Mixmag’s Greatest Dance Act of All Time
The web votes have been cast and counted, and Mixmag has recently crowned U.K. breakbeat ravers, The Prodigy, as the greatest dance act of all time, edging out robot house-loving Daft Punk in an apparently close race. Veterans The Chemical Brothers, Faithless and Canada’s Deadmau5 round out the top five. Other artists who made the list include former Windsor producer Richie Hawtin and his Plastikman alias (No. 6), Kraftwerk (No. 12), Justice (No. 15) and The KLF (No. 20).
Cook’s Thesaurus
If you’re trying to improvise that recipe you saw on the Food Network or read about in Uptown’s Allez Cuisine! column and aren’t sure what you can use to substitute for a certain ingredient, the Cook’s Thesaurus is the perfect resource to help you out. With handy descriptions, pictures, synonyms and substitutions, it’s an easy way to introduce new vegetables, meats, fruits and other ingredients into your diet, or figure out how to modify recipes on the fly with a bit of a safety net.
Witch House and Chill Wave Name Generator
Depressed and thinking about becoming a witch house DJ? Starting a chill wave band with some people you met on some message board? Use this online generator to ensure you have the perfect name for your new project. What’s the point of your new SoundCloud account if you don’t have a memorable name?
MP3 of the Week: Pip Skid – This Year feat. Charlie Fettah
Before heading out on a tour of Western Canada with DJ Co-op and The Greg MacPherson Band (MacPherson, Cole Woods and Rob Gardiner), Pip Skid and friends will perform tracks from his new release, People Are The Worst, and old favourites at the Lo Pub on Thursday, Feb. 2. Special guests for the evening are relative newcomer The Happy Unfortunate and the reclusive Nestor Wynrush. Tickets are $10 and available at Music Trader and The Urban Bakery. Download Pip’s new album from marathonofdope.com. Don’t forget to throw the label some cash for all the music you have been downloading from it over the past couple years.
Video of the Week: A$AP Rocky – Wassap
New York MC A$AP Rocky finally has a new video out, this time for the Clams Casio-produced Wassap. Directed by Vice’s Andy Capper and A$AP, the clip includes every rap video cliché from the last 20 years, but A$AP is still mesmerizing as he spits his stoner slow rhymes over Clams Casino’s hazy beats. The brash Harlem MC continues to be on a roll after the release of his debut mixtape, LIVELOVEA$AP. Just in case you were thinking of firing this up over your lunch hour in your cubicle, the video is NSFW.
Top 100 DJs
DJ Mag’s annual Top 100 DJ list was recently revealed. For some, this list is a barometer of what’s happening worldwide; for others, it’s a popularity contest that doesn’t really represent what’s going on in electronic music culture. However you look at it, the past couple years have seen the rebirth of festival culture in North America, the growth in popularity of dubstep, the resurgence of big club events and the embrace of social networking by most DJs. Dance music culture is riding a high wave not experienced since the glory days of the late ’90s or even the disco era. In many ways, electronic music’s influence is stronger than it has ever been. While big-name trance DJs still are represented in the list, it feels like a changing of the guard, with French electro house superstar David Guetta taking home top spot, knocking off four-time champ Arman van Burren, and holding off Tiësto and Deadmau5. It’s no surprise dubstep hero Skrillex takes home the trophy for Highest New Entry into the list, landing at 19. While he may have only cracked the Top 20, he’s king in North America right now. Interestingly, no drum ’n’ bass DJs made the cut, marking the first time big names such as Andy C, Grooverider and Fabio weren’t represented. In a more disturbing trend, there were also no female DJs represented in the Top 100. High profile party rockers such as Misstress Barbara, Magda, Shortee and DJ Rap didn’t garner enough votes to be included. Is this because their fans didn’t support them or because the electronic scene is still a bit of an old boys club?
TEDx Manitoba
If you want to be part of the TEDx Manitoba action next February, you have until Nov. 27 to get your application in for one of the coveted spots in the audience. This is the second TEDx gathering in Manitoba, and it’s being held at the MTC Warehouse on Feb. 9. If you don’t get a spot, you can watch the live stream or view any of the presenters on-demand after the event.
MP3 of the Week: Apparat – Song of Los
Taken from Apparat’s new album, The Devil’s Walk, Song of Los is the type of simple, melancholic electronic music that is difficult to pull off without coming across as corny. Song of Los will make you forget that Postal Service hasn’t put out another album and it looks like the Junior Boys are going to break up.
Video of the Week: Speed Dial 7 – Pure Evil (featuring Pip Skid)
Wonderfully weird filmmaker Mike Maryniuk has teamed up with the Marathon of Dope crew again, this time for a new video for Belgium’s Speed Dial 7’s track, Pure Evil. Fellow troublemaker Pip Skid guests on the 16mm, hand-processed video from the former l’Atelier-National du Manitoba member. Speed Dial 7, Pip and DJ Co-op are currently on tour in Europe. They recently opened up for Antipop Consortium’s founding member Beans in Paris.
Madden Bible
maddenbible.com — For diehard football fans, fall means a lot of things: the second half of the CFL season, NCAA games on Saturdays, the kickoff of the NFL season — and the subsequent fantasy leagues and office pools — and, of course, the always-anticipated new edition of Madden NFL. First released in 1988 (known as John Madden Football before 1993), Madden NFL is one of the best-selling video game franchises around and continues to set the bar for realism and authenticity in sports games. If you are looking for some tips, insight, play-calling suggestions and/or scouting reports to help you beat that cocky 12-year-old online or to finally get bragging rights with your buddies, Madden Bible offers plenty of info to help your game play.
Manitoba Election 2011
manitobaelection.ca — With just under a month until the big vote, the provincial election is starting to ramp up. ManitobaElection.ca is “a citizen-created resource” where you can view information on all the constituencies and candidates. The site includes interactive maps, a calendar of political events, historical election results, news feeds from candidates, questionnaires to hopefully give more insight into those running, and even eductional resources for teachers. While all the major media outlets will have their own election coverage and online tools, this is an interesting project that provides valuable information for voters, created by the same team that developed WinnipegElection.ca last fall.
Gif.tv
www.gif.tv — Gif.tv = crack of the Internet.
MP3 of the Week: Mookie Blaylock Demos
bit.ly/mookie_blaylock — Before it was shunning MTV and playing to sold-out arenas, Seattle’s Pearl Jam was known as Mookie Blaylock. The band took the name from the all-star point guard of the New Jersey Nets and Atlanta Hawks, but later changed it due to copyright concerns. Pearl Jam would go on to name its debut album Ten, a reference to the NBA star’s jersey number. This early demo contains some instrumentals, a raw version of State of Love and Trust, a cover of Alice in Chains’ It Ain’t Like That and even Citizen Dick’s Touch Me I’m Dick, used in Cameron Crowe’s film, Singles. Pearl Jam performs for the third time in the province on Sept. 17 at a sold-out show at the MTS Centre.
Video of the Week: Speed Dial 7 – Jokes (featuring Yy)
bit.ly/speed_dial7 — Reclusive MC Yy and perpetual troublemaker Pip Skid show up in Belgium’s Speed Dial 7’s newest video, Jokes. Yy delivers his trademark complex wordplay and dope rhymes, while Pip plays the part of a hard-drinking, depressed clown. Another compelling video from the Marathon of Dope crew.
