Spoken word poetry at the V&A this Friday 28/6/13

FRIDAY LATE AT THE V&A

Come and see a one-off showcase of spoken word poetry from Angry Sam, Poetcurious, Keith Jarrett and Benny Diction, performing poems about Hackney, London and life from 6:45-7:15.

Free Admission

All Good (Mash Up) Things Come In 3s...

HAND MADE MASH UP VOLUME 3

The third and final instalment in the HAND MADE MASH UP series is available to download for FREE by clicking on the picture. This project has been a lot of fun and I hope you have enjoyed the mash ups!

Featuring:

Avicii

Skip Rage

Roots Manuva

The Cure

Big Boi

The Isley Brothers

Dizzee Rascal

James Blake

The Cool Kids

Insity

Camp Lo

Congo Natty

Beyonce

Disclosure

Ed Case

...and more! peaCe

Hand Made Mash Up Vol.2 - Free Download

Following on from my previous post, here's another bunch of mash-ups recorded live on my iPad. Again the mix is eclectic with pop, hiphop, trap, 80's, indie and all sorts sitting reasonably comfortably together. My personal highlights are Love Umbrella Has Gone; Not Giving I(co)n and So Fresh, So Clean, So Ratchetty. Let me know if you agree after clicking on the cover picture above to download this collection for free. More soon! 

Featuring:

Rihanna

Tyler the Creator

Jay-Z

Taylor Swift

Azealia banks

Les Rhythm Digital

Rudimental

Netsky

Outkast

Katy B

Benga

The Cure

Soft Cell

Nirvana

Diplo

SWV

peaCe

Hand Made Mash Up - Free Download

Hand Made Mash Up is a collection of mash-ups I have recorded using iDJ on my iPad. I am not being paid to promote this app or tablet device but I have had a lot of fun getting back into mixing without having to blow the dust (sad to admit) off the 1210s and spark up the Serato. Although there are many limitations to this type of DJing, such as the lack of immediacy for adjustments and no physical cross-fader (making scratching a novelty aspect), there are many advantages. The ability to mix anywhere and the range of functionality (looping, FX pad, EQ, cue points), as well as a well designed recording facility make iDJ a perfect tool for all levels of DJ.

*End of free marketing campaign* 

In making this collection I used iDJ in what should be called 'play mode', meaning I didn't use the optional splitter to allow for headphone monitoring. Instead, I planned out the arrangements in advance of recording and added cue points into the tracks before syncing the tempos (another hit and miss feature of iDJ). Once I'd worked out an arrangement and prepared the tracks, I recorded each mash-up live, without headphones. This is basically a long-winded excuse for the mistakes and slips that happen throughout this compilation. However, (and to further the excusing) I think the live aspect gives an organic, human quality to these unquantized (and unsterilised) recordings. Click on the cover picture at the top to download the compilation for free, and see what you think...

Artists include:

The Roots

Caspa

The Art Of Noise

Nikki Minaj

2 Chains

Roska

Daft Punk

A$AP Rocky

Will.I.Am

Britney Spears

Dizzee Rascal

The Prodigy

SL2

Dawn Penn

D Double E

Rudimental

Gotye

...peaCe

Biting Elbows 'Bad Motherfucker' Video

Following on from my Zeds Dead post the other week, here's another...

I came across this video thanks to my friend Anna. The video is for Biting Elbow's 2013 single 'Bad Motherfucker' and as the title suggests it's pretty extreme at points. I don't know anything about the band but it reminds me of music from my skateboarding days and the video is sick! The single is available on iTunes if it floats your boat. Dog lovers beware!

Biting Elbows - 'Bad Motherfucker' (Insane Office Escape 2) from Ilya Naishuller on Vimeo.

peaCe

ME AND MY SCHOOL Project (essay)

Photo: Gavin Evans

They say all good/bad things come in threes. Here is the third of my writings on hip-hop and education. This one is less about hip-hop, although it does get a reference and much of the work I discuss in this essay informs my current practice and feeds into the HipHopEd work I am involved in. I wrote this in 2006 at the end of a year participating in the TAP Programme and it is presented here without appendices and with a few incomplete references.
TAP was a professional development programme for artists and teachers. It took participants on a highly creative and academically rigorous exploration of their own and each others practices and pedagogies. TAP focussed on multi-disciplinary approaches, creative risk-taking, relationships and collaboration. Run by L.I.F.T. and accredited by the I.O.E., TAP was an innovative and rewarding experience that hugely developed my understanding of teaching, learning and creativity.

*Obviously it lost its funding and now only exists in articles on the internet


ME AND MY SCHOOL Project By Chris Beschi (2006)

So, What's The Scenario? Hiphop for healing

The garden at St. Ethelburga, London.

Last year I was asked to perform at an inter-faith community centre in Queen's Park for an event run by the St. Ethelburga's organisation. Stories That Heal, Stories That Harm was a participatory day of talks and workshops for a range of educators, therapists, community practitioners, academics and others working with personal and community narratives. The aim was to explore different approaches and share experiences of working closely with people's personal stories and community narratives in various educational and therapeutic settings, in order to stimulate better practice and generate a greater understanding of the work being done in that field. I was asked to talk about the work I do with hiphop and education and how that contributes to this area of practice. I shared some examples from my practice of how hiphop culture has provided a starting point for developmental work with students in schools as well as my opinions about the culture's validity as a platform for engaging young people in story-telling that can contribute to their self-development. The day went well and there were some interesting talks and presentations. After the event I wrote some notes on my iPhone trying to sum up what I had said about my own work, as well as what I had learnt from the day. I later formatted these notes into a document that I share below. This was one of the first times I had spoken about my use of hiphop culture and music in my work to an audience, The response was very positive and it gave me more confidence to explore hiphop culture and it's contribution to my practice. This continues through the work I do with UkHipHopEd and within my role as a special needs teacher in a mainstream secondary school in North West London, where I use hiphop's content and principles to engage young people with behaviour and communication difficulties.

View and download So, What's The Scenario? By Chris Beschi