Return of the DJ @ Amoeba

Dropped off 2 of each volume of Return of the DJ on double vinyl at Amoeba SF. Volumes 1-5, original pressings, still shrink wrapped. Bumrush the store if ya want em.

my Prince collection

CLICK HERE to view a few of the special records in my Prince collection.

S-H-O-P-P-I-N-G

I went record shopping today. Picked up the 180 gram new vinyl pressing of Appetite For Destruction by Gun s N’ Roses today as well as the 180 gram remastered vinyl of the first Van Halen album. Other finds include a Rick James 12″, Prince 12″ and Samantha Fox picture disc. On the dvd tip I grabbed Planet B-Boy. That new 9.5 sales tax in San Francisco sure hurts when music shopping.

Don’t Call It A Comeback

In a digital age, vinyl albums are making a comeback.

i got forty FIVE on it

My homeboy Jeff Harris posted up some really cool scans of 45 jackets (you know, 7″ records come in them). Click Here to peep out gallery 1 and click here to peep out gallery 2.

The Cream Always Rises To The Top

Here’s part of an email that DJ Agent 86 sent to me the other day. Words of wisdom.

“There’s something I learnt a long time ago (well, about 7 or 8 years ago) – and this sounds pathetically cliche, but I’ve found it to be true: the cream always rises to the top.

When I first moved to Melbourne in 2000, I’d already been DJing for 11 years, but I found it extremely difficult to find work. In time, however, people started booking me every now & then, here & there, and it grew from there.

Now I’m not the world’s best DJ, but I ain’t crap either – and at the time most cats were stuck in one style: you were a “Hip-Hop DJ” so you weren’t allowed to play anything with vocals or anything that the most seemingly “hardcore” Hip-Hop DJ wouldn’t play, or you were a house DJ and you would never consider playing anything with a “boom-bap”, or you were an RnB DJ so you could never play anything too hardcore or “electronic”, etc, etc. I came along & smashed that. I was playing everything (rock, pop, hip-hop, r&b, funk, techno, house, disco, electro, new-wave, etc) – and cuttin’ it up and breakin’ it down to boot. Hip-Hop DJ’s hated me, house dj’s didn’t get it, promoters didn’t know what to say and many punters were confused – but in time it started working – and now? Everyone is “eclectic”!!

I guess what I’m tryin’ to say is, stick to your guns & I’m sure things will turn around. These homeboys who bought Serato & download music from blogs? You know, blogs are now the way kids “dig” – they don’t get their fingers dusty anymore. Chances are they don’t even really like music. When it comes time to take the next step, 95% will step off. In my 20 years DJ’ing I’ve seen suckers come & go more times than I can remember.”

I went record shopping today

Check out what I bought.

7 inch record

Our 7 inch record by DJ Agent 86 arrived from the pressing plant today. The record features “The Ultimate” on the a side and “Big Shot” on the b side. This is a limited edition pressing – only 500 units manufactured. 7 inch record at 45rpm, with large hole and black & silver face labels. CLICK HERE for more info and to order.

How to Sleeve Face

This and That

Hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving. Gotta give Billy Jam a shout for playing Big Shot by DJ Agent 86 on his radio show Put the Needle on the Record on WFMU the other night. The ep Raise the Roof is available for digital download right now and the 7 inch single The Ultimate/Big Shot is at the pressing plant being manufactured. I had the chance to be on Billy Jams radio show when he did a live broadcast from Oakland a couple of weeks ago. Ran into Azeem at the radio show. We had released his album Show Business on Bomb Hip-Hop in 2004. He laced me with a mix cd called “On the Rocks” by him and DJ Zeph. If you can cop a copy of this cd I highly recommend it.

Our new Bomb t-shirts are in stock. These were made to coincide with the release of the the Bomb Hip Hop Compilation – Volume 2. The shirts are black with white and silver ink. Each limited edition shirt comes with a download card to download the entire album. If you are interested in purchasing a shirt just click here and scroll down to just past the album track listing for the info.

Coming up on Dec 19th we are doing a special $5 hip-hop show at the Dark Room (Club Six) in San Francisco with Sweatshop Union, Bash Bros, and Boac with Dnae Beats. Hope to see everyone out at this event. For just $5 you can’t lose! Purchase an advance ticket and get a free un-released track by the Sweatshop Union sub-group Pigeon Hole.