Tsugi Podcast 221: Uraki Riddim

A new Uraki Riddim mix for French magazine Tsugu is now online. The mix is the first in a series representing the sounds of the Nordic electronic music scene and coinciding with the Scandinavian equivalent of SXSW, By:Larm, where he will be playing as part of The Drop showcase. Tracks from Russian beatmakers OL, Pixelord and 813 to Tuff Wax kids Yoin, Bones and Money are all up in there so get on it and enjoy listening.

Tsugi Podcast 221 : Uraki Riddim by Tsugi Mag on Mixcloud

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

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

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

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

New Ink in 3D

New Ink is going 3D! None of that 90s 3D cereal box giveaway nonsense though. In fact, we are working on some fresh ropa (clothes) straight outta Oslo. This Summer, New Ink will unveil three fresh t-shirt designs and the Uraki pattern tote bag (check out Uraki Riddim myspace for the design). Uraki pattern was inspired by the discovery that the first ever city in the world was from Iraq, Uruk. Uraki represents the terminology for a citizen of this first city. The other designs will be inspired by the contents of the blog - architecture, beats, illustration, landscapes and abstraction. Check out some of the early sketches and be sure to get in touch if you are interested in picking up one of these hot cakes pre-release.

Illustrations by Alexander Horne (me) 2010.

Scratch It!

Having provided a platform for collaboration between Finnish VJs the Vixen VJs and myself, DJ Uraki Riddim, for the first Transplant Session we decided to go for a similar music and visual combination for Session # 2. Instead of a typical VJ and DJ set-up however, we took influence from an era of hip-hop that produced movements of not only music but dance, art and fashion. Our second session explored the history of the 'Scratch' and intended to reinterpret it's raw essence in a new format. Scratching in a musical sense, is the expression and manipulation of records to make new sounds and rhythms. It is an aspect of turntabilsm, performance DJing, and one of hip-hop's art forms. Other hip-hop art forms include break dancing, street art and MCing. Regular jam sessions brought these four art forms together and it is in this spirit that designer, artist and my work colleague Jan Brauer and I came together to create the 'Scratch' themed night that included an exclusive showing of Doug Pray's excellent documentary film 'Scratch' and first public showcase of Jan Brauer utilizing his scratch board technique live while I spun some classic and new hip-hop, electronica and dub beats.

Hailing originally from near Leipzig and following a working period in New York, Brauer moved to Dale I Sunnfjord on the west coast of Norway to work with Ralston&Bau design studio and Trasnplant's innovation and design center. For the duration of his stay he has attentively developed a unique scratch board technique to further communicate his deep, twisted and occasionally wicked humorous illustrative style. You can check out some images of the stunning final scratch board piece from this night and some of his other work's here. Brauer is also part of a mobile, playful and provocative graphic collective named Gono Gono and you can check out some of their works here.
Photo: Jan Brauer at work during Transplant Sessions #2 by Leon Vaarheim.