Ramadanman

WE’VE GOT 5 COPIES (ORIGINALS, NOT COPIES BUT COPIES IF YA GET ME?!) OF THE ALBUMS TO GIVEAWAY OF THE AMAZING RAMADANMAN/PEARSON SOUND ALBUM.
SIMPLY EMAIL COMPS@THERANSOMNOTE.CO.UK WITH THE SUBJECT “RAMADANMAN/PEARSON SOUND, PEARSON SOUND/RAMADANMAN WHO IS IT? WHO IS IT?”

CLOSING DATE WED 30TH MARCH.

Pearson Sound / Ramadanman FABRICLIVE 56 Fabric Records 21.03.11

Boasting a CV that would leave most aspiring artists weak at the knees, young North Londoner David Kennedy, who operates under several monikers including Pearson Sound and Ramadanman, has been steadily adding accomplishments to his already substantial list since hitting the scene in 2006. Kennedy has dropped a slew of 12s on game-changing bass music labels like Swamp 81, Hemlock,Aus, Applepips and Soul Jazz, as well as on his very own Hessle Audio – which he runs alongside friends Ben UFO and Pangaea.The small imprint, which has so far left a very big mark, was started in the Hyde Park area of Leeds and has released singles from the likes of Joe, James Blake and Untold, also hosting various radio shows and a residency at FABRICLIVE. His prolific remix rate and dizzying tour schedule leaves one wondering where he found the time to produce the 56th FABRICLIVE mix.

I was also getting into jungle and drum n bass through LTJ Bukem, whose CD I heard being played in a Virgin Megastore .. I got into DJing because I saw people scratching records in the background on stuff like Top of the Pops and it seemed like a cool thing to do. I didn’t realise that you could also mix two tunes together, I honestly thought that decks were just there for scratching! .. I spent a lot of time in my early teens in the Berwick Street area of Soho. The shop Vinyl Junkies (now shut) was especially a big influence on me. JP (the owner) and Toru let me hang out there and just sit on the sofa and listen to tunes. I was probably a bit of a pain! But that’s where I really got into deep house music mainly the American stuff in contrast to the really european tunes I began mixing with. Anyway from Vinyl Junkies I discovered other shops in Soho like Blackmarket, Sounds of the Universe and Scenario Records.

With such a varied output, the one string that has consistently united Davids work is the care spent on the percussive elements of his drum programming and a love for rich textural sounds.With roughly a third of the tracks in the mix being his own productions, this is a perfect example of this very consistency and further evidence of the flawless nature of his DJing. It’s also an extremely current selection, with many of the tunes being unreleased at the time of recording. Starting off with some Rush Hour type deep house and the Panoramabar anthem, Late Night Jam, things soon get a little more upbeat.This is where Kennedy excels, managing to temper the frenetic BPM of the Shangaan dance whilst isolating the yearning vocal chant, slotting it effortlessly into one of his Pearson Sound percussive work outs.While utilising the infectious basslines from tough UK funky numbers like Lil’ Silva’s Bad Girl remix, he manages to avoid the usual hyperactive nature of funky sets, allowing each groove adequate time to snake into the next, jumping between tempos but always keeping it deep with the haunting vocals of Joy Orbison phasing in and even a timely staccato verse from Wiley. It’s the simplicity in which he gives nods towards all his influences, from the sub-bass heavy D1 classic Sub Zero to the dubbed-out ethereal garage of Burial, his own Detroit-influenced drums strewn throughout, that gives the mix such a pulsating intensity.The whole thing then winds down beautifully with an ambient number from Hotflush alumnus Sigha that leaves you with a teasing lone note slowly drifting just out of earshot.

It’s all very much live mixing, no time stretching or auto beat matching. It’s a bit of a retrospective of some of my favourite music from 2010, and is representative of a set I would play in a club. Even though I don’t play much stuff at 140bpm these days, I always like to end up at that tempo as that is the music that got me to where I am, and tracks like Sub Zero by D1 are very powerful for me because they remind me of spending time at FWD in 2006, which was so formative. I remember going to the first time that Fabric booked dubstep DJs, think it was January 2007, when room 2 was taken over by Mala, Skream etc. and it was a great night. I didn’t really go to Fabric very often when I was younger, but I knew of its reputation so it was very exciting to play there for the first time. For a DJ to play there, it’s great everything works, no technical problems and even if something did go wrong there’s always technical guys on hand.

Info:
www.fabriclondon.com