Across The Sea To The Sky

More grade A balearic mystery meat from Robotique! If you missed it, be sure to grab their recent Astral Dancer mix too.


Robotique - Across The Sea To The Sky by Robotique Philadelphia

Diffusion

For some reason this song makes me want to play Galaga...
Tristes Tropiques - Diffusion by tristestropiques

Crazy Bout You

DBJ friend & sonic wizard Peter Dragontail's premier release on Young Robots drops today! It's a slab of peak hour goodness, complete with infectious vocals and HUGE piano breaks. I've been testing this out for the past few months around Philadelphia & the response is great every time. Somehow it always turns into a sing-along with crowds who've never heard it before. So grab a copy and file it under "Anthem." You can pick up the single at Turntable Lab or wherever fine digital music is sold. Plus there's a free download from RCRD LBL below.



Peter Dragontail f/ Maggie Horn - Crazy Bout You by Young Robots Records

Midnight Kids For Japan

Midnight Kids For Japan is a compilation album brought to you by KC.93 Records & Radio, the music label of Midnight Kids Academy. The album consists of new and unreleased music by KC.93’s roster of over 46 musicians from different corners of the world such as the United Kingdom, Germany, China, and various regions of the United States. All proceeds from the album will go towards GlobalGiving’s Japan Earthquake and Tsunami Relief Fund. Purchase of album includes bonus cover artwork by various MDNK artists.

Black Fusion - In Japan from Tom Hardy on Vimeo.

DJ Apt One - Happy Birthday Larry Levan

This is a live mix I made for Disco Bits - a tribute to the great Larry Levan they asked me to put together for his birthday. LL had a unique way of DJing, and I'm not trying to emulate him here or trying to play the "Best Of" the Garage. Just some rad Garage Classics in tribute to a rad dude. Enjoy.

Disco Bits Mix Series Vol. 4 - Happy Birthday Larry Levan (Live) by DJ Apt One

Tracklist-

1. Minnie Ripperton – Adventures In Paradise
2. Carly Simon – Why (12″ Mix)
3. Aleem with Leroy Burgess – Confusion (12″ Mix)
4. Gayle Adams – Love Fever (12″ Mix)
5. Mona Rae – Do Me
6. Ashford and Simpson – Stay Free
7. Voyage – I Love You Dancer
8. Central Line – Walking Into Sunshine
9. Rockers Revenge with Donnie Calvin – Rocking On Sunshine
10. Tony Lee – Reach Up (Mastermix)
11. The System – You Are In My System (12″ mix)
12. Level 42 – Starchild
13. The Limit – She So Divine (Mastermix)
14. Dan Hartman – Vergito / Relight My Fire
15. Diana Ross – Love Hangover (DJ Apt One Edit)

Year of the Edit - Tim Zawada

Each week in 2011, the "Year of the Edit," Dollar Bin Jams and Young Robots Records will be debuting one exclusive edit for your enjoyment!

This week we head back to The Chi and our boy Tim Zawada, who has made a nice following for himself of late with his stellar edit work. He approached us about giving one of the cuts from Tugboat Edits 003 an exclusive release on the YOTE project and we were more than happy to oblige. It's especially apropos because this jam is a flip of one Mr. Abstract who has a little film in the works right about now. Maybe you've heard.

Make sure to visit Tim's soundcloud page for more goodness.

TUGBOAT EDITS 003 (B) - Barely In Love (TZ Version) by timzawada

For previous "Year of the Edit" entries, look HERE.

Miracles Club This Friday

Miracles Club is a new Portland dance band featuring singer Honey Owens (Valet, Jackie-O Motherfucker), knob-tweaker Rafael Fauria, and dancer Ryan Boyle. Combining elements of Chicago and acid house, experimental pop, and contemporary dance music, Miracles Club has added a vibrant, creative energy to the West Coast club scene over the past year. Tracks from their latest EP, Light of Love, were recently remixed by Cut Copy and release on their fittingly-titled Cutters imprint in April. In advance of their performance this Friday at KFN, our friend and co-conspirator, Andrew Clapper did a little Q&A with them.


To start, could you talk about how the Miracles Club came together in the context of the Portland scene?

Portland has always had a small dance scene. In the 80's, there was a RnB boogie/funk scene; in the 90's, the rave/techno and electronica scene started; and then in the 2000's, there was an underground disco/punk scene that sprung up. More recently, in the last 3 years or so, lots of underground house parties started happening. Promoters started bringing international DJs and live acts to town. Around that time, we started writing our first tracks and playing out. It was harmonious with what was going on.

Musically, how did you arrived back at an early house sound? And what inspired cover versions of classics like "Can You Feel It" and "Jack Your Body"?

Since we've started, we've always focused on being a live band. We wanted to pay homage to the classics in a similar fashion as, say, a punk band would play "Louie Louie" at a house party. So, we would play "Jack Your Body" at a house party, or "Can You Feel It," etc. It was also a way for us to understand how house music was written and experienced.

The video for Church Song is, in a sense, a "cover" of dance shows like Detroit's "The Scene." What was the aim behind recreating that aesthetic?

We were just really loving the old dance shows and the positive energy of the people putting them on. With "Church Song," we were just sort of wanting to perpetuate that vibe, get people into the playfulness of house music and dancing family-style. We have a lot of dancer friends (and a goat) in Portland that we collaborate and just hang at the clubs with. It was funny to see them dance in this particular video because they were so toned down (due to it being Sunday morning), civilian style. [Laughs] The whole video was totally improvised. The only thing we brought aesthetically was some foil fringe and balloons. It was shot at the local cable access TV center, where we had literally two takes, and it ended up pretty much capturing the energy and aesthetic of our small scene.

How do you mediate performance in a club setting? Traditionally, the club mentality is that music is played, not performed. The DJ is not (necessarily) the focus, it's the music and the dancers. What does the spectacle of performance bring back to the dance floor?

One of the members of the group, Ryan, is a dancer/performance artist who, I guess, you could say does the mediating. We don't necessarily want to be the focus of the show, that is why it was important for us to have someone interact with the audience on a physical level. We are pretty much there to guide the trip, like a DJ. Our hope is that there is a deeper connection with the music, being able to see how it is created. Sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn't.

Do you think live performance is something that has been, perhaps, overlooked in club culture until recently?

House music hasn't had a strong tradition of being played with live instruments, though it was not unheard of. We got the chance to meet Larry Heard recently, and I asked him about playing live. He said that he used to play keys over a DAT tape in the late 80's/early 90's with Robert Owens. Also, some of the first house trax were live drum machine sequences with tiny loops or MCing over top. So, there are roots. I think it is easier now, and you are starting to see live productions more and more because the technology is there and more accessible. When we first started, we were using older technology like drum machine triggers, CV, and Din Sync, along with live looping and playing. It was fun, but chaotic. Since then, we have been using an MPC to manage the old equipment that, in our opinion, is essential to the sound.

In your experience, what sets a great performance apart from a good performance?

It's really all about a connection between the music and the audience. If we give it everything we have, and the audience is open and the environment is there, that's pretty much the combo. Honestly, it's hard to pinpoint because energy is so ambiguous, yet so crucial. When it happens, it's almost like magic. And when it doesn't… tragic. [Laughs]


Listen to Cut Copy's remix of their recent single, Light of Love...

The Miracles Club - Light of Love (Cut Copy Re-vision) by cutcopymusic


And for those of you in Philadelphia...

Miracles Club (Cutters/Portland) performs live this Friday (7/22) at Keep It Casual, along with DJs Jeffrey (The Magic Message) & Dave Tidey (Fish N' Chips). Click here to view the Facebook event.

Hurrah July Mix

The recording of my early set at Hurrah this month came out well, so I thought I'd pass it along to my fellow jammers. It's a blend of recent acquisitions and tried & true trax, mixed to warm up the room for a night of crazy rhythms. Now for the drums to do the talking...

Shawn Ryan - Hurrah July Mix | Mediafire

01. Christian Prommer’s Drumlesson - Trans Europa Express
02. Thorsten Graeber - African Beauty (Neuroxyde Remix)
03. Benoit & Sergio - Walk And Talk
04. Daniel Dexter - Tom Tom
05. Joey Negro Presents Sessomatto - Moody (Joey Negro Club Mix)
06. Charlie Clemons And The Mighty Power Band
- The Devil Has Made This Land His Playground (Tom Noble Remix)
07. Cajmere - A Love Song
08. Bibio - Lovers’ Carvings (Catz N’ Dogz Re-Edit)
09. DJ Cole Medina - I’ll House You (OG Mellow Remix)
10. Nebraska - This Is The Way
11. Dead Rose Music Company
- Am I Still The One (Rob Mello No Ears Remix)
12. The Popular People’s Front - I’ll Make Your Day

House On You

Matpat flipped this Bad Boy classic...

Lil' Kim - Crush on you (matpat) by matpat

Year of the Edit - Allen Craig and Sergio Pt. II

Each week in 2011, the "Year of the Edit," Dollar Bin Jams and Young Robots Records will be debuting one exclusive edit for your enjoyment!

We've had Allen Craig and Sergio with us before on Year of the Edit, (and several times on DBJ), and they just hit us with another one for the project - a bouncy, slapbass experience!

Cindy & Roy = Can You Feel It? (Allen Craig & Sergio's Disco Divebomb Edit) by sergioaudio

For previous "Year of the Edit" entries, look HERE.

Sun Explosion

DJ Moodz just released a fresh batch of African edits, including Manu DiBango's Sun Explosion, Tony Allen & more.

DOUBLE CLUB REWORKS by Dj Moodz

Year of the Edit - DJ Trew

Each week in 2011, the "Year of the Edit," Dollar Bin Jams and Young Robots Records will be debuting one exclusive edit for your enjoyment!

This week's edit comes from my homie DJ Trew in Chicago. Many years ago, I stayed at Trew's crib for a few days, it was above a weird clock store and I think his roommate was Maker. Skinny and I had hopped in the car and driven all over the East Coast and the Midwest and hollered at anybody and everybody like "can we come play in your town." We played a few shows with Trew, traded some tunes and he introduced us to many of the folks that we still work with in the Chi to this day.

Trew is always on top of what's funky, and this edit he sent along is no exception. It's part of his "After Disco Chicago" project, which is a series of events, edits and mixes exploring the post-disco era. Right in the Dollar Bin Jams wheelhouse amirite?

Webster Lewis - You Are My Life (TREW's Double Intro Edit) by afterdiscochicago

For previous "Year of the Edit" entries, look HERE.

Year of the Edit - USA Party Break

Each week in 2011, the "Year of the Edit," Dollar Bin Jams and Young Robots Records will be debuting one exclusive edit for your enjoyment!

This tune appeared about a year ago on the site, and then it went away, laid dormant, and now, with a slightly new mixdown, it's back just in time for July 4th.

USA Party Break 2011 by DJ Apt One

For previous "Year of the Edit" entries, look HERE.

4 Hours of Funk Mix

Despite it's name, this mix is not 4 hours long and is not exclusively funk. It's more like an hour's worth of funky disco, electro, italo and, well... funk. Baltimore's Exclaime & Fleg put this together to give you a little taste of their monthly 4 Hours of Funk parties. I actually met Exclaime last year in Bmore randomly. I was heading to an all night DnB party around 1am (don't ask) with a mutual friend of ours. We ran into Exclaime on our way and he said he was going to check out another party where Spen & Karizma were playing. That sounded like a million times more appealing than a DnB party, so we headed over to Highlandtown together and danced/vibed to a couple of legends holding it down on their home turf. So yeah, listen to the mix!

4 Hours of Funk Mix by DJ's Exclaime and Fleg by 4hoursofunk

Little Hooks

By now most of you dbj heads know i love funk. In light of spinning at North Bowl one of my favorite spot to play funk in Philly this past Saturday, here is a nice 45 rip for you. By the way, big shout out to my homie Record Ray for this. Last week was his 60th Birthday! Enjoy!

Little Hooks - Give The Drummer Some More |mediafire|Ysi| 320 kbps

Turning Into Straight Lines

Instamatic just released a new 4 song EP, Turning Into Straight Lines. Their wall of synth sound is in full effect on each of the four tracks, all of which are excellent. Plus the sequencing of the songs makes the EP a cohesive listen. They come on strong with Architecture and close it out nicely with All Over. Downloads are available from their bandcamp.

Ice Warf

From the new Work Drugs EP, Ice Wharf (Smooth​-​P). Get the whole release from bandcamp.
Ice Wharf by Work Drugs

Dollar Bin Jams Soundcloud Group

I realize that although this is a blog, it is also in some ways a community. Perhaps the most common thing that people say to me when I meet them on tour is "I love Dollar Bin Jams, I check it all the time." It has been really awesome meeting many of you around the country since we started this site in 2007.

There are obviously lots of musicians and music lovers who follow DBJ, and we've created a soundcloud group in order to have more interaction with the thousands of people who visit the site each week, and let our readers interact with each other as well.

It is a moderated group. I've found that on soundcloud, the unmoderated groups quickly get over-run with junk that soundcloud trolls just drop in every group they can join. We will attempt to curate this group with the same kind of quality control that we exercise on the blog, so please only submit your best work! We welcome all different kinds of music.

Periodically, submissions to this group will be featured on the site.

Visit and join the group at http://soundcloud.com/groups/dollar-bin-jams

Year of the Edit - DJ Apt One - Long Cool Woman

Each week in 2011, the "Year of the Edit," Dollar Bin Jams and Young Robots Records will be debuting one exclusive edit for your enjoyment!

Here's one for those hot summer days - a beefy edit of "Long Cool Woman," which, for my money, is the best Creedence knock-off tune ever made!

Long Cool Woman In a Black Dress (DJ Apt One Edit) by DJ Apt One

For previous "Year of the Edit" entries, look HERE.

Freekwency

I was browsing though the stock at Earcave when I came across this gem. HOW IS THIS FROM 2010? So crazy - I only realized it when I came across Benny Badge's Soundcloud.

FREEKWENCY feat Penny Shum - Dont Tell Me (Extended Vocal Mix) by Benny Badge

Vinyl only - grab a copy from Earcave.

Jessica 6 at Keep It Casual

Jessica 6 is back in Philly, courtesy of Keep It Casual. Here are the details and here's the Facebook event.

1/3 Magic Message, 1/2 Fish & Chips, and over 6 parts Jessica, KEEP IT CASUAL is all the party you need Saturday 6/24. Dressed down and unpressed, residents Jeffrey (The Magic Message) and Dave Tidey (Fish & Chips) welcome JESSICA 6 into the comfort cove at KFN for a night of pleasurable abandon with live shadow play by video artist Daniella Sansota. With a laid-back $5 general admission, and a free PBR drink ticket for the first 50 through the door, feel free to stop by, bust a button, or lose a loafer. Whatever, it's cool.

The NYC-based trio Jessica 6, made up of ex-Hercules and Love Affair members, have been traveling around the world for years, playing gigs in London, Miami, Santiago, Belgrade and Iceland, bringing new converts to the dance floor with their hybrid of house, soul and R&B. In celebration of their debut album, See The Light (released June 7 on Peacefrog) the band hits the road once again with their hypnotic live show, starting it off with two east coast dates in NYC and Philadelphia, before heading West for a run that includes a stop at San Francisco’s Gay Pride stage.

Jessica 6 - Prisoner of Love | Direct Download | 160 kbps

Jessica 6 - East West Funk | Direct Download | 320 kbps

Year of the Edit - DJ A-Mac

Each week in 2011, the "Year of the Edit," Dollar Bin Jams and Young Robots Records will be debuting one exclusive edit for your enjoyment!

Apologies for not putting up an edit last week, I was getting my whole steez back together after an awesome wedding and honeymoon.

This week we have an entry from Calgary's DJ A-Mac, who is a fellow traveler in the wonderful world of Moombahton. Like many of us, he's a DJ's DJ, making edits that work in the club. He has been kind enough to lace us up with an uptempo, Dutch-style peak-time joint which brings the 2011 NRG!

Tijuana Trumpets Workin With (DJ A-Mac Bootleg)
Mediafire | YSI | 320 kbps

You can find more A-Mac at his soundcloud, soundcloud.com/djamac.

For previous "Year of the Edit" entries, look HERE.

The Astral Dancer

Ryan T. & Billy W. have finally released an official Robotique mixtape! Though they've been DJing together for a few years, Astral Dancer is their first collaborative mix. I gotta say it was worth waiting for - they've clearly spent all of that time unearthing some mysterious jams. Plus it's literally a tape! They made 25 cassettes & ripped it from one. Be sure to download this one - it's a sonic journey like no other.

Robotique - The Astral Dancer | Mediafire | 90 minutes of mystery

Robotique - The Astral Dancer by Robotique Philadelphia

The Breaks

Matpat's back with a chunky techno groover. Keep this around for when the afterparty gets weird.

Planningtorock - The Breaks (matpatBootleg) FREE DOWNLOAD by matpat

Planningtorock - The Breaks (matpatBootleg) | Mediafire | 320 kbps

NYC Trust Digital

I recently came across these edits by Brooklyn's Monk-One. They're pretty funky & tastefully done - I suggest downloading them. Plus his label, Names You Can Trust, is giving away tunes from a bunch of their artists. You can find the rest here.

Nightlife Unlimited - Tell Me (Monk-One Edit)
Direct Download | 320 kbps

Erlon Chaves - Me & My Baby Brother (Monk-One Edit)
Direct Download | 320 kbps