Other Media - Netflix

Let’s face facts. TV is dying. It’s in a state of chronic illness at the moment, coughing and spluttering into the air, shitting its nappy and vomiting Simon Cowell’s bank statements all over the floor while the rest of us stand round its’ bed and mourn. Meanwhile the internet continues to – rightly – take over our lives and provide us with 24 hour access to the entire spectrum of world events, history, entertainment and lovely lovely tits. You’re probably reading this very rant on some kind of screen right now and who could blame you. TV would only be able to wheel out Bruce Forsyth to shout these words at you, at that would just be unkind to a man who has been running on Red Bull and cocaine since 1997.

No no no, it’s time to face it. TV is now only good for Sky Sports 1 – 4 + News. Everything else can gash off.  I’m not the only one to think it either – production companies have started to turn to internet streaming sites to broadcast their wares now that TV is running out of advertising revenue.

Some of you may remember a brilliant TV show called Arrested Development which was broadcast from 2003-2006 on Fox. If not, then you should flay yourself as you cannot be counted among our adoring Electric Sheikh public. It’s probably the funniest TV show of whatever we call the decade 2000-2009. It’s pretty much responsible for the careers of Michael Cera & Will Arnett and served as the catalyst for Jason Bateman’s resurgence in popularity. It’s an endless conveyer belt of brilliant jokes and quotable moments, but it was cancelled halfway through Season 3 due to a lack of  viewing figures. Since then Arrested Development has enjoyed massive DVD sales and the word has continued to spread over 6 years until demands for either a new series or a film became deafening. It was too much a guaranteed money spinner to be ignored, and so a new series is set for broadcast in early 2013. Not on Fox though. Fox can’t afford it. So the producers have turned to Netflix.

You’ve probably heard of Netflix due to the recent hullabaloo surrounding their launch last year in the UK.  They’re slowly growing in popularity over here, but in the US they’ve been active since 1997 and are currently enjoying a revenue stream worth 20 Billion US$. That’s bigger than a majority of TV revenue streams, and remarkably it’s mostly from subscription fees rather than advertising. So people are voluntarily handing over money to Netflix rather than utilise the free TV channels. This is why I think TV is dying.

Netflix (and here in the UK its’ brilliant Amazon owned rival LoveFilm) offers a massive choice of TV shows, movies, stand up routines, music videos, short films, absolutely everything – completely unlimited and available 24 hours a day – for as little as 6 quid a month. Where TV wants me to wait until 10pm to watch South Park on Comedy Central, Netflix will let me watch it on my phone at 9am in McDonalds in Liverpool Street Station. E4 will only broadcast The Inbetweeners post 9pm. I watched it on the bus to work the other day on Netflix. They even show US drama Breaking Bad – and I can’t stress how amazing that is – whereas it’s not shown on any TV station in he UK (definitely check that out – I’m only at the start of season 3, but Nate and Tom are on season 5).

Ultimately we’re about to see the YouTube generation take over, and they’re used to content on demand. Nothing else will do for them. So jump on the bandwagon and start streaming. Netflix, LoveFilm, even iPlayer and 4OD count. TV on demand. Let’s put Forsyth into stud.

Destiny's Child - Say My Name (Cyril Hahn Remix)

Is this what you might call a guilty pleasure, if so pleasure me up baby!

A deep house version of the Destiny's Child original with the vocals slowed down and deepened, it has nuanses of UK Bass touches to it including simple kicks and snares that really make this track one that would want to play over and over. When I first heard this i thought the continued vocals were a mistake and Cyril should have stuck with a loop of a few vocal segments. However after having this on repeat I will retract that, this is a wonderful rework of a classic. Free download too, what more can we ask for on a Friday, I'm sure B & co would be proud.

Copy Paste Soul - I Need Ya

I found this before MacAnus did but I didn't put in on the blog, silly me.

This is a UK Bass/Futuregargae delight, with sounds of Disclsoure and pioneers before them this track sounds like its been around for a while even on its first listen.

Sub heavy, UK rave inspired broken beat riddims from this unknown South London based producer, Copy Paste Soul. //Released// 12" Vinyl - 10th Sept / Beatport - 24th Sept

Robosonic - The Edge

Robosonic, The Edge a B side from their cleverly entitled Over the Edge EP the A side of this being a track called Over, is a classy produced Deep House number.

It has a familiar sample behind it that is instantly recognisable however this was not first used by Dr.Dre, Trevor Rabin’s riff is no doubt to resinate one again through this track in clubs over the country. Off Recordings who released this mid September are onto a winner with this one.

I looking forward to giving this one some airplay on Thursday nights show on 107.FM

The over after the break for your listening pleasure.

MNDR - Feed Me Diamonds

Loving MNDR at the moment, the music jumps out at me from my music player as I try and take in the countless new tracks I've put on there. Amanda Warner's voice isn't exactly original and nor is the music behind it, but it all works swell together.  The big bass and the haunting the track is very listenable.

This latest track due to be released on 14th August and draws inspiration from the story of performace artist Marina Abramovic’s father’s death and the stories of assassinated monarchs, in which, it was believed that many were slowly killed by being fed small doses of diamonds which eventually caused severe internally bleeding within the gastrointestinal tract. Lovely stuff.

A current favourite from MNDR is this:

LeeFest 2012

We don't usually write about festival that the ES team usually attends but there is something special going on down in the rolling fields of Greater London. The weekend just gone, (29th-30th June) down in Highams Hill Farm saw the 7th annual festival the was originally held in Lee Denny's back garden, now this has grown into something spectacular and has a feel that no other festival we have ever be to can give you, warmth and a noticeable lack of pretentiousness.

This is apparent when you can see three generations of the Denny family setting up the event, Lee's father even is the chief litter picker on the day. Lee is seen throughout the day talking to the festival goers and you can see he is visibly happy to see others having a good time.

To the music and this totally match the vibe of the day, up and coming, exciting acts with plenty to give the crowd. This was split over 3 large stages and 2 smaller and there was something or everyone, rock, indie, ska, reggae, dance, dubstep, house, garage. Over 2000 turned up to watched over 100 acts over the weekend This made the crowd you watched the groups with simply fans of music not assigned to one genre and makes for a more pleasant festival experience. Once the acts had finished there sets they would come into the crowd and watch the other bands, which is one of the most refreshing things I have seen from musicians in recent times.

The highlight might have to have been Man Like Me, a Smorgasbord of an act with an 80s synth keyboard player in full neon pastel suit, a indie rocker, a saxophone player complete with skinny tie and a vocalist in full traditional African attire. Nothing says they would go together but they couldn't have been more perfect, the songs where infectious getting crowds in waves over to the main stage and dancing like maniacs ourselves very much included. 

It's hard really to decide which day was the better one, for one the music never seemed to stop from doors open to doors close each day, staggered from stage to stage so you didn't miss a thing. The head liners of each night were something special Jakwob gave us energetic heavy beats for that final push on the Friday whereas the Mystery Jets on the main stage on the Saturday was a wonderful sing along to tracks such as 'Two Doors Down' & 'Young Love'.

Any profit made by the event is to be split between next year’s festival and Kids Company charity which is another reason why this festival is simply the purest and unadulterated ones out there.

All in all this is probably the best festival I have been to and a special thanks to all the organisers who set it up to be different from the rest. I hope that LeeFest has a long and fruitful future so I can visit this special place every year until I'm old and grey. If you missed out you really should rethink what you are doing around the same time next year.

There are too many other notable and stand out acts at LeeFest 2012 to be able to write about now so after the jump are my pick of the weekends artists that we heard...

PBR Streetgang - You Ready

I have to add this as I cannot get this mix out of my head, alas not many people will actually be able to hear the finished copy of this as I spoke to the lovely Jamie Russell from Hypercolour, the label releasing this and they have confirmed that there will only be 300 copies of this being made on white label vinyl only. So no MP3 for us. :(

Make do for now with this clip for now and just sing it in your head as a special treat.