Two volunteers, Steve Hall and Ashley Winchester will be putting on 26 stone for a good cause. There will be no need to call in the paramedics though - Steve and Ashley won’t be gorging themselves on cakes and doughnuts, but instead will each be putting on hundreds of T-shirts to try and break a world record.

The 500:100 Campaign stunt is in aid of a national charity called C.A.L.M (Campaign Against Living Miserably), which provides thousands of young men on Merseyside with advice and support. Steve and Ashley will each put on 250 Tshirts with a combined weight of 26 stone, and in the process raise £50,000 for C.A.L.M.
C.A.L.M’s patron, comedian and author David Baddiel interviewed the two volunteers with Steven Merchant, video available on YouTube.

Commenting on the attempt, David Baddiel said:

“Being silent, as we in C.A.L.M say, isn’t being strong. But wearing 250 T-shirts on your back - the equivalent of my weight in cotton – that really is being strong.”

The current world record stands at 224 T-shirts which C.A.L.M is hoping to smash, and so is asking 500 individuals and donors to pledge £100 to sponsor a Tshirt – hence the 500:100 name. In return the donor will get their logo, message or picture featured on one of the world record setting T-shirts.

Merseyside CALM co-ordinator Simon Howes said “This is an easy and fun way for Merseyside companies to support CALM and local young men. I would love to see a huge portion of the 500 t-shirts with logos from Merseyside businesses, especially with all the exposure they can get.”

Over 100 companies from across the UK have signed up to the campaign in the last couple of weeks, and have uploaded their logos to the campaign’s website which depicts delightful little pictures of all of the companies’ T-Shirts. When the 500 figure is reached the record attempt will take place at a venue in London.

The charity itself is aimed at raising awareness about suicide amongst young men. C.A.L.M’s director, Jane Powell, says in the UK an average of three men aged 15 to 35 commit suicide each day, one of the top leading causes of death for young men.

The money raised by this record attempt will go towards developing a new webchat and texting service. Powell says that when it comes to talking to an advisor many young men prefer this way of communicating and it could have a huge impact on thousands of lives:

“This event is perhaps one of the oddest attempts we’ve ever been involved in. We hope it will raise awareness and get people reaching out to help these young men. Encouraging them to talk about their problems is often the best help they can get – that’s why our motto is ‘being silent isn’t being strong’”.

For more info on the campaign log onto: http://www.thecalmzone.net/500/100

The 2nd single off their ‘Play With The Changes’ album, 4hero’s ‘Look Inside’ is written and produced by one half of the west London duo, Marc Mac.

4hero are, quite simply, international leftfield gods. Masters of pioneering future soul, their multi-layered, richly textured beats are intricate, serene and beautiful. Enlisting powerful, emotive vocalists (Jill Scott, Ursula Rucker, Carina Andersson, FACE) and in recent years deploying strings and live drums, 4hero have always stayed several steps ahead of musical trends – outputting seminal anthems across genres including house, drum n bass, jungle, techno, jazz, electronic funk and experimental, disjointed beats (others call it broken beat).

4hero first put Dollis Hill, NW2 London on the map in 1995 with their ‘Parallel Universe’ jungle classic. They’ve since racked up a Mercury nomination for ‘Two Pages’ LP, which won them a MOBO award, they floored the masses with their Minnie Ripperton cover – the instant hit ‘Les Fleur’, and of their countless remixes the Nuyorican Soul ‘Black Gold of the Sun’ is their best known. And one look at what the press said re last year’s “Play With the Changes” proves that their 20-year career shows no signs of slowing down.

I-Panik, the debut album from Skylark, AKA International DJ Nic Fanciulli and Andy Chatterley, has been bubbling under for the last few months as a digital only release on Beatport on Saved Records. Now, with a slew of top remixes carved out to contribute to the album, NRK Music, in conjunction with Saved, are proud to announce the full release of “i-Panik” along with a companion remix disc.

Skylark have built up a more than solid musical repertoire over the years, mostly as remixers, with artists such as Tiefschwarz, Deep Dish, Paul Woolford, Rulers Of The Deep, Kylie Minogue and Steve Lawler receiving the Skylark treatment to full effect. “i-Panik” sees Skylark lay down their own original production roots, and have crafted out an excellent 11 track album, exploring dancefloor and home listening excursions in deep techno, ambient and housier cuts. The pair have been working together for almost 10 years and their credentials are impressive. Last year they were nominated for a Grammy (yes that’s right – A GRAMMY!) under their Buick Project moniker, for their remix of Tiefschwarz’s ‘Damage’ collaboration with Tracy Thorn and together have released over 20 remixes and original productions.

“i-Panik” will be released at the end of May, and will be accompanied by a bonus remix disc. Fanciulli & Chatterley drew up a wish list of remixers to tackle tracks from the album, and each remixer in turn delivered outstanding versions. The roll call includes Funk D’Void, Manuel Tur, Joris Voorn, UNKLE, Davide Squillace and Joe Mull, and the remix disc provides some amazing re-interpretations of Skylark’s originals.

Some rather special vinyl 12″s will also be released around May time, and both Nic and Andy will embark on major DJ promotional tours to spread the word on “i-Panik”. More details as we get ‘em.

!K7 have revealed that the next instalment in the DJ-Kicks series comes from the hugely acclaimed, underground dubstep producer BURIAL. The South London producer is notoriously shy of press and public performances yet his last two albums on Kode 9’s Hyperdub label have established him as one of the global leaders in this exploding scene on word-of-mouth alone.

The latest DJ Kicks from Four Tet, Henrik Schwarz and Hot Chip have all pushed new limits in eclecticism, making linear genre-specific DJ mixes a thing of past… so who knows where Burial will take it next. And the Booka Shade offering was our mix of the year in 2007. We hear whisperings from the studio that he may treat his dearest dubstep, techno and even r’n'b tracks with his unique production style before mixing them with exclusive material and… Well watch this space.

Burial DJ-Kicks is released on June 23rd on !K7 Records.

Laurent Garnier delivers his first dancefloor 12inch release in five years, ‘Back To My Roots EP’, released on Âme and Dixon’s Berlin house imprint, Innervisions

Let’s go back to late February of this year - the 29th to be precise - a truly inspirational night that saw Laurent Garnier’s welcome return to the club that represents Berlin’s electronic music scene to perfection - Panorama Bar. It’s 5am and Garnier, five hours since his set began, is supposed to finish and let Dixon take over. But, the intensity and energy of the party takes over Garnier and he asks to play on. So he does, for another three hours of magic.

“During that time I played the demo mix of the ‘Back To My Roots’ track, which I’d made that week (the B side wasn’t even made). Dixon jumped on me to ask what it was. He said that he loved the sound of it and asked me what I wanted to do with it, mentioning that he would really like to release it on Innervisions. I went back home on the Monday and worked straight away on another track, which I named ‘Panoramix’ (a tribute to that night at Panorama). I sent a very rough demo to Dixon via download and received a text five minutes later saying that he wanted it. It happened really fast without me having any plans at all.” - Laurent Garnier

“When Laurent played ‘Back To My Roots’ at Panorama, I immediately had the feeling that I was listening to a classic. It’s a very unique timeless production. Not hip, not modern, not oldschool. It is also a 12 minutes journey that is worth to play for that long. We are very happy that Laurent told me straight away in the club that he would be cool with releasing this EP on our label. Well - and lets not forget about THAT B-side.”

Laurent Garnier “Back To My Roots EP” (IV16)
A: ‘Back to My Roots” Original Afrodiziac Mix
AA: “Panoramix”

Release Date TBC

Josh Wink - one of the true pioneers of music to dance to - is again claiming to show us how it’s done with his new EP release ‘Stay Out All Night’, released on his own Ovum imprint in May. A big hitter in Miami (Pete Tong made it his Radio 1 Essential New Tune after the conference and Steve Bug, Sebo K and Jamie Jones were among the heavy hitters caining it), this release goes against all recent dance music trends and delivers - promising to be another outstanding release from Wink.

“The tune that I think should be the biggest dance record in the world right now. It will be, trust me.. Sensational.” - Pete Tong

We don’t normally cover London clubnights, but this one is a bit special so we’ve shed some light on it. Troublestock is next Wednesday 9th April at the End, and features the breakbeat community, and a host of dance music at larges finest, huddling together to raise cash and awareness for paul ‘Trouble’ Arnold, who was diagnosed with leukamie at the end of 2007.One of rave’s most respected figures, Arnold has been a crucial figure in the development of breaks, through his seminal Chew the Fat! label and clubnight he has taken the sound across the globe, not least to the infamous We Love… Ibiza parties at Space. Upon hearing of his plight, a clutch of world class performers all quickly got together to throw a party for him

Rocking the decks in aid of their friend will be Plump DJs vs Stanton Warriors (a world first), Krafty Kuts Vs. Freestylers, Evil Nine vs Elite Force in the main room. The second room sees James Zabellia vs Nic Fanciulli, Paul Woolford vs Yousef, Rob Da Bank and more whilst ghettotech/fidgit/wonky house heroes Speaker Junk, Count Of Monte Cristal, and Sinden along with Radio 1 newcomer Kissy Sell Out preparing to pack out the dancefloor in the lounge. This may well be the gig of the year, and in light of the justification behind the party, one of the most worthwhile.

Several Liverpool DJs have been asked to appear at the Standon Calling festival in Hertfordshire during the first weekend of August.The Soup’s own General Jimmy, Chibuku Tyrants Loz and erstwhile funakteer Dirty Damo and the fabulous CantmixWontmixShouldntmisDontmix allstars will be representing Liverpool, whilst former city mainstays Dom Chung and Brendan Long will also be contributing.

One of the leaders in the field of the increasingly popular ‘boutique festival’, Standon Calling is also gaining a reputation for being the groundbreaking celebration of the offbeat, the sensational and the bizarre. Collaborating with artists, set designers and performers to create a fluid sensory experience the festival reaches its zenith at an unveiling of secret areas on Saturday night. Partiers are led through themed worlds with spectacles, lights, sound and performance artists guiding their way.

By day, Standon is a rural country heaven - dips in the pool, a spot of healing or just hanging out with the most friendly and chilled out crowd in festival-land. Acts so far include Super Furry Animals, Dan le Sac vs. Scroobius Pip, Christopher D Ashley, Radioactive Man, Acid Mothers temple and the Cosmic Disco Inferno and former Hacienda resident and Mancunian legend Dave Haslam. Ridiculously intimate (the capacity is only 2000!) the festival is also completely non profit, proudly supporting Phoenix Futures and its work with the victims and families of the victims of drug and alcohol abuse in the UK.

Standon Calling Festival, Friday 1st – Sunday 3rd August 2008 at Standon, Ware, Hertfordshire

Tickets from £69 (early bird price for first 300 people to buy tickets)

www.standon-calling.com