James Chance and the Contortions



I knew it was going to be a good trip the minute I landed in New York. I turned my phone off from plane mode and got the message that I did not think would ever happen in my life. My good friend and producer extraordinaire, XXXchange of Spank Rock fame sent me a message that read, "James Chance and the Contortions are playing at Ps one, wanna come?" I immediately made the move for cab that second and got to catch about 20 minutes of their set. Needless to say this was probably a once in a lifetime event for me and I could not have said no. Unfortunately, the cooler than cool crowd just did not know the deal and were not paying attention, but that did not change the thrill that I was getting to see James Chance.

I got some decent photos and video that I will add when I get back home. Until then, here is a new song from the legend that is being produced by members of Liquid Liquid.

James Chance and the Contortions - Incorrigible

The System - Youre in My System

I can't believe that there was a video for this song and I double can't believe that I never knew about it. Let me tell my history with this tune. I first heard this song about 10 or so years ago on San Antonio local community college station, KSYM. There was a house mix show every Saturday night, House Nation, put on by my good friend, but at the time mentor, Leo "Dj Rise" Trujillo. It was a house version of this song that was so deep and still one of my all time favorite house cuts to date. I called in every week requesting certain things and asking for track names just so I can have those same records that Rise was playing. Such a huge figure in what made me me today. Years down the line I get into electro funk and 80s r&b, needless to say this song came back into my life. Chromeo eat your heart out, I know you know the deal... but please tell the kids what to listen to.

You Crazy For That One Hitler!

My good friend Dj Jester the Filipino Fist hipped me to an amazing youtube clip of Sesame Street's Bert & Ernie doing a cover of MOP's "Ante Up". I started to sniff around a bit and came across a piece of history that I have never heard or seen.

Apparently Hitler was a fan of the discotheque...

Droppin Science



Greg Wilson is one person to aspire to be. My man has over 30 years of djing and record collecting under his belt and he is not stopping any time soon. Known heavily in the Funk Jazz scene in England he stirred things up a bit by introducing a new type of music that was being deemed soulless by die hards and fan boys alike, Electro Funk. The music was dismissed immediately by most, but it took Greg Wilson to spoon feed it to his long time friends and fans for them to understand. Heavily influenced by the sounds of experimental New York musicians in the 80s, he took his cue and never looked back. I would personally like to thank Mr. Wilson for globalizing one of my biggest influences in life.

Give credit...

Electro Funk Roots

Nick Catchdubs in Full Effect



Catch sent me over an email the other day with news about his newest projects that he wanted to share. They are both new mixtapes that he compiled and produced and from the looks of things, they are good summer listens and future classics. "Slick" is a a true dj mix of his current favorite tunes new and old. "Kizzaland" on the other hand is another dope mixtape project done with Timbaland's new signee, Izza Kizza. We all should remember Nick giving the masses an introduction to Wale on the infamous "100 Miles & Running" tape. Though still fresh in our minds as well as still in rotation in my car and the office, this new mix with Izza is definitely on some far out steez... but still ill as f*ck.

Grab them here:

Nick Catchdubs - Slick

"slick" interview and tracklist

Nick Catchdubs with Izza Kizza - Izzaland

Nick, as you know, recently left his associate editor position at Fader Magazine to work full time on start up label of the moment, Fools Gold, with friend and Kanye West's dj, A Trak. Peep their blog and see what kind of weird sh*t dudes are talking about and always be on the look out for upcoming releases, highly recommended.

We Make It Good mix series



I am a huge fan of dj mixes and mixtapes in general. We all know the routine of putting one together for a friend, or even better, a new girl or guy that you have interest in, but don't know how to tell them. There have been books, books, and more books about the subject. Magazines, movie references, and neighborhood record store talk about it all. Those these tapes or mixes might not mean as much as lets say, your first crush tape. They do however keep me interested in what people are playing and what influences them as Djs. Clayton "pretty titty" Vomero of Seattle's Sing Sing party has been curating the series known as We Make It Good. There are four in the series thus far and the newest is another sure shot from my main man behind the beats of Spank Rock, Fully Fitted, and countless other remixes, Alex "the armani" XXXchange.

Grab it here: XXXchange makes it good

Volumes 1-3 were mixed and produced as follows:

Vol 1 Pretty Titty - get it here

Vol 2 Chris Devlin (spank rock, fullyfitted) - get it here

Vol 3 Sinden - get it here