Happy 303-Day!

Phutur - Acid Trax || Who’s That Beat

Oh, the week that was the weekend! A full recap of the experience is forthcoming, but I feel compelled to touch briefly on Daft Punk… Ok maybe not without further thought, but suffice to point a frail, shaky finger towards Hedi Slimane’s flickr stream. Mention of these pics is all over the Internet, and they really are great, as it shows the elements first hand. While Hedi was closer than we were- like, in the pyramid and such- he didn’t experience the wonder of starlit rain, ocean gusts and a fear of lightning that enveloped the Coney Island crowd in such frenzy it now feels highly likely the whole thing was a big wet dream.

Herein lies WSOP Radio, episode number five, made in the slow attempts at recovery following a 72-hour stretch of music, excess, and travel. Faster, harder, and more driving then previous sessions, ATL resident and Cleaning Up The Dirty South captain Drew Van Atten leads off with a crash course in learning to annunciate for our ghetto-rigged mic, telling his account of fearing arrest by proxy in Coney Island (the only confirmation that the Daft Punk experience was not just a wet dream), then finding his release in a set of melodic, building techy-house and electro.

Drew Van Atten:

1. Cubenx - Repeat || In Fine
2. Discemi - Data Sapiens || Rekids
3. Crowd Pleaser Feat. Selfish In Bed - Rather Be || Mental Groove
4. Minilogue - The Leapord (Extrawelt Remix) || Traum
5. Demon - Happy Therapy (Siskid & Rouf Remix) || Help Yourself
6. Remo - Mizar || Confused
7. Klanguage - All This Time (Yuksek Vs. Invaders Remix) || Rise
8. ???
9. Giorgio Prezioso & Libe - Pongo || Full Force
10. Digitalism - Digitalism In Cairo || Kitsune

Ellsworth & Bosley:

1. Turzi - Acid Taste
2. Sweet Light - Mecaniques Remontees || Freak N’ Chic
3. Beverly Hills 808303 - Signals… The Acid Plane || Drop Bass Network
4. Mr. Lee - The Art of Acid || Trax
5. Ron Trent - Altered States || Substance
6. Depth Charge - Good Driver || DC
7. Aux 88 - The Future (Aux 88 Remix)
8. Novamen - The Hague City || Bunker
9. Kool Rock Steady - I’ll Make You Dance || Trax
10. Larry Heard Presents Mr. White - The Sun Can’t Compare (Long Version) || Alleviated
11. The Chicago Shags - Shag Jam || Bunker
12. Knight Action - Single Girl || Let’s Dance

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 WSOP radio, episode 005: The Pieces of Memories We Think We Feel: Download

MTV’s leap into the brave new world of user-oriented multimedia existence has been precarious.

First, a highly publicized downsizing of the staff in February began a sort of internal cleaning a la Ford to downsize and upgrade their thinking to stay ahead of whatever lumbering pop culture mammoth they helped create.

Next there’s URGE, which is, to investors and labels, a partnership with Microsoft to create an online music subscription service that hopes to rival itunes. To the consumer, it’s touted as music “by people who get music,” meaning bloggers, critics and industry people, a fence straddled by the white lights of cash and exposure for the market of all things indie. Somehow, I’m still waiting for my phone call and nickel-per-syllable paycheck.

A new website is the last step in the tiered attempt to interact end-user and increase MTV’s street cred among the generation of the super web literate. To explain why, MTV launched MTV Labs, a Blogger-based blog that explains the rational behind the creative process, if only patronizingly so. Witness, MTV children, the new enhanced functionalities (faster, sleeker, user-ier), and behold HATS, a sort of “remix my logo” project that enlists the cool kids to put their creative spin on the logo, in rotation every time the page refreshes.

This is all to explain the dropping of a predominantly Flash-based site for one heavier in HTML. While the site succeeds in easier navigation, (perhaps) quicker load times, and better SEO (as if they really need it), the attempt at honesty through design- coming from MTV- doesn’t seem to clean the message. Indigestible is still indigestible, whether bubbly and flashy, or structured and minimal.

There has to be a balance between functionality and design. Sacrificing the former for the latter doesn’t seem pull it off. Turn on the computer, let the kids play with some pipes, and make something fun.

Luke Vibert - Freak Time Baby || Warp

At the risk of sounding over-dramatic…

Loss…rage…acceptance…forgivness…gratitude…motivation…pride…all emotions which I’ve experienced in MASS quantities over the last two days.

Now I’m not going to launch into a long-winded explanation about why I love the CBS because I could go on for days. That’s for you to find out yourself. But I will say that, as a music lover, I’ve been a part of many online and offline music communities/scenes/whateverthehellyouwannacallit, and none have even come close to rivaling the CBS’s breadth of musical knowledge/resources. It truly was a virtual haven for me…a library…a teacher…

At approximately 17:18:45 CET on May 1st it was all taken away. I felt empty…gutted… As despair set in across the CBS forums I began considering the alternatives. Was I really about to embark on a journey to find a suitable replacement? My efforts would have been futile.

If you are wondering about the effect that the CBS has on people, considering the following events that took place over the last 48 hours:

Unwilling to accept the apparent loss of their virtual home, CBS robots banded together in an attempt to rectify the situation. The first step was to clearly identify the reasons why the CBS shut down in the first place. After some prying, it was revealed that the issues were financial and promotional. Basically, it cost RobotDJX (Ferenc, I-F for those who don’t know) a ton of money to keep the CBS alive. Unfortunately, the revenue generated from advertising and the CBS shop don’t come close to covering the expenses that are associated with maintaining such a high-quality stream and online community. And although most robots are willing to pay for the stream, any sort of subscription service would sort of go against the CBS ethos. To make a very long story short, it became clear that donation was the only way to go. Once this was determined an amazing thing happened: Robots began throwing money at the CBS in a last ditch effort to keep it going. As the dollars and euros continued to flow in from around the globe, mourning turned into hope. Even if the CBS was done for good, at least everyone got the chance to show their appreciation for years of incredible music…

About two hours ago we received the word that our efforts were a success. The CBS is to continue (with some new conditions, of course). DJX fired up the system and Don’t Let Me Down Again blared through the speaks of robots across the universe.

Personally, I feel a huge sense of accomplishment. I’ve never been part of such a focused and passionate collaborative effort that actually ended successfully. Obviously, there will be the added pressure of keeping it going now. But it’s a welcomed challenge…a fair trade for getting my home back.

So let the bandwith flow…robots for robots –

Auto Bahn - Do You Like This Beat (Chip E London Calling Mix) || Fierce Records

R.I.P. CBS

12-23-2002 to 5-1-2007

Let us mourn