DMb | Dance Music blog & Podcast

I’ve really grown tired of Apple telling me what I can and can’t do with my devices, what kind of software I’m allowed to run, what kind of hardware I’m allowed to use, and which computers I’m allowed to upload music to my phone from. The iPad is just more of the same crap in a pretty case. While I will admit the iPad has it’s uses and I love my I really do enjoy my [jailbroken] iPhone, I find it very hard to tolerate the hardcore limitations Apple places on the users of its mobile devices. I would love to see someone get OSX or even Linux running on the iPad and then we will truly see what something like the iPad could have been capable of.

Enter the HP Slate. This little baby not only looks to be packing some processing power but it is an “open” device. There are USB slots, video output, memory card slots, and it is running a proper full operating system so users can install whatever software they want. Which means we could see users running Ableton Live, FL Studio, Soundforge, ProTools, Serato, Traktor, and so much more. I can just imagine a DJ set using one of these or playing live with 2 of these machines and actually tweaking knobs on a virtual TB-303 with your fingers instead of a mouse. The possibilities are wide open and I can’t wait to see the Slate in action someday soon.

You may know the Utah Saints from their breakout single “Something Good” which took over the dancefloors of many raves and clubs in the early 90’s and again in 2008 when the single was re-released with new mixes from High Contrast and Van She. The track took a catchy vocal snippet from Kate Bush’s “Cloudbusting” and looped it until it became permanently embedded in your brain. Tim Utah and Jez Willis, which make up the group, have been doing some serious dancefloor destruction with their DJ sets as I’m sure you can tell by taking one look at the tracklisting below.

Utah Saints this week providing a live mix of Dirty Electro and Fidget House from a UK gig earlier this year.

Enjoy!

Podcast: Download (Duration: 1:01:21 — 70.2MB)

Mix Info & Tracklisting (more…)

Photo courtesy of SinningInLA.com

The Do-Lab crew know how to set a mood: trademark organic structures, well lit environment, indoor and outdoor stages, happy people doing things to help good causes, top-notch artwork in every direction you look… oh ya, and big name dance music acts pushing some serious sound. This year’s annual Lucent L’amour event in honor of Valentines Day, was a perfect example of this. If you weren’t outside taking in the live avante garde dance performances or live art, you were treated to this years headliners: N.A.S.A., Bassnectar and Stanton Warriors (in order of appearance) on the multi screened main stage inside. (more…)

DROOG is the DJ collective of Andrei Osyka, Brett Griffin and Justin Sloe. From their start 4 years ago, DROOG has steadily built a reputation as one the one of the leading purveyors of forward-thinking dance, in Los Angeles and beyond. For the past 3 years, Droog has held down a residency at Avalon Hollywood, one of the biggest clubs in the US. At Avalon, they have had the chance to play alongside influences such as Richie Hawtin, Lee Burridge, Steve Lawler, Damian Lazarus, Tiefschwarz, Mr. C, Booka Shade, MANDY, Matthew Dear and Steve Bug. Droog has began the exploration of a new frontier in launching an LA-based record label, Culprit, which has spawned successful releases from Matt Tolfrey, Inxec, Hot Natured, Lee Foss and Kenneth James Gibson aka [a]pendics.shuffle. As we begin 2010, Droog is about to embark on their first release, slated to hit the shops before the trio makes waves at WMC.

Culprit 15 Hollywood mix finds Droog dropping a Deeper Tech House set recorded live in 2010. Check out their MySpace page for more free mixes and Beatport for tracks from their label Culprit.

Enjoy!

Podcast: Download (Duration: 1:15:55 — 102.9MB)

Mix Info & Tracklisting (more…)

At the National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM) expo, Akai showed the APC40 MIDI control surface it has developed in conjunction with Ableton, making it the first such device to be ready to run out of the box with the Ableton Live music editing software. As there is no need to load drivers, users simply plug in their notebooks via a USB port and can begin mixing or otherwise modifying their music using Ableton Live. The APC40 is being touted as the simplest, most direct hardware interface with the popular software, yet still allows advanced users to assign the board’s 40 buttons, knobs and fader controls to any virtual controls in the software.

Each control on the APC40 lights up in a different color to give users an instant indication of clip state. Likewise, the 16 knobs are lined by a ring of LED rings that perform the same functions. Akai points out the APC40 makes controlling music at live events much quicker and easier, taking the connected source, most often a notebook or desktop PC or Mac, out of the equation.

I’m not sure how well this instrument would work with a DJ or Live set, but it would be interesting to see someone do it!

The iPhone Ocarina from Smule is the first instrumental application that turns the iPhone into a unique musical instrument. The traditional ocarina is a member of a very old family of musical instruments, dating back at least 12,000 years, in China and Mesoamerica. The Smule iPhone Ocarina brings this millenia-old musical tradition into the 21st century.

Here’s how it works. Once you’ve installed the application, hold the iPhone in such a way that you can conveniently press the four buttons while blowing into the microphone. That’s right; it’s a wind instrument.

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This is an exciting announcement for users of Serato and Ableton software. It can only lead to more creative and interesting DJ sets in the future.

Here is the announcement from the Serato website:
Serato and Ableton are happy to announce a partnership, which will pave the way for the future of Digital DJing.

With shared artist rosters from hip-hop (DJ Jazzy Jeff, DJ Nu-Mark, A-Trak) to electronica
(Paul Van Dyk, DJ Sasha), both Ableton Live and Serato Scratch Live are renowned as the premier
performance platforms in clubs around the globe.

While Serato’s Scratch Live excels in vinyl emulation, music library control and lightning quick hands-on scratching, Ableton Live provides the tools for production, on-the-?y remixing and beat creation.

“Ableton and Serato take different approaches to modern musical performance,” says Ableton CEO
Gerhard Behles, “But both companies live by the philosophy that software should be straightforward,
easy to use, and most importantly, reliable and stable onstage and in the studio. Ableton has never had an answer for the DJ who wants vinyl control, and rather than try to emulate what Serato do so well, we simply make sure that our products work well together.”

Serato Audio Research CEO Steve West agrees. “After years of talking together, we’re thrilled to be
working with Ableton. It’s exciting to think about what we can offer to DJs and producers: the ability to go beyond just spinning records and add a personal stamp to the music they play.”

Just where this Serato and Ableton collaboration will take us has yet to be seen but one thing is clear: the worlds of DJing, remixing and production for artists worldwide have changes ahead.

Here’s a recent mix from French DJ and producer Marc Leclair, a.k.a. Akufen. The set was recorded live at Soundstream @ Club Rogue in Dublin, Ireland a little over a week ago.

Download: DivShare [192kbps MP3, ~190 MB]