Funky, soulful, disco, vocal, fashion.. House music. Straight to the point, nothing filler. Perpetually solid, quality house music. Closing out 2011 with a 125 bpm bomb! Here’s the new set to feed you with ear candy. Enjoy and happy holidays!

Tracklist:

1. Tyrese – How You Gonna Act Like That (Stig Remix)
2. Modern American Theatre – Berlin Reunited: And It Feels So Good (DJPJ Remix)
3. Ambient P. – Hot Stuff (Steven Stone Soulful Mix)
4. Justin Timberlake – Sexyback (Pokerface House Mix)
5. Adele – Set Fire To The Rain (Moto Blanco Club Mix)
6. Human Life – In It Together (Directors Cut Signature Togetherness)
7. Ce Ce Rogers & Syke’N'Sugarstarr – I Believe (Original Mix)
8. Daddy’s Favourite – I Feel Good Things For You 09 (Nicola Fasano & Steve Forest Vocal Remix)
9. Stephanie Cooke – Everything (Orienta-Rhythm’s King Street Edit)
10. Jamiroquai – Runaway (Grant Nelson Remix)
11. Audiowhores feat. Alexis Hall – Subject Of My Affection (Original Vibe Mix)
12. Masters At Work – Backfired (Joey Negro Club Mix)
13. Noir – My MTV (Raul Rincon Remix)

Keepin’ it funky into 2012.

Tyrese, my man!

The RnB classic, How You Gonna Act Like That, got a couple remixes that got lost in the wind.. one more than other. There’s the 5AM Remix and then there’s the STIG REMIX. This track immaculately encapsulates what a proper house track needs to do: Make you groove.

I first heard it at an H&M store and Shazam’d it to find out the name of the track (despite Shazam not being able to recognize a lot of the great tracks playing before this one). How You Gonna Act Like That (Stig Remix) by Tyrese was this awesome gem I couldn’t wait to go home and download. Upon searching, I come to realize this song doesn’t exist on iTunes, Amazon, or YouTube for that matter. It doesn’t even exist on any torrent or filehosting site. It’s existence is only verified by Discogs and obscure online vinyl/record shops that have it sold by private sellers. Basically, the only way to attain this track is to physically order the record or the CD single it was published on (J Records and BMG).

Not anymore, though! This piece of vinyl just arrived in the mail today and I got straight to the turntables to record this gem. Starting with your traditional house beat, a minute in, you’re transported to heaven. Lovely Fender Rhodes laying down lush chords with samples of Tyrese’s awesome vocal performance for a moment before the beat attacks in with arguably the most tasteful bass playing I’ve ever heard in any track. Subtle rhythm guitar and effects, occasional strings, synths, loungy breakdowns.. it’s all so uplifting, ethereal, and full of light. The atmosphere this track exudes is upbeat and ambiently chill. It’s what a lot of music these days should convey, but unfortunately do not (at least not on a mainstream level). Even in the deep underground, this was nearly impossible to find and obtain.

I’m really happy to be able to share this with you. The music will do all of the talking. Hope you like it even half as much as I love it. Always keepin’ it funky!

Download here: Tyrese – How You Gonna Act Like That (Stig Remix)

Insrumental version: Tyrese – How You Gonna Act Like That (Stig Instrumental)

Just as Funk naturally goes well with Jazz or Disco, it goes well with Rock. The master of mixing Funk with Rock is arguably Lenny Kravitz, and he’s recently released a new album, Black and White America. Not surprisingly, it hasn’t sold terribly well here in the States (selling just over 20,000 copies so far), it’s done much better in the European market, debuting at #1 in Germany and Switzerland. It’s the guy’s 9th studio album! Something I find pretty amazing. What’s even more amazing is that he’s STiLL got it! It’s actually one of his best records in years.

Songs revolve around bi-racial issues, the black and white divide, growing up in the 70s, to more common themes such as love, and personal statements and reflections. It’s incredibly rich and well produced. Definitely a deviation from regular Lenny Kravitz, but the deviation’s direction is more towards Funk than anything. Kravitz is an amazing multi-instrumentalist, singer-songwriter, arranger, and producer, and he really shines through this release. I strongly recommend it.

My favorite songs from the record:

Black and White America, Liquid Jesus (my favorite), Superlove, I Can’t Be Without You, Looking Back On Love, Sunflower (a really pleasant surprise this one is!!), Dream, and Push.

Lenny’s definitely keepin’ it funky!

Buy on iTunes or Amazon!

Recently, I was approached to remix a track by Modern American Theatre. They’re an LA based indie rock band and friends of mine. You might have heard of them, and if you haven’t yet, I strongly recommend checking them out.. they sound really good.

The track I chose to remix is Berlin Reunited: And It Feels So Good. Originally 175 bpm (or 87.5 however you look at it), filled with distortion guitar, fast-paced drums and high energy, it’s been dramatically altered in virtually every way. You could say it’s been given the ‘Funk Fiction’ or the ‘DJPJ Funky House’ treatment. Vocals have been time stretched down to classic 127 bpm, enter some Fender Rhodes, swingin’ hats, housy rhythms, jazzy chords, funky analog synth glisses, filters, strings, vocal chopping/sampling, and groovin’ basslines… now you have the DJPJ Mix of Berlin.

Check it out along with the other remixes and the rest MAT’s releases @ modernamericantheatre.bandcamp.com!

As always, keepin’ it funky!

Direct Download:

Berlin Reunited: And It Feels So Good (DJPJ Remix)

A little over a month ago while I was visiting London, my cousin and I were doing a midnight drive around the city. We decided to turn on the radio to hear what’s on and to my surprise, at least 5 stations were simultaneously playing quality, class music. One station was exclusively a Drum ‘n Bass station, another a Chillout/Downtempo/Reggae station. Even Kiss FM was playing a Disco House remix of an Adele track. Wish we had that sort of treatment and taste Stateside!!

Now there were a few other radio stations that were “pirate radio stations”. These stations are run by regular people in their garage, room, or basement and hacking into a frequency that you can pick up within the vicinity. These stations were playing straight up, smooth, Deep House music. One of the tracks I heard was pure magic.

The track was by Quarion, titled Turn Off The Light. A very atmospheric and deep, yet tonal work. This track is an absolute gem. It starts out with filtered percussion with uniquely tremolo’d chords, becoming more driven with the full beat and bass line entering. Then it goes into a sort of “round 2″ where the music gets filtered as a seemingly 70s Rare Groove sample creeps in with vocals singing “Turn Off The Light” and strings, funk guitar lines, etc. all going together before the beat kicks back in again.

What’s fantastic about this music is that you can be at a happening function with tons of mingling and have this track bumping loud in the background and it won’t demand your attention! It just fills the air and pockets of silence with serene frequencies. I feel like there should be a lot more upbeat/dance music like this.. where it doesn’t compel you to pay attention to it and its job is to provide atmosphere and good moods. Anyway, time for the track that’s been one of my main jams since that lovely London night keepin’ it funky.

Talk about a super pleasant surprise. Jamiroquai has just released a brand new single, titled Smile. Not only is the fact that they suddenly decided to release the track out of no where awesome, but the track itself is simply.. pure class. It’s better than anything on their latest album, Rock Dust Light Star. It affirms my faith in the group (filled with entirely new members compared to the original line-up) that they can still pump out high quality music. Since RDLS, this is the closest I’ve heard them sound to their original 90s sound. Lush strings, super funky and chill chords, infectious melodies.. they’re all here, with a modern and serene take. I’m thrilled to hear Jamiroquai venturing into this style. Hopefully they’re next album has more pleasant surprises including upbeat and fun material. Bravo! Way to keep it funky!

www.jamiroquai.com

Two weeks and no post! Slacking’s no good… Gonna make sure that doesn’t happen anymore and it keep it on the daily level. Back with a new DJ set, a little less on the funky side and more on the “electro” and “progressive” side of things. Every working DJ needs to have an arsenal of this new form of House music, though. There are still some funky tracks I’ve snuck in, like Chuck Love’s Low End. Enjoy the new mix!

Direct Download: Electro House Mix

Got something a little different this time. Delving more into minimal and psychedelic techno and trance. Underlying it all is some good old fashioned funky acid bass lines. Acid is basically anything from the Roland TB-303 (Transistor Bass) synthesizer or anything that emulates it. So, even with a momentary deviation, we’re still keepin’ it funky!

Direct Download: Synthetic

One week online now and still staying strong. Tonight we’re goin’ deeper deeper with some cheeba cheeba flavor. A new work in progress that’s very recent. Turning down the tempo and turning up the vinyl crackle, we got a smooth hip hop instrumental hitting the waves. I know you’re bobbing your heaaadd!! Still.. keepin’ it funky!

Direct Download: Deep Hip Hop

*as always… right click then click save as to download

Second tutorial post. This time we’ll go through how to play the chords to Something About Us by Daft Punk. This song is an absolute classic (as are lots of Daft Punk tracks). The chords are very simple and easy. I’ll also take requests on how to play other tracks, too. For reference, the chords are:

Bb Maj 7, A min 7, D min 9, G Maj (add 9)… then

Bb Maj 7, A7 (add flat 9), A  min 7 / D (or Dsus), G min 7

Keep it funky.