Spring Hits

Spring hits!

Maroon 5 “Makes Me Wonder” - The long-awaited follow-up to their breakthrough 2002 set “Songs About Jane” album is coming soon. Wow, was it really that long ago? It doesn’t seem like five years, partially because “Songs About Jane” didn’t “critical mass” with the general public until almost 2 years later. This release continues with the rhythmic pop which made the band connect with a large fan base in the first place. “Makes Me Wonder” is another heartbreak song, cleverly disguided by happy music, this time reminiscent of the Earth, Wind & Fire rhythm section. I expect this song to perform very well, and to age well, since the lyrical hook of the song isn’t battered into your head. Instead, it’s a little more clever. Indeed, the reason I like Maroon 5 in the first place is that while they’re unabashedly “pop”, there just a little more clever.

Linkin Park “What I’ve Done” - Speaking of long-awaited, Linkin Park is back with a new single, just before press time. LP is a group of very talented individuals, who together are better than the sum of their individual parts. While this song isn’t bad, and will likely do well, it’s missing some signature elements we’ve come to expect from this band. I’m told they are “progressing” out of the rap-rock hybrid that they helped create and define, which is fine. But on this well-written single, all the vocals are from Chester Bennington. Where is Mike Shinoda? To me this would be like having a new single from the Ying Yang Twins, and there was only one of the twins actually on it (and no, they’re not actually named Ying and Yang). Or, if you can’t relate to that analogy, try this one: if it’s Mick Jagger singing, but Keith Richards isn’t playing guitar on it, is it The Rolling Stones? I’m all for expanding the scope of what you do as a band, especially one as talented as Linkin Park, but this single doesn’t hit me as hard as I thought it would, at least on initial impression.

Rihanna with Jay-Z “Umbrella” - Not to harp on it, but I find it a shame that Jay-Z sounds better as a guest on this track, than anything I’ve heard from his own “comeback” album. I’ve also been pleasantly surprised at how well Rihanna has done in her career, thus far. And most of her hits have all sounded unique, too - which bodes well for her career. “Umbrella” is considerably funkier than the “Tainted Love” of her previous hit “S.O.S. (Rescue Me)”, with hard-hitting, rock hard live (sounding, at least) drums, and sinewy synths more often used as “blips” in hip-hop songs, versus for melody, as they’re used here. After Jay’s strong starting, Rihanna’s vocals stand up to the strong track that’s almost rock & roll, with r&b singing, yet with a stacatto rock & roll attitude. Original and very strong.

Don’t miss!

If you mention Steve Sharp when you sing up for the weekly Prime Cuts cd service from JonesTM between now and the end of April 2007, and take $5 each month (for up to three years) off the price of your subscription. Get all the new music you need, in every significant musical genre (in the English language - or add their Latin service, too!), every week, shipped right to you. Mention me (Steve Sharp) and they’ll drop their already low prices another $5 per month, every month. It’s the very best offer available, and it’s only available if you drop my name, and I could only get it because I have really clear blackmail pictures of Jim Weisz and Dave Foster that they don’t want published. Their indescrections are your gain!

You know, sometimes I just say things to see if you’re paying attention.Steve Sharp is a DJ in Southern California who has been spinning since 1981. In addition to running his own successful single-op business, Signature Entertainment, he also creates a weekly radio remix show for Bo’s Saturday Night Party on B95.1 FM. Steve is one of the few people who can not only play the hits, but gets involved in the story behind them and can often tell you who produced, directed and published the song and how their actions affect the music industry.

If you would like to contact Steve, he can be reached at thatdj@aol.com

Is It Summer Yet?

Heating Up!

It’s in the air: summer is coming! And with it, summer parties, the wedding “season”, the beach, and a lot more action in the clubs, and on the radio. And the music is starting to get released that will compete to be part of the soundtrack of summer 2007.

Daddy Yankee with Fergie “Impacto” - So, about 3 years ago there was this new revolutionary music style that was going to take over the world called reggaeton. And at first, it really did look like this trend had what it takes to last, with multiple hits breaking out at once, and labels scrambling to sign creators of this new music and/or assimilate this sound into the mainstream. But then, very little happened. Just in time to renew the faith in this genre comes Daddy Yankee with Fergie with “Impacto”. Sure, it’s the same drum pattern used in about a billion other songs, but it works. Daddy Yankee’s still hot, and Fergie (even though I’m getting tired of her) is hot. I don’t know enough Spanish to discuss the lyrics, but it’s a dance jam, so who really cares about the lyrics anyway? I particularly like the vocoder vocals on the hook, which is a throwback to electronic old school jams. This will be big, I tell ya!

Kelly Clarkson “Never Again” - I remember the first time I heard “You Oughta Know” by Alanis Morissette around twelve years ago (wow), and thought “wow, this woman is really pissed off” but was strangely drawn to the raw nerve the song struck. Well, the new Kelly Clarkson single makes “You Oughta Know” seem like Disney. The very first line is “I hope the ring you gave to her turns her finger green”. Wow. Is it too much? Time will tell, but it’s certainly urgent and rocking. I pretty much guarantee you won’t play this at a wedding. At the very least, it cannot be said that Kelly Clarkson makes the same record, over and over again - which adds credibility to her career. To be honest, I hope this is just a teaser from what is rumored to be an excellent new album of hers, on the way… for the summer.

50 Cent “Straight To The Bank” - On the other hand, maybe 50 Cent and Daddy Yankee (to a lesser extent) DO make the same record, over and over again, using a winning formula that they just keep mining. 50 knows it, and even boasts about it here about “laughing straight to the bank with this.” The bragging, laughing hook taunts, while Dr. Dre’s production is as sharp as ever. The rest is 50’s ego.

Think Pink and win!

I have another five pack of cds to give away, courtesy of our friends at JonesTM! This time, it’s five back issues of Prime Cuts Monthy cds. Here’s the question: what is Pink’s real name? Email your answer to me at ThatDJ@aol.com with the subject line “Think Pink”, along with your name, company name, mailing address, and phone number. Sumissions must be made by 11:59 p.m., Sunday, April 29th to be eligible. I will draw a winner from the correct entries on Monday, April 30th, and announce our winner one week from today!Last Call!

The following deal is only available until the end of April, so act now! If you mention Steve Sharp when you sign up for the weekly Prime Cuts cd service from JonesTM between now and the end of this month, you can lock in a $5 discount per month each month (for up to three years) off the price of your subscription. Get all the new music you need, every week, shipped right to you. Mention me (Steve Sharp) and they’ll drop their already low prices another $5 per month, every month. It’s the very best offer available, but it’s only for new subscribers, and it’s only available for readers of this column. You can get track listings and even a comparison chart online. It’s a fantastic resource at the best price ever offered, don’t miss it!

Steve Sharp is a DJ in Southern California who has been spinning since 1981. In addition to running his own successful single-op business, Signature Entertainment, he also creates a weekly radio remix show for Bo’s Saturday Night Party on B95.1 FM. Steve is one of the few people who can not only play the hits, but gets involved in the story behind them and can often tell you who produced, directed and published the song and how their actions affect the music industry.
If you would like to contact Steve, he can be reached at thatdj@aol.com

Elation Show Designer 3D Ultimate Visualizer

With all the new hardware products on the floor of Elation’s LDI booth one of the things that caught my eye was a software product. Specifically, that was Elation’s Show Designer 3D. While you could easily describe this as the ultimate visualization program, it goes well beyond that.The software essentially works in layers - eight to be specific. There is a particle layer, a live text layer, a mask overlay layer and others. Two layers are also video layers so you can bring in video and incorporate that into your visualization scheme.

Using a Windows-based computer, you can craft visualization schemes on the fly, throwing in video or adding a text layer as you go. While the software has a lot of features, it is relatively straightforward in its interface.

If you so choose, you can also use any DMX controller to create your visualizations as well. Through a DMX to MIDI interface, you can adjust the various visualizations on the fly or use the computer’s own interface. With the number of functions incorporated into the software, you will utilize an entire DMX controller so you’ll need a second one - or Elation’s own DMX lighting control software - to control your lights separately.

While this $1599 list software isn’t for everybody, for those looking to take their video shows one step further this is one giant step for DJ kind in the world of video visualizations. Now if you use one of those slick LED curtains…

In the image below I’ve cut and pasted two of the screens so you can get a visual of what is possible. You can also overlay text, video and more over these images for an exciting multi-layer visualization.

Check out Elation’s web site for More Information.

FogScreen Lets You Project On A Layer of Water

There are a lot of screen technologies available in today’s market but Mobile Beat stumbled across one of the most unique and original screen surfaces yet - water. Now if you’ve been to some amusement parks you’ve already seen projection on high pressure water displays, but this is much different.FogScreen is a technology that turns water into a vapor and then drops it in a curtain of fog from a fixture placed atop where the screen is. The result is a layer of thin fog that you can actually project onto. Yet the most amazing thing about this technology is that you can walk right through the fog without any dampness transmitting to you whatsoever. It’s truly a unique technology.

Mobile Beat spoke to the FogScreen folks at the LDI convention and asked them what the impetus was for such a technology. The response? “We wanted to create an image floating in air like they do on Star Wars.” The company tried a number of chemicals to achieve the effect to no avail. Then they learned how to create the illusion with water and today we have FogScreen.

Now this is not something the majority of mobile DJs are going to want to rush out to buy partially because a unit costs about the same as a garage full of automobiles and it is no small appliance. Still, for some extreme events this might be a great tool in one’s rental arsenal and at the very least it’s infinitely cool. Imagine your guests walking into a James Bond New Year’s Eve party with images of the agent himself projected on the door way. Or, imaging your corporate holiday party’s boring PowerPoint taking life in a screen of fog that people can touch and walk through. It definitely has a market and makes a statement.

The density of the fog can be altered depending on the effect you wish you achieve. You can create a thicker or almost transparent fog with settings on the device. The company also showed an interactive display where you would draw on the fog with your hand and this would create an image that would be projected onto the screen. This is sort of like a gigantic, interactive Etch-A-Sketch except that it’s not quite as portable and a bit costlier.

FogScreen isn’t for everybody but there’s no doubt that everybody who experiences this device is going to remember the experience.