Archive for 2010
- The DJ Mag Top 100: Vote For Me »
It's time for the 2010 DJMag Top 100 DJ's poll. Click on the banner above or visit www.top100djs.net and cast your vote. Your vote is highly appreciated!
- Imagine / Strangers Re-Issue »
- Release Records has, unfortunately, gone belly-up. They were the first label i got signed to and have contributed to the dance music scene with greats such as Starkid (R.I.P.), Noel Sanger, Madoka and many others. The kind folks over at Silk Digital have agreed to do a complete re-issue of both tracks along with some new remixes by Royal Sapien, 9b0, Aeron Aether and yours truly. Each will also feature artwork by Shawn Chin, who has kindly provided most of the cover art in the download section, as well as the bluecast logo. Watch out for both singles on Silk Digital later in May of this year.
- New Downloads Available »
There are 4 new tracks available as free downloads today:
- Stefan Anion & Stafire vs. Orbital - Infearior Chimes (Hybrid Remix)
- Stefan Anion - Forward Motion
- Nutrition - Skyline Dreamer (Stefan's New Mix of the Potter & Anion Scaling Mix)
- Stefan Anion & Nick Miranda - Mendoza's Groove (originally wrote this for an Avon Video)
Head on over to the downloads and grab yourselves a copy of each.
- Digital Killed the Social Star »
The other day while i was browsing through iTunes, getting completely immersed in the plethora of music and discovering new artists, something occurred to me: where is everybody? To clarify, i remembered that up until about 6 years ago my weekly ritual included a trip to my local record shop and making sure i budgeted enough for buying vinyl and still have money left for ramen noodles. Pretty much everything else, sans playing shows and making tunes, was secondary in a way. You see before the digital music revolution really took hold with all of the DJs here in Dallas, you could go to your local dance record shop and find 15 others like you wading through stacks of new releases before the owner could even put price stickers on them. For those of us that weren't lucky enough to receive promos in the mail, showing up early and knowing the owner, gave you a chance to buy the latest and greatest before anyone else. An ancillary benefit of going out to the store was also the fact that you got to socialize with other DJs and make connections, ergo get gigs in some cases or meet likeminded folks you may end up working on some music with to create something cool.Of course there was a downside to the whole experience: money. On average, a Single would set you back $10 and usually only had 2 really great tracks out of 3 or 4. In some cases you only got one great track out of a double pack that cost $20 or more. You then really had to think about whether or not to shell out all that money or have enough left for food and gas. Don't ask me how many times i've seen people show up at the record store with their piggy banks, jars of change or their parents, just so they can get some new records that week.
When i worked for a record store in 2004, this was pretty much a daily occurrence. Back then i stubbornly stayed away from iTunes and Beatport, but once i realized that $20 bought me nearly 15 great tunes compared to one or two, i was hooked. That year it seemed that digital really exploded onto the scene, a fact that became evident when the store i worked for closed later that year due to sharply declining sales.So am i complaining about digital music here? No, absolutely not. I just thought it was interesting that now i sit in front of my computer to shop for the latest music, rather than get in my car and drive out to a store. I guess the only thing i do miss a little is being able to hang out with some likeminded people and socializing. I wonder if someone will create a store where you can buy digital music the same way you do now, but have the added benefit of being there and enjoying some coffee and a chance to hang out with people and network? I would love to hear everybody's thoughts on this, so comment away.