Unless you are in a band.

Go ahead and google a band or musician that you like. Changes are that if they don’t have their own website (and even if they do), that their myspace page will be at the top of the results. A while back Myspace made a conscious effort to rebrand itself as a platform for musicians to get exposure. And it worked. If you have a band or are a musician it’s now really easy to share your songs, add tour dates, share your status and converse with your fans.

As Myspace declined in popularity as a personal social site, it grew in popularity with musicians trying to reach their fans. That all could change with Ping, the new social network recently announced by Apple. Ping allows fans to follow artists, get updates about their events and to also see what their friends (and friends of friends) are listening to.

Personally, I tend not to visit Myspace pages of bands I like. I can almost always find the information I need on their twitter account or other sites and not have to wade through the confusing UI and spam bots that overrun Myspace. While I’m still finding my way around Ping, I see it as a serious contender and eventual replacement of Myspace for that reason alone

But where Ping really differs from Myspace is their integrated shopping. Ping is connecting the artist, the fan, and the store all together in a seamless experience.
You can’t buy music directly from myspace, clicking on a ‘buy’ link will take you to another site, such as Amazon. And with such a large distribution platform it’s a no brainer that artists would want to be here.

(On an unrelated, does anyone else think that the Ping logo looks like the Gist logo?)

The Stuyvesants is a hip-hop album made up of 25 instrumental that are free to download. It is a collaborative effort between music producer Allan Cole (Algorythm), and record collector Darien Victor Birks (Flwrpt). Both reside in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, NY.

The two wanted to work together on a project where they could incorporate several of their talents, related to music and design. They wanted to do this under a moniker that would pay homage to the ’70s. The collaboration allowed them to do four major things, design, beat dig, produce amazing music, and simply have fun.

Tracklist:

1) Brooklyn’s Finest
2) The Stuyvesant Swing
3) Keep Dreamin’
4) Bring The Horns
5) Roosevelt Projects Jam Session
6) Nyeemah’s Pocket Groove
7) There’s So Many
8.) Soul & Tell
9) Do Anything
10) W.O.M.A.N.
11) Liquid Love (A Sophisticated Meeting Place)
12) Panty Dropper
13) Took Her Curls Out
14) Seldom Seen
15) Greene Ave. Anthem
16) The Fire (Untrue)
17) Oooh Baby
18) Coming Around
19) Hustlers
20) Jefferson Ave. Theme
21) After The Rain
22) Softer Side
23) Breakfast
24) Sunrise In The Stuy
25) Pookie’s Gone

You can download it and learn more about the duo on their site: http://thestuyvesants.com/

Tracklist:

1. Bobby Valentin – El Caiman
2. Tommy Olivencia – Trucutu
3. Joe Cuba – El Pito
4. Cortijo Y Su Combo – Tuntuneco
5. Africando – Yayboy
6. Kako Y Cortijo – Que Le Paso
7. Kako – Ala Berdeque
8. Ismael Rivera – Quitate De La Via Perico
9. Ismael Rivera – Ahi Na Ma
10. Cortijo – Severa
11. Celina Y Reutilio- El Carretero
12. Ismael Rivera – Deja Lo Que Suba
13. Johnny Ventura – Patacon Pisao
14. Fernandito Villalona – Felix Cumbe
15. Fernandito Villalona – El Negro Esta Rabioso
16. Fernandito Villlalona – Taboco Y Ron
17. Johnny Ventura – Abusadora
18. Julio Voltio – El Mellao
19. Julio Voltio – Julito Maraña
20. Khriz Y Angel – La Vecina
21. Oscar De Leon f. Tego Calderon – Lloras
22. Jerry Rivera – Amores Como El Nuestro
23. Eddie Santiago – Lluvia
24. Los Adolecentes – Me Tengo Que Ir
25. El Gran Combo – Si Dios Fuera Negro
26. El Gran Combo – Un Verano En Nueva York
27. Hector Lavoe – Aguanile

you can download the mix here.

Bird Peterson and MAD DECENT have teamed up for a trance/southern rap infused project called DRANKENSTEIN.

Bird Peterson describes this as an idea I started working with when I created the Dope Boys remix for Diplo’s recent Guccimane mix. This is my amalgamation of two trends I’ve always loved: the dirty south and the use of trance synths in current rap. Here I have taken 15 or so of my favorite southern rap songs and 15 or so of my favorite trance synth lines to create something thats not corny or funny, it’s simply the motherfudgin’ jam!

You can download it here

DJ Rha Ruckus (@rharuckus) is a DJ I met a few years ago when I was spinning at La Linea lounge on Thursday nights w/ Todd Jones (@saytj1). The format we had was pretty open, where anyone we knew who wanted some time behind the decks was welcome to it. We had about 3-5 DJs who would come in every night and play around until they got bored or the next person wanted to hop on.

The attendance would vary, but it was a small place so mostly anyone there was a friend of one of the DJs. That made for a fun, party atmosphere. At that time La Linea was pretty much exclusively a hip-hop only crowd and I remember Rha Ruckus would be the only one of us who would try to play house records.

I ran into him again recently and he told me about some of the new mixes & remixes he has been doing. In particular I really like this Electro House mix he did:

You can download it here and the track list is listed on there as well.

Eventually the night we had proved not to be economically advantageous to the bar owners and they deaded it. Rha Ruckus went on to become the resident Friday night DJ there while Todd took Saturdays. Nowadays you can still catch some or all of us at The Skinny Bar on Thursdays doing pretty much the same thing.

DJ Benzi teams up with DJ Dstar and Mick Boogie for the third installment of the Motivation Series. Keeping in line with the previous Motivation series this dance club friendly mixtape is filled with electro/bmore remixes, and coming in at 53 tracks it is a beast. You can download it either as one big MP3 or individual tracks (each only like a minute). Good for a preparty or long busy day at work.

TRACKLISTING:
001. Mike Posner “Introduction”
002. Birdman & Drake “Money To Blow (Classy Hand Favors Remix)”
003. David Guetta & Novel “Missing You (Stefan Ponce Remix)”
004. Drake “Forever (DJ Dru Remix)”
005. David Guetta “One Love (Chuckie & Fatman Scoop Remix)”
006. Trey Songz & Gucci Mane “LOL (Logan De Gaulle Remix)”
007. Kesha “Tik Tok (Skeet Skeet Remix)”
008. Gantman “Juke Dat Girl (Benzi Refix)”
009. La Roux “Bulletproof (DJ Zinc Remix)”
010. Yeah Yeah Yeahs “Heads will Roll (A-Trak Remix)”
011. Kid Cudi “Memories”
012. Free School & Kelis “Grey Goose”
013. David Guetta & Wynter Gordon “Toyfriend”
014. Pitbull & Afrojack “Maldito Alcohol”
015. Amanda Blank “Something Bigger (Major Lazer Remix)”
016. Donnis “Go Home (Prod. Chaise Marcel)”
017. Mic Terror & Mano “Get Down”
018. Green Velvet & Kid Sister “Everybody Wants”
019. Geeneus & Katy B “Good Life”
020. Rihanna “Bubble Pop”
021. Beyonce & Jay-Z “Sweet Dreams (Diggz Remix)”
022. Lil Jon “Machuka”
023. Black Eyed Peas “Meet Me Halfway (Will.I.Am Remix)
024. Kid Sister “Let Me Bang (Benzi Refix)”
025. Shakira & Kid Cudi “Did It Again (Gingy & Johnny Remix)”
026. Wiley “Never Be You Woman (Solo Remix)”
027. Mike Posner “Cooler Than Me (Gigamesh Remix)”
028. DJ Zinc “Wile Out”
029. Honorebel & Pitbull “Now You See It (Afrojack Remix)”
030. Crookers & Kelis “No Security (Bart B More Remix)”
031. Laidback Luke & Lee Mortimer “Blau (LA Riots Remix)”
032. Passion Pit “Little Secrets (Jack Beats Remix)”
033. Avicii “My Feeling For You”
034. Simian Mobile Disco “Cruel Intentions (Joker Remix)”
035. Rusko “Da Cali Anthem”
036. Donnis “Gone” (DJ Craze Remix)”
037. Drake “Houstatlantavegas (Stefan Ponce Remix)”
038. KP & Envy “Swing My Way (Solly Remix)”
039. Kid Sister “Right Hand Hi (Caspa Remix)”
040. Busta Rhymes “World Go Round (Good Life Mike Remix)
041. Miami Horror “Don’t Be On With Her (Treasure Fingers Remix)”
042. Luciana “I Like That (Meterhead Remix)”
043. Mick Boogie & Talib Kweli “Want You (William Russell Remix)”
044. Esser & Rye Rye “Bang It Out (Giovanny Remix)”
045. Ali Love “Diminshing Returns (Eli Escobar Remix)”
046. The Kickdrums “Fading In And Out (Enrico De Luca Remix)”
047. Royksopp “The Girl And The Robot (Jean Elan Remix)”
048. AutoErotique “Gladiator (Steve Aoki/DJ AM Remix)”
049. Colin Munroe “Piano Lessons (Felix Cartal Remix)”
050. Designer Drugs “Drop Down”
051. DJ Eleven “Anson Danza”
052. Snoop Dogg “I Wanna Rock”
053. Mike Posner “Outroduction”

Listen to it online or download it here.

Usually when I write a music post I link to a specific mix I like that people can download. I listen to a wide variety of music and I try to reflect that in my posts and the variety of mixes I link. Today I’m posting not to a specific mix but about a podcast that I enjoy. Lots and lots of great music is archived on here and new shows are consistently coming out. Rather than downloading a specific mix, if you subscribe to this podcast you’ll get new, fresh music to listen to and download indefinitely.

Gordon Gartrell Radio is the semi-demi-quasi-almost bi-weekly radio show hosted by MC/singer Phonte (of Little Brother/Foreign Exchange) and DJ/music collector/tastemaker extraordinaire Brainchild.

DJ Brainchild provides a sophisticated mix of hip-hop, soul, R&B, house and downtempo, while Phonte waxes poetic about relationships, current events, and just about everything else in between. The radio show, as any Cosby Show aficionado can tell you, gets its name from a fictional designer taken from this episode. One of the best episodes of all time.

While I might not always agree with Phonte’s stance on politics and issues, he is usually clever and humorous with his commentary. DJ Brainchild consistently plays a good mix of new and old jams, from all sorts of music genres with a R&B/hip-hop lean. Each podcast is also tagged with the artists that are played, which makes looking up an artist that you’ve never heard before easy. I credit this podcast for introducing me to a slew of new artists that I can’t get enough of now, but have never heard anywhere else.

Check out the show here.

Toronto based DJ Dougie Boom just released the latest mix in his Halloween series. His previous years’ efforts were always fun and 2009 is no different. He says that this mix of his is the darkest to date, describing it as:

Darker than Bill Duke on the dark side of Pluto on a really dark day wearing ‘the Crow’ make-up and stilletos”. Yes that dark.

This mix is a good blend of classics, funk, rap, rock and glam. Throw in tons of horror move clips and FX and you got yourself a good party soundtrack.

Playlist:

Virgil Fox – “Toccata In D Minor”
Antena – “Frantz” (Novuelle Vague Remix)
Dj Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince – “Nightmare On My Street”
Geto Boys – “Chuckie”
Pimp C – “Knockin Doors Down”
The Beatles – “Helter Skelter”
Motley Crue – “Shout At The Devil”
Masta Ace Incorporated – “Slaughtahouse”
Gravediggaz – “Graveyard Chamber”
Peter Gabriel – “Intruder”
Tha Alkoholiks – “Daaam” (Instrumental)
Lunar Jam – “Over And Over”
Unkown Artist – “Dracula”
Cactus – “Evil”
Les Rythmes Digitales – “Soft Machine”
Skinny Puppy – “Dig It” (12″Version)
Whodini – “Freaks Come Out At Night”
Laura Branigan – “Self Control”
Ali Renault – “La Criminal”
Rude 66 – “Devil’s Beat”
Psyche – “The Saint Becomes A Lush”
Clipse – “Trill”
Fulgeance – “Ann Arbor”
Suicide – “Ghost Rider” (Pocketknifes Torn Bowery Blazer Remix)
Radiorama – “Vampire”

“They’re BAaaaaack!!”

Helen – “Witch”
Hercules & Love Affair – “Classique #2″
Cevin Fisher – “Freaks Come Out 2009″ (Idiotproof Remix – Jesse Rose Edit)
Little Jinder – “Youth Blood”
Azari & III – “Hungry For The Power”
C-34 – “Watch Yourself” (Mick Wills Remix)
Legowelt – “Lovestory SH21″
Tyree – “I Fear The Night”
Prosumer – “Blei”
Oppenheimers Analysis – “The Devil’s Dancer”
Jackpot – Ragazza (In Flagranti Remix)
Real Life – “Send Me An Angel” (Extended Mix)
La Roux – “In For The Kill” (Lifelike Remix)
Health – “Zoothorns” (Nastique Remix)
Lord Isis – “Erodel”
Hot Chip – “My Piano” (Dub)
Metro – “Straphanger”
Peter Horrevorts – “Labyrinth”
Dustbowl – “Ain’t No Grave Can Hold My Body Down”
Johnny Dangerous – “Beat That Bitch” (Johnny’s Problem #13)
Queen – “Invisible Man” (Instrumental)
Dapayk Solo – “Scratch the Surface”
Acidkids – “Mitch (Felix Cartal Remix)”
Francisco – “Esplanade ’97″
Experimental Products – “Glowing In The Dark”
Riton & Primary 1 – “Who’s There” (Style Of Eye Remix)
Bird Peterson – “Night Of The Swagger”
Dusty Kid – “Lynchesque”
Matias Aguayo – “Bo Jack”
Snuff Crew – “Slam It”
Zombie Disco Squad – “Eurovision” (Mowgli Remix)
Pretty Boy Haters – “Body Get Down” (Instrumental)
Basement Jaxx – “All U Crazies”
Neon Judgement – “TV Treated”

Visit his site or you can just download the mix here.

Jacob Sharp posted up this one-take mix he did of summer jams. It’s got a bit of indie stuff mixed with some nu-wave and disco-y type jams. Great for train rides, drives or background at the office. If you liked the earlier mix I posted Midnight Beach Mix by Youth then give this one a listen and I doubt you’ll be disappointed.

Tracklist:
Space Fortress – Altair Nouveau
The Heavens – Weird Tapes
Cash Flow (Classixx Glass Bottom Dub Mix) – Major Lazer
High Pressure Days (Rory Phillips Remix) – The Units
Walter Neff – Matias Aguayo
My Girls (Skinny Friedman Edit) – Animal Collective
No Static – Bottin
Mustache Love – RCMP
Left Field Boogie – Free Disco
I Will Come Back – Holy Ghost!
Light Bulb – Soft Rocks
Flexxy – Skatebard
Time For W.C. – Pink Monkey Flower

Download Mix Here

Here’s an oldie but a real goodie. San Francisco based DJ B. Cause made this mix back in 2007. B. Cause is one of my favorite remix artists and in this mix he seamlessly blends bay area hyphy acapellas over disco and boogie instrumentals. A odd combination for sure, but the result is over an hour of energetic, head nodding funk. The fact that this mix has been in heavy rotation for over two years easily puts it at the top of my list of favorite mixes.

Tracklist:
1. Chris and Ray/Kleer Intro
2. Keak Da Sneak – Super Hyphy (spellbound disco edit)
3. Too Short – Burn Rubber (dj spair/fatback remix/b.cause curse edit)
4. Federation f/ E-40- Hyphy (looking up to you remix)
5. B- Legit/Archie Bell – Strategy To Destiny (players edit)
6. Digable Planets say tay keylock with 40 and short
7. Messy Marv (citispeak reslapp happy)
8. F.A.B. verse (town speak revised)
9. Mac Dre – I NEED an Eighth (lakeside what it look like chop)
10. San Quinn & E-A-Ski – Hell Yeah (in too deep/in tune slommper)
11. Too Short – Shake That Monkey (uptown top-shelf re-vamp)
12. The Team – It’s Getting Hot (smerphie’s furnace synth remix)
13. Moses Music soul interlude with the Spencer Jackson Singers
14. E-40 & Keak Da Sneak- Tell Me When To Go (devastating to your ear mix)
15. The Pack – Vans (recurring spaceship blendit)
16. Frontline – Bang It (pioneers violin hollow slump)
17. Jeanette Day – Keak/Quinn/Ray Luv bay area interlude (heavy percussion edit)
18. Vaughan Mason/Monica Thornton – Give It up/Bounce (the bridge)
19. Mac Dre – Mac Dre IS The Name
20. Bailey – U See IT (shalimar’s juju 3 part edit)
21. Federation – (antibalas just b.cause mix)
22. Sandy Kerr – Thug Rock + e-40 Trying to Leave The Disco With Sumthin™
23. Messy Marv – Get On My Hype (i don’t want it unless orange KRUSH is in it mix)
24. Ronnie Hutson – Bay Area Poplock edit ’01
25. One Way – Pop It
26. Skyy – High (too short’s v.i.p. instro)
27. 11/5-Time f/ RBL, Marvin Gaye, Traxamillion, Chocolate Milk
28. Andre Nickatina w/ Equipto & Shag NAsty – Big Boss Talk (sal-soul’s levan dub split)
29. Dazz Band- Don’t Get Caught
30. E-40 & B-Legit- Gangsta Funk (don’t get caught re-visited)
31. Federation/Tussle- What If I Had a Gun (deep disco dub blend)

Download the mix here