Animal Collective nominated for Brit Award?!?

No, that's not a typo at the top of this post - in a bizarre turn of events, hipster's choice Animal Collective have been nominated for TWO Brit Awards. They are up for Best International Album, slightly unsurprising considering the great critical success and relative commercial success of Merriweather Post Pavilion, and are amusingly also nominated for International Breakthrough Act, despite the 10 years and 8 albums to their name. 

Personally, this is blatant attempt to play catch up and desperately grapple for a 'cool' nominee, and has been made for purely aesthetic purposes. It's slightly cringeworthy and pathetic that the panel feel the need to pad the list out with an act that sticks out a sore thumb. Will the 13 year old girls down the front remember their name? Probably not. But it sure would be a surreal sight to see them hangin' out at Earls Court with JLS, Pixie Lott, La Roux et al (if they turn up that is). 

Mala & Gilles Peterson Podcast

A bit late on the scene with this one but hey ho - DJ, Presenter and label owner extraordinaire Gilles Peterson has featured none other than Dubstep messiah Mala on his latest podcast. Mala makes the trip to the Brownswood Basement to chat about DMZ, pirate radio, dubplate culture and what the future holds for him and Dubstep itself.

There really is no questioning Mala's stature in Dubstep; he is responsible for the seminal DMZ nights at Mass, nuturing new talent, and running the now defunct DMZ label, not to mention the consistently brilliant if sporadic releases that showcase Dubstep at its most dark, devastating and bass-heavy.

Listen to the interview with the legend here. Essential.

FACT Mix 115: Jason Fine

FACT Magazine continue their fine series of mixes, with this edition courtesy of rising house producer Jason Fine, a product of Detroit legend Omar-S' label FXHE. 

Jason Fine's music is very much old school. Raw and unclean, yet with an unmistakable warm sound, you can hear the dusty synthesizers and drum machines pounding through every second of this mix. Fans of Omar-S, Kyle Hall and Andres should lap this up.

Head here to download the mix and read an interview from the man himself.

Skream - Repercussions Of A Razor Blade/A New Dawn

In today's culture, where what's hot takes precedent over everything and anything, the scene's veterans are often overlooked, seen as nothing but an ornamental sideshow. Dubstep king Skream shows with his latest 12" on Swamp 81 that he shouldn't be taken for granted. 

Following on from last years surprising "Minimalistix", Skream continues the dark vibes with "Repercussions Of A Razor Blade/New Dawn", and the results are as rough and dingy as the titles suggest. "Repurcussions...." utilises sparse bleeps, gloomy drones and apocalyptic, skittering snares to devastating effect, whilst the flip maintains the minimalism with hints of early DMZ stuff. With a solo and Magnetic Man albums on the way, this year seems a surefire bet to be a stellar year for Skream.

www.myspace.com/skreamuk

www.myspace.com/magneticman

www.myspace.com/swamp81

Building The Beat: Starkey

Always one to be relied upon for fresh, exciting ideas on her show, Radio One's Mary Anne Hobbs opened the Maida Vale studios last night to Philadelphia's Starkey. Given 2 hours, a bank of samples and the help of producer Reso and vocalist Anneka, Starkey crafted a brand new tune from scratch entitled 'Moments of Mine'. Head here to listen back to the show and download the finished song.

Speaking of Starkey, his new album 'Ear Drums and Black Holes' will be dropping in April, and if new track 'Fidelio' is anything to go by this'll top anything he's done previously.

www.myspace.com/starkey