http://search.deviantart.com/?q=by:rayvinazn&section=today deviantART RSS for by:rayvinazn en-us Copyright 2009, deviantART.com Mon, 21 Dec 2009 20:56:47 PST deviantART.com http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss http://s.deviantart.com/minish/widgets/apple-touch-icon-precomposed.png http://rayvinazn.deviantart.com/journal/26533729/ http://rayvinazn.deviantart.com/journal/26533729/ Tue, 11 Aug 2009 18:29:16 PDT
On another note, I thought I'd share something that's had me hooked and I finally obtained as well - the joys of a mechanical switch keyboard. For those of you who grew up in the '80s these were the loud, possibly obnoxious keyboards usually made by IBM. I can't speak for everyone, but while I did like the feel of the old Model M units, I can't say I cared much for the noise. I had forgotten all about the great feel though, until I was reminded of it by a review of the Das Keyboard Professional. While further reading has revealed that the Das Keyboard itself revealed it to be plagued by a poor controller, the soundness of its design and the feel its keys almost certainly offered had me tempted. After a bit of searching, I finally came across a wealth of knowledge regarding mechanical keyboards from a variety of sources. Most exciting for me was the realization that mechanical keyboards do not necessarily have a "click" in the middle of the keystroke, the one thing I wasn't really sure I wanted. Some switches only feature the tactile response, and some keys don't even feature that much.

So to make a long story short, I recently blessed myself with a Deck Legend Frost. At $176, this is NOT a cheap keyboard, but the feel of it is amazing. The spring of the keys as they pop back up is incredible, and the tactile bump is amazing for typing - I'm still adjusting, but I don't have to fully bottom out my keys in order to complete a keystroke. As soon as I get that tactile response, I can let up on the keys, which helps relieve stress from long periods of typing. It's not loud either - well, compared to my old G11 it is, but all things considered this isn't a board that's going to keep any but the most anal of housemates up during late night keyboard sessions.

To anyone that does a lot of typing, I cannot stress how great the feel of a mechanical keyboard is. If you're interested in knowing more, feel free to let me know and I'll set you up with some links. For basic typists you could just get a used IMB Model M off Ebay for a song, so you don't have to spend big like I did to find a keyboard that you just might fall in love with all over again.

If you doubt me, I got rid of my Logitech G11 without a second glance. Macro keys? Anti-windows switch? Media controls? Bollocks. I use them once in a great while, but the sheer joy experienced every time I press a key on this board makes up for all those gimmicks a thousand times over.

]]> `rayvinazn http://rayvinazn.deviantart.com/journal/25227682/ http://rayvinazn.deviantart.com/journal/25227682/ Wed, 10 Jun 2009 00:24:59 PDT
Ah, it'll be nice to have a good case.

Next upgrades planned:

New CPU cooler
Possibly two 140mm fans depending on how well the stock ones perform.
Solid State Drive (after Windows 7 comes out and SSD prices drop to ~$1/GB)
New graphics card (DirectX 11 only)

]]> `rayvinazn http://rayvinazn.deviantart.com/journal/24049426/ http://rayvinazn.deviantart.com/journal/24049426/ Fri, 03 Apr 2009 22:15:29 PDT
I also noticed something interesting while watching standard definition stuff (especially DVD's) - they all look like soap operas. By that I mean they have a kind of gel-like quality to them that I found somewhat amusing, but I'm not overly bothered with it. I'll probably pick up an upscaling DVD player at some point.

One more potential concern is how hot it gets - it's incredibly warm to the touch, but I'm going to attribute that to how thin it is, and assume that most LCD panels would get that warm in such a tight space.

Overall though, I love the panel. The sound is incredible for a built-in setup, the picture is great (not overly bright like most Samsung units I looked at), and overall it just does it for me. I almost regret not doubling my budget and picking up the 47LG90 (LED backlit), but I'll probably just wait for OLED to become mainstream before I get a new TV.

]]> `rayvinazn http://rayvinazn.deviantart.com/journal/22586724/ http://rayvinazn.deviantart.com/journal/22586724/ Wed, 14 Jan 2009 20:59:20 PST
Just in case the question of skill comes up, have a look-see: [link]

I'm one of the top 1000 players ranked by HLStatsX on some of the trickiest public servers in the game, and 3 of my top 5 weapons are Pyro-specific.

Note: These tips are for my preferred load-out, the stock Flamethrower, Shotgun, and Axtinguisher. Small adjustments may be necessary for other loadouts.

1: Compression blast is your best fucking friend. A good Pyro should feel damn near naked without it. The Backburner has its advantages on certain maps and for certain playing styles, but all the best Pyros I know use the stock Flamethrower because general combat can be much more effective with a sudden blast of air capable of causing a lot of grief. Experiment with it. Reflected rockets can give even the most stalwart Soldier pause, and while you can now destroy sticky bombs with your shotgun, moving them out of the way is still very effective and faster than switching weapons (as well as putting the Demoman who put them down in danger). Its most endearing power is versus Ubers however - blowing an Uber off course or separating the medic from his target can completely negate a minute or better of the Medics work, and will often result in the medic and his target being killed by your team. It's most effective on Uber Pyros who have only a short range and not much way to fight back. Heavies are also good, mainly since they tend to be a bit stupid and not paying attention to the reason they're flying everywhere. Soldiers and Demomen generally benefit more from being separated from their Medic than being blown around given the nature of their weapons.

Important note: The airblast is not effective on enemies on a downhill slope. Be it a defect in the game physics or an intentional inclusion, airblasting someone running up a ramp towards you cannot be blown back.


2: Things that give health are the fucking enemy. Know the locations of all medkits on the maps, and likely locations for dispensers. Part of your biggest advantage as a Pyro is being able to fire and forget about a target, but if they step on a health pack or squat on a dispenser, you just wasted your time. Hell, if they had a Medic present you just did him a fucking favor by helping him build up an Ubercharge quicker. When in combat with any other class, always gun for medkits and steal them so your target is in danger of dying even if he kills you. If the target has a Medic, take him down first. I'd even go so far as to airblast him out of the way to take down the Medic (or at least set him on fire and hope there's no health around) first. You can get Medics to pop Ubers early and waste them, or simply waste whatever Ubercharge he'd already built up. As the only class that saps health over time, anything that counteracts that effect is not good for you.

Combining 1 and 2, it's very satisfying to airblast someone over/to the side of a medkit and grab it for yourself.

3: Switch to your other fucking weapons. I can't even begin to count the number of kills I've got on enemies I've killed by giving them a quick puff of flame, blasting them back, switching to the Shotgun, and giving them a nice face-full of buckshot while they're a) trying to figure out what's going on and b) unable to do any serious dodging. For slower classes (Heavies especially), a quick burst of flame around a corner to set them on fire, ducking back, switching to the Axtinguisher, and going in for the kill is a highly effective way of dealing a hell of a lot more damage than you would with the Flamethrower. One hit will kill any flaming class in the game except the Heavy, and two hits will finish anything off (or so close that the Heavy won't get any healing in time to burn to death). Get to know all your weapons intimately - the Flamethrower will indeed be your mainstay when it comes to kills, but your secondary weapons will save your ass quite a bit if used properly. You never know - that guy just out of Flamethrower range running to the medkit might only have 15 health left, and one pump from the Shotgun will prevent him from snagging the health and getting back into the fight (possibly killing you).

4: Other Pyros are your worst fucking enemy (in a standalone fight with no Medics of course). One of your greatest advantages is nullified by that nifty asbestos suit he (and y... ]]> `rayvinazn http://rayvinazn.deviantart.com/journal/21842892/ http://rayvinazn.deviantart.com/journal/21842892/ Sat, 06 Dec 2008 06:06:40 PST
Take the following conversation for example (not word-for-word, but close to one I heard recently):

White guy: "Where are you from?"
Asian friend: "The Philippines."
White guy: "Oh, that's cool! I ate Filipino food at a Filipino restaurant once, I love lumpia (mispronounced lump-ee-ah)."
Asian friend: "That's...great."
White guy: "Yeah, I really love Asian food!"
Asian friend: "Oh, you like balut?"
White guy: "What's that?"
Asian friend: "You like eggs? How about if the duck was mostly grown, then you ate the egg with the duck mostly grown up?"
White guy: "Oh...umm...no."

I hear conversations like this what seems like dozens of times a week (and that was one of the more casual occurrences). We have to deal with your dumbshit stories about every minor interaction you've ever had with Asian culture, from your love for Anime to fucking Panda Express. Guess what? I don't give a shit about your "one Asian friend in high school," as if that makes you some sort of non-racist, culturally educated prick. I definitely don't give a fuck if you, a family member, or god forbid, parent/uncle/grandparent was stationed in my country (like we want your sorry invading asses there). I don't want to hear your broken-ass, butchering of my native tongue. I don't give a shit if you've eaten sushi. Do I enlighten you with stories about the time I ate a fucking hamburger, or watched an American movie? The worst is your stories about some white-washed girlfriend who happened to share an ethnicity with me. Why the fuck would I want to listen to that shit? I'm thinking about picking up a white bitch just so I can share a story about that one dumb white cunt I fucked, and how loose she was. Tell you what, I'll stop thinking of you as a dumbass when you stop calling it "Yellow Fever", as if dating Asian women is a fucking disease.

Bottom line: Think before you open your fucking mouth. I'm not expecting anyone that's not Asian to fully understand where I'm coming from, but I hope you can at least appreciate my viewpoint. It's fucking annoying, and no matter how hard you try, if you're not Asian, you're not going to connect with us by sharing your banal stories about every single dumbass Asian encounter you've had. The fact that you consider them "cultural" experiences at all just makes me peg you as a racist and someone whose teeth I might kick in.

Don't get me wrong, there are certain things that are okay - actual in-depth experiences, a passable understanding of the language, having actually spent time in the country yourself of your own accord (military can fuck right off), or even just expressing curiosity in certain things is fine. Asking for language tips doesn't bother me, it's when I'm assaulted by shitty pronunciation and grammar or get one of those fuckheads that just want to learn pick-up lines or cuss that I get aggravated. ]]> `rayvinazn http://rayvinazn.deviantart.com/journal/21540858/ http://rayvinazn.deviantart.com/journal/21540858/ Mon, 17 Nov 2008 19:14:32 PST
So with all that in mind, it's time to buy a new graphics card (arguably past time in some respects), and while I did have my sights set on a GTX 260 Core 216 or a 1GB HD4870, I've decided to go for a more moderate upgrade, and then make a bigger jump in a year or so. I was initially considering a 9600GT, but since availability on those isn't so great (especially from the best board partners, EVGA, XFX, and BFG) and the prices on the 9800GT are ridiculously low, I've decided to go for one of those instead.

I also considered an HD4830, but the excellence of Nvidia's board partners has swayed me into sticking with the 9800GT. With XFX I get Call of Duty 4 (which I did plan on buying myself anyway, so there's $40 or so saved), a double-lifetime warranty that I can carry over to the next person I sell this card to (great for resale value), as well as warranty support for overclocking and adding my own aftermarket cooler (both of which will undoubtedly be done to this card). XFX also has a very nice-looking card layout, as well as spinal support for the card that should help alleviate PCB flexing when I install a heavier aftermarket cooler.


With all this in mind, I'm also looking into a headset - no voice chat can get me by in Team Fortress 2, but in Left 4 Dead it's an absolute must. I'm not looking for anything super-high quality here, as I already have a set of high quality headphones, so I opted for the Plantronics Gamecom 367. I opted for these over the 377 because they're of a closed-ear design, and I'm going to have to drown out some exterior noise (TV, wife making requests for me to take out the trash, etc.).

Other minor upgrades are put on hold for right now, since between this, my alternator going out, and my wife's birthday along with the coming holiday season and our anniversary shortly thereafter is going to leave me stretched a bit thin. Rest assured I will be getting the rest of those upgrades in my poll as money permits, most likely starting with the RAM and hard drive.

So farewell my venerable X1900XT. It served me well through some very punishing conditions, and did far better than I would have expected it to after the G80 launch. ]]> `rayvinazn http://rayvinazn.deviantart.com/journal/21214218/ http://rayvinazn.deviantart.com/journal/21214218/ Wed, 29 Oct 2008 09:09:31 PDT
Three cheers for another great PC-exclusive franchise ruined by an underpowered and over-optimized box of obsolete hardware. Looking forward to Fallout 4 coming on consoles first, followed by a mediocre and half-assed PC port a few months later.

]]> `rayvinazn http://rayvinazn.deviantart.com/journal/20044168/ http://rayvinazn.deviantart.com/journal/20044168/ Tue, 19 Aug 2008 15:21:57 PDT
The Heavy update for Team Fortress 2 just went live. Servers are crowded and I have work, but I'll definitely be on later today (probably as a sniper to rack up some major points), but check it out if you're at all a Steam fan.

PC Gamers, hit me up on Steam @ RayvinAzn

360/PS3 owners...well, tough shit. Play the game the way it was meant to be played. ]]> `rayvinazn http://rayvinazn.deviantart.com/journal/19094269/ http://rayvinazn.deviantart.com/journal/19094269/ Sat, 28 Jun 2008 14:23:52 PDT
A new World of Warcraft expansion, Starcraft II well on the way, and now Diablo III? It's a mighty fine time to be a gamer if you ask me. And Blizzard recently announced that they would be partners with ATI (including ATI's Havok-based physics engine), so it wouldn't be a bad time to think about an upgrade (not that I already wasn't).

]]> `rayvinazn http://rayvinazn.deviantart.com/journal/17584121/ http://rayvinazn.deviantart.com/journal/17584121/ Sun, 30 Mar 2008 05:18:00 PDT
1: In the interest of science (or overclocking the living hell out of my poor processor), I've decided to have a go at doing a reasonably definitive real-world performance test on several of the computer world's favourite high-performance 120mm fans. These tests are all going to be as in-depth as possible, but aren't going to be measured in static pressure, cubic-feet-per-minute, rotations-per-minute, or any other relatively useless features like that - rather, these tests are going to see how well each of the fans tested can perform pushing air through a high-end processor cooler, and how exactly they affect temperatures. I will also be scoring fans on a scale of 1-10 on how quiet they are to my own ears (I don't have any dbA measuring equipment), and if at all possible will try to give an overall score of how well they perform on a noise-performance scale as well as possibly a price-performance scale. For the overall score I will also take into account estimated fan lifetimes and warranty lengths. I'll be testing all the fans at their full 12v rating initially, and any units that are moderately noisy (or more than moderately) will be tested at 7v and finally 5v to see how they do on the performance-noise scale. I'll accomplish these voltages with the LNA and UNLA adapters Noctua thoughtfully included with a fan I previously bought. The fans I have in mind to test are the following:

A run-of-the-mill cheap fan that comes with a fairly standard case (in this case a stock fan from my own Cooler Master RC-690 case)
Scythe S-Flex SFF21F 1600RPM (already own)
Noctua NF-P12 (already own)

The following fans are the units I'm considering as the new contenders. I'm only picking out 5 because that's the most I can fit into my case (I do want to use them after all is said and done) after replacing the stock fans in my case (and picking the reigning champion as my CPU cooler).

Scythe Slipstream 1900RPM (might back off to the 1600RPM version)
Panaflo H1 (38mm depth for extremely good static pressure, might back off to the M1 for noise reasons pending more reviews)
Silverstone FM121 (the FM123 is apparently a rather poor and noisy design)
Scythe Ultra Kaze 2000RPM (38mm depth for extremely good static pressure)
Yate Loon D12-SH12 2000RPM (cheap and very popular amongst budget-minded enthusiasts)

The list is a bit Scythe-heavy for my liking though - some other fans I'm considering are the Enermax magnetic-barometric 120mm units, the 120mm Arctic Cooling FDB fan, and maybe one of the SilenX fans many people swear by (and a seemingly equal number swear at). I might drop the Ultra Kaze in favor of one of those, although I do somewhat want to test two 32mm depth fans just to ensure that the static pressure really is that much improved by going from 25mm to 32mm.

Testing probably won't be done until mid-late April, so keep your eyes peeled if this is something that interests you.


On the music front, I've found myself gravitating back (once again) to the trancier side of the business (which is now known as Progressive House for who-knows-what fucking reason). With that in mind, here's a list of tracks I'm enjoying quite a bit:

Nish - Blue Sunshine (Sean Tyas Mix)
Brisk & Magitman - Cover Edge (Chris Allen Remix)
Jaytech & Matt Rowan - Noodles (Original Mix)
JdotP - Sid Bubble (Cedric Gervais Remix)
K Lavander - Lividus (16 Bit Lolitas Dancefloor Mix)
Quivver - Surin (Original Mix)
Noel Sanger - Natural Perfection (John C Mix)
Alex Armes - Last Lime (Original Mix)
Interstate - I'm Waiting (Tyler Michaud Remix)
Manuel de la Mare - Sphynx (Phatjak Mix)
Deadmau5 - Not Alone (Original Mix)

So there you have it folks - a test that most of you are most likely not interested in, and a few music tracks that most of you will probably find decent but forget about within a month. Ah well, enjoy 'em anyway. ]]> `rayvinazn http://rayvinazn.deviantart.com/journal/16908121/ http://rayvinazn.deviantart.com/journal/16908121/ Sat, 16 Feb 2008 02:15:46 PST
Well, as I'm sure a few of you know, I've fallen back into that deep, dark pit that is computer technology. It's worse than usual this time though - I usually just catch up enough to build a solid computer, then ignore it until my computer becomes slow and without much hope for upgrades. This time I never seemed to get off the horse however, and am now approaching upgrade time and have kept track of computer hardware this entire time. Computer hardware is actually rather cheap compared to most of my hobbies. DJing eats up a large amount of funds, mainly because you have to keep on buying music, or else...well, nobody really fucking knows, but we do. Working on cars is obviously another expensive hobby, so compared to these two, upgrading and tweaking my computer is practically bargain shopping.

If you want to see a few pictures of the innards of my rig, I put up three in scraps, along with enough information to make your ears bleed if you're not a hardware dick. Hell, even if you are you might find it a bit much.

Aside from that, life is going along swimmingly. I've been reading a lot more, drinking a little bit less, and doing a fair amount of technical reading recently.

On a more personal note, I'm actually considering some sort of career in the computer field. Sure, I make a hell of a lot more than most IT techs, but I'm not sure if Poker dealing is really something I want to do for the rest of my life. Something a little more steady would be nice, something were I'm not dealing with people, relying on their generosity, and well...respectable. With that in mind, I'm going to take my A+ exam soon, which is general computer hardware/software knowledge for the uninitiated. I'll probably try to follow that up with an MSCE and N+, and from there, who knows? I know I'll be making a little less money, but since my wife started working, I can finally start thinking about doing something other than just make money.

I'll end this with a few lists of things I recommend.

Books you should read:

John Scalzi - Old Man's War
Richard K. Morgan - Woken Furies
Robert J. Sawyer - Calculating God
Jack McDevitt - The Engines of God

Music you should check out:
Dousk - Nails
Ben Brown - Somebody Needs You
StereoK - I Don't Wanna Be An Astronaut (Original/Jeff Devas Mix)
K Lavander - Blue Lividus (16 Bit Lolitas Dancefloor Mix)
Solead - Giddy Down
Bolz Bolz - Take a Walk (Si Begg Remix)
Micah - Mnemosyne
Crab People - Kurave
Shawn Mistika - Silently (Retrobyte Remix)
Plastic Angel - Try Walking In My World (Maor Levi Deep Remix)

Games you should be playing:
Sins of a Solar Empire
Ninja Gaiden: Sigma
The Witcher
The Orange Box

Movies you should watch:
Eastern Promises (most realistic knife fight I've ever seen in a movie)
American Gangster
There Will Be Blood
No Country For Old Men
Cloverfield ]]> `rayvinazn http://rayvinazn.deviantart.com/journal/14248662/ http://rayvinazn.deviantart.com/journal/14248662/ Mon, 20 Aug 2007 00:30:44 PDT So, without further ado, I present you with my own musical retrospectives - mostly resulting in me poking through some of my older CD cases that contain jewels I haven't listened to in years.

As much as my musical taste has flip-flopped over the last decade, I realize how much it has stayed the same - I like to enjoy myself. More to the point, I like music that makes me dance. Electronic Dance Music (henceforth referred to as EDM) is naturally the primary outlet for a 24-year old like me. Hip-hop was just a tad too slow, and everything else was so focused on being "legitimate" that dancing was pretty much forgotten amongst the talent show mentality that often permeates through more "standard" methods of music. Basically, I do have a softness for cheesy music, as long as it's not just danceable, but fairly legitimate in terms of musical accomplishment. For that reason, I'll be discussing the mix-CD of a hometown hero of mine, Nicholas Bennison.

Almost any west-coast raver in the US can tell you about the heady days of B3 Cande, Go Ventures, and Channel 36, and can also testify to the power of events such as Electric Daisy Carnival, How Sweet It Is, Nocturnal Wonderland, Monster Massive, Nation, and all the other old parties that were the prime events back at the turn of the century in Southern California. One of the names that made headlines in all those events was Nicholas Bennison, a relatively young DJ who was making huge waves in Los Angeles at the time, feeding off the sounds pioneered by Christopher Lawrence and Hook Recordings. A hard, driving style of EDM, most commonly referred to back then as Progressive Trance (absolutely no relation to the new rubbish shat out by artists like Markus Schulz and Armin van Buuren these days), that combined some of the seriousness of House with the driving basslines of NRG and the quirkiness of Goa/Psy-Trance, this stuff was the premier "elite" music in the late '90s, early millenium. The particular CD I'll be discussing this time around is Nicholas Bennison's "TranceGlobalNation 4" mix.

Some CD's start off strong, sort of meander around for a while, pump back up again in a desperate attempt to get you into the groove, but ultimately seem to fail. Other DJ's will try to ease you gently into the groove, peak it in a manner more predictable than taxes, and ease you out. Nicholas doesn't go for that shit. He's always been about the crowd, and that shows in his track selection - he seems to magically pick the right track for the mix - not necessarily a track you must have in your musical collection tomorrow, but a track that just fits the mix like that glove should have fit O.J. He opens his CD with a hell of a building track, kicks things up and down, always keeping you on your toes and off your seat, and never lets go until the last strains of DJ Eyal's "Primal Instinct" fade from your speakers. Nicholas Bennison has a gift that few DJ's have - the ability to play mediocre tracks and make a spectacular mix. Well over half the tracks on TranceGlobalNation 4 aren't going to make Dance history (and given that none of them have yet, it's entirely possible that none of them will) - but they're executed and place with such perfection that's it's nigh on impossible to just skip through them. His ability to guess your mood in his mix is uncanny, and his track selection is nothing but superb on this mix-CD. As mix-CD's go, this will forever be rooted in my mind as not only one of the defining CD's of the rave scene in 2000, but one of the best mix-CD's of all time.

If you ever get a chance to buy this CD and are the least bit interested in DJ-mixed music, this is a must-have for your collection. Odds are you won't have more than two tracks he used here, so it won't be a re-hash of old shit, and if you doubt you own any of them, odds are incredibly good that you won't have even heard most of the tracks featured here.

]]> `rayvinazn http://rayvinazn.deviantart.com/journal/13505924/ http://rayvinazn.deviantart.com/journal/13505924/ Wed, 27 Jun 2007 00:19:37 PDT
This new bullshit, pussy-whipped, watered down "For the win" shit can go fuck itself. Bring back "Fuck the World" - now there's a slogan I can get behind. "Fuck the World" actually has some meaning and purpose - not like this weak-sauce acronym that saves you 6 button presses and confuses the shit out of people who have been alive long enough to remember Beta-max like me.

So for all those of you who dick around with this new, lame "For the win" crap, cut it out. We're taking it back. Fuck the world, fuck what it thinks, and especially fuck it for letting stupid acronyms like this take over perfectly good ones.

Fuck FTW. ]]> `rayvinazn http://rayvinazn.deviantart.com/journal/13452077/ http://rayvinazn.deviantart.com/journal/13452077/ Fri, 22 Jun 2007 20:33:06 PDT [1] Put your library on shuffle.
[2] Post the first 2 lines from each of the first 20 songs it plays.
[3] Make people guess. NO CHEATING
[4] Bold it out when someone gets it.
[5] If you know it, feel free to reply!!

1: Let me out, I'm gonna...
Let me out I'm gonna...

2: N/A

3: Female voice singing nonsensical stuff.

4: N/A

5: N/A

6: N/A

7: He was some boy...
He's a natural-born world-shaker

8: N/A

9: Through the good...
Through the bad...

10: Pay Attention...
Are you listening to me?

11: N/A

12: N/A

13: The first rule of Fight Club is: You do not talk about Fight Club
The second rule of Fight Club is: You do not talk about Fight Club

14: I'm falling,
I'm falling again

15: Vocals impossible to make out - distorted female humming.

16: Insomniac...
Insomniac...

17: Distorted male voice: "Dum day, dum dum day"

18: See your places, no more faces,
real mans, ask rock all the fans... (unsure of exact words, due to distortion)

19: There are many different musical styles for what different people like:
Trance...Hard House...Acid...Dream...Vocal and Big House...

20: N/A

I'd be surprised if more than three of these get successfully guessed. ]]> `rayvinazn http://rayvinazn.deviantart.com/journal/13032834/ http://rayvinazn.deviantart.com/journal/13032834/ Mon, 21 May 2007 01:28:00 PDT Track title - Artist vs. Artist - Track title

Actually, this can hardly be called a "versus" - the whole "Track title - Artist" thing is just plain fucking stupid. Who came up with this dumb shit? Nobody organizes their music like that, not even people that only buy singles. I've hung around more DJ's than you have, and none of them have their crates of vinyl organized by track title (although I have seen quite a few that were based more around sound than any particular alphabetical order at all). It's never been done in the history of music - so who came up with this shit? Personally, I blame iPod, since this shit never happened until that over-hyped little thing came out (don't get me wrong, I actually like Apple computers - I just can't stand the iPod). I doubt it's a direct correlation or anything, but the timing strikes me as close enough to be suspect.

Back to the original topic, why do people do this dumb shit? If your playlist is organized by album, it's usually going to be done in the order the tracks are on the CD/EP. If it's organized by artist, then yes, track order will usually be done alphabetically - but by the artist that made the music. If it's organized by track title, you've got...what? No flow, form, rhyme, or reason to your playlist. You might as well not organize the fucking thing at all with the sort of list you'll get. In fact, I would challenge anyone to post a screenshot with a playlist over 100 tracks organized by track title with the track listed first, but I know one of you fuckers will do it just to annoy me. Still, I'm confident that none of you have a setup like that. It makes no sense, and you'll never find a fucking thing unless you're trying to make a mix where all the tracks start with the word "Hey". And you deserve to have your eardrums blown out by Gabber just for doing something like that.

I propose something be done about this - a moronic practice like this one should not be allowed to blossom any further. List your tracks like a normal human being, not like some "trve hardXcore" individualist who manages to fit in with all the other "trve hardXcore" individualists out there. Keep things just a bit sane, because for fuck's sake, some of the artists you listen to have artist names that sound more like tracks than some of the individual pieces you recommend do. It's the right thing to do.

]]> `rayvinazn http://rayvinazn.deviantart.com/journal/12756188/ http://rayvinazn.deviantart.com/journal/12756188/ Fri, 27 Apr 2007 15:08:55 PDT
That's right gents, I'm holding a call for books, as I'm trying to do something a little more productive than race cars, shoot bad guys, and fly space ships. After a recent spurt of reading, I've decided I'd like to continue further, but I'm a bit hung up on what book I should be looking for. Here's a list of novels I've rather enjoyed thus far:

John Steakly - Armor
Steve Alten's "Meg" trilogy and "The Loch"
Orson Scott Card's "Ender" series
Kim Stanley Robinson's "Red Mars" trilogy
A fair amount of work from William Gibson
A fair amount of work from Richard K. Morgan
Pretty much everything by Brian Lumley
Harry Turtledove's "World at War" series (You can judge a book by its cover - this is the second series I bought because it featured Bob Eggleton's work on it that I enjoyed very much. The guy just has good taste in the books he illustrates for.)
Alastair Reynold's "Revelation Space" and "Chasm City" - I'm working on getting the rest of the series.
Greg Bear's "Eon" series and "Forge of God" series (I'm also looking further into his work).
Frank Herbert's "Dune" books (only read a few, but I've liked what I've read)
Vernor Vinge - A Fire Upon the Deep
Tad William's "Otherland" series
A fair amount of work from Arthur C. Clarke
A fair amount of work from Philip K. Dick
A fair amount of work from Isaac Asimov
A fair amount of work from Ben Bova
Peter Benchley's "White Shark" and "Beast"
I haven't read anything yet, but I'm looking into Robert Heinlein
I haven't read it yet, but I'm going to read Tolkein's new "Children of Hurin" book
Strangely enough, Timothy Zahn's "Star Wars" novels. Can't say I'm a fan of too many others, but Zahn really nails it. Perhaps I haven't been looking at the right authors - if there are any other really good Star Wars writers out there, I'm willing to head back to the library.


That should give some of you a reasonable idea of what I enjoy - mainly Science Fiction, although I do enjoy most any novel that is reasonably fast-paced without being overly cheesy. Cyberpunk in particular holds my interest, although some of it really just doesn't do it for me, while other stuff really draws me in. I can't explain it properly, I suppose it's just trial-and-error at this point.

I absolutely despise Dean Koontz, Tom Clancy, Dan Brown, and any others of their ilk. I'm not a huge Steven King or Michael Crichton fan either, although if there is a particularly good book from them I haven't read I'm open to suggestions. Authors that are new to me are definitely preferred though.

Thank you for your cooperation, and I apologize for the sobriety. I'm working on that right now. ]]> `rayvinazn http://rayvinazn.deviantart.com/journal/12452760/ http://rayvinazn.deviantart.com/journal/12452760/ Fri, 06 Apr 2007 15:41:35 PDT
Let's face it - it was great while it lasted. We saw some great tunes, a lot of new sounds, and just enough retro-fun to enjoy the last few years of it. But it's getting damn tired. It's all either regressed to painfully boring minimal stuff that makes Boards of Canada look energetic by comparison, incredibly glitchy stuff that sounds like someone just decided to stretch EQ levels out as far as possible, or over-processed dancefloor stormers that sound more alike than an Aphrodite set.

But we did definitely see some great tunes. Let's go back and re-cap on some of the amazing tunes that came out in the last few years:

Coburn - We Interrupt This Program
Jona - Operation O
Pryda - Nile
Luke Dzierzek - Echo
John Dahlback - I'm Rock
John Digweed - Warung Beach
John Tejada - The End of it All (Everyone that makes Electro has to have the name John. Nobody knows why, but it probably is part of the reason the music all sounds the same)
Dahlback (John) & Ingrosso - Lick My Deck
John Acquaviva & Luetzenkirchen - Zombie (Aquachop Dub)
Freeform Five - No More Conversations (Mylo Mix)
Tiga - You Gonna Want Me
Cirez D - Re-Match
Dumb Blone - Sugar Lips
Fedde Le Grand - Put Your Hands Up For Detroit
Erick E - Ya Don't Stop

Just to name a few (and nowhere near all the John's involved).

Seriously guys - a few tunes every now and then to shake things up or break up a set is great. A few new tunes every now and then is awesome. But when you have guys like Gabriel & Dresden, Filo & Peri, Gareth Emery, and even Dylan Rhymes hopping on the bandwagon, that makes me wonder whether the music is really that great, or if it's just popular enough to make a quick buck. Hell, even the Techno producers are starting to curve their sounds to appease the masses. Cut this shit out already. If the '80s come back, so will mullets, and then we're all in for some shit.

After nearly a year of waiting, Beatport.com finally release Shiloh's dancefloor destroyer "Lines" under Baroque Records (not Floppy Discs as was initially announced). If this track doesn't make you get out of your chair and dance, you've got one foot in the fucking grave. More music like this, thanks.

Also available is Shiloh's first mix-CD "Elements", although you'd be much better off picking up the CD. ]]> `rayvinazn http://rayvinazn.deviantart.com/journal/12070762/ http://rayvinazn.deviantart.com/journal/12070762/ Mon, 05 Mar 2007 16:43:32 PST
Because somehow I made senior status, despite my lack of art submission, my crude and rather tactless manner in the forums, and my slacking off on commenting on your journals/artwork.

]]> `rayvinazn http://rayvinazn.deviantart.com/journal/11110333/ http://rayvinazn.deviantart.com/journal/11110333/ Mon, 18 Dec 2006 20:57:34 PST
]]> `rayvinazn http://rayvinazn.deviantart.com/journal/10806610/ http://rayvinazn.deviantart.com/journal/10806610/ Wed, 22 Nov 2006 00:59:56 PST
I've heard a lot of black folks whining about being "ripped off", "culturally maligned", and other such shortsighted nonsense. I'm here to put an end to the dumb shit.

Black complaint #1: "Why do Japanese people insist on corn rows? They're biting our style!"

Here's a good one for you: Whose hair are your women using as a fake supplement to their own kinky shit? That's right - Asian hair. So we have some girls that use your hairstyle, but yours outright steal our hair. Oopsie!

Black complaint #2: "Why do Japanese guys dress like thugs and listen to Hip-hop? They're biting our style!"

Why do you insist on kanji tattoos you can't even read? You can stop dressing like a thug and listening to Hip-hop, but that tattoo's going to last you a lifetime. You can't even read it, whereas most guys I know are fluent enough in English to sing along to Jay-Z. So we have guys that dress "black", but your guys insist on permanent Asian tattoos. Oopsie!

Black complaint #3: "Why do Japanese guys have dreadlocks? They're biting our style!"

First off, a very small percentage of you are Jamaican anyway, and for those of you that are, why be proud of not washing your hair? That's like celebrating your collection of toenail clippings - sure, they're yours, but who really wants to see (or smell) them? Both sides look stupid, just get over that fact.

Boy, that one's probably going to get me in trouble. Oh fucking well. ]]> `rayvinazn http://rayvinazn.deviantart.com/journal/10588506/ http://rayvinazn.deviantart.com/journal/10588506/ Thu, 02 Nov 2006 00:19:26 PST
The cigarettes here really do suck. Just thought I'd share.

]]> `rayvinazn http://rayvinazn.deviantart.com/journal/10440892/ http://rayvinazn.deviantart.com/journal/10440892/ Thu, 19 Oct 2006 01:45:48 PDT Guess who's at fault?

You. Plain and simple.

I'll start this off simple, and work my way up:

Music. Why do we have shitty music dominating the charts? Is it because artists are less talented? Is it because evil corporations have taken over? Is it because of global warming?

Nope. It's your fault. You may hate 99% of what's played on the radio, but that one percent you do like, only encourages. The fact that you tune into the station/channel even for that brief moment only encourages more shit to be made. You have brought it upon yourselves, by settling for music you can tolerate, or even enjoy a bit - at the cost of trying to find music you really might love. Even those of you that go around bashing artists - guess what? You're feeding the flame. You're adding to the hype. Just leave the shit alone, don't try to make fun of it at every turn - your own hate is an acknowledgement that a certain artist is popular, and that's just as bad as being a fan. You may not be giving the artist your money, but you're giving them something far more valuable - your time and effort, which adds to their fame. So cut the dumb shit, you're not helping.

Music prices. Why are CD's still so expensive? Is it because the RIAA is a bunch of avaristic overlords who are determined to ruin you for listening to music? Is it those damn evil corporations again? Perhaps it's global warming this time around?

Nope. Your fucking fault again. You download music. I know you do, don't bother arguing. Everyone that is reading this has done it - regardless of whether or not you buy the album, you're adding to the vast network of peer to peer fucks that won't buy a damn thing. You're helping companies that create these buggy, spy-ware riddled programs prove how popular they are, and giving them more money from advertisers because of it. And while all this is going on, CD prices won't drop - why? Supply and demand - there's less demand for CD's, why should the prices drop? Record labels are still printing the damn things in mass quantities, and because they're worried about losing money to downloading, they won't drop the prices and risk losing their profit. All because you couldn't hold on to your knickers until the latest single was out on CD. Good job.

Crime. Why is it so rampant in America? Is it because of dangerous minorities and illegal immigrants? Are evil corporations finally to blame with their heinous plots, and underhanded scheming? Oh, I know - it's definitely global warming!

Nope. You are yet again to blame. Your complacency and docile behaviour is the problem here. You think crime is popular because people get caught every time, or because their neighbours will turn them in? Nah. Some of you may have read your Bible lessons a bit wrong - "Turn the other cheek" is not a good policy when it comes to preventing crimes. Crime is so easy it's a fucking joke these days. There's a thousand and one scams I can pull off with absolutely zero preparation, and over half of them can be prevented by the victim with a little common sense and caution. People are afraid to report crimes these days - crimes that could help police form a search net and set up a sting operation. But nobody reports, you know why? Because it "won't help me get my money/stuff back". Hah. That's how much people care about each other, right there. Rather than try and do something, they sit back and take it, because they can see no immediate personal benefit.

There's a bunch more, but the point of this journal is this:

Don't be so quick to blame others, because the problem is you. Stand up and do something, don't just make excuses. ]]> `rayvinazn http://rayvinazn.deviantart.com/journal/10385396/ http://rayvinazn.deviantart.com/journal/10385396/ Fri, 13 Oct 2006 22:38:34 PDT
So...help. The internet has failed me, all it seems to talk about is FAT32 partitioned disks, not NTFS. There are even a few that warned against partitioning a drive bigger than 100GB, although most of them were also using Windows 98.

The long and short of it, I think I need to uninstall Windows off my bigger partition, and probably learn how to properly set up a partition.

Help anyone?

]]> `rayvinazn http://rayvinazn.deviantart.com/journal/10095364/ http://rayvinazn.deviantart.com/journal/10095364/ Sat, 16 Sep 2006 21:04:24 PDT This is an advanced and in-depth gripe about computer parts/prices. If you're not knowledgeable on said subject, you likely won't get much out of this journal.

As some of you know, I just purchased a premium AM2 system last month - but with several problems.

1: My HIS Hightech X1900XT ICEQ 3 graphics card was shot on deliver, and needed to be replaced. No huge deal - until I realized that HIS had quit producing the cards, and all I could get is a cash rebate. Fortunately I managed to score an old PCI-e 6-series nVidia card from a friend in the meantime, and I even managed to squeeze a cash rebate out of HIS. So now I'm in the market for a new GPU. Looking at the Sapphire X1900XT with an Accelero X2 cooler right now, as that seems to be the premier solution for the money.

2: Thanks largely in part to my RAM (which I will get to later), I sort of accidentally returned my motherboard (and now my Athlon X2 4200 processor) to the place I purchased from. I have the option of either getting these parts returned to me, or buying a Core 2 Duo system. I'm looking at the 965P DS3 motherboard from Gigabyte and an E6400 Core 2 Duo processor, but I'm having a hard time deciding. Rumour is that Core 2 Duo will be killed for Kentsfield within the year, but my "current" AM2 system will be fully upgradeable...what to do, what to do...

3: RAM - it turns out that my RAM was the problem in that whole scenario, not my motherboard. Now I'm fucked- RAM prices just jumped 50%, and I'm staring at a huge loss as we speak to this price jump. For what I had, it's going to cost an extra $100 for DDR2 800 RAM, or I can take the hit and go with some DDR667 sticks for nearly the same price. They are rumoured to be overclockable to the same speed, but I'm a bit loathe to do that. Bastards.

Anyway, this new computer is turning into quite the adventure. What to do, what to do...

]]> `rayvinazn http://rayvinazn.deviantart.com/journal/9830735/ http://rayvinazn.deviantart.com/journal/9830735/ Wed, 23 Aug 2006 18:09:09 PDT Electronic music fans (generally) piss me off.

Yes, you read right - they're either a lot of pretentious fucks, or a bunch of candy-ravers.

For the pretentious twats:

You know little else than the catelogue of Warp Records and (on a rare moment of enlightenment) Ninja Tune. You're a bunch of glitch-loving Rock-tards who can't let go of your precious little basic setups in music. You refuse to acknowledge the people that really made your music what it is today, and are the equivalent of stone-age throwbacks with a cell phone. Get fucked, and try actually enjoying music, rather than listening to music that pisses everyone else off.

Seriously - you fuckers can only reccomend five artists: Boards of Canada, Aphex Twin, Autechre, Sigur Ros, and Bjork. Get a fucking clue, and get your head out of the asshole of Anti-pop music. Music is for enjoying, not for proving what a cunt you can be while listening to some tunes. Sometimes a good romp through some of the "stupidest" music (Happy Hardcore) known to man can be good for the soul. Your little glitchy, downtempo vocal tunes are little more than Rock music with a synth.

For the candy-ravers:

GET OFF TIJS' NUTS.

Seriously. You fuckers have created a joke out of Electronic music. Maybe it's the drugs, maybe it is the adament refusal that they have played a part, but whatever it is, your brain is all kinds of fucked up. You either get high off shitty JP-8080 Anjunabeat recycled synthesizers, cheesy female voices, or methylenedioxymethamphetamine. All have the same effect - you act like a prat, and want to hug everyone. Get the fuck over it.

Your producers have become consistantly shittier over the years, from Armin van Buuren to Paul van Dyk. The music you listen to is little more than Britney Spears tunes with chopped vocals (and for the record, BT has done some production work with her, you spineless gits), so quit acting like you're starting some sort of revolution by recycling the same shit over and over.

Just remember: You're the fuckers that turned Electronic music into Pop.

Disclaimer: This is a general notice. If you don't fall into either of these categories, you won't care. If you do come bitching to me, you will fit into one of them. ]]> `rayvinazn http://rayvinazn.deviantart.com/journal/9801545/ http://rayvinazn.deviantart.com/journal/9801545/ Mon, 21 Aug 2006 07:38:40 PDT

Or read =StJoan's story. Both would be better.

]]> `rayvinazn http://rayvinazn.deviantart.com/journal/9496469/ http://rayvinazn.deviantart.com/journal/9496469/ Wed, 26 Jul 2006 01:36:04 PDT StJoan's story series, since I promised to read it. All of it.

At any rate, most of you know I've been rather busy. I'm still busy, but will do my best to be around more often, and keep up with things.

On a more personal note, I'm working on building a new computer something in the next month or so. Should be a proper beast:

[link]
Athlon 64 X2 4200+ dual-core processor. I'm not going Conroe for a few reasons, and if you don't know what they are, feel free to ask.

[link]
ASUS M2N-E Socket AM2 nForce 570 Ultra ATX motherboard. No need for SLI, I'll be looking at a K8L motherboard after they're released, and around that time DirectX 10 will be on the way anyway, so there's no need to consider a dual-card graphics solution at the moment.

[link]
2x1GB Patriot DDR2 800 memory, with a CAS latency of 4-4-4-12. Very high-quality memory, probably the best DDR2 800 for the money right now.

[link]
HIS Hightech Radeon X1900XT ICE-Q 3 video card. One of the best cards for the price, and with the ICE-Q 3 cooling solution, much of the old heat and noise issues of other X1900XT cards are solved. Should easily last me for quite some time.

[link]
Seagate 7200.10 320GB hard drive. New perpendicular-reading technology enables this hard drive to have the same number of platters as hard drives half its size, speeding up the data reading/writing process, and just generally kicking ass. Best hard drive for the money, without a doubt.

[link]
NZXT Apollo case. Very snazzy look, great featues, and just an all-around beast of a case.

[link]
Hiper 580 watt power supply. A very slick modular cabled power supply that has scored very well on quite a few reviews. The aircraft-styled connectors are a nice touch.

[link]
Creative Labs Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeMusic PCI sound card. A decent sound card will help take the load off the processor, and enable much clearer sound. A bit on the expensive side, but after the AMD price drops, within budget.

[link]
Arctic Cooling Freezer 64 Pro CPU cooler. Easy installation, adjustable fan direction, low price, and generally great performance all contribute to making this my own personal favourite cooler on the market today. Much lighter and smaller than the Zalman fans that everyone goes on about too, while performing about the same.

[link]
NEC 16X DVD/CD burner w/ black face. Not much to say about this one, optical drive technology hasn't changed much over the years.

[link]
Sony 1.44MB 3.5" floppy drive w/ black face. If there's not much to say about my optical drive, there's really nothing to say about my floppy drive.

[link]
BenQ FP202 20.1" Widescreen monitor with 8ms response time. Only decent-priced widescreen monitor I could find that didn't have built-in speakers. I suppose I could cut back to 19" or go non-widescreen. Opinions?

[link] [link]
Logitech G15 illuminated gaming keyboard and G5 gaming mouse. Supposed to be the best in the buisness, although I did give a bit of thought to the Saitek Eclipse and Razer Copperhead. Logitech won me over in the end.

[link]
And of course, an operating system.

]]> `rayvinazn http://rayvinazn.deviantart.com/journal/9324585/ http://rayvinazn.deviantart.com/journal/9324585/ Sun, 09 Jul 2006 18:49:30 PDT [link]

Download Shiloh's June 2006 Mix.

Brace yourself. It's the best mix I've heard this year so far, and easily among the best 10 mixes I've heard in my life. And I generally hate artists that whore a ton of their own work out in their sets.






Still working those long hours gents. I know I have a huge backlog of journals, polls and deviations to attend to. And I fully intend on doing so somewhere in the vaguely near future. ]]> `rayvinazn http://rayvinazn.deviantart.com/journal/9135819/ http://rayvinazn.deviantart.com/journal/9135819/ Wed, 21 Jun 2006 10:18:17 PDT
On a side note, you all need to listen to my latest mix. It's a bit botched because I mixed it while I was drunk using a new technique, but you get the idea. ]]> `rayvinazn http://rayvinazn.deviantart.com/journal/8667230/ http://rayvinazn.deviantart.com/journal/8667230/ Wed, 03 May 2006 22:47:27 PDT ladyr, this is all her doing.

1. What kind of first impression do you think people say when they first see you?
What do most people think when they see an Asian guy with tattoos all over his forearms, hands, and neck? I can't count the number of people who have assumed I was in a gang or in the mafia.

Of course, they would have been right about 5 years ago.

2. What's one thing you like to do alone?
Video games. I just can't get into online gaming.

3. What is your favorite line to say when you're drunk?
When I sober up, I'll let you know.

4. How many drinks do you need before you get tipsy?
That does depend on what I'm drinking, and how far spaced out the drinks are doesn't it?
I'll put it this way: More than you.

6. What kind of books do you like to read?
Science Fiction tend to be a favourite.

7. Do you think you're cute?
Doesn't matter, I'm married.

8. Do you have a problem changing clothes in front of your friends?
Not really.

9. What do you eat/drink when you raid the fridge at night?
I usually raid the rice-cooker. Which contains rice.

10. Describe your bed?
Occupied.

11. Spontaneous or planned?
Spontaneous. I don't plan things until I have to.

12. Do you know how to play poker?
Do you know how to breathe?

13. What do you carry with you at all times?
Cigarettes, keys, cell phone, lighter, wallet, and a bad attitude.

14. What do you miss most about being a kid?
Free food/lodging.

15. Are you happy with your given name?
It works well enough.

16. What color is your bedroom?
Off-white.

17. Have you ever been in a play?
No.

18. Do you like yourself and believe in yourself?
Naturally.

19. Do you consider yourself to be a nice person?
Who cares what I think? My nicety is percieved by you, not me.

20. Do you spend more time with your girlfriend/boyfriend or your friends?
I'm married.

Hell yeah I spend more time with my friends.

21. What's one thing you wish you could do but can't?
I wish I could think of something I wish I could do.

22. What is your ideal wedding location?
Doesn't really matter now, does it?

23. Whats one instrument you wish you could play?
Piano/synthesizer.

24. Whats one language you want to learn?
Vietnamese.

25. Have you ever pierced your body parts?
Ears.

26. Do you have any tattoos?
17. Or 19. Depends on how you look at them.

27. What's one trait you hate in a person?
Frugality.

28. Do you consider yourself materialistic?
Absolutely.

29. What do you cook best?
I'm pretty damn good at cooking rice. In a rice cooker.

30. Favorite person/s to talk with on the phone?
Not a fan of phone conversations. I can tell much more about a person by watching them than conversing with them.

I tag nobody. ]]> `rayvinazn http://rayvinazn.deviantart.com/journal/8361194/ http://rayvinazn.deviantart.com/journal/8361194/ Tue, 11 Apr 2006 18:27:04 PDT
It's not just the music, it's the attitude. Well, more like a lack of an attitude. Ever since Electronic music was born on the wheels of steel, it has yet to have any truely defining "movement". There's no revolution waiting to happen (despite what those E-tarded ravers might tell you), there's no hidden meanings (despite what those glitch-loving Aphex Twin fans might press upon you), and there's no attitude. It's not about fighting the government, it's not about equal rights, it's not about vegetarianism, it's not about love, it's not about Satan, it's not about the stratospheric compositions of Jupiter's third moon.

It's music. Let's think about that for a moment. Music. Not a story sung to a few half-hearted riffs. Not a poetry contest. Not a talent show to see who can play the fastest/loudest. It's an aural experience, one that was mean to be enjoyed with your ears, not your language-recognition centers.

Vocals are like cliff-notes - they're the short version of what was supposed to happen. They're incomplete versions for people with no patience. If you love a piece of music solely for the vocals, you need to re-consider the reason you're listening to music in the first place. You might as well go out and buy some stories on tape, and tap your foot in time with the story.

But I digress: Attitude.

Ever since the early days of Rock (after it became popular (when white people stole it)), the airwaves have been clogged with a very distinct attitude: Meism. It's all about me. God forbid you touch anyone else's music unless you don't alter a single note. There was no spontaneity. Music became stagnant, since every single group out there had to create ALL NEW ORIGINAL MUSIC! You couldn't touch up some music by other people if you thought it needed a little new flair, you had to create ALL NEW ORIGINAL MUSIC! It's a piece of music, not the baby Jesus. A little tweaking of a musical piece never hurts - hell, it opens the piece up to a wider audience. That's a good thing, right? Apparently not - in Rock, that tradition has become so firmly set, that even the most innovative of Rock bands can't figure it out to this very day.

When you think about it, that's a pretty hard thing to do. Nothing but your own stuff? Not only that, but you had to release a whole ALBUM! Can't do singles anymore, you're a nobody if you don't have an ALBUM! Forget quality, you're signed for five years, and owe the label three albums! Start churning out some filler tunes! That's what the public WANTS! They don't want the latest Doors single, they want a whole fucking ALBUM! Complete with a little glossy scratch-n-sniff paper fold-out limited edition cover with pictures of the people involved and liner notes thanking family members, pets, neighbours, and the local prostitue!

Oddly enough, very few people have seen what this does to music. If you go to see a Rock band, you go to hear a full hour or two of their own, original music. That doesn't leave much room for the amateurs to have a go, does it? Are you going to listen to some no-name bunch of prats play the two compositions they've managed to come up with in three years together? Fuck no! You want the whole lasagna! You want them to be up there for at least an hour, banging out THEIR OWN ORIGINAL MUSIC!

Does that seem odd to anyone else? You need to have a full album of music before you're allowed to really be heard?



Enter the DJ. He's not a musician, he's not there to showcase his incredible musical talent - he's there to show you a good time. He's not going to play nothing but his own material (unless he's James Lavelle doing his second Global Underground Mix), he's going to showcase everyone from the grizzled old fucker that did a track or two with George Clinton to the 16-year-old kid from Poland. His only limits are his imagination. If he wants to play Milli Vanilli right next to Bjork, that's his call. He's there to please you with everything at his disposal, from Abba to ZZ-Top. So what if he's not playing actual music? You're hearing it, are you not? Did you show up to watch someone move their fingers up and down, or to hear some damn fine music and dance your ass off?

Enter the producer. Shortly after DJing became a more popular method of "live" music delivery, people started flocking to the studios to create music to help out the DJ. Early methods were dodgy at best, but innovative nonetheless. Where the music really and truely fell flat was it's attempts to immitate Rock. In the late 80's, this idea was scrapped - rather than trying to make a whole album of stuff to distribute to labels, artists focused on a single piece or two. Singles were coming back into heavy use, and on vinyl, nonetheless. Granted, at the time vinyl was an infinitely better-sounding medium than tapes, but even through the... ]]> `rayvinazn http://rayvinazn.deviantart.com/journal/8173192/ http://rayvinazn.deviantart.com/journal/8173192/ Wed, 15 Mar 2006 21:20:22 PST
Some singles for you to check out. Several of these may be featured in my upcoming mix (if I ever get around to doing another one, and getting more space to store it).

Alex Stealthy - Deploring (9.0)

Deep, bassy goodness. Not much else to say about it really, it's just a great track.

[link]

Jaytech - Engage (9.5)

Powerful track, reminiscient in the style of Max Graham. Is this going to be the year of the Canadians?

[link]

Park Style - George's Revenge (8.5)

A bit harder, funkier, and heavier. Not much to it really, just an all-around good track.

[link]

Fantastic 2 - Other People (Damien Heck's Sonic Puzzle Mix) (8.5)

Damien Heck is easily one of my favourite producers in the buisness, and the Fantastic 2 happen to be buddies of mine. A wicked remix of a wicked tune, and one definately worth a listen.

[link]

Blue Room Project - Tuned Exposure (8.0)

There's nothing outstanding about this track, but I really enjoy it for some reason. Perhaps simplicity is the key...

[link]

Sound Alliance - Sub Regression (9.5)

Rare indeed is the occasion that a track really builds like this. There's nothing formulaic about it, it just flows where it fits best, and really draws you in.

[link]

Blake Jarrell - Okoboji (Beaumont & Nathanial's 'Winds West' Mix) (8.5)

Another release from Proton Music, a label that is of resounding quality in the minds of myself and many others.

[link]

Nukes - Seismographic (Tangleray's Landslide Mix) (9.0)

The track name and remix title say it all, really.

[link]


Josh Collins & Can Costa - Peyote Ugly (Sancho & E-Lation Mix) (8.5)

Can Costa is quickly making a name for himself - I can't wait to hear more from this guy.

[link]

Totem Pole - Quandary (Darioef Remix) (8.5)

A floaty, flutey, happy sort of tune that keeps your mood high, and your volume knob higher.

[link]

]]> `rayvinazn http://rayvinazn.deviantart.com/journal/8090698/ http://rayvinazn.deviantart.com/journal/8090698/ Tue, 07 Mar 2006 06:10:45 PST
Jin - The Emcee's Proper?Ganda

A cross between the mainstream and underground Hip-hop scene. Surprisingly well-produced, and for those of you that have Last.fm, something I've been listening to a lot.

Desyn Masiello - Balance 008

A superbly done mix-album, and easily among the top five I've heard in as many years.

Ulrich Schnauss - Far Away Trains Passing By

A new re-release just came out, with a bonus disc of music by Ulrich, certainly worth the price.


And now back to your regularly scheduled doldrums.

]]> `rayvinazn http://rayvinazn.deviantart.com/journal/7955352/ http://rayvinazn.deviantart.com/journal/7955352/ Mon, 20 Feb 2006 17:25:50 PST
15 years ago:
I was seven years of age, a recent immigrant to the US, rather lost, bad at speaking English, and without too many friends.

10 years ago:
I was 12, all about Hip-hop, and getting ready for Junior High.

5 years ago:
17 years old I addicted to cocaine, running drugs, going out every night to casinos, raves, clubs, and generally terrorizing society. My son was born then as well.

2 years ago:
I was 20, and had moved back to Japan a few years prior. I had cleaned up my act (as far as drugs went), and was dating a girl I enjoyed spending time with. My son died this year. The girl I was dating was not the mother, in case that wasn't clear. Myself and Kristin do not get along well. I did go back to the US for the funeral.

1 year ago:
Was drinking heavily by this point, and often between jobs. Started taking a new look at life, and how I was living mine.

Present:
I'm back in the United States taking care of some old issues, and I'm married. Thinking about getting a new computer.

If you're going to apologize, sympathize, or empathize with me about my son, don't. It's over, I dealt with it, and it's not your fault. It's something I prefer to keep closed. If you do feel the need to ask about him, I'll be more than happy to answer any questions regarding his life (his name, first word, personality, etc.) ]]> `rayvinazn http://rayvinazn.deviantart.com/journal/7817753/ http://rayvinazn.deviantart.com/journal/7817753/ Fri, 10 Feb 2006 18:55:00 PST Edit: New mix up on my website. Check it out if you'd like - this one is more focused around melodies, and is probably more on par with the industry "standard".

Many people ask me how I came to know so much about Electronica. I'm going to share all my little tips and tricks here, so you too can be an all-knowing guru when it comes to your particular style of music.

1: The rule of opposites. Many people listen to music because it's fun, or they enjoy it. This is wrong. Under no circumstances should you allow yourself to fall into this trap. Music should be long, complex, and absolutely devoid of any sort of entertainment. The more boring the music you pick, the more convincing you will appear. Your music must be devoid of uplifting melodies, happy basslines, or any other such sunshine-loving hippy nonsense. If anyone says otherwise, ridicule them until they run off crying to the administration about how rude you are, despite the fact that they obviously know less about music than you do about rectal-entrance brain surgery.

2: The rule of popularity. Contrary to the beliefs of most musical guru wannabes, popular is not bad. The artist is just in a slump. Point out their past musical achievements, current technical abilities, success, and roll your eyes at the blatant stupidity of the person responding in your general direction. Artists don't get popular for no reason, they must have done good work at some point. If you can't immediately think of any good past work, make something up, and say it was on an old tape you used to play all the time. It's plausible enough to be true, and hard to disprove.

3: The second rule of popularity. Every now and then you get a delightfully gifted individual who will ask you if you've ever heard of such-and-such artist. More often than not, these artists have been played on the radio, been in a commercial, and sometimes even aired on a music television station. The special person will then proceed to ask if you have heard of this artist, as if it were information rivaling the identities of the true conspirators behind the Kennedy assassination. There are only two ways to deal with this sort of person, and if you're not up close and personal, a punch to the throat is usually out of the question. You must harangue this person with in an inch of his life, following him around and checking his recent user activity if need be. People like that don't deserve to share the same internet as you.

4: The rule of "Need-to-know" basis. Once in a great while you get some smartass who will come along, and dare to impose questions/comments about artists you have actually not heard of. This aggression will not stand. These people are obviously deluded, and think that their pathetic taste in music somehow rivals yours because they found some dodgy little fuck making shitty music that you've never heard of. These people deserve scorn more than any other, and make sure you give it to them in full. You're not here to hear new music, you're here to educate all those poor, unenlightened assholes out there.

5: The rule of contemporary music. It's rubbish. The new artists aren't nearly as innovative as the old ones, this is an established fact. In the rare occurance that one comes up, you can always counter with one of the founding fathers of the genre. The reason you must despise contemporary music is its constant change. You can't be bothered to keep up with all the new rubbish, and when you're dealing with old music, it has usually already been sorted for you. Rather than having to keep up with all these new yahoos that have decided they want to impose their half-assed noise on the rest of us, you can simply check and see what older artists are still revered.

6: The rule of conciseness. Specifics, details, designations, classifications. These are a must have in your new role as a musical elitist. You cannot let even the slightest malignment pass, no matter how inconsequential. It's not an EP, it's an LP. It's not a guitar, it's a six-string. Those aren't flutes, they're woodwinds. Be as technical as possible, and you can easily beat your opposition even before the subject of music comes up. Ensure your opposition has little or no choice but to acquiese to your knowledge of terms, and surely enough they will suspect you of actually knowing something about music.

7: The rule of genres. There is nothing more important than a genre. If you have to, make one up. Cite dodgy sources for reference, there's always someone out there who has made a webpage citing the importance of Dark Metal vs. Black Metal (even if it's just a slight colour deviation). Make sure the genres you use contain no more than 3 or possibly 4 artists, or you'll just look like another dumb fan wandering blindly in an endless list of sub-styles. Keep it complex,... ]]> `rayvinazn http://rayvinazn.deviantart.com/journal/7736425/ http://rayvinazn.deviantart.com/journal/7736425/ Sat, 28 Jan 2006 22:06:11 PST nosugarjustanger asked...

I suppose the place I should start is what I can remember. My mother mostly listened to Classical music, while my father had a keen eye for New Age, Folk, and even a bit of Classic Rock (mostly The Doors, The Eagles, Crosby, Stills, & Nash, The Beatles, etc.) and whatever Paul Simon is. That was what I spent most of my childhood listening to, and while I don't honestly know how much of an impression it left on me, I do know I was almost always focused on music, rather than vocals.

When I was in 5th Grade (around 11 or 12 years old), my friends introduced me to something new: Hip-hop. It was the early 90's, and the G-Funk era was in full swing. MTV was playing Warren G, Snoop Doggy Dogg, Tupac, Dr. Dre, etc. My friends were all dressing different, getting into the scene, and fully enjoying it. I was all about it as well. It gave me something to participate in, something to follow. The basslines were exciting, and the music sounded so fresh to me.

September 7, 1996: Tupac Shakur was shot and killed in Las Vegas, and Biggie Smalls was killed a little over a year after that, and Eazy-E had died the year before. Hip-Hop was changing, and I wasn't sure I liked it. The same concepts were being re-hashed, and thousands of new and "improved" rappers were springing up everywhere. Most of them held little appeal for me, but since I was a follower, I didn't want to just give up and abandon the scene.

Summer of 1998: School was out, Summer was in, and it was time to party. My friends Donnie Oudinarath, Mike Tu, and Phuc Huynh invited me to a party. A huge party. A promotion company called Channel 36 was holding a multi-thousand person party called "Nation", and they wanted me to attend. It was a Saturday, and I had nothing better to do, so I went.

Holy shit.

Even at 14 I'd already heard quite a few DJ's, but this was something new. They were flawless, creating a mesh of things I couldn't even begin to explain. Their music was seamless and fun, and everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves. I was at my first rave.

Anyone that remembers the heady days of West Coast raving between 98-01 will instantly recall parties like Together As One, How Sweet it Is, Planet New Year, Festival of the Light, Electric Daisy Carnival, Monster Massive, Cyberfest, Popsikle, and will often recall very fondly the music, people, and places (and drugs) that were all part of the experience. The music was still fresh, nobody even hinted at it being dead, and almost everyone was into it.

In a time where scenes were king, the music had no scene. Sure, there were a few Ravers floating around, but that was only the tip of the iceberg. There were a thousand different sub-styles to explore, with thousands of DJ's playing millions of tunes, and the experience was endless.

As the tide receded on the rave scene, many of my friends tired and left. The raves were being broken up, the music was becoming stale, and the people were tired. Many of my friends don't listen to the music anymore, aside from the occasional re-hash of the tunes that now carry so many memories. In short, most of the people gave up. They let the music go, in favour or Hip-hop, Rock, or even Jazz. It was for kids, something to be forgotten.

But I was one of the few that didn't want to forget. For a year or two I was stuck in Trance. I wanted to bring it back, to revive it. I was part of several online communities, I DJ'd Trance, I bought the CD's. In early '03 I was browsing my usual hangouts, when one of my friends told me to check out a few tracks.

Now, back then I was all about the happy melodies. The deeper, thicker, and generally slower sounds of John Digweed, Darren Emerson, Deep Dish, etc. hardly did it for me. I was all about Lange, Tiesto, Ferry Corsten, and was actively waiting for Trance to rise up and take the charts.

Back to my original point, that friend (Vic Hyype - If any of you are in Miami, definately catch this guy DJing) had me check out a few tracks. For the life of me, I can't remember them now but they weren't quite like anything I had ever heard before. They weren't as "boring" as the aforementioned artists, but they weren't as cheesy as what I listened to either. They opened up a whole new world in music for me. One where things didn't have to always be quick, fast, and simple. This was a relatively new concept for me - having good music that wasn't so cheesy.

That basically lead me to where I am now. I don't care for Tiesto, Armin, Ferry, and Paul van Dyk as much as I used to. I support Electronica, and everything it stands for. Music for the sake of music. Technological progression. Messages without words. I love every bit of it, and anyone that has talked to me knows I'm more than willing to share... ]]> `rayvinazn http://rayvinazn.deviantart.com/journal/7716830/ http://rayvinazn.deviantart.com/journal/7716830/ Thu, 26 Jan 2006 18:46:50 PST
"..."ambiguously Asian. I wondered about their constantly wide-eyed espressions..."

2. Stretch your left arm out as far as you can.

Air.

3. What is the last thing you watched on TV?

I haven't watched TV (of my own volition) in years. News program probably?

6. With the exception of the computer, what can you hear?

Espen W's "Sunday Groove" Mix.

7. When did you last step outside? What were you doing?

Having a smoke, about 15 minutes ago.

8. Before you started this survey, what did you look at?

An incredible back-log of journals because I'm actually busy now.

9. What are you wearing?

South Pole jeans and a Fila sweater

10. Did you dream last night?

Not to the best of my knowledge.

11. When did you last laugh?

Not something I keep track of. Last incredibly humourous thing I remember was a scene from "The Ringer" - the infamous "When the fuck did we get ice cream!?" line.

12. What is on the walls of the room you are in?

Paint. Sort of.

13. Seen anything weird lately?

Nothing striking.

14. What do you think of this quiz?

If this test was a root canal, the dentist forgot the novocaine.

15. What is the last film you saw?

Paul Newman in "The Hustler".

16. If you became a multi-millionaire overnight, what would you buy?

A new MR2 (I miss mine).
Customize said MR2.
A decent house, probably in Hawai'i.
Approximately $20,000 worth of CD's/Vinyl.
Approximately $5,000 worth of DJ equipment.
A new computer.
Happiness.

18. If you could change one thing about the world, regardless of guilt or politics, what would you do?

Indoor smoking laws in California.

19. Do you like to dance?

They don't call most of what I listen to "Dance" music for nothing.

20. George Bush:

Is not of my concern.

21. Imagine your first child is a girl, what do you call her?

Junko

22. Imagine your first child is a boy, what do you call him?

Hiryuu

]]> `rayvinazn http://rayvinazn.deviantart.com/journal/7575391/ http://rayvinazn.deviantart.com/journal/7575391/ Wed, 11 Jan 2006 15:39:40 PST
1: It needs to be louder. Not excruciatingly so, just a bit louder than other, less bass-oriented musics do. Most electronic tracks have a huge number of layers, and in order to really appreciate them all, you can't listen to the music so softly all you get is the beat. Keep in mind that Electronica was designed for a dancefloor, and as such, it requires a decent bit of volume to be fully appreciated.

2: Give it a minute. The majority of all electronic music isn't a quick fix, or an immediate rush. Much of it is designed for easy mixing, and is therefore preceded by an intro which can last as long as 4 or 5 minutes. You can't just tune in and immediately get the full idea of the song. Nor can you simply listen to the main riff in the middle and fully appreciate the piece. Electronica is, for the most part, a continuously changing musical work, with layers coming and going, and many things happening to change the song all throughout.

3: Fix your levels. Like I said in statement 1, Electronica was invented on turntables in front of a dancefloor. As such, it has much different level requirements than say, Green Day. There is no music out there with basslines as powerful as the ones present in Electronica, and you might want to tone these down a bit, while kicking up the higher end levels will make the less bass-intense parts of the song stand out a bit. As nifty as your dual 12-inch sub system may sound to all those within a three-mile radius, and as much as it might enable you to actually hear the bass player in a Metal band, it's going to literally make every Electronica song out there sound the same (usually a bad thing). If you have the "bass boost" option on your stereo/portable CD player, you'll more than likely want to turn it off, or at least keep it at a minimum setting.

4: A good DJ is a conductor. The best DJ's out there don't just play music, they create a comprehensive musical piece. In order to get the full value of the composition, you have to let the whole thing play out. It's not unlike Classical in the many ways (although I do despise those that hold electronic music as the new Classical), since you have to have a little patience, a penchant for things non-vocal, and are usually listening to people playing other people's work rather than the original piece (if you see Beethoven himself conducting the original orchestra used, I rescind my statement). The best DJ's out there don't play nothing buy awesome tracks, they play the right track to fit the moment. Sometimes the movement may be a little boring or flat, but if the DJ is a good one, he does it for a reason.

5: If at first you don't succeed... Not all Electronica works for everyone. I don't care much for mucking about with sub-genres, but I guarentee there is a style of Electronica out there for everyone. If you just want your Electronica to be ridiculously happy, short, and generally fun(ny), try artists like Brisk & Trixxy, Bang!, Visa, or Sharky. If you want something reminiscient of Jazz, you can check out St. Germain, or LTJ Bukem. Remember, just because your local DJ plays "D.H.T. - Listen to Your Heart" over and over again doesn't mean you've heard an even vaguely good sample of the entire genre. Even if you've heard Thievery Corporation, Orbital, Tiesto, and Dieselboy, you're still just scratching the surface. Seek and you will find, even if it's something that crosses over into a genre you like more.

6: Pay attention. Electronica artists commonly use monnickers that range from things that make sense (Stuart Langelaan goes by Lange), to inside jokes (Alexander Coe goes by Sasha), to things that the artists just liked (Ferry Corsten goes by System F), and even artists you wished would use one so you could spell their artist name properly (Ljungqvist, or Dzierzek, for example). Many artists will have more than one producing name, and quite a few of them produce for more than one label. Some will produce with other producers, and create an entirely new name for the project. It's a big mess that can quickly turn confusing if you don't do a little research first, and eventually just turn you off to the music altogether. It's hard to keep it all straight, but with a little time on Discogs, you should be able to figure it all out. This tip may seem a bit out of place, but in order to say you enjoy something, it's helpful to really know what you're talking about, not to mention make it easier to find similar artists via labels and/or projects.

7: Have fun. Life isn't all about bling, relationships, and satan worshipping. Your music doesn't always need a message, it just needs to be enjoyed. So maybe Electronica isn't always the deepest... ]]> `rayvinazn http://rayvinazn.deviantart.com/journal/7521822/ http://rayvinazn.deviantart.com/journal/7521822/ Thu, 05 Jan 2006 21:42:02 PST
Top 10 mix-CD's:

1: Desyn Masiello - Balance 008
2: Steve Gerrard - Thinking Out Loud vol. 01
3: Nick Warren - Global Underground 028: Shanghai
4: Phil K - Y4K
5: Sasha & Digweed - Renaissance: The Mix Collection vol. 1 (Re-Release)
6: Darren Emerson & Sharam Jey - Underwater Episode 4
7: Satoshi Tomiie - ES
8: Chris Salt - Future House
9: Nic Fanciulli - Renaissance presents...
10: Sander Kleinenberg & Lee Burridge - This is Everybody! On Tour

Top 5 Artist Albums:

1: Pendulum - Hold Your Colour
2: Ulrich Schnauss - Far Away Trains Passing By (2-Disc Special Edition Re-Release)
3: Silicone Soul - Staring into Space
4: Dousk - D.I.Y.
5: Pole Folder - Zero Gold

Top 20 Tracks (Original unless marked otherwise):

1: Fatboy Slim - El Bebe Masoquista (Jupiter Ace Teknixx Mix)
2: John Dahlback - I'm Rock
3: Coburn - We Interrupt This Program (Interrupted Vocal Mix)
4: Luke Dzierzek - Echo
5: Pryda - Sucker DJ
6: Innercourse - Human (Sunset Strip Mix)
7: Pryda - Nile
8: Kosmas Epsilon & Can Costa - Che Malakita
9: Lange vs. Gareth Emery - This Is New York
10: Seyton - The Drake Equation
11: BCML - Mr. Horowitz
12: David West - Larry Mountains 54 (Inkfish Remix)
13: Can Costa - Dizzy Synths
14: Kosmas Epsilon - Sorry For Being Rude
15: Tomas Andersson - Happy Happy
16: FPU - Ocean Drive (Tiga's White Linen Vox)
17: Group Therapy feat Nat Leonard - My Own Worst Enemy (Chris Walsh & Jeremy Coutre Remix)
18: Fresh - Submarines (John B Electro Mix)
19: Joel Armstrong - Serenity (Shiloh Mix)
20 The Knife - You Take My Breath Away (MHC Dub)

]]> `rayvinazn http://rayvinazn.deviantart.com/journal/7486744/ http://rayvinazn.deviantart.com/journal/7486744/ Mon, 02 Jan 2006 08:20:22 PST

Back to the imperial measuring system.
Back to driving on the right side of the road.
Back to cheap gas.
Back to the good clubs.
Back to proper casinos.
Back to Vietnamese food.
Back to the US.

I'm back, I'm at my auntie's house, and I'm looking for an apartment. New Years Eve party was awesome, I haven't been to a rave in years. So far: I'm enjoying myself immensly.

]]> `rayvinazn http://rayvinazn.deviantart.com/journal/7413564/ http://rayvinazn.deviantart.com/journal/7413564/ Mon, 26 Dec 2005 10:21:40 PST
The winners were decided by a card draw. Congratulations. I'll need an email address for you all to assign your gift certificate. Make sure to check your junk mail, just in case.

`mooboy Paid.
~ViciousZen Paid.
~Aramanth

Edit: Give me your email address and full name via note/comment. I want to make sure I give these certificates out to a valid email, and I need the names so you can purchase your tracks. You will have to create and account there (they won't spam you, don't worry), and all your tracks you will have to pick on your own.

]]> `rayvinazn http://rayvinazn.deviantart.com/journal/7402535/ http://rayvinazn.deviantart.com/journal/7402535/ Sat, 24 Dec 2005 11:41:22 PST
It's Christmas here, you dozy prats. Game over.

Oh, and the second part of the Electro Mix set is up on my website. Check it out. Or don't.

]]> `rayvinazn http://rayvinazn.deviantart.com/journal/7240640/ http://rayvinazn.deviantart.com/journal/7240640/ Wed, 21 Dec 2005 22:31:55 PST Only a few days to go, and I've only got 4 participants. Strikes me as a bit sad, really; I was expecting a bit more participation.

The boobs are a joke.

So, with the Christmas holidays and what-have-you coming up, I have decided (in a rare fit of generosity) to provide three lucky people with $25 certificates to Beatport. Now, these do not come totally free; I'm looking for a reason. Why should I present you with such an award? What interest do you have in Electronica? How many pictures of your tits will you email me? And so-on.

So, for those of you who have been poking around the internet store I have been so blatantly advertising, here's your chance at a free shot for $25 worth of whatever EDM you choose. There's even underground Hip-hop (REAL underground, not Aesop Rock/Roots Manuva underground) if you so desire. If you want, you can even browse around and make a wish list for me to review and help make your case with. I will take wish lists into consideration on this little "contest" deal.

Contest entries will only be accepted in note or email form, since I'm trying to judge these fairly (and maybe see some tits). So if you've got a hankering for some of the music I've been buying by the gigabyte, make your case, and let me have it.

Edit: These certificates will be paid as close to Christmas as I can manage, sobriety permitting of course.

Edit 2: Oh bloody fuck: the contest is over December 25th MY time. Not US time. Mine. Because I'm an asshole like that.

Edit 3: You silly homoerotic munters: I neither require, nor desire pictures of manboobs. If I do recieve any, points will be deducted from you. `newklear is the sole exception to this rule.

]]> `rayvinazn http://rayvinazn.deviantart.com/journal/7220063/ http://rayvinazn.deviantart.com/journal/7220063/ Sun, 04 Dec 2005 14:54:13 PST [link]

Now that I can quit sending shit via MSN, hopefully there will be some more interest in my stuff. Enjoy, and keep an eye out for more mixes from me.

New mix in the works, featuring BT, Coburn, Luke Dzierzek, Eric Prydz, Steve Angello, Santos, Kosmas Epsilon, David West, and remixes by JDS, Max Graham, and Jean Cladue van Ades...to name a few.

This set is designed specifically to be a peak-time set. No warm-ups or building tracks here, just a solid, action-packed set with more energy than a bag of cocaine.

Tracklist order is not confirmed, but the tracks to be included are as follows:
BT - Fibonacci Sequence
Deepgroove - I Like That (Just A Little More)
Erick E - Ya Don't Stop
Coburn - We Interrupt This Program (Jean Claude van Ades Remix)
Granite & Phunk - Everythang
Bombdogs - I Can't Explain (Original Vocal Mix)
Luke Dzierzek - Echo
Pryda - Sucker DJ
Eric Prydz & Steve Angello - Woz Not Woz (Dub Mix)
Santos - Try To Burn (JDS Remix)
Santiago Nino - Believe (Max Graham Remix)
Can Kosta & Kosmas Epsilon - Che Malakita
David West - Larry Mountains 54 (Inkfish Remix)

]]> `rayvinazn http://rayvinazn.deviantart.com/journal/7161053/ http://rayvinazn.deviantart.com/journal/7161053/ Mon, 28 Nov 2005 14:59:59 PST
Looking for these tracks. If anyone knows somewhere decent to purchase them, I'd be much obliged. No, I don't want some dodgy, half-assed, poorly-coded, pre-mixed rips for free. I'll pay for quality, thanks.

V-sag - Sunset (Vsag's Tek-Mix)
BT - Fibonacci Sequence (All Mixes)
Nuw Idol - Touch the Lazer
Eyal (Descent) - Primal Instinct
Viridian - Sunhump (Mijk van Dijk Mix)
Illusion - Got This Feeling
Chable & Bonnici - Ride (All Mixes)
Christopher Lobsinger - Equilibrium
Sean Holland - Learn the Lesson
Gus Gus - David (Luke Chable Mix)
Sasha & Emerson - Scorchio (All mixes)
Kemek the Dope Computer - Ox Rising
Kosmas Epsilon - Sorry For Being Rude
Sattva - Echo of Silence (Way Out West Mix)
Paris & Healy - Blue
PQM - You Are Sleeping (Luke Chable Vocal Pass/Dub)
Papa Washington Trio - Trio de Janiero
Fatboy Slim - El Bebe Masoquista (Jupiter Ace Dub/Remix)
Diego Velasco - When Gibbons Attack (Baunder Remix)
Watergate - Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence (Heart of Asia)
DJ Sakin & Friends - Protect Your Mind (All mixes)
Ayla pres. Yel - The Sun is Coming Out

Just in case, the current top 10. Check them out, or don't:
Fatboy Slim - El Bebe Masoquista (Jupiter Ace Remix)
Jimmy Hill - Acid Rock
FPU - Ocean Drive (Tiga's White Linen Vox)
Lifecycle - Vocational
Joel Armstrong - Serenity (Shiloh Mix)
Tiga - You Gonna Want Me (12" Dance Mix)
Pryda - Sucker DJ
BCML - Mr. Horowitz
Deepsky & Marc Mitchell - Lost in the Moment (Relisys Lost His Keys Mix)
El Dorado - Iris

The Underground Challenge:

I have subscribed to MusicBrainz, and online collective of music. After the initial scan of my hard drive, I have 709 legally purchased tracks, 46 of which where identified immediately by the program. This gives me a ratio of approximately 15.4 unknown tracks to 1 known track. If you think you are more underground than I am, share your ratio with me, and see how unknown your legal music collection is.

]]> `rayvinazn http://rayvinazn.deviantart.com/journal/7098525/ http://rayvinazn.deviantart.com/journal/7098525/ Sun, 20 Nov 2005 16:38:19 PST Racism in America; specifically against/for Asians

As I prepare for me re-arrival in the United States, I have many things to consider: settling in, making my soon-to-be-wife feel at home, finding a job, remembering to drive in the right side of the road, dealing with some old beef from my more...restless days, and as this journal will discuss, racism.

Not many people in the US think of Asians as discriminated against. Far from it, actually. Most Asians are either considered to be very successful scientists, mathemeticians, and buisnessmen; the "model minority" myth. As someone that spent many of my formative years in the US, I find this particularly curious. While my family was not exacly scrapped for money, the majority of my friends parents were. My friends sister owned a nail salon, which sounds like a pretty lucrative job; unless you consider it was one of two dozen in a 3-mile radius. Another friends parents owned a Vietnamese food restaurant. One of hundreds in west Orange County, and they barely made rent for a 3-bedroom apartment. My school was plagued with crime, and my area wrecked with hate. We are supposed to be successful; what happened?

Asians in America are ignored; or worse, have standards increased due to our "innate" talent to succeed. This stereotype is one that hurts most of all. While many races get special privileges to help combat their "racial inferiority", Asians are considered to be successful and talented right off the bat, and therefore have even harder times getting into schools.

There is a huge gap in Asians in America; very few make middle class, and are either on the rich or poor end of the spectrum; and more and more of us are ending up on the poor end. We have a difficult time getting a decent education, even more so than white families, simply because we have our standards raised because of our race. In some colleges, the minimum acceptance requirements for an Asian student vs. a black student are 300 points on the SAT. How are the majority of us supposed to be educated? True, we have enjoyed some success in the past, but that doesn't mean every Asian in the US is automatically some sort of genius that will succeed no matter the odds.

There is also the subject matter we are supposed to succeed in. Buisness, math, and science are all easily accepted fields for Asians, but literature, arts, and history are all considered "odd" topics for an Asian to pursue. Why is this? Is there some sort of law stating that we won't be good at English due to our increasingly low ability to speak English? Or is it because that is what is expected?

I won't lie; Asians have to blame themselves. We fit these stereotypes because they are common. They have a grain of truth to them. The majority of my more successful friends are in the engineering or buisness fields. I can't blame the white man for dominating, or the black man for undermining. Asians themselves are to blame for this. Our complacancy and near-domestication are at fault here. Ask yourself the last time you saw an Asian standing up for himself? If you're in one of the major Asian-centers in the US (Los Angeles, San Francisco/San Jose, Seattle), you will probably only say that the young "Azn" punks will do this, and in a rather violent manner.

I was (and in many ways still am) one of these people. The ironically stereotypical anti-Asian stereotypes. I fought against what Asians were supposed to be, and in doing so, lost myself. I was consumed by hate; hate for everyone except the people I truely needed to fight against. The people that I thought would watch my back, protect me, and keep me safe. I still bear the marks of this malice. The five dots on my left hand, the three on my right. The brand on my left shoulder. The pride on my chest. All of these are permanent marks of my insane quest to destroy what I thought of as wrong. Who was I fighting? More to the point, who was I hurting?

I set back Asians in America with my actions. I was the very enemy I thought I was fighting. With my actions I was only regressing the Asian race, rather than forwarding it. I do not wish to pursue that path any longer. I was a stereotype once. If you've lived in any of the cities I mentioned, you saw me. Spiked hair, driving an import, dressed to impress. How much have I changed? I have yet to find out. It has been some years since I have hung out with the "Azn" crews from the west coast. I have only to see what is yet to come, and whether my hate will consume me once again, or whether I have broken free.

This entry brought to you by gin & tonics. ]]> `rayvinazn http://rayvinazn.deviantart.com/journal/6884992/ http://rayvinazn.deviantart.com/journal/6884992/ Fri, 28 Oct 2005 19:43:19 PDT RayvinAzn's guide to purchasing Electronica CD's.

1: Check the number of tracks on the CD. If it has more than 20 tracks on one disc, you're sure to be purchasing something with 3-minute radio cuts; not a good idea, since quite a few tracks work much better in their entirety, rather than just a quick peek at the main portion of the tune.

2: Avoid any CD with the following in the title: Ibiza*, Dance (and any derivative thereof)*, Best, Super, Mega, Ultra, and any CD that advertises big arist names on the front. Odds are it's just a half-ass collection by an unknown group of people that may or may not be mixed by some unknown DJ, and will usually be the exact same tunes that can be found on no less than 230482023820584382 other compilations.

3: Do not buy anything by an artist that uses the prefix "DJ".* This is usually a cry for recognition, since the alleged "Disc Jockey" can't make a name for himself with his mixing skills and/or track selection. This rule applies double for any actual producer with the prefix, since DJing has nothing to do with producing. It's somewhat akin to signing all your personal correspondance "Mr. Samuel William Benniford Perkins III" just because the sweepstakes people addressed you as such.

4: Check the names on the the back of the CD.** If you see any names more than twice, do not purchase the CD. It's a desperate cry for attention from some 2-bit producer that hired on his best friend as a DJ to do an album together, usually with disastrous results.

5: Avoid most things over 2 discs*, and never purchase anything over 3 discs. These "super-value" compilations tend to feature one talented DJ on one disc, and the other discs by tossers who've never spun outside the bedroom. The productions are the same way; they throw in a few big hits to grab your eye, and fill up the rest with junk not fit for even a used-car radio commercial.

6: Know your shit. If you see a CD that you think has some promise, look into it. Google it and read some reviews. Find samples somewhere. Get information on the DJ. Read up on the label it was released on. Do a bit of research. Electronica is very easy to churn out, but just as hard as any other music do create well. Make sure you're not taking it in the shorts.
Tip: If "Google" hasn't heard of the DJ/label you're looking for, odds are you don't want to hear from him/it either.

7: Be wary of any series you find. Some are good, some are bad, and there's usually no grey area in between. Make damn sure you look into these before you buy. On the plus side, if you already have one or two CD's from the series that you enjoy, odds are the rest of the series will appeal to you.

8: Find someone that knows something. If you're in a big chain store, most of the employees won't have any working knowledge of Electronica, and the very few that do tend to reccomend the very things I just reccomended you against. You might find one or two that know their shit, but the odds are greater for you winning that Xbox 360 by shooting the monkey. Don't trust the skinny kid with huge pants and a backwards visor on either; odds are he's too E-tarded to know what he's listening to. Get a friend that likes that sort of music, note me, just remember that taking the word of anyone in a Big-chain store about Electronica is a gamble that very rarely pays off.

9: Find specialty shops. Any beat-down looking place with stacks of vinyl and turntables set up in the corner will carry good stuff, and will have employees more than capable of making good reccomendations. Most of them are sticklers for genres though, so don't be vague, and make sure you know your substyles. For the most part, these stores won't even carry the albums I've already warned you from, so you can let your guard down and relax a bit.

10: Work! You get out of Electronica what you put into it. It is far from huge even in its most popular areas (London), and you won't get the best stuff from your local supermall. Electronica is a harsh mistress, one you have to be constantly vigilant with, and put much effort into to get a real payoff. But when you do, it's worth all the blood, sweat, tears, urine, and what-have-you to get what you did. If you've ever cried when you found a vinyl you've been trying to obtain for nearly a decade, you know you're getting your money's worth.

* - Denotes that there are exceptions, albeit very few.
** - Applies to mix-compilations only. If purchasing an artist album, ignore this rule.

FAQ:

1: Why just CD's? Why not vinyl, tape, or mp3 formats?
Anyone into vinyl probably already has more than a working knowledge of the music, and is more than capable of purchasing tune... ]]> `rayvinazn http://rayvinazn.deviantart.com/journal/6700293/ http://rayvinazn.deviantart.com/journal/6700293/ Fri, 07 Oct 2005 04:26:30 PDT Bands vs. Producers

Bands. This term gets bandied around a lot on the music forum here at dA, and has a rather illogical tendancy to imply the work of any person directly involved in the creation of music.

The thing that bothers me most about that monicker is that people never take into consideration what happens to music played by bands after they put down their instruments, pack it up, and do enough cocaine to double Colombia's economy. The bands get all the credit for what they play, but how many people think of the sound engineer that's up all night tweaking the lead guitarists fuck-up in the second stanza, actually sequencing the stoned drummers beats, or toning down the vocalist's screaming into the mic?

Producers are involved in every aspect of their music. From the very first idea of what it should sound like, to transferring it to its final medium, the producer is there, working, tweaking, editing, refining...creating that track, which in the end will belong to him, and him alone. He need give credit to nobody but himself, his inspirations, and his studio partner(s) (if applicable).

These people are not the same as a band. Perhaps they do not have the talent to play a traditional instrument (although quite a few do, and prefer the versatility and cooperation a program/synthesizer offers vice a single instrument and a few other band members who may or may not be assholes), but they do have a talent to see every bit of their music in a thourough and complete fashion. Every bit of that track is from their own work, and those studio tricks so often used by "real" musicians aren't just tricks, they are an intentional part of the piece and put there by the musician themself.

Just because producers don't always work alone doesn't make them a band. Even if they play instruments in their tracks, that does not make them merely a band. They are producers, and they see their tracks through to the fullest. They are one of the very few modern musicians that can really and truely say that. This is their music, and they tell the whole story.

Top 10 Tracks of the moment:
1: Fatboy Slim - El Bebe Masoquita (Jupiter Ace Texx Remix)
2: Ashtrax - Something to Get Through
3: Deepgroove - I Like That (Just A Little More)
4: Kosmas Epsilon - Sorry For Being Rude
5: Eric Prydz & Steve Angello - Woz Not Woz (Dub Mix)
6: Erick E - Ya Don't Stop
7: K.O.T.P. - Redemption
8: AR52 - Enigma
9: Plump DJ's - The Rub Off
10: King Kong Crew - Hope

Top 5 DJ's of the Moment:
1: Gavin Keitel
2: Shiloh
3: Baunder
4: Chris Salt
5: D:Fuse

This entry brought to you by vodka & cranberries. ]]> `rayvinazn http://rayvinazn.deviantart.com/journal/6629519/ http://rayvinazn.deviantart.com/journal/6629519/ Wed, 28 Sep 2005 21:19:02 PDT tagged me. Therefore I will comply to the list, but I will not pass this one because I'm an asshole, and I like breaking the power of these sorts of things.

20 Things about me:

1: I'm Japanese.
2: I don't want to talk to you if you want to talk to me simply because I'm Japanese.
3: I probably don't want to talk to you period.
4: I listen to shitty, repetetive, computer-made music.
5: I don't care for Rock; never really have, and probably never really will.
6: I spend more on music every month than I do on food.
7: I have more tattoos than you do.
8: I've done more drugs than you; and have also successfully quit the majority of them.
9: Unless you're Ron Jeremy, I've been with more women than you.
10: I've been stabbed twice.
11: I've never been shot; not for any lack of trying.
12: I'm engaged.
13: I don't watch television; I'll watch movies, but not television.
14: I love gambling, and I'm working on becoming a con artist.
15: I'm a felon in the United States.
16: I have an accent (in English) that belies my typing skill.
17: I actually own my dream car (Toyota MR2 MKII).
18: I participated in this.
19: I hate this number.
20: I'm a real-live, actual DJ.

My current top 10 tracks:
1: John Kelly - Funkasaurus
2: Varian - Desire (Mark Otten Energetic Mix)
3: Shiloh - Baby (Brutalized Mix)
4: Rees & Mead - Got Love
5: Pete Gooding feat. Nina - Dance Electric (Punk Mix)
6: George Hales - Autum Falls (Alucard's Skyway Breaks Mix)
7: Christopher Lawrence - New Day
8: Serge Devant feat. Jan Johnston - Transparent (Benz & MD's Aurium Mix)
9: Jimmy Hill - The Good Sandwich Vibe
10: Midway - Travelling

]]> `rayvinazn http://rayvinazn.deviantart.com/journal/6497542/ http://rayvinazn.deviantart.com/journal/6497542/ Sat, 17 Sep 2005 06:03:50 PDT I don't create the tunes; I create the mood.
I don't play records; I play the perfect record.
I don't play your favourite tune; I play your new favourite for the first time.
I don't follow those that have gone before me; I showcase those yet to come.
I don't have a reportoire; I have every tune ever recorded at my disposal.
I made the Beatles famous.
I dictate the world's musical taste.
I am the past, present, and future of music.
I am the DJ; I am the new face of music.

Note: This is not meant as a personal statement, but more as broad-spectrum praise for DJ's all across the world.

As a new feature to my journal, I'll be adding a top 10 track selection section. This does not mean these tracks are fresh, only that they were just (re)discovered by myself, and I'd like to share them with you all. Most of them can be found and purchased at Beatport, but if it isn't available there, Juno should have them as a sample, but as a vinyl-only release. I'm doing this since a lot of my watchers seem more interested in my talent behind the decks rather than my mediocre, half-hearted, and increasingly infrequent attempts at visual art. So here it is folks, what I'm currently caning the hell out of:

1: Marc Marberg - Guarana (Arctic Quest Remix)
2: Above & Beyond feat. Andy Moor - Air For Life
3: Lange vs. GTR - This Is New York
4: Seyton - The Drake Equation
5: Kosmas Epsilon - Sorry For Being Rude
6: Kyau vs. Albert - Falling Anywhere
7: Ave Mea - In The End (Hydroid vs. Santiago Nino Mix)
8: Ashtrax - Something To Get Through
9: Bombdogs - I Can't Explain (Lawler's Summer of Love Mix)
10: BCML - Mr. Horowitz

As a sort of contest type thing, I'm looking to add on to my original entry ("I am the DJ" bit), but since I'm not a poet, I can't seem to find the words. If anyone has any insights, lines, criticisms, or if you just want to seem helpful, feel free to send me a note, or comment on this journal, and if your suggestion is deemed as useful, I'll work out some sort of reward system. This is my first time doing this, so I don't want to offer up 3-month subs for everyone that helps, and find out that the entire DJ community on dA has kept me under surveillance these past few years, and suddenly decides to cash in.

]]> `rayvinazn http://rayvinazn.deviantart.com/journal/6241735/ http://rayvinazn.deviantart.com/journal/6241735/ Tue, 16 Aug 2005 09:16:28 PDT
When requesting a song from the DJ, just say "play my song", or "it goes something like this" then hum a few bars! We have a chip implanted in our heads with an unlimited database with the favorite tunes of every patron who ever walked into a bar & all songs ever recorded, so feel free to be vague, we love the challenge.

If we do not remember exactly what tune you want, we're only kidding. DJs know every song ever recorded, so keep humming. Hum harder if need be ... it helps jog the memory.

If a DJ tells you they do not know a song you want to hear, they either forgot that they know the tune or they are just putting you on. Try singing a few words for the DJ. Any words.

It also helps to scream your request from across the room several times per set followed by the phrases, "AW COME ON!" and, "YOU SUCK!" Exaggerated hand gestures expressing disapproval from the dance floor are a big help as well, such as the thumbs down or your middle finger. Put-downs are the best way to jog a DJ’s memory. This instantly promotes you to the status of "Personal Friend Of The DJ."

DJs are notorious fakers & jokesters and never really prepare for their shows.They simply walk on stage with no prior thought to what they will do once they arrive. A DJ's job is so easy, even a monkey could do it, so don't let them off the hook easily. Your request is all that matters.

If a house DJ had played at the club a few weeks ago, the next DJ that follows will automatically know every house tune the previous DJ ever played, even if the current DJ is a breaks or jungle DJ. It's the law. Feel free to yell "Tupac or Biggie!!" to a DJ that plays strictly house for example.

IMPORTANT

When an DJ leans over to hear you better, grab his or her head in both hands and yell directly into their ear, while holding their head securely so they cannot pull away.This will be taken as an invitation to a friendly & playful game of tug of war between their head and your hands.

Don't give up! Hang on until the DJ submits. DJs are protected by their equipment, & only play the game when tricked into coming out from behind their turntables. Though difficult to get them to play, it's not impossible, so keep trying. They're especially vulnerable during mixing songs.

TALKING WITH THE DJ

The best time to discuss anything with the DJ in any meaningful way is when he is in the mix. Our hearing is so advanced that we can pick out your tiny voice from the megawatt wall of sound blasting all around us. DJs are expert lip readers too. If a DJ does not reply to your question or comment during a tune, it's because they didn't get a good look at your mouth in order to read your lips.

Simply continue to scream your request & be sure to over emphasize the words with your lips. This helps immensely. Don't be fooled.

DJs have the innate ability to answer questions & mix at the same time. If the DJ doesn't answer your questions immediately, regardless of how stupid the question may seem, it's because they are purposely ignoring you. If this happens, immediately cop an attitude. We love this.

HELPING THE DJ

If you inform the DJ that you are a DJ, the DJ will appreciate your help with the next few tunes, or however long you can remain standing on stage. Simply feel free to walk up on stage & join in. By the way, the drunker you are, the better you sound.

Keep in mind that nothing assists the DJ more than outrageous dancing, or a tambourine played out of tempo. Try the congas, they love the challenge. The DJ always needs the help & will take this as a compliment.

BONUS TIP

As a last resort, wait until the DJ takes a break and then get on stage and start playing their records. They love this. Even if you are ejected from the club, you can rest assured in the fact that you have successfully completed your audition. The club owner will call you immediately the following day to offer you a position.

Any DJ who has been outside the bedroom: You know what I'm talking about. ]]> `rayvinazn http://rayvinazn.deviantart.com/journal/6144556/ http://rayvinazn.deviantart.com/journal/6144556/ Fri, 05 Aug 2005 19:17:15 PDT Hiroshima

Almost exactly 60 years ago, America, after years of war with the Empire of Japan, decided that the Japanese were too ruthless, fierce, and loyal to fight legitimately, and dropped their first atomic weapon, dubbed "Little Boy" on the Empire of Japan in an attempt to quash the fighting spirit that burned for thousands of years. The casualties were well over 75,000; nearly all civilian. A vast majority of my family, including most of the Nakagawa, Ota, Kusuhara, Hiraoka, and Yamanaka families were within ground zero of the blast. By the end of 1945, the death rate was nearly doubled by radiation poisening, and the effects lasted for decades to come, killing thousands more.

Japan did many horrible things during the war, including slavery, subjugation, and slaughter; I'm not condoning the acts of the Empire during the war. The conduct of the servants of the Emperor were not honourable; however, that does not make the actions of the US somehow better or more of a blow for freedom. Maybe you had an uncle on the allied side; maybe more than one. But how many of you can honestly tell me that entire parts of your family were destroyed without so much as a chance to retaliate? It wasn't the soldiers in my family that died there. It was the women, the children, the elderly. And they didn't even have the honour of being able to look their killer in the eyes. They stood no chance in the face of the atomic weaponry that was barely understood at its time of deployment.

Today I remember those that gave their lives without knowing why or how. They will live on in me, guiding my actions, and aiding me in times of spiritual error. I will do my best to respect the family still remaining, and give hope to those still to come. This incident will never be forgotten amongst those that follow me, and its memory will never fade from the stones that read Hiraoka.

]]> `rayvinazn http://rayvinazn.deviantart.com/journal/6032648/ http://rayvinazn.deviantart.com/journal/6032648/ Mon, 25 Jul 2005 19:57:26 PDT It's only playing other people's records...

DJs track down greatness in music and squeeze it together. Like a master chef who picks just one perfect cherry from each tree to make his pie, a DJ condenses the work and talent of hundreds of musicians into a single concentrated performance, DJs bring all the right things together - that's why we love them so much.

And they make it to measure. None of this off-the-rack, one-size-fits-all rubbish; when you hear a DJ play, you're getting a unique performance, exactly suited to the moment. Proper DJs don't just trot out a load of nice tunes, they think carefully about the time, the place, and the people in front of them, and choose something that's perfect.

This is the real skill of DJing, and it doesn't come easily. Knowing music, finding music, understanding music is something that takes years. And once you've started, there's no end. The real work of a DJ happens behind the scenes - searching dark record stores, devouring endless lists and daunting stacks of vinyl, and sniffing out the wonders they contain. Playing records is rarely hard work, but doing the research and amassing the knowledge to do it well is a full-time job.

The other great task ahead of you is to learn about people. You know your own musical tastes; now you have to understand everyone else's. Not only that, but you must learn about their feelings - what makes them laugh and smile and dance and go crazy. Again, this takes time and experience. Your brain must record and tabulate the wildly different emotions music can generate. A great librarian knows which shelves the raunchiest, most revolutionary books are on; a great guitarist knows where all the good notes live. A great DJ knows which records make people lose themselves.

A musician, however legendary, is trapped by the limitations of his instrument. But as a DJ, you have the entire history of recorded sound to play with. Unlike a band, forced to plow through your back catalog (again) through bad amplifiers, you can choose from every artist, every track, every remix ever made, and you can deliver them with clear, crisp studio perfection. You might pick the funkiest two bars of a musician's entire life and loop them as a little intro. You might take two records made thirty years apart and place them neatly side by side. You might pick the one track Supertramp made that can send a deep house crowd bonkers (we're not telling) and happily dismiss everything else in their entire career as pointless. We won't deny that the average musician is probably far more talented than the average DJ, but doubtless the DJ controls far more musical power than the musician ever did.



As a DJ, you become the focus for the greatness in the music you play. All the emotional force, the lyrical, spiritual impact of your records, gets reflected back to you - even if you're tired and slightly shitfaced and keen to see the end of the night. Track down some good tunes, patchwork them together, and people act as if you've made all this music from scratch. It becomes truely your performance. "Curses" say the world's rock stars. "Here's my room number," says the DJ.

Added to this is the job's enviable cultural clout. The DJ is the tastemaker, the discoverer, the champion of a new sound or scene. No musical movement can spread its wings too far without the DJ's approval. People still write endless books about how Muddy Waters, the Beatles, and Bob Dylan change music. The truth is they wouldn't have affected much beyond their own backyards without DJ's playing their records. And a good DJ is by definition a permanent revolutionary. While musicians live in a time capsule built around their one greatest year, a DJ is always searching for the next song - "the new Fatboy Slim single," not the old one; "the next U2," not the last lot - never playing the same set twice for fear of losing his reputation as music's evangelist. The DJ is the only figure with any power in the music industry who isn't an indentured slave to the record labels and their conservatism - the greatest freelance music maker to date.

Thanks to this gunslingin' freedom, the DJ has for nearly fifty years been music's prime mover. The DJ realized his power when he cultivated the first rhythm and blues, then rock 'n' roll, and despite murderous opposition (ask Alan Freed) spread them across the airwaves. Since then the DJ has snatched the keys to music's patent office and conspired with postmodernism to lock the musician out. Live music sustained itself by dreaming of the next big thing and reheating rock every ten years. Meanwhile, the truly novel forms were being created by the collision of vinyl on DJs' turntables. Reggae, disco, hip hop, house, techno, drum & bass, garage - all forms born and bred not by musicians, but by the DJ. These genres didn't emerge from s... ]]> `rayvinazn http://rayvinazn.deviantart.com/journal/6013181/ http://rayvinazn.deviantart.com/journal/6013181/ Sat, 23 Jul 2005 13:14:41 PDT
I've been gone for a few weeks, I was in jail on an assault charge that got knocked down to a fine since it was in self-defense. Go me.

I'll try to read all those journals, look at all those pictures, reply to your comments, etc. in the days to come.

Right now, I need a drink.

This post brought to you by a lack of alcohol. ]]> `rayvinazn http://rayvinazn.deviantart.com/journal/5478895/ http://rayvinazn.deviantart.com/journal/5478895/ Tue, 07 Jun 2005 21:08:57 PDT
Sorry, but I don't give a fuck about race. It's a stupid point, and saying that you're proud to be "White" or "Black" is fucking ridiculous, and only encourages racism. Be proud to be German. Be proud to be Swedish. Be proud to be Nigerian, Ethiopain, Irish, Vietnamese, Russian, or something that isn't solely based around some minor bone structure, a few genetic features, and the amount of melanin in your skin.

I could give a fuck what race you are, but if you have pride in a culture that no doubt spans thousands of years, you have my respect. If you're only proud of a tradition that forgets your past, all disrespect intented, go fuck yourself. Hip-hop, cross-burning, whatever bullshit has been conjured up in the last few hundred years doesn't amount to shit-all of anything. Get a real culture, be proud of it, and quit acting like a fucking wanker because you can't remember what culture you actually belong to.

Fuck Black pride, fuck White power.

Pride in yourself, your heritage, and your culture.

Side note: There are Asians, Hispanics, and Indians out there too. We don't give a shit about the "Black vs. White" issue. It's moronic. Reconcile and shut the fuck up.

Due to both =xexa and =MattGreen passing on the musical Baton to myself, I have complied with their wishes, and added it into my journal.

Total Music Volume (Approximate):
600 CD's
50 Mixtapes
150 Vinyls
248 Files, totalling 3.98 GB and over 30 hours of music. (Legally Purchased digital downloads)
105 Files, totalling 11.3 GB and over 139 hours of music (Legally downloaded livesets/radio shows)

Last CD Bought:
Mylo - Destroy Rock & Roll
Tilt - Explorer
Pole Folder - Zero Gold
Johnathan Lisle - Original Series OS.0_2
Chris Fortier - Balance 007

Song Playing Right Now:
Dave Brennan - Drink Deep (Zabiela Vox Version)

Five Songs that I have been listening to a lot recently:
The Rogue Element - Calm (Original Mix)
Sound Alliance - Instead Of...
Jamie Stevens - The Night Before (Momu Remix)
Jerry Bonham - Sequence (Original Mix)
Those Two Guys - 33 Rev (Blake Jarrell & Starkid's Crunker Remix)

If you recognize any of those tracks/CD's, you're a stud.

This post brought to you by gin & tonic. ]]> `rayvinazn http://rayvinazn.deviantart.com/journal/5259291/ http://rayvinazn.deviantart.com/journal/5259291/ Tue, 03 May 2005 18:50:34 PDT
If the description of the genre takes longer than it would take to just write out all the completely undisputed artists in said genre, then it isn't actually a genre, and only a style.

This post brought to you by vodka & cranberry juice. ]]> `rayvinazn http://rayvinazn.deviantart.com/journal/4859165/ http://rayvinazn.deviantart.com/journal/4859165/ Sun, 10 Apr 2005 14:48:48 PDT
Cleaned up thanks to ~seinin.

iMod thanks to `jnc

]]> `rayvinazn http://rayvinazn.deviantart.com/journal/4646667/ http://rayvinazn.deviantart.com/journal/4646667/ Tue, 22 Feb 2005 16:35:28 PST
Aside from a few well-known and commonly used acronyms, nobody knows what the fuck you're talking about. If you want to use an acronym like DVD, ATM, or URL, that's fine. But if you use them for your favourite brands, movies, video games, etc. you sound like a pretentious tosser.

Acronyms are used to shorten something that really does require shortening. Automatic Teller Machine is a bit of a mouthful. Lord of the Rings, however, is not. Quit being so lazy, get your fingers some exercise, and type the acronym out.

]]> `rayvinazn http://rayvinazn.deviantart.com/journal/4572258/ http://rayvinazn.deviantart.com/journal/4572258/ Sun, 13 Feb 2005 17:41:16 PST
Something I've noticed about people that get a little too niggly with their genres: They narrow it down so far, that the genre basically covers only the music they like. I see peope in all genres do it; they're willing to use huge, broad names for music they don't like, but go in such intricate detail about the music that they like, they end up creating their own little safe-haven constructs out of labels.

Rather than using musical differences to create their genres, these people use their own personal taste (and usually far too many adjectives) to wrap a coccoon around themselves and shelter them from any "harmful" outside musical influences.

]]> `rayvinazn http://rayvinazn.deviantart.com/journal/4450357/ http://rayvinazn.deviantart.com/journal/4450357/ Sun, 30 Jan 2005 02:35:03 PST
The human brain is massively underrated by most people that have "problems". It is capable of things we never even dreamed of, and then some.

I'd say almost any problem we have in our lives is within our scope to correct, as long as we know how to do it. We can block out painful memories, convince ourselves to subconciously attain our goals, and rationalize anything to suit ourselves. Almost any problem we have is self-induced.

Some people hate their lives, and want to commit suicide. Why? They think it will give them that which they imagine they don't have in life. This is a problem easily remedied; change what you want in life. You don't need everything you see on your TV, you don't need anything you don't have usually. Here's something to mull over; what was the last time you heard of someone poor, starving and homeless commit suicide? You don't; they have convinced themselves to succeed. They don't have all the comforts of middle-class life, so they strive to be at that level; no matter the cost.

Not enough money? No family members that love you? TV not big enough? Not enough video games? These things can be yours, provided you lose some of your scruples. All these problems are self-induced. First off, you don't actually need these things in the first place. You can survive on your own. Let's say, for the sake of argument, you do. Steal them. Sell drugs and make your money. Anything can be obtained if you step outside that moral cage you have encased yourself in. The world is yours; you can be the next Tony Montana, if you will yourself to.

Bottom line: You are the cause, penance, and solution to all your own problems. The only thing you have to scrap are your morals and ideals. Your illusions. Live your life like you want; your brain can rationalize anything.

]]> `rayvinazn