Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Saturday, August 28, 2010
You turn me on, you turn me... on.
Love this song... video a plus as well...
You should also check this:
Gramophonedzie - "Why Don't You?"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jpSz66Cu0Cc
You should also check this:
Gramophonedzie - "Why Don't You?"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jpSz66Cu0Cc
Friday, August 27, 2010
This is Not an Exercise
The concept of DJ in the local swing scene needs some serious re-evaluation, and maybe a firm smack upside the headphones.
I will say there have been several DJs to date that I've found really quite good, and some that acceptably get by. They are rarer than they should be. Understand that there are of course exceptions to these observations... but also, understand that we're all guilty of some of this at some point in our DJ 'careers' - myself included. I've committed many of these sins in clubs while growing my career, and I'm sure I'll bring a whole new list of damnable offenses when I finally drop some records on this swing town.
Note that I'm pointing this out strictly to be helpful; everything I'm saying here is with intent to help 'the scene' improve retention of newbies - and specifically new leads, who have to (a) feel comfortable leading, quickly, and (b) have to rapidly acclimate to beat and tempo of the unfamiliar music they hope to lead to.
Consider the following:
1. DJs have no idea when half the people in the room are saying, audibly, the music sucks tonight. When I first started pointing out that most "DJs" around here are quite literally pressing play on their iTunes playlist, and as such are replaceable by a CD deck, I got a surprising amount of backlash. "They're paying attention to the floor, choosing what should come next based on the crowd". I call shenanigans. That's what they -should- be doing, yes. But if this were true, you'd never see the dj walking away for several songs at a time - nor would you see floors full of people dancing and having fun to an energetic track, only to find themselves struggling to care about the next. The fact is, most of the DJs aren't guiding their audience as much as their stalwart defenders think... and the end result is a dancefloor full of people dancing to stuff they don't truly like.
DJs - you are VERY lucky with the social partner dance scene; people ask each other to dance sometimes PRIOR to knowing what the next song is. You don't even have to WORK to get people on the dancefloor! Don't get lazy because of this!!! If you're replaceable by a pre-mixed CD, what value do you add to the scene?
2. DJs have *zero* idea what should never be played in their current environment (venue). This one's a little trickier for me, because I have to admit I haven't been around long enough to know what some people do actually enjoy (some people appear to like blues dancing to ultra-slow, near beatless tracks). But really, as a "DJ", you have to understand the acoustics you're working with - and work with them. Partner dancing requires a beat... if your music is so poorly recorded and the equipment you're working with is insufficiently powerful; your music no longer has a discernable beat. And frankly, the portable PA equipment in most venues - while generally quite adequate - is not nearly accurate, clean, or detailed enough to get away with playing tracks with questionable fidelity unless the DJ understands how to use the parametric EQs on their boards (I've yet to see someone even attempt to touch those). This is not necessary knowlege when spinning modern pop music that is mastered for the worst of speakers... but vastly more important with vintage tunes, much more so when those tunes are already in compressed formats.
Advanced side topics to this point include, but are not limited to: intros with no beat to jockey to, strange tempo changes, unclear breaks.
3. DJs succumbing too much to being an MC - at risk of alienating newbies. Again I'll caveat this one with "I'm new and can understand that maybe I don't 'get it' yet". But at some of the social dances, I've literally seen DJs shut -everything- down for announcements, and then bust out what I'll refer to as "the inside joke", namely those choreographed dances (the big apple? I think is one?) that only certain people know. Mind you, I've no problem inherently with this - I get it - but note that chaining this with announcements and then the birthday jam and others, it makes this really convenient segment where the newbies in the room decide to get their stuff and go home - ne'er to return. This is a HUGE blow to newbie retention... standing around watching people enjoy something you're not a part of - and don't even know where or how to learn. (And it smacks of 'wedding dj', but that's me being catty.) I literally run away from these dances as I just don't care to do this OR the electric slide. Line dancing... is boring.
4. Promoters/Organizers appear to be ordering djs based on seniority/cred instead of impact on crowd. This is of course not the DJ's fault, per se, but as such, a DJ should have some understanding of the impact of their timeslot - if you're the opening DJ (first DJ), there are different realities than if you're the middle or closing DJ. The opening DJ has it easier in this scene than in nightlife-oriented scenes - at start, there should generally be people already there and ready to dance. However, the opening DJ has to be prepared to cater to -beginners- fresh out of their lesson. This slot is HUGELY important!
A good DJ in the opening timeslot should be sensitive to the higher beginner-to-expert ratio earlier in the night, and consider (a) what did the pre-dance lesson entail and (b) focus on playing clearer (well-mastered), tempo-appropriate tracks for beginners. Especially beginner -leads- who are struggling to acclimate to the count (beginner followers need to follow their lead, not necessarily the music).
For middle / closing DJs, you need to pick up the intensity, bring the energy level up to 11. I know, you're a blues dj at a blues night. I get it. Doesn't matter; the closing (headlining!) slot is your time to shine. Drop huge tracks. Drop hits. Drop amazing new stuff you've found that defines your sound - even if that's blues. But don't -drop- the energy level. Don't drop the tempo for song after song. Blocks of slow songs 30 min to close is a SURE way to ensure you have a half-empty venue by close. That's -bad-; and organizers reading this should learn to steer clear of filling their closing slots with DJs that don't understand this. Slow tempos in the late slot remind people that they've got a bedtime fast approaching. You should instead be tempting your dancers to go to work tired the next morning, and with a huge grin on their face. THAT is guaranteed return business, as one of the greatest reviews a DJ can ever have of his set the night before is "I am so tired at work today".
5. DJs don't take many risks. I hesitate to say this - I do. I have only been dancing in this scene for 2 months or so, and have only seen probably a small subset of DJs. But it seems like there's too much shared music, not enough 'intellectual curiosity' for new or different music, and frankly, too much catering to the traditional. DJs are staying in their wheelhouse; few venture out of their comfort zone and challenge people to dance to something else. Blues DJs have been much less victim of this, I'll say - as at least a few DJs there have seemed to seek out more modern tracks.
Just look around online - many great videos of swing are choreographed to music that you'll never hear socially. Why is this? Do DJs truly believe that (given ALL the above comments) people will suddenly leave the floor? They won't, and I intend to prove this theory in spades. Sure, some of the traditional folk will be annoyed - this should be seen as a good thing; growth and retention of this scene will be vastly improved through evolution of sound and improvement of accessibility. If that evolution pisses off a few people who want to see swing firmly rooted in - rather, restricted to - the traditional... so be it. If sticking strictly to the traditional is a requirement, we should all be asking ourselves how much longer we'll be dancing; because mark my words; we'll be the last of it.
Food for thought, eh?
And with all that, I can only link ya'll to some swinginnovation -
Wax Tailor - "Say Yes"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRz-_u2tN0c
I will say there have been several DJs to date that I've found really quite good, and some that acceptably get by. They are rarer than they should be. Understand that there are of course exceptions to these observations... but also, understand that we're all guilty of some of this at some point in our DJ 'careers' - myself included. I've committed many of these sins in clubs while growing my career, and I'm sure I'll bring a whole new list of damnable offenses when I finally drop some records on this swing town.
Note that I'm pointing this out strictly to be helpful; everything I'm saying here is with intent to help 'the scene' improve retention of newbies - and specifically new leads, who have to (a) feel comfortable leading, quickly, and (b) have to rapidly acclimate to beat and tempo of the unfamiliar music they hope to lead to.
Consider the following:
1. DJs have no idea when half the people in the room are saying, audibly, the music sucks tonight. When I first started pointing out that most "DJs" around here are quite literally pressing play on their iTunes playlist, and as such are replaceable by a CD deck, I got a surprising amount of backlash. "They're paying attention to the floor, choosing what should come next based on the crowd". I call shenanigans. That's what they -should- be doing, yes. But if this were true, you'd never see the dj walking away for several songs at a time - nor would you see floors full of people dancing and having fun to an energetic track, only to find themselves struggling to care about the next. The fact is, most of the DJs aren't guiding their audience as much as their stalwart defenders think... and the end result is a dancefloor full of people dancing to stuff they don't truly like.
DJs - you are VERY lucky with the social partner dance scene; people ask each other to dance sometimes PRIOR to knowing what the next song is. You don't even have to WORK to get people on the dancefloor! Don't get lazy because of this!!! If you're replaceable by a pre-mixed CD, what value do you add to the scene?
2. DJs have *zero* idea what should never be played in their current environment (venue). This one's a little trickier for me, because I have to admit I haven't been around long enough to know what some people do actually enjoy (some people appear to like blues dancing to ultra-slow, near beatless tracks). But really, as a "DJ", you have to understand the acoustics you're working with - and work with them. Partner dancing requires a beat... if your music is so poorly recorded and the equipment you're working with is insufficiently powerful; your music no longer has a discernable beat. And frankly, the portable PA equipment in most venues - while generally quite adequate - is not nearly accurate, clean, or detailed enough to get away with playing tracks with questionable fidelity unless the DJ understands how to use the parametric EQs on their boards (I've yet to see someone even attempt to touch those). This is not necessary knowlege when spinning modern pop music that is mastered for the worst of speakers... but vastly more important with vintage tunes, much more so when those tunes are already in compressed formats.
Advanced side topics to this point include, but are not limited to: intros with no beat to jockey to, strange tempo changes, unclear breaks.
3. DJs succumbing too much to being an MC - at risk of alienating newbies. Again I'll caveat this one with "I'm new and can understand that maybe I don't 'get it' yet". But at some of the social dances, I've literally seen DJs shut -everything- down for announcements, and then bust out what I'll refer to as "the inside joke", namely those choreographed dances (the big apple? I think is one?) that only certain people know. Mind you, I've no problem inherently with this - I get it - but note that chaining this with announcements and then the birthday jam and others, it makes this really convenient segment where the newbies in the room decide to get their stuff and go home - ne'er to return. This is a HUGE blow to newbie retention... standing around watching people enjoy something you're not a part of - and don't even know where or how to learn. (And it smacks of 'wedding dj', but that's me being catty.) I literally run away from these dances as I just don't care to do this OR the electric slide. Line dancing... is boring.
4. Promoters/Organizers appear to be ordering djs based on seniority/cred instead of impact on crowd. This is of course not the DJ's fault, per se, but as such, a DJ should have some understanding of the impact of their timeslot - if you're the opening DJ (first DJ), there are different realities than if you're the middle or closing DJ. The opening DJ has it easier in this scene than in nightlife-oriented scenes - at start, there should generally be people already there and ready to dance. However, the opening DJ has to be prepared to cater to -beginners- fresh out of their lesson. This slot is HUGELY important!
A good DJ in the opening timeslot should be sensitive to the higher beginner-to-expert ratio earlier in the night, and consider (a) what did the pre-dance lesson entail and (b) focus on playing clearer (well-mastered), tempo-appropriate tracks for beginners. Especially beginner -leads- who are struggling to acclimate to the count (beginner followers need to follow their lead, not necessarily the music).
For middle / closing DJs, you need to pick up the intensity, bring the energy level up to 11. I know, you're a blues dj at a blues night. I get it. Doesn't matter; the closing (headlining!) slot is your time to shine. Drop huge tracks. Drop hits. Drop amazing new stuff you've found that defines your sound - even if that's blues. But don't -drop- the energy level. Don't drop the tempo for song after song. Blocks of slow songs 30 min to close is a SURE way to ensure you have a half-empty venue by close. That's -bad-; and organizers reading this should learn to steer clear of filling their closing slots with DJs that don't understand this. Slow tempos in the late slot remind people that they've got a bedtime fast approaching. You should instead be tempting your dancers to go to work tired the next morning, and with a huge grin on their face. THAT is guaranteed return business, as one of the greatest reviews a DJ can ever have of his set the night before is "I am so tired at work today".
5. DJs don't take many risks. I hesitate to say this - I do. I have only been dancing in this scene for 2 months or so, and have only seen probably a small subset of DJs. But it seems like there's too much shared music, not enough 'intellectual curiosity' for new or different music, and frankly, too much catering to the traditional. DJs are staying in their wheelhouse; few venture out of their comfort zone and challenge people to dance to something else. Blues DJs have been much less victim of this, I'll say - as at least a few DJs there have seemed to seek out more modern tracks.
Just look around online - many great videos of swing are choreographed to music that you'll never hear socially. Why is this? Do DJs truly believe that (given ALL the above comments) people will suddenly leave the floor? They won't, and I intend to prove this theory in spades. Sure, some of the traditional folk will be annoyed - this should be seen as a good thing; growth and retention of this scene will be vastly improved through evolution of sound and improvement of accessibility. If that evolution pisses off a few people who want to see swing firmly rooted in - rather, restricted to - the traditional... so be it. If sticking strictly to the traditional is a requirement, we should all be asking ourselves how much longer we'll be dancing; because mark my words; we'll be the last of it.
Food for thought, eh?
And with all that, I can only link ya'll to some swinginnovation -
Wax Tailor - "Say Yes"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRz-_u2tN0c
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Synco-pation
I have invented... wait for it... Seven-Count Lindy.
It's counted something like - One, two, tri-ple-step, five, six, fuck!
And the variant - One, two, tri-ple-step, five, god-damn-it!
However, some beginners may find it easier to learn five-count first... One, two, fuck-ing-hell... shit!
Let me just say I am a -dream- to dance with.
...and by that, I mean, I might be daydreaming at the time.
Black Sun Empire - "Arrakis"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZvOB0emxdM
It's counted something like - One, two, tri-ple-step, five, six, fuck!
And the variant - One, two, tri-ple-step, five, god-damn-it!
However, some beginners may find it easier to learn five-count first... One, two, fuck-ing-hell... shit!
Let me just say I am a -dream- to dance with.
...and by that, I mean, I might be daydreaming at the time.
Black Sun Empire - "Arrakis"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZvOB0emxdM
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Ok, ok...
Alright... among some of you I've been hinting at some of the great music I've been finding lately that I'd be spinning at swing / blues nights if I start djing there.
So, to keep that level of interest high (and maybe, tease you a bit more), I bring you a favorite that I've discovered recently... I give you: Waldeck - "Make My Day". Enjoy it... and let me know who I should start talking to about gigs both here and away.
So, to keep that level of interest high (and maybe, tease you a bit more), I bring you a favorite that I've discovered recently... I give you: Waldeck - "Make My Day". Enjoy it... and let me know who I should start talking to about gigs both here and away.
Rainy Day Music
Just some beautiful older music that lives tucked away in my heart for rainy, cloudy blah days like today...
Orbital - The Box (vocal mix)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wYXx44CGl5A&feature=related
Future Sound of London - My Kingdom
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B7aUhWO1DMw
Cylob - Flicklife
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gXwc9ivRkmw
Orbital - The Box (vocal mix)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wYXx44CGl5A&feature=related
Future Sound of London - My Kingdom
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B7aUhWO1DMw
Cylob - Flicklife
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gXwc9ivRkmw
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Joga Bonito
If someone asked ... 'why capoeira?' ... my response might sound a lot like this.
Actually, looking harder... this is the group I started with. I was one of the first students in Massachussetts for Capoeira Gerais... trained with a number of the people in this video:
If you look close, you might just see mkbscratch in there... ;)
Actually, looking harder... this is the group I started with. I was one of the first students in Massachussetts for Capoeira Gerais... trained with a number of the people in this video:
If you look close, you might just see mkbscratch in there... ;)
Monday, August 23, 2010
Dance With Me? Are... you sure?
I've laid out a few stupid things that followers do... but I, your not-so-humble narrator, would not go on thinking that I am myself a desireable partner as well. Nor would I hope to fool anyone into thinking that I've got any real claim to knowing what I'm doing. No, quite the contrary.
You see, I'm more, much more of a liability than being simply annoying to dance with - I am downright dangerous.
A few of my readers who've been out dancing with me for years know firsthand what I was known for on the floor - that is to say, often quite aggressive, flashy martial arts coated in a thick funky layer of musicality. I used to be pretty good - dancing at clubs and raves four to five nights a week - and at the same time period, djing, performing, and training in Uechi-Ryu. I was powerful, fast, reflexive, and worked daily to discover, refine, and perfect new moves and techniques - I truly loved dancing.
Of course, that was a different time; 10-15 years ago - young, energetic, flexible, and all my joints were full-range and operational. I've since... changed... gained upwards of 50lbs, devastated my knees with Capoeira (despite it adding many new moves to my repetoire), and, frankly, got old and jaded. I started yearning for a career instead of a club night. A steady paycheck instead of a weekend rave - and most certainly "adult" friends in favor of socializing with sketchy club kids more interested in their next hit than their day-to-day stability. And "adult" friends are much harder to convince into night after night of dancing until sunup.
And so it went, or so I thought. I was somewhat convinced - perhaps rightfully so - by relationship partners that the mature adult had no real place residing in clubs for entertainment, and for the past few years had resigned myself to learning to be happy on the couch. (In fairness, I did come out of that life with a great home theater system to compensate for staying home constantly - but I digress.) But where it's true that there's a great degree of immaturity one must deal with in the club scene - I have always been and will always be [driven by] and [driven to] music that moves people to dance.
YES, I'm getting on with my story - because this brings us to Andrea. Nearly the first moment I'd started talking with her, she was gushing about swing. It, like many of you, is her true passion in life. I'd been to a swing event or two in Providence (early Waterfires for one) and while I can't say Lindy was my favorite category on SYTYCD, I had always held reverence for good swing dancers. A punk skateboarder from youth through college, I'd listened to more than my share of ska and rockabilly, and in Providence in those years, those scenes went hand in hand with the big band and swing acts.
It surprised her, more than a bit, when she mentioned that we couldn't hang out that Friday because, well, she was committed to a swing dance and I probably wouldn't want to go... and yet I begged to tag along. I assembled a slick outfit, took the intro lesson, then immediately forgot it and happily made a fool out of myself bouncing around the floor, mercilessly twirling a distraught girl entirely unsure what monster she'd just birthed - but I was hooked.
Over the next few days and weeks to come, she listened to my stories (with understandable disbelief) - that yes, I could actually dance - and we should head out to my comfort zone sometime. So one fateful night after my introduction to blues dancing at Blues Union, we headed to Elements, the long-running drum&bass night at the Phoenix Landing, to see DJ Fresh and hopefully, destroy the dancefloor together.
Well, destruction was on the agenda, but I don't think it was what we had in mind.
You see, when I dance to electronic music, I put 110% into it. I -dance-. I rock-the-fuck-out. It used to be common to find me in battle circles with the breakdancers, stealing the space they'd cleared for moments that I could shine, throwing spinkicks, capoeira acrobatics, and breakbeat re-interpretations of kungfu, taichi, aikido, and other arts I've learned and stolen from - in time, on the beat, on the breaks, channeling the music into movement as a good dancer will.
This night was no exception to that intent... but... well... I forgot a few critical details. I forgot that I'm not 22 anymore. I forgot that my reflexes have waned and my peripheral vision has narrowed. I forgot that my flexibility has stiffened and my strength has diminished. I forgot that I no longer possess the precise control or the lighting speed in my kicks that had for years allowed me to include dangerous moves into my dances on packed floors and walk away without injuring onlookers.
I forgot. And... well... no one warned Andrea.
Having taken a few basic lessons (in retrospect one might say "enough to be dangerous"), I was eager to try to lead, and we headed straight for the dance area. The music was on point, and Andrea rapidly found herself comfortable with the swing timing in drumnbass - it was great. Even with my limited knowlege, we shared some great moments excuting turns together to the huge rolling breaks omnipresent in dnb.
It was awesome, and I was in the groove... and I started working. Suddenly, she finds herself dodging kicks. Poorly executed, terrible form... I can say there's nothing I could say in my own defense - I was a trainwreck.
And suddenly, her look of "what the hell is this boy doing?" turns to a pained scrunchy-face, and she grabs her thigh and hobbles off the floor. What years ago would have been a fantastic head high hook-kick had, in my old age and waning physique, become an awfully executed, waist-high snapkick that returned with more power than it left with - and on return, nailed her thigh with a heel.
Some lead I am.
After a drink and volumes of sheepish apologies, she recovers enough to dance more, and we head for a less-excitable area in the back of the room and resume enjoying ourselves.
...at least, for a few moments. My clumsy execution of a turn evolved into an open-hand strike - completely missing the airspace, and nailing the next available target:
Her.
So when I say that Andrea has shown great patience with me... or I say that it should be clear - I'm far from a flawless dancer... know that nothing is more true.
Freestylers - "Ruffneck"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P89n75bCUTA
You see, I'm more, much more of a liability than being simply annoying to dance with - I am downright dangerous.
A few of my readers who've been out dancing with me for years know firsthand what I was known for on the floor - that is to say, often quite aggressive, flashy martial arts coated in a thick funky layer of musicality. I used to be pretty good - dancing at clubs and raves four to five nights a week - and at the same time period, djing, performing, and training in Uechi-Ryu. I was powerful, fast, reflexive, and worked daily to discover, refine, and perfect new moves and techniques - I truly loved dancing.
Of course, that was a different time; 10-15 years ago - young, energetic, flexible, and all my joints were full-range and operational. I've since... changed... gained upwards of 50lbs, devastated my knees with Capoeira (despite it adding many new moves to my repetoire), and, frankly, got old and jaded. I started yearning for a career instead of a club night. A steady paycheck instead of a weekend rave - and most certainly "adult" friends in favor of socializing with sketchy club kids more interested in their next hit than their day-to-day stability. And "adult" friends are much harder to convince into night after night of dancing until sunup.
And so it went, or so I thought. I was somewhat convinced - perhaps rightfully so - by relationship partners that the mature adult had no real place residing in clubs for entertainment, and for the past few years had resigned myself to learning to be happy on the couch. (In fairness, I did come out of that life with a great home theater system to compensate for staying home constantly - but I digress.) But where it's true that there's a great degree of immaturity one must deal with in the club scene - I have always been and will always be [driven by] and [driven to] music that moves people to dance.
YES, I'm getting on with my story - because this brings us to Andrea. Nearly the first moment I'd started talking with her, she was gushing about swing. It, like many of you, is her true passion in life. I'd been to a swing event or two in Providence (early Waterfires for one) and while I can't say Lindy was my favorite category on SYTYCD, I had always held reverence for good swing dancers. A punk skateboarder from youth through college, I'd listened to more than my share of ska and rockabilly, and in Providence in those years, those scenes went hand in hand with the big band and swing acts.
It surprised her, more than a bit, when she mentioned that we couldn't hang out that Friday because, well, she was committed to a swing dance and I probably wouldn't want to go... and yet I begged to tag along. I assembled a slick outfit, took the intro lesson, then immediately forgot it and happily made a fool out of myself bouncing around the floor, mercilessly twirling a distraught girl entirely unsure what monster she'd just birthed - but I was hooked.
Over the next few days and weeks to come, she listened to my stories (with understandable disbelief) - that yes, I could actually dance - and we should head out to my comfort zone sometime. So one fateful night after my introduction to blues dancing at Blues Union, we headed to Elements, the long-running drum&bass night at the Phoenix Landing, to see DJ Fresh and hopefully, destroy the dancefloor together.
Well, destruction was on the agenda, but I don't think it was what we had in mind.
You see, when I dance to electronic music, I put 110% into it. I -dance-. I rock-the-fuck-out. It used to be common to find me in battle circles with the breakdancers, stealing the space they'd cleared for moments that I could shine, throwing spinkicks, capoeira acrobatics, and breakbeat re-interpretations of kungfu, taichi, aikido, and other arts I've learned and stolen from - in time, on the beat, on the breaks, channeling the music into movement as a good dancer will.
This night was no exception to that intent... but... well... I forgot a few critical details. I forgot that I'm not 22 anymore. I forgot that my reflexes have waned and my peripheral vision has narrowed. I forgot that my flexibility has stiffened and my strength has diminished. I forgot that I no longer possess the precise control or the lighting speed in my kicks that had for years allowed me to include dangerous moves into my dances on packed floors and walk away without injuring onlookers.
I forgot. And... well... no one warned Andrea.
Having taken a few basic lessons (in retrospect one might say "enough to be dangerous"), I was eager to try to lead, and we headed straight for the dance area. The music was on point, and Andrea rapidly found herself comfortable with the swing timing in drumnbass - it was great. Even with my limited knowlege, we shared some great moments excuting turns together to the huge rolling breaks omnipresent in dnb.
It was awesome, and I was in the groove... and I started working. Suddenly, she finds herself dodging kicks. Poorly executed, terrible form... I can say there's nothing I could say in my own defense - I was a trainwreck.
And suddenly, her look of "what the hell is this boy doing?" turns to a pained scrunchy-face, and she grabs her thigh and hobbles off the floor. What years ago would have been a fantastic head high hook-kick had, in my old age and waning physique, become an awfully executed, waist-high snapkick that returned with more power than it left with - and on return, nailed her thigh with a heel.
Some lead I am.
After a drink and volumes of sheepish apologies, she recovers enough to dance more, and we head for a less-excitable area in the back of the room and resume enjoying ourselves.
...at least, for a few moments. My clumsy execution of a turn evolved into an open-hand strike - completely missing the airspace, and nailing the next available target:
Her.
So when I say that Andrea has shown great patience with me... or I say that it should be clear - I'm far from a flawless dancer... know that nothing is more true.
Freestylers - "Ruffneck"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P89n75bCUTA
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Not-So-Fresh Produce
I've been a musician most of my life; I come from a very musical (though not terribly accomplished) family. I started with piano lessons from like age 7 onward, clarinet in elementary school, programming electronic music as early as middle school on my commodore 64, keyboards in high school, cello in college, and lots of bits of other intruments in between (some sax, oboe, trumpet, guitar (terribly!)).
I've since assembled a bit of a home studio with quite a good bit of hardware, synths, etc. I've been in a number of bands and musical endeavors, producing solo as cosinezero, touring with GASR (dark political electronica), and performing under the names Omega Division (with longtime friend & inspiration Brad) and Ultra (both dark electro/breaks).
A long-ago ex recently sent me a backup of a track I'd thought I'd lost; this may be the first recorded track I'd ever released. It was an experiment in sampling; made up entirely of sampled sounds of R2D2. It's geeky, yes, but it's a really fun track and even today I'm in awe of how complex this track is (despite utterly terrible production quality in the recording - I wasn't into sound engineering back then).
So, thanks to wingnut, I am pleased to give you the first known recorded track by cosinezero - "Artoo, You're On Fire!". It's a hoot.
Some others; mostly from 1998-2002ish:
cosinezero - "Fist of the White Crane" (most recent, best mastering... I love this track. Kind of twostep? Not really sure what genre this would be nowadays...)
cosinezero - "Armageddon" (*terrible* mastering, still good lo-fi dark breakbeat (neurofunk?) track. Complex, aggressive synths... turn this one up!)
cosinezero - "Claustrophobia" (moody, heavy experimentation with filters. I really should re-do this and pep it up a bit... takes some time to develop.)
ultra - "Circumventilation" (moody, kind of slow, but it's got a pretty ending)
All that said, I've now finished the initial steps of setting up my studio in my new apartment, and last night started writing - only to find that while I totally understand breakbeat / broken beat (think hiphop, breaks, or dnb) that I didn't know how to write a swing beat. So, this week, I will be working with this -http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swung_note ...and maybe soon start releasing some new tracks for you all to enjoy.
It's been far too long since I've been writing. I guess that's what dating someone who doesn't understand music will do to you; I had to stop hiding in my studio in favor of watching another blisteringly witty episode of "What Not To Wear". It should go without saying I feel much, much more alive now. Never fear, I've greatly expanded my musical interests in the past decade, and those influences should take my music in some really great directions.
Stay tuned - Don't touch that dial! No, really - Don't Touch That Dial! (Dynamix II)
I've since assembled a bit of a home studio with quite a good bit of hardware, synths, etc. I've been in a number of bands and musical endeavors, producing solo as cosinezero, touring with GASR (dark political electronica), and performing under the names Omega Division (with longtime friend & inspiration Brad) and Ultra (both dark electro/breaks).
A long-ago ex recently sent me a backup of a track I'd thought I'd lost; this may be the first recorded track I'd ever released. It was an experiment in sampling; made up entirely of sampled sounds of R2D2. It's geeky, yes, but it's a really fun track and even today I'm in awe of how complex this track is (despite utterly terrible production quality in the recording - I wasn't into sound engineering back then).
So, thanks to wingnut, I am pleased to give you the first known recorded track by cosinezero - "Artoo, You're On Fire!". It's a hoot.
Some others; mostly from 1998-2002ish:
cosinezero - "Fist of the White Crane" (most recent, best mastering... I love this track. Kind of twostep? Not really sure what genre this would be nowadays...)
cosinezero - "Armageddon" (*terrible* mastering, still good lo-fi dark breakbeat (neurofunk?) track. Complex, aggressive synths... turn this one up!)
cosinezero - "Claustrophobia" (moody, heavy experimentation with filters. I really should re-do this and pep it up a bit... takes some time to develop.)
ultra - "Circumventilation" (moody, kind of slow, but it's got a pretty ending)
All that said, I've now finished the initial steps of setting up my studio in my new apartment, and last night started writing - only to find that while I totally understand breakbeat / broken beat (think hiphop, breaks, or dnb) that I didn't know how to write a swing beat. So, this week, I will be working with this -http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swung_note ...and maybe soon start releasing some new tracks for you all to enjoy.
It's been far too long since I've been writing. I guess that's what dating someone who doesn't understand music will do to you; I had to stop hiding in my studio in favor of watching another blisteringly witty episode of "What Not To Wear". It should go without saying I feel much, much more alive now. Never fear, I've greatly expanded my musical interests in the past decade, and those influences should take my music in some really great directions.
Stay tuned - Don't touch that dial! No, really - Don't Touch That Dial! (Dynamix II)
Saturday, August 21, 2010
Fun with Followers - Favorites to Date
After typing my AF Crew introductions, I should highlight some of my favorite dances and dancers so far. In contrast to the AF Crew, all my favorites get their real names, mostly because they deserve to revel in a bit of thanks and kudos for being awesome in their own rights (and so they can stop worrying if they're an AF'er ;) )
First and foremost: Andrea. I don't want to make this a terribly personal blog (elsewhere for that), and fawn all over the girl I show up to most dances with, but let's face it; I wouldn't be swing dancing if it wasn't for her. It truly didn't take convincing, but she definitely is patient zero for the passion for swing that has infected me. She's put up with me during some utterly terrible dances as I learn, and she's been (mostly) patient enough to let me rock out some entirely unsuccessful moves in experimentation. She's also let me influence her as well, enjoying new music from me and joining me to swing in clubs to djs dropping music that most wouldn't even consider dancing lindy to. She'll always have preference when I'm looking for someone to dance with.
Sami as well rightfully deserves mention. She was among the first followers to bravely dance with me (save for people at lessons) and has stood patiently by as I try to reconcile all the new counting, footwork, and movements against a long history of dancing solo in clubs. I'm proud to dance with her and show her my progress from week to week, and can't wait to repay her early patience and openness with a truly terrific dance.
Nina has, to date, shared two of my favorite, more comfortable dances - to blues, no less - one night a few weeks back. I've been learning Lindy from her as well in a class, though ironically enough when I danced with her to show her what I'd learned, I completely and totally lost all of it - fell right out of my head. I felt awful 'cause I really have learned a ton from their lessons, but I promise I'll be looking out for her to follow some really spectacular leads when I've got this down.
I really didn't want to call out people I've only shared one dance with (in favor of waiting for a more meaningful comment), but Tina is already firmly on my list of favorites, if not just for putting up with officially the slowest, most painful dance -yet-, and for following my "wipe sweat off forehead" lead. I knew she was going to be a favorite of mine when I first saw her the first night I'd been swing dancing - she was dressed to the nines in a really foxy, classy, classic outfit, which could only be properly described as 'Meow!'.
Two other followers deserve mention; Sarah and Wendy, both students with me in various classes. I believe Sarah has some prior experience; and I haven't actually had chance to dance with her outside of class, but she's solid, learns fast, listens to a lead, and is just really nice. I have often been stuck in class with an AF card-carrying member and found myself counting how many people until Sarah gets rotated to me so that I can actually think about learning instead of running after a follower who's decided it's OK to across the room. Wendy is clearly much less experienced but is visibly trying to learn and is willing to laugh at herself or my crappy jokes. Even if we're a long way from being stunning dancers, I greatly enjoy dancing with her.
There's a few other favorite followers, some of whom reading this and no doubt looking for their names. I want to reserve comments on them until I've something better to say than just "had a nice dance that one time" - because I'd rather tell my readers about this -awesome- dance we had, once we have it. Stay tuned... you'll have your name in lights soon enough.
In the meantime...
Flevans - "Small Room Syndrome"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VWoCGTGPxHs
First and foremost: Andrea. I don't want to make this a terribly personal blog (elsewhere for that), and fawn all over the girl I show up to most dances with, but let's face it; I wouldn't be swing dancing if it wasn't for her. It truly didn't take convincing, but she definitely is patient zero for the passion for swing that has infected me. She's put up with me during some utterly terrible dances as I learn, and she's been (mostly) patient enough to let me rock out some entirely unsuccessful moves in experimentation. She's also let me influence her as well, enjoying new music from me and joining me to swing in clubs to djs dropping music that most wouldn't even consider dancing lindy to. She'll always have preference when I'm looking for someone to dance with.
Sami as well rightfully deserves mention. She was among the first followers to bravely dance with me (save for people at lessons) and has stood patiently by as I try to reconcile all the new counting, footwork, and movements against a long history of dancing solo in clubs. I'm proud to dance with her and show her my progress from week to week, and can't wait to repay her early patience and openness with a truly terrific dance.
Nina has, to date, shared two of my favorite, more comfortable dances - to blues, no less - one night a few weeks back. I've been learning Lindy from her as well in a class, though ironically enough when I danced with her to show her what I'd learned, I completely and totally lost all of it - fell right out of my head. I felt awful 'cause I really have learned a ton from their lessons, but I promise I'll be looking out for her to follow some really spectacular leads when I've got this down.
I really didn't want to call out people I've only shared one dance with (in favor of waiting for a more meaningful comment), but Tina is already firmly on my list of favorites, if not just for putting up with officially the slowest, most painful dance -yet-, and for following my "wipe sweat off forehead" lead. I knew she was going to be a favorite of mine when I first saw her the first night I'd been swing dancing - she was dressed to the nines in a really foxy, classy, classic outfit, which could only be properly described as 'Meow!'.
Two other followers deserve mention; Sarah and Wendy, both students with me in various classes. I believe Sarah has some prior experience; and I haven't actually had chance to dance with her outside of class, but she's solid, learns fast, listens to a lead, and is just really nice. I have often been stuck in class with an AF card-carrying member and found myself counting how many people until Sarah gets rotated to me so that I can actually think about learning instead of running after a follower who's decided it's OK to across the room. Wendy is clearly much less experienced but is visibly trying to learn and is willing to laugh at herself or my crappy jokes. Even if we're a long way from being stunning dancers, I greatly enjoy dancing with her.
There's a few other favorite followers, some of whom reading this and no doubt looking for their names. I want to reserve comments on them until I've something better to say than just "had a nice dance that one time" - because I'd rather tell my readers about this -awesome- dance we had, once we have it. Stay tuned... you'll have your name in lights soon enough.
In the meantime...
Flevans - "Small Room Syndrome"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VWoCGTGPxHs
Outside the Box
I know for certain some traditional swing folk won't like some of what I'd like to see swing expand into... but there are styles of music that Lindy quite simply works very, very well with. Drumnbass is one of those styles; it's the right speed for Lindy, it's got a broken beat, swing feel to it, and has musicality potential to delight even the most stale of dancers.
It's become common for a thursday night now, to see me and a certain cute redhead out dancing to blues at Blues Union, then tearing up a few tiles at Elements @ Phoenix Landing. Any and all swing dancers should most definitely consider joining us for those marathon dance nights.
But for now, grab your headphones, dim the lights, and dance with me to this... try to tell me you cannot feel the swingouts, the turns, the bounces... and the intense smile plastered across your face.
Future Prophecies - "Miniamba"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uKo_1wRLOr0
It's become common for a thursday night now, to see me and a certain cute redhead out dancing to blues at Blues Union, then tearing up a few tiles at Elements @ Phoenix Landing. Any and all swing dancers should most definitely consider joining us for those marathon dance nights.
But for now, grab your headphones, dim the lights, and dance with me to this... try to tell me you cannot feel the swingouts, the turns, the bounces... and the intense smile plastered across your face.
Future Prophecies - "Miniamba"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uKo_1wRLOr0
Friday, August 20, 2010
Don' mean no ting...
Swing, specifically six count Lindy Hop, isn't by any observation easy to learn. And for a club dancer like me (a notedly not-trained one, unless you count the martial arts that I've always included in my dance vocabulary), partner dancing is especially foreign; having to tell someone else what you're about to do... it's admittedly intimidating.
Counting six instead of 4-8-16-32 is very, very hard for me to do; it's entirely counter to dancing to electronica, which I understand very very well and used to be a well respected dancer in many clubs. Trying to sequence a break when counting in sixes is difficult for me, it does not come naturally at all to me. Trying to count this out in my head is one thing; having little room for error because of the poor girl on my arm who has to follow the insanity that is my brain processing music... is quite a taxing experience.
To date, I've taken nearly two months of formal lessons in lindy (both six and eight count), which has meant some weeks as many as three lessons a week, and a handful of lessons in blues. I've been mucking about with informally learning the Charleston steps, and lo and behold, the Waterfire in Providence (my home base for many years) on August 28th is having a Charleston lesson, which should be pretty great fun.
It's all starting to click, now, but in weird ways. More on that in later posts, as I isolate and eradicate my gaps in understanding.
In the meantime... choreograph a nasty, unconventional swing routine to this with me?
Pendulum - "Watercolour"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tEPB7uzKuh4&feature=channel
Counting six instead of 4-8-16-32 is very, very hard for me to do; it's entirely counter to dancing to electronica, which I understand very very well and used to be a well respected dancer in many clubs. Trying to sequence a break when counting in sixes is difficult for me, it does not come naturally at all to me. Trying to count this out in my head is one thing; having little room for error because of the poor girl on my arm who has to follow the insanity that is my brain processing music... is quite a taxing experience.
To date, I've taken nearly two months of formal lessons in lindy (both six and eight count), which has meant some weeks as many as three lessons a week, and a handful of lessons in blues. I've been mucking about with informally learning the Charleston steps, and lo and behold, the Waterfire in Providence (my home base for many years) on August 28th is having a Charleston lesson, which should be pretty great fun.
It's all starting to click, now, but in weird ways. More on that in later posts, as I isolate and eradicate my gaps in understanding.
In the meantime... choreograph a nasty, unconventional swing routine to this with me?
Pendulum - "Watercolour"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tEPB7uzKuh4&feature=channel
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Done Right
Megan (some on her later) shared this with me, and I'm utterly obsessed with their hypnotic movements... this is a great example of how incredible this dance can be, when done right. The lead has such intense muscle control, similar to some of the better breakers out there... watch the whole thing. Really.
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Fun with Followers - AF Crew introduction.
Ok, so the reality is, I'm here mostly because I was encouraged to start blogging about my experiences learning lindy - among them, my observations of people around me.
So, in what will likely be a recurring theme here; I bring you the Annoying Follower series. There will also be similar reflections on the good followers as well - because I hope to send them here one day and I'd like them to feel positively highlighted.
I'd like to point out that to make this list, a follower would have to be doing something -terribly- wrong; and not just wrong, but damned near maliciously wrong. Simply being a poor dancer isn't enough - I'm not catty; these are people who really put in the extra effort to be annoying to dance with. As such, I'm leaving out people that I only just don't enjoy dancing with - this blog needn't highlight people I just don't find graceful - this list is for the truly obnoxious.
Last thing I want to do is be the guy known for bringing more negativity to the already small and drama-loaded dance scene; so I intend to try damned hard to keep this to extreme examples (and to genuinely funny mistakes, which certainly will put ME squarely in my own sights!)
The current Crew of Annoying Followers (The AF Crew, from here-on-out):
Galloping Girl: So-named because she gallops to make up for her small (sub-5') stature... which would be fine, except she gallops about four feet past where she should be at any given step. Which means, she's not just a stretch to dance with because she's annoyingly short (a forgiveable sin), she's also dragging your arm away. And yes, if you hadn't guessed, she doesn't follow ANY lead. EVERY dance with her is a guess at what new bizarre thing she's going to do to make this dance harder. Predicts lead and doesn't follow, can't feel or hear a beat to save her life, gallops through steps to points well out of range of lead, and lately... just before critical points in turns, steps out of momentum in opposite directions (LOVE this!! ).
FishyFace: So-named because the entire time I've had to dance with her, she was making a fishy-face at her boyfriend across the room. Let that sink in a moment. This girl can't be more than like 19, or at least she acts and looks like it, and she dances about as well as you'd expect from someone who doesn't pay attention during the lesson or the partner practice. Which is to say, terribly. She must be an amazing photographer, because I can't see any reason any sane boy would be seen in public (let alone dance) with this girl unless she had some rather Ansel-Adams-level-of-detail blackmail photos.
Backfist: Our most recent inductee. So-named because despite after just hearing in the lesson, replete with an excellent demonstration of truth, that when doing a free-spin the follower need only keep their hand in the same position during the spin... she decides to tuck it in to her chest. I've studied martial arts for close to seven years of my life; even my amphetamine-tricked reflexes weren't fast enough to catch her arm shooting out from her happy place at the last millisecond in the spin. So I did what any sane person would do; gently corrected her by saying "You just need to leave your arm in the spot it was when I let go of it".
Her resulting response is what gained her notoriety and her AF Crew badge - she gets offended at being corrected (god forbid she's doing something the teachers just told her not to do), and instead of leaving her arm in the same spot during the spin, she turned it into a spinning backfist, properly executed here. ( goto 1:10) Yeah. It's a damned dangerous thing to even joke about, and if she does it again, she's gonna find out what a hard rising block does to a wrist... no way I'm getting intentionally KO'd on a dancefloor.
Bringing truth to 'Dance like no one's watching', I give you -
Pendulum - "Slam"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABqh9N-Mw5E&feature=related
So, in what will likely be a recurring theme here; I bring you the Annoying Follower series. There will also be similar reflections on the good followers as well - because I hope to send them here one day and I'd like them to feel positively highlighted.
I'd like to point out that to make this list, a follower would have to be doing something -terribly- wrong; and not just wrong, but damned near maliciously wrong. Simply being a poor dancer isn't enough - I'm not catty; these are people who really put in the extra effort to be annoying to dance with. As such, I'm leaving out people that I only just don't enjoy dancing with - this blog needn't highlight people I just don't find graceful - this list is for the truly obnoxious.
Last thing I want to do is be the guy known for bringing more negativity to the already small and drama-loaded dance scene; so I intend to try damned hard to keep this to extreme examples (and to genuinely funny mistakes, which certainly will put ME squarely in my own sights!)
The current Crew of Annoying Followers (The AF Crew, from here-on-out):
Galloping Girl: So-named because she gallops to make up for her small (sub-5') stature... which would be fine, except she gallops about four feet past where she should be at any given step. Which means, she's not just a stretch to dance with because she's annoyingly short (a forgiveable sin), she's also dragging your arm away. And yes, if you hadn't guessed, she doesn't follow ANY lead. EVERY dance with her is a guess at what new bizarre thing she's going to do to make this dance harder. Predicts lead and doesn't follow, can't feel or hear a beat to save her life, gallops through steps to points well out of range of lead, and lately... just before critical points in turns, steps out of momentum in opposite directions (LOVE this!! ).
FishyFace: So-named because the entire time I've had to dance with her, she was making a fishy-face at her boyfriend across the room. Let that sink in a moment. This girl can't be more than like 19, or at least she acts and looks like it, and she dances about as well as you'd expect from someone who doesn't pay attention during the lesson or the partner practice. Which is to say, terribly. She must be an amazing photographer, because I can't see any reason any sane boy would be seen in public (let alone dance) with this girl unless she had some rather Ansel-Adams-level-of-detail blackmail photos.
Backfist: Our most recent inductee. So-named because despite after just hearing in the lesson, replete with an excellent demonstration of truth, that when doing a free-spin the follower need only keep their hand in the same position during the spin... she decides to tuck it in to her chest. I've studied martial arts for close to seven years of my life; even my amphetamine-tricked reflexes weren't fast enough to catch her arm shooting out from her happy place at the last millisecond in the spin. So I did what any sane person would do; gently corrected her by saying "You just need to leave your arm in the spot it was when I let go of it".
Her resulting response is what gained her notoriety and her AF Crew badge - she gets offended at being corrected (god forbid she's doing something the teachers just told her not to do), and instead of leaving her arm in the same spot during the spin, she turned it into a spinning backfist, properly executed here. ( goto 1:10) Yeah. It's a damned dangerous thing to even joke about, and if she does it again, she's gonna find out what a hard rising block does to a wrist... no way I'm getting intentionally KO'd on a dancefloor.
Bringing truth to 'Dance like no one's watching', I give you -
Pendulum - "Slam"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABqh9N-Mw5E&feature=related
Sunday, August 1, 2010
[INTRO] Shouldn't have left you... Without a dope beat to step to...
I suppose I've never been one to shy away from challenges. And with my life thrown into the balances lately, this summer has been about renewal, rebirth, refocus... revival.
After a lifetime of bringing music and dance to the people, my last lover made me complicit in the vicious thoughtcrime that "adult" life didn't contain clubs, music... dance... I realize now that she just lacked the capacity, the depth, the volume... to empathize with the beat that drives me and so many others obsessed with music.
I am here as penance for the sins I've committed against myself, letting someone turn down my volume, letting someone stop my beat, letting someone take the needle off my record... and for the sins I've committed against others - letting someone stop me from doing what I do very well; bringing joy and love to others through the music and dance that I'd once spread to others through writing and djing music.
As part of this reformation, I have taken up dancing again. Specifically, swing, blues, and of course I've returned to my comfort zone of concerts and clubs.
I intend to chronicle some of my adventures here as I learn to dance swing, as I explore the vast worlds of new music I have been ignoring, and as I prepare - and begin - to start DJing again.
So -
-Outro-
Mr. Scruff ft Alice Russell - "Music Takes Me Up"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ojl2KLCGT4I&feature=related
After a lifetime of bringing music and dance to the people, my last lover made me complicit in the vicious thoughtcrime that "adult" life didn't contain clubs, music... dance... I realize now that she just lacked the capacity, the depth, the volume... to empathize with the beat that drives me and so many others obsessed with music.
I am here as penance for the sins I've committed against myself, letting someone turn down my volume, letting someone stop my beat, letting someone take the needle off my record... and for the sins I've committed against others - letting someone stop me from doing what I do very well; bringing joy and love to others through the music and dance that I'd once spread to others through writing and djing music.
As part of this reformation, I have taken up dancing again. Specifically, swing, blues, and of course I've returned to my comfort zone of concerts and clubs.
I intend to chronicle some of my adventures here as I learn to dance swing, as I explore the vast worlds of new music I have been ignoring, and as I prepare - and begin - to start DJing again.
So -
Welcome, enjoy, and save the next dance for me.
-Outro-
Mr. Scruff ft Alice Russell - "Music Takes Me Up"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ojl2KLCGT4I&feature=related
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