Scratch Perverts - Beatdown

To the Scratch Perverts (collectively Tony Vegas, Prime Cuts and Plus One), hip hop has always been a melting pot of styles – with the likes of Nirvana, Roots Manuva, TC, Chase & Status, Skream and Claude VonStroke getting teased, dropped and tricked-out all in the confines of ten minutes in one of their blinding sets. These days, with over 13 years of experience under their debonair hats, it seems slightly trivial to namedrop their many awards and accolades (ahem, still doesn’t hurt to check the specs: two consecutive World DMC Team titles, Plus One's World DMC Champion and World Vestax Champion titles, Prime Cut's 1999 and 2000 World ITF Scratching crowns, as well as winning the respect of turntablist heads around the globe), considering just how much that’ s all been surpassed by the reputation they’ve built as club-rocking DJs.

A Perverts’ set has always been about the party jump style - morphing and modulating between genres and techniques and sounds so fast, every listener is left breathless, and voice-less. From London to Tokyo to Europe to USA shores, crowds yell and buck as the trio effortlessly slide between the thumping anthems of house, drum & bass and trippy electronica, and dive low to the shattering bass drops of dubstep. Across the 4 decks, 2 mixers, 3 CDJs and 3 pairs of hands, it’s fast, it’s fire, it’s ridiculous fun - and their red-hot sets are fuelled by a shared love of music that’s evident on their faces, as well as shown through their inimitable skills and the musical way their sets piece together. It’s more than just a club set; it’s a form of art.

Plus One: “Normally I’d describe us as a DJ crew, but really we are just a like-minded collective who have a similar take on music. We tend to like what each other like, and although we produce music separately most of the time, what we come up with is always in tune with what each of us are feeling. It’s really energising to see the people you work with excited about the things they’re into, and we all vibe off that. If I hadn’t heard some of the dubstep stuff that Joel [Prime Cuts] got into a while back, I wouldn’t have started to involve elements of that genre into the electro and house music I was making. It’s a good time right now- the attitude within most new music is really open. There was a time when people wouldn’t step out of their musical zone but now it’s like - fuck it, the more diverse the better! We’re not against where we’ve been musically in the past at all - but what’s the point in just playing old school hip hop records, when there’s so much fresh new music out there on your doorstep?”

Prime Cuts: “It’s never been just about hip hop records. We’ve always played across the board, we play different kinds of music and we’ve always had that all embracing outlook.”

Beyond DJing around the world’s club circuit incessantly, the three Perverts have taken their DJ skills and applied it to production, creating 2004’s energetic ‘Come Get It’ (with Dynamite MC) and the Supercharged hit ‘Stand By’ in 2007 (a track originally featured on Lucozade’s Summer 2006/World Cup TV campaign, and has been lined up to once again soundtrack Lucozade’s spring and summer TV campaign this year). Individually, they each have their own interests and accomplishments, dabbling across various projects and genres. Most notably, Plus One has started working with Beni G (from the famed scratch duo Mixologists) as Jackbeats, a hugely popular and vibrant electro project – and Prime Cuts has kept busy with various remix projects, including a banging rendition of the Foreign Beggars’ ‘Hit That Gash.’

For the last 7 years at the annual Beatdown night at FABRICLIVE, the Scratch Perverts hand-pick artists that represent the diverse genres and musical styles likely to be found within the confines of any Perverts' set. Guests have included everyone from Ian Brown, Dizzee Rascal, Jazzy Jeff, DJ Craze, Goldie, Sway, Does It Offend You, Yeah?, Klever, Beat Torrent, Andy C, Skream, Boys Noize, Toddla T, Loefah, Noisia, Plan B, Duke Dumont, Roots Manuva, Caspa, Rusko, DJ Semtex, Skitz & Rodney P, Dillinja & Lemon D, Coki, Clipz, Netik (DMC World Champ 2006), Akala, Kavinski, Pendulum playing an epic live set and Japanese maestro Tucker, to name but a few.

Prime Cuts: “We are all still fans, big fans of music.”

Tony Vegas: “We’re not just scene hoppers! When you play as much of a mixed bag as we do, you can get the finger pointed. It’s not true - hopefully after hearing the mix, people will come and hear us play out and realise that. We’re not doing it for any other reason apart from the fact that this is what we do and what we’re listening to; this is what we’re fans of. We hope we incorporate that into our style of DJing, which is why we have to cram as many records into 2 hours as we can, that’s always been our approach to DJing.”

And it’s this vibrant, all-encompassing sound that they’ve captured on BEATDOWN, a slamming compilation that embodies the Scratch Perverts’ brilliantly vast tastes, as well as their closest peers and likeminded family of artists. Featuring dubstep kings Caspa and Skream, the fresh bass-heavy touches of Joker and Zomby, raved-out electro bangers from Diplo and Herve, tearing drum & bass dubplates from Fresh and Lomax, and a whole host of bassbin-aimed slammers, this is the sound of the Scratch Perverts, right here right now, with no nods to what came before, nor riding on the old coat-tails of 6 world titles won in the past. Get ready for the real deal, the vibe of an untamed Perverted set, and it’s not for the weak of hearing. With the Scratch Perverts’ notoriously raucous energy coupled with their mind-bogging skills and selections, this is one to blow out your speakers this summer – warn your neighbours.

Prime Cuts: “A lot of people don’t realise what we’re about now. In Bristol, we were spinning loads of dubstep, someone came up and said, ‘About time!’…we were like, ‘Sorry, what?!’ I think this mix is a representation of what we’ve been doing for quite a while now; it is a true representation of ourselves and what we do when we play live. I feel this is more defined than comps we’ve done before, because it is about here and now, not about where we’ve gone on stage or who we’ve battled. I hope people will get a much better understanding when hearing the mix, a gentle surprise for some, but not an unpleasant one. It’s definitely the most important compilation we’ve ever done and the most exciting.”
Plus One: “The whole ‘mash-up’ thing is big right now and that’s cool, it’s got its own place now… but we’d be into playing all types of music regardless of that.”
Tony Vegas: “Comp’s are great; they’re a really cool piece of work. The difference between a really good mix and a really bad one is just how much time someone spent thinking about it. It doesn’t matter what style of music - if you’re serious about doing a good comp or a very well considered piece of work, you’ll get that. And I think you’ll realise that when you hear this mix. Good tunes. It’s going to be brand new, fresh and exciting; loads of special exclusives on there and everything else.”


Tracklisting:

01 Caspa - Rat-A-Tat-Tat Ft. Dynamite MC – Sub Soldiers/fabric
02 High Rankin – Money For Guns – Cheap Thrills
03 Benga - Stop Watching - Tempa
04 Skitz Ft. Buggsy - Born Inna System (DJ Prime Cuts Mix) - Silentsoundz/RGS Entertainment
05 Digital Mystikz – Eyez - DMZ
06 The Qemists - Dem Na Like Me [Subscape Dub] – Ninja Tune
07 Skream - Aggy Face - Tempa
08 Joker - Do It - Kapsize - Multiverse
09 Foreign Beggars VS Rouge A Levres - Hit That Gash [ DJ Prime Cuts Itchy Naan Re-Rub] - Dented
10 Chase & Status - Saxon - Ram
11 Kutz – Grit Your Teeth - Kutz
12 The Others – Credit Crunch VIP – Dub Police
13 DJ Prime Cuts Ft: Dynamite MC – Warning – D Style
14 Rusko - Jahova VIP – Sub Soldiers
15 Flying Lotus - Roberta Flack (Martyn’s Heartbeat Mix) - Warp
16 Zomby – Rumours & Revolutions – Cheap Thrills
17 Buraka Som Sistema – Sound Of Kuduro Ft DJ Znobia, M.I.A., Saborosa & Puto Prata
(DJ Mehdi’s Sound Of Terror Remix) - fabric
18 Feadz Ft. MC Wesley - Subiu, Desceu - Man
19 Zombie Disco Squad – The Dance – Made To Play
20 Kissy Sell Out - This Kiss [Jack Beats Mix] - Marrakesh
21 Laidback Luke and A-Trak – Shake It Down - MixMash
22 AC Slater - Jack Got Jacked (Jack Beats Remix) – Palms Out Sounds
23 Mujava – Township Funk [Boy 8 Bit Remix] – This Is Music
24 Boy 8 Bit – Baltic Pine - This Is Music
25 Jesse Rose - Touch My Horn - Dubsided
26 Zinc - 128 Trek – Bingo/Tempa
27 Hervé Ft. Marina Gasolina – Who Da Champ? – Cheap Thrills
28 Diplo & Laidback Luke – Hey – Southern Fried
29 Jack Beats – U.F.O. [The K-Hole Bass Riddim] – Cheap Thrills
30 Dirtyphonics – Vandals – Audioporn
31 Logistics - Jungle Music - Hospital
32 Lomax - Faith Massive - Ram
33 Jakes – Warface [D*Minds Remix] – D Style
34 Spor – Aztec – Shogun Audio
35 DJ Fresh - Off World – Breakbeat Kaos
36 Dirty Harry – Fools - Ganja
37 Sigma – Paint It Black - Hospital

Witness the fitness at FABRICLIVE for the Beatdown album launch…

12 JUNE
ROOM ONE:
SCRATCH PERVERTS' 'BEATDOWN' ALBUM LAUNCH PARTY...
Scratch Perverts, DJ Craze, DJ Klever, The Glitch Mob (LIVE), Patchwork Pirates