Bass Pilgrimage Pt. IV: BRISTOL
Bristol, often been recognized as dubstep's second city; has always piqued curiosity with the laundry list of talent and forward-thinking record labels that call the city their home. At the crux of the dubstep scene within Bristol is Tectonic label-head Pinch whose Subloaded nights, as well as mid-week sister night Dubloaded have helped the sound flourish there. The idea of Subloaded can be traced back to Pinch's first nights at Plastic People and wanting to do what he could to hear more of that FWD>> sound in his hometown, heading up a new party in Bristol with grime DJ Blazey called Subloaded. The party's foundational roots even predate the original DMZ night at 3rd Bass in 2005. With a rich lineage of soundsystem culture and a history firmly rooted in Drum & Bass, dubstep in the small city of Bristol has continued to thrive and birth fresh sounds over the years. Add into the equation a noticeably slower pace than the bustling metropolis of London, as well as a tightly knit arts community, and you've got the perfect storm which has caused Bristol to forge a sound truly it's own.
In late 2008, Mary Anne Hobbs put together a special 'Bristol: Rise Up!' Experimental Radio1 show for the BBC to showcase the wide array of talent within Bristol's dubstep scene and it's different approaches to and interpretations of the sound. Hearing the drastic differences between the guest mixes from Appleblim and Jakes, or Joker and RSD; the show left me wanting to find out what exactly was in the water out there that could spurn so much quality music that pulled from so many different influences. After spending much of the previous week in London, it was time to experience the Bristol vibe firsthand while reaching the Dubloaded monthly on Wednesday night.
WEDNESDAY:
Stokes Croft, known as the cultural quarter of Bristol, is home to an incredible self-sustaining arts community and is essentially an open air art gallery in itself. Took some time to walk around local nightclubs Lakota and Blue Mountain and was taken aback by the vibrant large-scale murals, stencils, and wheatpaste posters surrounding both venues. Previously a Stokes Croft staple, the city recently mourned the loss of the Rooted Records shop which had played an extremely vital role in supporting the various mutations of drum & bass and garage over the past decade. In the wake of the Rooted's closure, the Idle Hands crew have recently opened a storefront a few blocks down from the old Rooted location and begun to carry the torch in a city still rich with an appreciation for vinyl. Walked into the shop to the sounds of Boddika's recent 12” on Swamp81 'Electron' being played over the speakers and found shop and Idle Hands label owner Chris Farrell, as well as Joe (Kowton) still busy settling into their new space. For more on the Idle Hands story, check out the recent interview with them over at Sonic Router HERE. By recommendation of the Idle Hands staff, I visited local neighborhood pub The Bell to grab a quick pint and meet up with bassmusicblog creator, DJ, and producer Ed (I.D.) Bayling. We eventually made our way back to his local studio for the inaugural Panhead uStream session which featured sets from himself, as well as Baobinga and Gemmy. Be on the lookout for Gemmy's new label W.O.W. to be releasing some of his own new originals in the months ahead. You can listen back to the archived session below:
Hyetal hit the stage around Midnight and continued to build up the vibe and tempo as the club began to settle in and get loose. Hyetal recently debuted his new live set earlier this April at the FACT x Young Turks party and the magazine recently caught up with him for an interview that you can read up on HERE. His full length album 'Broadcast' will be dropping on Black Acre in early May and is not one to be slept on.
Joe Nice then went through a pile of fresh dubplates cut for his whirlwind European Spring tour which also featured stops in Manchester, London, Ghent, and Berlin. Highlight of the night had to be the crowd demanded rewind of Goth-Trad's remix of Rebel Familia – Babylon Fall. There just aren't sufficient adjectives or expletives to describe that one when it drops.
THURSDAY:
Thursday's mission was to walk up to the Clifton Downs to take in the panoramic view overlooking Bristol, as well as crossing the Avon Gorge-spanning Clifton Suspension Bridge. Made sure to partake in my first proper Cornish pasty en route, another key element of the Bristol experience.
After working up a serious appetite hiking back down from Clifton towards the city centre, it was time to experience a Pieminister pie, served on mashed potatoes and doused with glistening brown gravy. The menu at Pieminister features over 10 different varieties of free-range meat and vegetarian pie options. I elected for the extremely satisfying Mr. Porky, a pie filled with free-range British pork, smokey bacon, apples, and cider. After the onset of a meat and potato induced food coma, the night eventually got started with a stop by Thekla to catch the Bristol stop on Daedelus' Magical Properties tour.
Now permanently docked in Bristol's Floating Harbour, the Banksy tagged ship-turned-nightclub played a paramount role in Bristol's vibrant trip-hop and D&B scenes in their infancy. Local acts such as Massive Attack, Portishead, and Roni Size have all graced the showboat's stage over the years. Thursday evening the venue played host to Brainfeeder alums Daedelus, Tokimonsta, and Teebs in the midst of their European tour.
Teebs opened the night, playing some cuts off of last year's Ardour LP on Brainfeeder before inviting Jeremiah Jae onstage to perform a few tunes of his own. Tokimonsta was up next and made the audience quickly forget that it was only 8pm on a Thursday night with an extremely hype performance. Her energizing set incorporated Slugabed's wonky remix of Pharoahe Monch 'Simon Says' as well as her own remix of 'How High' by Redman & Method Man. Elected to dip out before Daedelus to go check out I.D. playing a freestyle set of Brazilian jazz and soul over at Mr. Wolf's for the Dirty Old Town shindig. The party also featured Bristol MCs Central Spillz and their DJ Superisk, as well as the 4xUK DMC Champion crew The Disablists.
photo by Richard Windsor
Ed was already busy behind the decks dropping some soul records when I arrived, as local artists Andy Council and Iain Sellar from ODT were already at work on a hand-drawn, Bristol themed mural backdrop for the stage.
photo by Liam Richardson
Bristol hip-hop crew Central Spillz consists of MCs Koast, C-Strike-z, Redskin, Mackie Skillz, and Shadz as well as DJ Superisk behind the decks. Spillz recently released their debut LP 'Space Travel' just last month and you can preview and purchase the album HERE. The crew performed a high octane set, spitting bars over beats by the likes of fellow Bristolians Mensah, Guido, Gemmy, and Risky himself.
photo by Liam Richardson
The Disablists came armed and ready with four turntables, two synced laptops running Traktor Scratch and some smooth routines that made it immediately clear why they have previously been crowned DMC champs. Their set included beatjuggling the likes of Dizzee Rascal and Roots Manuva as well as a Joker-themed routine that featured blends of 'Purple City', 'Tron', and 'It Ain't Got A Name.'
Special thanks goes out to all the Bristol crew I connected with along the way for all of the hospitality. An inspirational experience to say the least. Your time Brizzle!!
