Back from a wedding in Florida, Jet lagged does not even begin to describe it!
Despite falling asleep (Those that know me well say nothing new about that) I put together this little selection to get me in the mood for this weekends visit to the legendary Southport Weekender in Minehead. I always do track lists except this time as I really cannot be arsed 
Enjoy
Josh Milan has been added to the line up of this years Vocal Booth Weekender
Josh has been making quality dance for more than 3 decades, As one of the founding members of Blaze his place in dance music history speaks for itself. His discography is nothing short of epic and he continues to write produce and sing his way through life. As owner of Honeycomb music he is bringing new dance music to our ears from the likes of China Blac, Angela Johnson, Cinnamon Brown, Cassio Ware and more.
Its truly an honour for him to be appearing at my annual residency the Vocal Booth Weekender
So exactly why do I make music?
Well its certainly not for fame or money as the music I make is very niche.
Is it for extra DJ gig’s then? That may well be a very small part but as I do not actively push myself for DJ work then there is little point no? For as long as I can remember I have been fascinated with soul and dance music in many forms. This is of course what lead me into DJ’ing all those years ago. I have always liked the idea of making my own music but I am not a musician neither did I think it was possible for me to do it. Pre the PC/DAW virtual world we live in now you had to go to a professional studio unless you knew somebody that had some hardware at home. This hardware was far from cheap.
It is with great pleasure I announce the line up for this years Vocal Booth Weekender in Spain
Once again its an honour to be included as a resident and have watched the event grow into something very special from the first event. Who would have thought on that first event that it would grow into something this special!
Although the main event hotel has sold out for this year (in record time) there are still plenty of options to attend with many of the family staying in a nearby hotel or renting a villa.
For full information please visit
A new mix born from frustration of not being able to get to Scotland this weekend for a party.
Tracklist
House, Soulful House, Broken Beat, Electronic, Deep House etc etc
Just a mix of great danceable music,
1 Mr. Fingers – What About This Love?
2 Leftside Wobble – Grapevine Boogie
3 Mtume – Dance – BlackLodge Edit
4 Mutubaruka – Dis poem – /anthony nicholson re-rockers rubmix
5 Jake Island – What If You Wanted More? feat. Joanna Christie – Tensnake Remix
6 Alexis Suter – Stop
7 Alex Barck – Alex Barck – Re-Set (Marlow Remix)
8 Mari Boine – Mari Boine (Henrik Scharz Remix)
9 United Future Organization – Stolen Moments (UFO Remix Featuring Mark Murphy)
10 FaltyDL – She Sleeps (2000Black Remix)
11 Bonobo – Cirrus
12 Elements Of Life – Elements Of Life – Children of the World – (Ben Brophy Fusion Cut)
13 Joey Negro & The Sunburst Band -The Secret Life of Us feat. Donna Gardier & Diane Charlemagne (Director’s Cut Signature Mix)
Those great chaps at the Walter Gibbons Facebook page have kindly sent me this recording of a live DJ set from the Legendary Walter Gibbons.
Sit back and enjoy
I totally love the new Bonobo track on Ninja Tune Records but have just found the official video by Cyriak Harris, Brilliant!
Bonobo – ‘Cirrus’ (Official Video) from Ninja Tune on Vimeo.
Heres a stunning track from the forthcoming Yesking single “Overproof” taken from the album “Re-Record Not Fade Away” due out in The Spring.
YesKings’ debut for BBE ‘Re-Record Not Fade Away’, marks a coming of age for the seasoned studio head and a sonic departure from the outfit’s 2008 debut ‘Rock This World’ (co-produced by Mark Rae of Rae & Christian fame). Featuring Soothsayers’ Patrick Hatchett, Mystro, as well as a bevvy of newcomers, the album is a stunning collection of dubbed out, reggae influenced songs already championed by the Massive Attack family.
This is a personal favourite of mine at the moment make sure you grab a copy when it drops.
A quick video asking a question rather than explaining something I already learnt
Danny and I have a catch up after the Xmas break and discuss the finishing stages
Hi All
After a Skype conversation tonight (Video to follow) Danny and I decided to upload a clip of our track so you can make comments and give any feedback. Its so nearly finished now! If any of my usual label friends are interested in releasing this with maybe some remixes please feel free to let me know.
While writing my last blog I realised that documenting every mouse click was not going be a good thing so I have attempted to do a video to help visualise my progress. I’m no expert or teacher and these videos are not meant to be tutorials although they may help in some way.
Its not often I post about new music releases but I just heard this one and fell in love with it
2 great Cover versions of Hip Hop Classics – Mos Def Umni Says and Pharcyde – Running. Striiped back and covered in a folk style these really work for me. Beautiful music
Please click the link to pre-order your copy now
The nice chaps at A Deeper Groove recently asked me for a guest “selection” for their Back To Ours Series so here it is.
Please check the mix and more importantly have a good look around their website, lots of cool stuff
Steinberg have announced the launch of Cubase 7 due early December 2012
New features include a revamped mixer layout with extra features.
Built in Voxengo EQ and spectral analysis built in to EQ strips.
Extra Groove agent kits, sounds and presets.
Some very interesting chord track additions.
Check out the full details here
I was recently asked to join this new project. If you have a vinyl collection this is well worth looking at! The concept is very simple and is a great way of discovering music in your collection you may have over looked or forgotten about.
I have submitted my first selection including a full track listing and comments.
Drop by the site have a good read and enjoy some forgotten or unknown pieces of music
Its been a few weeks but here is the next video, We are still trying to find a way to screen share and hear the internal (Cubase) audio so we tried WebEx software for this video. I have added a vocal and Danny tweaks it in this instalment.
Purveyors of great house music Deep Space Orchestra are about to release a great new piece of vinyl as a limited picture disc.
Great music and iconic artwork (If you are old enough to remember the classic movie its taken from) Spot the film references in the track titles too.
I highly recomend you contact them and invest in this great piece of music and art
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Deep-Space-Orchestra/181654701854791
Track listing – Jack & Wang Present Deep Space Orchestra – Live from the Hong Kong Exchange
1 – Pork Chop Express
2 – Egg Shen Doesn’t Do Magic
3 – Jack Wants His Truck Back
4 – Green Eyes
Whats the film? Answers on a postcard please
Its been a while especially for a house music mix, enjoy
Ziggy Funk FT Taliwa – What You Afraid Of
Carolyn Harding – Pick It Up – Sean McCabe Mix
Ben Westbeech – Hang Around – Karizma Mix
DJ Fudge – Bipolar
Rocco & Robert C Walker – Give Me The Night – Louie Vega Mix
Jask Mash Up – Funky Green Ayres
Salvatore Freda – Love Can’t Hurt – HHA Edit
Imogen Heap – Moment I Said It – Conan Liquid Mix
Loni Clark – Rushing – Alix Alvirez Mix
Campsoul Ft Tanya Stephenson – Fallen – ReelSoul Mix
Evren Furtuna – Miracle Baby
Rudimental – Spoons
Around the halfway mark and we are bouncing off each other with ideas much better now.
Simple message is out now on Soul Free Records
buy it here
http://www.traxsource.com/index.php?act=show&fc=tpage&cr=titles&cv=184560
Back on track! some handy tips in this video and the track is really starting to take shape now.
Hi All long time coming for part 5 due to a gig overseas but we have had a quick chat and we should get back on track with this
Every so often I come across a piece of music that touches the soul. This is one of those amazing pieces of music. I am a bit of an Atjazz fan at the best of times but this is truly special
A heartfelt dedication to his parents who sadly passed.
Not much more to say other than sit back close your eyes listen then repeat!
Ok so we hit a rough patch and heavy schedules outside of this project made this one take a little longer to get up but the project is now moving on. I wasn’t happy with the drums last time due to not having my sample library and using a new MAC I wasn’t used too. I redid the drums but kept the general style the same. I also added a simple synth stab. From this Danny has made a small video laying down some extra ideas and melody. It’s starting take take shape now.
Watch the video for the next stage.
I will try and get something more to add over the weekend but will be away for a week as from next Friday.
As usual please leave any comments you may have on the project below
If you are reading this for the 1st time please make sure you read the previous posts as they only make sense in order.
So the collaboration project with Danny is coming along nicely. We have to keep each video fairly short due to rendering and uploading restrictions but in each video there really are some great nuggets of useful information.
OK so we had another Skype session last night, the basic drums are down although will no doubt change somewhat throughout the process as things take shape. Next up will be some musical elements taking some form of style inspiration from Atjazz remix of the Rah Bands – Messages from the stars. The aim is not to copy this track but more a general feel in style.
The below video ends on a bit of a cliff hanger as Danny had disk space issues, I am sure most have fallen foul to that at some point in the past!
Check the video of last nights Skype call and feel free to leave your thoughts and idea’s
OK so collaborate and learn is now underway but boy what a struggle so far!
Mid through the 1st session my PC decided to completely die!
I have had to continue on a borrowed PC with none of my sample packs or custom sounds I have made over the years. No 3rd party plugs, just Cubase and factory sounds and settings.
I am also missing a dual monitor set up, Finding that really hard!
All that aside we are going strong, Basic beat done and already some nice feedback and guidance from Danny, We have a Skype session scheduled which will also be recorded like the intro video.
The plus side its finally forced my hand to but a Mac Book Pro which I should have by the end of the week.
Check Danny’s feedback video below.
I have just started an exciting new project with pro producer Danny J Lewis.
Danny has been a pro producer and leading music tutorial guru for many years, he recently approached me on an idea he had involving collaborating on a track and recording the entire process as a series of tutorial video’s
Although I have been producing for a number of years and have several releases under my belt you can never stop learning and improving on your craft so the idea seemed a great one. I also liked that fact that the process would be documented and may help even in some small way any other producers.
Our 1st session was last night and you can watch the video below.
I hope to post regular blogs on this but please visit Danny’ page on Facebook
Full line announced for this years Vocal Booth Weekender in Spain has been announced. Its an absolute pleasure to be playing the event again this year. It has NOT sold out but tickets are going fast so don’t hang around!
For the line up and more please visit
This legendary Moog synthesizer has an unmistakable sound.
To celebrate world music day those lovely chaps over at Arturia have decided to give away free copies of the Minimoog -V Original VST!
Don’t miss out on this legendary sounding synth.
Click the link for full details!
http://www.arturia.com/evolution/en/products/minimoogv/minimoogv-original.html
Debut release on Canvas music. Out now with mixes from Rob Redford, Lee Tristram, Powdersoul and Vandyman along side myself
