Somewhat Unfinished Track

I've been holding off on posting this because I never finished it to my satisfaction. I've played it out once to a decent response, and it has a few plays and downloads on SoundCloud. I mashed up Lady Gaga's "Telephone" with "Beeper" by The Count & Sinden, which has some great phone type sound effects and additional rhythm, then added an interlude from "The Telephone Hour" in the musical Bye Bye Birdie. Let me know what you think!

Things Bothering Me About Mainstream Hip-hop

1)Rick Ross is a correctional officer, but no one is calling him out on naming himself after a dealer, continuing to constantly rap about cocaine, his supposed source of wealth, and promoting drug dealers like Big Meech and Larry Hoover to youth. He is encouraging kids to engage in the same sorts of behavior the convicts he once guarded did. On top of that, he cannot even use the excuse of describing his life: he never did any of the things he talks about, and has no regretful or admonishing songs to speak of like other rappers with questionable content.

2) Drake constantly talks about coming from nothing, despite being a freaking child television star. Degrassi was huge. Every girl I knew watched it at age 12ish. I want to hate his music, I really do, but unfortunately I don't. His one of his first hits was a ripoff of an old Kardinal Offishall mixtape track. Kardi gets considered a one-hit wonder, but Drake is taken seriously as an artist? You've got to be kidding me.

3) Why did they make Nicki Minaj a singer on her album? Enough said.

Guess I'll just have to mope and listen to underground stuff til I cheer up:

My First Mixtape

This was the first mix I ever made with MixMeister Fusion. I was trying to learn how to use the program, so I went back through several times to work on the details. I tried to keep it around 130 bpm in the key of C. Having just begun growing beyond iPod DJing Sweet 16s and such for Warped Tour kids, primarily through the influence of Diplo and his Mad Decent blog, I assembled what I thought was about as diverse a tracklisting as I could after listening to Flosstradamus' 3 Peat Mix at least once a day for about a month.

Tracklisting:
Alex H - Champion Floss
August Burns Red - Truth of a Liar
Girl Talk - Dance With Me (Baila Baila) [Club Mix]
Girl Talk - Dance With Me (Baila Baila) [Dub Version]
Missy Elliott - Lose Control [feat. Fatman Scoop & Ciara][Radio Edit]
Martha & the Vandellas - Dancing in the Street
Sister Sledge - Everybody Dance [Live] vs. Afrika Bambaataa - Just Get Up & Dance [Hip-Hop-a-Lula Remix]
Bodyrox - What Planet You On [feat. Luciana]
Kanye West - Stronger [A-Trak Remix]
Kanye West - Stronger [Tyler Fedchuck 1/2 Alive Remix]
Hellogoodbye - Here (In Your Arms) [2006 Tommie Sunshine Mix] vs. Dr. Dre - The Watcher [Instrumental]
Hollywood Undead - No. 5
Ciara - 1, 2 Step [feat. Missy Elliott][X-Mix Dance Series 79]
Jokers of the Scene - Juggle It [William Russell Remix]
DJ Laz - Feel the Funk
Daft Punk -Phoenix vs. Robert Randolph & the Family Band - I Don't Know What You Come To Do [Live]
Funkerman - Speed Up
Armand Van Helden - This Ain't Hollywood [Sinden Remix]
Britney Spears - Piece of Me [DJ Biggie Mashup]
Erick E - The Beat Is Rockin'
Meg - Party Time [Club Mix]
Get 'Em Mamis - Push It [Freestyle]
Bob Sinclar - Sounds of Freedom [Whole Album Mix]
Bamboo - Bamboogie [Radio Edit]
Rihanna - Please Don't Stop The Music [Mr. Slaughter Soca Remix]
Say Wut - Drop
Kissy Sell Out - Gonna Make You Mine [Kissy's Ghetto Fabulous Mix]
Hot Chip - Ready for the Floor [LA Riots vs. Villains Remix]
DJ Earworm - I Like the Way Jenny Scrubs
Brit & Alex - I Like Boys
The Hush Sound - Wine Red [Tommie Sunshine's Brooklyn Fire Retouch]
Tommie Sunshine - Dance Among the Ruins
Fall Out Boy - Dance, Dance [Tommie Sunshine's Brooklyn Fire & Brimstone Dub] vs. Lloyd - Get It Shawty
Family Force 5 - Earthquake
Casper - Cha-cha Slide (Part 2)
Hurricane Chris - Hand Clap
Michael Jackson - Billie Jean vs. Spank Rock - Shake That
Afrika Bambaataa - Just Get Up & Dance [Party Mood Remix]
Chromeo - Fancy Footwork
Daft Punk - One More Time [Foxy's Hip-hop Voiceover Edit]
Aaron LaCrate - Blow [feat. Spank Rock & Amanda Blank][Low Bee Remix]
Eurythmics - Sweet Dreams [DJ Stranger Remix]
The Four Tops - It's the Same Old Song [Acapella]
Fergie - Fergalicious vs. The Count & Sinden - Beeper
MSTRKRFT - Bounce [feat. N.O.R.E.]
Does It Offend You, Yeah? - Let's Make Out
Hot Chip - Ready for the Floor
Spoiled Bratz- Roc 2 Da Beat
Robi-Rob's Clubworld - Make That Money
Panic! At the Disco - The Only Difference Between Martyrdom And Suicide Is Press Coverage [Tommie Sunshine Brooklyn Fire Remix]
Alex H - Imperial Bombaclaat
Spank Rock - B.O.O.T.A.Y. [Stereobait's Technics Edit]
O-zone - Dragostea Din Tei
Sean Paul - Private Party
Spank Rock - Blow
Usher - Nice & Slow [Remix][feat. Twista] vs. Benny Benassi - Love Is Gonna Save Us
Mr. Mixx - Freak Dance (Let Me See Ya)
Chemical Brothers - It Began In Africa
Daft Punk - Rock'n'Roll
Trina - You Ain't Ready [feat. Paul Wall]
Pitbull - Fuego
Twista - Overnight Celebrity [Remix][feat. Kanye West]
Klever - Kryptobounce
Brandtson - Nobody Dances Anymore
DJ Assault - Play It Again
Pitbull - Fuego [DJ Buddha Remix][feat. Don Omar]
Eurofrog - Chariots of Fire [Dance Remix]
Izza Kizza - Red Wine [Clean]
Vengaboys - We Like To Party
2 Live Crew - Shake a Lil' Something
Flo Rida - Low [feat. T-Pain][Foxy Edit][feat. Pitbull & Travis Barker]
DJ Laz - Move, Shake, Drop [Remix][feat. Pitbull & Flo Rida]

Artists I Was Evidently Riding Hard: Tommie Sunshine (5), Pitbull (4), Spank Rock (4), Kanye West (3), Daft Punk (3)

Jeff Waters' Manhattan Blues

My RA from freshman year, as mentioned previously, is a rather excellent singer-songwriter. As 2007 Messiah College homecoming king, and current employee of the Harrisburg Institute, it is perhaps appropriate that many of his songs focus on travel and places both near and far (Messiah's primary advertising point is their nationally ranked study abroad program). "Manhattan Blues" is no exception thematically, but stands out to me for some reason. Apparently I am not alone in this, as Jeff has chosen to post this particular tune on his YouTube channel:

Show Review: The New Division at The Crescent Jewell

The Crescent Jewell is a restaurant and lounge in downtown Riverside that generally hosts jazz musicians, but occasionally allows certain promoters to bring in pop acts. On one of these occasions, I ventured in to see TND play, along with local rapper and TND collaborator David Reddix, Jr. Unfortunately, the blown sound system had other plans.

After a brief attempt at a set, including an admirable rendition of recent single "Saturday Night" that went over remarkably well with the gathered hipsters, all things considered, Kunkel and company called it a night. Reddix took the stage squad deep, ran through abbreviated versions of a couple of possible bangers, and then did the same. I left before the touring headliner to save my ears the harassment, went back to the apartment I now share with TND beatmaker Janzie (aka Vaab), and consoled myself with the recently released official video for "Starfield":

Christina Grimmie - Find Me EP

YouTube sensation and Selena Gomez associate Christina Grimmie released her debut EP Find Me yesterday, beginning a rapid climb to (as of this posting) #3 on the iTunes albums chart. Lead single "Liar Liar" currently sits at #88 on the iTunes singles chart with some assistance from Radio Disney airplay, and a summer tour with Gomez and Allstar Weekend is in the works. She has worked long and hard for this: I remember "Liar Liar" as possibly the only original in her set of metal and pop covers at my birthday show last year. Pick up Find Me on iTunes here.

The Fox and the Hound Show - Last Time on the V

Alas,all good things must come to an end, even The Fox and the Hound Show on WVMM. This was our final show, broadcast during senior week after pretty much everything at school had already been shut down. We will be looking for another station that will allow us at least a modicum of freedom in the future, but for the time being are on indefinite hiatus. Our live DJing, while substantially different, is still going on.

In more positive news, Mixcloud now has an iPhone app, so go download that to take The Fox and the Hound with you wherever you go.

Show Review: Death Cab For Cutie

Death Cab is currently finishing up a tour of the rock clubs they used to play before they blew up, and my sister, my girlfriend, and I were fortunate enough to be able to get tickets to see them at the Troc in Philly, despite Ticketmaster frustrations verging on LCD Soundsystem proportions. Despite it being my birthday and the day of my sister's high school graduation, we arrived just after the doors opened and were soon inside and up front in plenty of time for openers The Lonely Forest to take the stage.
photo by my sister
Frontman John Van Deusen got the crowd's attention immediately with his Philadelphia Flyers jersey and apparently self-tailored Dickies, then locked it in with sharp pop vocals kept front and center in the remarkably good live mix. There were a few definite earworms in the Washington state outfit's repertoire, and myself and many others began picking up on choruses right away. The entire band seemed enthralled just being on stage playing their music, and their cheerful, upbeat demeanor successfully distracted from the sometimes too overt Death Cab influences of an opening act signed to and produced by guitarist Chris Walla's Trans Records. Here's the video for standout track "Turn Off This Song And Go Outside", filmed on the Fourth of July in their hometown:
Say what you like about the resounding successes of Ben Gibbard and company; they are genuine artists with a real love of their music and its fans. Sellouts don't play sets including tracks from cassette tape releases and more songs from before Transatlanticism than from Codes and Keys, which they are ostensibly touring. This was not a show for the uninitiated, with a deep track selection spanning the length and breadth of the Death Cab oeuvre. Their stage presence was compelling, and in general substantially more rock-oriented than I expected-Gibbard's acoustic guitar only took a dominant role for his solo rendition of Plans hit "I Will Follow You Into The Dark". A lengthy first set, brief respite filled with a deafening roar from the crowd, and an encore verging on second set status left a very well satisfied audience. In a trope becoming somewhat familiar given the number of shows I've seen at the Troc, the band apparently loves the venue. I think their music is better suited to more intimate spaces, and the former burlesques is nothing if not intimate. I'm very glad I caught them there, rather than at the Mann for their next Philadelphia show.

The New Division: New Single

TND just released "Saturday Night"/"True Lies", a promotional single for "Shadows", their debut LP, which is coming in September. The two songs and a pair of remixes of each are available for free download at their Bandcamp page. Not included in the release is Vaab's dub of "Saturday Night":

Show Recap: Gradswag Shindig

A while back, some friends and I invented the word "gradswag" as a sort of positive spin on "senioritis". I combined this idea with the old plan The Hound and I had for a straight up graduation party somewhere off campus and my love of the word "shindig", and the Gradswag Shindig was born. Alex Brubaker and Mob Device (fka Kolstrom) had both played at a local BYO restaurant called The Whole Cannoli, so I figured they would be open to the sort of thing I was proposing. Nik Seitz, the proprietor, was not only open but cautiously optimistic about it, and so on the Wednesday between finals and graduation, it happened.We kicked things off with some tunes from singer-songwriter Anthony Francesco, who played so passionately that his set was cut short by his fingers bleeding all over his guitar. Next up was Darry Miller & the Veil, whose full band show fit better in this venue than they had in a loft bedroom at the last show I asked them to play. Their set, as usual, was very tight and professional, perfectly conveying Darry's songs directly into one's head, from which they are unlikely to leave.
From there, things got a bit more dance-centered. We (The Fox and the Hound) played a diverse set of hip-hop, Bmore club, electro, and the occasional dubstep track to warm the crowd up for the main event. Mob Device, formerly known as Kolstrom, threw down a ridiculous dubstep set. He rarely DJs, preferring to focus on school and his production, but this made it clear that it is well worth the trip if you can catch him live somewhere. By 1 AM, things were beginning to wind down, but DJ KiB kept the party alive with his own selection of dubstep chunes. It was a great party: the music was great, YESNOCO sold some sweet I heart Dubstep and Gradswag t-shirts, and feedback was all positive.
If you missed out, be sure to catch Darry & co. at North Star Bar on Tuesday and Mob Device at Club XS June 24th.