EXTRA LARGE November 2011

Happy to be bringing in DJ B-Stee from Kansas City the next installment of EXTRA LARGE. While I'm out of town, my friend Jonathan Ackerman will be holding down hosting duties. It's gonna be a wild night with tons of raps, slaps, and handclaps. Not to be missed!

RSVP & more info on Facebook

MONSTER MASH 2011

The season of the witch is upon us! It's time to break out your haunted bobby socks for the 5th annual Monster Mash! This Halloween night, King Otto and I return to the 7th Street Entry for the best all-oldies Halloween dance party you could ever hope for. We'll be costumed up and spinning all your favorite Motown, '50s and '60s rock and R&B, doo-wop, surf rock, and malt shop classics.

Download the brand new Monster Mash mix right here! 45 minutes of golden oldies to get you in the mood to boogie with us.

THE SONGS!

OTTO'S MIX:
Dion & the Belmonts "Wanderer"
The Lovin' Spoonful "What a Day for a Day Dream"
Lemon Pipers "Green Tambourine"
Stevie Wonder "Signed Sealed Delivered"
Toris Troy "Just One Look"
Barbara Lewis "Hello Stranger"
Johnny Otis "Willie & the Hand Jive"
Ray Charles "This Little Girl of Mine"
The Dixie Cups "Iko Iko"
Ernie K-Doe "A Certain Girl"
The Marketts "Out of Limits"
The Rooftop Singers "Walk Right In"
The Beach Boys "Catch a Wave"
Herman's Hermits "Into Something Good"
The Association "Windy"
Dusty Springfield "I Only Want To Be With You"
Bobby "Boris" Pickett "Monster Motion"

MIKE'S MIX:
Link Wray "Rumble"
Smokey Robinson & The Miracles "You Really Got a Hold On Me"
Quincy Jones "Soul Bossa Nova"
The Ronettes "Do I Love You?"
The Beach Boys "Dance, Dance, Dance"
The Beatles "I'm Happy Just To Dance With You"
Bobby Darin "Dream Lover"
The Crystals "He's Sure The Boy I Love"
Herman's Hermits "Can't You Hear My Heartbeat"
The Kingsmen "Money"
The Association "Along Comes Mary"

Here's all the info on First Avenue's huge Halloween party - truly the best one in town.



BONUS: I just reupped the 2010 Monster Mash Mix, so CLICK HERE to download it!

Talkin' with Jimmy 2 Times

We're close enough to count down the hours until Jimmy 2 Times and I take over First Avenue's Record Room for EXTRA LARGE's big one year anniversary bash. Here's what my esteemed guest had to say about his DJing background and much more. Read up and then don't you dare miss out on EXTRA LARGE this Friday!

MIKE 2600: Please introduce yourself to this corner of the internet, Mr. Two Times.

JIMMY 2 TIMES: Hi corner, I'm Jimmy2times.  I live in Minneapolis and you might have seen me DJ with my crew Get Cryphy at the party of the same name or maybe at BOMP, Triple Double or various other jammy jams. I lived in Brooklyn for awhile and now I live in Minneapolis again. Huzzah!


What is your DJing background? Who are some of your early influences and how did you start collecting and scratching records?

My earliest memory of thinking "hey I wanna do that" was seeing a really shitty bootleg VHS tape of the 92 Supermen battle where DJ 8-ball did his black sabbath and g-thang tone routines.



I grew up in upstate NY (Albany and Rochester) and while I was really into hip hop as a kid, there was no hip hop scene to speak of there. There was however a pretty strong rave scene that spilled over from Buffalo and Toronto so I'd get to see scratch DJs in the jungle room or whatever every so often. Downtown Rochester had some really great record/jewelry/pager repair stores too(The Spot, what up!) and you could grab most of the hot records at the time pretty easily. Since there was a lot of house/techno record stores upstate as well, I had my fair share of house and drum n bass back then too.  I started DJing more and more at the end of high school and came up playing college parties and raves, then later got into battling which I'd say was my main focus for awhile there before I moved on to clubs and throwing parties.
 
Get Cryphy is pretty much a household phrase in Minneapolis at this point. Wanna tell us your version of the story of how the night started and how the sound developed?
 
Damn that's an ill way to phrase it, thank you!  I'd say you can trace Get Cryphy back to when Bill and I were DJing a Saturday night weekly called Party & Bull$h!t at the now defunct downtown Minneapolis club, Foundation, which closed at the end of 2007.  We had a lot of great experiences at that club, but ultimately we weren't always encouraged to take chances as DJs or even play to the crowd that came regularly. By the time Foundation closed, Party & Bull$h!t had become a regular kick it spot on Saturday nights for a lot of our friends in the local hip hop community. We wanted to be able to have a space where those folks could still come party with us regularly and where we could do us and play the songs and styles we were hyped on that weren't being represented in Twin Cities clubs or dance nights(crunk, hyphy, bmore club, juke, etc.).

At the time (early 2008), First Avenue had first Fridays in the (then) VIP Room open, and they liked what we presented to them and let us have it for a 3 month trial period.  Back then, Bill was "the dude behind the counter" at fifth element, and Cryphy was a word we'd throw around while posted up at the store clowning and watching mad youtube videos, so when it came time to name the night we just went with it. Things were a lot different then too, since the newish dance party scene that's come about over the last few years in the Twin Cities was only just getting off the ground at that point. I can honestly say Get Cryphy hit the ground running and hasn't stopped since then. About a year into the party, our great friends DJ Fundo and DJ Last Word joined the crew and we've continued on with that line up ever since.

The sound has pretty much evolved with our tastes while keeping its basis in high energy rap and party music. As we've all grown into producing our own tracks and remixes, there's been a lot more of our own sounds becoming staples of the party each month as well as in our Get Cryphy mixes.


The flyer for the very first Get Cryphy party.
 
You and Plain Ole Bill have been doing the four turntable thing for a while now. How has your chemistry changed since the first times you spun together?

Our first 4 turntable set was at Bill's mix cd release party at the Dinkytowner in June 2005, so we've been at it for a minute. Neither of us got Serato until 2007 so those first few years of DJing on 4 decks together was done on all vinyl. Our backs are both in a lot better shape now, as we'd typically bring anywhere between 4-8 crates between the 2 of us when DJing a party or club night. Back when we started doing 4 turntable sets there was a lot more beat juggling and scratch routines going on, because that's where we were at as DJs at the time, and also a big part of where we both come from in terms of early DJing influences. I'd say we've come a long way since we started doing 2x4 sets because DJing with another person simultaneously definitely takes more concentration than solo DJing. As we've grown into that, its become easier to get into a zone where we can concentrate more on programming our set and getting parties as live as possible, while giving people something to watch too.


photo by Wezz Winship

 
So you're kind of a major comic book head. Should we even get into this? What are your favorites? Least favorites? Want me to just open this part of the interview up for like Jimmy 2 Times' comic book rant and rave section? GO!

Yeah "kind of" are definitely the key words there since I sold the majority of the comics I collected as a kid years ago.  There were some really great comic shops that I wandered into when I was staying in Brooklyn for awhile last year (Bergen St. Comics What up!) and just got caught up in reading a few graphic novels, which led to me coming back for new comics every week. I tend to check out anything Garth Ennis writes (Preacher, The Boys, The Punisher, Jennifer Blood) and I also like Mark Millar's stuff (Old Man Logan, Kickass, Nemesis, Superior, Superman: Red Son) despite the comic store dudes saying I shouldn't like him (_____,_______, ever).  I still check out super hero comics like Ultimate Spiderman, and I've also been checking for all the recently relaunched DC comics (Batman, Superman etc). To me those always sucked ass and DC is doing a relatively good job of making those characters relevant again. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go take my allergy medication and play a few hours of World of Warcraft....


Comic Book Guy schooling Milhouse on that real rap shit
 
I also know that, like me, you enjoy a nice hamburger. What are some of your favorite Twin Cities burgers?

I definitely have a weak spot for delicious burgers. My favorites are definitely the Ike Burger from Ike's downtown, The Nook's Juicy Lucy, and the Vincent Burger from Vincent (or Target Field!). Goddamn, those are some tasty burgers. nuff said!


Jimmy 2 Times enjoying a Vincent Burger
 
Favorite music releases of 2011 thus far?

Right now my favorite things are the Watch the Throne record, Mr. Muthafuckin eXquire's Lost in Translation, my man Prof's new record King Gampo and even though it came out in 2010, I wanna get drunk by DJ Felli Fel f/Lil Jon, Fatman Scoop and Three6mafia.
 
Any new music projects of yours we should be checking for?

If you haven't already, check out my Soundcloud page, you can find a lot of blends and remixes I've done in the past there. Currently I have some new blends that I'll be posting very soon.  A lot of the new blends utilize the great work Sims and Lazerbeak did recently on their Bad Time Zoo album, combining their beats with vocals from T.I., Busta Rhymes, Lil Wayne, Trae the Truth, Gucci Mane, Bun B, Rick Ross and David Banner. Also, the Get Cryphy 4 year anniversary isn't far off, so the crew and I have started putting our heads together for this year's Get Cryphy megamix.  I'm excited for the colder temperatures to come our way because that's when I get the most work done musically.  Also, don't forget to check out the Get Cryphy blog for a ton of blends edits and remixes from the rest of the Cryphy crew - Plain Ole Bill, Last Word and DJ Fundo).
 
See you Friday!

EXTRA LARGE One Year Anniversary Megamix

Thank you to everyone who's helped this party keep moving for the last straight year. I couldn't have done it without all of the great guest DJs (Jonathan Ackerman, BK-One, Wezz Winship, Plain Ole Bill, King Otto, Kevin Beacham, Last Word, Espada, Jeff Dubois, Dudley D, Superbrush, Gigamesh, and Babycakes) and the countless party people who've come to dance their asses off each month.

Here's my thank you gift - the official EXTRA LARGE One Year Anniversary Megamix! It's 32 minutes of beats, breaks, original blends, rappin' and handclappin' all rearranged inna cut & paste fashaaaaan. Featuring bits and pieces from Jazzy Jay, Incredible Bongo Band, Ultramagnetic MCs, Kraftwerk, Beastie Boys, Spoonie Gee, Breakestra, Rare Earth, Pete Rock & CL Smooth, Tuff Crew, and so much more.

EXTRA LARGE MEGAMIX by Mike 2600

Don't be a dummy and miss the big celebration this Friday night as Jimmy 2 Times and I rock together on 4 turntables all night long! RSVP / more info on Facebook.

Drums & Vocoders

B+ "B-Beat Classic" vs Jazzy Jay "(This) Def Jam"

Discuss!

Say Kids, What Time Is It?

It's been a while since I listened to this one... Coldcut's cut & paste masterpiece from 1987, "Say Kids What Time Is It?" Back to back classic breaks, beats, and snippets and sliced together with the most finesse.

PLEASURE PRINCIPALS

This Friday, my dude DJ Espada and I are kicking off a new monthly party called The Pleasure Principals. That's us. We'll be cuttin' up our (and YOUR) favorite classic hip hop, disco, funk, and feel good party music, whatever it takes to bring you the utmost pleasure. Believe that.

Hit the Facebook jumpoff.

Super Lover Cee & Casanova Rud remix

Back in 2006, I released a mix CD called Heavy Session - one hour of psychedelic beats, rap remixes, rock breaks, scratching, all that fun stuff. One section of the mix included a remix I put together of Super Lover Cee & Casanova Rud's 1988 rap jam "I Gotta Good Thing." A few years later, I rebuilt the remix as its own extended standalone track. Here it is in all its glory with brand new artwork! Enjoy!

Click here to download

A conversation with Gigamesh

I'm more than excited to have my friend Gigamesh join me at EXTRA LARGE this Friday at First Avenue's Record Room. I first heard about this Minneapolis-based musicmaker about two years ago when he sent me some of his remixes and it didn't take long for me to become a believer. Not only is he an incredibly stylish and thoughtful producer / remixer, but he's also a monster behind the turntables. Read what the man had to say for himself and then come party with us on Friday!

Hello. Please introduce yourself to this part of the internet.
 I'm Matt Masurka and I work under the alias Gigamesh.  I'm a full-time music producer and part-time DJ. 

Michael Jackson - Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough (Gigamesh Remix) by GIGAMESH

Your music has a lot of '80s inspiration in it, but it's also very new and forward-thinking. Where do you find inspiration and how do you go about churning those ideas into new, original sounds?
I think it's because I have an aversion to dance music that takes itself too seriously and most 80's acts were just about having fun.  I also have a soft spot for great pop songs, which in a lot of ways peaked in the 80's.  However, I'm definitely trying to avoid doing anything overtly retro for too long.  I think the most interesting art and music is stuff that has clear roots in the past but expands on that.
 
Can you show us some of your favorite pieces of gear from your studio?
I actually don't have a lot of gear yet, but I do use a Dave Smith Evolver



and a Roland Juno-60 that I just bought.



I plan to buy a couple more hardware synthesizers in the next year.  I've had my eye on this Russian suitcase modular synth for awhile:


 
How was Miami? How did you decide to move there & back and what did you learn in the process?
It was cool.  I moved mainly because I wanted a change of scenery and at the time I was planning on working with my brother Joe and our other studio partner Danny, who both live there.  However I realized after a few months that I was stretching myself too thin with different projects and decided to just concentrate on Gigamesh material.  I was also missing friends and family in Minneapolis.  If I make another move like that it will most likely be to LA or NYC because those are much bigger music hubs.
 
Talk about Señor Stereo and how you guys linked up with Craze's Slow Roast label. What's up next for you guys?
It's a side project Joe, Danny and I started a couple years ago as an outlet to release disco-influenced material.  Danny has been friends with Craze for a long time being that they're both Miami natives and it got hooked up through him.  At the moment it's kind of on hiatus because we are all really busy with our own projects but I think we're all open to releasing more stuff under that name in the future.

Señor Stereo - Hot Damn! (Gigamesh Remix) by GIGAMESH
 
Who are some of your favorite Minneapolis musical acts of the past and the present? How about the future?
Past:  Obvious choices include Prince, Jimmy Jam, Terry Lewis, etc....to be honest other than them I never got into many local acts that made it 'big'.  Presently, I have to give some love to my good friends Estate as well as Grant and Maggie from Lookbook, who are still making music despite that band being done.  And although I don't get into all the music, I have a lot of respect for the local hip-hop scene.
 
You have a great eye for goofy GIFs and ridiculous internet-humor images. What are some of your favorite finds?
Haha, I think it just means I have too much time on my hands.  I get them all from a Tumblr that is pretty consistently funny.

Here are some of my favorites:










 
Best spots to eat in the Twin Cities?
Sea Salt, Amazing Thailand, The Depot, Bryant Lake Bowl, French Meadow are all good.... it's tough making a list because there are so many places I still need to try!

For more on Gigamesh, check out gigameshmusic.com! See you Friday!

EXTRA LARGE August 12, 2011

This month's special guest at EXTRA LARGE is my talented friend Gigamesh. This acclaimed, multi-platinum selling (yes, you read that correctly) producer and DJ will be joining me on the turntables for a full night of disco, funk, hip hop, and party bangers at First Avenue's Record Room.

Not to be missed! Stay tuned to the blog for music and more info.

Oh yeah and don't forget to RSVP on FACEBOOK!