Son Raw is Passion of the Weiss’ resident expert in Urban Electronic sounds, which means that he specializes in music with a lot of air horns, gun shots, broken beats and laser sounds. Having written about Hip-Hop, Rare Groove, Bass Music and Grime and having DJ’ed everywhere from Los Angeles’ Low End Theory to Paris’ Rinse France and London’s NTSLive – we figure he knows what he’s talking about.
When asked to describe his musical philosophy he mumbled something about musical viruses and “searching for the next fix" before concluding that sunshine does indeed play a major part in the daytime.
12 1/2 songs that influenced Son Raw
1. Wu-Tang Clan – C.R.E.A.M
2. Portishead – Sour Times
3. Skream – Midnight Request Line
4. Ruff Sqwad – Future
5. MF DOOM – Dead Bent
6. The Bug – Skeng
7. The Diplomats – DJ Enuff Freestyle
8. Wiley – It’s Wiley (Royal-T Remix)
9. Nas – Project Window (Original Version)
10. DJ Rashad ft DJ Spinn – Drank Kush Barz
11. Logos – Ex101
12. Freddie McGregor – Tomorrow is like Today
13. The second half of Erykah Badu’s Master Teacher
---------------------------
Currently Listening:
Mumdance & Logos - Proto
D'Angelo - Black Messiah
Mr Mitch - Parallel Memories
Coyote Records - Coyote Kings II
Rick Ross - Hood Billionaire
Yamaneko - Pixel Wave Embrace
Lil Herb - Pistol P
Wayne Shorter - See No Evil
A Tribe Called Quest - Low End Theory
Son Raw - Conscious Wave Mix
---------------------------
Currently Watching:
The Imitation Game
Blade Runner
Guardians of the Galaxy
Adventure Time
---------------------------
Currently Reading:
Brian Coleman - Check the Technique II| Strict Face in imaginary marble | October 7, 2014 |
What is instrumental music about? It’s a question I struggle with when reviewing beats because fundamentally, the answer is nothing. Yet as humans (or barring that, music writers) we constantly search for meaning and representation in sounds that are completely abstract, to make sense of the emotions they conjure in us.
| Riko Dan and Rabit are Grime’s Black Dragons | October 6, 2014 |
Rabit's Black Dragons was so far ahead of its time when it dropped that he can release a vocal version over a year and a half later and still have it sound fresh out the box. Meanwhile, Riko's yardman flow is an immediate draw and his tendency to vocal the deepest, darkest riddims separates it from trancehall's current obsession with chart pop.
| RIP Spaceape | October 3, 2014 |
Son Raw wrote this. Never would I have thought that I’d be writing two eulogies for Hyperdub artists in one year, but fate is cruel and reality is harsh. The Spaceape was of course, a brilliant poet and by all accounts, an incredible live performer before his battle against cancer denied us of his talents […]
| LV and Joshua Idehen go Island hopping | October 2, 2014 |
LV's second album with Josh Idehen has enough pop power to transcend its London underground origins. Son Raw reports.
| Slackk – Palm Tree Fire | September 29, 2014 |
Son Raw works according to his own internal logic. Slackk makes Grime, but he doesn’t make dance or rap music, the oppositional poles that form the genre’s DNA. Whereas Grime’s superstar emcees have gone on to successful careers not altogether different from American rappers, and experimental artists like Logos reformat the genre’s attitude and sounds […]
| Time is a Spiral: An Interview With Kode9 | September 18, 2014 |
A conversation about bass music with the Hyperdub boss
| The Bug – “Angels & Devils” | August 19, 2014 |
Son Raw’s brain was infected by devils What do you do when your career defining classic’s sound unwittingly becomes the template for a genre’s worth of horrible music? The Bug must have asked himself this question a thousand times during the 5 years since London Zoo became the defiant soundtrack to student protests and urban […]
| August Grime wrap up | August 15, 2014 |
Son Raw’s heading to the beach for a minute Once again, it’s on… First up, Bristol imprint Crazylegs continues to play mad scientist with UK dance music traditions, mixing and matching various tempos, styles and perspectives on each release. Ziro’s Lost featuring Trim is no exception and like Murlo’s remix of TRC’s Me and You […]
| Spooky and Gundam do R&G right | August 8, 2014 |
Son Raw’s thinking ‘bout freek’n’you. Momentum’s been building for a few years, but Hip-Hop’s awkward fumble throughout 2014 so far has confirmed it: R&B is officially the driving force in black music. For 80s babies, this makes for strange times – we grew up in an era where R&B was a palette cleanser, a gateway […]
| Son Raw’s Loose Synths | August 7, 2014 |
And now, a word from Son Raw’s sponsor Another mix, another awkward self promotional write up from myself. Honestly, I can big up the artists I support all day long but writing about my own DJing is about as painful a task as I can imagine. As such, I’ll dodge that obligation by heaping praise […]
