The SIDEWALK DOCTORS & MC KWASI at Skylarkin’ Soundsystem

In the somewhat vain anticipation that summer will have finally arrived by the first of June, I’ve gone and booked some ice-cold rocksteady and red-hot ragga chat to see in the new season at The Cellar. Bring a sun hat!

THE SIDEWALK DOCTORS
Back by popular demand, The Sidewalk Doctors play proper old-time Rocksteady, with nods to the greats of Treasure Isle and Studio One. Between them singer Nathan Thomas and guitarist Lenny Bignell have worked with The Skatalites, Toots and the Maytals, Prince Buster, U Roy and Frankie Paul, among many others. Lots of great tracks from their debut LP ‘Music Is Medicine’ are available to listen to on their website – have a click!

MC KWASI ASANTE
Wind yer neck in – it’s MC Kwasi! Mic-mad Mancstafarian, as seen hosting the main stage at Outlook Festival, the Jazz Stage at Glastonbury, and holding down microphone duties for the likes of Aim, Shaun Ryder, Rae & Christian, Mungos Hi-Fi and The Nextmen, to name but a few.

COUNT SKYLARKIN & INDECISION
Long-time collaborators Skylarkin & Indecision are reunited once again. Dancehall, reggae, hip hop, dubstep, rocksteady, garage, ska and jungle all feature in the quick-fire mix.

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Skylarkin’ Soundsystem
Friday 1st June at The Cellar, Frewin Court, Oxford
9pm-3am | £5 advance/door
Facebook event

BACKYARD BREW feat. LIVE: THE DELEGATORS

Nice Up!’s DJ Shepdog and Trojan remixer Count Skylarkin join forces to bring you a lively schooling in bass-laden reggae, soul, hip hop, jungle and dancehall. This month they’re back for round two with the smooth and sweet sounds of The Delegators. Expect rocksteady, early reggae with hints of motown and 60s soul.

THE DELEGATORS
The Delegators play rocksteady and early reggae, with hints of Motown and 60s soul thrown into the mix. With influences such as Alton Ellis, The Upsetters, Tommy McCook, Desmond Dekker & Phyllis Dillon their sound is as authentic and satisfying as you can get. Favourites at Glastonbury and the International Ska Festival.

SKETCHY (man make music)
Sketchy, man behind clubnight & label ManMakeMusic spins bumping, off-centre electronic music from soul & boogie to house, disco and bass music. After a stonking Mixcloud/Melodica boat party at the Stop Making Sense festival in 2011, catch him on Croatian shores again this year.

ADVANCE TICKETS AVAILABLE HERE

Backyard Brew – COUNT SKYLARKIN & SHEPDOG present a new night in East London

Nice Up!’s DJ Shepdog and Trojan remixer Count Skylarkin join forces to bring you Backyard Brew – a lively schooling in bass-laden reggae, soul, hip hop, jungle and dancehall bubbling – on the second Saturday of every month at the all-new and improved Bedroom Bar.

LIVE: THE SIDEWALK DOCTORS
Testing out the new BB soundsystem at the launch night will be acclaimed London 4-piece The Sidewalk Doctors. The Docs’ authentic brand of killer ska, reggae and rocksteady has led them to appear alongside The Skatalites, Ernest Ranglin, Toots & The Maytals and many more Jamaican greats during their short career. Steeped in the heritage of Studio One and Treasure Isle, if there’s a better band making this kind of music in 2012 then we’ve yet to find them.

DJs:
COUNT SKYLARKIN
DJ SHEPDOG

ADVANCE TICKETS AVAILABLE HERE
Facebook event

Good Friday! LAID BLAK & EARL GATESHEAD at The Cellar

Good Friday made better.

LAID BLAK
Regular visitors to these parts ever since they first crossed paths with Count Skylarkin on The Wailers UK tour in 2009, Laid Blak have established a reputation as one of the foremost reggae bands in the country, and were recently voted the best reggae band in Northern Europe. Tracks like ‘Red’ and ‘Bristol Love’ have found their way onto national radio to become modern-day UK dancehall classics. Most recently, the patronage of Ed Sheeran has brought the 7-piece to their widest audience yet. Onstage at 10:30 sharp, you really won’t want to be missing Laid Blak.
Listen:
RED http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RqW_oCa5slw
BRISTOL LOVE http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_BSpJ2-8Lu8

EARL GATESHEAD (Trojan Soundsystem)
Trojan Soundsystem lynchpin Earl Gateshead has been selecting reggae music for well over 30 years. These days a regular guest DJ at the likes of Fabric and Outlook Festival, Earl earned his stripes playing punk clubs in the 70s, West Indian squat parties in the 80s and tour DJing for the likes of Big Youth and Dr Alimantado in the 90s.

DJ BUNJY
A Bristol legend in his own right, when not writing, performing and producing as part of Laid Blak Bunjy is one of the city’s most sought-after and respected DJs, spinning hip hop, drum & bass and reggae.

COUNT SKYLARKIN
Count Skylarkin is a cartoon character. He likes drinking Super Juice and socialising with friends.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WiNxw4YBLSs

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Skylarkin’ Soundsystem
Good Friday – 6th April at The Cellar, Frewin Court, Oxford
9pm-3am | £5 advance/door

THE NEXTMEN at The Cellar

We’re putting on a series of special events to celebrate 10 years of Skylarkin’ Soundsystem in Oxford over the course of the 2012. So following DJ Format’s excellent set last month, in April we’re delighted to be welcoming The Nextmen.

THE NEXTMEN
Beloved the globe over by dedicated followers of music (not dedicated followers of fashion), Brad Baloo and Dom Search are two of the best party-starters in the business, blending anything worth listening to from all electronic music styles. Expect anything from dancehall, drum’n’bass, dubstep, reggae, roots, andl hip hop to soul, funk & (UK) funky, indie, leftfield, ambient, pop and straight-up party jacking pleasers. And expect it to go off.

COUNT SKYLARKIN & INDECISION
The next best men come in the shape of Count Skylarkin and Indecision, who will be warming things up with bass-laden bangers galore.

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Skylarkin’ Soundsystem presents THE NEXTMEN
Friday 20th April at The Cellar, Frewin Court, Oxford
10pm-3am | £8 advance/door
ONLY 50 ADVANCE TICKETS ARE AVAILABLE FOR THIS ONE – THE REST WILL BE SOLD ON THE DOOR, FIRST COME, FIRST SERVED!

The MAD PROFESSOR Dub Show at The Cellar, Oxford

The godfather of dubstep is coming to The Cellar!

MAD PROFESSOR
A disciple of Lee “Scratch” Perry and one of the major players in UK and world reggae for nearly thirty years, the Mad Professor has worked with extensively with Jamaican legends including Horace Andy, Max Romeo, Susan Cadogan, Sly & Robbie and The Upsetter himself, not to mention remixing Massive Attack on their ‘No Protection’ album. His recorded output takes in roots, dub, jungle and bittersweet lovers rock, ranging from the political to the experimental to the downright extraterrestrial.

For the ROOTS OF DUBSTEP tour, the Prof’s famous Ariwa recording studio is reassembled onstage, enabling live remixes of master tapes from his extensive catalog. He’s also joined by a procession of vocalists and live instrumentation, all in the intimate of surroundings of Oxford’s number one underground music venue.
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Includes entry to Skylarkin’ Soundsystem afterwards till 3am,
featuring DJ WRONGTOM, COUNT SKYLARKIN & more
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Skylarkin’ Soundsystem Presents
The MAD PROFESSOR Dub Show
Friday May 4th 2012 at The Cellar, Frewin Court, Oxford
8pm | £10 advance

THE CAROLOREGIANS and DJ DEREK at Skylarkin’ Soundsystem

THE CAROLOREGIANS
Funky reggae from the coal city! The Caroloregians hail from Charleroi in Belgium, where their deep-fried reggae funk has seen them backing Trojan legends like Dave & Ansell Collins and touring all over Europe and the USA. Frontman Matthew Hardison sings like Sam Cooke and skanks like Laurel Aitken. “The Upsetters meets The Meters”. Absolutely not to be missed!

THE LEGENDARY DJ DEREK
Now in his 71st year, Bristolian scene grandaddy DJ Derek has been delighting dancefloors since the 1960s with his trademark mix-up of reggae, dancehall and soul. A much-loved figure in the music industry, and an icon in his native St Paul’s, DJ Derek’s appearances in Oxford are always sell-outs.

COUNT SKYLARKIN & INDECISION
We heard that Count Skylarkin is a real vampire who lives only by night and has been in Oxford since it was the capital of England. As society changed, the amount of virgins attending Oxford University dropped and he was forced into a career change. He couldn’t work in an office as the sunlight would kill him, and after trying various shelf packing jobs at all the major supermarkets Skylarkin had reached a brick wall. Drowning his sorrows in the famous Hi-Lo Jamaican bar Skylarkin watched across the room at a big West Indian man with a pipe in his mouth. He was rocking the party on the decks and girls were flocking around him. Skylarkin realised that if he could DJ he wouldn’t have to try and climb through gated windows in the grounds of Oxford University to drink virgins’ blood. He also noticed that there was a new breed of virgins in Cowley. More orange, more backcombed and more money than the previous and instead of breaking into their halls they would seek you out if you were a DJ. After these revelations were revealed to him Skylarkin re-invented himself as a DJ and has been drinking virgins blood ever since…

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Skylarkin’ Soundsystem
Friday 2nd March at The Cellar, Frewin Court, Oxford
9pm-3am | £5 advance/door
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