Last FM feeling Festive ?

Oddly we noticed a few new Christmas tracks sneeking into the Reccomended by Last FM player, the way Last FM works is mainly on comparing what you listen to, to what everyone else listens to.

So are the people at Last FM feeling festive? - Well, they are but they aren't the ones doing this (so they said in an email) - it is the listening public, who are scrobbling the odd festive song ... - so if the people you are similar to in your music tastes are feeling festive - then it is potentially contagious! your going to have the odd festive, but hopefully in line with your taste, track in the mix!

Thanks to the guys at Last FM for clearing this up and to the listeners of Last FM for spreading hte Christmas cheer!

Videos not working ?

If you find a video or two isn't working - don't panic - its good! It turns out that we need to upgrade our servers a little - unfortunately some of the videos are going to be offline for a day while we catch up with the new locations ...

Don't worry, we are still here and of course all videos will be back up!

Loving my new iphone

It has to be said, I am convert - oddly I was arguing about how bad iPhones were and how they were truly overpriced and dated in certain directions (web connection is slower (3mb/s compared to other modern phones 7mb/s, cameras a bit rubbish, no video) but what a package! This moved was fuelled as much by a need to get away from Three and their appalling customer service and a breakdown in trust as it was for an iPhone ... But now I have one I am singing the praises at every opportunity - why ?

Well, I am sitting here listening to the Last FM radio streamed music based on my personal music taste, derived by scrobbling from places such as Winamp etc...

The iPhone is an awesome multimedia player, the screen is excellent - significantly it is usable in a way that other devices aren't ... It is no secret that we are talking about developing a mobile web version of Mixit.TV but now the question is should we make it a iPhone web app or something that will work with everything ??? we will probably end up doing a mixture of both, but thats still down the line ....


Seriously, take my word for it - if your a multimedia lover, and a camera isn't vital to you give it a try - the device ticks more boxes than you can imagine.... if only I could still touch'text!

N95 for sale ... anyone?

Gerry
(the resident geek)

Reeperbahn Festival - any good ?

Its has to be said - the best way to see a music festival isn't always as out of our face as we were (the others on the stag weekend and I), that said the Reeperbahn Festival was absolutely awesome. I am not saying British festivals are over priced, but this was damn cheap - I have a feeling I will return with a Mixit.TV crew next year, maybe less alchohol fuelled! We saw only about 6 or 7 bands in total, but two British bands stoof out - the first was most definently The Corteeners - the room was small but packed, moshing up the front when they performed some top tracks, the sound was perfect: Found this on YouTube - not taken by us though, I tried taking some video but it didn't come out - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_hQXqDXjS-k course, this is a band we would to interview ....

Next came a more 'accoustic set' from The Subways, or more a Subway, as William Lunn said on his blog

"...(Mr. Steve Gurney - sound engineer/tour manager extraordinaire) and I were off to rock Hamburg armed with...my acoustic guitar...watch out, Hamburg! We arrived and made our way to the venue to commence soundcheck."So it's just you?" said the stage manager."Yes! Little old me. I'll still blow your socks off. Just
without a distortion pedal. Don't worry..."

He did, seriously - this was a complete different room, the from a room barely able to fit a hundred this room was massive probably a thousand+ crammed in - and a solo accoustic set by William Lunn blew us away - if your not familiar with The Subways, they were recently featured in the film RocknRolla ... If any of these guys wants to come in for an interview we would love to hear from you, seriously top performance in Hamburgs redlight districts international music festival.... Looking forward to a more sober visit next year ...!

Reeperbahn - off to Germany

Would love to pretend that this is a Mixit.TV endevour, but the reality is that I am going with some friends to say goodbye to his unmarried life, us gents are going to say farewell to his hedonistic ways that tried to see him through his uni life (and his other 20 something years), otherwise known a stag weekend.

Of course thats no excuse not to see some of the top acts on, at the Reeperbahn festival, and whilst I have never heard of half the line up that isn't to say they are bad, they will just be singing in German! http://www.reeperbahnfestival.com/index.php?lang=en

Should the weekend not be excessivelybeer fuelled expect a 'comprehensive' review, or a long moan about a massive f****** hangover....

Thats it - I am quitting 3

I have always been an advocate of the mobile phone network '3' but the time has come for me to hang my old phone up and embrace something different, what caused this? Being told its "not my problem" by their support team after they sent out the wrong phone to a customer (my mother) and that because she had started using it, she was stuck with it. Honestly, I didn't expect to win the discussion, but I was unprepared for the rudeness, email to the boss man in the morning I think!

Question is what next? I have to say I am not seriously tempted by the iPhone - which is almost unthinkable as I blasted it only a year ago as overhyped and technically dated! A few flaws (no A2DP, so can't play it on my bluetooth car stereo, or with bluetooth headphones, neither of which I have, no video taking ablility)... I would love to stay away from the Cult of the Mac syndrome so many techy geeks fall into, but it has to be said I am drawn to the device! Will I succumb? Watch this space ... I am a techno geek and it seems to fit certain requirements ....!

All I know is that after the treatment of my mother by Three, the lack of decent 'incentives' to be a loyal customer' (currently due an upgrade and they keep telling me what I should buy as opposed to listening to what I want...

I am not holding out much hope for staying with them!

Social animals (online) that we are ...

We now have a Myspace and a Facebook page, the most important question is which logo do you prefer? we have a different one on each! We have been trying to figure out a decent logo and discussions have heated up - so if you do find us on MySpace or Facebook please let us know which logo you prefer.

Course we release some secretive information on each, so its worth finding us on both simply to keep upto date.

http://www.myspace.com/mixittv
http://www.new.facebook.com/pages/MixitTV/

And as a special prize, the 5,000 friend we get on MySpace will get an ipod nano

Feedback needed!! - Music in your home

We're in the middle of writing a few articles on freeing the music, so please drop in the comments any experience you have had getting your digital music to where ever you are, either in the home (via wifi?) using different storage devices, and of course out of the home... The articles are going to be divided up into various areas including listening to music in the home, on the move and in the car.

If you have the perfect setup, or been surprised at how bad something can be then please post a comment!

yo yo

went to yo yo"s venue in notting hill fantastic [live] club highly recommended the band city reverb absolutely a must see check it out

Salsa in the Mix

Salsa Revolution have been lucky enough to have Carmelo Dance Company, one of London's hottest up and coming Latin dance groups perform for them this Thursday.

Performing and debuting their brand new salsa show, before it travels around the world. So this is my chance to be amongst the first in the world to see it and best of all its right on my doorstep.

"I've been lucky enough to see them in rehearsal and they work really hard, I was out of breath and my muscles started aching just watching them rehears. I forget how many times I said WOW and I hadn't even seen the finished version."

Chunky
www.salsarevolution.co.uk

Salsa & Latin lifestyle

I have had a lot of request for Latin lifestyle, I have been ask to feature salsa dancing, music & fashion, as a keen salsa dancer myself I have not got a problem with that, you can expect to hear about the hotest dance clubs in the UK & about bands, Congreses, dance shows, I have some videos from the Salsasplash down in Hayling Island last week & some great review, so watch this space.

Don One

Aint No Sunshine Now He's Gone.... Ike

Isaac Hayes died yesterday(10 August 2008) aged 65 and so passes another legend in the pantheon of music(dom). His name will be remembered and his works live on and on. I had the good fortune to meet the great man and sit down and rap with him on several occasions. He was indeed an imensely humble character and a gentleman of the first order. He was an inspiration to me and a giant in the industry. He told me many stories about his exploits which I would love to share with you all at some more appropriate time in the future. The nature of these are such that this would be an inappropriate time to recount them here and now. Let us all give a big sigh, wipe that tear from the eye and celebrate the works of this great man now sadly deceased.

I Stand Accused Isaac Hayes

url: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9GWWNxBNlyQ

King King

WE'RE ON THE MOVE

My peoples! Construction of the site is going great... i LIE! It's going absolutely fntastic! We have developed a number of really cool features that you are just going to love. I have been sworn to secrecy; but I can tell you that over the coming weeks you are going to see a dramatic increase in the content material that we will be featuring on this site. We have some exciting new bands and individual artists who will be plying their beautiful musical wares and regaling us with excellent original and cover material, that I know you are all going to love. (Well most of you at least) In all we have some 350 new videos/acts sitting in the archives being written up as we speak and this will mark an important landmark in the progression of the best of unsigned and new material available to you in any one place on the net. I kid you not my "peops" they represent the very best of what is out there on two of the five continents. The other three landmasses are being scoured for material as I write this and we will be presenting them to you as and when they come in.

I would like to take this oportunity to say a big Hello to our viewers/readers/listeners/lookers and friends in Mexico. We value your patronage and intend to feature loads and loads of artists, bands and material from your neck of the woods in the not too distant future.

I am in the process of compiling some really interesting material that is not specifically music related but still excellent entertainment and I hope you will tune into the king@mixit.tv section which will be coming onstream shortly. This will represent my personal view of things available on the net including: dance, theatre, poetry, politics, philosophical and cultural debate, humour, scandal, outrage, film, video and essentially those things that I enjoy that will give you a little insight into what makes me tick. I don’t expect you all to understand or even subscribe to the things that I enjoy but for those of you who do... We are going to have a blast. And Hey... Lawyers at Mixit... Chill... This ones all down to me. Tell the fuddy duddy’s NaySayers and the inheritors of the MaryWhitehouse brigade to address their writs to King@cyberspace.cum... Dig it. HaHaHa Lets get this show on the road.

KingKing

Frank Zappa interview - for censorship ?

Came across this interview sent to me by a friend, very interesting, I think it shows three things - the attitude of Frank Zappa, the intelligence of Frank Zappa and finally how 'America' used to be so hot passionate about these subjects -

I am a great believer in free speech within a certain limit, its always a question of who can set the limit where it has to be drawn and where the limit is derived from. "greater good" "religion of the people how set the law", or something else.

Gerry

Drumming - better than ... well, for keep fit

To look at me you wouldn't believe it, but I am on a bit of a keep fit fad, my gym membership is paid up and I have even looked over the class time tables, but I was surprised to read recently that drumming is better for you than almost any sport, including a full 90 minute football match!!!! So when the new game comes out on the Wii it will hopefully be a good enough incentive for me to buy a new Wii (not that their is anyything wrong with my Xbox 360- gamertag dergal btw) ...

So those of you thinking about learning and instrument and getting fit, well there is only one choice! If anyone is selling a soundproof room and a drum kit - I think you might find it on my Christmas list!

Gerry - a fat keyboard player

MOZES AND MOUNTAINS

The enigmatic Mozes of Mozes and the Cameras is an intriguing, charismatic character who is a thoroughly down to earth and humble man. He is the complete antithesis of what his name evokes or implies. Mozes is full of passion and laughter with the most disarming, self effacing charm. Although he is deadly serious about his music he is really relaxed about himself. He says that what you see is what you get and winks cheekily.

When it comes to talking about his music he does so passionately. He knows exactly what he is about and has a whole philosophy about what it is he is doing. He calls his music "Black Folk music " and adds that that description is both "of" and "by" pausing for me to fill in the blanks. He is inspired by diverse influences from whom he drawa energy and vibrations: the likes of Fela Kuti, Mahler, Curtis Mayfield, Van Morrison, Gill Scott-Heron, Beethoven, Richie Havens, Bjork, Maria Callas, and Tracy Chapman.

Mozes is fiercely independent and knows exactly what he wants. He wants the lot and wants it on his terms. A nice thing about my meeting with him was that he remained constantly alert to ensure that I was following the thread of his argument and comfortable with what he was saying. Mozes is such a nice chap it was a pleasure being in his company and I look forward to watching what happens with the new acoustic album he is about to record. Good Luck Mozes. You are the salt and pepper of the earth my man. Music is your medium, The stage is your pulpit You're half way up the mountain. and I hope you get to share your vision of life with a greater audience out there. I think you have important things to say and will win lots of friends in saying them.

As Mozes left he turned and said "I'm gonna "Moze" over to catch the number 1 bus now to get to Covent Garden to do some busking. See you on the Main stage at Glastonbury in June next year bro. You can give me the Paxman interview next time"

Checkout Mozes on Mixit.TV


Additional Information about Mozes by Mozes:

Mozes and the Cameras sound like Mozes & the Cameras however if you must compare... the sound is an inspirational gumbo of Richie Havens, Van Morrison, Tracy Chapman, Jon Lucien, Hootie & the Blowfish to name a few... and yes it is folk music but with a punchy left hook!

"A folky melodically organic international rhythm.."

Mozes' Influences:

Beethoven, Nat King Cole,The Killers, Studio One, Vernom Bush,Marvin Gaye, Curtis Mayfield, Seal, Tom Wait, Geoff Buckley, Hendrix, Bjork, Maria Callas, Michael Jackson, James Brown, Amy Winehouse, Thin Lizzy, Muse, Radio Head, imagination, Lee Scratch Perry, Jah Shaka, Snoop Dog, Public Enemy, frank Sinatra, Van Morrison,The Wailers, Mahler, Arethe Franklin, Beatles, to name but a few


KING KING

BRITAIN'S GOT DA BLUES

Tom Colborn sometimes known as Delta Tom or Bluesman Tom is the real deal feel it in your bones, rhythm and sounds in deep tissues, from the Mississippi Delta to east coast Ragtime blues belta. This man plays his brand of bottleneck blues guitar in the old style troubadour tradition of what blues was in "dem good ol' days". You know back in the day' when blues men were the musical scribes, Griots and messengers of conscience within their community and travelled around from hamlet to town giving up social commentary on what was happening in their little corner of the universe. Tom is one a those guys reincarnated for twenty first century Britain got-da-blues. But Tom's not singin’ duh: "Oh My baby's gone I'm so alone" type blues, duh: “ I wanna slit my throat”, “You got my goat" type blues He's hollerin' the up beat "rag time" "jump jolly," Jelly roll".... "Funny thing happened to me the other day" type 21st century Millennia Blues.

I first saw Tom in an open mic acoustic session at the Durrel in Fulham when he was doing a sound check warm up before the session started and I was busily chatting away to my friends as you do ignoring the musicians go through their warm up session when this tall thin lick of a man got up on the stage with his guitar and started strumming away and almost right from the very first belt of his (really handsome acoustic) guitar stopped the conversation at my table and the next and the next stone cold dead and transfixed us with a force fusion of lyric and beat. He threw down some of the most brilliant steel guitar I have heard in a long time. Gotta tell you it was just a warm up but he got a standing ovation at the end of it and I know that everyone in the place knew that that was just a prelude to big treats yet to come. By the time the session got under way and the two other artist before him had done their thing there was an air of excitement and expectation when he took the stage.

I'm not going to bore you with the details. Suffice to say that he didn't disappoint. He stormed through his set with brio. Fantastically fresh lyrics and threw in a maestro quality string picking bottle neck sliding expertly delivered steel guitar instrumentals. punctuating each number with little witticisms. Tom Colborn is in my opinion one of the most accomplished exponents of the genre practicing in Britain today. If you like the blues? I mean the real deal Cajun type, railroad riding, String bending raw rending blues then I thoroughly recommend you go and see him do his thing. I promise you you will not be disappointed.

PS: One of the most profound things I’ve heard from an exponent of this music that I love so much came from a conversation with Tom. I quote:

“if you take the blues form as a philosophy of story telling that you can use to express your own concerns, desires, aspirations etc, and those of your peers. Without personal input, in lyrical and musical content, this music would simply be a dusty museum piece, and its vitality and relevance is so obvious as to need no advocacy from modern day me's.
A guitar workshop ad I once read ran 'today, the blues belongs to everyone'. Wrong. It doesn't belong to anyone - you belong to the blues. You give yourself to it, and in so doing connect with a tradition which has its roots in Africa over a thousand years ago. As with the ancients who worshipped their ancestors, the blues connects you with the past, enables you to address and reconcile the problems of the present - and therefore light the way to the future. ”

My Peoples! You understand why I am Biggin'Up dis Tom Colborn Bluesman Tom fella so much.... Don’t you my peops?

PPS: HOT OFF THE PRESS BLUESMAN TOM LIVE AT LITTLE TARDIS STUDIO WILL BE UP ON THIS SITE IN A COUPLE OF DAYS TIME



KING KING for Mixit.TV

Photo provided by www.charles2ndphotography.co.uk

don't RIP Don Bingo & Yoda...

Where have they all gone ? Yoda & Don Bingo ? I spent my formative university years in Sheffield Hallam Uni - occasionally attending the odd lecture and of course frequenting what was the best live music venue around - an old swimming pool called the deep end.

I saw some truly awesome. and some truly awful bands not only there but in the students union ... disapointingly not only has the deep end sunk, but so have these top bands! Don't get me wrong, Sheffield has produced some of the better bands - it is just that too much quality has sunk without a trace (so has the Deep End, with a bit of scandal).

This morning on my mobile, a song by a group formerly known as Don Bingo brought a smile to my face, they imagine Crash Test Dummies but a English Northern version (think US 'the Office' vs the Gervais original)

"Living in the open sky.."

If anyone knows what happened to "Yoda" or "Don Bingo" or that band where the white guitarist had dreadlocks and the lead female perpetually bounced (definently she needed de-caff)
I am just a tad disapointed that so much talent in the worlds gone today... Mixit is all about helping raw talent - shame we can't revive the dead.

LONG LIVE NELSON MANDELA

Probably Nelson Mandela's last public appearance in this country. He is to be the guest of honour on Friday (27 June 08) at a huge party in Hyde Park to celebrate his 90th birthday.

The worlds most respected and beloved president who turns 90 on July 18, will be feted by world dignitaries and celebs including former US president Bill Clinton and Hil, Prime Minister Gordon Brown, princes William and Harry and actors Robert De Niro and Forest Whitaker. Amy (Wil she Won't she) Winehouse. The event will be hosted by Will Smith and his wife Jada Pinkett. Oprah's going to be there. The roster will include a truly star studded line-up led by Queen, Leona Lewis, Annie Lennox Dame Shirley Bassey, Simple Minds and Razorlight are also booked to perform alongside Sugababes, Andrea and Sharon Corr, Eddy Grant, Italian star Zucchero and Spanish group Amaral. And an ex child soldier who is now a big thing on the rap scen: Emanuelle Jai (who Mr Mandela persoanaly requested appear at his birthday bash.... What an honour for the young man) The now internationally famous Soweto Gospel Choir will be doing a special set for their former president.

Nelson Madeba Mandela will be joined by an audience of some 46,664 (his old prison number which has been adopted as the name of the Aids charity that he is the patron of.

There is a rumour that there are a number of artists who are being kept as secret participants as a birthday surprise for the Nobel Peace Prize laureate and the audience. speculators recon that among these are: Miriam Makeba Hugh Masekela the spice girls, Eminem, and U2. Mr Mandela has said that he is looking forward to the event and that although he is retired he cannot resist the opportunity to use the event of his 90th birthday to raise funds for the charitable organisations that bear his name. He said "We have a bargain - I am going to London and they will host a concert in Hyde Park, which will raise awareness of our continuing work and much needed funds."

If you are going along then take as many pictures as you can share them with us here at Mixit.TV; have a really great time and remember it is all in a great cause.

Alexzanda Gordon-King
There now follows a personal statement from myself to uncle Nelson:

PS: Thank you Madeba! Thank you for at long last breaking your self enforced silence on the criminally repugnant activities of your next door neighbour: Mugabe and his detestable cabal. I salute you my President for having said that you have retired and will no more comment on international affairs ; you stand up. You stand up and say STOP! You are standing up and making it clear that Mugabe's behaviour is not acceptable to us, whether it be Africa or anywhere on the planet. You say loud and clear that it should not be tolerated. I hope and trust that your brother leaders within the continent will now band together and follow your example and say: STOP MUGABE Enough is enough! How could a man I/we had admired so long have sunk so low and made/ make us all look so bad/feel so bad? Long Live Mandela I say! Long live Mandela.

BLACK MANalishi?

Black Manalishi! Black Man a whaa? Black Manalishi! And if you haven’t heard of them let me tell you that these boys are off the leash and coming to get you. They are the real deal rock for real bluesRock RockBlues mix up mash upside you head Don Dada of undiscovered rock. You know what? I only came across them very recently and I don’t understand why they are not HUGE. Now I’m no Rock or Rock’n’Blues expert but Black Manalishi have got a vibe that is so Rock funky that it don’t really make sense to call them a Rock band. In fact I really don’t know what to call them. Colin Murray, BBC Radio 1 dubbed them: "Rock n' f*ckin' roll!!!" Yeah! kinda ses it for me. They're Purple, they're Cream , they're Free all rolled into one. And whether you think you are a rockNblues, bluesNrock, ClassicRock fan or not; you gotta admit that they have got it going on. Zep were the 70's and led that shit back then; Manalishi are the milenium and as HARD as any ROCK an a hard place you gonna find yo'self in.

I was sitting in my mates car on the way to the studio when he pulled out the mellow CD that I was enjoying and said “Tell me what you think of this” So he put it on. And I thought hoy hoy what the fuck’s he up to he knows I’m a RnB, Blues, Folk, Reggae, Jazzy Kinda guy, what the hell is he doing assaulting me with this hard rock bizniz for. So I’m kinda sceptically listening to this rock ting and then it starts morphing into Whhaaay whats going on here ting and I find myself nodding and bobbing and saying OK. And now I’m a little bit embarrassed because the first track has finished and it really wasn’t that bad. So we’re into track number two and it’s getting even better. By the time the third track kicks in I’m Head banging and jumping up and down in my seat and saying yeah! yeah! And he’s just smiling and ses: they’re not bad are they? And I goes: "they’re better than not bad mate. They're ****** **** ******** ******* * ********* ".

By the time we got to track 11, I was at fever pitch an then the first strains of Jack’s Gone to Hell started to pump from the stereo and I’ve just gone TURN THAT MOTHER ****** UP. And he’s turned it up, the roof is down and now I’m practically tantric-flying of my seat, arms stabbing in the air, head banging to the beat and we’re thrashing down the motorway. Everyone's looking at us as we fly by, thinking what the ***. Some smiling, some waving back and some in just plain shock.

We played it all the way rewinding certain tracks two or three times. Well! Talk about adrenaline? By the time we got to the studio I was so pumped up that I could have taken Tyson.

Now, my point is that any band who can have that effect on a middle aged black man with eclectic tastes but not particularly rock orientated has got to be worth big bucks from the record labels out there. Who are these guys? Are they deaf? Something needs shaking up in the industry if they haven’t snapped these guys up by now.

I’m gonna start a Release the Black Man alishi 4! campaign: Say after me: “Black Manalishi!” “Black Manalishi!”...


http://www.blackmanalishi.com

ELLIOT SHAND'S ACOUSTIC NIGHT AT THE DURELL

You guys missed a party on Sunday! Didn’t you hear me say that Alyson was gigging at the Durell in Fulham on Sunday? Let me tell you something it was phat.! An’ when i say phat I mean bubbling over with music entertainment and drama. The evening kicked off with a Brutus bearded "hellraisin" foot stomper from a brilliant Devonian One man and his Guitar called Ben Godard who really tore through his set and had us all going and what an excellent unique voice this man had he was whooping and roaring and did he bang that guitar? Yep! Sho’ did. He was followed by a big black Canadian singer who is on an international tour at the moment and only in Britain for two days. Damian Alexander, was flying out the the same evening directly from his set on stage to go to Hong Kong. Damian’s style was so unique I certainly have never seen any thing heard anything like him before. If this is what they are doing in Canada these days I better start listening a little bit harder. He was good and I particularly loved his second song which was part ballad part rapoetry Loved it loved it loved it.

The next act I want to tell you about is My Man “Mozes” In fact you know what I am not going to talk about Mozes because I got so much to say about MOZES that I gonna save it all for a blog of his own. And when I talk about Mozes I want to have something up here that I can link you to so’s you’ll understand why I love him so much.

Anyway, back at the Durell in Fulham the Joint was jumping and people were stomping and cheering and This wasn’t only for Alyson who put on a fine set this time singing whilst accompanying herself on keyboards (damned that girl is talented) but the promoter of the gig Elliot Shand got in on the act from offstage when he picked up his sax, crouched down in a wall seat to the left and off the stage. Black cap pulled over his eyes low it was just Elliot and the sax and the sax n Elliot and he blew that M.....F...... and riffed down into some deep dark dirty, did I say DIRTY dirty sex music. Well my dears..... The place erupted in ecstatic applause even before the end of his solo, and Elliot just kind of crouched there half embarrassed half proud peeking out from under his cap and took his applause with a nod and took his applause with a little smile. I think I glimpsed a hint of self satisfaction. It was a great night Elliot and a lovely little piece of sexophone you put down there m’boy!

The banger of the evening came when Alyson did a freestyle singin' straight to rap in the middle of her rendition of aint no sunshine and boy the girl took it to another level reinterpreted the mother and took possession of not only the song but the audience as well. I had invited a few friends over one of which is a big ting in the music biz and he just kept looking at me and making that sign... You know that sign that two close friends don’t have to pre rehearse to know. I loved her and I went YES! YES! THANK YOU LORD! We got a live one here.

Pictures from the Acoustic Session At the Durell Fulham

ALYSON JOYCE (AJ) ALYSON JOYCE (AJ)









ELLIOT

Courtesy Jacko: www.spsphotography.co.uk

Courtesy Raggszy: raggsz1e@hotmail.com
ELLIOT SHAND (Or Macio Mrk II as I call him)

Courtesy Jacko: www.spsphotography.co.uk


Courtesy Raggszy: raggsz1e@hotmail.com
Elliot, Cleo & Chris


Courtesy Raggszy: raggsz1e@hotmail.com
CLEO DUCENT


Courtesy Raggszy: raggsz1e@hotmail.com
CLEO & USUS

Macio MRKII aka ELLIOT SHAND

MOZES

MOZES















Cleo and Tom Colvin


















AJ

Thanks to Charles Henry AKA Jacko All pictures
Courtesy Jacko: www.spsphotography.co.uk

Bit of an apology!

Those of you have been reading, it turns out that after a friend of Mixit.TVs did some filming for us, absolutely for free and even gave us a lift - our 'review' of his performance was a little excessively critical - in fact pretty damn rude.


He posted a response in his own blog (which is a good read!) http://camcordermansbirdseyeview.blogspot.com/


So on behalf of Mixit.TV here is a public apology, and if I ever catch up with you, the first rounds on me.

CAMCORDER GUY

You know this gig that I was telling you about at the Durell on Sunday (15/6/08) Well I gotta tell you we turned up there with the intention to film three acts pre-arranged. The acts were Bluesman Tom, Mozes and my favourite girl AJ. Well as it happens we didn’t have our inhouse mixit camera crew (and there’s a funny story that I’ll tell you about another time) So we arranged a last minute replacement who I’m gonna call camcorder guy. Now Camcorder guy was there for one and only one reason and that was just to capture what he could of my three on stage and film an interview with them afterward. Well we started off well enough and he went in sized up the joint took out his camcorder and promptly got to work filming from just off right side of the stage and everything was looking good. We’re about half an hour in and camcorder guy is moving around and getting shots from this angle and keeping the camera going getting shots from that angle and I’m beginning to relax now because he seems to know what he’s doing.

So I've taken my eye off him I'm doin' my thing and networking and briefing here and working n had a mini panic because Mozes is now on stage and I particularly want to capture Mozes ministering to his flock (And yes MOZES IN MOTION is like a religious experience. You gotta see it! Feel it, to believe it) An Mozes is banging away and there's CAMCORDER but NO CAMCORDER GUY!

I've recovered from my mini breakdown and flown out of the main floor floor in a mad desperate hunt for this geezer. Shot through the first bar on to the next one and there he is sitting on a bench talking on his mobile. So I've interrupted him and told him "My man's on stage this is what you are here to record" He's kind of nodded but carries on talking on his phone. I've walked back into the audience area grabbed this poor unsuspecting guy up off his chair plonked the camcorder in his hands and said "Film this! and don't you dare let that camera shake! " He's looked at me, looked at the camcorder inhis hand looked at his girlfriend still sitting there looked back at me and starts filming the show. Ive gone "Thanks mate. I really appreciate this NO shaking now" and walked off back to find out how long my mans gonna be on his telephone call.

The short version of this saga is that Camcorder guy was chatting up the girls when he should have been surveying the acts, having a drink at the bar when he should have been filming interviews with AJ offstage and most comical of all cavorting on stage in the all-in-MUSICIANS/ARTIST's who have appeared on the bill Jam session at the end of the session, when he should have been covering the all-in-MUSICIANS/ARTIST's Jam session on his camcorder!!

So my peop’s we don’t know if we have anything to show you. As I write this I have no footage in hand. I’m not sure if we are gong to have any footage ever; because camcorder guy has gone on the lam, switched off his phone and has been unavailable all day Monday. Thing is you see that camcorder guy has got the two two hour tapes and was supposed to be downloading them to let me have them to put up here for you to get a taste of what a brilliant evening you all missed

If anybody sees camcorder guy on his travels please tell him that there is an audience of a few million possibly billions of mixit viewers out there waiting to see the footage that he shot.
I can’t seem to get it out of my head that I may have missed a trick and that maybe I should have had the camcorder on the guy instead of the guy on the camcorder
Fortunately we had the top notch super duper man a da moment photographic genius extraordinair: CHARLES HENRY (AKA JACKO) on hand to shoot some stills for you. All Hail Jacko! HAPPY BIRTHDAY JACKO.... take a look at these then:

Promo CD Sales - judges make a bad decision ?

Honestly, I think I must be the only one that thinks the majority of the legal decisions around music are completely insane, normally - big companies going after the little man, often students and kids, I used to walk past millions of bootleg DVD stalls in markets all over the place, but it seems like these aren't as important as students sharing music...

But this latest decision is almost on the side of the little guy - essentially the most recent ruling reports that if you send a promo cd to someone - a demo to someone in the hope that they will like it, give you a deal or something else - they can in fact sell it!

Don't get me wrong - I think there should be a time limit on this, if I had a Beatles one then I would love to sell it, but if someone sent in to us a CD which was marked not for resale, maybe because the content wasn't supposed to be in the public domain just yet... I would be annoyed if we or anyone like us 'sold it on'.

I would be seriously interested to hear what you have to say about this, either here (comment please!) or in the forum...

I have 3 questions

- Should you be able to buy a "not for resale" promo CD?
- Should their be a time limit on the above ?
- Will this harm or hinder people sending out demo CDs?

AJ'S GOT IT GOING ON AND SHE'S GOING ALL THE WAY

Let me throw a name out there. I’m throwing it at you because I know this name is going to be in your ears and on your lips and in the press and everyone is going to be talking about her...
My people I want to talk about Alyson Joyce other wise known as AJ.

Alyson is a songbird of extraordinary talent who hails from Australia and is now residing in London. She is 23 years old, stunning to look at, intelligent, articulate and very very talented. On top of all that the girl can sing. My peops I said AJ. Sings and she sounds like a Nightingale Now let me tell you something: I see lots of bands and lots of singers during the course of my day to day business. Over the years I have seen literally thousands and thousands of hopefuls, and some, not so hopeful as hopeless wannabe’s. I have been pretty good at predicting those acts that would go places and those singers who would make it in this precarious business we call "da music and entertainment bizniz".

I predicted Leoni Lewis would be a mega star. I predicted that Amy Winehouse would mash up the studio, slaughter all before her, leaving carnage in her wake (and boy was I right on that one... go Amy go girl). I predicted that Laura Jones would go large and get world wide acclamation. I was right on these three occasions long before these talents gained record company/media/public recognition and became the mega stars that they are today.

I make another prediction here and now PUBLIC DECLARATION for all the www to witness: Alyson Joyce is going to be a super duper, mega-MEGA singing star and you heard it here first. AJ. You rock. AJ you roll. AJ you more precious than silver and Gold Can't believe you haven't got a deal yet girlfriend? Sack yer manager.

You gonna be a star songbird and Mixit’s coming down to the Durrell in Fulham to catch your act on Sunday 15 June. Can’t wait. You knock us dead like you did last week Y’hearMiChil’? Check Her Out on MySpace

Monkey Radio! – Grooving sexy beats …

It's back up!!!

Those that know me, know I have to spend a lot of time working on the computer, I am work in an office, usually on a website project or two... Anyhow, finding something chilled, easy to listen to online isn't easy... I hate to call it background music but essentially trippy jazz which you can work to (if your a designer and your work is influenced by what you listen to, you will be producing something elegant and curvacious listening to this) .

A few years back I found Monkey Radio – I think the guy behind it was working on one of the earlier versions of Winamp which used to be my mp3 player of choice, although more recently I am using either iTunes (I hate apple, but the shared music library is cool) or Windows media player, although its on my list to discover a better more usable mp3 player, but after disagreements with the RIAA and the extorionate rates they wanted (these are the same people who go after students who have downloaded a bit of music).

Incidentally at Mixit TV we don't have an official positin on pirated music, but we do strongly believe in supporting music, whether this requires DRM, other constraints and archaic laws is always up for debate! please feel free to discuss that one in the forums!

Anyhow, if you want to take a listen to monkey radio, and tell us what you think – the url is http://www.monkeyradio.org/ but you will need Winamp or ITunes to get listen to it …

Course, if you want to find more un-discovered music, you need to check back here soon – (hint at a coming soon on Mixit TV? )!!

BRITAIN'S GOT TALENT REVISITED

The dancers are doing it on that talent show. You know the one? I don’t have to give them a plug again do I? Oh all right then: BRITAIN HAS GOT TALENT It has you know. This week I saw not only another brilliant youth street dance troup but an absolutely brilliant young Scottish plumber who came out onto the stage like a mouse and roared with a voice like a LION. And my dears.... What a lion rendition he gave. Clear crystal tones with a hint of sultry under tones wafting through the big notes. The boy was good. I don’t think he will be a plumber for very much longer because regardless of whether he wins this talent contest or not, He’s got a massive future ahead of him and I know we will be hearing more from this young man over the coming years.
So you know what? I’m gonna stop being snobby about this show and celebrate the really great talent that is showcasing on this expose and laugh in the spirit of things at the way you are meant to with these things, at the ones who are downright hopeless but brave, the ones who are performers but not quite up to scratch and sympathise with those few who just missed the cut because the competition was just too good for them.

So I can only mention acts from the three shows I’ve seen and say good luck signature
Good luck the girl with the really, really clever dog whose act you have to see to believe.
Good luck the Michael Jackson lookalike dancer and his Sikh sidekick
Good luck the failed footballer with the amazing ball control skills
Good luck the dramatic Actor/singer who refused t be put off when Cowell told him that the piece he had chosen to do was the one piece that he Simon hated most in the whole wide world. The audience was aghast. Simon’s fellow panellists rebelled and interceded to give the poor guy another chance as he had not prepared anything else. The music was reset and starting from scratch this 18 year old went on to perform exactly the same piece and deliver a tour-de-force performance with the commitment and passion that had the audience stomping, shouting, standing and cheering in the stalls and galleries. It was nothing less than rapture in the house. Simon very graciously put his hands up and admitted that his performance was so dynamic that he was without question more than likely the find of the series.
Good luck Charlie Green.
Good luck to everyone who has got through to the semi finals and may the best act prevail.

Nice one Britons You got Talent.

The prize is to perform on stage at the Royal Albert hall in the presence of HRH Charlie Prince of Wales

Love My Music

I guess I am just a music Junkie. It is my drug of choice I love my music madly It has it's own true voice. I guess I'm hooked and like any unreconstructed addict I don’t want a cure - I'm stuck - I know I have my habit I love it way too much. As far back as I can remember music's been my crush. There are fewer things I love more in life than my old music Rush.

Music has been an ever-playing soundtrack accompanying me since before As far back as I can remember. Oh those many joyous, wondrous times when everything's been going well and all you can hear is the sonorous bell like chimes and good vibes. That vibe deep down inside that you only get from music's touch.

And then there have been the times when I’ve been mixed up and the TV is on the blink, the C.D playing stinks and all I can think is If I could just find that song if I could just make that link. If I could bang that drum and drink that drink of amber nectar to sooth my tongue so's I could sing, then maybe I wouldn’t be caught between this rock and a dubplates not really what is called for here. This is a mood that is more in need of love and care and tender melodies and maybe just a little music flush.

Music is my Karma, my Sutra the event horizon future. Music is my mantra I'm a chanter. When I chant I just get stronger. And: As far back as I can remember It has scored and accompanied the landmarks in my life. The high notes, low notes sweet notes, blue notes. The soft tones, the dramas that it’s nursed me through when I have been so down and blue. I have used it in so many ways. I have a type of music that I will listen to when I am blue I have a type that I will listen to when I am HipHappy, another reserved exclusively for between the sheetmusic, a completely different tempo when I want to get down and funk the living daylights out of .... But let me not distract or lose track of what I’m playing ‘cause when I am in a bubbly mood I love to play my reggae, but if I'm in a troubly mood I couldn't give a sheg-I gonna play my rebel music, non stop, throw down leggo music, Hip-Hop. If I'm in a thinking mood or contemplating something philosophical I'll go classical If I'm in a spiritual mood -transcendental I will sit down and go central. Cross legged, mantis like, and maybe hum a little and just chill. Still there’s only one real deal… Music... Hush! Music... Rush me Music.... Touch me. Music... Embrace me I win I got a King's Flush. Games done.
See!
I don’t mind that music fills my every waking moments and that I have been utterly infatuated with it all my life.
See as far back as I can remember: I’ve been it’s faithful husband It’s been my faithful wife.

Not so Tired, Not So Broken

I watched 'Britain's Got Talent' this evening and was absolutely blown away by an amateur youth dance act that was out of this world. They presented: menacing, androgynous, dressed all in black, porcelain masks under hooded cowls, A kind of android type gang thing going on. All crouched together in one big amorphous, unmoving mass. And then they started to slowly disentangle. And then they started to dance. A three act micro street opera in less than three minutes. It was riveting, it was fantastic. No! It was absolutely bloody brilliant.

What really impressed me about these kids was that they were not privilleged beneficiaries of dance academies or stage schools. They all grew up in the hood and formed their little company organically. Their material was actually choreographed by one of the mothers. They came out onto the stage and put on the most thought provoking, dynamic amateur dance drama I have seen in a hell of a long time.

They were interviewed during the course of the show and revealed that their ambitions was not to be super stars or to make lots of money, but to be examples and good role models and positive influences on other deprived kids in their area. It emerged that they were already engaged in taking their act into inner city schools in an attempt to engage with and inspire younger kids to aim for more than what is on offer on the street corner. And they were doing it out of a genuine love for their art and a sense of responsibility and commitment to their community.

Now I have to tell you that I usually turn my nose up at these lame, tired, 'past-their use-by-date' talent shows because they tend to discover very little real talent and provide even less real entertainment. I am happy to say that having tuned into this show over the past two or three weeks, Britain does have talent and I hope we get lots and lots of it passing through the portals of Mixit.TV in the future.

MIXIT FORUM TEST

We're getting some fat feedback on site to the blogs that we have posted up over the last few days and it is our intention here at Mixit.tv to introduce a forum where you can come to chat, hang out, watch videos, talk to your friends just basically mixit up and party with us. We want you to invite your friends and tell them to invite their friends. We want to make this a fun place to be, where you can come and spend an hour, stop for three if you so desire; have your tea and come back for more mixit.tv. And you know the best thing about it is it's all for free.

We are now in the testing phase of this site and our forum. If you are reading this then you have
most likely been introduced by someone who knows either Alexzanda, Dennis, Derrick or Gerry and we would like to invite you to share the mixit forum with us, share your stories, share a joke. Tell us about your music. What you like what you don't like. Why? You can ask us entertainment /music related questions If we don't have the answers I am sure we know a man or woman who does, or maybe throw it open to the forum.

We don't have any age restrictions or age limits here on mixit. we intend to provide programmes to engage the entire family. Consider us like an interactive mall or a very, very good magazine that you can log into when you want to; bookmarking those areas to take you straight to your topic or programmes of interest.

This station is going to be fully interactive we want to hear your suggestions of the kinds of things you want mixit to offer you online. We want you to tell us when you are happy with us as well as whether you think we are not mixing it rich enough for your taste. We will willingly take your criticisms if you take the time to commend us when we are getting it right. The best way that you can do that is to participate and get your friends, where you are and overseas, to participate and interact with you and us on mixit. Welcome to MIXIT.TV may your stay with us be happy, enjoyable and fun and who knows you might even learn a thing or two along the ride.

Mixit.TV Forum Bear in mind that the site is still undergoing construction.

WHAT'S RAP GOT TO DO WITH IT?

In broken society Britain, if you ask a kid what they want to be when they grow up, an alarmingly high number of them is going to tell you that they want to be a 'supa-star' or a celebrity and I say alarming because if the ones who have these lofty ambitions were paying attention to preparing themselves to be extraordinary human beings; then I would be at the front of the parade, cheerleading them to go get it. The problem is that they have the ambition without the grit to graft for it. or self discipline to even get or hold down ordinary jobs in the emerging super competitive IT world that they will be the inheritors of.

The problem is that many of them think that all they have to do is want it bad enough and it will somehow magically happen. Wanting it has supplanted working for it. They don’t have any talent to speak of, they don’t have extraordinary intellects. They don’t have tenacity or the endurance ethic but they want all the glory and all the accolades and they want it all now.

You cant talk to them about studying and slowly climbing up the ladder of success. You can’t talk to them about ‘payin’ no dues’ they want their piece of the pie now and they want it without any sense that they must put something in to deserve it. Now this might sound like I’m being down on the youth and being wholly pessimistic about them and their prospects in life but I am not. You see I think it is not too late to turn them around and put a stop to these unrealistic aspirations.

It is ironic that street ethics allows them to admire and role model the drug dealer, because he has plenty of bling, nice car and wads a cash, but not the Dr or lawyer who is making a valuable contribution to their environment. Both examples incidentally, make big-money but the one is street-lore sexy and the other is a job for smart people who paid attention in class. The tragedy is that translated into real life this street ................ says that the local bad boy excluded from school commands far more kudos than the goody goody A grade student who aint playin' the game and won’t join the gang.

How can it be right that a Phd or university degree is worth less than bling and conspicuous consumption?

What does rap and MTV have to do with the skewering of the expectations of young people? I know what I think. What about you?

ICE - in car ent... Come a long way (baby)

OK - I will admit it, I am a bit of a geek ... when it comes to technology, gadgets and general stuff I am the guy that knows why it needs to have 'A2DP' ...



Which brings me neatly on to ICE - in car entertainment, what's it all about, well the basics of it is the car stereo, you can connect that through to an additional amp, to subs and more speakers ... but thats not the side that really interests me - its the less tricked out, more smoother angle... Don't get me wrong, decent speakers, output and bass are a must, but I don't take it to the level of extreme ...

My next stereo is going to be gadget laden, seriously loaded with the right features -

• A2DP - which is just stereo bluetooth, this means it will talk to my Mobile (N95) or my Laptop (with an A2DP compatible bluetooth dongle)
  Beyond the being able to take calls handsdfree in the car, which is useful if your trying to find something or picking someone up, you can use the music stored on your mobile - which if your like me is a pretty sizable collection!
• DAB - digital radio, that step up in clarity and choice ... a seriously increased range!
• MP3 - Of course - but how is it stored ...
• SD Card
• USB slot

These last two are significant - half of my old music collection is now on a computer (or two), these have SD card slots and SD cards (cheap memory cards) can have 2gb on them easily, thats 4 x the size of an mp3 CD! We are talking about 500 songs you can easily change as easily as moving them to and from a drive on your computer. A USB slot - that can mean portable hard disks of 80gb+ you do the maths!

Heres the real question - why is it in ICE (In car Entertainment) you can get all the above for a pretty good price? Take a look at IceBuyer.co.uk or Maplin there is some serious deals out there! I haven't quite found the package I want, so for now I am sticking with the ol' mp3 playing CD player in my car at the moment ...

shame my music collections so bad

From Batty-Rida to Thigh-Diva

or
Bottoms Up
There is a 'youf’ fashion phenomena that you just got to have noticed if you live anywhere near a big town or urban city in the UK. You must have noticed it because its right there in your face and a bit of a cheek (pun fully intendedAndYouWillSeeWhat-I-meanLata) Young boys and girls shuffling around wearing the most uncomfortable looking excuse-for-pants. The 'He'; of the species will invariably have a nattily orientated baseball cap on. The 'She' will have tattoos and/or face studs and/or rings and/or multicoloured hair extensions/weaves, etc. He will have at least one hood (up or down optional) to his many layers of bootleg-designer tracksuit (tracki) tops ... And no I am not going to be down on hoodies, and join the righteously indignant lynchmob baying for their blood. I want to talk to you about BOTTOMS!

The phenomena to which I refer relates to the fact that this tribe of young boysNgirls are walking around with the top of their traki bottoms pulled down and somehow kind-a-perilously hangin-lo from their upper thighs. The crotch (vertical height from inner leg to top of shoe) of these special youf pants are cut so low that it allows very little opportunity for them to execute a normal-length stride; so they walk by doing a cross between a Geisha girl shuffle and Emperor-penguin hobble. Each forward step is pendulem perfect, side to side rocking motion. It is the most comical walking gaite you will ever see.

Now I am completely impressed by an amazing, some might say miraculous, balancing act that they pull-off, swaddled in this bondaged leggings contraption because these guys (and to be honest they are mainly guys) somehow balance their pants midway between their bum and their knees, which means that to all intent and purpose they are mostly walking around with their privates dangling above their pants instead of in their pants. They wear extremely long T shirts that I guess are meant to cover the crack in their assholes or maybe even their private parts. Anyway: they will take a few steps and then pull their pants up a bit, (not a lot just enugh to settle it back mid thigh) walk a few more steps and hitch up their pants again.

The funniest thing is to see them run (if you can call it that) their running action comprises a quick burst of straight legged tiny steps, punctuated by a little hop as they quickly hitch-back-up-their pants; then another little burst of mini steps. If you haven't seen these guys in motion you probably think I am exaggerating? I'm not! They really do do this. I have a theory about why they take these tiny steps and daren’t bend their knees, and it is because if they made a fully fledged stride they would rip the crutch out of their pants, If they bent their knees then they would stress the fabric and catapult their pants past their knees to their ankles; and lets face it, that would be embarrassing for the poor loves... Innit?

I went into town yesterday and was standing on the platform waiting for a train to come in and all of a sudden I saw this 6”5 youf He couldn't have been more than 13 or 14 years old but an enormous youf enormous, not fat just well. ... really big, and you could tell that he was only a 'babby'. And the poor thing was Hop-Skip-and hobbling his way down the stairs to the platform. The trousers that he was wearing must have been made on a 5”6 tailors-dummy because the poor lad could barely move his feet from one step down to the next. He was clearly in some measure of discomfort, but he valiantly soldiered on, having to pull his pants up every other step. The thing is that he would only pull his pants up as far as his bloody mid thighs even though there was ruffled trouser draped around his shoe, enough to pull them up to his bum at least, if he chose to. It was at this point that I thought: Here we have the definition of a fashion victim, personified... Innit?

I remember only a few years back when the progenitor of this style, "ghetto hipster/battyriders, crossed the Atlantic from the good ol’ USA. It was basically baggy pants hitched so far down the hips to show off the white Calvin Kleins with the CK label on full view. This then progressed to pants pulled down only as far as the crack in their bum or the protuberance of their front bulges, but that was then and o so long ago. This years gutter (sorry) ghetto fashion is to wear (lets call them penguin pants) belowBattyBulge, hitched on mid thigh. I guess next year we will see them hobbling around with their pants around their ankles and wearing a dress/kaftan/kilt to cover their unmentionables.

These are the ‘Youfs’, B boys and their girls called Biatches. And if you haven't encountered this phenomena as yet, do not fret ‘cause they will be appearing in your town or a town near you very soon... Innit

Tomorrow I want to talk about the ‘G-string-Thong-Thing You know? The Knicker-on-show-down-below Lower-and-lowering-still-belt-line’ Defined and adopted by the female of this fascinating specie. I will be speculating How low their drawers are likely to go.

Broadband rip off ?

I was just chatting to a friend about this whole broadband rip off - and he asked the question - so what ? Well the truth is that today it doesn't really effect 80% of us, but it might be that your one of the few it does.

If your paying for 8mb or above, you should be able to watch HD TV streamed over the web to your PC (which in turn can be connected to your HD TV) companies like BBC, DivX are all working on making this possible - however if your 8mb is really only 2 or 3 mb then you can't watch it without severe buffering (it pausing to download the next chunk) or it having to be in lower quality.

"...The typical Internet connection is 2 to 3 megabits per second, says Laszlo. The minimum needed to stream HD-quality video is 5Mbps. Laszlo added that even if bandwidth were to be increased, computers with lower graphics processing power may be unable to display the richer details that HD provides. ..." - full article

Point is that for music - you don't need much more than 2mb for reasonable quality, unfortunarely its proved those of you paying for that aren't getting even that ...

Unfortunately in this case you don't get what you paid for people paying for 8 often get less than 4 ... you can stamp your feet but there is very little they can do about it - and frankly when ever I have bought broadband I have known I am not going to get it ... it depends on many factors including where you live (how far from the exchange etc... ) but shouldn't your ISP, before you buy it, before you expect high quality HD to be streamed over your unlimited (by the way, its not always unlimited) connection ... shouldn't your ISP should tell you the truth?

The Grime of the Century has not been committed

The urban music scene in the UK is under serious pressure. I would go further and say that it is actually in terminal decline and sinking in a quagmire of its own making.

There are some serious young artists out there who are multi talented, committed, all round entertainers who write great lyrics, make really good beats and know how to pull off great stage performances. The problem is that the Grime scene that most of these talented young boys2men choose to express themselves in, does not lend itself to grooming them for any sustainable career outside of the very narrow, largely underground UK grime scene itself.

Is there any one out there over the age of 25 who can name me five successful grime artists? Can you name me three? You would have to be a die hard grime fan or someone involved in the industry to do that. So my question is what future is there for grime music? Does it have any legs and will people be raving about it in twenty ten or even five years time?

I constantly tune into London urban radio to hear what's going on and get a feel for new stuff or emerging talent. To be honest 99 times out of 100 I leave not only unimpressed, but disillusioned. The problem for me with grime music is that it all seems so samey samey. I watch satellite tv, searching for up and coming indie artists who are saying something, and end up depressed with the derth of talent that doesn’t-shine-through. They all seem to be the same. Same words, same licks, same bad boy posing off against everything outside of his homey's endz and the crew. Again and again, just a different rhyme order, a different camera angle. Same game just another name.

This unfortunately (some would say appropriately) named grime music is our home-grown young black boy inner city created genre; by young blacks for young blacks ... and what do they do with it? Slag each other off run each other down, cuss each other out. All the while underlining every slur with a convincing rhyme on the violence that will be meted to anyone who stands in their way or even looks at them out of turn.

I love rebelious music, but rebel music should have a cause. These poor lads I view as rudderless and all at sea. There is some great music being produced here in the UK, I am however, anything but enthusiastic about the lack of musical or stylistic development from our inner city young Black British youth. Urban music is in a parlous state. Their raison d'être is I say again: obsessed with attitude over content. Saying very little that is new but saying it fast furious aggressive and very very loud.

Yes! There is talent out there, but this talent seems to have stagnated in its self enforced ghetto, incestuously feeding off itself and its claustrophobic environment. It stays defiantly impervious to any and all positive influences that might make it more palatable on a bigger (international) stage. There are really only two exceptions that I can think of - Bashy and Sway - who buck this trend …. And do you know, I know that even as I write this; the hard core fundamentalist grime aficionados are frothing at the mouth and spitting “HeDuntKnowWhatHe’sFuckin'bumbuClaatTalkin’AboutDuzzHeBredrin?"

When are we going to see someone emerge from the maddening mass (or should I say morass), step up and represent? Black kid, white kid, I do not care, just someone please Step Up!

I have seen very few artists and fewer bands/crews over the last 3 years who have got anything going on. A couple of years ago I came across a crew called Trinity and Rukus coming out of Derby, who I thought were absolutely brilliant. I would have sworn at that time that they would sweep all before them conquer Britain and rule the world, but alas they do not seem to have made much commercial headway. I hope those guys are still together and out there struttin' their stuff because they rock. I would have loved to say “Grime” but it just doesn't have the same ring about it … Does it?

Time to move forward

With so many up & coming talents, in singing, dancing, and acting, with over the board entertainments, mixit.tv is a breath of fresh air for many new artists; I believe mixit.tv can be a performance stage for the world to see new talents.

We have seen the birth of MTV, MySpace, YouTube, facebook all sharing success on what they offer to billons of people all over the world, trust me when I say there is room for one more.

Look out world, Mixit.tv is on the move.

How to know what really is good music ...

People have been talking about web 2.0 for ages, but I have to confess I just hate buzz words - I work in the web world and I have to be honest I am a serious geek - that said I hate the way everyone uses buzz words to describe anything and everything - but I think Last FM is very cool

For those who don't know one part of it is a small application you download and it 'spies' on what you listen to, through anything from itunes through to winamp or what ever else - it does some cool stuff with this data for example suggesting other music you might like, ranking tracks and more ... it ranks tracks not on sales and single plays but on all plays - so the tracks that ou bought and listen to regularly -the real quality - it ranks higher! This to me is cool. it knows the quality stuff - number two is the Beatles - number one is probably thanks to the new free single - Cold Play.

Starter for ten ...

Welcome to Mixit.TV - whats it all about? good question, this is undoubtedly an evolving website, a focus on music of all genres not just what is popular but also what is genuinely good.

We will also be taking a slow look at style, gadgets, mobiles and life in general think of this as a good magazine with strong opinions. I myself am I bit of a geek who loves to listen to some seriously rubbish music, you can see what I was listening to til recently via the Last FM website... (I am dergal2000 - don't ask, its an old username).

This is a consolidated effort with people who all come from different backgrounds so have truly different views - whats cool, whats not and where to put in an apostrophe.