What do you get if you take a fistful of Acid House, a smattering of Venetian Snares and a tablespoon of Jungle, stick it in the blender then garnish the results with a side-order of Aphex acid? Chevron, that's what! Jonathon Valentine (aka Chevron) has produced a Breakcore album that isn't afraid to make a mess then not bother cleaning it up afterwards, lobbing all manner of styles and genres into a coruscating cluster-fuck. 'Everything's Exactly the Same' opens with 'Swimming Lessons', a dirty face off between beats and synths with Romvelope refereeing and neither side willing to back down. Elsewhere 'Running Out of Time' has a beat that sounds like it's been on 60 full-fat Marlboro for the past twenty years, being thrown down the stairs in a metal dustbin, whilst 'Emails and Viruses' has snare-kicks ricocheting around a late-80's rave vocal, updating the classic formulae to a crushingly effective result. I can almost smell the Vicks Vapour and exhaust fumes from here! Valentine does understand that such full-on beat platters could become wearing and gives welcome relief in the shape of more downbeat tracks scattered throughout, most notably the Blade Runner inspired 'Optic Realisation' and shimmering beats of the Magnetophone infused 'Kingdom'.
- BOOMKAT
It has been a long time since a truly outstanding practitioner of the dark art of ambient drill n bass has stepped out into the light. With ‘Everything’s Exactly the Same’, Chevron has transformed himself from shy debutante to knob-twiddler extraordinaire. Everything about this album is sublime: dubby electronics make small talk with ambient beats and ragga mc’ing mingles with harsh breaks and bass. Even at its most energetic, Chevron is restrained enough not to take the music to extremes, making this one of 2005’s most unexpected musical joys. - DJ MAGAZINE
That old phrase about how talent borrows whereas genius steals certainly rings true throughout "Everything's Exactly The Same". Chevron's stunning debut album. Few are the producers who would view rave-era Hoover noises and a snatch of Kate Bush (stop sniggering!) as potential bedfellows. Fewer still have the skill to pull it off, but Chevron, AKA Jonathan Valentine, clearly has talent and imagination to spare. If you can imagine a middle ground between Plaid, DJ Rupture's reconstructed ragga and the mystical techno of the Red Planet label, then you might just have the vaguest idea what to expect - but music this original and this inspiring deserves to be heard, and not just imagined.
- iDJ
There's not much to be said for disorgansed cacophony, whatever the advocates of punk improv might try and tell you. Organized cacophony, however, is an entierly different matter and Chevron play that game with no mean skill. 'Everything's Exactly The Same' dispenses with musical niceties, and cuts straight to the chase with a screeching assult on the senses, a perfect introduction to an album of pressurized electronica. Some of it might fall flat on it's face, it's polyrhythmic movements unable to justify their own complexity, but, for every miss, there are twice as many hits. It switches effortlessly between thrilling technical excellence and quirky experiments, mocing ambient electronica's myopia with the wafting futuristic echoes of 'Optic Realisation'. Everything else might be exactly the same, but Chevron is definitely unique.
- ROCK SOUND
Friday 25th July 9PM - 6AM @ Jacks (London Bridge)
room 1
THE MC.MASH CLAN (3 DJs- 5 decks- Turntablecore rinse out!) CYANTIFIC (Slammin' double drops & DnB ruffness from Hospital's bwaadest producer) RESO vs ROKO (Techno, Baltimore, breaks and bassline house on decks, laptops and FX) DR BASTARDO (Thumping breakcore-gabba, live from Peace Off's rave prodigy) BASS6 (Beatbox extraordinaire and host for the night) CHARLIE CUTTA (Chunky breakbeat, tearing dubstep and rinsing DnB) MR KIPLING (Stomping psytrance assault)
room 2
MARKOMEN & J:KENZO (Mighty dubstep sound clash from the sub-bass bruisers) CODESHIFT (Mystical riddims from Yardcore's dubstep shamen) AMEN RA & VIBEZIN (Skanking dubstep bizness from the Sub FM family) SCRATCH CLUB (Freestyling and turntable battles from the hip hop specialists) DJ TETSUEO (Doomcore: high grade drum and bss from hell) LATE DAY BREAKERS (Anthemic reggae-rock from the legendary Braindrop band)
VJs
PIKILIPITA CYDER FX ORCHID BITE
Feat.
PYROKINESIS Fire and UV circus mash-up A carnival spectacular of flame manipulation, juggling, acrobatics, unicycles, stilt walking, spinning, mayhem and lots, lots more... Bring on the cabarave!
HAND BAKED ARCADE Large screen Megadrive games!
BRAINDROP GRAFF Vinni Kiniki, the braindrop graffiti artist creates a huge piece of art live during the night
Doors: 9pm - 6am Advance tickets: £8 www. ticketweb. co. uk On the door: £7 before 9.30pm/ £10 after Venue: Jacks, 7-9 Crucifix Lane, London SE1 Nearest tube/overground: London Bridge (5 mins walk)
Ello mate. Was very impressed with your live set on Saturday night. Could see that you've put a lot of work into it. Really good stuff man, looking forward to the next one!!
CC INFO MAY 2008 SEQUENCE / FUTURESONIC 2008 03/05/08 at Paradise Factory, Manchester
SPECIAL GUESTS //// Venetian Snares / Luke Vibert / DMX Krew / Mike Paradinas / Bogdan Raczynski / Tim Exile / DJ Rephlex Records / N>E>D
Advance tickets available from Eastern Bloc, Piccadilly Records, Fat City, Odder Bar (Oxford Road), Video Scene (Withington), Argyles (Chorlton), Sofa (Fallowfield)
Ello matey;)Still gettin rave reviews from last weekend. Excuse the pun. Also still have Sam Fez here which must be the most extended I-missed-my-flight-and-therefore-am-going-on-the-rip buzz ever.
