Monday is off to a great, cordial start

Monday morning and my Twitter feed is a bit of a war zone. Here's looking at you kids: Scuba vs Calvin Harris and Riva Starr vs Roland Clark. Lets start with the latter, cause its a lot more easy to explain:

Well, Snatch! Records head honcho Riva Starr has a point. No need to air out dirty laundry in the public forum, best to keep it in private. He also points out that it seems to be a trend to get hype from a Twitter diss. I don't think that was Clark's intention, because he clearly just wanted vocals credit, but I've mentioned this supposed emerging trend before. You know, the one notoriously started by the "Original House Gangster" (complete with accompanying merchandise!).

Spat #2: Scuba http://jackhadagroove.blogspot.ca/2012/06/scuba-ne1butu.html vs Calvin Harris http://jackhadagroove.blogspot.ca/2012/04/superstar-djs-here-we-go-calvin-harris.html

Here is the picture that Nicky Romero had posted:

And here is Calvin Harris' response, with a rebuttal from Scuba:

Why? This is the question I keep asking myself. I've said before, always be nice in this industry (and in life in general) because you never know who you will need next. 

Mr Paul Rose, wipe that permanent mean look off your face, stop your Twitter moaning, and get a grip! Your attack came out of left field. I mean, how did you even see Nicky Romero's tweet? Do you follow him? Do you secretly love EDM? Like Sneak, who died and made you the one to dictate who can and cannot use a camera, and where or where not they can take a picture? Now because he's rich and famous he should not be able to take a picture without being hurled an insult? The only tosser here is you Rose. How is Guetta undeserving? He's been in the industry a lot longer than Scuba, I think he's paid his dues. 

Calvin Harris was right on the money saying Scuba's music is good but his chat is diabolical. These industry "moaners" seem so incredulous with their constant banter lacking any substance. It is a strong accusation Scuba is making against Calvin Harris. And true or not, why does everyone need to know about it? What will Scuba gain from "outing' Harris? More notoriety for himself? Maybe because of the "tweef" he's trying to instigate, but not from any repercussions Harris would face. Silly Scuba, whining's for kids!

Remember that Wall St Journal article? http://jackhadagroove.blogspot.ca/2012/06/edm-on-wall-st.html Wasn't Carl Cox quoted to be against "button pushers." Guetta wasn't named but I don't understand why that article tried to pin people against each other. Look at this harmonious picture, wearing Guetta's brand on his shirt, celebrating his 50th birthday:

And when the whole Sneak debacle broke out, I know 1/3 of the Belleville Three, Derrick May, was vocal about his support. But then who helps May get to Ibiza via his plane? Guetta! (riding along is a little bloke by the name of Pete Tong!)

Moral of the story: everyone's target, the guy they all love to hate, is genuinely a nice guy! So be nice, and nice will come your way!

As for Carlos Sosa aka DJ Sneak, he's still going off on SHM. His latest quote:

I don't have a preoccupation with him, but rather the bad behaviour thats going on in the industry I love.

I wonder if this was intentional on the part of Beatport:

If you don't know who Monika Kruse is, you should. She's an amazing female DJ and producer who has an excellent ear. I like how she falls in between the Mafia member and the Gangster.

Update 02/10/2012: all's well that ends well! Calvin played a Scuba tune on his Annie Mac takeover for BBC Radio 1, which resulted in this:

I had to look up magnanimous! It means someone who is forgiving of an insult, noble, free of petty resentfulness! Good work, and a good ending (hopefully)!

Swedish House Mafia - Don't You Worry Child

The first time I heard this track, I think I may have teared up. Knowing the boys are definitely taking a break from collaborating together, and will no longer be performing together, makes this final SHM track especially emotional.
At first, it sounded like Coldplay's Chris Martin on vocals. That would have been amazing since SHM repeatedly makes it known how much they want to collaborate with him. However, as the track goes on, it does sound more like John Martin (no relation!) who lent his vocals to SHM's "Save the World."

Update 12/08/12: Here is the latest updated link

Surkin & Todd Edwards - I Want You Back

Surkin and Todd Edwards collaborate for Sound Pellegrino to give an amazing track entitled "I Want You Back." You may recall Edwards' voice from Daft Punk's "Face to Face." He co-produces and sings on the track which was recorded at Surkin's Marble Studios.
I'm not crazy about the video, a little strange for my tastes, but the track is gold!

Side note: It looks like it was shot at the Jersey Shore...not that I watch that show...haha! (yes I do!) :o

Update 09/09/12: Here is the EP in full. Excellent.

Steve Rachmad - Bling It Up!

Joris Voorn is one of my favorite producers http://jackhadagroove.blogspot.ca/2012/05/joris-voorn.html. His label Rejected also delivers quality house that comes in different styles. His latest from Steve Rachmad called Bling It Up! is such a fun track. Data Overload, the other offering from the EP is completely different, displaying Rachmad's ability to switch it up.

Sneak still on the attack, and he gets attacked

Sorry about being missing in action...had more computer trouble, then went on a mini vacay. Expect less posts though...

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With Swedish House Mafia officially setting the record straight on Pete Tong's radio show as to why they are calling it quits as a group (feel they reached their pinnacle, moving on), DJ Sneak continues to declare their split as some sort of victory he had a hand in. Axwell decided to finally vocalize his feelings of the accusations:

Then DJ Sneak replied

Haha, he actually likes fighting with them. Probably because it has given the best exposure he has ever received, and that is taking his seminal records into account.
Just want to remind people that DJ Sneak's initial battle was saying that SHM's music was not house.
It was Sneak's fans that brought the attention of Angello's Dance Valley video to him, and because Angello was the only really vocal member of the trio to retaliate, Sneak decided to mostly attack him, and changed his argument to calling them "fakes."
So many people are tired of hearing Sneak moaning.
Oh Deadmau5, you imply SHM press play, then you feel the need to comment:

Sweden's Marcus Schossow siding with his Swedish countrymen:

Calling it like it is:

Most surprising accusations came from Sweden's Tony Senghore:

Everyone has pretty much had enough! 

I've said it before, I love how Surkin even thinks this fight is ridiculous. Its nice to see new guys known for their old school sound with major respect for legends still speak up against ridiculous behaviour.

This is a quote DJ Sneak gave to Rolling Stone after seeing how much coverage they were giving to SHM. The best quote comes from Erol Alkan, who states he still mixes live "I'm proud of my mistakes. I'm human, and I'm probably drunk." Haha!

He will continue to bad mouth the guys of SHM, and so many other EDM producers...sad sad sad.

Alex Jones - Higher Level

Alex Jones is the latest artist to contribute to the Hypercolour family by providing his new EP Higher Level.
This video comes from the strange trend of substituting an original clip with 80s footage, either from a movie or tv show (like Nero, Robosonic http://jackhadagroove.blogspot.ca/2012/06/robosonic-worst-love.html etc)

The track itself is lovely, accompanied with a smooth vocal.
Jones is actually co-owner of the label, which explains how he was able to obtain heavy hitters Groove Armada and Mr. Fingers to remix the track.
Pretty good eh?

Gesaffelstein - Rise Of Depravity

Hold on to your hats, this one's a biggie! For all those running away from the scandals of the House music world, they are finding retreat in the electronic world by seeking out techno beats. Brodinski's latest release from his Bromance Records label comes from his friend and fellow Frenchman Gesaffelstein (real name Mike Levy). Bromance 4 is called "Rise of Depravity"


The end of the excerpt of Depravity reminds me of "The Most Wonderful Girl" by Lords of Acid...is that weird? Oh Praga Khan, what a crazy dude!

Rampa & Hollis P Monroe - Look Out feat. Overnite

I couldn't possibly mention Hollis P Monroe without posting my absolutely favorite production by the Philadelphia born, Montreal-based (wut wut!) artist.
Remember that quote Sebastian Ingrosso made, comparing what SHM does to the Beatles? How the Beatles would make something melancholic to sad and happy at the same time? This track does exactly that for me. The vocals are by Terence Trent D'Arby. It came out in 1997 (when I was in high school!) and was recently given remix treatment by Laura Jones, Subb-an, Larse and Sis. But truly, nothing compares to the original:

Rampa is part of the collective that runs Berlin based Keinemusik, and has collaborated with Monroe to give "Look Out" which appears courtesy of his home label. Featuring the vocals of Overnite, the track is another melancholic/uplifting track, and a track like this is always refreshing to listen to.



Update 30/08/12: Hollis P Monroe himself (so honoured!) gave me a heads up that a video has been made for the track, check it out here!

Anna Lunoe & Friends - Future Classic EP

Anna Lunoe is Australian vocalist, producer and DJ who is now based out of L.A. (every electronic producer and their mother seems to have relocated there). Her latest EP features collaborations with Touch Sensitive and Flume.
I really like "Real Talk" and I wonder if it is Lunoe's vocals that are sampled in the track, though there are no actual lyrics.


Flume, whose real name is Harley Streten, is also Australian, and belongs to the Future Classic label. Lunoe provides the vocals for "I Met You."
Check out the video for the collaboration between Flume and Lunoe, where they both star in the clip:

Rant On! about Paris Hilton

After divulging my disdain for Paris Hilton entering the DJ world http://jackhadagroove.blogspot.ca/2012/05/paris-hilton-as-dj.html I feel it is appropriate to give you a pulse of what is being said about her debut performance.

Here are some videos of her show in Brazil:

Well, the mixing was definitely off. She started singing (badly) along to her new song produced by Afrojack called Last Night. The songs included mainstream, non-House tracks like Gotye's Somebody I Used to Know and Rihanna's We Found Love. She also played Avicii's Levels and Alesso's Remix of Pressure, which are very well known tracks in the House world. Not sure what else she played during her set but it didn't sound too good from the posted videos.
Also, did you see her logo? Laden with diamonds floating around her name. And the images of her in the background...shudder! Someone also needs to give that girl some rhythm, seriously. She shimmies her chest forward (bleh) and dances so poorly, I have a hard time understanding how someone without rhythm would ever be able to properly beatmatch. Which is perhaps the reason we see what we do in the videos.
The videos went viral and were posted by a lot of DJs with negative messages attached to them. Basically Twitter and Facebook lit up with people comparing Hilton's DJ set to the end of dance music and even the end of the world. Haha! I know it isn't nice to be mean, but seriously, she truly has no business entering the DJ world if she only started listening to House in 2011, while there are tons of struggling DJs and producers trying to make it big.
This picture has been making the rounds, which lead people to state that she needed help mixing. Some people have defended it as him just adjusting the master volume. Well, maybe.  Lets give her the benefit of the doubt. Still doesn't make up for what we heard in those videos!

Apparently Deadmau5 went on yet another rant, this time about her:

When he says he felt partially to blame, I think he is referring to when he allowed Hilton to shadow him at one of his shows late last year.

Afrojack then went on to try to defend himself and Hilton:

I guess he feels that he too was under fire. He had an exchange with a Twitter user where he basically said that it was not right to hate on someone (the haters) didn't know, and not know Paris Hilton's motivations for becoming a DJ. He also said he didn't care if his career was tarnished because he has amassed enough money to take care of his family 2 years ago, and so all he wants to do is have fun making music. Wow, so Afrojack is insanely rich. Well, good for him I guess. Maybe he is so rich he has forgotten what it is like to struggle as a producer and get noticed. He since deleted his exchange so I couldn't get a screenshot.

However, he did change his tune the next day after watching the videos posted above:

 The picture he uploaded was this:

 And he actually entered the definition of facepalm according to Wikipedia as his bio:

So maybe the rumours of them breaking up are actually true. 

http://www.mixmag.net/words/news/afrojack-disses-paris-hiltons-dj-career

Dave Spoon had this to say: 

I agree with what he is saying, but seriously, I still wish Paris Hilton had nothing to do with House music, or DJing.  She is the epitome of everything I dislike: famous for being famous. I don't even know who Bill Gates or Steve Jobs kids are. There are a lot of heirs and heiresses out there that have much more dignity than Paris Hilton. Even Kim Kardashian acknowledges she is famous because of her sex tape. I know that Paris Hilton's empire came with a lot of work, but she also had a lot of backing. It is this same reason I don't like how she got to have a major gig in Brazil after enlisting Afrojack to help her while there are so many producers and DJs out there who may never catch their break. 

Some DJs have stated either that they are tired of hearing about it, or that it isn't right to be mean to her, and to let her do what she wants. I liked DJ Craze's response to that:

Of course you have to consider the source, as he is known for his mixing skills, and is part of the school of thought that Traktor makes DJs lazy. 

Its a lot less about hating Paris Hilton and a lot more about just not wanting her to DJ. For her, its a commodity, not really a passion. I think that is part of what frustrates a lot of people. 

There are a lot of memes going around, one I saw today was on point but nonetheless vulgar, so I won't post it. People are saying that even the negative publicity she is getting is giving her the publicity she needs to be recognized as a DJ. Maybe, but I think the number of dislikes on the videos of her will truly dictate how good a DJ she is.

Imagine her debut was actually good? I doubt I would have written this post, even though I am not a fan of hers. Either way, she doesn't care, as she posted this picture today showing she has yet another DJ gig. 

Once again in the words of DJ Craze: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯