Mary Anne Hobbs to quit radio

Some sad news on these shores: Mary Anne Hobbs has hosted her last edition of the BBC Radio 1 Experimental Show (formerly the Breezeblock Show) after 14 years. It seems the show will continue without her but it's a collossal understatement to say she'll be sorely missed, not just by the music world, but also by the artists she supported.

She has left the show and radio altogether to become the Media Development Coordinator at Sheffield University. It's no secret the part Hobbs played in the breaking of countless artists: pretty much every dubstep artist you've ever heard of; perhaps most notably Kode9 and Burial, the creators of the mix posted below.

Here's the last edition of the Experimental Show cooked up by the lovely Kode9 and Burial.

Download: Burial & Kode9 - Mix for Mary Anne Hobbs Final Show

Starkey featured on Radio 1's "Building The Beat"

Philadelphia's very own Starkey has been featured on Mary Anne Hobbs's new segment "Building The Beat". Basically, she challenges producers to write and record a track completely from scratch using samples contributed by Radio 1 DJs, artists and listeners. Oh, and they have to do it all in just 2 hours during a live show recorded at BBC Maida Vaile.



He was joined by vocalist Anneka and percussionist and dubstep producer Reso to build the ultimate dubstep track, all within the confines of a two hour show. Download the results below and check out the pics on the Radio 1 website as the track unfolds.

Finally, listen below to hear his unbelievably ace new track 'CoRoT-9b' taken from the 'Universal' EP. The new EP remains something of a mystery but will be available in full for free on Amon Tobin's website as of August this year. So keep checking back there!

CoRoT-9b by Starkey

Download: Starkey - Building The Beat

"I don't see it as allowing an illegal drug party"

I wasn't going to post this video until I realised where it was: the North East! I couldn't believe this was on the Birthday Party Berlin blog, but then again our good chum Jason Forrest knows his stuff!

Save BBC 6Music or I'll kick you in the clems

Apparently those bloody sods at the Beeb are trying to get rid of the only decent station they have, 6 Music. While Radio 1 has the odd gem (the Essential mixes, Annie Nightingale and Mary Anne Hobbs, etc.) but it doesn't have the consistency and the eclecticism that 6Music has.

BBC 6 Music was proposed in October 2000 as a "digital-only" radio station and named "Network Y". ("Network X" became BBC 1Xtra and "Network Z" BBC 7).
The first show was presented by Phill Jupitus. At the start-up, presenters included Liz Kershaw, Andrew Collins, Stuart Maconie, Suggs of Madness, Bruce Dickinson, Sean Hughes, and good old whistlin' Bob Harris.

The controllers have been playing around with the schedules since around 2006 and it never really settled down. But hopefully they can push through it and sort the station out rather than simply closing it down.

On an interesting note, the campaign seems to be run by Jon and Tracy Morter - who ran the "Rage Against The Machine for No. 1" campaign at Christmas.

Join the Facebook group:

Leave your views on the BBC Strategy Review here:
http://bit.ly/srconsultation
srconsultation@bbc.co.uk

michael.lyons@bbc.co.uk
richard.tait@bbc.co.uk
jeremy.peat@bbc.co.uk
mehmuda.mian@bbc.co.uk
david.liddiment@bbc.co.uk
janet.lewis-jones@bbc.co.uk
rotha.johnston@bbc.co.uk
patricia.hodgson@bbc.co.uk
alison.hastings@bbc.co.uk
anthony.fry@bbc.co.uk
diane.coyle@bbc.co.uk
chitra.bharucha@bbc.co.uk
trust.enquiries@bbc.co.uk
PHONE: 03700 100 222

When you listen do it on iplayer http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/playlive/bbc_6music/ so the powers at be know you are listening! Remember to listen again to shows you may have missed. BBC6 was not designed to be linear.

** SIGN THE PETITION **http://www.petition.fm/petitions/6musicasiannet/1000/

** DOWNLOAD A 6MUSIC PODCAST **Let's show our numbers to everyone (iTunes link)http://bit.ly/6podcast

** GET A BBC 6MUSIC TWIBBON on TWITTER **
http://twibbon.com/join/Save-6Music
http://twibbon.com/join/BBC-6music
And don't forget to use the hashtag: #save6music

Hostage Essential Mix for Annie Mac + free new tune 'Skin Out'

Big news about the next couple of months at KOTJ: I'll be interviewing Starkey, DJ Donna Summer and Kid606; but sooner than that, the first volume of the Kick Out The Jam mix series will be hitting you square in the knackers in around a month's time with a contribution from none other than Donna Summer himself, Jason Forrest.

In the mean time, Hostage has recorded a session for Annie Mac's Essential Mix live at Cabaret Voltaire, Edinburgh. This is what the good chaps at Nightshifters had to say about things:

"Wow, 2010 looks to be an IN-SANE year for us here @ Nightshfters! There's a lot of awesome stuff happening for us (don't worry- we'll let you know when the time is right) but for now- what's that?- Hostage scores a live Essential Mix in Edinburgh with Annie Mac just last week! The crowd goes wild!! We ripped it from the BBC so you could have more than 7 days to check it out! haha!" - Jason Forrest

Right click + save as below to get his Essential mix and a brand-spanking new tune, 'Skin Out'. The tracklisting is in the folder with the rather snazzy artwork.

Download: Hostage - Skin Out :: Hostage - BBC Radio 1 Essential Mix

New AC Slater mix for Annie Nightingale's Radio 1 Show

AC Slater has recorded a mixtape for Annie Nightingale's Radio 1 show. The mix contains mainly new tracks and remixes by Mr. Slater as well as a couple of old favourites from the Trouble & Bass crew. Judging by the tracklisting and the amount of new stuff, at the very least we can expect a new Trouble & Bass compilation in the near future.

The mix also features a couple of new faces in the form of P-Money and Ladybox, who I'm sure will be bringing out their own releases very soon. I'm a little late of the mark with this one so you won't be able to stream it from BBC iPlayer anymore, but below is the download link for the mp3.

Tracklist:
1. Udachi - "P-Funk Skank" [Party Like Us Records]
2. AC Slater - "Take You" feat Ninjasonik [Trouble & Bass]
3. Tonka - "Jack Track" (Black Noise VIP) [Southern Fried]
4. Kill the Noise - "Jokes on You" [Slow Roast]
5. Acid Girls - "Numbers Song" (Jokers of the Scene Remix) [iheartcomix]
6. Drop the Lime - "Thwomp Stomp" [Trouble & Bass]
7. Ladybox - "Hit My Ride" (AC Slater Remix) [Party Like Us Records]
8. Heavyfeet - "I Spy" (AC Slater Remix) [Stamp! Music]
9. AC Slater - "Calm Down Part 2" [Trouble & Bass]
10. P-Money - "Left the Room"
11. DJ Zinc - "Killa Sound" feat No Lay (Skream Remix) [Bingo]
12. AC Slater & Mumdance feat Badness & 77Klash - "Transatlantic Riddim" [Trouble & Bass]
13. Drop the Lime - "Set Me Free" (AC Slater Remix) [Trouble & Bass]
14. MJ Cole - "Sincere" (Mumdance & High Rankin Remix)
15. Starkey - "OK Luv" feat Badness [Planet Mu]
16. Jinder - "Youth Blood" (12th Planet Remix) [Trouble & Bass]

Download: AC Slater - Annie Nightingale Mix (08/01/10)

Junglist Massive Inna Di Place

Some kind soul on the interwebs has dug out an old BBC2 documentary about jungle (seriously.) from 1994. The sound quality isn't great but it's pretty good given how old it is. It features some pretty interesting footage of Shy FX and Gunsmoke recording 'Gangster'.

It's also pretty interesting to see how jungle influenced drum & bass and then dubstep and now even UK funky. Basically, this is the golden age of jungle; although there was a revival a few years ago with people like RCola and Paulie Waulnuts. It really is a shame what happened to jungle and drum & bass after this documentary was made.

The documentary marks the period that jungle purists consider to be the point where jungle went bad; the beats got slower, the synths got dancier and eventually you got Dillinja. Before that, however, ragga jungle really kicked off in the UK with people like Tenor Fly, Shy FX and General Levy all doing incredibly well from the surge in interest.

If you're not sure how big this was, it was as big as dubstep is now and it went the same way dubstep will probably go. The documentary itself was clearly made to mark the ascension of jungle drum & bass, but unfortunately it ended up chronicling the end of the genre. Still, it's really funny to see people like Shy FX and Gunsmoke as little whipper snappers trying to explain jungle.

Watch
Part 1 ∙ Part 2 ∙ Part 3
And as a little yuletide treat, here's a classic jungle tune from that era:

Download: Tenor Fly - Don't Dis The Jungle