How'd the gigs go?

The Indaba Music CMJ showcase on October 23rd was a huge success. The party was well attended, people had a great time, and we got to perform for lots of new fans. Thanks to the Meniz brothers for their killer customized Vinyl Life light show and thanks to Mantis and the whole Indaba staff for such an amazing event. Video of that event is on the way.

We also had a blast at our Halloween party at Public Assembly in Brooklyn. Although it was a Wednesday, we still had a funky fresh costume party. Jim McElwaine killed it on the sax once again. DJ Ohzee held it down with critical classics. Peace to all the people who showed up and big big big thank you to Liz Sullivan for documenting the event. Her facebook page has the sick photo album of the show. Here's some of those pics:





Ok, we're off to Bermuda to do Fright Night 08. See ya in the sunshine.

Funky fresh costume party!

Tape Theory purchases legendary cassette duplicator

Tape Theory recently acquired the Tapematic 2002, a piece of duplication history to meet the growing demand for music recorded on cassettes:

Future Beat single

"Future Beat" will be out in November and available on Beatport, iTunes, Rhapsody, and Napster. Tracklisting:

1. Album Mix
2. Butcha Sound Dub
3. Oscar G Red Zone Tribute Mix
4. Oscar G Red Zone Tribute Dub
5. Radio Edit
6. Instrumental
7. Accapella

Vinyl Life to headline Indaba Music showcase

"Angel" by Oscar G - Vinyl Life Dub

Out today on Beatport...Big up to OG.

Big gig and video world premiere!

This will be our fourth monthly event at Public Assembly in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. The night will be especially significant because we will be screening various music videos by NYC artists including the world premiere of "Future Beat" directed by the very talented and hard-working Dan DeGloria. Be there @ 9 for the vids and immediately following will be performances by Peephole, House of Rhumba, and Vinyl Life. Also, DJ Doug Gomez of Drrty Haze will be on the decks to throw down some old school treats. If there's a party to catch this is the one. Hope to see you there!

Live electronic groups needed to perform in NYC

If you are or know a live electronic act in NYC, please contact music@vinyllife.com for a potential booking. Thanks!

Live performances coming up @ Galapagos

Sick Robot Band

Big gig! A night of live performances!

This one's gonna be special. 3 great acts performing live dance music.

New video for Innovation!

This video, directed by WashMachine, documents the studio recording of Innovation off our album-in-progress. Enjoy and share with your friends!

Innovation - Vinyl Life (Live in Studio)

Vinyl Life Remix of Oscar G's "Angel"

Stop by our new remix page to hear a sneak preview of our dub of "Angel" off the new Oscar G album INNOV8. Also posted there is other remixes that we've done this year. Enjoy!

Album release party for INNOV8 will be at Cielo on Thursday, May 29th.

Been a minute but here's a quick update...

"Future Beat" is on the 'Electron' compilation put out in Japan by Black Budget. Music video for that one in post-production now... Vinyl Life remix of Oscar G's "Angel" on Nervous Records due for release this summer. Big set at Cielo on Thursday May 29th for release party... Music video directed by WashMachine for "Innovation" in the works and will be done very soon... And album in the works too. Stay tuned!!!

Smash Mechanics LIVE @ Sullivan Hall NYC

On Thursday, March 13th, Smash Mechanics performs live @ Sullivan Hall in NYC. Also on the bill are Boom Clique and The Misnomers. You are sure to catch one of the greatest shows you have seen in a very long time. Come on down and say hello.

Aciiiiiidddd!!!

303

National Record Store Day!

On Saturday, April 19, 2008, hundreds of independently owned music stores across the country will celebrate “Record Store Day.”

On this day, all of these stores will simultaneously link and act as one with the purpose of celebrating the culture and unique place that they occupy both in their local communities and nationally.

Plans are underway to set up special events at all of the stores on this day, as well as provide customers with a goodie bag that promotes new formats, new releases, and exciting information on music, theatrical, and gaming releases. Working with our partners, the indies will also link to run extensive marketing campaigns both on a national level and a local level.

Check out www.recordstoreday.com for more info. Go get yourself some new vinyl!!!

The 6th Annual Club World Awards

2008 Nominees Announced

Ceremony on Wednesday, March 26 at Set, Miami

New York, N.Y. – The Club World Awards, the U.S.’s definitive nightlife awards program, is proud to announce its 2008 nominees, and details of this year’s event.

The invitation-only Club World Awards ceremony is set for Wednesday, March 26, at Set in South Beach, Miami. The show will once again celebrate excellence in North American nightlife, with the club and dance music industries’ brightest stars. Plus, it has a few new tricks up its sleeve.

To expand the breadth of the program, six new categories were added: Best Renovation for revived venues, Best One-Off for spectacular one-time club events, Best Bottle Service for the swank set, and three new People’s Choice categories which allow the public to reward excellence in clubland music.

Clubbers will again be invited to vote for their favorite local venue in the Nightstalker Award category – a staple of the CWA program since its inception – as well as in music categories Club Banger Of The Year (for instrumentals), Club Anthem Of The Year (for vocals), and Best DJ Set. Online dance music portal Beatport.com will host a Club World Awards page (beatportal.com/clubworldawards) with players, so voters can experience all the nominated music, including a top 10 of tracks played by the DJs during their nominated sets (provided by them). The inaugural Best DJ Set nominees are BT, Justice, DJ Micro, Roger Sanchez, and Danny Tenaglia. Voting will be hosted on partyStrands.com, and will be live from February 18 through March 3.

Across the rest of the program, this year’s nominees reflect the gold standard of clubbing in key metropolitan cities, along with the usual surprises. Smart Bar Chicago will defend its Best Club title against newcomer BoMA (in the unlikely locale of Columbus, Ohio), two-time winner Cielo, splashy Jet, and celeb haunt Marquee. Last year’s CWA darling Pacha New York – which walked away with three awards – is nominated in seven categories, and will defend its Best Superclub title against heavy contenders: Avalon, Mansion, Pure and Peter Gatien’s Circa. The return of clubland’s most notorious operator garnered four nominations. Opium Group snagged eight, with five going to CWA host venue Set. Vegas-based Pure Management Group (PMG) also grabbed eight nods, including three for Paradise Island hotspot Aura. In the Best New category, PMG is going up against itself, with noms for both Aura and Vegas mega-club LAX.

The Club World Awards ceremony always draws bold-face names from the nightlife-loving community including Danny Tenaglia, Tila Tequila, Deep Dish, Kelly Osbourne, Ferry Corsten, and James Zabiela,; and coverage in Entertainment Weekly, New York Post, Time Out New York, Boston Herald, Las Vegas Weekly, Miami New Times and Forbes.com.

For the first time in CWA history, potential nominees were invited to submit entries online, and final nominees were selected from that pool, rather than directly by the editors of sponsoring magazine Club World. Winners in non-People’s Choice categories are determined by a panel of 12 industry-veteran, expert judges.

The Club World Awards is presented by Club Word, the only magazine devoted to the look, sound and feel of nightclubs. Launched in July 2000, the monthly publication covers the world’s best venues from technical, business and aesthetic perspectives. It was renamed from Club Systems International in February 2008.

http://www.clubworldawards.com

Farley Jackmaster Funk Review

Nice when a living legend lays down a set in your hometown. Last night I had the chance to hear Chicago's Farley Jackmaster Funk at APT in NYC. He threw down a ridiculous old-school Chicago house vibe. With touch of Adonis's "No Way Back", Plastikman's "Spastik", and even the Colonel's "Music Is the Answer", the Jackmaster rocked the Funktion One outta the basement. Much respect. God bless.

For more on Keith Farley of the original Hotmix 5:

Farley's Myspace page
Wiki

Where you been at man?

The blog posts have become more infrequent, we know. The Vinyl Life crew has been hitting the studio very hard to finish our album (currently untitled) and make some new music videos. The in-studio video performance of the song "Innovation" was shot by WashMachine. The song performed that day and captured on camera will be the same version on the album. Sick.

Also In the works is a video for the track "Future Beat" for which we have assembled a large video team. This will be the most extensive of our video efforts and are very excited to get this one ready for the universe to see. Future Beat will be on a compilation released in Japan this year on Black Budget Records.

Okay, back to the studio. Stay tuned for lots of big things this year.

Also, check the new Butchasound Remix of the very classic "Jam On It" by Newcleus.

Thesis on house music

Check out this guy's PhD thesis on house and techno via the 303, 808 & 909.

http://folk.uio.no/hanst/Manchester/ChicagoHouse.htm

2007 Year In Review

2007 Year In Review


2007 was a great year for the Vinyl life Crew. We took the studio to the stage and had our first 8 performances as a live electronic group. Congratulations to Ohzee - the kid is getting married. Keyboardist Richie Roxx had his Nite Club album released in Japan. Phaze Future produced and performed on more Smash Mechanics tracks than you can count. Butcha now is Technical Editor for Club Systems International Magazine as well as a columnist for DJ Times. Our first album is nearing completion and we can't wait for the world to hear it. Vinyl Life Studios got a makeover and we're up to our ears in synths, drum machines, and patch cables.

Vinyl Life would like to thank everyone who came to see us perform, all the DJs that supported our tracks, and our families & friends for believing in us. In 2008 we will be giving it all we got to finish our album and play every stage this side of the Little Neck Bay. We wish you all Happy Holidays and a Happy New Year. Merry Christmas y'all. Ya don't stop. Lorda mercy. Respect.





Our first show at CSV in NYC's LES:















VL live @ Amber in the Hamptons:






Crobar NYC in June:















Ohzee & Butcha with Martinez Bros @ Pacha: (Open your eyes, Butcha. This is a good photo op.)






Ohzee & Butcha with Murk @ Pacha:






Butcha's Pig Roast 07:















By da beach boyeee:




Asseteria @ Plumm:






Fright Night 2007 in Bermuda:













Vinyl Life Crew





Happy new year! See you in 2008!

John Tejada Live PA @ Sullivan Room

After the Blip Festival, I headed to Sullivan Room to check out DJ set by friends Samsara and live p.a. by LA minimal man John Tejada. His modest setup was an elektron machinedrum and an elektron monomachine run into a 16 channel Mackie board with a Korg KP3 on the Aux for effects. There was something else on the end that looked like one of those MFB synths. After they finally got the levels turned up past the point where people were talking to the guy during his set, he brought out his signature melodic deep techno. The sound in Sullivan Room is less than satisfactory but John's tunes sounded great and he really won over the crowd who at first didn't know what the hell was going on. Maybe not his ideal audience, but for those of us that came to hear him throw down, we got what we came for. I couldn't help but compare it to what I had just seen at Blip Fest. Of course, Tejada's music is much deeper and not for losing your mind like a raving sugar rushed ten-year old playing Atari with a mouth full of Pop Rocks. Deep melodies, satisfying low-end, and tasteful electronic percussion made this another inspiring set that I am grateful to have witnessed.

Check out John Tejada's label, Palette Recordings

Blip Festival 2007 - NYC

Artist collective 8bitpeoples and Manhattan art space The Tank put on an event known as the Blip Festival this week at eyebeam in Chelsea NYC this week from Thursday November 29 to Sunday December 2. The focus of this event was musicians/composers/performers who make music on 8 bit Nintendos, Game Boys, Ataris, Commodore 64s and the like.

I checked out Saturday night's line-up for a bit. I was surprised to see such a large crowd (probably 500+) but, more impressive, was the quality of the tunes and the enthusiasm of the audience. Not to mention that people knew the words to the tunes and the artists within the scene.

First I caught Tree Wave who was rocking a modified Atari cartridge with his set list projected and mixed with Atari gems like Combat. He was also on the mic and messing with samplers and people were digging it. Nothing like what was to come next, though.

Bit Shifter took the stage and explained through a raspy voice that he was sounding hoarse from shouting all week. I'm thinking, "these guys are this serious about this music?" Using a Game Boy, this guy rocked the place. Fast 140-150 bpm tracks (prob even faster) with those classic 8-bit timbres brought out the mosher in these geeks. Not since the Beastie Boys show have I seen people bug out to this degree, although in a safer nerdier fashion. Crowd surfing was going down and it was inspiring. To pull off this kind of enthusiasm with a fucking Game Boy really put a big hole in the way I see live electronic performance.

This is an event that is not to be missed next year. For more info: blipfestival.org

Stevie Wonder Live @ MSG Review

What's it like to hear a legend perform? Last night i had the honor of being in the audience to witness Stevie Wonder at Madison Square Garden. I've always wanted to see Stevie live and have heard that his voice isn't what it used to be and that's why he doesn't play so often. Nothing could be further from the truth. His voice is the most powerful and unique instrument and it sounds amazing at that volume. He did every jam you could think of in those two and a half hours. Special guests included legend Tony Bennett for a version of "For Once In My Life" and Prince (!) to play guitar on "Superstition". Not a bad ticket to have. A pure legend-fest.

Harmony Head Bang

Thanks to WashMachine for this one:

In the early 1930's Schoenberg told John Cage he would tutor him for free on the condition he "devoted his life to music". Cage readily agreed, but stopped lessons after two years. Cage later wrote in his lecture Indeterminacy: "After I had been studying with him for two years, Schoenberg said, 'In order to write music, you must have a feeling for harmony.' I explained to him that I had no feeling for harmony. He then said that I would always encounter an obstacle, that it would be as though I came to a wall through which I could not pass. I said, 'In that case I will devote my life to beating my head against that wall'." Schoenberg later described Cage as being 'not a composer, but an inventor — of genius".

More New Videos

In preparation for Amsterdam Dance Event, we put together some new videos of our live performances. Check em out. If you're into them, please rate them for youtube and subscribe to our channel. Enjoy!

Fright Night

We had a blast performing in Bermuda for Volcanic's Fright Night 2007. Video is on the way and here's some pics from that night.