As most of you know, things don’t always run too smoothly in life and the last week in BluntWorld™ has been no exception. The search for a new Blunt HQ continues, as does the headache that comes with trying to find a vaguely decent place to live!

On top of all this, our very own Agent M has landed himself in a spot of hospital related drama, currently residing in our local krankenhaus sporting some lovely DVT stockings and some delightful plaster-on-limb action….
Continue reading…

I know I’m labouring the point now, but, we’re in the middle of moving studio here at Blunt Beats, and our very busy chasing our tails, filling in forms, and spending money. Ouch.
Anyway, while we get ourselves sorted out, we didn’t want you good people to miss out on your Blunt Beats Radio fix.

So, what are we gonna do? - Well, we’re also conscious of the fact that it’s coming close to our 2-day festival session at Rhythms Of The World, with our Urban Picnic Sounds project.
You can access some of the other sets from last years Urban Picnic Sounds here
In order to give us some breathing space, and allow you people to enjoy some of the vibe of this belter of a festival, we’ve selected four Dj sets from the weekend, which we’re gonna broadcast tonight in our normal radio timeslot.
This isn’t some cheap get-out excuse. (Well, It is. A bit.) The recordings here are some top-notch tunes from the Blunt Beats archive. So be sure to listen, and get in the mood for Urban Picnic Soudns 2008!
Blunt Beats Radio presents Urban Picnic Sounds - The Preview, Live tonight form 8pm UK time. www.bluntbeats.com/radio

It’s been a while coming, but the British weather is becoming bearable, barbecues seem like a sensible way of dining, and I’ve got one eye on the next pair of fresh Adidias for the sunshine. All this can mean only one thing. The festival season is back with us. From now through ’til the end of August, you’ll find the family Blunt either working or playing at various festivals, gigs and outdoor parties.

The big one this year is our return to the Rhythms Of The World music festival in Hitchin, Hertfordshire. Essentially, this is a bloody big world music festival with a wicked vibe, and the Messers Blunt running the only DJ stage at the whole event. 2 days in the glorious sunshine, with loads of great music from all over the world, and the Blunt Beats DJs providing the beat-backdrop to the whole shebang with our Urban Picnic Sounds project.

Lets cut to the chase. Write this date down. Saturday and Sunday the 12th and 13th of July. If you can be there, you’re gonna want to be at this festival. More info and ticket details are at the Rhythms Of The World website.

Continue reading…

This weeks live Blunt Beats radio show sees us getting all misty-eyed again. “Smoking Behind The Bike Sheds” is an evening of music, showcasing some of the stuff (for better or worse) that moulded our musical personalities growing up, and the musical landmarks that helped influence our beat selections in todays day and age.

Joining Blunt Residents Marcus Hurley and Agent M, will be special guest Christafari, with an exclusive set, putting down some of his own musical schooling here at Blunt HQ.

Expect to hear all kinds of sounds from the crew…funk, soul, hip hop, reggae, blues, drum and bass, metal and dub have all made an appearance on this kind of night before. Whatever is chosen for the setlist will certainly be quality. Of that you can be sure….You can probably expect to hear Blunted rants about simpler times with jumpers for goalposts, the scourge of the Common Market, and the price of things nowadays. To be fair, we are all knocking on a bit now!

Wed 12th March - 8pm UK time - Blunt Beats presents Smoking Behind The Bike Sheds with special guest Christafari - www.bluntbeats.com/radio - Bring the Rizlas and I’ll see you behind the tennis courts

Last weekend the Erbalist and I took a trip down south to Luton-on-Sea (Brighton) to check out the latest CLUB T.E.D. offering at The Volks Club. If you haven’t heard of it or been down there yet, it’s basically a showcase of live performances by artists involved with Level 1. Top quality homegrown tunes are the order of the day here. Continue reading…

We just thought it was worth reminding you guys that the Family Blunt are out and about with our record boxes this weekend. We’re back for our fortnightly “Sunday session” entitled Off The Cuff, at the George II, Bute St. Luton, Beds.

Expect to hear a mixup of classic funk, soul, jazz, hip hop, reggae, and other pieces n’ bits from Blunt Beats Residents Doug, Agent M, and The Erbalist. We power up the speakers at 7, and keep going ’til around 11pm. It’s free to get in, so if you’re in the area, pop down and say hello to the faithful. Round your weekend off with a beer, a game of pool, and some Blunted background music. Nice

Oh dear. I’d better start by way of both an apology and explanation. You may have noticed the gremlins were in the system on Wednesday nights live show. Firstly, our grave apologies. Believe me, it was a bit of a mission to get any kind of show at all. Continue reading…

This is a new fortnightly, low-key event that the crew here at Blunt Manor have put together. Off the cuff is exactly that: - Blunt Beats DJs playing tracks from across the years, and across the genres, as and how they see fit.

The idea is that this little shindig is to be a chill out, end-of-the-week session. It’s not a case of dancing all night, its about coming out for a beer with a few of your mates, in the company of the Family Blunt, and some great music to nod your head, just to finish off the weekend. Continue reading…

Right…now how do I start this shit? It’s probably best to start with an apology for the fact that this review has taken 2 weeks to write! It’s all been a bit fuzzy, and very busy here at Blunt Manor, what with gigs, festivals, birthdays, illness, hangovers and a general lack of sleep, so sorry it’s taken so long to get this review done.

Urban Picnic Sounds - 2 days - all the Blunt Beats Residents and special guests. A Victorian bandstand in a park with a soundsystem and sunshine (allegedly)….that’s the deal.

Continue reading…

Right….I’ll keep this short and to the point. We’ve had a ball over the last two weeks, with both making an appearance at the Til The Cows Come Home festival, and running our “Urban Picnic Sounds” stage at Rhythms Of The World for our 5th year.

Both events were top stuff. However, if has all left us a little bit deaf, sleep deprived, injured to various degrees (usually self-inflicted) and very fuzzy headed (especially the UPS weekender). Once we’ve figured out what day of the week it is again, we’ll be giving you a written report, and picture update of both events…I’m sure there’ll be a few stories! We’ve got a hell of a lot of people to thank, from rain-soaked dancers to on the ball sound engineers, cameramen to bar staff, and a whole host of others. We’ll get to all that in the reports

Also, we managed to record the entire Blunted musical output at Urban Picnic Sounds. The recordings are good quality. I’ve listened (cheers J!)…We’ll be making these available for download along with complete tracklistings very soon.

As I say, this is short and to the point. We’ve had a mad couple of weeks. We’ll be giving you a review of all the shenanigans very soon. You’ll be able to download the music. Bear with us as we are still mentally delicate, and will get back to business very soon!

I’m off for a lie-down.