All of which brings back fond memories of Herbie's "Rockit Band" tour - I
mean there was Herbie soloing "Hang Up Your Hang Ups" and "Chameleon",
with D.ST comping on turntables. In *1984*. There's nothing new under the
sun, for sure...
..Mark..
----------
> From: bdwyer@nersp.nerdc.ufl.edu
> To: List: Acid Jazz <acid-jazz@UCSD.EDU>
> Subject: Re: What makes a DJ good?
> Date: 19 June 1996 04:15
>
> I was surprised to read that, after all these years, someone who merely
> selects and plays music that "pleases the crowd" still would be labeled
a
> good DJ. That might have been true 10 years ago, and may be true at
> wedding receptions even today, but not in the "big city club scene." If
> that were true, I'd be out there with my box of CDs, two players, and
> headphones, making some money. But, with the sounds I'd be playing, I'd
> get tarred and feathered at wedding receptions because, even drunk,
people
> would wonder what this weird shit was that I was playing and want some
top
> 40 crap from 20 years ago so they could really get into a "party" mood.
>
> On this topic, a couple of days ago I picked up "Altered Beats--Assassin
> Knowledge of the Remanipulated." Yes, the title sounds like something
you
> might see in English on a T-shirt produced in a non-English speaking
> country, but this is on the Axiom/Island Records label and "generated by
> Bill Laswell." In my limited knowledge, the only artist I recognized on
> the listing is DJ Krush, but I bought it anyway out of curiousity. The
> liner notes begin with a discussion of the DJ as musician with the
> turntable as his/her instrument, claiming it is "more like a drum than
> anything else" and then argues that Hip Hop, and it's instrument of
> conveyance, the turntable, serve as the least-censored form for
> communication of controversial topics today. There's more on this and on
> Hip Hop as an art form, but who really reads the liner notes anyway?
> Besides Krush, the album has tracks by DXT (formerly Grandmixer D.ST).
> I've not heard mention of this "artist" on the list, but the tracks are
> pretty impressive works, especially one called "If 666 Was '96." This
one
> follows another interesting track, "If 9 Was 6" which features Bootsy
> Collins on space bass and vocal and was "remixed, engineered and
destroyed
> by Prince Paul."
>
>
> Some knowledgeable person on this list must know more about these DJs.
> There are tracks by the Invisible Scratch Pickles, who apparently are DJ
> Q-Bert, DJ Disk, Shortkut, and Mixmaster Mike. On first listen, I
> recognized samples from around the mid-80s on their tracks. You, things
> like "that scratch is making me itch." Wasn't Q-Bert a popular mixer
back
> in the 80s or am I completely off track here? These tracks have current
> themes, basically political, and mostly dealing with the big brother
> paranoia stuff. Music can be a powerful medium for conveying
controversial
> political topics, if it's done well. Judge for yourself on these
> selections. Overall, this is a thought-provoking collection both in
terms
> of the discussion of musicianship and of communicating political
messages
> through music.
>
> Here's the complete track listing:
>
> 1. Temporary Power Surge (Warning Introduction) (Laswell)
> 2. Reanimation featuring DJ Rob Swift
> 3. 3D-Cut Transmission--Material featuring DXT, Jah Wobble, Bill Laswell
> and Jerome "Bigfoot" Brailey
> 4. Shin-Ki-Row programmed, produced and mixed by DJ Krush
> 5. Black Hole Universe featuring DXT
> 6. If 9 Was 6 (Prince Paul Instrumental Mix)
> 7. If 666 Was '96 (DXT Mix)
> 8. Ancient Style featuring DJ Rob Swift and Liu Sola
> 9. Invasion of the Octopus People--Invisible Scratch Pickles
> 10. Embryo produced and mixed by DXT
> 11. Return of the Black Falcon--New Kingdom
> 12. One-legged Centipede--Invisible Scratch Pickles
> 13. Black Wax--Valis
> 14. Dust to Dust--reduced and jinxed by Spectre, the lll St.
> -------------------
>
> bil
> bdwyer@nersp.nerdc.ufl.edu
>
>