I will always have a bitter sweet memory of this Fatbeats Diner party*.  You ever have one of those fantasies about the perfect line-up for a concert or a dance party or something?  The kind where you can choose whoever you want to rock the stage, in the order of your choosing?  Well this party was pretty close to my dream line-up of San Francisco DJs, circa four years ago.  I remember being soooooo excited to not only hear them all (or all that I could) but to share the stage with them as well.  To sweeten the deal we were throwing this party in a underground spot which generally only adds to the positive vibe we try to encourage.  Our whole camp pitched in to help, decorate and promote.  The place looked amazing, the line up was off the hook, shit, we even had our own bar room** with a whole other set of hip hop DJs that weren’t even on the billing!  We were primed for one seriously epic party.

And then came the bitter.  I don’t remember the numbers off hand, but the turnout was disappointing.  At the peak each of the rooms had enough people so that it wasn’t entirely uncomfortable to dance, but no more than that.  Financially it wasn’t quite a disaster as we didn’t loose money, but all that work for literally $50 is no one’s definition of success.  And on a more personal note I was devastated.  Not because of the financial stuff, but because so many of my friends had worked so hard and I felt like I’d let them down; and because my dream lineup of DJs had been wasted on mostly empty rooms.  I was so eager to share not just my music, but the music of all these other amazing artists with a packed house, but I guess it just wasn’t meant to be.

Anyway, I don’t mean to be all doom and gloom.  I had a fantastic time, as did everyone else who attended that special night!  And if you happened to be one of them then you got this sweet promotional CD which I present to you now.  Cor’s side is an epic dose of funky breaks and house.  Mine starts with some hip-hop influenced breaks*** then moves into some more progressive fare, then onto (if you couldn’t guess) a trancy finish!  Please enjoy, and don’t forget to tip your waiter.

* This was actually the SECOND and final edition of the Fatbeats Diner parties.

** I have never promoted, nor participated in, the illegal selling of alcohol. But man, it sure woulda been fun if I had…

*** Are these first two songs considered “booty breaks”? Seriously, I wanna know. I think they predate booty breaks. That second song, with The Beatnuts & Apollo 440 is the first Stanton Warriors song I ever spun. The thing is, I didn’t actually realize that it was Stanton Warriors until well after they dropped that remix of “Who’s Afraid of Detroit”. Crazy.

DJ Jay - Fatbeats (Right click to download)

Tracklist:

I promise I will go back through my vinyl and get all of these songs.  There are some seriously epic ones in here.  Back in the day when they actually made great progressive trance!  Can’t find stuff like that to much anymore.  I’ll have to post some of them as Bonus Beats so I can give them their proper due.