Thursday, February 23 – Motor City Bar - 127 Ludlow Street, New York – No Cover

Saturday, February 4 – Two Boots - 514 2nd Street, Brooklyn, NY - No Cover

I don’t find myself in Bensonhurst often, though it’s not too far away from me. On this particular day, I was not in the best of moods because I had somehow managed to get an eye infection over Christmas weekend while everyone else was getting gifts. The only doctor that could see me the following Monday happened to be on 86th Street near Bay Parkway, so I hopped the N train for my appointment.

When you pass 59th Street on the N, the train suddenly surfaces and southern Brooklyn opens up before you. It’s a different world when you’re used to riding underground. I got off at New Utrecht and switched to the D until Bay Parkway. The doctor was thorough, diagnosed my problem right away and instructed me to boil an egg and put it on my eye to increase blood flow to the area. Great, I guess I’ll eat some eggs later. After picking up some prescription eye drops, I realized I wasn’t too far from a great place to grab some more appetizing food: L & B Spumoni Gardens, at the border of Gravesend. So I walked east on 86th underneath the tracks.

Bensonhurst is a mix of mostly old-school Italians, former Soviet immigrants and newer Asian immigrants. I saw a lot of places on my walk that I wanted to stop into but I was on a mission. Next time I’m around I’ll check some of these other places out.

Most people don’t think about getting Italian ice on December 26th, but Spumoni Gardens is busy til closing time without fail. I’m not known for my proclivity for cold weather, but I grabbed a Sicilian slice (the best in Brooklyn by far) and a cup of spumoni and sat outside to eat.

For those of you who don’t know what spumoni is, the best way to describe it is a pistachio flavored cream ice. It’s the perfect dessert to follow up a piping hot square slice of pizza on a cold day. My hands were freezing cold but I didn’t give a shit. I walked to the train station finishing my cup, feeling fortunate that a mishap led me back to this neighborhood.

I’m proud to say my man Tom over at Whatevski did a fantastic job promoting The Slackers’ new record full of covers, The Radio. When the due date for funding came around, the goal of $5,000 was more than doubled! Tom can now buy a used car with the extra dough. In all seriousness, this is a great sign for the band, Whatevski as a label, and crowd-sourced funding in general.

Unfortunately, someone amongst the approximately four hundred supporters decided to put an exact copy of the release on a pirate site for free download.

The troubling fact here is that it was a true fan; at least, that’s who it appears to be. With all due respect to the members of the band, they aren’t nearly big enough a target for someone from the outside to bother with this sort of tactic. This means someone on the inside thought it was cool to support the project via Kickstarter, then turn around and stab them in the back. I’m not going to sit here and preach about the wrongs of piracy, as I’m pretty sure everyone reading this has done it at some point in their life. But when you do it in such a small bubble and within less than 24 hours, it feels personal and very wrong.

This reminds me of an experience I had with Ryan-O’Neil when we were finished with our first album. We were excited to see orders pouring in on release day, both for our physical CD and the digital download. One week later I came across a Russian download site that had our full album available for download, including scans of the CD and booklet itself! Needless to say, we were floored. If The Slackers are considered a small independent group, then by comparison Ryan and I are infinitesimal.

I was impressed by the pirate’s dedication in bothering to scan the physical product, but I felt cheated. This wasn’t really about money. This was about someone within our circle who felt it was right to give away our hard work for free. If you know me at all, you know that most of what I make is freely available and what I do charge for is very reasonably priced. I don’t chase down bootleggers and I don’t realistically think that my art is above piracy. However, I would have really loved to believe that our fans wouldn’t insult us like that.

Tom is asking whoever did the act to step forward in exchange for full amnesty. Otherwise, he’s threatening to cut off the official download links, and will probably look into the issue more deeply. So here I am, asking the same thing. I love this band and if you do too, you’d step forward now. By refusing to do so, you’re discouraging artists from releasing special projects and depriving everyone else of that beauty.

See you this Saturday.

Saturday, December 17 – Irving Plaza - 17 Irving Pl, New York, NY
- $17.50

Whether you’re familiar with the French language or just beginning to appreciate its charms, this mix is a jambalaya of flavors from L’Hexagone. With bits of yé-yé pop, funky soul, psychedelic rock and distinguished jazz, it’s evident that the French have conquered it all, musically speaking.

Download this mix now:

Friday, September 16 – Aboard the Queen of Hearts – West Houston St. at West St., NY
– $25 – Tickets Here

Click here to download our first release.

Friday, July 29 – Aboard the Jewel – 2430 FDR Dr, NY
– $25 – Tickets Here

Then on August 20, I’m supporting The Slackers with some big tunes in my crates:

Saturday, August 20 – Aboard the Star of Palm Beach – West Houston St. at West St., NY
– $30 – Tickets Here

… and for anybody wondering what’s going on with me and Ryan, here’s a little leak from our forthcoming second LP:

The Big Payback will be going down this Friday at Beauty Bar (Brooklyn) with the inimitable Hahn Solo accompanying me on the decks. You may know him from his work with Dub Is A Weapon; they have a new record out to add to their impressive body of original work and have toured as Lee Perry’s backing band. We’re looking forward to making you dance all night.

Friday, May 6 – Beauty Bar – 921 Broadway, Brooklyn, NY
– No Cover

I’ve never had this much fun with a mix before. When else have I had an excuse to drop the Minutemen alongside Tenor Saw with bits of a Malcolm McLaren tune creeping in the background? Say what you want about Sublime, but no single group introduced me to more musical styles and eras. I hope in some tiny way, I can show love back by outlining a cross-section of their rich (and poor) musical heritage. All respect due to Bradley and crew.

Download it here.

Friday, February 25 – The Lake – 258 Johnson Ave, Brooklyn, NY
– $6

Saturday, February 12 – Brooklyn Bowl – 61 Wythe Avenue, Brooklyn, NY
– $5

Saturday, January 29 – Tea Factory – 175 Stockholm St, Brooklyn, NY
– No Cover

Friday, December 31 – Tea Factory – 175 Stockholm St, Brooklyn, NY
– No Cover

Saturday, December 18 – Brooklyn Bowl – 61 Wythe Avenue, Brooklyn, NY
– $12

Saturday, December 18 – The Shop – 290 Metropolitan Avenue, Brooklyn, NY
– Free

… and as for your gift, here it is. Fireplace Soul. Go sip some Hennessy and warm up.

Grace of Spades and I are kicking off a southeast tour this Sunday at Niagara in the city. We’re going all the way to New Orleans spinning dusty jams, so check for us in your town. More details to come soon, but click on the flyer below to see a full-size version and check the dates to see if we’ll be near you:

11/7: NYC (Niagara)

11/8: Long Island (Mr. Beery’s)

11/10: West Chester (WCUR)

11/11: DC (Patty Boom Boom)

11/12: Baltimore (Dionysus)

11/14: Raleigh (White Collar Crime)

11/17: Chattanooga (Discoteca)

11/19: New Orleans (Maison Frenchman Penthouse)

Friday, September 10 – Aboard The New Boston – 60 Rowes Wharf, Boston, MA
– $25 (TICKETS)

Saturday, September 11 – Aboard The Temptress – 41st Street & 12th Ave, NY
– $25 (TICKETS)

I also want to give a special shout out to Grace of Spades. Her birthday bash is tomorrow at Rockstar Bar:

Tuesday, August 31 – Rockstar Bar – 351 Kent Ave, Brooklyn, NY
– No Cover

Tuesday, April 20 – The Root – 1360 College Ave, Boulder, CO
– $12

I’ve got some more local gigs coming up, and will post about that soon. Til then, be easy…

This free event at Gallery Bar will be hosted by my longtime collaborator MC Ryan-O’Neil with the usual Theory / Drum Attix resident DJs: myself, It’s Overture and DJ Scallywag. We’re all looking forward to flanking Brooklyn heavyweight DJ Ayres. The mixed media art show includes works by Lauren Bahr, Lindsay Bourget and Math-You Namie. Doors at 6 PM!

Thursday, January 21 – Gallery Bar – 120 Orchard St, NY
– No Cover

That’s how Lee Perry once described the motion of the skank. I’m at the Knitting Factory in Brooklyn right now setting up for the second Slackers Holiday Show. There’s one more left; that’s Monday in Philly (the show was pushed back to Monday due to the weather). Download Winter Skank for free now:

Friday, December 18 – Knitting Factory (BK) – 361 Metropolitan Ave, Brooklyn, NY
– $15 (Tickets Here)

Saturday, December 19 – Knitting Factory (BK) – 361 Metropolitan Ave, Brooklyn, NY
– $15 (Tickets Here)

Monday, December 21 – Theatre of Living Arts – 334 South St, Philadelphia, PA
– $15 (Tickets Here)

It’s Slackfest 2009! Once again I’m bringing out the heavy Jamaican crates to spin between sets for The Slackers, alongside Mighty Fine, Sean Wheeler and Zander Schloss (Circle Jerks). You’ll be hearing some ska, rocksteady, reggae, soul and anything that makes you wanna move. Tickets are $16 in advance and $18 the night of the show, doors open at 8pm.

Friday, September 25 – Bowery Ballroom – 6 Delancey St, NY
– $16

Saturday, September 19 – Belmont Lounge – 117 E 15th St, NY
– No Cover

Saturday, August 22 – 205 – 205 Chrystie Street, NY
– $10 for Men, Free for Ladies

Saturday, August 15 – 205 – 205 Chrystie Street, NY
– $10 for Men, Free for Ladies

To help you chill out as the summer draws to a close, Voidstar has put together the Rill Chill Mix. Peep the newest Drum Attix podcast now:

Saturday, July 18 – 205 – 205 Chrystie Street, NY
– $10 for Men, Free for Ladies

When life comes at me hard and I need to slow down, I always put on a bit of southern soul. It’s just what the doctor ordered to deal with the inescapable grind of modern life. Sometimes you just have to put it in first gear and cruise. Motown was great, but there has always been a special place in my heart for the syrupy sweet selections on Stax Records. I’ve mixed up some of my favorites here on the Stax Of Stax Mix, just in time for summer’s laziest days:

And if you like soul, then you’ve got to come see The Slackers do their thing at this year’s booze cruise around Manhattan. Their live show is not to be missed, and I’ll be spinning classic reggae, ska and rocksteady between sets for your listening pleasure. The boat leaves the pier at 11:30 sharp, so don’t be late!

Saturday, June 27 – Aboard The Temptress – 41st Street & 12th Ave, NY
– $25 (TICKETS HERE)

Get the munchies ready because the Feast Of The Passover is in full effect! It’s been a year since my last set of reggae choons became Google’s favorite ganja mix. Of course, I wouldn’t leave you hanging on this 4/20. Here’s a brand new mix of Jamaican gems from the dusty crates. I present to you Mr. Echo Inna Killa Dub:

Next month, the Drum Attix crew is heading down to DC and taking over Baltimore. First, Scallywag and I will be joining Outputmessage and friends for Flat Out:

Friday, May 8 – Rock & Roll Hotel – 1353 H St NE, Washington DC
– No Cover

Then come see us along with Ryan-O’Neil, HiCoup, and DJ Balagan tear through house, reggae, and rap seamlessly at an all ages show at The Hexagon:

Saturday, May 9 – The Hexagon – 1825 North Charles Street, Baltimore, MD
– $6

Saturday, February 21 – The Leopard Lounge – 85 2nd Ave, NY
– No Cover

My trip to California was incredible. Ten days later, I feel refreshed and ready to take on 2009. While I really didn’t have much of a chance to relax, I feel like so much got done that I’m in a rhythm now.

First of all, thanks to Sirah for letting me crash at her place while we were working on this new project. She is a true professional and we got the whole project done in five days.

After that, I had to get from Hollywood to Anaheim and the public transportation in LA is garbage. So I rented a car and took it to Lake Arrowhead. By the time I got up the mountain, snow was all around me and I could see the heat from the valley below. That part of California (just past San Bernardino) is really beautiful.

Eventually the GPS system in the car became useless because I was in some mountain town, and they put a curse on me or whatever. The sun was setting, so I decided it was time to head down the mountain and back towards the city.

NAMM was more fun than usual this year. Stanton was on hand to help us demo their new DJ controller with FL Studio and Deckadance. They’re still fine tuning the controller mappings for different software, but the controller itself is an amazing piece of hardware. So far, it’s the realest non-vinyl controller I’ve tried. I don’t know why all these companies are betting that DJs will want to use non-motorized platters to mix.

After four straight days of showing people how to produce in FL Studio and four straight nights of business dinners, I was tired as hell. Now I’m back home and ready to start showing you guys all the talented heads in the Drum Attix crew. The first step is bringing Party Sauce back to the Lower East Side this weekend. DJ Scallywag and I are hosting It’s Overture for the relaunch party:

Saturday, January 24 – The Leopard Lounge – 85 2nd Ave, NY
– No Cover

Five days later we had a five song EP. I just got back from the studio with her, laying down the final vocals and doing a bit of mixing, and I’m seriously exhausted. Trust me when I say that she is one of the dopest MCs out right now. You may remember her from her appearance on Brenner’s Breaks Volume 2 last year.

Here’s the backstory: a few months ago I was asked by the guys at FL Studio to demo the software with them at NAMM again. For those of you who might not know, NAMM is basically a convention for music industry whores (the ones who make instruments, not the ones who make CDs) to show off their latest products and generate interest and sales. It’s also a great place to meet a lot of talented people, if you can sift through the douchebags. Believe me, it’s difficult.

Long story short, I figured if my flight was already taken care of I’d go to Los Angeles a bit early and make some music – so I called Sirah and told her to get ready. It was a real pleasure working with her on this EP, which will be released on Drum Attix later this year.

That’s not to say it’s all work and no play out here. I definitely dropped a decent chunk of change on records at Amoeba. That place is huge!

Tomorrow I’m renting a car to swing by Lake Arrowhead (one of the supposed locations of Brian Wilson’s life-changing acid trips) and then heading to Anaheim for the convention. I’ll be posting photos and stories here, so check back this week. In the meantime, check Sirah out and witness the realness.

Saturday, November 22nd – Drum Attix Headquarters – Brooklyn, NY

Some props for Brenner’s Breaks Volume 2 I forgot to post earlier:

“The big surprise is a minimal, ‘Funky Drummer’-looping remix of ‘Where Da Cash At,’ which will murder car systems with its monstrous bass bump.” – Okayplayer

Also, the message board is now fully functional and ready to use. Go there now and say hi!

Finally, I added a brand new music player to the site. See the link in the upper right corner? Click to launch the player in a separate window. Within the player itself you can listen to my whole catalog for free and continue to browse the site without interruptions! Kind of fly, if I do say so myself.

PS – Drum Attix Records will be launched in 2009.

This Saturday is the final event in Theory’s Soundclash series: nothing but Jamaican riddims. I want to see gunfingers in the air, some dutty wining, and we’re shooting for approximately four billion rewinds (though that’s just a rough estimate). Come party with choons provided by yours truly, flanked by Iron Lyon and Ryan-O’Neil.

Saturday, September 13th – The Leopard Lounge – 85 2nd Ave, NY
– No Cover

As promised, here is the winning entry of the Brenner’s Breaks remix contest:

Long Island and Jersey (Remix)
by Philly’s own Small Professor. Really nice work, and totally different from the original.

Tuesday, August 26th – The Knitting Factory – 74 Leonard St, NY
– $10

In other news, the Brenner’s Breaks 2 release party was a huge success. Thank you to everyone who threw down cash for a copy or bought one online. Congratulations to Small Pro for winning the remix contest… the winning entry will be posted soon.

If you’re in NYC tonight, I hope to see you at the release party. See below for details.

Til then, I’m teaming up with Kevin Nottingham to host this remix contest. Download the original
and acapella
of “Long Island And Jersey” (featuring Sirah and Hicoup) and then post your reworkings on the message board. Use a file host like zshare to upload your mp3, then post a link to it here. First prize will be a package including limited edition copies of Brenner’s Breaks 1 + 2 and the Scott Free Soul Mix, along with your remix posted on the website! The deadline for submissions is August 17th.

Friday, August 8th – The Leopard Lounge – 85 2nd Ave, NY
– No Cover

Saturday, August 16th and Saturday, September 13th – The Leopard Lounge – 85 2nd Ave, NY
– No Cover

Recently, Fact Magazine did an interview with LA noise punks No Age and included a remix I did of “Sun Spots” (scroll all the way down). It’s quite soft and probably best on headphones.

One last thing: Brenner’s Breaks 2 will be out August 8th. A handful have been pressed and the first few orders will get some special bonus material, but the album itself will be available only online here. Check back on the 8th to buy it!

Tonight, I’m spinning for the Slackers again between sets at Slackfest. Expect nothing but the finest in ska, rocksteady, and reggae. Doors are at 7pm.

Saturday, June 7 – Irving Plaza – 17 Irving Pl, NY
– $20.50

Saturday, May 31st – Sin Sin & The Leopard Lounge – 85 2nd Ave, NY
– No Cover

This is stacked. I’ll be spinning alongside It’s Overture, DJ Scallywag, Mr. Torch, Sir-Real, and Ryan-O’Neil (yes, you read that correctly). Voidstar Runner will be providing soundmurderation in the form of a live electronic set. Shit is ridiculous. Actually, I used to do live sets with synths + drum machines but it’s way more work than it looks like. I’m kind of a studio cat, and just trying to keep a rack of equipment from doing weird shit live is a nightmare.

Back to the point: dress is East Village Black Tie which probably means I’m wearing a wifebeater with a sportcoat over it. You can decide for yourself, boys and girls. Photos and artwork curated by Meg Rorison will be on display. And let me just spell it out again for those of you who missed it the first time: The One Hand Bandit is going to be on the wheels of steel. See you there.

Please don’t underestimate the seriousness of this situation. Police officers must be held accountable just like the rest of us.

Cool out on Sunday afternoon and goddamnit, turn up the bass.

I know I’ve been quiet for a minute, but I’m in the middle of moving back to Brooklyn. I can’t stand the yuppies in the East Village any longer. Sorry guys, threatening to call the cops over noise at 9:30 on a Friday is not doing it for me. I had no idea I moved into an old folks’ home.

So now I’m rebuilding the studio and enjoying the freedom to bump shit as loud as I please. Also, Ryan and I live in the same apartment now. Brenner’s Breaks Volume 2 is in the works and there are some surprises in store. I won’t say anything else at the moment, but stay tuned…

I know Valentine’s Day can be tough for some people. Forget about all that cute shit and get raw with this new mix:

In honor of this latest release, I finally got my shit together and set up a podcast. Click here to subscribe for free on iTunes.

Also… we’re running a little contest over at This Is Hip Hop. Crate diggers, do your thing.

Saturday, February 9 – Pianos – 158 Ludlow St, NY
– $5

Respect also due to Kevin Nottingham, who hit me up for an interview after hearing The Adventures. Read it here.

It’s been a minute since Ryan got on stage, so come out and show the Bandit some love later this month at Southpaw. We’ll be sharing the stage with The Project, Nuclear Fam, and Cool Calm Pete. Where Brooklyn at?

Friday, February 22 – Southpaw – 125 5th Ave, Brooklyn, NY
– $10

Not so great news! This week is the last Rhythm Shower at Supreme Trading. Word on the street is my spot was usurped by Large Professor. Can’t argue with that… so come out tomorrow and shake your rump with me and Scallywag! $5 for a PBR and shot of bourbon, as usual.

Thursday, January 17 – Supreme Trading – 213 N 8th St, Brooklyn, NY
– No Cover

Okayplayer finally gave The Adventures an official review. The verdict is in… three and a half questies. Next time I want the full four.

“The one-two punch of 100dBs and Ryan-O’Neil recall hip-hop’s glory days of one emcee/one producer magic that keeps a consistent balance running from the top to the bottom of the record.” – Okayplayer

See you next year…