Thursday's at Underbar in the W Hotel

Sit back in a plush red couch sipping a spectacular cocktail admiring the scene. The crowd is comprised of couples, after work professioanals and stylish Union Square residents. Avoid the lists, drama and whose-who at the door.

This little enclave is great for mingling or sitting with friends, enjoying the music. No- you don't need to purchase a bottle to enjoy the company of friends at a table.

Music by yours truly - dj marc elias.

• Phil Collins - In The Air Remix (The Beatfreakz Remix)
• Gaga's Situation

the Art of the Sample 2

Remember Jock Jams? Don't even play like you didn't own one of these compilation CD's from the 80s. Believe it or not, those Jock Jam hits were birthed from previous songs i.e. samples such as;

"This Is How We Do It" by Montell Jordan, which was sampled from the classic 1988 joint entitled Children's Story by none other than the man the ruler Slick Rick.

The Bucketheads dance track entitled "The Bomb" was actually taken from  Chicago's "Street Player". This classic trumpet riff was then re-sampled and used in the 2009 release by Pitbull "I Know You Want Me".

Sampled, reused and packaged neatly... The repetitive cycle of music production.

the Art of the Sample

I was going through Apple iTunes picking out songs for my wedding reception when I stumbled upon this Tori Amos track - "Precious Things". To be honest I am not familiar with any Tori Amos music. However, on this track there is this one infectious piano riff that I really love. I enclosed a clip from one of her live performances, listen to the beginning part - Tori Amos - Precious Things.

Shortly after hearing this, I realized that piano bit was used in Rabbit In the Moon "Out of Body Experience" (OBE). This dance track is especially sentimental to me since it was included on one of my favorite mix CD's Northern Exposure, Vol. 1., which is arguably the best dance music composition produced by Sasha & Digweed.

To come, I plan to share with you more music from its original composition that was later remixed. I think you'll really get a kick out of hearing the original of many tracks that you know and love.

If you can answer this question, I'll send you a little audio treat via e-mail. What track did the Notorious B.I.G sample the background from to produce "Juicy"?

Indian Influences

Think Slumdog Millionaire meets American Hip-Hop with a dash of pop culture and there ya have it... the re-released Indian Influences Mix. I scoured my music collection looking for sounds that contain Indian sounds and language...Tune in.

The Digital Future of the United States

You know you've made a dent in popular culture when legislature begins talking about you. I think this is down right awesome that Gregg Gillis aka Girl Talk has garnered this type of acclaim.

As I mentioned in a previous post, Girl Talk's ability to produce and remix short snippets of classic sounds has tickled the collective ear. How in the hell does Girl Talk produce/remix his music? Click, watch, learn.

DJ AM - R.I.P

Jazzy Jeff on Future Flavas

Jazzy Jeff live on Marley Marl's Future Flavas show when it was broadcasting on Power 105.

DJ Hero presents DJ Jazzy Jeff. Going back to a previous post, I think the video game DJ Hero will be success which further propels the art of DJing into the mainstream. I don't expect to buy a game console just to be a digital DJ Hero but I would be willing to rent the game and play it on someone elses console.

To be frank; I have low expectations of the game because I can't see how three buttons on a digital turntable can compare to the real touch of spinning vinyl. I hope to be surprised though.

Italian Opera + Breakbeat 4 Real?

Going through my music library I pulled out three moody selections. Decompress.. ahhh.

Outer Body Experience - Rabbit In the Moon
BT - Memories In A Sea Of Forgetfulness
Samuel Barber - Adagio for Strings

Hope you enjoy!

Today's mantra; make it count!

My 29th birthday was a couple days ago so you'll have to excuse me for getting 'deep' on you.

Let me remind you- there are 365 days in a year, in 10 years there are roughly 3,650 days and in 100 years (far beyond the average lifespan) there are roughly 36,500 days. Doesn't seem like a very long time- because - it's not! My message get out there and do something with your precious time.

Shall the enclosed mix motivate you to do one thing each day that makes the day count. Today, mine was producing this mix. What's on this mix you ask?


Today's mix starts off with some chill house then crescendos into a selection of some of my favorite old school rhythm and blues and hip-hop beats. Then finishes with a sweet cherry; one final feel good house track. Enjoy!

October’s upcoming DJ Hero, Activision’s long-awaited turntablist twist on Guitar Hero

“If I’m behind this, this will be the most popular thing to do in gaming on the planet,” says legendary DJ Grandmaster Flash about October’s upcoming DJ Hero, Activision’s long-awaited turntablist twist on their multi-billion-dollar Guitar Hero franchise. Flash tells Rolling Stone that he has been involved with the game for a little over a year, contributing exclusive mixes, doing voice-overs and even advising the suits on what type of language to use. Watch the interview

Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009)

Michael Jackson... rest in peace.

London DJ's Generate Bogus Royalties in an Elaborate Scheme

A group of popular London deejays used stolen credit cards to buy their own music on iTunes in an elaborate scheme that netted about $650,000 in bogus royalties and sent the musicians skyrocketing up the "indie" charts, The Post has learned.

The deejays recorded 19 compilations of music they spun at nightclubs, uploaded them on iTunes through a Brooklyn-based service and then downloaded them an astonishing 65,000 times on accounts set up with the pilfered cards, law-enforcement sources said. Along with the profits, the performers nearly made a second killing -- they caught the attention of music industry executives curious about their newfound popularity.

Authorities in New York and London unmasked the group of "independent musicians" in recent months, and ring members are expected to be rounded up as early as this morning in Britain. The takedown caps an international Internet manhunt conducted by Brooklyn prosecutors inside DA Charles Hynes' office, NYPD computer crime experts and their counterparts and a London Metropolitan Police unit known as SCD-6. British authorities announced this morning that they had made nine arrests in connection with the scam.

The scam began in August with the DJs paying an annual $30-per-album fee to the Williamsburg company Tunecore, a music distribution service, to get their albums uploaded onto iTunes. The ring then obtained thousands of stolen credit card numbers and painstakingly opened iTunes accounts with them and began downloading their albums at $10 apiece.

In December, Apple, the parent company of iTunes, began to receive stop-payment orders from various credit card companies, saying accounts were established fraudulently. A month later, Apple contacted the NYPD, which enlisted the help of the Brooklyn district attorney.

Investigators scoured the Internet for the origins of the downloads and ultimately determined they were made on London computers. They then matched the identities of IP computer-address owners and musicians. The thieves collected about $389,000 of the loot.