DJ Alias - Live at The Playground Pt. 2 (episode #70)

This is the 2nd part of "Live At The Playground" featuring DJ Alias of Tucson, AZ. Check the previous episode for Pt. 1.These mixes come packed with SOLID Hip-Hop....we mean TRUE Hip-Hop! This mix contains vinyl selections, precise cuttin' & scratchin', and dope tunes to enjoy period. You can catch DJ Alias in Tucson in various spots in the city including ELEMENTary Hip Hop Skool where they teach the roots of hip-hop culture and use it to educate youth an alternative away from gang violence.

More info on DJ Alias:

www.facebook.com/djaliasaz
www.soundcloud.com/djaliasaz
http://www.rebelartecollective.org/EHHS

"LIKE" The Mix Lab Podcast:
www.facebook.com/themixlab

DJ Alias - Live at The Playground Pt.1 (Episode #69)



Featuring for this episode on the podcast is DJ Alias of Tucson, AZ. In this mix, "Live At The Playground, Pt.1", comes packed with SOLID Hip-Hop....we mean TRUE Hip-Hop! This mix contains vinyl selections, precise cuttin' & scratchin', and dope tunes to enjoy period. You can catch DJ Alias in Tucson in various spots in the city including ELEMENTary Hip Hop Skool where they teach the roots of hip-hop culture and use it to educate youth an alternative away from gang violence.

More info on DJ Alias:

www.facebook.com/djaliasaz
www.soundcloud.com/djaliasaz
http://www.rebelartecollective.org/EHHS

LIKE The Mix Lab Podcast:
www.facebook.com/themixlab

J.Rocc of Beat Junkies - Vinyl Collection



DJ Scratch's Show His New App For The iPad

Legendary DJ Scratch comes out with a new App for the iPad. Scope it out and see what y'all think! Here is the video:

Power Off For The Technics 1200: An End to a Hip-Hop Legend.

TOKYO (TR) – Fans of vinyl were dealt another blow when consumer electronics company Panasonic announced earlier this month that it would be discontinuing the analog products within its Technics brand, most notably the legendary line of analog turntables.

On October 20, the company said that it was winding down production of the Technics SL-1200MK6 analog turntable, the SH-EX1200 analog audio mixer and the RP-DH1200 and RP-DJ1200 stereo headphones due to challenges in the marketplace.

“Panasonic decided to end production mainly due to a decline in demand for these analog products and also the growing difficulty of procuring key analog components necessary to sustain production,” the company said in statement issued to The Tokyo Reporter.

Last year, Japan’s last remaining vinyl pressing plant, owned by the production company Toyo Kasei, produced around 400,000 discs from its multifloor factory in Yokohama’s Tsurumi Ward, a far cry from the industry’s peak of 70 million four decades ago.

Panasonic said that sales of analog decks today represent roughly 5 percent of the figure from ten years ago. At present the company has no plans for putting analog turntables back on the market.

The SL-1200 series turntable, which enjoys a massive following in the DJ community, had been in continuous production since 1972. Since then 3.5 million units have been produced, making the brand’s purple and gray logo (“Technics” written twice) an icon in clubs.

The turntables are acclaimed for their quick start-up and reliability, achieved through its durable Direct Drive turning mechanism (via magnets, as opposed to being belt-driven) and its heavy 12.5-kilogram base (composed of what is known as the Technics Non Resonance Compound), which isolated the platter so as to reduce feedback and the chance that the cartridge would jump.

Japan’s DJ community was abuzz, notably on the social-networking site Twitter, following the announcement. Tatsuo Sunaga (dubbed “The Record Chief”) said in an email that the announcement was unfortunate.

“I’ve been using these products for around 20 years and rarely suffered a breakdown,” explained Sunaga, who is a club DJ, spinning jazz up and down Japan, and the author of “I’ll Take That Record!” — a chronicle of a three-year vinyl-buying spree. “This type of excellence is something not seen globally, and I think the fact that one doesn’t need to purchase subsequent models as being the reason for forcing the move.”

But even if turntable manufacturers targeting top DJs continue to shrink their output, Sunaga sees those who prefer analog today as being too obsessed with the format to allow it to become extinct. “I don’t think analog users will lose interest,” he said.

Regarding the Technics brand itself, nothing has been decided other than the discontinuation of the mentioned products, the statement said.

Fat Beats To Close Its Remaining Retail Locations in Los Angeles & New York

Yup, thats the 411 going around lately about FatBeats folding up its LA & NY stores. Here's more on the story from the LA Times:

For hip-hop heads of legal drinking age, the name Fat Beats inevitably conjures memories of teenage years spent trawling through racks of vinyl, in-store appearances with the latest underground stars (during a period when "underground" didn't require scare quotes) and encyclopedic employees often pulled from the top ranks of the Los Angeles DJ scene.

And now, the iconic hip-hop retailer will close its last two remaining brick-and-mortar locations in New York and Los Angeles -- another apparent casualty to ever-dwindling record sales and interest in vinyl among hip-hop consumers. The closures reflect the final act of contraction for a chain that had previous shuttered its locations in Amsterdam, Atlanta, Tokyo.

“The closing of Fat Beats is just like one of my friends passing away,” DJ Premier said in a prepared statement. “They promoted vinyl at its highest degree for the culture of good music, and that makes it more difficult to say goodbye.”

Underpinning the statement is the reality that while vinyl has seen an upsurge of interest among indie rock fans, hip-hop fans have moved away from the format in recent years. This reality has been compounded by the rise of illegal downloading, free mix tapes and the general difficulty of finding popular rap records on vinyl.

The New York location will close its doors on Sept. 4, with L.A.'s Melrose Boulevard outpost shutting down on Sept. 18. A spate of goodbye celebrations and sales are planned in the interim. Fat Beats' online store, distribution business and Brooklyn-based record label will remain extant.

“This is the start of a new era in Fat Beats,” Fat Beats owner and president Joe Abajian said in a prepared statement. “We’re adapting to meet the needs of our demographic by revamping and improving our existing systems. While our website, which stocks everything available in our retail stores, continues to do very well, we’re still exploring our options for alternate retail locations in the future. We’re proud of our legacy and will continue to reinvent ourselves."

With the closure of one of Los Angeles' last remaining hubs of independent hip-hop, expect a flurry of tributes to pour in over the next 30 days. In the meantime, this reminiscence from local rapper TiRon nicely captures the store' s place in LA hip-hop culture and illustrates why it will be sorely missed.

-- Jeff Weiss

Legendary DJ Roc Raida of the X-ecutioners Dies

Sadly this past weekend X-ecutioners crew member, DJ Roc Raida, has past away at the age of 37. Though, at this state sources are still not clear on exactly what is the cause of his death, he may have suffered from illness or injury. Roc Raida is an innovating turntablist with very talented skills that inspired many DJ's. Plus, in the recent weeks we already lost another spin doctor, DJ AM (R.I.P). My condulences and prayers go out to Roc Raida & his family.

For more on this story click here...

http://www.hiphopdx.com/index/news/id.9837/title.turntablism-innovator-deejay-icon-roc-raida-dies

Here is a small clip of one of his final performances...