Ranking Lift

I've had DJ Dan's latest release, Lift, for about a month now, so I figure it's about time I give a review of it. Actually, I'm going to review the first CD, as I haven't really listened to the second one much. The second CD is going to take a little warming up to. It sounds like Dan was trying to go a bit harder on it, and I'm not really into how he did that. For my tastes, if you're going to spin funky house, it should either be fluffy, techy, or funky funky. Peak hour funky house (think Release, by JJ Flores and Steve Smooth) is good as well, but that's not quite the kind of hard I'm talking about. I mean hard in the way that funky breaks are hard. Dan's roots are in funky breaks (and acid house, of course), and I think he was trying to bring back some of that flavor. Unfortunately I'm not really into it. I may be later, but for now I'll pass.

The first CD on the other hand.... incredible. The first two-thirds of it is exactly the kind of funky house that I'm into. It's probably the best collection of its kind, largely because that kind of funky house isn't mainstream popular right now. It seems like funky tech house is starting to get big, which is fine by me because funky tech house is one of my favorite styles (see A Tale of Two Tracks). Still, it doesn't quite compare to the laid-back, uplifting, filtered sound that's featured on the first CD of Lift.

I read an interview with DJ Dan where he said he was supporting Blow Media with this release, so it should come as no surprise that the filtered appears so much. For those that don't know, Blow Media is Hatiras's label. Hatiras is one of my favorite producers and is a champion of the filtered sound. He's put out a number of killer tracks in the past - Light Speed (on Roundtrip Disc 2), The Anthem (a little trancy, but still one of my all-time favs), Rokstar (collab w/ Bad Boy Bill) - and the tracks on Lift are no exception. Baked From Scratch, Cuban Cigar, and Illectrolingus (Macca remix) all are Blow Media tracks, all have Hatiras's fingerprints all over them, and all are amazing tracks. (Macca's Ride Me Baby, on the second CD, is another Blow Media track and may be the best of the bunch, but it's on the second CD so I'm not going to say much about it). Baked From Scratch is my favorite of the bunch. I am definitely getting that track when it's released. Past those, there are a number of great supporting tracks as well. Dan tossed in his token Antoine Clamaran track, which is solid (as expected), and a Dave Armstrong track. And how can you not love a track by a guy named "Jacque Bauer"? Pretty much tracks 2 through 10 are great. The last couple of tracks seem to lose focus with what the rest of the CD was themed with - they're good tracks, but kind-of out of place.

So, the real question is, "How does this DJ Dan set compare to his others?" For me, Roundtrip Disc 2 and Mixed Live are the two top sets, Accelerate is a bit below, and Roundtrip Disc 1 and In Stereo are somewhere below it. Starting from the bottom, Lift Disc 1 is better than Rountrip Disc 1 and In Stereo. No question about that one. Next comes Accelerate. Accelerate is a great set, however it lacks the "all time favorite track" element. Roundtrip Disc 2 has a number of those (Vitalian House, Percucion, Remember When?). So does Mixed Live (Release, That Phone Track, The Ride). Accelerate actually does have one of those tracks - Feel It - but it's buried at the very end of the set, meaning I have to listen to the entire set before I get to it. Lift has two - Baked From Scratch and Illectrolingus - and they're spaced perfectly in the set - third and eighth, respectively. Accelerate also has a few weak lag points - What Is Funk and Can't Hide Now, Baby! just aren't that interesting, and Red Hot never should have been included in the set. Lift has a few lag points, but they're at the beginning (the first track really isn't that good - Dan, you never spin vocal house, and I think there's a good reason for that. Why start now?) and the very end, meaning everything in-between stays together pretty well. So, with all of that said, I'm putting Lift Disc 1 above Accelerate.

Now comes the comparison with the tops. I'll start with Roundtrip Disc 2. Honestly, it's not really fair for me to compare any set to Roundtrip Disc 2. Rountrip Disc 2 is my DJ set equivalent of a first love. It was the set that made me love house. So, besides it being an absolutely amazing set, I have a very heavy bias towards it. If a set is going to be considered better than it, that set would have to be very obviously better, otherwise Roundtrip Disc 2 wins out. (And for the record, there is only one set in my library that I consider to be better than Roundtrip Disc 2 - DJ Rap's Touching Bass breaks set). Now, with all of that said, I don't think Lift Disc 1 stands up, even with my bias towards Roundtrip Disc 2 removed. Roundtrip Disc 2 is just too good. Next up is Mixed Live. Mixed Live is a better set to compare it to, as it's funky house (rather than the progressive/tribal sound of Roundtrip Disc 2). For a while I was thinking that I might put Lift Disc 1 above Mixed Live (albeit barely above). Then today I listened to Mixed Live again, this time with an ear towards hearing the set like I did back when I first started listening to it. Why? Because I listened to Mixed Live a ton. Back in the day there a few sets that were acceptable dancing music: Mixed Live, Roundtrip Disc 2, Touching Bass breaks, Baby Anne's Mixed Live, I'm About to Break, and In Stereo. And really, when I had my choice I listened to the first three probably 80% of the time. I didn't start picking up new sets until the very end of my senior year. That means I listened to those sets over, and over, and over, and over. The fact that I still love all three of those sets after listening to them all over 100 times is a testament to how good they are. I may enjoy Lift Disc 1 more than Mixed Live right now, but I don't think it would stand up quite as well after 100 listens. So, it's a close one, but I have to put Mixed Live above it.

Final thought: Sometimes I wonder if it was just a coincidence, and an incredibly lucky break, that Mixed Live, Roundtrip Disc 2, and Touching Bass breaks were some of the first sets available to me when I began my electronic music phase, or if those three sets were the reason my electronic music phase really took off.

Nothing really to say

I feel like post, but don't really have anything in particular to go on about. I guess I'll do a bunch of little thoughts.

After over a month, I finally have my turntables back. I first brought them into the temple of boom to get tuned up on Oct. 12th (give or take a day or two). A week and a half later they were all tuned up and ready for me. That was a long enough wait by itself, but that was only the beginning. When I got my turntables home I found that one of them has some sort of wiring/grounding issue such that the low end would drop out when both the left and right out cables were plugged in (though the bass was just fine when only one of the two was plugged in). It was another week before I was able to bring the tables back in (I'm a busy guy). Two weeks later, after not hearing back from them I call up temple of boom and am like "hey, I want my tables back." Fortunately the tables were there and ready to be picked up. Unfortunately (in a sense), the tables had actually been ready for a while and nobody had bothered to call to tell me. Bah. Well, at least I have my turntables back. Of course, I haven't actually tested the previously-dysfunctional turntable, so I may be speaking too soon. Hopefully not...

If there's a silver lining to the turntable delay it's that it gave me time to get my Ikea table set up. I got my table around the same time I initially brought my turntables in. It's one of the Gallant tables, with all of the interchangeable pieces that allow you to customize your table layout. I put together a table that would give me room for my turntables and my laptop (with the laptop use doubling for VirtualDJ and programming/internet). I should post a picture of it, now that it's all set up - It really is perfect for my room. Anyway, I picked out the A-legs in place of the T-legs, and I have to say that those A-legs made setting up my table way more difficult than it should have been. Basically the A-legs come with no instructions as to how to adjust them to a certain height and the way to do so isn't particularly intuitive. It wasn't until I accidentally pulled apart one of the A-legs and saw how the height-setting mechanism worked that I was able to successfully put my table at the height I wanted it at (and even then was a bitch to put together). But, as of last night, my table is completely put together and at exactly the height I want it at. I'm gonna be spinnin' tonight. :-)

A couple of posts ago I put up my predictions for the Sonics. Oops. I actually had completely flipped to the point of thinking they won't make the playoffs, but after tonight's victory of the Celtics I'm going to back off that a little... but only a little. The Sonics have some serious problems, mostly that they don't have a valid replacement for Antonio Daniels. That's not to say we should have matched the deal Washington gave him - he's old, has bad knees, and wants to start (and we have Ridnour for that) - but we didn't adequately replace his value. Looks like Collison is getting moved into the starting lineup. That makes the starting lineup better (especially since Reggie Evans, whom Collison is replacing, had been shooting waaay more than he should have), but it makes the bench weaker, possible more so than it makes the starters stronger. Vlady got 16 minutes tonight. Hmm. I want to know what Weiss is thinking there. Vlady was a fairly significant 3rd or 4th option last year, and given we no longer have Daniels I would figure that Vlady would get more playing time, not less. I like seeing Damien Wilkins (Gerald's kid, Dominique's nephew) and Mateen Cleaves getting some minutes of the bench, almost as much as I like seeing Flip Murray stuck to the bench. Anyway, I think the Sonics can still make the playoffs, but they're going to have to scrap to do it. The West is just too good. What's up with the Clippers and the Warriors having good teams? Heh, ok, I just noticed that the Sonics are only a half game out of first in the Northwest Division, currently tied with the Nuggets. Maybe things aren't as bad as they seem.

I'm pumped about the Seahawks. This is the year. We've already got the NFC west wrapped up, and have a realistic shot at finishing #1 or #2 in the NFC and earning a bye in the playoffs. Hell yes. Looking ahead, figure the winner of the NFC North won't contend for a bye (come on, Chicago is the crappiest 6-3 team we've seen in a while). I'll put Tampa and Washington as possible wild-card threats, leaving Carolina and Atlanta in the South and NY and Dallas in the East. We've already got tie-breakers against Atlanta and Dallas, and could potentially earn one against NY next Sunday. That game is in Seattle, so chances are we'll get that one too. That leaves Carolina, who looks to be the class of the NFC. Anyway, I figure 13-3 guarantees a first-round bye, possibly home-field throughout. 13-3 means beating everybody except Indy. 12-4 is probably still a bye (given all of the tiebreakers we have). 11-5 is really pushing it but could still produce a bye. 11-5 is basically assured, given that four of the remaining seven games come against San Francisco (twice), Tennessee, and Green Bay. The three other games will determine everything. First, home against the Giants. The Seahawks should win this game because it's at home, and especially because the Giants have to fly across the country. This will be the game that will determine if the Giants are contenders or pretenders - should be a good one. Second, at Phili. Although Phili made the right long-term decision in getting rid of T.O., they're a bad team in the short run because of it. On top of that McNabb is all kinds of beat up. Come on, the guy is playing with a sports hernia! This past weekend McNabb injured his groin. He may play later in the year, but he won't be Donovan McNabb. Eagles - McNabb - T.O. = bad team = Seahawks victory. Third, home against the Colts. I'm really looking forward to this one. It's really not that unreasonable to envision the Seahawks going into that game at 12-2. Can you say Superbowl preview? Honestly, the Colts are ridiculous and should be the Seahawks, even with the game being in Seattle... but it'll be an incredible game, either way.

End of an era

I'm not sure how many of you still listen to Loveline (or ever did in the first place), but tonight is Adam Carolla's last show before he moves onto doing the KLSX morning show in L.A. (and a number of other "Free FM" west coast stations. As a quick tangent, I think it's hilarious that Infinity Broadcasting has decided to combat the impending move of Howard Stern to Sirius, as well as Satellite radio in general, by putting "Free" in their stations' names. Literally, 97.1 is now referred to as "L.A.'s Free FM talk station." Ridiculous...). I listened to a Loveline a bit during high school and college, but I didn't really become a fan until a little over a year ago when I moved into my single apartment in Santa Monica. I had no TV and no roommates, so I quickly adopted the habit of keeping the radio on at all times to keep me company. I discovered a number of new favorite shoes in that time:

• Conway and Steckler on 97.1 from 8-11 pm, M-F. How do you not love a show that plays "What did Jesse Jackson say?" (they do it on Thursdays. Check it out - it's awesome). Conway is Tim Conway, Jr. If any of you watched ESPN back in the 90's, you'll remember the commercials for "Dorf Goes Fishing," (I swear those commercials were run for at least five years) starring Tim Conway Sr. His kid is pretty funny as well. Steckler was also entertaining, but he was replaced a few months back by Brian Whitman, who may be even funnier, especially his impression of Tom Leykis.
• All Night with Todd Wright, on ESPN radio, 10pm-3am. I really enjoyed Todd's show, but unfortunately he was canned back in September. Then they replaced his with a guy named Jason Smith who does the same damn show, except not as good. Idiots. Must have been something personal...
• Jon and Jeff, on 97.1, 11pm-3am. I like these guys because they talk about the most random, non-important topics out there. This show is like the radio equivalent of Seinfeld - a show about nothing. It's a great show to fall asleep to, because it doesn't get me riled up and the topics change every five minutes so I'm not kept up listening.

The best of them all, though, was Loveline. There were a number of reasons for that: (1) There's nothing quite like listening to a bunch of messed-up people talk about their problems to help you put your problems into proper perspective. "Hmm, well, I'm not a 16 year-old chick with a history of parental abuse, a meth addiction, and a kid on the way with a 29 year-old dad. I guess not working out during the last two weeks and not doing my reading really isn't that big of a deal." (2) Adam and Drew are amazing at profiling callers' histories (abuse, addiction, junior college, etc) based on their current problems. My personal favorite is the little girl voice. The theory (which may have scientific/medical backing) is that if a girl is abused at a young age, certain parts of her psyche stop developing and remain at that state for the rest of her life. One of those is parts is her voice tonality, meaning that if a girl gets abused at age six, her voice will have (roughly) the same tone as that of a six year-old. They get this one every time. On a higher level, I find the connections between causes during youth (usually various forms of trauma) and effects in adulthood (usually destructive behaviors) fascinating. (3) I think Adam Carolla is hilarious on Loveline, and it's unfortunate that he's going to leave the Loveline format. Sure, he may end up being a great morning show host (somewhat reminiscent of the T-Man's move from the late-night KJR slot to Kube 93's morning drive back in '95). Then again, the Loveline format may have made him as much as he made Loveline, and his morning show may suck. I'm going to use his work on The Man Show and Crank Yankers as evidence that he has talent beyond Loveline, so with any luck he'll put on a good morning show. Regardless, I don't think Loveline will ever quite be the same. It could very well continue to be good, and possibly, with a little warm-up time, could be even better with the yet-unknown new host, but it will never be the same as it was with Adam and Drew. I'm going to miss it.

Sonics!

The Sonics season opener is tonight! Lucky enough for me they're playing the Clippers, which means FoxSports SoCal will have it on TV. "But Shane, you don't have a TV, so how are you going to watch it?" The same way I watch all of my sporting events these days - watch it during my workout at the gym. :-) Talk about easy motivation to workout (not that I need any more than I already have...). I'm excited to see what the Sonics will do this year after last year's breakout season - or, if you're one of ESPN's "experts," fluke season. Seriously, I don't think more than one or two of the "experts" actually watched a single Sonics game last season. I don't necessarily have a problem with most of them picking the Sonics to finish in the lower half of the Western Conference (though I do have a problem with them unanimously picking Denver to win the Northwestern division...). I do, however, have problems with a few of their reasons:

1. The loss of Jerome James will set the Sonics back. One guy when as far as to call James "underrated." No. Take your head out of your butt and watch a regular season game. Jerome James sucks. Yeah, he can show moments of talent (see first round vs. Sacramento), but more often he's lazy and not a team player. Did any of them bother to notice that James is currently 3rd on the Knicks' depth chart at center behind Eddy Curry (a nice player assuming he doesn't die during the season) and Channing Frye (a Rookie out of Arizona). He's gotta be the most expensive 3rd-string center in the League. Isiah Thomas sure took the bate on that one... Though that doesn't really surprise me. Isiah Thomas is quite plainly an idiot when it comes to GMing.
2. The Sonics' defense will get worse with the loss of Nate McMullan... *cough* McMillan. Hmm, except that with McMillan the Sonics still ranked 25th in the league in defensive efficiency. You might argue that the Sonics' defense would have been a lot worse without Nate. I'd argue that Nate's great defense as a player wasn't translated to his players as a coach.
3. Ray Allen will back off production after earning his contract. Nope, sorry. Ray-ray isn't your average take-the-money-and-run NBA player (see Jerome James). He's a class guy, the antithesis of Vin Baker (who really should be dubbed "Big Mushy-Butt II." Of course Benoit Benjamin was the first). If anything, Ray Allen is going to step up his commitment to being a leader now that he's stable and secure with his contract, similar to what Jordan did with the Bulls. Yeah, I know Allen isn't Jordan... but Ray believes he can have the same effect on his teammates, and, as I've said many times, beliefs are empowering.

So, some thoughts/predictions/hopes for the upcoming season:
1. 45-47 wins, into the playoffs but without homecourt.
2. Allen and Rashard Lewis are All-Stars again (baring injury)
3. Nick Collison has a break-out year and contends for 6th man of the year
4. Robert Swift stays benched all year while Johan Petro shows promise as a rookie (though not enough for ROY contention)
5. Flip Murray doesn't meet expectations, and Ridnour picks up his slack.