In his Relm

DJs are a lot more creative than people give them credit for. The shitty ones, of course, stand there and just pretend to do something (a la celebrities who think throwing on an iPod and hitting "shuffle" is sufficient). The more advanced use vinyl, mashups, stage antics and beer to make their sets stand out.

City native Mike Relm decided to go down the latter route while also throwing down his mixing skills live, in time, to video screens looming behind him on Friday night. Not a bad idea for one with nimble fingers.

I'll admit it is sort of odd to stand there and watch someone behind a turntable. I couldn't decide whether I wanted to dance or observe, but I was glad I did both. One of the things I like about Relm is that he seems to be and practice being a pretty cool guy, which includes intersplices footage of movies, videos, and random shit alongside his scratching; the infamous "O" face video did make an appearance as well as some homemade short films Relm did, communicating with audience via a tablet of paper and nothing else.

The dude definitely knows to mix; we heard some 90s grunge with some Ladytron, some hip-hop followed by indie, all done live in tune with the video images flashing around. Relm also dropped new single from his new album Spectacle called "Everytime" with the video he directed behind it. The slow-motion stop imagery, going backwards, and shot in a gorgeous black and white feel made it a neat watch.



Thanks for being a cool guy, Mr. Relm.


Photos by Kapshure/Berderp

SHOTS OF AWESOME :: Q-Tip

The gospel of Q-Tip, as caught by Kapshure at the R2K Sports Bounce tour.

"Sleeper Hits," by Ryan Rosario

Ryan Rosario reports on Saturday's Dirtybird show:

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After a serious herbal detox (not the drinking kind) from last Thursday night’s waxing, I plowed through for Saturday’s storm to catch Claude VonStroke and Switch blowout some bassbins. I’ve been a Dirtybird and Dubsided fanatic for a good minute, so my expectations of the show were that of a die-hard, dance-harder fan. I loaded my copper-colored Shuffle with all the songs that make me fidget, wobble, techno-juke, blip-slide, and ghetto-tech in anticipation of the night.

[VonStroke picture by Kapshure]

Now, I don’t know how many of you have been to a Dirtybird party in Golden Gate Park, or their occasional Friday night at Shine, but these guys bring it like a Benadryl and Vodka Red Bull uppercut in the gut. Techno squirrel squeaking on top of deep house baselines and sodapop drums at 130 bpm’s would make everyone from candy-ravers to hyphy soldiers bob their heads and tap their feet. Then there’s Switch, aka Dave Taylor, aka one half of Solid Groove, aka one half of Induceve, aka Modeler, aka shall I keep geekin’ out!?!

Nevertheless, Switch’s remix catalog is equally rivaled by his original production work with artists like Santogold, M.I.A., Diplo, Crookers, and fellow Dubsiders Jesse Rose, Sinden, Herve, and Trevor Loveys - all of which have been in SF over the past four months with the exception of Herve , who is yet to cross the pond.

By the time I reached the Powell MUNI station, the diphenhydramine and highball combo I consumed before leaving turned my reality into the music video for "Pest - Pat Pong (Solid Groove Remix)" as it was playin’ in my headphones. I walked into Mezzanine feeling like a wet dog on acid while anxiously anticipating the physical warmth from other bodies dancing the rain away.

SHOTS OF AWESOME :: Claude VonStroke

Captured by Kapshure over at Berderp. Can't you feel him feeeeeeeeeel the music?