Right now I’m in Stockholm streaming Billy Ocean over spotify and enjoying the pleasant feeling that it’s toooooo much rain outside…I simply just don’t have to feel guilty about staying in .

…and somehow when it’s like this, even thou I’m a futuristic-beat-lover, I just feel like going commercial-retro. I used to work in a clothing store …this cheesy print-it yourself company…like a AA but for ; Scandinavia women-  plus 50- that liked viscose ANYWAY me and the girls that used to work there either played latin-style music on the floor (because that would somehow up sales…I guess the women got dreamy and started to reminisce to their Spanish vacations) Or we played this cd with Chaka Kahn …and I remember how much I ADORED ‘I love you, I live you‘. I would always make me so happy, the dull felt totally ok…it is without a doubt approved also as a feelgood song for rain Sundays like this…

… ok if I can come with one feelgood recommendation for today that is of the new kind. I would say go for Lucinda Slim & The lonestars;

…. ‘All this time’

loove,hugs and kisses

//Kissey

www: Kisseyasplund.com

Twitter: /kisseyasplund

blog: Somewhatstrangelife.blogspot.com

I don’t know how I miss this, but I did.  From the land of my old stomping grounds, Wale, Tabi Bonney, The Five One is a band out of the DMV(DC, Maryland, Virgina).  The Five One consists of 4 members represented by colors: Red, Blue, Green and Gold, and they actually wear their colors so not to be confusing.

“By personifying Colors they are expressing themselves not only with the art they create but as art itself, which represents a lack of emphasis on individual identity, and an emphasis on creating music that strives to speak for everyone.”

In the beginning in 2009, The Five One set out to release a remix/cover every week on Thursday. The project is called 5109: The Remix Album. They have remixed everyone to Lykke Li, White Stripe, Kanye West, Kenna, Bob Marley and more. So far they have 18 remixes which are available for free download. Personally, I am really digging the Vampire Weekend remix entitled District of Colossus. Check out the video below and help yourself to some free music.

District of Colossus from Deuce Day World on Vimeo.

It was only time before we see a game similar to Guitar Hero made for DJing.  Now, being a DJ, I’m not sure how I feel about this.  It could be a good thing or it could be a very bad thing.

According to the game’s creator Activision press release, “The company’s groundbreaking DJ Hero expands Guitar Hero’s signature social gaming to all-new consumers with the addition ofdiverse music genres including hip-hop, R&B, Motown, electronica and dance.  Introducing an all-new innovative turntable controller, DJ Hero transforms players into DJs who rule the club scene by creating original mixes of popular songs and music from the world’s most exciting artists and DJs.”

They are already have the site djhero.com where you can sign up to be notified when it launches.  I’m not sure how the controller(pictured above) will work.  It is rumored it might worked like Japanese arcade Beatmania shown below(via College News).

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f9K7QZl2Lzg]

One good thing I could see is that game maker could approach labels like Stones Throw, Mad Decent, Kitsune, Rhymesayers to get their music in the game.  On the other hand, they may push remixes of Jonas Brothers, and American Idol songs.

DJ Benzi returns to Milwaukee on Saturday, April 18th to Moct in Milwaukee and Rhythm Lab and Needledrop proudly welcomes him. Originally from Michigan, Dj Benzi has become one of the most influential and prolific mixtape DJs in the world.

In the past two years Benzi’s buzz has skyrocketed on the strength of his patented “refixes,” especially the refreshing work he has done with the Clipse and Lil Wayne on the popular “We Got The Remix” series. DJ Benzi is most known for his creative twist on bridging the club/DJ culture with that of commercial hip-hop.

Over the last two years Benzi has also been on the road rocking shows all over the world and performing along side talent such as Diplo, the Clipse, the Cool Kids, Mick Boogie, and many other big names.

He is currently working on his own debut called “Get Right” Amalgam Records. Check out his latest mixtape called Going Home featuring up and comer Donnis. You can dowload it for free here.

Donnis – Go Home (Prod. Chaise Marcel)
[audio:http://www.s62878.gridserver.com/motivation3/donnis_x_chaise_marcel_-_go_home_(motivation_part_3!).mp3]

DJ Benzi | Live @ Entourage | Oslo, Norway | 03.29.09 from www.djbenzi.com on Vimeo.

On Saturday, April 4th at Turner Hall Ballroom in Milwaukee one of the most premier events in hip hop will take place.  It is the Miltown Beat Down Hip Hop Olympics: Battle of Champions.  Over the last two months beatmakers, producer have been competing for a chance to be crowned the best beatmaker/producer in Milwaukee. I have been to most of the battles throughout the course of the two months, and I have heard some of the most amazing production that Dilla, Madlib, and other would have been blown away by.  This is actually the fourth year this event has been going on and has been getting bigger every year. The Beatdown is organize by my friend and co-worker Jordan Lee aka DJ Madhatter of the legendary Rusty Ps.

As an active member of the Milwaukee Hip Hop community, Dj Madhatter is very aware of the social, economic and cultural segregation within our city. With the Miltown Beat Down, we hope that area Hip Hop artists will have a platform free of any barriers with which they can come together and share a stage and audience. The battle has always been an important part of Hip Hop culture, and is one of the primary roots of the genres existence. This event aims to bring together Milwaukee artists of all ages, races and cultures. Our goal is for Milwaukee artists to bridge gaps, and find ways to collaborate with a neighbor whom they may have otherwise never had an opportunity to work together.

Hip Hop is more than music, it goes beyond dance and sounds, it is about culture, history and skills. It was born of the same societal ills we see youth facing today; lack of jobs and economic opportunities, violence in our neighborhoods, schools, and at home, broken families, gangs, under-funded schools and lack of community resources. Hip Hop is a tool and a culture in itself that allows for positive change in one’s life and promotes the true meaning of “community”. Few social movements have been as effective as uniting cultures as Hip Hop has been for over 30 years.

The event is partnerd with the organization True Skool which mission is to use cultural arts to educate and empower youth from different backgrounds and cultures to become leaders for positive social change in their communities.

The finals will be held this coming Saturday besides me being a judge, there will be special guest judges Questlove from the Roots, Masta Ace and Diamond D. This event is not to be missed.

Miltown Beat Down Week 8 Recap from Miltown Beat Down on Vimeo.

Check this cover of MGMT’s Kids made on iPod touch and iPhone by UK’s The Mentalists using only apps downloaded from the Apple App Store. Apps used Ocarina, Retro Synth, miniSynth, DigiDrummer Lite.

Apple Introduces Revolutionary New Laptop With No Keyboard

You go to love The Onion. They have mastered the art of the parody, and you can beat this quote, “I buy anything that is shiny and made by Apple”.

It looks like Swedish group Peter, Bjorn and John are going to have the 2009 version of “Young Folks”.  The song is apparently called “Nothing to Worry About”.  Could this song be the official song for the global economic crisis.  Guess who leaked the tune. None other than Kanye West. (via Sound Verite)

WORLD PREMIERE … THEY SENT THE SONG TO ME FIRST! PETER BJORN & JOHN… SHIT IS DOPE!! DRUMS ARE CRAZY AND I LIKE THE KIDS ON THE HOOK. THERE NEW ALBUM IS CALLED “LIVING THING” ….. WITH ALL THAT SAID I DON’T KNOW THE NAME OF THE SONG… LOL!!!… I’M GONNA ASSUME IT’S CALLED, “NOTHING TO WORRY ABOUT”

Check it out for yourself

Peter, Bjorn and John – “Nothing to Worry About” (download)
[audio:http://www.needledrop.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/04-nothing-to-worry-about-mp3.mp3]

Here at Needledrop we will be starting a podcast simply called “The Drop”.  The first episode will be all on women producers from a variety of genres.  One of the producers we are planning to feature is an artist by the name of Rucyl out of NYC. Not only is she producer, she  is also a singer and founder of the label Elektrocardio.   This is not what sets her apart from other artists. Here is the kicker she also is an inventor with a keen fashion sense. 

She recently invented the Elektro-07. What is an Elektro-07? Well it is wearable MIDI controller.  For those who are not to familar with what MIDI is, it stands for Musical Intrument Digital Interface and it allows electronic instruments to communicate with computers and each other. 

She constructed her wearable MIDI controller from black leather and snakeskin.  You place the controller over your shoulder and comes with all the bells and whistle and electronic artist would need. Here is Rucyl’s description of her creation (via Synthopia): 

“I built the elektro-07 so I could control the sonic and visual parameters of my live performances without having to look deep into the eye of my laptop, hunched over in computer music stance. I’m still learning how to play it.. Software wise, it runs a maxMSP/Jitter patch smoothly, connected to my laptop by a long usb cable. Major thanks to Luke DuBois. “Originally it was named the Chakakhantroller after Chaka Khan… but you wouldn’t believe how many people don’t get the reference.. so I changed it to Elektro-07 after my newly launched label, Elektrocardio.”

Mills promises that the next version will be wireless.

I would love to see her perform her music with this device.  It definitely takes the impersonal feeling when watching a laptop artist perform live. Some of her weapons of choice are her mac, max/msp/jitter , and Logic Studio 8 

Rucyl – “Love in War v3″
[audio:http://www.needledrop.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/love-in-war-v3.mp3]

Rucyl – “Abused with Asrtrid Suryanto and Chris Bann
[audio:http://www.needledrop.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/abused-w_-astrid-s-and-chris-b-1.mp3]

Create Digital Music » Sexy Computer Nerd: Rucyl Mills’ Wearable, Over-the-Shoulder MIDI Controller

It is one of our favorite web shows that cover everything cutting edge in tech, art and music. They have 150 episodes over the last 2 1/2 years.

About Epic Fu

“Geek” culture is what we’re about, and it’s the new cool culture for this generation. Being a geek is all about having a passion for something—films, bands, technology, video games, going green—and that passion makes you totally kick ass! EPIC FU is all about stoking the flames of geek passion, and therefore improves your kick to ass ratio with every viewing.

Created by Zadi Diaz and Steve Woolf, EPIC FU is a new way of thinking about popular culture — it’s about conversation and interaction. Entertainment is a two-way street now.

It actually simulates real word gear such as mixers, effect pedals, and even the classic 808 and 909 machines. Hobnox’s Audiotool is a part of the site’s Noxtools which also include a package called Livetool which allows you to create web shows and there is the Library which you can upload your creations, find samples and share your work with the world.

Check out some of the compiled creations that Andre Michele a programmer that works for Hobnox. Not really my type of music, but you can hear what Audiotool can do. I would love to check out maybe some hip hop beats, or even some dubstep.

Hobnox continues to add new feature to their Audiotool online application such as MIDI support, so I can see this becoming a pretty robust tool. Will it replace tools like Ableton Live, or Reason? I don’t think so in the near future, but who knows in 3-5 years from now.

Here is a little tutorial on how to use Hobnox’s Audiotool, once you seen go make something and post it back here, and if it is real good we will play it on Rhythm Lab Radio.

About Hobnox:

Hobnox is an online entertainment and publishing platform, a network for creatives and their fans. We unite broadcast-quality web media with cutting edge community-enabling technology. With Hobnox, an international media corporation is born. Created for artist by artists, Hobnox combines the best of current web entertainment with the newest technological possibilities of the internet to create fascinating opportunities for both artists and audiences.

On hobnox.com artists can present their content to the community, work on projects, collaborate and connect with like-minded artists. It will be the online platform for the creation and presentation of sophisticated web-entertainment. It will be a meeting point, a stage, a workshop and eventually a marketplace for creative content. In July 2008, these aspirations were awarded with the Grimme Online Award.

As some of you may know, the polaroid camera is all but dead.  The company will cease to make film for the cameras by the end of 2009. This is very unfortunate.  There have been quite few photographers who have made Polaroid cool again such as our man Rony.  But don’t worry (sort of).  There is a real cool little app that allows you to create polaroids from your digital photos, and it does a pretty good job of it.  The free application is called Poladroid.  Currently it is for the Mac (that is how we do it).  However, there is a PC version on the way.  The little app takes your digital pure photos and make them imperfect like a Polaroid.  It gives your photo an organic look. (via Veronica Belmont)

Here are some of the features:

• Easy to use : Drag & Drop
• Generate High-resolution pictures (400 dpi), “ready-to-print” with a Polaroid design
• Funny : only 10 treatments per session, like the content of a cartridge ; interactive (look at the demo below) ; random and realistic Polaroid-like colors variation…
• and more…

Check out some examples here.

Check this video out

Just recently, my headphones finally broke.  I have been looking for a new pair of dj headphones.  While I was looking, I came across these headphones called Beats by Dre.  Yes, you heard correct headphones designed by Dr. Dre.  The headphones are manufactured by Monster (the same people who make the monster cables).  The headphones have been getting critical praises, and $350 I surely hope so.

Dre, who for three years collaborated with Jimmy Iovine, chairman of Interscope Geffen A&M Records, and audio “connectivity” company Monster to create the Beats, says his goal was to give people a way to “hear what the artists hear and listen to the music the way they should — the way I do.”

However, I don’t know if I’m ready to pay $350 for headphones unless I come into some small windfall, but I can dream.

I love turntables because you can actually touch the “music”. However, this cat by the name of Scott Hobbs took the concept of “touching music” one step further by creating this prototype digital turntables called Attigo TT. He created this for his thesis. Damn.  He basically has two touch screens about the size of a turntable, and he uses the song’s waveform as the “wax”.  Then with his hands he can mantiulated just like you would with a regular record.  It looks like he is using the Mac Operating system for the platform.  Check out these videos for a demostration.  You can see other videos here. (via engadget)

Final Product // ATTIGO TT from Scott Hobbs on Vimeo.

Final Technology // User Testing from Scott Hobbs on Vimeo.

In a previous post, I mentioned a cool device called the Pacemaker. Think of it as turnables and a mixer meets the iPod. Well the company who created the Pacemaker just launch a new social network for DJ mixes. They also give you free software to create your mixes and publish to the site and share with everyone.  You can do loops, beat match and effects with the software. However, you can only publish it to the site. You can’t save to it an audio file. I have been playing around with it and once I figure it out I will share my mix with y’all. Check out this mix someone did here.

(Screengrab of the software interface)

Could this be the end of the DJ(like me)? I doubt it, but it is fun. Give it a try and let me know if do a mix by posting it in the comments section.