This hits upon a problem in many "DJ communities":
Newcomers let the quality of the set fall ENTIRELY on their records,
instead of using their SKILLS to pump up the crowd. Give some people
nowadays a crate of records from just 8 years ago & they wouldn't know what
to do with themselves.
Who is teaching these skills to the newcomers? In my town (not Detroit) most
DJs are so concerned about getting recognition and respect, and keeping it,
that they don't share what they know (if they know) with others. The local
DJ crews are impossible to break into... I have a friend who gave a tape to
this guy in one collective. The entire collective loved it but my friend was
bullshitted about being able to spin with them. Promises unfulfilled. He's a
good DJ and has skills to share as do the guys in the collective but since
they are so selective (rejective?) there is no chance of cross-pollination
of ideas. Where do many newcomers learn to spin? I'd say from listening to
mix CDs which are usually made to shift product which means they let the
entire song play out and use computer programs to mix. Only recently has
there been a fair amount of CDs that have the "live" sound (short mixes,
spinbacks, hard cuts, mixes that aren't seamless). So I guess the point is
established DJs need to share skills with others, it worked for jazz.
Which brings me to another topic...that last episode of the Jazz series from
PBS...did they just ignore some of the best Jazz of the last 20-30 years?
Nice job of slamming Cecil Taylor too. Brandford Marsalis should go stick
his horn up his ass. He completely contradicted himself as well when
refering to John Coltrane vs Cecil Taylor. And another thing, Sun Ra? Where
was he? Don Cherry?
It was interesting how they retreated to the safety of Ellington and Satchmo
evertime they discussed newer non-traditional jazz. As much as I love both
of those guys (more than words can say) I was very offended by the ommision
of some of the most intriguing music ever made.
Fred
From: "juliette morgan" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: 313@hyperreal.org
Subject: [313] the LONG & short of dj sets
Date: Tue, 30 Jan 2001 19:05:52 -0600
After reading this thread for a while now, I would like to respond to
Lester's original post..; IMO, you see records being played out longer
than
before (i.e. the 80's) due to the fact that dj's just aren't quick mixing &
with the energy like they used to; doing tricks, taking chances, etc... the
records being made today do all the work for you (95% of which, IMO, are
quite 2-dimensional &/or gimmicky..).
In addition, this is still TOO much work for some people who don't want to
get off their ass- the same people who are creating ways to mix on their
computer; now they don't EVER have to leave their desk to be a dj!!
(Sorry,
this is an entirely different thread...)
cTo me, I would rather hear someone using
THEIR
creativity with a bunch of deep, sick tracks (see Traxx, Dj Hell, Theo,
Carlos Souffront, etc.) to make a special moment on the dancefloor rather
than the latest remix of (insert your fave cheesy childhood pop song here)
played next to the flavor of the moment ravehouse/salsa/buildup/trance
amalgam again & again. Going to Motor is quite the museum for this
nowadays, djs who used to beat it for 13 years now play the latest greatest
hands-in-the-air cut that the guy last week played (or the guy who opened).
So long as you can beat match nowadays & you got those 20 current tunes
that'll make the glow sticks move faster, make a tape & send it to (insert
your fave club from the D here..)!! It doesn't matter if you have style
all
your own, you will only get paid 1/3 of what the big names get (even though
they just started playing this cheesy recently too (shhh.. don't tell!!)).
But I digress.
In response to...
I too hate the 'look mama how many records I can squeeze into an
hour'-style.
Well, true. Anyone who is playing that many *just* for the sake of doing
so... is a moron. I do however think that some up & comers need to be
trained as to when enough is enough-- 8 minutes of Jaguar and counting...
>the more i read this, the more i ask myself if you guys have ever >heard
a really
>superb dj (which e.g. jeff mills is a solarsystem away from).
And finally someone who dares to say that Jeff Mills is not God behind the
decks.
Mills never claims to be God, why would you listen to anyone quoting such
tripe? However if you're denying Mills' ability as an exquisite dj and
artist, I would be curious to see who is 'superb' in your book.
You know I heard Oakenfold is pretty smooth. Same for Guiness Stout and
babies' bottoms...
Smoothness all the way baby!
yeah.
>confused
>when i heard a good track and another one is rolling in like a train in
my
>face, 5 beats
>faster than the one which is just playing (umfgadumppengbaengbumm).
>even
if i seem
>>to be alone on this point of view, but i can't dance to that.
OBVIOUSLY...! Who wants to hear someone who can't even match beats???
Thought that was a given. Besides, why are giving your cash to these fools
anyway?? Don't support the thieves, crackheads & the hard-of-hearing (no
offense to the deaf) in the scene. If everyone supported the true jacks we
ALL would be much better off...
>i love to spin two tracks for 10 minutes (if possible) together and
>play
around with them.
*yawn*...
j|m
(not going to see Mills @ the State cuz dj shortround's not opening up....)
=)
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