Houston Fixed Gear, a Montrose-area custom fixed gear bike shop and parts retailer is celebrating its anniversary on Friday, January 27, 2012. HFG has teamed up with local pop-up gallery MegaHost Gallery to kick off ALWAYS ON MY MIND at the bike boutique located on 2309 Dunlavy Street.

The event features bicycle-themed work from a number of Houston-based painters, printers, and photographers. New works included are by: ACK!, BRIKS, Chris Henry, DUAL, Eric Castorena, EYESORE, Jessica Reiswig, Michael Rodriguez, Naomi Song Bear, Nicky Davis, Pam Cantu, RED, Shannon Reiswig, Shelby Hohl, Shreddi, and Wiley Robertson. Thanks to Black Swan Studio for the prints, limited edition T-shirts from DUAL and The Bamm Collective will be available for the event.

Music is provided by some of Houston’s best DJs Dayta and Elroy Boogie. Plus, delicious bites courtesy of NABI and Goldsprint racing by Black Gold Cycling. CHROME is also sponsoring cycling gear for the event.

RSVP on FB here!

As some of you know, Chris and I have already been affected by this invasive sound ordinance. And it seems that the trend is more pervasive than originally thought.

A couple of the bar/club establishments on Washington have become an easy target for police enforcing the new ordinance. Over the weekend some of the working DJs on this strip have gotten slapped with $1000 tickets for loud noise without warning. This isn’t some one-off festival or event. These are DJs that work weekly for their livelihood. These bars/clubs are local establishments that open their doors to our community to run a business. And this kind of subjective enforcement does not make quantifiable sense.

If you are in the local music industry, own a venue or play music, please join us on Tuesday at Fitzgeralds to formalize a coalition to take actionable next-steps to change this sound ordinance. With the holidays (and festivities) only a week away, it is important that we plan for the year to come while perhaps neutralize or prevent more tickets being issued.

Click thru this FB link to find out more about the Coalition and how we can make a change. http://www.facebook.com/events/338256122856529/

A couple of weeks ago, the We Get Famous blog team stepped into The Lot and did it real big with us.

Check out their review of our DIRB! Saturday nights at The Lot on Washington (4212 Washington, 77007)!

This Saturday night (05/14), DJs Dayta and Gracie Chavez will be on deck. And next month, we’ve got very special guest DJ Mel returning to DIRB! with us, too!

Check for updates and RSVP here: DIRB! Saturdays

It looks like tomorrow’s Houston date and Austin the following night will be the only Texas dates for DFA’s DJ Tim Sweeney. The northeast snow storms are to blame for tonight’s canceled show in Dallas.

As we pray to the snow gods from up above for better weather, the last time we were graced with Sweeney’s blissful disco sounds was at Club A38 back in ’06, or there abouts.

So what brings him around these parts again? In a recent interview with The Dallas Observer, Sweeney explains:

…I just haven’t been back in Texas in a long time — I think it’s been over a year. Maybe it was two years ago, so this is basically to go out DJing for the weekend. But I am starting, finally, this “Beats in Space” record label, and for that I’ll be doing some more tours involved with that once the releases start coming out. For that, I’m just going to be focusing on some of the music I play on the show that’s unreleased that I really like and I want to put it out that has nice artwork, and just keep a record label that’s sort of similar to the radio show — broad, but keep the level at a high degree.

For over a decade, Sweeney has been broadcasting his “Beats in Space” live mix radio show on WNYU every Tuesday night from 10:30 pm to 1 am (EST).  But he’s perhaps best known for his work at DFA records and soundtracks at Rockstar Games.

Following Fixed Gear’s Grand Opening/DUAL Art Show, Sweeney performs at Club FWD (510 Gray, 77002) with special guests Cuba Gooding Jr. of Glastnost, Hater’s Make Us Famous’ Angie Audio and Fahrenheit-Media‘s DJ G.Wizz.

For more info and to RSVP, go to the FB event page.

FRI 01/28/11 — Tim Sweeney @ FWD, Houston

A couple of weeks ago, we are embarked on a showcase of new sounds in H-town with BOMBON. The takeaway: people have been waiting too long for this kind of night in Houston!

As cumbia is gaining momentum worldwide, it’s exciting to see how this folkloric tradition has been given so many new mezclas and treatments. The future of South American-inspired electronic riddim has no shortage of color or creativity.

MICHEL CLEIS – LA MEZCLA (ROBB G REMIX) by ROBB G

In the coming months, you’ll hear a collection of fresh uptempo melodies and bass-heavy beats that make up a variety of “Cumbiatron.” From Cumbia, Bajo Tropical, Salsa, Latin Beats, Baile Funk, Reggaeton, Moombahton, y Mezclas AfroLatinos, we have banded together to bring you this full-on Latino experience, without a need for a passport.

To see where the next sound of the Americas is headed next, mark your calendars para saborear BOMBON each month with yours truly, Gracie Chávez, plus DJs Navó, OG Bobby Trill and Tonio.

Starting January 7, 2011 and every first Friday of the month, centrally located Avant Garden (411 Westheimer, 77006) is hosting our first in a series of Latin parties full of irrepressible music, live instrumentation, cinematic loops, spirited libations and excessive dancing!  Now, why would you want to miss the next one?

¡Entonces, ponte los zapatos pa la pachanga!

The end has come, my fellow DJs. The tables have turned–one last time.

It’s time to find a special place to store your Technics turntables because Panasonic has just announced that they are no longer making the analog, direct drive record player. For nearly four decades, Technics have been the reliable standard for DJ equipment, keeping the music going for disc jockeys and party-goers well into the wee hours of the morning weekend after weekend since 1972.

After a year of speculation, the recent decision from Panasonic comes because of “a decline in demand for these analog products and also the growing difficulty of procuring key analog components necessary to sustain production.” But don’t run out with $2Gs to buy a pair of Pioneer 2000 CDJs just yet!

There are a few places that are still selling parts and servicing turntables. You can find replacement parts online and in the Greater Houston area, you can still take your decks to shops like Sound Exchange. Or, on the home front, get them repaired by Chris Cardenas (aka DJ G.Wizz) of  Fahrenheit-Media who has been servicing decks by WOM for years now. I personally like this DJ’s personal touch ;P!

So before you retire your tables to a place where they collect dust next to Edison’s “sound writer,” phonographs and other antiques, collectibles, curios, let’s hope true audiophiles with a love for wax and DJs with expansive record collections alike keep these record players and their legacy well preserved for years to come.

UPDATE
Part 7 in this series is with my DIRB! pahtnah Squincy…and, yes, he got his hair did for this Kracker Nuttz interview!

I’m super honored to be part of this with the Kracker Nuttz…see you all there in November! Thanks for the interview, guys!

The Kracker Nuttz 12 Yr Anniversary coming NOVEMBER 2010… DJ’s get ready to experience something new!!!
DJ Gracie Chavez interviewed by Reko Trill and shot by Druski.

http://www.krackernuttz.com
http://www.krackernuttz.wordpress.com

Beat the heat and line with a Fancy Pants pass.  This VIP pass allows you additional access to the air-conditioned Fancy Pants stages/tents complete with quick entry at the festival gate, seating, shorter food and beverage lines, plus exclusive DIRB! performances.

Here’s the lineup for our Fancy Pants (In the Bowl) stage:

Fancy Pants Stage

DAY 1: JUNE 5th
Doors open from 2pm-10pm

2:00-5:30  DIRB! DJs

5:30-6:05  Guerilla FoCo Plan

6:05-6:40  Nosaprise

6:40-7:30  Ghost Mountain

DIRB! AFTER-PARTY at  THE LOT  (4212 WASHINGTON, 77007), 10pm-2am

DAY 2: JUNE 6th
Doors open from 11am-10pm

11:00-3:00 DIRB! DJs

G.Wizz – 11:00
Squincy Jones – 12:00
Gracie Chavez - 1:00
Tonio- 2:00

3:00-5:30 DJ Meshak

5:30-6:05 Mic Skills

* All times subject to change.

For the entire festival lineup, go to www.freepresssummerfest.com.

Buy your 2-day Fancy Pants wristband pass here.

But remember, when you get your wristband at the festival entrance on Saturday, DO NOT REMOVE IT! If you do and try to re-attached it, you won’t be allowed back in on Sunday! Wristbands are void if torn, broken, stretched, taped together or not worn snugly on the wrist. So, now you know!

THE FREE PRESS SUMMERFEST AD from Free Video Houston on Vimeo.

UPDATED: Join us DIRB! DJs at the Fancy Pants Stage at the Free Press Summer Fest on Saturday and Sunday for some cool jams–literally!

The VIP stage in the Bowl near Buffalo Bayou sponsored by Fahrenheit-Media and our Dusty Crates blog of course, is air conditioned! YES, I said AC!! Which will make it a nice break from the heat/humidity and the hotter acts at the Fest.

Brett Koshkin

Just added to the lineup: Dirty Honey’s funk master Brett Koshkin will join DIRB! DJs on Saturday. So come by and cool off with us, Gracie Chavez, Squincy Jones, G.Wizz,  Tonio, plus local hip hop act Nosaprise, electro duo Ghost Mountain, rappers Guerrilla Foco Clan, DJ Meshak, hip hop artist Mic Skillz and more special acts.

Check back for a performance lineup!

To purchase pre-sale passes and get up to date information please visit: www.FreePressSummerFest.com

Then later Saturday night, it’s the DIRB! After-Party at The Lot on Washington (4212 Washington, 77007) with Gracie Chavez and Tonio doin it real big!

Bring lotsa water and sunscreen…this weekend’s gonna be straight fiya!

Co-sponsored by www.DustyCrates.com and www.Fahrenheit-Media.com.