Tag Archives: DJ

Record Store Day 2010

In T-minus just under 4 days, vinyl lovers around the world will once again have their day…


Actually music lovers can have that day too as Record Store Day, which falls on the third Saturday of April, will turn a seemingly normal Saturday into a limited edition, independent music store, sales boosting, event with plenty of live music around the states (and even world).

With a ton of releases this year it is going to be an exciting day for many music lovers out there.  Check out the full list of limited presses on vinyl from some of your favorite artists.  I know there are a few in there I hope to acquire…

Focusing on Cleveland, since that is my city, I thought I would just post a few things going on this Saturday beginning around the noon o’clock hour.

I will mainly be in the Waterloo district in the good ol’ North Collinwood area with friends this year.  The day will revolve around indie record stores Music Saves and Blue Arrow Records, two stores I should add I have become very familiar with over the past year, as well as all the other amazing shops that line up Waterloo.  At one point I may have to escape with Matt over to E. 185th to grab some grub from Chili Peppers but I will return back to the fun once I am full of their delicious food.

The stores in the area will open at noon and I can only imagine the lines that will be forming before the stores even unlock their doors.  With quantities limited, and of course the always awesome eBay resellers who know they can make a profit off of some of the vinyls (thanks for that btw, jerks), it is best to get there early.

Music Saves was kind enough to make a list of the vinyl they hope to have in stock but they will not know until the day of.  No holds either in case you were wondering…  I am bummed to see a blue line through the Get Up Kids on that list.  Oh well.  Also if you get there in time there might be some grab bags give out along with other random things to all who partake in the purchasing of goods.

What is even cooler is that Music Saves (MS) and Blue Arrow Records (BA) will be featuring free indoor/outdoors DJ events / shows throughout the day for all to check out.

* 4:30PM – White Hinterland DJs – MS
* 5PM – DJ Will Rigby (drummer for the dB’s and Steve Earle) – BA
* 5:30PM – The Lighthouse and the Whaler – MS
* 6PM – Prisoners – BA
* 6:30PM – The Muttering Retreats – MS
* 7PM – Tasty Cakes – BA
* 7:30PM – Cloud Nothings – MS
* 8PM – Party Sweat – BA

To close the big day the Beachland Ballroom will host a 9PM show featuring Dosh, White Hinterland, and locals The Sleep.

It’s going to be a great day/night so if you have nothing going on head out to Waterloo and have some fun!

Download This: B Boys x B Boys = Beastie Boys Mash Up

Big thanks to my pal (and yours) Kevin who spotted this great free download mash-up (for now).

NYC DJ and producer Max Tannone never ceases to amaze me.  Earlier this year he mashed up Radiohead and Jay Z and called it Jaydiohead.  The album is available for a free download on the Jaydiohead website.  It was fun and amazing at the same time.

This time around Tannone decided to mash-up the Beastie Boys with… The Beastie Boys.  He calls this mash-up Double Check Your Head.

The six song mash-up is available for free download by visiting http://www.doublecheckyourhead.com – for how long is unknown so don’t be lazy and go get it!!!

Download This! – Double Check Your Head Mash-Up
Download This! – Jaydiohead Mash-Up

Cypress Hill & The 2 Day Smoke Out (Festival)

I am beyond jealous of this line up…

I have not seen quite a line up like this in a long time.

Where do I start talking about this amazing festival? 

Sublime?  Seriously?  I am so curious to see how this is going to pan out.  Who is this 20 year old Rome who picked up the singing duties?  Will it be just a glorified Long Beach Dub Allstars?

Why am I asking so many questions???  I am excited that is why.

Pennywise will be playing one of the days with their new singer who was just assigned as Jim Lindberg announced his departure of the band last month after being with the band for 19 years.  Zoli Teglas from handcore punk band Ignite is taking over the duties temporarily.  I am so curious to see how this goes.

Pennywise’s Fletcher Dragge had this to say about the replacement:

“As everybody knows, Jim has left the band and we’re looking for a new singer. For the time being our friend Zoli has agreed to fill in for Jim for a couple shows to avoid having to cancel them while we look for a permanent replacement.”

Acts like Cypress Hill, Deftones, Method Man & Red Man, Bad Brains, Afrika Bambaataa (wow, seriously…wow), Mix Master Mike, Goodie Mob (reunion performance), Hieroglyphics, and the Geto Boys (reunion performance) all in a span of two days all hosted by Cheech & Chong really makes me wish this was a touring festival. 

Sadly though, it is in California and there is no way I am going to be at that show this year.  I hope to read good things about it and I thank my pals over at Earshot Media for giving me the heads up.

R.I.P. DJ AM (Adam Goldstein) – 1974-2009

Travis Barker & DJ AM
Travis Barker & DJ AM

I got home around 2:30am this morning when I checked Twitter before shutting my eyes on an amazing day.

Sadly I read something I wish was not true.  DJ AM was found dead in his NYC home.

Seriously?  WTF.

Having personal battles in his life, it was stated that the popular DJ who has worked with a whole slew of folk including Crazy Town, Jay Z, and most recently Travis Barker ended his life by an apparent drug addiction.

Having narrowly escaped death not even a year ago from a fatal plane crash it appears as if he simply could not deal with life anymore and made a terrible decision to pull the plug on his life.

Travis Barker tweeted the following this afternoon:

Don’t know how i am gonna play 2night but i am for AM. My brother is gone.i love u and miss u, i’ll never forget all the good times we had. I’ll never forget everything we’ve been thru and every time i play the drums i’ll think of you. U were an amazing friend/DJ/human being. Rest In Peace my brother, this really fucks me up.

It’s just sad to see such talent just end it all.  He made a powerful impact on so many other artists…

I appreciate all music out there so obviously I was familiar with some of his work but not all of it.  I do know that he was too young to leave this world the way he did.

Perhaps the most stand out DJ AM material to me is that of the DJ AM and Travis Barker (TRV$/DJ-AM) mix tapes that are available on the internet.  The TRV$/DJ-AM mixes are available for download free of charge.  If you have not heard them before you should check out what the late DJ and drumming sensation Travis Barker created.  The mixes incorporate live drumming by Travis Barker along side DJ AM spinning just about anything he could get his hands on.

RIP DJ…

Kid Koala Presents The Slew: LIVE

Kid Koala in my opinion is one of the most amazing vinyl manipulators out there.  His ability of scratching vinyl is more of an art form at times especially when he lifts the needle from one groove on a record and drops it to the exact location of the next without missing a beat.

I have been a huge fan of him since I was first introduced to him on his debut Carpel Tunnel Sundrome on Ninja Tune.  I loved the experimental feel and the constant scratching that was more of an instrument to the album over just your typical beat interjections. 

I have been a fan of scratching for as long as I can remember.  Thanks to acts like Praxis as well as RUN DMC I was fond of the style.  I used to take my old records and try to emulate them on my Fisher Price record player.  Sadly I never acheived the sound.

Recently I learned that the DJ is back with an all new project titled The Slew Tour.  The tour is rather a score for a film turned into live set featuring Dynomite D as well as the former rhythm section of Wolfmother.  The film was actually scrapped while Kid Koala was working on it but thanks to interest from the Austrailian rockers and Kid Koala’s determination the score was turned into a traveling show. 

Armed with six turntables Kid Koala and master mixer Dynomite D will be taking stage with Chris Ross and Myles Heskett of Wolfmother.  This is going to be one of those performances not to miss.

Of course the tour is skipping Cleveland.  Every opportunity I have ever had to see Kid Koala live has failed.  Years ago he came to nearby club in Oberlin with his jam band project Bullfrog.  For reasons unknown I did not go and I regret it.

Let me give you a hint of how much I dig Kid Koala.  Two of my tattoos are Kid Koala inspired.  Actually they were taken from his graphic novel Nufonia Must Fall.

I hope one day to see Kid Koala live.  His turntable abilites blow me away while listening, I can only imaging what would happen if I were to see it with my eyes.  Oh well, there is always next time

Info about The Slew from an email I received from the fine people of Terrorbird Media:

A couple of years back Eric San (aka Kid Koala) and Dylan J. Frombach (aka Dynomite D) were approached to soundtrack a new documentary feature film that was in production. Koala was already well known for his uncanny turntable manipulation, whilst Dylan had remixed Money Mark and collaborated with the Beastie Boys, amongst others. The duo worked for a long time on the psych rock-influenced score, only for the filming to collapse and any release to be canned. Although the film may never see the light of day, its music is about to be brought to life on stage.

Recently Koala & Dylan met the former rhythm section of Grammy Award-winning Australian rock band Wolfmother and began telling them all about the film and its lost music. Chris Ross and Myles Heskett loved the clips and urged that the material had to be heard; subsequently Kid Koala and the guys decided to put a show on the road.

After intensive rehearsals the show is now ready to go. Featuring drums, bass/keys and the DJs working across a truly excessive six turntables, the set is seventy minutes of raw guitar cuts and heavy beats. We can guarantee that you will never have heard anything quite like this and also that you are unlikely to again. It’s a one-off tour, so when it stops in your town you’ll either be there or will have missed it forever.

Anyone who has seen previous Kid Koala events will not be disappointed – from Kid Koala’s incendiary solo turntable spectaculars to the Nufonia book launch, Deltron 3030 live to the Short Attention Span Theater.

Brash, loud and defiantly turned up to eleven. The Slew Tour is coming to your town. Don’t miss it.

TOUR DATES:

WED 9/23
VANCOUVER, BC
Commodore

THUR 9/24
SEATTLE, WA
Nectar

FRI 9/25
SAN FRANCISCO, CA
Independent

SUN 9/27
LOS ANGELES, CA
Key Club

WED 9/30
BROOKLYN, NY
Music Hall Of Williamsburg

THUR 10/1
BOSTON, MA
Great Scott

FRI 10/2
MONTREAL, QC
La Tulipe

SAT 10/3
TORONTO, ON
Lee’s Palace

SUN 10/4
CHICAGO, IL
Abbey

Here are a couple MP3’s from the tour only album 100% for your listening enjoyment:

DOWNLOAD THIS! – Kid Koala – “It’s All Over”
DOWNLOAD THIS! – Kid Koala – “You Turn Me Cold”

Kid Koala in action:

Neat video for “Fender Bender” found on Carpel Tunnel Syndrome:

Speaking of Bullfrog: