Elvis of Dallas - Remixes, Technology and More: May 2013

Thursday, May 30, 2013

My favorite club as a teen was The Capir!!

So many great times I barely remember there - 1988/1989 …

FUN FUN!

Djing isn't Easy or for Everyone

DJing, remixing and/or producing isn’t for everyone. We’ve gone from a time when masters of the turntables like Chuck Davis of Shreveport, Rob Vaughan and DJ Red Eye of Dallas and other artists with fingertips and ears that seemingly possessed mutant powers are making way for more and more microwave DJs built upon flash and bullshit. Let’s be honest, most of these people suck. A programmed mixset is pretty lame; however, if you want to enjoy playing with the tunes you dig and getting your groove on, you might just discover some real talent, even if you need a Camelot wheel or automatic looper to get started.

You can have a blast playing “DJ” at home or at parties without insulting the true masters of the art that I grew up loving in the late 80s and early 90s. There’s only one Rob Vaughan, so play, have fun, and be thankful that you can get started with DJ dress-up games for under a few hundred dollars in an era where we can look back to all those truly talented people who came before us for ideas and inspiration. Take it from me, a guy with almost no talent when it comes to producing or mixing who has had more than a few remixes hit well over 100,000 downloads and one compilation (“It’s Britney, Mixed!”) came close to 2 million downloads, be humble and learn as much as you can. Remember, knowing what sounds good together and getting off on your own tunes isn’t the same as being a DJ. The greats (hell, even the really good DJs) are in a class on their own.

There are tons of great resources if you really want to learn to beat match.

This is a great book (free online) by the folks at Mixed In Key software (Wikipedia entry):

http://www.mixedinkey.com/Book/

They do a super job of explaining the structure of dance music. Obviously, if you are an intuitive mixer, much of this is material that you don’t need to read because you already feel the sounds. If on the other hand, you want to get into performing in clubs or even small parties, it is a great place to start to understand the mechanics behind proper mixing of tracks. It takes a lot more than just matching of the BPM and key to get a proper groove going.

Google can be your friend, just remember that all advice isn’t created equally.

Enjoy your mixing adventures!

PS - long since gone, “It’s Britney, Mixed!” was a ton of fun to be involved with way back in 2009. You can still find the RAR file floating around the torrents. The track listing is here. I organized it with World Famous Audio Hacker (who really did the bulk of the work from my initial ideas) and we were fortunate enough to be joined by some really talented people, BUT that still does-not-a-producer-or-remixer-make me.

Amazon.com Widgets

Looking for Dance "A Cappella" Tracks?

It’s weird how many times I get requests for some of these tracks. Would you believe the number one request is “Anthony Hamilton - Cornbread Fish And Collard Green” ??

Anyway, if you are interested in a list of tracks that I have sans-instruments, check out this link A Cappella Tracks on ElvisofDallas.com. Unfortunately, this is a list of my library from several years ago and as you can see from browsing around the website, I don’t update it often (ever). That being said, let me know if there’s something newer you happen to be looking for and I’ll see what I can do to put you in touch with the people who make those things available for those of us still doing remixes for radio and clubs.

Here’s a great example of how some people remove instruments from a song. This is how some of the tracks listed on my site were made. The majority are stems from labels, and that means that many of them also are without regular processing and effects. It’s interesting to hear some of the rappers - I think the effects used in the standard mixing of the released tracks is often poorly done (at best).

Enjoy!

Amazon.com Widgets

Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Daft Punk - Get Lucky - Official Video?

Sadly, weeks into global chart domination and no official music video available.

We’ll have to continue to enjoy what there is…

Saturday, May 25, 2013

One More Time...

RIP Romanthony

Daft Punk on Amazon.com

Thursday, May 23, 2013

Journey Remixed Amazingly by Rhythm Scholar

This is one of my favorite remixes of all time, mostly because I loved Journey as a kid.

Friday, May 17, 2013

Stanton Warriors and deadmau5

Lots of posts today about my love of Stanton Warriors remixes and productions, this mashup/remix puts a new spin on a deadmau5 (Wikipedia) track that makes it enjoyable even for people who otherwise seem to loathe deadmau5.

This cut puts the deadmau5 release Sex Slave up against Shake It Up by Stanton Warriors & The Beatnuts for a truly different blend of beats that I think might just be what was needed in the first place.

Note: the track is adults-only, so play with your headphones if you are listening at work!

You can get deadmau5 on Amazon by clicking the link provided.

After numerous complaints from record labels, I decided the best way to handle my mashups and remixes was to allow streaming and no downloads (which was agreed to by the labels who complained). If you want a remix for your own use in flac, 320k or some other format, let me know in the comments or by sending a message to me.

Stanton Warriors Overview Fabriclive.30

Stanton Warriors (Wikipedia) remain a top producing duo in my book, although nothing will ever top The Stanton Session (known as Stanton Sessions in part of the world). Da Virus is one of my favorite things to sample ever, and I use it prominently in busy2.

They’ve continued onward and upward with Stanton Sessions 2 (Rmxs) and featuring great stuff like Pop Ya Cork, Still Here and Get Em High, but then released Sessions III with even more unique tracks and remixes of other artists in 2008.

If you dig their remixes of other artists a ton, check out Remixes - a volume of great works including Gorillaz, Alter Ego, Basement Jaxx and their own work “Shake It Up.”

Top releases by Stanton Warriors in all formats can be acquired via Amazon, including imported (and expensive) versions -- all worth every penny. Each title linked above also goes directly to Amazon. If you get a change to see them live, do it! You won’t be disappointed.

PS - Fabriclive.30 is GREAT - especially the version of “Still Here” that I mix into busy2. The link for busy2 opens a Google search. I took it offline a long time ago but luckily tons of sites still host it.

DJ Icey vs Stanton Warriors

This is the track that got the most notice in 2007.

Thanks to the kind words and radio play by DJ Icey (Wikipedia), this track got attention across the globe with 1000s of downloads on multiple websites before it found a final resting place on Soundcloud.

Stanton Warriors (Wikipedia) is another group that I have Bryan Beeson and Chris McIntosh to thank for - I wouldn’t have discovered that first masterpiece release by them for quite a while without their suggestions.

Thanks guys!