We are extremely happy to announce that Mr Elephant Radio has found a real live home in Birmingham, with our first live show starting this friday, 21st November at 6pm - 8pm.
That home is Rhubarb Radio - www.rhubarbradio.com, a Birmingham Based Community Radio Station which has an amazing roster of djs playing a wide range of music, broadcast live from its home at the Custard Factory in Digbeth.
Our resident dj Marc Reck will be hosting the Mr Elephant Show, and as its from 6pm - 8pm on a friday evening, will be playing a range of music to wind down after work in hour one, and then a more upbeat dj mix to warm up for the weekend, (similar to that of our podcast, but with more talking
There will be weekly competitions, (this first one to win a ticket for Atomic Jam’s 13th Birthday @ the Que Club) and there will be Mr Elephant’s recommended weekend manoeuvres for anyone looking for something to do over the weekend.
As the schedule is currently in the process being sorted, we are not sure at this stage whether there will be time for the live recordings as well, but we are hoping to translate the 3 part Mr Elephant radio show format into this new residency, alongside inviting special guests into the studio.
All shows will be available to dload, and tracklistings available on this website under radio, and the radio station streams 24 hours a day, so be sure to tune in whenever you need some good music.
Its been a while, and these have been at elephant hq for a while now, so hope they still have the same impact they did on the test plays. We’ve been waiting for the talented Aart to make the cd cover, but its almost been a year now, so i think its about time!
This third mixtape is a journey as Mr Elephant explores his heart. Not knowing where to begin, he soon finds the broad street crew, the then various nightlife, and the further he goes the more knows, until he finds out what love is, and finds true love. A bit like Forest Gump in a lot of respects.
Anyway i hope you enjoy his lickle story, and as ever comments are welcome. If the narrative doesnt hit you i hope that the music does. Enjoy
If you listened to or downloaded this mix, please drop us a comment below, and if you like any of the artists, please think about buying one of their tracks.
For part 2 this month we are pleased to showcase Marc Reck’s latest mix, which is based on the heroes journey. He recently hosted it on his own website, so i’ll pass you over to him to describe it.
It was ony waiting for one mix, but there was nothing in my box that seemed to fit, so i’ve left it for…..well for months now.
Last night though, i managed to finish it by trying a couple of new tracks with it, which i think fits the narrative perfectly, and by 6am, i had a couple of covers and the tracklisting all done. (The cover incidentally is something i made at school when i was 7!)
So for your listening “pleasure” may I present - “Journey to the Edge of Somewhere”. I really hope you enjoy it, and i also hope you can see some of the hero’s journey in it.
It’s not supposed to be pretty, for obvious reasons, and music wise its based around the heavier end of breaks and drum and bass, as similar to my Fear and Love Mix, it is designed to work on an underground dancefloor, as well as have a narrative.
I didnt have room to put the stages on the cd cover, though i do want to, so until then, here they are for your reference.
The Ordinary World
The Call to Adventure
Meeting The Mentor
Crossing The Threshold
Approach to the Innermost Cave
The Supreme Ordeal
The Road Back
The Shadow Challenge
The Freedom To Return
The Reward
And here’s the tracklisting.
I wanted to host it on my server, so downloading it would be quick for anyone that wants to, and the file size is only 33 meg, so should be fairly quick.
The only downside, is that it wont tell me how many people have downloaded it, so if you do download it, or listen to it online, all i ask is that you drop me a comment, (even its just “downloading/listening now”) so i can get some idea of how many people are interested to hear it.
Many thanks, i hope you enjoy it, and i really appreciate your comments
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.
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.
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”
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.
I work with a lovely team of people to deliver underground carnival style celebratory events, a big radio show, and some elephant community explorations.
