Octapush: Free Tune

Steak House favourites Octa Push just sent me through their hot new remix of RQM featuring Baba Jahcoozi. This is just what you'd expect from the Iberian Bass Badboys; thumping bass, shattered vocals, and driving breaks push this remix into uncharted territory.

The best thing is its absolutely free. Grab it below.

RQM - You she me Ft Baba Jahcoozi (Octa Push Remix)



As a little (and shameless) plug, we still have some copies of STEAK 001 available. Grab them here

STEAK 002 in The State.

Nice review of Steak 002 in this months Dance round up in The State:

"If you really want to push it to fever pitch, try the aptly named ’Hyped Up EP’ by Monkey Steak on Steakhouse Records. The title track sees MC Zulu whipping up the crowd in hyped up Soca fashion. If you are not in the mood for Zulu’s chirpy party banter, try the instrumental mix, which is called ‘Bombeiros! ‘. ‘Haarlem Drift’ on the flip combines the booming bass drum and rolling snares of UK Funky with a hint of deep, Detroit style chords and ‘Tigris Rhythm’ combines Funky with Bollywood. A stonkingly good debut by Monkey Steak, aka Atki2 and Hanuman, who recently scored with ‘Tigerflower’ and ‘Bola’ respectively."

Mix Monday: El-B ... El-Cumbia!

El-B is an absolute virtuoso of rhythm; for my money his 2step beat constructions are among the most infectious and irresistible dance patterns in electronic music out there. In recent interviews he has been promising the next development of his sound, an amalgamation of UK Funky riddims and the more organic instrumentation of cumbia, merengue and salsa. And anyone who's heard or danced to his new "Que Papa Pasi" beat will know just how big this new stuff is...

Joe Muggs at Very Very Much managed to twist El-B's arm into recording a special mix of Colombian beats for his site at the end of last year; and now that spring has officially started, the evenings are getting lighter and the clocks have moved forward, this selection with its promise of hot summer nights, sizzling dance halls and pina coladas has got me seriously hyped.

El-B himself says that these tunes make "you have to move a hip or an elbow or something", and I completely agree. You can also really see how these styles have influenced that incredible command of rhythm that drives El-B's own productions.

El-B - Mundo Musica Cumbia Mix

Blnd: Free tune and mix.

Vienna based global bass crew blnd have been making waves recently with their cheeky bootlegs and mashups as well their radio show and blogging on under 140 and Ghetto Bazaar
Blnd cover the whole range of global bass styles, from 2step to Kuduro to Bassline to Baille Funk, and have sent us some hot new tunes recently.

One of my favourites is their dutty refix of Chris Ron and Mad Cobra's Dance; all throbbing sub bass and trampling Soca beats. Grab it below.

Chris Ron - Dance ft Mad Cobra (blnd refix)

You can also grab a recent mix for Hungary's Fuzio radio from their mixcloud here.

STEAK 002 on Sonic Router

Lovely Review of Steak 002 on Sonic Router:

"Bristol bass fiends Atki2 and Hanuman – collectively Monkey Steak - have a pretty admirable record for pulling together the best bits of many of the globe’s bass mutations. The first release for their Steak House label was strangely psychedelic, despite its often rapid-fire nature – next to Mr. Gasparov’s comparatively delicate ‘1975’, Lisbon duo Octa Push’s pair of tracks were positively manic, both furiously addictive slabs of funky-infused electro noise. Meanwhile, their recent 12” for the Idle Hands label has proven to be one of the year’s best, notable especially for Atki2 and Dub Boy’s stunning ‘Tigerflower’. It also welcomed a less obvious aspect to their sound, favouring gradual change and melodic progression over simple dancefloor action.

The second release for Steak House sees Atki2 and Hanuman further explore both sides of that split personality: both tracks on the A-side hit like a ton of bricks from the off. ‘Hyped Up!’ and its counterpart riddim ‘Bombeiros’ rattle along at a nerve-busting 150 bpm, their tightly syncopated percussion and frazzled stabs of synth more akin to Octa Push or Buraka Som Sistema’s electrified kuduro than the slightly more sedate vibes of UK funky. The presence of Ghislain Poirier collaborator MC Zulu only serves to solidify this connection, his ever-escalating excitement impressively suited to the music’s manic nature.

The duo’s more experimental side, though, is far better represented on the flip. ‘Tigris Riddim’ is one of the most intriguing hybrids to have emerged so far this year, centred around a lopsided Arabian folk sample that curls around the beat like plumes of shisha smoke. It’s also one of the best, its cut-and-paste nature making it a pleasure to unpick on a decent pair of headphones. Though faster again, ‘Haarlem Drift’ continues in a similar vein, giving equal priority to musical development as to raw dance energy, and in doing so significantly upping its longevity. Though the scorched carnival atmosphere of Zulu’s contribution remains true to this music’s basic purpose, the slightly more exploratory bent they’re taking on the B-side suits Monkey Steak well. Long may it continue."

STEAK 002 in this month's Wire.

Mix Monday: LV Kwaito Mix for Blackdown

Just got back to Sam Atki2's house after an exceptionally heavy weekend at the Bloc festival so please excuse me if this post lacks the wit and charm of some of my others.

It's been around for a few weeks now but LV's excellent Kwaito mix for Blackdown's blog is the only thing (apart from service station patisserie) that soothed my shattered brain on the ride home. Bits of funky house and and dubby sounds mix with trampling Kwaito beats. You can grab the mix below but I'd recommend checking the blog (here) for a really interesting interview and Kwaito primer.

LV OK Zharp mix for Blackdown

TRACKLIST:

Okmalumkoolkat - OK Zharp intro
? - Ketokole
Big Nuz - Le Ngoma
DJ Killer & Nyekx aka Blackboyz - Killer in the Jungle
French Fries feat Bambounou - Coconut
LV - Dream Cargo slomo rub
Tshwara feat DJ Menace - ?
? - Bring Me Love
DJ Clock - Track 13
? - The Offering
Dikota- Track 6
DJ Cndo - Terminator
Big Nuz with Tira, Bonz Twitty - Superman
? - Nkosana
? - ?
? - Arise and Shine
Scratcha DVA - Dump
Spin - Track 3
? - ?
Zomby – Balloon People
DJ Fork and Knife vs Cabbage - Track 4
Mujava feat Tamara and K - Alostro
Brothers of Peace feat Zulu & Costa - Bop Killers
? - Wild Percussions
LV & Fletcher - Michael Jones (LV dub)

Mix Monday: Shimmy Shimmy

I've been thoroughly enjoying this mix of karnival heaters from London's Shimmy Shimmy crew recently. I had the pleasure of playing a party with The Large on Saturday and she absolutely tore the roof off the dance. A tuff act to follow!

Shimmy Shimmy - Trini Shimmy



Tracklist

Fay Ann Lyons & Macka Diamond - Still Spend (Picture Frame)
Ms Alysha - Click Click (Picture Frame)
Benjai feat. Scarface - Tanty Say (La Douma)
Busy Signal - Gal need a man
RDX - Every man need a woman (Spider Web)
Skinny Fabulous feat. Bunji Garlin & Fay Ann Lyons - Send dem come
Blaze F J W - Palance
Skinny Fabulous feat. Machel Montano - Fetting on
Lil Rick - One juk for the carnival
Leftside & Syon - Nuh Other gal (soca remix)

Monkey Steak - Hyped Up @ Ruffnek Diskotek

Got some good footage here of Monkey Steak @ Ruffnek Diskotek last week. They're playing Hyped Up featuring MC Zulu, which has just come out on Steak House.

Cosies is a small basement club so the footage is fairly murky, but believe me the club was properly bouncing to this!

Serocee - Badeng

Serocee is an MC which many of our readers may well have heard of. To my mind he's currently one of the UK's top dancehall mc's, who is as natural riding classic reggae & rub a dub riddims as he is riding contemporary uk funky, bashment & garage beats.

Over the last few years Serocee has been steadily building a reputation for energetic live performances and had recorded plenty of big tunes with artists such as Toddla T, Poirier, MJ Cole, South Rakkas Crew, Zed Bias and Redlight.

His biggest tune to date is probably his collaboration with MJ Cole, the massive 'AO', which has been all over the radio, clubs and internet for the last year or so.



To follow on from this, Serocee is releasing his new single, Badeng, on March 15th, backed with a tidy MJ Cole remix.

The track is a unique mix of dancehall, electro, hip hop & uk funky influences with a fantastic slurred vocal from Serocee, and is already recieving major support from BBC Radio 1, Kiss FM and various other stations from the likes of Annie Mac, Toddla T, Sinden, Mista Jam, Ras Kwame, The Heatwave and the Steak House Crew.

To give you a taster, you can download the promo mp3's below to tide you over til the offical release, which will be available from all the usual online outlets

Serocee - Badeng

Serocee - Badeng (MJ Cole)

(The mp3's are 64kbps by the way .If you try and play these in a club you will look like a fool, so support the artist and buy them on March 15th. Alright.... ok)