Gang Starr deejay Premier put on a disappointing show in Taipei. With the dj putting on a lackluster performance and blaming the equipment ffor skipping and a deadbeat MC Big Shug putting in a half hearteed effort the crowd just didn’t like it.

Apperently to entertain the crowd Premier resorted to belting out some tunes and sharing sex stories.

Too bad he came up limp.

Taipei crowd picks up the beat as DJ Premier plays at local club

Icon Collective is a school to learn about electronic music production. Electronic music may have moved away from the forefront of popular musinc of the the last few years but with places like this poping up every where nurtureing a new generation of electronic artists the future of dance music is assured.

::: icon collective :::

The Technics SL-DZ1200 got a savage review over at SkratchWorx. The turntable is well known to have been a d dissappojntment but it looks like this review may have been especially savage. There are lots of complaints about not receiving a unit to review from Panasonic, hopefully the “snubbed” author didn’t just rake Technics across the coals for not receiveing his due attention.

At anyrate the review is in depth and informative, however late it is, and is worth a read if you don’t already know by now that the turtable sucks.

SKRATCHWORX™ v2 - Technics SL-DZ1200 Review - By ProfessorBX - November 2005

A newbie DJ on DJ Forums started asking about why his scratching was sucking so bad. Once he shared he had crappy tables and even crappy slip mats it became clear that he answered his own question. People need to understand that you have to buy good equipment if you want good results. Why do newbies always try to save a few hundred to get started sooner when every one with half a brain can tells them to wait and save.

Some pretty good advice is given to him about what he needed to improve in his setup and how to correct his problems there after.

Link Here

Heineken Music announced the Thirst 2005 Global Winner was Ronin of Denmark.
The Thirst Global final took place in front of 3000 dance-music lovers,
at the stunning Castle of Good Hope in Cape Town on January 7th. The other
contenders were Hak’X (Morocco) who came runner-up, DJ Adhe (Indonesia),
Eduardo Rossell (Mexico) and DJ Budda (South Africa). A highly charged and
electrifying event, the final also included performances from internationally
renowned DJs Mylo, Basement Jaxx and Erick Morillo.

Erick Morillo commented: “Each competitor played a fantastic set but what
really stood out was Ronin’s ability to get the crowd rocking.”

Ronin, age 27, said of his win: “This has been the most amazing journey.
All the contestants in the competition were fantastic, so to be able to say I
am the first ever Thirst Global Winner is unbelievable. I can’t wait for
Ibiza. Thank you Heineken!”
vi LINK

CONGRATS RONIN !!!

DJ Ronin

The young OXYGENIC can’t decide on which mixer to buy the Numark 5000fx or the Pioneer 500 . The discussion turns around as to why the f*$k anyone would go for the DJM500 when the DJM600 is out with split cue. Other than that the mixers don’t really compete well with one another they are both good quality but the Numark has effects and is more modern.

via djsource

Young djdeeuu asks about a QBert video idea on djpages.com and promptly gets his ass handed to him.

The coo de gras is this fine ass quote:

Along with a ‘tickle me Q Bert’, ‘How to dress and talk like Q-bert’ DVD……and ‘How to collect giant Gundam robots like Q-bert does’ limited edition VHS (NTSC only, though)…..

The crux of the matter is the impact QBert has on turntablism. The three time DMC champion is an inspiration to many turntablists. QBerts inspiration can have a crushing effect on those learning turntablism, if they focus only on him. Many turntablists focus more on how Qbert “does it” and less on developing as an artist.

Newcomers do need a source of knowledge to learn from. Qbert videos and tutorials provide this in a unique way that isn’t available otherwise. Fresh turntablists can move on to developing their own uinique styles faster if they learn from the Qbert product line. That being said how many are blinded by the artist ?

What do you think ? Is the QBert product line and Qbert reputation hurting the art ?

Mixers come in two varieties those with knobs and those with faders. Which style of mixer is better is part of a hot debate in the dj world. On the dj world forums the debate recently took an interesting turn.

Karl David said:

Hey guys, I just wanted to know what is the best mixer for House and Drum and bass and other genres which involve mixing? A rotary knobs mixer or a fader mixer.
[snip]…
Obviously this type of mixer wouldn’t be used by hip hop and turntablist DJ’s

Following this question is a love fest for rotary knob mixers. What they seem to miss though is that rotary mixers lock you in to just mixing a certain style. There is no way to do anything unconventional with rotary mixer. I just don’t see why you would be satisfied with limiting your options. See what I mean ?

The Numark HDX release is going to turn the digital turntable market on its head. The new turntable was announced to have a hot swappable eighty gigabyte hard drive. The HDX also sports a support for mp3, cd, and wma formats. The 80 gig hard drive will allow the turntable instantly recall songs, freeing the dj from juggling media. The HDX is similar to its predecessor the CDX. It simulates the look an feel of a traditional turntable allowing DJ’s to use the skills they use for vinyl on with a new format.

The addition of the hard drive is absolutely a radical change. We think this sweet puppy will turn the market for digital turntables on its head.

• Numark Press release
• regards to engadget

The symphony for turntable was debuted at Carnegie Hall on October 3rd. DJ Radar, the inventor of a notational system for the turntable, was the dj. The Concerto for Turntables was composed by DJ Radar and Raul Yanez. I can’t really say enough about this to do it justice, go visit the links.