For those readers new to the Southport experience, check out Marc Rowlands’ insightful article that traces the history of the event here. For the veterans, thank you once again for making this weekend a highlight of my year. Impossible as it is to recall every spine-tingling moment, I’ve compiled a short list of my highlights.

1. The SuncéBeat Dome
This was a new, experimental addition to the event, situated in the middle of the main pavilion. An inflatable dome, dressed to capture the SuncéBeat vibe with palm trees, cocktails and musical selections reminiscent of our Croatian adventure. It was also the first time that Alex and Dave gave me free reign to curate an area. The DJs I booked are all selectors who I admire and look up to – touching all corners of the soulful musical spectrum – and I thank them wholeheartedly for their contributions. With success of the space and the overwhelmingly positive feedback from the audience, I’m thrilled that the concept was received so warmly. There were many beautiful moments, including this family sing-a-long, but it was Jonny Miller’s working of IG Culture’s Co-Op classic that did it for me.

2. Joaquin “Joe” Claussell in the Beat Bar
It had been a little while since I’d heard Joe play, but in that time I’ve been collecting pretty much every release he’s dropped. His interpretations of Animation – ‘Sanctuary’ on the latest Sacred Rhythm Music 10″ are some of his deepest and most adventurous sonic experiments yet. It was a pleasure to meet one of my musical inspirations, and his set in the Beat Bar was a rousing end-of-night excursion, captured here by Hawtinista.

3. Jill Scott in the Pavilion
The headline artist described by Southport founder Alex Lowes as ‘the best live act I’ve seen since Marvin Gaye’ brought the whole Southport family together for one tear-inducing performance. Golden.

4. Floating Points in the Beat Bar
One of my favourite UK DJs: a formidable and still inexplicably underrated talent, his spontaneous and passionate set incorporated jazz, techno, house… and this all time classic.

5. Atjazz in the Sun & Moon after party
The perfect way to close the weekend, the small indoor terrace at the side of the Sun & Moon was a sea of smiles and good vibrations with all of our Weekender crew together for one last time. Atjazz did his thing like only he can, the beautiful vocals from this DJ Spen workout being my personal highlight.

7″ Release of the Month
Tall Black Guy – All Green’s Dream

Click here to view the embedded video.

For Greg, appearing on the same bill as Afrika Bambaataa, exactly 30 years on from the release of his seminal ‘Planet Rock’ is a dream come true. ‘Planet Rock’ is widely regarded as one of the 20th century’s defining recordings, setting the tone for the oncoming electronic dance revolution, whilst helping take Hip Hop global in the early 80s. This was a true hybrid, its impact, influence and inspiration an absolute game-changer. He has written this excellent piece on his blog in anticipation of Friday’s performance. Come and witness the legend and his MCs first hand in intimate surroundings.

I will also be spinning in the main room, and I’ve compiled this mini mixtape to accompany the event, titled ‘Love To Bam’.

Track List
Express of Sound feat. Afrika Bambaataa – Funky Weekend
Afrika Bambaataa – Mind Control (Danmas Remix)
Afrika Bambaataa feat. King Kamonzi – Dark Matter
Afrika Bambaataa – Planet Rock (Back To Basics Mix)
Afrika Bambaataa – Got That Vibe
Afrika Bambaataa – Just Get Up And Dance
Afrika Bambaataa – Soca Fever
Afrika Bambaataa feat. Mustafa Akbari – Just A Smoke
Afrika Bambaataa – Bell-E 2 Bell-E
Afrika Bambaataa – Shake Pop ‘N Roll
Afrika Bambaataa – The Godfather of Hip Hop
Afrika Bambaataa – All I Want
Shango – Zulu Groove
Afrika Bambaataa & James Brown – Unity
Afrika Bambaataa & Family – Sho Nuff Funky
Afrika Bambaataa & The Soul Sonic Force – Planet Rock
Props to Nardwuar for the interview snippets used throughout the mix.

All this for £5? Really?

Subsonic has been an integral part of the Subculture website reporting on the best of emerging international talent. SubSonic Live is the live manifestation of the concept and is a welcome addition to the London calendar through 2012. The bi-monthly event showcases emerging international talent and legends across 3 stages.

So, come and be part of it. Fred Perry – Subsonic Live.

Album of the Month
Azanyah – The One

Click here to view the embedded video.

Fonseca’s relationship with Africa and the Yoruban culture in particular, play an integral part in his family heritage. He was raised in the San Miguel del Padrón neighbourhood in Havana, and it was his grandmother who passed on the Santería faith.

Paying homage to Cuba’s African roots, Yo, translated as ‘I’ or ‘me’, fuses a digital and analogue expression of the Griot tradition, with sampled vocals and electronic percussion riding alongside n’goni, congas, kora and the talking drum. Credit goes to Mikael Eldridge, aka Count, a producer known for his work with DJ Shadow, Radiohead and the Rolling Stones, who managed the project’s post-production, for giving the album its enveloping sonic depth.

There are few venues where such acoustic character can be fully experienced, but The Barbican in London is certainly one. Fonseca’s playing, in one moment furiously energetic, and considered and caressing in another, and Baba Sissoko’s poly-rhythmic mastery of the African percussion, enticed unwavering attention and deep-felt awe from the audience throughout the ninety minute performance. Rapturous applause and two standing ovations at the evening’s close gave testament to Fonseca’s prodigious talent, and the intuitive rapport he so clearly enjoys with his band.

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Yo is out now, and Fonseco’s UK tour continues this week, preceding a trio of
additional dates now confirmed in May following the overwhelming response
to his opening shows:

Wed 28 March – York, Theatre Royal, 7.30pm
http://www.yorktheatreroyal.co.uk / 01904 623568 / Tickets £15 + bkg

Thu 29 March – Brighton, Dome, 7.30pm
http://www.brightondome.org / 01273 709709 / Tickets £15, £17.50 + bkg

Fri 30 March – Bristol, St George’s, 8pm
http://www.stgeorgesbristol.co.uk / 0845 40 24 001 / Tickets £21 + bkg

Sun 1 April – Birmingham, Town Hall, 7.30pm
http://www.thsh.co.uk / 0121 780 3333 / Tickets £15, £17.50 + bkg

Sun 6 May – Cheltenham Jazz Festival, 4.15pm
Jazz Arena, Montpellier Gardens, Cheltenham GL50 1UW http://cheltenhamfestivals.com/jazz / Tickets: £17 + bkg

Sat 26 May – Bury St Edmunds Festival, 8pm
The Apex, Charter Square, Bury St Edmunds IP33 3FD http://www.buryfestival.co.uk / Tickets: £16 + bkg

Tues 29 May – Salisbury International Arts Festival, 7.30pm
Salisbury City Hall, Malthouse Lane, Salisbury, Wiltshire SP2 7TU http://www.salisburyfestival.co.uk
http://www.cityhallsalisbury.co.uk https://uk.patronbase.com/_SF/Productions/CH5/Performances
0845 241 9651 / Tickets £22, £17.50, £12.50 + bkg

Following an opening chanted recital of Acts 4:10 and 4:10, the deep pulse of Mamaniji Azanyah’s bass introduces the latest release from Jazzman Records, a fully licensed reissue of The One, a private press spiritual jazz LP that has previously changed hands for over £1,000.

Under the joint leadership of Mamaniji Azanyah and saxophonist/flautist Immanuel Zechariah, the septet recorded this LP in the 1980s, a couple of decades after the period in jazz history that is now being treated with a growing appreciation and reverence, continuing the musical expression of the introspective realisation of unity that lives today in the music of artists such as Build An Ark and Gonjasufi.

With comprehensive liner notes, approved by the original artists, and a collection of previously unpublished photographs, this 180g vinyl pressing is an essential purchase for followers of the spiritual jazz movement, and a perfect introduction for those drawn in by what Azanyah describes as “creative spiritual expression in the improvisational tradition.”

Samples are delicately sliced, carefully placed and treated with an emotive lo-fi wash as each track’s bed of stuttering rhythm evolves. The EP also includes a bonus remix from Washington’s Future Times stable: Beautiful Swimmers submerge Mini Culcha into a squelching leftfield houser, reminiscent of FlyLo’s enticing Do The Astral Plane.

Capturing an authentic snapshot of the underground electronic music scene in Detroit, the tracks included on Still Music’s In The Dark, scheduled for reissue this spring, sound just as relevant today as when they first hit wax seven years ago. Amp Fiddler, whose touch opens and closes the compilation, reveals several sides of his repertoire: his rework of Courtney Jackson’s ‘Everybody’ is a stepping house workout with sumptous live bass riding high through the mix, while his interpretation of Anetria Wright’s ‘The Feeling of Love’ recalls the downtempo production aesthetic of his Waltz Of A Ghetto Fly long player.

Elsewhere, Ray Bone Jones, collaborating with Malik Pittman and Rick Wilhite, offers a gruelling, unpredictable techno meltdown titled ’10 In The Dark’, Kenny Dixon Jr. reminds us how much we’re looking forward to his new album with ‘Bosmos’, a groove that shuffles with the relentless chopping of a short jazz loop, and Keith Worthy and Malik Alston give us ‘Ecoutez’, a melodic deep house gem with delirious live keys.

What makes this package truly essential for fans of the Detroit sound is the DVD that comes packaged with both the CD and vinyl reissues. In The Dark: Voices is a thirty minute film directed by Chris Bravo that features exclusive footage and interviews with Ron Trent, Pirahnahead & Diviniti, Paul Randolph, Mike Huckaby, E Man and Rick ‘The Godson’ Wilhite amongst other major players from the D. The release date is yet to be finalised at the time of writing, but the project is scheduled for a spring 2012 release. Check out the preview of the documentary below.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Little wonder then why I love this night so much. Those lucky enough to have attended a Mellowtone gig will understand the charming appeal and meticulous attention to detail that makes each gathering so memorable. It’s a live music showcase that runs with a club night aesthetic; DJ sets that join the dots between performances come from the Beaten Tracks collective, a group of selectors with impeccable taste.

Check out this ‘Nice Sunday Roast’ mix show:

Most recently, the night featured Rae Morris, the promising 19 year old artist who has just signed to Atlantic. She was supported by Liverpool-based singer-songwriter Thomas J Speight and Irish bluesman Dave O’Grady. Here’s a lovely clip of Rae performing with four members of the Halle orchestra:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Next up is a special evening on Wednesday 28th March with Paper Aeroplanes, the duo of Sarah Howells and Richard Llewellyn who began their collaborative partnership in 2005 in a small town West Wales. Their 2009 debut, The Day We Ran Into The Sea was beautiful, described affectionately by the BBC’s Adam Walton as “brilliantly crafted and stoked from a bruised heart’s embers.”

You can buy tickets here.

Ramp Recordings is the brainchild of Tom Kerridge, a straight-talking, passionate label owner with an infallible ear for breaking new talent. With personal preference being the sole guide to what gets signed, Ramp’s back catalogue can boast of early James Blake, non-dubstep Zomby, and SBTRKT’s debut beats.

The understated UK label (sometimes he leaves the logo off releases) is also responsible for unleashing ‘Fatherless‘ by Breach, Ben Westbeech’s alter-ego, that was a smash for Benji B at Southport Weekender 47.

After hyping his recently released BRAiNMATHs compilation, Gavin Kendrick got in touch to interview Tom, who has compiled a blistering, exclusive guest mix for us and generously offered three fantastic competition prizes of the new RAMP 50 CD plus a RAMP t-shirt. To enter, just answer the following question:

What record label did SBTRKT release his debut track on?

All correct answers should be sent to gavin@southportweekender.co.uk by Friday 30th March.
Winners will be notified shortly afterwards and prizes will be posted directly to you.

Here’s a sneak preview of the awesome CD that’s up for grabs: six years of tirelessly releasing forward thinking music with abandon. A continued disdain for musical boundaries and genres. Spawning a series of eminent new labels. Introducing the world to innumerable artists. Staying 100% independent in a sea of bankrolled labels. RAMP is 50.

I believe you studied in my home city of Liverpool. How did you find that?
Amazing, I love Liverpool!

What did you think of the scene there?
Loved it, great record shops, great clubs, great people.

What clubs did you check out?
Voodoo! As often as I could afford to. Also Bugged Out when it was at Nation. Heebie Jeebies used to do some cool nights.

Do you ever go back?
Unfortunately not that often, all my mates seemed to move to Manchester soon after uni so have nobody to visit there anymore. I’d love to though – Liverpool promoters book me please!

The first track I picked up on RAMP – and still one of my favourites today – is the 2562 remix of Brother: The Point. What was your introduction to Georgia Anne Muldrow?
I heard the first issue of her ‘Worthnothings’ EP and thought she was amazing. ‘Lo Mein’ is an incredible piece of music. The album she put out on Stones Throw was originally planned to be on RAMP, but they came in as we were sorting contracts and offered her an advance I couldn’t match so I lost it. She then wrote the ‘Sagala’ album for us instead though, so all worked out.

Why did you choose to put it out on a 10″?
Dunno, 10 inches are well cool!

I’ve always played ‘Clouds’ at 33RPM – I didn’t know it that was the wrong speed. I found out that Jon K from Fat City Records did the same. Have you come across that before?!
Yep, I love playing records at the wrong speed.

You’re clearly fond of nurturing artists and encouraging albums, what place do you think the album has today?
I love albums. I think ‘the death of the album’ is spoken about too much – I still listen to albums, as do lots of people I know. I understand some people need the instant gratification of single after single, wobbly bass drop after wobbly bass drop, but personally I like to be challenged a little more than that – I’m not 12 anymore. I have more emotions in my life than just ‘AAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH’.

You’re still buying vinyl – where are your go-to spots?
As I don’t live in London, I rarely manage to actually get into physical record shops. Unfortunately all the vinyl stores in Suffolk closed years ago – there used to be loads! Now it’s all discogs and the online retailers for the new stuff. Of course, I couldn’t say which online store I actually use, so I am tactfully saying they are all just as good as each other.

What are you buying?
Always buying hideous amounts of old stuff – my house is full of records and I have crates and crates in storage, but I still seem to be able to spend hundreds of pounds on discogs monthly. New stuff – I’d buy Gerry Read if I didn’t get it for free. Vakula gets a fair wedge of my pocket money. Plan B Recordings are doing some great releases at the moment.

Who surprises you?
Gerry Read, most days.

Can you list a current top ten?
Gerry Read – Legs (Kevin McPhee Remix)
Cupp Cave – Retina Waves
Boo Williams – Home Town Chicago
Actress meets Shangaan
Gerry Read – 90′s Prostitution Racket
Stay+ – Arem
Andres – EP (La Vida)
NOCHEXXX – Forthcoming LP (RAMP)
Gerry Read – Forthcoming LP (Fourth Wave)
Kevin McPhee – Who Loves you (BRAiNMATH)

What’s your current favourite cover version?
Current, past, future, all time, forever – Chaka Kahn – I Feel For You.

I read recently that Osunlade was considering farming full time and Peter Adarkwah from BBE is moving to Ghana to farm. I understand your father ran a farm, do you still feel a connection to the land?
My main connection with the land is gravity. When you are in the middle of nowhere on a brisk day surrounded by fields with the sun bright in the sky it feels great of course – is this some kind of deep spiritual link to mother earth, or is it just really cool? It’s what I have around me, and what I grew up with, so it’s normal for me. If I find myself in an urban environment for more than a few weeks, I do find myself pining for a bit of fresh air and open space.

Is it something you have ever thought about?
Farming? Of course, it’s what I grew up with. Music was always my thing though, everything else just seemed to be fleeting. Music is the only thing that is just a complete and total constant. I have been growing my own vegetables the past couple of years, even considering getting myself a greenhouse this year. I might make some cider soon.

What important lessons did you learn from your father?
I have learned more from my Dad than any other person. On a RAMP level, he was a businessman, a self employed farmer, so I obviously saw what he was doing and took heed. He worked lots of hours every day, which I am finding myself doing too. My Mum says I’m just like my Dad.

You’ve said before that many independent labels are actually funded by majors. For someone who doesn’t know, why would majors do this?
It’s not just majors who fund “independent” labels. I suppose big labels do it to test the water with music they might not think is commercially viable, or to test out different types of music, to see if it’s possible to make money from it.

How does this affect the output?
I suppose it does water things down to some extent. Is that a good or bad thing? Depends what you want – more people in the world are into pop music than they are weird scratchy bleepy synthy hissy music. Pop music clearly touches more lives than me putting out a weird Zomby or Gerry Read record than only sells a few thousand copies.

How does it affect the scene?
Sometimes it can make it difficult for small labels like us to hold on to artists. They have a limitless chequebook, we don’t. I suppose it can stunt new labels growth – if Warp or XL had majors signing their acts before they had a big hit they certainly wouldn’t be the labels they are today. When artists decide to make that leap from our scene to the big wide world of pop, they are not longer a part of our scene, so they are no longer shaping it. I do think sometimes that transition happens a little too fast – sometimes i feel artists should develop a bit more in the scene before putting out their big album, but i suppose money can a big factor over artistry when confronted with a big fat cheque. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think the transition from underground to pop is a terrible thing, far from it, but I’m still waiting for somebody to do it on our terms. To convey the ideas independent labels are putting across to a much bigger audience right now could potentially be very interesting, unfortunately it usually ends up being a load of whingey shite.

What advantage does being independent bring you?
We have the freedom to release whatever we like and take chances on things bigger labels would not touch. For me, that’s exciting.

What other contemporary labels do you admire?
I love Ostgut – just how they have everything under one roof and how well the machine runs is incredible. Domino and XL I admire greatly, how they have grown so much but are still so open minded – they both seem to get the balance right of huge lumbering pop acts, and cool little weird signings.

What labels have you learned most from?
RAMP. Other labels have done things I like, or may have inspired in some way, but RAMP is the only label that has actually given me real life lessons. Stones Throw were a big influence to me in starting RAMP, as was Planet E, but I can’t say they taught me anything. Maybe if I was interning for them at some point I would have.

What other interests would you like to pursue but haven’t got round to yet?
Cooking would have been cool, but that other fat bald guy with my name made sure I can’t do that. I’d love to get back into painting too.

What is your plan for the labels?
Keep on doing what I’m doing. PTN we are trying to push to a bigger audience with the Hackman album, which has worked amazingly so far. RAMP is moving slowly away from doing so many club 12′s, but still lots of tracky stuff coming on 4th.

1. Jay Haze – I Wait For You (King Britt Remix) [Contexterrior]
2. Nick Höppner - A Peck And A Pawn [Ostgut Ton]
3. DJ Jus Ed – I’m Comin (Levon Vincent Remix) [Underground Quality]
4. Red Rack’em – Chirpsin [RAMP]
5. Recloose – Soul Clap 2000 [Planet E]
6. Kai Alce – M7 [Mahogani]
7. Fudge Fingas - What Works (Vakula Remix) [Firecracker]
8. Gerry Read – Crawlspace [Delsin]
9. Moodymann – U Can Dance If U Want 2 [KDJ]
10. Iron Curtis - That Day [House Is The Cure]
11. Pop Rocks – Oh Get Down [Acid Purple]
12. Boo Williams – Evil Ways [Anotherday]
13. Fritz Wentink – Ezzo One [Triphouse]