Just a very quick (and very late heads up) to let you know that I’ll be donning my jazz hat tonight and guesting at the Favourite Things Jazz Jam. If you’ve never been before then its well worth a look if you’re into live music, even more so now that its found a permanent home at one of our favourite East London venues, Favela Chic London. Each month, the core Favourite Things Quartet, consisting of Jessica Lauren (keys), Jake Telford (sax), Graham Silbiger (bass) and Francesco Mendolia (drums) are joined by a rotating ensmeble of London’s brightest musicians, as they hold court and improvise their own versions of jazz standards and beyond.

For a taster of what it’s all about band wise, check out the videos over at the Youtube site. Tonight I’ll be joining everyone’s favourite importer of Japanese vinyl and label boss of Mukatsuku Records, Nik Weston, behind the decks as we aim to keep the crowd entertained behind live sessions. The fun starts at 8pm. Hope to see you down there!

Just in case you’re nowhere near our capital this fine evening, I’ll attempt to capture some of the magic so you can catch it on demand, but in the meantime you can still enjoy the sounds of Favourite Things as Nik dropped a tasty little jazz and Brazilian inspired mix yesterday to get you in the mood.  It’s available to stream below via Mixcloud.

If you’re on this blog, we would hope by now that you should be well aware of this year’s Summer Shakedown Boat Party, and if not, well I guess you do now, right? There’s just under three weeks to go now until Soul-Identity’s flagship Summer event and the signs are looking more than good that this is going to be as great, if not better, than 2009′s event.

It’s been almost ten years since I moved down to London and just under seven, since I attended my first boat party on the Thames. As anyone I’ve ever waxed lyrical to will attest, the London boat parties ran by the Whistlebump crew in the early noughties left a lasting impression on me, being as they were some of the best days out in London I’ve ever experienced, coupled with the fact they offered the opportunity to catch the likes of Francois K, Danny Krivit and DJ Spinna play awesome sets on the river (and that was just the main room, you had a young Benji B, Yam Who? and Ross Allen dropping tuneage in the back!). Since then Whistlebump (AKA Simon Haggis and Andy Crowther) have sadly gone their separate ways, the boat (The Silver Sturgeon) has been refurbished (and is now priced way beyond our means) and we’ve caught that same list of DJs live several times over.

After the fate of the Whistleboat parties was pretty much sealed, we sought out a few more boat parties, namely Sancho Panza and SoulBrew (at this point, I should probably just print “I Love Boats”), before getting the opportunity to put up the cash to throw one of our own last summer  on The Golden Jubilee with legendary Manchester DJ Greg Wilson, Fast forward twelve months (well it’s actually just over thirteen) and on Saturday 28th August 2010, we’re right back in the thick of it for a Pre-Notting Hill Carnival party with a difference. For this one, we’ve called upon the combined talents of Brighton’s own legendary DJ  Format and one of London’s finest selectors on the circuit, Dom Servini from Wah Wah 45s to rock the upper deck, whilst down below, I’ll again be joined by good friends Cigarettes and Sunshine, Steve KIW (Balearicv Assassins of Love) and Rob Wilkes (Beatfix). Musically, I think it’s fair too say this will stretch far beyond what we try and promote through this site, but equally with the quality of clientele on board, it will no doubt be a bit special. For all the info, make sure to check the boat party page on this here site or the Facebook Event page, over at eh… Facebook.

Anyways, now you’re up to speed, let’s get to the point of this post…

We like a bit of a giveaway on this site, so over the next three weeks, we’ve got three batches of three tickets to literally give away. To be in with a chance of winning the first 3 this Friday all you need do is hit us up on summershakedown2010@soul-identity.com before 12pm GMT* on Friday and request to be included in the draw. I’ll then pull a name out the hat at random and that person will receive a complimentary ticket for this year’s boat party plus two further free tickets for his or her friends.

That’s it. Simple. No question this time around, just drop us an email for your chance to win.

Should you prefer to just guarantee your tickets right now, you can purchase them from Ticketweb and WeGotTickets.

Good luck

* Only one entry per valid email address. To be entered into the prize draw, your message must be received before 12pm GMT on Friday 13th August 2010. Entrants must be 18 years old or over.

It’s been a while. Moving back to the ‘Mecca of Cool’ that is Dalston has meant we’ve been out of touch for a min but that’s all sorted now. The Live365 radio stream is now being constantly updated with newness, a new radio show/podcast should be joining the already crowded market that is onine streaming audio (fingers crossed, even if we have to host it ourselves) and work has started on a brand new website (expect that sometime in 2012!)

In the meantime, here’s some of our recommended Londoncentric sessions for people that like the music that we do. There are still some of you out there right? Or have you all started listening to Kings of Leon?

First up… Ladybugz Heavyweights birthday Party @ East Village

Absolutely heavyweight lineup if you like your beats somewhat left of centre and your house underground. Featuring the the likes of Mr Phil Asher, DJ Cosmo, Afronaught, Seiji, Rap Saunders and the Ladybugz (Katie Barber, Marcia Carr, T Maronie and Miss Callie) in the East Village basement and Andy Bird, Johnny Reckless, Toni Rosanno, Bopstar, Souled and DJ Bones upstairs in the Deco Lounge, this has the potential to be a huge night. 9pm until 4am. Its £6 before 11pm and £8 thereafter.

Nonsense w/ Cooly G, Josey Rebelle and Katie Skills @ Plastic People

Saturday, sees the return of Nonsense to the little club with the BIG system, Plastic People, for a ladies special. Alongside residents Judah, Benny Blanco and Mr Wonderful, you also get the talents of Hyperdub’s Cooly G (Download her recent MTV Brazil Tranquera Mixtape here…  some serious proto-dubstep-house goodness) plus Josey Rebelle and Katie Skills. Expect big things in a afrosouljazzhiphopdubstepdetroitboogiedisco kind of way. 10.30pm-4.30am. £6 all night. Bargain.

Sunday is all about The Soul Power Party, a collaboration between supreme Put Me On It blog, Eric Lau‘s Sunday residency Pause and independent magazine Shook to bring you a special event centred around last Summer’s “Soul Power” film. If you haven’t caught the film yet you’re in luck as there’s a limited number of discount tickets for a screening of the film at The Electric Cinema on Portobello Road at 3pm Sunday.Tickets are on sale now. Drop a line to info@putmeonit.com to cop the discount (if there’s any left).

The film itself is an amazing documentary about the three day festival which took place in Zaire in ’74 prior to the infamous Ali/ Foreman “Rumble in The Jungle” fight, and featured performances from James Brown, BB King, Bill Withers, Miriam Makeba, Celia Cruz, the Fania Allstars and more. Loving a bit of Latin and afro funk ourselves, we really should get on it, and probably will.

To complete the weekend, and make Monday a chore, there’ll be a free after party for the film at Market Place Sunday evening featuring DJs Charlie Dark (Blacktronica), Eric Soul (Afrogroov), Bemi (Amplified), Eric Lau, Juven and H!ts (Pause). In line with the film’s themes, you can expect a soundtrack of afro/funk/soul music from ’74 to ’09 plus there’ll also be an Afroboutique and in-house stylist for all your beauty needs(!). You’ll also be able to pick up the latest issue of Shook #6 which came out last week plus some free isht namely t-shirts and DVDs, which  should be floating about along with a few more surprises.

Whatever you end up doing, have a good one. It’s looking like a monster weekend for us.

Been a crazy month so far what with Ibiza and boat parties, and this weekend it doesn’t seem to want to let up. Here are some of the Soul-Identity recommended sessions to tempt you out in this disasterous London weather this weekend.

First up… CDR Special @ 93 East – Free Fridays!

CDR Special @ 93 East - Free Fridays!

The CDR/Burntprogress crew branch out from their well received monthly club night at Plastic People to bring you a one off special in one of Brick Lane’s most renowned spaces, 93 Feet East. Joining CDR founder Mr Tony Nwachukwu on the decks on the night will be the Spacebass crew featuring Floatingpoints from Eglo Records, responsible for the massive Soul-Identity favourite “Love Me Like This”, alongside Liamski, Ben V (Shook Magazine), Davin (Werk Discs) and Chris CTOP. Further DJ support comes from those Soundspecies guys, whose immense self  titled debut was released on the Burntprogress label earlier this year. Not heard it yet? Then go grab the Ahu-voiced treasure “Can We Call It Love” for free from the Burntprogress Soundcloud, then go and give the LP a listen and order it from IfMusic.  Entry is free and tied into the bargain you get three mighty live acts, namely She Is Danger, Phantom and The Mighty Jeddo. Sounds alright don’t it. I’ll be down from 9pm. Come down, say hello and I’ll buy you a pint.

Friday also sees the return or Todd Terje to these shores. If you’re up for something a bit more disco orientated, everyone’s favourite re-edit king is playing at East Village. Entry is £6 before 11pm, £8 after.

Saturday, Greg Wilson plays the Special Needs 5th Birthday Party at The Lockside Lounge (Free b4 8pm, £5 after), Chicago’s favourite disco son DJ Rahaan is making a rare UK appearance for Love Fever set in a secret Shoreditch loft space (this is sold out, but holla at andy@birdsongmusic.com and beg cos its gonna be one ridiculous party) and finally our man from Here & Now Recordings, JC, presides over what seemingly is  to be the final Afrobeat Vibration at The Empowering Church in Dalston. It now appears that I’ll be mainly behaving myself in a grown up capacity around  strangers that night, although in all fairness all three of the above suggest something nice to these old ears, so if you’re at a loose end and around the area you really should try and support.

Here’s to another great weekend in London Town.

DJ Mitsu The Beats Album Launch - Tomorrow Night At Plastic People

Apologies for the late notice but with Ibizan holidays, work  pressures and organising boat parties to attend to, time is pretty short. In any case I just had to log in to mention this… because this has the potential to be something special.

Tomorrow night one of Japan’s deepest diggers and celebrated hip hop DJ/producer, DJ Mitsu The Beats drops into our favourite London club Plastic People to launch his new album “A Word To The Wise”, available now on Jazzy Sport via import, and make a rare UK appearance on his current tour. If you’re in the area tomorrow night, you really shouldn’t have any valid excuse not to drop by  as  mans is a heavyweight selector whose DJing and production style have gained many plaudits over the years ( those who have tuned in Soul-Identity Radio since its inception will now how much we personally dig the man in question).

DJ support on the night comes from two of London’s most respected DJs cum producers from the underground beats/bruk scene Simbad and Kay Suzuki,  and Plastic’s own Saturday night residents,  the Non Sense crew (Benny Blanco, Judah and Mr Wonderful).

All for a princely sum of £5 on the door for a school night. Doesn’t sound bad does it. In fact it sounds so good we plan to be there. And so should you. Go on… you know it makes sense.