9/1/10 – Apple, Maybe We Should Just Be Friends?

Normally the only relationships that go this sour for me involve the female species.  But Apple, you’re pushing your luck with me and a break up might be in the near term.  I’ve already shunned your phone’s (I even gave them a chance!), I’ve waited around for you to make it up to me by ending your ridiculous AT&T fling, and yet you continue to let me down.  Take today for instance.  You promised me a big announcement.  I was waiting to hear that my 4 year old iPod would be replaced with a new model.  You even said “We’ve redesigned ALL of our models.”  You showed off the new Shuffle, the new Nano, the new Touch, and I waited for the revamp of my good ol’ Classic and you just ignored me.  I see how it is…

Okay, so here’s the thing; I want the Apple back that used to be for the tech savvy, forward thinking consumer who thought Windows was run by the evil control freak Bill Gates.  Wow, how quickly that changed!  Now it’s like the opposite.  I want the Apple who used to say, “Hey, it’s your computer and you can do whatever you want to it.  We make whatever that is easier and simpler!”  Tisk, tisk.  How quickly we forget our roots.  At first, your uber-locked down iOS was only confined to your phones but now our iPods are being shackled down too?!  Come on, leave us something!  What’s that?  iOS is being tested to run as the new OS for iMac’s?  Come on!  Leave us our computers at least, I beg of you.

It is abundantly clear that iOS is not only here to stay, but it could ultimately replace your OSX on your personal computer or laptop further locking you down.  An extremely frightening proposition if you ask me.  I’m probably not going to have to upgrade my computer until next year but I’m afraid to say that it will probably be a Windows 7 machine.  Man, that hurts to say but I just don’t see a future for us Apple.  It’s not you, it’s me.

8/30/10 – Audio Projects #2 & #3

Okay, so here’s the other 2 projects I’ve been working on over the course of the past month or so.  My motivation for these is really a 3 part thing so bear with me.  As almost everyone knows about me, I used to DJ A LOT back in the late 90′s and early 2000′s.  I haven’t done it in a long time mostly because I grew out of the whole clubbing culture, have a full time job, and am not really that into the music anymore.  Well, at my summer BBQ back in June I have to admit I was very flattered when a girl friend of mine said that she still listened to some of my old DJ mixes I recorded to CD.  She then asked if I had made anything new?  ”No, I’m not really into that scene anymore” I replied.  ”That’s too bad, you were really good!” she said.  So there’s motivation #1 of course, to impress a girl.  Ugh, some things never change.  The second bit of motivation came from the fact that one of my favorite parts of DJing was digging for new music.  I spent the better part of the past month researching new music to use for this mix and even though it wasn’t the traditional digging through racks of vinyl at Twist & Shout, it was still fun going through the process of it all to see what would work and what wouldn’t.  Lastly, I mostly wanted to see if I could still do it.  Do I still know how to beat match, EQ properly, etc?  Well the answer is, yes I do, I think.  Though I’m not particularly into the music that much anymore, dammit it’s still fun to play with and mix together!  It’s a little late, but below are my Summer Mix 2010 parts 1 & 2.  Both were recorded live in 1 take.  You can definitely hear a few of the mixes were choppy or a little rough as I was very rusty on my skills.  Both parts are pure 4 on the floor club thumpers, so like Hospital Tracks, it’s not for everyone.  I wanted the first part to be a little more playful and light hearted while the second part is darker and more true to what I used to play.  So anyway, get em’ if you want em’.

DOWNLOAD SUMMER MIX 2010 PT. 1 HERE

DOWNLOAD SUMMER MIX 2010 PT. 2 HERE

Tracklistings:

PART 1:

1. DJ Wady – Terrace (Original Mix)

2. Stefano Noferini – Ghuroom (Original Mix)

3. Kaiserdisco – Jaana (Cashmere Remix)

4. Rah Band – Clouds Across The Moon (Jay Lumen & Umek Remix)

5. Swingkids – Nonsense (Original Mix)

6. Lee Cabrera – Voodoo Love (Steve Angello Remix)

7. Union Jackers – Yambo (Original Club Mix)

8. Siwell – 2048 (Original Mix)

9. Umek – OMGWTF (Original Mix)

10. Grum – Heartbeats (Original Mix)

11. Marco Bailey & Tom Hades – Lust & Romance (Original Mix)

12. Wally Lopez – Rocking Year (James Talk Remix)

13. Rino Cerrone – Rilis 05 A1 (2010 Remix)

14. Mark Broom – Raincheck (Remix)

15. Monaque – Dos3000 (Quivver Remix)

PART 2:

1. Umek – Squeamish Type (Advent & Industrialyzer Remix)

2. Umek & Fergie – Gatex (Fergie Remix)

3. Dusty Kid – Moto Perpetuo (Extended Version)

4. Function v. Jerome Sydenham – White Light (Original Mix)

5. Shlomi Aber – Groove Mechanism (Original Mix)

6. Christian Smith – Cinnamon (Original Mix)

7. Deadmau5 – Some Kind of Blue (Original Mix)

8. Bando – Diorite Work (Original Mix)

9. Spektre – Harpoon (Alex di Stefano Remix)

10. Butch – Apophis (Ramon Tapia Remix)

11. Eric Sneo – Wake Up (Original Mix)

12. Angstrom Aalberg – Rue La Future (Original Mix)

13. Industrialyzer – Plastik Gun (Original Mix)

14. Redhead – Clusters (Original Mix)

15. Adam K & Soha – Who Cares? (Original Mix)

8/28/10 – Bored, So In My Spare Time: Audio Project #1

With the storm chase season over for the most part, I’ve had some spare time on my hands and have been taking on some random audio/music projects.  Sort of a getting back to my roots kind of thing.  Anyway, the first project I started working on here and there from May until about 2 weeks ago is ready for consumption if you so choose.  It’s not for everyone, so let me just put that disclaimer out there.  It’s a project I’ve called Hospital Tracks.  You need an explanation?  Okay, here it goes; back when I first came up with this idea, I was listening to a lot of dark, sound-scape, electronic stuff (Monolake, Autechre, etc).  A lot of it is completely beat-less and pretty creepy to be honest.  I thought it would be cool to put together an entire disc’s worth of stuff mixed seamlessly together through some automation, MIDI, sequencers, and effects machines.  So I got to it and after lots of trial and error, I came up with the following results.  I decided to call it Hospital Tracks because for some reason the vibe I get from the music I used was that this would be the soundtrack you hear in your mind right before you expire on a hospital gurney.  Yeesh!  I know!  And, no I’m not depressed or anything like that, in fact I’m quite jolly at the moment.  So anyway, the link to download and the tracklisting are below.  It’s kind of a big file because I mixed it down into a higher bit rate mp3.  Like I said, it’s definitely not for everyone but I’m quite happy at how it turned out.  So check it if you want!

DOWNLOAD HOSPITAL TRACKS

(Click on Free Download on the left side of the page unless of course you have a membership to uploading.com)

Tracklist:

I’ve got a few other goodies that I’ve been working on all ready to go as well which I will be posting up here over the next few days, so keep an eye out.

8/25/10 – American Version of Top Gear Finally a Go For This Fall…

But is that a good thing?  An American version of the popular BBC2 program Top Gear has been rumored for years.  It’s almost as mythical and speculated about as the Verizon iPhone.  Okay, maybe not that bad but after years of rumors the show is now a go for this Fall.  Not sure of how many episodes (the British version is usually 7-8 shows per season, with 2 seasons a year), what the format of the show will be, or if the Stig’s fatter American Cousin will be doing the fast laps but here’s what we do know:

- Show will be airing on History Channel this Fall.  Exact date not known but probably October.

- Hosts are Tanner Faust an American rally driver, who dabbles in other forms of motor sport like drifting, and some X-Games exhibitions.  Along side Tanner will be Adam Ferrara an actor/comedian, and Speed Channel NASCAR analyst Wood Rutledge.

- An original pilot for the American Top Gear was shot years ago when it looked like NBC was going to air season 1 in primetime but they cancelled their order shortly after the pilot was filmed.  The original pilot had Foust, Adam Carolla (of the Man Show, Loveline, etc), and Eric Stromer (host of a few home improvement shows on Home & Garden channel) as the hosts.  It’s unclear why Foust was the only holdover for the History Channel version.

- History Channel released a 2:30 trailer promoting the first episode and here it is:

So, that’s what we know.  Oh boy.  It’s probably not fair to judge a show based on a 2:30 clip, but if the above is any indicator of what we’re in store for, this sucker might not last past 1 season.  This preview looks more like a trailer for Jackass than Top Gear.

A list of my concerns:

- First, we know no matter how hard the producers for this version of the show try, they will never find an American equivalent of Jezza, Slow, and Hamster as hosts.  The chemistry the three of them share on the British version is just unmatchable so the American hosts will need to try to find their own niche as a team.  They need to marry the central themes of the British show while still finding their own unique style which will be tricky.  They cannot try to be like or imitate Clarkson, May, and Hammond because that will seem fake and people will see through it.  And these guys have got to cut down on the “whoa dude!” and “that was sick!” exclamations and definitely no high fiving.

- Second concern for me is that, no offense to the History Channel, but they have no where near the budget that the BBC has to put behind their version of the show.  Top Gear is an institution in Britain.  It’s like our Survivor and American Idol combined.  And that big budget and backing is what gives us all of the exotic locations for challenges, cool stunts, and a seemingly never ending train of super cars to test.  This is like comparing the Yankee and Red Sox payrolls combined to the Marlins.  Not even close.

- Third, no offense again but American cars suck.  Especially our fast ones.  How many weeks can we see them hot lapping a Mustang or a Corvette?  That’s not to say they won’t bring in a Lamborghini or a Ferrari or two but the British version has the entire European car community begging them to take their new super cars for a lap on the track.  Similarly, another big reason why Americans like the British version is because they test a bunch of cars most of us have never heard of like Citroen, Fiat, Alfa Romeo, and Vauxhaul.  It gives us that kind of, “Wow, wish they had those here” mentality.  I’m not going to get that by watching them jump a Honda Civic off a pier in Santa Monica.

- Fourth and this could be the deal breaker.  The BBC version airs every Sunday night for 1 hour.  And I mean, 60 straight minutes.  There’s no commercials.  There’s no sponsorship.  The BBC funds the show, so commercials (or should I say ‘adverts’?) are non-existent.  This is vital to the show because without sponsors, namely car sponsors the hosts are free to say whatever they truly think about the cars they test.  They don’t have to worry about offending a sponsor!  Well as we know, American television doesn’t work that way.  Can you imagine Chrysler being a sponsor of the American show?  Tanner Foust will still have to say that he absolutely loves the new Challenger even if he thinks it’s the biggest piece of shit on Earth.  Of course we will never see a full 60 minute American version without commercials but the History Channel would be wise to keep the car sponsors away.  I’m afraid however that a small network like History being thrown big bucks in their face by the likes of Ford, GM, and Chrysler will be too much to refuse.  Also, the political un-correctness the British hosts are allowed (again, mostly due to not having to worry about offending sponsors) would never fly over here.  British presenter Jeremy Clarkson constantly bashes American cars, America in general, the French, the Dutch, eco friendly cars, eco friendly movements, and the list goes on.  It might offend some, but it’s another caveat of what makes the British version funny and unique.

So, probably a bit of overkill on the analysis of what to expect.  Especially seeing as we’ve only seen a 2:30 preview clip of the show.  I will definitely be giving the show a chance for a season.  I’m not too sure about the hosts but I think Tanner Foust will be the surprise hit of this show.  He’s a great driver and has got the knowledge.  He’s on a show we air on Versus and every time he appears in an interview segment, he seems to have a good on-air personality.  We shall see.  As a quick parting shot, this is what they will have to live up to:

Good luck, you’re gonna need it…

8/17/10 – 92X Tribute Playlist!

In 1995 I was in my junior year of high school and at the ripe age of 16, I was very impressionable especially when it came to music.  A little radio station took to the air on the dial at 92.1 and they called themselves 92X.  For one glorious year that channel changed the lives of myself and my friends.  They were one of the first stations that was not Clear Channel owned and they played bands that no one had really heard of.  It was so refreshing to us who were always looking for new music.  Finally, a radio channel that didn’t play all of that top 40 bullshit.  I mean seriously, I had no clue who The Catherine Wheel was or who Self was.  What also made the station unique was their lineup of on-air personalities.  Truthfully, they all just sounded like a bunch of stoners who were genuinely happy to be on the air at all.  Malcolm always talked in a really low, monotone voice and was famous for his Mo Deans commercials.  Hillary did a weekly Friday night show called ‘No Punk Intended’ which turned me on to the awesomeness of Bad Religion, Pennywise, NOFX, and the Bad Brains plus I had a huge schoolboy crush on her!  Also a guy named Rockfish, and a young Suzie Wargun (now a mainstay on 9News if I’m not mistaken) kept us all very entertained.  They threw on 92 cent concerts which sold out the Ogden almost every Friday night during the summer.  It was great to see a bunch of no-name bands show up in Denver to sold out shows!  If my memory serves me correctly, the Self show sold out so quickly, the band decided to do 2 shows in one night so everyone could see them.  Yeah, those were the days.  My first stage dive right while Elastica was playing ‘Connection’ at the Bluebird and everyone with their packs of Mentos at the Foo Fighters show at the Ogden remind me of some good times.  Of course those good times couldn’t last.  In 1996, the station was sold to Jefferson Pilot and another cookie cutter pop country station took over.  It was a dark and sad day in Denver for me and all of my friends.  Anyway that was 15 years ago when that channel launched and it provided a summer of shows, experiences, and memories that I will never forget.  They used to give 92X bumper stickers out like crazy and if I had one I’d still rock that shit on my car.  Huge reward if anyone could track one down for me!  So I’ve made a 92X 15 year anniversary playlist on the sidebar of my site.  Relive all the memories for better or worse!

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