Audio Bullys again (cos they're doing the Essential Mix on radio 1 tonight)

I still can't get the Muzik mix out of my stereo, and not cos it's stuck either! Any chance of a copy of this Steve? Just I can't get Radio 1 except on the internet and I may be out anyway.

I think my mate is booking them to play over here in Feb.

no worries, if they do play 'Snow' i'll be forcing it on you anyway ;)

I think the "Miagi" track is amazing.

from the Radio1 website

"The album in March, late March, that's the next big thing. That's done now, that's finished, so it's waiting to come out."

"It's very very different from 'We Don't Care' and a lot more, like, melodic and not just shouting - a lot of slower beats and hip-hop influenced stuff."

i'd be happy if the album featured 'Real Life', 'Intro', 'Hit The Ceiling', 'Ego War', 'We Don't Care', their stuff on the CD (including 'Miagi') and the new one i heard...can't find 'Ego War' anywhere, and all those tracks are in the same style so i'm worried they haven't put half of them on the album.

but that appearance on born sloppy was truly fucking embarrasingly dreadful and i've yet to like anything i've heard by them. i just don't get these at all.

I don't understand how you don't like them, though you did say you didn't like Jon Carter much either. I think the Cassius remix is great too, I loved the vocal from that song but thought the music sucked.

they just seem (even in interview) proper charmless, lairy lahndan geezahs and the music is just functional club stuff which, whilst fine of itself, isn't interesting enough to explain the current media buzz (the paradox for me is that the buzz is down to the vocals and attitude which is what ruins the "functional club stuff").

lame

I kinda think to hell with the media buzz and while their own tunes are good, it's the fact that the DJ set was good that interested me. As I said on the other thread, whatever about the album, I'd like to see them DJ. Album to me is as exciting a prospect as Medicine8's was, and I guess it is functional house stuff, but lots of house isn't functional at all! I presume functional house stuff is interchangeable with "good little album"!

it's just that for me what makes them interesting is what makes them shit (rather than just dull).

I thought the Muzik article was stupid yeah. Do you mean the london thing which supposedly makes them interesting makes them shit?

I don't know, I love the MCing, though it's so blatantly awful. That's the first thing my mate said aswell after hearing the CD, "the MCing over house is really great!". So er.....agree to disagree I guess!

(note to self, use less exclamation marks)

i think zemko should expand on the 'lame' comment, if possible (never fails to baffle me why some people post a snipey put-down like that with no backup, what der point?) - ooh, i'm all cross now...

why is it people go straight for the vocal aspect when citing what it is they dont like about an act - i dont think its actually that irrelevant whether the MCing on the tracks is always technically proficient or whatever (was it relevant that Johnny Rotten could/couldnt sing?) ironically the MC sings a bit better than he MCs. Audio Bullys are making exciting dynamic dance music with a punkish (or equivalent) element to it i dont find in most other dance music out there at the moment (granted Vitalic are doing the same thing in their own style, as are the likes of LCD Soundsystem), in fact i've not heard anything quite like the Bullys before and thats the trick. again, i consider their youth when assessing their skill and promise and they're definitely onto something.

if we're in for a Streets-style division/debate over this then good because the Bullys have the potential to generate just as much media interest AND muso babble this year if they play their cards right, plus they have the tunes to back that up as far as i'm concerned, just as Mike Skinner did - more power to them. as for the London thing - not a problem for me, i'd like to hear more as a kind of response to the way American MCs are always going on about New York, LA or wherever it is they're coming out from (i think its called 'representing' or at least playful showing off).

also, like The Streets, half the appeal of Audio Bullys for me is not the outcome and results of their ideas in their work but those ideas themselves, even if you think of it as just 'MCing over house tracks' or the new 'oi/skinhead/hooligan' music for 'young British geezers' then yeh, why not? why didnt someone do this like that already? sounds like FUN to me...

I don't think it'll get to a Streets proportion though because barely anyone in these parts likes nonpop house music anyway, ie anything remotely techy, proggy, etc etc.

true but they suggest there's more to them than that so who knows eh?

c'mon stevem, they're good but they hardly make 'exciting dynamic dance music' in the same way rolldeep or even the streets does; in fact at first i immediatley (sic) thought of them as a cynical streets copy cat group thus degrading any merit of excitment ie. it's already new and exciting by someone else why want for more? but then i don't really come from a house music 'background' (sorry to make assumptions...) so perhaps i just don't 'get it'. it reminds me alot of underworlds more 'punky' stuff though with more attitude which is what i like about them. the mc is indeed quite poor, like almost reaching scooter levels!

sorry to be blunt but yeh, you dont get it! heh, seriously tho, sure its exciting and dynamic dance music - description makes perfect sense to me - exciting for the power of the beats, bassline, sounds and the general vibe of it - its got energy, its got urgency, its got that sense that somethings 'about to go down', some of their tracks even have a strong sense of poignancy i find - and the concept of MC over 4/4 beats gives it an edge of sorts, and the aggressive/menacing attitude prevalent gives it a particular dynamic, and I DO come from a house music background in that i've been listening to it from the beginning in all its different forms and i've gone through periods where i've loved it more than anything else ('88-'91 and '95-'99 especially) and i've gone through periods where i couldnt stand it ('92-'95 particularly)...what excites me here is, along with the music itself, is there's an identity being cultivated that should add strength to the act and provide an appealing alternative to whats currently going on in dance AND pop music...they're picking up from 'Where's Your Head At', they're picking up from 'How To Operate With A Blown Mind' by Lo Fi All Stars, perhaps even Campag Velocet as much as Underworld and The Streets so to me they've always instantly struck me as being about lots of things and not just a certain idea of what house music is and how to MC is...i still dont get the whole 'the MC is awful' thing, he's not trying to lay down smooth flow over the tracks like a conventional hip hop MC and i dont think he's trying to be like The Streets particularly either (although that might actually be cool, nothing wrong with following someone else's example if you can do it well potentially)...its not really any different from shouting nonsense over a punk track is it?

listen to Graffiti's 'What Is The Problem' if you can, VERY similar to the Bullys style i.e. ropey shouty geezerish vocals and its a Mike Skinner project so make of that what you will

Yeah I agree about the MC, when I say he's awful yes that's by conventional standards but as I said elsewhere the "baaaaaaby I've got this feelin deep in my soul, as time takes toll, audio bullys in controooool" is like a big e synth to me.

If I'm back home for 2 o clock I think I'll come online and listen in so steve if you're up for interactive reviewing and if I do resist the temptation to stay out late then be sure and come online.

am recording it to PC now from minidisc....they kicked off with a beefy remix of 'Atomic Dog' so the mix is instantly CLASSIC, heh - then ANOTHER Bullys track I dont know, then some US style garage and now Shakedown so it really is all good...the MC is chatting over most tracks as you may expect - its workin OK too - except i think he just gave a shout out to his girlfriend, ack

I like the way how they only have the one rap for all their songs, ie that 'man to man, don't follow the herd, so what's it gonna be, I was born on the third of the third' nonsense. I mean, like huh?

"This is real life/it's time to find a wife"!!!!!!!!!

yeh it is a bit annoying that he keeps using the same rap on every track when they MC live! well, he doesnt repeat it again but it seems to crop up on a different track every time - its actually on record on their 'Intro' track so call it their signature verse

recording the second hour now, very enjoyable so far - good good stuff, still waiting for 'Snow' but at least they played 'Ego War' and apparently thats the title of their album as well

does anyone else think the best bit in 'We Don't Care' is the vocoder bit which links to the rolling bassline sequence - its quality!

here's an mp3 of 'Snow' - http://www.base58.com/audio_bullys__snow(extract).mp3

i'm gonna get 'ego war' and 'hit the ceiling' up soon as well