Such Sweet Vocals...

I have to say that I just love female vocals that kind of wrap you up in a nice cosy blanket and make you feel all warm inside.  Of course a lot can have to do with the production itself but for the most part I can listen to some of these tracks over and over again because I am just drawn to the voice.

 

If I purchased "Fumbling Towards Ectasy" by Sarah McLaughlan on vinyl I would probably have had to replace the album several times due to overuse.  I never really listened to her before that release but for some reason that album was a go to for me if I was in a chill out kind of mood.  I just loved it...lots of emotion.

 

About the same time I came across an LP called "Walking Wounded" by Everything But The Girl a duo out of the UK with Tracey Thorn on vocals.  You may know some of their more popular work on this side of the ocean in "Missing" and "Wrong" two great tracks.  The album was released in 1996 and to this day I still listen to it.  Her mellow soothing voice over some minimalist drum and bass sounds makes for an awesome combination.

 

 

The first time I heard Dido's voice in the song "Stan" by Eminem I had to find out who she was.  Sure enough she was already a star in her own making before that track came out and the lyric used in that Hip Hop song was from her single "Thank You." Once again I was drawn to that soft soothing voice.  "Don't Believe in Love" on "Safe Trip Home" another one of my favs.
  

On the electronica side of things there are several tracks that I just seem to play over and over again.  Deadmau5 and Kaskade have calloborated on several earlier projects and found a gem in a vocalist named Haley Gibby who performed "I Remember" & "Move for Me."  Haley is an electronic music vocalist and has done many collaborations with Kaskade. Check out this cool acoustic version of "I Remember" that I found on youtube:

Recently Kaskade released a track called "Room for Happiness" featuring Skylar Grey (real name Holly Brook Hafermann).  Hafermann is an American singer songwriter who co-wrote "Love the Way You Lie" by Eminen and was featured as a guest vocalist on  "Coming Home" a Hip Hop track from Diddy Dirty Money.  She has her own album called "Like Blood Like Honey" which I have to check out and looks to be releasing a new album in 2013. 

 

 

Out of all the commercial EDM crap that seems to be hitting the airwaves these days I can't get seem to get enough of these three tracks by Deadmau5/Kaskade....mostly because of the voice and the chords used to compliment them.  

 

Anyhow...if you feel like wanting to sit by a cosy fire place and drink a glass of wine and just chill then I would suggest putting a play list of some of these artists together and enjoy.
 

Who Ya Gonna Call?

Halloween is fast approaching!  Decorations...costumes...and most importantly taking candy from my daughter's stash!   Our street gets right into it usually decking out the front entrance of their home with mini scare houses.  Its great to see the enthusiasm by everyone and the reaction by the kids... well except two years ago when my daughter was petrified at one point and daddy errr... she couldn't get more candy because we cut the night short.

Anyhow, this Saturday I am going to DJ a Halloween House party.  So what better time then to post a few musical treats with the Halloween theme in mind.  Will definetly give these tracks a spin at the party.  

1. Thriller - Michael Jackson (1982)

2. Monster Mash - Bobby Boris Picket (1962)

3. Ghostbusters - Ray Parker Jr (1984)

4. A Nightmare on My Street - Jazz Jeff & The Fresh Prince (1988)

5. Time Warp - Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)



This is Thriller!



Special mention has to go to Mike Oldfield and the track "Tubular Bells Part 1".  I just read that this is actually the theme song from Exorcist!!??  I have to go check this out now.  I remember my dad listening to these guys...I thought it was weird when I was a kid and had no idea this song was the theme song from the most disturbing movie ever until now. 

That reminds me though...funniest parody scene has to go to James Woods in Scary Movie II in which he plays the priest and tries to exorcise the girl.  I almost pissed myself laughing watching this scene!  You can watch it on youtube below:  (carefull....explicit language)

Happy Halloween everyone!

I've Died and Gone to Vinyl Heaven!

Way way way back when I was a teenager I used to spend every last penny I made at my part time job on vinyl.  DJing in my teens was an insanely expensive hobby...especially since the returns playing at local parties and roller skating rinks gave back very little.  Even when me and my partner Marlon got a gig at Club 404 in Brampton I think we did it for free.  Kind of crazy since every record (back in the early to mid 90s) cost around $10-15!  And that was for one song!!! Kids these days are so spoiled....

Unfortunately, at the end of my high school years and into University somehow or another my vinyl disappeared.  Mostly sold by my DJ partner at the time I think...but I was not really bothered about it at all since I stopped spinning.  Sad.

About 6 years ago I met a friend of my wife she went to high school with.  One day at his home while taking a tour I stumbled across a pile of old milk crates filled with musical joy.  They were filled with classic house, hip hop and top40 tunes from the late 80s to late 90s... I drooled ever since.  

Then...out of the blue last week I received a call from him and surprisingly he asked me if I was interested in taking his vinyl.  I almost fell off my chair.  He came across a facebook picture of me and my 1.5 yr old son playing with the "DJay" app in which I captioned "gonna upgrade him to the 1200s soon..." or something to that effect.  He thought about selling them... but seeing that picture made him think that it would serve a better purpose in my hands (yes they would....)  Plus he just moved around the corner this way they are still within reach for some future jam sessions!

For a DJ like myself who has moved away from CDs and is completely digital it was like finding a gold mine.  I still have my 1200s and use them to play some house music records that I purchased after my university years b4 digital downloading became the norm.  But to go thru that collection and find many of the records that I purchased back in the day brought back so many memories!  I was giddy as I went thru each crate one by one sampling the tunes.

His one stipulation was that I could not sell the records.  Well...have no fear since they have instantly made family heirloom status to be past down from generation to generation of little Moerman DJs.  If not I will come back from the dead...collect them...and take them back upstairs to rock the heavens...

It looks like I am forever in his debt (my wife thinks I'm nuts) and I am super grateful for his generosity.   

This is going to make for some fun 'Vinyl Recycle" segments on the blog and I will also def have to play some future parties spinning the wheels of steel again :)

Vinyl Recycle - "Gentle Rain"

So the other day I figured I should give my Technic 1200s some luv so I opened the old vinyl record case and was browsing some of the tunes I purchased a very long time ago.   Suprisingly some of the tracks sounded like they could have been released yesterday.

Thought I would share with you some long lost gems that are definitely worth the listen too...

"Gentle Rain" playing on my Technic 1200

Back in 2003 I picked up a promo copy of Blackwatch & Greed's "Gentle Rain" with two new remixes on the Release Elements label.  Side A featured Blackwatches own "Jacked Hi Mix" which was described by Resident Advisor as "a deep atmospheric breakbeat" which features the voice of Leslie who's voice "draws you deeper...[and is] very magnetic and spelling binding..."

The voice on the track is truly mesmerizing.  It reminds me a lot of Everything But The Girl's Tracey Thorn...a topic for another day.

The Jacked Hi Mix is what made me part with $15 to purchase the vinyl way back when.  Lucky for you it is available on iTunes for $0.99.  Definitely worth the loonie.  Drop it in your itunes account and do your ears a favour by listening to this track.

Blackwatch & Greed - Gentle Rain
Label: Release Elements - ELE005
Released: 2003
Style: Progressive House / Breaks

Here it is on youtube:

Really short post...

I hate this track: "H8RS" by Steve Angello, Max Vangeli, AN21

Going Deep...

The other week I decided to use iTunes on my DJ laptop to create playlists of a lot of my music I use for Djing and backing them up to my IPAD and Iphone.  I am finding that Alogrithm's "DJay" application will get me out of a bind if my laptop were to fail during a gig.  I am really done with lugging around CDs.  So now I have a really nice system of getting new music from my record pool... importing to Traktor and then to iTunes...updating playlists...then updating phone. 

That means my phone is always up to date with the latest top40 offerings plus a whole lof of classic tuneage.  But what I listen to on a day to day basis is not Top40...or rock....or retro. Instead I listen to various forms of house music.  That music for some reason or another (actually because I really hate that I have to use Itunes to put music on my iphone) never makes it onto my iphone...or rarely does. That leaves me with an iphone full of music that I don't particularily want to listen to...

The current EDM scene that has taking over the airwaves is starting to annoy me a little.  The elements of Trance music (that has been around for a very long time) and what makes/made it so popular is now making its way onto every pop release out there.  Soaring synths...blasting horns....drum rolls that seem to last forever until the 4 to the floor beat finally drops after an ear piercing crescendo!   The problem is it's been done before....it's predictable....it's BORING!   Plus I was never a big fan of Trance to begin with...sorry Tiesto.  

Anyhow, the other day i was listening to some new top40 downloads and came across "Goin' In" by Jennifer Lopez ft Flo Rida.  I had to stop listening to it....I thought to myself what the hell is this?    Not picking on Jennifer Lopez really...kinda like "Dance Again".  I think it is just the state of EDM music at the moment.  Every pop artist is jumping on the bandwagon and the producers all seem to have this formula to make music that appeals to a generation of North American Kids who are just getting into electronic music (yes they are very late).  The problem for me is I have been listening to various forms of electronica for 20 years or so and this stuff just makes me gag...well maybe that is a strong word....roll my eyes would be more appropriate.

So instead...I checked the archives as well as a short visit to Beatport and filled a USB stick with some nice Deep/Tech house grooves.  A car deck with a USB drive is a usefull thing.

Here are some tunes I am digging at the moment...

1. Heart & Spirt (Christian Hawk & Timid Boy Naked Mix) - Francesco Bonora
2. Reaching - Stelios Vassiloudis
3. Deep Beginning - Karol XVII and Mb Valence
4. Paris (No Vocal) - Andrade
5. This Time (Gorge Remix) - Lovebirds, Sebastian Dring
6. Unkown (Dixon Mix) - Saschienne
7. Night Track (M.A.N.D.Y Remix) - Sasha, James Teej
8. Red Roses - Marius Laurentiu, Andrea Bigi

So for the time being I am going to be a top40 music snob and I am going Deep...

Are You Rob Base?

My buddy Frank at work sent me an email entitled "Flowcharts Explained" and in it was the picture below.  I almost fell off my chair laughing...

Let's see...

Definitely want to rock right now and I also came to get down.  For sure I am not internationally known.

Dammit!!! I cant rock a microphone....

I'm NOT Rob Base!!!

Are You Rob Base?

Every DJ who ever owned a vinyl copy ofthe 1988 smash hit  "It Takes Two" by Rob Base and DJ Easy Rock will no doubt have a massive hissing sound with a barely audible "hit it" at the start of the record due to over scratching.

Epic track...

So the question is...are YOU Rob Base??

Finding Gems thru iTunes

I remember the days of Napster.  It was officially released in 1999 over 11 years ago!  I am not going to get into the legalities of peer to peer music sharing however back then it was the best way to find old tunes that were hard to come by at the local HMV.  I remember searching hours for songs from my earlier years...a lot of it recorded from vinyl to mp3 format...oh the quality....

Fast forward to 2003 and Apple launches it's "Itunes Music Store."  I never really payed much attention to itunes until I got my first iphone 3 years ago.  I started using iTunes at home cause of it's cool interface and apple remote app on my iphone...that just rocks.  

However one area where I find the itunes music store is awesome is finding music...the stuff you have forgotten about...and when you hear it you say..."I remember that....I LOVE THAT SONG!!!"

I have been collecting music for quite some time now however my mp3 collection is no where near the size of the 14 million or so downloadable tracks at itunes!  

Here's how to find those forgotten about gems:

1. Install Itunes if you don't already have it.

2. Visit the itunes store via the program.

3. Search for a song...maybe something you remember from your highschool days.

4. You will most likely find 10-20 references of that track from different albums.  Check the albums the song is found on and it will most likely be on some compilation.

5. Click on the compilation album...and voila....

For example...the search for the track "Friends" by Whodini results in a bunch of results:

Search "Friends" by Whodini

If you click on "Old School Hip Hop Greats" under album this is what you get:

Wooot!  "Roxanne's Revenge" by Roxanne Shante!!  Sweet track!

Doing this will find tracks that are common in genre or were hits that year and so on.  If you find another hidden gem then search for it and continue the process.  You will be suprised what you find and how easy!  There are tonnes of compilation albums online!

 
Give it a try and happy hunting...

That Girl is Posion!

When Bell Biv Devoe released the track "Poison" back in 1990 I was the square root of sixteen, times sixty-four, divided by thirty two plus eight....  It was a massive song reaching #1 Billboard's R&B/Hip-Hop chart.

Bell Biv Devoe - "Poison" (1990)

Fast forward to 2011 and one of my favorite DJs Steve Lawler released a mix compilation called Lights Out - Decades.  On disc one you will find a track called "Poison" (Anton Pieete & Bart Skils Remix) by Lauhaus.  If I were (a lot younger) and in a club (ie the Guvernment) I could listen to this over and over and over and over again.  It makes me want to scrunch my face...picture Billy Idol with his lip curled....and bounce my head to the beat.  This btw is the definition, in my oppinion, of a dirty house track.   I absolutely love this remix!  You can check it out here on youtube:

I like it so much that I am going to feature it on Soundspin Vol 2.  It will be surrounded by some heavy techno and tech house tracks.  It will be hard...and it will be dirty....

Since I am on the 90s theme I found a nice remix of Arman Van Helden's "Witch Doktor."  That may find it's way into the mix too!

So stay tuned.

Ginos, Ginas, Freestyle and the Z28

The other day I came accross this reference on Wikipedia for Freestyle Music in Canada...

Freestyle had a large following in the late 80's and early 90's throughout the Greater Toronto Area catering originally to the Italian and Greek population, although ultimately accepted by large from the city's vast multi-cultural base. Freestyle was prominent in all ages venues and various Toronto nightclubs that would also showcase House Music. Canadians also invented their own term for the music called 'gino beats'. The fans of this music in Toronto were often referred to as 'ginos' (males) and 'ginas' (females). They often grew up in the 905 region. The term was not used in a derogatory sense such as 'guido' in America, but more a description of a Toronto male or female with a certain style (interest in fashion) and taste in music (Freestyle & House), and the behavior of blasting House music or Freestyle music while driving with the windows down, to try and attract the attention of females. By the mid nineties this market had moved almost completely to House music as their club music of choice. Lil Suzy released several 12" singles at the time, that became immensely popular amongst the youth population in Toronto. She ultimately performed live on Electric Circus, a popular Canadian live dance music television program.

I love it!  I'll be the first to admit it.  I am a Gino.  I loved freestyle back in the day and wish I still had my 12" copies of Stevie B, Trinere, Debbie Deb & Shannon.   All I wore in highschool was tracksuits (I still have my prized Kappa tracksuit folded in my closet).  I play soccer.  I played "gits" in school...and love house music....I think I still have an accent lol.

They need to be more specific though in this article.  By "905" they mean Woodbridge...and they need to add "while driving their Z28 with the windows down and seat reclined 75 degrees." Woodbridge is a special place.  Not to long ago I visited a LCBO and saw a convertible Ferrari parked on a "45" in a handicap spot.  I saw to "Ginos" come out and get in there car.  Both didn't look handicapped but they were definitely special...

Well unfortunately I was still too young to drive around with the windows down when Stevie B released his first album.  Fortunately though he was still popular by the time I was able to drive around in my parents Caprice Classic and head up to Wasaga beach a very popular destination for the "905"

Stevie B - Spring Love

Anyhow.  Here is my top 10 selection of must have "Gino beats..."

1. Spring Love - Stevie B
2. When I Hear Music - Debbie Deb
3. Diamond Girl - Nice and Wild
4. Lookout Weekend - Debbie Deb
5. Take Me In Your Arms - Lil' Suzy
6. I'm Hooked On You - Sweet Sensation
7. Let The Music Play - Shannon
8. I'll Be All You'll even Need - Trinere
9. Party Your Body - Stevie B
10. Summertime Summertime - Nocera

Well ok...one more:

11. Silent Morning - Noel

I am gonna go and see if I can find some old footage from Electric Circus...that show was the best!

Patio, food, wine and the Bee Gees?

So my wife and I went out for dinner...together...sans kids...and under no pressure to return home...or emergency phone calls...

It was Tasha's birthday and she wanted to go to the Boiler House in the Distillery District in downtown Toronto.  Now we don't normally go out for fancy dinners we usually opt for cheap Vietnamese...mmm spicy Pho at Xelua... and other ethnic restaraunts, the Real Jerk being one of Tasha's favourites.  But it has been a long time for the two of us since having kids.  We were lucky to secure a patio spot on a beautiful Friday night evening! 

The Boiler House in the Distillery District

Anyhow...dinner was fabulous.  Dessert even better.  The restaurant had a jazz trio playing soft music all night...mostly toned down jazzy remakes of new and old tunes.  It set a perfect ambience for the evening.

The singer at one point made an announcement.  It was someone elses birthday (damn why didn't i think of dedicating a song??) and instead of singing happy birthday along with staff members...I guess they don't do that at fancy restarants... he opted to sing "More then a Woman" by the Bee Gees. 

Now I am not the biggest Bee Gees fan...not my era.  But I do love "Night Fever" a track I try to play at any event I do.  I love that song.  If requested I will play "Staying Alive" though it usually doesn't make the rotation...too cheesy I guess.  But we all secretely want to point our fingers in the air and walk like Travolta does in Saturday Night Fever. He can shake it with the best of them.

John Travolta in Saturday Night Fever

But "More then a Woman" is a classic!  Check out this youtube video from the movie... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ZCtgFmQvjQ  Where did night clubs like this go? Do they even play slow songs anymore?

Anyhow it was a great night out with my wife with some great food, wine and music.  In case you were wondering Tasha is more then a woman too!  But I will blog about that another time... ;)

Silence is Golden...sometimes

Silence is golden or so the saying goes.  But not this morning....

I am on vacation up at my cottage.  So what better opportunity then to  spend some time in front of my dj software and put a mix together.  After years of downloads, two kids and some lost hair since my last mix I decided to hit the record button.

After 67 minutes of recording I thought...perfect...all done...my friends are going to love this mix!

This morning I went to splice two of the wav recordings together since I had to pause last night to feed my son at midnight.  I am sure all superstar Djs have to deal with kids too?!

Cue up wav file one...silence.  Cue up wav file two...silence...

Crap...wrong output settings in the software...

 I guess a few more days won't kill anyone.  Good things come to those that wait.  Right?

Breakdancing...Love, Props and the T.Dot!

I started DJing when I was 13.  A cheap radio shack mixer placed between 2 different all-in-one turntable/radio/cassette stereos with no pitch control was all I had to "mix" the records my partner and I used to scrounge to buy from the local record store.

Years before that though in the early 80s my favorite past time was taking a piece of cardboard from the garage, flattening it, drawing graffitti all over it and with a ghetto blaster blasting... breakdancing!  I can remember a few songs from back then that I loved to street dance to... "Roxanne Roxanne" UTFO,  "Beat Box" Art of Noise, "Jam On It" Nukleus and a few gems by Grandmaster Flash come to mind.  My signature move was the windmill.  I could do it at least 10 different ways...hold the knees, the crotch, arms in, arms out...  Me and my cousins would perform at every wedding we attended as a family and with my cousin living in the Jane / Finch area we would enter competitions at the local community center.  I barely can remember that far back but I think being involved in breakdancing and early hip hop music is probably why I started getting into DJing in the first place.  Plus being the dude playing music at the roller skating rink seemed really cool!

Last night a friend of mine Stevie Whiteshoes posted a link to a documentary on my facebook page called "Love, Props & The T.Dot."  It is a documentary celebrating 25 years of the Toronto Hip Hop scene which talked about the difficulties of local rap artists back in the day had breaking into the hip hop scene in.  It also talked about how these early artists paved the way for some of the world reknown Canadian Hip Hop superstars we have today.

I truely enjoyed watching this documentary.  It brought back so many memories of my early teens and reminded me of so much music that I had totally forgotten about.  In conjunction with the documentary, the CBC also had a concert series called the "Hip Hop Summit" in which they brought all these Canadian Hip Hop artists, old and new, together for a fantastic show.  The documentary included footage from this concert as well as old video footage and interviews with all the major players in the Canadian Hip Hop scene.  Michee Mee, Maestro Fresh Wes, The Dream Warriors, Ghetto Concept, K-Os, Kardinall Offishall, Drake and much more all made an appearance.

Here are the links to the documentary and a page with video links from the concert:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=52_M2SNI5sI or http://www.cbc.ca/toronto/community/hiphop.html
http://www.cbc.ca/radio2/cod/concerts/20110329hiphop

I only wish I had my old records from back in the day.  I would frame them and hang them all on the wall.  I now live in a digital world and will definitely need to go back and do some track searches to find some of this music! 

Oh and if you see me at a party and I look a little tipsy ask me to do a windmill. I have been known in the recent past to give it a spin...

Lincoln Lawyer Soundtrack

If I were to be driven around by a chauffer I think hip hop music would definitely need to be playing on the stereo.  Since I am pretty disconnected from new rap these days save for the really commercial
tunes on the radio I would have to opt for my special collection of late 80s hip hop...you know Boogie Down Productions, Big Daddy Kane, Biz Markie and some early LL. Such is the case in the movie Lincoln Lawyer.

Lincoln Lawyer Soundtrack

I watched this movie the other day and every scene with Matthew McConaughey (I just googled how to spell that) in the back seat of his Lincoln there is some pretty cool music being played. "Don't Sweat the Technique" Erik B and Rakim, "Music" Erik Sermon, Ain't No Love In The Heart of the City" Bobby Blue Band...awesome! How sweet tunes are totally forgotten about...

Most movies that have a scene in some night club have some crappy Techno tune in the background that was probably made by some sound tekkie during editing just for the movie so no royalties needed to be paid. But not in this movie. Instead "I Remember" by Deadmau5 makes an appearance. How cool is that? I love this track, probably one of my favs from Deadmau5 along with Ghosts 'n Stuff. Plus I am totally jealous of the successfulness of some skinny white kid from Toronto taking the EDM scene around the world by storm. I guess my dorm room back when I went to Ryerson wasn't messy enough to find a dead mouse in my Pentium 90 computer with 16Mb of ram and a 20Gb hard drive.

Anyhow the next day I had to give the soundtrack a listen. Here is the track list:

1. Ain't No Love In The Heart Of The City - Bobby 'Blue' Bland
2. Lincoln Lawyer (feat. Big Hollis) - Marcus "Seige" White
3. Music (feat. Marvin Gaye) - Erick Sermon
4. Don't Sweat The Technique (feat. Marvin Gaye) - Erik B. & Rakim
5. Nightcall Kavinsky & Lovefoxxx
6. Bobblehead Girl - Danny Chaimson & The 11th Hour
7. Now - Ari Hest
8. 107 Degrees - Citizen Cope
9. The Wilderness - Colin Smith
10. Hot Lazy Porch - Swing Cinema Guitar Works
11. Suspect - Setty & The Miracle
12. I Remember - Deadmau5 & Kaskade
13.Moment Of Truth - Gang Starr
14. California Soul (feat. Ya Boy) (Lincoln Lawyer Remix) - Marlena Shaw

If you haven't seen the movie check it out. It's a fast paced court room drama with a quick talking lawyer making his living defending the scum of the earth. It stars Matthew McConaughey and Ryan Phillipe...so for the ladies that should be reason enough since these two are sooooo dreamy. But if court room dramas with really cool music aren't your thing then watch it anyways it also stars George Costanza's dream girl, the ever beautiful Marisa Tomei :)