Battery Operated

"Not everyone understands house music; it’s a spiritual thing; a body thing; a soul thing."

Sun, 24 Feb 2008 16:58:41 -0500

“Not everyone understands house music; it’s a spiritual thing; a body thing; a soul thing.”

- Eddie Amador

House Is A Feeling

Sun, 24 Feb 2008 16:26:00 -0500

It always seems to amaze me how house music has changed over the past few decades. At one point house music actually meant something specific and familiar. There wasn’t techno, or trance, or any of the alter-egos of house, there was just house music. It had a feeling. I say this because fast forward 20 years from the early days in Chicago and you now have people coming up to me while I’m playing something like “To Be In Love” from Masters At Work asking me to “stop playing so much techno,” or “can I play something that isn’t chill-out.” Songs like “Sandstorm” by Darude ruined it for everyone. Now everything with a 4/4 beat is techno, to those who don’t know. No matter how much you advertise a specific genre for the night, or how packed the dancefloor is, or how long the person has been in the place, you can’t escape them.

Last night I played a really cool party and it was packed and sweaty and the musique du jour was predominantly crossover house and club hits (David Guetta, Fedde Le Grand, Bob Sinclar, etc…). I dig these tracks and they definitely provide the soundtrack for a hands in the air party.

At what point does house music stop becoming house? Is it a bassline? Is it the beat? The tempo? Can a track that starts off as an underground house record be held responsible for it’s success if it should happen to cross over? Should a house producer be condemned for producing a pop or R & B remix? Producers have to eat. Who is the moral authority these days? Is there a committee I don’t know about? Anyone?

I have some of my early house music 12” records on the wall in my studio to remind me of where it all started. I saw it today as I sit down to produce my weekly electro house mix show for iPartyRadio.com. I doubt that many people would find the parallel between something like Steve Poindexter’s “Work That Motherf**ker” and “Smash Disco” from Vandalism but its there if you search your soul. I wonder what early pioneers of house music such as Larry Heard, Chip E, Marshall Jefferson and Frankie Knuckles think of how their children have grown up.

Slingbox: It's what you want

Wed, 20 Feb 2008 15:40:00 -0500

As if ADD wasn’t bad enough in this day and age, Sling Media just upped the ante for your attention. Although it’s been out awhile, the Slingbox has finally got it right. I received a Slingbox A/V as a gift and all I can say is the future WILL be televised, just on your laptop.

After setting up this little red box to your cable device and the Internet (via a standard Ethernet cable) and installing the Sling Player software everything was up and running, except me and my fiance, who were now glued to the computer, watching our cable, in a cyber cafe. It’s a pretty simple concept, it streams your home cable through your Internet connection to your laptop. It works flawlessly, it’s not perfect quality all the time but its hardly anything to complain about. And if you have an Apple MacBook or MacBook Pro (or other video out on your laptop) you can stream the signal to any standard TV. (of course one that doesn’t already HAVE cable)

This gadget is great if you have work to do in your office, just start the SlingPlayer and waste the day away. At the library doing research? Research whats on on the USA Network and watch a Law & Order marathon instead. As if having the ability to leave the TV and venture to places where you don’t have one was a good thing, now you can become a couch potato wherever you have Internet access. Did I mention that have a player for mobile devices? (Hey Sling Media, wheres my iPhone Player…)

DJ Strobe - Where Do We Go? SBR001 - Hot off the grill.

Wed, 20 Feb 2008 14:38:00 -0500

Buy this and other STROBOTIC RECORDINGS music at:

More stores coming this week…

Good-Knight Rider

Tue, 19 Feb 2008 15:27:00 -0500

The only good thing about the 2008 remake of the campy 80’s TV show “Knight Rider” was the cameo from David Hasselhoff in the last 10 minutes. In this day and age, all the cool technology that went into the car is so old news. Anyone remember the TV show “Viper”? And Val Kilmer as the voice of KITT pales in comparison to the original KITT voiced by William Daniels. Frankly I don’t know if anyone made the connection, but Val sounds less like KITT and more like HAL from 2001 A Space Odyssey. And judging from how effortlessly KITT was hacked into makes me wonder if he might be running Windows Vista. Maybe they should have gone to Apple for the OS. The goofy pictures KITT displayed and “his” comments during the torturous driving scenes were so cheesy it made the 80’s version seem less campy.

Yes the new KITT (Knight Industries THREE Thousand) certianly pays for itself by not needing that expensive collision insurance and the great gas milage certianly is an advantage in these days of high prices at the pump. Did anyone count the number of Ford vehicles blatently shown? Unfortunately what they forgot to equip KITT with was a better plot and script.

This picture of Val Kilmer below is truly ___________ (fill in the blank).

"Music is the wine that fills the cup of silence."

Tue, 19 Feb 2008 14:53:27 -0500

“Music is the wine that fills the cup of silence.”

- Robert Fripp

Where Do We Go?

Tue, 19 Feb 2008 14:41:00 -0500

Even though my single drops at digital stores around the globe today, that is not what this post is about. This single itself has a long history behind it. Back in 2000 I made a white label bootleg with the hook sampled from the original record. Then in 2003 I made another one. Then in 2006 I really set out to actually release it as a record and after Berhouse Snyder (the vocalists) delivered the vocal tracks to me things were set. Many incarnations and remixes later the question has still not been answered. The lyrics “Where do we go from here, now that all of the children are growing up” means so much in this day and time. It can make you reflect on pretty much anything from music to politics, even desciding where to go for dinner. It’s like a musical GPS, but you have to answer the question of where on your own.

Besides that it would make a great bit of tunage for a car commercial or technology company. My image, you see a minivan and the kids heading off to college (or wherever kids go these days when they leave home), the music is playing the and the chorus is going and then the parents look at each other, the beat kicks in and then you see them driving off in one of those mid life crisis cars. And its a no brainer for a technology or communications company. Heck, why not a travel company? Expedia and Travelocity, you listening?

Smoking in the Boys Room

Sun, 17 Feb 2008 12:18:00 -0500

I went to The Firehouse Lounge last night after a few month hiatus and I had forgotten how the deck turns into a huge ashtray the closer it gets to 2am. There is nothing that kills my enjoyment of good house music like hacking up a lung from other peoples need to smoke. Don’t get me wrong, you have every right to torture your body if you so choose, but don’t I have a right to not be tortured in the process? And don’t give me the “well you can go somewhere else or stay home if you don’t like it” speech, because every other state that has introduced and enforced a ban on smoking hasn’t suffered for it and in many cases even prospered. It makes your clothes and hair stink, your eyes burn, and second hand smoke needs no explanation on what it does to your lungs.

Clubs should adopt the what some Airports have done, make a dedicated room where people could smoke. Its very entertaining to look in those glass rooms with people just standing around smoking like a laboratory experiment.

Yet another reason why Pittsburgh is the pitts. They had the smoking ban law passed but then squashed it. Kudos to the owners that decided to uphold it or voluntarily ban smoking in their establishments.

Strobotic Recordings Launch Countdown

Sat, 16 Feb 2008 18:06:00 -0500

Next week will mark the launch of Strobotic Recordings, a digital electronic music label founded by Geoffe Colon and myself. The first release will be my new single “Where Do We Go” featuring vocals by Charles Berkhouse and Barry Snyder of Retro Electro. With remixes galore and more on the way it’s sure to be a good diversion from following celebrity meltdowns. Our music will be available at all the major digital outlets including iTunes, Beatport, Traxxsource, Juno UK, and DJDownloads. Future releases from Viscosity, Soma Mestizo, Zapology, GRIDLOKR and more available in the coming months.

www.stroboticrecordings.com

Soultron Flyer

Sat, 16 Feb 2008 17:51:00 -0500

This is the flyer I designed and made for a new classic soul and funk night spun and hosted by DJ Zimmie. It’s supposed to look like an 8-track tape and although I scanned a real 8-track and made the whole thing look retro and beat to crap the flyer is 4x6 and a real 8-track is 4x5 so it got stretched out but it’s one of my better flyers. www.djzimmie.com

Patrice Rushen - Remind Me (DJ Strobe PostIt Mix). Soulful and...

Sat, 16 Feb 2008 17:46:00 -0500

Patrice Rushen - Remind Me (DJ Strobe PostIt Mix). Soulful and bumping house music.

Daft Punk @ The Grammy's

Sat, 16 Feb 2008 17:31:00 -0500

I knew there was no way Kanye was going to perform “Stronger” at the Grammy’s without Daft Punk even though they never make television appearances. What was kick-ass was their use of the 4 touch screen Lemurs made by Jazzmutant. Manipulating samples and breaking it down to the bits and bytes was pretty damn cool to watch. I want me one. They’re cooler then the return of Night Rider.

Last Night A DJ Saved My Life

Sat, 16 Feb 2008 16:22:00 -0500

Thy name was Chad. Chad is Rad. Chad Elish that is, not the Republic in Africa. Shortly after starting my set last night, my Apple MacBook Pro’s power cable started to smoke and then the happy green light that says “I’m connected and supplying you power” went forever dark, and the music died.

Once again, Chad came to the rescue. Sick as he was, and on his day off, he drove down to the club and brought me one of his extra power supplies and saved the night. It wasn’t the first time Chad saved the night, and it won’t be the last.

So here’s to you Sir Elish. DJ. VJ. Apple Genius. Maker of reuben dip. Hero.

THE VINYL FRONTIER. Elite or Obsolete?

Sat, 16 Feb 2008 16:10:08 -0500

I was reading a local rag whose name shall remain nameless because they refuse to do an article on me, about a DJ and the preservation of vinyl versus going “digital”. I can understand the love of vinyl as someone with a ridiculous amount of it myself, and there are certain selections in my collection that I will take to my grave.

Now [said in the voice of Bill Cosby], let’s be honest for as minute. Having a solid collection, and even continuing to collect those hard to find or missing pieces of circular delight is a noble pursuit. But buying new releases on vinyl, even for hip hop, seems a tad counterintuitive. Vinyl is expensive, the music today is fleeting, and DJs usually don’t have free chiropractic care for the bad backs after carrying record crates for a decade. With few exceptions, the majority of music new and old is available digitally and for less then $150.00 you can buy a USB turntable you can hook right into your computer and rip your vinyl to your hearts content.

So I am NOT saying sell your decks. I’ve had my 1200s since the late 80’s and they’re still rocking. I’m merely suggesting using them in the new and improved way. Get yourself Serato, Final Scratch, or whatever feels good to you, and rock the party with the new era of vinyl. It looks, acts, and feels like the real thing. Before you go off about spinning from a laptop, many of the biggest DJs such as Grandmaster Flash, Jazzy Jeff, Sasha, and Dubfire have already made the switch to digital vinyl, and if Grandmaster Flash, the inventor of the art of scratching, uses it, it’s good enough for you. This is not even including the myriad of people using CD “turntables” such as the Pioneer CDJs. I have a special place where all the iPod and laptop DJ wannabes should go. The computer is not doing the mixing (at least it shouldn’t) and you still need the same skill and technique. You’re just using the computer as the source. And believe me, having your entire collection at your fingertips doesn’t suck either.

Face it, many of the big vinyl distributors and pressing plants have gone out of business. With fewer places to carry vinyl, the demand for the labels is decreasing and one can only think of the inevitable. For everyone involved, the financial aspect is much better as well for going digital. Vinyl endures normal wear and tear, scratches, warping, thievery, angry ex girlfriends, etc. Thats a good $5 and up investment per record that’s had it’s last needle drop. They take up space exponentially. They’re heavy in large quantities. The artists and even labels, make less per unit on vinyl. Theres the pressing, manufacturing, distribution and retial markup. They just don’t spend the time on the artwork for the jackets like the they used to.

Digital is just the better model for the industry, at least for the artists, independent labels, DJs, and consumers. You can get most of the records you want for under $2.00, and you can back up your library to a hard drive or DVD for safe keeping. Because your music has been converted to 1’s and 0’s doesn’t mean your music has been degraded and that you’ve sold out. It means you’re a smart artist and label and want to continue to make money in the Information Age. You can say that by only offering it on vinyl you’re keeping it real, but pretty soon you’ll be keeping it real…real broke.

Bigger artists are buying back their catalogs from the majors and releasing them online, partly because major labels have been so behind in catching up and getting the content out there in addition to not making adjustments to the legacy deals the artists had with them. C’mon, if you have a 20 year old record on Epic, the cost in making it available digitally is so small and there’s no manufacturing or distribution involved other then uploading the music and the small fees online eTailers take so kick the artist back a bigger share before they all realize they don’t need you anymore. (Just look at what Radiohead was able to do.) Established artists with large fan bases stand to make significantly more money marketing directly to the fans and bypassing the major labels altogether, especially when most of them are more interested in selling ringtones then quality music.

I realize I went off on a little tangent so getting back to the topic, there will always be proponents of “real” vinyl versus digital vinyl and enough support for both to have many healthy debates on the subject. But to all those still on the fence, what are you waiting for? Technology is our friend.

Photo

Sat, 16 Feb 2008 13:48:26 -0500