CLASH HI-who??

Apart from our weekly radio show, called "Soundclash", CLASH HI-FI are a selectors' & deejay outfit and originated the Flex label to release reggae/hiphop refixes.

Below you will find info about us what inspired us to get these things started... First, why we are called soundclash, and then what we try to do on the air and on stage.

You can read about who were are in the crew section and stay updated with our activities with our monthly newsletter. In fact, we'd recommend you subscribe to our newsltter, as it's the best way to keep in touch with us, along with the podclash.

Augui runs a nice blog, where he talks about random things, links up nice music and parties, and also uploads photos and gig recordings... We are also developping an interviews section.

Our mission
Our goal is to help you discover new sounds to make your life groovier. Our battle is a soundclash against mainstream radio broadcast and their lack of diversity. Our pleasure is to promote the reggae & vinyl culture, by bringing fresh 7" sounds to your computer.

People we've played alongside
Soul Jazz Records, The Rootsman, Irie Ites (France), Roots Garden, Heatwave, JStar, Upstate, Mashit, Upstate, Winston McAnuff, Brother Culture, Baby G, MC Trooper, Tappa Roots, Silva Reuben, Heartical Sound (Germany), Brother Culture...

Places we've shaken
The Gramaphone (London), Rhythm Factory (London), Audio (Brighton), Nouveau Casino (Paris), Glaz'art (Paris), Mains d'Oeuvres (Paris), Radio Nova (Novamix show, Paris), Città in Revoluzione festival (Milan), some place in Burgos and Malaga (Spain), The Chapel Bar (London), Bar Soho (London), Ginglik (London), the Blag Club (London), Soma, MarketPlace (London)...

Learn more about what we do by reading further down, tune in to the [Clash Player] or come down to our events. We also have a page dedicated to the worship of [Brother Culture]

SOUNDCLASH HISTORY

The original soundclash took place in Kingston, Jamaica, in the early 50s. These were dances where different sound systems would gather and compete for the most crowd support. At the time, few people owned even a radio, and these dances were really the forefront of musical productions. In the fifties, sound system would mainly play imported jazz and RnB records from the USA. Tom the Great Sebastian, an early sound man, is reported by Duke Vin to have been the first soundclash ruler, dating back to 1952. Tom delighted the dance because of his adventurous selection, often playing a wide variety of styles...
Quickly, sound system owners started to record with local musicians and create songs destined only to be played at the dances. Clement "Coxsone" Dodd owner of the "Downbeat" sound system and founder of the legendary Studio One record label, was one of the first music producers in Jamaica's history. He gathered the island's finest jazz musicians, such as Tommy Mc Cook and Roland Alphonso and recorded the first truly Jamaican sound: Ska, a blend of American RnB beats, West Indian Calypso grooves and African Nyabinghi drumming. The first band was probably one of the greatest of Jamaica's history, the Skatalites. Their music as a band provided the foundation of what developed as reggae. The influence of each individual member after they split-up shaped the evolution reggae. During soundclashes the different sound systems would play their latest tunes and often remixes or dubs of known tunes. Rap, the action of talking (toasting) or singing over records was also originated at these dances. King Stitt was one of the first DJs to do this. U-Roy was the first DJ to record on rocksteady versions for Coxsone's rival, the ex-policeman Duke Reid, for Treasure Isle records. The battles were the testing points not only for the latest records produced, but also for the technological advances that gave rise to reggae, dub, dancehall and reggae. The aim of our show and the music we play at parties follows the initial concept of the soundclash. What changes is that we are putting back to back not only different producers, but styles of music, the places where they were produced, and most crucially, the time at which they were recorded. We focus on buzzing Jamaican scene, following Roots and Dancehall releases closely, but also lots of revive and classic cuts. Our main man Flex, not only produces remixes for release on 7" but also got plenty more for the show and soundclashes... Everytime we get near a turntable, we'll clash classic instrumental ska with the freshest ragga dub-plate, but we'll also ensure the transition flows nicely.... That's why, even if our focus is Jamaican music, we tend to play soul, funk and hip-hop too, to make the blend smoother and richer. It's also because we like the draw the parallel between sounds produced at the same time in different places, like soul and rocksteady, like funk and reggae.
When we bring things to a more contemporary sound, we tend to feature the two main sounds emanating from Jamaica: bashment and roots, connecting them with the current Hiphop and linking them to the original sounds these productions often sample.

THE RADIO SHOW

Soundclash started off as a weekly two-hour show in October 2002. From the start, it aimed to open new musical horizons to its listeners. The main theme of the production is to introduce listeners to the sounds at the roots of contemporary music. The focus is to entertain and surprise people with music they do not "recognise" most of the time but instantly appreciate.
Our show is avaible to stream or to download as an MP3 file, using our [Clash Player]. Therefore, it is like a Podcast, except we mainly play vinyl, the format is the universal MP3, and that we have been doing for three years...
Sometimes we wondered... Thousands of records have been produced on a monthly basis for the past half-century... Why should it be only the ones released in the last five years monopolising airwaves targeted to the youth? We are music-focused indiviuals with one driving force in our lives: share the passion we have for music with as many as possible. What we want is introduce people to music that mainstream radios hardly ever play, because of its limited commercial potential. SOUNDCLASH is a battle between the commercial and the historical, the old and the new, the unknown and the popular. Most importantly, we mainly follow reggae release that occur on 7" vinyl, a format that some people do not have access to. Our show thus enables music lovers to discover the buzzing world of reggae productions, on a weekly basis, straight from their computer or their digital music player. To help out, we produce a full play-listing for each show, so that listeners can go track down a rare tune or name the riddim they like.
A single show may feature music ranging from swing of the 30s, hip-hop, rock, roots reggae and drum and bass. Other shows specialise in only few types of music. Jamaican music, from early ska to recent ragga, is the major feature of the show. Yet, roots music, music that influenced contemporary music productions is at the core of what we play during our shows. We cater for a weekly musical initiatory journey into musical diversity through themed musical battles: We have had "regional" battles between the US and Europe, or a Soul clash between Motown and Kingston Jamaica. We featured topical clashes according to the calendar, like the Halloween clash Dark V Positive forces, etc... As our show evolved towards a more reggae-focused show, the battles now involved record labels, artists and riddims. We also have guest DJs and MCs coming through to increase the diversity and good vibes. All of this enabling us to stack up a variety of sounds with some form of coherence, and avoiding repetition. We aim to produce a series of shows to provide our listeners with a soundtrack to groove-up their lives. A place where people will want tune in when they're at work, or when they're at a party, when they're blue or when they're falling in Love. Music gives people strength and inspiration to lead a life they love, Soundclash radio is all about musical positivity.

one love

Augui and Flex

any questions, email us: info@soundclash.org