And now for something completely different, peeps — 80’s megamix, arranged and mixed 100% in Ableton Live.
Turntables > Jog Wheels > Neither
It was very interesting to experiment with such a different approach to reach the same result. No decks, no tracks. Just clips that I can chop, loop and arrange as I want. Fun workflow to add to the live-on-the-decks experience, looking forward to learning more ways to enhance the arsenal with such a versatile program.
Track Listing:
The Pointer Sisters - Automatic
Swing Out Sister - Breakout (Rockin’ mix)
Scritti Politti - Wood Beez
Level 42 - Lessons in Love (Shep Pettibone remix)
Miko Mission - How Old are You
Modern Talking - You’re my Heart, You’re my Soul
Human League - Love Action
Wham - Everything She Wants
Pet Shop Boys - Heart
Corey Hart - Sunglasses at Night
Cyndi Lauper - Girls Just Want to Have Fun
Culture Club - Miss Me Blind
ABC - Tears are Not Enough
Blind Date - Your Heart Keeps Burning
Baltimora - Tarzan Boy
Howard Jones - Things Can Only Get Better
Michael Jackson - The Way You Make Me Feel
Whitney Houston - I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)
Ready for the World - Oh Shiela
The Bangles - Manic Monday
New Order - True Faith
Eurythmics - Sweet Dreams
Yazoo - Situation
Icehouse - No Promises (club mix)
Japan - Quiet Life
courtesy of underwoodpix.com
Have been rocking out to quite a few killer mixes that I haven’t quite gotten around to posting, but GOD. DAMN. This thing is good. Shocker, it is Aeroplane, after all.
1. Phoenix - Lisztomania (Classixx Version)
2. Doves - Jetstream (Lindstrom Remix)
3. Florence And The Machine - Rabbit Heart (Leo Zero Remix)
4. Lowbrows - Dream in The Desert (Flight Facilities Remix)
5. Bent - Always (Mighty Mouse Remix)… Read More
6. Classixx Feat. Jeppe - I’ll Get You
7. Fever Ray - Triangle Walks (Rex The Dog Edit)
8. Peaches - Loose You (Brodinski & Yuksek Dub)
9. Joakim - Nebula Laughter
Was down in SF for gramma’s big 80th birthday fest, so Cryptic, Matthew and I hit up the Green Velvet / Designer Drugs show at Mezzanine. Overcame a Dutch Goose double cheeseburger and arriving to a still pretty sparse dancefloor, and by the end of the night I was fist-pumping and singing along to the GV classics. Very fun show.
I was curious to see Designer Drugs given their blogosphere success over the past few years, not exactly sure if it would be live or a DJ set that consisted of a lot of their productions. It was latter, not superbly mixed (only quick cuts) but he did the job. Got a meandering audience pumped and primed for the headliner, and was fun to hear the electro bangers from my iTunes actually getting played out. Riverside is blowing up!!
To be honest, I didn’t know exactly what to expect from Green Velvet. I knew I had maximum respect since he was listed in Daft Punk’s Teachers, and I have liked all his hits. And his set turned out to be just as I had been imagining — very funky tech house, bordering on techno but I definitely felt it in my hips. And when he flipped his headphones around and started singing, that was epic. Extra points: rocking the sunglasses the entire set in a dark club!
The evening was a fun juxtaposition of old and new for me. Designer Drugs are very much what’s current; Green Velvet has been rocking his sound for a long time. It was refreshing to set aside the latest-and-greatest pursuit for the night, as well as remember back to the 227 glory days when sets like that were standard issue. I feel like expectations have been hard to meet lately, but this show danced around that. Just a fun-ass time, no more no less.
The man responsible for Don’t Stop Til You Get Enough and the moonwalk has been dead for quite some time now as far as I’m concerned, but now he’s actually gone. RIP — your impact was mighty, no matter how freakish the aftermath may have become.
courtesy of underwoodpix.com
Couldn’t quite decide which direction to go, so here are both of the evening’s recordings — an indie one and a clubby one. Was running a bit blind, having just tagged a bunch of new tracks this week. Like making a christmas wish list and then looking in the toy store window and forgetting all about it…
Ok, enough blabber. Here they are.
Track Listing:
Hot Chip - Over and Over (Maurice Fulton Remix)
1gnition - Secret Sunday Lover (Greg Wilson Edit)
Indeep - Last Night a DJ Saved My Life
Gonzales - Let’s Ride (U-GO-B’s Disco Dj Friendly Edit)
Lenka - Trouble is a Friend (Eli Escobar Mix)
Lullatone - Hello Kitty Makes A Band
The Units - High Pressure Days (Headman Rework)
Metric - Help Im Alive (The Twelves Remix)
Little Boots - New In Town (Fred Falke Remix)
Steve Kotey & Max Essa - 1974
Curses! - The Deep End (Holy Ghost! Remix)
Teenager - Alone Again feat. Ladyhawke
Track Listing:
Black Eyed Peas - Boom Boom Pow (Excel Loves Fergie Edit)
Bangers & Cash - B.O.O.T.A.Y. (Krames Edit)
Mujava - Township Funk (DJ Rob 3 remix)
N.W.A. - Something 2 Dance 2
Aquasky - Have A Good Time feat. Acafool (The Count & Sinden Remix)
EPMD - Run It (Sinden Remix)
MSTRKRFT - Bounce feat. NORE (A-Trak Remix)
Chelley vs. Mr Oizo - I Took The Night (DJ Ayres Flatbeat Mix)
Bonde Do Role - Gasolina (Fake Blood Mix)
N.A.S.A. - Money (The Count Of Monte Cristal ‘Dungeon’ Remix)
Edu K - Sexomatic (Chesus and Rodski Refix)
DJ Ayres - Broke Ass Home
Daft Punk - Make Love (Chew Fu and Substantial Small Room Sax Fix)
Haven’t had time or, frankly, been motivated to write about recent shows, but let me start by saying, DAMN that was fun. All the fun of a live band, and that band is playing house music. Plus, Nectar is very small — this meant I had more hipster B.O. to deal with, but it reminded me of seeing Calvin Harris at the little Echo a few years ago.
The energy was amazing — drummer wailing away, Juan (is his name actually Juan?) banging on different percussion implements and even some sort of pitchfork thing that I couldn’t even figure out. All I know, he would wave one hand over it like a band leader while the other vibrato’d like a cellist. It was hot. The annoying asian chick from the Soulwax documentary even got less annoying. Every song was good fun, and they finished up the set with Happy House, naturally. Except it was an epic 20-minute hyperdrive version of it that just wouldn’t end. This also came just after the hipster in front of me left, whose only dance move the entire set had been to elbow my drink like Don Flamenco from Tyson’s Punch-Out, so needless to say I was very excited.
Another thought I had been stewing on since we saw The Twelves back in March was the “live” versus “DJ set” comparison. Everything is steering more toward production, but I have to say, I was underwhelmed by The Twelves’ performance. I love all their tracks, but two dudes sitting behind a laptop for an hour just didn’t keep me on the edge of my seat. With a DJ set, I don’t know what’s going to come next. A master could throw anything at me. Now, after seeing Prodigy and TJM, it was interesting to observe the differences between a live act and an “Ableton Live” act. (You’re not as cool as you think you are, Deadmau5).
I still think a DJ can generate just as much an energy as a band; to a certain extent, just rocking out on stage gets the ball rolling. Personally, I want to work Ableton into the DJ arsenal to expand beyond playing one track after the next, no matter how seamless the transitions are. But dude behind a laptop undertaking minimal cueing on a pre-planned Ableton set is hardly a “live” show just because one is not using decks.
And with that, OoC got out his little rant AND a concert review in one post. Do yourself a favor and listen to Happy House again. So good.
Track listing:
Force Of Nature - To The Brain
Ben Mono - Jesus Was a B-Boy (Shir Khan Remix)
Dynasty - Strokin’
Steve Yanko - Prostitute Pink feat. Antena
Mark Ronson - Hi Feat. Aya
Groove Armada - Drop The Tough (The Twelves B-Live Remix)
Pase Rock - So Fucking Disco (Ruckus Roboticus Remix Ft. Vitamin E)
Louis La Roche - Sunshine Hotel
Sebastien Tellier - Kilometer (Aeroplane ‘Italo 84′ Remix)
Kanye West - Love Locked Down (Ruckus Roboticus Extended Remix)
Metro Area - Dance Reaction
Hercules And Love Affair - Blind (Frankie Knuckles Remix)
Tittsworth - Drunk As Fuck (Meterhead Dark Disco Mix)
Kurtis Blow - The Breaks (vocal version)
U-Tern - Gwen Guthrie vs. Daft Punk (Club Version)
Freeez - I.O.U.
Look who’s back! And I’m coming out guns blazing with this electro house banger. Couldn’t keep myself off the decks any longer, and I think I even got a little misty from all the pent up endorphins. Felt good, and was less shaky on the fx than I was expecting. Love that Soulwax-style flanger!
Back into study hibernation for another week, but up next we have a soulful down-tempo collaboration with the now moustached winner for most FHBD miles logged. Another hipster disco mix in process as well. Maybe that 80s megamix, too. Get ready to be spammed like hell this summer, folks.
Track listing:
Franz Ferdinand - Kiss Me (Dances With White Girls remix)
VHS or Beta - Burn It All Down (Fred Falke remix)
The Presets - Yippyo-Ay
Studio - West Side (Klumpfisk remix)
Deadmau5 vs. Shapeshifters - Lola’s Ghost (The Young Punx mashup)
Mariah Carey - I’ll Be Lovin’ U Long Time (Designer Drugs remix)
Friendly Fires - Skeleton Boy (GRUM remix)
Bag Raiders - Turbo Love
Hot Chip - Touch Too Much (Fakeblood remix)
Wrecker - Tear the Roof Off
Digitalism - Jupiter Room
Etienne De Crecy & Monsieur Jo - Hanukkah (Beni’s Swap Mix)
Brazilian Girls - Jique (MSTRKRFT remix)
Scott Cooper & Andy George - Jump & Twist (Jokers of the Scene remix)
Dance Area - AA 24/7 (Noob remix)
Simian Mobile Disco - I Got This Down
(That’s right, there’s a Mariah Carey track in there. I won’t make a habit of it.)
Ok, so I’ve had a couple late night, I-shouldn’t-be-distracted-by-this-right-now with-11-days-to-go sessions, but it has been a long off season. The A game is still a little dusty, so here is another mix, this time by Deep Sang.
This boogie/funk/house extravaganza won a mixtape competition over on the Low B forums last summer, where I snagged it. Perhaps I thought to bust this ditty back out because, after the 80 degree heatwave that was Sunday, this evening has been all thunder and lightning with a side of rain… Weird.
Deep Sang - Beach Ball Boogaloo mix
Track listing:
Bstrd Boots - Juana Tijuana
DJ Czech - Hard to Handle
Kurtis Blow - The Breaks 04 (dublex rmx)
Lono Brazil - Enfermo Del Amor (Versión Del Alma Del Disco)
Frank Hooker and Positive People - This Feelin’
Instant Funk - I Got My Mind Made up
Beatconductor - Kumbara
John Davis & Monster Orchestra - I Can’t Stop
Sugarloaf Gangsters - Sayin’ It and Doin’ It
Chubby Checker - Move It
Haggis Horns - The Traveler Part 1
Javi Pez Orquesta - Ping Pong (Beatfanatic rmx)
Melchyor A - In Progress
Dennis Ferrer - Dem People Go (DF’s Kicked Out mix)
Eko - M’ongele m’am
Cerrone vs. Louie Vega - Dance Ritual
Salome De Bahia - Cada Vez
Malinga 5 - Kalimbo
Bob Sinclair - Meu Carnival (Dub Mix)
Danny Marquez & Ferry B. - Afrocatalans
Raw Artistic Soul feat. Wunmi - Oya O
This guy still ain’t got no time for mixing, but until he does, please enjoy this tasty mix by Das Moth. Rocked it on the way to work this morning and was compelled to share.
Track listing:
Gary Low - You are a Danger (Romeo Erotic remix)
Young Monday - Sat by the C
Oliver Cheatham - Get Down Saturday Night
Tempest Trio - Do You Like the Way that it Feels
Chaka Khan - Fat (Todd Terje edit)
Deborah Washington - Rock It
Five Special - Why Leave Us Alone (Larry Levan remix)
Patrice Rushen - Forget Me Nots
Tracey Webb - Sure Shot (Instrumental mix)
Chateau Flight - Prism
Frankie Goes to Hollywood - Relax (NY mix)
Black Ivory - Mainline
Aurra - Checking You Out
Jeanette Lady Day - Come Let me Love You
Dynasty - Day and Night