DO IT! is 3 (and closing night) video

DO IT! is 3 - and out! The closing night at Snafu went down heavy and was great to see so many regular faces make it down to bid adeu. Tuff Wax duo Cruicky and Yoin set the tone at the pre-party before the residents (Uraki Riddim, Kid Bell and White Chocolate) warmed up nicely for the first ever Auntie Flo live show in Aberdeen. The foundations were set for Ikonika to tear down the club and bring three years of groundbreaking audio visual events in Aberdeen and Oslo to a close. A fitting way to end with such a high profile guest in place of the AWOL dEbruit. Big news coming soon about what next for DO IT!, check a video by Campbell Montgomery above and his pics from the night on RA here.

Video footage and editing by Campbell Montgomery

Mondayjazz ‘It Came From Uruk’ mix by Uraki Riddim

New mix and artwork I just completed for the Mondayjazz website. I remember listening to their early podcasts and looking in awe at the bookings they made for their events in Vilnius so a nice way to round up the DO IT! concept getting a mix on their site. Included in the mix are tracks from some of our favorites past DO IT! guests such as Mweslee, Onra and Dorian Concept. Click on the link here to listen to or download the mix. Tracklist is available on this link here.

'It Came From Uruk' artwork by Alexander Horne/Uraki Riddim, 2011

MUSIC: CELLAR SESSIONS

Cellar Sessions is a new fortnightly pre-club concept at the original home of DO IT! events, Cellar Bar 35 in Aberdeen. Hidden away from the rowdiness of Union Street and tucked beneath a bustling corner of Rosemount, it is an ideal location to showcase local talent, visiting guests and most importantly - DJs who have a diverse interest in music old & new.

Growing up in Aberdeen, there always seemed to be a great selection of music on offer from resident DJs and visiting guest acts. From hip hop, funk, house and techno to drum'n'bass - all were covered. Sadly, almost coinciding with the demise of Triptych festival, this mix of output and destinations for  music dwindled. With the Cellar Sessions however, we aim to provide a frequent free entry platform for such a culture to grow again. We will also feature live visuals and art installations.

Above: Cellar Sessions poster designs for Feb/Mar and Apr/May by Alexander Horne 2011.

LA MIXETTE#53: URAKI RIDDIM

Lamixette#53 Uraki Riddim by La Mixette on Mixcloud

Back in January, Musique Large honcho Fulgeance gave me the chance to put out a mixtape for his excellent La Mixette series. Fulgeance is a live performer, producer, label boss and early pioneer of the current 'beats' movement. Armed with an MPC and do it yourself ethic - he has a real modern day hip-hop spirit and is one of the people who inspires to keep putting in the hours organizing events, buying vinyl and generally supporting all other like-minded creative souls. Musique Large plays home to the funky, tropical and boombap sounds of Debruit, Rekick and Fulgeance himself. His own productions vary from boogie, hip-hop to funk. I reviewed his latest EP release on Musique Large a few months back for RA, you can read the review here. Heads up for those that didn't know, support this inspiring guy and his excellent label. Below are some Fulgeance vids and a Low Club guest who we will be seeing soon at DO IT!

city: Bucharest Beat

All the blood, sweat and beers that go in to running events in two cities throughout the year seems to pay off (never financially!) in Autumn time. Last year DO IT! collective were hosted in Helsinki and Bergen for two differing gigs but equally fun trips during August. This year it was just me (Uraki Riddim) on a solo trip to Bucharest via Copenhagen in late October.   Copenhagen opened my ears to an exciting instrumental beats scene which is arguably the strongest right now in Scandinavia, the label Hobby Industries and New Folder collective making up the best of it. Bucharest peeled back my eyes to an otherworldly place.  Hosted by ex-pat DJ and journalist Tom Wilson, I was given the insight needed to map my way through a city that without assistance I would have struggled to grasp.  Full of contrasts, romantic and mysterious historical corners it is a metropolis like none other I have visited. Playing at Ota's minimal looking basement club (complete with kitchen for making hearty soups) alongside Tom was incredible, the crowd were so locked in and ready to dance - someone name checking and asking for a spin back on a Mike Slott tune will surely be a once in a lifetime request! Props to Fresh Good Minimal for press, check them out for a lowdown on the Bucharest scene.     

photo: from the excellent Bucharest based photo blog Revelator//Planet34 by Andrei Mocanca

music: Oslo Institution Closes

It is with a relative degree of sadness that The Villa closed their doors after one last dance on 2/10/10.  Although the club had sat below pizza institution Hells Kitchen for less than five years, it had won a place in many music aficionados hearts in Oslo and from overseas. From New Wave to old age disco via dubstep, skweee and house - the club was the only spot in town close to rekindling memories of clubs such as Edinburgh's The Venue and old Bongo Club (sadly also both defunct). For readers not familiar with those venues, perhaps the best comparison came from one revered DJ visiting for a set during Oslo Live who compared The Villa to Plastic People in London - only better. The Oslo nightscape maybe changing with the arrival of new venues and rumors of takeovers on the horizon but, in the meantime we salute you The Villa; door and bar staff, regulars, visiting acts and in particular the booking team of Tore Jazztoback (Ost from Ost&Kjex) and Scot Electric Lane (Jen McConachie). It was a pleasure to play there on several occasions and in particular for our DO IT! event during Øya.   
video: Oslo Experimental presents: DO IT! Oyafestivalen, The Villa 13.8.10 by Halvor Bodin

DO IT! abz 20.08

Heading back to the Granite City to drop some of the new Dødpøp wax I picked up from the guys having played out with them at The Villa a couple of times this past month. Especially looking forward to playing some records before and after Lamplighter's first full live show since he dropped his debut LP on Antimatter. Lamplighter's ever evolving sound caught our eyes and ears since the very first day we started this whole DO IT! jaunt. Chris Clark, John Carpenter and Prince Paul - these influences are all in there. Warming up for Cars & Trains on a cold and dark Aberdeen night some years back, he managed to capture the darkness of the nordic spirit with a peephole of light and communicate it through a crisp layered sound that could be best imagined as a beats incarnation with more attachment to folk than the grimey boombap or new jackswing that swaggers loudly at the moment. I'm going to playing with our Aberdeen residents Kid Bell and White Chocolate, with Uber AV (M.O.C. & Ben) on the visuals and a selection of Aberdeen's street aret continuum adding some live illutstrion to the event. Check out the Resident Advisor events page or fb event for more details.

poster: by Sio, 2010

Øyanatt: Oslo Experimental presents DO IT

Friday 13th was a massive night for DO IT! and Oslo. Through support from Oslo Experimental, we had the privilege and power to book two of the finest active purveyors of contemporary music alongside a showcase of the best of Norwegian skwee, a legendary graphic artist and our very own Norway based residents and regular collaborators for a memorable Øya festival party at The Villa. While Cupofill went all Friday 13th with Jason masks and blood red markers in the lounge, the Dødpop crew treated those who managed to fit in the backroom skwee shop to a barrage of lofi funk squeaks and blips that included Beatbully, Sprutbass and a live debut for Kapteien Melkevein's new Mother North project. The main room got hot and sweaty to Inko's heavy hitting opening DJ/live set before I spun some slower experimental beats as a prelude to Dorian Concept, whose tailored live show transformed the club into a dancing pit of awe and joy. Inko and I took it up a notch to get things ready for the much anticipated live show of soon-to-be Warp album debutante Rustie, which as expected tore up what remained of the club. All this was complimented by some industrial influenced imagery from VJ Pop Com and some incredible disected and deconstructed works from the well-known Norwegian designer Halvor Bodin aka VJ Superlow. More coverage to come soon!

poster: by Alexander Horne (me) and Cupofill. 2010 / video: Sprutbass 'Matt Huffley' by Halvor Bodin

DO IT! oslo 25.06

Coming up to end of June and time for the third DO IT! Oslo session at the hallowed home of music that is Blå and it's gonna be BIG. We got Mweslee - one of the hottest and most exciting beats talents around playing a live set - alongside one of Norway's finest proteges playing one of his last gigs before his Berlin move, Telephones - and lets not forget the talented groups of residents that include local illustration crew Cupofill, VJ Pop Com, myself spinning wax and potential Norway's first real beats representative Inko who shares his Domenican origins with a life in the nearby Oslo town of Tønsberg. Music is going to take in anything from jazz, funk, soul, boombap, garage and beats with a nice tropical underline. Something for the floor and something to go home and remember the next day as a cultural experience worth mouthing about on Monday morning. Big up Tom at La Cocina for helping us hook this one up. Oslo you have been warned -
JUNE 25TH AT BLÅ FROM 22:00 DO IT!

Poster: by Alexander Horne (me) 2010.

DO IT! live jam # 1

End of May and getting ready for some major upcoming DO IT! gigs, The Villa on the 12th June and 25th June at Blå with esteemed and much revered guests Mweslee and Telephones, myself (Uraki Riddim), Inko and the Cupofill illustration crew hooked up for a bit of a jam session. Inko has been working on some really sick live stuff recently developing his already progressive production skills, on show on his myspace, and through online releases such as the great Oscillations compilation. I dropped some beats and scratches on one turntable and a mixer while Inko went through his new beats on the MPD. As with all DO IT! events there was a visual backdrop; on this occasion it was Cupofill, who sketched with some fat black markers on white paper live to the heavy sounds we created. Attached are some pics from the session and a rough recording (real rough as this was the first time Inko and I ever hooked up). We hope you enjoy it. It's gonna be something fresh and ready to bust your eardrums and a groove for June 25th!
Live session 28.05.10 by Uraki Riddim

Catch of The Day

Way back mid 00s; amongst the energetic illustrations and polemic wordage of hyperdope Lowdown magazine I came across a write up on a guy called Flying Lotus. Didn't need any encouragement to hit up his myspace after reading up on the Coltrane and Dilla links and wasn't exaclty dissapointed! What has happened since then, not many could comprehend. Going into Summer 2010 it is as if we have gone back to the early 90s - the heydays of triphop, beats and 808s - when post rave festivals such as Tribal Gatherings were getting off to DJs like Krush and James Lavelle (pre Unkle). Sounds from 'grimey London', 'sunny Cali' and the 'motorcity folklore of Detroit' stir the imagination before even listening to anything so it has been of great pleasure to recenty discover some Nordic talent outside of these big hitting 'beats' hotbeds. A graphic designer and hottly tipped producer to boot, Offshore comes from my hometown Aberdeen. His beats and mixes meld raw energy with maturity and music knowledge that are rarely found by Djs over indulging in one of the many genres that he splices and blends with ease. Over the North Sea, Inko has been surviving the Norsk winters for over five years developing a sound which shares the melodic rough bristles of Flying Lotus with exotic boombap depth. Be sure to try catch them at the following DO IT! nights;

OFFSHORE - DO IT! abz - May 7th at The Tunnels

INKO - DO IT! oslo - June 25th at Bla

DO IT! oslo 12.03

Our second DO IT! session in Oslo welcomes some of the biggest droppers of mektig (heavy) beats this side of the Viking peninsula, the Bitch Boys, spinning hot tracks next to an exciting live solo project from promising Bergen band, Leif and The Future. All this mixed in with our intercontinental Oslo residents and Cupofill, one of the freshest crews to hit Oslo, since they first imported Colgate, will be throwing the laws of illustration out the window and getting down to a serious live ink'n'sketch session throughout the evenings proceedings. MIR is a bric brac artsy hide away bar shrowded in internationally famed graffiti artist' pieces in a building which contains a lo fi music studio used by local punk bands and uber hip illustrators and graphic designers Yokoland. Turn up and represent if in the Oslo area and for those in Aberdeen make sure to catch some of the artsy goings on throughout Saturday evening 13.03 and culminating with a DO IT! night at Tunnels.

Poster: by Alexander Horne (me!) 2010.

Oi Oi Osloposters

Last Saturday we held our first DO IT! event in Oslo at a tiny artsy hide out called Sound of Mu in the Grünerløkka district. The turnout was average but, the music on offer from our guests Proviant Audio and DJ Woo was of the highest eclectic quality. We initially had some sound problems what with fitting a full brass ensemble, conga drums, bass player, beat maker and djs into such a small space but hit the high notes for originality regards the billing and uncovering of a new Nordic talent, Proviant Audio. Norway based or visiting people can catch them live as part of the music festival By:Larm next month, which this year is run by head honcho of the seminal Norwegian imprint Smalltown Supersound - Joakim Haugland. Anyway, it might not have moved too many people but, my latest DO IT! poster got published on Osloposters - a great resource and community for the art of poster design in Oslo by designer Stig Andersen. It gives me great pleasure to be recognized alongside some of the eye catching posters around here and I only hope other people start up similar sites around the world in the hope of resurrecting the dying 'art of the poster'. Thanks to Jan for photos on the night!

'Nordic Eye' poster design by Alexander Horne, 2010

DO(1)T!

One year ago this month I wanted to kick start something of a petit creative revolution in my home city, Aberdeen in Scotland. As it has been documented in the press recently, through the tribulations of the contemporary art center and Union Terrace Gardens project, despite hosting a fine art school and many aspiring young creatives Aberdeen is not quite the hub of creativity and culture as it could be. Compared to similar sized cities such as Bergen across the North Sea or Dundee down the road it is very slow to understand the support and encouragement required by young creatives, especially in such a tough economic climate as now. The petit creative revolution that is DO IT! is now one year old and we are ready to celebrate this Friday with two special guests with strong local links. The first guest, DJ Giles Walker is a resident dj at Snafu Club and an important local figure in the introduction and booking of new music and acts from around the UK and beyond. Our headline guest, Two Eyes, is a rare talent from Edinburgh who when not designing buildings, pulley systems or riding bikes up extremely challenging hills can be found secretly composing deep future music in his humble Leith flat. We have been lucky to export our own 'deen talents to cities such as Barcelona, Bergen and Helsinki this year so for this one year celebration if you are in town come and enjoy DO IT! in Aberdeen and support and celebrate with the local creatives that make this collective a vivrant force in Aberdeen and beyond.

Poster: by SIO.

DOing IT! craft style

Had a couple of weeks back in the UK before I return to Norway for la vie Oslo so suggested to my DO IT! collaborator Sio that I could design this months poster. It was also to be the first time I was DJing in Scotland since January earlier this year and had booked Brian D'Souza to come up North for a live set and Oslo based French designer and VJ Julie Arrive to do visuals alongside our residents. Regarding the poster; problems arose when I remembered the baggage handlers with idle hands that had left me with one mac charger less while returning from Sonar festival, Barcelona this year. With no workmates to borrow from and a distinct lack of mac shops or anywhere with a mac charger in Aberdeen I had to knock together a 100% craft poster with the aide of hands, pen, paper and scalpel. Came out quite nice in the end and I actually really enjoyed being away from my computer for those few days. Going to be working a lot more with hand illustration and collage on a couple of artsy projects coming up so keep an eye out. Also worth noting is the expansion of our DO IT! brand to Oslo where we will continue to host artsy guests from around Norway, Scotland and beyond. DO IT!

Poster: by Alexander Horne (me!).

Sub-Urban Dexterity

Last week at Landmark, Bergen Kunsthall rocked! Over 200 heads were in attendance to see a line-up that wouldn't have been out of place as a mini festival. The roster included some spectacular landscaped visuals by VJ picks The DJ's vj Birk, Ekko Fest organizer DJ Asel, myself (DJ Uraki Riddim) accompanied by Julie Arrive's visuals, an exclusive debut for Brian D'Souza's new live work and a Norge treat in the form of Nabovarsel starlets Sanhueza and Tobii live. Big thanks to those who performed and attended. Check out some pics from the party below;

Photos: (from top: dj Asel & vj Birk, Uraki Riddim, Brian D'Souza & vj Julie Arrive, Sanhueza & Tobii live) by Ed Barber.

Lähdemmekö nyt!?

Just got back from a 48 hour express trip to Helsinki with 4/5 of the DO IT! collective where we performed for the Cheap Tricks night at a former tram factory turned cultural center called Korjaamo. Cheap Tricks is one of a plethora of lo-fi and independent nights sprouting out through Helsinki with a mixture of young and old, girls and boys stearing them all. Cheap Tricks is the work of busy Helsinki-ite Lani Nordlund, who while studying in Helsinki manages to run this electronica themed club night (Cheap Tricks) and a more indie and band friendly night called Säpinää at the same time. Helsinki was cool, more so thanks to our tram active and bar alert host, and threw up some very interesting new music acts and moods.

The city in general had a strange mixed feeling between Soviet Eastern Bloc and little traces of distant Swedish rule hidden amongst the abstract blocks. I aim to be back to visit Finland and Helsinki soon when I will be able to write more in detail. Meantime, Helsinki's answer to Glasgow's Jackmaster (so called busiest man in music) Lauri Soini should be the first port of call for music reference in Finland's capital. With hands in many pies, as a live act, dj, promoter, producer and director of progamming for the uber swish Nolla bar it wouldn't go amiss to check out some of the many traces of his work. Lani's tip for a local band Fotoshop weren't hard to leave on at a high volume and we will be hoping to bring them over to an Aberdeen DO IT! night at some point soon alongside some of the other interesting acts we met and listened to. A couple of exciting and better known acts we came across in this Scandic/Soviet middle patch were the Cure-esque Villa Nah, the bizzarely titled and tropically charged Le Corps Mince de Francoise and last but possibly most bizzarely the genre defying Jaakko Eino Kalevi. Special thanks to our host Lani Nordlund, photographer Juho Lähdesmäki and Vixen Vj Paula!

Poster: by Cheap Tricks graphic designer Johannes Pokkinen.

CHΞ▲P TR!CKS ♥ DO IT!

Some photos from our recent trip to Finland's capital. We have some exciting collaborations coming up with Finland and Norway regarding bringing acts to our DO IT! residency every second Friday of the month at Cellar Bar 35, Aberdeen. You can read more and follow the DO IT! group on facebook here.
Photos: (from top: surprised guest, Introvert live, djs Uraki Riddim & White Chocolate, vjs M.O.C. & Ben) by Juho Lähdesmäk.

DO IT!!! Barcaloca

A big thanks to all the good people who made it down to an intimate and perfect Sonar aperitivo DO IT! night at Marula Cafe in Barcelona. Numbers hit around the 100 mark and those in attendance managed to catch a great variety of DJ sets. From Sunday Joints Roger C's eclectism of afro bass and other various treats, some rare latin and salsa cuts from the man Timber through to some fantastic wu womping funky and fresh beats outta New Zealand via Brazil courtesy of Bobby Brazuka. A special shout of appreciation to Marula's Antonio and Nuggets Club's Mighty C-Zar who got us through the first DO IT! in Spain. We're scheduled to travel to and play in Helsinki and Bergen next on a Nordic swoop and in the company of Glasgow's Brian De Souza so look out!

Poster: by Alexander Horne (me!).

Nordic Visions

Earlier this month I had the pleasure of sharing a stage with Finland's Vixen vjs as part of a new venture in Norway by the name of Transplant Sessions. I spun records as part of the DO IT! collective, under my dj guise Uraki Riddim, and organized the event at Transplant's innovation and design center in Dale I Sunnfjord on the West coast of Norway. Transplant Sessions is a platform for electronic music and visual talent from Nordic countries to showcase themselves through live performance and documentation of their work online. Transplant Sessions' first guest, Badass Bambi from Vixen vjs, represented Finland and on the night provided a beautiful, colourful and abstract re-interpretation of the Transplant venue's idyllic surrounding landscape.

Vixen vjs are originally from Tampere, said to be Finland's equivalent to Manchester, where they have been performing with the local Plauge dj collective at their Off The Hook club night and their very own Pikku Sisko Disko parties (little Sister disco). Vixens are two female vjs, Pony Revenger and Badass Bambi aka Video-Jukka-Paula aka artist Paula Lehtonen. Their attitude and style is unique but, also representative of a significant number of smaller DIY club nights and parties sprouting up throughout the world. It was a pleasure working with the Vixens and it is certain that DO IT! and Vixen vjs will be colloborating again at some point later this year when their busy schedule allows. Before Vixens bring their visual venom to Scottish shores, or wherever else a future colaboration takes form, check out Paula Lehtonen's own personal artistic output on her website here.