Right then, best fill the cooler with Red Stripe and find your sun hat, as its time one again for the Family Blunt to present Urban Picnic Sounds 2010, live that the internationally-acclaimed Rhythms Of The World Festival. This year, it’s taking place on the weekend of the 24th and 25th July, with over 170 acts, and 20-odd thousand friends coming together to hear a variety of quality artists from across the world, and the musical genres.

We’re back once again at the single DJ-only stage at this internationally-acclaimed festival. You can check the website tags (“Urban Picnic Sounds”) for info on our previous outings. Essentially, the Blunt Beats crew and some very special guests provide a laid-back soundtrack to the whole weekend via our Urban Picnic Sounds stage. Expect lots of classic soul, barbecue funk, lounging jazz, head noddin’ reggae, and all manner of sunbathing beats. Guests this year include Baron Sound, DJ Herb, Hannah Brown, Reggae-MATT-ic, DJ Widedubz, Morocco, and Adam Williams.

I don’t need to give this one a hard-sell. It’s a great festival, with a cool laid back vibe, and Blunt Beats on the turntables. Simple.

Just to get you in the mood, here’s a link to a couple of sets from previous Urban Picnic Sounds events, courtesy of our very own Doug, and guest Adam Williams.

We’ll see you there!

Yep. We’re back on the air again tonight with another 4 hours of top-quality audio wandering. It’s time for Allsorts. Sets tonight will include music from Blunt Resident Agent M, along with an extended live recording from the family Blunt’s recent outing to Bar Absolute, where residents Doug and Marcus Hurley were joined by blunt-buddy DJ Morocco for a night of funk, breakbeat, hip hop beats, and pretty much anything else they fancied.

If you made it down, it’s a chance to listen again. If you didn’t, it’s a chance for you to hear what you missed, so you know better for next time! Catch all of tonights music live from 8pm UK time via our radio page.

Blunt Beats Radio presents Allsorts. Wednesday 10th March, live from 8pm UK time. Sets from Blunt Residents Agent M, Doug, Marcus Hurley, and DJ Morocco. www.bluntbeats.com/radio.

Anyhow, I’ve decided to make up for that by uploading this archive hip hop session fron one of our previous Destination Midnight radio shows. Tunes from artists including Mobb Deep, Company Flow, and Rakim. Also, look out for the exclusive beat from Prolifik (reworked by Pizzle Fresh!!)

A full tracklisting is below, and you can download the mix here.

Enjoy!

1. Project Roach – Nas feat. The Last Poets (Def Jam)
2. Respiration – Blackstar feat. Common (Kinetic)
3. 8 Steps To Perfection – Company Flow (Rawkus)
4. Grave Prelude – Mobb Deep (Loud)
5. Cradle To The Grave – Mobb Deep (Loud)
6. Alphabet Soup – Masta Ace (Yosumi)
7. Get By – Talib Kweli (Roc-A-Fella)
8. Return Of The Crooklyn Dodger – Jeru Tha Damaja (Zomba)
9. Sucka Nigga – A Tribe Called Quest (Jive)
10. You Know My Steez – Gang Starr (Cooltempo)
11. Fried Chicken – Nas feat. Busta Rhymes (Def Jam)
12. Mathematics (Esta Loca) – Noreaga (Penalty)
13. Incarcerated Scarfaces – Raekwon (Loud)
14. Retaliation – Jedi Mind Tricks (Superegular)
15. Legalize It – Cypress Hill (Columbia)
16. All That I Got Is You – Ghostface Killa (Epic Street)
17. Feel It In The Air – Beanie Sigel (Roc-a-Fella)
18. Gods Bathroom Floor – Atmosphere (Rhymesayers)
19. Remember That – Rakim (Universal)
20. Something In The Past – Guru (Chrysalis)
21. Native American GayWorld – DJ Prolifik feat. Pizzle Fresh (white)

You can listen to/download all the sets from this event at www.ribstep.com. Beats from Rib, DJ Swineflu, KZA, Seizmic, Ginger John, and Blunt Beats Djs Doug, the Erbalist, and Agent M.

It’s that time of the year once more….The full Blunt Beats family will be out in force, providing that summertime vibe with our Urban Picnic Sounds project at the Rhythms Of The World festival on the 4th and 5th July in Hitchin, Hertfordshire.

2 days. 170+ acts from all over the world. 20,000 people….and the Blunt Crew providing the perfect chilled backdrop with our sunshine sountrack to the assembled masses. Those of you in the know will be aware of just what a belter this festival is, and the fact that we have an absolute ball with some quality music, and top-notch guests playing on our Blunted stage.

We’ll be releasing more details about exactly whats happening here on the site over the next couple of weeks, but we’re gonna use tonights live radio as a bit of a warm-up, just to get you in the mood for what to expect. Music tonight will be provided by Agent M along with an archived recording on one of Doug’s sets from the Sunday at least years festival. We’ve also got a fresh-as-boxfresh-Air-Jordans exclusive mix from Urban Picnic Sounds regular DJ Prolifik a.k.a AB0181 and his boy S-Type. Heavyweight hip hop vibes from two of the best, with plenty of fresh sounds and exclusives. Do yourself a favour and catch this one!

If you’ve never heard of our Urban Picnic Sounds project (where have you been…??!!), check the previous posts here on the site for info, mixes, video, and all the rest of it from our past outings. Quite simply, if you can get to this, you should. Or you’ll kick yourself….

So, in a nutshell, it’s all about sun-drenched soul, sizzling hip-hop, and barbecue funk on the airwaves tonight, as we look forward to this big weekend!

Blunt Beats Radio presents Urban Picnic Sound 2009 – The Warm Up. Live from 8pm UK time Wednesday 24th June. Sets from Agent M, Doug, and DJ Prolifik. www.bluntbeats.com/radio

It been a fairly busy few weeks at Office Le Blunt. (I can tell that by the fact that the ashtrays are full, and the increasing pile of empty lager cans)

Anyway, we’ve not just ben sitting on our arses…(this time.) Oh no. We’ve been doing good deeds. And filling up ashtrays. We’ve updated our radio page with lots of goodies. For a start, you’ll find an easy-to-use radio player on our radio page. This will allow you to listen through most media (Winamp/iTunes/whatever). It’ll also allow you to listen to both our live shows, (8pm UK time every Wednesday), and our 24/7 mix loop.

Essentially, using the loop, you can listen to a selection of Blunted mixes and exclusives from all the Blunt Residents and special guests round the clock. Everything you hear in the loop is also available for download. If you’re having any trouble with downloads, drop us a line, and we’ll sort it.

We’re also aware that we haven’t updated the mixes in the loop for a little bit. Fear ye not, we’re sitting on loads of mixes and archives sets that we’ll be adding in the coming weeks for you lucky people.

Obviously, as I’ve mentioned, the Media player on our radio page also lets you listen to our live shows. A link below it (aptly titled “Download the latest show here”) allows you to download or stream the show from the previous week, so you can listen to the full 4 hour weekly mix-up at your leisure.

Using you eyes, and not your ears, you’ll also notice that we publish details of forthcoming shows on the radio page. I’ve just updated this up ’til early July, so you can check out what’s coming up. (go me).

You lucky lucky people….We’re so good to you!

….Big thanks, as always, to Internet Radio for providing our technologies.

Next weeks live radio show sees the return of our popular Smoking Behind The Bike Sheds night. This is where the Blunt Residents take you through a top quality (and sometimes cringworthy!) selection of tunes from their collective mis-spent youths.

This show sees Blunt pensioners Marcus Hurley and Agent M joined by Brighton’s very own BlackBeltJonez, providing you lucky people with an exclusive mix. Nice. Better make sure you finish that trigonometry homework in time for the show. (What the fuck was trigonometry all about anyway? I’ve not used it once in the course of my adult life!)

Blunt Beats Radio presents Smoking Behind The Bike Sheds. Live from 8pm Uk time, Wednesday 11th February, with Blunt Residents Marcus Hurley and Agent M, joined by special guest BlackBeltJonez

Don’t forget you can download the entire show for the next 7 days via our radio page.

Details on all the worldwide contributors, and where to find out more, is below.

Part 1 – Riot Control 14

Burt Fox and Sonny Noir bringing the heat once more, live from their Brooklyn studio….Tracks from artists including Eazy E, Shed, and Flying Lotus.
www.riotcontrolnyc.com
speak[at]riotcontrolnyc.com

Part 2 – Mixtapeshow.net – Episode 108

The biggest hip hop podcast on the net. Simple. Dex Digital comes through with an off the hook selection of tracks from Suburb. Mad shit. No more to be said.
www.mixtapeshow.net
dex[at]mixtapeshow.net

Part 3 – Bastard Jazz Radio – Episode 3 (courtesy of brooklynradio.net)

Brooklyn based record label Bastard Jazz Records crew go digging in the crates with DJ DRM, Sema4, and Paul Digs. Classic, classic stuff, from a crew who have a passion for what they do.
www.bastardjazz.com (label)
www.brooklynradio.net/bastard-jazz-radio

Part 4 – Baron Studio Sound – High Grade Mix part II

Heavyweight dub and roots from top quality UK selectas, and good friends of Blunt Beats, Baron Studio Sound. Serious stuff.
www.baronsound.podomatic.com

Part 5 – Focuz – Episode 3

Blunt Beats very own Doug sets us up with a slick mix from his Focuz podcast series. Tracks from all the right people, mixed in the right places. You’ll see what I mean. Fresh as the proverbial daisy.
www.focuz.eu

So, we thought it’d be a good idea to give you an insight into what we’re listening to, and to show some appreciation to the crews that we’re liking, and give them a bit of support. Spread the love, so to speak. (Unlike Mr Harry Windsor)

In order to do this, we’re launching a new themed radio show entitled “Taste“, whereby we’ll introduce you to some on-point podcasts, radio shows, and DJ mixes. Essentailly, stuff that we’re liking, and is shaking the floorboards at Blunt HQ. The first episode will be introduced by our own Agent M, and will include music from Focuz, Baron Sound, Bastard Jazz Radio, Riot Control, and Mixtapeshow.net. Expect to be introduced to some fresh styles, in this case encompassing hip hop, funk, soul and reggae, from US and European providers.

Blunt Beats Radio presents Taste, with Agent M, live from 8pm UK time, Wednesday 4th February. www.bluntbeats.com/radio

Being the horrible little git that I am, Im not going to give you any more details at this point. You’ll just have to tune into the show to check it out for yourself.

What I will tell you is that Geddes is live at Fabric this Saturday night alongside such names as Eddie Richards, and Pete Herbert. If you like the mix, and want to catch him live, full details of the lineup are here.

You’ll also note that Fridays lineup at Fabric is also a heavyweight selection, with loads of dubstep business going on, including sets from Pinch, and Hatcha, to name but two.

So, if you’re in the Home Counties, thats this weekend (and Sundays hangover) sorted then, eh?