Side note: hello blog readers. Sorry if I haven’t posted in about a week. I’m alive, just been locked up in the studio… Stay tuned for some new music very very soon.
Anyway, it’s already voting time for the Beatport Music Awards. Last year was kind to me, now let’s show the world how democracy works and cast those ballots again! I’m up for “Best Indie Dance Artist” and my Yeah Yeah Yeahs remix is up for “Best Indie Dance / Nu Disco Track”. Gotta love that genre.
If you’d like to be in my good books, I urge you to vote here. Thanks!!
Last weekend I was in Paris for the Institubes 7th anniversary party. Shout out to the whole Institubes crew and Mazel Tov for such a joyful celebration. I stayed at a nice hotel, which is rare for France (no shots), the Costes K. I didn’t have time to film a hotel review but I snapped a few pictures of the most interesting part: these sculptures of animals scattered around the lobby. Enjoy.
SOUNDCLASH in Palm Springs!
We’re teaming up with one of my favorite labels Stones Throw for a side party on the Friday of Coachella at the Ace hotel. RSVP here, it’s free.
Speaking of Stones Throw, did you see the packaging on their new J Dilla x Serato vinyl? Kudos, gentlemen… Designed by Studio No.1.
1. Tensnake - Coma Cat - Permanent Vacation
2. Jan Driver - Tellyfoam - Boys Noize Records
3. Deadboy - If U Want Me - Numbers
4. Jamtech Foundation - Too Fast (Zombie Disco Squad Remix) - Discobelle Records
5. Miike Snow - Silvia (Savage Skulls & Tony Senghore Remix) - Columbia
6. Boys Noize & Erol Alkan - Lemonade - Phantasy
7. Young Dose ft. Fabolous & Rick Ross - Where They Do That At - BPE
8. Hey Today! - Talk To Me - Turbo Recordings
9. Boy 8-Bit - The Keep - This Is Music Ltd
10. Justin Faust - Witty - Discotexas
I’m a packrat at heart. Give me a bigger suitcase and I’ll still find more stuff to fill it with. So this is the only logical next step for me: the Mayfair Steamer Secretary Trunk. Crafted by London antiques dealer Timothy Oulton, it’s like a desk, trunk, armoire and filing cabinet all mixed in one.
Handmade of distressed vintage cigar leather over a solid wood frame with aniline-dyed leather (huh?), it has an antiqued vintage look accented with over 3,000 hand-hammered brass nailheads (oh). Yours for just $2,995 at restorationhardware.com.
If I went on the Titanic, this is what I would have brought.
I started DJing for Kanye in 2004, and by 2005 I was spending most of my time on the road with him and his boys, seeing them more than my own family and friends. That was the year of the Touch The Sky tour, a sort of golden era in the history of Kanye touring. GLC and I became good friends pretty quickly, mostly on the strength of jokes and eventually discovering a common love for Project Pat album cuts. When it came to his own music, he was very driven, often recording freestyles in hotel rooms with his own mic and MBox. He just needed a bit of guidance, like most budding artists. We decided to work on a mixtape together. I would go to LA during downtime between tours (he moved there from Chicago) and after a couple of trips we had enough material to for this CD.
I still have fond memories of those trips. This was my first real experience coaching a rapper and doing artist development, which would turn into valuable lessons for my work with Kid Sister and Fool’s Gold down the line. We recorded a grip of songs and freestyles, and I remember Kanye gave me advice on which ones to scrap. But what makes this mixtape unique, in my opinion, is the skits. GLC is hysterical and I never stopped cracking up while recording those prank calls (they’re real) and the notorious “Ain’t It Mayne” competition. In fact once you listen you’ll probably want to start following Tator Chip on twitter: @TatorChipPimps.
The kitchen was also an important theme in those recording sessions, for two reasons. First, GLC cooked a lot and although his cooking technique was different than, say, my mom’s (butter in a spray, Foreman grill), the results were tasty. The second reason is that when we weren’t eating I had my turntables set up on the kitchen counters and that’s where I recorded all the scratches.
Once the music was wrapped we did a photo shoot on a tour stop in Detroit, and by the time the artwork was done and the CDs were pressed up it was early 2006.
Now, 4 years later, here it is for your listening pleasure. Download here or in the “Downloads” section.
You know every year we like to do it up at the Winter Music Conference. We’ve got a new venue that you’ve never been to, it’s called Grand Central and it’s shaping up to be kiiiiind of excellent. There will be 2 rooms for you to groove to, and Armand and I are doing our first ever Duck Sauce set! Add to the mix the legendary DJ Sneak and a house set by Just Blaze, plus of course the full FG DJ roster, and you’ve got yourself a night to remember.
Travis and I did our first shows last week at the Roxy in LA and got plenty of footage so we made this lil’ video recap of the adventure. Big up to Miss Info and Rap Radar for posting it already!
We’re performing at SXSW tonight, check on the Fool’s Gold blog for more info.
When Dust La Rock designed the Duck Sauce logo we knew right away we had to bring it to life. So we turned to Celebriducks, basically the Nike of rubber ducks, and made it happen! We only made 1,000 of these and they will be available later this month, starting exclusively with Colette, Kid Robot and Turntable Lab.
To answer your most burning questions:
- no they don’t squeak, but yes they float.
- yes we have new Duck Sauce songs, a bunch of them, and they are fonky.
I’m up for “Best Indie Dance Artist” and my Yeah Yeah Yeahs remix is up for “Best Indie Dance / Nu Disco Track”. Gotta love that genre.
