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some improvement [january 2012]

studio tune up

it took a few weeks but finally got through reworking and touching up the studio. have a look.

dj mix [december 2011]

do the vanderbilt

the result of a lot of subway rides listening to or craving a particular brand of dance music - the kind with melodies, keyboards, tight clean production and dancefloor energy. select this file to download.

1 / Aerosoul (Herbert Remix) / Wishmountain / 00:00

2 / Square-Pattern Aura /  Metro Area / 05:51

3 / Machine Vibes / Metro Area / 10:07

4 / Lost at C-Minor / Light Fantastic / 14:51

5 / Gotas / Kiko Barba / 19:31

6 / The End of It All / John Tejada / 25:23

7 / Farenheit 303 / Orbital / 31:32

8 / Dancing with a Shark / Legowelt / 39:01

9 / Too Shy / Sweet Light / 44:17

10 / Subharmonic Atoms / Pete Namlook / 45:42 + 48:48

11 / Candy / Spooky / 51:09

12 / Pap Smear / Crystal Castles / 57:59

13 / Burning Down the House / Tiga / 1:01:20

14 / Falling In Dub - Original Mix / Random Noise Generation / 1:04:56

live pa  [nov 2011]

keeys

i performed this at our last halloween salon - the result of about 7 days of playing around with a few different ideas and not really sticking with one formula. the result is a bit discombobulated but also appropriate for the live pa because, as is the goal in these, live performance needs to be worked into the piece, and it needs to be short. also shows the difficulty in carrying through with a single formula/theme. musically, the piece looks to experiment with keys and layered synth melodies; piano riffs; a phat loungey guitar lead; tracky drum riffs and some rote but funky live keyboard. also a decent amount of midi-controller on the synths, drums and fx. three distinct styles, all done at 113bpm. this version is not the live performance but a followup recording using all the same elements.

also, here is the link to the salon web site where all the other performances are stored. some flawlessly performed schubert, among other things there!

http://www.dshirai.com/salon/salon8.html

salon

musicsalon

dj mixes of the year  [oct 2011]

mnml ssgs mx39: donato dozzy pt 1

i haven’t heard a dj mix this good in a very long time. the opening 40 min of his 3hrs 47min SSGS Mix 39 (2008) DONATO DOZZY reminds me of artists like 2 Dollar Egg, Casey Hogan, Aril Brikkha, Armando, Villalobos, Hardfloor, Richie/Plastikman, and so forth. Below you can find the link to the site where the mix is listed and find part 2 of the mix.

remix  [july 31 2011]

repicando vs berliner mass

simple overlay of two tracks - one mostly rhythmic and the other mostly melodic. the samba song is called 'repeicando' by reis do batuque from 'batucada 4' compilation of armando pittigliani 1977. the classical song is 'kyrie' the first song in the berliner mass, as recorded/performed by arvo part, 1993.  i was listening to the former in my studio while maria was listening to the latter in the kitchen. hearing  both at the same time i thought it wasn’t a bad combo. bambata + kraftwerk led to planet rock; derrick may used the detroit phil for strings of life...

can also be heard on youtube at  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v =-fMrbUdLMSE

track [april 17 2011]

noribumi

making clean sounding stripped down music is only easy in concept, because like most things, less is more often translates into more work and attention to detail. i admit i didn’t spend endless hours on this, and think i should still perhaps put more time in. influences here include The XX and a borrowed melody line from The Sleepy Jackson (the Luke Steele project). dedication to my uncle noribumi shirai.

live performance

concert for japan - april 9 2011

The Suzan are a japanese pop/rock band that performed last night at the japan society’s ‘concert for japan’. Salme is a troupe of dancers harking back to the days of Geisha, with some humor, irony and good choreography. shot on my EOS digital canon and uploaded to youtube. here are the links:

The Suzan - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WrAMXxpc0E8

Salmê - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=shwD9-Ml1-8

and here are some photos of the performances: www.dshirai.com/newyork/concertforjapan.html

dj mix [feb 6 2011]

dnb mix feb 2011 - 48 min - 66 mb

sticking with the traditional drum n bass rhythmic formula. looking for fast, shuffley beats, clean melodic components - often times piano keys - and a dancefloor groove, of course. makoto and dbridge do it particularly well. all tracks purchased online this year. mix was done manually, using ‘djay’ to blend and beatmatch. mixing annotations included with tracklist below. i used garage band to master, compress and correct a digital syncing train wreck. enjoy-

download video version:

download the compressed audio version here:  http://www.sendspace.com/file/639sq8

    

spoof [jan 15 2011]

break my stride

a tribute to all the dancing bassists of the 80s, and to matthew wilder, the one-hit wonder who co-wrote this in 1983.

cover [jan 10 2011]

país tropical mmxi

most who know the original will probably say “eww” to this absurdly soft, poppy version of the chorus of the brazilian anthem by Jorge Ben. but i’ve always liked this song because it has an unabashedly hooky chorus. it is among the most simplistic chord structures of any brazilian classic - and it’s pure pop rock at heart. like many songs by the mutantes and other contemporaries, it makes direct reference to blues rock of the 60s while adding brazilian percussive elements. anyway, i did my version, distilling the pop stuff and leaving out the good brazilian shakes.

track [nov 27 2010]

vem e vai

receiving our new MXL990 stereo mic gave me an opportunity to experiment with recording live sounds and incorporating them into a track. this piece took several days to finish and around 30 different editions before i finally decided to stop working on it. still, it feels pretty raw - partly because i wanted to showcase samples and recordings, but also because i arranged it in a way that leaves the listener unsettled. none of the loops - guitar, piano, electric piano, bike wheel sample, had any tempo or rhythmic connection to the other samples they were eventually combined with. the challenge here was to arrange all these samples so that they’d somehow sound cohesive when played together. but without relying the deliberate lock step of the sequencer’s meter. not sure if i succeeded here, but an interesting , if not frustrating exercise.

track [january 2010]

shiftAccelerate-3

worked on this over winter of 2009-10. trying to make dry melodic electro with sharp, warm sounds and bit more attention to sequencing. and on stages / breaks. i was pleased with how the last chorus turned out, but never really gave it one final mastering / sequencing. as such it’s a nearly finished track.

live pa [september 2008]

deadline

performed at our third salon. trying to work some big bass electro, synthy atmospherics and big break. and depeche mode.

this is a quicktime video and takes a few seconds to load. if you can’t see it here, watch it on my facebook.

dj fauzi - live @ robert mcnair park brooklyn - oct. 2 2010 - 5:26 - 8mb

if you walk up my street on saturdays, you’ll usually find this cat dj fauzi and friends rockin some of the most soulful house and and electrofunk tracks ever pressed onto vinyl. this snippet includes an excellent track by Logic called the The Warning, on Strictly Rhythm 1992 (W. Gardiner and E. Maduro). and here is fauzi’s web site: http://www.djfauzi.com

live pa [october 2010]

b loops live

i performed this track at our last salon, held on on october 2 in brooklyn. its a series of loops and beats and was largely an exercise in learning how to perform tracks using live - something i’ve seen people do dozens of times over the past 10 years but have only begun to really test out myself. track is a bit moody and moves through a couple different stages that are more or less connected to each other. definitely a raw bit of music but worth recording to mark progress. and don’t forget to visit our salon web site to hear all the other performances: www.dshirai.com/salon/salon6.html  the username is salon and the password is musicsalon.

track [june 5 2010]

it’s hot

it’s bloody hot in this apartment. we need an air conditioner bad. this track attempts to capture some of the ideas i’ve really gotten into recently while listening to a few mixes i’ve received from a friend: a mix by omar s, the detroit house / minimal producer and one by john tejada, one of my all time favorite djs and producers have both offered up some delicious grooves. with omar s, the minimal jacky but very smooth groove harkening back to early days of house music production in detroit and chicago though clearly aware of the minimal patterning of more recent trends in house music.

from john tejada, just more smooth, warm melodic synths and the abstraction of melodic snippets, turning them into robotic, reptilian components. recorded in one shot on Live using 909, some synth pads and my trusty midi controller.

this is a quicktime video and takes around 15 seconds to load. if you can’t see it here, watch it on my facebook.

dj fauzi live in brooklyn - live video from sat. may 22 2010 - 4:40 - 20mb

on my  way to the subway yesterday i ran into this scene here and was able to capture some of it on my iphone. this guy dj fauzi was laying down a sick set of soul house and funk on this breezy spring afternoon and it made for a sweet moment. even some of the kids hanging out nearby couldn’t hold back the groove. love brooklyn!  and here is fauzi’s web site: http://web.me.com/djfauzi/DJ_Fauzi/

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chicagotrax - dj mix - may 9 2010 - 29:30min - 40mb

these are are among some of my favorite house tracks ever made, and i was happy to be able to bring them together in a somewhat cohesive order. unfortunately the mixing is on the rough side, but if you want a nice little flashback to the mid to late 1990s, when chicago’s house machine was cranking out golden hits at full steam, this is one place to look/listen. enjoy!

1 / boo williams / chinese warfare / thera jaz ep / nepenta / 1999

2 / l. townseil, r. miller, d. king /energy / chicago  underground council / peace frog / 1996

3 / tim harper / sabrina's dance / reincarnation / nite life collective 009 / dust traxx / 1999

4 / boo williams / anger / guidance 37 / 1997

5 / bmc / disco juice ep / house party / nite life collective / 1998

6 / armando/ which way is up / one world one future / radikal fear 023 / 1996

7 / dj sneak / manos que tocan - deep mix / sneak essentials v. 2 / strictly rhythm / 1995

8 / casey hogan / bounce the lights / bounce the lights / mac 003a / 2001

9 / j.t. donaldson / down to the sound / east side sampler / obm 001 / 1998

10 / dj sneak /  in da clouds - original dub / sneak essentials vol. 1 / strictly rhythm / 1995

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page turn - ambient electro - december 31 2009 - 73:30min - 72mb

in this final mix of 2009, i’ve compiled some mostly old and some new ambient / electro tracks, with heavy synths, clean melody lines and drums, and atmospherics. the idea is to create a stream of calming textures to enable a smooth, and reflective transition into the new year. 2009 offered up its share of curve balls and pleasant surprises, and as we turn the pages of the calendar, it’s time to take stock of where we stand today, and of the challenges we face in the coming 12 months, in addition to all that we have to look forward to. i hope you enjoy the mix, and a very happy new year to all my family and friends, with special wishes for good health and good luck in 2010!

nb: this was mixed and recorded using the djay software mixing platform.

nb 2: nYtolbooth is andrei laptev’s IDM project on Turbo

1 / 0:00 / sascha funke / summer rain / mango / 2008

2 / 4:40 / l'usine / upcgriqr / kaihoisa part 3 / eat this records / 2002

3 / 8:20 / operator / tisch / benbecula / 2004

4 / 13:00 / frog pocket / hey hope / benbecula / 2003

5 / 17:50 / luomo / make believe / paper tigers / 2006

6 / 20:40 / dinky / amalia / music for children / 2003

7 / 23: 30 / nYtolbooth / orange / turbo / best of...

8 / 27:00 / nYtolbooth / namura / turbo / 1999

9 / 33:30 / scanner / a clearing between earth and air / 2009

10 / 37:00 / brian eno / sombre reptiles (2004 remaster)

11 / 39:30 / brian eno / in dark trees (2004 remaster)

12 / 41:50 / nYtolbooth / abyss / best of... / turbo / 1999

13 / 45:00 / eyvind kang / circle of fair karm / the story of iceland

14 / 46:30 / operator / for a whale / benbecula / 2004

15 / 51:00 / skein / tor / live at the haywire sessions / 2002

16 / 53:10 / console / marina /

17 / 56:30 /  console para.lel (funicular Mix)

18 / 60:50 / skein / freedom for all / live at the haywire sessions / 2002

19 / 65:20 / operator / closed circle / benbecula 2004 /

20 / 68:30 / dan shirai / goodbye pcv / first seasonings / 2009

21 / 73:40 / stinkworx / A2 / drexion caves / 2003

sandblaster - hor

sandblaster - still

two perfect pop tracks from our early days as musicians. rodrigo’s band sandblaster, based in jabaquara, SP, produced these tracks which were nothing short of smashing hits, in my book, at least, despite the funny english and occasionally flat vocals. dave lustick, pedro and pablo caldas, tony, steve, roy, tohko, julia beirao, and those of you who were there to listen and dance, you know who you are.  these precious progressions digitized on december 5, 2009.

“you’re standing too soon, you let your heart go too fast

i couldn’t catch up, now i’m longing to last

i’m still looking for you, you still stand alone”

techno 1999 - radio dj mix - august 28 2009 - 31:45 - 42mb

celebrating the musical life of christian morgenstern (1975-2003). and commemorating the 10-year anniversary of 1999, an incredible year for electronic music.

1/  christian morgenstern / skit / lydia ep / forte / 1999  ---  intro

2 / christian morgenstern / lydia on the edge of panic / lydia ep / forte / 1999 ---  break

3 / the sense / dazzle drums / demo tracks 1 / tresor 135 / 1999 ----  break

4 / restructured / revival / demo tracks 1 / tresor 135 / 1999

5 / christian morgenstern / welcome to camp crystal lake / lydia ep / forte / 1999

6 / christian morgenstern / return to the living deaf / lydia ep / forte / 1999

7 / christian morgenstern / little green apples  / lydia ep / forte / 1999

8 / christian morgenstern / ok we’re wrong!  / lydia ep / forte / 1999

9 / christian morgenstern / baxter’s mind / lydia ep / forte / 1999

10 / christian morgenstern / tonight you’re mine baby / lydia ep / forte / 1999 ----  outro

11 / christian morgenstern / skit / lydia ep / forte / 1999

[august 26, 2009]

konya to san telmo -  soundscape mix - august 26 2009 - 10:50 - 14.5mb

this short mix employs a basic concept: using two (virtual) turntables to mix a handful of samples collected on my digital audio recorder on trips we’ve taken over the past two years. the samples are arranged in some sort of reverse chronological order and reflect some basic application of principles in dj mixing. volume fade, timing, layering, fade in / fade out and narrative. i while i admit it was not entirely planned, between 1:14 and 2:04 we achieve an incredible harmonization of two separate recordings of calls to prayer, recorded at different times in different parts of konya, turkey. an uncanny coincidence made possible by tecmology, chance and a touch of arrangement. below are the samples listed in order and their recording locations. photos of these trips can be seen here.

1/  rain - bogota, colombia

2 / call to prayer 4 - konya, turkey

3 / call to prayer 3 - konya, turkey

4 / call to prayer 5 - cappadoccia, turkey

5 / thunder roll 2 - sao paulo

6 / rain - bogota, colombia

7 / party in street - istanbul, turkey

8 / boleros and drum - san telmo, argentina

9 / amistad - la boca, argentina

10 / hay que poner mas huevo - la boca, argentina

11 / street tango - san telmo, argentina

12 / guitarras fussion, el boogie live - san telmo, argentina

13 / street and subway, nyc

14 / thunder clap 2 - sao paulo

new track [august 4, 2009]

goodbye, PCV

i think this track captures some of my favorite influences at the moment and articulates well some of the musical ideas that have been running through my head in the past weeks. i wanted to make something that used the loud reverb snare drum found in many songs produced in the 80s - from early electronic dancefloor tracks, to rock, to commercial / cheesy tunes (top gun?). whether we like it or not, these are part of my generation’s collective musical reference section. i also wanted to use aggressive and zany synthesizer melodies in the way artists like dan curtin, legowelt, and so many others have done. the goal is to allow the synths and melody lines to be their own structural components of the music instead of serving peripheral / decorative functions. the easier way to say all that is: i want to make rhythmic, melodic walls of sublime sound that make heads bounce and booties shake. so, just listen...and  don’t think think too much.

as the title suggests, this track is also a farewell to our apartment, 7 Peter Cooper Road, MF, in Peter Cooper Village, New York. it’s been our home for a year and a half, and my home alongside my roommates for more than three years before that. thanks to some luck and a lot of generosity, patience and goodwill from the descendants of perry and christine ausschnitt, this home has been woven deep into the tapestry of my life here in the city, and of our lives as a couple. thank you, you know who you are. the thought of leaving this place has been on our mind a lot lately, and i think all would agree that it’s a bit of a sad event, though one that inevitably reminds us of how lucky we’ve been and all the great things that we’ve done here. adios pcv, and onward we go. --dan shirai

exit strategy - dj mix - recorded sept 2003 - 22 min - 25mb

june 28, 2009 -- despite its short run time, i was quite happy with this mix for a few reasons. it captured in a pretty consistent way some of the better (in my opinion) examples of tech house and new dance music that was being produced at the time it was recorded. with the exception of bmc, whose track comes last in the mix, i’ve had a chance to at least meet, if not spend some time with all of the artists that produced these tracks and they’ve each had a huge influence on my experience with electronic music.

1 / ricardo Villalobos / what you say is more than i can say / halma / playhouse 62

2 / nu alliance / vexel bros ep / klenzd 02

3 / casey hogan / on the run / bounce the lights / macintosh 03

4 / john tejada / music for doubles / palette 12

5 / wulf-n-bear / raptures of the deep / dj kicks - stacey pullen / !k7

6 / bmc / preach the word  / disco juice / nite life collective 03

punk rock - radio show - june 6 2009 - 51:50 - 47mb

bad religion / sorrow / process of belief / 2002

bad religion cover / the handshake

descendents / everything sucks / everything sucks / 1996

descendents / hope / milo goes to college / 1982

the clash / i'm so bored with the usa / the clash / 1977

ramones / i wanna be sedated / road to ruin / 1978

sex pistols / anarchy in the uk / never mind the bollocks, here’s the sex pistols / 1977

bad religion / punk rock song / the gray race / 1996

dead kennedys / too drunk to fuck / give me convenience or give me death / 1981

dead kennedys / viva las vegas / fresh fruit for rotting vegetables / 1980

rancid / time bomb / and out come the wolves / 1995

operation ivy / freeze up / energy / 1989

sublime / seed / sublime / 1996

sublime / burritos / sublime / 1996

green day / she / dookie / 1994

the offspring / gotta get away / smash / 1994

bad religion / pity the dead / the gray race / 1996

tom petty / won't back down / 1989

batusamba - radio show - may 11 2009 - 25:36 - 35mb

grupo especial / grande rio  / ao vivo no sapucai

fantastica bateria / curticao no morro / bateria nota 1000

batucada brasileira / portinho / batucada brasileira

deni mancha / samba bom da paz / star records

samba no terreiro

olodum / raca negra

portela velha guarda / voce me abandonou

ze keti / ascender as velas / sucessos de ze keti

minor guitar radio show - may 5 2009 - 52:07 - 48mb

alice in chains / got me wrong / sap / 1995

jimi hendrix / the wind cries mary / 1967

mutantes / el justiciero / technicolor / 1970

smashing pumpkins / landslide / 1994

the doors /  spanish caravan / waiting for the sun / 1968

the beatles / norweigian wood / rubber soul / 1965

rajasthani musicians / gorbandh /

bob dylan / i want you / 1966

django reinhardt / minor swing / 1937-1951

edu lobo / zum zum / cantiga de longe / 1970

gypsy kings / moorea / best of / 1995

jimi hendrix / all along the watchtower / 1968

guns n roses / one in a million / lies / 1988

neil young / heart of gold / harvest / 1972

new track [may 2 2009]

clave

the clave, represented by the clap instrument in this track, is the pattern that underpins most salsa music. while it gets somewhat lost in the stream of drum and synth loops the dominate this track’s character, it serves to add a smidgeon of syncopation and accelerate the rhythmic pattern. when i first began laying down these loops in november i was listening to a lot of salsa (we were living in bogota between oct-dec 2008) as well as to, among other things, plastikman’s 1998 album ‘consumed.’

glam rock - radio show - april 23 2009 - 44:39 - 61mb

alliance / forevermore /

white lion / little fighter / 1989

europe / open your heart / out of this world / 1988

alliance / broken promises /

quiet riot / cum on feel the noize / 1983

poison / fallen angel / open up and say ... ah / 1988

poison / talk dirty to me / look what the cat dragged in / 1986

bon jovi / born to be my baby / new jersey / 1988

guns n roses / rocket queen / appetite for destruction / 1987

legowelt - radio show - april 22 2009 - 33:17 - 31mb

legowelt / the hague's disco elite / wirtschaftswunder / bunker / 2000

legowelt / do you really care / wirtschaftswunder / bunker / 2000

legowelt & orgue electronique / he who rides the tiger / derrick in nord korea / bunker / 2000

legowelt / chokolecktrik / tracks form the tube / stilleben / 2002

underground resistance / living for the night / ur / 1991

hard up / hard up / music man / 1990

detroit - radio show - april 10 2009 - 25:09 - 23mb

funky lake / dan shirai / art techno / 2001

los hermanos / quetzal / ur / 2002

millsart / step to enchantment / axis / 1993

los hermanos / tescat / ur / 2002

octave one / point blank / 430 west / 1996

maurizio / ploy ur mix / basic channel / m / 1992

aubrey / stressed squares / solid groove / 2000