WeapLovesYou

It’s been a hectic and interesting few months in my world but I’ve come out the other end with some fresh perspective on myself, on the local Chicago music scene, and the people involved in that scene. I also feel that I have a better understanding of how I fit into everything. It’s been humbling at times, but in the end I feel much more comfortable in my own skin at this point and I think it’s going to help me to be a better DJ and maybe even a better person in general.

As is often the case, these periods of self discovery I tend to go through lead to periods of silence on this blog. I hope to be posting with more frequency going forward since I believe that I’ve broken through some of the obstacles that have held me back from posting in the past (insecurities, ethical dilemmas, etc.).

One issue that I want to make clear to all my readers is that, while I have a strong affinity for physical media (vinyl records in particular), I am by no means a “vinyl purist”. I don’t go to clubs with DJs playing and think any less of those that are using some sort of vinyl emulation software (Serato, Traktor, Etc.) or any other combination of digital tools to play live. If someone rocks the party, they rock the party, regardless of what they use to do that. That being said, vinyl culture is a significant part of the DJ heritage and I think it’s just as relevant today as it was when pioneering DJs like Francis Grasso and David Mancuso were changing the face of nightlife. To me the act of searching through stacks of records trying to find those few plates that stand out to you gives one a greater appreciation of the music they attain and play. To quote DJ Shadow – “Digging isn’t going to make a bad DJ good, but it will make a good DJ better”.

So, enough about that. The bottom line is I like records and hope they will continue to be pressed but I’m also all about pushing things forward, and the internet and digital media has done a lot to help creative people whose voices would not otherwise been heard get their productions out to the masses. In the end it’s all about balance.

Finally, I’m not a technophile in any right, but I’ve taken some time this morning to figure out how to embed songs/mixes etc from Soundcloud in my posts. I love this feature because Soundcloud is a terrific forum that artists can make their songs available for people to listen to while maintaining some control over how the material is distributed. I’ll be using this method to draw attention to acts I’m into a lot going forward. To get started here are a few tracks I like. Follow the links to Soundcloud to learn more about the artists and hear more great stuff.

Greymatter – Raw Root (Klic Remix)

The Smiths – Barbarism Begins At Home (Tim Zawada Edit)