Some New Music is Making me REALLY happy

I sense that a possible (sonic) renaissance is on the horizon in today's pop culture.  It was like we were stuck with this monotonous 'techno thing' for a while but some of the latest releases that I've heard seem to have a little edge and a good dose of 'freshness'.

Pharrell seems to be back in the vocabulary with his collaboration with Daft Punk (get lucky) and also with Robin Thicke and TI (blurred lines). Both of these track have that sweet savory soul that just lights up any room with good energy.

 I'm also in love with the Great Gatsby soundtrack. A duet with Beyonce and Andre 3000 on an Amy Winehouse cover is like 'pornography' to my ears. Not to mention the Kid Koala rendition of Crazy in Love is ridiculous (in a good way). The entire album upholds the integrity, quality, artistry and greatness that screams both "Grammy" and "Oscar" but it's also very dancefloor or lounge friendly. DJs MUST get this album.

I'd also like to mention that I am developing a strong affinity for this Macklemore dude. It was not love at first sound but as I have gotten deeper into his music I am starting to really appreciate what this guy is doing.

It's been a long time I shouldn't have left you

with out a strong post to vibe to;)

Ok, I have been a bit of a flake as of late. In my last post I made a promise to share my mixes and I never did (wackness). But I'm not going to dwell on that, the mixes will be coming soon, I just need to choose a good  1hr chunk out of many 5hr mixes that I've recorded. With that said I'm going to celebrate the future and new beginnings. Summer is arriving (slowly but surely). I've picked up some new gigs, I'm moving to brooklyn in June, I'm in midst of a Bikram Yoga challenge and I've also redefined my over all "style" as a DJ.  I'm making changes and it's been a while since I've felt as inspired as I do now but I am ready for this summer and the latest music releases are a part of what's getting me all exited! (see my next post!)

A Small Sonic Teaser

At Last I have something for people to listen to!

A week ago I decided that I was going to start publishing my DJ sets and something that seemed so simple had suddenly become anything BUT simple. As described in my last post it has been a tedious journey and I actually came across a few more road blocks after that post. Most DJs are probably giggling as they read this bc they most likely started to digitally recording and publishing their live sets as soon as they started spinning. NOT ME:) I'm very late to the party but I AM here and I'm only getting started;)

Below is a link to a 7 min live DJ mix of pure randomness. Expect the unexpected. I tried SoundCloud but it didn't work out and so I  joined mix cloud. Tomorrow I am posting a full mix from skyroom. This is just a tease.

Latest Erika Hamilton 's Cloudcasts on Mixcloud

On a Mission

It's kind of strange that in the 2+ years that I have been writing this blog I have never posted a mix. If I didn't know better I would think that I was all talk and not a real DJ (ha). Well to my defense I didn't convert to serato until this past summer and I'm only now getting accustomed to the digital world and it's endless potential (I've always been a little late to the party). I did purchase an MP3 recorder and I will record my next live set and post it on sound cloud no matter what (even if I hate it).

For the past few days I have been trying to optimize my DJ booth at home. I had been so busy since I moved to this apartment that I hadn't even set up my Turntables until yesterday (pure madness). The grounding on one of them was broken and I had to strip it. I also realized that my Macbook pro doesn't have an 'aux in' which has me running around the city getting cables, converters and all types of sh---. I have decided that 2013 is going to be about production, remixes and sharing my live mixes. It's just taking me a moment to get up an running but once I do I doubt I'll be able to stop. I finally have the time to really do this and time is precious so I am going to give it everything I have;) 

When Hip-Hop was Clean

After reading about how lil Wayne was hospitalized from ODing on some hard chore drug cocktail I became a bit nostalgic about when hip-hop was (relatively) drug free (with the exception of weed). I can't recall a single hip-hop song from my youth that glorified the use of hard drugs. If anything most references to hard drugs in 80s and 90s hip-hop usually condemned drug addiction. For example "White lines" or "Slow Down" and even a song like Biggie's '10 crack commandants' pretty much stated to not become a user and don't have personal relationships with users.  With that said the act of being a 'gangster' / 'drug dealer' was sometimes glorified but being a 'drug addict' was not.  I guess I'm lucky that I hated techno and the whole rave scene and I grew up at a time when only 'smoking blunts' and 'drinking 40s' were considered cool.

Is Justin Timberlake overrated?

I'm not ashamed to admit that I was once a big New Kids on the Block fan. I'm being a bit preemptive to assume that I should be ashamed since most former NKOTB fans that I know seem to stay in the closet.  This shame is apart of the reason why Justin Timberake amazes me. He was only one 'boy band' away from one of the most discredited boy bands of all time. He was nothing but frosted hairspray with a cherry on top yet he gets more respect than some of the most talented artists of my generation.

Justin Timberlake is a very talented individual. His skits on SNL is (in my opinion) some of the funniest SNL content that I have every seen.  He has also released several great singles in his solo career. He has moves, he has grace, style, charm: he has everything that we (the people) look for in a star but why him? Jordon Knight played instruments, he co-wrote some of the NKOTB material and he was just as young as JT when he had his boyband stint. Why didn't we let Jordon mature and grow  into becoming a greater talent. At some point we simply chose to credit JT as being a truly respectable artist. 

(Before I move forward let me just state for the record that I LOVE Justin Timberake and this is NOT  a 'diss' piece....well maybe it is but just a lil).  His new single features Jay-Z who also happens to be the king of 'pop artist validation'. It's like the most popular kid in school is reminding us that JT is cool and he is 'down'. When I play the super slow track (suit and tie). people go crazy and I can't help but feel that it's a total bite off of R.Kelly's 'step in the name of love' 

Maybe I'm feeling a little hate. I understand the popularity of Justin Timberlake I'm just not completely sold on the respect and credibility that people thinks he deserves.  People trash and discredit Justin Beiber all the time but the kid can run circles around JT with all the instruments that he can play. JT is a decent actor and is very funny but that has nothing to do with music.  I have this feeling that his next album is going to be a grammy winning, super smash hit and  I don't really get it. I  just don't. 20/20 seems like its going to be a great album but I'm just not sure if I will ever be willing to consider Justin Timberlake as an amazing and incredible musical artist. 

Frank Ocean In a few words

respect, responsibility, integrity, pure, original, beauty, talent, grace, courage, strength, and awesomeness! This is an album that you buy in it's entirety, not a track list that you choose from;)

Silencing

When I first got my I-phone I managed to accidentally turn off the ringer with out really caring that I was missing so many calls. I never bothered to turn the ringer or noises back on again.  I suppose I was unconsciously shutting down from living my life like I was always 'on call'.

My phone blows up everyday with texts, emails, calls, comments, status updates and everything else. I sometimes wonder.... Why and when did I make myself so accessible to so many people? And in this process did I end up making  myself a bit inaccessible to the people that actually matter to me?

How many more times would I talk to the people I love if I couldn't just text them? How many more people would I make time to see if I didn't get to read their updates everyday? When did it become OK for me to experience a meaningful moment over the phone? It's like phone calls are the new "intimate".

I'm a purist. I collect vinyl.  I still own VHS tapes (even though I don't have a VCR). I don't want to get my messages as they come I want to CHECK them. I want kisses and hugs not Xs and Os. I want to hold my nephew not look at his photos, I want to hear about my BFs trip to Mexico as we are drinking coronas and she is telling me every little detail.  Silencing my phone is simply a small step to keeping me closer to my life, which just happens to be a life that I really love:)