Viewing Archive for April, 2011
Kid Koala is still a wizard
Kid Koala On Beats In Space (Radiohead Remix) from Tim Sweeney on Vimeo.
Kid Koala On Beats In Space – “Damon Albarn, Kid Koala And Dan The Automator – Untitled” from Tim Sweeney on Vimeo.
Here are some clips of Kid Koala on Tim Sweeney’s Beats In Space radio show. He performs his Radiohead remix on the first one and a new song he did with Damon Albarn and Dan the Automator on the 2nd. You gotta respect how he’s still using vinyl, nothing digital. He’s got his own vinyl press at home, he bought it from some old German dude and had to go to Germany to learn how to use it.
I’ve known this guy since I was 14. Big up.
UPDATE: here is Koala’s own blog post about his vinyl cutter.
How I produced “Pro Nails”
Being on tour with Kid Sister has got me reminiscing on the songs we made together in the early days of Fool’s Gold, “Pro Nails” being the most known. Let’s take a trip down memory lane to 2006 when that song was first crafted and examine the DAW set-up that I was using.
I met Kid Sis in the summer of ’06 and pretty quickly we decided to work on some music together. I was itching to try some new sounds with my production. Up until then, every track I made was sample-based. I used to play samples (and often scratch them) straight from my DJ mixer into Protools, and then edit them into beats. If you listen to “Step Off” which was done just a few months prior, not only was the sample triggered off vinyl but even the drums were scratched — you can hear the different tones on consecutive kick drums, coming from the stab scratches on the record. I loved doing that type of beat but I could hardly play these songs in my sets. I wanted my tracks to reflect my DJ sets more, so I started experimenting with uptempo beats. This type of production would rely less on samples and edited audio, there would be more synths and programmed drums, and I didn’t like the way Protools handled MIDI at the time (I think this was on Protools 6 or 7). So I started looking for other DAW’s. After years of being bound to my record collection at home, I was also transitioning to a mobile set-up.
Around The World, Pt.31: Coachella
Coachella is a classy affair, my favorite music festival in America. I’ve played there a few times over the years: in 1999 with Q-Bert and Mixmaster Mike. In 2006 with Kanye. In 2008 with Kid Sister. But this year felt extra special. First of all because I was playing twice: solo and with Duck Sauce. And second, because Chromeo was also on the bill so it was a family affair. It felt like the culmination of years of going there with various collaborators and eating the spicy pizza in the VIP tent.
Behind the scenes at the Complex Macklobro shoot
As mentioned before, the current issue of Complex has my brother and me doing the fashion spread. Here’s a video showing some wet willies from the day of shoot.
Win one of five Serato SL 2 Bundles signed by me!
To celebrate the imminent kick-off to the Magic 8-Ball Tour I’m signing 5 brand new Serato SL 2 bundles (which includes a pair of limited edition Nike “Running Man” control vinyls) and giving them away! It’s like Christmas in April. All you have to do to enter is click here and “Like” the A-Trak Facebook page. If you’ve already “Liked” it then you’re automatically entered to win. Winners will be picked on May 15th and notified through Facebook… Word to Ed McMahon.
Youtube means nothing is forgotten
Here I am digging up some old video appearances… You can find any and everything on the intertubes nowadays!
Bran Van 3000 was basically the pet project of a film director from Montreal called James DiSalvio, hence the line about “came over with a script”. If I recall correctly his family owned a bunch of clubs in the city (I was 14 at the time). I had just won the Montreal DMC championships and this dude James asked me to do a scratch intro for his band’s video… which turned into somewhat of a hit. People at my school didn’t even know I was a DJ yet, so they were all confused when they saw me on TV.
Shades Of Culture were veterans of the Montreal hip hop scene. When my brother and I started doing our thing, these guys were early supporters and a big co-sign for us locally. Dave produced this track off their album, and that’s me at 0:30 DWELLIN IN THE LAB. Please note: Jim Jones wasn’t the first rapper to put sign language in his video.
The Allies = my old DJ crew from my battling days, alongside Craze, Infamous, Develop, Spictakular and J-Smoke. (Later on Klever joined the crew.) In 2000 we made an EP for Asphodel, an experimental record label from San Francisco that also released records by the Invisibl Skratch Piklz, the X-Ecutioners and DJ Spooky. This is the video for Infamous’ song off the EP… In recent years Inf has produced tracks for Lil Wayne (“Mr. Carter”, “I Am Not A Human Being”), Fat Joe (“Hey Joe”), Kid Sister (“Don’t Stop Movin”) and more. This video looks like a school project. #noshamethough
The video for Kanye’s “Workout Plan” was shot in my early days on the Kanye job. I make a comically short appearance at 2:18, next to GLC showing some appreciation for the shapely vixen in front of us. This is probably Kanye’s worst video and includes a vignette with the very forgettable Lil Jon remix. On the bright side, I met Vida Guerra, as well as another video chick who spoke french but whose name escapes me (not Tracey Ross). Here’s a little secret: the man in the bear costume was Don C. This song is also the first time I heard the word “juke” and saw footwork. The talkbox at the end was dope…
Free download: Ray Ban Vision (Remix)
Freeeeeebie alert! The remix to “Ray Ban Vision” features Donnis, Pill, new Fool’s Gold signee Danny Brown, and CyHi remaining on hook duties. To download it, you gotta “Like” my facebook page… (devilish laugh)
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Hypemen podcast: tell-all interview
The Hypemen = the Rosenthal brothers from ItsTheReal + Jensen Karp.
Their podcast interviews are pure rap-nerd gold, so I was more than happy to participate. SPILL THE BEANS, TRIZZY. Who was I really supposed to DJ for at Roc-a-fella before Kanye scooped me up?
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To download: right-click save-as MP3.
My brother does the “10 Essentials” column for GQ.com
FINALLY THE REST OF THE WORLD WILL KNOW ABOUT DAVE’S STRANGE HABIT OF EATING HALLS COUGH DROPS EVERY DAY.
Also, find out about his favorite man-heels and other fancy things.
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- Quack RT @DuckSauceNYC: First Duck Sauce show in NY: @GovBallNYC this June! http://t.co/YeZVAf1C
- Midnight, time to chop up some drums.
- Here's my new remix Martin Solveig's "The Night Out": Martin Solveig - The Night Out (A-Trak Remix) http://t.co/O6D5icEp on #SoundCloud
- RT @crookrobbins: I feel like Billy Corgan, In a church playing the organ, Covering Too Short, Smoking a Newport (c) @XDannyXBrownX
- Oh yes RT @FoolsGoldRecs: .@chromeo @ducksauceNYC + more play @GovBallNYC this June! Advance tix on sale tomorrow http://t.co/YeZVAf1C
