Alex Moschopoulos
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Alex Moschopoulos
ParticipantHad a crappy day yesterday due to a client, some Nitzer Ebb anger always makes it better:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fHV7xTW1P8g
Title: Getting Closer
Artist: Nitzer Ebb
Label: Mute RecordsGenre(s): Industrial, Electronic Body Music (EBM)
Year released: 1990Most know of Nitzer Ebb for anthems such as Join in the Chant and Murderous, but Getting Closer was always an underrated one in my book, and one of my favorites. It was the opening track for their album Showtime, and it was a fitting opener for that album. Just that barrage of rolling sound in the chorus always had me.
ParticipantGoing back into the 70s for one of those few disco tunes I love:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VyAHULpMXKQ
Title: You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)
Artist: Sylvester
Label: Fantasy RecordsGenre(s): Disco
Year released: 1977Before RuPaul, there was Sylvester. At a time when the US seemingly didn’t chastise gays as much as they did in the 80s and beyond, Sylvester represented a celebration of gay pride infused with the high energy of disco. Even from my hetero viewpoint, you just gotta love that soaring melody and voice with every chorus.
Interesting trivia note: This song is what inspired New Order when they composed their anthem Blue Monday.
ParticipantHere’s some starting points:
How to succeed at DJing…a 13-part general coverage of how to get yourself from bedroom to gigging. I do need to update this series though.
http://www.digitaldjtips.com/2011/03/how-to-succeed-at-djing-part-1/How To Promote Events & Throw Your Own Parties. A 6-part series on being an event promoter. If anything, it’ll help a DJ think like a promoter and thus work events to the benefit of the event.
http://www.digitaldjtips.com/2011/09/how-to-promote-events-throw-your-own-parties-part-1/Creating Killer DJ Promotional Materials. 6-part series on writing a bio, designing a logo, taking promo photos, print and web pieces, and even video.
http://www.digitaldjtips.com/2014/02/creating-killer-dj-promotional-materials-part-1/ParticipantAnd another great Todd Terry classic beautiful remixed for the modern age:
Title: Bounce to the Beat (Alaia & Gallo 2G15 Mix)
Artist: Todd Terry presents Sound Design
Label: InHouse Records
Genre(s): HouseI actually have the original tune from the 90s, but Alaia & Gallo did a wonderful new remix without tarnishing the original. Always hated when “new remixes” pop up and they seemingly venture way too far from the original.
ParticipantHere’s a goodie I’m digging…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ylDlq46c4Ho
Title: Crazy Circus
Artist: Iban Reus
Label: Toolroom
Genre(s): HouseJust some good energy.
ParticipantThis isn’t my usual forte for this topic, but I wanted to post it simply because Richard Spencer was actually paid some royalties for his famous break:
Title: Amen, Brother
Artist: The Winstons
Label(s): Metromedia, Pye, FestivalGenre(s): Funk
Year released: 1969If you have never heard of this tune, or have no clue what the “Amen Break” is, then fast-forward the video to 1:26. You’ll basically hear the one sampled beat that became the backbone to some hip-hop, breakbeat, jungle, drum & bass, and much more.
The Winstons were a mixed-race funk and soul music group that started in the late 60s. They didn’t last long, but had released three singles. Their biggest hit was actually Color Him Father, which sold a million copies and won a Grammy in 1969. I’ve even read how it was a hit within the Northern Soul community in the Northern UK.
Despite the success, they didn’t last, and more or less fell to obscurity until DJs in the early days of hip-hop and breaks found love in the drum break on the Winstons’ b-side to Color Him Father, an instrumental tune called Amen, Brother.
At that point, it became one of the most sampled drum loops in history, next to James Brown’s Funky Drummer. Percussionist Richard Spencer never received a dime in royalties up until this week, when a GoFundMe campaign raised over $36,000 USD to give him as royalties.
This is one of those tunes I personally think is worth sharing to the younger generation…just to educate them in the history of all this.
ParticipantI’ll go back to the 80s to start…when things were way more colorful in the club scene:
Title: Native Love (Step by Step)
Artist: Divine
Label: Break RecordsGenre(s): Hi-NRG
Year released: 1982With disco pushed back down to the underground, and electronic instruments moving their way into dance music, Divine was the perfect splash of no-holds-barred drag queendom that pretty much illustrated the real club scene in the early 80s. The song was written and produced by 80s legend Bobby ‘O’ Orlando, and it remains Divine’s biggest hit of her career.
The “Hi-NRG” genre designation was mainly a genre name for this dance music of the 80s. It wasn’t really seen as “new wave”, and “house” hadn’t become a known term beyond the underground of Chicago. However, one couldn’t use the term “disco” and hope for success back then.
I think beyond the song itself, the opening bassline became a staple of much house music for a period, as I’d hear variants of it looped on many releases.
ParticipantSorry I missed posting tunes last week and even posting the topic last Friday. It was a crazy week.
Loving the Tracy Hamlin tune.
ParticipantI know trance is hit or miss here, but here’s one I’ve been pumping recently.
Title: Closer (Ucast Remix)
Artist: Roman Messer featuring Eric Lumiere
Label: Suanda Music
Genre(s): TranceI’ve been mainly following Ucast, as he’s made some wonderfully crafted trance that just explodes with energy. Eric Lumiere was more known for his vocal work on Filo and Peri’s hit Anthem.
ParticipantOK, I have free time to post. Here’s one from Superfunk I am digging:
Title: Ragga MC (Hazzaro Remix)
Artist: Superfunk
Label: Recovery House
Genre(s): HouseIt’s not just the samples of “Pass the Dutchie”, but the uptempo vibe of the remix. I like tunes that have energy, but are well crafted so they’re not cheesy.
ParticipantThe beatmapping and sync on CrossDJ isn’t perfect…as any sync isn’t perfect.
I’ve had to tweak or go manual many times, but I still love the app for planning out mixes to record later on Traktor.
And sync isn’t a cheat…it’s only a tool. There’s way more to DJing than just beatmatching.
ParticipantTraktor seems to be working fine for me on Windows 10.
ParticipantAlso this one in loving memory of singer Diane Charlemagne:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lx9-fjlh7Y4
Title: Inner City Life
Artist: Goldie
Label: FFRR RecordsYear released: 1995
Genre(s): Drum and BassI’ll admit, back in the 90s I wasn’t deeply into broken beat sounds such as the rising sounds of nu-school breaks, jungle, and D&B. I was too enamored by the 4 on tha floor sound of house. However, it was Goldie who more or less redefined broken beats out of the past sounds of Rave/Hardcore and into the potential future of sounds such a Big Beat.
I remember when I watched the documentary Pump Up The Volume, and they touched on Goldie, I was impressed so much that I obtained a copy of Inner City Life just to play on my phone. It’s such a soulful and sophisticated sound that stands differently from the mass amount of jungle and D&B that carried those hard tweaky basslines that were the precurser to the brostep sound.
It’s a shame that Diane Charlemagne died recently, but that’s life I guess.
ParticipantI could not hit Halloween weekend and not share this one:
Title: (Every Day Is) Halloween
Artist: Ministry
Label: Wax TraxYear Released: 1984
Genre(s): Industrial, Synthpop, EBM1984…with the sounds of early hip-hop, electrofunk, and 80s pop filling the clubs, a darker more sinister sound was brewing here in the Windy City. It was really a time of transition for Ministry. They started off trying to be all synthpop along the lines of Depeche Mode, but were slowly going darker in sound, soon to abandon their electronic music and embracing Industrial Rock.
For many like me, (Every Day Is) Halloween was an anthem of those walking among the more “alternative” folks. The punks, industrialites, new wavers, early ravers, etc. A teen club in Chicago, Medusa’s, more or less made that tune an anthem. I’ll especially never forget when Old Style Beer filmed commercials in the club, pumping (Every Day Is) Halloween all over the country on TV at a time when the US was embracing house music.
Nowadays you’ll hear the tune played in bars on Halloween weekend, but it’s always held a very special place in my heart.
ParticipantHere’s a new remix of a classic:
Title: Sume Sigh Sey (Armand Peña Mix)
Artist: Robbie Rivera & Todd Terry
Label: Juicy MusicGenre(s): House, Deep, Tribal
Many can remember the 1994 version of this Todd Terry classic, but I honestly liked the modern twist Robbie Rivera and Armand Pena put into Sume Sigh Sey. It has a smooth flow that works nicely in deep house and tech house sets.
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