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blog post DJs Are Expert Mind Readers
Posted in Music Musings on May 31, 2005 at 2:45 PM

When requesting a song from the DJ, just say "play my song", or "it goes something like this" then hum a few bars! We have a chip implanted in our heads with an unlimited database with the favorite tunes of every patron who ever walked into a bar & all songs ever recorded, so feel free to be vague, we love the challenge.

If we do not remember exactly what tune you want, we're only kidding.

DJs know every song ever recorded, so keep humming. Hum harder if need be ... it helps jog the memory.

If a DJ tells you they do not know a song you want to hear, they either forgot that they know the tune or they are just putting you on. Try singing a few words for the DJ. Any words.

It also helps to scream your request from across the room several times per set followed by the phrases, "AW COME ON!" and, "YOU SUCK!" Exaggerated hand gestures expressing disapproval from the dance floor are a big help as well, such as the thumbs down or your middle finger. Put-downs are the best way to jog a DJs memory. This instantly promotes you to the status of "Personal Friend Of The DJ."

DJs are notorious fakers & jokesters and never really prepare for their shows.They simply walk on stage with no prior thought to what they will do once they arrive. A DJ's job is so easy, even a monkey could do it, so don't let them off the hook easily.Your request is all that matters.

If a trance DJ had played at the club a few weeks ago, the next DJ that follows will automatically know every trance tune the previous DJ ever played, even if the current DJ is a house or jungle DJ. It's the law.

Feel free to yell Tupac or Biggie!! to a DJ that plays strictly house for example.

IMPORTANT

When an DJ leans over to hear you better, grab his or her head in both hands and yell directly into their ear, while holding their head securely so they cannot pull away.This will be taken as an invitation to a friendly & playful game of tug of war between their head and your hands. Don't give up! Hang on until the DJ submits.

DJs are protected by their equipment, & only play the game
when tricked into coming out from behind their turntables. Though difficult to get them to play, it's not impossible, so keep trying. They're especially vulnerable during mixing songs.

TALKING WITH THE DJ

The best time to discuss anything with the DJ in any meaningful way is when he is in the mix. Our hearing is so advanced that we can pick out your tiny voice from the megawatt wall of sound blasting all around us. DJs are expert lip readers too. If a DJ does not reply to your question or comment during a tune, it's because they didn't get a good look at your mouth in order to read your lips.

Simply continue to scream your request & be sure to over emphasize the words with your lips. This helps immensely.Don't be fooled.

DJs have the innate ability to answer questions & mix at the same time. If the DJ doesn't answer your questions immediately, regardless of how stupid the question may seem, it's because they are purposely ignoring you.

If this happens, immediately cop an attitude. We love this.

HELPING THE DJ

If you inform the DJ that you are a DJ, the DJ will appreciate your help with the next few tunes, or however long you can remain standing on stage. Simply feel free to walk up on stage & join in. By the way, the drunker you are, the better you sound.

Keep in mind that nothing assists the DJ more than
outrageous dancing, or a tambourine played out of tempo.
Try the congas, they love the challenge. The DJ always needs the help & will take this as a compliment.

BONUS TIP

As a last resort, wait until the DJ takes a break and then get on stage and start playing their records. They love this. Even if you are ejected from the club, you can rest assured in the fact that you have successfully completed your audition. The club owner will call you Immediately the following day to offer you a position.

See you at the next gig ...
The DJ



blog post Slam - Positive Eduction
Posted in Records on May 31, 2005 at 10:28 AM

Good Lord! Techno has been rather unfairly neglected, considering my love of the genre, well here's the most important techno record. Frequently cited as "one of the most perfect techno records ever made" - a quote attributed to Kenny Larkin - a man who is justified in making such remarks. The reverence afforded to this record by the techno elite is even more suprising when you consider that this record was recorded 3000 miles away from Detroit - the spiritual home of techno. Slam come from Glasgow, a place much closer to my home, and they've quietly made Soma records one of the essential labels in dance music - they were the first label to sign french megastars 'Daft Punk'. Of course, nowadays, techno really is a worldwide affair, albeit an underground one, with Germany, Sweden and Finland forming the core of the european techno scene.

As for the record itself, anything I could wirte about it's awesomely potent bass, or stacatto melodic structures would just fail to do the original justice. Listen to it!

http://www.amazon.com/o/ASIN/B00005BAE8/102-3459643-8352136?SubscriptionId=15AZP1DJ4V427Z6NMB02



blog post Hale Bopp - Der Dritte Raum
Posted in Records on May 31, 2005 at 10:07 AM

I've no idea what the title is, but I can probably bore most people to death talking about comet Hale Bopp. Anyway the track itself was another popular mothership moment, it's kinda like an acid house track with beeps going all over the place, except there's no squelching or filters. It's a deceptively simple record, but it does some great things with melody and rythym, it's great to drink tea to apparently......

http://www.amazon.com/o/ASIN/B00000J5YA/102-3459643-8352136?SubscriptionId=15AZP1DJ4V427Z6NMB02



blog post Trisco - Ultra
Posted in Records on May 31, 2005 at 10:01 AM

Not exactly a huge hit, even on the dancefloors, but this record is always hugely popular when I play it out, so I can't deny the power. I ended up playing it 3 times this weekend during my monster 6 hour DJ set at the Illuminaughty party at the Mothership. I think I like it because it's an 'easy' dj record, the intro is simple and rythmic with a vocal sample, making it simple to ease it in over what's currenlty playing. Then the kick drum drops giving the track a proper introduction into the mix, and finally the synth hook just lifts off and drives people crazygonuts. People always ask what it is, and usually they forget, outside of the context of a party it's really a rather boring and nondescript record.

http://www.amazon.com/o/ASIN/B00006JSHP/102-3459643-8352136?SubscriptionId=15AZP1DJ4V427Z6NMB02



blog post New Order - It's Your Silent Face
Posted in Records on May 31, 2005 at 9:53 AM

OK we all know Blue Monday, Temptation and Bizarre Love Triangle, but I recently rediscovered this track and it deserves to be on the list.

http://www.amazon.com/o/ASIN/B000002L82/102-3459643-8352136?SubscriptionId=15AZP1DJ4V427Z6NMB02



Does a mash up count? Hey it's my list so hell yeah. This is the penultimate track on Krafty Kuts 'These Are The Breaks' mix CD and it's one of those great DJ moments where the combination of two tracks is greater than the sum of the parts.

 

http://www.amazon.com/o/ASIN/B0000B3FCY/102-3459643-8352136?SubscriptionId=15AZP1DJ4V427Z6NMB02



blog post BT & Tsunami One - The Hip Hop Phenomenon
Posted in Records on May 27, 2005 at 10:49 AM

One of the first records to really use the stutter edit, Brian Transea and Kevin Beber collaborated on this innovative breakbeat monster and in doing so introduced another production technique to pop producers all over the world. You may not know exactly what a stutter edit is, but the odds are you've heard the latest chart topping candy pop icons having their voices chopped up and rearranged in rythymic patterns. Of course it wasn't the first record to do this, but it's the one most commonly cited by producers who've explored the technique or by the articles that have appeared on music production websites for the past few years.

In 2000 trance was the biggest sound, BT had already produced one of the seminal trance albums in the form of 'Ima' and being a regular collaborator with Paul Van Dyk, BT released a few dancefloor friendly trance numbers from his forthcoming album - tracks like 'Godspeed', 'Mercury & Solace', 'Namistai' and 'Dreaming'. But the album 'Movement In Still Life' was far more breakbeat orientated - in addition to this colllaboration with Tsunami One, he also worked with Hybrid. At least on the UK release of the album, 'The Hip Hop Phenomenon' isn't on the US release - although there are various alternative and enhanced editions that feature this excellent track.

The track was released as a single sided 12" on Marine Parade records, I own two copies of this, when I play out I can chop up the record by cutting from one to the other, the number of edits in the track make it even more friendly to live re-edits.

http://www.amazon.com/o/ASIN/B00004KCYK/102-3459643-8352136?SubscriptionId=15AZP1DJ4V427Z6NMB02

 

 



blog post Fatboy Slim & Roland Clarke - Song For Shelter
Posted in Records on May 25, 2005 at 9:52 AM

Roland Clarke goes back to the earliest days of house music and really should need no introduction to the DJ's out there, and, Fatboy Slim - AKA Norman Cook - definitely needs no introduction. This is the last track on 'Halfway Between The Gutter And The Stars' which is often described as Norman's 'Mature' album, using less silly samples, and more proper songwriting. The vocal wasn't original, it was actually sampled from 'I Get Deep' and is essentially a hymn to house music with Roland delivering preacher man style tributes evangelising the spiritual side of dance music. We're talking about 'house music bringing people together' spiritual, not 'balearic spirit' or 'taking lots of hallucingenic compounds and freaking out to psytrance' universal sprituality.

Yes there is a difference.

Anyway, Norman essentially took the accapella and made his own record around it and that became 'Song For Shelter', Actually, he made two records which sampled the same vocal. 'Star 69' was his straight up booty shakin' house standout from HBTGATS taking just one line "The know what is what, but the don't know what is what, they just strut, what the fuck?". Both records represent different sides of Norman, and both are in essence going back to his roots in club culture.

http://www.amazon.com/o/ASIN/B00004Z30Z/102-3459643-8352136?SubscriptionId=15AZP1DJ4V427Z6NMB02



blog post Hybrid & Julee Cruise - If I Survive
Posted in Records on May 24, 2005 at 5:20 PM

While trance was the hottest sound in the superclubs breakbeat innovators like Way Out West, Sasha and Hybrid went off to the next level. Taking the production values of progressive house and trance adding more complicated beats and tough as nails basslines, and in the process making the whole affair sound a lot more intellectual than everything else on the dancefloors at the time.

Featuring Julee Cruise, who most famously provided vocals for the eerie soundtrack to "Twin Peaks", this has her swearing revenge on someone who has evil plans in mind.... Brilliant!

http://www.amazon.com/o/ASIN/B00004WW2W/102-3459643-8352136?SubscriptionId=15AZP1DJ4V427Z6NMB02



blog post Si Begg - You Ain't Got This Shit In Yo Crate
Posted in Records on May 23, 2005 at 6:37 PM

This is the neutron star of dance records, it may only come on a dinky little 7" (from Freddie Fresh's excellent Howlin' Records) but the amount of power contained in this small space has the power to distort the fabric of space-time when played. Seriously, the record is insane, cutting up and matching up samples from all over the place, if you don't like this repetitive loop then wait a second, another one will be along to take it place.



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