Beatsource

After months of hype Beatsource is finally here.  Unfortunately I am waiting for my the payment from my last gig to clear before I buy more music, but a quick perusal of the store shows some serious potential.  Although they are lacking in some of the major releases, searches for Dr. Dre and Snoop were disappointing, they do have tons of underground and classic acapellas.  I am looking forward to checking it out and finding some key tunes.

-Charles Cushman

Mr. Orizo "Flat Beat"

A little tired tonight and couldn't pull my mind together for a solid post.  So here is a blast from the past thanks to Beatportal, Mr. Orizo's flat beat, one of the first techno songs that I wanted to own.

-Charles Cushman

Sean Nash

Over on the crack, I mean ALDJ I have met several great guys, but no one has inspired me like Sean.  A one time aldj, he has gone back to using CDJs for DJing, but is still using Ableton to produce with.  And produce he does.  It seems like at least once a week he has a new track that he is trying out, and each track is better than the rest.

What's really great is that a couple of his tracks have been released on an EP.  It just goes to show you that talent will be discovered.

Something for Nothing

Below is a posting that I cam across on Craig's List.  I found it to be, well, interesting.  As a sometime club DJ I am always interested in opportunities to DJ, and I have promoted parties at a loss just so that I could get in the door at a club.  However, as a mobile DJ I would never pay money to DJ.  It just does not make sense.  But that does not stop people from trying to get something for free.  In the posting below a couple is requesting a wedding DJ to play at their reception.  I understand being on a budget, my wife and I held our wedding in the backyard of her Dad's house.  Yet to ask for a professional to provide their services for free when you plan on having 200 guests....
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This letter is for businesses that wish to branch out with new advertising ideas. We are thrilled to be getting married next year on August 30th. We have been together since our teenage years, now going on 6 years, and wish to start off our lives without wedding debt. I just graduated SDSU and am excited about my next venture and opportunities in life. My mom always dreamed of making me a fairy tale wedding but as a single hard working woman it has been difficult. Any help, products or services from you would relieve her of the pressure she is under. We will be having many of our young friends attending who will be great potential clients. I am well connected in my community through work and social events and would be thrilled to spread the word of your good deeds. How would you like to sponsor a portion of our wedding and reach new, exciting advertising avenues? This will be a large wedding with over 200 guests. We can discuss ways to promote your company if you partake in a part of our day such as limo, food, flowers, photography, videographer, linens, favors, chairs, chair covers, balloon or any free standing decorations, gazebo, DJ, etc. This will be a win-win situation for all involved. Not only will you showcase your fantastic work and /or products but also get the praise for it. You will be attaining priceless advertising for the day beforehand, during, and afterwards. Thank you in advance for making our day the best it could be.
Sincerely,
a very hopeful and optimistic bride

EXY San Diego

Last Friday I DJed at EXY in downtown San Diego. EXY had a great vibe that reminded me of some of the restaurants that I loved in San Francisco. What really surprised me was their DJ set-up. I was not expecting much, but they had definitely thought ahead and planned for the laptop DJ. Both the mixer and the dual CD player were Denon. But what surprised me was that they had coupled the matrix input of the mixer with a patch panel.  Plugging in my sound card was a snap and once I selected the channels on the mixer I was up and running.  No digging in the back of the mixer.  Even better, for guys that brought their own TT's they had two channels set-up for that along with a grounding post.

Justify It

One of the major complaints that people have about Ableton DJs is that they have lost the interaction with the music because that are not beat matching. The rebuttal to that argument is that by using Ableton we as DJs have so much more power available to us through effects and multiple channels that our DJing sets have a potential to be much more exciting. Unfortunately, many Ableton users don't back that up, but instead do a traditional a-b approach that looses the organic nature of having to manually beat match but has no gain from using computers.

Danny Stamp, a DJ based out of London falls into hat category. And this posting is not intended to bash on him by any means, far from that. In reviewing one of Danny's recent mix I told him that although the mix was decent, it did not take me to the next level and suggested that he break out of the two channel paradigm. Being the big man that he is, Danny listened to the criticism and gave four channel mixing a try.

Below is Danny's mix along with my review from the ALDJ forum:

Danny Stamp - Mood Music (tech/deep house)
http://www.myspace.com/dannystamp

Decided to do something different and try running a mix with 2 or 3 channels pretty much constantly on the go, with 4 active at some points. It's allowed me to squeeze in some tracks I otherwise wouldn't have been able to include. Tracklisting may be confusing as some tracks are only used for a small portion of the mix.

Download it here (right click save as)

Total time: 61:09

[01] Tarekith - Coil - [artist MP3 - www.tarekith.com]
[02] Andy Stott - Massacre - [Modern Love]
[03] Tarekith - Tidal - [artist MP3 - www.tarekith.com]
[04] Ricardo Villalobos - Primer Encuentro Latino-Americano - [Sei Es Drum]
[05] Rufus Wainwright - Tiergarten (Supermayer remix) - [Polydor]
[06] Gel Abril - Very Wrong (Chaim remix) - [Be As One Imprint]
[07] Cirez D - Teaser (Deadmau5 remix version 2) - [Mouseville]
[08] Marascia & Dusty Kid - Plumbi - [Boxer Recordings]
[09] Daniel Portman - White Russian - [Unreleased Digital]
[10] The Rice Twins - Goatee - [K2]
[11] Anja Schneider - Belize - [Mobilee]
[12] Danton Eeprom - These Eyes - [Fondation Records]
[13] Henry & Denis - Catabolism (Efdemin remix) - [Dessous Records]
[14] Efdemin - Just a Track - [Dial]
[15] Samuel L Session feat Elbee Bad - Off the Chain (main mix) - [Klap Klap]
[16] Andreas Heiszenberger - Perfect Moment (Efdemin's Cremant De Cramant mix) - [Brut!]
[17] Gabriel Ananda - Trommelstunde - [Karmarouge]
[18] The Rice Twins - Can I Say - [K2]
[19] Oliver Moldan Pres. Prawler - Club 69 (Jim Rivers Club 96 mix) - [Audio Therapy]
[20] Danton Eeprom - All I Can Say (Shonky's remix) - [Freak 'n' Chic]
[21] DJ Koze - All the Time - [Philpot]
[22] Paul Kalkbrenner - Press On (Joris Voorn remix) - [BPitch Control]
[23] Jamie Lloyd - May I (Quarion remix) - [Future Classic]

My review:

"So I gave the mix a solid listen this morning. First off I am impressed that you are making an effort to push the boundaries. It takes a lot to put yourself out there like that, and if you don't mind I want to post a blog about this.

I enjoyed your mix. I think that this mix had a much looser feeling to it than the last one, and the way the tracks came in and out it felt more traditional just because the rising energy. However, after 45 minutes of listening sonically my brain needed a rest from all the activity that was going on. I think it was Richie Hawtin that said that the silence is just as important as the music.

What I think you should work on developing is a balance of straight a-b mixing and layering of sounds (either as loops or just multiple songs). What I would suggest is start mixing a-b with a couple of extra channels left open. As you are playing and cueing songs you will hear things, maybe a riff, some drums, or a voice that stands out and makes you think, this would really work good withe the song that is playing. When you hear that, bring that element in. You can either loop that element throughout a song, or grab several elements and play with the transition. The key is to be free and experiment. by fine tuning your approach a little, i.e. I have 4 channels open to me, but I don't have to use them all of the time, you will let your mix breath. Overlay 4 elements and bring the energy way up and then drop that bass line for that key track and let it play.

You are definitely on to something here so keep up the good work."

- Charles Cushman

Dimension Zero - God Part II

Here is another fun track that could be fun to play out. Check out God Part II

Music Promotion via MusicSubmit.com

Webpage: http://www.dimensionzero.com
Location: Salt Lake City, UT, USA
Description: Civil wars with chainsaws and robots. An Electronic Industrial Rock band plays a Nintendo synth with vocals performed by Jim Morrison's psychotic step-cousin. Big Band brass accompanies the 1940s noise massacre of women and children, this is Scythe.
Biography: Dimension Zero, a concept born from the inspiration of the European computer underground "demo" scene in 1992. Unlike traditional musical projects, Dimension Zero originated as an online distributor for graphical/musical computer demos created by groups like Future Crew, ACiD, and The Humble Guys. Monty Singleton, the SysOp (System Operator) of Dimension Zero was fascinated by the possibilities of what could be created on a personal computer and began experimenting with electronically generated music. Raised with a strong background in classical piano and an addiction to computers, creating electronic music was a natural progression and Dimension Zero was born. "My lyrics are reflective of my views and philosophies about my cultural surroundings more than anything else." Monty explains. Raised under strong religious and cultural influences from the small town of Layton, UT, Monty says his lyrics "Let me explore and analyze my thoughts under a microscope. It’s more of a discovery process about the society I live in and how that society shapes who I am. Hopefully this will help me learn more about myself and society as a whole." Inspired from bands such as Depeche Mode, U2, Nine Inch Nails, Faith No More, Elvis, and Michael Jackson, Dimension Zero’s music blends so many styles that Artist Interviews’ writer Mauricio Saravia says "deserves to be in a category of it’s own." With worldwide radio airplay with hits such as "Static Space", having a remix hand picked by Chuck D’s founder Public Enemy from hundreds of other remixers, "Public Enemy No. 1 (Dimension Zero redu)" was included on the Japanese release of their album "Revolverlution", Dimension Zero has received critical acclaim from around the world. Fans include Germany's Snuff Pop Inc. founder Ant who called Static Space a "Masterpiece", and Gods Of Music reviewer Josh Richmond who said "Radio friendly, extremely good, and very impressive."
Press Release: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Monty Singleton 801.241.4444 info@dimensionzero.com www.dimensionzero.com DIMENSION ZERO RELEASES DEBUT LP "SCYTHE" WITH FIRST #1 CNET HIT REPLICA AND ELECTRONIC INDUSTRIAL COVER OF U2's "GOD PART II" FROM MULTI-PLATINUM ALBUM "RATTLE & HUM" Dimension Zero has just released their electronic industrial debut LP, Scythe. "RePLiCa", a fan favorite on the new album, was CNET’s first #1 hit on their music service with over 10,000 downloads in one week. Garageband calls Dimension Zero "Epic Greatness." Dimension Zero will be touring the West United States starting fall. Scythe spawns a world of sound where civil wars use chainsaws and robots as weapons. Radioactive oceans surround a Big Band during the 1940 noise massacre of women and children. In a destroyed multiplex, an Industrial Electronic Rock band is playing a Nintendo synth with vocals performed by Jim Morrison's psychotic step-cousin. Scythe can be purchased from CD Baby, iTunes, and digital resellers worldwide. For more information, please contact Monty Singleton at info@dimensionzero.com ###