It’s been a hectic few weeks at Blunt HQ. Apart from the usual skulduggery with gigs and radio shows and all the rest of it, theres also been a fair amount of day to day head crushing stress for all of us in our respective lives of late. It’s been a combination of credit card bills, car M.O.T’s, flight bookings, blocked dishwashers, unreliable computers, and lost phono cables to name but a few. I for one, have not been the healthiest of bunnies over the past few weeks, which hasn’t helped. I figured there was only one way to combat this, and that was to record a chill out set.

I named it “Transistor Breathing” (for lack of a better name - and it’s predominantly electronic sounds, so it seemed rather apt).It did the job. I recorded this, and sat down to listen to it back. Within 10 minutes I was lying down, still listening, and closing my eyes. Continue reading…

Here’s the second installment of the Erbalist’s “Funk Day Afternoon” series. (He’s been a busy boy)

Tracks are taken from some of the great contemporary recording labels, with undiscovered treasures from Stark Reality, and includes some new grooves on the mighty Daptone label.

That’s right people, it’s time to sit back and enjoy Funk Day Afternoon pt2. And don’t be forgetting how good Funk Day Afternoon Part 1 was.

If you haven’t listened as yet, I suggest you check the archives for the previous Funk Day session and educate yourself, ya no-good, street-walkin’, jive-talkin’, dirty hustlin’ mo-fudda! A full tracklisting for this platform wearing, wide collared bad-ass mix is below. Continue reading…

It’s been something of an electronic few days here in the recording bunker, and The Erbalist has been getting in on the action. He’s been digging out some quality wax for you all to treat your ears to.

He’s devised this mix to take you on a digital trip, from Warp to Skint, from Bogdan Rosinski to Red Snapper. With this eclectic mix of electronical oddments, he guides you on a musical journey through space and time to bring you some some absolutely fantastic pieces of music.

Its time to power up and plug in to Digital Dilemmas. A tracklisting for this little audio excursion is below.
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Right then. IDM this week. TAKE PILLS DIE Records. Damn good. Check it.

That’s all I need to say really, but I’ll elaborate… Take Pills Die is a “Netlabel” or “Sonic Zine” from a guy called Andrew Julian Cauthen that’s been running since 2001.

The descriptions above fit it very well as this is more than just a podcast. Continue reading…

Just a quick video post today to give Agent M a break from trawling through video sharing sites compiling media freebies for you. I’ve dug out a three part series on Shepard Fairey - the incredibly influential graphic-designer, street-artist and sticker/stencil activist out of California.

Shepard is best known for the “Andre The Giant Has a posse” craze of the early 90’s (described in part 1), that has now matured graphically and evolved into the brand Obey Giant and clothing label Obey Clothing. Continue reading…

We’re a thoughtful lot here at Blunt Beats. We know we look after your ears (and your mind) with audio delicacies from far and wide. But we’re concerned. We’re worried. Apart from our nonsense radio ads, we haven’t really given you much to look at (so to speak) over the past couple of weeks. So, to remedy that fact, the staff here at Blunt HQ have been trawling the web to find some quality video footage for you all to feast your hungry little peepers on.

Our “Stuff Worth Watching” feature is becoming increasingly popular over the past while. So, like all good fried chicken establishments, we’re not gonna mess with the formula. This selection of films is a random review of bits and pieces of footage on a variety of subjects, that we’ve considered worth a watch for whatever reason. If you enjoy them, don’t forget to check out our other random round-up’s in the “Things Worth Watching” series in the video section of the site.

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The lights have been on late at Blunt HQ, to allow Agent M to record his latest mix, entitled “Machinesoul”. It’s a collection of less well-known electronic music, fused with a few classics just for the hell of it. The man himself explains more:

“I was looking through some old house tunes that I hadn’t heard in ages, and I started thinking about how timeless some of it sounds. It could have been made yesterday. I got thinking about how much of an impact the whole house music culture has exercised on just about everything, then my mind started wandering off into early electro sounds, and some of the ground-breaking records that were released in that scene. They’re still influential today. Some of them more so than they were at the time.”

“I figured it would be cool to record something from across the genres, and across the years, but not just all the big tracks. Not the same old classics that get rolled out time after time. I’m not knocking great tunes (!) - I’m just saying it’s easy to overlook a lot of stuff, and, like any musical style, the work of the early pioneers is often overlooked or simply not known about” Continue reading…

Oh yes. That’s right. More Sunday mornings with time to kill, and records to play, have passed at Blunt HQ. We’ve been speaking to a few people who’ve listened to our Sunday Tapes Vol I mix, and, seeing as you seem to like it as much as we liked recording it, we decided to record some more.

This mix, Sunday Tapes Vol II, is longer than it’s predecessor. it’s a mix of 24 tunes, from the Erbalist, Agent M, and Doug. It was supposed to be structured in a “3-tunes-each-on-rotation”, but, Doug had to dash off, and head from Bedfordshire to Newcastle for a week of meetings and schemings (poor blighter), so it kinda wandered off towards the end, as the Erbalist and Agent M hijacked proceedings for their own liking and benefit!

In the same vein as vol I, The Sunday Tapes Vol II is a mixture of tunes from across the spectrum. No style as such, just 3 DJs playing sounds they love.No doubt, we’ll be back to this little project again very soon. Keep your eyes and ears peeled for vol II A tracklisting for Vol II is below:

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Safely ensconsed within the fortress that is Blunt Beats HQ, Doug, the Erbalist, and Agent M have been busying themselves in the recording booth. The upshot of this off the cuff studio session is this little outing that we’ve imaginatively titled “The Sunday Tapes Vol I” (as we recorded it on a Sunday, and we might do some more).

It’s a mix of 10 tunes. 3 each from Doug, the Erbalist, and Agent M (with Doug sneaking an extra last tune in. ‘Cos he’s like that.) There’s bits of funk, jazz, hip hop, and electronica in there. No special structure, just 3 Djs feeding on each other’s taste, and getting on a flow with their tunes.

The recording is a perfect accompaniment to a sunny Sunday morning, where the most difficult decisions are tea or coffee?, Pumas or Timberlands?, Ninja Tune or R&S?. Sit back and enjoy at your leisure. A tracklisting for this little audio soiree is below: Continue reading…

Here as promised, deep from the bunker in Hertfordshire, I’ve been selecting some hot-dog tunes from funk to nu-skool breaks with a twist of soul. You can grab the mix here.

There’s some rare classics and some modern ones that are sure to bring a smile to your face. Check the great new 2007 remix of “ Sex Machine “ by James brown - a proper pearl.

Turn it up loud, get ya teeth stuck in and get a belly full of great Blunt Beats! Continue reading…