Live @ Heart Deco Together

Heart Deco put together an amazing event the other night, I had the pleasure of playing in the breaks room. I don’t usually play breaks, but I do enjoy playing them and the set absolutely went off. Unfortunately there was no live recording but I was happy with the set and re-created it at home for those of you who couldn’t be there.

Download Mix (right click to save as)

I’ll be djing at the Heart Deco fundraiser this weekend in SF. This is going to be a fantastic event and I’ll be spinning a rare all breaks set. Pre-sale only, so get your tickets asap! This is a fundraiser for the Heart Deco bus we all love from Burning Man. Come and support a great cause.

Buy Tix:

http://heartdeco.org

Live @ Frolic 2011 set (Right click and “Save as” to download)

I started to DJ in 1997, my how things have come along since then. I had a hard time letting go of vinyl, it wasn’t until after 2008 that I started to explore digital DJing. At that point many vinyl distributers in the U.S. started to close their doors. I found it hard to get the European vinyl craved. I felt forced into playing CDs. At first it was awkward, but I got used to it… in the back of my mind I always convinced myself vinyl was better. It was circumstance that forced me into this situation.

The thing I love about DJing is that you can never conquer it; there is never an end. No matter how good you get there is always something to learn. This is what makes it an endless passion, if you love music you can never stop interacting with it. I accepted CDs but still clung to my vinyl allegiances even though I haven’t played vinyl in years. So I made the next inevitable step into digital DJing, I bought a digital vinyl system, Traktor Scratch to be exact. I’ve boldly embarked into the new frontier of DJing.

The plan seemed brilliant, continue to play digital music but use my beloved Technics 1200 turntables to control the music. Picking up my Ortofon needles and cueing a real vinyl disc seemed epic at first. As I tried to play my first set I realized that playing on turntables is actually a pain in the ass. Were they always this loose? Did you always have to ride a mix constantly adjusting the pitch to make sure the beats didn’t slip, even a hundredth of a second?

Was I really that naive or did I just not want to believe? As much as I touted the superiority of vinyl, maybe digital did have its place. It certainly explains why over the past few years when switching to CDJs that my beatmatching became flawless. Better living through circuitry… it made sense. Now with Traktor Scratch as my tool I feel like I’m at crossroads. Do I continue to use the vinyl timecode discs and wear each perfect mix as a badge of honor? That’s right, perfectly matched beats on these aging wheels of steel of analog grace. Or do I switch to CDJ timecode CDs, spending my time crafting the mix and not riding the beats to make sure they are perfectly matched. I’ll have to explore that in due time, old habits die-hard.

For the readers who have endured my diatribe thus far, what does this mean? Well, I’ve got a new site, I’ve got a new and better way to mix music and I have the inspiration to release more DJ mixes and play more gigs. Stay tuned.

Friday night deep tech mix

Saturday day funky & deep mix

Download Minty (Right click to download)

Tracklist

1. Kinky Movement – Seven Jazz
2. Giuseppe Cennamo – Rules Of Life
3. Noir & Westboy – She’s Got My Heart
4. Inland Knights – Another Way
5. Kaiserdisco – Espandrillo (Okain Remix)
6. Oxia – Whole Life
7. Mikel Curcio & Noir – La Musica (Pirupa & Pigi Remix)
8. Office Gossip – Sirius A
9. The Junkies – Quartro Uno Sei
10. Karol XVII & MB Valence – Chord Na Ludziach
11. Okain – My Super Sweet Sixteen
12. Oxia – Sun Step
13. Okain – Wait Please (Lauhaus Remix)
14. Superlounge & Alex Niggemann – Chip Chip

1. Shur-I-Kan – Jingle Jangle – Dark Energy
2. Lovebirds – Gentle – Tear Drop
3. Herb LF – Sunliner – Farside
4. Office Gossip – Time Against Me – Urbantorque
5. Marc Romboy – Elif (Jimpster Remix) – Systematic
6. Patric La Funk – Restless (Tim Weeks Remix) – Opaque Music
7. Scope – Quid Pro Quo (Office Gossip Remix) – Urbantorque
8. Osunlade – Momma’s Groove (Jimpster’s Hip Replacement Mix) – Strictly Rhythm
9. Jake Island – Do It Like This feat. Alec Sun Drae (Shur-I-Kan Remix) – Toolroom
10. Ksky – It’s Black Pink (Shur-I-Kan Remix) – Deepology

In other news, I had a very successful closing set for last weekend’s Rhythm Society event, nothing like proper house to wakeup the floor. I will post up the set if the recording worked out.

Download Moving Forward

Tracklist

1. Milton Jackson – Adventures in Stereo – Urbantorque
2. Shur-I-Kan – Generations (Jimpsters House Dub) – Freerange
3. Quizz feat. Emilie – Bag U Should (Charles Webster Remix) – Art Brut
4. Jimpster – Got a Hold on Your Soul – Freerange
5. Rocket – People (Jeno’s “Stormy Weather” Mix) – Grayhound
6. Knee Deep – Nightwaves – Kneedeep Recordings
7. Westpark Unit – Set Free (Satin Souls Remix) – Stir15
8. Echomen – Thru 2 You (Charles Webster Trumpet Dub) – Airtight
9. Office Gossip – Strangers – Winding Road
10. Alexander Koning – Basic Melody (Shur-I-Kan Remix) – Kung Fu
11. Shawn Ward – Expo 86 (Spirit Catcher Remix) – Polyphonics
12. Bitter:Sweet – Moving Forward (Charles Webster Remix) – Quango
13. Milton Jackson & Shur-I-kan – Strangezensation – Winding Road
14. Phonique – Worked It Out (Charles Webster’s First Remix) – Dessous