12 minute read
Grooves
“PARTY PEOPLE” u Crystal Waters & DJ Spen u unquantize Spen teams up with legendary vocalist Waters to bring you some feel-good, vocal-house goodness. Sporting a ’90s-flavored underground vibe, bouncing 4/4 beats, bumping bass, swinging hi-hats and funky keys, this one’ll light up your floor. And make sure you check the grittier “DJ Spen & Micfreak Party Mix.” – Tommy D Funk
“FINALLY READY” u Shapeshifters feat. Billy Porter u Glitterbox Shapeshifters’ Simon Marlin takes his production to the next level by teaming up with star Broadway vocalist Billy Porter. Behind an uplifting disco-house soundtrack, Porter lets loose like a fierce, ruling diva – this one’s a future classic. – Curtis Zack
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Izo FitzRoy
Yass
Danny Marx DJ Spen
Lempo
Crystal Waters
“WONK” u Wonkytonk u Superfreq Some seriously wobbly deep-tech here from Wonkytonk (aka Mr. C and Radio Rental) on the original, but look for the tasty remixes as well. Mr. C’s stripped-down effort gets pretty scalding, while Radio Rental’s mix rides the groove with more care. But don’t sleep on Jay Tripwire’s twisted entry, which somehow pushes into an even further celestial place. – Jim Tremayne
“FAITH” u Yass feat. Leslie O’Smith u Soulfuric Parisian producer Yass and vocalist O’Smith deliver an excellent vocal workout on the mighty Soulfuric. The soulful track features sublime synth stabs and powerful song to lift your spirits. – Curtis Zack
u anny Marx u Simma Black London’s Marx delivers a fantastic two-tracker full of house flava. With deep, hypnotic elements and spoken-word vocals skidding over warm bass and bumpy keys, “Materialize” takes you on a gleeful ride. “Groove 2 Me” steps up the pace with a taut rhythm, oozing keys and female-vocal samples – sweet. – Tommy D Funk
“SING IT” EP u DoctorSoul u Midnight Riot The nu-disco delights keep coming from the Midnight Riot camp. Here we have three tracks of absolute quality that groove all day and night, and can’t help but make you move. While the sleek title track takes you straight to a 1976 dancefloor, don’t sleep on the mega-funky “Universal Thing.” – Curtis Zack
u Lempo & Roland Clark u Strictly Rhythm The U.K.’s Lempo hooks up with Roland Clark for an elegant disco-house outing on the legendary Strictly. Bangin’ and bumpin’, this driving track does the business. – Curtis Zack
“MIDNIGHT MOODS” EP
u Stay K u Kid Recordings Essentially a deft assemblage of juicy samples, this soulful EP delivers both primo chill tunes and hip-shaking grooves. Slinky opener, “Cross
town Rendezvous,” sets a sleek scene, then “Honey Kisses” drops a very ’70sR&B vibe – snaky, but with a lowdown and funky swagger. Closer “Peggy Love” picks up the pace with plenty of sassy funk. – Jim Tremayne
“THIS IS HOUSE” u John “Julius” Knight & Roland Clark u Soulphuric Trax Knight returns with vocalist Clark on this spiritual house groove. With two mixes available, DJs get plenty of swelling synths, echoed vocals and funky riffs to make this a surefire dancefloor hit. The “Marco Lys Extended Remix” gallops along with precision, while the” Mattei & Omich Extended Remix” kicks a funkier vibe. – Tommy D Funk
“BACK ON-LINE” EP u Boys Don’t Disco u Jump Recordings San Diego natives BDD drop a lovely two-track EP of deep and juicy goodness. “The Narrative” offers some jumpy house grooves, while “Gusty” pumps with percussive purpose. Both bring chopped vocals and melodic quirks, but the grooves really deliver. – Tommy D Funk
“SAVE ME” u DJ Zavala u Sirup Things get real hot on this sexy single. Dropping a melodic mid-tempo, almost Middle Eastern vibe, it’s a chunky, deep groover with a sweet female vocal that pulls everything together. – Phil Turnipseed
“ALL I NEED” u Nora En Pure u Enormous Tunes Catchy and lush, but sporting a throbbing bassline, the latest vocal cut from the Swiss DJ/producer is pure pop confection that’ll stick in your ear. Easy breezy. – Jim Tremayne
“GETTING ME HIGH” u Sebb Junior, Karmina Dai & Mr. V u Peppermint Jam Heavyweight house business on Peppermint Jam with the combination of Sebb Junior on production and Karmina Dai and Mr. V on vocals. The original is backed up by a summer-stormer remix from Jarred Gallo. – Curtis Zack
NO SHADE u Dave + Sam u Classic Music On its 13-cut debut album, the Brooklyn duo delivers deep, soulful jams – house, funk, disco – punctuated with street-savvy and socio-conscious wordplay. Highlights include the urgent “Til the World Blow Up” with Mike Dunn and the soulful title track featuring Ramona Renea. – Tommy D Funk
“BLIND FAITH” (REMIXES) u Izo FitzRoy u Jalapeno Super soulstress FitzRoy returns with a track from her excellent 2020 album, How the Mighty Fall. From the quality set of re-rubs, the “Smoove Remix” brings a bass-heavy boogie vibe, while the Art of Tones efforts funk up the proceedings righteously. – Curtis Zack
Nora En Pure
u Mo’funk & Avon Stringer feat. Celeda u Simma Black Proper house music here with piano, a boomin’ rhythm, and fierce vocals from the one and only Celeda. Two mixes included, with the dub taking you way deeper. – Tommy D Funk
u Jason Herd pres. 161 u Weirdo This shimmering, booty-shaking, disco-house jam from this amalgam of Mancunian talent is packed with all the essentials, including singalong vocals and uplifting pianos. And check the superb dub mix – “J’s Fat Arse Dub.” – Tommy D Funk
Guest Reviewer: Angel Johnson “CAME TO CHILL”
u Alaya u Motive Bouncy, warm and groovy, this sleek house track’s main ingredient is an infectious, rolling bassline, which bounds along unapologetically. It’s punctuated by spoken vocals, sparse keys, and a sax that lifts you from the dreamy break. This one’s apt for warming up or for dropping peak-time, a versatile and worthy weapon from Australian producer Alaya.
Golf Clap (continued from page 8)
Cleal: How much more difficult it is to stream than we expected. There are just so many little things that can mess it up. It takes a lot of guessing, testing, Googling, asking friends, and hours and hours of streaming to start to feel fairly confident. Things still pop up from time to time, but we have started to figure out how to fix any issues quickly and keep the show rolling. All the viewers have been very Making Tracks (continued from page 26) or and texture to the mix. Different compressors simply sound differently, and if you take enough time to com pare, you’ll quickly get a feel for what you like. With hardware compressors, it’s the actual electrical circuits that add the color; for the plug-ins, it’s the way the software is designed to work.
Many believe that analog hardware compressors provide a better feel, a better sound, than software and digital approaches can. I can’t really defend Business Line (continued from page 32)
DJ Times: Within the first week that the Vermont governor Phil Scott declared a state of emergency shut ting down all restaurants, bars, and cafes, how many people have you entertained through this new busi ness model?
Mitchell: About 5,000 people be tween three live streams – one on a Friday night and two on Saturday.
DJ Times: Based on the results and feedback from the first three live streams, do you plan on continuing them?
Mitchell: Yes! In fact, they are my newest weekly residencies.
Q&A with Mitchell’s Clients
We connected with a pair of rep resentatives from organizations that booked Mitchell’s services – Peter Espenshade, President of Recovery Vermont, and Johnny Chagnon, As sistant Event Coordinator of Pride Center Vermont.
DJ Times: After the first go-around Live-Streaming (continued from page 20) book DJ groups you belong to, send out an email blast to your subscrib ers, create a free EventBrite event (or MeetUp.com event, if you are willing to invest a few bucks), and, finally, start promoting sooner than 24 hours in advance. Also, announce it more than once. During your show, be sure to remind everyone when your next live-stream performance is.
This is an important step, so don’t skip it: Watch other DJs’ live-streams. supportive and understanding, while we learn the ins and outs of this.
DJ Times: What else are you do ing online? Have you seen anything that impressed you?
Jones: We are trying a couple new contests right now with the new Country Club Disco release. You can text “Contest” to 484848 to get more details. One of them involves a
spot on our virtual club night and the either side of that argument; at the end of the day, it’s what sounds and feels best to you, as the producer or engi neer, that guides what you should use. What I can say is that the Better maker provides a pretty incredible sound and feel. Doing some basic re mastering work on a couple of tracks from my past revealed that the unit does indeed provide a sort of warmth to the result that I truly did find pleas
ing. Is it night-and-day? To my ears, I with Craig’s live-streaming, what kind of feedback did you receive?
Peter Espenshade: People raved about how fun it was. Many expressed things like, “I didn’t think this was go ing to work... but I love it!”
Johnny Chagnon: People loved it and were very engaged through out the event on multiple streaming networks: YouTube, Facebook watch parties, Instagram Live, as well as on a traditional radio station. People also asked for more engagement with glow sticks and other lighting.
DJ Times: Regarding grant fund ing that your organization receives, is it safe to rely on that funding to continue during the COVID-19 crisis?
Espenshade: Yes. Organizations like ours receive funding for the sole purpose to bring people together. How are we supposed to do that dur ing a time that “shelter-in-place” orders are in effect? Host online dance parties.
DJ Times: Remind us of the im
Just like before quarantine, you sup port my show, and I’ll support your show. Same unwritten rules apply now. Even if you are in a hurry, try to pop into as many live-streams as you can and at least take a second to leave a smiley-face emoji before moving on.
Live It Up
Yes, you can make a few bucks from viewers leaving you tips, but most likely, this is going to be a labor of love. For me, personally, I have made a lot of new DJ other involves shufflers. Some of our favorite DJ streams have been Trea sure Fingers, Subset, Low Steppa and, of course, Diplo.
DJ Times: Any theme tunes rec ommended for the moment?
Cleal: We update our playlist all the time on Spotify and our radio show is every week, so we cycle through stuff quite a bit. One of our favorites currently is MASTERIA & wouldn’t say that, but I would say it’s noticeable, it’s pleasing, and it has me considering how, when and where I could fit something like this into my workflow going forward.
Conclusion: The Bettermaker Mastering Compressor provides clas sic, true-analog, hardware compression for effective mastering just like the pros use, providing a clean result that would please even the most dis criminating mastering engineers. If portance of hiring a DJ to provide entertainment for your community.
Espenshade: Our mission is about connecting people during times when they may feel left out of society. While the majority is in quarantine, we need to continue our mission.
DJ Times: Has traffic increased since the stay-at-home order went into effect?
Chagnon: Yes. We are even busier than before the order. Instead of canceling events, I worked with my team to immediately transition our regular events to online formats us ing Zoom, Facebook Live and other digital features.
DJ Times: Would you welcome DJs to cold-email you to introduce this concept?
Espenshade: Yes, and I encourage you to not underestimate the power of this. Let non-profits know that this can be a mission-based tool to serve people in isolation with fun, happy, connecting programming. connections from playing in virtual music festivals together and watching each other’s live-stream shows. Promoters and talent scouts are definitely out there.
Live-streaming is more of a net working opportunity than a paycheck, but you don’t want to get rusty in quarantine. Like the memes say, if you don’t come out of this lockdown with a new skill, then you are letting a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity pass you by. For most DJs, live-streaming AceMyth’s “Do It” on Confession.
DJ Times: Any advice on staying sane and relatively positive through this situation?
Jones: Everyone is in a different position right now, but try to make the best of this “new world” and adapt as much as possible mentally and financially. Stay busy and learn new skills. We’ll all make it.
– Ashley Teffer you’re truly serious about your music projects, and want top-drawer results, it’s worth considering. That said, this kind of very serious kit is not for amateurs; with a street price that’s about $2,899, it’s definitely a pay-toplay-with-the-big-guys sort of offering — but one that really delivers. (Ed. Note: The company also offers a “younger brother” version, called the Bet termaker Master Bus Compressor, which
costs $2,399.)
Chagnon: Absolutely. I have also been relying on information from DJ friends across the country put ting together their own virtual dance parties.
DJ Times: What should a coldemail look like?
Espenshade: Clear, bulleted, and how this can help a non-profit person trying to figure out what to do.
DJ Times: Is this a viable business model between DJs and communitybased organizations?
Espenshade: Ironically, this pro hibition on public meetings might be something positive for the DJ community. DJs – unlike caterers, for example – can move their business online and keep people connected. It’s kind of a wonderful thing and we are so grateful to Craig for willing to experiment and make this work. I recommend it for your organization.
Josh Kerman is a DJ, digital marketer and co-founder of the annual Vermont
DJ Meetup. has become therapy, a way to stay connected to our DJ friends, and a new project to keep you occupied.
At the very least, a year from now, when a bride says she can’t afford your wedding-DJ services, you can tell her your ridiculously affordable livestream prices.
Staci Nichols (aka San Diego DJ Staci, the Track Star) is a DJ/MC in San Diego, Calif., who spins a wide variety of events – mobile, club, and virtual. n
