MetaFilter posts tagged with dj

JoJo Cookin' kicks off your weekend

absqua — Wed, 08 May 2013 21:55:28 -0800

Write this song down: WORD. UP. This'll get you $106 if you count to win ON THE Q! Howard Stern on JoJo Kincaid on SoundCloud. [via reddit]

Keepintime: documentaries and collaborations between drummers and DJs

filthy light thief — Sat, 20 Apr 2013 13:34:24 -0800

Keepintime started as a simple idea, to bring some of the most revered and notable L.A. session drummers together for a photo shoot, then have them talk about the recordings that were famous to hip-hop DJs and producers, with some top LA beat jugglers. From that effort in 2002 came the short film, Keepintime: Talking Drums and Whispering Vinyl (2 parts on YouTube). The short documentary toured around, and in 2002, along with the screening, some of the drummers and DJs put on a live improvised show in Los Angeles. From that 2 hour show, a 45 minute film was made: Keepintime - A Live Recording. Later that year, after screening the short film in England, the Keepintime crew were invited to Brasil, to team up with Brasilian percussionists of renown, and make a beat record. They also put on an epic live show. That whole enterprise was made into an almost two-hour long documentary, Brasilintime. More information on the artists inside. The original Keepintime photo shoot was to include Roy Porter (YouTube sample track), Earl Palmer (short bio video), Paul Humphrey (YT sample track) and James Gadson (YT sample video). The DJs were Babu (sample video), J.Rocc (sample video) and Cut Chemist (sample video). The session was filmed by Brian Cross (aka B+) and J.Rocc, who is also a prolific videographer. Unfortunately, Roy Porter passed away before that first session took place, though the video director, B+, had interviewed Porter earlier. For the extended live session in Los Angeles that took place in 2002, Gadson and Humphrey were joined by Derf Reklaw (note: autoplaying music; live performance clip), with Madlib (live clip)and DJ NuMark (live clip) joining the DJs. In Brasil, some of the crew re-assembled. Cut Chemist left a tour with Jurrassic 5, while J.Rocc and Babu flew twenty four hours straight from Japan to get there. James Gadson turned down a tour with Beck to make it. Paul Humphrey and Derf Reklaw were also there, where they met João Parahyba (Google auto-translated bio; live clip), Wilson das Neves (performance clip), Mamão (Ivan Conti) (performance clip), and DJ Nuts (live clip) as their guide to the local hip-hop scene. For more history of how Keepintime came about, Directors Notes interviewed Brian Cross about the first short documentary. Red Bull Music Academy, who invited the Keepintime crew to Brasil, previewed a rough cut of the film, opening first with a 41 minute lecture from Brian Cross (B+), seen here on Vimeo. Brian also has 318 photos from the Brasilintime session. Both Mochilla and Ninja Tune released Keepintime Live on DVD with a bonus CD, or those CD tracks on vinyl. The Ninja Tune edition included a 13 track CD (Grooveshark stream). Mochilla also released a 2xDVD set of Brasilintime. As a parting note, Earl Palmer passed away in 2008, living long enough to not only meet some of the DJs who really appreciated his drumming, but also getting to tour wit them and perform live improvisations around the world.

The Gaslamp Killer: West Coast Weird Beats, Turkish Psych, Astral Jazz

filthy light thief — Sun, 17 Feb 2013 10:57:18 -0800

William Benjamin Bensussen is a DJ and producer who started DJing in San Diego's Gaslamp Quarter, where his weird, heavy sound was generally a dancefloor killer, earning him the name The Gaslamp Killer But he kept at it, and found a home in Los Angeles, performing with the Low End Theory crew. On December 1, 2012, Gaslamp Killer joined an ever-growing list of notable DJs and appeared on BBC Radio 1 with an Essential Mix "This runs the gamut, freak flag and spliff waving in the air. 2 brutal and beautiful hours of raw beats, boom bap, and Birdman. There is psych-rock, there is juke, there is Spaghetti Western. Exclusives from Lotus, HudMo, and Dilla." If you like what you hear, there's even more below the break. Though Bensussen has been DJing for quite a while, he hasn't released that many original works. His wide accolades came for his work on Gonjasufi's A Sufi and a Killer (prev). It wasn't until last September that the first Gaslamp Killer album, Breakthrough (YT playlist), was released.

It's a run of occasionally disorienting, sometimes frantic, usually unnerving trips into distinct corners of psychedelic and experimental influence that spark briefly to reveal vivid life and fade out just as quickly.

With that, there are quite a few of his mixes online, giving a broader view of his musical influences and tendencies.

Gaslamp Killers (Soundcloud stream | partial tracklist and MP3 download) 2007
It's A Rocky Road vol. 1 (Grooveshark | Discogs tracklist) 2007
It's A Rocky Road vol. 2 (Grooveshark | Discogs tracklist) 2007
We Make It Good Mix Series Volume 5 (info, MP3 stream/download | Discogs tracklist) 2008
All Killer: Finders Keepers Records 1-20 Mixed by The Gaslamp Killer (MySpace stream | tracklist on Discogs) 2009
Hell and the Lake of Fire Are Waiting For You! (4 of 5 tracks on YT | Discogs tracklist) 2009
Daylight Fades into Dawn (Grooveshark | MP3 download | incomplete tracklist at MixesDB) 2009
A Decade of Flying Lotus (YT playlist | Discogs playlist) 2010
Death Gate EP (MySpace, 3 of 5 tracks | EP tracklist on Discogs) 2010
Fast Times at Ridgemont High mix for the Cinespia movie screening (MP3 download, no tracklist) 2011
Flange Face / Seven Years Of Bad Luck For Fun (MySpace stream | release on Discogs) 2012
Resident Advisor podcast RA.329 (Soundcloud stream/download | RA information page/interview) 2012
Boiler Room 75 minute mix (info and Soundcloud stream/download | YouTube video of the performance) 2012

A whole lot more:

More Gaslamp Killer mixes and tracks to stream and download at Dublab
Low End Theory Club podcasts, 19 posted to date, including some mixes by GLK
Gaslamp Killer on YouTube, sharing a variety of videos from his life, including The Gaslamp Killer's 23rd birthday morning solo drum session

Interviews with The Gaslamp Killer:

"I always knew, really, that I was a late night person."

bashos_frog — Mon, 11 Feb 2013 07:29:34 -0800

Derek Morris is a septuagenarian former Cadbury's accountant from Bristol. He works a straight 9 to 5. That is 9pm to 5am, because he's also a legendary reggae DJ who M.C.s in Jamaican patois. His album is here (and part 2 of the video is here).

DJ Schmolli - Perfect Love

WCityMike — Sat, 22 Dec 2012 10:26:53 -0800

DJ Schmolli - Perfect Love. In a previous FPP a number of Mefites liked his work, so I thought I'd pass this new piece of his along for your mashup viewing pleasure.

'Listen to the bass go Boom!': creating the Mama Said Knock You Out instrumental

the mad poster! — Sun, 22 Jul 2012 17:10:38 -0800

great short video: Marley Marl, the producer of LL Cool J's 'Mama Said Knock You Out', recreates the beat, explaining its component elements and releasing a never-heard-before snippet of alternate LL vocals: "he says, 'hey, I got a sample that is so dope.' He pulls out Sly and the Family Stone..."

Mood Music, Volume 2

Bora Horza Gobuchul — Sat, 09 Jun 2012 01:57:15 -0800

Days of music and ambient audio served up with no searching, little setup, and no subscription:

PartyCloud (Flash) auto-syncs millions of musical tracks to create your own mixes.
75 minutes of thunder and rain; a half-hour audio recording in the Amazon rainforest; 24 hours of the engines of the starship Enterprise at idle (previously).
Sonos Terra mixes musical tracks with ambient background sounds (jungle, stream, ocean, and more).

Previously mentioned, You Are Listening To has expanded its roster of city broadcasts to include Austin, Baltimore, Minneapolis, and more. Post intended as something of a sequel to this, previously.

John Peel's Record Collection

jontyjago — Tue, 01 May 2012 06:43:27 -0800

John Peel's Record Collection "Online interactive digital museum" The Space has begun the mammoth task of digitising DJ John Peel's record collection. Now, nearly 8 years after his death, the first 100 albums under the letter A are ready, with a new letter to be released every week. With bonus content such as photos, Peel Sessions and samples of radio shows (Spotify may be required for some audio), it's a fascinating look inside the great man's never-ending enthusiasm for music.

DRUNKEN TRUMPET

256 — Tue, 01 May 2012 00:37:07 -0800

This is Kid Koala refuting any possible argument that a turntable is not an instrument. (SLthreeyearoldYT)

FAC51

oneirodynia — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 15:42:52 -0800

DJ Greg Wilson has photos of the Haçienda DJ Booth (no, not the one you're thinking of). DJ Hewan Clarke who played every night for the first four years talks about what it was like in the early days of the Haçienda: What I used to do when I was playing the records… I always had to go out, run onto the stage, stand in the middle of the stage and listen to how it sounded in the club, went back in and readjust it on the mixer and I was constantly doing that because there was no feedback from what was going on outside, you just had to look through that gap. The Haçienda was a Manchester nightclub essentially financed by Factory Records band New Order. Before it birthed the Madchester scene, the dj played in one of the worst dj setups ever conceived.

The Last DJ

Argyle — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 11:04:19 -0800

There goes the last DJ, who plays what he wants to play, and says what he wants to say - Long time fixture on Los Angeles radio, freeform disc jockey Jim Ladd surfaces once again on satellite radio after been unceremoniously booted off terrestrial radio. Ladd, the inspiration of Tom Petty's Last DJ album, is one of the few remaining DJs allowed choose what to play and not follow a playlist from a program manager. (via blogging.la)

Catsik ft. Exkitten - Swagga

gman — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 08:58:50 -0800

Contrary to popular belief, cats can make great DJs. It's just a small sample, but it's nice to see him really get into it as the set progresses.

Kim Jong Illin'

The Discredited Ape — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 13:25:54 -0800

Kim Jong-il Dropping The Bass

Here are some recent DJ mixes for you to enjoy.

beaucoupkevin — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 04:58:00 -0800

If you're looking for some uplifting dance music to help you get your week going, Goldroom's Otoño Mix 2011 is a very soulful nu-disco collection that pairs nicely with The Magician's Magic Tape Sixteen. Need something with more energy? Edwin van Cleef's November mix is a bit more hands in the air, perfectly suited for the elimination of afternoon doldrums. Of course, if you're looking for pure adrenaline, Fear of Tigers has two collections of his remixes up for grabs in advance of the new album.

Mayor of the Sunset Strip, Rodney Bingenheimer documentary

planetkyoto — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 21:25:25 -0800

In Southern California in the 1980s, KROQ had this weird un-DJ-like guy named (seriously) Rodney Bingenheimer, who came on late at night on Sundays and played punk records and new bands like Blondie, The Ramones, X, Joan Jett, Devo and Cheap Trick. Did this weirdo really have some influence? A 90-minute 2004 documentary now on YouTube, Mayor of the Sunset Strip (Part 1) tells his story, and it's weirder than you may have imagined. Literally abandoned at age 16 by his autograph-hound mother in front of Connie Stevens' L.A. home, Bingenheimer embedded himself in the L.A. music scene and never left. Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7

DJ Zhao

Trurl — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 08:24:12 -0800

DJ Zhao brings contemporary and classic dance music together from all five continents, with focus on Africa. While his DJ sets reach from culture centers to remote areas of the globe, and from now back through the ages, DJ Zhao’s remix and mashup work directly connects “East” and “West”, acoustic and electronic, traditional and hyper-modern. Equal parts ethno-musicologist and booty shaker, Zhao is an ambassador of boom not only talking about, but demonstrating through raw sound experience, the underlying unity of all earth cultures and peoples. Those interested in hearing more might start with FUSION 2: Ancient Futurist Illbient Dub or Radio Ngoma 6: Afro-Futurism.

DJ Bronco's Brasilian Soul Mix

Tom-B — Fri, 19 Aug 2011 16:43:15 -0800

Single-link-1-hour-Brazilian-music-mix-filter: DJ Bronco's Brasilian Soul Mix. No playlist, but does contain awesomely solid Brazilian tunage... enjoy!

No Breasts, No Requests

PeterMcDermott — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 10:14:20 -0800

If you are dancing in a way that could create a baby/fetus/alien -- STOP! It is not behooving of you and awkward.

No Breasts No Requests is a tumblr collection of signs found in and around the DJ booth.

Two turntables and a microphone (microphone sold separately)

narwhal bacon — Wed, 13 Jul 2011 21:23:25 -0800

The Wheels Of Steel: Turntables in your browser (a web-based DJ prototype) Scott Schiller has created turntables in your browser, and has written an extensive blog post about how it works. There are even a couple of videos in case you can't get it working: Cute Points (Sampling) Demo and Cueing, Pitch and Beat Matching / Mixing Demo.

DEMF - A Decade On

gman — Sun, 15 May 2011 08:04:58 -0800

DetroitTechno.org presents a documentary (1 2 3) about the history and politics of techno with a focus on the Detroit Electronic Music Festival, now called Movement, from its inception in 2000 until the most recent one in 2010. Here is this year's line-up for the end of May, as well as some set videos from last year's festival of Booka Shade (1 2 3), Derrick May (1 2), Richie Hawtin (1 2 3 4), and Marco Carola (1 3 4 6).

Leo Justi

jason's_planet — Sun, 27 Feb 2011 08:41:51 -0800

Good morning. I know that every second of weekend freedom is precious to you so I won’t waste your time with superfluous verbiage. Or superfluous links, for that matter. So here goes: Leo Justi is a DJ from Rio De Janeiro. He has quite a few tracks on his Soundcloud page but the three that come highly recommended are: "Dunno Riddim (Kid Conga Remix Instrumental)", "Floor Crank 3.3" and (mildly NSFW language)"Blacqstar – Go Get My Gun (Leo Justi Remix of Carli’s Remix)".

Amon Tobin: a classical composer of the hip-hop age

filthy light thief — Sun, 20 Feb 2011 17:31:07 -0800

Happy belated 39th birthday, Amon Adonai Santos de Araújo Tobin, or as most folks call you, simply Amon Tobin. The Brazilian-born producer first released music as Cujo, and has since moved on to his own name, with five albums and a slew of EPs and singles released since 1997, plus two video game soundtracks, and a film soundtrack. He also has an EP of collaborations, side projects with Joe "Doubleclick" Chapman as 60hz and Two Fingers. And that's the overview ... (music samples a-plenty inside, or you could skip the chatter and listen to much of Amon Tobin's discography streaming on his website). Amon Santos de Araújo was born in Brazil on February 7, 1972, though he moved away from South America with his family, ending up in England. At some point he took his Irish stepfather's last name, and is now known as Amon Tobin. It wasn't until he was in college that he started making music, signing to the now-defunct NINEBARecords as Cujo. Though there are rumored early "ambient singles" for a mysterious HOS label, Amon Tobin's first known release came out in 1995 (samples: Curfew, Lazy Daze, Trespassing, and Apollo), which had some of what would become his signature sound of dark, jazzy percussion, but also some definite influence from hip-hop. Within a year, his sound was more refined, and he really came into his own with the album Adventures in Foam (YT playlist - the actual first track is linked here as the playlist order is wonky). The album was re-released in the United States on the now-dead Shadow Records label with a slightly different tracklist, including Clockwork, an almost exclusive track that was mis-titled therein as The Sequel, which is all-together a different track. The US edition also featured drastically different cover art that wasn't approved by Amon Tobin, according to the notes from Ninja Tune with their re-re-release of the album. The work of Cujo got noticed by folks signed to Ninja Tune (prev., twice), and he started his career as Amon Tobin with the Creatures EP in 1996, the title track to be featured on his 1997 album, Bricolage (streaming). This album has been likened to a living jungle of sound, with urban moments creeping out; Pitchfork reviewers gave the album a perfect 10, putting it "[u]p there with classic albums by Quincy Jones and Miles Davis." The abstract album art was taken by Strictly Kev (aka DJ Food) when he was on tour, capturing "Olympic Iliad" by Alexander Liberman. Those photos were the stock material that was later tweaked for a couple related singles and EPs. The next year, a prolific Tobin releases his 3rd album, Permutation (streaming). The album features a number of nods to David Lynch within the album, and Tobin says he worked from more freeform rhythmical patterns and styles of jazz versus his prior bent towards the Brazilian sounds. In that interview, he also mentions making new breaks out of 16 or so percussion samples, giving his work a much more live feel than typical sample-based music of the period. Strictly Kev says the album art comes from "some kind of air conditioning unit" and "a badly lit neon sign somewhere inside a venue", layered and tweaked, with some 1960s architecture magazine imagery added for good measure. Tobin's fourth album, the third to his name, came out in 2000. Supermodified (streaming) is largely considered Amon Tobin's most "accessible" work to date (for good or for ill), complete with a key track (4 Ton Mantis) being made into a music video and getting used in ads. Again, Strictly Kev found himself using an Alexander Liberman sculpture as the basis of the album art, brainstorming with Amon Tobin about the permutations of an image based on the Photoshop effects and layers applied. In 2002, Ninja Tune re-re-released that first Cujo album, Adventures in Foam, six more tracks than the original NINEBARecords version (The Brazilianaire, 4 or 6 (sample)), Mars Brothers, Popsicle, The Light (fan-made vid), and The Sequel (MySpace)). Amon Tobin moved from UK to Canada, living in the business district of Old Montreal to avoid noise complaints. Along with changing locations, his music-making process was changing, too.

"When I first started, I used to throw out a lot, but maybe because I've now got more control of my sounds, now the music is closer to the original idea I had in the beginning. Before I'd find a sound and just put it with another sound to see what happens. Sometimes it would lead somewhere and sometimes it wouldn't, whereas now that random element is somewhat tapered, so the ratio has improved, but I might throw away maybe one in four tracks."

The 2002 album, Out from Out Where (streaming), was the product of this new process, resulting in "post-modern science fiction [that] stands heads above the rest." Accompanying the album were two music videos, one for Verbal (director: Alex Rutterford) and Proper Hoodidge (director: Corine Stübi). The artwork by Strictly Kev is sourced from unbuilt Gundam robots that are then re-assembled into new forms on his computer (Kev confessed to being a long-time Gundam fan.) Following Out from Out Where, there was an odd little in-betweener in 2003: Verbal Remixes & Collaborations (streaming). Verbal, included on OFOW, is a track featuring the chopped-up vocals of a mysterious MC, something Tobin said was inspired by similar work by Prefuse 73. It is then fitting that Scott Herren, Mr. pre-fusion 1973 himself, is included amongst the remixers of Verbal. On the other side was the second serious go at collaborations from Amon Tobin. The first was five collaboration tracks as Cujo, released on NINEBARecords in 1997. This time around, there are another five collaborations: two with Ninja Tune artists Kid Koala and Bonobo, Canadian turntablist P-love, Hip-Hop legend Steinski, and UK-based producer Doubleclick. 4 of the 5 collabs would be one-offs, but Amon Tobin would continue to work with Joe Chapman, aka Doubleclick (more on that later). As for the artwork, that was a collaboration, too, with work by Kev and Doug Bowden. The next year, Ninja Tune released the fourth Solid Steel mix-CD (YT playlist with 9 of the tracks played), the first to be recorded from a live set (with minor after-the-fact edits for licensing reasons, though the original promo version is supposed to be true-to-form). Tobin toured using Final Scratch, leading to cross-promotion (though he talked positively about being able to play his own blends without needing dubplates pressed for tour, some of his comments about touring with "digital" decks aren't great pitches for the product). Also in 2004, Amon Tobin was contacted by the video game company Ubisoft's Montreal branch to create a soundtrack for the third Splinter Cell game, Chaos Theory. Of the score (streaming), Amon Tobin said "I tried to write the music as if it was a score for a Dario Argento movie." Tobin confessed that he wanted to make a soundtrack for a long time, and was surprised that the first one would be for a video game. He brought together a cast of musicians from around the world to improvise in-studio. This score also marked the first surround-sound release from Tobin. His next album was announced in May 2006 as a work-in-progress. That announcement included the first of two teaser trailers for what was initially planned to be sourced solely from field recordings of all sorts, from machinery to insects. But the plan changed, and the album in it's final form included work by Kronos Quartet, as mentioned in another update on the album in November '06. The album, Foley Room (streaming), leaked online three months early, which Amon Tobin thought spelled disaster for the album. Regardless of the early leak, the design was detailed as ever, maybe moreso, as the both the CD and vinyl versions were to include a DVD that featured a making-of documentary. (Bonus tidbit: Amon Tobin's "logo" started as a typeface made by graffiti artist She One.) If nothing else, those early downloads decreased his interest in making a surround sound version of the album, though the support tour featured 7.1 surround-sound DJ sets. One of those shows was going to be his second Solid Steel mix, but the show was too hard to clear for licensing, and was instead released online as a freebie (also available streaming online). In June 2008, Tobin started a new series of singles with Delpher, which would later be released collected as Monthly Joint Series (streaming). 2009 marked the release of an on-going collaboration with Doubleclick, and Tobin's first work with vocalists: Two Fingers (streaming). The duo came together over common interests in jungle and the kind of beats Timbaland, Missy Elliott, and the Neptunes were making. But it still sounds very much like something from Amon Tobin's mind. That was also the year that the soundtrack to inFamous along with composers James Dooley, Mel Wesson, and electric violinist Martin Tillman (sample Tobin track). In 2010, a few more Amon Tobin collaborations came out of the woodworks. One was work with an new face, Eskmo (prev), for a track called Fine Objects (streaming single). Another was for a feature-length dance film called Pina, a film for Pina Bausch by Wim Wenders. Amon Tobin had earlier created original music for choreographer Kimberly Cooper's Wow and Flutter. Also in 2010: a Tobin-scored sci-fi short Carl Rinsch called 'The Gift' (YT HD) was posted online (more background on the video on Slashfilm). What's next? Amon Tobin's next album has been mastered, and will be released on May 9th, a new Two Fingers album is in the works, as well as a an album of remixes of his Chaos Theory soundtrack work. Bonus Bits: * If you think you heard a Tobin track in a commercial, check his Scores and Music Placement list * Interview video in 4 parts * Amon Tobin on DJing, including a move he learned from Paul Oakenfold * And if you want to dig about, you can find some odd gems of freebies from Tobin's old site, many of which are listed on Discogs on the AmonTobin.com "label" (Example: Slayer boot, which is a variation of the Angel of Theft one-sided record). * Piero Scaruffi bio/discography, and the source of the title

To Everything (Turn, Turn, Turn)

quiet coyote — Sun, 06 Feb 2011 07:38:09 -0800

Do you only have one turntable and a microphone? Do you have a few thousand to drop on a turntable unlike any other? Well, Mike Disher and Joel Scilley are your men. But that's not the only way to get a one-of-a-kind turntable. This one was made from motorcycle parts. Stell Moebel has one that's wall mounted and one that's a functional coffee table (beware of the audio, click mobeldesign). If you can really afford to go all out, pick from one of the world's most expensive turntables.

Primo

the mad poster! — Mon, 20 Dec 2010 17:56:47 -0800

Legendary hip hop producer DJ Premier interviewed in the XXL Icon Interview and The Smoking Section. Remarkably candid conversations about his life in East Coast hip hop, with interesting stories about his work with Jay-Z, Biggie, Puff, Nas, Jeru the Damaga, Group Home, Suge Knight, Christina Aguilera and of course, Guru. On finding records to sample: "Well, there’s still diggin’ spots. If you’re in that world like I am, you know the spots, you see everybody—Just Blaze, Alchemist, Large Professor, Pete Rock—we still pop up in those spots. You got Big City records, you got Turntable Lab, you still have A1, you got Academy, you know. I’m not gonna tell you all the digging spots."

Star Trek Panel + DJ Mixing Board

fizzzzzzzzzzzy — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 22:19:54 -0800

Töken Experience It's only a prototype, but I think the video more than makes up for it. Via