My Selection of Essential Albums

So, NME have just published a list of 100 albums compiled by a jury of industry types and musicians [www.nme.com/list/albums-of-the-decade]. Some seem to thing the list is pretty accurate - but I think there are a few albums missing. Yes, this is a selection of my personal favourites from the last 9 years 10 months and 3 weeks - but I also think they are rather essential.

So, here is my list - no particular order, no number 1, just 12 albums from my collection that all deserve equal placing.

• BT - This Binary Universe
• Burial - Untrue
• Frou Frou - Details
• Grand National - Kicking The National Habit
• Jose Gonzalez - Veneer
• Quiet Village - Silent Movie
• Royksopp - Melody AM
• Sasha - Airdrawndagger
• Simian Mobile Disco - Attack Delay Sustain Release
• Thom Yorke - The Eraser
• Trentemoller - The Last Resort
• Zero 7 - Simple Things

So, that’s mine - do you have any suggestions that were [wrongfully] missed.

iTunes Improvement Suggestions

I just wrote a little note to the people at Apple and iTunes with two suggestions on how to improve it’s music download store, I thought I’d share it with you.

Hello,

I have one simple request idea (I hope it’s simple anyway), and one more complicated suggestion.

First, can we please have the ability to search by record label - I am a DJ and I follow a lot of record labels, finding and buying specific tracks because they’re released on a particular label. I’d really like the ability to search for a record label, so that I can view all their releases.

Additionally, it would be great for record labels to have their own pages - like the artist pages, this is only an add on point to my suggestion - but it would be very welcome. It would help give the smaller labels that I buy music from the ability to build on their brand from within itunes - and show off their entire back catalog. Record labels are very important, especially within dance music.

Next up, the 30 second samples - these are fine for a 3 minute pop song, but for 7 / 8 minute dance music tracks, the 30 seconds that are usually provided are of no help - the majority of the time it seems to be the first 30 seconds, which is normally just beats. Now, you could say that it isn’t your fault, but this is how dance music (especially house) is structure. A 30 second sample from the middle of the track would be so much better. I don’t know if taking the preview is cropped automatically, but if it could be changed to the middle of the track, we would get a much better idea of what the track sounded like before purchasing.

Additionally, it would be great for a longer sample - Juno Download has 1 minute, Beatport has 2 minutes and DJ Download has a needle drop preview so you can listen to any part of the track in 30 second chunks, this is so helpful for DJ’s when previewing the long tracks that we usually buy. I know that there are probably some legal issues attached to the 30 second previews, but if there isn’t a restriction, then it would be so helpful to extend the previews. How about a 60 second sample for tracks over 5 minutes?

itunes is great, it’s easy to use, the price of 79p per track is very competitive when comparing it to other download sites -especially dance music focused stores like Juno Download, DJ Download and Beatport. And now that you have iTunes Plus, which gives us much better quality - iTunes my preferred download store. I just think these 2 points will help attract a lot more DJ’s to your store.

Many thanks for taking the time to read my suggestions.

So, what do you think? If you agree, then contact iTunes yourself with a similar suggestion.

No More Warm Up DJ’s?

A topic that has been cropping up more and more recently on forums, and was sparked into life by Nic Fancuilli on twitter (@nicfanciulli) who out of the blue came out and asked;

“Ok this is not a rant but has the concept of the warm up dj been lost?”

It’s a very valid question, and I have to say ‘yes’. Here are my thoughts on the subject.

DJ’ing has become to many - not all, more about the performance than the actual music itself. DJ’s want to be in the spotlight, they want to have everyone on the dancefloor from the moment they put the needle on the first track, they want to play the biggest tracks at their disposal to get that reaction, I don’t think they want to hide away the music that’s going to get a positive reaction, even if it could be too early to play those particular tracks.

Learning to DJ was based around a love affair with the music, but the rise of the superstar and the international clubbing scene has created a new reason to start DJ’ing - the lifestyle, money and fame. DJ’s aren’t happy with doing a job for the night, slotting in where needed - they want to be noticed, so they can move up the chain.

I personally love DJ’ing early on in the night, getting to the bar or club when it’s empty, building up the crowd slowly. Usually I’m my own warm up DJ, as I’m playing the entire night, so I break the night into chunks of time, being the warm up DJ, as well as the one who plays throughout, and finishes.

So, is the warm up DJ a thing of the past - do DJ’s just play the music they want, without considering the DJ who is going to follow them? Maybe we could get all sociological and say that the real problem is a lack of consideration of people within our culture, people are selfish… or, are DJ’s just selfish? No longer wanting to play for the love of music and for the crowd in front of them, but for themselves and what they can gain out of it.

I believe Nic Fanciulli started as a warm up DJ in Kent, and along with former warm up DJ’s such as James Zabiella and Danny Howells, has become a headline act. So, it’s definitely possible to move up the DJ food chain, to be noticed and to become the main event. I hope this continues as DJ’s do need to start somewhere, and the good ones should shine and get the opportunity to progress - I just hope there is someone to follow in their footsteps and provide the warm up for them.

It’s a very valid point, and this is just my take on Nic’s tweet, I’d love you to disagree and list a huge list of warm up DJ’s at clubs up and down the country and around the world that are happy being the warm up act, that know their place within the musical set up and perform their job without an ego.

DJ’s Mixing Energy, Rather Than Style or Tempo

June 10th 2006, Cream release the second installment of their ‘Live’ CD series, a 3 CD set mixed by Nick Warren, James Lavelle, and possibly the biggest DJ of the mid to late 90’s Paul Oakenfold.

Oakenfold’s mix contained his usual brand of Fluoro Trance, but it also contained a handful of Drum & Bass tracks, placed right in the middle of the mix, and it worked brilliantly. The flow of the mix was not disrupted by suddenly jumping 20 or 30 beats per minute quicker, loosing the 4/4 kick drum and replacing it with a breakbeat, all because the energy of the tracks flowed - the different styles didn’t matter. Paul Oakenfold continued to release DJ mixes in the late 1990’s that contained Drum & Bass scattered throughout the mixes, Global Underground 004: Oslo in 1997 and Global Underground 007: New York in 1998.

Sasha was quoted once;

“It’s about layering sounds, building energy in the music”

Now, what if us DJ’s just concentrated on the energy of the track - throw away the pigeon holing of certain tracks in to genres and sub genres, playing music based on feeling, vibe and intensity of the individual record. Outside of Deep House I really love Drum & Bass. Granted, a lot of it is too heavy, too energetic to coincide with Deep House, but some of the more laid back tracks, and the funkier, liquid style of Drum & Bass would sit perfectly with in terms of energy with Deep House. Dubstep is another genre that would work.

So, why am I not playing all these different genres instead of concentrating on house and deep house?

I play at a bar and early on in the night people want to relax and have the music provided as a soundtrack in the background, the dubby more stripped back house I play is ideal - but possibly, so are the styles of Drum & Bass I mentioned before. Unfortunately I know that many people would not see my point of view, I’d get asked to turn it off, or why I’m playing Drum & Bass. A whole genre of music is being ignored just because it’s 30 beats quicker than the norm.

Paul Oakenfold is possibly one of the only big name DJ’s to fit a completely different style of music into the one that he’s known for, I’m not sure if anyone else will do it again - which is a shame.