Bowls Interview with Tucker & Bloom

Check out my interview with Tucker & Bloom, and give their bags a look while you're at it. BIG SHOUT OUT to Case Bloom, a longtime friend and one of the hardest-working people I know.

Until next time,

Bowls

The MCL Podcast is Moving & Shaking....

A Journey Through J Dilla's Rock Crates - Part II

The latest episode of MCL has pushed the podcast to new heights. In just 48 hours, MCL has gone from #20,532 to #240 in the Music rankings, and it checks in at #2 OVERALL in the Movers & Shakers standings. Amazing. Thanks to everyone who checked out the latest episode, and please subscribe via iTunes so you'll automatically receive the latest and greatest. I'll try to update it more frequently, but I've always been a quality over quantity guy (tell your hard drive to thank me later).

Until next time,

Bowls

...aaaand Cut Chemist does it again.

I've seen videos of Cut doing the one-turntable thing, and its about as impressive as you would imagine. A shoebox of 45s, one mixer, one deck, and a loop pedal....scratching and mixing....and keeping it dance-friendly. There's one thing to be said about the degree of difficulty involved with doing it LIVE, and then there's simply the idea itself, which is equally as nuts. Check it out:



Crazy, right? Then you have the full-blown mix CD, Sound Of The Police. Cut did a couple recent interviews, giving insight on the inspiration for the mix, the first time he ever did it live, and his intent to raise the bar in the overcrowded DJ scene.

LA Weekly Interview
Examiner Q&A

Enjoy, and huge props to Cut Chemist.

Bowls

Radski spinning jazz-funk on MCL

(if that link never loads, click here to open it in another window)

Great mix, and great generosity from Radski as he flashes the LP cover for almost every record he plays.

Don't forget that you can subscribe to the podcast via iTunes (check for the link on the right side of the Podomatic page). The MP3 audio from the mix is a clean recording, straight from the mixer. Enjoy!

Until next time,

Bowls

Coming next week - Guest DJ set by Radski

If you're from the Music City, you might remember Radski as a resident DJ at our old Funky Good Time parties. You might also know him as the drummer for The Dynamites. If you were following the blog last summer, you might remember THIS gem.

No matter how you know him, and even if you don't....prepare for a very special MCL guest mix next week. Radski will be dropping jazz-funk gems and it will be captured on video as well as in MP3 format. Check back here or hit the podcast.

See you next week!

Bowls

MCL 6/30/10 - A Journey Through J Dilla's Rock Crates

I'm blaming my six-week absence on The Bullshit, AKA job hunting. No, I still haven't found one...but a couple nights ago I did manage to record this 37 minute tribute to the legendary J Dilla. All rock samples, all original wax pressings, all live. Crack one open, smoke it if you've got it, or just lay back. This one starts off fairly straight-ahead and then progresses into some prog-rock madness. Enjoy!

MCL 6-30-10

Until next time,

Bowls

Music City Living....THE PODCAST

http://musiccityliving.podomatic.com/

Stream episodes, download your favorites, and subscribe via iTunes for weekly satisfaction. This is just the beginning, hopefully. I'm looking to feature mixes from other DJs (both local and national/international) and also get a few producers to lay down sets live from their MPCs/SPs/Ableton setups (yes that takes skill and creativity).

Until all that happens, you're stuck with me mixing up sets of original samples, dope hip-hop, 80's R&B, and whatever else I feel like cooking up. Enjoy and tell a friend!

Until next time,

Bowls

Music City Living (Full Episode MP3s)

Here's last week's episode: Original Samples

And here's this week's session: 90s West Coast 12"s

I'm gonna try to get nice MP3 copies of each episode from now on. You never know when the UStream site is gonna crash mid-stream. Enjoy!

Until next time,

Bowls

A Laptop Revelation

Anyone who has seen me spin over the last 10 years knows that I've used nothing but wax. And, as recently as a couple weeks ago, I was pretty militant about it. I've tossed around EVERY cranky-ass-DJ criticism that you can think of, including (but not limited to):

-DJs who don't dig for records are lazy.
-DJs who don't dig for records are cheap.
-ANYBODY can be a DJ when all you need is a laptop.
-Laptops have turned DJs into jukeboxes instead of tastemakers.
-MP3s sound like garbage.
-Fuck DJ Hero.
-Wait, better yet, all laptop DJs should just hang it up and play DJ Hero.

A couple weeks ago, however, I was watching the Red Bull 3-Style DJ competition at the Cannery Ballroom. Only one DJ used wax the entire night, and his needles were jumping all over the place, resulting in a less-than-stellar set. The rest of the DJs sounded like shit, and that was mainly due to their song selection (not a big fan of autotuned pop rap) and technique (or lack thereof). I mean, the sole premise of the contest was to mix three different genres of music, with style and flair, for 15 minutes.

Think about that for a second.

How hard could that possibly be in 2010? A laptop will allow you to have THOUSANDS of "records" right at your fingertips, it can arrange tracks by BPM, you can rock doubles of everything, and you can fly through songs at a breakneck pace. Now take all those benefits, mix together three genres of music, do it with style, and you can win a trip down to MIAMI to spin during the Winter Music Conference. And what happened on that night in front of a panel of judges headed by ROB SWIFT?

90% of "Nashville's Finest DJs" simply stunk up the place. Rancid garbage DJs flooding my eardrums with pure trash.

Thank God for Wick-It the Instigator. Although most of the music he played wasn't really up my alley (I don't possess a single dubstep track), he did what I expected EVERY DJ at that contest to do. He was scratching, he was mixing, he was getting on the mic and hyping up the crowd. And afterwards, when I had a second to speak to him, this was the first thing he said to me:

"Yo dude, Serato is the shit. Its not cheating, man, it really isn't."

Its like the guy somehow heard every malicious thought that crossed my mind over the last four or five years. Wick-It is one of the most technically-skilled DJs I've ever had the pleasure of meeting, and to be quite honest, I've never held any contempt towards him (or Kidsmeal, for that matter) for ripping shit up with a laptop. In fact, I felt kind of *guilty* when he said that to me, just because I'm afraid I give off some kind of elitist vibe when it comes to this DJ stuff.

With that said, I magically got a hold of a laptop about a week later. My dad's getting a new one, so I'm typing this post on his old company-issued Nobilis. With a free laptop in my possession, all I have to do at this point is fork over a few hundred dollars and join the Dark Side.

I'm excited. And you should be excited too if you're an artist who makes music that I like. No song is safe!

Until next time,

Bowls

We must now take the time...to REMIX IT.

Preview it here.

And download the remix and instrumental here.

TONIGHT at 6 PM CST

Slum Village classics, Ummah productions, remixes, beat CD original samples, early Soulquarian stuff...you name it. This is an all-vinyl affair and I'm gonna do my best to record it. Bookmark my channel and tune in at 6 PM:

Music City Living

Peace!

Bowls

...and Bowls is on the BEAT BOOOOOXXXXXXXX

Quite literally, actually. You guys already know my weapon of choice is the 303, and I suppose I've been feeling a little inspired lately. Here's two beats I've made in the past week, both utilizing samples from my soft rock collection:

"16-0" (<---- should be titled "17-0" now, and "18-0" after UK beats down Auburn)

"Seal of Approval" (<---- If you're white, your parents probably own this original sample)

I'll post the new ones as I make them (if they're dope enough). Thanks for listening, and YES you can rap/scratch/do whatever with these joints as long as you let me know about it! TURN IT UP!

Until next time,

Bowls

MCL alum Radski is IN THE MIX tonight on WRVU

So I talked to D-Funk at the shop the other day and he informed me that Radski would be spinning on his show this Friday. Well it's Friday, and I remembered.

Tune in at 8 PM Central Time.

Oh and if you aren't in Nashville, you can listen on WRVU's website.

Until next time,

Bowls