Guestlist

April 2012

Monthly newspaper and online publication targeting 18 to 35 year olds. The ultimate guide to the hottest parties, going out and having fun. Music, fashion, film, travel, festivals, technology, comedy, and parties! London, Barcelona, Miami and Ibiza.

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10 THE GUESTLIST NETWORK www.guestlist.net TUNING IN... Issue 38 / APRIL 2012 LABEL OF THE MONTH CRITICAL MUSIC Sharing the sounds and spirit of East London with the world If you've ever visited London's new trendiest district Dalston, you've prob- ably stopped by Gillet Square for a brief respite at some point. A tranquil place for residents and business folk to con- gregate, Gillet Square has a wonderful community spirit and vibrancy about it – and since the introduction of new online radio station NTS one year ago, it's also become a hub for some of the city's cultural trailblazers. Back in April 2011 Mr. Wonderful (aka Femi Adeyemi) and Clair Urbahn, two like-minded radio enthusiasts dissatis- fied with the lack of engaging broad- cast programming, decided to simply start creating their own. Nuts to Soup Radio is the result. In the past year, the pair has worked ceaselessly to produce a truly eclectic programme that shows an all-round ap- preciation for cultural expression in its many forms. With regular shows from key figures in electronic music like Dark Sky, Kutmah, 92 Points and Thristian (Boiler Room), and occasional guest shows from Funkineven and Ghostpoet, the station has propelled itself to the forefront of all that's cutting edge in London. With such stellar residencies, it's no surprise how much the station's listen- ership and reputation have grown in the space of just 12 months. With people increasingly opting to go online to ac- cess radio, Adeyemi and Urbahn have tapped into a global audience whilst retaining the local community vibe. It's been an exciting, fast-paced first year for NTS and it's showing no signs of slowing. The sky really is the limit when it comes to online radio. From Dalston, to the world! On April 28th, NTS celebrates its first birthday with an East London ware- house party, featuring A Guy Called Gerald, Marcellus Pittman and a selec- tion of the station's finest. There was a time, not so long ago, when drum & bass was at serious risk of dying a quiet death. Much of the production circa 2005 had become stale and generic and people began opting for other styles like dubstep. But one label has almost single- handedly rejuvenated the scene, due to its pioneering and progressive catalogue of releases. That label is Critical Music. Under the guidance of Kasra Mowlavi, a man with one of the finest, most selec- tive tastes in drum & bass, Critical has established itself as a purveyor of the sound's most cutting-edge music. Kasra is genuinely one of the greatest A&R minds in the genre's history and the label's success is largely down to a simple resolution: to place an uncompromising filter on the music they release. With this ethos, as well as shifting their output from industrial tech rollers to blissful liquid, Critical has maintained its forward-thinking out- look at the forefront of the scene. Kasra has championed tracks by Breakage, Calibre, Spectrasoul, Enei and other luminaries, and seems to sive spirit. Having also released various eclectic compilation CDs and an incredible artist album by Sabre, Critical have truly made their mark on the scene. But undoubtedly Critical's greatest accolade to date was a com- ment by the father of drum & bass, Goldie, about the label's latest release. Commenting on Oblique, a track by a trio of the scene's current leading lights, Stray, Sabre and Halogenix, Goldie remarked, "I don't throw the words avant-garde and celestial around lightly but this touches the very nerve of the craft of this music drum and bass; many years from now when we look back this tune will be a 'waypoint' of the times." Praise indeed. Look out for Kasra's FabricLive CD, the latest in the mix series and a seamless showcase of the Critical Sound. have an innate ability to entice the most talented producers to stay faithful to Critical and its progres- Keep it Critical at criticalmusic.com

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