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Playing with the Past CONTACT Show @ Linux Cafe
Posted By: Shagz
Date:
Just a heads up, I'll be spinning chilled out this Friday at the Linux Cafe, 326 Harbourd St, Toronto, as part of the CONTACT Photography Festival. Local Toronto photographer Andrew Drown will be showing off his work with abandoned playgrounds in the Toronto Area. Show details here.
The show opening should get going around 7pm and go until 11-ish. The photos will be up for the length of the festival, so even if you miss the opener, you can hit the Cafe, grab a cup of organic joe, connect to the free wireless and enjoy the photographs.
Hope to see you there!
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Digital DJing on the Cheap: Soundcards
Posted By:
Date:
Another cool article from the peeps at Remix Magazine, this time talking about buying the right sound card.
I used to have a subscription to this magazine way way back, but I never got around to reading any of the issues. The mailing list has proven to be an excellent source of cool stuff though, when I make the time to catch up on it.
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Hobnox Tools: Web-based Roland Emulation
Posted By: Shagz
Date:
Flash-based music making with a TR-909, a pair of TB-303s and an array of BOSS-look-a-like effects pedals. Amazing flash prog skills going on here, and lots of fun to play around with too.
But really...did the world really need another Roland emulator? :)
The host site, Hobnox.com, is kind of interesting too, a kind of multi-channel, multi-media entertainment hub with a bit of social networking thrown in. Perhaps a little too much of everything? I'm not sure yet just what it is: a web tv network? A social network for musicians and artists? Audio production tools? Or all of these?
It's in beta right now, but looks pretty slick. I wonder where the money's coming from...
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New DJ Mix: Dusting Off
Posted By: Shagz
Date:
Inspired by recent mixes from dj friends Shazbot (a tight drum 'n bass mix) and J Puddy (fresh trance/prog sounds), I thought I should get on the decks and throw down a little, as a warm up to a new mix I'm working on.
It's actually been a very, very long time since I got onto the decks just to mix for fun. I think the last time was a month before Christmas, when I did a tag team set with Chris Wright for a DJShagz.com broadcast. I've just either been too busy or just haven't had the motivation/inspiration.
Honestly, I've been like this for a little while, in a sort of funk about djing. It might have had to do with the long, protracted production of Source Material, or something to do with the new things I got involved with in the past couple of years taking some of my energy. It comes and goes...now it's just going, thanks to Pudd and Shazbot's inspirational mixes. :)
Anyways, here ya go, a trip through mostly older tech/nu skool breaks tunes, most of which I never got to actually play anywhere at a gig or commit to hard drive in a mix. Enjoy!
EDIT: Oops, forgot the tracklist...
- Chris Carter - ESP - TCR
- Nitro vs. Breakneck - This Way (Breakneck Remix) - London Breakz
- White Label - White Label - Fused and Brused (maybe?)
- Plan B - White Label - White Label
- Elite Force - Peyote Road - King Size Records
- Dreadzone - Once Upon a Time in Jamaica (King at the Controls Remix) - Functional Breaks
- Krafty Kuts & Tim Deluxe - Bass Phenomen (Core Overload Remix) - Against the Grain
- Merka - Hug a Speaker - Fat Records
- DJ Mutiny - Soul Runner (Superstyle Deluxe Remix) - Botchit Breaks
- Krafty Kuts - Basketball Jam - Against the Grain
- Drumattic Twins - Hyperspeed - Finger Lickin' Records
- Deibeat - Time to Rock - iBreaks
- Splitloop - KFC - Supercharged
- Hard Fi - Hard to Beat (Malpractice Bootleg Mix) - Malpractice
- Stabilizer - Low Slung feat. Figure of Speech (Breaks Mix) - Plastic Raygun
- Rogue Element - Backbreaker - Exceptional Records
- ? - On the Right Track (Wicked Lester Remix) - Hai Karate
And this was put together on my Rane TTM 57SSL using Serato Scratch and good ol' vinyl records. I also forgot to mention that I actually did some scratching on this mix. :) It's not that great, my home set up unfortunately is on a really wobbly table, and I haven't practiced in a while. At any rate, it's in there.
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Announcing the DJ Shagz Box Set
Posted By: Shagz
Date:
Yet another project I've been working on has finally come to fruition. I present to you, the DJ Shagz Box Set! (Click for pics)
The Box Set contains (almost) everything I've ever made as a DJ, including 10 mix tapes, 10 CDs and 3 CDRs of digital releases and broadcasts. That's over 45 hours of music. The box set contains pretty much the last copies of the mix tapes I've made, as well as some of the last copies of the CDs. The CDRs contain all the broadcasts and digital releases re-encoded to 192 kbps. (Previously, they were only available at 96 and 128 kbps; one mix is stuck at 96kbps, 'cuz I deleted the original wav by mistake) Only one box set exists in the world (naturally).
You may be wondering "How can I get my hands on all this music?" Well, you're going to have to win it! As part of the release of Source Material, I put together this massive collection to give away to one lucky person.
This person could be you! All you need to do is contact me before Wed, April 30th, 11:59pm and let me know what your favourite DJ Shagz mix is. Be sure to include your full contact details so I can get a hold of you. The winner will be selected at random from all contestants, as will the second and third place winners. Oh, I didn't mention those? :) Second place will get a mix of their choice plus a copy of Source Material and third will just get a copy of Source Material.
Good luck!
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The Beatitudes from JPuddy
Posted By: Shagz
Date:
My good dj friend JPuddy has recently dropped a couple of really good trance dj mixes over at his site. Really excellent stuff, great tune selection showcasing current sounds in the world of trance and progressive house.
Get The Beatitudes Vol 1 and The Beatitudes Vol 2 and his site.
I kind of got out of trance after things imploded in the last 90's, but Puddy's mixes have always made me feel like I should be paying more attention, more so this one than any others. There's some great new stuff out there from labels like Ajuna Beats and Baroque Records, and new artists like Above & Beyond and Steve Porter (and veterans like Max Graham) are bringing a new "housey" sound to their trance productions, more fun, more funk.
You'll hear some of that in both mixes, along with some more traditional "big melody" trance.
I better get off my butt and make a new mix. :)
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Digital DJing on the Cheap
Posted By: Shagz
Date:
The manufacturers don't want you to know this, but the truth is you don't have to plop down $1,500 for the latest Allen & Heath mixer or $3,000 on a JazzMutant Lemur to do creative things with MIDI and DJ software. Sure, having a brand new DJ controller with all kinds of bells and whistles will get you excited about trying new ideas, but you might get more mileage out of something at a fraction of those prices.
Great article on how to get into digital djing without having shell out tons of cash for a top of the line dj software controller. You'll still need to shell out for the software (Traktor 3, Torq, PCDJ Dex or any other midi-controllable DJ software), a laptop and a cheap mixer, but you won't have to drop a lot on fancy controller.
Also check out the author's dj blog at DJ Tech Tools.com. Not much there at the moment, but there's some neat stuff all the same.
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1 Black Mana, Tap: Become re-addicted to Magic
Posted By: Shagz
Date:
Yup, it shames me to say that I've somehow managed to fall headlong back into the collectible card game Magic: The Gathering.
This is still a relatively recent change - I'm only 4 days into my slide - so there is no telling how long it will last. Indeed, there are signs - weak and ineffectual signs, but signs none the less - that I'm already starting to wrest control of the reigns and exert some kind of restraint on myself. However, my goal of buying a single pre-constructed deck and tweaking it a bit ended up turning into 2 pre-con decks and a booster pack. And I bought another booster pack today at lunch. :( This does not bode well.
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Film Fest 2007, Part 4
Posted By: Shagz
Date:
Awesome, two train rides home in a few weeks and I was able to finish off my reviews!
On deck, we have French cyberpunk noir martial arts action, a cute British film from the makers of Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Chrysalis
North American Premiere
3.5 out of 5
This visually sharp, cyber punk-ish cop movie strives for much and mostly achieves it, thanks to an interesting story, good looking cast and some tight fight choreography. I did say "mostly" though.
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Film Fest 2007, Part 3
Posted By: Shagz
Date:
I think next year I'm going to write my reviews of my Film Fest flicks *immediately* after seeing them and I'm going to make them shorter. I'm finding that I'm going on a little too long in my writing for these reviews, because I'm trying to either remember the details or cover up the fact that I don't remember by writing with really verbose language. :P
Anyways, another trio of reviews, starting with an indie, first time Canadian director tackling fate and chance in India, the Film Fest's sole Kung Fu flick and a very cool docu-fiction about termites...
Amal
World Premiere
4.5 out of 5
A first time director, first time screen writer, first time producers, first time almost everything. Filming in another country far from "home" (though arguably the definition of home is a shifting and flexible animal). Plenty of opportunities for things to go wrong, and in many cases I found out later, they did. But through fate, the grace of God or sheer willpower, this beautiful little Canadian film, set in India, managed to get succeed, and gloriously so.
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Film Fest 2007, Part 2
Posted By: Shagz
Date:
So much for staying on top of my film fest reviews this year. :P Actually, I'm not ever sure why I even do these, I don't even know if anybody reads 'em. But I suppose I do them for the films themselves, and for the film festival. I enjoying going each year and seeing some amazing, challenging stuff and I want to make sure everybody hears about it.
So here's part 2, whether you care or not: an animated kids flick from Spain, a kick ass cg japanime, a stupid ghost thriller, and a heart warming look into the Philippians past.
Nocturna
North American Premiere
3.5 out of 5
So much of what we see these days in terms of animation comes from North America and Japan, so it's always a treat to see something from another country. Earlier in the film fest it was Persepolis from Iran via France, with a decidedly adult subject matter. Nocturna, from Spain, is much more kid friendly.
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DVD Region Crap
Posted By: Shagz
Date:
Meant to post about this a few weeks ago when I came back from England, but August was just a whirlwind of dj prepping (I did my first ever wedding last month), work and side projects. It kind of got left behind until now.
I was in an HMV in the Gatwick airport, killing some time, and was checking out the music 'n stuff. Then I got to the DVD section, specifically the TV shows on DVD, and I was in much pain. There before me was Season 1 and 2 of one of my recently-favourite British TV shows, Spaced, and right beside it, Season 1 of The IT Crowd. Both are excellent shows, with downright hilarious insights to the 20-going-on-30 Gen-X-ish existence (the former) and IT divisions in big corporations (the latter).
The shame of it all: I can't actually buy these DVDs and take them home with me. They're encoded for Region 2 and completely unplayable in my home DVD player, and I can't buy Region 1 versions of these shows because they don't make 'em.
So what do I do? The only way I can watch these shows - indeed, the only way I was even introduced to these excellent shows in the first place - is to illegally download 'em off the internet. As my friend Mike succinctly and sadly put it, "They're making me steal something I want to pay for".
When I first heard about the whole region thing, I never really thought much about it. I wasn't really sure how it was going to stop piracy or whatever, but I figured they must have had it all sorted out.
Years later, it's quite obvious that the region system has done nothing to stem the tide of pirated movies, and in fact, it's punishing those who actually want to play fair and give their money to the creators of the art that they love. (This seems to be a common theme in all anti-piracy tactics by any industry) I really want to reward Simon Pegg and Jessica Stevenson for their excellent wit and cutting satire in Spaced but I'm not allowed to.
This state of affairs sucks.
I don't really understand how this region stuff is supposed to work, and who it's protecting. For example, there are some TV shows that have actual full-length episodes of their shows freely available on their sites, but I can't watch them because of my IP range. WTH? Why not?? You're giving it free to everybody else but you're not going to give it free to me? What difference does it make?
I'm sure there's a reasonable explanation for all this, but it most likely involved an old, antiquated business model peg being forced into a freedom-loving, uncontrollable internet hole.
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Film Fest 2007, Part 1
Posted By: Shagz
Date:
I thought I'd try and get a jump on things with my TIFF reviews by writing about this as I seem them this year. I don't know how long I'll be able to maintain this, but we'll see how it goes. :)
It's been a very good fest so far, with a pair of short documentaries about democracy, an Iranian animated movie based on a popular series of graphic novels, and a documentary about a metal band in Iraq...
Dinner with the President
World Premiere
3.5 out of 5
I found this film, a short documentary about a woman's quest to discover what democracy might look like in Pakistan, to be just informative enough to peak my interest in the history and issues broiling inside that country, but not enough to really make me feel like I had a firm grasp on what was going on. It's definitely not a primer on the country, let along a primer on the Middle East and Pakistan's role in it. That makes the film a bit annoying, but it didn't detract from my enjoyment of the film.
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The Way I Play: The Ultimate Game Player's Survey Part II
Posted By: Shagz
Date:
Following on the success of the first survey, International Hobo is looking for participants in its new survey. Their aim is to collect data on how/why gamers play games and what they're experiencing while playing the games. Participation is nearly anonymous (if you want to have a chance at the door price - a free game - you need to leave your email address) and the results are kind of interesting. Here's mine:
The Way You Play: Your preferred pattern of play is Playful Competition (Ludic Agon)
Some of the ways you enjoy games include:
An explanation of some of these terms can be seen in this PDF titled, Why We Play Games: 4 Keys to More Emotion from XEO Design.
- Hard Fun: 40%
- Easy Fun: 80%
- Serious Fun: 80%
- People Fun: 60%
- Happy Fun: 20%
- Achievement Fun: 60%
- Scary Fun: 80%
- Mischievous Fun: 80%
Gaming Skills: You are an Expert Player
Your strongest Skill Set is Diplomatic
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