Mixcloud

Another cloud floats across the horizon. Will it drift on by or cause a thunderstorm?

Internet-radio isn’t new, but Mixcloud tries another approach by giving you, the user, the power to choose who or what you want to hear. DJ-mixes, radio-shows, podcasts, it’s all possible and very easy for both user and producer. “Re-think radio”, as the tagline states.

The adventure starts by typing keywords in the search-bar or taking a pick from a selection on the front-page. Techno, Hip-Hop, Podcast, showcase and even talk-show, it’s all possible. A lot of well known artists are already strutting their stuff on the website along with new deejaying talent and radio hosts. Everything is linkable to your Twitter or Facebook page to keep friend, fiend and followers up-to-date with what you are listening to. But, you can also embed your favorite show or mix anywhere by means of copy/pasting some HTML code.

From the producer side of things: When uploading a ’show’ you get to set a slider (in percentage) how much music and talk is used in your episode. During the upload you can fill out some extra details like tags, the tracklist (or chapters, whatever applies to you), album-art and some extra information like a background story or a short description. when done it’s just a matter of embedding HTML code to share your latest show/mix. The only limitation is the file size as shows are not allowed to be bigger than a hundred megabyte, no matter how long it’s total playtime. This could still change as Mixcloud is still in beta-stage and my guess is that they’ll offer a paid subscription to suite your digital footprint.

Soundcloud might have become the standard for sharing music in “the cloud” but Mixcloud is the perfect solution for DJ mixes, podcasts and radio-shows. Mixcloud is totally free and in that perspective beats Soundcloud which is only free up to two hours of sound, which is Soundcloud’s biggest drawback in my opinion. (I don’t intend to pay $30 a year for a little server-space.) But then again, Mixcloud and Soundcloud are two different websites. Mixcloud is NOT intended for uploading single tracks and Soundcloud was intended to host single tracks only, even though many DJ’s upload their mixes there.

Below you’ll find my promotional mix KIX Arrivals. If you like what you hear you can also download it for free over at Prowess Records.

Bonsjoerd – 8-Bits of loneliness

The end of the year is coming, and all over the place you’ll notice “top 1000″’s, “best this” and “best that’s of the year” appear on the web, TV and radio. In this post I’ll tell you who my favorite DJ of the year 2009 is.

Drumroll….

His name is Sjoerd and goes by the moniker “BonSjoerd“. He lives in Groningen, like me he mixes techno, tech-house, minimal and deep-house, but he uses completely different tracks and mixes ever so subtle. I listened one of his demo mixes many times while taking walks in Japan. A few weeks ago, when I told him I was missing Japan and wanted to go back, he made a mix for me! Luckily he uploaded the whole thing to soundcloud so everyone can enjoy.

So, here’s to my favorite DJ of 2009!

Bonsjoerd – 8 Bits Of Loneliness by Bonsjoerd

Reminiscing Part 3 – Elektro

As any techno lover knows (or should know) elektro played a huge part in the development of the techno genre. So here are a few modern classics which I played a lot in my DJ-sets.

Vitalic – La Rock 01

This track never diminishes in popularity, and for me, the EP never bores me.

Miss Kittin – Requiem For A Hit Featuring LA Williams

A hard, pounding Elektro beat, funny lyrics and an even funnier break with R&B added to the mix. This track was a huge hit among DJ’s and dance-floor-dwellers alike.

Next time in “Reminiscing“: Under the acid influence

Reminiscing Part 2 – Halfway between Latin & Elektro

So actually, this techno has more in common with Tech-house. But because of the tribal rhythms I’ll just stick with this post-name.

Adam Bayer – Remainings III

A Tech-House tribal hand drum combined with deep progressive synthesizer lines. This track always illustrates to me how much of a trance one can reach from listening to almost the same thing for minutes on end, while slowly progressing to an raw finish. In this case reached by a ever so slowly opening low-pass filter. This track wouldn’t look out of place in today’s minimal settings as well.

Midfield General – Coatnoise (Dave Clarke Remix)

In a way, a similar track to the previous one. Dave Clarke’s remix of Coatnoise (probably called that way for the sound of the modulated saw-wave) always gets people dancing and cheering. Is it the tribal rhythm or the synth-line? I guess it’s both. I already found this track on one of Dave Clarke’s compilations (World Service), but imagine the rush I felt when finding this one for cheap on a small record market in the center of Utrecht.

In the next installment of “Reminiscing“: Elektro