How to DJ

I’ve watched only two of these lessons from DJ Download and I’ve already learned tons (OK, I was starting from a low position, smarty pants).

It’s not often I see both my profession (learning technology) and budding hobby (DJing) merged – and merged so well. These videos are to my mind excellent examples of how to use online video to teach.

It’s Mix Time! NSFW

 

 

Leo Giamani a little more overdressed than usual.

Of course it’s not really NSFW (except for Lily Allen’s naughty swearing).

 

Yes, it’s mix time again, and we move from my latest (EOTS) and my oldest darlings (PSB) through some moody stuff. And then it’s funky house all the way home. Or ‘nosebleed house’ as Other Half inexplicably calls it (sheesh, it’s hardly bloody gabba). This might be a good mix to put on to get the cool kids to dance and then while they are up, they may as well stay up. 

It also features some ropey transitions as I couldn’t get my paws on proper extended versions of a couple of tracks, but I’m sure you’ll overlook that as you frug wildly in a drunken haze around the living room. 

Tracklist: NSFW

1. We Are The People (Burns Remix) Empire of the Sun
2. Love Etc. (Gui Boratto Mix) Pet Shop Boys
3. Blue Monday (Vandalism Remix) Kurd Maverick
4. Need To Feel Loved (Adam K & Soha Vocal Mix)  Reflekt feat. Delline Bass
5. The Fear (Stonebridge Explicit Club Mix) Lily Allen
6. Call Me (Original Short Version) Shark & Sylvain feat. Lara Love
7. The Night (Bailey & Rossko Mix) Nick Fiorucci feat. Kelly Malbasa
8. Starstrings (Tocadisco Remix) Jody Wisternoff
9. Sister Walk Away (James Le Freak & Marco Monaco Mix) Pat Farrell
10. Open Up Your Heart Andrea Carnell
11. Come Back To Me (Seamus Haji & Paul Emanuel Radio Edit) Utada
12. Keep This Fire Burning (Freemasons Remix) Outsiders

Download NSFW (62 mins continuous mix, 320kbps, 143MB) [Mediafire direct link]

 

PS: Who the heck is downloading Cool Intentions? It’s been grabbed almost 2,000 times in 6 weeks! Am I missing something?

Ebony & Ivory: The Music

So, as I have been sitting here forlornly in London City Airport since 6:20 this morning thanks to fog and will continue to do so until 10:40, I may as well take advantage of the free wifi and update le blog.

The Ebony & Ivory party last Saturday night was wonderful fun. Lots of strange and glamourous creations falling about eyelash over glitter. Zombies, mummies, Amy Winehouse and a Sarah Palin – all sorts of frightful things were in attendance.

The hostesses on the far left and far right. (Not politically, obviously)

The DJ was amazing, obviously. Although one lady seemed a little disappointed that I was not playing just for her on the night. Oh well, I did try get some ‘proper eighties’ in there. Apologies also to the gent who gave me a CDR with the instruction to just ‘play it’. It turned out to be Diva by Dana International (which I have nothing against; things just weren’t going that way). And yay for the glamourous lady who asked for my card and took my number hee hee! Maybe a new career beckons in London.

In fact, here are the mixes from the night, all packaged up into four delightful mixes for your party pleasure. To reflect the Indian influence of Kohlnoor Diamond (pictured), we had a few Bollywood beats thrown in to the mix.

The DJ wigging out at the afterparty.

Here we go! (Tracklists later for you unadventurous types!)

Hour 1: Boogie

1. The Power (of Bhangra) * Snap! vs Motivo
2. You See The Trouble With Me * Black Legend
3. Boogie Oogie Music * Madonna vs A Taste Of Honey
4. Boogie Wonderland * Earth Wind & Fire with The Emotions
5. From New York to LA * Patsy Gallant
6. Flawless * The Ones
7. Boogie 2Nite * Booty Luv
8. Beautiful Liar (Freemasons Club Mix) * Beyoncé & Shakira
9. Here Comes The Rain Again (Freemasons Club Mix) * Eurythmics
10. Jawani (Sandeep Kumar Mix) * B21
11. Doctor Pressure * Mylo vs Miami Sound Machine

Download [126MB mediafire link]

 

Hour 2: Bhangra Beats

1. Love Today (Moto Blanco Club Mix) * Mika
2. Soni De Nakhre * Ashis G
3. Take Me Away (Haji & Emanuel Remix) * Haji & Emanuel
4. Do Ya Wanna Funk * Sylvester
5. Sweet Dreams * Phats & Small
6. Lazy Lamhe * Jay Dabhi
7. Ooh! I Love It (Love Break) (Full Intention Club Mix) * The Salsoul Orchestra
8. Crazy Logic * Arty Fufkin
9. Jhoom Barabar Jhoom (Remix) * DJ Rohit
10. Nightswimming (Kissy Sell out Remix) * REM
11. Milkshake (Bhangra Mix) * Kelis

Download [125MB mediafire link]

 

Hour 3: The Party

1. Groove Is In The Heart * Deee-Lite
2. Wonder Woman * Kitsch & Camp
3. Hung Up * Madonna
4. Uninvited (Club Mix) * Freemasons feat. Bailey Tzuke
5. You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real) * Sylvester
6. Horny As A Dandy * Mousse T vs Dandy Warhols
7. Venus * Bananarama
8. Happenin’ All Over Again * Lonnie Gordon
9. Better The Devil You Know * Kylie Minogue
10. Stupidisco (Extended Version) * Junior Jack
11. Touch Me (Sexual Version) * The 49ers
12. Me Against The Music (Rishi Rish Desi Kulcha Remix) * Britney Spears Feat. Madonna
13. I Feel Love * Usha Uthup
14. Young Folks * Peter Bjorn & John Feat. Victoria Bergsman
15. Ebony & Ivory (Daddy or Chips Bhangra Remix) * Paul McCartney & Stevie Wonder

Download [138MB mediafire link]

Hour 4: Funkier & Deeper

1. Thriller (Tony Arzadon mix) * Michael Jackson
2. Jolene (Divide & Kreate Remix) * Dolly Parton
3. Yeke Yeke (Hardfloor Mix) * Mory Kante
4. Rock the House (Soulshaker Remix) * Tall Paul
5. Rhythm Of The Night * Rooney, Haji & Emanuel
6. Paddy’s Revenge (Club Mix) * Steve Mac
7. Mumbai After Dark * Jay Dabhi
8. Don’t Go (Main Room Mix) * Frooty Colective feat. Cloella
9. Situation (Richard X Remix) * Yazoo
10. The Creeps (Fedde le Grand Remix) * Camille Jones
11. Umbrella (Seamus Haji & Paul Emanuel Remix) * Rihanna
12. Last Night A DJ Saved My Life (Seamus Haji Mix) & Seamus Haji
13. Insomnia 2005 (Armand Van Helden Remix) * Faithless

Download [163MB mediafire link]

How I mix

The delightful Mike, who blogs over at flip4bearz, is thinking of getting in to the DJ game, and given his excellent taste in music, this is something to be applauded and encouraged!

He asks what software I use for my mixes, and while I would not think of myself as a DJ, I guess I have learned a bit about making mixes in the bedroom over the last couple of years, so I’m delighted to have the opportunity to talk about the tools I use.

Here’s my response:

Hi Mike,

I’m really just learning myself, but I’ll tell you the setup I use.

Mixed in Key ($58 PC/Mac) is a fabulous program! It analyses your tracks and tells you the BPM and also what key the track is mainly in. Knowing the key allows you to mix two tracks into each other very deeply (usually) without a horrible clash.

Next I use Platinum Notes ($98 PC/Mac). This ‘repairs’ tracks and makes everything the same level. Some poor quality mp3s can be made to sound a lot better and it can also slightly retune parts of tracks.

When I’m making mixes for posting online, I use Audacity (free, cross-platform). The best thing about Audacity (apart from being free) is the tool that allows you to change the tempo without changing the pitch. So, if you have a track at 129 bpm and another at 127, you can tweak one so that the beats match up properly.

I’ve not done much live stuff yet, but I’m finding my way around DJ-1800 ($80 Mac only). It works from the data in your iTunes library (and displays all your bpm data!). You can pitch and tempo shift too and it’s not a huge resource hog.

So, I hope all that helps! Good luck with the DJing and I ‘m looking forward to the fruits of your labour!

E x

Incidentally, if anyone is in London on Saturday November 1st next, I’ll be doing the funky house thing at Canal 125 Bar, 125 Caledonian Road (near Kings Cross) at the 6th Annual Ebony & Ivory Ball. I’m on from 8pm for a few hours and the whole thing is for a very good cause: The Food Chain which provides food to families severely affected by HIV/AIDS. If you’d like an invite, let me know. Oh yes, it’s also fancy dress….

It’s Mix Time: Drink Canada Dry

I was going to wait til next week to share the new mix so that I could start with “Free at last! Free at last!”, but to hell with it, here it is.

I’m off to Canada for a fortnight from Sat 28th. Good timing, as the day before I will have handed in my 4,000 word assignment for the OU (which is currently at an, ahem, interesting stage…)

We’re starting in the west in Vancouver then making our way across the country taking in various cities and ending up in Toronto. With a bungee jump somewhere in there (and car hire: I have to drive a few hundred kilometres on the wrong side of the road – I’m not sure which is more terrifying!).

Anyway, in celebration of all things Canadian, here is a mix of all of my favourite Céline Dion and Bryan Adams tracks. 

Or, maybe this:

Tracklist

1. Head To Toe (Seamus Haji Big Love Mix) Seamus Haji feat. Doug Lazy
2. When You Touch Me (Original Club Mix) Freemasons feat. Katherine Ellis
3. Pjanoo (Original Mix) Pryda
4. Funk (Robbie Rivera Mix) Matteo Esse
5. I Believe (Cahill Mix) Soultronics feat. Max C.
6. Chase The Sun (A Side Mix) Planet Funk
7. The One (Freemasons Vocal Club Mix) Kylie Minogue
8. In Love With You (Original) Atrium
9. Gotta Let Go (Paul Emanuel Club Mix) A Lee feat. Amanda Wilson
10. The Electric Road Morgan Page vs. Lifelike
11. Give It 2 Me (Paul Oakenfold Remix) Madonna
12. I Heard It Through The Grapevine (Freemasons Mix) Marvin Gaye
13. Young Offender (live) Pet Shop Boys

Download Drink Canada Dry continuous mix 89MB [mediafire link]

Mix Time! Funk You, Beaver!

It’s my first Haji-free mix! Not quite girly house, not quite indie fare; shall we call it Yorkie House? It’s chunky and thick and not for girls*.

While I often mix with my pals, Kev & Garv’s spacious dining room in mind, I don’t think this one will suit. It’s a tad harder in places than we’re used to, but we like it hard every now and a-(oh stoppit!). The Vandalism remix of Rihanna is seriously fcuked up (sorry Garvan!).

I also put my Prefab Sprout/Drill thing in. I don’t care if I’m the only person that likes it (besides, the more I put it about, the better chance of the PS fans finding it and getting really annoyed – hee hee!)

Go, download, dance.

•    I Found You (Remode) (feat. Max’c) * Axwell
•    Amazing (Kaskade Remix) * Seal
•    Right Here, Right Now (Redanka Mix) * Fatboy Slim
•    The Mercy Drill (Prefab Sprout vs The Drill) * Enda P Guinan
•    Forgiveness (Original) (feat. Berget Lewis) * Eddie Thoneick
•    NYC Beat (Club Mix) * Armand Van Helden
•    Uninvited (WaWA Remix) (feat. Bailey Tzuke) * Freemasons
•    Hustler (Extended Club mix) * Simian Mobile Disco
•    Let Me Think About It (Club Mix) * Ida Corr Vs Fedde Le Grand
•    Like Something 4 Porno (Original) * Felix Da Housecat
•    Washing Up (Tim Deluxe Remix) * Tomas Andersson
•    It’s True * Axwell & Sebastian Ingrosso vs Salem Al Fakir
•    O Superman (Tribute To Sunsetpeople) (Original) (feat. Laurie Anderson) * M.A.N.D.Y. vs. Booka Shade
•    Umbrella (VNDLSM mix) * Rihanna
•    Open Up (Full Vocal Mix) * Leftfield Lydon

Download Funk You, Beaver! (Remastered 75MB continuous mix mp3). [mediafire link]

* Of course it’s for girls!

Mix Time: Shoreditch Trauma

 

OK, first, I know that Duckie, that bizarre electro/retro/arty/queer Vauxhall club, isn’t in Shoreditch, but I was aiming for a slightly edgier vibe to the mix that usual – and yet not be po-faced.

Soooo, when the lovely Ant invited me to his 40th birthday a couple of weeks ago and encouraged me to DJ, I thought I’d make him a mix that he would like. He’s a Duckie boy, and we’ve not yet had a chance to go there together (it’s not really Andrew’s thing, you see. Duckie is an acquired taste, it seems!).

Anyway, this is the suite of songs I began with. Not funky house as usual, more edgy, but not frighten-the-horses edgy. Even still, a chap asked if I could please play some Freemasons because this was ‘thrash metal’ (not looking at anyone in particular, Soulwax).

See what you think, and happy birthday once again, Ant!

Tracklist

• Destroy Everything You Touch * Ladytron
• Heartbeats (Rex The Dog Remix) * The Knife
• Let’s Make Love And Listen To Death From Above  * Cansei De Ser Sexy
• Crazy Logic * Arty Fufkin (mashup of Gnarls Barkley, Supertramp, Rockwell & The Who)
• Collarbone * Fujiya & Miyagi
• Jimmy * M.I.A.
• I Feel Love * Usha Uthup (utterly deranged ‘cover’ of Donna Summer classic)
  
• One More Try (feat. Antony) * My Robot Friend
• Young Folks (feat. Victoria Bergsman) * Peter Bjorn and John
• Bonnie And Clyde * Serge Gainsbourg & Brigitte Bardot
• The Eraser * Thom Yorke
• What Else is There? (Trentemøller Remix) * Röyksopp
• Standing In The Way Of Control (Soulwax Nite Version Mix) * The Gossip
• E Talking * Soulwax
• Hustler * Simian Mobile Disco (a track of the year?)
• Frank Sinatra * Miss Kittin & The Hacker
• Overpowered (Seamus Haji Mix) * Róisín Murphy
• I’ll Be By Your Side * Sally Shapiro 

Download Shoreditch Trauma (Remastered mp3 76mins, 75MB) [mediafire link]

DJ Chuck on the decks (ok, laptop…)

DJ Chuck on the decks (ok, laptop…), originally uploaded by Enda P.

Yay! I finally got to perform as a DJ in London! What fun! The people who lived nearby complained about the noise!! Some gay boys kept demanding the Freemasons! Some boys pogoed crazily when I played Destroy Everything You Touch by Ladytron! More!!!

Sorry about the dearth of posts of late. Work is going to continue being exhausting til the week after next, and it’s coming up to a major assignment in my OU course.Normal service should be resumed at the end of the month!