best & worst of BLOC 2010?

[Gary]

best

autechre
neil landstrumm
instramental
rob hall
placid
kelpe
jerome hills hip hop set
luke vibert
the dome

worst
mixmaster mike.. technically amazing but played the weakest music of the weekend.
roots manuva
not being able to remember flying lotus even though i was there

overall another amazing weekend..cheers bloc!

[Rogue Molecule]

Best:

The weather/beach
Kelpe
Omar S (I wasn't aware anyone actually played good house music anymore)
What I heard of Rob Hall

Worst:

Totally failing to get into the spirit of it and missing everyone I went there to see (old age?)
Lack of ragga jungle in Pizza Hut
Mixmaster Mike - One of my DJ heroes but thought he was utter garbage. Out of time scratching, loads of mistakes, piss selection. Huge disappointment.

[ranger]

Best

Nathan Fake
j orbison
Beyer was huge.
kode 9 vs Martyn
Joris Voorn - sound was incredible for that.
Derrik May.
congo natty

Worst.

Seeing some bloke pounding his girlfriend from behind at the back of the centre bloc. fucking rank. Not making it to any activities swimming pool, carting etc...
1am finish on sunday. could have done with another hour of joris, and another hour of May.

tbh im quite young and the music on sat night didnt appeal to me that much surgeon, dmx etc... but friday and sundays music was spot on for all my group.

amazing weekend, will be booking as soon as tickets come on sale for next year.

[alphagamma]

best:
T++
Kelpe
Al Tourettes (5 mins I heard)
George Fitzgerald

worst:
sound quality for some artists in some rooms

[avarus]

Hi All,

Another superb Bloc. Let's see if I can actually recall any of it...

Best:

-Everything in the main room on Saturday after Salt N Pepa (Surgeon in particular)
-Neil Landstrumm (until he was cut short)
-Derrick May finishing everything off in style
-All the cool folk I met
-The security staff (OK, I never like being searched and told to queue but they were all polite and friendly and reasonable about it)
-Being able to arrive on Thursday night
-Fighting ducks!
-Naked disco outside my chalet at 7am

Worst:

-DJ Rush - because I then had to try and explain to a dubstep fan I'd just met that techno wasn't all that monotous but he didn't really believe me.
-The fire alarm - finished off Neil Landstrumm and ruined a big chunk of Salt N Pepa.
-Reading about all the stuff in other people's "best" lists that I missed.

Anyway, what a way to start the summer. See you in 2011.

TIM

[storkyla]

best:
T++
Joy Orbison (or Roy as i decided to call him all night)
The amount of Irish people (you guys are all funny as fuck and made my weekend!)
Instru:mental and DBridge (so clean and well produced music through there sets)
Surgeon
Adam Beyer
Lucinda and Jerome Hill
The general messiness of it all
The beach and sun (everything is covered in sand now tho)

Worst:
Missing lots of stuff
16Bit teasing a second of chainsaw calligraphy at the end of their set
Derek May not doing anything interesting (good tunes tho)
early finish time on Sunday and not being able to buy more booze
the bus journey back
too much mm-cat going around
Fly-Lo
Nathan fake
Not enough break-core or decent drum and bass
spent tooo much money!

A+ weekend tho!
Not as good as last year music wise but still a blast.
Defiantly again there next year tho!!

[Lister]

Best : -

Model 500 so very very good
Chanel One Sound System - perfect for Sunday
Surgeon - he actualy looked happy for once
Radioactive Man
DJ Rush - does what he says on the tin, love it!!!
Grandmaster Flash and Mixmaster Mike even though they basicly played the same set
Anti pop consortium.
The people, just amazing, friendly and up for it.
The weather.
Bloc TV oh except for Saturday morning where it was as disturbing as watching baby seals getting clubbed to death to ambient music. Just wrong for our fragile state of minds.

Worst : -

It had to end.
The Stag beer (the local stuff they were selling) gave me horrific gas. Sorry anyone who caught a wiff of it.

We're first time Bloc'ers and will definitely be going next year. Totaly re-affirmed my love of clubbing which has been wavering recently.

[g-bo]

BLOC 2010

March 12th 2010 was the date, the venue was one of the 3 remaining Butlin’s sites in the UK, the occasion the 4th Bloc weekend music festival. We had arrived at the sunny and tranquil surroundings of Minehead in Somerset again and again to be giddy like a little school boy when running my hand through the running order of play on the Bloc welcome pack in the very cosy chalets. After last years show stopping performances such as Frequency7, Jamie Lidell and Aphex Twin & Hecker, 2010 really had its worked cut out to reach the dizzy heights of 2009. But with a variety of cult heroes, global advent garde artists and stadium performers 2010 was really shaping up to be a special weekend.

Making our way through the arenas on Friday and taking in the splendid vibes and beautiful happy Bloc heads, even though it was dark by the time we arrived , the butlins site was alight with excitement and anticipation.

DAY 1

Eventually seemingly whisking ourselves through all arenas on Friday it wasn’t until we set up base for a few hours in the huge Centre Bloc were Jerome Hill was oddly placed with the supporting DJ for Roots Manuva, on paper that is. Synonymous with tresor/London/wonky techno, Jerome Hill delivered a set which any fan of Hill would expect, a true diverse party/funk set that married old school hip-hop with off beat shuffled electronics and funk classics, Tipper’s ‘Gong Show’ raising the roof and the centre Bloc stood back and appreciated a true pioneer of underground party scene, the stage was set for the following artists in the Centre Bloc to keep the rapport with the energetic crowd. Roots Manuva calmed the place down and with a straight forward approach to uk hiphop, an accompanying band and the usual lyrical bombs, Lindstromm, Omar S and Adam beyer were there to pick up the pieces after. Though by this stage it was Time to rekindle some love with old techno friends in the Tec Bloc Neil Landstrumm doing what he does best, lacing out some peacefrog classics mixed with green velvet, 2 bad mice and zombie, was this meant to be live, it was, and it rocked. EVACUATION!!! From the tech bloc, a fire warning was put out, just before Mr. Subhead Jason leach was going to finally break down the walls landstrumm started, and he duely did once the anxious crowd were let loose inside, rolling loud off the wall hardcore stabs over 150bpm breakbeats, Jason leach really knows how to ram home his point of view on European techno. As did the preceding Dj , Mr. Major Rush aka DJ Rush off knee deep, jackstar and classix records acclaim, all round champion of the Chicago house meets raw European energetic techno, this was one to get involved in, but I think i only lasted halfway, due to the enticement of Instra:mental and DBridge playing the jack bloc very late on Friday night /Saturday morning, Mr. Rush wasn’t going to stop me from catching some of the most awe inspiring jaw dropping electronic music to come the UK in years, ....... floated between spooky house music, skippy half timed drum and bass, and just dome orginal demonstrations of how uk urban music can sound when folded together in clever little cachets, the mood was laid back but electric, but an excellent wind down to Fridays music, Bloc was definitely winning new friends and retaining old ones with barely 12 hours of music gone. Tomorrow was another day.





DAY 2

Saturday was the first great opportunity to sample some of the new, some of the bold and not so beautiful. The Fenchurch Dome took centre stage, a new arena added to the already jam packed program which included a massive visual 3D visual display in the inside of the roof within the dome which was powered by rfid technology, a dazzling display of spacey lazers and throbbing lights and whisping patterns accompanied by the dazzling array of beat smiths Ben pest, al tourettes and Luke’s anger, it was techno wobble tripped out fun, what a way to kick off the day. Next to the red bloc for ultimate heart attack berlin showstoppers Overkill. Overkill is the festival turnout for Berlin based booking agency LittleBig, who have been the the heartbeat of advante garde/alterative electronic over the last decade in Europe with countless parties in the Berghain and not to mention the yearly curate of their own 3 day long Overkill stage at The Glade festival. Always guaranteed a global invasion of maniac scientists and geeks. Bloc was no exception after residents N>E>D & Punski kicked the arena off with the usual dark wobble, Scotland’s Loops Haunt took to the decks, with a lot of recognition, eye catching performances and 2 well received releases, the future is destined to be bright for this man, as after this performance there is a ju nouse se qua about the craft in his tunes, they crunch the biggest systems and hold together some of the mind bending fragmented takes on hiphop/grime to be heard anywhere on the planet, Loops Haunt rinsed out bassline, demented hiphop, and soul shattering electronics. 16bit played an jump up wobble set, which wasn’t what i needed, what was to come next is one of the true heroes of the underground electronic scene Skam Records boss and Gescom collaborator Rob Hall. Perched behind his mac book Rob Hall delivered what he always does and thats a thumping abrasive take on glitch techno that included artists such as Aphex Twin and Gunjack, this was exciting as a Rob Hall set gets, the Red Bloc filled up quickly and moshed together when he dropped Somatic Responses’ ‘Shinjuku Walk’ as his last track, WHAT A SET!! Already the Red Bloc is 4 sets old and we admist something special, much to my glee but also was a shame to be missing such artists like Anti-Pop Consortium and Model 500 in the centre Bloc or even Subloaded in the Tec Bloc with Pinch, Kode9 and Dettman. Ach well, this had to do. Raising some much needed sugar levels with Coors Light Pints and treats at the nearby Spar, we were ready for the fleet of beats that awaited, Flying Lotus’ debut at Bloc was brilliant, Mr.Oizo and Radiohead tracks had his woozy kaleidoscope hi-hop going down quite well. Though the mysterious Russell Haswell may not have been as well received with his 30 minutes of industrial noise and then some bass heavy hip-hop but it was brilliant and a perfect lead on to the Might Autechre who headlined the Overkill showcase. Which turned out to be the most incoherent and darkest set ive heard them play, like a live science experiment and the strangest of electronic aesthetics, Autechre ruled the Saturday night and did not disappoint. A long sleep was needed, to the cost of missing artists such as Luke Vibert, Surgeon, Congo Natty and Luke Slater, I need to keep some energy for the Sunday. The last Hurdle awaits.



DAY 3

Just like since we arrived there wasn’t a cloud to be seen, ducks and rabbits ruled the gardens of Minehead when the late night/early morning revellers took to the beach. There was a chill in the air, but we didn’t mind, to the shop for some pasta and fruit, a shower, a oul knees up and meet up with some friends for some wine and cigarettes. Sundays line-up didn’t seem as huge as the rest of the days due to the 1am close, but some gems awaited. Becoming a mainstay in the Bloc family AGT Rave Cru have already set alight 2 Sundays in a row now at Bloc, and at 4pm this was a perfect kick up the ass we all need, prodigy medleys, techno classics, old jungle tracks and even Technohead’s ‘I want to be a hippy’...the crowd chanted ‘Ma..ma..marijuana!’, this was the McMash Clan’s own London Clubnight’s Braindrop Showcase and it was already going off, with glowing rays from headbands and illunimous AGT rave jackets, this was going to a fun afternoon we could tell. Beastie Boys Mixmaster Mike took the stage in the Centre Bloc with a chain of ‘Ok’ tricks and bad taste in party music, the crowd were happy, I was off to check out some MJ Cole, again an array of badly chosen tracks such as ‘Bonkers’ (wtf!) made me check out Dexcorcist vs Bass Junkie in the Jack Bloc were heavy b-boy bombs were getting unleased left, right and centre with Arabian Prince’s ‘Professor X’ and Newcleus’ ‘Jam on it’ being the highlights, the jack bloc shaped up to be quite a fun place to be on Saturday with Marcoi Benardi to proceed after. But this wasn’t our call, back to the chalet for some wine and whiskey, then onto the Centre Bloc for Derrick May. I made the call of going early to avoid the queue, as last year was quite hectic for the big acts, but this year wasn’t , so I found myself catching a half hour of Jooris Voorn who flattered to deceive with his version of progressive house, the crowd were loving it. But techno master Derrick May took the stage and delivered one of most impressive techno sets ive heard, rolling together like house music, but bringing off that warm vibe of Detroit through Hieko Laux and Underground Resistance tracks and vibrations of Levon Vincent’s ‘Double Jointed Sex Freak’ can still be heard. The crowd grooved, the Bloc Family opened their arms to welcome another Detroit legend to their fraternity. Then it was the end of Bloc 2010.



Bloc 2010 was quirky, fun, relaxing, frantic and hugely enjoyable. Due to the vast appeal now it generates with the inclusion of huge live acts and a more accessible appeal across the electronic board Bloc is destined to lay a permanent imprint on the Global electronic circuit that’s also vastly due to its dedication to showcasing the mysterious, the hugely talented and if not revered areas of dance music. 2010 Bloc weekend kept it real, and i cant wait to get back to it in 2011!!!

[Million]

Best bits for meself where. in no particular order

AE, wish they had done more of the dancefloor jams ive seen in the past, but i enjoyed all the same, the sound in overkill was fuking superb

Rob hall really floated me boat, untill he came on i was kind of getting a bit lamed out by the music i'd been hearing, he defo turned it around for me

The dude on after the russel haswells noise assualt, dunno who this was, played some really nice old skool funky hiphop, was loving that.
Vibert, only caught a bit of that, but enjoyed
Surgeon did it perfectly, loved the owl visual
Slater was great
Loops haunt was decent
Derick May
Landstrum
Adam Beyer
Most of the security being well sound and far better than last year
lovely electro from dexorcist and junkie
random bloc tv



Rubbish bits were

Fucked up sound in the main room, far to quite, lots of bounce back of sound if u didnt get right in the centre, also, in breaks downs u could here the overkill rooms imense sound and feel the bass thru the floor.

I never thought id hear myself say this, but grand master flash was total piss, i dont need the "3 rules of hiphop" ramming down my throat every 5 mins, neither do i need karoake style "hands in the air" bullshit projected into my eyes, sorry, i just thought that was like some hiphop theatre that was totaly out of place

DJ rush - man, what can i say, im a massive techno fan, but this sounded to me like he had brought his oversized technics with him and was playing one 14ft vinyl of continuous kik drum for an hour with a contstant take the bass out, put the bass back, its a cheap trick and these people should kno better

The fenchurch dome - why was that there? i never got to go in it, i missed radioactive man cos of a fuk off que, theres 5000 people there right, why is there a tent inside a tent that can only fit 100 or so poeple in, i know we mostly british and love a good que, this really pissed me n me mates off, better just to rip that fuker down and have the skyline bit as a stage

Not getting to see one of my all time heroes Jaun atkins/model 500. why on earth was this put on at the same time as AE, what a crazy decision.

Me chalet being a light year away from the stages, eres a suggeston, next year how about either laying on some kind of rave train that leaves every half hour/hour that ferries people to and from some drop off points or avin some tuk tuk/rikshaw affair to take u to ur chalet, id pay for that service no problem

Alot of the acts only playing for an hour.
sunday night was slightly anti climatic, a 1 oclock finish?

Closing thought, u cant please all of the people all of the time, its impossible, this is what a forums about tho eh? venting ur opinions.
I still had a proper time, so a big pat on the back from me

[g-bo]

alot of people have said 'who was that guy on after russell haswell playing the hiphop?'...that was still russell haswell, a total change of set after the noise assault. great set too.

[Jetfire]

alot of people have said 'who was that guy on after russell haswell playing the hiphop?'...that was still russell haswell, a total change of set after the noise assault. great set too.

pretty sure that is not right mate, defo wasn't russell.

[g-bo]

was aye, hes a bit of a random dj, was still the same person who was playing the noise, first time ive seen haswell, so i dont know what he looks like.

[carnie]

best:

flylo
model 500
reso vs vent
AGT
Jerome hill on friday
congo natty
raffertie b2b kanjii kantic
bloc tv on saturday afternoon. i don't think i'll ever forget weng weng in for your height only. brilliant!!!

Worst
Roots manuva..
sets been cut short. why list the sets being finished at a certain time and then cutting them short? Congo natty was listed at being finished at 6am and was cut at 4, same with hype.

i can't think of anything else

[carnie]

i'd also like to add that girl going around in the Japanese school uniform on saturday into my best category.

[Jetfire]

was aye, hes a bit of a random dj, was still the same person who was playing the noise, first time ive seen haswell, so i dont know what he looks like.

Not that it matters but i still think u are wrong. Haswell has a long hair, and was playing his noise set with long hair and the dj had short hair. But yeah whatever, the dj wasn't good anyway.