Goode Th!ng

      Just got in from a day in Sitges. It was a glorious day to be by the beach and to go for a stroll by the sea-front. It was also the 41st edition of the film festival. While I only saw two (and a half) films, they were both well worth the effort! First up was Black Caesar, which, amazingly, I'd never seen before. A blaxploitation flick from the 70s (1973, to be exact), about a black gangster in Harlem. It seems to be a very influential film as it looks like a blueprint for American Gangster as well as being the grandparent of films like New Jack City, Boyz In The Hood and Menace II Society. What was particularly great was that the star, Fred Williamson (recently more famous for roles in From Dusk Till Dawn and Starsky & Hutch), was at the screening and taking questions at the end of the movie (check the photograph!).
     From the influential to the 'referential'. Next up was Sexykiller, a Spanish film about a female serial killer. Intriguing. You don't see many of those around, surely? It must be a taut gripping thriller as only the Spanish can do, right? Wrong! It's a funny, at times hilarious but always twisted, take on the thriller genre, with nods to various films along the way. Some references were more obvious than others, but you'll catch along the way nods to Taxi Driver, Crocodile Dundee, Pulp Fiction, The Silence Of The Lambs, Scream and even Re-animator, amongst others. A thoroughly enjoyable 90 minutes that sped by and highly recommended when it comes out next week. Of course, being the film festival, the film was introduced by Miguel Martí (the director), Paco Cabezas (the writer) and Macarena Gómez (the star - which she did in character), which was fun.

      You may be wondering about the half film that we saw (we being, Goldie, Peewee and myself), well, that was an outdoor showing of a cartoon version of Hellboy. It was different to sit outside (in October) sipping on a drink with a cartoon on in the background. All in all, a very good day to be in Sitges.

Now here's an advert that puts the Kylie ad to shame! If you thought that was risqué, then check out this one for Guinness, though Guinness have denied all responsibility for the ad.

     I've finally got myself a MySpace, apparently every aspiring musician/dj needs one these days, so I've followed the herd. It doesn't mean that this blog will disappear (although I hold my hand up and admit that, of late,it's been sporadic at best), but short mixes, as well as session dates, will be put up there from now on. So, if you'd like to check out when I'm playing next or check out some of my music, feel free to have a look. The address is:

http://www.myspace.com/djfatboyg

     See you there!

     It's Sonar weekend and though I would normally be found there, particularly as there was a presentation of Dubstep on Friday night, this year I couldn't be bothered to go. Instead on a whim, after an impromptu invite by Ojos, I ended up at Etnival, I'm still not quite sure what it is, but Amparanoia was playing there, so off we went.
     The festival, an 'ethnic' festival, was basically held on an unused piece of land (some might call it a park) in Girona, to be honest it reminded me of the barraques in Sant Cugat - just with a bigger stage. Amparanoia was quite good, but the organisation of the festival left a bit to be desired, getting a drink turned out to be a real war of attrition, far worse than Summercase ever was on its first day. However, we did eventually manage it and once the concert was over (at about 3:30), we made a move to some carpas (outdoor discos in marquees), which closed at 4:30, and then on to a club that closed up at 5:30am. All good. In fact, the only problem we had was that we were up for going to an after hours club, only to find that there is no such club in the whole of Girona!
      On Saturday, after being rudely woken up by Ojos (he couldn't sleep, so why should anyone else?), we went to the beach at Escala. It turned out to be a fantastic day at the beach, as I didn't have a beach umbrella with me, I was more than a little apprehensive about being in the sun as I usually find it quite uncomfortable, but by the time we got there, the sun was going down, there was a cooling breeze and, as previously mentioned, it turned out to be a great day.

     Soon I'll have more time on my hands as my DJ course comes to an end, which may mean that I'll have more time to dedicate to my blog once more. However, there are a few loose ends to tie up. First, almost as a surprise, we had an exam last Wednesday. This was the second of the course. At the end of the first exam, I was quietly confident and rightly so as I passed it quite easily. However, after the exam on Wednesday, I've been uneasy, as I didn't have time to 'study' for it and, to be perfectly honest, I hadn't picked up our 'course book' in three weeks.
     Secondly, next Wednesday is the last day and we have to present a project. The project consists of using 5/6 loops, mixing them one after the other and then mixing acapellas or samples on top, so essentially, there are 3 things going at the same time (2 decks and a CD). Unfortunately we've had little time to practise, so it will have to be done on the fly, though I have worked out what I want to do.
     I'm sure that I'm being too ambitious, but we'll see. Anyway without further ado, if you haven't been listening already, get yourself over to Internet Explorer and have a listen to my mini mix which I will try to reproduce live on Wednesday morning. If you're interested in seeing how it works out, you can come along to Microfusa at 11:30am in Ronda de Guinardó, 65.

The Mini Mix:
1 Take you back to the classics (Sample)
2 Spooky - Stereophonic (& 'Super Soul' - Sample; Pet Shop Boys - Minimal - Acapella)
3 Phil Asher - Political (& 'Martin Luther King Has Been Killed' - Sample)
4 Yvan & Dan Daniel - Wembley (& Sexy Fuck - Sample)
5 Trickski - Sweat (& 'Brazilian Acapella' - Acapella)
6 Eurythmics - Sweet Dreams (Steve Angello Remix) (& Jamiroquai - Supersonic - Acapella; Eminem - Will The Real Fatboy Please Stand Up - Sample)

All in eight and a half minutes!! Hope you like it!

      On Saturday something special happened. I'd heard of Che Sudaka and hearing that they were coming to town, I decided to check them out. I don't know what I was expecting, but I wasn't prepared for what I did see.
     The concert had been advertised to start at 10:30, but knowing how things work in Terrassa, we (Jolie, Angie & myself) arrived at 11. Che Sudaka didn't actually come on until 11:30 and as if to make up for the lost time, they attacked their set with a fury that I hadn't seen since Gogol Bordello.
     How to describe their music? It would be too easy to say mestizaje; there are clearly influences of Manu Chao and company in their music, but there is so much more as well. With each song, you were never sure if it was going to be reggae based, ska based, salsa based or rock based. After a short while, what you were sure of was that whatever they played it was going to be good!
      There was quite a substantial crowd for the band and they were soon whipped up into a frenzy by the antics of Leo & Kachafaz, the band's singers/toasters (in the tradition of reggae, they were toasting rather than rapping). They may have been the focal point for the audience, but the rest of the band was no less accomplished at what they did and they soon built up a rapport with the crowd that most front men would kill for!
       Their set was split into 3 parts. In each part they didn't pause for breath between songs. The first set lasted an hour (a very short hour!) in which they segued seamlessly between one song and the next. They were all over the stage and didn't stop jumping around, running around, dancing full on for the entire hour. They took a short break and were back out, this time with a more acoustic based set before returning to the frenetic pace of the previous set. They were so caught up in the moment that Leo took off all his clothes and completed the concert in his underpants!
     Finally, how good were they really? Well, I was at the back by the bar. I tend to rock to the beat of the band at concerts and just chill, but after half an hour I was almost as wild as the kids at the concert, (almost) jumping, clapping, whooping, shouting! It really was the most fun I've had at a concert for a long, long time. I just hope they come back to Terrassa soon!
     For those of you in Barcelona, you can catch them in Apolo on Thursday 29th May. I strongly recommend that you check them out!

     It's been a while, but I hadn't really felt like adding to the blog for some time, though it's not been through a lack of things going on. Maybe I'll go into them at some later date, but what has rekindled the flame has been this video. I'm not one to put music videos up on my blog, but this was one I couldn't resist as it is kind of a dance video too, but the thing that sealed the deal was the fact that it reminds me so much of my brothers, Goat and 2Goode. So, here's to the Utah Saints for bringing back the running man!

     Guess what? Ben Affleck has a sense of humour too! Not to be outdone by his mate, Matt Damon, Ben Affleck also has a song all of his own. Check out the star power in this video!

     Gracias a Peewee for sending me this link! I can't tell you anything about it, you just have to watch! But yes, Matt Damon does have a sense of humour!