Reflections (2006 Review)

*** 200-6 ARTIST Of The Year ***

1. Plan B: Breakthrough year for the groundbreaking, story weaving emcee, who's made acoustic waves with hip hop heads, indie kids and critics alike.
2. Ghetto: Kano's aggy right-hand man came of age, developing his lyrical and delivery skills to set new standards in MCing. Watch out for Devlin too. Purest rhymes.
3. Lily Allen: Irresistably original takes on youth culture, with a cheeky reggae twist and a distinctly LDN atitude.
4. Akala (& Ms Dynamite): Talented MOBO award winner combined with his sister's long-awaited comeback as an MC to produce best mixtape of the year ('A Little Darker').
5. Fantan Mojah: 2006 was the year I found out about this incredible prodigy of Capleton's - a versatile, conscious dancehall MC with a strikingly smooth soul.

6. Boy Better Know: The combination of 3 of the most talented MCs in the game - Wiley, Skepta & JME - dominated the mixtape scene with devastating effect. "Shhhut ya mouf"

*** GIGS Of The Year (strong in 06 - click on links for review) ***

1. Buju Banton & Capleton @Stratford Rex (Jul)

2. Kano @Astoria (Feb)
3. The Roots @Shepherds Bush Empire (Dec)
4. Plan B @Mean Fiddler (July)
5. Martha Wainwright @Big Chill Festival (Aug)
6. Electric Proms - 1Xtra @Roundhouse (Oct)
7. Lou Rhodes @Big Chill Festival (Aug)
8. Regina Spektor @Shepherds Bush Empire

9. Aim @Big Chill (Aug)
10. The Wailers @Rise Festival, Finsbury Park (Jul)

*** 200-6 SETS Of The Year (Click on links for review) ***

1. Norman Jay @Big Chill Festival (Aug)

2. DJ Derek @Big Chill (Aug)
3. DJ Friction @London Zu (Jun)
4. DJ Version @1Xtra/Innovation DJ Competition (May)
5. Marky @Pressure (Jan)
6. Sabre & Sky @Cafe 1001 (Oct)

*** 6 EVENTS Of The Year ***
1. Big Chill @ Eastnor Castle Deer Park (Aug)
2. Salaam World Music Festival @Kew Gardens (Jul)
3. Brazilian charity night @Guanabara (Sept)
4. Straight Outta Bethnal @333
5. FWD @Plastic People
6. Rise Festival @Finsbury Park (Jun)

*** 6 TUNES Of The Year ***
1. Fantan Mojah - Hail The King
2. Kano & Vybz Kartel - Buss It Up
3. Benny Page - Turn Down The Lights
4. Sabre / Alix Perez - Solitary Native
5. Martha Wainwright - Bloody Motherfuckin' Asshole
6. Regina Spektor -Us

*** 6 Reggae ***
1. Fantan Mojah - Hail The King (Maroon Riddim)
2. Gentleman ft Barrington Levy - Caan Hold Us Down
3. Fantan Mojah - Eternal Love (Slingshot Riddim)
4. Jah Cure - What Would It Take (Istanbul Riddim)
5. Bounty Killer - Say You Leaving (Istanbul Riddim)
6. Richie Spice - Youths Are So Cold (Truth & Rights Riddim)

*** 6 Drum 'n' Bass ***
1. Benny Page - Turn Down The Lights
2. Sabre / Alix Perez - Solitary Native
3. Benny Page - Rub A Dub
4. Jenna G / Chase & Status / Switch - In Love
5. High Contrast - Days Go by
6. Nu:Tone - Missing Links

*** 6 Grime & UK Hip Hop ***
1. Kano & Vybz Kartel - Buss It Up
2. Akala - Shakespere
3. Terra Firma - The Foundation
4. Ms Dynamite & Akala ft Gendor & Snipekeedo - So Much Flows
5. Boy Better Know (Wiley, Skepta, JME) - Boy Better Know
6. Kano - Bust Dat

*** 6 Folk / Acoustic ***
1. Martha Wainwright - Bloody Motherfuckin' Asshole
2. Regina Spektor -Us
3. Lou Rhodes - Fortress
4. Regina Spektor - Consequence Of Sounds
5. Martha Tilston - Brighton Song
6. Jose Gonzalez - Crosses

*** 6 KILLA GIGS ***
1. Killa's final Pressure as resident:
Mampi/Friction, IC3/SP:MC (Apr)
2. TKOver Presents premiers on
InnaCityFM.com (Dec)
3. Baron & Fresh:
@Pressure 10th Anniversary (Oct)
4. Amnesia Old Skool Special:
Mad March Party (Mar)
5. Scratch Perverts & Dynamite MC:
Pressure (Jan)
6. Version & Killz:
New Style mix CD (Oct)

*** 6 TO WATCH in '07 ***
1. Kano
2. Ghetto
3. Fantan Mojah
4. Devlin
5. Sabre
6. Version

*** 6 ART EXHIBITIONs (Click on links for review) ***
1. Sultans Elephant
2. Wildlife Photographer 2006 @Natural History
3. Roll Deep vs Anish Kapoor @Tate Modern
4. Chris Ofili's The Upper Room @Tate Britain
5. Volume @V&A
6. Sunday Times Magazine @Proud Gallery

*** 6 FILMs ***
1. Dave Chappelle's Block Party
2. Capote
3. Glastonbury
4. Rock The Bells @ResFest
5. Idlewild
6. Howl's Moving Castle @Somerset House

*** 6 RESOLUTIONS ***
1. Unleash fire mix CDs, tunes and mixtapes
2. Up the levels lyrically... for all emcees
3. Lock down more gigs and residencies
4. Get more involved in music journalism
5. Spread 360 musical vibes and knowledge
6. Maintain positive perspectives

Big Chill 06 - Friday *High*lights

Lou Rhodes: A wonderfully serene start to the festivities, Ms Rhodes (ex-Lamb) captivated with her stunning, ethereal voice. Big Chill was loving her Lamb classic, 'Gabriel'. I was loving 'Fortress', from the new solo album. Beautiful stuff.

Mr Scruff: Perfect for a 1st afternoon bop, Finlandia Bar was jumping to an eclectic mix of house, reggae and funk. Highlight? Dancing across the field to the sounds of 10cc's 'I Don't Like Cricket'... I loved it.

Nizlopi: Um, ok. Positive: the double bassist was excellent, layering rapid finger-tap beats over rolling bass. Heavy. Positively rubbish: the singer is shite. Im afraid his cheesey guitar ramblings just doesn't cut it at a festival of great performances. The lowest point came with his embarassing 'rapping' efforts, Plan B style. Cringe-worthy. Shame, because Nizlopi are halfway good! Everyone else seemed to enjoy it though... poor bastards.

Jose Gonzalez: The obligatory 'Heartbeats' was accompanied by the hypnotic 'Crosses' and the surprisingly moving interpretation of Massive Attack's 'Teardrop' which, with a band, really comes to life live.

Aim: A remarkable set of hip hop and funk soundscapes. A water-tight 9 piece band encompassing bongos and trumpets was completed by the gorgeous and talented Kate Rogers. She really impressed, proving she was equally suited to folk, hip hop, rock and dance tunes. Covering tunes from Aim's 3 diverse albums, the show culminated in an jaw-dropping extended rendition of their classic 'Cold Water Music'. Speechless.

Dub vs Jungle Soundsystem: Funkywormhole aka the 24 hour cafe became reggae home for the weekend, with various soundsystems keeping vibes irie all day long. The Dub/Jungle ssmacked it, entertaining ravers with bubbly reggae punctuated with big DnB tunes (Pendulum takeover) and Old Skool classics ('On A Ragga Tip'... huge!!). Proper brock on with Snappa et al.

Big Chill 06 - Saturday *High*lights

Arrested Development: Bringing showmanship, afrocentricity and party vibes, Speech and the crew got the Open Air stage jumping to classics such as 'Tennessee', 'Mr Wendal', 'Take Me To Another Place' and 'People Everyday'. But the highlight - perhaps of the festival itself - was their moving cover of 'Redemption Song' that had the whole field singing, arms raised, in unison. Don't tell anyone... even Killz had a tear in his eye.

Athena: The Greek singer/songwriter cut a diminutive, alluring figure on the intimate Castle stage. Backed by a jazz guitar and double bass, she really impressed with a monk-like spiritual chant that displayed incredible vocal technique. Her classical and jazz vocal background has the ability to captivate, although at times she lacked a distinctive edge for my taste.

Sebastien Tellier: Only caught a bit of talented Parisian poet Tellier, who's signed to Air's new label. Interesting stuff.

Shri (Live): What can I say? Witnessed a musical genius perform magic. He manipulated a crazy instrument that switched between sitar, bass guitar and violin with dexterity and mastery. Shuddering basslines complemented every heartwrenchingly soulful note, he juggled deep Asian DnB with grimey breaks - adding a dash of weighty rock (mad vocalist). Not to mention the incredible band. I could go on all day, but you get the picture... Shri was sick!!

DJ Derek: Funkywormhole was rammed and roasting for the unassuming, legendary reggae selecta... and he didn't disappoint. Dropping all manner of reggae classics, every tune was rapturous received. Toots & The Maytals' '54-46' absolutely killed it, before dropping Arthur Conley's huge classic, 'Sweet Soul Music'. Cue brocking out to soul... something I didnt think could happen!

Quantic: Continuing the Village Green mash up, we skipped to watch hot-as-waking-up-in-tents producer Quantic. Love his fresh 'n' funky sound, but his DJ set was too obscure House for my taste. Disappointing.

Blue Man Group: Missed the 1st performance because the tent was heaving and didn't fare much better second time! Nevertheless caught their imaginative routine involving a large 3 piece pipe. Genius... heavy drumming too.

Chapel of Love & Loathing: Had to peek some Lost Vagueness craziness, where people could get married in a ring on stage. Checked a great swinging 50's band. Smiles all round.

Steve Reid & Kieren Hebden (Four Tet): Four Tet music paints beautiful, abstract soundscapes that are often breathlessly - and accessibly - experimental. This live set was really pushed those boundaries! Teaming with avant-jazz drumming legend Steve Reid (Miles Davis, Fela Kuti, James Brown), insane drum patterns clashed with electronica. Half didn't get it. They saw it as a crazy, noisy mess. The rest of us witnessed a style groundbreakingly original, mathcing avant-jazz with future sounds. True it was madness, but there was a fascinating scent of art to the fusion.

Big Chill 06 - Sunday *High*lights

Norman Jay: Boy! The Open Air field was rammed for the traditional Big-Chill-Norman-Jay-Sunday-afternoon knees up. Exploiting our privileges, we slipped backstage to the VIP lake for maximum dancing space. Mr Jay smashed it, playing a heavy dose of DnB that spanned the ubiquitous Prodigy remix to High Contrast. I swear down, the whole field was bouncing - it was some view! Throwing down everything from David Bowie to Gnarls Barkley, with plenty of Motown, the outstanding memory will be of Benny Page's DnB anthem 'Turn The Lights Down'. Big Chill was the purest of vibes. Huge.

Rodrigo y Gabriela: Caught in the spoilt festival dilemma of watching Lily Allen or RyG, I satisfied myself with Lily's great 'LDN' before heading to the Village Green. The sun was in the sky... why, oh why would I wanna be anywhere else?! Because Rodrigo y Gabriela were sensational... that's why. The Mexican pair play their acoustic guitars with a heavy metal influence but a DnB mentality. Frankly, they beat the shit out of the guitars - in the most beautiful way possible. No word of a lie, Gabriela plays the guitar like a turntablist. The crowd was lapping it up, stunned by their speed and elegance. Mesmerising.

Martha Wainwright: Daughter of the legendary Loudon and sister of the popular Rufus, Martha strode on with her edgy brand of folk acoustic. Her intimate tales and unique insight are woven with clever songwriting, complemented by a dramatic, raw voice. Powerful stuff, and like Rodrigo, only fully realised when watched live. Raised hairs for my favourite, the serenely obscene 'Bloody Motherfuckin' Arsehole'... beautiful.

Ukelele Orchestra: Always good for a laugh even if im not totally convinced. Middle aged dudes singing rock tunes with a ukelele. Exactly as you'd imagine... but fun.

Future World Funk: These boys always rock shows with their blend of world beats and breaks. They didn't disappoint with a record bag of deceptively heavy Balkan and Gypsy tunes. Ass-shakingly eclectic.

The Persuasions: The popular A Cappella legends DooWopped away, entertaining the Castle Stage with pitch-perfect harmonies of classic soul tunes. Great to hear their Motown interpretations. Finger clicking good.


Nouvelle Vague: Popular French pop group that spawned the wonderful Camille, performed their unique take on tasteful classics. Sexy breathless vocals with a distinctly French jazz cafe feel - although the show was vaguely underwhelming. Perhaps I've just been spoilt all weekend.

Bent: As night set in on the final night, Bent kicked off with a few avergae tunes before launching into better bass-driven, minimalist leftfield. The euphoric anthem that is 'Always In My Heart' touched me deep, having not heard that gem in several years. Lovely.

4Hero: An apt way to close my musical proceedings, 4Hero rolled out an inspired DJ set of DnB and broken beats that had Killz bouncing away with nothin' but smiles. - encapsulated by their funky and soulful anthem, 'Hold It Down'.

Trachtenberg Family Slideshow: A quirky end to Big Chill came from avant-vaudeville theatre/rock/slideshow Trachtenbergs. With Dad on the keys (looking suspiciously like Rick Moranis), and his bored daughters on drums and slides, they played a soundtrack to a series of random finds from car-boot-sales etc. Strange as it sounds, its damn funny. Particularly their battle with dry techno Eurythmics remixes emanating from the neighbouring stage. Wry wit and cutting observations. Jokes.







Taking a final sentimental stroll thru the Eastnor Deer Park that became our sanctuary for the blissful weekend, there was a sense of smug satisfaction to hear Drums 'n' Bass takeover the closing hours on a number of soundsystems. Finished up overlooking the site with the view from the above panaromic. Big spliff on hill. Big Chill '06 killed.

Big Chill 06 - Top 10 Tunes/Performances

1. Arrested Development - Redemption Song
2. Benny Page - Turn Down The Lights @Norman Jay
3. Aim - Cold Water Music
4. Martha Wainwright - Bloody Motherfuckin' Asshole
5. Lou Rhodes - Fortress
6. Bent - Always In My Heart
7. Arthur Conley - Soul Man @DJ Derek
8. Jose Gonzalez - Crosses
9. 10cc - I Dont Like Cricket @Mr Scruff
10. Lily Allen - LDN

Big Chill 06 - Norman Jay Panoramic 360

http://midtempo.net/bigchill06/norman.html

Follow the link to a stunning 360 panoramic view from the stage at Norman Jay. Like a raving Where's Wally?, scroll to the left of the stage and down... you can spot me & Nat!! Jokes, and a touch that the backstage moments been immortalised!