Pictured: North (Hudson Mohawke) / South (Skream) / East (Mike Slott) / West (Flying Lotus)

North / South / East / West is a collaborative art and music project between photographer Shaun Bloodworth, designer Stuart Hammersley (Give Up Art) and Bleep.com; focusing on the music of four different regions of the world — North and South UK and East and West coast USA. The project aims to showcase our pick of a handful of labels, artists and club nights from each.

The final product is a limited edition, deluxe package. With only 500 editions printed and compromising 14 high quality photo-prints and a 12 track CD (9 of which have never before been heard) – all of which will be beautifully enclosed in a special, custom made package.

Plus a further edition, limited to only 100 copies, comprising again of 14 exclusive photo-prints, 12 track CD in custom-made packaging. With the addition of an A2 poster, designed by Give Up Art and featuring previously unseen potraits and extra shots from the project. All of these items will be sold exclusively on Bleep.com

Partcipating artists on the compilation:
North: Hudson Mohawke / Rustie / Taz Buckfaster
South: Skream / Headhunter / Geeneus
East: Mike Slott / FaltyDL / Kotchy
West: Flying Lotus / Matthew David / Daedelus

The first tracks will be played tonight on BBC Radio 1 on the Mary Anne Hobb’s Experimental Show.

TOMORROW, we will be making an announcement of the full tracklisting and streaming more of the music. This item will be released on the 1st December… you can pre-order it HERE.

To coincide with their London launch party tomorrow, those good folks up at Numbers have given us a free podcast showcasing their new label (simply called “Numbers” and now combining Wireblock, Dress 2 Sweat and Stuff records into one streamlined unit). Here is the tracklisting:

Mixed by Spencer
(as featured on the Mary Anne Hobbs Show on 5th November):
Hudson Mohawke – ‘Still On It instrumental’ (Wireblock x LuckyMe)
Lando Kal – ‘Fuzzy Ankles’ (forthcoming Numbers)
Slugabed – ‘The System’ (forthcoming Numbers)
Redinho – ‘Mo Brap’ (forthcoming Numbers)
Ghosts On Tape – ‘Mogadishu Night Life’ (Wireblock)
Rustie – ‘Clipper’ (Stuff Records)
Low Limit – ‘Where U Been 7.0′ – drops (forthcoming Numbers)
Redinho – ‘Lightning Strikes’ (forthcoming Numbers)
L-vis 1990 – ‘Run’ (Dress 2 Sweat)
Ghosts On Tape – ‘Predator Mode’ – Roska Remix (Wireblock)
Mr Majika – ‘Different Lekstrix’ (forthcoming Numbers)
Deadboy – ‘IfUWantMe’ (forthcoming Numbers)
Rustie – ‘Throw Some D’s / Click Clack’ (Dress 2 Sweat)
Emvee – ‘Glitch Dub’ (Wireblock)
Touchy Subject – ‘Wicked Act’ (forthcoming Numbers)
SRC – ‘Gold Coinz’ (forthcoming Numbers)
Kavsrave – ‘MD’ (forthcoming Numbers)
Rustie – ‘Bad Science’ (Wireblock)
Taz Buckfaster – ‘Gold Tooth Grin’ (forthcoming Numbers)

CLICK TO DOWNLOAD

Tell us a little about why you started Italians Do It Better, an offshoot of your noise/rock label, Troubleman Unlimited?

It was started because we felt glass candy wasnt getting enough props because TMU was being pigeonholed as a rock label. it worked!

From your roots in hardcore and punk, can you tell us when your interest in disco started and why?

It started back in the late 80s when i was working at nightclubs in NYC. searching out hip hop and funk samples before the internet wasnt easy. i found a lot of samples were from disco, and i noticed how much house was borrowing from disco… this was 1988 or so.

Can you give us five of your favourite hardcore tracks?

-FAITH / VOID lp
-DRI Dealing With It lp
-NEGATIVE FX lp
-KRAKDOWN 1988 demo
-GORILLA BISCUITS start today lp

We’ve read that you were fortunate enough to have experienced such legendary clubs as CBGBs and The Loft. Can you share some of your favourite experiences in those exciting clubs of NYC?

i used to go to CBGB every sunday afternoon for the hardcore matinees from 1987-1990. then i went to ABCNORIO shows because CBGB started getting a little too violent. that was some of the best times in my opinion. it was so great. i went out at night to MARS (where i worked as a promoter). my job entailed handing out fliers at other clubs. i was only 17 so i couldnt get real jobs at the clubs.. but i went to all the clubs from the heyday of the NY club scene… it was such a good time. the late 80s was the end of the grit in NYc

Can you tell us a little about how you ended up recording for Italians Do It Better?

It was one of the simplest and most straight-forward thing ever. I sent No Static to them via myspace and they immediately said they wanted to release it.

Most of your records have a distinct ‘horror’ theme. Can you tell us a little about this obsession? Does film influence you as much as music?

I can only tell you my personal experience, which could maybe be share manyd by other Italian producers born in the mid/late 1970s. All through the 80’s and 90’s small private tv channels in Italy were showing B movies at night, very many sci-fi and horror flicks. I guess those local stations didn’t have the money to purchase big films. All the Italian and American horror masters of the 70s and 80s got massive airtime in those years! So I think that music music got under my skin somehow.

While working on the Horror Disco album I researched many Italian movies, giallos, slasher movies, cheap sci-fi flicks that I thought I would need to watch. Often I released that I had seen them already on tv when I was a kid!

We’re sure compatriots such Fabio Frizzi, Claudio Simonetti and Goblin are influences, but are there any others that have helped inspire the Bottin sound?

Amongst Italians, Celso Valli e Mauro Malavasi’s productions are a big influence. But my favorite band is actually the all-american Steely Dan.

Can you tell us what your five favourite giallo/horror films are?

The Testament of Dr. Mabuse by Fritz Lang
Non Si Sevizia Un Paperino (Don’t Torture a Duckling) by Lucio Fulci
Prince Of Darkness by John Carpenter
Buio Omega (Beyond The Darkness) by Joe D’Amato
Operazione Paura (Kill baby kill) by Mario Bava

A special one-off show featuring sets from Tortoise and Cluster, as well as a special collaboration between the two bands.

Chicago’s jazz post-rockers Tortoise play material from their acclaimed new album Beacons of Ancestorship, their first in 5 years, while seminal electronic pioneers Cluster – a key influence for musicians such as David Bowie and Brian Eno – return to London following the release of Qua, their first studio album in over a decade. The bands also join forces for a unique performance together. This will be the closing set of the London Jazz Festival on Sunday 22nd November.

For more information, click HERE.

To win a pair tickets, simply e-mail info@bleep.com and state who won – the tortoise or the hare?

Plateaux is an audio-visual electronic festival is Poland on the 19th to 22nd November. An amazingly curated electronic festival with acts including Fennesz, Lusine, Byetone, SND, The Sight Below amongst many more…

For more information about the festival, go check out http://www.plateauxfestival.pl/

We have a pair of tickets to win, simply e-mail info@bleep.com and say why you think you should win…. simple!

(Please note, this competition is only for the festival ticket and does not cover transport or accomadation costs).

Bleep.com is an online music store. As a retailer of music and media from some of the worlds best independent record labels (predominantly electronic music), Bleep has developed over it’s 5 year history culminating in the merging of Bleep.com and Warpmart.com earlier this year.

There are 2 positions that are available.

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Label Relations

Bleep is looking for a bright, enthusiastic intern to join the team for a minimum of 2 days a week for a minimum of 2 months to assist in content and label management. This will involve immersing yourself in the Bleep catalogue and assisting in ensuring it is cataloged and maintained to a high standard. All we require is a genuine passion for music and a desire to work in the digital sphere. However advantageous skills include, a high level of ability using computers including HTML/XML/CSS, a wide knowledge of music and attention to detail.

Applicants should send a C.V. and covering letter to info@bleep.com.

Travel expenses included
Based: Kentish Town – North London

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Marketing Intern

Bleep is looking for a bright, enthusiastic intern to join the team for a minimum of 2 days a week for a minimum of 2 months to assist with online marketing. This will role will be working with the marketing team, assisting with both the weekly running of the store and lending a hand with one off projects and features. We require is a genuine passion for music and a desire to work in the digital sphere. A successful applicant will be both creative andself-driven. However advantageous skills include, a high level of ability using computers including photoshop, illustrator and, HTML, and attention to detail.

Applicants should send a C.V. and covering letter to info@bleep.com.

Travel expenses included
Based: Kentish Town – North London

To celebrate BPitch’s 10th Birthday and our special feature, we will be giving away 2 pairs of tickets to the party in Paris on the 30th October. To win, simply e-mail info@bleep.com and state your favourite BPitch record of all time…

On Wednesday October 28th sees the London debut of Nosaj Thing. Hailing from L.A., and being part of the Brainfeeder crew – this looks to be a pretty special show… We are selling tickets on Bleep now but if you are feeling lucky, we are giving away a pair of tickets for the event….

Simply e-mail info@bleep.com and simply state the name of Nosaj Thing’s album released this year…

To celebrate BPitch’s 10th Birthday and our special feature, we decided to catch up with the head-honcho herself….

+ Berlin is obviously very close to your heart. What it makes it one of the most the unique cities in the world and how has it changed in the twenty years since the collapse of the wall?

The wall separated us. At that time the city was occupied by the military and hence everything was neatly arranged to keep things “in good order”. When the wall came down, the DDR was already at its end and democracy was established.

For me as a “Wessi” (that is how we used to call people grown up in the Western sectors of Berlin) it was just great, since I finally had the chance to discover the East: I used to take my bicycle and have endless rides into the East. Within a few months I had a new circle of friends, it was just gorgeous Lots of underground bars, clubs and spaces came up in a very short time. Everything was just so new and exciting. The art scene moved towards the East, here there was enough free space for creative development. However, after the Wall collapsed the East had to fight against poverty and many lost not only their jobs but also their identity.

+ When you first started out in the early nineties how did the rhythms of Detroit and Chicago inform your DJ’ing, your music making?

The independent record store Hardwax situated in Berlin (Kreuzberg) since the early Nineties, has significantly coined my musical taste. During that time I was resident at Tresor/Globus club and its label was actually the one that built and established the axis between German/Berlin and American Techno. At Tresor I had the chance to listen to most of the important DJ’s from the US such as Blake Baxter, Jeff Mills and Robert Hood. During the nineties I was into English Electronica and US- House, minimal Techno. Before that I was crazy about Kraftwerk and the Neue Deutsche Welle as well as Steve Reich and Bach.

+ You have played out all over the world, how do you see the current condition of DJ technology, crowds, clubbing and raves?

It is amazing…I am totally addicted to music; playing the tracks I love and sharing the gorgeous feeling music can give with the dancers in the club, that is what really kicks me. I love to travel and of course sometimes things get boring since the mechanisms are always the same and situations repeat themselves over and over again. But it is like that and at the end it is all about good and hot music, which is the sole thing that pushes me to go on….

+ Punctuating your finest work is a commitment to pop arrangement and melody, are their any artists outside the underground who have influenced you/continue to inform?

Under the pop artists that have mostly influenced my music I would count Björk, Kraftwerk, David Bowie….I love these artists as they never stopped shining. Of course all the sounds I perceive, the sound of the sea, of doors, of the tube…all of them influence my sound. In some way hearing is “the champagne of my day”.

+ Throughout its history the techno landscape has very much been male dominated, have you been motivated by this and why do you think their has been so few female voices?

I think nightlife is something that females don’t like that much as males do. The madness, the drinks and the cigarettes and sex in the toilets…hehehe. Generally the deliriousness of clubbing is closer to men than to women.

In Germany many women lead booking agencies, and it is generally pretty common that women work in the background. However Germany is packed with female DJ’s, over here it is rather a normal thing.

Through the fall of the Wall the whole music/creative-scenario changed: the old communities couldn’t keep the positions they had up till then. Many new and very active groups of every kind came up and in this context there was enough space for both women and men.

Thanks to the growth in tourism all these new ideas and movements found their implementation. Especially a big number of ravers who come all the way to Berlin in order to live the endless party this city offers….here you are allowed to do that.

What great luck!