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London 2007

Coming To America…

So my two week stint in the UK/Northern Ireland/Europe is over, and honestly, I don’t even wanna be home right now. The UK is one of my favorite countries in the world, and England never fails to impress me. And the people are still the flyest around. Big shouts go out to: Miss Hipstah, Marsha of Soul Culture, my sister, Niamh for the 4 Hero party, Rocky and Floppy (?) from Casa Blue (if you’re in London, hit them up), Jo’Le (sorry we didn’t get up mate), and my dawg Robin in Belfast.

More shouts to all the people I met: Vicki, Kira, Sam, Everstina, Mike, Dave and Richard in Belfast, the Mercante Palace Hotel in Rome (a quality hotel, highly suggested), Jen from the Popcast, and all the other people that I’m forgetting to name.

And yes, I brought back about 4 pounds of English tea, so I’m gonna be drinking that like its goin’ outta style (with milk of course), and I picked up the terms proper, fit, uber fit, knackered, and ending all of my conversation with the word cheers.

And, since I just got back and my jetlagged ass has to work a full 8 10 hour day yesterday and today, so its going to take me a few days to sort through the my emails, MySpace, snail mail, etc. Please be patient.

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London 2007, Music News

London Day 3 - London Graf Tour

One thing that amazes me about London is how American this place actually is. Its even more evident since I’ve lived here. They have Wal-Mart people. That’s bad.

But there are still areas of the LDN that haven’t been taken over by Starbucks. The Brick Lane area of the city, a former Jewish hood is becoming a haven for street art, most notably Banksy, who got his start here.

Anyway, here’s just a taste of some of the Graf and street art that’s around Brick Lane. I’ll put up more pics soon. Repect to Miss Hipstah for the find.

Related: Venice Beach Graffiti (from 2005)

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London 2007, UK Sounds

London Day 2 - 4 Hero Album Release @ The Big Chill House

First off, much thanks to my new friend and frequent podcast listener Niamh for hooking me up with this party. It was off the chain.

And what party was this? It was the album release party for London drum and bass/broken beat collective 4 Hero. The group recently released their new album Play With the Changes this year however, these dudes have been around for years. Most Americans know the group for their remixes of Nuyorcian Soul’s “Black Gold of the Sun,” and their collaborations with New York artist Ursula Rucker.

To keep it real, I was a little intoixcated, so I can’t tell you what DJ’s were where. BBC 1Xtra’s Benji B was rumored to make an appearance but I gave up the search to find him after a few too many glasses of Jack and Cokes plus red wine. The downstairs DJ was off the chain, mixing a classic J Dilla Donuts medley along with the Roots and Pharcyde, while images of LA Krumping, James Brown, and scenes from Wild Style played on massive projectors.

However, the higlight of the evening for me was upstairs. The DJ’s spun a medley of recent and classic 4 Hero along with broken beat and drum and bass. The party was live as hell, and the best part…it was all British. Seriously, as much as I love American music, why would I drop tons of money to get over here (this exchange rate is killing me people) to hear stuff I that’s readily available in New York or DC?

Having that said, the one thing that I do admire about the UK underground culture is the respect they give to the music. Even when they played American tunes they flipped the script on it. I’m trying to find the house remix of John Legend’s “Ordinary People,” as I type.

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