I Know You Got Soul

June 23rd, 2009

When life comes at me hard and I need to slow down, I always put on a bit of southern soul. It's just what the doctor ordered to deal with the inescapable grind of modern life. Sometimes you just have to put it in first gear and cruise. Motown was great, but there has always been a special place in my heart for the syrupy sweet selections on Stax Records. I've mixed up some of my favorites here on the Stax Of Stax Mix, just in time for summer's laziest days:

And if you like soul, then you've got to come see The Slackers do their thing at this year's booze cruise around Manhattan. Their live show is not to be missed, and I'll be spinning classic reggae, ska and rocksteady between sets for your listening pleasure. The boat leaves the pier at 11:30 sharp, so don't be late!

Saturday, June 27 - Aboard The Temptress - 41st Street & 12th Ave, NY - $25 (TICKETS HERE)

Mr. Echo Inna Killa Dub

April 20th, 2009

Get the munchies ready because the Feast Of The Passover is in full effect! It's been a year since my last set of reggae choons became Google's favorite ganja mix. Of course, I wouldn't leave you hanging on this 4/20. Here's a brand new mix of Jamaican gems from the dusty crates. I present to you Mr. Echo Inna Killa Dub:

Next month, the Drum Attix crew is heading down to DC and taking over Baltimore. First, Scallywag and I will be joining Outputmessage and friends for Flat Out:

Friday, May 8 - Rock & Roll Hotel - 1353 H St NE, Washington DC - No Cover

Then come see us along with Ryan-O'Neil, HiCoup, and DJ Balagan tear through house, reggae, and rap seamlessly at an all ages show at The Hexagon:

Saturday, May 9 - The Hexagon - 1825 North Charles Street, Baltimore, MD - $6

Party Sauce

February 18th, 2009

We're doing it again this Saturday. Hip hop, reggae dancehall, and party jams. Original, I know. But we're really good at it. Me, Scallywag and DJ Far East. Come early, it's Scallywag's birthday:

Saturday, February 21 - The Leopard Lounge - 85 2nd Ave, NY - No Cover

Back in Brooklyn.

January 20th, 2009

My trip to California was incredible. Ten days later, I feel refreshed and ready to take on 2009. While I really didn't have much of a chance to relax, I feel like so much got done that I'm in a rhythm now.

First of all, thanks to Sirah for letting me crash at her place while we were working on this new project. She is a true professional and we got the whole project done in five days.

After that, I had to get from Hollywood to Anaheim and the public transportation in LA is garbage. So I rented a car and took it to Lake Arrowhead. By the time I got up the mountain, snow was all around me and I could see the heat from the valley below. That part of California (just past San Bernardino) is really beautiful.

Eventually the GPS system in the car became useless because I was in some mountain town, and they put a curse on me or whatever. The sun was setting, so I decided it was time to head down the mountain and back towards the city.

NAMM was more fun than usual this year. Stanton was on hand to help us demo their new DJ controller with FL Studio and Deckadance. They're still fine tuning the controller mappings for different software, but the controller itself is an amazing piece of hardware. So far, it's the realest non-vinyl controller I've tried. I don't know why all these companies are betting that DJs will want to use non-motorized platters to mix.

After four straight days of showing people how to produce in FL Studio and four straight nights of business dinners, I was tired as hell. Now I'm back home and ready to start showing you guys all the talented heads in the Drum Attix crew. The first step is bringing Party Sauce back to the Lower East Side this weekend. DJ Scallywag and I are hosting It's Overture for the relaunch party:

Saturday, January 24 - The Leopard Lounge - 85 2nd Ave, NY - No Cover

JFK To LAX

January 13th, 2009

Five days ago I was picked up at LAX airport by the one and only Sirah.

Five days later we had a five song EP. I just got back from the studio with her, laying down the final vocals and doing a bit of mixing, and I'm seriously exhausted. Trust me when I say that she is one of the dopest MCs out right now. You may remember her from her appearance on Brenner's Breaks Volume 2 last year.

Here's the backstory: a few months ago I was asked by the guys at FL Studio to demo the software with them at NAMM again. For those of you who might not know, NAMM is basically a convention for music industry whores (the ones who make instruments, not the ones who make CDs) to show off their latest products and generate interest and sales. It's also a great place to meet a lot of talented people, if you can sift through the douchebags. Believe me, it's difficult.

Long story short, I figured if my flight was already taken care of I'd go to Los Angeles a bit early and make some music - so I called Sirah and told her to get ready. It was a real pleasure working with her on this EP, which will be released on Drum Attix later this year.

That's not to say it's all work and no play out here. I definitely dropped a decent chunk of change on records at Amoeba. That place is huge!

Tomorrow I'm renting a car to swing by Lake Arrowhead (one of the supposed locations of Brian Wilson's life-changing acid trips) and then heading to Anaheim for the convention. I'll be posting photos and stories here, so check back this week. In the meantime, check Sirah out and witness the realness.