Just Chill Out

ashwan

ashwan: painter and multi-media artist, currently living and working in Barcelona, Spain.

Roy Ayers...happy to be sampled!

Legend. Lucky enough to have caught him with Guru and Jazzmatazz back in the early 90's, good to see he's still going strong...wish we could say the same about Guru! WAN love

Danny Hart- UCI mountain bike

INSANE!

B-Toy Barcelona part.ii

A few new B-Toy paste-ups have gone up in the Gracia area of Barcelona. One of them being a tribute to Amy Winehouse who passed away recently at just 28 yrs old.

B-Toy has a style that is really fitting for tributes. The sepia tones automatically trigger the 'historical' idea and that is re-inforced by the use of really iconic images of the people portrayed. Combined with the natural decaying environment, they sit very comfortably in the space and produce something interesting and special. Remove the context (ie. put them in a gallery) and to a large degree you remove the power. As portraits go, they do not come close to, say a Rembrandt or even an Andy Warhol. But Amy Winehouse was one of those very lucky few who at such a young age had access to so many opportunities. Unfortunately, she didn't take some of them and took too many of the others! However, I am sure, were she alive today, one of the things she would be really honoured by would be a B-Toy street portrait.

Obviously I wasn't first to the image above (Ava Gardner???), and while it is a shame to destroy an image like this, it would be hypocritical to criticise it. I think the best way to describe the action would be to revert to old skool graffiti language: TOY...without the 'B'!

That's all folks!

Peace

(all photo's copyright of ashwan)

Building 7 WTC...9/11 ten years on

PEACE

WORDAMOUTH IS BACK!!

More details soon, but after a long summer break WORDAMOUTH is back at a new venue in Old Street, bringing midweek party poetry vibes to all comers. Come and join us at the newly refurbished Bedroom Bar (63 Rivington Street) for the best in spoken word, storytelling, MCing, beatboxing, freestyling...you name it, we've got it! All backed by sick DJs spinning hiphop and eclectic breaks from beyond the crate. Simply put: WORDAMOUTH IS BACK!!**Start talking!!

TAPE DECK SCRATCH

Mack The Rep-mash up!

Here's a sampler from the Inheritance Wax mix tape.

It is a mash-up of Bobby Darin's 'Mack The Knife' and Gangstarr's 'Just to Get a Rep'. You can also hear a Lauryn Hill mash at the intro and then moving out into a DWYCK mash at the end. To get the mix tape in full you can download it in full HERE

about Inheritance Wax:

Inheritance Wax started a few years ago, when Ashwan was working with the elderly in Liverpool, UK. As they passed on, families would come and clear their homes of all belongings which inevitably meant whole record collections being thrown out each time.
Being a dj and producer, as well as nostalgic for the days when you could walk into some ones place, glance at the record collection and book shelf and get a sense of what that person is about, Ashwan salvaged the records and started making new record covers and sampling and remixing the original vinyl to create new art from the old.
The project is heavily hip hop influenced but instead of hours of crate digging, the sample base has come from this limited palate, with the hope that a different and unique sound will entail that also somehow pays tribute to the artists Liverpool roots.
The music is free to download, while the original vinyl covers will be sealed in air tight bubbles for preservation, turning the discarded object back into one of value and meaning. These will be exhibited together with the music over the coming months in the UK and across Europe. Please check www.ashwan.co.uk for up to date information on these. 

the original versions:









Peace