Category Archives: News

A1. Hibiscus Pacific (Remaster)
A2. Sorcerer’s “Whisper” Mi
B1. Jaques Renault Remix
B2. Moon B Remix

Artist: Greeen Linez Title: Hibiscus Pacific
Label: Alliance Upholstery
Release Date: March 25, 2014
Genre: Disco/Balearic AU-001

The first Balearic jam of 2014 has arrived! “Hibiscus Pacific” is a vision of island paradise, yacht party cocktails under the stars, and a tropical dream cruise into eternity. Swanky daytime disco dripping with layers of DX7. A slice of City Pop not heard since the Japanese economic bubble burst.
Greeen Linez is a collaboration between Chris Greenberg (from UK electronic pop band Hong Kong In The 60s) and UK-born/Tokyo-based DJ/producer A Taut Line (aka Matt Lyne, co-founder of the Diskotopia label). The result is yacht funk meets Balearica, that draws equally from boogie, jazz-funk, house, and Japanese supermarket muzak.
“Hibiscus Pacific” originally appeared on their debut album “Things That Fade” (2012, Diskotopia) and received positive reviews in The Wire, DJ Mag, and FACT. Support came from DJs and producers such as Julio Bashmore (BBC Radio 1), the Beat Broker (Bear Funk) and Magic Touch (100% Silk)- the latter collaborating with the duo on his “Nothing More” EP, on Tensnake’s True Romance label. Besides their own music, Greeen Linez have produced well-received remixes for Seahawks, Maylee Todd, and the Japanese Idol group Especia (reaching #19 on Japanese charts), among others. 2014 saw the release of their “The Landscape” EP on Japanese label Catune, run by 9dw’s Kensuke Saito.
Sorcerer (Tirk/Nang) throws the track in the passenger seat of his open-top Cadillac and cruises down a breezy, palm tree laden, boulevard into the blue horizon. A Balearic burner that’s just as comfortable lounging on the beach as it is dancing in the club.
The Jacques Renault (DFA/Let’s Play House) mix finds itself head down, eyes closed, gasping for air in the Liquidroom at 4AM. Unrelenting and minimal with a haunting synth line.
Moon B (Peoples Potential Unlimited) keeps the track out past last train and lures it up to his Roppongi Hills apartment overlooking the Tokyo skyline. Icy synths and fat percussion make this one to come back to.
The Hibiscus Pacific EP is a cinematic journey through a fantasy world of music, both familiar and unreal, and as perfectly suited to bedroom dreamers as it is to nightclub dancers.

Rush Hour (EU):
www.rushhour.nl/store_detailed.php?item=75405
Cross Talk (USA):
www.crosstalkintl.com/node/43698
Juno (UK)
www.juno.co.uk/products/greeen-l…acific/523367-01/
Red Eye Records (UK):
www.redeyerecords.co.uk/vinyl/50602-A…us-pacific-ep
Jet Set (Japan)
www.jetsetrecords.net/GREEEN-LINEZ-H…p/723004800302

From Disco to Disco: New York’s Global Clubbing Influence
By Tim Lawrence – RedbullMusicAcademy

Paradise Garage. Studio 54. The Loft. The heady influence NYC’s clubs have exerted on global dance culture.

The case is harder to make today, but once upon a time New York hosted the most numerous and adventurous DJ-led party spaces in the world. Visitors testify they had never experienced anything like it prior to their trip to the city. Some even returned home with the dream of re-creating something of their own.

New York’s influence can be traced back to the moment at the beginning of 1970 when David Mancuso hosted the first in a series of shimmering house parties that came to be known as the Loft. Around the same time, two entrepreneurs known as Seymour and Shelley took over a struggling discotheque called the Sanctuary and became the first nightclub proprietors to welcome gay dancers into a public venue.

Selecting records in relation to the energy of their multicultural and polysexual crowds, Mancuso and Sanctuary DJ Francis Grasso established the sonic and social potential of a contagious culture. Better Days, the Tenth Floor, the Gallery, Le Jardin, Flamingo, 12 West, SoHo Place, Galaxy 21 and Reade Street bolstered the word-of-mouth network. With the media barely aware of its existence, the city’s dance scene remained resolutely subterranean – to most locals as well as tourists.
[Read More]

Photo by www.ivobol.nl

Mastering for Vinyl
By Recording Magazine

“LPs are staging a big comeback, which means there’s a lot to know before you send your music off for pressing.”
By Scott Dorsey

There’s something of a small renaissance in LP production these days, and we’re starting to see a lot of people in small studios producing material for issue on LP for the first time.

It’s not just in one sector of the industry, either. The guys producing dance music for DJ use have never really given up on vinyl because their customers like the ability to mix and scratch the stuff, but the techno music explosion has also brought in a lot of people intending to cut vinyl. There is an increasing amount of jazz being released on vinyl, and a number of small audiophile labels cropping up that release primarily on vinyl.

This is a bit of a problem, though, for people who want to get into this growth. LPs aren’t like CDs at all, in that a lot of manipulation has to be done to fit your material onto the disc. So there are a lot of things to watch out for that most folks who haven’t mixed for LP release might find a bit odd.

How LPs are made

Now, this stuff is actually more important than you think. When you release on CD, you don’t need to know a thing about the pressing process, because you know that the bits that get sent out to the plant will be the same bits on the disc you release.

This is not at all the case with LPs, and you need to involve yourself in the process a lot more. You also need to know how things work, because the probabilities of something going wrong are great, and you will need to talk with the manufacturing people and understand what they are saying. So a lot of this stuff may sound completely irrelevant, but it’s important in understanding some of the limitations of the medium.

In the beginning, we start out with an acetate blank (also called a lacquer), a disc made of aluminum with a thin layer of acetate plastic on it. It’s placed on a mastering lathe, which is a sort of turntable with a cutting head (basically a huge oversized phono cartridge in reverse) on a bar that is suspended over the disc like a linear tracking tonearm.

The head may be cooled with water or compressed helium because of the huge amount of heat generated by the high torque coils in it that are required to cut smoothly through the acetate surface without distortion. This is despite the fact that the cutting stylus is heated to help it glide through the plastic without tearing. [Read More]

By OurVinyl.com

[Preface: There is no argument for an objective superior. Steaks, hamburger and sloppy joes are all great. But to not know what you’re eating is only letting yourself down ….]

Any avid music fan has probably had the argument with a friend (or foe) about what the best way is, in terms of format, to listen to music. Since Napster shattered the customs of the music world in the late 90’s mp3s have become synonymous with contemporary music. The iPod has since come along and informed us we no longer needed shelves for our music collection, just a pocket. These developments are currently pushing the CD format closer and closer to its inevitable extinction. Yet ironically, as the CD slowly dies, vinyl records are storming back into popularity. So it appears that while the MP3 has unquestionably made music more portable and “share-able” (it is truly awesome to be able to bring your entire music collection on a plane ride!), it doesn’t seem to have what it takes to wipe out other formats completely.

So lets take a look at the science behind music formats and how we hear in general. An educated listener is a better listener indeed, and you may be surprised by what you didn’t know. We must start by examining sound in general.

All right, lets get some simple things straight about the way sound works for us humans and our brains. In general the human ear picks up frequencies between 20 hertz (Hz) and 20,000 Hz; hertz meaning the number of vibrations per second (“sound” is simply our brains perceiving minuscule air pressure changes, or vibrations). Yet the truth is most adults are only capable of hearing up to around 16k Hz (a little higher for females, you lucky ladies) because we lose the ability to perceive higher frequencies as we age. Sounds do indeed exist below 20 Hz (think of when you feel deep bass without actually hearing it) and upwards well beyond 20K Hz (think of a dog whistle, we don’t hear it but the pups sure do). So while we can pick up the most important swath of the sound-spectrum, there does exists a great deal of sonic information we just never hear because of the limits of our ears & brain. [Note: this phenomena also exists with our eyes, we only see a tiny portion of the electro-magnetic spectrum, which we call light & color]

So why care about these sounds our brains’ cannot even perceive, what the heck does that have to do with musical formats and listening to your tunes? Again, we have to look at some science basics (bear with me!). Sound is mathematical. Lets say you play an A major chord on an instrument. The fundamental frequency of an A major is 440 Hz, so that will be the most present frequency we hear, yet it will not be the only. Here is the math; that A note will also create and sound out its harmonics (or “overtones”), which are always multiples of itself. This means that 440 Hz A note will create another “harmonic” at 880 Hz (440 x 2), another at 1320 Hz (440 x 3), and another one at 1760 Hz (440 x 4) and it goes on and on. Harmonics are a large part of what make notes played by instruments interesting to our ears. Because different instruments (or vocal chords for that matter) will inherently create different harmonic relations to the fundamental frequency, this is in turn the reason why there exists a difference in sound from instrument to instrument, even when they play the same mathematically identical musical note. This difference is referred to as an instrument’s “timbre”. Think of a computer created “true tone”, one with no harmonics; it’s a shrill and sterile sound. So, consider this question; if the chords and notes that make up our music all create harmonics that are out of our hearing range, do those sounds have any affect upon what we do hear? Hold onto that thought, however, we can now begin our discussion upon music formats. [Read More]

By DiscoMusic.com

Tips to keep vinyl records clean. Directions for deep cleaning records by hand or with a vacuum record cleaning machine. A shopping list of supplies and Q & A section with answers to your record care questions is included.

Good sound starts with a clean and static-free vinyl record. Whether you are a casual listener or a fanatical audiophile and vinyl record collector, many of us here at DiscoMusic.com have accumulated thousands of vinyl records over the years. In an effort to digitally preserve your priceless records you may have considered transferring and restoring your vinyl record collection to CD by using your computer and some audio recording / editing software. Before you do, remember that in order to extract the best sound from your discs it’s important to start with scrupulously clean records and equipment including your stylus.

Cleaning Vinyl Records by Hand or with a Machine?

Vinyl discs that are kept clean and free of dirt, dust and oils from one’s fingers will sound much clearer and more importantly last longer. Since clean records have less clicks, crackle and pop you’ll have less work when it comes to the restoration phase and attain much better results. The great thing about cleaning your records is that it doesn’t take a lot of equipment, but there are choices. Let’s discuss some proven ways of cleaning records either with a record cleaning machine or by hand with brushes and ready-made record cleaning solutions. We will start with the preferred way and work our way down. [Read More]

by David Byrne – The Guardian

I’m writing this in Venice, Italy. This city is a pleasantly confusing maze, once an island of fortresses, and now a city of tourists, culture (biennales galore) and crumbling relics. Venice used to be the most powerful city in Europe – a military, mercantile and cultural leader. Sort of like New York.

Venice is now a case study in the complete transformation of a city (there’s public transportation, but no cars). Is it a living city? Is it a fossil? The mayor of Venice recently wrote a letter to the New York Review of Books, arguing that his city is, indeed, a place to live, not simply a theme park for tourists (he would like very much if the big cruise ships steered clear). I guess it’s a living place if you count tourism as an industry, which I suppose it is. New York has its share of tourists, too. I wave to the doubledecker buses from my bike, but the passengers never wave back. Why? Am I not an attraction?

New York was recently voted the world’s favorite city – but when you break down the survey’s results, the city comes in at No 1 for business and only No 5 for living. Fifth place isn’t completely embarrassing, but what are the criteria? What is it that attracts people to this or any city? Forget the business part. I’ve been in Hong Kong, and unless one already has the means to live luxuriously, business hubs aren’t necessarily good places for living. Cities may have mercantile exchange as one of their reasons for being, but once people are lured to a place for work, they need more than offices, gyms and strip clubs to really live.

Work aside, we come to New York for the possibility of interaction and inspiration. Sometimes, that possibility of serendipitous encounters – and I don’t mean in the meat market – is the principal lure. If one were to vote based on criteria like comfort or economic security, then one wonders why anyone would ever vote for New York at all over Copenhagen, Stockholm or some other less antagonistic city that offers practical amenities like affordable healthcare, free universities, free museums, common spaces and, yes, bike lanes. But why can’t one have both – the invigorating energy and the civic, intelligent humanism?

Maybe those Scandinavian cities do, in fact, have both, but New York has something else to offer, thanks to successive waves of immigrants that have shaped the city. Arriving from overseas, one is immediately struck by the multi-ethnic makeup of New York. Other cities might be cleaner, more efficient or comfortable, but New York is funky, in the original sense of the word – New York smells like sex.

Immigrants to New York have contributed to the city’s vibrancy decade after decade. In some cities around the world, immigrants are relegated to being a worker class, or a guest-worker class; they’re not invited to the civic table. New York has generally been more welcoming, though people of color have never been invited to the table to the same extent as European immigrants.

I moved to New York in the mid 1970s because it was a center of cultural ferment – especially in the visual arts (my dream trajectory, until I made a detour), though there was a musical draw, too, even before the downtown scene exploded. New York was legendary. It was where things happened, on the east coast, anyway. One knew in advance that life in New York would not be easy, but there were cheap rents in cold-water lofts without heat, and the excitement of being here made up for those hardships. I didn’t move to New York to make a fortune. Survival, at that time, and at my age then, was enough. Hardship was the price one paid for being in the thick of it.

As one gets a little older, those hardships aren’t so romantic – they’re just hard. The trade-off begins to look like a real pain in the ass if one has been here for years and years and is barely eking out a living. The idea of making an ongoing creative life – whether as a writer, an artist, a filmmaker or a musician – is difficult unless one gets a foothold on the ladder, as I was lucky enough to do. I say “lucky” because I have no illusions that talent is enough; there are plenty of talented folks out there who never get the break they deserve. [Read More]

by Michaelangelo Matos – NPR Music

On Friday, a documentary ostensibly about the rise and fall of a one time club king named Peter Gatien opened in New York (it opens around the country next month). In the early to mid-1990s – the height of rave culture in the U.S. – Gatien owned the biggest clubs in New York City, including Limelight, which lived in a deconsecrated Episcopal Church in the Chelsea neighborhood. Today Gatien lives in Toronto, where he was deported in 2003 after pleading guilty to tax evasion. And Limelight has . It calls itself a “Festival of Shops.”

Much of the story told in Limelight will be familiar to readers of , a book chronicling mid-’90s nightlife written by Frank Owen, who covered Limelight at its height and followed its scandalous end in the pages of local alternative weekly the Village Voice. It certainly was to the documentary’s director, Billy Corben, who read the book as he was pursuing another documentary about the man who ran the biggest club in Miami in the mid-’90s. Owen appears frequently as a kind of expert witness in Limelight.

“I had read Clubland because of our interest in Chris Paciello and Liquid in South Beach, and the Miami angle,” says Corben, best known for 2006’s Cocaine Cowboys. Corben and producing partner Albert Spellman still intend to make a movie about Paciello. But first, they’ve made Limelight, which focuses on Gatien, the eye-patched Canadian nightclub impresario who owned Limelight, Palladium, Tunnel and Club U.S.A., who was brought to trial by the City of New York under mayor Rudolph Giuliani’s mid-’90s crime crackdown, alleging that Gatien was overseeing a massive drug ring in his clubs. [Read More]

Image courtesy of Jorge Fabel Pabon

By DJWork.com

The Tools or War Crotona Park Jams are a wall to wall Hip Hop legend-fest of epic proportions. And being something of a record collector, Biz Markie is a regular at these events. But this year, it wasn’t so much his ridiculous collection of rarities that caught people’s eyes, but the turntables he played them on. No, it’s not Photoshop — those really are 7? Technics decks. Allow me to explain.

[Read More]

By Pioneer

Pioneer is set to enter the professional audio market with the launch of its flagship club sound system. Drawing on Pioneer’s rich heritage in sound reproduction, deep understanding of the club industry, and close collaboration with Gary Stewart Audio (GSA) and Powersoft, this exciting arrival promises to make waves in Ibiza this season.

Pioneer and sub-brand TAD’s expert sound engineers have been creating high-quality audio for many decades and, with Pioneer DJ’s unrivalled expertise in the pro-DJ market, the move into club sound systems is a natural progression.

To create the ultimate club sound system, Pioneer partnered with the legendary Gary Stewart of Gary Stewart Audio (GSA), whose sound systems have roused clubbers in the world’s most iconic venues, including Singapore’s Zouk and Club Vertigo in Costa Rica. The team partnered with Powersoft to provide high-performance amps that maximised the potential of the system.

Marta Robowsky, Manager at Gary Stewart Audio, explains: “We wanted to partner with a manufacturer who shared our vision of reproducing the best sound for the club environment. The technological synergy between Pioneer and Gary Stewart Audio will provide the ultimate nightclub sound system.”

Pioneer’s Alex Barrand, the sound engineer behind the Ministry of Sound London’s award-winning sound system upgrade in 2008, oversaw the development process. He explains: “We didn’t just want to enter the market; we wanted to be the best in the market. So we gathered the dream team: Pioneer’s pro-Audio R&D expertise combined with GSA and Powersoft’s club system credentials. You have to hear it to believe it.”  [Read More]

Brought to you by 101 AppareL
by Wax Poetics

“I’ve always felt music has a much larger voice than just the words of a song,” says DJ and re-edit specialist Danny Krivit. “Like in a movie, the way a great soundtrack moment lifts the meaning of what is being said, I feel like music at its best speaks louder than words, deeply touching your soul and striking emotions. I especially love the musicianship and arrangements of ’70s soul and disco. Again, it speaks to you with a depth. When I started out, most good DJs played records that talked to you and altogether took you on a journey. Hope you enjoy this little journey.”

Danny Krivit is about as New York as they come. Growing up in NYC’s Greenwich Village in the 1960s, Krivit was the son of a jazz singer mother, and his father was Chet Baker’s manager. He was a boyhood friend of Nile Rogers, and he had the Mothers of Invention living just down the hall. At a very early age, he got to meeti a cross section of musical legends like Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, the Rolling Stones, Charles Mingus, John Lennon, and Yoko Ono. His upstairs neighbor, the vice-president of Polydor Records, introduced him to James Brown, who gave Danny his first white-label promos—”Get on the Good Foot” by JB and “Think” by Lynn Collins.

Earlier that same year, in 1971, Danny had started DJing at his father’s club, the Ninth Circle, and over the years played at most every New York club worth mentioning, including the Paradise Garage. His early re-edit, “Love Is the Message (Edit By Mr K),” along with hundreds of others, helped to secure his title as the godfather of the current re-edit movement. When Danny is not touring the world, he’s also one third of the famed NYC party Body & Soul—and is now celebrating ten years of his own party, the 718 Sessions.

[Read More]

By VinylFanatics

The developer of the first 3D printed vinyl record has taken her experiments a step further by laser-cutting wooden discs into playable records.

Ever get the feeling that MP3?s sound a bit wooden? Not satisfied with the synthetic properties of polyvinyl chloride and want a warmer, more organic sound? Amanda Ghassaei may have created just what you’re looking for. The software engineer turned hardwood etcher has created the first ever playable wooden record, using a 120-watt Epilog Legend EXT laser cutter to carve grooves that are up to ten times the width of those on a standard vinyl into maple and plywood discs. [Read More]

By amandaghassaei.com

In order to explore the current limits of 3D printing technology, I’ve created a technique for converting digital audio files into 3D-printable, 33rpm records and printed a few prototypes that play on ordinary turntables. Though the audio quality is low -the records have a sampling rate of 11kHz (a quarter of typical mp3 audio) and 5-6 bit resolution (less than one thousandth of typical 16 bit resolution)- the audio output is still easily recognizable. These records were printed on an Objet Connex500 resin printer to a precision of 600dpi with 16 micron z axis resolution. The 3D modeling in this project was far too complex for traditional drafting-style CAD techniques, so I wrote an program to do this conversion automatically. It works by importing raw audio data, performing some calculations to generate the geometry of a 12″ record, and eventually exporting this geometry straight to a 3D printable file format. Most of the heavy lifting is done by Processing, here’s a basic overview of my Processing algorithm: [Read More]

dailysession is optimized for the smart phone.

Now, it’s so easy to navigate & tune-in dailysession mix session on your smart phone !!

By Eilon Paz – Dust & Grooves

Rutherford has a unique vinyl collection. He only collects the Beatles first pressing of The White Album.
I met him in Recess gallery where he exhibits his collection.
In this show Chang is creating a record store that stocks only White Albums. But rather than selling the albums, he buys more from anyone willing to part with an original pressing in any condition.

Q: Tell me a bit about yourself. who are you? where did you grow up?

A: I’m an artist living in New York. I grew up in California.

Q: Did you grow up in a house of Beatles fans? When did you first hear about the Beatles? and about the white album?

A: My parents are from Taiwan and didn’t listen to the Beatles, so I didn’t grow up with the music. I bought my first White Album at a garage sale in Palo Alto for $1 when I was 15 years old.

Q: So how did you get familiar with the Beatles?

A: They are the biggest band.

Q: Tell me about your current exhibition “We Buy White Albums”.

A: My collection of White Albums is on display at Recess, a storefront art space in SoHo. It’s set up like a record store with the albums arranged in bins by serial number, and visitors are invited to browse and listen to the records. Except, rather than sell the albums, I am buying more. I currently have 693 copies. [Read More]

New Raw Detroit Soulful Vibes from Scott Grooves (Modified Suede). 

A1.Morris Code
A2.Bitter Sweet
B1.C Track

This is Wild Oats Music first distribution project, one of few to come for 2013. There is so much quality electronic music being created in the city of Detroit and not all of it can fit into the release schedule of a single label. The Idea is to press up great records from people on the same wavelength and that share a similar artistic mindset. At the same time allow the artists to put something out that is 100% their own but with support of a kindred hand–Kyle Hall’s Wild Oats Record Distribution.

Click Here to listen

Scott Grooves – Bitter Sweet (12inch) – clone.nl

SCOTT GROOVES – BITTER SWEET – TECHNIQUE 

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With it’s “various” compilation series, Plan B Recordings helped introduce some new talent to the dance community, including Chris Mitchell, Marshallito and Amir Alexander. The label is back with a compilation featuring some brand new names to the label, including our first release by Japanese artist (Takenawa) and an emerging producer from the Chicago area (Mauser).

A1 – It’s Just a Body – Area 07:38
A2 – Jaisaimale – Takenawa 05:45
B1 – Small Sounds on the Redline – Mauser 05:18
B2 – Naphroblac – G. Marcell 08:00

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The new T-shirt was created by Scott Grooves from the detroit T-shirt company is called “DjWear” which he started in 1999. Many djs wear his T-shirts Theo Parrish, Derrick May, Rick Wilhite and many others. This new shirt is very speacial, as it pays respect to the 1200/1210 turntable in a very unique scott grooves kinda way which is simple yet thought provoking. The new shirt will be available very soon, direct from Scott Grooves himself !!

By Janet Morrissey – NY Times

IN 1948, a radio repairman named Leo Fender took a piece of ash, bolted on a length of maple and attached an electronic transducer.

You know the rest, even if you don’t know you know the rest.

You’ve heard it — in the guitar riffs of Buddy Holly, Jimi Hendrix, George Harrison, Keith Richards, Eric Clapton, Pete Townshend, Bruce Springsteen, Mark Knopfler, Kurt Cobain and on and on.

It’s the sound of a Fender electric guitar. Mr. Fender’s company, now known as the Fender Musical Instruments Corporation, is the world’s largest maker of guitars. Its Stratocaster, which made its debut in 1954, is still a top seller. For many, the Strat’s cutting tone and sexy, double-cutaway curves mean rock ’n’ roll.

But this heart of rock isn’t beating quite the way it once did. Like many other American manufacturers, Fender is struggling to hold on to what it’s got in a tight economy. Sales and profits are down this year. A Strat, after all, is what economists call a consumer discretionary item — a nonessential.

More than macroeconomics, however, is at work here. Fender, based in Scottsdale, Ariz., is also being buffeted by powerful forces on Wall Street. [Read More]

Sun Sept 23 – Concrete Paris
Fri Sept 28 – Bucharest Romania w/SG
Sat Sept 29 – Munich DE Charlie
Fri Oct 5 – Stockholm Sweden
Sat Oct 6 – Galeway Ireland
Fri Oct 12 – London UK w/Will Bankhead
Sat Oct 13 – Paris w/alex and hugo?
Fri Oct 19 – Krakow PL@ Unsound Festival w/ Swimmers
Sat Oct 20 – Moscow RU
Sat Oct 27th – Glasgow w/SG
Fri Nov 2 – Paris @Scop w/SG
Sat Nov 3 – Athens Greece
Fri Nov 9th – London UK
Sat Nov 10 – Berlin@ About:blank
Thurs Nov 15 – Berlin@ Loftus Hall w/SG
Sat Nov 17th – Warsaw PL

Ron Morelli Mix on dailysession 

By Andy Beta – The Village Voice

Five years ago, Other Music co-founder Josh Madell sat across from me at a Fort Greene café and enthused about his venerated East Village record shop going digital. It was 2007, and a brave new world seemed to be on the horizon: Its neighbor and rival, Tower Records, was shutting its doors, as were countless other music stores on the island of Manhattan. And as Other Music watched that space across East Fourth Street morph into a Halloween-costume store and a Christmas-decorations outlet (it now houses the MLB Fan Cave and Blink Fitness), it turned into the last man standing. Not that such status brings stability in the world of retail and Manhattan real estate. “Obviously, running a record shop these days is not getting any easier,” Madell told me recently. “It is our passion, and there is still a lot of life left in this store, but record retailing is a tough business and getting tougher all the time.” [Read More]

01. No boundaries- Modular pursuits-Planet E
02. Raw Series 1#
03. aril Brikha-groovelechord-detron rmx-Aov 002
04. Omar S-Solely Supported-FXHE
05. KenLou-The Bounce-MAW rec
06. KAlexi Shelby- Sweet come down- Syncrophone rec
07. Makam- U might lose it- Kerri Chandler rmx- Sushitech rec
08. Scotti deep- Fathoms NY- Henry street rec
09. Wantanbe- The Horns-Clubhouse rec
10. Donald O- I got love in my Heart- Music USA rec
11. Ojays- Used to my Girl- Philidelphia International
12. Tom Tom club- Wordy rappin hood- Sire rec
13. Alexander Oneal- What is this thing called love- Tabu rec
14. Joey Beltran-Game form- Tresor rec
15. Shake- Fit003-Fit recordings
16.Latenight Chronicles- various artist- Sioree recs
17. Norm Talley-East village Ep- Dockside rec
18. Willie Graff & Tuccillo- Lunar feelings- Freerange
19. Patrice Scott- 2000 Blk panther dub-CDR
20. RVDS- Pain panther dub- CDR
and last but not least by no means 21. Manuel Gonzales- Harm near-Wild Oats

Friday night (June 29) is sure to be a steamy and hot one at Cielo (18 Little West 12th Street NYC). Richard Sen (aka Padded Cell) and Dennis “Citizen” Kane are celebrating Strut Label’s release, This Ain’t Chicago: The Underground Sound Of UK House & Acid 1987-1991. The Compilation pays joyful homage to the golden age of 80’s UK acid house and warehouse scene. Richard Sen along with Dennis “Citizen” Kane (from Disques SinThomme and Ghost Town Labels) will be spinning classics from the original days of acid house. Here’s your chance to relive the legendary long lost days.

Daily Session is happy to announce that we have CDs of This Ain’t Chicago along with free entry passes for the party at Cielo (home of the best sound system in NYC) up for grabs. Three winners will pick up the compilation and (1) free pass at Cielo on the night of the party. For a chance to win send your names and e-mail address to events@dailysession.com

FRIDAY JUNE 1ST KICK OFF
SEED RECORDING SHOWCASE 
01. SESSION 1324: FUNKY SLICE 06.01.12 – Mixed by Dee Jay True
02. SESSION 1325: FUNKY SLICE 06.01.12 – Mixed by Bradford James & DJ Said

SATURDAY JUNE 2ND 
DISCOVERY/ZOOVOX/ALPHA RECORDING SYSTEM/SONY
01. SESSION 1327: ELBIN RECORD GROCERY 06.01.12 – Elbin Reyes
02. SESSION 1328: FUNKY SLICE 06.02.12 – Faso
03. SESSION 1329: FUNKY SLICE 06.02.12 – Zoovox (Benjamin Gebhardt & Jeremy Campbell)
04. SESSION 1330: FUNKY SLICE 06.02.12 – Sean Bee & Takaya Nagase

SUNDAY JUNE 3RD CLOSING
PNEUMATIC RECORDS
01. SESSION 1331: FUNKY SLICE 06.03.12 – Matt Brownell
02. SESSION 1332: FUNKY SLICE 06.03.12 –  Ben Monzone

By HOLLAND COTTER – NY Times

For artists New York City has always had unaffordable neighborhoods. Now it has an unaffordable borough, Manhattan. There, in the past, blue-collar areas like Greenwich Village, SoHo and the Lower East Side offered cheap living for the no-collar day-jobbers that most artists were and still are. Rents were such that they could make their work upstairs and show it downstairs.

Art was a cottage industry.

Then came the 2000s and money and Chelsea, which is the equivalent of a suburban mall: a business district, a consumer zone.

A few artists went there to show; most went to look and then go home. Increasingly, in the past decade, home has been Brooklyn, starting with Williamsburg, then moving outward ahead of the real-estate cash tide. For a while now the buck has stopped at Bushwick, a scrappy, ethnically manifold, postindustrial jumble of a place abutting onto Queens. At street level it’s mostly bodegas, fast-food shops and auto repairs. But artists are there, lots of them. [Read More]

Bushwick Open Studios & Arts Festival 2012 Weekend Event Profile: Funky Slice Vinyl Shop, The Daily Session and Cedar Room

Eager to open its doors for the first time to the public and participate in The Bushwick Open Studios & Arts Festival, on June 1, 2 and 3rd; Cedar Room, home of Funky Slice Vinyl Shop and The Daily Session will be serving up wax for your consumption, providing and broadcasting live mixes and finishing the weekend with the most exclusive Dance Party in Bushwick.

All while local DJs deliver The Daily Session—Transmissions from New York’s Underground that keep vinyl alive—enjoy and take part in the green environment that is Cedar Room. Throughout the weekend before your eyes, local, talented artists will be having live art sessions, producing calligraphy, graffiti and cover art.

Sure to be a magnet of positive energy this party is open to all participants of Bushwick Open Studios & Arts Festival. Not to be missed!

By Jez

Celebrating the Daily Session’s fourth year anniversary (on 5.19.2012) Cedar Room opened its doors from dusk for its members only Nininja Party that lasted till early dawn Sunday.

DJ Sky Zee surprised everyone by unexpectedly showing up early with a big bag of records in tow. He set off in a long lone journey (for the love) of Soul Funk laying down tracks that included among many other classics: Donna Summer’s “On The Radio” and “Hot Stuff” to “I Wouldn’t Change a Thing” by Coke Escovedo from his “Comin’ At Ya” LP.

After enjoying an exciting flashback (that had me reenacting several Grind House Films) The Rob showed up looking like he was wading through some trails of his own. During his collectable dance-classic set, the party crowd really started arriving. Once inside the gates to The Hidden Fortress, through a window, all were welcomed by Bruce Lee’s moves as played out in Game of Death.

Upon entering Cedar Room, however, guests were greeted by the wax that is Funky Slice Vinyl Shop— where our friend, Yasu, a sound Engineer for Kenny Dope, kept to himself most of the night while listening to and accumulating a huge stack of vinyl that he eventually took home.

The High-Fidelity Sounds of Klipsch-Horn speakers and a huge newly equipped Klipsch Horn-inspired, hybrid-design speaker, thanks to Renee another sporting friend and a talented speaker builder, kept the sound fresh and sweet and party moving towards a Blazing Ring of Fire.

At the bar art, drinks, hookah smoke and friendly conversation got everyone high. While at the dance floor a few people moved rhythmically to the music as other assumed unique postures. The Discovery Crew made an appearance and surveyed the environment for anomalies. Sprawled against the wall lay DJ Sky Zee after his set, but proving that still alive, whenever an errant balloon escaped my kicks, he’d snap them back after what seemed like a sudden awakening. And for hours after wrapping up his set, The Rob stood still like a monk by the turntables perhaps entranced from contemplating The Luna earlier on the night?

Finally DJ Monchan ascended to the turntables and conducted the tunes towards an inevitable epiphany: Warm. Warmer. Disco.

Monchan’s Set SESSION 1316:NININJA 05.19.12
The Rob’s Set SESSION 1315:NININJA 05.19.12
Sky Zee’s Set SESSION 1314:NININJA 05.19.12

FREE MOVEMENT FESTIVAL APP POWERED BY VITAMINWATER® NOW AVAILABLE FOR BOTH ANDROID AND IPHONE OPERATING SYSTEMS

DETROIT, MAY 24, 2012—The Movement Electronic Music Festival application is now available on iTunes and Android markets for free, courtesy of vitaminwater®.  The complete electronic guide to Movement 2012, held May 26-28 in Detroit’s Hart Plaza, has added several new features designed to maximize user experience.

Paxahau has partnered up with vitaminwater® to make this app completely free for Movement fans.
iPhone users can download the app at  Here
Android users can download the app at: Here
Video Link
Screenshots Link
Features of the app include:
• *New!* Movement Postcard: Capture all of your Movement memories by using our new Photo Postcard feature. Show your friends at home how much fun you are having at the festival by sending them a Postcard via text or email and even to Facebook or Twitter.

• *New!* CAMP Detroit Project: Stimulate your mind by exploring the one-of-a-kind array of futuristic art installations placed throughout the property. Use this tab to learn more about each team’s unique installation.

• *New!* Integrated Twitter Feed: Engaging @movementdetroit Twitter feed now appears at the top of the app screen. Also, once you select an artist in the lineup or schedule to learn more about, the feed will then switch to the last three tweets from that particular artist, if available.

• *New!* GroupMe: Create a GroupMe group to stay in touch with your friends and get the latest festival news, too. Build a group of friends by registering your phone number at GroupMe.com/movement. The messaging feature will help keep a group of two or twenty on the same page throughout the festival, making sure you never miss a beat.
• Lineup: View every artist on the festival lineup and sort by alphabetical order or by set time. You can also sort artists by which day they perform and on which stage. You can add or remove an artist from your personal lineup by tapping the “plus” or “minus” button next to their name.

Tap on any artist’s name in any list and view their bio page. You can view the day, time and what stage they are performing on. Artist bio pages also have social media links and links to their music, video and their homepage.

• Schedule: Keep track of your own customized schedule. Sort performers by day and remove an artist after you have seen their show with just one touch. You can add or remove an artist from your personal lineup by tapping the “plus” or “minus” button next to their name. Enhanced artist information includes links to Resident Advisor profiles, when available. Improved schedule function also allows you to share your schedule selections with your friends.

• Alarm: Solidify your personal schedule by setting an alarm for five, 10 or 15 minutes before your selected artist is scheduled to perform, and you will receive a push notification.
• Festival Map: Find your way by utilizing the handy zoomable/scrollable map of the entire festival grounds that also opens to full-screen size.

• Friend Finder: Show your friends where you are in the crowd by placing the “I am here” arrow on a basic image of different areas of the festival. You may choose from a variety of stages or other areas of the grounds. Your friends don’t even need this app to receive Friend Finder photos; it will work with anyone who can view photos on their device. You have the convenience of sending the photo to your friends via text or email.
• vitaminwater® Flashlight: Improved flashlight function engages your LED light, if available instead of the old white screen, for brighter results.

• Afterparties: Plan your night after the festival closes at midnight by reviewing the best afterparty options available. We’ve included every Official Movement Afterparty for you to review by day, and you can see the flyer for each party, along with other pertinent information. Tap the map to get instant directions to any of the parties listed.
About Movement Electronic Music Festival
The Movement Electronic Music Festival takes place May 26-28 in Detroit and features: five technologically-rich outdoor stages; more than 100 artists; free Wi-Fi access on the grounds; a posh VIP setting located behind the main stage; dozens of official afterparties; an interactive technology center featuring the hottest gear in the industry; and several art displays to stimulate the senses. Nearly 100,000 people from across the globe attended the 2011 festival.

Walk-Up Passes for Movement Detroit ?Walk-up Day Passes will be available for $55 (All fees included) starting Saturday May 26. Walk-up Weekend Passes will be available for $95 (All fees included) starting Saturday May 26. Walk-up VIP passes will be available for $220 (All fees included) while supplies last. Passes will also be available online all weekend long at www.Movement.us
For more details about afterparties and to purchase tickets visit, www.movementafterparties.com.
About Paxahau Promotions Group
Producers of the Movement Electronic Music Festival since 2006, Paxahau was established 14 years ago as an online resource to promote both Detroit and electronic music, and has earned the respect of their peers and formed a very strong network of alliances throughout the music industry. Today, Paxahau is recognized across the world by artists and industry executives as a premier production and promotions organization. To learn more visit www.paxahau.com.

Lil Louis Brings First Ever House Music Art Gallery and Mobile Museum to Movement Electronic Music Festival

The House Music Art Gallery and Mobile Museum is derived from a film project directed by Louis entitled “The House that Chicago Built” that’s slated to be released later this year.  The film features 100 of the world’s top and most influential DJ’s and House music pioneers sharing the real story of House music from its birth in Chicago through its rise to becoming the World’s No. 1 genre of music.

It features photography by Louis exclusive memorabilia and artifacts from various House DJ’s and notables from his film.  In total 60 exclusive pieces will be on display for attendees of the Movement Festival to experience.

Learn more about the museum or film visit: www.TheHouseThatChicagoBuilt.com

About Movement Electronic Music Festival

Movement Electronic Music Festival takes place May 26-28 in Detroit and features: five technologically-rich outdoor stages; more than 100 artists; free Wi-Fi access on the grounds; a posh VIP setting located behind the main stage; dozens of official afterparties; an interactive technology center featuring the hottest gear in the industry; and several art displays to stimulate the senses. Nearly 100,000 people from across the globe attended the 2011 festival.  For more details and to purchase festival tickets visit www.movement.us.  For more details about afterparties and to purchase tickets visit, www.movementafterparties.com

Main Stage
3pm-5pm: Mark Farina (Mushroom Jazz set)
5pm-6:30pm: Greg Wilson
6:30pm-8pm: Todd Terje
8pm-10pm: Derrick Carter
10pm-12pm: Lil’ Louis

Beatport Stage
12pm-1:30pm: AvA
1:30-3pm: Filsonik b2b Patrick (NY)
3pm-5pm: Tale Of Us
5pm-6pm: Benoit & Sergio
6pm-7pm: dOP (live)
7pm-8:30: Damian Lazarus
8:30pm-10pm: David Squillace
10pm-12am: Seth Troxler b2b Guy Gerber

Made in Detroit Stage
12pm-2pm: Daniel Andres
2pm -3:30pm: Tony Ollivierra
3:30pm-5pm: Earl Mixxin McKinney
5pm-6:30pm: Andres
6:30pm-8pm: Marcellus Pittman
8pm-9:30pm: Kyle Hall b2b Jay Daniel
9:30pm-11pm: Mike Huckaby

Red Bull Music Academy Stage
1pm-3pm: Pursuit Grooves
3pm-4:30pm: Salva
4:30-5:30pm: Actress
5:30-6:30: Brenmar
6:30-7:30pm: Bok Bok
7:30pm-8:30pm: Two Fresh
8:30pm-9:30pm: Photek
9:30-10:30pm: SBTRKT
10:30-12am: Roni Size

Underground Stage
1:30pm-3pm: Mykel Waters
3pm-4:30pm: Phil Agosta
4:30pm-6pm: Droog
6pm-7:30pm: Mr. C
7:30pm-9pm: Jimmy Edgar
9pm-10:30pm: Matias Aguayo
10:30pm-12am: Michael Mayer

[Read More]

Four New York City Record Stores

Besides maintaining New York’s underground legacy alive and providing DJs, vinyl collectors and music lovers with palatable music environments and copacetic shopping experiences, there are four record stores in New York City that delineate the current vinyl musical landscape.

“Vinyl is the message we are preaching.”

Formerly located and a staple in the West Village, Vinyl Mania opened its doors in 1978. Beginning with a lean selection of Rock Records, owner Charlie Grappone quickly discovered his heart lay with House Music when, from around the corner, Paradise Garage club-goers and DJ Larry Levan started asking for specific records and began to patronize his store. From serving up Disco and House Classics and preserving the sound of music on vinyl, he went on to found one of the most influential labels that has charted and guided the course of House Music. In its heyday great times were had by all. Charlie would sit up front talking to anyone who wandered in, while DJs took requests and played fresh new vinyl. Unfortunately in 2007 after over thirty years of business and building and supporting dance music community and culture, Vinyl Mania closed its doors. No need for despair though, vinyl junkies can find Vinyl Mania’s stock available for purchase on Ebay, Discogs and at Funky Slice Vinyl Shop.

“An oasis from your nine-to-five jobs.”

Since 1996 A-One Record Shop (439 East 6th Street, New York; 212-473-2870) has been a lifeline for record collectors and DJ’s. Focusing on Soul, Jazz, Hip-Hop—and a Disco and House Music selection that has a high turnover—this used record shop is a treasure-ship for anyone who has the inclination to dig for rare and undiscovered gems. Sustained for more than 15 years by loyal customers and managed by local and knowledgeable DJ’s, it features a large collection that calls attention to its variety and an accurate categorization scheme organized by label. While the LP covers adorning all walls and surfaces and eclectic mixes by guest DJ’s and employees are sure to draw your attention, don’t forget to take the time to look through the bargain bins where you might find the slice of wax that could save your life! This independent store is more than a true vinyl shop: it’s a New York institution.

“Holy Grail type records that crazy-record-freak-collectors drool over.”

Founded in 2005 by John Sklute, aka Jonny Paycheck, not only a former producer and rapper in various ensembles but a risk management broker turned record dealer, Good Records NYC (218 East 5th Street, New York; 212-529-2081; Good.Records@gmail.com) is a record collector’s haven that carries Soul, Blues, Jazz, Funk, Folk, Rock, Hip- Hop, Disco, House and International music ranging from Africa to Latin America. Offering the most carefully selected, clean and fresh vintage stock found in New York City while also more than reasonably priced makes this record shop a magnet for vinyl connoisseurs. Trading, buying and selling daily, Jonny and his well-informed staff are always ready to help find what you want and point-out recent arrivals and discerning choices that may be hiding in the bins. With a few turntables equipped for your listening and great never-heard-of tunes playing, this warm space is inviting.

“Keeping vinyl alive…”

With transmissions from New York’s underground, and completing the trinity that includes DailySession.com, an online media source known for its live streaming radio show and Cedar Room Party, where ninjas gather to dance, Funky Slice Vinyl Shop (17 Cedar Street, Bushwick; 347-699-0940) is a membership record listening joint that provides exclusive vinyl weaponry. Not only a boutique record shop but also a community center for DJ’s and vinyl enthusiasts, in this green room you can catch more than sonic waves to reach that elusive Zen Zone that nature yields. Exclusively making stock available from Vinyl Mania ranging from Disco and House to Soul Funk here you will find an impressive collection of wax notorious for its variety and rare grooves. Only for the initiated.

By Jez

By Rolling Stone

Dim all the lights for Donna Summer, the disco diva who lost her battle with cancer today at 63. She was more than just one of the Seventies’ mightiest voices; she was the artist who exemplified the way disco broke out of the gay club subculture to take over the world. “Bad Girls,” “I Feel Love,” “Hot Stuff,” “On The Radio” – these were bold and innovative records, but they not only became global hits, they defined the beat of pop music ever since.

Donna Summer would be remembered as a ground-breaking artist today even if she’d retired the day after she recorded “I Feel Love” in 1977. She wrote the song with European producers Giorgio Moroder and Pete Bellotte, who created an electro-dystopian mirror-ball glacier-wave wall of machine rhythm, the musical equivalent of catching a stranger’s dead-eyed stare on the dance floor. Summer’s voice floated over the synthesizers as if feeling love meant zoning out into your own private nightworld of sensory overload. This is what Summer was talking about when she boasted, “I could be a Bette Davis-type actress. Catty, cold, precise and domineering.” It was all there in “I Feel Love.” [Read More]

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS – NY Daily News

WASHINGTON — Chuck Brown, who styled a unique mix of funk, soul and Latin party sounds to create go-go music in the nation’s capital, has died after suffering from pneumonia. He was 75.

Brown died Wednesday at Johns Hopkins University Hospital in Baltimore. Hospital spokesman Gary Stephenson confirmed Brown had died after a hospital stay that began April 18.

Thanks to Brown and his deep, gravelly voice, go-go music was uniquely identified with Washington. That’s where he continued to play the city’s club circuit late in life. [Read More]

Hammock House – The Eastbound L

An unrestrained universe of sound that reimagines the compelling rhythms of yesteryear in combination with sublime, 21st century grooves. The commitment to both tradition and craft has inspired a new genre of House replete with flamboyant arrangements and magnetic beats that seamlessly conjoin to create a colorful, refined, authentic soundscape.

Each track is imbued with the spirit and vivacity of a bygone era — a tangibility capable of inducing a transcendent experience. And interwoven with its inventiveness, are subtly and familiarity. This unique sound is, at once, old and new. So, immerse yourself in the seductive resonance of Hammock House, and be prepared for a long stay.

01 SIEMBRA (JOAQUIN “JOE” CLAUSSELL REMIX) – RUBEN BLADES 10:13
02 MI GENTE (LOUIE VEGA EOL REMIX) – HECTOR LAVOE 11:36
03 FUNK DOWN (JOAQUIN “JOE” CLAUSSELL) – MONGO SANTAMARIA 8:37
04 TAKE FIVE (NICOLA CONTE REMIX) – ROBERTO ROENA 5:22
05 ALEJATE (JOAQUIN “JOE” CLAUSSELL SACRED RHYTHM REMIX) – HECTOR LAVOE 10:39
06 MORRIS PARK (BONDE DE ROLE REMIX) – LENNI SESAR 2:58
07 O ELEFANTE (SHH REMIX) – RAY BARRETTO 8:41
08 I LIKE IT LIKE THAT (AARON JEROME REMIX) – PETE RODRIGUEZ 6:30
09 SAONA (GILLES PETERSON AND SIMBAD REMIX) – NORO MORALES 7:15
10 ME VOY AHORA (SACRED RHYTHM DANCE VERSION) – ISMAEL MIRANDA 7:04

By LARRY ROHTER – NY Times

In a court ruling with significant implications for the music industry, a California judge has dismissed a suit by two song publishing companies aimed at preventing Victor Willis, former lead singer of the 1970s disco group the Village People, from exercising his right to reclaim ownership of “YMCA” and other hit songs he wrote.

Early last year, Mr. Willis invoked a provision of copyright law called“termination rights,” which gives recording artists and songwriters the ability to reacquire and administer their work themselves after 35 years have elapsed. The song publishers, Scorpio Music and Can’t Stop Productions, countered by arguing that Mr. Willis had no legal standing to take that or any other action because he had “no right, title or interest in the copyright” to the songs.

On Monday, Chief Judge Barry T. Moskowitz of Federal District Court in Los Angeles rejected the song publishers’ claim that Mr. Willis was not eligible to reclaim his share of ownership of “YMCA,” whose lyrics he wrote, and 32 other songs recorded by the Village People. The companies had initially argued that Mr. Willis had merely created “works for hire” while, in essence, an employee of the company that managed the group. They also claimed he could not reclaim his share of the song because a majority of the other copyright holders had not agreed, the issue that the judge’s ruling addressed. [Read More]

By JON PARELES – NY Times

Adam Yauch, a rapper and founder of the pioneering and multimillion-selling hip-hop group the Beastie Boys, died on Friday in Manhattan. He was 47.

His mother, Frances Yauch, confirmed his death. He had been treated for cancer of the salivary gland for the last three years.

With a scratchy voice that grew scratchier through the years, Mr. Yauch rapped as MCA in the Beastie Boys, who were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame this year. They offered many listeners in the 1980s their first exposure to hip-hop. They were vanguard white rappers who helped extend the art of sampling and gained the respect of their African-American peers.

While many hip-hop careers are brief, the Beastie Boys appealed not only to the fans they reached in the 1980s but to successive generations, making million-selling albums into the 2000s. They grew up without losing their sense of humor or their ear for a party beat. [Read More]

By Andy Beta – The Village Voice

There might not be a tidier under-five-minute overview of two decades of underground New York dance crazes than the 12-inch single “Disco-Tech (Studio 54 Mix).” KATO, a nom de production ofRonald Burrell, recorded it, and New York’s Nu Groove Records released it in 1990. Aside from name checking the glitzy club, Burrell suspends gauzy synth chords, alights upon “The Hustle,” “The Bus Stop,” “The Fox-Trot,” and “The Patty Duke,” and purrs a line from the Spinners’ Philly soul classic “I’ll Be Around” in a way that never feels overcrowded.

That it’s the least compelling moment on The Burrell Brothers Present: The Nu Groove Years 1988–1992, a visceral two-disc set compiling the work of Ronald and his twin brother, Reginald Burrell (the two were born three minutes apart), released in the years between the closing of the Paradise Garage and the rise of Masters at Work, speaks volumes to the dizzying amount of music the Queens-born twins put to wax in those five years. Primitive and tough, with jazz underpinnings and seductive r&b hooks, it paved the way forward for a scene that had been lagging behind the techno coming out of Detroit and acid house blowing in from Chicago.  [Read More]

By David Hinckley –  New York DailyNews

The two will become one station and broadcast with WBLS call letters at 107.5

After 30 years as spirited and often ferocious rivals, WBLS (107.5 FM) and WRKS (98.7 FM, Kiss-FM) will become one.
In a turn as sudden and stunning as the Yankees merging with the Mets, the city’s two adult urban radio stations announced in a joint press release Thursday that they will become “One Family, One Station.”
Kiss and WBLS began simulcasting at 10 a.m. Thursday, starting with a tribute to the 30-year legacy of Kiss.
As of 12 a.m. Monday they will become a single station at 107.5 FM, under the WBLS call letters.

It is likely this news will not please all listeners, many of whom feel there are already too few black media voices in the city.
The merger is part of a major reshuffling triggered when Disney agreed to acquire 98.7 FM from Emmis.
The complicated $96 million deal essentially lets Disney lease 98.7 FM as of Monday morning, when it will start simulcasting ESPN radio there. ESPN radio is now heard on the weaker 1050 AM signal.
Disney had been thirsting for an FM signal so it can better challenge CBS Radio’s all-sports WFAN (660 AM).
A key factor in this new deal is that WRKS and WBLS have both had financial problems, at the stations themselves and with their parent companies.

Emmis last year also sold its 101.9 FM frequency in New York.

[Read More]

Bushwick Open Studios & Arts Festival 2012 Weekend Event Profile: Funky Slice Vinyl Shop, The Daily Session and Cedar Room

Eager to open its doors for the first time to the public and participate in The Bushwick Open Studios & Arts Festival, on June 1, 2 and 3rd; Cedar Room, home of Funky Slice Vinyl Shop and The Daily Session will be serving up wax for your consumption, providing and broadcasting live mixes and finishing the weekend with the most exclusive Dance Party in Bushwick.

A community center for vinyl enthusiasts, connoisseurs and junkies, Funky Slice Vinyl Shop invites you to dig our extensive selection, take advantage of our listening booth and have a listen to our hard-to-find and rare grooves and take home with you a slice of New York’s underground. Making available stock from Vinylmania, offering House, Disco and Soul Funk and other unclassifiable and undiscovered gems, from Friday until Sunday, here is your chance to gain entrance to this membership record listening joint.

All while local DJs deliver The Daily Session—Transmissions from New York’s Underground that keep vinyl alive—enjoy and take part in the green environment that is Cedar Room. Throughout the weekend before your eyes, local, talented artists will be having live art sessions, producing calligraphy, graffiti and cover art.

On Saturday night Cedar Room will be hosting some of the best known and yet-to-be discovered DJs who will grace us with their favorite tunes in an unparalleled sound system. Sure to be a magnet of positive energy this party is open to all participants of Bushwick Open Studios & Arts Festival. Not to be missed!

By Jez

details coming soon!

Funky Slice Vinyl Shop is the ultimate underground boutique for professional DJs, Record collectors and music lovers.

Funky Slice is a membership record listening joint. From a Hidden Fortress on a Daily Basis local DJs in the know deliver The Daily Session, a live streaming Radio Show providing eclectic mixes directly from the heart of New York’s underground. We keep our store’s location undisclosed to allow us to listen and share music, and In Order to Dance, in a completely free and shared environment, and of course through a proper sound system equipped with a sweet spot so you don’t lose the warmth and juiciest parts that only vinyl music can offer.

In a digitally and Mp3 dominated music world respect and appreciation of music is difficult to accomplish. At Funky Slice what we are offering is not just vinyl, but a whole experience of record digging, crates included. Featuring an infinite array of diverse and unrivaled hand-picked selections from unique and singular categories, this vinyl shop serves up the wax you must have. Dropping needles in our listening booth while admiring sleeve art and choosing and discovering all those hard to find gems, in a conducive green environment, you can relax and enjoy the entire record listening experience.

Funky Slice Vinyl Shop is not only a shopping place but a community center for vinyl enthusiasts, connoisseurs and junkies. Not only do we exchange information about records and parties but art, ventures and ideas. It is a cultural exchange between different ages, sexes, races under music.

Home of Funky Slice Vinyl Shop and one of the many locations from where The Daily Session is broadcasted, The Cedar Room completes the circle of this exclusive collective. Several times a month through invitation only, The Cedar Room opens its doors to its members for the ultra exclusive Nininja Party. It’s an enlightening gathering.

By Jez

By Roy Furchgott – NY Times

Buying records is easy. You can find them by the milk crate at yard sales, for a few dollars apiece in used record stores, and there are new, special pressings by contemporary musicians like Shelby Lynne, whose “Just a Little Lovin’” album, at $30, is a top seller. But buying the instrument needed to listen to them, a turntable, is a different matter.

“Young people didn’t grow up with turntables,” said Kenny Bowers, manager at Needle Doctor, a Minnesota store specializing in turntables. “It seems mysterious and complicated because you don’t just push a button and have it play for you.”

There are advantages to old-fashioned analog music, according to some audiophiles. “There is a fuller sound to it, and more depth to the sound,” said Ryan Holiday, the New Orleans-based marketing director for American Apparel. He’s a new devotee of jazz and David Bowie, thanks to LPs. (For the youngsters, that stands for long playing, as in long-playing record; there were also small records called 45s). “I could hear hands going up and down the frets, and stuff that they probably didn’t want you to hear. Which is a nice little surprise,” he said. [Read More]

By JON PARELES – NY Times

Last week Ralf Hütter, the singer and founder of the pioneering German electronic band Kraftwerk, recalled the first time the band came to New York City: in 1975, for an American tour to promote “Autobahn,” an unlikely hit sung in German and backed by electronics. The group members were carrying, he said, a few suitcases, some synthesizers in padded boxes they had built themselves and, for visuals, a slide projector.

Things have changed. For Retrospective 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 at the Museum of Modern Art — eight sold-out concerts that conclude Tuesday, with Kraftwerk playing through each of its eight studio albums from 1974 to 2003 — Kraftwerk deploys 3-D video projectors that send images leaping forward from the stage, along with a custom surround-sound installation including overhead speakers and a sleekly concealed wall of woofers at the front of the stage. (A multimedia exhibition at MoMA PS1 continues through May 14.) [Read More]

Please click HERE for more info.