Wiley Eskimo Freestyle @ Lava & Ignite Bournemouth

Some say grime artist Wiley never turns up?! Here at Slick n Fresh we know first hand that when Wiley wants to turn up, he'll turn up!

Check inside for video from his live performance at Lava & Ignite, Bournemouth

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The UK Garage tapepack is an institution. Before the days of digital downloads, SnF's downloads forum, iTunes and the like; people got their UKG from 2 places - pirate radio or rave tape packs.

The internet and a shrinking demand killed off the bulk of the tape pack market, but there's still a few trying to get them out there.

Garage Nation have just announced their brand new range of tape packs for 2009. Obviously the days of them actually being on tape are long gone but with the likes of The Heartless Crew, Cartier, Sparks & Kie, B Live, Mike Ruff Cutt Lloyd, Luck and Neat and many more these won't be leaving car CD players for a couple of months once you get them.

• Purchase the latest Garage Nation CD set here

UK Garage has had several big events at the O2 in London this year ran by scene veteran DJ EZ.

The latest event from Zed's camp promises to deliver at the same level as the previous 2. Those of you that attended Z Uncut on New Years Eve/Day and 4by4 in April will know exactly what we're talking about.

For those new to the experience that is Z Uncut will need to know that on the night DJ EZ will be blessing the decks for an 8 hour non-stop set; promising to take you on a UK Garage journey right through the years up to the present day.

See the flyer and full MC line up inside

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We here at SnF like to help out our regular readers every now and again. So when we received an email about a rave in Romford being run by one of our fans we had to oblige.

New Trend Sounds is going to be held on the 22nd November 2008 at Pacific Edge in Romford. The event is showcasing all types of upfront house and garage and will be taking the ravers from the past to the present day. The aim of the night is to show people that there is a wide variety of music available especially under the UKG and house umbrella (soulful, funky, electro, tech, fidget, u.s, bassline, dubstep, 2 step, 4x4, UK funky etc.) They say they will try to educate the masses with our flavas and try and take people back to how raving used to be – no posing, no beef – just all about the music!

They've also thrown together a mix CD for the occasion. Nice.

See the flyer and get the mix inside!

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Herbal Nightclub in London's Shoreditch was booming last night with the sound of UK Garage as the Slick n Fresh 1st Birthday Bash went off with a bang.

The night was filled with the sound of old and new UKG supplied by some of the scene's best talent. Charma, Control-S, Jelly Beats & Listener kept the crowd going strong 'til the lights came on; complemented with 3 superb live PAs from Lickrish Music's Gemma Jay, Jelly Beats & Dee, and the fabulous Clare Evers.

It was the perfect way to mark 12 months of Slick n Fresh supplying the best upfront UK garage news, views and downloads.

Thanks to everyone that managed to come down and a special thanks to all those involved; including the talented crew keeping the house music alive on the 2nd floor - Sandeep Chatterjee, Si Sutton, Paul Quinton, DJP, Jose S, MRcSp and Lekkey.

Here's to another year!

SnF

• See photos of the Slick n Fresh 1st Birthday Bash here

12 months have passed since the birth of Slick and Fresh, and after a year of hard-graft we have become the newest and biggest UK garage news site on the web. We feel this deserves a celebration so in honour of this we are throwing one colossal party – and you’re all invited!

SnF's 1st Birthday Bash will be held at Herbal Nightclub in Shoreditch, London on 5th July 2008.

See the full line up, flyer, and read more inside! Updated with VIDEO!

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As if our last couple of stories weren't enough to get any Garage enthusiast excited, here we are again telling you about whats good this bank holiday weekend.

Find out more inside!

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In the words of MC PSG, "Who said Garage was dead? No wayyyyyy!".

DJ Crispy and DJ Jerry, also known as the Garage Defenders from Switzerland are putting on a very special event, called “The Garage Defenders – The British Invasion”.

The Garage Defenders are known as one of the only Crews still providing Switzerland with quality UK Garage Music. They have a Float at the Street Parade this year again for the 5th time, representing UK Garage to a crowd of approximately 1 Million people.

Representing the UK on the night will be -

- Solution (2tuf4u)
- Ayklogic (Ayklogic Records)
- Klaim (Jammin Records)
- GTE (Jammin Records)
- Majestic MC (Jammin Records

Representing Switzerland will be -

- DJ Crispy + DJ Jerry
- Mr Diamond Dust
- DJ Steve G
- MC Free J

This special event is on April 26th 2008, 10pm at Besame Mucho Club in Zurich West, Switzerland.

The New Year went off with a bang at Harlow Stadium as it was ushered in by The Heartless Crew at Simply Garage. Even though the venue wasn't at capacity the crowd were going mental as DJ Fonti tore through vintage UK Garage and (strangely deviating from the night's theme) brought in 2008 with some club classics.

Also on the night we were treated to sets from Streaky & Solution, Mike 'Ruff Cut' Lloyd, Whiplash, Burns, the Dreem Team's Mikee B and of course DJ EZ.

See the first photos from the night over at the Slick n Fresh photo gallery - hopefully with more to come later.

Vocalist Claire Evers is out at Brownsugar in Clapham Junction this Friday (21st) performing the Wideboys' single Snowflake.

Singing with a live band, she'll also be performing Bomb the Secret as well as an acoustic number.

Venue details:

Brownsugar
165 - 167 St John's Hill,
Clapham Junction,
SW11 1TQ.
Tel: 020 7228 7713