Shows > The Closer Sound

Saturday 6:00pm - 7:00pm
with Will and Ben. Delivering you the best of Funk, Breaks, Hip Hop and Soul. Groovy music for Groovy People.

In a world where names were everything, The Closer Sound would do just fine. It started out as a mixtape. Then it was a radio show. Now it’s what we call ourselves. We kept the name because it’s meaningless and powerful an’ all that. Pretty clever, huh? Yeah, you’re definitely wishing you came up with something this cool...

First up in the Closer Sound collective is Ben. He came up with the idea because he didn’t want to do anything ‘real’ (read: ‘boring’) with his time. He did a desk job once and didn’t like it. Fronting the Saturday night sessions, Ben spins the best Funk, Breaks, Soul and Hip Hop there ever is, was, and will be. He also has a lot of Thoughts on Things that you’re advised not to repeat in public unless you’ve got the hair and/or boots to pull them off. He’s probably the best thing ever to have happened.

Next up is Will, who has a rather different outlook on life. He’s doing Geography because it seemed like a good idea at the time. (It wasn’t.) He likes Electronic music. A lot. And is frequently to be heard to say such things as, “don’t even mess with that S**t unless you’ve got the speakers to handle the wicked low end”. The rest of us generally have no idea what he’s on about, but we like him because of his hair and his unnaturally long legs. He also presents the Late Night Sessions on a Friday night, and educates us all in Dubstep and Drum ‘n’ Bass and what substances should and should not be used whilst listening to them.

If you want to receive free stuff that we occasionally give out, be reminded of upcoming shows and generally be kept up-to-date with what is and isn’t going on, join the Closer Sound Facebook group here.

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Show Blog...

"You cut the legs off a desk with a breadknife?" - Saturday Jan. 23rd

Posted By Ben Lawrence on January 24, 2010 7:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Big up the very first Closer Sound of 2010, with brand new tracks from People Under the Stairs, Bullion and Blockhead...

"You Cut The Legs Off A Desk With A Breadknife?" by The Closer Sound on Mixcloud

"So I went in and asked for silver king skins..." - Saturday Nov. 14th

Posted By Ben Lawrence on January 10, 2010 11:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Yes, I know, we're waste. I'm only now catching up on with the podcasting (as per new year's resolutions and all that). Here's a Closer Sound Radio Show from 14th November. It has all the music included. Did I mention that it has all the music included? Because it does.

"So I Went In And Asked For Silver King Skins..." by Theclosersound on Mixcloud

Track of the Week: Galactic - From the Corner to the Block

Posted By Ben Lawrence on November 9, 2009 1:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Big up the new features, (or rather a slight adaptation of what we did last year). Each week the Closer boys will pick one of the daily tracks they post to the facebook group and throw it up here too. The track will also be featured and talked about in more depth on our Saturday show.

First up we've got a stonking title track and video from New Orlean's funk masters Galactic, taken from their latest album From the Corner to the Block. It features Juvenile and the Soul Rebels Brass Band. Massive.

Galactic: From The Corner To The Block

S-Music Records | MySpace Video

Warm Up For the Year - Saturday Oct. 24th

Posted By Ben Lawrence on November 5, 2009 4:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

So this is pretty old, pretty down key and, in may places, simply just wrong. Ignore what we say and treat it as a warm up for this year. Music's sick as ever though.

Tracklisting:

Forever And A Day - Lizzy Parks
Satisfied? - J-Live
San Francisco Knights - People Under The Stairs
Sixteen - The Heavy
Mambo El B-Boy - Red Astaire
The Sensual Woman - The Herbaliser Band
Unassisted - Rasco
The Dreaming Mind (Part 1) - Quantic and his Combaro Bárbaro

Grandma! I love you in a salad way.

Posted By Ben Lawrence on April 8, 2009 1:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Is it possible to love someone without ever having met them? Probably not, but on the off chance...

The How To Smoothly Recover When Everything Goes Bdong Show - Saturday Mar. 14th

Posted By Ben Lawrence on March 26, 2009 5:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Dear world, it's been a long while since our last podcast. This is almost entirely due to us being lazy. Apologies. To make it up to you, here's an extra-special super-duper Closer Sound special, featuring an uncut live mix in the second half, (what only went a little bit wrong).

Tracklisting:

1) Guns Are Drawn - The Roots
2) Chali 2na Comin' Thru (feat. Chali 2na) - DJ Numark
3) The Crew - Fdel
4) Ill Culinary Behaviour (feat. Abdominal) - DJ Format
5) Ug - Mr. Scruff
6) Express Yourself (Extended Mix) - N.W.A.
7) Funky Run Through (Parts 1 & 2) - Poets of Rhythm
8) Feeling Good (feat. Alice Russell) - Quantic Soul Orchestra
9) Live Mix - The Closer Sound

Featured Artist: N.A.S.A.

Posted By Ben Lawrence on March 3, 2009 5:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Aside from going to space an' all that jazz, N.A.S.A. also make Hip Hop albums.

Well actually that was a bit of a lie; N.A.S.A. stands for North America/South America and are in actual fact wizard-production duo DJ Zegon and Squeek E. Clean. They dropped their debut album Spirit of Apollo in mid February to mass critical acclaim; an album which features fully over forty massive music names. From David Byrne to Kanye West, and M.I.A. to Tom Waits, this album which was six years in the making blows your socks off yo' little tootsies straight from the first track.

Whilst there are times when you get the impression that N.A.S.A. are maybe just little bit too pleased with themselves, the sound is always rescued by quality beats, impressive turntablisim and, more importantly, Tom Waits.

List of Collaborators:

Kanye West; Ol Dirty Bastard (R.I.P.); Karen O; David Byrne; RZA; Lykke Li; George Clinton; Method Man; Tom Waits; M.I.A.; Chuck D; E-40; KRS-One; Sizzla; Lovefoxxx; Del tha Funkee Homosapien; Fatlip; Slim Kid Tre; Chali 2na; John Frusciante; Nina Persson; Gift of Gab; Spank Rock; DJ AM; The Cool Kids; Seu Jorge; Kool Keith; Ghostface Killah; Scarface; Z-Trip; DJ Swamp; Barbie Hatch; Amanda Blank; Santogold; Nick Zinner; Kool Kojak; DJ Babão; DJ Qbert; Ras Congo

Hip Hop (feat. Slim Kid Tre / Fat Lip / KRS-one)

A Jalapeno Records Showcase (feat. Phil) - Saturday Feb. 28th

Posted By Ben Lawrence on March 2, 2009 7:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The thing about radio shows is that, like fine wine, they improve as they go on. Tha's what I say...

Tracklisting:

1) Paint It Blacker (feat. the Rolling Stones) - Plan B
2) Squeeze Me (Medley Remix) - Kraak en Smaak
3) Come Ray and Come Charles (G Fonk) - Skeewiff
4) As If - Smoove
5) Brand Nu - Soopasoul
6) Broke - Sneaky Fox
7) Now I'm Feelin' Fine (Fort Knox Five Remix) - Skeewiff

The We Definitely Can't Talk About Jade Goody Show - Saturday Feb. 21st

Posted By Ben Lawrence on February 23, 2009 5:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Given the fact that Ben could get in truly a horrific amount of trouble for talking about Ms./Mrs. Goody we talk about Max Drummey and Travis the rampaging chimpanzee instead. Clever 'ey?

Tracklisting:

1) Muddles Morning (feat. Rizzle) - Hint
2) Things Done Changed - Notorious B.I.G.
3) Walk in the Sky (feat. Bajka) - Bonobo
4) Don't Rush Me - Jean Grae & 9th Wonder
5) Boop (Skeewiff Remix) - Ursula 1000
6) Limitations - Souls of Mischief
7) Fortune Favours the Bold - TM Juke and the Jack Baker Trio
8) Kool and the Gang - Speedometer

Featured Artist: Amplive

Posted By Ben Lawrence on February 15, 2009 3:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Something completely different for you this week. Amplive is an American hip hop producer and one half of Zion-I. In late 2007, soon after Radiohead's seminal In Rainbows was dropped under a pay-what-you-want scheme, Amplive began working on a remix album in collaboration with some good, bad and ugly types working under the names Chali 2na, Codanay Holiday and Del the Funky Homosapian. After a few tracks started bouncing around the blogosphere the producer received a cease and desist letter from Warner/Chappel, ordering him to abandon his work. Amplive published a Youtube plea to the international hip hop community a few days later, (and yes, you'd be surprised how many b-boys use the in'ernet nowdays) and after a few months of concerted effort with the suits Amplive was allowed to release his completed work on the internet for free.

“The track ‘Nudez’ is actually a remix of a Zion-I song called ‘Don't Lose Your Head,’” Amplive says. “I took Too $hort's and Zumbi's vocals and tweaked them over the beat.” Meanwhile, for “Video Tapez” with Del, Amplive added some rugged and deep beats from an Akai MPC3000. But he's no one-trick-pony MPC beatmaker. “I like to make live instruments sound like samples,” he says. “I'll take live music and bounce it down, sample it and re-record it back in. Or I'll add static from records and noise and bounce it all together so it meshes. It gives it a rougher sound.”

remixmag.com

Genius. So yes, not only are we bringing to your attention summat golden, we're also (or at least someone else is) giving it away for free. Ain't we lovely?

Visit the Rainydayz Remix Download Page