Greetings from Belsize Park

This country fucking rules. I got to Heathrow at about five to nine in the morning yesterday and rode the tube into London, picking up the Northern Line at Leceister Square and taking it North to Chris Campbell's neighborhood in Belsize Park. Chris is a London native, but we hung out a bunch of times over the last couple years when he lived in Philly. Chris lives with his girlfriend Nicole, an American, whose working on a Masters in Medieval Lit with a thesis on Chaucer.

The flat is way nicer than I expected based on Chris' initial characterization of it as just "cramped." First off it's in a really nice neighborhood (think of Richmond with more of a British feel). The flat itself is a one bedroom with a futon and love seat - perfect.

When I got to the flat Chris was at work so Nicole and I hung out for most of the afternoon. We went to Camden market for lunch and some shopping. The area is basically like one big flea market - kind of a seedy version of Greenwhich village with lots of open air markets. We got a great lunch at Wagamama -big bole of Noodels with Chicken and a couple beers on the side.

After walking around for a bit Nicole pointed out a shop called Know How Records. We popped in and found our way to the Drum N Bass and Breaks room in the basement. I found a treasure trove of old shit including Maximum Style by Tom and Jerry (who I was informed later became 4 Hero) and the ever elusive original mix of Narramine by Genaside II. Wicked. I also scored a remix of andru's mixtape anthem "Deadline" and the killer Aphrodite remix of Blackstreet's "No Diggety."

Hanging with Nicole was excellent true soldier at the record store - the ultimate litmus test of patience for any non DJ. As Tripp and Andru will attest we only do it to the people we love. She and Chris both have pretty wicked tastes in music and movies. They both get really psyched about Kung Fu movies which have been on my mind since I saw Kill Bill. I need to go through their DVD collection and take notes cause they have awesome shit.

After that Nicole had to go to school and I headed into Soho for a long awaited visit to Black Market Records which was fucking awesome. I only got one drum n bass bit, but found about a dozen Underground UK Garge plates. I've been pretty out of the scene for the last year or so and it's changed wildly. Dark, minimal, and altogether evil - like techstep at forty less BPM. The MC tracks are ill, ill, ill. The Dizzee Rascal album was great, but I'm going to pick it up on CD instead.

To be continued…(with Highlights from Fabric and Forward)