Dear Community...

I have a request. I've been listening to (and watching) a lot of Pogo music lately. Needless to say, I find him interesting. So...

I want to interview him. Bad.

If you guys can help me get a hold of him, in any way, please do. For the benefit of the site, and my own pleasure, help me out! An email address, referral, website, anything. And if someone has communicated with him before, better yet - drop him a link to the blog and I'm sure he'd love to contribute.

Thanks,

Prez

Let's Give It Up For...

What's good everyone. Now that the holidays are through, and most of you have settled down, allow me to introduce our shiny new writers.

To those who didn't make the cut, don't be so hard on yourselves. At the final count, I received 65 applications - and yes I read every single one. Believe me I saw some serious experience (as well as a lack of it), but my strict criteria was only met by half a dozen or so. After which, I went by personality.

IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER...

Phil - 24 - South Africa Phil is a BAMF (because he's from South Africa) who has experience not only in the technical field (doing geek stuff like yours truly), but also in the music product field. He's a club night organizer and has set up many of South Africa's most influential parties. Why'd I choose him? He's from South Africa, knows his stuff, and writers well. So I'm totally looking forward to seeing what he's got in store. Drop him a line on twitter (@breakbones) or via email.

Chris (Wulf) - 16 - NJ, USA Wulf is a producer whose tracks we've posted here before. Not only is his own music good, but his French House collection makes mine look like the dance section at Sam Goody. Wulf writes a lot, and has a great taste in house music. If you want to catch him, shoot him an email.

So that's all, they'll be posting their asses off soon enough ;)
Prez

[Edit by Boba at 9:01 PM PST]

Interview with a Phantom

I've loved The Phantom's Revenge forever - to the point where he is now basically a rock star in my eyes. His music is great, he's French, and if you Google him, you'll find a roller-coaster by the same name below his myspace.

COMMENT!!

INTERVIEW COMMENCE.

Tell us about yourself, what was your life like before you started churning out massive tunes?

I was finishing a master degree of Marketing, I looked for jobs for a little while, worked in bank for a few months until my brain exploded, and I said to myself, what the fuck am I doing ?? let's make music !!

First record/CD bought?

I think that was probably a crappy dance single of the 90's, but the first vinyl I actually bought as a music lover was the first Daft Punk album.

What was the first track you ever created, under any alias?

It was a track i made on Music 2000 on Playstation, the game allowed you to take samples from a cd, the first track was about a Kool & the Gang sample, unfortunately the memory card was not big enough to record the track so I just recorded on tape and I lost the tape. I would give a lot to find that tape haha.

If you could describe your music in 3 words or less, what would you say?

Random Disco House.

We love your tracks, but do you have any new stuff on the way? Maybe some collaborations?

Yeah a lot on new stuffs, recently i took time to improve the quality of my work and soon you will listen to new stuffs. There will be an EP on January including my track When Mr Hyde Killed Dr Jekyll + remixes (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e6bJ8g2KqvU) and the disco will be back really soon on another EP ;)

What is your main goal when making music?

Having fun.

What do you use to make music?

So I use Fruity Loops, and here's a thing I wanted to do but never took the time, it's a kind of free EP with some of my tracks that were almost never published anywhere, it's all 320.

what an ass, i almost forgot the link: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=ES7UGS5X

Do you have a favorite VST plugin on FL Studio?

My favourite is the classic filter, and i think it's obvious that I alsolove to use the dblue glitch VST.

Who is/are your inspiration/s?

A LOT of people inspire me, if i had to choose 3 of them, I'd say: Paul Johnson, Breakbot and Quentin Tarentino.

What songs have you been listening to a lot lately?

Lately i've been listening a lot to the last Phoenix album.

Favorite album? track?

My favorite album is definitely and by far the Justice album, and my favourite track, well let's say "Reckoner" by Radiohead.

From banker to music mastermind? Who cares, The Phantom's Revenge remains at the top of the myspace DJ pile with his glitchy random-ness and oh-so-funky sampling. We salute you, TPR.

Prez

This is so amazing

Thanks to The Silver Disco, I just obtained to french tracks from the 70's (YES. 70s) that sound 20 years ahead of its time. The band name is Space and these guys just blow my mind. Hopefully they will do the same to you too :)

Wait till the bass kicks in and it gets so much better (especially deliverance)





Enjoy these Epic French Choons from the 70s

Nite

Prez Reviews DJ HERO: I

PART I / PART II

Theme of this article: Appearances.

Running slow? Click here to replace images with a text link.

I'd greatly appreciate comments, especially if you have experience with this game.

I was super excited to try out DJ Hero for myself. I had seen videos of it, but I was curious as to how the game "felt" in my hands. Would the scratching feel legit? Were the mechanics well-planned? Could I expect another great music game from Activision?

Before I begin the review, let's plot out my expectations. Harsh, but I need to be legit here. Please note that this is before I even SAW the game in person.

1- This game will be too easy.
2- This game will be a popped out version of turntablism, and will make it look easy
3- The controller is going to feel cheap.
4- The music is going to be great. (daft punk <3)

And boy do I mean big, the package (which by the way was addressed to Jordan Scales of ilictronix.com - so professional) weighed a good 20 lbs and was almost as tall as I. Needless to say, I was stunned.

Alright, so now let's take a closer look at this box. I was excited, because I had no idea I was getting the Renegade Edition. It was shiny, clean, and had a good color scheme. Bravo Activision. Don't hate on me for complimenting this, readers, I am all about looks.

Here's a view of the front

...And the back

Okay, let's move on and unbox this badboy. DJ Hero: Renegade Edition, also comes with a gorgeous case that holds the turntable controller (with some padding, DJ Hero game, as well as some legs to screw into the case - I'll explain more later.

This case is NICE. It's sturdy, well built, and can totally withstand some bumps. It has a retractable handle, and some buckles on the side to keep the top down. The "bottom" also contains rubber feet, which is nice if you don't want to scratch this bad boy when you put it on the ground. It has a metal-finished side, and acts as a gorgeous carrying case for the whole set.

Also to note, this thing is pretty damn portable as a whole. I recently brought the whole pack on my long car ride and it comfortably sat on my lap without disturbing my brother next to me.

Opening it, I was a bit shocked at the layout. The padding is very nice and keeps the turntable controller nice and shiny as it is. With the top off like this, I can throw this whole bundle right on my lap comfortably and play the game. The controller itself is also nicely finished.

The Renegade Edition controller has a metal finished crossfader and effects knob

The buttons are smooth, easy to press, yet tactile and sturdy

A spot for the Wiimote to sit (which closes)

And here are the other contents of the case

Beneath the case sits 4 aluminum rods which telescope out (and these things can be LONG) and attach to the case.

A view of the screwholes

The finished stand, in less than 2 minutes

With the controller

It is also noteworthy how the Renegade Edition includes an exclusive Eminem and Jay-Z CD - the music's great if you like those two artists, and the CD design is also just wonderful.

So where are we at now? To clearly list some things...

- The packaging is just incredible.
- The turntable is beyond gorgeous, especially for the Renegade Edition. While the normal edition turntable is similar, to me, the RE controller felt stabler, and had more responsive buttons. Also, a nice metal finish.
- Fingerprints can get annoying, but I think that about anything shiny.
- The case is very well designed, and setting up the entire kit is a breeze.
- All in all, the whole thing looks legit.


Final words?
- It's pretty
- This peripheral seems MUCH nicer than those of other music games
- The setup is very pleasing to the eyes
- I recommend going with the Renegade Edition so far


What still needs to be discussed.
- Gameplay
- Music
- Price
- Overall experience


So far...
This game has greatly exceeded my semi-low expectations (sorry!). For the looks, among other things, this game gets a solid A, for now. Looks aren't everything, but they play a huge role in games such as this.

Phew, that was pretty long, and I haven't even played the game for you guys yet! Next installment I will discuss the gameplay, including DJ Hero's acclaimed music selection. Stay tuned, it's about to get good.

Prez