#festivalseason - 6 stages, 6 acts to get down to at Shambhala 2016. (And a bonus warm fuzzy feeling.)

There is no place on the planet like the Shambhala Music Festival. Each year, along the life-giving Salmo River in BC - clearly Canada's most beautiful province - thousands of people gather around the semi-permanent stages that have waited all year, to build a colourful, loving, excessively fun community for three-to-five days (Depending on how you Shambs). The setting, the people, the music...it's been the basis for an entirely new part of my life. I have forged stronger friendships with old friends there, I have met new beautiful friends that I talk to near-daily and, last but not least, it opened me up to the thrillingly diverse world of electronic music. The learning curve is steep and I wouldn't have even started the process if I hadn't stepped onto the Farm for the first time a few summers ago. So, as we prepare to return Home a mere three weeks from now, I present my first batch of must-see (that-I-will-probably-get-distracted-from-seeing) picks.

Actually, first off, let's get mushy. Remember those new friends I mentioned earlier? Well, thanks to the lovely people at the Pagoda, they were able to have the perfect wedding, early Friday afternoon last year. The day was a Pinnacle of Life. Two giant rainbow people, bursting with love, combining their powers once and for all in the heart of the most loving place I've experienced in my short time on Earth. To you two, to everyone who was there, to everyone who stopped by camp for a dance and to everyone who makes that wondrous place go, THANK YOU. I'll stop now.

Let's get to the music.

Russ Liquid Test

(Grove – Friday, 4PM)

This is the year I spend more time in the Grove and Russ Liquid is where I'm going to start. I don't really know what this “Test” thing is all about. I don't know if the homie is testing new stuff, playing with guests or whatever else, but it really doesn't matter, because if I've learned anything over the last few years of musical digging, it's that anything that has the name RUSS LIQUID on it is going to be of some major quality. It doesn't matter if he's working with heavy-hitters like Gramatik and Opiuo or working on his own, the guy clearly knows his music and, more specifically, he knows his grooves. Armed with his incredible trumpet abilities and a seemingly unquenchable thirst for sultry, hip-winding rhythms, Russ Liquid is guaranteed to be the perfect start to your first night of ultimate partying at Shambhala this year.

And boy howdy! I was going to give you a completely different track, but lo and behold, the good homie has blessed us with a new track in the last 24 hours! REJOICE!

from the vaults circa 2015

Sunrise Liquid Jam hosted by Spiral Architects

(Village – Saturday, 4:30AM)

The appearance of the Sunrise Liquid Jam on here may startle longtime friends and followers who are well aware of my aversion to drum 'n' bass. But, I'm learning and lately a couple of Canadian acts, including Spiral Architects have accelerated the process. These fine people have helped open a world of drum 'n' bass that I find accessible and not as intimidating as some of the harder, “machinegun” sort of sound that I associate with a lot of the biggest drum 'n' bass acts. This is really a matter of taste, as I tend to like my music heavy on groove and light on aggression for the most part, so I require sonic breaks in the jackhammering to get my wind on. I just discovered Spiral Architects and was overjoyed to see their name in the hosting duties spot here. So, if you're like me and have a hard time getting your mind around a lot of drum 'n' bass but you want to start with something a bit groovier, this might be the key to opening a few doors. If you're still up...(I have failed to find a single track, so here's a mix to enjoy by scanning through or listening whole!)

All You Need is Bass and PK Sound are proud to present The Village Sessions. This ongoing podcast will feature the best performances from The Village stage, recorded live at Shambhala 2012. Episode 10 of The Village Sessions brings you the drum and bass prowess of The Spiral Architects. Their unique blend of techstep and turntablism never disappoints the true believers. Each year their set is by far some of the best Shambhala has to offer, If you wish there was more d’n’b at Shambhala look no further, this is dose of the purest drum and bass around. Simply put, The Spiral Architects are lions among men and true believers in the junglist movement. Benny B-Side and Deception make up one of Canada’s best duos. These mad sorcerers of drum and bass have that broken beat encoded into their DNA. We here at All You Need is Bass are incredibly proud to present one act that we never miss at Shambhala: The Spiral Architects! 1.Stepping stones By Calyx & Teebee 2.Grow By INSIDEINFO 3.Blindfold By Noisia & The Upbeats 4.Lotus By N.Phect 5.Genetic drift By Mefjus 6.Frozen Tape By NEONLIGHT 7.Rust By Audio & InsideInfo 8.Squander By DOSE 9.Blur (Mefjus Remix) By Fourward 10.Come Alive By Netsky 11.Bottled By Sw@t, InsideInfo 12.Puppet master By Mefjus & Neonlight 13.Red Sky By Jade 14.System Error By Hedj & Neonlight 15Battlefish By Black Sun Empire & Nymfo 16.Stuck (Jade Remix) By Fourward 17.Lazertag By Jade 18.Ghost In The Shell 2.0 By Task Horizon 19.Nah Mean By Nas & Damian Marley

El Papachango

(AMPhitheatre – Thursday, 1:30am & Living Room – Sunday, 2:30am)

You might say to yourself, “Dude's here every year. I'll get a chance.” That's what I said the first few times too and I kept putting it off and putting it off. Thankfully, last year I got separated from my peoples and decided to finally take the chance to indulge in a set from El Papachango. My gawd, there's a reason my friends had been going on about this cat. His latin-flavoured rhythms are a yin/yang of bright/grimy, and more crunkalicious than they have any right to be. Now, dude seems to specialize in amazing mixes that don't stop, nay they can't stop, so rather than a track, here's one of the many mixes that I've been blasting in my headphones since last August.

Fresh As Spring Mixtape (Electronica - Latin - Dance Hall - Bass) Tracklisting 1. Sueño en Paraguay (Chancha Via Circuito) 2. Kora Riddim 3. Gig Dipper (Romor) 4. Hill to vale (Romor) 5. Fouk (Jet Airess 6. Muchos (Evdi Sound) 7. Bring the Fire (Robs & Duke) 8. P.A.T.R.A.O (Omulu) 9. Aerosol Can (Mr Carmack) 10. Johnny Osbourne (Bubby Bye) 11. Capoeira de Angola (Felipe Unico) 12. Nigeria what (Debruit) 13. Clang (Baausr) 14. St. Pauli (Ft.Gzuz Tellz) 15. Top cat (The Clerk) 16. Esta Loca (Mace) 17. Budda Bye (Capitol City Rockers) 18. Simiolo Remix (Nicola Cruz) 19. l1 (Sango)

REZZ

(Pagoda – Saturday, 2:30AM)

Like I said earlier, I'm not huge on a lot of aggression in my music most days, but when I really need something heavier lately I find myself firing up REZZ. I'm not good with the mountains of labels in electronic music (Mostly because of stubbornness) so I don't know what you'd call her beats other than “fucking awesome.” Her tracks move along a very human pace, but sound like they were made by a humanoid/cyborg-type entity. It's often that good hip-hoppy/house tempo with all the goodies and swirls and treats stacked on top. A resident of mau5trap (Guess who runs that label), Rezz's tracks and mixes are of consistently absurd quality and are goddamned relentless. With a prime Saturday night spot on the Pagoda, this set promises to be some serious business so don't even bother coming around unless you're ready to truly GET THE FUCK DOWN. (Response to the follow track from my electronic guru: "Angry.")

Download available exclusively through OWSLA's Nestivus where you can donate to the wonderful 'Bridges for Music' organization! More info: www.drip.com/owsla More info: www.bridgesformusic.org

The Gaff ft. Mat the Alien

(Fractal Forest – Saturday, 6:30PM)

Before you go get your ass kicked on Saturday night by Rezz, why not gather your strength and get filled with mirth and joy in Fractal Forest? Nobody delivers the capital-H Happy, good-for-the-soul tracks like the Gaff. Earlier this year he and west coast legend Mat the Alien gathered up a bunch of 45s and hit the road, playing those classic soul and funk grooves for the dancing masses and, tragically, I couldn't make it to see them. I can't say with 100% certainty that this will be that set, but I have a hunch that it will be and if it is, it's not to be missed by anyone who's looking for something extra warm and soulful at Shambhala this year. It's the beginning of a truly remarkable scratch night in Fractal and with two top-shelf west coast DJs doing their thing, the set promises to be something pretty damned special. (And because I will NEVER be able to post this track enough times...)

When Featurecast & The Gaff got a chance to play together recently, it didn't take long to get to talking about their mutual love for Stevie Wonder's "Hey Love" and how the world needed an edit of it, and just like that, a few sleepless nights, some dusty records and a little bit of finesse: "Ain't Got Time" was born! The ultimate Marvin Gaye meets Stevie Wonder track that never existed......So why did a collabo between these two legends never happen? They both recorded for Motown at the same time and were fans of each other!....Here's a little history lesson: "Too busy thinkin bout my baby" was written by the Motown team of Whitfield, Strong, and Bradford in 1965, and first recorded by The Temptations a year later. Marvin's cover of the tune came out a few years later, and was his 2nd biggest hit of the 60's, right after "Heard It Through The Grapevine" in 1969 at the age of 30...Curious who was in Marvin's heart as he was singin this? If You do the math, it's none other than Tammi Terrel, who he fell deeply in love with as they began working on their tracks ("ain't no mountain high enough) around the same time....Unfortunately, Tammi wasn't into Marvin in that way! She was much younger, early 20's, and apparently favored "darker men", Marvin was a light skinned brother, and perhaps wasn't what caught her eye? Well, that's the breaks, Tammi put on a good show for sure... Now, Marvin Gaye was 11 years older than Stevie Wonder, who, at the time, was about to breakthrough to his hugely successful crossover lp's at only 19 with "Signed Sealed Delivered"! Stevie Wonder's "Hey Love" had come out on his album "Down TO Earth" in '66, at only 16, and a dope version was covered later by SoulSister Bettye Lavette, You should check it! Not many know about that cover :-) So, there was a big age gap, with marvin bringout out songs of soulful love in his 30's, and Stevie bringin the Funk in his 20's!!! in 1991, almost 25 years after it was released, De La Soul would flip "Hey Love" into "Talkin bout Hey Love" where it was brought back all over again for a new generation of Hip Hop heads around the world (a young skateboarding gaffer and a LIl Featurecast being 2 of them :-) 25 years after that, we added in the horns from an early Serge Gainsbourg record so this tune would appeal to fans of De La Soul, be enjoyed by Motown lovers, and any fans of DJ's with dope cuts.....Sampled the OG records to provide the instrumental parts used... We kept this mix so classic, for old and young alike, even your grandma can still appreciate it, nod her head to the fatback drums, dope cuts and scratches....we hope this version makes its rounds for a long time to come, giving you the Marvin & Stevie collaberation that you always wished for.......cheers! Gaff and Featurecast, June 9th 2015.... Featurecast: Bookings: http://daniomanagment.com The Gaff: Bookings:http://paquinartistsagency.com Social: https://facebook.com/featurecast https://facebook.com/thegaffpage https://featurecast.bandpage.com https://thegaff.ca https://twitter.com/featurecast https://twitter.com/mikethegaff Artwork: Mr.Fudge

Fort Knox Five ft. Qdup

(AMPhitheatre – Thursday, 5:00PM & Living Room - Friday, 2:30PM)

I've written extensively (Here and here and here) about Washington, DC, funk legends Fort Knox Five because they've been so instrumental in my development as an EDM fan. They are an important gateway for anyone trying to find the opening in the path towards musical enlightenment. The perfectly accessible, endlessly entertaining group returns for their 11th appearance at Shambhala and this time don't appear in Fractal Forest. (Maybe this has happened before? Not in the years I've been going. Feel free to correct me!) But instead there are TWO chances to see the beasts of funk this year, including an appearance at Shambhala's designated Chill Zone, the Living Room. I'm so interested to hear what such an aggressively funky act like Fort Knox Five does with all those chill vibes, right in the middle of the afternoon no less. Such a reasonable time for such a monstrous act. I am already pleased. If you don't like the groovy delights of Fort Knox Five and/or the funky brother QDup, you're probably a monster of some kind. LONG LIVE JON H. AND LONG LIVE FORT KNOX FIVE!

"Don't Go feat. Joe Quarterman" by Fort Knox Five FKX094 - Fort Knox Recordings http://www.fortknoxfive.com Worldwide Release on Friday May 6th, 2016 - the day before the third annual Funk Parade in Washington, DC on Saturday May 7th, 2016: http://www.funkparade.com Available now: https://fortknox.bandcamp.com/album/dont-go-ft-joe-quarterman http://www.junodownload.com/products/fort-knox-five-dont-go/3093325-02/ https://pro.beatport.com/release/dont-go-feat-joe-quarterman/1748783 https://geo.itunes.apple.com/us/album/dont-go-single/id1104824937?mt=1&app=music