For the past 14 months, I have been working with my friend Max in my free time to create an iPhone app. It’s called Cue Play DJ, and it is basically the best mobile DJing solution available for any platform other than your laptop.
We set out to make something that would distill the experience of Traktor and put it into your hand. I think we have succeeded, but I would love for you all to check it out yourselves.
One of the best parts of the project for me has been showing it to my DJ friends. From Ferry Corsten, who was on-board the project at a very early stage and has been incredibly supportive, to Mike Koglin, who literally could not let go of the app, to all the DJs who play with me at my residency at Club Joule, it has been an absolute blast to see people realize what we can do on mobile devices now. A radio DJ who does the lunchtime slot daily for Tokyo radio station J-Wave (www.j-wave.co.jp) is even going to use our app on an iPad to DJ his next non-stop megamix!
The best part is, it is only going to get better. Mikami-san always told me that getting into the nitty gritty parts of production from zero to the finish line was the best way to learn things, and he could not have been more correct.
Anyways, if you are interested in the app and want a promo code, I will pick a few people from the comments and send one out. Make sure to include your email address in the required field so I can get ahold of you.
When epic trance was at it’s peak, Ferry Corsten (aka System F) signed a contract with Avex, who was seriously cashing in on the trend with the CyberTrance series and ridiculously packed nights at a club in Tokyo called Velfarre, owned by the label.
One of Ferry’s obligations for this was an album titled Together, that was a bit too cheesy for even the early 2000s vocal trance scene. But within that CD, there were a few gems, the most under appreciated a track called Spaceman. I heard it again today on a genius playlist and I remembered how absolutely awesome an Epic track it is. The “Love is Gravity” lyric begs to be played at decibel levels that can cause permanent damage.
Of course, the end of the contract with was a track called Cyber F (it was too cheesy for the now retired System F moniker), and produced under Ferry’s alias Delaquente, which translates loosely to contractual obligation.
Just to indulge in a bit of narcissism, but I really like this picture of me DJing.
I uploaded the rest of the pictures from Club Loom this month onto Flickr, Facebook, and my blog gallery.
This is definitely the first track of 2008 that has made me say wow. Absolutely incredible.
This Sunday, I have to leave very early in the morning for a week stint in Tokyo, but not even a trip would stop me from my Saturday night plans… Swedish House music finally invades Osaka.
AXWELL @ GRAND CAFE!
It may not be the nicest club in Osaka, but they have one of the better sound systems, and it’s fucking AXWELL!!!!!!!!!11111111oneoneoneoneoneunounounounouno!
If you want to go, just leave me a comment!
The new Seal CD, System, is absolutely amazing. Stuart Price, the guy who produced Madonna’s Confessions is an absolute genius at creating this type of pop dance album, and this is probably his best work. It comes out next week, and it comes highly recommended by me.
Tomorrow I have the day off, so I am going bed/furniture shopping in Horie. I haven’t been down there in a while, so I am looking forward to walking around and shopping, but to be honest, it is a bit sad to have to go do it alone. If you want to tag along, feel free to give me a shout. I’ll probably be down in Shinsaibashi from the early afternoon.
I’m also going to be working on creating a demo mix cd, so I need to pick up some records/and or Serato Scratch Live! or a CDJ to put together something really good.
Finally, Call of Duty 4 is ridiculously good.
Hopefully I won’t have any surprise business trips in October, because as it stands right now, one of the only hip-hop groups I really enjoy will be playing at Club Triangle on 10/27.
If you’ve never heard Dilated Peoples, it is what hip hop should be:
Nice weekend these past few days.
I took Friday off and went with Mai to Universal Studios Japan. I quite like their Hollywood Dream roller coaster, even if it is incredibly tame. It has some good elements.
I doubt anyone remembers, but iNgen was the name of the genetics company in Jurassic Park. I loved that movie so much, I wanted to be a geneticist in elementary school.
After USJ, we hit up Chicago Rib Co., where I indulged in some tasty baby backs and breaded chicken wings. They were excellent as always, but I prefer the ribs at Outback. Anyone want to go with me?
After that, I saw Ratatouille, which was brilliant, genius, and exceed my lofty expectations at every turn. I absolutely adore that movie. It proves that no matter the medium, plot/story is essentially about crafting a common human experience in varying molds. You could teach a course on this and use Ratatouille as the text. It is essentially the same plot as Cyrano de Bergerac; however, it makes interesting decisions all along the way. The movie was about food and a rat, but it could have been about motorcycles and a cripple, or artists and a blind man. Absolutely excellent.
Saturday I was lazy all day with Mai, then at night I DJed at an event called Eden. It was small, but quite fun.
Finally, today I slept off the long night, and watched an excellent film from Hong Kong called Protege. It is a Derek Yee movie starring Daniel Wu, Andy Lau, and Zhang Jingchu (who will be in Rush Hour 3 and is absolutely captivating). I can only describe it as Requiem for a Dream meets Infernal Affairs, with more Requiem elements than Infernal Affairs. Ultimately, it is flawed in parts, but it doesn’t compromise for a happy ending and it leaves you with both questions and a message. Definitely seek it out if you can find it.
On the gaming front, I beat Rainbow Six Vegas, which had one of the worst endings ever. I really loved the game, and I can’t wait to dig into multiplayer; however, I was turned off by the ending. That being said, I can wholeheartedly recommend the game for fans of shooters. It was good fun to think about how to approach situations, and it doesn’t have the skull crushing difficulty of previous R6 games. I’m also getting into Minna no Golf 5, which is quite fun. I haven’t tried the online yet beyond browsing the lobby, but I am looking forward to getting into it.
I also bought the 20th anniversary Metal Gear boxset.
Here is some more information on the club gigs I’ll be playing.
July 21, 2007
-Colors Weekender- @ Club Zing, Shinsaibashi (Close to Nipponbashi, Namba, Shinsaibashi Stations)
Deep Lounge DJs
ATSUJI/FASTER/FREEBASS from UK/GURU GURU/HUKKU/JAY from USA/MASAKI from KOBE/SHO/QURE 3000 from KYOTO/AND SPECIAL SECRET GUEST DJ from RELOADED TOKYO
Sky Lounge DJs
FRANKIE G from USA/FULL BAR/JP from USA/KENJI MARUI/NOBURIN/ST-ONE
OPEN 11PM to MORNING
DOOR 2500 yen (1 Drink)/ WITH FLYER 2000 yen (1 Drink)
Email me for Guest List – Probably 1500 yen (1 Drink)
CLUB ZING
July 28, 2007
EDEN – Spiritual Uplift Stage Vol. 2- @ Cauliflower, Amemura (Close to Shinsaibashi Station)
Resident DJs
DJ MASTER AZIA♂（EDEN）
ＣーＣＯ♂（peacEï¼ äº¬éƒ½ï¼‰
DJYASUTOMO♂(FCA/DE-CODE)
Ryoga★StarDust♂（EDEN）
ＥＶＥ♀（jesus☆Christ)
Special Guest DJ
JP from USA
Open 2100 – 0700
Door 1200 yen (1 Drink)
Guest 1000 yen (1 Drink)
Cauliflower is in the basement below Ajiho Takoyaki.
CLUB CAULIFLOWER
Finally, check out this awesome picture. Some clouds got hung up on the mountains outside the city and created their own mountain range.
The iPhone has well exceeded the hype. Considering what it enables with its browser and the possibility for open development, it very well could change the world.
A device with this ease of use and mobility, coupled with a social networking platform could create true mobile social networking. Imagine if google maps could display other iphone users with similar interests in that are logged on in your area. What if you could find out that the person sitting on the other end of the starbucks likes the same 1980s cliche cinema that you do.
Not only does this have the opportunity to make us more social, clever creatures – it provides a gateway to technology experiences that introduce non-core users to the true ideas behind social technologies. If Time magazine says “you” are the person of 2006, the iPhone will allow you to express why in 2007 and beyond. I am 100% drunk on this Steve Jobs-spiked cool aid.
BTW: Check out this picture I took downtown today.
