Re-Mashed

What does he actually play?

DJ Monte Carlo - 2006

8.4.05 - DJ Monte Carlo

I usually get booked to play ‘Hip-Hop’ whatever that is these days (..it varies from person to person.  And with that, ..most don’t know what ‘Hip-Hop’ really is.  But that is a whole different conversation..).  I prefer to play ‘Broken Beats’ or ‘Nu Jazz’, that requires more ‘mental preparation’ to mix.  You ask, “What the hell is ‘Broken Beats’ or ‘Nu Jazz’?..“  Broken beat is an electronic music genre which can be characterized by syncopated rhythm typically in 4/4 metre, with staggered or punctuated snare beats and/or hand claps. And Nu jazz is an umbrella term coined in the late 1990s to refer to music that blends jazz elements with other musical styles, such as funk, soul, electronic dance music, and free improvisation. Also written nü-jazz or NuJazz, it is sometimes called electronic jazz, electro-jazz, e-jazz, jazztronica, jazz house, phusion, “neo-jazz” or future jazz.  For further exploration you can Wikipedia those two genres, or visit http://www.last.fm/tag/broken%20beat.  At Last.fm you can check out some of the early artists of the genre and ‘digg’ for artists who have pushed and branched the genre to what it is today.

‘Top-40’ type stuff is cool and has it’s place in the DJ spectrum, but that style of music is repetitively pushed on the public and not usually because it’s “good” music.  I like to share things that I stumble upon that have a heavy undeniable rhythm or interesting musical lines, not stuff that sounds like it’s rehashed from Castlevania or Final Fantasy.  Don’t get me wrong - I play that stuff when the occasion calls for it - and some of the newer (post March ‘09) material that is coming out is slowly cracking the molds - but unfortunately, the lesser known tracks still don’t get the exposure that they should.

Well, you still don’t know what I play…  music is meant to be experienced not written about.  Come to a gig and experience what I do.

Above is: A> DJ Monte Carlo - 2006 is a lo-fi version of a collection of tracks that represent the different styles of ‘Urban’ music I played in the different markets of San Francisco in early ‘06.  And B> 8.4.05 - DJ Monte Carlo is the digital version of a mix CD that was available for free in the summer of ‘05.  The latter represents more of a American ‘Top-40’ club styled demo mix that I did to secure some ‘bridge and tunnel’ bookings.