Hipster Overkill

Adventures at Webster Hall w/ Ninjasonic, Klever, D.I.M.

Dominic — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 19:40:00 GMT

ADVENTURES AT WEBSTER HALL, NEW YORK
STARRING: NINJASONIC, KLEVER, D.I.M.

[You can see photos of the Girls & Boys/Mishka party @ Webster Hall 08/28/2009 HERE or on FLICKR]

In our never ending pursuit of happiness and the desire to share it with the world I embarked on a trip to Webster Hall this past Friday, August 28th to catch a few favorites (Klever, D.I.M.) and to see what the hype is all about (Ninjasonic). They say that how your night begins is how it will end...thank goodness people who say that don't know what the fuck they're talking about.

It all started in a line that we mistook for the general admission line because there is no way the guest list line would be longer than the one for general admission, right? WRONG! It seems that the powers that be over at Webster Hall could care less if you are a reporter who drove from another state to get an interview and are on a tight schedule. Maybe if I had tits it would have been a different story but until that Twilight Zone episode becomes reality I'll have to make my own assumptions. 15 minutes into our wait, a female member of a British crew next to us became frozen against the wall. I figured that she was probably not in deep thought about whether Arsenal won that afternoon and deduced that this was not so much a medical problem as it was a medication issue. The policeman conveniently standing next to us quickly took notice prompting the friends, who are obviously thinking they'll get deported because of this, quickly lie, horribly, saying, "she's fine, it's one of her panic attacks." Almost on cue, the girl's eyes went blank as if she was staring at the devil himself, began to scream, and lost control of her legs before her friends caught her. 20 minutes later, we're not only watching 2 EMT workers carry this girl into an ambulance but we're still in line and getting rained on. VIP line? I strongly disagree.

50 minutes of waiting and we are finally a few people away from entering the club thanks to the 30 or so people in front of us that had more common sense than me and decided to go to another venue. Anxious as hell because I'm 10 minutes past my set interview time with Klever, I'm forced to find entertainment as a voyer spying on the inebriated scenesters who keep popping up and who all seem to know each other. Maybe if all these guys who think they're somebody weren't hounding the velvet rope proclaiming to be special the club would actually let us in and my experience would be smoother and much much dryer.

Webster Hall dancer (left) & Ninjasonic (right photo)

75 drizzle soaked, LSD tripping British girl, wannabe scenester minutes later the door man decides to arbitrarily start letting us in to discover that the club has a comfortable amount of people inside but is far from being packed. Rather than rack my brain trying to understand door man politics (I'll get my 10 year old step-son to do that later) I decided to look forward by heading up stairs to the Ninjasonic show. Remeber back in the 90's when Hip-Hop shows were everywhere and every artist had their 30 man entourage on stage and finding the actual rapper was a sort of ian mpromptu game of "Where's Waldo"? Well, it seems that times have not changed very much. You'd think that after 15 years of people saying, "you know why I don't go to Rap shows? Too many people on stage." the message would sink in. Then again, these new rappers were probably 10 years old at the time of my mid 90's hey day (some might call it the "Golden Age" of rap), so I try to find something else to enjoy. Too bad I didn't. No stage presence, corney crowd chants, and a catalogue of music featuring lyrics the 2 Live crew could have wrote in 1989 lead me to ponder why the blogosphere have decided this group is worth writing about. Will this night get any better...

Klever (top photo), 2 party goers at Webster Hall (bottom photo)

YES, it did. Klever comes on around 1:30am and promptly begins killing it as if his life depended on it. The crowd starts flooding the area in front of the stage and my ass is finally freed from the seat it had been glued to for the past 30 minutes. Hard Electro on a great sound system, hot women, 2 full bars and suddenly I feel like I 'm at a party. Back to business, I pry myself from the dancefloor and quickly find my way backstage to salvage my trip. I might have missed getting Klever on camera but I've got plenty of time for D.I.M., the German producer behind tracks like "Sysiphos", "Lyposuct", and a sick remix of Chromeo's "Fancy Footwork". Adam, my contact from the AM Only management team goes to talk to the man only to return and say that today's tragic news of DJ AM passing has put our German subject in a state of unease. In short, he's not doing the interview. Once again I am forced to look forward. 3:00am rolls around and D.I.M. takes stage. Despite doing all his mixing within the computer using Traktor (a bit disappointing) his set list is undeniably infectious. Within a few minutes I'm banging my head to his heavy, almost industrial influenced brand of Electro like I'm high at a Metallica show. The cool thing about New York is that people here are extremely liberal compared to most places. I know this because of the countless displays of PDA in every section of the club, the random girl on girl action, and how quickly women are requesting to be photographed by us without needing to know whether we are bloggers or perverts with an expensive camera. 60 sweat drenched minutes later (much more enjoyable than the preceding 75 rain drenched minutes) and the club is setting up to close so we decide to make our way back to Harlem before the drunken crowds flood the streets. All in all, an enjoyable trip. Did I mention that Klever, despite his semi-menacing tattoo'd punk rock appearance, is a very cool person and has promised to do an interview the next day? Well, we got an interview, handled business, and shot a roll of photos that prove that despite how the night starts it can always flip.

Check out our photo album from the night HERE on www.HipsterOverkill.com or on FLICKR

- The Big Ragu

The Debate over Twitter :: "Lifecasting" vs. "Mindcasting

Dominic — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 19:00:00 GMT

Hipster Overkill Business Blog

As the debate over Twitter's social relevance continues it seems that a valid answer has been proposed under the debate banner of "Lifecasting" vs. "Mindcasting". The difference? Lifecasting is the typical tweeting that is represented by post like, "I just had a chicken sandwich at McDonalds" or "heading to the club to meet friends". This type of communication has become addictive to some, but to many it represents the downfall of civilizations ability to socialize and use technology in an intillectual manner.

Writer Jason W. Bunyan recently released this enlightening article that may just sway the naysayers on the Twitter debate.

- D. Painter

MINDCASTING: THE NEW BLUE OCEAN

By Jason W. Bunyan

Where business is concerned, we often use social networks to communicate about things that are and have been — perhaps it’s time we use them to set the stage for things that will be. The evolving practice of mindcasting is an effective way to broadcast messages within Twitter and could prove useful to businesses that are still in the development phase, but seek innovative ways to cultivate relationships with third-tier customers and differentiate themselves from the competition while keeping costs low.

Mindcasting, a term and evolving set of practices developed by New York University journalism professor Jay Rosen, is the act of building an editorial presence in Twitter by filtering, processing and structuring the flow of information that moves through the medium using one’s follow list, journalistic sensibilities and individual right to publish updates.

“Mindcasting came about when I was trying to achieve a very high signal-to noise-ratio,” Rosen explained to the Los Angeles Times on March 11. Rosen sent out tweets pointing to the best media news and analysis he could find, 15 or 20 times a day. “I could work on the concept of a Twitter feed as an editorial product of my own.”

The product is complex and effective. Its structure, which he likens to television broadcasting in some respects, gives readership a multi-layered experience and offers a generous amount of hyperlinks to source material. “A day in my Twitter feed always has one or two themes,” Rosen says. “And it has themes because I will follow up on items, or I will [provide] another example of something that I just said … return to a subject, or I’ll find a number of different stories that will do the same thing.”

Mindcasting’s practices continue to emerge and develop. Its current form has the following attributes:

Account title to the discretion of the owner
Follow list used as an editorial filter
Three content layers: established, daily and one-off themes that interact dialectically
Posts, done 15-20 times per day at different intervals
Professionally written tone
Direct interaction with audience/readership
Liberal, sensible use of hyperlinks
Fully articulated thoughts
No retweets

Businesses seeking to apply tenets of the Blue Ocean Strategy (BOS) could benefit from using Mindcasting practices. In BOS, red and blue oceans are a metaphor for the market as a whole. Red oceans represent markets that are known to exist, have defined and accepted boundaries and are host to competitive tactics.

Blue oceans, in contrast, denote all the industries not in existence today – the unknown market space, untainted by competition. In blue oceans, demand is created rather than fought over. In blue oceans, competition is irrelevant because the rules of the game are waiting to be set. Mindcasting could be a powerful practice to use while applying BOS, specifically in two respects:

Value innovation: differentiation at low-cost

Defined as the simultaneous pursuit of differentiation and low cost, value innovation focuses on making the competition irrelevant by creating a leap of value for buyers and for the company, thereby opening up new and uncontested market space.

Here, mindcasting could bring value to companies who seek to create an active environment for industry discussion but have low resources or want to cut cost. While some may feel that mindcasting is difficult to distinguish from other Twitter accounts, the practice is different not only superficially, but also with respect to the perception it creates. Mindcasting maintains a degree of formality that can be useful for businesses that need to appear credible.

Well-known brands such as iPhone, Tesla and Pitchfork can afford to send messages that traverse the continuum that exists between mindcasting and lifecasting, but as established organizations with well-known products and images, their level of brand recognition and industry-specific celebrity allows them to do so.

For less well-known businesses that have joined Twitter as a part of a larger plan to gain notoriety but want to avoid tweeting their blog or Web address, or overloading followers with unrelated industry information, Mindcasting could be a strong solution that at present only costs time and thought.

Exploration and expansion of third-tier customer base

BOS identifies three tiers of customers. First-tier customers are “soon-to-be non customers who are on the edge of your market waiting to jump ship. Second-tier customers are ‘refusing’ non customers who consciously choose against your market. Third-tier customers are the unexplored non customers who are in markets distant from your business who were not aware of your services, and could become interested in learning more about your business.

Combined with its search capabilities, Twitter’s transparency gives businesses the opportunity to reach out and connect with whomever they choose, whether it’s followers of other competitors, prominent news outlets or other companies with whom a business hopes to align itself in the near future.

Mindcasting is valuable in this context because it has the potential to transform an everyday account into an immersive experience that begins formulating brand conception in a user’s mind before the first pitch is given, or the first product is available on the market.

Though mindcasting’s practices are continuing to evolve, its success suggests that members of the media who seek to encourage dialogue could benefit from studying its method. For businesses that are in development and seeking to establish themselves before they make it to market, mindcasting could be an effective transitional step that could land potential future customers, encourage partnerships with other organizations and assist in the formulation of a powerful brand at reduced cost.

Jason W. Bunyan is a consultant, new media writer for the New York Examiner, and founder of IFN Film and IFN Music — online groups created to serve as resources for festival professionals. He can be reached on LinkedIn or via Twitter at @jbunyan75.

originally posted on www.digitalmediabuzz.com

Brand New -- Fake Blood EP!!!!!!!

Wed, 26 Aug 2009 16:52:00 GMT

Fake Blood is back at it again with a three song EP gem ranging from hard crunching electro to some classic French House!

If you download anything today start your day right with this!

Enjoy

Fix Your Accent EP -- Fake Blood

http://www.divshare.com/playlist/590541-099

DAPTONE releases lost album by FELA KUTI protege

Dominic — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 17:20:00 GMT

30 YEAR OLD GEM DISCOVERED
FELA KUTI'S PROTEGE
PAX NICHOLAS ARD

The undisputed king of Afrobeat music is Fela Kuti, and NEVER underestimate the power of a king. Ghanaian born Nicholoas Addo-Nettey (later professionally known as Pax Nicholas) moved to Nigeria in the early 70's with dreams of becoming a professional musician. Despite desires to follow his idols of American Soul, including James Brown and Otis Redding, he was introduced to the budding Afrobeat scene and ultimately to Fela Kuti, becoming a percussionist in his Africa 70 band along side drummer Tony Allen among others. Being in the most dominant band in African popular music gave Nicholas access to the best studios and engineers leading him to produced his first solo album, Mind Your Own Business, in 1971 with a 1973 follow up Na Teef Know The Road Of Teef. You don't become as legendary as Fela without being a little...I mean, really really bull headed. Upon hearing Na Teef and seeing the reaction to it's strong collection of songs, Fela was quoted as saying, "Don't you ever, EVER play it again!". In a kingdom, you never disobey the one ruling king. As a result, the album was buried in the minds of those who created it and left to be forgotton.

Fast forward 36 years, Daptone Records (Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings) are releasing this lost gem thanks to DJ SoulPusher's deep deep crate digging leading to it's re-discovery. It fits complimentary beside the classic Fela albums and will satisfy anyone hungry for new but authentically 70's Afrobeat Funk jams.

So where is Pax Nicholas now? In line with Fela's legendary story, Pax was present at the times of the notorious police attacks on Kuti's Kalakuta compound which he had proclaimed indepentant of the Nigerian government. After repeated attacks and 9 unjust months in prison Pax and other Africa 70 artists decided to make new lives for themselves in Europe while on tour there. Despite remaining a professional musician since starting a family in Germany it can be assumed that Daptone's reissue will be a vindication of his past work and worth as more than a liner note in Fela's catalogue.

Album in stores SEPTEMBER 1, 2009!!!
Daptone Records
Worlds Fair

FOR MORE INFO VISIT

www.worlds-fair.net

Tribal Enemy -- DJ Twist

Tue, 18 Aug 2009 14:53:00 GMT

Over the last few months, Tribal House has truly been on the rise with hits such as Pon De Floor and Let The Bass Kick leading the way. As you might expect, producers and djs are trying to capitalize on the buzz by putting out their versions/remixes. DJ Twist's remix of Public Enemy, Tribal Enemy, is not only a solid effort but is guaranteed to be a club banger with staying power. It perfectly melds the Tribal House elements with the potency of Chuck D's lyrics and will be a favorite of Dance Music fans as well as Hip-Hop heads.

If you'd like to hear more from DJ Twist (which I know you do), then check out his website:
http://www.djtwist.net

OR you can catch one of his sets at:

8/21 -- The Deck -- Monthly Resident (Philly)
8/22 -- The Penthouse, Rivington Hotel, NYC (Sat. Resident)
8/26 -- Rock of Ages 80's Cruise, NYC
8/29 -- The Penthouse, Rivington Hotel, NYC (Sat. Resident)

Enjoy
DG

Tribal Enemy -- DJ Twist
[CLICK TO DOWNLOAD]

Iron Man 2 footage :: WATCH BEFORE IT'S GONE!

Dominic — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 16:30:00 GMT

IRON MAN 2

Leaked Footage From Comicon 2009

Yeah, Movie Geek knows he's late on posting this, but if you didn't see it on the other sites within the week it was posted then you didn't see it yet. That's right, Comicon attendees were treated to 5 minutes of footage from the most highly anticipated movie of 2010, Iron Man 2. As is always feared by studios, someone used their cell phone to record the sneak peak only to have it posted on hundreds of sites within days. Marvel & Paramount quickly swooped in with Cease & Desist letters plucking it from virtually everywhere...well, not everywhere.

We found one last site that has it (big up to JoBlo.com) and here's the link..WATCH IT BEFORE IT"S GONE:

http://nicksmovieblog-macattack.blogspot.com/2009/08/leaked-footage-of-iron-man-2-from-comic.html

In this film, Robert Downey Jr. returns as industrialist Tony Stark who has let the cat out the bag that he is Iron Man. His best friend James Rhodes who was played by Terrence Howard in the first film has been replaced by Don Cheadle who will become the 2nd Iron Man known as War Machine (as seen in the photo above). The villain this time is Whip Lash played by Mickey Rourke. The always sexy Scarlett Johansson will portray Black Widow, a russian spy who ultimately becomes an Avenger (so look forward to seeing more of her in the Avengers movie in a couple of years).

There's a lot to look forward to and I'm planning on being first in line at the midnight screenings next July. See you there.

- M.G.

Nouveau Riche Triple Pack

Thu, 13 Aug 2009 14:36:00 GMT

Nouveau Riche is a dj crew from Washington, DC which has been on the come up for a while now. They have a monthly that has gained alot of attention nationally and have had guest djs such as AC Slater, Sinden, et al. Now they've started to leak out some of their studio work and it's as impressive as their monthly!

Earlier this week, Gavin Holland, one third of Nouveau Riche shot me an email of their latest productions. Two are remixes and one is an original track. The original track is Gavin's own creation entitled, Damn, which is a bassline driven track that morphs into a hard crunching electro track using a well known Beck sample. The other two tracks in the triple pack are Steve Starks' Wicked B-More Remix of Armand Van Helden's Witch Doktor and Nacey's smoothed out melodic re-invention of La Roux's

Bulletproof .

For more info on Nouveau Riche, check out:

Nouveau Riche Facebook Page

Enjoy

Nouveau Riche Triple Pack

[CLICK TO DOWNLOAD]

Benny Down The Hill -- Tittsworth and Reed Rothchild

Thu, 13 Aug 2009 13:33:00 GMT

When I was growing up I can remember staying up late on Sundays trying to watch episodes of Benny Hill. He was my hero because the guy was meeting tons of women and had one of the greatest theme songs in TV History. Well fast forward some years later and Tittsworth and Reed Rothchild bring me full circle to my childhood by remixing Benny Hill's theme song into a club banger! They take the original, Yakity Sax, chop it up, throw in a Miami Bass/Bmore break, and assemble a remix of epic proportions.

Enjoy

Benny Down The Hill -- Tittsworth and Reed Rothchild

[CLICK TO DOWNLOAD]

Movie Geek :: G.I. JOE the movie SUCKS!...And knowing is half the battle.

Sat, 08 Aug 2009 04:44:00 GMT

G.I. JOE MOVIE SUCKS!

AND KNOWING IS HALF THE BATTLE.

In the iconic 80's cartoon G.I. Joe a public service announcement would air at the end of each episode to prevent kids from playing with matches or mainlining hard drugs (wait, that last one didn't happen). If only Duke had showed up at my house earlier today to warn me of the dangers of watching the live action movie G.I. Joe: The Rise Of Cobra. Where do I begin...I would describe the plot but since the makers of the film didn't deam it important to give it any attention I think I'll do the same. Optimus Prime and the gang have set the bar very high for toys turned cartoon turned movie movies so who better than Stephen Sommers, the man behind The Mummy franchise, to helm this ship. If I had to compare this movie's production value to something else it would be Robert Rodriguez's Spy Kids trilogy, but, where as Rodriguez embraced the Saturday morning whimsy of his creation Sommers never quite decided on if he should make a disbelief suspending fantasy for kids or a hard core adult actioner. Summer tent pole films are supposed to be exactly what that term gives the connotation of, a circus. Problem is that what should have been Crique Du Soleil was more like a carnival side show.

Step Up star Channing Tatum along with Waynes Brother Marlon star as new recruits in an international "Alpha Dog" military squad who have met their match the in the underwater fortress dwelling terrorists known as Cobra (yes, I said underwater fortress dwelling). In the age of the Daniel Craig's James Bond we as an audience have been trained to accept an intelligent approach to espionage films that lack the quircks of the very dated Roger Moore era. Not to mention, the post 9-11 world has given Hollywood innumerable ideas for terrorist plots that can be plucked directly from the news. Well, I guess the writers of this one are practicing the George Bush philosophy towards reading the paper.

My mother always said, "If you have nothing good to say don't say anything at all." Let's just say I was disobedient as a kid. How do I count the ways...first, my favorite new generation actor has got to be Joseph Gordon-Levitt (Brick, The Look Out) who typically makes independent films but has decided to make a turn for commercial acceptance in the role of SPOLER ALERT Cobra Commander. This isn't the Cobra Commander you grew up with, this is some weird reject James Bond baddy with an affinity for Senator Palpatine and Dr. Evil. Possibly the greatest hi-lite of this film had to be the chance to see our favorite mute ninja Snake Eyes (played by Ray Park aka Darth Maul) in the flesh but when I finally got a glimpse of his mask's built in lips I was immediatly reminded of the travesty that was Batman's nipple suit (see Batman Forever and Batman & Robin). The special FX are of a standard usually reserved for Sci-Fi classics like Sharks In Venice and Snake Head Terror. The dialogue hit its peak when Snake Eyes shakes Rip Cord's hand prompting him to reply, "What a Kung Fu grip." (a lazy reference to the original 12" Joe figures), it was down hill from there. I could go on and on but that would only drive you to go spend money on this film out of pure curiosity.

Keep your reminiscing to a minimum this weekend and if you must rehash your 80's childhood have friends over for a John Hughes memorial movie marathon. If that doesn't cure your desire then hit up Target, buy some toys and a cam corder, make your own movie, and post it on Youtube because anything else would be better than this.

- M.G.

Pon De Floor (Laidback Luke Remix) -- Major Lazer

Wed, 05 Aug 2009 15:16:00 GMT

Diplo + Switch aka Major Lazer have once again dropped their bucket into the big tune well. Their latest offering is an electro hybrid, very reminscent to Chuckie + Silvio Ecomo's 'Let The Bass Kick.' In fact in my club sets I often drop them together because they work so well in tandem. The bonus to our feature is the original is given the remix treatment by Laidback Luke, who takes this track to the next level by re-editing it, adding some vocals from Afrojack and expanding on it's overall hotness. Whether you're a dj or just an avid music lover, I think you will agree that this tune has a place in your playlist.

Enjoy
DG

Pon De Floor (Laidback Luke Remix) -- Major Lazer
http://www.divshare.com/download/8094462-1a3