Josh The Funky 1, has been grabbing attention lately , he hails from Chicago, the home of House Music. A DJ for over a decade his style covers the gamut of House, from Uplifting Vocals to Dirty Tech…. Pumpin Big-room to Jacking Chicago….its representative of the influences and fusions heard around the world in modern House Music. Ever the performer, “The Funky 1” has become synonymous with using scratching, loops, acapellas, & effects, while also playing on three CDJ decks, allowing for an unparallel level of creativity in his live sets.

Buying a pair of decks while still in grade school, Josh discovered the art of scratching and was instantly mesmerized. His passion and persistence for the art form proved to be worthwhile, as he has since become a D.M.C. Midwest Finalist and a winner of the W.M.C.- D.J. Spin-Off Battle.

His first exposure to house music came through Chicago radio station B96 (96.3 fm), where every Friday and Saturday night he locked into the sounds of DJ’s Julian “jumpin” Perez and Bad Boy Bill. It’s only naturally fitting then that in 2001 Josh The Funky 1 was hired to became a weekly resident on the exact same Mix Show that initially hooked him in. Nowadays you can find Josh at the forefront of digital era, with his own Radio Podcast on I-tunes, allowing him to go beyond the Chicago airwaves and reach a global audience of listeners.
Read more…

I have to say Global Underground highly surprised & amused me with this compilation, as The ‘Afterhours Ibiza’ is way too far away from the typical mainstream Ibiza compilations on the market, the majority of the tracks on the compilation are high quality and apparently GU once again carves out a unique niche in dance music with the series…

Although the name gives reference to the chill moments , most of the tracks are still for those good peak-time club hours too, as the mix 1 features Soulwax Remix 2 of Justice’ Phantom II as well as (Dublin’s brilliant duo) - Hystereo’s
Validity Revision and DIM’ mix of Midfield General’s Disco Sirens… Read more…

Well, something’s coming from The Prodigy after just announcing that XL Recordings are re-releasing their debut LP Experience and Music For the Jilted Generation. I’m not overly surprised by this one, apparently it features (Track listings for both albums are below) new tracks and mixes. But basically, it’s just B-Sides and some live shows. Although I must admit, their performance at Pukkelpop in 2005 was really amazing from the recordings that I’ve heard over the past few years. I’ll be honest, if you’re a hardcore collector, grab it, if you’re new, grab it, but I’m going to assume that if you’ve ever listened to Dance music, I’m sure you’d already have a copy of Jilted or Experience. Read more…

Hellooooooo Muffinsss…

How are you all? I am fantastic. This weekend in Seattle we had a wonderful terrace party on top of the Red Lion Hotel in Seattle. Had about 300 people just groovin in the sun to a lovely backdrop of buildings and the Puget Sound. I just want to thank everyone for coming out. Terrace parties are defo the way to go. Afternoon dancing, good food and drinks, home by 10 to get a good kip for the next day. Perfect. Here’s where you can find downloads of our sets! Read more…

It’s been a while since I’ve listened to MYPD. Yes, I sort of missed ‘Ain’t That Enough’ and I did love ‘You’re Not Alone’ that featured a knockout Micha Moor remix, but their (His or Her) new release Mundo Samba sees a glorious early coming of summer house goodness.

The original mix, is a hard, jumpy affair that mimics the likes of Olav Basoski’s ‘Waterman’ which, was a summer belter back in the days of 2004. That’s not to say it’s a blatant rip-off, it’s far from, the chorus compliments the bass and kicks extremely well, making it an instantly appealing track upon the first listen. It’s status as a summer track is confirmed with the use of some killer bongo breakdowns mid-track before it smashes out with the groovy bass and 4/4 beat. Read more…

A friend pointed me toward this article in The Independent.

It finishes with the line “If we end up with 20 years of Tory government, it’ll be The Pigeon Detectives’ fault”, which I think is awesome.

Basically Tim Walker articulates what many of us have suspected for a long time, that ‘indie’ music is not really all that indie anymore, in the same way that ‘alternative’ became quite mainstream very quicky.

He points to the lack of soul and general attitude that any new band with ‘The’ in the title seem to ooze from none of their respective orifices, before going on to call it mortgage pop played by kids who have nothing more important to say than ‘mum I’m in a band!!!!’. All true. I lose track of who this band or that band is and they all seem to sound the same to me. Read more…

Just when we all thought they’d disappeared to sprinkle the nether worlds of film scores and cereal commercials with liberal amounts of cowbells, Evil Nine are back with a new single ‘They Live’. Complete with Trevor Loveys on remix duties and a disconcertingly catchy vocoder hook, things are shaping up well for the full length album. But back to the single. Read more…

The end of the month is fast upon us but don’t fear as Judge Jules returns along with the usual Gallery gang to round the last 31 days off in style!! With Bar action from main man Tall Paul and Mass Recordings in the Baby Box and Uniondjs in the Lounge – Friday 25th July sure looks set to be a right corker of a Gallery at Ministry of Sound!!

With the summer now in full swing including his Ibiza session Judgement Sundays rocking Eden for the past several Sundays, Judge Jules is back at his London home to show off this summers finest tunage he will have no doubt collected and tried and tested on his travels including some of this summers leading festivals. M.I.K.E. is a regular face around these parts and did some serious damage (as we predicted!) upon his Gallery @ MOS debut in May.

AND FOR YOUR CHANCE TO WIN SIMPLY BECOME A FAN OF DJDOWNLOAD ON FACEBOOK : HERE! and write on our wall, explain why you should be the one to win the tix… simple as that … Read more…

It’s a bit of a late review as it’s been a while since it’s release but Pin Me Down & Cryptic on Kitsune definitely worth mentioning. They are a pop/electronica/rock side project of guitarist Russell Lissack, of the British band Bloc Party and guitarist/singer Milena Mepris, formerly of the electro-punk band Black Moustache.

The band made their live debut as a 5-6 piece in May 2008 in London, supporting Yeasayer and headlining several of their own shows.

Cryptic is a driving and a dead catchy electro-pop track , also appeared on the Kitsuné Maison 5 GOLD compilation… The track features brilliant remixes by Phones (producer and remixer Paul Epworth), Jamie Ellis (of Battle) and Russell Lissack, Dave P & Adam Sparkles and Dubka Cazals. The Vocals of Milena Mepris reminds me of Cindy Lauper, well in a good way…

5/5

Trinity Audio Group Inc. announced ‘Indamixx Mobile DAW’, a hand held studio providing a mobile recording environment, allowing users to record, edit, mix, DJ and publish songs or sound files from the field or on the go. Ideal for Producers, Remixers, and DJs. Finally, you can take your studio with you!

Pre-loaded software, easy updating and no driver hassles, makes Indamixx an instant audio creation companion.
Read more…