July | 2010 | The Morning After

Archive for July, 2010

all I can do is what I do

Posted in being cheap, life or something like it, music, neat-O gang, tagged Ableton, Four Tet, Garageband, Logic, Mac, Macbook Pro, Numark, Rane, Serato, The Paper Cranes, Well Served on July 22, 2010| 7 Comments »

My man Ryan from The Paper Cranes left a comment on my blog from the other day about which computer program might help me master the beat production. he recommended the Mac program Logic.

Ryan Awram from The Q! also rocks Logic so what I would like about that is that we can share knowledge at work. I think Logic also has some similar attributes to Garageband which comes standard on the Mac. That might allow me to learn the Garageband as I already have it, then graduate to Logic if/when I get the hang of it.

I went down to Simply Computers on Quadra, where I normally go to stare at Apple stuff, to look at Logic.

I asked the sales rep about Logic and he steered me toward Ableton… again. Always with the Ableton.

Ableton is expensive, BUT the sales rep said I don’t need the super duper version… the basic $500 package would be good for me. And he said that Ableton is working with Rane (they make Serato mixers) to be compatible with Serato DJ software (and I hope my Numark???).

yeesh. brain hurts.

Its all pretty amateur for me right now and will one day require me to make a decision and jump in. The issue I mainly have is money. Coral is hoping to go to University or college in the fall and will need tuition/computer/earn less money for the family. I’ll need close to $1,000 to rock the wedding fair in the fall and that has to be the priority as success there will guarantee me the opportunity to earn the money I need for fun toys (and to pay the mortgage). Fun toys now… wasted chance at future business.

man, being an adult sucks. Garageband for now.

***

In other news, my set for the party Friday Night is taking shape and I like the direction. I am stressing about it as I don’t really know what people will want to hear. But I think if I play what I like, I’m opening… no harm no foul and like any performer… all I can do is what I do.

I’ll practice it tonight before bed and if its a good hour, its gold for Friday at Sugar. It’ll be some Brooklyn meets Ibiza chillwave and blisscore beats with some classic soul/funk/R&B. Might be a trainwreck, but last night at 2AM… it sounded good. I’ll try it again on the decks tonight, if I can mix it together and the story makes sense in my brain, it’ll be what you hear as you file into Sugar. if this mix that is my head doesn’t come together I was also feeling a modern rocky/remix/local beats set. Maybe I can do both… a side A and a side B kinda dealio?

Details >> – Well Served – @ Suagr Nightclub

Lastly… I still love Four Tet.

Go with yourself.

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World War One was the most hilarious war

Posted in radio, tagged Belfry Theatre, Billy Bishop Goes To War, Interview, Musicals, radio, Ryan Beil, That actor from the A&W commercials, The Zolas, Zach Gray on July 21, 2010| Leave a Comment »

Tomorrow (Thursday, July 22nd) Billy Bishop Goes To War opens at the Belfry Theatre.

Actor Ryan Beil stars as Billy Bishop who… goes off to war. First as a Calvary Officer but then later, as one of the greatest flying aces of the epic ordeal.

Many of us know Ryan as “that guy from the A&W commercials.” But there is so much more to this Vancouver actor!

Zach Gray is from Vancouver band The Zolas. His father wrote the original musical! Nice.

Have a listen>> Interview with Ryan Beil and Zach Gray

Thank you for making the time to check out this interview.

Go with yourself.

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HO! DJ!

Posted in life or something like it, music, Wedding, tagged Baltimore, Camp Bisco, DJ, New York, Victoria Wedding DJ, Wedding DJ on July 21, 2010| 7 Comments »

I am trying to set some goals and grow as a DJ performer and sometimes it can be hard because… well being a DJ is a singular enterprise.

I only really know what I do.

Now I have been blessed to know some generous DJs who have helped and shared with me. Jess Taylor and DJ Anger being two early ones that helped me and later J Reign, Marshall, DJ Trekk, DJ Clinton, Rauri Lazers, DJ Fatso and of course DJ Murge. But at the end of the day… it is a self education.

What I constantly think about is creating my own beats and sounds… but I really have no idea how to start. My buddy Tyson gave me a midi controller keyboard thing and I have Garageband? I guess I can start.

And now I have a destination… I want to get on the bill Camp Bisco in rural New York.

New York times >> A festival of Its Own

What an adventure that could be… if I can talk them into letting me have a slot.

It’ll be a money losing proposition. That is certain. Traveling to New York to DJ can’t be cheap. I’d for sure be bringing Coral and even Madelyn… so its more a professional holiday? sure, I like that word; professional holiday.

AND then I want to DJ in Baltimore! ha… ok, one step at a time.

***

in other news: when you type ‘Victoria Wedding DJ‘ into google, my website comes up! Spin The Black Disc.

Thank you everyone for the support. I am sure being a wedding DJ isn’t helping my goal of club DJ too much, but the baby has got to eat (and it’s actually really fun… so far).

Go with yourself.

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a shade of coral

Posted in life or something like it, tagged Coral on July 20, 2010| 9 Comments »

a "coral" coloured Chevy Nomad

When I first met Coral, one of my favourite things about her is (was?) her name. Coral.

I never knew a Coral before her.

I did not know there was a colour shade called coral.

If I was scuba diving I’d be afraid of coral.

I never knew that corals coordinate behavior by communicating with each other. Whoa, there is probably a life lesson in there about relationships… maybe near the bottom of the wiki, in the footnotes.

There is a band called The Coral.

One day I will visit Coral Gables, FLA… I might even bring Coral, but then, that might be one hell of a trip and fuck with the space time continuum. Maybe Coral would hang in Coral Springs? then we’d meet in Orlando? I dunno.

I bought Coral a classic 45 single on Coral Records.

One time the History channel showed this boring naval battle. I wanted to change the channel because I thought the Bachelorette was on but then the announcer said, “this major battle of World War Two was fought between US and Australian forces against the Imperial Japanese… it was called the Battle of the Coral Sea.” And then check this out, it was a marathon of Coral battles!

When I move to the desert one day in the future… I’ll keep my eyes peeled for coral SNAKES!

Coral is a real nerd too. beep beep bop bop nerd nerd internets.

And sometimes Coral makes movies! I can’t understand any of them because they are in a different language.

Our long term financial plan call for winning the lotto… but I am sure she wouldn’t be against winning our retirement at bingo? In The UK? With the Gala Coral Group.

if Coral ever left me for another man (or progressive woman) I could only be with a woman with an equal to or greater than name.. like maybe MTV Real World cast member Coral Smith… middle name Jeanne? WTF, Coral’s middle name is Jean!

Now coral is my favourite colour, my favourite city(ies) in Florida (and Ontario and Illinois) and my third favorite thing found in the ocean (after sharks and Zombies).

an actual real life "Coral" with alien Stitch.

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Anywhere is Better

Posted in music, tagged Anywhere's Better Than Here, Don't Tell a Soul, Hootenanny, Let It Be, The Replacements, Tim on July 20, 2010| Leave a Comment »

I added a new record to my collection on Friday. The Replacements‘ Don’t Tell A Soul.

I’ve been jamming this record heavy all weekend. I put it on at night when Coral and Mads are all tuckered out and snoozing. I plug my good DJ headphones into the amp and drop the needle. I really love this record.

I am sure in the pantheon of Replacements albums, this isn’t the critical darling. That accolade generally gets handed to Tim or Let It Be. Two great albums… but I am finding that the music on Don’t Tell a Soul is speaking to me right now.

The song that is completely dominating all my thoughts is “Anywhere’s Better Than Here.”

Its an evil song but it gets wormed right in my brain and I can’t shake the lyrics or even the vibe the song. Its a bit of a downer to think about it… why can’t a happy song get stuck in my head?

My collection of Replacements records is coming along. My goal is to collect the whole discography. I have Hootenanny, Tim and Don’t Tell a Soul.

I am almost half way there! yeesh. Next up, I really want Let it Be. It has most of my fave Replacements songs on it, but Jeremy at Ditch records says it is also the most sought after and can be harder to track down. Gotta keep my eyes open for it.

***

I am putting my wedding DJ cap down for a moment to DJ an event this Friday at Sugar Nightclub. Opening for a real grab bag of artists… hip hop, electro and reggae all on the stage,m but first, I present some music.

Check out my DJ site for details >> Spin The Black Disc

Go with yourself.

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a tale of two album covers

Posted in music, tagged Beavis and Butt-head, Contra, Love Rollercoaster, Ohio Players, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Vampire Weekend on July 16, 2010| Leave a Comment »

Vampire Weekend made an old model from the early 80s famous when they selected this odd picture as the cover of their record Contra.

The person is Ann Kirsten Kennis and in 1983 she worked as a model in New York City. This is a picture of her rocking a Ralph Lauren polo. Cute.

I am sure her goal in 1983 was to have as many people see pictures of her as possible and be famous, but I guess something happened after Regan and now she just wants 2 million dollars from Vampire Weekend.

CNN >> Vampire Weekend Sued by ‘Contra’ Cover Model

She claims her signature on the release form was forged and that she never agreed to have the picture released.

Personally I think $2 million is a little steep, but maybe she should be paid something for having her likeness on the cover of one of the better selling albums in 2010.

From 1983 we travel further back in time to the Ohio Players’ 1975 record Honey.

Yesterday there was a story about Beavis and Butt-head coming back to MTV. And I thought about that Red Hot Chili Pepper’s cover “Love Rollercoaster” from the movie, Beavie and Butt-head Do America.

I was reading about the song and it turns out that there was quite a bit of controversy surrounding the original song.

If you punch up the album version of “Love Rollercoaster” >> HERE and scroll to the 2:32 mark of the song… you will hear a chilling scream.

There was an urban legend associated with the scream that sad that it is the scream of a woman murder in or around the studio at the time of recording and that scream was picked up on the microphones and used on the recording!

And even more fanciful story says that the model on the cover of Honey, Ester Cordet, burned herself during the cover shoot. She poured the super heated honey all over and it disfigured her. She burst into the studio where the Ohio Players were recording and demanded compensation… but unlike Vampire Weekend being all civil to their cover model… the manager stabbed Ester to death right there while the band was recording. I guess it sounded so awesome they went, “meh, lets live it on the tape.”

This story is obviously not true as Ester is alive and well to this day. Its just an urban legend. The scream is actually Billy Beck.

Later, Jimmy Williams of the band would explain about the “scream;”

“There is a part in the song where there’s a breakdown. It’s guitars and it’s right before the second verse and Billy Beck does one of those inhaling-type screeches like Minnie Riperton did to reach her high note or Mariah Carey
does to go octaves above. The DJ made this crack and it swept the country. People were asking us, ‘Did you kill this girl in the studio?’ The band took a vow of silence because you sell more records that way.”

The Chili Peppers would later cover this song in 1996 for the Beavis and Butt-head Do America film. Its fairly early in the film when the boys head to Vegas and see this wedding/lounge band group on stage jamming out this funky Ohio Players’ classic.

Go with yourself.

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Long Drives Through the Wilderness

Posted in music, tagged Band of Horses, British Columbia, desert, Infinite Arms, Laredo, Pitchfork, Texas on July 15, 2010| Leave a Comment »

Band of Horses latest record Infinite Arms didn’t get stellar reviews… but personally I really enjoy the record.

Pitchfork was saying it is ideal for long drives through the wilderness and I can attest to that (if you consider parts of Southern Vancouver Island wilderness) as I rocked a BOH album in the earliest hours of the morning after a wedding in Shawnigan Lake.

The NEW BAND OF HORSES VIDEO features lots of two of my favourite things… driving and the desert! its like a match made in heaven as my future will one day call for living in a dusty desert village.

I would imagine that the “Laredo” in the song is a reference to the Texas border city but there are little Laredos all over the US, Mexico and the original village by that name is in Spain.

There are even some Laredo place names in BC. There is a Laredo Inlet, Channel and Sound. Neat.

When I go there one day, I’ll rock “Laredo” by Band of Horses and think about an aquatic desert and what a mind fuck that would be.

Go with yourself.

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Madelyn broke the radio

Posted in ...this is your father speaking, tagged Baby babble, Madelyn, MixCloud, radio, The Zone @ 91-3 on July 15, 2010| 2 Comments »

My daughter Madelyn Oh Yeah came to visit me during my radio show onhttp://thezone.fm/jeremy .

She then proceeded to push EVERY button and BROKE the radio. The worst part… the worst part, she wouldn’t even apologize on the radio to everyone. That baby!

Listen >> Maddy Oh Yeah broke the radio

Go with yourself.

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The Replacements – “I’ll Be You”

Posted in music, tagged Don't Tell a Soul, I'll Be You, The Replacements on July 14, 2010| Leave a Comment »

I was thinking about fun older songs that might sound good on The Zone and I had to dust off one from The Replacements.

The Replacements continue to be a band that captures my imagination.

The song that might be a good primer to enter if you’ve never rocked the Replacements before would be their only “hit” single. “I’ll Be You” came out in 1989 and you’ll find it on Don’t Tell A Soul.

Previous Replacements records could be considered alternative or even alt punk. they rarely made linear music videos, had challenges touring, were often times too drunk to perform and generally lived the life of under appreciated artists.

By the late 80s, original guitarist Bob Stinson had left the band. He was largely the punk element to the band. When it became time to record Don’t Tell a Soul… the sound had shifted to a more mature rock and roll style.

Don’t Tell a Soul isn’t my favourite Replacements record, but I do love the single.