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Showing posts from February 1, 2005

glenn okada on decks

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forward by brent crampton ~ photo by george meyer ~ With his set taking a progressive house feel, it starts out deep and melodic while gradually taking the listener on a climax of emotion and sophistication. Overall, the mix is ideal for car listening and it has been getting rave reviews all the way from London to Tokyo. Ask those in the know, and you will be so advised: Glenn Okada is one of the most technically sound DJ's in the Midwest region. Superior mixing skills, creative transitions, and top-flight track selection have placed him among the Midwestern region's elite, and lent themselves to the rise of area's progressive house movement. A transplant from Orlando, Florida, Glenn's 1993 immersion into the dance scene brought him to the filled floors of The Edge, and the now legendary Club at Firestone, then ranked amongst the world's best. There, Glenn fell in love with a music that he himself now twists and presents along the front lines of the genre. Glenn

x-pansion tour

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premier artists group ~ These world renowned turntablists, formerly known as the X-Men, officially became the X-ecutioners when they made the leap from battle-DJs to recording artists in their own right. The NYC natives started and have led a revolution in DJ precision, showing the world that the turntable is indeed a musical instrument. Possibly the first all DJ band ever, they have continuously dazzled listeners and viewers alike with their unbelievable hand prowess. These New York natives, featured in the underground cult movie "Scratch" (Doug Prey/Scratch Worldwide Media) can count themselves among a select handful of DJs (including their west coast peers the now defunct Invisibl Skratch Piklz) who spearheaded the turntablist movement, by taking the classic hip-hop techniques of mixing and cutting into a whole new realm of musical improvisation. Founded in 1989 with the intention of dethroning the reigning battle-DJs of the moment, Clark Kent's Supermen, the crew

solaris february 2005 techno

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intro & photo by todd ~ Local KC Techno DJ, Solaris is back once again with his picks for some of the hardest and rawest Techno beats for the new year. Always looking for ways to push the limit of your Techno experience, check out these tracks and, courtesy of DJ Solaris. OPEN SOURCE - JEFF AMADEUS & DIRTY BASS - OS002 Nice groove of the A side with a bit of grit that we all need from time to time. Nice and hard with that got to keep chugging down the tracks feel. The b side is a bit more obscure and odd, but definitely worth a listen. You might even be akin to keeping your faith a bit longer. If not I suggest you call the 800 number. LK REC - LARS KLEIN - LK05 Hard and bangin'. Nothing unusual there from the likes of these masters. How hard can you get? Well if I was going to shoot for 88 miles per hour I would fuel the old Delorian with this piece of wax. You can never have enough good drivers when you want to get the crowd to 1.21 jigawatts. AUDIO ASSAULT - SKO

crampton february 2005 house

by brent crampton ~ Whether it be funky and deep, bompty and quirky, or just click-click beepy – this is your monthly house music source for what’s hot and churning on the dance floors at the moment, as well as what you can expect to find in the record stores a few months down the line. Blaze Found Love: The Remixes West End At a recent trip to Smart Bar in Chicago to see Halo, the end-of-the-night peak came when he threw down the Kiko Navarro Remix. As the fellow Jacker’s on the dance floor sang, “I found love, a higher love,” life seemed good. And life seems much better now that I have the record in my case. If you missed the first release of Found Love, these remixes are a must for any soulful house collection. The sedated and inspirational voice proclaiming a higher love is back again with diverse remixes. From the climax rhythm of Kiko Navarro’s Remix to the broken beat Original Shrine DJ Vocal Mix, this “Giant Single,” as the record sleeve proclaims, has a bit of everythi

timid interview

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forward and photos by joe hensen ~ Kansas City has been known to produce a lot of local DJ's who spin an assortment of styles. But only one has the courage to spin Happy Hardcore and do it well. His name? Tim Skalland aka DJ Timid. An upbeat, happy going guy, Timid loves it best when the beats going fast and hard making the kids jump and dance. Recently, I had an opportunity to chat with him online about a few things. Here's what he had to say. Have you always lived in KC? Yes, born and raised. I live in Liberty now at school, but not too far out, ya know? What first got you into spinning? My first party was Paul Oakenfold at the Uptown in Feb 2002...I had been interested in electronic music since I was 13-14 (I was 16 at the time of Oakenfold), and admired Oakenfold...and once I saw him on stage, and the crowds reaction, I knew that is what I wanted to do. Everyone knows you spin happy hardcore...but its actually something else right? UK Hardcore? Yeah, I like to

superstar dj lee interview

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by brent crampton ~ photos by jackoline lawrence & misha Superstar DJ Lee has been rocking the dance floor since early ‘95. Over the years he has performed with the likes of Bad Boy Bill, Joey Beltram, DJ Icey, Angel Alanis and countless other world renown DJ's. His five-year stint as the DJ in the band, George Zip, gave him the chance to play alongside such national acts as The Kottonmouth Kings, 2SkinneeJ's and Ziggy Marley. Considered one of the main players in the introduction to dance music culture in Omaha, Lee has continued to be on top of his game while keeping modest about his experience in music. Lee currently holds a residency at Omaha's premiere electronic music bar, 415, as well as a residency in Sioux Falls, South Dakota at Touchez. With his long and varied history in Omaha’s scene, I probed at him to get this thoughts on times past and what’s ahead for the future. Recently you have been focusing quite a bit on producing. What are you working with

inhale some texas static

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an interview with Inhale Music Texas Static ~ by todd So, tell me a little bit about what your business is. The name of my business' are Inhale Music TexasStatic. I started Inhale Music in the spring of 2003 to release house music that I love. For now it can be bought at Stompy, but a vinyl release is scheduled in 2005. TexasStatic is a web site I created in January 2005 to showcase everything that is texas house music. We have mixes, bio's, dj of the month and live dj mix sets from myself and random live set from 'big' name dj's including John Walker, Don Tinsley and John Hawley. Wow... 2 businesses? I have trouble just being freelance. So, tell me... is Inhale Music dedicated solely to House, or is that just your primary focus? Primarily house, but I am interested in DownTempo, Jazz and Hip-Hop in a pure form... meaning no GangstaRap. It's not that I am against rap, but that is not what Inhale Music is about. I am hoping to get music from all the a

hear ye! hear ye!

by bpositive ~ Today's high-end sound systems pump out an amazing amount of sound. My own ears tell me that often sound levels in public locations such as night clubs are no longer safe for the unprotected ear. If you have spent any time at all in the average night club or rave, you have almost certainly accrued some damaging effects. According to an organization called H.E.A.R, "a non-profit information source for musicians and music lovers," if you have to raise your voice to be heard by someone less than three feet away you should be wearing hearing protectors (ear plugs). Now, tell me the last time you DIDN’T have to raise your voice at almost any club or bar in Kansas City? These damaging levels of sound have been going on in most clubs and bars every weekend, a trend that has been steadily increasing over the past year. And, if you go out to a club or concert two nights in a row, you are dramatically increasing the risk of damage to your hearing. How many of us

a velvet st louis

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story & photos by todd ~ It started as a good enough little road trip to St Louis, aside from the fact that it snowed the entire way. It had just started in Kansas City and we knew that things in St Louis would not be much different. In fact, we were all to aware that St Louis typically gets it worse than we do. Despite all of this, we pressed on, sometimes through what appeared to be snowballs falling from the sky and, after a pit stop for food and another for a wiper blade, we arrived at our destination after a mere four and a half hours. Our friends (and gracious host) were just finishing their poker game when we arrived and offered us some Jaegermeister to warm our cold souls. We gladly accepted it and finished the rest of the night (as well as the Jaeger), had some great conversation and accompanying beats courtesy of Trevor Matthews. It had definitely been a good idea to come out on Friday after all and we even managed to get to sleep by 3 am... or was it 4? Saturday

february 2005 editor note

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by todd ~ January was a weird month. That's all I can say. There were a few disappointments, but overall, it did yield some rather interesting entertainment. In fact, this month's cover comes from one of those interesting little entertainment excursions. I took that before anyone had really entered the main room at Velvet in St Louis, just this past weekend. We had a really great time, despite a few minor technical difficulties. You can read all about it in the main story for this month. Before I get any further though, this month's On Decks is friggin awesome! Be sure to check it out! I just finished listening to it before I started writing this and am on my way through it again! On with the news of the day! The above photo was taken by JonBoy at RJ's 31st Birthday Bash. You're gettin old RJ, and I think you're hair is nearly as long as Karin's. Get a haircut, hippie! hehe... But Seriously, Happy Birthday! I did a couple more "off the wall

february 2005 issue

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a velvet st louis hear ye! hear ye! inhale some texas static superstar dj lee interview timid interview crampton february 2005 house solaris february 2005 techno x-pansion tour glenn okada on decks event photos feb.05