weeks co-directors Eddy Moretti and Suroosh Alvi's first feature film documentary, Heavy Metal in Baghdad screens at Tilsiter Lichtspiele. For three years Moretti and Alvi followed Iraqi heavy metal band Acrassicauda, documenting the group's near inconceivable rise to fame as playing heavy metal in a Muslim country seemed almost possible.

From their die-hard fanbase to the daily bombings in Baghdad, the group has two goals: staying alive and playing music. Inspired from the Latin word for one of the most dangerous black scorpions commonly found in Iraqi deserts, Acrassicauda--and the resulting film--offers insight into the daily struggles for freedom in Baghdad. Perhaps the most telling fact of all: all four band members now live in Istanbul, Turkey.

Chart courtesy of The Economist.

01. Matthew Styles, "We Said Nothing" [Diamonds & Pearls] (buy)
So far I've managed to look past Matthew Styles despite the sheen of buzz around him, but "We Said Nothing," the lead cut from an EP of the same name, is utterly impossible to ignore. The dense and flashy percussion cuts a path for the snaking acid progression, all the while female and tar-pitted male vocals invoke chaos in the tightly structured piece. It's prominently featured in Âme's forthcoming Fabric CD, and is sure to wreck a little havoc on dance floors. Mr. Styles has my attention now.

02. Matias Aguayo, "Minimal" (DJ Koze remix) [Kompakt] (buy)
Sure, the lyrics are inflammatory ("people don't dance, 'cuz that music's got no groove, got no balls, no man"), if not outright sarcastic (especially coming from half of Closer Musik), but the breezy sunshine DJ Koze injects into Matias Aguayo's "Minimal" can assuage even the most inconsolable critic's qualms. More in line with his work with International Pony, Koze threads a funk guitar needle through soothing Rhodes pads, leaving only the jangling percussion of the original to penetrate the mellow vibe. Yet another incredible production from the vaunted DJ Koze, a radio edit of which can be downloaded here.

03. Brendon Moeller, "Electricity" [Leena Music] (buy)
While so much of dub techno is content to hang in the air like cumulus music, Brendon Moeller is one of the few producers to persuasively toughen things up to delight DJs and dancers. "Electricity" aggressively proves the point with a hard percussive shell, from which dub reverberations stab pointedly or flare up like a sudden tidal wave. So for DJs who would rather see bodies moving instead of pinned to couches, this cut off a great EP is the one for them.

04. Solomon, "Explicit" [Four:Twenty Recordings] (buy)
Solomun's stature as an excellent producer only grows faster as he steps further away from Diynamic and its hallmark aesthetics. "Explicit," a hidden gem of a b-side to the well-charted "International Hustle," maintains his carefully groomed balance of melody and organic percussion. The plucked progression at its core is delayed such that it could be echoing through a lengthy alley, and its looming pads color the long shadows. It's also a treat to mix with.

05. Portable, "Release" [Perlon] (buy)
It's hard to think of a label with better and more consistent taste than Perlon, and the past 12 months have only bolstered its already impressive reputation. Their 70th release yields some of Portable's best music to date, the incredibly soulful and demented "Release." Alan Abrahams' multi-tracked vocals plead from the center of a twisted city which bends and arches around determined 808 stabs. If you're craving something deep and housey that avoids indulging in all the oft-repeated cliches, pick up a copy of "Knowone Can Take Away" pronto.

06. My My, "Everybody's Talkin'" [Playhouse] (buy)
07. Nekes, "Waitin" [Oslo] (buy)
08. Henrik Schwarz, Âme & Dixon, "D.P.O.M.B." (Version 2) [Innervisions] (buy)
09. La Peña, "Untitled 1″ [La Peña] (buy)
10. A Guy Called Gerald, "In Ya Head" [Perlon] (buy)

Automotto:Via: Artcar

Don't miss this chance to see the legendary Iggy & The Stooges. The seminal band needs no introduction, and nor do Iggy's stage antics for that matter. A most excellent opportunity to see Iggy do his thing, backed up by the pile-driving rhythms of the Asheton brothers.

Vienna's youngest radio station, 98.3 Superfly started on Febuary 29th of 2008 but rapidly grew to be a well-recognized 'tool' for the Viennese people. A varied mix of groovy sounds from different genres 'mostly soul, funk, hip hop and rare R&B' dominate the air waves. Starting at 20:00, 'specialists'' take over and offer a crash course with four hours of tunes based on a specific music style.

From Detroit jazz and dope beats to tech house and deep techno, you'll likely find shows for nearly every music taste. Electronic groove sounds loop undisturbed in the wee hours, devoid of jarring advertisements, while standard news and information help you steer clear of traffic jams in the morning.

Check out their interactive homepage www.superfly.fm for the 98.3 Superfly live stream or further information.

female:pressure is an international database for female djs, producers and visual artists, related to the electronic music world, that can be searched by various criteria. It is first and foremost a tool to ensure the existence of women in this apparently entirly male dominated field and to improve communication. The database / website is considered to be a publicly accessible source of information, designed and founded by Vienna based Electric Indigo in 1998 - a technological answer to the recurring complaints of there hardly being any female producers or djs. The programming and continuous advancement of the female:pressure database has been carried out by Viennese open source expert Andrea Mayr.

Meanwhile female:pressure can be proud of approximately 970 members from 51 countries, most of them can be contacted by e mail and are hyperlinked to their own webpages and to the record labels they release on where applicable. Additional information comprises location, profession and musical style.

female:pressure emphasizes the practicality and the necessity of networking and communicating especially in this area and serves as a representational platform to the world, an established standard to be consulted and used as a reference. The database can be searched by regions, countries, styles, professions and names. This makes it easy for people to obtain information about well known artists as well as up and coming women who work in the fields of electronic music around the globe. All djs, producers, singers, mcs, videoartists, graphicdesigners, photographers and other visual artists can log into the site and individually update their own profiles, so the information available remains relevant and can be used effectively.

http://www.indigo-inc.at

DJ Grandmaster Flash - The Turntable Legend (NYC)
Jah Fish (Subotage Ent., Berlin)
DJ Hamma (Akademix, Capetown SA)
San Gabriel (Livedemo/HHDS)

In addition to his induction to the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame - as the very first HipHop artist so honored. Grandmaster Flash has been the recipient of many many awards including VH1 HipHop Honors, BETs ICON Award, The Lifetime Achievement Award from the RIAA and Bill Gates VANGUARD Award.

The Smithsonian Museum of American History in honor of Black History Moth has opened ist exhibit RECOGNIZE HIPHOP and Contemporary Portraiture in which Grandmaster Flash along with other hip hop artist such as LL COOL J, Erykah Badu and Common will be featured.

OK I listened to the new Girl Talk LP (Feed the Animals) and it was a big pile o' MEH. Better than NightRipper, only slightly clashy but it washed over me, I have heard this all before - I'll let you into a few DJ secrets:

1. It's easy to mix hiphop reasonably well (I mean even I used to manage it when I started - for instance my Roy Orbison 'You Got It' vs Peaches in 2003) and quickly - no key clash (although he managed it on Soulja boy, because like Eminem 'sing song' forms of rap do actually have a key!)

2. Mixing whole songs together is hard - you have to rearrange the song structure, which not only could be in different tempos, time signatures could be in different keys or melodies. Mixing little bits of songs in 30 seconds or less chunks is far far far easier, especially if they are spoken word or hiphop - small bits you can pick and choose which bits to use also, leaving the 'difficult' bits out

Really I think he's becoming the Jivebunny of the Noughties...

Anyway it's easy to say 'there's been better' but really, anyone could say that so time to put my mixes where my mouth is, well not mine but others - here's some Zip compilations of my favourite long and short mixes of the last 8 years that use many sources but do it a HELL of a lot better than Mr Gillis:

It Aint Girl Talk, it's BETTER (Vols 1-4  -each 200Mb or so each, zipped)

Volume 1:
inc mixes/mashups from Evolution Control Commitee, Soulwax and Osymyso

http://www.divshare.com/download/4804218-e08
http://www.sendspace.com/file/5oi5lt

Volume 2:
inc mixes mashes from Audioshrapnel inc the full quality of the exclusive Radio Clash mix, Avalanches, Hank Handy, DJ Earworm

http://www.sendspace.com/file/jfw17j
http://www.divshare.com/download/4804423-fdd

Volume 3:
inc mixes/mashes from Frenchbloke & Son, Freelance Hairdresser, Ian Fondue, DJ Food and Osymyso

http://www.divshare.com/download/4804798-c6d
http://www.sendspace.com/file/zmc75h

Volume 4:
inc Hank Handy, Soundhog, Strictly Kev, team9

http://www.sendspace.com/file/u9w1jm

(And of course you'll hear more tracks like this in your hopefully favourite podcast Radio Clash!)

As they're not on my server - feel free to share, repost, torrent whatever - I'm uploading some rare/exclusive stuff too. I hope these help educate people that a) there is better out there, for free and b) Mr Gillis isn't the future of mashups (he hates the term - he claimed he was not related to mashups in an interview last year! He then retracted it, but still, what is he then? The new Z-Trip? LOL)

Image: Riders-Online

The prevailing mood in Cuba, however was no longer passive. Since 1922, inflamed by the proclamations of Argentinian students at the university od Cordoba (1918), and influenced by "anti-yankee" feeling of most Latin American intellectuals (for example, José Vasconcelos in Mexico and Manuel Ugarte in Argentina) and the revolutionary events in Mexico, students at Havana University began demanding the forging of a "new Cuba", free from corruption and yankee tutelage.

Leslie Bethell - Cuba: A Short History

01. Lenine - Rosebud
(Lenine / 2006)

02. Habib Koite - Cigarette Abana
(Baro / 2001)

03. Los Munequitos De Matanzas - Coros De Clave
(Live in New York / 1998)

04. Pink Martini - Lilly
(Hang on Little Tomato / 2004)

05. Orishas - A Lo Cubano
(A Lo Cubano / 2000)

Note: as I referenced an italian singer into a frech playlist, now I refence a brasilian artist into a playlist that focus on Cuba. I'm not a scientist, I'm not here to calibrate elements with the reference manual in hands, I just do the mix I like.This playlist is decicated to my beautiful brother Jo.

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