Beardyman's 'Done a Album'... & it's out now!

At last, we have finally set the beautiful and beastly debut Beardyman LP that is 'I Done A Album' free. Fly my pretty... Fly...

'I Done A Album' is a white knuckle ride of a listening experience, taking in just about every musical genre out there and making it seriously Beardy.  From lead single 'Where Does Your Mind Go?', which is a pulse throbbing demonstration of ear-shattering sonic sleight, to Africa with 'Twist Your Ankal'. 'Smell The Vibe', a track layered in funky beats creating a captivating soundscape upon which Beardyman drops his Q-Tip flavoured rhymes. 'Vampire Skank' is a dark journey into Eastern Europe with an accordion before becoming a savage dubstep monster chomping its way through to your eardrums. And if you've ever wondered what Justin Beiber getting ripped apart by wild dogs or Simon Cowell lying in a pool of his own blood sounds like, this is the album for you.

From the sublime to the ridiculous and back again, 'I Done A Album' stands defiantly alone as one of the few examples where a record successfully straddles the border between being an emotive and consummate work of a virtuoso musician, whilst also being a hugely entertaining, and at times absurd, listen... damn, it's a milestone in the history of musical performance. There, we said it!

So grab yourself a copy and discover it for yourselves. In all decent record shops or via the likes of iTunes, Play and Amazon.

Still need some convincing? Check out this minimix of the album (mixed by JFB)...

Beardyman 'I Done A Album' minimix (mixed by JFB) by Beardyman 

Radio da Bank: Bibio in the studio

Warp Records producer extraordinnaire, Bibio, joins Rob in the studio to have a chinwag about his new album and elsewhere, Rob nearly plays a track from the new Justice album, and 'Intro-juices' fresh new talent, Two Wounded Birds.

Checkout the tracklisting below and get yourselves over to bbc.co.uk/radio1/robdabank to listen again online to this show...

Joakim — Forever Young — Tiger Sushi
Jack Beats & John B — All Night — Cheap Thrills
Bullion — Magic Was Ruler — Young Turks
Thom Yorke, Burial & Four Tet — Ego - Text
The Young Knives — Love My Name — Transgressive
Cloud Boat — Lions On The Beach — White
Zombie Nation — Chick Flick — UKW Records
SembastiAn — Embody (DJ Premiere ’95 Break Remix) — Ed Banger
Ponytail — Easy Peasy — We Are Free

Rob da Bank Session Track
Swimming — Mining For Diamonds — Recorded live at Maida Vale

Ai — Days Of Rage — V Recordings
Jeremiah Jae — The Dirty Collector Pt. 1 — Brainfeeder

Saturday Skank
Elvis & The Matmatics — Return To Sender - White

Wagon Christ — Ain’t He Heavy, He’s My Brother — Ninja Tune
Beach House — Used To Be — Bella Union

Six O’Clock Snooze
Smoke Fairies — Storm Song — V2

Vato Gonzales — Badman Riddim (feat. Foreign Beggars) — Ministry Of Sound
Toro y Moi — New Beat — Carpark Records

Bibio interview
Bibio — K is for Kelson — Warp
Bibio — Pretentious — Warp

John Coltrane — Central Park West — Blue Note
Africa Hitech — Out In The Street — Warp

Rob’s Intro-Juicer
Two Wounded Birds — Summer Dream — White

Skrillex — First Of The Year — White
Parker vs. Muse — Knights Of Cydonia — White
Pleasurekraft — Carny — Great Stuff Records
Friendly Fires — Live Those Dreams Tonight — XL
Steve Mason — All Come Down (Tom Elmhirst Radio Mix) — Domino
Oh Land — Wolf & I — Epic

Rob da Bank: The Last Show on Earth

We've got a very special listen again for you this week as last Thursday Rob da Bank curated and discussed his 'Last Show on Earth' for a new feature on Zane Lowe's BBC Radio 1 show. It's a kind of Desert Island Discs for a new generation and it provides an incredible profile on Rob's entire life in music, to date.

It'll be here on the BBC Radio 1 iPlayer until this Thursday (starts 1 hour into the show). Listen, learn, love...

And here's the music Rob selected:

The Specials — Ghost Town - 2 Tone
The Stone Roses — I Wanna Be Adored - Silverstone Records
Lou Reed — Walk On The Wild Side - Warners
Pixies — Debaser - 4AD
The Ragga Twins — Juggling - Soul Jazz Records
Primal Scream — Swastika Eyes - Sony
Florence and The Machine — You Got The Love - Island
Prince — Sometimes It Snows In April - Universal
Justice vs. Simian — We Are Your Friends - Ten

da Bank's Tunes of the Week

A weekly round up of Rob da Bank's 'Tunes of the Day'. Follow / like Rob on Twitter or Facebook if you want to receive his daily musical tip-offs as they pop into his hairy head, in real time...

Monday 21st March
SebastiAn is French. He makes sick beats and even wilder videos! check his work: http://tinyurl.com/6kjel2q

Tuesday 22nd March
check out Random Impulse's Overload http://tinyurl.com/ycma9xu

Wednesday 23rd March
Check out the next single 'Smell the Vibe' from our fave vocal chameleon Beardyman (pictured sans beard)... or is it Q-Tip? Hmmm. http://bit.ly/f98PhJ

Thursday 24th March
worth watchin just for mr bruce's crazy taste in pantaloons... new single from the correspondents http://tinyurl.com/4gkd7xg

Friday 25th March
Marques Toliver is a bit special as this video shot at last weeks SXSW will attest. The 24-year-old singer and violinist who made a living busking in New York before his new soul magic got some mega attention is definitely one to watch and a huge talent. Loving his pink Lacoste shirt too. http://www.esquire.co.uk/2011/03/rob-da-banks-track-of-the-week-2/

Win Bestival Tickets & support the National Autistic Society

Josh Peverley (pictured), a regular on our Bestival forum, is raising money for a sensory toy library to help children with autism, by single-handedly organising a night of comedy and music in Yarmouth on the Isle of Wight on Saturday 2nd April. We've been very impressed by his efforts and have given him a couple of Bestival tickets for the raffle to help him raise lots of money for the IOW National Autistic Society.

15-year-old Josh told us "Because I'm autistic myself, I feel that the National Autistic Society is a really good charity. And especially for a sensory toy library, where I've also got siblings with autism. I really feel it's something close to my heart and I really want to do something, especially where I am into music myself."

The event itself is free entry and takes place at The Bugle Coaching Inn, Yarmouth on Saturday 2nd April (World Autism Awareness Day) between 7pm and midnight featuring top Island bands The Almighty Chancers, The Scores, Keri Highland and Arizona 81, and hosted by comedian Dominic Pope.

Please dig deep for the raffle and you could win 2 Bestival tickets, while also raising money for a very good cause. Raffle Tickets are currently on sale at the following: Skintrade (Newport), The Bugle Coaching Inn (Yarmouth), Wight Outdoors (Freshwater). Elliots The Barber Shop (Freshwater), Shalfleet Little Explorers (Shalfleet). Strings Guitar Centre (Ryde) and The Park Community Centre (Ryde).

A JustGiving page has been created in case anyone would like to make a donation who are unable to attend, which can be found at justgiving.com/WAADevent

Besti-mix 48: Filthy Dukes / Kill Em All (part one)

2011 already seems to be the year of multi-mixes here at Besti-blog, and we're all for it. First up was The Cuban Brothers double-header from Archerio and Kengo San, now comes two exclusive back-to-back sessions from London's premier party-starters the Filthy Dukes, whose new 'Machine Clap' EP is out now on their Kill Em All label.  

Part 1 is "weird and wonderful" according to the duo of Oli and Tim, and showcases the more experimental side of what you can expect to hear at their Kill Em All parties. Taking in everything from fast-rising UK house hero Julio Bashmore to Nirvana via Faust, Warpaint, Rainbow Arabia and a special Visions of Trees re-imagination of the Dukes themselves - this is all killer, no filler...

Download: Bestimix 48 Filthy Dukes / Kill Em All (part one)

Tracklisting:
01 Filthy Dukes - Forecast (Visions Of Trees Re-Imagination)
02 Rainbow Arabia - Boys and Diamonds
03 Mount Kimbie - Before I Move Off
04 Soul Clap - Lonely C (feat. Charles Levine)
05 Julio Bashmore - Footsteppin
06 Colder - Crazy Love
07 Warpaint - Krimson
08 Theophilus London - Flying Overseas featuring Devonté Hynes & Solange Knowles
09 A Split-Second - Flesh
10 Nirvana - Drain You
11 Faust - The Sad Skinhead
12 Connan & The Mockasins - It's Choade My Dear
13 David Bowie - Andy Warhol
14 Gairloch - Bowline (Demo)

Bestimix 48: Filthy Dukes / Kill Em All (Part One) by Bestimix on Mixcloud

Download free Animal Collective mix!

Happy Wednesday Bestivalites! Spring is certainly in the air, and definitely putting a smile on our sun-kissed faces is the fact that Animal Collective have put together a free mp3 mixtape...

Focussed on artists that they’ve picked to play at their upcoming ATP festi, it features their own ‘Fireworks’ alongside tracks from their mates Ariel Pink, Grouper, Black Dice, Eric Copeland and Gang Gang Dance, something from Pete ‘Sonic Boom’ Kember as Spectrum (who has mixed Panda Bear’s new solo LP Tomboy), plenty of UK house and dubstep-derived fare from the likes of Floating Points and Zomby, bruised guitar psych from Sublime Frequencies-flagged Group Doueh, an extract from ‘Four Violins’ by the legendary Tony Conrad, and much more besides – check the full track below.

It’s pure audio edutainment, basically, and clearly worth a spin. Stream and download it via Soundcloud.


ATP Animal Collective Mix by All Tomorrows Parties

Tracklisting

• 00:00 OV (extract) – Orthrelm
• 01:38 Fireworks – Animal Collective
• 08:21 Norway – Beach House
• 12:23 Credit – Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti
• 15:45 House Jam (XXXChange remix) – Gang Gang Dance
• 20:12 Heavy Water/I’d Rather Be Sleeping – Grouper
• 23:00 Cheaters – Teengirl Fantasy
• 29:07 Shina Blockas – Big Boi feat. Gucci Mane
• 32:43 Freeway – Kurt Vile
• 35:15 Up On The Sun – Meat Puppets
• 39:14 Vacuum Boogie – Floating Points
• 45:17 High Road – Deradoorian
• 50:52 Goumou – Khaira Arby
• 56:06 Oh Paris! – Dent May & His Magnificent Ukulele
• 58:46 Gentleman’s Lament – Thinking Fellers Union Local 282
• 61:31 Night Cream – Black Dice
• 67:01 Discover Your Colors – Ear Pwr
• 70:13 I’ve Got Drugs (Out Of The Mist) – The Frogs
• 72:31 Trashy Boys – Tickley Feather
• 77:17 Good Time – Yi Yi Thant & Aung Heina
• 81:40 Rookoobay – The Brothers Unconnected
• 85:13 Grim Reaper Blues (live in Big Sur) – The Entrance Band
• 92:26 Mawak Lakhaal – Group Doueh
• 95:55 Raghupati – Prince Rama
• 101:07 How You Satisfy Me – Spectrum
• 105:16 Catch Attack – Drawlings
• 109:14 Al Anon – Eric Copeland
• 113:10 Melankolia (edit) – Vladislav Delay
• 122:01 Four Violins (extract) – Tony Conrad
• 127:34 Wended V – Mick Barr
• 135:45 Fuck Mixing, Let’s Dance – Zomby

The Cuban Brothers say 'Show me the Mon-aayyyy!'

The Cuban Brothers host a special charity event this Thursday at The Old Queens Head in London's Islington in aid of The Red Cross' Tsunami fund. The night will feature special guest DJ sets and dance performances as well as a charity auction and a special show of truth from the Brothers themselves.

DJs
DJ Yoda
Barry Ashworth (Dub Pistols)
Dom Nextmen
The Cuban Brothers Sound System

Performers
The Cuban Brothers
Burlesque show by Giselle
Dance showcase from Rogue Elements

Up for auction will be a pair of Bestival tickets, dinner for two, T-shirts, records and other random goodness.

There will be a minimum donation of 5 pounds - but feel free to give more. Also the good people of The Old Queen's Head have generously decided to donate the profits of the night's bar take to the cause as well - so drink for a good cause!!!

If you can't make it you can also donate online here

"The Japanese Red Cross has 115 response teams working on the ground now, as they have been since the disaster began, providing first aid and emergency healthcare, as well as distributing relief items. The teams are made up of more than 730 staff, including doctors and nurses.

The costs of the relief effort, and of rebuilding the homes and lives of those affected, will be immense. Donations to the British Red Cross will be used towards helping the Japanese people recover from this devastating natural disaster over the coming months and years."

More info on Facebook here

Bestival 2011: Pendulum, PJ Harvey, Public Enemy, Mogwai and more join the party!

Hold tight party people...we have news, big news, Friday night headliner news, believe us when we say Bestival 2011 is gonna be big!

"My brain literally never stops whirring, thinking and puzzling over who to book for Bestival," reckons Rob da Bank. "The 'anything goes' approach seems to have worked so far so I’m proud and pleased to announce Pendulum as Friday headliner who will smash the hell out of Robin Hill for sure. Just as importantly PJ Harvey will be making her only UK festival appearance of the year at Bestival and then from The Maccabees to Public Enemy, Mogwai to Fatboy Slim and a shedload of up and coming artists its possibly our most out there line up yet... and let’s not forget The Cure headlining Saturday night! Don’t be shy, get in there now!"

An incendiary live act that has consistently laid waste to feverish crowds across the globe, we are hugely excited to announce that Pendulum will be headlining the main stage on Friday night at Bestival 2011.  Friends of old, Pendulum know the Bestival score and are all set to knock your socks off once again with a top drawer set of filthy beats, scorching riffs and heavy sub action. With their last album Immersion hitting number 1 in the UK charts and a new and much anticipated record in the works Friday night is destined to go off with a bang!

But that's not all, oh no...there's more, much more. A number of other big names have also just been added to the bill, including PJ Harvey (pictured), who will play the main stage on Saturday night in support of her new album Let England Shake. Dubstep romantic James Blake is on board, along with hip-hop heroes Public Enemy, Mick Jones’ Big Audio Dynamite, post-rock perennials Mogwai and their cosmic cousins Emeralds, wired R&B icon Kelis, goth torch-singer Zola Jesus and indie-pop favourites The Maccabees.

Other live highlights include Oneohtrix Point Never, Tanlines, Rustie, Graham Coxon, The Village People (!), Toots & The Maytals, The Drums, Chromeo, Noah & The Whale and Modeselektor. The DJ assault is led by Fatboy Slim, Groove Armada present Red Light, Hi Tek Soul starring Kevin Saunderson & Derrick May, Derrick Carter, Joy Orbison, Andrew Weatherall, Loefah, Tensnake, Julio Bashmore, Jam City, Bok Bok, plus soundsystems hosted by Hyperdub (Kode9 & Spaceape, Joker, King Midas Sound, Nomad), Rinse (Skream & Benga, Jamie George, Roska, Zinc, P Money), Numbers (Jackmaster, Spencer, Deadboy), Digital Soundboy and Modular.

Get your tickets here, but don't delay, it will sell out!

Radio da Bank: Trophy Wife in session

This week Trophy Wife perform three tracks in session at the BBC's Maida Vale studios.  Rob also pays homage to the late Smiley Culture and picks the uplifting, summery new one from Claire Nicolson as his Greatest Record in the World.

Checkout the tracklisting below and get yourselves over to bbc.co.uk/radio1/robdabank to listen again online to this show...

Shades of Rhythm — Sweet Sensation (Heavy Hearts Mix) — Cheap Thrills
Doorly — Now 97 — Pigeonhole This!
Wild Palms — Delight In Temptation (Radio Edit) — One Little Indian
Lykke Li — I Follow Rivers (Magician Remix)
Foster the People — Pumped Up Kicks (MNDR Mix) — Vagrant
Gold Panda — Marriage (Starslinger Remix) — Ghostly International
Bibio — Mind Bokeh — Warp Records
Lenzman — Masquerade — Metalheadz

TROPHY WIFE SESSION AT MAIDA VALE STUDIOS
Trophy Wife — White Horses — Live at Maida Vale

Toy Selectah Ft. Mumdance — Ani — Mad Decent
Pantha du Prince — Stick To My Side (Fourtet Mix)

SATURDAY SKANK
Smiley Culture — Cockney Translation

Hercules and Love Affair — Painted Eyes — Moshi Moshi
First Aid Kit — Universal Soldier — Third Man Records

6 O’ CLOCK SNOOZE
Johan Agebjörn — Swimming Through The Blue Lagoon — lotuspike

DJ Shadow — Blood On The Motorway — MCA
Spark — Crave (Toddla T Mix)

TROPHY WIFE SESSION AT MAIDA VALE STUDIOS
Trophy Wife — Quiet Earth — Live At Maida Vale
Trophy Wife — Microlight — Live At Maida Vale

Addison Groove — Sexual — Swamp 81
Africa Hitech — Out In The Street — Warp Records

ROB’S BBC INTRO—JUICER
Ado — Multiply Me
Mr Fogg — Answerphone (Raffertie Mix)
Prince Fatty — Lithium — Mr. Bongo
Fleet Foxes — Helplessness Blues — Bella Union

GREATEST RECORD IN THE WORLD RIGHT NOW…POSSIBLY, WELL AT LEAST FOR THIS MORNING…MAYBE
Claire Nicolson — You And I — Canned Records
Pete & The Pirates — Come To The Bar
Katy B — Broken Record (Zinc Remix) — Rinse/Columbia

11 facts about Bestival 2011

Next Bestival announcement coming next week folks... not long now! In the meantime, as ever, we listen to all feedback all year round so wanted to share some of our vision for Bestival 2011 with you...

1) Bestival may have won Best Major Festival at the UK Festival Awards last year but we see ourselves still as an intimate gathering of creative like-minded music-lovers. Music integrity and diversity remains at our very core.

2) Bestival is not getting any bigger. We haven’t increased capacity from 2010.

3) The site, however, is expanding to ease congestion, including a whole new field opening for Arcadia and a new field for the Tipis, Yurts etc.

4) Campsites have got new roads going in to ease flow of people, make it quicker to get onsite and easier to get rubbish and recycling out of the campsites and offsite.

5) Campsite hubs are being introduced into all campsites providing each one with a central post for information, security, welfare, bin bags and the odd cuppa tea if you’re lucky.

6) Bestival is now a full four day experience with live acts and DJs on the Thursday night and a large percentage of you arriving on this day.

7) Bestival is the ONLY European festival date that The Cure will play in 2011. What’s more, they will be playing for 2 1/2 hours!

8) New for 2011 is The Ballroom Field which has been designed, in response to feedback, with the long-standing Bestival faithful in mind. It will feature a Roller Disco, Alfresco Ballroom, Freak Shows and The Wall of Death.

9) And we’re also upping the ante with regards arts and spoken word… watch this space.

10) Bestival is committed to the fight against abuse of the secondary ticketing market. Unlike some festivals, the promoters of Bestival DO NOT and WILL NOT put tickets on the secondary ticket market for profiteering purposes.

11) Bestival is independent and is in no part owned or run by any of the major / established festival operators. We are truly, proudly, fully independent.

Viva Bestival!

A Dance For Japan

Following the tragic events that have unfolded in Japan over the last few days an esteemed group of DJs with a connection to Japan, whether it's through touring, family, friends or being from Japan, have come together to bring you A Dance For Japan this Friday at Plastic People in London to raise money for the Japan earthquake and tsunami appeal.

The event sees DJ sets from Felix B (Basement Jaxx), Ashley Beedle, Leo Zero, Faze Action, Yam Who?, The Cosmic Truth, Toni Rossano, Toru Yo and Andy Newcombe and all door donations and money raised will go to the Japan earthquake and tsunami appeal.

More info on their Facebook page and you can also donate online here: justgiving.com/DanceForJapan

Besti-vid of the week: Jamie Woon 'Lady Luck'

Check out the new vid by one of our tips for the top in 2011, dubstep wunderkind Jamie Woon.

Besti-mix 47: Kengo San (The Cuban Brothers)

After a winter break last week our magnificent (even if we do say so ourselves!) Besti-mix series returned, with part one of a double header of sweat-dripping, hip-grinding exclusive sessions from Bestival's original loin-cloth sporting lotharios, The Cuban Brothers.

And after Archerio comes Kengo San, and his purring Parisian honey "Gisele", live and direct from a hotel room in Morocco... with a suitably lascivious selection of sex jams and romantic arias (of sorts) from Marvin 'Sexual Healing' Gaye, Vanity 'Nasty Girls' 6, Adina 'Freak Like Me' Howard and two exclusive new tunes from the Cuban 'Naked Breakdancing' Brothers themselves under their The CBs alias. Don your tangas people, if this doesn't get you in the mood then please consult your doctor...

Download: Bestimix 47 Kengo San (The Cuban Brothers)

Tracklisting:
01 Primavera - Mark de Clive Lowe
02 Mambo Pantera - La 33
03 Time to get it together - Marvin Gaye
04 Nasty Girl - Vanity 6
05 Your Body's Calling - R.Kelly
06 T-shirt and Panties - Adina Howard
07 Misdemeanor - The CBs
08 Underdog - The CBs

Bestimix 47: Kengo San (The Cuban Brothers) by Bestimix on Mixcloud

Radio da Bank: The A-Z of James Blake

Rob da Bank meets James Blake to get an insight into the influences and inspirations behind one of the UK's most exciting new artists. Recorded just before a Maida Vale session for Zane, we hear James tinkling the ivories as he talks about classical composers who have inspired him, his discovery of dubstep and an obsession with Stevie Wonder...

Checkout the tracklisting below and get yourselves over to BBC Radio 1 to listen again online to this show...

Tracklisting
Big Boi – Royal Flush (feat. Andre 3000)
Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy – Wolf Among Wolves
Cloudboat – Lions On A Beach
William Basinski – Disintegtration Loop 1
Erik Satie – Nosiens #3 & #5
Burial – Fostercare
Ray Charles – Georgia On My Mind
Digital Mystikz – Haunted
Stevie Wonder – I Believe (When I Fall In Love)
Gavin Bryars – Jesus Blood Never Failed Me Yet
Klaus – Neph
Arthur Russell – Love Comes Back
Mala – Stand Against War
Sam Cooke – Nobody Knows The Trouble I’ve Seen
Outkast – Guetto Music
Peverelist – Roll With The Punches
Quasimoto – The Unseen
R Kelly – Exit
Stevie Wonder – Down To Earth
Trim – Confidence Boost
D’Angelo – Untitled (How Does It Feel)
Grouper – Vessel
James Blake - Z

To download the A-Z of James Blake as a free BBC podcast, head over to Radio 1

Radio da Bank: Alex Winston in session

Alex Winston performs three tracks in session at the BBC's Maida Vale studios especially for Rob da Bank. She talks about her mini album 'Sister Wife', being compared to Ellie Goulding and her future plans.  Plus The Greatest Record in the World is the brand spanking new one from Chemical Brothers.

Checkout the tracklisting below and get yourselves over to bbc.co.uk/radio1/robdabank to listen again online to this show...

Stanton Warriors - Turn me Up Some - Punks
Phoenix - Armistice (RAC Mix) - V2
Jamie Grind - Footwork - Fortified Audio
Inland Knights & Da Sunlounge - Another Thing - Borrowed
Faction G - Mirror Mirror - White
Alex Reece - Pulp Fiction (Lynx Remix) - Razors Edge
Becoming Real Becoming Real - Closer - Cold World Industries
About Group - Don’t Worry - Domino

Alex Winston is Session At Maida Vale Studios
Alex Winston - Last One Standing - Heavy Roc Music

Sir John - White Elephant (Mark E Mix) - Redux
Battles - Ice Cream (Ft. Matias Aguayo) - Warp
White Denim - Drug - Full Time Hobby

Saturday Skank
King Tubby - King Tubby Meets Uptown Records - Yard International

Teed - How Far (2 Bears Mix) - Southern Fried Records

6 O’Clock Snooze
OverSoul - Universal Unfolding (Ft. Gram’ma Funk) - Big Chill Recordings

Mark Seven - Sermon (Serotonin Remix)
CocknBullKid - Hold On To Your Misery (Hot City Remix) - Moshi Moshi
Secret Rivals - Tomorrow Matthew - Kittiwake Records

Alex Winston is Session At Maida Vale Studios
Alex Winston - Locomotive - Heavy Roc Music
Alex Winston - Medicine - Heavy Roc Music

Distance - Falling Down (Photek Mix) - Chestplate

Rob’s BBC Intro-Juicer
Chutes - Battles - White

How to Dress Well - Cant See My Own Face - Gold Records
The Japanese Popstars - Song For Lisa (Mustang Remix) - Gung-Ho Recordings
DJ Yoda & Herve - Eva - Fabric Records

GREATEST RECORD IN THE WORLD RIGHT NOW…POSSIBLY, WELL AT LEAST FOR THIS MORNING…MAYBE
The Chemical Brothers - Container Park - Virgin

King Creosote & Jon Hopkins - Bat’s In The Attic - Domino

da Bank's Tunes of the Week

A weekly round up of Rob da Bank's 'Tunes of the Day'. Join Rob on Twitter or Facebook if you want to receive his daily musical tip-offs as they come each day, in real time...

Monday 7th March
Gold Panda's Marriage is a sublime tune with an even finer vid! http://tinyurl.com/65bu4q6

Tuesday 8th March
Faction G - Mirror Mirror. Hardcore heroes Slipmatt and chums with a nod to the Prodg..rave on! http://tinyurl.com/5vqzgd7

Wednesday 9th March
Ghostpoet and Kano is a match maid in heaven but worth checkin http://tinyurl.com/5s6fj83

Thursday 10th March
Primal Scream - Loaded. Balearic anthem above all others! watch and weep with joy... http://tinyurl.com/69fgdf2

Friday 11th March
coming any second now... ;)

World Record-Breaking Pants!

BIG UP! to Pants to Poverty, a brilliant ethical pant-making social enterprise that we’ve been supporting for years who have just recently had it confirmed by officials at Guinness World Records that they smashed the record for The World’s Biggest Pair of Pants at Bestival last September. Check this video to see a truly giant pair of pants that would do Bridget Jones proud...



ps... check out pantstopoverty.com and buy yourself a pair of their stylish fair trade organic undies!

The A-Z of James Blake!

Coming up on radio da Bank soon! The A-Z Of James Blake! 9pm-10pm Monday 14th March on BBC Radio 1 Stories!
 
Yes, our very own Rob da Bank meets man-of-the-moment James Blake to quiz him on his musical influences and inspirations.  The UK's hottest new producer picks his 26 fave tracks from A-Z. So, what can you expect?
 
James gets his geek on talking about avant garde classical composers - and tells how he made a musical U-turn when he discovered heavy sub-bass at the legendary Dubstep night FWD. He also reveals why he's obsessed with Stevie Wonder.

Keep listening for the letter 'Z' - it's a brand new James Blake composition!!

Sunday Best team up with an Online Football Game

“More fun than any other football game on the market” FourFourTwo Magazine

Big Match Striker is a free new online football quiz game, with a few tricks up its sleeve and a devastatingly good soundtrack by Sunday Best Recordings artists, including dan le sac Vs Scroobius Pip, David E. Sugar, Dub Pistols, Sound of Rum, Lucky Elephant, Max Sedgley, Grand National and more.

The action takes place on the pitch with the full atmosphere of match-day, but it’s your football knowledge rather than fast thumbs that scores you goals. The questions are based around the latest match action from the Premier and Football leagues, as well as World Cup, History, Trivia, Kits, Quotes, Headlines and much more. Questions are generated daily based on the latest match action, so if you know your football you’re off to a good start.

But there’s more than that... you also need to manage your team – buy players, tweak your formation, upgrade your stadium and put in pie stalls and VIP boxes to pull in the fans and the gate money and give your team a boost.

You can play the fixtures in the Big League or you can hook up with your friends online or through Facebook, and then set up your own custom Friends Leagues to see who of your mates really knows their stuff. The graphics and audio are top notch – the soundtrack is comprised of tunes from our Sunday Best stable and tops off the atmosphere on the pitch while you’re playing. If you like the tunes you’re playing along to you can even click through and buy them directly from iTunes. Of course no football match would be complete with the commentary – and it’s there in all its finery, with questions posed to you by the commentator when he’s not casting aspersions on your performance or reminiscing about the glory days.

Start playing the game here and claim your 1,000,000 bonus Smackers - exclusive to fans of Sunday Best.

Big Match Striker is well worth a look – you just need a PC and an internet connection. It’s unique and very addictive – once you’ve strung together some passes and got that first goal past your opponent just by using all that pent-up back-pages know-how, pub chats on stats will become a whole different ball-game.

Besti-mix 46: Archerio (The Cuban Brothers)

Besti-mix is back! Bigger, bolder, brasher, bashier even, than ever, with the first mix from Bestival's resident mischief makers and long-standing lotharios The Cuban Brothers. First up it's Archerio, a man with more old-school dance moves than the love child of Bruce Forsyth and Crazy Legs Crane... with, well, what do you expect, an old-school selection of block-rocking hip-hop, party-starting rap jams, sweet ass soul and downright filthy funk.

People, get ready to worship at the alter of the original funk soul brother, Archerio...

Download: Bestimix 46 Archerio (The Cuban Brothers)

Tracklisting:
01 Can I Kick It? – A Tribe Called Quest
02 Punks Jump Up To Get Beat Down – Brand Nubians
03 Shake Ya Ass - Mystikal
04 Just Be Good To Me – The S.O.S Band
05 The Message – Grandmaster Flash
06 Boogie Tonite - Tweet
07 Phenomenon – LL Cool J
08 They Want EFX – Daz EFX
09 Back To The Grill – MC Search Featuring Chubb Rock and Nas
10 Be Faithful – Fatman Scoop
11 Runs House – Run DMC
12 There It Is - Shalamar
13 House Party - Nils Landgren Funk Unit
14 Give It Up – Jean Carne
15 It's The Fallin In Love – Michael Jackson
16 Pump Me Up – Trouble Funk
17 I Get Lifted - KC &; The Sunshine Band
18 Bus Stop – The Fatback Band
19 Electric Boogie – West Street Mob
20 Give Me The Night – George Benson
21 The Finding – The CB’s
22 Yum Yum  - Fatback
23 I Feel Sanctified - Commodores
24 Bounce Rock Roll Skate - Vaughan Mason And Crew
25 Heavens In The Backseat Of My Cadillac – Hot Chocolate

Bestimix 46: Archerio (The Cuban Brothers) by Bestimix on Mixcloud

Beardyman, Beardyman ... & more Beardyman

Whilst Beardyman might be best known for his beatboxing exploits, he is far from just another beatboxer. He is a musician with superhuman-like abilities and his voice is his superpower and his instrument.

And he's been a very busy superhuman chap of late... not only has he found the time to write, perform and produce his debut LP 'I Done A Album' (pre-order it here folks - Play / Amazon / iTunes) featuring the current single 'Where Does Your Mind Go?' but he's also managed to create a video for that single, and a couple more vids just for fun!

So keep reading as we got a lot to fill you in on, and it's all good.

OK, you ready? So the single 'Where Does Your Mind Go?' is a warped and unusual electro-ballad showing Beardyman as an artist capable of delivering songs with lyrics as twisted and introverted as Nine Inch Nails and Sonic Youth whilst being truly unique in sound and production style, echoing French house... but being somehow closer to Chemical Brothers meets T-Rex. And of course it comes with a killer vid which sees a freshly labotomised Beardyman wake up in an ice cold cellar, only to then be led on a very disturbing journey through a derelict mansion by his taunting, spray-tanned X-Factor alter-ego.

Check the video and then head on over to iTunes to have a gander at the remixes by Doorly, Tom Middleton, Nu:Tone, JFB, Darkstarr Diskotek, U-Phonix and Sunday Best... and to buy the lot naturally :)



His forthcoming 'I Done A Album' LP, as he puts it, "is all about taking people on a journey, and making it entertaining enough for everyone to willingly come with me – wherever it takes them, wherever it goes…". Check out DMC Scratch Champion JFB's mini-mash up of the album to get a flavour of the majestic journey ahead of you...



Pretty amazing huh?! Well the album proper is out on 21st March, and as we may have hinted at above you can pre-order it now from the likes of Play, Amazon and iTunes.

You can also text BEARD to 81088 to receive some free album exclusives, including the mini-mash up mix (standard network charge only - more dull T&Cs below...*)

Now then, if all that wasn't enough, our Beardy has also found the time to create a couple of brilliantly funny viral videos. 1st of all we have his totally genuine Valentines Day message to go with his non-album track 'Luv Ya (all over your face)'...



And then there's also his beatbox ventriloquism vid... does the hands rule the mouth, or do the mouth rules the hands?



Well done for reading down this far... enjoy.

*Texts will incur standard network charge only. UK Only. Unavailable to Virgin Mobile. For support call 08443511191. WAP enabled handset required for download & charges may apply. Check Operator tariff. By texting in you are opting in to receive text alerts from Beardyman. To unsubscribe reply with STOP.

Radio da Bank: Dry The River live in session and exclusive new Mogwai live tracks...

Rob has a live session from Dry The River [above] and exclusive live tracks from Mogwai, as well as more eclectic sounds from the UK and beyond.

Checkout the tracklisting below and get yourselves over to bbc.co.uk/radio1/robdabank to listen again online to this show...

Chilly Gonzales — You Can Dance (Walter Sobeck Remix) - Phantasy
MJ Cole & Wiley — From The Drop (Hint Remix) - Prolific Records
Tyler, the Creator — Yonkers - Downtown Records
Maceo Plex — Your Style - Crosstown Records
Bibio — Sleep Light - Warp
A.I — Days Of Rage VIP - Widescreen
SBTRKT — Living Like I Do - Young Turks

Mogwai Exclusive
Mogwai — Mexican Grand Prix - Rock Action Records
Mogwai — Hasen Heide - Rock Action Records

Gypsy Unit — Stop - White
Radiohead — Feral - XL
Iron & Wine — Tree By The River - 4AD

Saturday Skank
Zero B — Lock Up - Richie Phoe Mix

Fiction — Big Things - Hit Club

6 O’Clock Snooze
Benjamin Francis Leftwich — Pictures - Dirty Hut

Hervé — Together - Dubsided
Justus Köhncke — Fussmachine - Kompact
Nicolas Jaar — Space is Only Noise If You Can See - circus Company
Emalkay — Fabrication - Dub Police

Dry The River Abbey Road Session
Dry The River — Bible Belt - Transgressive Records
Dry The River — History Book - Transgressive Records

Lykke Li — Sadness Is A Blessing (Gold Panda Mix) - LL recordings

Rob’s Intro-Juicer
Just Muz — Watch Me - White

Crystal Fighters — At Home - Zirkulo
Ghostpoet — Cash and Carry Me Home (Ft. Kano) - Brownswood

GREATEST RECORD IN THE WORLD RIGHT NOW…POSSIBLY, WELL AT LEAST FOR THIS MORNING…MAYBE
Oh Land — Son Of A Gun - Epic

Ghostpoet — Cash and Carry Me Home (Ft Kano) - Brownswood
Cassius — I Luv You So - Skream Remix
Arctic Monkeys — Brick By Brick - Domino
Noah and the Whale — Life Is Life - Vertigo

da Bank's Tunes of the Week

More Rob da Bank 'Tunes of the Day' for your ear drums, coming right up. Join Rob on Twitter or Facebook, click 'follow' or 'like' if you want to receive his daily musical tip-offs as they come each day, in real time...

Monday 28th February
Midland 'Bring Joy'. This does what it says on the tin bringing much joy to a boring monday afternoon..top producer-check him! http://snd.sc/dNuSc6

Tuesday 1st March
Summer camp 'I want you' produced with Steve Mackey, from PULP..lovely stuff http://tinyurl.com/5wwano6

Wednesday 2nd March
'come together' Herve radio edit... bring on bestival http://tinyurl.com/66ofdqq

Thursday 3rd March
if Dananananaykroyd's E-Numbers doesnt wake you up youre already dead http://tinyurl.com/5w8erty

Friday 4th March
Oh Land is gonna be a big ole star...check the poncho action! http://tinyurl.com/68bwd59

Bestival Fancy Dress Theme and massive KOKO party details announced!

With just over two weeks to go until March 19th when all good Bestival-ites descend upon Camden, to take over KOKO and party the night away at our exclusive annual London bash, we can reveal not only our sumptuous line-up of musical goodies but also our hotly debated Bestival Fancy Dress theme for 2011!
 
"Dressing up and escapism has always been a big part of Bestival," says Bestival's ringmaster of all things outlandish and fun, Rob da Bank, "and our faithful crew are mega inventive to the point of eccentricity!  This year’s theme of Rock Stars, Pop Stars and Divas should give everyone enough ideas to really let rip with some outrageous, weird and downright flamboyant outfits. There are no excuses! Having said that i hope everyone doesn’t take it too literally – I’d love to see some Frank Zappas, Captain Beefhearts, Skream and Bengas or a Karen Carpenter as much as the better known faces. This has got to be a great opportunity for some group action too! Personally it’s a toss-up between Dolly Parton and Prince… could make for an interesting outfit!"
 
That’s right it’s time to channel your inner Rock Star, Pop Star or for the more daring, to unleash your inner Diva.  KOKO is the testing ground for the big one on the Isle of Wight, so we want to see a cornucopia of Kate Bush-a-likes, a deluge of David Bowies and a full-house of Freddie Mercurys rocking, popping but hopefully not stropping (hold it down you Divas!) at our no holds barred rave-up at KOKO and then again in September at Robin Hill Country Park when we’ll be going for the biggest fancy dress party world record again!
 
Along with all the dressing up shenanigans we’re exceptionally excited to announce that Bestival favourites Kitty Daisy & Lewis will be topping the bill at our exclusive London Shindig at KOKO on March 19. With a new single on Sunday Best imminent (keep an eye out on Monday for more news on that) and the release of the much anticipated second album in the offing, the band will be playing a wealth of brand new self-penned material as well as all the old classics, including ‘Mean Son of a Gun’ and ‘Honolulu Rock-A-Roll-A’, in their first headline appearance in over a year! 
 
Other top turns playing at our one-off Besti-bash include The Cuban Brothers, our intrepid Havana trio, who will orchestrate a giddying display of body popping and funk and, most probably, nudity to blow away the winter blues and get people very much focussed on a summer of fun. Joining them will be Eastbourne’s Yaaks who will portray the thoughts of Jean Jacques Rousseau through their six musical minds and the medium of pop music.

From philosophy to rhymes from beyond the grave, well almost, as Ghostpoet will be on hand to chill and inspire with his drifting tales of the morning after the night before. High octane folksters Skinny Lister will get things rocking with some foot stomping shanties and Mr B the Gentleman Rhymer will recite the hippest hop in the bestest Queen’s English.
 
Bestival main man Rob da Bank will don the ones and twos for one of his legendary party sets, as will those trusty party-starting loons Sombrero Sound System and keeper of the world's greatest ol' time vinyl Greg’s Greats. Plus we have one more very special guest DJ to be announced soon!

Get your tickets here!

Bestival Party at KOKO
Saturday March 19th 2011 - 9.00pm – 3.00am
Koko - 1A Camden High Street, London, NW1 7JE
£12.50 in advance /   £15 (£12.50 NUS) on the door
Ticket info/order: 0844 888 4410


 
 

Ross Allen's Meltdown: The Soul of England

Stream the show / Download the show

Tracklist

Traffic Dream Gerard - Island LP (from the album Where The Eagle Flies)
Spencer Davis Group - I'm A Man (B Banji Refix) - CDR
??? - Sicko Cell - Swamp 81 CDR
LV feat Joshua Idehen - Melt - Keysound Recordings CDR
Round Table Knights - Paparussi - Made To Play CD EP
Peven Everett - Burning Hot (Timmy Regisford Remix) -
Falty DL - Moonshine - Swamp 81 CDR
Discodeine - Invert - Dirty CD (from the album Discodeine)
Nicholas Jaar - Variations - Word & Sound CD (from the album Space Is The Only Noise)
Toro Y Moi - Elise - Car Park CD (from the album Underneath The Pine)
Metronomy - Some Written - Because CD (from the album The English Riviera)

Hour 2

Mogwai - Too Raging To Cheers - Rock Action Records (from the album Hardcore Will Never Die But You Will)
Gil Scott Heron & Jamie XX - NY Is Killing Me - XL 12"
Distance - Malice - Chest Plate CDR
Photek - 101 (Bodika Remix) - Photek Productions CD
Radiohead - Lotus Flower - download (from the album King Of Limbs)
PJ Harvey feat Thom Yorke - This Mess We're In - Island CD - (from the album Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea)
PJ Harvey - The Last Living Rose - Island CD (from the album Let England Shake)
Greg & Duane Allman - Morning Dew - Soul Jazz CD (from the album Delta Swamp Rock)
The Guinness Casanovas - Stormy - Trans Air LP (from the album West Indies Funk)
Wagon Christ - Respectrum - Ninja CD (from the albumToomorrow)
The Shining - Hey You - CDR
Tim, Chad & Sherry - The Love I Make (Ashley Beedles Meltdown Stomp Remix) - CDR
Above & Beyond - Sun & Moon (Seiji Remix) - Anjuna CDR

After last weeks rather shambolic affair, though with a bit of distance and being out of the studio, it didn't seem so bad - it just felt painful doing it. In the words of James Brown - "I'm Back!"

Another great week in music for me: Loefah at the club, and back to mine after, causing much upset to my new the neighbours, then there was PJ Harvey and then there was Steve Winwood (well, a documentary on the I Player). All were totally enjoyable and made me realise what a great place this little Isle is for creating and morphing music with funk and emotion - soul - if you like.

This is represented on the show on a weekly basis but is a constant source of intrigue to me - how do I pigeon hole my musical appetite - who really would be into the breadth of music that I am - not because I am special (though a little needy) - you lot must like it if you can be bothered with this rubbish every week - more because it is such a disperate selection - what are the common threads? what links Country to Dubstep and Mogwai to West Indies funk or Reggae to the Allman Brothers? I don't know ? I just put it together in a post weekend stream of consciousness!

Sound of Rum 'Slow Slow'

“She has no right whatsoever to be as good as she is. It astounds me. Her writing is epic, her delivery piercing, and with the addition of her band Sound of Rum her potential is realised. Inspirational.” Scroobius Pip

“Her works are truly of upliftment and betterment” Roots Manuva

“I don't see the point in anyone else making live loops when Archie Marsh exists" Jamie Woon

“I carve lyrics into cubicle doors like they were pyramid walls and these were hieroglyphs, hold pen with an iron grip, my mind is the storm and the words are the eye in it; evil in the world, stay peaceful in spite of it; ‘cause snakes have never understood the way the lions live.” Kate Tempest, Sound of Rum

Sound of Rum debut their unique sound this week with the Sunday Best Recordings release of their single 'Slow Slow', blending infectious melodies, innovative production and soul jarring lyrics - delivered with a raw intensity from the band's vocalist Kate Tempest. Sound of Rum shatter the boundary between performer and listener, leaving you drunk on inspiration when you didn't even realize you were thirsty.

Already well established internationally as a poet on the spoken word scene, Kate Tempest met Ferry Lawrenson (drums) and Archie Marsh (guitar) and, after jamming together for just one night, Sound of Rum was born. United in their love of alternative hip-hop, 1920s-1950s jazz, breakbeat, soul and disco and with an unquenchable thirst for literature, the trio work confidently beside their influence, standing defiantly in their own space.

'Slow Slow' is out now on 7" white vinyl (Rough Trade / HMV) and download (iTunes / Amazon). It comes with B side 'Can't Be Saved' and a collection of slick remixes inc a Skream-championed beast by High Rankin.

Sound of Rum’s debut album 'Balance' follows on 25th April and will undoubtedly carve a place in the hearts and minds of any and all who are fortunate enough to experience it.