36th Chamber @ Avenue, Newbury

Yes yes!

Once again we're here to mangle your mind with bass by the pound and some serious breakbeat pressure! Oh yes sireeee, we've secured a monthly Thursday night in the newly opened Avenue Nightclub in saddlers court, Newbury.  We'll be presenting the finest selection of underground dance music our hand picked DJ's can muster, starting each event with a breakbeat aperitif quickly followed by a side order of dubstep then lashings of drum and bass to finish.

The 36th Chamber working alongside Newbury Dubstepperz and Thump Events means you're guaranteed to hear the baddest local DJ's smacking down the hottest tracks of the moment, however keep your eyes peeled for the odd special guest or two in the future.

Entrance is free as always, however there is a dress code, details are posted here!

A free 19 seater shuttlebus has been organized for the Marketplace in Newbury where those with faulty limbs or extreme laziness disorder can catch a lift down the high street, and also look out for the Avenue team armed with flyers - some of which may be worth free booze to those lucky enough to get one!

A new genetically morphed kind of guestlist is in the process of materializing which will entitle those on it to a free beverage and queue jump, check the facebook group for more details of how to get your name on that...


Avenue Facebook Group
36th Chamber Facebook Group

Sampled By Who?? David Porter vs Puffy & The Rza

Yes another week another sample, this time around i'm honoured to introduce a fantastic slice of music from the Stax Records label. Arranged and performed by David Porter, who alongside cohort Isaac Hayes, rose to prominence writing a shedload of songs for numerous Stax artists in the 60's and 70's. Originally released as a single in 1971 before it appeared on his LP "Victim Of The Joke? An Opera" also in '71, This tune has two main samples both of which involve a simple piano refrain that you will surely recognize, go on use your ears:

David Porter - I'm Afraid The Masquerade Is Over




In the Big Apple 23 years later on, a young man named Christopher Wallace and his producer / manager Sean Combs were in the process of recording one of the hottest hiphop LPs of all time, and lifted a piano hook from the tune above which created the basis of 'Who Shot Ya'. After it was released in '95 Tupac thought the song was a diss regarding his shooting in a recording studio in New York in November 1994, although both Biggie and Combs both went on record saying it wasn't as it had been recorded before the incident, nonetheless it is widely considered that Shakur recorded 'Hit 'Em Up' as an answer, although he did save a few choice words for Mobb Deep and freestyle genius Chino XL, who duly recorded 'Drop a Gem On 'Em' and 'Who Shot Ya?' respectivelly, sure i got that on wax somewhere... Anyway despite all the controversy this remains to be a catchy little beat and one of my favoutires from the 'Ready to Die' longplayer.

Notorious BIG - Who Shot You?





Now we're in New York (again) and Robert F. Diggs and his older cousin Gary Grice were plotting world domination with another 7 of their mates. In 1993 the group they were in went supernova and spawned various solo recording projects for the main protagonists. Grice under his moniker The Genius or the GZA dropped a jaw dropping album widely regarded as a milestone in hiphop 'Liquid Swordz'. The LP was entirely produced by Diggs aka Prince Rakeem or the RZA who at the time was cemeting his reputation as the creator of the rawest kung fu styled hiphop beats. It was the first Wu solo LP I purcahsed and still remember ordering my CD copy from Our Price week before it came out - the internet didn't exist in those days and if you wanted tunes, you had to hope Our Price stocked it, order it in yourself, or go to a big store Reading or London to cop that shit. After going down there after 6th form everday for two weeks they finally they had it, having been weened on hiphop with the likes of Cypress Hill, NWA, ONYX and Tupac and it flipped my mind. I was blown away by the intense rawness of the soundscape and masterful rhyming laid down by the RZA, GZA and co. Tracks like Shadowboxing, Liquid Swords and 4th Chamber changed my life! This track is not my favourite of the album, to many heavy tunes on there, however it's still a bad tune which also samples a fantastic film: Shogun Assasin - as several other tracks on Liquid Swordz do. Featuring Old Dirty on the chorus and Wu members Masta Killa and inspectah Deck, this is some real hip hop shit, check it out:

Gza - Duel Of The Iron Mic






And finally a little touch of modern day underground new york music, a retake on the above tune by the Els Michels Affair. Released in 2006 on 7" and also appearing on the 'Enter the 37th Chamber LP' it's well worth looking up! :P

El Michels Affair - Duel Of The Iron Mic

Bruce Lee vs Iron Man

Haha...This is quality!!

Sampled By Who?? Art Farmer vs Kool G Rap

It's been quite a while since the last post in the sampled by who?? series, so I thought I'd better pull my finger out and get back on it. So while I was playing in the newly opened Avenue the other day I dropped this little jam by Art Farmer and instantly recognized the hook from a classic Kool G Rap tune and seeing as I had that in mind it made perfect sense to stick it online!
Also as a commemoration to Arthur Stewart Farmer who passed away ten years ago today on the 4th October 1999 affter a decent innings of 71 years.
He was a skilled player of the trumpet, flugelhorn and crossbreed of the two flumpet (designed especially for him by David Monette). This cut comes from his album "Gentle Eyes" from back in 1972 and is a lovely slice of laid back funk groove, involving 5 seperate horn players and numerous soloists. Check It.


Art Farmer - Soulsides





The scroll forward 23 years to NYC in 1995, and Kool G Rap, the emcees MC, along with producer T Ray dropped this cut on is seminal 4,5,6 LP. Mr G Rap is widely acknowledged as one of the finest story telling MC's ever to grace the studio (check out his epic three part tune 'Thug Love Story - pts1, 2 & 3' if you don't believe me!) He's still about today, mainly dropping raw guest versus on people's shit so get checking him out...

Kool G Rap - For Da Brothaz