This clip of @KLEVERSWORLD in 2000 reminded me why I love DJ skills so much. #NoTurntablism
Max Frost - “White Lies” - It’s nice to be clued into someone that you know is about to blow it out of the water. Max Frost is that someone.
One of the key difference between the “electronica” craze of the 1990s and today’s EDM scene is the fact that vinyl is pretty much unheard of as a means to play or sell music. Back in the ’90s, the turntable was outselling the guitar and being looked at as an instrument, and not just something to play music on; today, if you have a good DJ controller and a laptop with Serato, there’s no reason for a turntable to be in your life. With that loss of the art of vinyl and how it pertains to DJing, there are certain skills and techniques that DJs who learned on that medium just don’t have today. Not to say that a DJ coming up now can’t be as technically skilled as someone from that era, but without that knowledge, they learn different skills… or find ways to bypass the need for those skills to work on their mixing and whatever effects they bring to the table. The art of that kind of older DJ is not lost however. There are DJs who cut their teeth on the older model and are now helping shape the dance music scene. Some of the names are obvious, while others might not be as known, but these DJs have the skills to really excite a crowd through the art of turntablism. Here are the most skilled DJs in EDM right now.
The Last Zulu @QTipTheAbscract sits down with @chairmanmaonyc to discuss some of his classic material.
Highlights include tales of Q-Tip producing records for Kanye, Mobb Deep and Nas, as well as mentions of Ken “Duro” Ifill, Bob Power, The Jungle Brothers, Red Alert etc. He also plays a ridiculous unreleased Kanye track he worked on that samples Billy Joel’s “Movin’ Out”. Oh yeah, and the first time Tip met Dilla was through Amp Fiddler, who was playing keyboards for P-Funk at the time.
Also, in a moment of honesty Tip responds to a question about clubs and sound systems that most influenced him, and he talks about how people just don’t really get sweaty and down enough these days in the dance. Cue Latin Quarters and Union Square stories, as well as a discussion about the club as a spiritual place, and one of congregation.
Beat juice right here from my guy Max Klaw ( @TheMaxKlaw ). His album Waiting For The Drop is out on Gold Whistle,and available on Beatport.
All-time jimmy-jam: Aretha Franklin - I say a little prayer
This has to be my favorite photo of HR.
HR, Madam’s Organ, DC; 1980. By Lucien Perkins, from the book Hard Art, DC 1979.
Via Jose Mejia.
This guy @glenefriedman drops so much reality on @Combat_Jack right here. Not for the faint of heart and NSFW.
Glen Friedman was a pioneering photographer and documentarian of the Dogtown era of the skate world in California. He was also a full-fledged member of and contributor to the same world. Later on, he came into his roll as the west coast representative for Def Jam Records. Glen came up photographing punk bands, The Beastie Boys and numerous other sub-culture crazies like himself. He’s also a vegan of twenty two years, and a very hard person to argue with about anything, as is evidenced by this interview.
My favorite part is definitely when Glen talks about how he brought slam-dancing back to LA from New York. Oh, and he managed Suicidal Tendencies. No big whoop.
James Murphy talks about how the Violent Femmes were a “rights of passage” band and much more care of @RMBA
There is a film in the works about HR from Bad Brains. His voice has no match, and his story is unreal. Small Axe films is making the film, but they are underfunded. There’s only a week left, and they need $10,000 plus to make it happen. The Kickstarter for this project is here.
Thanks to @TheFutureFM for featuring my latest mix on their front page last week. The Future pays royalties to the artists/copyright holders included on a DJ mix, as well as the DJ that posts the mix on their site. It would be great to see model this work for DJs and musicians alike. Stream my mix for Black Scale clothing above.
Saturday Morning Cartoons: Jackson Five Ep. 1 - Diana Ross comes to town and finds Michael Jackson’s…snake in her dressing room.
Good Listenin’: Cosmo Baker’s Top Ten Mix 16. Cos bein’ Cos. Vibes-a-nice material.
A trove of LA DJ history via @TheCutOnLine and their interview with LA legend @MrChocFan4 - The more time I spend in LA, the more interested I become in it’s DJ history, because it’s just as important as New York’s. It’s great to have gotten out to LA to really connect with folks that built the DJ game here. The way they approach everything is inspirational, because they respect each other, and they support one another. NY, take notes…
