Four generations of bass music. One winner…

LittleMissLaura: Culture Clash at the Roundhouse

The Roundhouse hosts an epic Culture Clash as part of the 2010 Red Bull Music Academy. LAURA HOLT reports.

Let the battle commence…
The seats have been ripped out of Camden’s famous vinyl-shaped venue tonight.  In their place, stand four opposing stages and a central pit, ready for the epic battle to ensue between some of British dance music’s most fearsome architects over the last forty years. Funky dreds group Soul II Soul step up to the plate, with old school roots label Trojan Sounds fast on their heels. Smiling from the next dark corner is grill-faced Goldie with his Metalheadz crew, including drum n base talisman Andy C on the decks, there to represent the junglist movement. And, last but not least, taking place as the relative youngsters on the scene, are Mala and Coki from DMZ, showing off their new brand of vibrant dubstep.

Let the Don decide…
Four groups. Four rounds. One victor – all decided by judge and compare, Don Letts, the legend and linchpin responsible for putting British Jamaican music on the map. “It’s going to be difficult to decide who wins tonight,” Letts admits, “because Jazzy B, Goldie and Trojan Sounds are all personal friends of mine”. So are newcomers DMZ on the back-foot then, I ask? “Not at all” he insists, “because I know them equally well by reputation and they’re undoubtedly the future”. It won’t simply come down to who impresses Letts though, as he’ll have the Roundhouse audience – which is at bulging capacity – on side to sway the vote.

Not just a bunch of beginners…
Coordinator and founder, Many Ameri, tells me how tonight’s event slots in with the wider Music Academy agenda: “It doesn’t really represent the Academy as an entire musical world,” he shouts over the filthy base emanating from within.  “But what it does represent, is the approach we’ve always taken to bringing people from different genres together with the pioneers of a certain music style and those trying to progress and develop it further”. The actual Academy itself has been running as a platform since it started in Berlin in 1998 and now counts some of the industry’s most diverse and dynamic talents among its graduates. From recent breakthrough phenomenon Mr Hudson to Flying Lotus – the producer everyone’s currently trying to emulate – hundreds have used the Academy as a fertile intersection to grow roots, meet other artists and accelerate their creative agendas.  Every year, the Red Bull team of journalists, music enthusiasts and producers, sift through around 2,500 applications from artists across more than 80 different countries to find just 60 hopefuls to take part in the Academy. Those talented enough to make the final cut, are split into two groups, and flown off to the chosen host country for a fortnight-long programme of workshops, guest lectures, recording sessions and raucous nights out at the Red Bull events that run in tandem. They’re invited to work with, and question, musical luminaries from every continent. The current London session has included a kaleidoscopic spectrum of artists from producer and DJ Mark Ronson, to American classical composer Steve Reich, arguably one of the greatest living maestros of his kind.  Some of this year’s participants will turn out to be musicians in 20 years, while others might organise festivals, become journalists or run a pirate radio station. What the Academy’s really interested in is finding people who’re going to leave a lasting mark on their particular scene. “We can’t take credit for these people making it in music” explains Ameri “because, they’re not just a bunch of beginners. All we do is put them together with these crazy people from around the globe, knowing they’ll do something special with it.”

Drowned in sound…
For the moment though, the current school of students are all upstairs absorbing the dense wall of sound that’s wrapping its nauseating tentacles around the Roundhouse crowd. Towering speakers threaten to tumble at the side of each mini-stage as the sickening reverb shakes every defenceless member of the crowd. In the first two rounds Goldie and his Metalheadz seem to be getting the best crowd response, filing the stage with a contingent of widely recognisable faces and tunes. But it’s not just popularity that matters. For the true diehard bass heads, it also came down to stage presence and each system’s deafening ability to enact audio genocide on innocent bystanders. Best at landing the most bruising performance punch, are veterans Soul II Soul, with Jazzy B spinning the decks, while MC Chickaboo – the female drum n base raconteur – throws herself from speaker to speaker, whipping her long dreds through the cascading backlights. Throughout the night they prove that experience pays handsomely, lacing through a series of set smashing tracks that would leave even Her Royal Highness wanting to upgrade Jazzy’s OBE to a knightly Sir. Trojan aren’t far behind in the presence stakes. Preaching a strong message of unity, blind vocalist Supa 4 transforms his sunglasses and cane into idiosyncratic trademarks, conjuring tricks like a sorcerer over the crowd and stealing the show. When it came to sound though, DMZ took no prisoners. Like a pack of Sumo wrestlers sitting on a kitten, their system was undoubtedly the most brutal in terms of sheer sonic force.  It would have been a natural passing of the torch had DMZ won it, as I believed they deserved to. But, after five fearsome hours of fighting toe-to-toe, Metalheadz walked away with the trophy, testifying to their universal appeal among an audience of different ages, cultural backgrounds and musical loyalties. The ultimate winner though, was definitely the musical disciples present on the night, who got to hear a phalanx of formidable pros is session under one roof for the paltry sum of just £10.

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