Mr Elephant Presents

So today’s kinda the “launch” of this website, so it might be a good time to introduce what we are doing, and why…..

Well firstly i’m (obviously) a real elephant, and i live in a nice lickle park in Moseley, Birmingham. I came over to this country about 2 years ago, and have many great stories to share of my past…..That however, is for another day.

The first thing that struck me about Birmingham is the wealth of creative talent and this melting pot of cultures. After a short period of getting adjusted, i started meeting people who were showcasing culture’s from all around the world alongside their own slices of life, and the more i dug, the more i found.

While it confused me that it wasn’t in the tourist information office, or on the birmingham websites, i was inspired by this almost underground culture, and it is what has inspired me to create my own events, which i hope will help to shine a light on all this beautiful activity.

The other thing that struck me about this city is the friendliness of people. Human’s not only willing to share their tips and knowledge with you, but also a real sense of wanting to get involved, with many of the city’s creatives and promoters working for little or no money.

It also seems that while this city was once known as the workshop of the world, that the pace of today’s lifestyle doesn’t allow time to share knowledge and skills with each other, with most human’s being restricted by problems that don’t really affect us elephant’s, such as money, time, responsibilities, etc.

So we thought it might be beneficial or/at least interesting to offer a platform for anyone who wants to share what they do. At our events, with support and workshops from our team, and/or on our website as part of the Workshop of World idea, by sharing your tips and links.

We figure if you can share what has moved you forward, it (a) introduces you to the local community, and (b) might be beneficial to others, hopefully creating new opportunities. Either way it’ll be interesting to find out what we like to do, and we will be asking you for your tips at the next Mr Elephant, (and hopefully scratching them into the mix via the djs!)

We are doing short mentoring opportunities for people that are interested in doing what we do at our events, by giving them hands on experience and/or a workshop so they can experience what its like to be doing what they are into. We hope to make this into a Mr Elephant programme of workshops later this year, if we can find some financial support, so the workshops will always be free.

Our other strands of Mr Elephant are currently the explorations and of the 3 part radio show. The Radio show is designed to be accessible to a wide range of tastes, with an ecletic mixtape with narrative , a dj mix, and live recordings from Birmingham. It’s free and the links to the artists are provided to encourage you to check them out. The cd covers and artwork by the way is designed by Aart Tanner, and are available for download.

The explorations will be hosted by me and Ruth Robinson, who will be conducting a period of research into the effects on local businesses of the current eastside development of Digbeth. I’ll be looking at things that i’m curious about from the point of view of an elephant living in Birmingham , e.g like empty buildings, the big city plan, how easy is it to get your voice heard to the local council etc, and we’ll both be blogging and/or recording our journey.

And last but not least, we we are working on/towards hosting festival tents and venues, offering music based on our radio shows, and workshops for all ages, alongside all the rest of what goes into a Mr Elephant tent/experience. We have the setup and the team to deliver events of any size, and are always open to any offer, though aside from the current festival bids, and collaberations with the local venues, this will be something we are looking to expand after the summer.

So that’s about it. Collectively we hope the ideas will continue to evolve, and that it’s something you might like to get involved with in someway. (Even if that be shaking your trunk on the dancefloor

One love

Mr Elephant x

In honour of our first birthday party next month, here is the next installment of the radio show (now our websites up and running.) This one is inspired by my journey around the world, and the previous collaborations with Jibbering and Jam Jah at our first two events. Please click on any of the artists you like, and If you enjoy the mix, feel free to drop me a comment.

Mr Elephant’s Journey Round the World

1. The mighty Thievery Corporation start us off. A Washington DC-based production and DJ duo consisting of Rob Garza and Eric Hilton and their supporting artists. Their music can be characterized as downtempo/electronica with influences of dub, acid jazz, indian classical and brazilian styles fused together with a lounge aesthetic, and they really know how to produce bass!

2. Then it’s to my home city of Birmingham with the inspiring Friendly Fire Crew, reggae collective, featuring the talented Paradox on the vocals and Robin Giorni on the production, with this proper track called “Web Of Deceit”

3. Down into the the south of Spain we find the beautiful voice of Yolando Rayo, with an equisite traditonal salsa track “Salsa Con Sabor”

4. Then its to the bright lights and big show tunes of Broadway, with Catherine Zeta Jones blasting out her rendition of “All That Jazz” from the musical Chicago (reedited for full dancefloor effect by me)

5. Thrown onto the streets of London with this dirty classic track from Noonsday Underground

6. Going Deeper into the capital for the inspired fusion of Tricky (with great vocals from Martine), with their seminal track “Black Steel” from the album Maxinquaye.

7. India speaks with the amazing vocal talent of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, taken from my favourite soundtrack of the 90’s - Natural Born Killers

8. Staying East we get treated to the combined musical skills of Shankar and the Epidemics.

9. Then lush African Marimba sounds from Batanai Marimba with a track called Shangara.

10. To the streets of Barcelona is where we find the Minimal Acoustic Band, and their track “Saraha”. Mainly using traditional didgeridoos from Nepal, and steel pans from Jamaica their fusion is/was a highlight from the Catalunyan streets.

11. Then its a quick trip back to the U.K to catch the hugely talented fusion that is Nitin Sawhney, with this title track from his Beyond Skin Album.

12. Then were off all the way across the globe to New Zealand with a brief stopover in Australia and a classic track from Crowded House

13. Over to now Europe for two short vists. One is to France to see the excellent French Hip Hop Sounds of Nuttea

14. And then over to Germany to check out a light hearted Dauerfisch

15. A business trip to Japan allows us to let our hair down and catch the pure funk of Major Force, with this wicked track taken from Thievery Corporation’s “Outernational Sound Mix Album”

16. Then its over to the west coast with a little bit of deck skills from Dj Shadow with this bit of Walkie Talkie,

17. and then NWA give us a slice of Compton life with the classic “Fuck Da Police”

18. Manu Chao is a Latin folk singer of Galician origin, fusing all sorts of …well you probably heard of him too.

19. Over to the continent of Africa to visit Mozambique for a Maputo based multi generational collective. Mabulu are one of a number of nu-generation African bands balancing dance music, traditional roots sounds, and the verbal acrobatics and conscious social lyrics of rap and hip-hop. This track is called Aids.

20. Then of course, The Pink Panther from North American composer Henry Mancini

21. And to bring us back home, we haved the inspirational soundtrack esque Barry Adamson, with the very cool “Jazz Devil”

One love

Mr E x

Another breaks mix for part two, this time for Galaxy Radio.

A Fantasy Breakbeat Theme - March 2007 

1. A FANTASY BOND THEME - Barry Adamson
3. I WISH (Aquaski Mix) - Skeelo
4. HAPPY SOUL WITH A HOOK (Blue DOllar Bill Mix) - Dave Cortez & Moon People <>
5. HOPE TIME (Rogue Element Mix) - Stanton Warriors
6. GET LOW - Baobinga
7. GUTTERPUMP - Noisia
8. TRICKS (Rogue Element Mix) - Culprit
9. APOLLO (General Midi Apollo 8 Mix) - Way Out West
9. MOVIN THE HYPE (Nick Thayer Mix) - Aquasky vs Crash Berlin feat K
10. NO OTHER - Deflkine & Red Polo
11. CROWD CONTROL (Robosabians Mix) - Vital Substance
12. UNCONTAMINATED (Neoteric Mix) - Soundex
13. BEEN THERE DONE THAT - The Funk Lab
14. GET SHIFT (Far Too Loud Mix) - D-Ranged
15. NO GOOD
16. 777 - Aquasky
17. KING OF THE BONGO
18. FASTEN YOUR SEATBELTS - Pendulum Vs Freestyers

This time we have a great reggae selection from Jam Jah and Friendly Fire Maestro Robin G in the first half

and then in the second we welcome Project X Presents and piano maestro, Mr Rich Batsford, with part one of a live recording from his gig last year at the Old joint Stock Theatre.

Mind, Body, Lifestyle, Holistic, Sport, etc

Survival, D.I.Y, Autonomous, Bushcraft

Rabbits! Never understood why saying that word before is supposed to bring good fortune, but it seems relevant as the Hare and Hounds will be the venue for my first birthday! Happy Spring everyone!

Yes, yes, now its starting to warm up, and spring is officially on its way (March 21st apparently!), i’m out of my annual winter hibernation, and am a very happy little elephant (as you can probably see!) Me and the crew have been working really hard, and have some nice tings planned for you and yours in 2008, which we really hope you’ll be into.First up is the birthday party. Friday April 25th 2008 @ the Hare and Hounds, and the theme will be Mr Elephant’s Journey around the World, (which basically means we will be inviting local Birmingham cultural representatives to come and share their delights with you from 9 - 3 am.)

First up is the mighty Jam Jah reggae collective who will be hosting room 2, after they rammed and rocked their room all night long at the 1st Mr Elephant event last year.

In the main room we will be welcoming one of my favourite bands from Birmingham, the mighty Balkan Gypsy pioneers Mama Matrix! We been trying to book them for ages, so we really looking forward to their energy fuelled and emotionally charged pyschedellic experience!

Of course no Mr Elephant birthday would be complete without a midnight samba parade, so leading the midnight mask parade will be one of the two leading Birmingham Samba collectives, (though as we are waiting confirmation, we can’t say which one that will be!)

On the decks will be our very own Marc Reck, who will be starting the night with tracks from his journey around the world mixtape, and finishing the night with his biggest sock rockin breaks and drum and bass, alongside Dj Lopan, and some special guests. It also happens to be their birthday party too, so to celebrate the fact, that they are both turning 30, each guest will receive a free boxed cd of the “Journey Around the World” mixtape on entry.

Dramask will also be on hand to facilitate the mask decorating, and we have live visuals and elephant films, through the night. We are plugging for drinks promos, though the brewery is not as accomodating as we’d like, and we hope to be adding more guests and attractions over the next month.

Tickets will be about a fiver to cover the costs, and should be on sale in a couple of weeks, and please subscribe to the free rss feed for automatic delivery of the latest updates.

One love

Mr Elephant x