BPM

Twitter turns a blind eye to racism.

2012-05-22T14:44:00.001+01:00

I've had a twitter account for sometime now and actually prefer much of what twitter has to offer over many of the other social networking platforms out there. I guess one of the greatest things about it is the way it allows so many people to share their thoughts with the world in a condensed easily palatable format, if the thoughts a person shares are consistently interesting, contain wisdom or are funny then that person can often gain a great number of followers who share those same tweets with a wider audience making twitter a great way to organically spread a message.
A few months ago I came across an account @TheFunnyRacist and despite over 5000 attempts at humour I was left with a straight face. Of course I refused to follow the account as I like to keep my timeline free of negativity and definitely free of anything remotely annoying but some how I'd find myself taking a look from time to time to see if the account was still there until one day I decided to get opinion on some of the things the "Funny Racist" was tweeting so I did a screencap and shared it on facebook.

I instantly got a number of responses from my facebook friends and one of them suggested action something I up until then didn't really consider, the most I did was try to calmly reply to some of the hateful tweets dressed up as humour, I'd write back saying things like "I wanna see @TheFunnyRacist do a set at the Apollo, now that would be fun to watch." and "@TheFunnyRacist How dare you even put the words "funny" and "racist" in the same URL? KKKomedy? really? REALLY? in 2012?" but I suppose a lot of people annoyed by this person have tweeted back similar responses but in reality there's little sense in replying to an ignorant foolish person who has their mind set on spewing hate and in the end I took my friends advice and contacted twitter who's response to my dismay was;

"Hello,

We understand that everyone has different levels of sensitivity towards content, and that you may feel uncomfortable with the posted content. However, Twitter provides a communication platform, and users may use our service to discuss controversial subject matter.

If a specific user is posting content that you disagree with or otherwise find offensive, we have provided you with the ability to block the user. For more information on blocking users, see: https://support.twitter.com/entries/117063

Twitter believes strongly in the importance of free speech and works to ensure that such speech is maximized. Limiting speech on Twitter (and other social communication tools) could result in the highly undesirable outcome of speech that is allowed offline being restricted online. We are strongly opposed to this, as this could cause issues with the practical expression of information.

If you believe the content or behavior you are reporting is prohibited in your local jurisdiction, please contact your local authorities so they can accurately assess the content or behavior for possible violations of local law. If Twitter is contacted directly by law enforcement, we can work with them and provide assistance for their investigation as well as guidance around possible approaches. You can point local law enforcement to our Law Enforcement Guidelines here: https://support.twitter.com/articles/41949.

Thank you,

@londonrose77
Twitter Trust and Safety"

So right now twitter and me are in a back and forth over this issue as I focus some of my energy on attempting to remove one racist account from twitter, a small splash in the huge social networking ocean where racism festers and grows defended by our right to freedom of speech.

The lengths I have to go to get this whole thing to stop are extraordinary but in this golden age of communication the only way to stop people like 'The Funny Racist' is to go through a long drawn out process of contacting law enforcement officials as we saw in the case of Liam Stacey the man who racially abused the footballer Fabrice Muamba who at the time was in critical condition in a London hospital fighting for his life after suffering a heart attack, it took many people contacting the police to stop the hate with an extreme knee jerk reaction from the judge landing a man in jail meanwhile twitter the site hosting this poison sits back and does nothing?

Here are some examples of Racist Humour enjoy.....

Baroque Bespoke Jewellery

2012-04-28T18:03:00.001+01:00

I'm recently becoming fascinated with documentary filming, cameras, lenses etc..... and as a result a whole new world is opening up to me. Vimeo is a great source for inspiration with a community of enthusiasts who are willing to share tips and secrets, I've always believed that sharing knowledge is the only way to go, some people want to hoard their secrets thinking that giving them away will lessen the impact of their work i.e. if everyone knows how to do what I do then what I do becomes less special, I've always believed this to be false because what makes your work unique is you and sharing and bouncing ideas only serves to enlarge those ideas giving you a new perspective on what you thought you knew.

I'm preparing to embark on some new adventures, I feel like I've been in the same place for long enough, having researched cameras a little I feel like the Canon EOS 600D (T3i) is a good starting point for me and will be perfect for capturing HD footage of some of my upcoming adventures.
So look out for some video blogs keeping you my friends up to date with my movements as I set out on a new chapter in my life which will hopefully be filled with creativity and punctuated by lots of good music.

Jay-Z Launches Facebook Game

2012-04-26T13:20:00.000+01:00

If you ever wondered what it's like to grow up on the mean streets of the Marcy projects in Brooklyn hustling while all the time writing rhymes and battling the best MC's on the block improving your craft with a view to one day becoming a hip hop impresario, well wonder no longer you can experience all this and more in Jay-Z's new facebook game Empire.

You can create your virtual self, give yourself a cool name and start moving up the lifestyle ladder by earning points in New York neighborhoods. For Jay-Z fans an interesting new way of taking a closer look at his life and career. You can play the game now here.

My plans for the week.

2012-04-09T12:22:00.000+01:00

I'm not much of an advocate for planning my social calendar too far in advance but there are certain events one just has to attend and one such event happens this Thursday as Divageek and their rapidly growing legion of fans descend upon east London for a launch night in aid of their debut album 'He Said, She Said' at C.A.M.P. I've heard nothing but great things about Divageeks live shows and judging from the youtube clips I previously posted (Here) we're in for a treat come Thurs night, I'll see you there.

Ny - Music

2012-04-06T13:49:00.000+01:00

Drake gives Ny a friendly kiss.

I have a great deal of respect for NY, she's certainly talented and clearly very pretty, she's currently rumoured to be dating Drake a rumour no doubt fuelled by the picture on the right taken recently backstage during Drakes European tour.
I'm quite sure the hearsay is unfounded but if it propels her a little further into the limelight then as always all publicity is good publicity and especially for an artist who has been floating around the scene for a number of years consistently putting in hard work.

These are the kind of artist who when mainstream success arrives are far better equipped to deal with it and avoid some of the pitfalls that overnight stars find themselves oblivious to.

I had a lengthy twitter debate recently with a girl who'd suggested that if your musical dreams weren't quite coming though within a set timeframe it may be better for you to relegate those dreams to a hobby, although I understood where she was coming from in that dreams don't put meals on tables I had to strongly disagree with her, Ny is definitely an inspiration for any aspiring artist as she has held on tight to her dream over the years and now more than ever deserves breakout success.

Barbarella

2012-03-31T21:46:00.002+01:00

I just got through watching Baberella, I love the 60's! Apparently there are plans afoot to remake this classic but I really don't see how that could be remotely possible the mainstream definitely don't make films this fun anymore, I'm not sure they ever did!

The soundtrack to film asides from Jane Fonda in that opening scene is the thing that really attracted me to this vintage bit of trippyness, it's vibrant, noisy and brimming with energy and now that I'm getting my DJ on via ableton I think some of these tunes are going to be in my set!

I also think the excessive machine will be the next keyboard I invest in!

DivaGeek - Oh La Laa

2012-03-30T15:56:00.001+01:00

Just when I'm thinking of jumping a sinking ship London comes through and shows what it's made of. DivaGeek fronted by Vula have recently been serving up some high quality performances around the capital, with an A-Team of musicians involved in the project no doubt bought together by Ben Jones (who's basically played drums and guitar for everyone from Pixie Lott to Kelly Rowland to Jasmine Sulivan) including Jessie J's guitarist Lewis Allen and some monster bassing from Rob Mullarkey to name just two of the incredible musicians and singers included (you can find the full cast list at the end of the video) this is a refreshing antidote to a current mainstream music scene which is guided more by financial heads rather than the heart and soul required to create real art. DivaGeek on the other hand wear their and hearts on their collective sleeves and a brimming over with soul, maybe they can rescue UK music single handed because right now we need some heroes.

Congrats DiveGeek, I can't wait to get hold of the album (p.s. I think I'm a DJ now, I'm going to play you guys in my set!)

Rihanna swats idiot reporter like a fly

2012-03-29T06:37:00.000+01:00

While in the UK promoting her latest movie "Battleship" Rihanna was cornered by an ITN reporter who after an incredibly long and drawn out build up no doubt intended to throw Ms. Fenty of the scent finally came out and asked in a very indirect way if her and Ashton Kutcher were dating, now I've heard rumours lately of Rihanna ridding the London tube and we're all aware of her fashion sense, I have to admit I'm really warming to Ri Ri, she has this real wild child edge coupled with a dry cutting sense of humour resulting in quick witty off the cuff comebacks delivered with a cool poise, her future press conferences will be met with similar anticipation to Ali's back in the day!
She's at that stage in her career where her fanbase allows her to take more risks and express herself more freely and I think as a result reporters will think twice before asking potentially embarrassing questions, 1-0 to Rihanna!

Oh and she says she's single and she's in London, I'm also in London for a few more months too, should our paths cross though I won't be half-stepping to her after witnessing how easily she dispatched that foolhardy reporter.

Submotion Orchestra - It's Not Me It's You

2012-03-27T19:28:00.000+01:00

Submotion Orchestra have taken the number one break up line sung by the soulful Ruby Wood and expertly chopped and screwed by Ruckspin, added a few wobbles courtesy of dub bass maestro Chris 'Fatty' Hargreaves alongside some soulful Rhodes and groovy rhythm and percussion the whole thing combining into a very summery track reminiscent of that bygone London garage sound which I personally fell in love with nearly a decade ago.
Fresh off a UK wide tour recently and with the Brit Dub wave continuing to grow I predict this tune will be getting it fair share of spins around the Olympic city 2012.

Don't let Kanye into his zone

2012-03-27T12:28:00.002+01:00

This game is ever so simple yet inexplicably addictive, the object being to defend Kanye's zone from it's owner, to do this you must use the left and right cursor keys to rotate a circle around a bigger circle also known as Kanye's zone.
The longer you keep Kanye out the higher your score, I'm pretty crap at this currently but I'm practising daily.
I'm still not quite so sure why Yeezy is so adamant that he must enter his zone but if it's my task to prevent that happening then I do so with gusto, after all Kanye is the one instructing us to keep him out, obviously he knows bad things happen when he get's in that circle.

To prevent Yeezy entering his zone visit - http://www.kanyezone.com

Nicola Cher Geismar - Street Pole

2012-03-26T15:33:00.000+01:00

I get so much of what I blog straight from all my incredible facebook friends who often times are creatives pushing the envelope, one such individual would be Nicola Cher Geismar whom right now is at the forefront of the Street Pole movement (she refers to it in a tongue in cheek way in her video) the fact she doesn't take herself too seriously speaks volumes to her humility and not having a planet size ego is definitely a huge bonus in any ambassador of an emerging art form.

She really does come across as a down to earth, lovely person who is simply having fun and expressing herself through her art, watching the short documentary I had a real sense of her enthusiasm for her craft and wow is she fit, if street pole tones your muscles like that I think I might have to give it a go.

The video sees Nicola accompanied by stylist Storm E. Knight and TV presenter turned photographer Normski who on this occasion is behind the lens taking still images of some of the amazing poses Nicola manages to adopt. I totally remember Normski being the voice of youth culture during the 90's via his television shows Def II and Dance Energy and so hearing his voice now in connection to the cutting edge form of dance combined with elements of Parkour seems to make total sense to me.

I'm sure it will only be a matter of time until mainstream culture adopts this but it feels good to have discovered it for myself now in this moment before it becomes more mainstream, and this discovery took place on facebook which goes to show social networking definitely has it's bonuses you just have to be sure to follow the right people.

M.I.A. - Bad Girls (Official Behind The Scenes)

2012-03-25T14:14:00.000+01:00

When M.I.A. stuck a middle finger up to the world during her recent super-bowl halftime performance with Madonna the other featured artist Nikki Minaj feigned righteous indignation in press interviews days later as if to say what M.I.A. had done was hugely controversial and an ungrateful insult to Madonna who'd had the faith and goodwill to involve the two emerging stars in the spectacle which was screened to millions of americans. The inherent symbolism throughout that same performance was clearly visible to many who constantly look for the hidden meaning in the images propelled by the corporate media and so M.I.A. could have appeared to have been sticking that middle finger up at corporate america and our consumerist society which is guided by greedy capitalists and even as some believe an elite power base. Whatever your views are it's always cooler to be outside or on the fringes of mass society, it shows uniqueness and individualism which are two things I would always associate with M.I.A. and which I strive for in myself.

Is this for real?

2012-03-20T14:56:00.004Z

So apparently a girl tattoo'd her boyfriend of 1 weeks face on her arm, she thought it was romantic, he thought she was a bit of a psycho, this could be real or just a very funny hoax either way it get's a mention from me!

TRON Dance

2012-03-15T15:35:00.001Z

Tron Dance. Japanese TRON light suit dance routine.
Amazing TRON Theme performance

====================================
Tracklist:
Daft Punk - Arena
Justice - Waters Of Nazareth (Erol Alkan's Re-Edit)
Crookers - Mad Kidz
David Guetta - Paris
Flux Pavillion - Bass Cannon
Flux Pavilion - Lines In Wax (feat. Foreign Beggars)

Thanks to: Vt3c1
====================================

Thabo and The Real Deal campaign to open for Allen Stone for his UK tour.

2012-03-15T08:17:00.002Z

Thabo & The Real Deal are at it again after successfully getting themselves unto the radar of Eric Roberson and supporting him on the northern leg of his UK tour last year and fresh of the back off an opening slot with Avery Sunshine at the famous Manchester venue Band on the Wall they're now seeking out Allen Stone in a bid to open up for him around the UK.

Fronted by the extraordinary soul vocals of Thabo Mkwananzi and backed by a trio of amazing live musicians, The Real Deal combines old-school soul sensibilities with positive messages, infectious grooves and fantastic musicianship. Featuring the talents of Aron Kyne on rhodes, Emmanuel Allert on acoustic guitar and Ali Mac on percussion, The Real Deal are an acoustic soul band that pack a punch; playing bare knuckle soul that will have you dancing-as well as thinking.

You have to love there ingenuity in finding ways to spread the word about their wonderful soulful music to the artists they love and admire. I for one hope this video makes it to Allen and his people and that Thabo & and the real deal get a slot opening all around the UK, I'm an avid supporter of soul music, that is music from the soul for the soul,

Allen Stone if you're listening I think you've found yourself a very able opening act which will set the atmosphere perfectly for your UK shows.

Daley and Marsha on a track together...... YES!

2012-03-14T10:29:00.002Z

I've been raving about Daley ever since I got a hold of his EP 'Those who wait' as any of my facebook friends can testify to, and with good reason because for me it's rare that good soulful music ever get's the recognition it deserves and especially when it comes from an English artist. It usually only happens when that artist uproots and moves across the Atlantic ocean to the US where there is more of an audience for this particular genre.

But perhaps Daley has the right mix of talent, musical integrity and style to appeal to a mass audience and crossover into the pop sphere, I hope so because we need more music like this in our charts.

Daley has upcoming tour dates throughout April, supporting Emeli Sande as well as headlining several shows himself (details below).

Friday 13 Apr 2012 Manchester Deaf Institute

Sunday 15 Apr 2012 Birmingham Academy 3

Monday 16 Apr 2012 London Bowery

Wednesday 18 Apr 2012 Bristol The Croft

I made this track 2 years ago? Really?

2012-03-11T10:47:00.000Z

It's absolutely crazy how easily I forget the things I've done in the past but I guess that's because I'm always looking forward to what I'm going to do next while trying to do it better, bigger, smoother and sleeker.
I'm painfully self critical, just come to my studio for a listening session and I'll often prelude a track with an explanation of how it could and will be better.
Fortunately I've kind of grown out of publicly criticising my own work and instead try to focus on making it the best it can be before anyone hears it, even though some of my past works aren't perfect, maybe they are not mixed all that well or are unmastered (mastering a record can make a massive difference sonically) despite all of that the people who take time to listen seem to feel my soul in the music and when I think about it, isn't that the whole purpose of me making music.....

Boonie Mayfield - Black Koolaid

2012-03-10T22:44:00.000Z

So my MacBook did this really weird thing where one minute I was 7gb or so short of having a full hard drive and next thing it was just a few hundred mega bytes away from a full stomach.....

So having backed up all my files a few days ago I started looking for things to trash and in my downloads folder was a zip file and full folder entitled 'Black-Koolaid-' I opened it, saw mp3's and had a quick listen, a moment later I'd dragged everything into iTunes and now 10 minutes later I'm 5 tracks into Boonie Mayfield's album, it's nothing short of amazing which is kind of to be expected given Boonie's time in the game, he's spent years honing his craft and along the way he's shared the tools and techniques he's been versed in over many years with us all via youtube, that's how I discovered him!

A search on discogs doesn't bring up enough tracks given how great 'Black Koolaid' sounds but if this album is anything to go by Boonie is more than ready to be involved at the highest levels of production and so it refreshing to see him stay true to his roots and make music he feels, soul music.

You can download the album on his official website www.booniemayfield.com he gives you the option of choosing your own price from $0.00 to infinity! If you're stacking paper like Abramovich you need to just pay a straight $1,000,000 and keep Boonie making music from his heart to ours!

Daley - Those Who Wait

2012-03-10T20:45:00.001Z

I first heard Daley perform at I luv live, it was while they were based at Proud Galleries in Camden and it was the same night I first heard Jesse J sing so all in all it was quite a momentous occasion.

Now just over a year later I've found his EP 'Those who wait' and I'm sharing because it's good music, actually it's great music, exactly the kind of music I like, soulful, beautiful and very real, my particular favourite has to be 'Alone Together' featuring Marsha Ambrosius, I need to say little more, Ms Ambrosius is one of my favourite artists.
Now maybe a few decades ago music like this was the norm but in this current period it has become the exception rather than the rule and if we're not careful it can go unheard as Justin Bieber and Nikki Minaj backed by the corporate machine dominate the airwaves and music tv.
However as you're here reading this rather obscure blog you like I have a penchant for good real music and so I implore you to download Daleys EP by clicking the picture above and visiting his website daley.tv you will not be sorry you did trust me.

Plastic Paradise

2012-03-09T13:25:00.001Z

I have to admit the reason I discovered this thought provoking trailer was Angela Sun, yes my name is Stephen and I'm an addict, addicted to pretty faces and let's face it Angela is a total babe, however she is much more than just a pretty face, for one she has a social conscience.

Whatever the motive behind me discovering this documentary the fact remains the subject tackled is one every single consumer on the planet should be aware of, the amount of waste we collectively dump into the planets oceans has a detrimental effect on wildlife and the eco-system, we all know this but somehow most of us manage to turn a blind eye to the damage we're all inflicting on the planet, the only place we're able to call home.

I've embedded the video below and hope that every person that views www.bexperimental.com will take a moment to watch as awareness of the issue is a strong first step in working towards cleaning up the mess we've already made.

Stepping outside your comfort zone......

2012-03-08T12:33:00.004Z

Final run through as McFly prepare for their tour.

I've had a brilliant couple of days after a good friend of mine got me in to help out with a touch of programming in preparation for McFly's 'Keep Calm and Play Louder' tour.

I met up with the guys at John Henry's in north London on Monday as they applied the finishing touches in the last rehearsal before heading of to full production rehearsals.

We drove up to Portsmouth on Tuesday morning and I watched the Guild Hall transform into a 2nd world war inspired world of wonder.

I got stuck into my little piece of the puzzle, it's funny how a seemingly small job that's one part of a huge production can take over your whole life for a few days, in reality though only one part of the whole it was vital I did my job well.

At first I felt the pressure a little as I was new to the team but everyone made me feel really welcome and I soon found my feet as well as the catering department (last night before the show I had my favourite, upside down cake and custard)

After the first day of production rehearsals we were ever so close to having a ready to go show but we still had work to do overnight, production rehearsals overlapped into the tour and we spent much of the daytime before first night running the set and making final adjustments and ironing out bugs, on that second day however I'd fully found my feet and felt totally at home as part of the production staff.

I definitely stepped outside my comfort zone but I'm thankful because I needed this experience to remind me that I can do anything I set my mind to no matter how initially daunting it may seem.

"life constantly astounds me, you put yourself out there in an attempt to get things moving and all of a sudden several other opportunities come out of left field, opportunities that will challenge you, force you to take a leap of faith but that are perfect for your skill set (you just don't realise it yet) and then as if that wasn't enough you end up in places and around the right people to provide the experiences you need to help grab those upcoming opportunities, and this all happens within the same fortnight."

It feels good to be back!

2012-03-05T11:59:00.001Z

After a long hiatus I'm finally re-discovering my passion for making music. Now I never really stopped, I've actually still been quite busy over the last 2 years both as part of Liam Bailey's band and playing hammond organ practically every sunday at a large mega church on the northern outskirts of London, I guess every season in our lives has it's purpose and over the last year I've steadily invested in my own studio, now it's nothing amazing but it is a place where I can almost fully express my musical ideas (I'd still like percussion, a drum kit and a guitar.)

Right now I feel like I'm moving into a new and exciting period, my diary now only contains engagements that I'm 100% enthusiastic about doing plus Liam and the band had somewhat of a re-union last week as we played our first gig in nearly a year at the Queen of Hoxton bar, it was literally one of my best onstage experiences in recent times.

So to cap it off, I'm feeling really good, I'm saying YES to the things I want and more importantly saying NO to the things I wish to avoid, I'm kind of living life on my own terms without any feeling of a need to apologise for it and most importantly to me I'm doing the thing I believe I was born to do, I'm making music again and enjoying doing it.

Press play on the link below to hear some of my latest musical ideas, and keep checking back as I will be adding music straight from the studio to my soundcloud often.

A study of shadow and light.

2012-02-22T15:48:00.000Z

Recently I have begun to explore Adobe Photoshop having used Acorn for years.

I think I may have been inspired to do so after watching a couple of Stephanie Valentines videos on youtube. She does some incredible portrait work using computer based software and her picture editing is legendary, after watching her method of working I was more than inspired to try a few attempts of my own with some reasonable results.
Smoothing out beauty is an addictive pastime for sure pushing the artist into an area where their eye must see first and then interpret and finally expand upon to make the existing beauty of a portrait picture even more visible.

My First Film.

2012-02-09T15:55:00.001Z

Madonna receives mixed reviews.

2012-02-06T04:20:00.001Z

Judging by the instant internet response to Madona's half time show at this years super bowl opinion is split down the middle on just how great her half time offering was with the main bone of contention being her decision to pre-record the whole performance and mime on the day.

This is actually a common practice at big televised outdoor events where quality of sound can be an issue, but when a music performer doesn't perform musically then it's understandable that the purists out there will be a little disappointed.

Visually there was more than enough going on to keep an audience entertained with numerous dancers and cameos from Ceelo, LMFAO, Nicki Minaj and M.I.A. the latter pair both filling the vacant Britney/Christina positions minus the kisses.

The performance wasn't without controversy with watchdog groups rushing to complain about M.I.A.'s middle finger making an impromptu appearance, M.I.A. has never been one to shy away from controversy and this is the first anti-establishment stance she's taken during her career, with her spokespeople blaming the slip on performance related nerves only M.I.A. herself may know the real intention behind this symbolic moment.

Apart from that momentary slip the performance as a whole was pretty smooth sailing, with the risk of doing the whole thing live side-stepped completely, maybe at the end of the day entertainment rather than artistic integrity is the whole point of the half time show, but then next year maybe they should book Cirque du soleil or the Chinese state circus.

Check out the video..... it may not remain online for long.