To the uninitiated, Treble O is the digital label started by Domu (Co-Op resident, BBC 1Xtra presenter and general worldwide DJ extraordinaire) and Shift (Internet whiz and all round good guy) in the summer of 2006. The initial idea was to provide a digital output for Domu projects with his Bedfordshire musical family, such as Nicola Kramer, Soza (Sonar Circle) DJ Marin (Bakura) and Shift (Yotoko) with the desire to release a wide and varied selection of music that wasn´t confided to any specific format or genre. The ethos quickly applied to finding and supporting new artists that we felt needed more attention and the freedom to be able to do whatever it is they want to do!

After a very successful 7″release from Coventry Jazzer Ben Mi Duck, which gained a lot of attention from the worldwide Jazzaratti, the label was spurred on to put their money where their mouth is and to release a compilation of music from our newly found friends as well as from more established artists, but this time on CD.

Tracks by established artists like Nu-Era (Marc Mac, 4hero), Bass Clef (Blank Tapes), Lukid (Werks), Daedelus (Ninjatune) and Probe DMS (Spymusic) proudly sit next to songs by new artists like Soulparlour, Sub Ensemble and Chris Barker. Featuring Jazz, House, Dubstep, Hip Hop, Bruk and Electronica the compilation spans the genres, like a huge genre spanner. Now established label contributors Dorian Concept and Ben Mi Duck offer high quality tracks that have been receiving radio and club support from Gilles Peterson, Benji B, Patrick Forge, Jazzanova and many other A-List DJ´s worldwide.

Taking risks is what we are all about, and we feel this compilation reflects all that is new and interesting in soulful experimental dance music today.

Tracklisting:

Lukid - Twice
Probe Dms - Voodoo Magic
Chris Barker - Breakin Bread
Ben Mi Duck - Pointless Dreams
Nu Era - Robot Moves
Domu Feat. Aina - Izittobe
Soulparlor - Gee
Sonar Circle (bass Clef Mix) - Cry
Domu - So Move
Cartridge - Planet Zero
Baker Brothers - What You Do Is Right
Dj Marin (rondenion Mix) - Love Fantasy
Sub Ensemble - 22 21
Simbad - Momentum
Dorian Concept - Thank Capital Letters
Daedelus - Drummery Jam

BUY THE HERE COMES TREBLE CD!!

Various Artists - Here Comes Treble [TrebleO] CD

Order The CD For Only £10 Including Worldwide Postage!!

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Reviews:

When Domu asked me to do a track for the album he used those magic words “you can do anything you want” and that’s how ‘Robot Moves’ came to life. You can clearly hear across the album that everyone involved had the same instructions and the result is a solid compilation of great diverse self indulgence. And that’s not a bad thing…
Marc Mac (4 Hero)

Classy, vibey, twisted, colourful and very cool, all topped off with a little humour! You can´t go wrong with this compilation!!
Atjazz (Mantis)

A truly hard hitting comp full of sucker punches and KO´s packed with an arsenal of sharpshooters led by General Domu. Sounds so nice had to play it thrice!
Afronaut (Bugz In The Attic)

It represents brilliantly everything going on in the house, soul and jazz scenes at the moment.
Aaron Jerome (BBE/If Music)

A fantastic sound clash of genre-bending underground music! Simply needs to be heard!
Mark De Clive Lowe (Antipodean)

CD ALSO AVAILABLE FROM THE FOLLOWING ONLINE STORES:

HMV
ZAVVI
AMAZON
JUNO
FAT CITY
IF MUSIC
ROUGH TRADE
LOOP 23
PICCADILLY RECORDS

The ‘kin way in!
(If you’ve gorrit already, go dig it aaaaaat again)

Ay up mayyyyytes. Thought we’d skip forward to the 70′z for this months tiny taster (it’s a bit bigger than last months cos I felt bad at cutting so much info aaaat of Maiden Voyage)

Weather Report: Mysterious Traveller (1974)

1.    Nubian Sundance
2.    American Tango
3.    Cucumber slumber
4.    Mysterious Traveller
5.    Blackthorn Rose
6.    Scarlet Woman
7.    Jungle Book

Keyboards: Josef Zawinul
Saxes: Wayne Shorter
Bass: Alphonso Johnson
Drums: Ishmael Wilburn
Percussion: Dom Um Romao
Plus loadsa guests!

Worra treat this is!  Abaaaat 25 years after it come aaat, I was killin time daaaan Mansfield Road in Nottingham, n popped into a record shop. The cover caught me eye (it’s a stunner- especially on full vinyl sleeve) n I thought as I was already lovin “Tale Spinnin (1975)” i’d give this one a go too.. I boarded the Red Arrer back to Derby, n read through the tracks. Already images of Egypt, the US of ‘kin A, and Baloo in a Chimp costume were flowin through the mind, but 45mins after the arrival at my Dads record player I decided they’d actually created a new world- detached from “World music” borrowings..

Joe Zawinul proper starts to lead the band more on this album, :), n there’s a couple that Wayne dosen’t even play on. I’ve heard people say that the synths sound dated on here, but to be honest yer shouldn’t be listening to  them as synths. All the sounds are so relevant and integral that it’s a treat to listen to. I find loads of nu-jazz n stuff at the mo uses electronics in such a cold way, but here Joe is in complete control of the sounds he’s making.. All the tunes weave and develop so ‘kin naturally, and I think the main compositional process of just improvising onto tapes and picking out/transcribing the nice bits to use as material is of paramount importance. Lets not forget the leaders were really doin it acoustically in the 60’s- Wayne with Miles Davis and Herbie, Joe with Cannonball Adderley, and they were both right in the mix for the early Miles electric stuff, so the experience and knowledge these guys bring to performance and composition is second to none!

Tunez -wise, Nubian Sundance….well….what else do yer ‘kin need!?! The whole Pentatonic thing is really workin for me, n the beats, n the lines. Get it turned up!  As we move through the tracks a really nice thing is Alfonso Johnson’s bass playin. I’m not into Miroslav Vitous, the guy he replaced, and I really don’t dig wannabe guitarist Jaco Pastorius. I’d boot him out of “Ben mi duck” straight off. “Play a bassline Jaco, you berk” ..

All the grooves have awesome space to them, n whilst bein “Funky” retain Jazz sensibilities so they don’t get borin like Funk does. I hate the word “Journey” when describing somethin, but I can’t think of ote better. There’s no point me ramblin on abaaaaat each track, cos you gorra listen yourself. I love the last one though “Jungle book”. It’s another Zawinul piece, like what kicked the album off. The child you can hear is his, whingeing at him cos he was  recording  improvisations instead of reading Jungle Book! ‘kin kidz. Never get between a man and his Jazz! Lovely way to end an album though..

Best listened to: on a windy dusk at Alport Heights

Various Artists - Here Comes Treble [TrebleO] CD

Order The CD For Only £10 Including Worldwide Postage!!

Payments are processed by PayPal, if you do not have an account it only takes a few seconds to set one up. You can pay by credit/debit card or if you already have an account you can use your PayPal balance. Please remember to include the address that you would like the CD sending to.

The album features lots of different styles from broken beat to hip hop, house to funk, jazz to dubstep and pretty much everything in between so there should be something on there that will have you buggin out and jumping around your computer.

Tracklist:

1. LUKID - TWICE
2. PROBE DMS - VOODOO MAGIC
3. CHRIS BARKER - BREAKIN BREAD
4. BEN MI DUCK - POINTLESS DREAMS
5. NU ERA - ROBOT MOVES
6. DOMU FEAT AINA - IZITTOBE
7. SOULPARLOR - GEE
8. SONAR CIRCLE - CRY [BASS CLEF MIX]
9. DOMU - SO MOVE
10. CARTRIDGE - PLANET ZERO
11. BAKER BROTHERS - WHAT YOU DO IS RIGHT
12. DJ MARIN - LOVE FANTASY [RONDENION MIX]
13. SUB ENSEMBLE - 22 21
14. SIMBAD - MOMENTUM
15. DORIAN CONCEPT - THANK CAPITAL LETTERS
16. DAEDELUS - DRUMMERY JAM

        Im not sure if it’s a good sign we didn’t notice HERE COMES TROUBLE was released on a bank holiday. Most of the shops had it from last week, so i suppose they have to actually have it in stock a few days before they put it up for sale. We did notice though that some shops put it up for order early, but i imagine that’s ok. Anyone that checks the site should know that WE can sell a limited number here for £10 including postage and packing, more on that to follow. Also we will be bringing them to the forthcoming launch nights, so if you are coming to either London or Birmingham to hear me or Ben Mi Duck or whoever, then you can save up to buy one their. I will sit by them all night looking sad, with a big pen waiting for someone to ask me to sign one. Then i will probably sign it ‘J.R Hartly‘, in reference to the 1980’s Yellow Pages add.      

        Another weekend and thankfully another gig. Manchester’s now infamous ‘Friends and Family BBQ’ was a real eye opener, not least for the 100 or so mentalists standing outside in the pouring rain jigging to Broke’n'English as we arrived. A genuine pang of worry filled me for a second as i realised that alot of these people were hanging through the rain because Strategy and DRS are SOOOOOO good at crowd interaction, owing a little to their ‘Whose Rhyme Is It Anyway?’ section of the show, where they take random topics from the crowd and freestyle them into very tight, amusing verses. There were some quite unimaginative suggestions though, a particular low point being ‘Big Earrings’, although DRS deftly included it. I can just imagine someone trying to look about for something to shout out, and his eyes quickly resting on the large golden hoops of a Manc bogle queen.  But with the  crowd vibed up from Hip-Hop and Dub-step, i knew this wasn’t gonna be a set i could include any Joni Mitchell. So i rinsed it, for an hour, and smacked them up with my junglistical stylings. BANG the new N.E.R.D, BANG Future Rage, BANG some other stuff! Yep, it went well, although my shoes and trousers were quite sodden when i got back to the hotel. I quickly dried off though, and celebrated a successful gig with some Salt and Vinegar Mckoy’s. ‘ROCK AND ROLL!’ eh? Other crisps are available.      

  Sallie, my wife, was with me the whole weekend, and on the drive back she told me one of the funniest stories i have heard in a long time. Im not sure how it will work in print ( you will see what i mean), but here goes. Our brother in law, who is from Ireland, reported his sister was over in the Bedford area once to go to a seminar or something in Milton Keynes. She met up with a random representative from the company sent to meet her and drive her from Bedford to MK, via the villages and greenery of the A421 (or is it the a428?). Anyhow, she instantly felt uneasy around this driver, the silent tension building with every mile of silence. They hadn’t spoken since their initial ‘hello’, and both clearly felt as if the silence should be broken, and soon! The driver finally piped up “Do you get much rape in Ireland?”         

    Now for a woman on her own, in an unfamiliar car, on an unfamiliar journey with an unfamiliar man, this was understandably un-nerving. She started to blurt out frantically about recent rape cases in Ireland, how the law differed slightly from the UK and how friends she had known had come close to attacks but fought their would be attackers off. The driver fidgeted a little awkwardly and gestured to out to the fields through the passenger window. “No, i mean Rape Seed “, he mumbled nervously, “Do you get much of that?”  

     I wasn’t sure that would work in text, but it is fine because rape is spelt the same in both cases. Good one. This is the only case i can think off in which rape can be funny, so apologies to anyone who it conjures up disturbing memories from their past. I often find myself in theses situations, for example talking to someone at length about how lovely labradors are, to find their longest childhood companion Bouncer has just bit the big one. Or more recently gone on about how much of an a-hole Mark E Smith from The Fall seems, when flung into a muso conversation with a DJ from Estonia, only to discover he was his biggest fan and visibly hurt by my endless tirade of abuse and use of the c-bomb towards Mr Smith.   

   For these, and my possible proverbial foot in mouth in the previous anecdote, i can only apologise. There is a side to my humour, born from years of appreciation of Chris Morris, that likes to drop in the odd reference to something quite ugly and offensive to raise a childish giggle at the mention of a taboo. Recently i have taken ‘Paedophile’ to be my insult of choice to anyone who slightly annoys me, be it on the road, in the street or on the internet.  But i should stop and think sometimes that this is a harsh and quite disturbing subject, and one not to be used quite so lightly for my own amusement.  Equally disturbing that in a recent Fairy Liquid advert, comedy TV chef Ainsley Harriot demands ‘more power’ over his unruly dog, and then in turn for his washing up. My immediate response was for him to dress up as Hitler, not realising how instantly distasteful the idea of a black Nazi was. But what i mostly find funny in this world is ironic juxtaposition, and the previous image is quite a clear and distinct example of this comedic style.         

    Well, i have rambled on long enough now i am sure. Please tell your friends about this blog and the website, i WILL be discovered as the broken beat scene’s hidden literary genius before the year is out, and you will all help me. THIS I COMMAND!              

  Till next we meet, tek care, stick to the path and don’t go on the moors.       

That dog, that cat, that little tiny man.

Jazz Praises by The Michael Garrick Sextet

Incredible british jazz on french TV in 1968, especially the track that starts at 02:15. Haunting stuff.

Peter Gabriel and Fairlight CMI

When floppy discs actually were floppy discs

SIR David “RamJam” Rodigan

ROARRRRRRRGGGGHHHHHHHHH

Soft Machine Live 1967 - (Excerpt)

Heavy prog business

HMV

ZAVVI

AMAZON

JUNO

FAT CITY

IF MUSIC

ROUGH TRADE

LOOP 23

PICCADILLY RECORDS

After many months of putting the Here Comes Treble compilation together it is now available to buy as a download from the iTunes store!!

It is encoded at the iTunes Plus bitrate so it is a lot higher quality than a standard ITMS release and is DRM free!!

The album features lots of different styles from broken beat to hip hop, house to funk, jazz to dubstep and pretty much everything in between so there should be something on there that will have you buggin out and jumping around your computer . . .

Buy it, burn it, enjoy it . . .

Various - Here Comes Treble [TrebleO] iTunes Link

Right, Monday morning. How do I feel about the world? Well surprisingly good. But I bet we all are today. Collective moods are funny old things. I am quite sensitive to them, and after this weekend I get the feeling spirits are generally high.

Of course, I know the real reasons I am not desperately miserable today. I had a gig this weekend, went really well, had loads of fun and got paid. And when there is money in my wallet and the mortgage is paid for another month, I am relatively free of stress and usually on pretty good form. So now is a good time to ask me for favours. Not the sexual kind, I’m not sure what kind of mood I would have to be in to go there. Probably never happen actually, seeing as I’m married and that.

So yes it was a good gig. Not huge amounts of people, but those that were present hung about for the 5 fairly self indulgent hours I played. Tune of the night definitely goes to Seiji’s amazing remix of Erykah Badu’s ‘Honey’. An amazing return to form for Paul, it is summery (as in summer-like not like a summary), it’s danceable, it’s technically interesting but most of all, it’s fun! When you try to DJ with emotional peaks and troughs, I usually leave all the happy stuff until ‘Classics Hour’ at the end, but with an unusually long set from me, I had to introduce some other peaks, as the endless middle dark, nerdy or depressing sections could have induced mass suicide. I doubt the authorities in Middlesbrough take lightly to musically enhanced death pacts in their nightclubs. But big thanks Joe Minns and Neil Fat Dog and all the crews that came and supported. It were a reet laff.

I’m struggling to come up with anything particularly deep or meaningful today, as I feel pretty content with life. My art comes when im struggling and\or depressed. As I have noted before, smiles breed smiles, and when you are up, everyone around you seems buoyant and full of beans. As I look out of my window to the young offenders that dwell around the old primary school for their ‘rehabilitation’ classes, I notice even as they smoke crack and rob the elderly that they have a certain twinkle in their eyes that says “I’m happy with my lot”. The sun has got his hat on, presumably of an astronomical heat resistance unknown to man as of yet, hip-hip-hip hooray.

Something humorous I discovered in Middlesbrough was that they have a snack called a Parmesan, which I found hysterical. From what scant info I gathered, it seems to be chicken based, although pork or beef ones would be possible, covered in breadcrumbs and filled with cheese. And not even Parmesan. Any cheese will do, sung to the song from Joseph and his Amazing Technicolor Parmo. These things are called ‘Parmos” for short, and seem to be restricted to the ‘brough, and anywhere further than 20 miles outside it’s radius deems them the work of Satans own private guard. Of paedophiles. It sounds like a chicken kiev to me, without garlic as I assume in Middlesbrough it is considered a race crime to eat anything foreign. I will of course never witness the culinary delight of the Parmo, what with being a tree hugging, loony-lefty, arty-farty vegetarian. Note the highlight on farty. I didn’t dare pipe up and announce this fact though, partly because even the woman that was drunkenly describing it to me could have beaten me up. They are a hard race up there, and don’t take kindly to southern nancies like me flauncing about with my liberalism, jazz fusion tendancies and pointy brogues.

So till next week, by which time I will have returned to my normal, morose self, take care. Oh and if you get time, buy a track from HERE COMES TREBLE on itunes, available from today. COME ON YOU SLAGS, SUPPORT THE CAUSE!

Thank you, love to you all till next week.

(p.s this is a Parmo)

Tracklist:

1. CHRIS BARKER - BREAKIN BREAD
2. NU ERA - ROBOT MOVES
3. DOMU FEAT AINA - IZITTOBE
4. SOZA - ODE TO FALL [EXCLUSIVE]

Taken from the forthcoming Here Comes Treble compilation, this sampler features new and exclusive tracks for the dance floor by Chris Barker, Nu Era AKA Marc Mac [4hero], Domu and a bonus track by Soza that is exclusive to this sampler and will not be on the final album.

PURCHASE THE DOWNLOAD HERE!!

More info and ticket details to follow . . .

This site will now become the official place for Domu and various side projects as well as everything to do with my label, TrebleO.

Is there anything you would like to see here?

Let me now by submitting a comment to this post . . .

This is as much a place for you as it is for me . . .

Nice to have you around . . .

I think back to when I was 16. I was studying for my A levels. I had a part time job, a full time girlfriend and full time drinking and clubbing obligations. Yet I still found time to learn how to make primitive dance music on the most basic of equipment, do mixtapes, follow the scene, buy records and all that jazz. There was Brazilian music, and Detroit Techno, not to mention all the classic breaks. I had so much musical learning ahead of me it should have scared me into realising I would never know it all, and be taught to do something useful instead. like plumbing. Even learning how to fish would be more useful than what I know now. But I’m staunchly against that sort of thing, what with being a vegetarian and all.

Although this does pose a question. If the world was plunged into a Mad Max style post apocalyptical free for all, what good would all of us lot be, wandering around talking about Jazz Fusion? We’ d be surplus, that’s what, and killed. And veggies? Forget about it. Im also left handed, which probably includes me in another list of some sort of  selective cleansing of pointless humans in a crisis situation. If it all goes boobs up, I’m shagged. End of.

But I think my point was, or is, that I used to achieve LOADS more when I was young. But do all young people? Who knows? And frankly, who cares? All I know is one thing I didn’t have then, something that will eat time and energy as quick as it will inform you of the train times, or remind you of the theme tune to Fraggle Rock. Yes. The Inter Web. The World Wildlife Net. You know what I mean. Without all it’s pointless dribble and countless other complete wastes of  your time, you could be figuring out how the answers to some of  the most important questions of modern times, or realising great physical and mental potentials. The internet is to blame for pretty much everything that’s going wrong in the world, in my opinion. Apart from famine. And flooding.

So the concept of Time and the internet are my mortal enemies. I am sure I am not alone in this creeping dread. As I hit 30 with all the inevitability of you hearing the phrase “credit crunch” about 300 times a day, im sure the awareness of much time having passed will resonate among many of you, or indeed may have done so already. But I think that if we all clubbed together, we can work out a lifestyle that doesn’t depend on us sitting in front of a screen all day, worrying about getting old.

So i suggest you email me with suggestions of a time when we aren’t too busy, then we can all get together and discuss it.

Blast.

Ahead of the two Here Comes Treble launch parties (that will both feature Ben Mi Duck Live) here we have some audio of their recent FloMotion gig.

Hopefully it will give you a rough idea of what to expect (although at this gig it was the Ben Mi Duck nonet) our gigs will be a more stripped down sextet but you should get the idea . . .

Ben is currently busy scoring the TrebleO gigs and working on some new material to showcase at them . . .

We would love to see you there!

Fancy coming along . . . ?

More info to follow!

Tracks featured are:

Full Circle
Stepping Back
Sweet Berry Sour Berry
Meet The Band

You can check the MP3’s at the Ben Mi Duck free download page and I’m sure Ben would love to hear any thoughts or opinions . . .

http://www.trebleo.co.uk/free-downloads/ben-mi-duck-mp3/

You can contact him through his MySpace page below . . .

http://www.myspace.com/benmiduck