Oh hey, guess who? No, not Dani, it’s the other big ‘D’, Denman. Let’s have an adventure together where we see what’s been going on in the world of sound, shall we?……

First off, we’re excited to announce that Pete Wentz (we’ve been good friends ever since the Black Cards thing) is working with MASScanvas to promote their newest challenge, wherein fans are encouraged to design “power” themed t-shirts. The deets break down like this:

“Starting Wednesday, February 1, fans can submit designs for the “POWER” challenge until February 28th at masscanvas.com. ALL entries will be featured on masscanvas.com, Entrants and fans can comment on designs throughout the challenge and VOTE for the top 20 designs. On March 22, Pete Wentz will choose 5 winning tees (each receiving a $1,000 cash prize), from the top 20, which he feels best represent the theme. The 5 winning tees will be printed in limited quantity, individually hand-numbered, and sold in support of the charitable cause.”

No one’s gonna frown at a chance to take home a grand, but c’mon, this is really about the fact that a portion of the proceeds from the winning shirts will go to Invisible Children, an organization that fights to end the use of child soldiers in Africa. So get out your newest copy of MS paint, and go to town. Still need inspiration? Check out this promo video with Wentz himself.

Speaking of Pete Wentz, he also dropped by the video shoot for Dani’s new rager, “Diplo Hates You,” which went down last week in beautiful Santa Monica. It’s sure to be just as rockin as the track itself, and even included the man of the hour himself:

In the annals of “shots hear round the world,” this very short interview with Carl Cox has been making a huge clamor in the dubstep world, simply for Carl saying, “I was playing dubstep three years before anyone even decided to call it dubstep.” Plenty of people have been making stout retorts to this claim, even legendary dubstep producers such as Skream have chimed in:
“I would genuinely like to know what pre dubstep tracks Carl Cox was playing”
In fact, even the comments to Skream’s reply, on Facebook, have turned into a heated debate.

Of course, what with the superbowl (I’m not even sure I fully understand what that is) going down yesterday and all, we couldn’t let this alert go by without mentioning another insanity inducing halftime show. This years great American spectacle was led by the our eternal queen of music, Madonna. Overall it was a new level of epic proportions (like Michael Jackson performing in Europe epic), and had a flood noteworthy names in the court such as Kelly Clarkson, MIA, LMFAO, Nicki Minaj, Cee Lo Green, and more. MTV news has just done a short recap of the reviews.

Finally, with some good news for all of us, Billboard recently ran a cover story decrying the rise and domination of EDM in the general music world. Featuring Diplo, Skrillex, and A-trak, the article goes on to explain how DJ culture has gone on to not only take over the dominant music culture, but has also cut across a variety of other social cultures throughout the globe. Best quote of the piece? “I know one thing — the major labels, the A&Rs, are very frightened now,” says Diplo, born Wesley Pentz. “They see that things are in our hands in a lot of ways.” Check out the rest, and peep the video supplement as well.

Results for the Dani Deahl “DIPLO HATES YOU” remix contest:

The grand prize ($500 US) goes to San Diego’s 2deadbeatz – http://www.facebook.com/2deadbeatz

A massive Moombahton reworking that stood out above the rest – excellent programming and progression/variation. Good work!

1st place: 2deadbeatz

2nd place: HLM

3rd place: IgRock

Honorable Mentions:

Dirty Force

Oh My Daze

Skywire

Nicolas S

Main Metro

We had 120 entries in total, and they were all very well done! It was tough to pick the top 3, and we have decided we are going to release the “Honorable Mentions” as a free EP in the upcoming weeks. We would like to thank everyone who got involved in this contest! Be on the lookout for the DIPLO HATES YOU music video, which was filmed this week at the Red Bull Headquarters in Los Angeles. Here’s a sneak peek: http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10150640737488552

Whats up bloggosphere??!!  Sorry for the delay since my last post as things have been nutty the past few weeks, but I am back on it with a host of serious tunes for your earholes this week!

Lets get right into the thick of it with a very tasty moombah-break-core rinse by South Australias’ Dylan Sanders of the massive Knife Party banger, “Internet Friends”.  This boot has already been getting major league support by such jocks as Kid Kenobi and DJ Icey amongst many others.  Of all the remixes I’ve heard of this so far, this has been my favorite.

Knife Party – Internet Friends(Dylan Sanders Re Blast)

Late in 2011, D-Squared regular, DJ Kue collaborated with the legendary Lupe Fiasco and Sky Gellatly on their SNDCLSH project.  The Soundclash (SNDCLSH) is a DJ duo comprised of longtime friends Lupe Fiasco and Sky Gellatly.  The result was moving electro-esque melodic track with another example of great vocals from Lupe.  Check out more on Lupe Fiasco’s and Sky Gellatly’s SNDCLSH project.

Lupe Fiasco and Sky – SNDCLSH (DJ Kue Letting Go Remix)

Next up is MAKJ‘s boot of the the huge 70s hit Play That Funky Music (….white boy!)  Its easy to see what this one has already been getting support by guys like Bingo Players, Hardwell, Laidback Luke, Steve Aoki, LA Riots and Alex Sayz.

Wild Cherry Vs Alex Sayz Play – That Funky Acid White Boy (MAKJ Bootleg)

Inspired by Basement Jaxx and Daft Punk, Scandavian Chameo built this great nu-disco track, “WOW”, from 100+ micro samples that were in 6 different old school Disco songs.  Damn thats a lot of cutting and chopping!!  The result is a sweet sounding early evening party jam.

Chameo – WOW (Original Mix)

Rounding out the post this week is a fresh original on the chopped up French Disco tip from the new duo Dime A Dozen , which are Canadian producers Thierry Roland and Kevin Kim.  I have played a bunch of gigs with Thierry in Toronto and have been a big supporter of his sound, and this new collabo is off to a solid start.  More to come from these two!

Dime A Dozen – Game Theory

DOWNLOAD ALL IN ONE.ZIP

First, dear readers, let me issue a deep and sincere apology for missing last week’s post. It’s not something I am want to do, but I was somewhere between the snows of Park City, Utah, and the sun speckled streets of San Francisco, with nary a laptop in sight. But having said that, I promise this week’s post with be worth more than the pound of flesh required for penitence.

I noticed, roughly two weeks ago, an excited blurb about a new mix coming out of the camp of midnight monsters, Hot Pink Delorean, and, lo and behold, here it is. Thirty dance floor annihilating tracks clocking in at an hour, brought to you by Drop the Beat. On a scale of one to ten, this wildcat starts at an eleven point five, and skyrockets into the fiery skies, refusing to come down until at least a quarter of the way through. I mean, for chrissakes, it STARTS with the Dada Life of “Are You Ready to Jump.” With that in mind, you know what’s going on in this bender, a metric ton of in your face electro and club to get you on your feet and throwing things across the dancefloor. Beyond the Chuckie remix there’s Kill the Noise, Afrojack, Felix Cartal, Will Bailey, and similar sound criminals, as well as stretch limo full of both Hot Pink Delorean originals, and some mighty biting mashups.
So what’s in this for you?….

This is the soundtrack that finds you in one of the places you have no idea how you’ve hussled your way into. You aren’t VIP room, you’ve gone full private jet entourage. A body cast amongst a small gang of the elite slice of who’s who, on a frantic mission to party through a world that’s illuminated by countless colored moving lights, as dawn never breaks in this world. Flittering through the back entrances of the most closed door clubs from NY to Berlin, you make sure to snag every gratis top shelf bottle along the beat drenched way. Life becomes a frantic commercial montage of models, rockstars, and royalty, set the pulse of sawed out synths. Staring down the helm of another charted journey, you never want it to end. Fortunately, for you, it never will.

01.- Chuckie – Are You Ready to Jump (Dada Life Remix)

02.- Kill the Noise – Deal with It

03.- Vodge Diper – Easy Now

04.- Hot Pink Delorean – Surf’s Up

05.- Nicky Romero – Toulouse

06.- Chris Lake – Sundown

07.- Zedd – Shave It (Kaskade Remix)

08.- Hot Pink Delorean – Rhythm From Mars

09.- Felix Cartal – Don’t Turn On The Lights

10.- Afrojack – Lionheart

11.- Hot Pink Delorean – Very Good

12.- Virtu – Elixir

13.- Hot Pink Delorean – My Favourite

14.- South Central – Sword

15.- Hot Pink Delorean – Watch the Sunrise

16.- Felguk – Bassive

17.- Hot Pink Delorean – The Revenge of Sisyphus

18.- Hatiras, Nom De Strip & Will Bailey – Swagnum PI

19.- Calvin Harris – Awooga

20.- Richard Grey – Lady (Federico Scavo Remix)

21.- Hot Pink Delorean – All You Ever Need

22.- Hot Pink Delorean – Right Over Here

23.- Miles Dyson – I-tune / Robbie Rivera – Dance (Pink Fluid Mix) / Billy the Klit & Danny L. Mebius – Work This P*ssy (Dimitri & Like Mike Remix) / D.Ramirez – Jump It up / Nadastrom – Handz **HOT PINK DELOREAN MASHUP**

24.- Alesso – Raise Your Head

25.- Zedd – Slam The Door

26.- Dada Life – Kick Out the Epic

27.- Hot Pink Delorean – Club Crashers

28.- Tommy Trash – Sex, Drugs, Rock n Roll

29.- Hot Pink Delorean & Rory Lyons – Move It

30.- Avicii – Feelings / Hatiras – Space Invader (Nom De Strip Remix) / Michael Woods – VMS / JELO – Awesomesauce (Nom De Strip Remix) **HOT PINK DELOREAN MASHUP**

Greetings on this quick late night post, bloggers! Lancelot just dropped their first track from their upcoming EP; “We Can Dance” (out February 20 on Binary Records).  I am super excited about this track and gthe upcoming EP release! You may first recall hearing the Goldroom remix of We Can Dance on The Magician’s Magic Tape 19-if you adore beautifully mastered sun soaked disco house music you will be in love as much as I am!

Lancelot-Spoken Word

Good morning everyone, this is ol’ nerdy $amroc here with a fresh grip of tunes for you to enjoy over the course of the rest of your recently started week. Dani killed her set up here at Segredo about a weekend or so back, I got to hang with her a bit at the show, cool story bro, LET’S GET TO SOME TUNES!

Starting off I’m gonna drop a track that is a bit of an anomaly here on the blog, but I think will appeal to both Dani and Denman along with some of our readers in that it is a TRAP REMIX OF DROP THE LIME! Global Bass producer Carlos Cortes aka ¡El Cucuy! from Portland, Oregon dismantles the original surf-dutch-house work masterfully into a nice 134 bpm hood workout keeping the guitar and vocal hooks but filling the rest out with full on trap beats. http://soundcloud.com/el-cucuy

Drop the Lime – Shake Baby Shake (El Cucuy Trap Remix)

DJ/production duo Dan Goodman & Ian Johnson aka gLAdiator just gave away their highly anticipated Brand New EP, a bangin’ piece of hyphy moombahton with a grip of remixes from producers including Aylen, Laserdisk Party Sex, and Team Jaguar. I’ve included the Team Jaguar edit here and also gLAdiator’s mix of Zedd’s ‘Slam The Door’  since it has been sitting in our inbox for a bit.  If you are interested in the full pack, poke around at http://soundcloud.com/gladiatormusic.

gLAdiator – Brand New (Team Jaguar Remix)

Zedd – Slam the Door (gLAdiator remix)

It’s time to hit you with that party shit! French producer Zee Reach has here for you a heated tropical-bass ass shaker with Dutch overtones that is begging to make it to the sweatiest crowds you play to. Want to explore all the other various styles of quality global bass he programs?  http://soundcloud.com/zeereach

Zee Reach – Tic Toc

Am I saving the best for almost last? In my opinion, yes. Macro Records Co-Founder Trent Shamaley aka Downlow’d recently gave away this EPIC bootleg of QOTSA’s “Go With The Flow”, and I caught it at the last minute before finishing this post and am including it for it’s quality, inventiveness, and because I can…you know. http://soundcloud.com/downlowd

Queens Of The Stone Age – Go With The Flow (Downlow’d Bootleg Mix)

RUN DI BONUS TRAAAAAAACKS!!!!

TheFatRat – Less Than Three (Crowd Control Moombahton Remix)

Missy Elliott – Pass That Dutch (Thunderbird Juicebox Remix)

Diamond – JOHN BOY (Chew Fu Fix) Extended Master Final

Moondoctor – YCDWGD (LeDoom Remix)

Dev – Dancing In The Dark (Dj Irresistible mix)

Ben E. King – Stand By Me (GFN Bmore Remix)

DOWNLOAD ALL FILES AS A .ZIP FOLDER

Hope you all enjoy the tunes! Have a great rest of your week! -$amroc

I’m back! Sort of… I’m at least stationary for the moment, and that’s something, right? I spent last week in another whirlwind – first it was off to San Francisco where I played at Dim Mak’s “Obey The Kitty” night. Then I presented at Macworld, both on the Techgirlz panel and for my own talk, “Online Tools For The Independent Musician.” If you want to download that presentation by the way, read on below. Then it was off to Aspen for the X Games and quality time with the Red Bull family, including DJs Tina T, 12th Planet, Mick Boogie and Tony Arzadon. Now I’ve finally landed in L.A. in prep for shooting the “Diplo Hates You” video…whew. The stories I could tell you from the past few days are crazy, hilarious and very WTF, from having a thirty minute talk with Sinbad on house music and DJing, to Patron shots with Reggie Bush, to Harvard Bass making a surprise appearance at my Vessel gig. Make sure you’re along for the ride by following me on Twitter and Facebook! Now time to get all Ron Burgundy on your butts.

The remix competition for “Diplo Hates You” has ended and we received 114 submissions ranging from moombahton to electro and techno! The winners will be announced on February 2nd and there are two scheduled release dates in February – one for the original and one for the winning remixes. The video for “Diplo Hates You” shoots Wednesday, February 1st in L.A. LISTEN TO THE “DIPLO HATES YOU” REMIX SUBMISSIONS

I spoke at Macworld last Friday, an all Mac-based conference held in San Francisco. The topic of my talk was “Online Tools For The Independent Musician” and got great reviews both by attendees and conference organizers. The presentation as well as an extended written version of the talk are now both available to download and covers sites like Artistdata and Fanbridge as well as tips for enhancing your Twitter and Facebook profiles. DOWNLOAD THE PRESENTATION HERE

I expect one big collective SMH here – Simon Cowell is developing a new show, which will search for the ‘world’s greatest DJ.’ Simon calls DJs the ‘new rock stars’ and says the show will capture the phenomenon. It is still untitled, but will operate much like The X Factor. He has clarified that he will not be judging the competition – his role is solely in developing the series along with Sony Pictures Television and Jada Pinkett-Smith/Will Smith’s Overbrook Entertainment.

I’m writing about this just for personal reasons, but I’m hoping some of you are excited as well – THERE IS A NEW FIONA APPLE ALBUM COMING. Interest was recently piqued when Epic Records CEO L.A. Reid tweeted that a new album was coming within a few weeks. That might not be true, but it will happen in 2012 according to an Epic Records spokeswoman.

Lana Del Rey’s “Born to Die” album has now been reviewed by the masses and the outlook is generally positive. The Chicago Tribune gave it two out of four stars while MTV News called it ‘epic’ and ‘dramatic’. Amid all of the buzz, Del Rey has also purchased the rights to her 2010 debut album, “Lizzy Grant aka Lana Del Rey” and says she will release it “maybe in late summer.” The album had originally been signed to an independent label that couldn’t fund the release. LISTEN TO “PUT ME IN A MOVIE” FROM LANA DEL REY’S FIRST ALBUM

The RIAA has issued a statement regarding their shutdown of file sharing website Megaupload.com. Titled “Why Closing Megaupload Matters”, the post mentions data that shows sales of digital files rising after Limewire’s shutdown in 2010. Other file sharing sites are taking preventative measures and have either stopped using U.S. servers, allowing public sharing or, in some instances, shut down completely. READ THE RIAA’S ENTIRE POST

“Shut Up And Play The Hits,” the documentary following the 24 hours prior to LCD’s last show together at Madison Square Garden, recently debuted at Sundance. Fans are now asking, what about the actual performance? The four hour show was on Youtube briefly before being taken down, but now it has been revealed in a post screening interview for SUAPTH that it will formally be released on its own. READ THE FULL INTERVIEW

ATOMIC ZOO RECORDINGS PRESENTS
DANI DEAHL FEAT. OH SNAP!!
“DIPLO HATES YOU”
Release + Remix Contest

Look who’s at the helm of Red Alert after a long, globe-trotting absence! Thank you Denman for filling in . By the way, all the photos from my China/Hong Kong/Macau/Hawaii extravaganza are up now, so if you want to see pics of the duck tongue I ate and amazing Engrish signs, then hop over here.

I just got back today from a one-two punch of Milwaukee and Madison and Wisconsin has never left me so exhausted. Friday saw me battle a blizzard so bad I passed by four totalled cars and saw a semi with the cab dangling halfway over the highway median. It took me over three hours to make the 90 mile trek to Milwaukee, clutching the steering wheel for dear life the entire way. I was stunned that people even came out that night, especially considering that other DJs from Chicago that were supposed to play in Milwaukee cancelled coming out. Golf claps to the crowd at my gig. Madison as always was a blast but I have to give special kudos to the TWELVE YEAR OLD DJ that gave me a demo that night. Mind = blown. So bummed that he didn’t leave contact info on the CD – hope boy wonder finds me on FB. And on to the news…

As I’m sure you all know, singing legend Etta James passed away at the age of 73 after losing her fight with leukemia. Best known for song “At Last,” James lead a turbulent life battling drug addiction and weight problems. She had early success with Chess Records, saw a comeback in 1989 with album “The Seven Year Itch” and was inducted into both the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as well as the Blues Hall of Fame. ETTA JAMES FACEBOOK FAN PAGE

Proposed anti-piracy bills SOPA and PIPA have been temporarily shelved following blackouts from sites such as Wikipedia and Reddit. The bills are intended to address the problem of piracy on foreign Web sites but opponents say the legislation gives the government ability to censor the Internet. More scrutiny was placed on the bills following the government shutting down file sharing site Megaupload and prosecuting the site’s founder, Kim Dotcom. Criticizers of SOPA/PIPA say this proves the bills are irrelevant. READ ABOUT MEGAUPLOAD AND SOPA/PIPA (VIA PC WORLD)

Korn has been in the news as of late for their new album as well as collaborations with the likes of Skrillex. They’ve just announced the second leg of their Path of Totality Tour and Kill the Noise will support on several dates. Band frontman Jonathan Davis will also be debuting his brand new DJ set under name J Devil. FOR TOUR DATES, VISIT KORN.COM

MYNC, owner and head of A&R for Cr2 Records (which has released the likes of Chuckie, Kurd Maverick and Sidney Samson), will be holding a live A&R demo listening session on Wednesday, January 25th, at 4PM EST. All you have to do is head over to the MYNC Facebook page and upload your track via the Soundcloud Dropbox before January 25th. On the 25th, via U Stream, the songs will be played and MYNC will shed light on the A&R process as well as show aspiring producers how to get their material signed to labels. SUBMIT YOUR TRACK ON THE MYNC FACEBOOK PAGE

Datsik has teamed up with Dim Mak to release his debut artist album this spring, date TBA. Titled “Vitamin D”, it will feature instrumentals as well as collaborations with the likes of Jonathan Davis, Infected Mushroom and Z-Trip. The album’s first single, “Fully Blown,” is due out January 31st with fellow Canadian artist, rapper Snak The Ripper. DIMMAKRECS.COM

Singer Lana Del Rey has had her fair share of news lately, with everyone sounding off over her Saturday Night Live appearance. Both Juliette Lewis and Eliza Dushku slammed her on Twitter and SNL’s Andy Samberg lent support while MTV named her one of 2012′s artists to watch. The chanteuse has more news now – she has just been nominated for a Brit award in the ‘International Breakthrough Act’ category and she’s planning her U.S. tour. Her single, “Born To Die” was released yesterday and her full album is to be released on January 30th. LANADELREY.COM

Afrojack is in Los Angeles not only producing Paris Hilton’s next album, but working on his own first album. While in L.A. Afrojack is collaborating with other artists, though the only confirmed names by him are R3hab, Quintino and Shermanology. He anticipates the sound of the album to be both pop and club to appeal to both types of fans. AFROJACK.COM

Greetings, blogverse! Miss me!?! My sincerest apologies for being M.I.A. lately, was uber sick and on a MASSIVE holiday in NYC! Anyway, to make up for my absence, I have some very awesome treats for you in this post; from the video premiere of the new Punks Jump Up single, to some pure bangers from Flosstradamus! So without further hesitation-on to the jams!!

Punks Jump Up is back with the brand new single ‘Get Down (Special CCCrash Mixxx)’ to be released on January 30th 2012 on the indie juggernaut label; Kitsune.  According to PJU this track is their take on Prince, Trax Records, and Yello-giving a modern take to the flashiness of Prince, along with the quirky playfulness of Yello’s early dance tracks, and the rawness of early Trax Records releases.  This single is pretty massive and will be another solid release-so definitely grab a copy when it gets dropped! In the meantime, enjoy the awesome video they put together directed by Davey Ahern & Charlie Doran (www.charliedoran.com).

Flosstradamus brings us another killer remix of the Diplo and Switch prodigy, Major Lazer (as you may remember, they did a killer remix/mash of ‘Pon De Floor’).  This time it’s for ‘Original Don’ and it’s a MONSTER! Is there such a thing as ‘trap house’? This is filled with such a big stadium bass sound that it will rip the roof off of the club, my only issue?, the “damn son, where’d you find this” drop in the official release-but these kids are fun and love tongue in cheek touches..besides, with a sound like this-you can’t be mad for long!

Major Lazer-Original Don (FLOSSTRADAMUS REMIX)

Next up, Go Go Bizkitt recently released their newest single; ‘Swatch It!’  Now everyone knows I am a house girl, I love house music, and Go Go Bizkitt never disappoint me.  Their funky swing on jack with subtle glitches and slappy bass only make you want to start a soul train line everywhere (church? school? work? yes).  What an awesome start to 2012, enjoy

Go Go Bizkitt-Swatch It!

Last but not least, we have a solid remix courtesy of London producer Das Heat.  His remix of Lana Del Ray’s ‘Video Games’ is a tech house yet dreamy indie inspired that laces around Lana’s otherworldly vocals perfectly.  There are so many subtle touches in this song, from slight glitches, air whispers, harps, you will find yourself listening to it several times and then you’ll find it listening to it again because you’ll love it.

Lana Del Ray-Video Games (Das Heat Remix)

ALL ZIPPED UP!

In final news, Sam Sparro has announced that his new album; “Return to Paradise” will be released in May 2012! Here is the official press release:

“Following the huge global success his Grammy nominated hit ‘Black and Gold’ Sam returns to the fore with a brand new album.  ‘Return To Paradise’ captures Sam’s electro soul sound and features a wide range of musicians from all over the world. Production credits on most of the tracks go to long time Sparro collaborator Jesse “Golden Touch” Rogg and Sam himself.  Other Producers include Grammy Producer of the Year Nominee, Greg Kurstin, Jono Sloan (Empire of the Sun), Tim Anderson (Ima Robot) and Lester Mendez. Players on the record include Jamiroquai founding bass player, Stuart Zender, Violinist Caitlin Moe, The Horn Section from Hercules and Love Affair and Midnight Magic, Charlie Wilcocks, Dave Wilder, Felix Bloxsom and Sam’s own brother and father on guitars.

Sam also worked with Best Coast’s Bethany Cosentino, Florence and the Machine’s Isabella Summers and Swedish singer/songwriter Erik Hassle on some of the song writing.

The results are an eclectic collection of songs about love lost and the quest for happiness. Stylistically, there are songs that range from 80′s electro soul and disco dance floor fillers to beautiful ballads.

What does Sam have to say about his new record? “I’m so proud of these songs and can’t wait to share them. It’s been a long time coming.”