After attending the Virgin Mobile Festival a few weeks ago, I swung through Atlantic City on the way back to NYC for the 2008 DJ Times Expo. Organizer and DJ Times Editor, Jim Tremayne threw me on a panel at the last minute to speak on alternative business models and careers for DJs and what they should be thinking about for long term success.

Just a few years ago, the Expo was filled with CD turntables. How times have changed. This year, the Expo was loaded with digital DJ products. From software to controllers and DVD VJ decks, the transition to digital is in full swing. Even the remix services, X-Mix and Promo Only, are promoting digital downloads through private, subscription only stores, which will be launched soon.

We loved the Hercules RMX digital controller, show above. The key features are the jog wheels and ability to interact with your audio library. We also were really excited Numark’s NS7 Motorized Computer DJ System with Audio/IO. A very sleek looking product with real vinyl emulators, this is could very well be the digital controller to watch. Numark collaborated with Rane to create a product that syncs easily with Serato. Sending signals over USB, Numark claims the resolution is double that of midi.

The Hercules controller was being promoted in conjunction with Virtual DJ, a similar product to Traktor Scratch and Rane’s Serato, available for both PC and Mac for U.S. $299 after discount from their web site.

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Buy Products from JR.com:

Hercules RMX

– Tony Zeoli

If you live in New York, you know there’s no place like home. Well, no place like home OR Cielo, for that matter. We love Cielo for its intimate atmosphere, killer sound system, rockin DJs and–most of all–a great looking, quality crowd who love house music. Kind of hard to find around here at times.

Anyway, if you’re looking to shake your body, Cielo is certainly the place to do it. Especially this fall. They just released their September schedule below. We’ll see you there!

Cielo September Schedule

That’s right!

You didn’t read the title wrong and no, this is not a joke.

Daddy Yankee has publicly endorsed John McCain.

Over the weekend, the presidential candidate John McCain made a campaign stop at Central High School, a dominantly Latino school located in Phoenix, Arizona. While attempting to encourage the group of students to “be involved”, McCain softly acknowledges the real reason any Latino student would stand to listen to him. He begins to introduce his “special friend”, whom he describes as an “all American success story” and list this guest’s credentials, but falls short of mentioning the house with the white picket fence and the little dog in the backyard.

Right after miserably failing to make a joke out of Yankee’s hit song “Gasolina” and the rise of gas prices, McCain introduces Daddy Yankee to a number of screaming and excited Latino high school students.

Now beside the obvious shock of Yankee endorsing John McCain, there is only one thing I find very curious about this whole video. Right as Daddy Yankee makes his greeting, he is quickly interrupted by a man in a blue collared shirt (obviously a man who works for the McCain camp). After stopping Yankee’s speech for about 20 seconds, Yankee gets back on the mic and proceeds to continue his speech. But alas, Yankee is once again interrupted by the presidential candidate himself. McCain, quickly grabs Yankee’s arm and directs him to the group of students behind him.

Yankee, always being the crowd pleaser, proceeds to greet every single one of the Latino students. Once he does finally get to speak, Yankee begins to slowly state how he chooses “him [McCain] as the best candidate”.

Now I don’t know about you, but I just find this whole scenario a bit odd. I mean, whats the deal with all the interruptions! If your going to bring out someone to endorse you, wouldn’t it be a good idea to let them TALK!

And honestly, how much did they pay Daddy Yankee for that endorsement? Or did they threaten to revoke his passport or something. I dunno, maybe it’s just me. But I don’t really picture McCain drinking a Corona and shouting CAPICU at the Domino table.

-Jacklyn Mendoza | J.FRESH

Minitek Festival Flyer

The summer is just about over. What’s one to do?

PVD on the pier is history. Ibiza is shutting down. Burning Man is kicking off, but we certainly don’t have gas money for the RV this time around. Our prodigal American DJs are returning stateside to residencies that pay them 1/4 of what they’re actually worth; to a battered economy and and a country frozen by fear-factoring Republicans.

Where can one find inspiration and creative dose of liberal relief? Minitek! That’s where!

Perfectly situated at the end of summer parties on the Hamptons and the influx of thousands of NYU students returning for the Fall semester, the first ever Minitek festival kicks off between September 12 and 14th at various venues and locales throughout New York City. Home base, where all the exhibits will be on display, is Penn Plaza. If you don’t know Penn Plaza, think Madison Square Garden and the surrounding streets

The festival organizers are on an ambitious effort to organize a celebration of elecontric arts, culture, technology and music. Innovation Pavillion is the epicenter, where the festivals installations, exhibits and vendor booths for companies the digital media and music spectrum will be contstructed.

According to the festival organizers, projects on display will “explore new technologies to create sounds and visuals, with emphasis lying on interactivity. The pavilion will be present at the day site and the original creators have been invited to present their work to you live; sometimes you will even directly or indirectly become part of the art presented.”

DJ sets will take place at various venues throughout the city. Confirmed are Richie Hawtin, Magda, Audion, Heidi, Tiefschwarz, M.A.N.D.Y. and more. Record labels will also have booths set up to promote the latest electronic beats.

For more information on installations, vendors, DJs and locations, visit MiniTekFestival.com. For tix, visit ResidentAdvisor.net.

We’re looking forward to this event and are planning to provide some coverage here. So stay up with Netmix and we’ll bring you a little slice of the Minitek Festival.

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Okay…so in all my years of working in and around DJ culture, I never got the chance to hear Richie Hawtin spin. I wasn’t much into rave culture or Techno. I was mostly into the house sound with DJs like Roger Sanchez, Erick Morillo and Danny Tenaglia. Boy, now do I know what I’ve been missing! My favorite DJ is Terry Lee Brown Jr., who is the bridge between the former and the latter. Terry Lee Brown Jr brings the flavor of house, but also the sounds of Hawtin’s techno. I’ve now connected the dots and hope you will too.

For those of you who don’t know Richie Hawtin, he’s a legendary DJ/Producer who made music under the pseudonym Plastikman. Recently he’s been producing under his own name. He’s also responsible for input into the development of DJ tools like Stanton’s Final Scratch and–correct me if I’m wrong–has a hand in the online music store, Beatport.com. I think that’s true. Need to check my sources.

On this day, the crowd of young people who follow Richie showed up and were rewarded with an incredible performance. Hawtin created such energy with his music, it leaned into the spiritual realm all DJs who operate in Techno and its many offshoots. The minimal pounding beats, staccato fills, clicks, mind numbing leads and all sorts of intelligent sounds took your breath away. Everyone in the place, face forward toward the stage, hands slicing and fisting pumping in the air. On this day, it was Richie’s tribe of followers seeking the elements of life, love, joy and pain in his music.

Our new friend, Tiphany Parker, who’d we’d met the day before during the Underworld event, had also never experienced a Hawtin set. She was blown away as well. Richie just earned himself another new fan. I know she’ll be scouring Beatport and the other services for the rest of the week looking for Hawtin’s Plastikman tracks, while hoping to learn more about his history and the legacy he’s built in the DJ culture and Techno genre. I’m a new (renewed?) fan as well.

I thought I knew before, but I really didn’t. Even though I’ve heard Carl Cox spin at the long defunct Twilo, seeing Richie in the tent at the Virgin Mobiel Festival was a different experience altogether. Now, I can honestly say that I know why they use the term, “This IS Techno!” Because, with Richie…this REALLY IS Techno! It’s a way of life, just like Rock or Alternative. It has its roots, fashion, dance moves…everything. It’s a genre that will come and go but never die. We see new genres, like Electro, becoming the fad of the moment. But the contributions of Techno makes the sounds of Electro possible. A parent child relationship if there ever was one.

One final note. I have to personalize apologize to Richie, or anyone who reads this blog for that matter, for never making the effort, until now, to hear him tear it up. As someone who’s been in the electronic music scene for some 25-years, I should know better. I guess now, I do.

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More photos from the Virgin Mobile Festival. Steve Lawler simply killed it on Saturday afternoon. Although the tent had emptied after Soulwax, because they had to break down the equipment and rework the stage for the DJs, Lawler came out swinging, bringing a crowd back into the tent and getting their hands up in the air. It was a rockin set by Lawler. One I’m certainly glad I did not miss.

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I had a little bit of time to throw together something from the Virgin Mobile Festival. It’s all UGC…not very professional, but it’ll give you and idea of the music that was rockin from the Virgin Mobile Festival Dance Tent. Stay tuned for more footage and photos.

The 3rd Virgin Mobile Festival, which takes place August 9 -10, at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, just released its lineup schedule, giving concertgoers full sets of their favorite acts.

“We’ve programmed the Virgin Mobile Festival so fans can enjoy extended sets and get the full concert experience of these top-tier acts,” said concert producer Seth Hurwitz, chairman of I.M.P. “We also scheduled it so you can catch parts of each band, since these are all must-see artists.” There are two enormous main stages and the off-the planet dance tent, all easily accessible on the grassy infield.

Tickets are available through Ticketmaster at www.ticketmaster.com or 1-800-551-SEAT. Two-day tickets are $175 for General Admission and $450 for VIP. Single-day tickets are $97.50 for General Admission and $250 for VIP tickets. A charity contribution of $1.50 per day will be applied to each ticket. Fans can check out the official festival website at http://virginmobilefestival.com.

Saturday, Aug. 9 GATES OPEN – 10am
NORTH STAGE (all times E.T. p.m.)
12:00 – 12:50 Cat Power
1:10 – 1:55 Duffy
2:15 – 3:05 The Swell Season
3:25 – 4:15 Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings
4:35 – 5:25 Rodrigo y Gabriela
5:45 – 6:35 Citizen Cope
7:00 – 8:15 Wilco
8:45 – 10:00 Jack Johnson
SOUTH STAGE
12:15-1:00 KT Tunstall
1:20 – 2:10 Gogol Bordello
2:30 – 3:25 Lupe Fiasco
3:45 – 4:35 Bloc Party
5:00 – 6:00 The Offspring
6:30 – 7:30 Chuck Berry and The Silver Beats
8:15 – 10:00 Foo Fighters
DANCE TENT
12:00 – 12:30 JDH & Dave P
12:30 – 1:45 Erol Alkan
1:45 – 3:15 DJ Dan & Donald Glaude
3:35 – 4:35 Soulwax
4:45 – 6:10 Steve Lawler
6:10 – 7:40 Ferry Corsten
8:00 – 10:00 Underworld
Sunday, Aug. 10 GATES OPEN – 10am
NORTH STAGE (all times p.m.)
12:00 – 12:45 Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
1:05 – 1:55 Shudder to Think
2:15 – 3:05 Paramore
3:30 – 4:20 Taking Back Sunday
4:50 – 5:50 Iggy and The Stooges
6:20 – 7:35 Stone Temple Pilots
8:05 – 10:00 Nine Inch Nails
SOUTH STAGE
11:30 – 12:00 Hollywood Undead (Book the Band winner)
12:20 – 1:05 The Go! Team
1:25 – 2:10 Andrew Bird
2:35 – 3:25 She & Him
3:50 – 4:50 Lil’ Wayne
5:15 – 6:15 The Black Keys
6:45 – 8:00 Bob Dylan
8:30 – 10:00 Kanye West
DANCE TENT
12:30 – 1:30 Chromeo
1:50 – 3:20 Rabbit in the Moon
3:30 – 5:00 Deadmau5
5:00 – 6:30 Richie Hawtin
6:30 – 8:00 Moby (DJ Set),
8:00 – 10:00 Armin van Buuren

Madsol Desar at Highbar Penthouse - Hilton Hotel NYC for Rakhya & Jessica's private B'day celebration

Madsol Desar at SlyArt vs Robot City in NYC (3/08)

UMI

On Sunday, Madsol and I are rolling out to Jones Beach for the Rock The Bells tour. Will be good to finally meet Tre Hardson (formerly of Pharcyde), after working with him for a minute on projects with the now defunct StarStyle.com.

Stay tuned for photos and possibly some video.

We’re diggin the continued convergence of rock and electronic dance music, thinking it could really ignite some fire (and sorely needed profit!) into our little slice of the music industry. Looking back to the 80′s, Depeche Mode, Front 242, Skinny Puppy and Ministry all infused rock and metal with electronic, synth laced, beat driven songs.

In the 90′s, the big beat sound of Lionrock, KLF, Prodigy, the Future Sound of London, Stone Rose’s and Morcheeba were merging rock and electronic to great success. And since the turn of the century (kind of weird reading that, isn’t it?), we’ve seen bands like Nine Inch Nails, Underworld and The Killers carry the torch.

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Newcomers to the party are Pennsylvania’s, Inner Party System and New York-based, BM Linx, who we saw over the weekend banging electronic beats with real, rock guitars. If that doesn’t make much sense to you, think what would happen if Slash from Guns & Roses joined forces with Moby and Erasure. That’s what you get when you hear BM Linx perform. A wopping mixture of waiting guitars, complete with solos over thumping electronic percussion and synth tracks supported by a live drummer…who kicks ass, by the way.

Correction: Signed to indy upstart, Craze Factory, BM Linx are touring regionally to promote the release of their album, Black Entertainment, which hits the streets on September 16th. But if you’re looking for something to chew on beforehand, you can check out:  The Portable Genius (Amazon.com) \

On August 9th and 10th, the Virgin Mobile Festival returns to Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland

“The response from the first two festivals has been extraordinary,” said Virgin Group Founder and Chairman Sir Richard Branson, “and we’re thrilled that Virgin Mobile USA is putting on the event for the third time. Fans of all ages love our comfortable festival grounds, the great food and drinks, the vibe, and of course the brilliant talent. They want to plan their summer break around the festival and have asked us for details, so we’re letting everyone know to mark their calendars for August 9 and 10.”

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In just two years, the Virgin Mobile Festival [previously called Virgin Festival By Virgin Mobile] has earned a reputation as a monster event, with such impressive artists as Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Who, The Police, Smashing Pumpkins, Beastie Boys, The Raconteurs, Modest Mouse, LCD Soundsystem, M.I.A, Spoon, Wolfmother and Amy Winehouse, and world-renowned DJs such as Sasha & John Digweed, Carl Cox and Deep Dish. Last year, there were 44 bands and DJs on three stages with 20 hours of non-stop entertainment.

The Virgin Mobile Festival will be produced for the third year by I.M.P., one of the country’s leading independent concert promoters. “Last year was an amazing experience for the fans and we’re planning a killer show this year that will top it,” said I.M.P. Chairman Seth Hurwitz. “The entire line-up will be must-see acts.”

The line-up for this year’s event is as follows:

• Andrew Bird
• Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
• Bloc Party
• Cat Power
• Citizen Cope
• Duffy
• Foo Fighters
• Gogol Bordello
• Iggy & The Stooges
• Jack Johnson
• Kanye West
• KT Tunstall
• Lil Wayne
• Lupe Fiasco
• Nine Inch Nails
• Paramore
• Rodrigo y Gabriela
• Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings
• She & Him
• Stone Temple Pilots
• Taking Back Sunday
• The Black Keys
• The Go! Team
• The Offsrping
• The Swell Season
• Wilco

DJs

• Armin Van Buuren
• Chromeo
• Ferry Corsten
• Moby
• Richie Hawtin
• Underworld

Netmix will be on hand to cover the event. Pics and video will be posted upon conclusion of the event. Of course, we’ll pay special attention to the DJ sets.

You can purchase tickets to the Virgin Mobile Festival through Ticketmaster.com.

I’ll be at the world famous DJ shop, Halcyon, tonight between 7 pm and 9 pm spinning nu pschidt from Halcyondigi.com, the shop’s download store. RSVP on Facebook.

Address: 57 Pearl St. at the corner of Water & Pearl Sts. in Dumbo, Brooklyn

Subway: F Train to York St. or A/C to High St.

Corny I know… The obligatory first lines when learning how to write programming code. Glad to have the platform to express my observations and insights in the music world. My views are purely philosophical bordering on the fridge of deepness.

This is me with Ursula Rucker at Back 2 Basics. Possibly the best place to hang out in Philly. The night is run by World Class DJ, King Britt and Dj Dozia. On any given night you can expect to bump into the area’s finest musicians on stage, like ?uestlove on the drums or Bilal jumping on the mic and belting out a vocal. Better yet, you might see Dego from 4hero on the decks! All for 6 bucks. It’s a unique concept of live musicians interspersed with mixologists. Love It!

I”m a bit tired tonight from doing a marathon typing session. Not going to say too much in this post, however I wanted to get out my first post and dip my toes into this pool called Netmix. Oyasumi Nasai(Goodnight in Japanese)

On Friday, May 15th, I hit Dusko Justic’s “Feel Different” 2-year anniversary party at the Leopard Lounge on 2nd Avenue in New York City. Dusko has been running this party at different locations over the course of its lifetime, and it seems as if the Leopard Lounge is a great spot for this intimate affair. House music mixed with a lively, hands in the air, fist pumping and hookah smoking crowd makes for hours of fun. There’s no pretentiousness here…not even a door charge.

Besides Dusko, DJs for the night included the venerable Davidson Ospina, who’s Ospina Digital label is on a tear right now, and Oscar Poche–the workhorse of house music who, despite the downturn after the dotcom crash mixed with 9/11, has seemed to hold his own.

Jessica Bendig looked fabulous in a faux patent leather trench-coat, like this one I found on Bluefly.com. I’m waiting for someone to send me a photo of Jessica in the coat and will post that once I receive it. I’d taken a quick snapshot, but it came out blurry and wasn’t publishable (sigh).