Bodytonic’s Beatyard Weekender returns for its 6th outing this week for four days of music, comedy, food and workshops.
Some highlights:
LAUREL HALO
25 year old Brooklyn based composer Laurel Halo released her debut album Quarantine on Hyperdub earlier this year, which is already being cited amongst many press & blog outlets as contender for album of 2012. Taking influences from techno music & her Midwest roots (she was raise in Michigan) Laurel has developed her own unique take on electronic music, which she says ‘is meant for transit, body listening & loud soundsystems’.
ANNIE MAC
Dublin raised, UK based, Annie Mac has become a super-star in the UK through her BBC Radio 1 show and ‘Annie Mac Presents’ tour & compilation series. Annie has played a large part in bringing bass music to the ‘masses’ in recent years, and showcasing the best of both emerging & established artists in the field such as Major Lazer, Skream, Toddla T, Buraka Som Sistema & most recently Ireland’s very own Mmoths whose single appears on the latest edition of Annie Mac Presents Compilation (released on 8 Oct).
TERROR DANJAH
A long time fixture on the UK grime scene, Terror Danjah’s played a strong role in launching the profile of stars such as Wiley, Tinie Tempah & Kano via his Aftershock label. Of late Terror has been focusing more heavily on his own production career having initially dropped an album with Planet Mu in 2009, and then signing to Kode9’s Hyperdub staple with already two albums under his belt (Undeniable 2010) & (Dark Crawler 2012).
SUBMOTION ORCHESTRA
Submotion Orchestra is a 7 piece ensemble from Leeds made up of multi instrumentalists at the top of their game. The orchestra formed when underground label Ranking Records were commission by the British Arts Council to write & perform a live dubstep piece for Yorkminster cathedral (the largest in Norther Europe!). Their debut album ‘Finest Hour’ caught the attention of Gilles Peterson who licensed the project to his ‘Brownswood Bubblers’ album series. Since then the band have been playing major UK festivals & concerts, and just released their second album ‘Fragments’ which they are currently touring.
CRAIG CHARLES
A man of many talents, Craig Charles is most famous for his acting career having appeared on Red Dwarf, Coronation Street and as presenter of Robot Wars. Craig’s other love is funk & soul music, and has been hosting the Craig Charles Funk & Soul show on BBC Radio 6 since 2002. Craig also has his own band ‘Fantasy Funk’ and regularly takes his ‘Funk & Soul’ show on the road to clubs, festivals & events Europe wide.
PEARSON SOUND
Not only has Pearson Sound (formerly Ramadanman) consistently been one of the most exciting producers at the fore of the UK bass sound, his label Hessle Audio (which he co-runs with Ben UFO) is fast becoming the biggest label in the scene, having put out releases by key players such as James Blake, Pangaea, Objekt & Peverelist. His latest project ‘Faint’ EP sees him collaborating with Joy O & Boddika and has so far been rinsed at summer festivals, dancefloors & underground radio shows worldwide.
MATTHEW HERBERT
Matthew Herbert is a musician and composer who works principally turning everyday sounds into music. He has produced an astonishing volume of work for a variety of media, including production & remixes for Bjork, REM, Quincy Jones, Serge Gainsbourg & Roisin Murphy. In 2010 he was commissioned by the Deutsche Grammophon to rework Mahler’s 10th Symphony for their recomposed series. He also scored the soundtrack for Ridley Scott’s 2011 ‘Life In A Day’. His Big Band headlined the British Council’s 75th Anniversary concert alongside 75 piece choir. Herbert’s list of wide ranging work & performances goes on & on!
DONATO DOZZY
Over the past few years, Dozzy has been one of the chief characters at Brancaleone, one of Italy’s most celebrated clubs and a key promoter of underground music in Rome. Both Dozzy’s productions & DJ sets span a wide spectrum of house/techno & electronica. He runs his own Rome based label Aquaplano and has also released on underground labels such as Mule, Orangegroove & Prologue.
APPARAT
Having released three incredibly well received electronic albums on German label Shitkatapult as well as colloborative records with Modeselektor (known as Moderat, on Bpitch Control,) and Ellen Allien (also on Bpitch), and fresh from the revered DJ-Kicks album relased on !K7, Apparat is now broadening its horizons with the release of a brand new album scheduled for late summer this year.
KRYSTAL KLEAR
Originally a lead guitarist in a Dublin hardcore punk metal band, Krystal Klear eventually ditched that world for his other love for all things hip-hop, boogie & funk. Creating his own unqiue strand of boogie & new jack swing lead him to catch the attention of BBC stars Mary Anne Hobbs (now ex BBC!) and Benji B, as well as releases on All City, EgLo & Cooly G’s Dub Organiser. He has also collaborated with Hudson Mohawke & Skream, and also remixed for O.M.D, Major Lazer and The Count & Sinden.
You can find details of the full lineup http://www.bodytonicmusic.com/beatyard
