Scratch DJ’s meets violin virtuoso? Must be Battlejam.

Beatbox extraordinaire and always the musical adventurist, Beadyman gets set to present another of his Battlejam events. A firm favourite in Brighton’s Club Scene Battlejam has always set about being more than a DJ (or beatboxer) in a room, and the latest line up looks like continuing the trend for innovation and multi-disciplined acts.

The line-up is billed as:

‘Drum&Bass/Breakbeat/Hiphop/GlitchHop/Funk/Dubstep/Stuff’

And it’s the ‘stuff’ that makes these nights so appealing, scratch DJ’s meets violin virtuoso? It’s either going to be a terrible noise or pure innovation. Artists playing included ED SOLO, who’ll be playing a DJ set whilst JFB delivers a Dj/Turntabalist/Av Set and lastly its FIDGITAL with, yes, Live Violin & Turntables. We found out more about the artistic trickery in store:

JFB:
http://www.myspace.com/jfbdj

In recent years the art of turntablism has spun off in myriad new directions, with techniques such as video scratching and instant sample creation representing a dramatic sea-change for the discipline. Few artists have been further to the fore of these fresh developments than Brighton’s JFB, a scratch DJ and party starter extraordinaire who won the UK DMC Championship in 2007.

Catch him alongside regular collaborator Beardyman at one of their legendary Battlejam events, and you’ll bear witness to spectacular improvisational skills melded to ultra-cutting edge technology. When Beardy drops a rhyme, it can be instantly sampled and scratched into new forms by
the DJ, who’s also capable of throwing random crowd banter, smatterings of live musicianship and even video footage of the audience into the mix.

Yet unlike many turntablists, JFB also knows when to stop beatjuggling and start dropping bombs – ultimately, it’s all about making the people dance. Many of the tunes you’ll hear him spin will be his own recordings on labels like Sludge, Hospital or One Eye Records. This is an artist who’s fully
immersed in bass culture, and just as happy spinning hip-hop or jungle as he is breakbeat and dubstep. Allow him free reign to do his thing with a full range of equipment at his command, and the results will be utterly ground-breaking, but set him loose on two turntables and a decent scratch mixer, and the boy will set about producing results that are just as jaw-dropping.

FIDGITAL:
http://www.myspace.com/fidgitallive

What do you get if you cross a classically trained, hip hop violin virtuoso with a world class turntablist?? A four armed, 25 fingered super freak?? nope – Fidgital (of course).

Started 6 months ago by two plucky young go-getters, Fidgital have played to audiences around the country and in Europe. They’ve supported hip hop legends ‘J-Live’ and ‘Aesop Rock’ at Komedia and done the Jay-Z / linkin park backstage VIP party in Milton Keynes the night after Jay-Z headlined Glastonbury. Other highlights have included a friday night session at the
V&A Museum in London and Sub Sub in Slovenia.

VIDS

ED SOLO:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GzVDxhTv3Ic&feature=related