I have been working late on various projects. In order to keep me going I turn on the The Smash Mix! by DJ Paul V. Paul is a DJ on Indie 103.1 in Los Angeles, and has his own Smash Mix section. He mixes all the latest and hotest mash-ups into one long 22 minute mix every Friday, but missed last friday due to computer issues. After 70 shows he has demonstrated his abilities and captured my ears. This one of my favorite things to turn on when I need to work through mundane coding or troubleshoot stupid issues as the beats change quickly and regularly to keep you on your feet. If you are keen on the RSS/Podcast/AudioCast then you can add The Smash Mix feed. If you want to listen without downloading the large files check out The Smash Mix! Odeo channel.

Alright kids, it is almost 2pm est that means it is officially time to start thinking about your weekend. To get you in the mood check out this fantastic mix out by DJ Cruze. Each week around this time we will bring you our selection of great mixes, remixes and tracks to get your weekend started right. You can’t have a proper party with out the tunes and this week’s mix will certainly have you rockin.

Here is your tracklisting:

Download Here:

http://www.djcruze.co.uk/cms/2006/06/16/episode-17-golden-sun/

This time I found the MakeSomeNoise Podcast. MakeSomeNoise (aka MSN) is a podcast from Andreas Churchill out of London who mixes some new and old mashups. You can get the last 8 podcasts over at makesomenoise.co.uk/podcast. He has track listings, and great links to the creators. Each one is 60 minutes long too! I hope to show some of these off at a BBQ this weekend.

I went on a Beta binge this week and grabbed the new Microsoft Windows Media Player 11. I love it! Super fast, and a nice interface. I’m not ready to give up iTunes yet until this is out of beta, but I like what I see. The only downside currently is that the WMP 11 tray doesn’t function, so you can only run it in a window and not on the taskbar. Grab it from Microsoft.

UPDATE WMP11 Beta doesn’t work with Windows Live Messenger 8 Beta’s “What I’m Listening To”

Schlosser posted a great summer mix last week, and this week I suggest grabbing some hot mash-ups by Pheugoo (Pronounced P U Goo). There is even a wicked mash-up video of Madonna and BEP. Check it out!

My top 2 tracks:

• Hot N Cold Pussycat Dolls (Basement Jaxx vs. The Pussycat Dolls)
• Humps Up (Black Eyed Peas vs. Madonna)

Okay so last weekend officially opened the bbq season here in Seattle. I am guessing that many of you around the world are thinking about firing up the bbq this coming weekend and need some great music to keep your party going all night long. If you find yourself beat challenged then check out the link below, you will not be disapointed. Great funky house music featuring many of this summer’s top tracks. I have been rocking out to this mix all week and think you guys will love it. Go download it, play it at your bbq and then post a comment to let me know what you think and what the reaction was. All summer long I will be bringing you the latest tips for great music downloads and I want to know what you guys think.

 I recommend downloading directly from Funky House, see link at the bottom of the page.

Great Summer Beats!!!

Okay so there are like a million ipod cases out there today. However if you never upgraded to the Nano you might want to check out these Isweats. Its a fun way to dress up you ipod while making sure that you Ipod stays safe and protected.

I Sweats

So earlier this week Bettin hooked you up with the must have mixer, now let me show you where to get your music. If you are going to be pumping out tracks on a killer sound system you need tracks that are up to the task. For this there is only one solution - Beatport, they offer you two main options for track download, MP3’s encoded at 320kbs or WAV’s which are the direct masters from the label.  Compare that to the 128kbs offered by Itunes and there is no comparison if you are going to be broadcasting your music from a club system. There is no better sound quality available online at the moment.

In addition to offering better quality downloads all of their files come in a straight format so you don’t have to worry about idiotic DRM restrictions.

Finally beatport offers many exclusive tracks that you will have trouble finding elsewhere, yes Itunes does a great job with the commercial dance tracks and remixes but if you really want the latest in House, Trance and Techno and your sound quality matters Beat Port is really your only option.

Check it out and get mixing Beatport

iLounge is reporting that Numark, who makes various DJ equipment like mixers and turntables, will debut the updated iDJ2 iPod mixer.  The original iDJ had several major flaws which have been fixed.  It has pitch control which would allow you to beat match perfectly.  I don’t know if they fixed the issue with cued listening, so your cued channel is in the headphones while the other channel is pumping up the crowd.  Now with only one iPods required you can play two tracks simultaneously, record the mix back to the iPod, and use external hard drives that can attach via USB.  Hopefully they keep the price around $300, since the original iDJ was $250, which would bring the casual home party DJ market right to Numark’s doorstep with cash in hand.  I look forward to stopping at Guitar Center to play with one of these in the coming month.

Source: Engadget, iLounge

So I got around to watching the closing celebration of the XX Winter Olympic Games.  Overall I really liked them, and I enjoy how all the athletes mingle.  I want to know who is in charge of picking the artists.  So I assume Canada was responsible for picking Avril Lavigne since she is from Canada, but did Italy really want Ricky Martin to perform hits from his 1999 album?  Ricky hasn’t performed on stage in 4 years according to his own press release, and he just launched himself on a world tour.  He is promoting a new album, and Sony BMG is giving away the single to get attention.  The Puerto Rico singer’s Latin America tour was sponsored by VISA and would you believe me if I said the Olympics were sponsored by the very same company?  Still remember all those commercials for safe checking?  Corporate America at work at the Olympics where all the athletes care about is equality, fair play, loyalty and respect for one another.  I enjoy the games, competition, and know it would not be possible without corporate sponsors.  I just wish more of the celebration was controlled by the local people instead of influential corporations in the USA.

PS:   I loved the clowns, acrobats and history behind the Torino/Italy.  But do people from Italy really sing YMCA?

The world’s largest, most important sporting event is happening this summer. Are you ready? That’s right, coming this June from Germany is the World Cup. The best 32 nations will gather to battle over soccer supremacy in front of a television audience in the billions. To get you ready to cheer on the red white and blue check out the video below made by one of the US team’s rising star, Clint Dempsey. Thats right a rapping soccer player, and you know what I must admit the beat is kind of catchy. Alright, alright it’s a bit cheesy but I can’t get enough of it, call it a guilty pleasure. Whatever you do prepare for a great summer of soccer and click below to get on the bandwagon.