Well, thats it – its all over for another year. The community Skratch Tour 2010 ended in Brighton this saturday, at what was one of the best events we’ve ever been to – the Community Skratch BBQ. Yet again the Gladstone garden was at capacity as everyone climbed onto the tables to catch a glimpse of the action.

Every year the atmosphere is incredible at this event having seen brilliant shows from Clockwork, Foly, Blak Randy , Jimmy Penguin and Deviant, Unemployed Superheroes, Grandeurs Of Delusion’s sizzling new line-up and the amazing Oslo Flow alongside Keita.

Unfortunately after a heavy night in Bristol, we lost Mikey Fingers and Tweek along the way. Although we understand that they both enjoyed themselves.

This year’s BBQ was hosted by Enlish who was on fire all afternoon despite not having been to bed for 2 days. One of the great things about these events is that people come from all over to get involved. As well as performers from Ireland, Canada, Norway, UK and even Japan(!), people travelled for hours to be a part of the crowd.

We spoke to people from Ireland (Gem), Leeds (Mike-L), Guernsey, Norfolk, Germany, and London at the BBQ – and everyone left knowing the journey had been worth their while.

The highlight of the BBQ show for me was Blam and Plato. With a venue full of people sporting Oslo Flow shirts, their infectious natural funk was the perfect soundtrack as the sun went down. What they do is so unique and brilliant, everyone in the venue could feel they were witnessing something incredible.

The past month of shows has been amazing. We have all met some brilliant and achingly generous people from across the world. At times it was very hard work. A lot of travelling with very little sleep (to be fair that was our own fault) and a lot of intoxicants at times took its toll.

But the most incredible thing about these shows is that the standard of talent, musicianship and people make it all worth while. As Blam (@daggaless) said himself “There was some serious business going on in Brighton that day – something is changing” – and I can’t wait to be involved in whats coming next.

Keep checking the site for the forthcoming video..

After a strange decision to stay up all night to ensure they were in a right state for the flights to Berlin, Grandeurs Of Delusion (pictured) made their way over to the magnificent city of Berlin. Jimmy Penguin and Deviant were already there and Johnny Doobs arrived the next day.

Beautiful weather meant that the days were spent drinking by the river and in Berlin’s parks. The show itself did not take place until much later than advertised online. But the hardcore Berliners stuck it out and stayed there until the last show at 2:30am.

The venue was great – a converted car garage off the beaten track – so big thanks to Jan and Simon for sorting it all out. Great shows from Melodica Deathship, Jimmy Penguin and Deviant and G.O.D and a DJ set of electronic funk from Johnny Doobs.

G.O.D had to leave almost straight after the show to the airport leaving the Irish lads in Berlin before heading straight to the UK on Thursday. You can check some photos at:

http://www.facebook.com/#!/album.php?id=100001390400773&aid=5684

So the Irish leg of the tour is completed. Great atmosphere at every show and amazing performances from Jimmy Penguin and Deviant, Mikey Fingers and Tweek, G.O.D and the Neil Bucannon. We have amassed over 60Gb of audio and video recordings which we’ll put together with the upcoming footage from Germany and the UK.

The proceedings opened up in Cork with Jimmy Penguin and Deviant showing why they are (in my opinion) the best in the world at what they do. An unbelievable scratch/folk set like nothing I’d heard before. To boot their solo scratches are amazing – there is nothing that these boys can’t do!

Mikey fingers and Tweek next with an MPC/ Loop Pedal/ Turntable show with brand new material alongside hypnotizing rendition of tracks from last years Tuphat Paddys EP (See the Downloads section).

G.O.D were up next  with their battering electro and some blistering new songs to boot.

The in-store in Dublin was a proper Community Skratch Vibe, with people from all walks of life pouring into CRU and sharing a beer. At one stage there was even a trumpet player turned up to play Happy Birthday ( and inexplicably ring of Fire) to Birthday Boy Moschops.

Nearly all of the scratch DJ’s in Ireland were out and later everyone met up for drinks in Dublin where we had a lock-in until the early hours. Great to see the likes of Tuki and Savwar there..

Another long journey and we were in Galway, the home of the Community Skratch Games, for a club show and a scratinee(!). Some of the best musicians from Galway got together to improvise together as part of the Galway Big Jam. Including Sebi C (pictured, right) , Vince Mack Mahon. Jimmy Hatetank (pictured, left) even got involved too.

We arrived to Cuba to a display of banging techno throughout which Noid the Droid read  his book quietly in the corner. This was not our usual crowd but they loved it. All of the sets were well received and we got the CSG atmosphere going in full swing. Finishing up with G.O.D on a loud system where the punishing electro rhythms came into their own.

Next stop is Berlin, watch this space…

Thanks to Sebi C, Jimmy P and Sarah, and Moschops for your hospitality. Much appreciated as always.

The remaining tour dates can be seen in the Calendar on the right so come down and get involved with the Community Skratch Movement.

After months of organising we are proud to announce the dates/ venues and line-ups for the Community Skratch Tour 2010!

This years event will take in Ireland, UK, and Germany as we step things up for the third year in a row. The tour includes new music performances from your favourite CSG artists such as Jimmy Penguin, Deviant, & G.O.D… but also featuring performances from the one and only LORN all the way from the U.S for the Community Skratch BBQ, UK…. and exclusive album performances from Oslo Flow (Blam and Plato).

This year there will be Community Skratch BBQ’s in Berlin on Saturday 21st August and the usual finale in Brighton on August 28th.

Posters for all events will be online shortly, so please spread the word. Lets make it another amazing year!

The hideously prolific Jimmy Penguin has unleashed yet another fine free album on us all. Follow the link below to stream or download his new electro album available from alkalinear recordings.

http://www.archive.org/details/JimmyPenguintheDiscoBall

Here’s what one reviewer had to say:

“Rumour has it that Jimmy Penguin has a secret factory located deep in the heart of Connemara, filled with migrant beatmaking midgets who work around the clock constructing rhythms and melodies for the wunderkid. How else could one man churn out such a vast array of quality albums in such a short space of time? At this rate, he’ll have surpassed Zappa’s 89 album outout by the time he’s 30. Sheesh!
His most recent sonic voyage, ‘The Disco Ball’, is yet another foray into unchartered electronic waters, making it increasingly more difficult to categorize exactly what young Jim does musically. Not a cut or scratch in sight, the 11 tracks presented here are equally well mixed & mastered as they are composed. There’s pianos (but of course) but the sound being explored here is definitely something more synth-related than acoustic, with Jimmy working hard to create an album that relies on space and processing as key components of the compositions themselves.
Tracks like ‘Eeelectro’ and ‘Twomany’ underline his ability to program drums in less obvious patterns than most, using the kick-drum in such a way that he actually sounds like a metal drummer lashing away on a double pedal. Album opener, ‘Tro1 fat anelay’, is a superb nod to modern sound design, and wouldn’t seem even the slightest bit out of place on a Fuck Buttons or Atlas Sound album.
The chords sit predominantly on the minor side, so again, this is a Penguin album that is best served in a dark room with the eyes closed and the lungs blackened. Or else plug in a Sega Megadrive, throw on Double Dragon II and spazz out electronically. Either way, cop your ears around this release – one of his most focused albums yet – and see what shapes Jimmy’s mind constructs on the regular.”

Surely you’ll give it a listen after that…

To celebrate the 4th annual Community Skratch Games, we’ve got 3 new releases from the CSM stable…

DJ Blood1 serves up a heavy dose of his works, both old and new, from slo-mo boom bap beats to digital slices of heavy electronics, all topped off with his signature razor sharp cuts.

Right-click and save as to download…[CSM012] DjBlood1 [New Motor Control] mp3 [320kbps]

The legend that is Uncle Lew finally drops his long awaited “The Change Of Plan EP”, an evocative collection of modern electronic hiphop excursions. This is merely a taster of what is to come from this producer and wax molester extraordinaire.

Right-click and save as to download…
[CSM013] Uncle Lew [The Change of Plan EP] mp3 [320kbps]

And last, but very much not least, is the second installment of Community Skratch Music, co-ordinated and compiled by Jimmy Penguin. Featuring tracks from Disscuss, Neil Buchanan, Merrylegs, Tweek, Mikey Fingers, MyNameIsJohn, Clockwork, Deviant & Naive Ted, Eoin Smith, DJ Lenar, Connah Jay, Fidel Cutstro and of course the Penguin himself, the compilation examines the current state of turntable based music creation with a broad overview encompassing many styles and many parts of the globe. Essential listening if ya fancy that sort of thing……

Right-click and save as to download…[CSM014] Various [community skratch music Volume 2] mp3 [320kbps]

[Originally posted 23/01/2010]

RusZUD just released another Jimmy Penguin album and its available for free download via the open source Internet archive.
Get ‘Its Not Dub-Step’ over at the RusZUD website or click the links below for direct download.

>>> Click to Download the free release:
http://www.archive.org/download/rz156/rz156_vbr_mp3.zip
>>> Or go to the archive page:
http://www.archive.org/details/rz156

[Originally posted 24/11/2009]

new free album download available here