Monday, 30 November 2009

THE LOCALS: Home Brew - Taste Test EP



Another FREE EP from the Home Brew Crew!
"Some old songs & new songs mixed together"
Under The Shade & My Bad are highlights on this one, the beat & raps on those tracks are solid! But a good listen as usual!

Blah Blah Blah
Friday
Bad Bad Whiskey
Under The Shade
My Bad
Same Shit, Different Day

Gig Of The Week! - Music Against Drink Driving


Get down to Rakinos this Saturday to kick back to some solid local music! New crew Oui Groove will be making a debut on the scene with their set of fresh Hip Hop and Team Dynamite keepin the vibe on! Nat Rose and some acts I haven't seen before should all be a good watch & it's all for a good cause! All proceedings will go to the Maxine Charitable Trust, see you there!

Maxine Charitable Trust was formed after Maxine van der Veldon was killed in a car accident from a drunk driver and friends & family helped to set up a Trust in 2006 to give scholarships to young Aucklanders between 15 and 20 years of age. Scholarships are up to $2000 and pay for a recognised course of study or programme or materials in the areas of education, the arts, dance and drama, music, fashion and sport.

When: Rakinos Lounge & Bar
Where: Level 1/35 High St, Auckland
Cost: $10.00

Raggamuffin Update - Lauryn Hill Performing!



It's officially been announced that Lauryn Hill is coming to Raggamuffin! Weird buzz is that she is performing with Sly & Robbie? I heard she's gone a bit lost recently and hope that she's sorted for Raggamuffin! Let's hope she gets her own set & pulls it off. Subscribe to news from the Raggamuffin website to stay in the loop and get special deals (not a lot) or just keep it locked on the homefront! haha

THE LOCALS: Spycc Vision - Big Time (Remix)


This is a track from one of the bros Spycc Vision! His take on David Dallas' Big Time song, taking the instrumental and giving his experiment from The Lab. Solid work toks! Was apart of the Ayebro Big Time comp...clean & tight recording! Get the track & check out his band page & support music from the hood...Spycc is from Onehunga and active with his music FOR THE HOOD! Shot toks!


Band Page


Saturday, 28 November 2009

THE LOCALS: Truent & Brodie - TrueBro Radio Show



DJ Truent & Brodie and the way they shock the radio waves! Make sure to check their show out, shot Truent for the download!


Who: DJ Truent & Brodie On Base FM
When: Fridays from 2PM - 4PM
Listen Here: Base FM Live Stream or 103.7FM (West/Central Auckland & North Shore)




About Truent & Brodie (From BaseFM):
Truent (Left): He is a turntablist, beat maker and all round music/vinyl enthusiast & skipped school to be a guest on Base FM  His DJ sets are made up from elements of hiphop music, jazz, latin, reggae, funk and soul. Winning various DJ battles around the country from 05 to 07 has helped him come up in the ranks as one of the top turntable technicians in the country. Now focusing on party starting and producing his own music with two instrumental projects and a mixtape in the pipeline.

He has worked with other artists doing beats, cuts & mixtapes for Homebrew, the Breakinwrekwordz camp and for David Dallas (Frontline) while also making music for television including the popular comedy series, Bro Town. As an ex host of Aucklands longest running hiphop radio show (The Trueschool Hiphop Show) Truent decided to expand to other genres, therefore starting 'The Beat Collection' on Base.  Truent has shared bills with international acts such as DJMK, Mr Thing, Mix Master Mike, DJ Rectangle, J-Live, Kool Keith, Blackalicious & more. He is the younger brother of Base DJ's Selecto & Matty Dread and made his first appearance as a guest on their show (Rewind) along with long time friend and fellow beat collector, Brodie.

Brodie (right): is a DJ, vinyl collector and saxophonist. This kid has a good ear for great music and it is evident in his DJ sets, combining hiphop, reggae, funk, jazz and soul creating a mixture guaranteed to get your feet moving. Catch him at a local vinyl spot digging out those gems or rockin' at one of his regular gigs in Auckland including Rockers In Session and various spots with the Earthtone Hi-Fi.





Friday, 27 November 2009

Base FM Xmas Party! - Sat, 12th December



Time to get on it with the masters of underground music! Massive line up, massive sound and it's all from the NZ!

When: Saturday 12th December
Where: Zen Bar
Cost: $15.00

Fridays - Wrap Up & Stack Up: Weekly Downloads!



Another week, another 50cents! Seems like it, working day in n out to have all your pay go out as soon as it comes in! haha Well one thing that always keep me on the beat is my family & this thing we call music!

On this week's music buzz, i've been listening to a lot of live music that i've seen durin the week and it's pretty raw but good stuff cause live is as real as it gets and theere are no limits! Here's some of the stuff I found and plus some of THE LOCALS stuff from the bro's over at Ayebro, they got it on lock, churr! Get live! Sorry that some are just one mp3, means you gotta listen to the whole thing! But you can cut em' up!

If you want me to post up any of your music, whatever it is, just let me know! I'll support you!
























** THE LOCALS **









IDA DJ Championships - AU vs NZ!




Support the DJ's reppin' for the NZ live at Zen this Saturday! First time this is being held here so get behind the local spinners in showing Australia wassup! They go through heats of 2min rounds, working their way to the finals and whoever comes out on top represents Australasia in the IDA International Championships on December 12th 2009! Let's hope it's a Kiwi! Anyone who gets the outcome, let us know!

When: Saturday 28th November
Where: Zen Bar, Auckland City
Cost: $15.00 / Door price unknown


Thursday, 26 November 2009

Kanye West - Givin' Props To David Dallas!




Big ups to David Dallas and the boys at Special Problems for getting some props from Kanye West. I think Kanye is a fan of the Special Problem projects and what they do, but solid to see it up on his blog!

Been a good year for the bro, releasing his debut album "Something Awesome", shooting some videos & performing at CMJ Festival over in the states, solid work bro.

He is also releasing a song of the album "I Get The Feeling" on radio & video for next week, so keep an eye out on that one, should be a good clip...Special Problems seem to be switchin things up a bit! Check the site to see what he's up to.

Be The bFM Roving Reporter @ Big Day Out!



Wanna free Big Day Out pass and be a roving reporter for bFM? Easy as G! Phone up the special phone line 306 1222 and leave a 30 sec soundbite of what you got to offer, it can be anything!

Competition closes Dec 4th, winner announced Dec 14th.


The Big Day Out 2010. Friday January 15th at Mt Smart Stadium.

AUT Song Lyric Writing Comp!


This one is for the songwriters! You think you can out write someone? Do It! You can win a Sony Vaio (whatever that is) and have your lyrics sung by a band chosen by bFM.

Make sure to follow the format of how to enter, check the page if you are a story writer

JUDGES
DJs Mikey Havoc and Charlotte Ryan from bFM will be judging the song lyric competition. They will announce their favourite lyrics each week and will speak to the winner of the competition live on air.

HOW TO ENTER

1. Email your song lyrics in a Word Document to aut@enter.net.nz

2. Ensure you have the following information in the body of your email:
1.Song title
2.Your full name
3.Your full postal address
4.Your email address
5.Your telephone number
6.Your date of birth (dd/mm/yyyy)

3. Your Song Lyrics must be in a Word Document with the Title of the song at the top of the page

4. Ensure you read the Terms & Conditions before you enter the competition

09 Til Infinity - End Of Year Party @ 4:20!



Wassup! A friend of mine is organisering a party at 4:20, solid effort considering it's just a random act and she put up the money for it! She's asking around if locals wanna perform, hit her up if you keen (for free that is) I might do something, gotta try and tidy some tracks up though! Should be a good night cause the homie Spycc Vision is up on stage from The Lab! So support the cause and just get horsed or high....better high cause a lot of people can't handle the horse! haha

When: Saturday 12th December @ 4:20 Bar
Where: 4:20, K Rd
Cost: $10.00 or $16.00 at the door!

Performances So Far By:
Sosiana Cocker
Odyssey Dance Crew
Unknown Peace
Spycc Vision


Nick From Shapeshifter Interview - Solid Read!

Dope interview from the top dogs at Amplifier! Big shapeshifter fan and waiting to buy the new album! Tried to preview the tracks on iTunes, but 30secs is much more less than a snippet! Cop it and catch them in the summer!

Nick Robinson from Shapeshifter takes some time out of his busy schedule to answer some questions about the band and their latest long player, System Is A Vampire.





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What got you into electronic music and specifically drum n bass?

We were all into jungle and Drum and Bass when we first got together, but we were musicians more then we were DJ's, so we decided to try and play it all live- especially after hearing how well Redford could play classic D&B and jungle Breaks on his drums. Once we started we found by doing it all live you get the sound way bigger than if you were playing a record. I think a few people really buzzed out when they heard us... a couple of old 70s synth keyboards and some drums being smashed hard, we ended up with a big sound.

I can't explain what actually got me into dance music, I guess it was the mystery of what was happening in England- the jungle movement- in the 90s... there is a DJ in Christchurch by the Name of D'erb he had a show on student radio every Saturday, I think, and it was love at first listen. Jungle to me was like a beautiful combination of all the good parts of different genres- to create its own genre with an acidy twist. They were new stories of urban existence, music with attitude

Drum n Bass and other bass heavy electronic music genres seem to have struck a chord with kiwis - why do you think this is?


Kiwis are bought up with a diet of reggae and dub, it's just what we've been listening to since the beginning of the 80s. When Drum and Bass came along it went through the roof...

The Support for D&B is amazing. But I actually think it's the same everywhere in the world when it comes to some form of bass heavy electronic music- that's what people are listening to these days, kiwis are no different to ravers around the world.

Have any of Shapeshifter's members played in other bands? If so what one(s).


Yea Myself and Redford were original members of Verse 2 which featured Ladi 6, Parkes, and Scribe but we left the band to move to Melbourne with Shapeshifter...

Myself, Sam and P Digsss have a side project called The Peacekeepers, a release is coming soon.

Devin is the man behind the veil of Pacific Heights.

P digsss also had his metal days on roar of doom with bands like 'Police Lucifer' and 'Naked Milkmen'.

Sambora is an old Mettler too,he formed legendary Christchurch outfit 'Sulu'

Name your top five NZ musicians/producers:

Brent Parkes
Mu
The Sunshine Sound System
P Money
Eru Dangerspeil
Evan Short

That's too hard I missed too many, fives not enough

You've always utilised instruments in your sound, rather than relying on computers and non traditional instruments alone to create the music - was this a conscious decision?


Yes definitely we're a band so we like to play instruments- some people might say its easier just to do the sequenced thing, laptops etc, pushing play on a CD and having your drummer play along, just to make sure everything is perfect. This is really common in a lot of "live" acts these days. But I think we'd find doing that too hard, we need to have a lot of freedom to change songs and jam things out, and its good to be able to speed up and slow down tempos. I think people can relate to guitars and saxophones, there's no faking its right there in front of you, mistakes and all.

What is the most obscure/odd instrument used by Shapeshifter?

Probably the Cuica (Wikipedia - The Cuica ) which is a Brazilian percussion instrument.. its quite a prominent feature in the song 'Earth' off our last studio album 'Soulstice'. It's a song about the Preservation of Planet Earth and we dedicated it to the late Steve Irwin.

You've used a number of different singers on your songs over the years - have you done so on this album to?

This time we wrote all except one of the tunes with P digsss, so he sings on all of them except one tune 'Tokyo' - thats an instrumental.

We do enlist the services of long time collaborator and friend MC Kp from he Sunshine Soundsystem for 'Fire' which is a track we've jammed live for a while now, and Digsss and Kp wrote that together so he's the only vocal guest this time round.

We would have loved to have done a track with Karoline (Ladi 6) again, as we have done on our past releases, but all the songs were written already, and Ladi has been subsequently touring pretty heavily off the back of her and Parks' amazing album 'Time is not Much'. I just love that album so much.

Who would you most like to collaborate with if you could?


Wow, the list could go on and on- I'd love to do a track with Jill Scott- to hear her and digsss and what they'd come up with.

Would love to collaborate with various hip hop producers like Madlib, Oh no, that experimental Stones throw crowd. I think to get real crazy it would be awesome for shapeshifter to do something with 'Muse' or 'Tool' or closer to home 'Shihad'.

The band's been together almost ten years now. In that time what do you feel is the biggest change in the music scene in NZ?

I don't really know it seems similar to what it always was... I cant think of any major changes to the New Zealand Music Scene.

I guess 10 years ago the power of the 'Major record label ' was kinda on its last legs. I remember we were 'in negotiations' with EMI or Virgin for the release of our first album Realtime. But the Guy was being a power tripping dick and we thought... this guy thinks he's a record mogul in L.A or something, yet we're just a nobody band whose probably going to sell no more than 1000 records, making him and everyone fuck all money. So we turned to KOG transmissions who were just a young bunch of good guys, keen to help.

We ended up with twice the money we would have got from EMI (which still wasn't much!!) Although we split with KOG to form our own label 'Truetone', KOG went on to dominate with KOG sub label 'Dirty' breaking away to release the likes of Conchord Dawn, Scribe, P Money, Pitch Black, Tiki Taane.

What do you feel is the biggest change Shapeshifter has experienced in that time?

We seem to be ever evolving; always pushing changes so that everything stays fresh... the biggest change would have to be when P Digsss moved from Guest MC to permanent member in about 2004. We'd always been jamming, but once he joined for good we could really build on musical ideas we'd just touched on in the past.

It gave us the chance to start playing more songs, and a chance to just be better generally. Digsss always had such a deep understanding of us as a band. He listens to the music we play, and then comes up with something and we all drop our jaws and say holy F**k that's exactly what I imagined! We're on the same page...no wonder I guess- living out of each other's pockets for most of the year.

In 2006 we acquired a new manager - Becs Caughey, that was a big change. She's awesome. Remember this- never run a company if you're a sporadic artist/musician... its quite hard.

What about in Shapeshifter, have the years changed how you operate as a band?


Not really, its still the same set up... I read somewhere a description of us- 3 pasty geeks on keyboards, a metal drummer and a charismatic singer. That's still the same ole recipe.

Pick a sound, turn it up as loud as possible; away you go that's shapeshifter. But we do have a roady or 2 now, and regular crew of amazing lighting and visualists, so it's a bit easier then it was in the old days. And I think we sleep a tiny bit more these days- we never used to sleep much.

Are their plans to tour the album once it's released?


Yeah. Because we're releasing it just before summer we're doing our Album release tour stretched right through summer, starting with the Christchurch Town Hall on 25th October and then doing a string of Gigs until February...

Check for dates on http://www.shapeshifter.co.nz/

What about your international fans - will you be taking the band and album offshore?


Yes we're currently planning to go back to Europe in July, we have a good crew over there working on things, so we'll release the album there just before the summer, then hit it.

Nothing like an Amsterdam summer, this will be our 5th time, and it gets more fun every time!

How have you found playing outside of NZ - is their a lot of ex pats at your shows?


In London there is a lot of ex pats, but elsewhere there are usually mostly locals. We try and veer off the path a bit, its good fun to play to a pub when there's a bunch of locals who don't know too much about us, they've never heard us so we really experiment and feel more relaxed to get crazy.

Some places we've been to enough now to have developed a strong fan base, which is cool.

Where is your favourite place to play?

I love playing in Cork, Ireland. They're beautiful people, trouble, but in a good way!

Of course there's anywhere in New Zealand and Australia for that matter. Perth is up there, but really saying anywhere in particular is too hard, the smallest crowd we have had in a long time was in Birmingham on the last tour, and that was epic by the end of it. It's too hard to decide

How would you describe the new album - is it a continuation of your previous albums or is this one distinctly different?

"The System is a Vampire" I think is a continuation from Soulstice in many ways, its themes are similar, we still have the same passions for the same styles of music as we did then.

We still crave the analogue synth sounds, the lushness, the heavy bass, the heavy soul. These things are all prominent in the Music but our style of production has changed- how we concentrated on capturing our band in the studio, something I don't think we ever really managed to do before.

This time round I can hear and feel the essence of what it feels like to be in a room jamming together, that tension seems to hang in the air, and I love that so much about this album.

What is your career highlight to date?

There have been so many career highlights I've forgotten most of them!

A big moment of satisfaction was after Soulstice... the making of that album was so much fun but they were hard times. Sam, Digsss and I all slept in the studio for 6 months, living off about $40 a week if we were lucky. (thanks Ritchie for your seafood stash!)

When that was released we won Best Album, Best Song(Bring Change), and Best live Act with the BNET music awards which was such a good feeling to know something we worked hard on was being enjoyed by people. Which is the Aim of the game.

The BNETS meant more to us than our Tuis because they were publicly voted by our fans- rather than being decided by a bunch of v.i.p's with black skivvies at a drunken Auckland dinner.

More Recently "The System Is a Vampire" debuted at No.1 on the album charts our first No.1 I think?\

What are your plans for summer - any festivals you think we should be going to and if so will Shapeshifter be playing there?


Yea we have a little travelling circus this Summer, cruising around the favourite summer spots of Aotearoa- Shapeshifter with support from Tiki Taane, Sunshine Sound System featuring the Downtown Brown, Killa Puha and Switch, The Fabulous J-Star all the way from the UK, If your close come and check it out... check out www.shapeshifterlive.com for full details..

26th Dec - Mangawhai
27th Dec - Mangawhai
28th Dec - Riwaka
29th Dec - Lake Hawea
31st Dec - Coromandel Gold (sold out)
2nd Jan - Mt Maunganui
3rd Jan - Waihi

Any plans you can share with us for the band next year?


Next Year we will no doubt gather the arsenal and head off shore - just follow the summer. But we really want to do a winter tour in NZ which is something we haven't done for too long so hopefully this winter.

Thanks for your time, is there anything else you'd like to mention?

Yea check out the new releases coming on Truetone in 2010, from J Dubs and Pacific Heights, The PeaceKeepers, and check www.shapeshifterlive.com for details

Churr!

Nick Robinson (Synths, Keys, MPC, bass)

Wednesday, 25 November 2009

Some Highlight Gigs For The Weekend!

Mean week for gettin in on the scene! Here's watts happenin! Ups to team Dynamite & Home Brew doing the double header!


Check the home bill for this one! Friday night hype!
When: Friday
Where: Zen Bar
Cost: $15.00

<----->


69 Steps up to Khuja, so jump on the buddha & get lost in hip hop! It's The Swoop!
When: Friday
Where: Khuja Lounge
Cost: $5.00

<----->


Not too sure what this is about, but it's got Base FM on it & it's at Rakinos, so it's good!
When: Friday
Where: Rakinos Lounge & Bar
Cosr: $5.00 (before midnight)
         $10.00 (after midnight)

<----->

** FUNK FRIDAY SESSIONS **
Spinnin decks solid are Sambro & T Rice! Check their George FM show every Sat from 4pm!
When: Friday
Where: Blacksalt Bar & Eatery
Cost: Free

<----->



If your passin through the wild whacky westside!
When: Saturday
Where: Blacksalt Bar & Eatery
Cost: Free

<----->

** AARON & L.A MITCHELL, DJ DAN PAINE & DJ SAMBRO **
For those who can get in, it should be a night of good sounds! Mean spot too!
When: Saturday
Where: Racket Bar
Cost: Free

<----->


Get in on what should be a massive night of good kiwi sound!
When: Saturday
Where: Rakinos
Cost: $10.00 (From 10pm)

<----->

** ED WAKKA, BEATS BOTANICAL, DJ AUTOMATIC & ROOFTOP COLLECTIVE **
Some more solid homegrown colabs, sounds pretty rootsy!
When: Saturday
Where: Khuja Lounge
Cost: $10.00

<----->


Pins & Digits Live! See the album!
When: Saturday
Where: Ponsonby Social Club
Cost: Free!


Weekend Highlight! PIns & Digits - Live @ Ponsonby Social Club!





Julien Dyne just got back from touring Japan so he'll be on point with his set at the spot! I'm not sure how he does his live sets but I know he's gonna have guests and a DJ with him, so should be mean! The album is crazy from what I've heard (go the the Red Bull Live Sessions) site and watch them! Good shit! But his EP was a nice teaser and the debut album was a wait worth it and has his ideas from over the years mixed well on the LP. So if you've never heard J Dyne or his work....Saturday night will be the perfect introduction! You can't not go g, it's free!

He plays on Wednesdays as the house drummer for The Circling Sun, and that is a weekly favourite with the soul'd out jazz funk he jams with the boys!!! Check em!

Who: Julien Dyne & Friends
Where: Ponsonby Social Club, 152 Ponsonby Rd, Ponsonby
Cost: Free (For people like me, who have no money!)






J Boog - Live @ 420!





J Boog coming to you live from South California, so get irie and rock down for some Ratafari love! And get on it if you can afford it!

Who: J Boog
Where: 4:20 Bar, K Rd, Auckland
Cost: $30.00

Friday, 13 November 2009

Fridays - Wrap Up & Stack Up: Weekly Downloads!



"It's 3 to 6 & I need a fix....." but got no cash for some brews and everyone's out? All good, just download some tracks, kick back, stack up your crates & get horsed on some drumlines, basslines & the sound of solid music to start your weekend! Safer communties together.
This is just a weekly wrap up of music I've seen, heard & been told about during the week for you to download n have a listen to. So wrap up n stack up & get on the feel good buzz!   Next week i'll have a pattern of genre picks


















Kon & Amir - Off Track Vol 1: The Bronx



You Like To Remix? - Enter This!

I'm always down to hear stuff from the locals wether it be, rhymes, remixes, tracks or beats! So submit some & i'll post it! So if you like makin remixes, go to the bro's at Ayebro and show your style.




Thursday, 12 November 2009

Al Green - Live In Auckland!



The man is finally coming to town! Mr Al Green after 42 albums and 11 grammy awards is coming to the NZ to do a one off show in Auckland with a 12 piece band (I hope it's not those band of old men who play straight structured music!) But yeah, now you get to see 'Let's Stay Together' live and you can get your parents xmas present out the way.

What?!: Yes, Al Green Live In Concert!
Where: The Civic, Auckland City
The Cost: A = $198.00 & B = $99.00
Tickets On Sale: Wednesday 18 November

Check the seating plan here

Check The

THE LOCALS - The 5th Estate EP



Mean. I just got an email from a local beatmaker named "Miks" who's teamed up with 2 MC's to make an EP. He didn't say where he was from but solid work! I haven't listened to it yet, but gonna download and have a listen soon. Shot for the link bro and for keepin active on the rhyme! Chuck it in the crate & send in some more sounds!

Brewed & Crated By Micx Ill, TamaGotchi & Miks

ABOUT THE BEATMAKER: "The names Miks, hailing from Mt Wellington, originally from south africa. I been producing since the age of 16, back in the days when i was a teenager before I had status haha but nowadays have found my own destinct type of sounds. I make beats using oldschool soul loops and tend to chop em up in a similar way. My genre I try to push forward is more to the underground cause I don't feel the radio shit people play these days. I dunno, I just love hip hop, check the EP!

Akil The MC - Live @ Zen Bar!



I was waiting on the flyer to post up this one & it sounds pretty tasty! A mean line up of local hip hop so NZ is gonna rock the mic before Akil takes flight! Good gig to roc up and support the locals on the scene aswell as see another of the J5 MC's live in action (member to preview him on bFM on the 26th Nov), shot to the locals who made the bill! Jealous buzz!. Akil has a cool style on the mic, and is enthuastic like the rest which is why I think J5 is solid, because you can hear their enthusiasm along with their mean beats! Well enough talkin and i'll see you at the gig, cause at the price it's at, you gotta go!

When: Friday 27th November
Where: Zen Bar, 17 Albert St, Auckland
Price: $15.00

Monday, 9 November 2009

THE LOCALS - Homegrown Tracks!



Everybody get a bottle out the crate....chur chur! Just some local hip hop to download (old & new) in case you don't have em, so that your crate gets the homegrown goodness that it needs! Shot Ayebro for some tracks, chur!

Hit It & Quit It - Goin Down In The Basement!



The radio show goes down every monday night @ 6pm with Recloose & Cox who jam out dirty funk, soul and disco that'll pick you up a broad to hit it and quit it. Now this is going to be done live in the basement, so dress up to get down and best dressed gets a prize.....or just a chur.

Submit Your Sound - We'll Post It Up!



I'm all for the homegrown sound and keen to promote local material even if it's a rough cut from the garage. Send us some tracks, mixtapes or just any work of yours so I can post it up & let the hood hear it. Honestly keen as so send in the tracks & a lil write up about you & your sound!

Send To:

Akil The MC - Red Bull Live Session



Akil The MC (from Jurassic 5) is coming to the hood soon! He's doin some south island gigs which is solid for the cause then he's up here at Zen to pick up from where Charli 2na left off and keep it Jurassic! But before he steps on stage, he'll be spittin some tracks on a Red Bull Live Session so tune in & see how he styles the mic.

When: Thursday 26 November @ 3.30pm
Where: 95bFM