Dusty Crates

When deep/tech house stronghold (and one half of the Dedicated duo) got married and left for Boston, there was a sizable void left to fill in Houston’s dance music scene. Tonight, Ben Clark comes back like a champ. He makes a much anticipated return for Heavy at The Backroom (3718 Main, Houston).

This time around, however, he’s left his vinyl arsenal at home (and traveling lighter, thanks to the FAA). Not compromising his signature smooth sets, he’s upped his game and is going digital. Tonight he’s poppin’ his Serato cherry and playing from a wider selection off his laptop. Get there early because, as rumor has it, he may team up with Mike W., the other half of Dedicated, for this special event.

And lastly, I’m teaming up with Antonio to DIRB at Heavy tonight, followed by sdfone playing his brand of “fidget” house. Heavy is veering from its usual d&b format, in case you haven’t figured.

Matt Sizzle will make up some dates with me at Gritsy’s NYE party and DIRB at Block 21 on Saturday, January 3rd. You won’t wanna miss it!

The new Mad Decent Radio is grown, sexy and ready for some action, your maestro Dave Nada is taking you for a gondola ride up and down the love canal and keeping you warm.

Here’s what Mr. Nada had to say (sic):

“i’m always a fan of tearing the club up to my favorite bmore anthem. but there’s nothing like tearing the sheets up to your favorite sexy baltimore club jam. i cooked up this mix, showcasing some of the best baltimore love club classics. Not only does it remind you why producers like Griff and Technics are the dons, but also shows you how versatile baltimore club music is and why this genre rules the universe. enjoy the mix! cant wait to smash! xoxo (shout out to emynd & bo bliz)”

Track Listing:

Tedra Moses – Be Your Girl (KW Griff Remix)
Outkast – Prototype (DJ Technics Remix)
Floetry – Say Yes (?)
Ready For The World – Love You Down (DJ Technics Girlfriend Remix)
Raheem Devaughn – You (DJ Technics Remix)
John Legend – Ordinary People (KW Griff Remix)
Jill Scott – He Loves Me (DJ Technics Remix)
Blaqstarr – All The Girls
Patti LaBelle – If Only You Knew (Rod Lee Remix)
Sylvia – Pillow Talk (DJ Techincs Remix)
Chris Brown – Aint No Way (You Won’t Love Me) (Curtis Vodka Hey Girl Remix)
Jimmy Cozier – U Got Those Goods (?)
Black Box – Everybody Everybody (DJ Ayres Quiet Storm Remix)
Usher feat. Lil Jon – Lovers and Friends (inst)

So kick off your clothes and let the music do the rockin’…fuego!

“Love in this B-more Club” (Dave Nada mix on Mad Decent Radio)

Neon Nites DJ G.Wizz (aka my hub-bub) plays at Speakerboxx tonight. Come on out if you’re done with semester finals or have tomorrow off! You’ll see this Neon Knight jockin’ and rockin’ the decks.

Also, the Speakerboxx MK Ultra live mix is back up, this time on zShare. If you missed Squincy & Dayta’s two-hour long radio debut, here it is for download:

http://www.zshare.net/audio/528790079a637586/

We love zShare, don’t we!

Just like Ralphie Parker, Matt made me go back and decode this e-flyer. Truth be told, it had been a while since I saw A Christmas Story and forgot how some folks turn classics into nerd fests.

Anyway, in honor of Matt’s (aka Sizzle and DIRB! founder) holiday homecoming, we’re officially coming together to DJ as DIRB! for the first time. As the e-flyer states (thanks for that, too, Matt), it’s goin down on Saturday, December 20 at Block 21. [Check out the "cool" writeup we got in Houston Press, "21 Jump Street".]

So, no secret circles. No secret meetings. No decoding. Just dip thru this weekend and DIRB with us (Matt, Gracie, Antonio, El Jeffe & Squincy Jones). Your life could hang in the balance.

Another crummy post brought to you by Dusty Crates, DIRB!, Awwwready, Grills/Frank151 and Ovaltine.

Ralphie gets his decoder ring — and learns something about the world.

Houston’s Most Hated just expanded their blogging/hating capabilities by adding HMH Listen Up Radio. Not only will they be able to broadcast their music library 24/7, HMH Radio can now also blast live shows from the HMH Warehouse for ya!

The link to Listen Up Radio can be found under “Network” in the right sideline navigation. Or, simply click the direct link, http://www.houstonsmosthated.com/radio (Winamp or iTunes required to play).

Tune in and stay up!

JOIN US THURSDAY, DEC 11

FOR A SPECIAL HOLIDAY EDITION OF DIRB’S BLOCK PARTY

WITH DIRB DJS
EL JEFFE, GRACIE CHAVEZ & ANTONIO

BLOCK 21 [2420 WASHINGTON, THE H]
NO COVER! 21+

UP NEXT::
SAT 12/20 DIRB! REUNION AT BLOCK 21 with SIZZLE

READ MORE AT WWW.DUSTYCRATES.COM or WWW.FRANK151.COM.

Meanwhile, on Saturday, DEC 13 at Block 21…

DJ POOKS WITH GUEST TEGO

I’m not completely sold on “fidget house”. So, when fellow DJ pal and breakbeat purist David (sdfone) told me he was feeling a style of house music, I stopped short of a rewind! The staunch Gritsy d&b/dubstepper had converted to a 4/4 beat–whuh?! GTFO!!

Now, I’m a major fan of house, Switch and Jesse Rose, but in all honesty, I hate the word: fidget. So, with all the fuss about “fidget house,” it was enough to get me diggin’.

Wikipedia defines the sub-genre:

Fidget house is a style of house music that incorporates other dance music styles including rave, breakbeat and UK garage.

Hmmm…breakbeat? UK garage?? OK, I’m starting to see a connection.

Meanwhile, David has been itchin’ to play this glitchy style, but is met with the same puzzled faces when he mentions “fidget” (or “house” in his case). So, to push us naysayers off the fence, he’s gone over and beyond the call of duty and released a short mix, “Jackin’ The Drank With Patron”.

Sdfone’s mini mix clocks in around 30 minutes and, as the name implies, the recording was fueled by a couple of strong drinks of Cafe Patron and Coke. If you haven’t heard much of this latest jumpy, stuttery, um…fidgety dance floor style, well, here here you go:

Jackin’ The Drank With Patron – sdfone

01 jak z – feeling pretty good
02 danny t – dip dip
03 scott cooper – mad run (lee mortimer remix)
04 scott cooper & andy george – jump & twist
05 natty jack – jackin da garage (hijack remix)
06 paolo jackson – funkt (feat shena) (twocker remix)
07 south west beats – its love (trippin) (feat claudia patrice) (out of office mix)
08 missy elliot – lick shots (mark knight mash up mix)
09 dj fashen – bam bam
10 trevor loveys – byrdy beats

Once again, we’re gonna DIRB! at Block 21 (2420-B Washington, in The H) this Saturday with guest DJ Squincy Jones.

It’s gonna go down with them two every other Saturday. But don’t worry: we’ll remind ya!

Meanwhile, over at the Backroom (Main @ West Alabama), the hub-bub (G.Wizz) plays at Neon Nites with Fixture, Mr. Bristle, Jason Alan plus more.

See sideline flyer for this and other events here –>

Sista Stroke just sent me her latest boot, Usher’s “Makin’ Moments.”

Apparently Nigerians were goin wild for Usher’s big ass ego at a recent show, but here at Dusty, we’re only strokin’ this Sista’s This Ain’t Remix!

Makin’ Moments (Sista’s This Ain’t Remix) – Usher (SS)

Sorry, folks. This hot little number got signed!

A little late on this one, but Smalltown DJs put out a wicked mix a couple of weeks ago for a string of European dates this month. Although the Eurodance promo mix is heavy on the Euro dance tunes, it’s as cool as speeding down the autobahn jammin’ to Kraftwerk!

Eurodance Tour mix – Smalltown DJs (Sharbee)