All Aboard the South London Soul Train

Jack went to the South London Soul Train to catch the Dutty Moonshine Big Band live in concert

It Is a pretty cool time in the UK vintage remix scene right now. With the release of the new Captain Flatcap album just over a week ago, any concern that the scene might be turning in on itself that I may have had started to dissipate. Add to that the imminent prospect of new music from Electric Swing Circus and reports from the festival scene that Jenova Collective are going from strength to strength, plus the arrival on the scene of Tuxedo Junction, and things are starting to look really interesting.

If ever there was an act that I felt could potentially develop a following outside the vintage remix scene it is the Dutty Moonshine Big Band. Having played sets on some pretty massive festival stages (Glastonbury’s Shangri-La and Boomtown’s Town Centre), they have had the sort of exposure that they’d need. But perhaps more importantly their music is varied enough to create an hour-long set that feels at one and the same time part of a unified concept but with enough variety that it doesn’t get repetitive.



I had the chance to put this theory to the test this weekend past as I headed along to the South London Soul Train at the CLF Art Café in Peckham. As you might guess from the night’s name, this ain’t no vintage remix night. Now, Dutty Moonshine might not be the easiest thing to come to terms with if you’re not familiar with them, so I was interested to find out what the crowd would make of them.

As I often do when I’m attending a gig for journalism reasons, I went by myself.  This is a great way to ensure that a) I don’t get too hammered, meaning I don’t have to make up half of the review, and b) it forces me to talk to other people at the gig, which helps to get an impression of what people make of it.

I’d been to the Art Café before for a Correspondents gig a few years ago. It really is one of the coolest venues in town. Set over three floors, it is a far cry from the trendy clubs in Shoreditch that often host Vintage Remix nights – no snazzy sofas, no quirky light fittings, no overpriced cocktails. The concept is simple: put a stage and a bar in, and let the people dance. The bare concrete of the stairwells helps to create an underground-y vibe. Furthermore, it is conveniently close to my house, so that’s a big tick.

The next thing to say is that the crowd is undeniably cool and sexy. I lost count of the number of times I had to double-take as some vision of loveliness sashayed past en route to bar or dance floor. The style is very relaxed: unlike many vintage remix nights, I was the only person in the place wearing a trilby, so far as I could tell. What’s more, everyone was super-friendly, being more than happy to chat to me. Of all the people I spoke to, maybe six or seven in total, not one had heard of the Dutties before, and no one was there specifically to see them.

Read Syed's interview and post about Dutty Moonshine

When the band came on stage shortly after midnight they got a warm reception, and if there were any doubters, once they’d played their first couple of numbers the doubts were banished and the dance floor was jumping. There’s no doubt in my mind that if you really want to make a vintage remix night pop you need MCs, and in HypeMan Sage Dutty Moonshine have one of the finest. His delivery and presence on stage are fantastic, as is his appreciation for the original sound. Tracks like ‘Caravan’, ‘Bonklet’ (for which Captain Flatcap stepped out from behind the decks, where he was deputising for Dutty Moonshine’s regular disc-botherer, and gave his flute a tootle) and ‘SuperSharpSwinger’ were definite favourites with the crowd. My personal favourite Dutty track, “Yeah, Yeah” was received with similar enthusiasm. By the end, the chant of ‘one more song’ shook the floorboards, and for an encore the gang delighted the crowd with a Game Of Thrones / Mary Poppins medley that was weirdly heavy and amusing at the same time.

Once the set was over I hung around for a short while. If you’re a vintage remix fan and you’re in London but can’t find a specific vintage remix event, the South London Soul Train is as good an option as anything. It has a certain griminess to it that’s very appealing, and if you like old tunes in modern contexts like I do you’re laughing. It’s a welcoming, fun crowd, the drinks aren’t stupidly expensive, and getting home (at least, if you live where I do) is easy. The atmosphere is similar to one found at a vintage remix night – no aggro, no posing, just people dancing and having fun together. The next Soul Train pulls in on 17th December with a James Brown special… I’ll be there with (Crimbo) bells on.

London Remixed Festival - 5th - 7th Feb - preview

I grew up on a farm with two younger brothers. We are all  quite close in age, and when we were aged between 8 and 13 our mother found that having three young lads charging in and out of the house covered in dust, mud and the nameless detritus of a farm yard, fighting and generally being boys was quite hard work. She got around this problem by not letting us in the house for weeks at a time. This may have you hunting out the Childline number but let me stop you there, as it wasn't quite as barbaric as it sounds (though there was a hint of Lord of the Flies about her solution). Instead of sleeping in bedrooms like normal people, Mum preserved the orderliness of her house by making us camp on the farm.

At the start of the summer we'd pitch a number of tents on the farm and each evening we would pile onto one of the farm vehicles shortly before dusk and trundle up to the campsite, where we would produce that particular type of cremated-on-the-outide-raw-on-the-inside sausages that only a really good campfire can deliver. The next morning we would return to the house and spend the day frolicking in the garden and hitting each other. I don't recall how we washed, but I suspect that we were not that concerned. The summers were long and dusty, hot and seemingly endless. What days.

I mention this childhood memory as it was painfully reminded of it as I struggled to pitch my tent against the biblical rain at Boomtown this year. I reflected, as I cursed and wiped the rain from my eyes, that camping seems to have lost some of its appeal in the intervening 20 years. For one, the tent seems far smaller, and my ability to spring from my sleeping bag full of vim and joi de vie after a night sleeping on the grass is very much reduced. 

It is for this reason that given identical lineups and all the rest, I'd pick an urban festival over one in a field. Swingamajig in Birmingham is an excellent example of the breed, but the schelp back from the midlands to London the following day is a brute.

That's why when the promo material for the London Remixed festival starts arriving I feel a little frisson of excitement. Organised by Continental Drifts (Chris Tofu's event production company), it comes at just the right time in the year to help banish the rapidly blurring memories of Dry January (why would you do that to yourself?!), and to get the juices flowing ready for spring.

If you haven't been to London Remixed before, its a "a celebration of the best emerging musical talent and genres and will offer creativity, fun and madness, complete with buzzing atmosphere". As the name implies, the festival is all about the remix. Over the course of the weekend you can catch  Latin Grooves, Afrobeats, Tropical Bass, Vintage-Remix, Desert Remix, Balkan Beats, Urban Roots, Acoustic Soundclash and Brass Band Remix. But you'll be most interested in the electro-swing, Vintage Remix and whatnot.

My top tip is to make sure you catch Symphonica & Mr. Switch. I missed them at Boomtown and can't forgive myself. Just check out these videos of what to expect. Its not electro-swing. It's not even vintage remix. I don't know what to call it other than "thoroughly splendid".

Other acts to catch over the weekend include the Temple Funk Collective (whose brass section also forms part of the Dutty Moonshine Big Band) and brassy hip-hippers 'Dat Brass'.

I know this blog has lots of readers who also make music - if that's you, don't miss out on a day of free ‘Remix Workshops’ with professional music production tutors and established music producers. This is a unique opportunity to mingle with industry professionals and to gain tips on how to progress creatively. Along with sessions for beginners and intermediate remixers running throughout the day, there will be another Remix Speed Dating session for bands, producers and industry bodies to meet up and swap ideas at Rich Mix.

Autumn Vintage Remix EP Round-up

Today is officially the first day of Autumn, and as the hazy memories of this summer's festivals get hazier still (don't panic, my Boomtown report is imminent), the denizens of the Vintage Remix world have flooded the interwebs with new music. I'm just going to run through some of the EPs that have crossed my desk in the last few weeks. These all get the Jack the Cad Seal of Approval, which you may have seen around the place over the last few weeks. His name is Stephen.

Marcella Puppini vs RA the Rugged Man - The Greatest - out now!

First up is a wonderful release from Freshly Squeezed which brings together US rapper RA the Rugged Man and Marcella "I founded the Puppini Sisters" Puppini on a swing-hop track that for me is one of the finest I've come across. The combo works perfectly, with RA's slick but complex flow perfectly set off by Marcella's classic jazz voice to a create a Hollywood Noir feel that sucks you back in time.

That voice, I should say, when combined with those of the other Puppini Sisters, is arguably to be blamed / credited (delete according to your personal point of view) for my interest in the Vintage scene. I remember their albums blaring from the CD player before my friends and I set off to attend events like the Blitz Party, which, if you're into straight-up swing as well as Vintage Remix, is still well worth attending. It's rather nice to come full circle with Marcella dipping a toe into the Vintage Remix world - long may it continue. In fact, internet rumours I've seen suggest that there might be a fuller collaboration between these two in the pipes, so fingers crossed!



The track has been getting great support from both within the Vintage Remix world and without, with BBC 6 Music's Steve Lamaq giving it some airtime, and the likes of C@ in the H@ and Dutty Moonshine praising the track since its release last week, prompting this little exchange on Twitter:

To be honest, I find it hard to disagree - I've said it before, and I'll say it again, the scene is saturated with swing-house, and frankly, it gets boring. This release is so refreshing - like a nice cool pint - and like beer, one is never enough. Which is convenient, since the release also comes with a lovely wubby remix from Jamie Berry, which would suit a darker electro-swing set.

Jenova Collective - Head Space EP

Having caught these guys performing live a few times this summer I was really expecting big things from them, and they haven't disappointed.

Jenova Collective - Headspace (Live in Studio)
Our friends Jenova Collective return with a second video shot during their recent studio sessions. Their new EP is due out on Birmingham (UK)'s Ragtime Records very soon...
Posted by Electro Swing on Monday, August 24, 2015

 

The Leeds-based 7-piece are rapidly carving out a name for themselves on the festival circuit, their brand of bass-heavy Vintage Remix goes down a storm. Their live sets veer away from classic electroswing on a path that takes in drum'n'bass, dubstep and glitch-hop, all driven forward by Lily's vocals.

Jenova Collective are all about the partytimes, and this EP delivers that in spade-loads, a great follow-up to their previous EP Champagne Machine. They're about to embark of a tour of Australia for the winter, so if you're down that end of the world, make sure you catch them.

Extra Medium - Size Up EP

I first came across Extra Medium way back in 2013 when I shared a remix of Tamtam's Little Girl. Although that track has now vanished from Soundcloud, I can definitely hear his style at the fore in this 5 track offering out now on Scour Records. Any of you who have come across a Scour release before now will be familiar with Fat Harry's excellent promo blurbs. I can't say it better than him, so in the true spirit of internet plagiarism [journalism, surely? Ed.), I reproduce his words here:

He’s been busy secretly crafting this delectable EP for a long while, and we’ve been hugely excited with each progression. It’s an honour to be able to share his swing-bass with the Scourdem crew.From the opening low swung bass driven groover of 'Blues Boogie Bass', to the all original collaborative title track 'Size Up' - featuring the silky slick skills of 4x World DMC Champion @dj-mr-switch on the cuts, and the supreme sax'yness of @cab-canavaral's horn. Onward through to the house infused number 'Go Away', and rounded up with the truly splendiferously melodic piano flavoured 'Lazy Bones' - we hope this latest Artist EP has that little something for everyone, as is the strived for way of all things Scour. Be warned though, this EP is so filthy-georgeous shakermaker it will make your hair explode into a glorious technicolour afro…or your money back!*

*Just larking, but we will give you your own special technicolour afro in any hairy area of your choice.



I struggle to pick a favourite - the EP takes in so many different flavours of Vintage Remix that depending on my mood I'll give a different answer. As I type this my head is nodding to the bassy synths of Go  Away but I also have real soft spot for Lazy Bones which is just gorgeous - perfect for chilling out in the sunshine.

Donjohnston - Virtuous Circle EP

The South West's no.1 electroswinger Donjohnston is back with a veritable horde of collaborators on his latest EP, and they deliver a stonking collection of tracks.

The opening track is a lovely squelchy, glitch number with Eugene the Cat, wih Trotfox on the vocal - I can imagine it being a dancefoor filler. Then Dephicit gets in on the act, along with The After Hours Quintet, and drops a few bars on Light Fandango (isn't fandango a great word?). Those of you who have seen the Donjohnston's version of Nina Simone's Feeling Good might recognise the tones of Leo Wood on Absence Heard - I love her voice so much, and I think it's that that tips the balance in its favour, making it my favourite on the release.

This post is quite long already, so although I had intended to run down some of the compilations that have recently popped up, but I think I'll leave that for now, and keep you wanting more.

Toodle pip.

EDIT 24/9/15 -

Dirty Honkers - The Blue EP

I only came across this EP about an hour after this post went live last night and had I know about it before it would have been included without a doubt.












I caught Dirty Honkers at Boomtown and they put on such a great show - really got everyone going and such a charismatic trio. Completely bonkers. This EP is so much fun - I was dancing around the flat to the extent that my young lady thought I was drunk - praise indeed. I gather that they have some UK gigs lined up, so make sure you don't miss them.

UK Eurovision entry sucks the soul from electro-swing

The BBC made a huge mistake in trying to appropriate the electro-swing sound.

A wave of horrified dismay rippled through the UK electro-swing community this weekend, as the UK's entry for the 2015 Eurovision Song Contest was announced. The offering, "Still in Love with You" by Electro Velvet, is described by the BBC as an 'up-tempo electro-swing" track, though what gave them that impression I fail to understand. Watch this to see what I mean.











On behalf of the electro-swing community I want to take this opportunity to state that this song is in  no way representative of the genre or of the scene as a whole. Commenting on Facebook when I first saw the video I described it as 'electro-swing with all the electro and all the swing removed'. 48 hours later, I stand by my initial reaction. It also seems to have had a joy-ectomy and a passion bypass.





Now, I am not a Eurovision sort of chap, and I couldn't give two figs whether the UK does well or not. What upsets me is the shameless plundering of the electro-swing sound, and the fact that so many excellent electro-swing groups have been overlooked. The selection process included submissions from aspiring artists, but the BBC also spoke to record companies, presumably in order to commission entries. The various submissions were then selected by a panel of 'experts'. My suspicion is that this entry was one of the commissioned ones.





Quite why they chose to ask an advertising jingle-writer to produce the entry is anyone's guess. David Mindel, the man responsible for this outrage, was previously most famous for having penned the theme tune to Jim'll Fix It (yes, really), and Challenge Anneka. Given this sparkling track record, it is maybe not surprising that the song has come out sounding rather a lot like the music from a Birdseye Potato Waffles ad from the 80s. Mindel's partner in crime is one Adrian Bax White, who has apparently shared a stage with Rolf Harris.











But wait, it gets better! You might be thinking that even if they have made a rather left-field choice in terms of songwriter, they will surely have chosen some talented performer to actually deliver the song.





WRONG!





In fact, they have gone with a Mick Jagger impersonator and a reject from The Voice. I don't know if they had to be coerced into doing the song, but neither of them is particularly convincing. If Elle and the Pocketbelles (to take an example at random) have the sexy razzmatazz of  lacy red lingerie, then these two are the musical equivalent of huge, grey, y-fronts.





Alex Clarke, lead singer of The Rolling Clones, looks more like Tuppy Glossop than any kind of jazz-age lothario. His partner, Bianca Nicholas, is fractionally more convincing, but frankly neither of them appears to have bought into the song. In fairness to them, the lyrics don't help much - lines like “You’re bound to get sneezes or nasty diseases”, or “While I’m on vacation, you be a good patient, take your medication” don't give them much to work with. Emily Jupp, writing in the Independent (the song has been savaged by most of the majority of the newspapers) wonders whether

"Mindel had a rejected jingle for cold and flu medication lying around in a drawer somewhere and just thought “I’ll shove it in, pimp it up with some lines about love and scrub out that reference to Beechams – et voila! Eurovision 2015, here I come.”

It certainly seems plausible.





I actually think that the song has as much chance as any of the UK's recent entries (not a high bar, mind), as electro-swing is very popular in Euro. As I say above, my interest in Eurovision is pretty slight, so why am I so cross about this?





It is simple, really. I have felt for some time that electro-swing / vintage remix has been approaching a point where it could break through into the mainstream. In many ways, this would vindicate my work with this blog, the purpose of which is to introduce more people to the sound, but it is a development about which I also have misgivings.


At risk of sounding like a music snob, there is always the potential that 'going mainstream' results in a watering down of the music. We saw this with the evolution of dubstep and electro, which morphed into soulless big room EDM, losing the subtleties that once existed and focusing on the lowest-common-denominator, crowd-pleasing, 'drops' and cake-hurling. If, by some ghastly chance, it turns out that people actually like this tripe, then there is a horrible chance that this is what all future electro-swing will use as a benchmark. It really doesn't bear thinking about.





This over-produced record undoubtedly contains all the tropes of electroswing - programmed beats: tick; vintage-sounding sample: tick; flappers in the video: tick; scatting: tick - but what it lacks is feeling. It is electro-swing by numbers. There is no emotion in the delivery, and I can't help but feel that Mr. Mindel is probably not a regular attendee at his local vintage remix nights. As Nick Hollywood pointed out on Facebook:

"This is likely to be both the beginning (and the end) of many people's understanding and experience of Electro Swing and the record a lot of people in the UK will end up judging the entire genre on."

That this is true is a crying shame. 'Still in Love with You' has already produced sentences like this in the national press:

"...electro swing [...] apparently means swing recreated with cheap digital instrumentation instead of a big band."

Wouldn't it be terrible if that was really the case? Pat yourself on the back for knowing that this could not be further from the truth.


Something similar happened with the soundtrack to Baz Lurhman's Gatsby film. It could have been the chance for the music bods behind the film to go out and find some amazing undiscovered artists, but instead they went with big-name blandness. As a result the soundtrack was bland, and it took something away from the film. It could have opened up a whole new audience for electro-swing.





Like Gatsby, however, it does also give us a chance to win new fans. There will be a few people who like the song enough that they do decide to investigate a little further, so I thought that I would put some ideas down for artists who could have replaced Electro Velvet. Perhaps we can also convince some of the doubters too.

Who should have been chosen?

If I had been in charge of choosing the entry, I would have had no hesitation in choosing the aforementioned Elle and the Pocketbelles, along with their DJ / producer MistaTrick. The consummate performers, the girls would be perfect for Eurovision - sassy, beautiful, talented, hard-working... As it happens, their excellent first EP is out in a couple of days on Ragtime Records, so go out and buy the thing. In the meantime, here's their new promo video.











I also might have considered giving Kitten and the Hip a call - as former X-Factor hopefuls they are at least as well qualified as Ms. Nicholas, they have proven song-writing skills, Ash has a no.1 single and Scarlett seems to be rather a better performer. If the decision-makers at the BBC felt that an electroswing duo was what was needed, this is where they should have looked.











Another option might have been Little Violet. Again, she has loads of stage presence, a great voice and a fantastic band behind her. I saw her perform at Swingamajig last year, and even Mrs. The Cad, a confirmed electro-swing sceptic, was bopping away, so I am sure her style would appeal to a Eurovision crowd.











A more interesting option would have been to go with the full band stylings of a group like Jenova Collective. I saw them perform a couple of weeks back and was really impressed with the energy and panache they showed on stage. Their performance was tight and really got a very mixed crowd jumping.










So here is my message to the people who made the crass decision to appropriate the electro-swing sound.





Stop it.





Now.





Please.





Don't take the soul and the life from this scene - it is tight-knit, supportive and full of joy, but it also has a DIY ethos, a hint of grime and if it is clean, it is no fun - don't sanitise it for the mass market, because by doing so you betray the memory of the swing era, you betray dance music, and you betray our genre.

Jack's Top Tracks - March 18 2013 - the best electroswing on the web

Another Monday. Already. I know. Hateful, what? If, like me, you need some swinging beats to help you through the rest of the week then you have come to the right place. As advertised, I have spent hours sifting through the whole of the interwebs to bring you the finest electro-swing on the planet. Tally Ho!

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Old

Broken Hearts DJs - Count Those Freaks

These ladies are well known to listeners of Jazz FM thanks to their show 'Peppermint Candy'. Their website describes them as 'turntable goddesses', which seems fair. They are Amber and Nisha, and though I am buggered if I know which is which, both of them appear to be a perfect fit for what seems to have become something of a shrine to sexy swing ladies. (It is very hard to avoid innuendos about swingers sometimes.) These ladies will be taking their show on the road this summer as they team up with White Mink at the Love Supreme Jazz Festival.

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Newish

Dutty Moonshine - Ed Keene - Lindy Hop (Dutty Moonshine remix)

These guys are going from strength to strength - they are currently on tour witjh Defunk, are launching a new night in Oxford called 'Dutty Moonshine and friends', have recently announced a number of impressive festival performances, and to cap it all off have just made a remix of the Frohlocker classic 'Hipbrass'. The track below is slightly older, as the free download one is only a snippet on Soundcloud. Nonetheless, this d'n'b remix of Ed Keene's 'Lindy Hop' should get your feet moving while you wait for the download to complete (get the free track here)..

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New

The Jenova Collective - Lady Gaga vs. Caro Emerald - Bad Romance (Jenova Collective Remix)

Ra Ra Ooh La La.

Ahem. Sorry about that. I just love how silly electro-swing can get. This might be a tad too poppy for my usual tastes, but nonetheless I include it here as it is undeniably fun.

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New

Rory Hoy vs. Kitten and the Hip - Who's Gonna Pay for That?

Rory Hoy, independent producer of house, big beat and what have you, who, coincidentally also won that remix competition for Swing Republic's Crazy In Love last year, has teamed up with Ash and Scarlett from Kitten and the Hip to make this big bad banger. Horns, wobbles, bass... lovely stuff. Who's gonna pay for it? You will, if you've any sense.

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New

Kid Kasino - Swingin' on Nuthin'

To round things off this week here comes some smooth yet growly ghetto swing from the legendary Kid Kasino. One of the things I like most about his work is the respect he shows for the tunes he samples. I get the feeling that he is a real swing/jazz/blues fan, which is why his remixes are so effective. He doesn't impose his style on the original , but manages to coax and persuade the sound so that it becomes his own. A great way to end the round up.

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Whoops, there it is. Another week's worth of nutritious electroswing goodies for you. Directions for use: Take one aurally after meals. If symptoms persist, repeat dosage until a) feeling better or b) dead. If symptoms persist after this, you are a vampire and nothing we can do will help.