I play eclectic, exciting dance music. It could anything from techno to trance; making stops at progressive, breaks and electro along the way if the crowd and I are feeling it. Just don’t expect boring ‘casue I like songs that have character.  Like any good story my sets will always evolve, progress, take you from one place to another. And if I’m doing my job right, you won’t even notice it ‘till we’ve arrived!

My Sets:

IndiTronic

“This week on the Friday Five I’ve collected some of my favorite indi-dance tracks for you to rock out to.  Though be warned, listening to this might actually make your jeans tighter and your hat two sizes too small.  But hey, at least you’ll be cool. Enjoy!”

DJ Jay - “IndiTronic” (right click and “save as…” to download)

Austin Gregory - Love Lost

How is love lost? Why isn’t love forever? What does it mean when we no longer love something we once held so dear? And how do we know if we’ve failed to seize love that was laid out rite in front of us, or if that love was just an unattainable mirage to begin with?

These question are brimming throughout this set. On the musical side of life I have loved progressive trance for a long time. DJ Jay had to move on, however in my heart it remains. He’ll be back with some more banging, dance floor ready mixes soon. But for now lets just enjoy this subtle beauty, and wonder about things that might have been…

~ Austin Gregory

Austin Gregory - “Love Lost” (right click and “save as…” to download)

DJ Jay - Bangin In The New Year!

I’ve always maintained that when you travel you find out more about what it means to be human.  See when you travel  you can interact with people and cultures thousands of miles away that have completely different languages and cultural norms, yet you can still observe all these similarities (sharing a smile, a love of food, kids kicking a ball, helping a stranger, love for family, etc).  To me, those are basic human traits that we share with all others of our species.

And while this corollary doesn’t exactly hold true with music, I have found that there are certain rhythms, certain sounds that most club-going people in the world get down with, so  I tried to bring a little this international favor back with me.  Combine that with a bunch of hand made mash-ups and re-edits, some hot off the presses new jams, and a custom NYE intro* and hopefully we’ve got a set fit to kick off your 2011!

Enjoy!  We’ll be having another party here soon so hope to see you there!

DJ Jay - “Bangin In The New Year” (Right click and “Save As” to download)

DJ Jay - White Out

Last modified on 2011-05-24 18:40:01 GMT. 10 comments. Top.

Have you ever been to Burning Man?  If so have you ever tired to describe it someone?  It’s really, really tough.  Instead of wasting pages trying I’m gonna take a different approach this year.  2010 was probably my best Burn ever, and a lot of that had to do with the music.  There was this great diversity that you seldom here on the playa.  Electro over here, breaks over there, jungle (yes, I said jungle!  We saw Aphrodite), trance, dub-step, and even Hip Hop!  I heard more Hip Hop this year than I did in all my previous years combined.  This is a good thing.

For my podcast this week I’m gonna take you on an aural tour of Burning Man 2010.  Every song on this set I either heard in Black Rock City, played in Black Rock City, or was inspired by, yeah, you got it, my most recent trip to Black Rock City.  After the jump I’ll have the full track list and where I heard/played the songs.

If you were at Burning Man this year what did you think?  Did you enjoy the music?  Any sets particularly stand out for you?  I hope that this set might bring you back there, if just for an hour.  If it’s not working on it’s own feel free to cover yourself in dust, sit under a heat lamp, pee in a jug, do lots of drugs and set something on fire.  Always does the trick for me (^-^)v

DJ Jay - White Out (right click and “Save as…” to download)

\*/ - And remember “like it” throw up some stars or leave us a comment if you like.  We love hearing from you!

Tracklist, Backstories and Photos:

1. Fedde Le Grand - “Back And Forth” - Full Vocal Mix

Backstory: I played three times at The Duck Pond, a kick ass bar/DJ camp a few blocks away from Pancake Playhouse, the camp I helped found and home on the Playa for all seven of my years.  Playing a the Pond was an absolute blast, this track I played during my second set (photo 33)

2. Interactive - “Who Is Elvis 2010″ - David Amo & Julio Navas Remix

Backstory: The first set I played over at The duck Pond, Sunday night before Burning Man even started, was honestly one of the best sets of my life.  There was that perfect coming together of amazing people, great sound, and incredible vibe.  It was like riding a wave the best energy imaginable.  I played this track near the begining of that set.

3. Bass Kleph & Anthony Paul - “Helium” - Wolfgang Gartner Remix

Backstory: Longtime fav of mine, I’m glad to finally have it in a set.  I played this that incredible first night too.

4. Deadmau5 feat. Wolfgang Gartner - “Animal Rights”

Backstory: This track actually came out while I was on the playa.  I heard these great DJs (I think it was Santiago & Bushido from Chi) playing hard, bouncy electro just like this at Root Society (how about Root Society NOT just playing terrible dubstep all week!?  They had three sound stages and all kinds of different styles.   I was very impressed. Photo 9)

5.  The Loops Of Fury - “Flick A Switch” - DJ Dan & Mike Balance Mix

Backstory: I played this track that epic Sunday, but really I put this on here in honor of DJ Dan’s brilliant set at Root Society’s “Tower of Babel” stage burn night.  Hands down the best set I’ve ever hear from DJ Dan has to be in the top three all time Burning Man sets.  Straight hard hitting electro house goodness.  Anyone else there for that?? (photo 10)

6. Deadmau5 - “Ghosts n Stuff” - Elite Force Re-Fix

Backstory: So both “Elite Force” & “Zodiac Cartel” where playing on the playa this year, funny ‘casue roomer has it they’re the same dude.  I saw Elite at Distrikt (huge day time party) and Zodiac at Root Society (I’m telling you they had a wicked line-up) and yeah, same guy.  He was great under each name (more breaks as Elite Force, more hard electro/techno as Zodiac Cartel) and played this re-mix both times so I had to throw it on.

7. Justice - “We Are Your Friends” - Disco Villains Remix

Backstory: Another all time fav of mine that never found it’s way home on a podcast.  Part of the epic Sunday night at the Duck Pond.

8. Dr. Dre - “California Love” - Deadmau5 Edit

Backstory: In honor of all the great Hip Hop I heard on the playa this year.  Finally!  And I played this at Duck Pond too.

9. Daft Punk - “Harder Better Faster Stronger” - Blazerflame’s Beat Remix

Backstory: We have some serious Daft Punk fans in the camp so I’m throwing this hot remix on for them (photo 35).  It defies genera.  UPDATE: Brilliant Reader Phoenix was asking about it so here’s the full unmixed version via Soundcloud.  Enjoy!

Daft punk -harder better faster stronger(Blazerflame’s Beat This 2010 Remix! Remix) by D. Bokle

10. Major Lazer - “Never Good Enough” - The Killabits Remix

Backstory: So we also have some serious dubstep h8rs in our camp too.  Look, I’m not gonna defend all dubstep, I really do think 85% of it being played is crap (being generous here due to space considerations), BUT there is great dubstep.  I thew this song on here in honor of David Starfire who played the best 30 minutes of dubstep I’ve ever heard Thursday night at Root Society’s Tower of Babel.

11. The Pixies - “Where Is My Mind” - Bassnectar Remix

Backstory: So this is really funny:  Good friend, long time camp-mate and EDM aficionado Danger Cakes is an un-abashed dupstep hater.  We’re all hangin out in our big GP tent at like 2 am Thursday night when she busts in talking about how she just heard a dubstep bastardization of a Pixies song.  She’s going on but due to limiting factors I couldn’t quite place it, and then it hits me “Where Is My Mind”!  “Wait”, I say, “that would be a sick dub-setp remix!!!”.  I do believe I still have the holes she burned into my head with her glare.

I looked it up when I got home and it turns out that the one and only Playa Super Star, and all around Dubstep Hero, Bassnectar did the remix.  You really can’t have an “inspired by Burning Man” set and NOT include Bassnectar, and in this humble DJs opinion the remix is fucking sick.

12. La Roux - “Bulletproof” -  Tepr mix Krafty Kuts Re-Rub

Backstory: From my second set at the Pond.

13.  Deadmau5 - “Some Chords and some More Notes” - Original + Fixd Remix

Backstory: This is another good one.  So we had gone to “Temple of Breaks” Wednesday night, an outdoor party at the Temple where a bunch of sound system art cars chain up their rigs and bump the night away under the stars. Unfortunately it was all really, really, REALLY shitty dubstep, the kind you have to flee ASAP.  The next night, Thursday, we completely randomly ran across the “Anti-Temple of Breaks” party.

It was out at The Dancer, that gigantic statue of a dancing woman that graces the cover of this mix, and a rival faction of sound system art cars had the nerve to play progressive house and trance!  I was BEYOND EXCITED.  At the foot of this stunning piece of art, on of my favorites of all time, dance to prog trance at Burning Man??  And then, just when things couldn’t get any better, the DJ drops those distinctive chords from “Some Chords” causing my head to spontaneously explode (photo 25; the party, not my head exploding)

I’m curious, was anyone else there?  I’ll never forget that moment.

14. Deadmau5 - “Brazil”

Backstory: Well, we had a very special group of Cakers camping with us this year.  I’ve grown accustomed to my friends… how to put this… not making seeing me spin on the top of their priority lists.  And I don’t hold it against them, I’ve been playing for 13 years now, people have so much going on, especially at Burning Man, etc.  But this group was different.  Friday night I was supposed to have a final set at the Duck Pond but for some reason it didn’t happen.  Instead of scattering to the winds my camp-mates made me come back to our camp and play on our decks, just because they really wanted to hear me DJ again.

I can’t even express how happy that made me!  It was just like 15 of us but I almost had as much fun that night as the epic Duck Pond night.  I want to say thank you so much to all of you who were there and dancing.  I played this track that night, and I dedicate it to you now.  I don’t know if you realize how much we as DJs and friends appreciate your support.

My Forty Favorite Photos from BM 2010 (view with “PicLens” for an uninterrupted music stream)

DJ Jay - Bolivi’n It Up!

Last modified on 2010-06-25 18:52:54 GMT. 3 comments. Top.

*Español abajo*

Well folks, after a year year of living down here I’m on my way out of Bolivia. After some travels to Argentina and Brazil I’ll be back in the Bay around mid August. I just can not believe a year has gone by already, they just seem to fly by these days. And maybe not coincidentally this year has been chalk full of fantastic new experiences: new language, new food, new friends, new culture, a new love, new job, and maybe most relevant here, new music.

In “Bolivi’n It Up”* I tried to combine the music I’ve been playing down here, more easily accessible edm and pop-remixes, with the general vibe of living in La Paz: fast paced, energetic, a bit dirty and a lot of fun! We start of in a Bolivian bus station and just let the vibe flow from there. I thinks it’s a healthy fusion of styles, not veering too far into pop nor too deep into hard electro, and many of the tracks are pulled straight from my sets over the past year.

* Mad props out to my homie Bun Chan in Japan for inspiring that title. When are we gonna get you on the podcast Bun Chan??

If you enjoy the set half as much as I’ve enjoyed living in Bolivia I’ll have done something rite. Thanks for listening, and all my peoples in the Bay, I’ll see you soon!

DJ Jay - “Bolivi’n It Up!” (hacer click de derecho por guardar / right click and “Save as…” to download”)

Bueno amigos y amigas, me estoy yendo de Bolivia este fin de mes, después de haber estado por un año. No puedo creer que el tiempo hay pasado tan rápido! Tal vez una de las razones es es que ese año ha estado lleno de nuevas experiencias fantásticas: nuevo idioma, nueva comida, nuevos amigos, nuevo amor, nueva cultura, nuevo trabajo y nueva música también.

En “Bolivi’n It Up” he tratado de combinar música que he estado tocando aqui, sobretodo pox-remixes, con el ambiente general de vivir en La Paz: Ritmo rápido, energético, un poco sucio y muy divertido! Empezamos con en una estación de micros de bolivianos y dejamos que fluja el ambiente de ahí. Yo creoque es una fución saludable de estilos, no muy pop, no muy hard electro y muchas de las canciones son de mis sets de el último año.

Muchas gracias a todos mis amigos que colaboraron para que este año en Bolivia sea maravilloso; voy a extrañar Bolivia y a todos ustedes! Disfruten de esta mezcla!

Tracklist & photos / los conciones y fotos:

Tracklist:

1. Freestylers - “Bounce To This”
2. Gwen Stefani - “Wind It Up” - Kissy Sell Out Remix
3. Lady Gaga - “Paparazzi” - DJ Dan Club Mix - DJ Jay ‘Just Give it to Me’ Re-edit
4. Michael Jackson vs. Wolfgang Gartner - “Bad Flashback” - Johannes Dahlberg Mash
5. Calvin Harris - “Merrymaking At My Place” - Deadmau5 Remix
6. Calvin Harris, Deadmau5 & Krafty Kuts - “Merrymaking Phenomenon” - DJ Jay Mash-up
7. Black Eyed Peas - “Imma Be” - Wolfgang Gartner Remix
8. Paul & Luke - “Fuck The Police” - Paolo Ortelli & Degree Handcuffs Mix
9. N.A.S.A. - “Gifted” - Steve Aoki Remix
10. Armand Van Helden - “Funk Phenomena 2010″ - Starkillers 2010 Remix
11. Fatboy Slim feat. Lazy Rich - “Weapon Of Choice 2010″ - Lazy Rich Remix
12. Outkast vs Deadmau5 - “Ghosts Over Baghdad” - DJ Ellipsis Mashup Mix
13. MSTRKRFT ft. John Legend - “Heartbreaker” - Wolfgang Gartner Remix
14. Stereofunk - “Captain Funk” - Fukkk Off Remix
15. Notorious BIG x Wolfgang Gartner x Inaya Day - “Funk Nasty Girl”
16. Timbaland ft. Katy Perry - “If We Ever Meet Again” - Chew Fu Deja Chew Fix
17. Daft Punk VS MGMT - “Kids are Stronger” - Dj Moule Mashup

Some of my experiences in Bolivia over the past year / Algunas de mis experinencias en Bolivia eso año:

DJ Jay - Barons of Bump

Last modified on 2009-12-24 20:13:43 GMT. 5 comments. Top.

Super-awesome cover art by my new Bolivian gf Paola Lambertin (who I think will be personally offended if Daft Punk doesnt win this).

So I don’t know if you’ve noticed or not but we’re doing this little contest here at The Beatery trying to find the best producers of electronic dance music of the 2000s. Somewhere along the way (I think it was at Tiesto of all people…) it dawned on me that: fuck, I should really do a podcast with these Dons of Dance, these Behemoths of Beats, these Saints of Synths* all mixed together!

*Thank you, thank you, I’m here all night.

So I came up with some quick rules for this “So You Think You Can Bump” podcast:

1. Every contestant would get one, and only one song.
2. I would not be trying to include everyone’s “biggest” or “most memorable” or “definitive” track. Way too hard to put together anything with flow, and quite frankly, I’m sick to death of most of those*
3. I would not use a track (or the same mix of a track) that was ever on any of our sets. These guys are so prolific let’s hear some new stuff**
4. Any mix, re-mix, cover or mashup was fair game as long as the SYTYCB artist was somehow associated

* This is not to say I COULDN’T use one of these, it just wasn’t the priority.

** Like every good set of rules one of them needs to get broken, and for me it was number three. I used one track that appears elsewhere in a mix on this site. Can you catch it? It’s pretty obvious…

So with these rules in hand and 15 holes to fill I felt like the manager of and All Star game. Who do I start? When do I use the heavy hitters? With so many of these guys being multi-dynamic producers, what style should I have them represent? With so many different styles how do I get them to gel together?

Well, the need for flow made most of these decisions pretty easy. And now that the dust has settled I have to say I’m pretty excited about this mix! It’s not often that you have an excuse to only use the best producers in you set, and wow, what a result.

I hope you enjoy listening to this as much as I did making it! It’ll be a nice way to look back at an incredible period of dance music:

DJ Jay – “Barons Of Bump”

1. Stanton Warriors – “Bang”
2. Hookers & Blow – “Blow the Whistler” – (Mashup of Claud VonStroke and Too Short)
3. Steve Porter – “Rap Chop”
4. Bass Kleph – “Stitch” – Krafty Kuts Re-Rub
5. Deadmau5 vs. Busta Rhymes – “The Reward is Dangerou5”
6. Chris Lake – “Shake”
7. Modeselector – “Dancingbox”
8. Plump Djs – “The Rub Off”
9. Daft Punk – “Technologic” – Peaches No Logic Remix
10. Wolfgang Gartner – “Push and Rise”
11. Justice – “Dvno”
12. Röyksopp – “What Else Is There?” - Trentemøller Remix
13. Britney Spears – “Breath On Me” – Jame Holden Remix
14. Sasha - “Xpander” - Mark Norman Edit
15. Imogen Heap – “Hide and Seek” – Tiesto’s I still can’t find the god damn Sunrise Mix

So what do you think of all of our favs rocking together? If you had only one song to play from your fav producer* what would it be?

*Again, not quite the point of this set, but an interesting question no the less

DJ Jay - Electron Flow

Last modified on 2009-09-25 16:47:26 GMT. 5 comments. Top.

You hum… you excite… you arc and spark.  You are invisible to the human eye, yet you help it see the most microscopic of objects.  You can be a solid particle or an undefined probabilistic wave, depending on your mood.  You can be spun 360 degrees, only to show a new side of yourself.  People are always calling you negative, but you know it’s all relative.  You kick it with other sub-atomic particles, but you know you are better, stronger, faster… and a whole lot smaller.   You yearn to break out of your nuclear home, to flow free, to carry information, to change the world.  And you never… stop… moving…

For our 100th post on The Beatery I invite you into the world of the electron, and all they wonders it makes possible.  From the neurons in our brains, to the intricate workings of modern technology, we owe much of our existence to these sub-atomic marvels.  Step inside the stream and who knows where you’ll end up…

DJ Jay - Electron Flow (Right click and “Save as…” to download)

Tracklist, movies sampled and more after the jump, but don’t forget you can get your own personal flow of electrons to your computer every other week by subscribing to our podcast.  Enjoy!

Tracklist:

1. “On Off” - Cirez D - (With some samples from “Doppler” by Plump DJs thrown in)

2. “Another Last Cigarette” - Flavio Diaz

3. “Discotechno” - Sebastien Leger

4. “Wired”  - D.Ramirez feat. LDV

5. “Go” - Moby - Trentemøller Remix

6. “Louder Than Boom” - Tiesto - Extended Mix

7. “Brace Yourself” - Jochen Miller - Extended Mix

8. “Kidsos” - Sebastian Ingrosso - Wippenberg Remix

9. “Cafe del Mar” - Energy 52 - Deadmau5 Remix

Movies Sampled:

Sneakers

The Matrix

The Lawnmower Man

Star Trek: First Contact

Johnny Mnemonic

——

I’ve been wanting to make a techy set for years, but if I did it, I wanted to do it my way (read: spent hella days obsessing over it, almost giving up then throwing away half the tracks and starting over).  What do you think?  Can you get into the subatomic flow?

DJ Jay - El Gusto Es Mio

Last modified on 2009-07-31 21:44:05 GMT. 10 comments. Top.

Hola amigos y amigas!  I’m back on the podcast to serve you up a healthy portion of electro house, sweet progressive house & trance, some salted classic trance, a dash of spicy Latin house, all topped of with a bit of savory dubstep.  If you think this too much for one dish, have little faith in this veteran chef!  Turn it up and get ready to be taken on a musical journey that will surely have you shaking your nalgas every step of the way.

“El Gusto Es Mio”, or “The Pleasure is Mine”, is meant as introduction to the kind of music you will most likely hear me play out at a discoteca.  As I’m sure you all know, I’ve been living in Bolivia for the last month, learning Spanish at a breakneck pace, and getting ready to work in La Paz until February or so.  I would also love to DJ at some local clubs out here, so this set will also be the demo CD I hand out to folks.  Because I’m using the set as a promo, it’s  a little bit longer than we normally dish out here at The Beatery (one hour instead of 45 mins), but I’m sure you won’t mind ;)  You can also hear the Latin influence in the first few songs, as I am try to dial in my sound to the Latin American crowd a little bit.

Anyway, enjoy “El Gusto Es Mio” and please leave some comments to let me know what you think!

“El Gusto Es Mio” - DJ Jay (right click and “Save As…” to download)*

Tracklist and more comments after the jump (but no photos this time).  And remember, subscribe to out podcast to have these sets delivered directly to your itunes or other music player every other week!

*Not that I think many of you care that much, but I’ve provided this weeks podcast as a variable bitrate mp3 encoded using LAME.  All this means, basically, is that the music will sound really kick ass when played loud, but be much smaller than if it was encoded at 320 kb/s (but slightly larger than the 192 kb/s we usually give you).  Anyway, I want nothing but the best for you, our brilliant listeners!

Tracklist:

1. “Wamp Wamp” - DJ Deekline & Ed Solo - (Remix of Clipse)

2. “El Ritmo Del Amor” - Static Revenger feat. Sue Ling - Vocal Mix

3. “La Tromba” - Chris Lake & LYS

4. “Wolfgang’s 5th Symphony” - Wolfgang Gartner

5. “Tetris” - Electrixx

6. “Play” - Dive & Jin Sonic - Wolfgang Gartner Remix

7. “Hi Friend” - Deadmau5 feat. Mc Flipside

8. “Violet” - Stonewash & Fagault - Lazy Rich Remix

9. “Lifting Me High” - Jose Nunez & Harry Choo Choo Ro - DJ DLG Huge Remix

10. “Madagascar” - Art of Trance - Ferry Corsten Remix (Remastered 2009)

11. “I’m Not In Madagascar” - Calvin Harris, Deadmau5, Art of Trance & Ferry Corsten - DJ Jay’s Mashup*

12. “I Remember” - Kaskade & Deadmau5 - Caspa Remix

* Cor and I both were reminded of the classic trance anthem “Madagascar” when we first heard Calvin Harris’ “I’m Not Alone” so I decided to mash them up!  I’ll post the song by itself next week as a Bonus Beat.

The Golden Hour

Last modified on 2009-06-06 00:08:53 GMT. 4 comments. Top.

We’ve been bringing you a healthy dose of bangin beats here on The Beatery recently, so I figured this would be a good opportunity to take it down a notch… like I was a bizarro anti-Emeril.

I’m always paying visual attention to my surroundings, light in particular. There are these times of day, one hour before sunset and one hour after sunrise, where the world looks just a little bit different. The shadows are longer, colors are softer, warmer, and the world just seems to glow with this beautiful radiance not seen at any other time. Photographers call it “the golden hour”. For this podcast I’ve compiled a set of songs that give the world a similar beauty when I listen to them. Listening to songs like these I can be anywhere, on a bus, on BART, watching paint dry, whatever, and the world seems to have that same glowing sheen; like everything is going to be alright, no matter what. I hope they have the same effect on you, enjoy! Tracklist, discussions and more photos after the jump:

Right click and “Save as…” to download.

Tracklist:

1. Heaven – UNKLE – King Unique Remix
2. Light Through the Veigns – Jon Hopkins – Ewan Pearson Remix
3. Apollo – We Plants Are Happy Plants*
4. Highlife – Adam Parker – Sasha’s Invol2ver Remix**
5. It’s Not My Problem - Sneaky Sound System – Thin White Duke Remix***
6. Radio 101 – Pole Folder featuring Shelley Harland – Francesco Pico Remix
7. Engineers – Sometimes I realize – Sasha’s Invol2ver Remix

*Thanks to the guys over at Binary for turning me on to this track!

**How is this the “Invol2ver Remix” when it is a TOTALLY different version than he uses on his album “Invol2ver”? The one on Sasha’s mix is super minimal and doesn’t have the vocal at all. This should be “Sasha’s other remix that’s way better than the one on Invol2ver”. But maybe that was a little long…

***Thanks to the guys at Silence Killer for clueing me into this one!

Photos:

Here are some shots that I’ve taken during the Golden Hour all around the world. It’s so neat that from New York to the West Bank the Sun is the Sun, and the light it casts is the same (View using “PicLens” to listen and view photos at the same time.  Clicking on the photos will close the music player).

DJ Jay - Cover Me!

Last modified on 2009-05-05 16:19:51 GMT. 12 comments. Top.

For my first Beatery podcast I decided to play a bunch of songs that you might actually know!  I’ve recently built up a library of some pretty amazing remixes/covers of songs so I’m super stoked be be able to get a lot of ‘em into one set.  I love the flow of this mix, it builds nicely from some indie-dance type stuff into the big trancy finish with “Enjoy the Silence”.  I still remember Gianni (Bay Area DJ of yore) dropping that track at some random rave and my friends and I flipping out.   Ahhh the memories… Plus I’ve got a good cross sample of a bunch of the artist doing great remixes of current jams.  So which remix is your favorite??  Leave a comment and let me know!

Aaaand to grab your own copy, cick here and “saaaaaave as”! (that was my Bob Barker voice)

Tracklist:

1. Kids - MGMT - Soulwax Remix

2. Little Bit - Lykke Li - Villains Remix

3. Need You Tonight - INXS - Jon Gill Remix

4. Check it Out - Beastie Boys - Timoshi Remix

5. Me & Myself - Bendj feat. Sushy - Wolfgang Gartner Remix*

6. Umbrella - Rihanna - VNDLSM Remix

7. Wrong - Depeche Mode - DIM vs Boys Noize Remix

8. The Silence - Depeche Mode - Mike Koglin Remix

* OK so this isn’t technically a “cover song” or “pop music remix” but is sounds like one and I love it so, whatever.  Hey, my podcast, my rules

DJ Jay - There’s No Place Like Home

Last modified on 2009-05-04 20:27:40 GMT. 1 comment. Top.

So I was away in Japan for two years, teaching English and doing my DJ thing; and when I get back people are like “What, you still DJ??” or “I didn’t know you still played!” or “What are you doing back I though you were gonna marry a Japanese girl, make babies and eat rice in raw fish the rest of your life?”  OK, I guess they didn’t really ask that last one…  From my perspective I had established a successful series of parties* and was playing out somewhere at lest once a month, but for every one back at home I had slipped away into the either.  In order to get everyone all caught up on where I’m at musically I recorded this set a few months after I got back last year.  I really like it as it’s kinda a “best of” of a lot of the stuff I play in Japan and also has some tracks that I did a little bit of production on.  Enjoy, and let me know what you think!

Right click and “save as” to dld you very own copy!

Tracklist:

1. B.E.A.T. (Extended) - Justice

2. Silikon - Modeselektor - Sirusmo Remix

3. Shake With Steroids - BassKleph & Mr. Oizo - Jay’s Chemichaly Enhanced Mashup

4. Want 2 Need 2 - Sharon Phillips - Trentemoller Remix

5. Bollywood Beatdown - Stanton Warriors

6. Phantom - Justice - Hydroz Remix

7. Point & Clap - Elroy & Tom Piper - Matty Martinez Remix

8. Oh My God - Mark Ronson & Lily Allen - Chris Lake Remix

9. Tweaked Out - Splitloop

10. Guttersnipe - SnV - Chris Lake Remix

11. The Things You Say - Critical Mass - Diry South Remix

12. Cafe Del Mar - Energy 52 - Dabruck& Klein Mix- Jay’s “What You Thinking?” Edit

13. Groovezone - Eisebear - Hard Mix

14. Arcadia - Gabriel & Dresden

15. Not Exactly - Deadmau5

* SHINE!!  Shine was the name of my parties out in Japan, and I’m proud to say that as of this posting those parites are still going on in Aizuwakamatsu, fukushima Japan.  Keep rocking guys, I miss you!!

DJ Jay - Entropy Radio

Last modified on 2009-05-04 21:36:32 GMT. 2 comments. Top.

Its kinda funny that this is the first set I’m putting up on this here shiny new blog ’cause it’s the one that the fewest number of people have heard.  I don’t think even Cor’s heard it, and he has more of my sets than I do!  I recorded this on my way out to Japan a few years back hoping it would be the first in a series of podcasts that I could share with my peoples back at home while I was away.  Well, turns out that not only was this the first, it was the ONLY recording in that series.  And instead of putting it up on a blog or whatever it sat on my hard drive for two years gathering digital dust, only to be heard by a random smattering of peeps in Northern Japan.  So here you go, for your listening pleasure, the first and only broadcast of Entropy Radio!

Right-click and “save as…” to download

Track List:

Were you looking for a track list??  Yeah, about that… I gotta go dig through my basement ’cause I really can’t remember who did half of these songs.

Reflections:

While it does have its hic-ups, I’m still pretty high on this set.  I really like the over-all flow of it: we start of with some dark, proggy breaks, move into some lighter stuff, then into some driving prog/techy tracks before diving into a healthy dose of trance and, finally, a beautiful proggy breaks song to bring us full circle.  That’s really a lot of what I try to do as a DJ, take folks on a sort of musical journey.  Doesn’t always work, but that’s the idea.  I’m just pissed I flubbed so many of the mixes!  (>.<)  Well, that’s life before Abelton for you.  I think I recall me doing this only once, meaning to go back and try again and never getting around to it.

I’m really quite fond of the songs and mixes starting at 38:20.  It’s really hard to find trance like this these days, you generally get ultra-cheese, and that gives ALL trance a bad name!  Kinda like the frat boys of the collage scene.  Though I like the one before it as well* I think my fav mix of this set is the last one, into “These Days” by Petter.  I’m sure you all recognize this track from Sasha’s incredible mix CD “Involver”.  This is the original mix, not nearly as clean, shiny and…err, good as Sasha’s remix, but I didn’t wan the U.N.K.L.E. vocal in there.

* I really do <3 the part of this song, 53:40 in the mix, where the song explodes into that beautiful break beat and powerful melody.  It’s like fireworks.

DJ Jay - Fatbeats

Last modified on 2009-05-16 16:10:29 GMT. 8 comments. Top.

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.

DJ Cor & DJ Jay: Octane (2004)

Last modified on 2009-08-21 18:29:21 GMT. 3 comments. Top.

I love driving fast.  Cor loves driving fast.  Hella our friends love driving fast.  To pay homage to this need for speed, Cor and I got together five years ago to make this set, Octane, meant to be the soundtrack for that next stretch of road.

The concept was simple: combine as many songs as we could that made us want to drive with excessive speed.  The result however was far more than either of us had anticipated.  With all of its voice samples, varied styles, great mixes and kickass tracks, this set took on a life of its own and still delights to this day!   It moves from breaks to house, progressive to cybertrance, tribal to old-school rave, all while keeping that persistent, driving beat that urges you to go ever faster.

Whether it be your yearly pilgrimage to Black Rock desert, or just your daily commute, may Octane speed you to your next destination.  And just so you know: “On green I’m going for it.”

“Octane” – DJ Cor & DJ Jay – (one long track, right click and “Save as…”)

As we released this as a CD back in the day we have all the tracks cut up, zipped up and available to be downloaded in full 320 kbps glory!  Enjoy, just be careful: this set WILL get you into trouble.

“Octane” – DJ Cor & DJ Jay – (.zip file with tracks cut up, right click and “Save as…”)

Tracklist, movies sampled and more after the jump.

Tracklist:

1. Vanquish -Force Mass Motion Vs Dylan Rhymes
2. Scram - Plump DJs
3. Genesis - Cass and Slide
4. Break the Limit - Blue Amazon
5. Dirty Walter - Soul of Man
6. Overdrive - DJ Sandy vs Housetrap
7. Shiny Disco Balls (White Label Remix) - Who Da Funk
8. Go Speed Go - Alpha Team
9. Smart Bomb (Plump DJs Mix)- BT
10. Ultra - Trisco
11. Pistol Whip - Joshua Ryan
13. Curva Pelirosa - Weirdo
14. Winning’s Winning
15. Everywhere I Drum (Entropy Mashup) - Space Brothers & Ian Wilky vs Der Dritte Raum
16. Sparc - Futureshock
17. Open the Floodgates - Skynet UK

Movies Sampled:

Cannonball Run
The Blues Brothers
Bullit
The Fast and the Furious
Days of Thunder
Spaceballs
Apollo 13
Back to the Future

On a more personal note, Octane will always hold a special place in my heart as it is the only set Cor and I have actually worked on together.  I really think we brought out the best in each other and I love hearing our different styles weave in and out.  I hope you do too!

DJ Jay - Searching (2003)

Last modified on 2009-09-18 19:51:30 GMT. 0 comments. Top.

“Nothing seems to be more prominent about human life than its wanting to understand all and put everything together.” - Buckminster Fuller

This quote circles the edge of the disc that remains, in my mind, the best set that I’ve ever recorded.  To understand why I still like it so much I think you need to understand a bit about a DJ’s goals, and what we are trying to accomplish when putting together a mixed set of music.  I’ve talked about this some on my page, but when I put together a set, live or recorded, my goals are twofold:

1. To play great songs (and if live, great songs that make people wanna dance.)
2. To take my listening audience on musical journey;  to lead them from one place to another; to tell an aural story with a beginning, middle and an end, and to fill that tale with intrigue, romance, drama, tension, and ultimately resolution.

And like any good storyteller I like the plot to unwind smoothly, have the flow of the narrative come naturally, progress effortlessly from one chapter to the next.  Well, with Searching I believe I achieved these with better success than in any of my sets, before or since.

I think all the songs are fantastic*, the mixes (transitions from one part of the story to the next) range from good outstanding**, and the entire set, at least to me, has a wonderful flow: It starts off slow and dark, moves into intrigue, followed by bliss and a hint of romance, before diving into the drama and conflict.  The tension is ultimately resolved and it’s all kisses and snuggles as the story ends.

Bringing it back to the quote, as Bucky spells out I think we, all people, are all are constantly striving for understanding; searching for our place in this often crazy and mysterious world.  To me this set is a story of such a journey.  I hope you enjoy listening to it as much as I enjoyed making it.

DJ Jay - “Searching” - 2002 (right click and “Save as…” to download)

And as a special bonus, as we did with Octane, I have the individual tracks cut up, tagged, zipped and ready to be downloaded (right click and “Save as..” to download).  They’re in full 320 kb/s too, so bump it as loud as ya like!!

* It happens almost every mix: I come back and listen to it three or six months later and there’s invariably one song that I can no longer stand and I think “What on earth were you thinking putting that song in there??”.  Another reason I’m so enamored with this set, not a single one of those “whoops” tracks.

** Cor and I talk about this all the time: it’s really hard to have EVERY mix be great in a longer set.  We often run into the situation were we’ll have some great mixes in the beginning and line up of solid tracks in the end, but bridging the gap can prove very frustrating.  Incredibly here everything fell perfectly into place.

Tracklist and more after the jump!

1. “Apollo Vibes” - Pole Forter & CP

2. “Solitude” - Reza - Jondi & Spesh Remix

3. “Eastern Promise” - Decepticons

4. “Aphrodite” - Paris & Sharp

5. “First Light” - Ogenki Clinic (James Holden & Gwill Morris)*

6. “Travelogue” - Loafer

7. “Faith” - Starecase - Loafer Remix

8. “Heavy Fluid” - Yum Yum - Main Element Remix

9. “Sacred Cycles” - Pete Lazonby - Quivver Remix**

10. “Into The Dawn” - Arcadia - James Holden Remix*

11. “All Because of You” - Universal State of Mind - Sunday Club Mix

12. “Home Page” - Brittany

* Here are those two James Holden songs I mentioned in his So You Think You Can BUMP post.  It’s amazing how much better they sound in context, “First Light” so warm and pretty as we’re getting warmed up and “Into the Dawn” the climax of the entire set.

** “Sacred Cycles” is one of my favorite trance songs of all time.  The original is OOOOLD, 1994 I believe, and Quivver’s remix nothing short of brilliant, and absolute clinic on how to build a progressive trance song that’s equally dancy and immaculately produced.

My favorite part: Quivver builds up all the parts throughout the song until they’re all in during the breakdown at 4:50 (if you’ve downloaded the individual tracks, 56:40 on the continuous mix).  He then drops the track to beat and you’re thinking “man, it’s one of THOSE tracks, the ones that never give you all the parts AND the beat together *frown*”.  But wait!  At 5:34 (57:22) he brings back!  All the parts together, with the beat, for one last glorious hurrah!  And then *poof* it’s gone… Kinda like when you turn around to get one last look at that really cute girl (or guy) who you shared a smile with, and it just so happens that she’s glancing back at you the very same instant!  Your eyes meet, you smile again, then *poof*… it’s over.

DJ Jay - Electric Relaxation (2001)

Last modified on 2009-09-04 18:11:50 GMT. 1 comment. Top.

Wow, this set is old.  The graphic there is a scan of the CD I still have kicking around from nine years ago.  Just look at that: “Paradox”.  That was my DJ name before switching to the more “serious sounding” Austin Gregory, and it was because of music like this set that I felt compelled to make the move.  While I had been messing around with progressive stuff for a while, this set was like my official announcement: “Hey world, I’m a progressive house/trance DJ!!!”

And you know what, it still holds up today. It’s got some absolute classics on here: “Lupus” and “Xpander” by Sasha, “The Sway” my favorite song by my home town heroes Jondi & Spesh, some great Cass & Slide tracks in the height of their progressive powers and “Sunrise” by Space Shuffle, a record I’d been trying to get from Cor for the longest (when did he ever play progressive stuff?), and finally convinced him to give me on the caveat that I ended a set with it.  It’s got these chimes and ocean noises that just kind bliss you out as you drift away… fantastic ending song.

So sit back, plug in, and enjoy some vintage Progressive Trance and House like mama used to make for you on those rainy winter days.

DJ Jay - “Electric Relaxation”

Track list and more after the jump!

A peak inside the mind of a DJ: my original track list/notes on this set!  Before Ableton Live this was about as technical as it got.  I kept all my ideas for mixes in this book since I started DJing in 1997, and by some miracle I still have it today!  Ahh, the memories.

1. “Hong Kong” - John Johnson

2. “Urban Static” - Ortus

3. “Lupus” - Sasha - Jimmy Van M / Cass & Slide Remix

4. “Raincry” - Scott Hardkiss - Jondi & Spesh Remix

5. “The Sway” - Jondi & Spesh*

6. “France” - THK

7. “Closure” - Slide

8. “Perception” - Cass & Slide

9. “Xpander” - Sasha

10. “Dirty Logic” - Deep Funk Project

11. “Sunrise” - Space Shuffle

* I still, to this day, remember the first time I heard this song.  I was at 1015 Folsom (San Francisco super club from the days of yor), in that little side room to the left and up the stairs from the main dance floor (if your facing the DJ).  I think it mighta been when Cor, I and some other homies went out to see Paul Van Dyk… anyway, I was up there taking a break from the main room when I heard this song with these haunting voices, and unique sounding synths, the likes of which I’d never heard before, and HAD to know who it was.  I remember the DJ booth being inaccessible but it turned out it was the DJs last song.  When I asked him about it he replied sheepishly that the track was his, and would be released some time in the next year!  That was how I first met local San Francisco DJ/production/Qool icon, and personal DJ role model “Spesh”.

Paradox & DJ Cor - Bump in the Night (200?)

Last modified on 2009-10-30 05:39:34 GMT. 3 comments. Top.

Mwahahahaha! Halloween is finally upon us, and to celebrate we present you with the second in our series of spooky retro mixes: a super-rare versus set Jay and I recorded for a Halloween party way back in… damn, when was this? Judging from the tracks I’d say this was in 2000, but it’s hard to know for sure; I barely remember recording this one. Big thanks to Dustin for getting this to me, as he had what appears to be the only copy of this long-forgotten CD. Even Jay and I haven’t heard this in years.

Listening back now, Jay’s set definitely sounds a lot more Halloween-y than mine, I love the dramatic cello-driven trance tracks and the Psycho theme in there. His set has better flow and mixing as well… You know, on second thought, don’t listen to my set. Maybe I forgot this CD on purpose. Ah hell, it’s too late now, it’s out there, for better or worse. Trick or treat, you decide.

Paradox - Bump in the Night

DJ Cor - Bump in the Night

Cor vs Paradox - Bump (2000)

Last modified on 2009-07-10 17:22:17 GMT. 7 comments. Top.

Ah, here’s a Cor and Jay tape for the ages. We recorded this as a give-away for a “rave” we threw in the pizza junction at UC Santa Cruz in 2000. If memory serves, we recorded about 40 copies of this tape from one master copy on our dual-deck tape recorder… a process that took us weeks. These days all I have to do to propagate it anew is record the tape one last time and throw it on the internets. Yes, I love technology.

This tape marks the point where Jay and I started to break apart stylistically (although we’ve started merging back together in recent years thanks to the rise of electro house.) I had started phasing out the trance in favor of house music, changing my name from the trancy “Paradigm” to plain ol’ DJ Cor (all the house DJs just used their first names… DJ Dan, Tony, Garth, etc.) It was a relief to both Jay and I to finally diverge a bit. We no longer struggled to define our DJ “sounds” from one another, we didn’t need to argue over which one of us would get to feature mutually beloved songs on our mixes, and best of all, we could record tapes like this one, with a variety of styles. There’s something here for everyone.* I kick things off on side A with some hard & funky house, while Jay rocks side B with some classic hands-in-the-air anthem trance. It’s a flashback mix, no doubt, and certainly sounds dated at this point, but we still love it. What do you think? Do any of these tracks bring you back to your raving days?

*Provided everyone enjoys either house or trance music circa 2000.

Bump Side A - DJ Cor (Right click to download)

Bump Side B - Paradox (Right click to download)