I made sure we dropped a quick video blog whilst recording a session for the new album last month. Enjoy!

So in 15 hours or so from the time of writing, it will be a new decade here in the UK. I for one welcome it with open arms and happily say "Good Riddance!" to the Noughties. Click the "Read More" link to find out why:

The Noughties sucked as a decade. I mean, really. Think about it. Of the years 2000-2009, 8 of those years had George W Bush controlling the worlds most powerful country. I mean, who let this guy in? OK fair enough, you guys made a mistake voting him in the first time. But you realized and then…..the bastard cheated his way back in. Obama’s first year in office hasn’t been anywhere near enough time to counter the damage done by the Bush Administration, but I am certain that over time, Obama will be able to lead the country and the world in a better direction.

What about music? Well, the record business died over the last decade and it seemed like cultural movements did too. Where’s the movements like there were in every decade prior? Grunge and the rise of commercial hip-hop and alternative rock in the 90′s, electro, new wave and post punk in the 80′s, metal, punk and funk in the 70′s, rock and roll in the 60′s……well what the hell does the Noughties have to show for itself musically? Nada.

2009 felt like it had to just outdo the suckiness of the whole rest of the decade on it’s own. Economic recession. The death of the king of pop. In my case, more heartbreak and personal issues than I care to even waste another second getting upset about. In short, a terrible, terrible year. I’m confident that the Tens is going to be a GREAT decade though. I can’t explain why right now, since we’re not even in it yet. But I CAN feel it. There’s something stirring, an energy that some forward thinking people will harness. The Noughties has left us all downtrodden, resentful and angry. This anger is our gift and the force that will guide us to a better tomorrow.

I plan to start off the Tens with a bang. The release of my long awaited, years in the making solo album (I PROMISE it’s nearly done!!!)….the new Swami album that is our most ambitious project to date and will hopefully elevate us to previously unseen heights……THIS IS THE NEW BEGINNING.

But don’t just take my word for it. Drop me a line and let me know why you feel the Tens is going to be awesome. I can’t be alone in feeling like the draught of the Noughties will lead to a new renaissance of the Tens. I mean, once you hit rock bottom, the only way is up, right? Happy new decade to all of you.

Peace love and be wild.

Casey "S-Endz" Rain.

P.S – Big shout out to Bobby Friction and all the listeners of the FRICTION show on the BBC Asian Network who placed ‘Sugarless’ as the #2 song of 2009 in the Top 50 songs countdown show. Hey, I guess 2009 wasn’t all bad

The CD’s have been pressed, the record company has sent the stock to the distributors, and all systems are go for the UK/India physical release of ‘53431‘ on the 17th August!

Here’s the tracklist:

1. Electro Jugni
2. Sugarless
3. DesiRock
4. Mehbooba
5. Turn It Up
6. Hey Hey
7. Tonight
8. Don’t Hold Back
9. Shakedown
10. Homage
11. Ching
12. Disciples
13. Big Beat Thumbi
14. Ching (Shiva Soundsystem’s Mo-Flo Remix)
15. DesiRock (Shiva Soundsystem’s Radio Remix)

‘Sugarless‘ has blown up on radio worldwide, and we’re incredibly happy with all the love you guys have shown for the song. We’ve shot a performance video for the song and we hope to have it completed within the next few weeks. For all you club DJ’s, don’t sleep on the hard-hitting dancefloor-targeted "New Desi Generation" remix of ‘Sugarless‘ – if you’re on Facebook, you can listen to it here – get in touch with us for your copy!

If you’re in the UK or India, you’ll be able to pick up ‘53431‘ in stores from the 17th. If not, we will have some stock on our digital store  – where you can also grab your own ‘DesiRock‘ or ‘53431‘ T-Shirts which have been flying off the merch tables at Swami shows this summer! Get yours now cos stock is extremely limited!

We’re currently finalizing details for the digital release of ‘53431‘ which will be in early-to-mid September.

Are you ready for ’53431′?

Peace!!

S-Endz

S-Endz appears in the new issue of Anokhi magazine, out now in the US and Canada! So to those of you on the North American continent, go out and grab a copy! If not, no fear! Check out the article right here!

So now it’s official! Emanate dropping in the fall with the first single ‘Do U Wanna Come?’ bustin out the airwaves soon!

Thanks to Jay at www.bhangraw.com for the scan!

Time to break out the purple champagne.

Prince’s new 3 album set (consisting of his ‘LOTUSFLOW3R’ and ‘MPLSOUND’ albums and the album ‘ELIXER’ by his new protege Bria Valente) has debuted at #1 in the Billboard album charts.

This is particularly impressive because the album set is only available in two places – Target retail stores in the USA, and the lotusflow3r.com website (and the website sales do not count towards the Billboard chart).

As the man himself says on ‘Ol Skool Company’ from the MPLSOUND album – ‘The white house is now black….it’s time to take the radio back!’

Congratz Prince! Now, where’s the party at?

Hey all,

Just wanted to give you a heads up on the progress on my forthcoming solo album, ‘Emanate’.

Currently, the album stands 14 tracks deep and about 75% finished. I’m shooting for a September release, and the production has been exclusively handled by myself and Simon ‘Subs’ Duggal so far. I’m hoping to get in the studio with Diamond aka DJ Swami to work on a track for my album at some point in the next few months, after we finish the new Swami album. So far Kidd Skilly, Sups and Sarah Riley are all featured on the album, but the finished product may have a few more collaborations.

The next single will surprise a few folks, but I love it. Peace x

S-Endz

The two new Swami songs that we wrote last week are now recorded, mixed and finished.

I think I can get away with revealing some info about them.

They are both commercial and uptempo, produced by Diamond, with vocals from myself, Sups and Liana, and live percussion from Bobby P. They are more commercial than anything we’ve done to date, and we’re all really happy with how they’ve turned out. As always, our live set was something we kept in mind during the writing and recording, and these songs are definately gonna be crowd-pleasers once we work them into our set.

Oh yeah -and these two songs will see a release sooner than the rest of the new material that we are working on….but you’ll find out about that soon enough.

Maybe I shouldn’t give the titles away just yet……anyway there’s much more to come, so hold steady and get ready to move into an alternate galaxy……..53431…

Peace ,

S-Endz

P.S – you can stay updated with what Swami are up to in real-time by following us on Twitter!! – http://www.twitter.com/swamimusic

(Update: 21st December)  – Links are down for the time being and may or may not come back. They got spread around just a little bit too much. For the record, I did not receive any request from Prince or anyone representing him to remove them, it’s entirely my own decision, and I’m happy that a few people got to hear them who may not have had access to the radio station they premiered on. But, if Prince or his web team would like to get in touch with a real fan who has some great ideas on how he can create a revolutionary new internet presence and set a new precedent……then get at me dawg )

My mind is officially blown. FIVE new Prince songs premiered yesterday. 4 of them on Steve Jones (ex Sex Pistols) radio show in Los Angeles, and the 5th on a mysterious new website. Check em all out below, they are all awesome, some of the best stuff he has done in a long while.  I’m going to write a little bit about each one, not much though as I still need to digest all of this awesomeness properly.

Crimson & Clover

a purple take on the 60′s classic. it’s got a very ‘Purple Rain’ vibe to it. Amazing.  When Prince does a cover, it can be pretty hit or miss (for example, hit = his cover of Betcha By Golly Wow, miss= his cover of Every Day is A Winding Road)……this one is HIT HIT HIT HIT. Easily my favorite version of the song now.

[Links are down for the time being]

Colonized Mind

I’m finding it difficult to find another Prince song to compare this to. Musically, it’s almost Hendrix-esque. Very deep lyrics on this one.  I think this one will need the most listens to really understand. But it sounds incredible.

[Links are down for the time being]

Wall of Berlin

Some might remember Prince’s words from the end of the title track to his 2006 album "3121" – "It’s going down y’all……like the Wall of Berlin". So clearly this concept has been in his mind for a while.

Just like the last two tracks, this is a very organic rocker, but with a more pop feel. Catchy and memorable.

[Links are down for the time being]

4ever

This one was mentioned a few weeks back in an interview Prince did. A classic Prince ballad.  "Eternity is just one kiss away".

[Links are down for the time being]

There’ll Never B (Another Like Me)

This one wasn’t premiered on the radio show. A few days ago, a short instrumental clip of this track appeared on a mysterious new site (mplsound.com) – immediately setting the Prince fan community ablaze on whether it was real or not. It’s cut from a different cloth than the other new songs – this one is a serious funk jam with plenty of Prince’s trademark 80′s sounds like the LinnDrum.

[Links are down for the time being]

There’ll Never B (Another Like Me) (Instrumental Clip)

[Links are down for the time being]

Peace out neofunkers! Enjoy!!!

After 15 years, more than $13 million dollars and an insane amount of broken promises, the new Guns ‘N Roses album ‘Chinese Democracy’ is FINALLY coming out in 2 days! Don’t forget,if you’re in the US you get a free can of Dr Pepper, as the soft-drinks giant promised earlier this year, if the album were to get released.

It’s no secret that I’m a big GnR fan. So after all this time, does the album live up to it’s hype? For me, the answer is a resounding yes. This is one of the most cohesive and creative rock albums I’ve heard in a long time. The musicianship and of course, Axl’s vocals are amazing and the songwriting is superb. The title track and ‘Better’ are my two favorites at the moment, but I need more time to fully digest the album. There’s a lot of hidden depths that you won’t necessarily hear upon first listen.

Axl is one of the few vocalists that really changed the way I look at songwriting, but especially vocal dynamics. The guy has an incredible range that he’s never been afraid to explore, since GnR’s 1987 debut ‘Appetite For Destruction’.

Make sure you head on over to myspace.com/gunsnroses to listen to the whole album streaming right now! And make sure you all head out and pick it up on Sunday (or Monday in the UK). It’s definately worth the money.