Category — Turntables

Some of you may remember the famous “Sound Clash” beat battles that took place at a club called Root Down in Los Angeles some years back.  They were based on the old reggae sound system competitions, and featured some top notch producers.

The battles had been organized by DJ Dusk, who tragically passed away in 2006.  To commemorate his legacy a DVD of the battles was recently made available from the Stones Throw online store.

It’s definately worth watching!

Soundclash DVD

The Brionvega Radiofonografio RR126, a record player considered to be groundbreaking at the time of its inception in 1965, designed by Pier Giacomo and Achille Castiglioni, has recently been reintroduced as the RR226.

The piece, known as the “musical component robot”, was considered a design classic, known for its versatility and its folding speakers, which could be positioned both at the side and on the top of the player.  In addition to the all of the original functionalities (radio, built-in amp, and dial controls), the player also includes CD and DVD players, effectively bringing it up to date with modern technology.

No word yet on when the player will become available for purchase, but hopefully soon.

[Brionvega via Coolhunter]

I’m in complete awe of this video which shows the legendary 45 King absolutely tearing it up on a couple Handrytrax turntables.

Peep the new mix from the We Make It Good Series, this time featuring Gaslamp Killer.

“The GLK goes from dirty scratch beats to dirty south rap, to some new new beat shit, to Nirvana! Then straight to Bombay India for some Bollywood fun, right into some Jaylib! And that’s all within the first 10 minutes of this mix. Nuff said. Peep it.”

-Gas Lamp Killer

We Make It Good Mix Series, Vol. 5 feat. Gaslamp Killer

Track Listing:

GLK INTRO
BUCKETHEAD – SKRATCH BEAT
UGK – INTERNATIONAL PLAYERS ANTHEM
ROBOTO – VORTEX COOKIES (fLako Rmx) – GLK EDIT
NIRVANA – SCENTLESS APPRENTICE
KALYANJI ANANDJI – DHARMATMA THEME – TOMMY’S EDIT
JAYLIB – CHAMPION SOUND
DABRYE – ENCODED FLOW INSTRUMENTAL
FUZZ FACE – BRAINSWAPPER
SAMIYAM – PORNO SLAP
THE ROOTS – GET BUSY
THE CLIPSE – GRINDIN’
DJ SIGNIFY – LISTEN / THE ISOLATIONIST – INSTRUMENTALS
ALEXANDERS DARK BAND – DRUM ATTIK
OHNO – FAST GAMBLE
BULLION – I KNOW THERES NO ANSWER
THE SLAPPED EYEBALLERS – REDE HET SIE GSEIT
LES MOGOL – KALEIDOSCOPIC DREAM
THE GASLAMP KILLER – SHOWSTOPPER
FLYING LOTUS & THE GASLAMP KILLER – GNG BNG
…FIN…

Most DJ’s know that wearing a Halloween costume during a gig is usually a pretty bad idea. Depending on what the outfit is, it is only a matter of time before you tear it off either due to it being too hot, or simply getting in the way of you being able to mix properly. Being as how I will be spinning a party at a friends house this year as opposed to a professional establishment, I figured I would see what type of outfits I could find online.

Sadly I couldn’t find anything I personally wanted to wear, but here’s some outfits I would laugh my ass off if I ever saw a DJ wear while in the booth.

[Read more →]

Remember that wrist watch shaped like a mini turntable that DJ Qbert used to wear way back in the day?  Yeah I really wanted one too at the time, and since then there have certainly been several look-a-likes, the most recent of which, the Turntable Watch by Tokidoki, completely misses the mark, at least in terms of making something a real DJ would actually wear.

Although the vinyl piece does rotate, it does not indicate the time, as that function is left to what vaguely resembles a radio dial on the left side of the watch.  But even more atrocious than the design and the color scheme of the watch, is the asking price of $175.

Its the weekend finally, and theres some great shows going on this weekend! I might find my way over to the HARD Summer Festival at the Shrine Expo Hall on Saturday night, but I have a gig that night that is about 75% confirmed right now so we’ll see. Sunday will be awesome though as I’m definitely going to the Seagate Download Festival happening at the Gibson Amphitheatre. The lineup has some great artists like Ghostland Observatory, Flosstradamus, Datarock, and one of my old time favorites, RJD2.

For more info on the Download Festival Click Here

Like most other nerds out there, I spent a few hours in front of a Apple store last weekend waiting to buy the new iPhone.  Now that I have spent countless hours getting up to date with all of its new features, I have been feeling the urge to go buy some accessories. The only problem is that most of the accessories you see in the Apple store kind of suck! So naturally I started looking around on the web this morning, and  was surprised to find a whole slew of nice iPod docks I had never seen before. It was actually more of a bummer since I don’t really need my iPod(s) anymore since I can now store my music on my iPhone, and most of the docks were only for iPods, but I figured they would be worth posting in case some of you guys are on the look out for a new dock.

As it turns out, Porsche doesnt just design cars, but also products like phones, GPS, and iPod docks!  The Eton P9120 is a table top system made of extruded aluminum and includes three 1.5″ full range drivers, and a 15W 3″ active subwoofer.  It has a separate dock, and a remote control that seems to have far too many buttons than necessary to operate an iPod.  The Eton has a OLED alphanumeric display with a clock function, AM/FM tuner and DAB tuner for the British market.  A wallet buster though at $600.

The next one I found is a new dock soon to be released by LG Electronics called…hold on let me check that again…the FA163DAB iDock Micro System.  Despite the random name, the dock itself should sound pretty good with a output power of 160W, and its two subwoofers.  It also features touch sensitive controls, a vertical slot-loading CD player with a MP3 encoding function, auto-equalization and DAB radio which provides over 50 stations in digital.  Should be available in stores later this month for around $400.

The iTUBE by Fatman promises to match your decor while delivering a “luscious warm analogue sound”.  It not only comes with a built-in amplifier (25Wx2) and iPod dock, but also two other source inputs, as well as the option for matching speakers.  The dock allows for any iPod to be used except for a iPod Shuffle, and it also comes with a 27 key remote control.

UPDATE: Turns out that there is a new iTube docking system that is even better than the first!  The new design, called the Red-i, is based on the first iTube, and also features 25 watts per channel and two line-level inputs, only this one also has a 3.5mm jack so you can connect to your other digital devices, and best of all, it works with the iPhone!  Apparently its one of the few music systems properly equipped for use with the phone as it is capable of eliminating TDMA noise - the noise that happens when the phone is put too close to an audio device.  It will be available exclusively in the UK from Henley Designs in September for approx. $700..yikes!

If you are less concerned about sound, and more interested in having a unique looking dock, then perhaps the Mytunes MP3 Amp is for you.  While it does have working treble and bass knobs, they are probably mostly useless as this little guy can only push out an output of 5W.  But in terms of of iPod docks that look cool, this definitely near the top of the list.  Only $40.

I just discovered that there is a new Flickr group dedicated to Audio Art. It’s basically a nice collection of artistic pictures of audio equipment, and there’s actually some pretty good looking pics.

Feel like nerding out?  Check out the Flickr Audio Art Gallery

The world famous Rock Steady Crew will soon be hosting their 31st anniversary party, which celebrates the preservation and evolution of Hip-Hop Culture.

The Rock Steady Crew was founded by breakdancers Jimmy D and Jojo in the late 70’s, and first gained serious media exposure in 1981 when the crew, under the leadership of the legendary Crazy Legs, participated in an outdoor performance battle again rival crew The Dynamic Rockers, which was covered by local New York City television stations, as well as several news publications including The New York Times.

The celebration will be in the form of a four-day festival in the New York City area from July 24 to Sunday, July 27.

Here’s the full calendar of events.

Thursday, July 24

Celebrity Benefit Basketball Challenge
Location: West 3rd Street & 6th Avenue (New York, NY)
Come watch members of the Hip-Hop and Film community compete for bragging rights.

Against The Grain: Concrete B-boy /B-girl battle.
B-boys & B-girls from all over the world battle it out for the $500 prize.
Location & Time: 11:00am - 3:00pm
DJ: Servin’ Ervin
Admission: Free

Workshops
Time: 1:00pm - 5:00pm
Location: Red Bull Building - 15 Watts(by W. Broadway)
Admission: $25.00
*B-boy / B-girl: Crazy Legs
You want to know how it’s done? These speakers are the best at what they do and share insight on how they make their magic happen.

“For The Funk Of It” Funkstyles Party
Time: 9:00pm - 1:00am
Location: Red Bull Building - 15 Watts(by W. Broadway, NY, NY)
DJ: Doc
Admission: Free
Self explanatory! Come get loose and show us what you got. Live Performance by Kurtis Blow

Friday, July 25

Frienemies
UK B-boy Championships US Qualifier: U.S.contestants go at it to see who will represent the U.S. in the UK B-boy Championship.
Location: 101 River View Grand Hall - 101 Sixth Ave.(btwn. Grand & Watt, NY, NY)
Time: 3:00PM - 9:00PM
Hosted By: Crazy Legs
DJ: Crazy Legs & Red Alert (Celebrating his 25 years on Radio Anniversary)
Admission: $20.00
This event will bring an underground event to crown a 1 B-boy/1 B-girl as the BEST. Each one has to represent the most effectively throughout the day in a STRICTLY CIPHER driven event.

Saturday, July 26

5 on 5 crew battles.
Location: 101 River View Grand Hall - 101 Sixth Ave. (btwn. Grand & Watt) (New York, NY)
Time: 3:00PM - 9:00PM
Hosted By: Crazy Legs
Spy Awards: The Spy Award is being presented to BEBE and A-B-girl
DJ: DV One & Skeme Richards
Admission: $25.00

July 26 is Official Rock Steady Crew Day In NYC, as proclaimed by Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg

Sunday, July 27

3rd Annual Lincoln Park Music Festival
Time: 12:00pm - 8:00pm
Free Outdoor Concert & Food Drive In Memory of “Frosty Freeze”
Location: Lincoln Park - 1 Lincoln, Newark, NJ (Broad St. & Clinton Ave.)
Hosted by: E.O.W.
DJ’s: JS-1, Eclipse & Sucio
Beat Battle: Meet The Producers vs. Big Tune Em Cee’s: The Beatnuts, Buckshot, Craig G & Marley Marl, Sadat X, Soul Sonic Force, Positive K, Grand Master Caz, DJ Premier feat. NYG’z & Blaq Poet, Termanology & DJ Statik Selektah, A-OK, Akrobatik, Skyzoo, Double Barrel, a Female Cipher - Lyric a.k.a. Sara Kana, Mala Reignz, Patty Dukes, Miss Nana & Rece Steele

Official After Party
Location: Redbull Building - 15 Watts by W. Broadway, New York, NY)
Time: 9:00PM - 1:00AM
DJ: Evil Dee
Admission: Free