El-B originally made his name as part of the legendary Groove Chronicles outfit, being the first artist to bring a dark edge to UK Garage with tracks like 'Stone Cold' and '1999'. Through his own Ghost Records imprint, El-B has sculpted and defined the modern dubstep sound and famously inspired the prodigious talent of Burial and countless others. With Tempa re-issuing some of his finest productions to date, El-B announced his return to the forefront of dubstep and garage and is one of the most in demand DJs in the scene. Now in 2009, El-B is putting the finishing touches to a 4 track EP and his first full-length album, which is set for release on Ghost Records later in the year.

The first thing that comes to mind when you hear the Lefties Soul Connection sound is the word 'RAW'. Sound and music wise the band is influenced by funk acts like the Meters and the JB's, but also by hip-hop acts like for example Jurassic 5, the Roots and Beastie Boys. In general they have their backbone in the raw (obscure) funk & soul from the 60s till early 70s but a lot of tracks are based on hip-hop feel/sound/structure (open drum breaks, ready to sample riffs).

They also have some '(mod) rock' influence in their sound, this can be especially seen and heard at live concerts and you can hear it in the aggressiveness of their sound. Their goal is to rock the crowd hard with heavy beats, low bumping bass, screaming Hammond organ and tight guitar riffs, sometimes accompanied by vocals or chants.

The band is not strictly a retro band, they're not trying to copy an old soul/funk band; an important difference with some other (raw) funk & soul bands of today. It's not their intention to play funk exactly the same like the JB's or the Meters used to do. These bands will always be the best because it's the sound they've created. Lefties Soul Connection just picked up some of their grooves and philosophy and mixed it with hip-hop breakbeat / song structure and (mod) rock aggressive sound/performance style. What you get is an explosive performance with tight grooves and the heaviest live beats you ever heard (we like to call it the "shock 'n' awe" style or garage funk).

Slowly they've been building a fan base within the international (raw) funk & soul (b-boy) community with their sound and especially at performances but, because they're not strictly retro, they also broke out of this scene and got noticed by people that are more into hip-hop and even rock and dance. A good example of a track getting noticed outside the funk community is their interpretation of Organ Donor, a dj Shadow track (sound clip: http://www.leftiessoulconnection.com/organdonorreviews.htm).

A large part of their recordings is instrumental. Basically they've set up the band similar to the Meters and Booker T & the MG's. Like these bands, their music is centred around groove/sound and not so much lyrics/a singer. At live shows though, more vocal tracks are added. These tracks are sung by guitar player Onno Smit; before starting the band together with Alviz, also a soul singer.

Guitar band from Amsterdam fronted by charismatic singer Peter te Bos that is influenced by garage punk of bands like Gun Club and the Stooges. Gradually, the band's musical style develops into the direction of melodic swamp rock. Line-up Peter te Bos: vocals John Cameron: guitar Marcus Bruystens: bass Marc Lamb: drums Other musicians Allard Jolles drums Arno Kooy bass guitar Bobbie Rossini bass guitar Geert de Groot bass guitar Lya Spykstra bass guitar Marius Schrader drums²²

The Fuzztones are a garage rock revival band formed in the 1980s, playing straight into the 1990s and now. Founded by singer-guitarist Rudi Protrudi in New York City in 1981, the band has gone through several member changes but is currently active in Europe. Dismissed by some critics and listeners as a "bar band" or unoriginal - and even plagaristic - they maintained a strong fan base in New York, in Europe and in Los Angeles, where Rudi would move in 1987 after the breakup of the original band, to organize a new Fuzztones. The group's name is derived from FuzzTone, the commercial name of a guitar distortion booster invented in 1964 and whose distinctive sound was popularized in the 1965 hit song by "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" by Rolling Stones.

Hailing from the south coast and now based in Birmingham, Raffertie is the 21 year old DJ and producer whose innovative and down right filthy style has been smashing up the UK%u2019s underground dance music scene for the last couple of years. Playing high energy, bass laden tunes Raffertie has quickly became a firm party favourite across the UK. His sets include everything from uplifting pop classics and 90%u2019s rave anthems to the filthiest house, garage, grime and dubstep tracks, creating huge dance floor reactions that earned him a residency at Hold Tight in London. Alongside his DJing exploits, Raffertie%u2019s productions have received much acclaim. Following a set of renowned bootlegs that ply all manner of tunes with sickening wonky basslines, it was his original productions that caught the attention of some big names. With Starkey championing the twisted rumbling monster %u2018ANTISOCIAL%u2019 on his Sub.FM show, Radio1%u2019s own Mary Anne Hobbs picked up the distorted, devastating beats of %u2018Stomping Grounds VIP%u2019. She was so impressed that she invited Raffertie to do a guest mix as part of her showcase of up and coming talent, describing him as %u201Cas sick as they come%u201D. Raffertie MySpace

With initial support in the form of grime veteran Plastician, Birminghams finest. Emalkay gained the attention of South London based label Boka Records with the warped, future bass drones and epic strings of Gut Feeling. Continuing the success, Testing The Waters EP was released in October 2006 followed by Monsters in June 2007. The revolutionary sound of Mecha, released in the fall of 2007, gained Emalkay support from the likes of Radio 1 DJ Mary Anne Hobbs and breakbeat pioneer FreQ Nasty, as well as many of the leading figures of the current dubstep scene. It seemed Emalkays own potential as a pivotal dubstep artist was finally being realised. His final release on Boka Records was the reggae influenced My Story in April 2008. In the fall of 2008, Emalkay produced Explicit - a tune that gradually captured the interest of such prominent dubsteppers as Benga and received major support from acts such as The Scratch Perverts and drum and bass duo Chase and Status. After being approached by Caspa however, the track was finally released on the Dub Police label in February 2009 after much anticipation. For more information visit www.myspace.com/emalkay

MARTELO

ONEMAN

SINDEN is een dj/producer uit Londen met een vaste plaats achter de Fabric-draaitafels. Eind vorig jaar maakte hij voor die club een mix-cd in de prestigieuze FabricLive serie. Met zijn buddy The Count legt Sinden nu de laatste hand aan een album met eigen werk. Single Beeper was al een dikke hit.