:: Bumblebee ::

I've not had much time to kick back and relax, due to a hectic home, work, studio, and show schedule. However, the other night I managed to sit back and enjoy a DVD that 'she who shall be obeyed' bought me for Christmas. Now don't laugh you lot, but it's 'Transformers'!

I never watched the cartoon as a kid and never saw the film at the cinema, so I was very surprsied that 'she who shall be obeyed' had chosen this as a gift to commemorate the birth of a sandal wearing bloke called J O Nazareth. But lucky old me, coz the film was brilliant!

A great performance from Shia LaBeouf, plus fantastic CGI and the best looking American muscle car to hit the silver screen since Steve McQueen's 1968 'Bullit' Mustang GT390 Fastback .

Bumblebee 2008 style: The new Chevy Camaro. Sweet!

By all accounts, Shia LaBeouf is set to be a 'big' future star in Hollywood. This statement is supported by the fact that he's got a lead role in the new Indiana Jones movie, set for release in May 2008.

Whilst I'm waiting for the new Indy film, I'll be daydreaming about cruising around town in a new bumblebee spec Camaro. The V8 burble, the cool tunes, sticky rubber on hot tarmac and a fuel bill the size of a small third world countries debts! Oh well, back to the V8 burble...

:: Revenge On Disco ::

Here's another quick gem: I'm going to play a very hot new track on tonight's radio show (Tue 18th Mar 08). The Freemasons have remixed the 90's classic Gusto 'Disco's Revenge', and it is absolutely spot on!

Be listening at 8pm tonight to hear the Brighton Boys do their best remix yet. Has anyone else played this yet? I seriously doubt it.

Get in.

:: Pryda's Pjanoo ::

Alright you lot. I know I keep going on about this track and that I've been battering it to death everywhere, but it is absolutely flippin' brilliant! The hugely talented Eric Prydz has at last released 'Pjanoo', a monsterous house tune that is pure piano perfection for the dancefloor.

"Oi Prydz! Compo wants his hat back!"

Released under his PRYDA name, on his own label, you can download it now and warm your soul with a tune that shows the rest of us how it's done. Props to Pryda.

Check it out here.

By blogging this momentus occasion, I now promise to stop mentioning how amazing this tune is.

Promise.

:: Mash It Up Grandma! ::

I am often asked to show people how to mix tunes. And more recently, people always want to know how to create mash-up's or remix a track into an electro-house stormer! Even though I love teaching people and can quite easily talk for hours about razor blading 1/4" Ampex tape, feedback looping on an EFX1000, or the wonderment of Logic Pro, it can get a little tiresome showing someone the basics of beat-matching vinyl!

But my saviour has arrived in the form of USA Grandma, Sue Teller. She has thankfully created this handy video tutorial demonstrating the basics of creating a mash-up on the wheels of steel. Hilarious!

Enjoy!

:: Espionage ::

This looks like a mighty fine new house night for Bournemouth's student and clubbing fraternity. Mission have gone for a Monday launch night (3rd March) at The Old Fire Station, on Holdenhurst Road, Bournemouth.

What a line-up!? ;¬)

See ya there.

:: Rallye Sunseeker 08 ::

The Sunseeker Winter Rally (or as the organsiers are determined to name it 'Rallye Sunseeker') hits the Bournemouth Gardens at 6pm on Friday 22nd Feb. Yep, you can witness the first stage of this event as a selection of amateur and professional rally drivers attempt to negotiate the paths of the central gardens at some serious speeds! The cars career down the narrow pathways, swing past the Pavillion Theatre, shoot under the fly-over and head off down the beach promenade, roaring past the mulit-coloured beach huts. Awesome and totally free to watch!

Quicker than your average Hyunadi...

The favourite has got to be local fella Marcus Dodd (multiple British National Champion) in his Hyundai Accent! I kid you not! It's not your basic run-about though, as this car has been prepared to WRC standards. Also, keep an eye out for the Metro 6R4's and the Landrover Wolfs.

For more information hit up the Rallye Sunseeker website.

For rally updates, tune in to my radio show on FIRE 107.6 throughout Saturday afternoon.

:: Needy Girl ::

I am simply loving the latest offering from Chromeo. 'Needy Girl' smacks of the 80's and has a synth hook that just sticks in your brain and refuses to leave.

The main remix is by Lifelike who has, I'm sure, used a sample from a fantastic 80's 12" 'Wired To The Beat Of The Drum' by Wired. I bought this track in a tiny record store in downtown Houston, Texas - and I have cherished it ever since, fully expecting to sample it myself. Unsurprsingly, it has been targeted by the supremly talented Laurent (aka Lifelike) and put to great use.

For those of you across the pond in Canada and the US of A, I'm fully aware that you've had Chromeo's 'Needy Girl' on your playlists since 2004. Why didn't you tell us earlier damn you!

:: Abarth Are Back ::

I've never owned a Fiat, but this little thing looks very tasty indeed! The Abarth team have clearly excelled and it is great for car enthusiasts around the world to be able to see the Scorpion badge on a car bonnet again. In my opinion it's probably one of the best car emblems ever!



I doubt if the Abarth 500 is going to be a serious contender to the Cooper S, or the suspected new hot Fiesta due out later this year, but let's hope the Abarth 500 shakes things up a bit in the small hot hatch market!

:: Watchin' My Bleeding Love ::

Up for grabs now is my mash-up of the fantastic Freemasons track 'Watchin', with music from the Leona Lewis smash hit 'Bleeding Love'. The vocalist is Amanda Wilson who worked with Russell (free) and James (mason) on their first two singles, 'Love On My Mind' and 'Watchin'.

Freemasons: James Wiltshire & Russell Small

The Freemasons have an amazing track record at the moment. They have not only produced a stack of dance floor gems, the last one being the Bailey Tzuke cover of 'Uninvited', but they have also transformed R 'n' B tracks into dance floor smashes for Beyonce Knowles and most recently Kelly Rowland. Talented, professional and with a midas touch, I am a huge fan of what the Brighton residents have achieved and hopefully they'll approve of this fun bootleg with X-Factor winner Leona Lewis.

Here it is: Freemasons vs. Leona Lewis 'Watchin My Bleeding Love'

:: Club Mix 2007 online now! ::

My 60 minute 'Megamix' of the biggest dance tunes of 2007 is now available to download here. The mix was featured as part of The Mixbuster show on FIRE 107.6, which took the listeners into the New Year. Go and grab it now and give your ears a damn good thrashing! The tracklisting is available here.

Hopefully this monster mix session will float your boat. Any feedback would be really appreciated. If you'd like a CD of the mix then drop me a line. You can eMail me here.

If you like it enough to give me some work, then my bank manager and I would love you forever!

Enjoy.

Simon

:: A Hero Returns ::

Less than 24 hours to go until the End Of Year and Club Mixes for 2007 are broadcast on FIRE 107.6. Check out the 4hr Mixbuster marathon on both Christmas Eve, 8pm 'til midnight, and New Years Eve, 10pm 'til 2am. Listen online at fireradio.co.uk.

My thanks to everyone who 'texted' the radio show, 'pinged' me an email, 'messaged' me via this blog, 'downloaded' my stuff, added' me on MySpace and cheered and screamed at me in 2007. Thanks for your support.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

Simon

:: Coming soon... ::

Coming soon...

:: A Mixbusting Xmas Bonanza ::

As we head off towards the winter season of dark nights and even darker tunes, it can only mean one thing for The Mixbuster. It's time to be locked into the studio with a plentiful supply of Jaffa Cakes and CD's, and to not be released from captivity until the traditional 'End Of Year Mix' has been created for FIRE 107.6.

Just before the lockdown begins, I can tell you that this year is going to be an overdose of Mixbuster mayhem! A 'Club Mix' will join the now legendary chart-based 'End Of Year Mix', to be the soundtrack for both Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve on FIRE 107.6.  The 'Club Mix', will include all the massive dance tunes of 2007, as well as some surprises!

For more information: fireradio.co.uk & mixbuster.com

:: Billy's Back! ::

There seems to have been an abundance of dance tunes released this year that featured artists of an established age! We've had tracks remixing and sampling Pink Floyd, The Police, Foreigner, Liquid Gold and Earth, Wind & Fire. One of the most talked about and one that is just about to hit the UK's sound sytems is a re-working of White Wedding by Billy Idol. This 80's classic has been mashed up with a 90's synth riff from the Bassheads and has all the components for greatness on the dancefloor. Heavy beats, a thick old bassline (courtesy of Jack Rokka) and a decent wad of nostalgia for the punters old enough to remember Mr.Peroxide the first time around.

Mixed reactions from dancefloors and DJ's so far, but I think that this track will break nicely for Frenetic and be part of your winter partying.

Trashcan Jack vs. Billy Idol - Club Wedding (freneticmusic.com)

:: Extreme Caterpillaring ::

The Gadget Show Team: Jon, Jason & Suzi

In my last journal entry I declared my allegiance to the sci-fi tv show Heroes, which is currently taking great ratings on BBC 2. My weekly tv viewing has now been helped along with the return of the techno-geeks favourite fix!

The Gadget Show on channel 5 is a must if you like your technology. Now into season 7, it's great to have Suzi Perry, Jason Bradbury and Jon Bentley back on the telly to inform all the gadget-eers of the best and worst products in tech-town, or geek-ville if you'd prefer.

I loved this idea from Jason Bradbury's website:



Jason Bradbury wants to test viral marketing. The idea being that you use places like YouTube to infest yourself or your product into peoples inboxes and minds. Just go to Jason's website - www.jasonbradbury.com - to read about the project and enjoy the trio's brilliant banter every Monday, on Channel 5.

:: Save The Cheerleader ::

Wednesday nights are now sacred.

This isn't like me at all, but I am absolutely hooked on the tv drama HEROES. What a fantastic show!

Created by Tim Kring, Heroes tells the story of a group of people who thought they were like everyone else... until they realised that they have a range of special powers. The story begins to unravel and spin-off into multiple plotlines, where the 'special ones' begin to see that they all have a role in preventing an epic event and therefore save humanity.




Told in a comic book style the characters are refreshingly different, the production quality immense and the story quite gripping. Let's hope this continues. I just wish I'd caught this the first time when it was broadcast on the Sci-Fi channel at the beginning of the year. 4.3 million UK viewers tuned in to BBC 2 last week, which meant that for the first time in 10 years it surpassed BBC 1 in the rating wars.

BBC 2 will begin broadcast of season 2 in December.

:: Terminal Illness #3 ::

Regular blog readers will know why I'm posting this picture. This is Madrid. Nice!

:: Feelin' Cranky ::

You wait an age for a decent local venue to provide your night out with top-flight DJ's and dance-acts, and then suddenly your world virtually implodes due to the A listers on the billing each and every week.

I'm talking about a new night, at a new venue in Bournemouth, which is exploding with talent (both female and musical) every friday night from NOW!

Bedbug @ Crank is the place to be if you want to catch the world's premier DJ's and dance producers doin' their thing. Seriously, I doubt any other provincial town has weekly billing like this:

28th Sep - Armand Van Helden
5th Oct - Axwell
12th Oct - D Ramirez and Mark Knight (OMG!)
19th Oct - Steve Angello
26th Oct - Seb Fontaine & Dirty South
2nd Nov - Sebastian Ingrosso
9th Nov - Pete Tong
16th Nov - The Shapeshifters & The Beatthiefs
23rd Nov - Sander Kleinenberg
30th Nov - Above & Beyond
7th Dec - Micky Slim, Dave Spoon & Jon Gurd

Hats off to Bedbug and the Crank-ies for sorting out these mind-blowing events. My tip would be not to miss D. Ramirez & Mark Knight spinning their own creations, or the opportunity to see Oz-wonderkid Dirty South make a very rare appearance in the UK.

:: New Mixes Online ::

As the summer season wraps and the temperature starts to drop there's only one thing on my mind. Dust!

I've got loads of new tunes to get through, as well as a stack of emails, before even thinking about getting my record bag sorted, or working on some new productions! I've been away a lot recently and my studio is a complete tip! Not like me and my obsessive compulsive streak at all! So, no new creations until I sort out this mess.

Oh well, whilst I get the Dyson to work, why not visit my 'Downloads' section and grab some of my recent mash-ups and remixes. I've just added my house remix of ABBA's 'Dancing Queen', entitled the 'Anybody Could Be That Guy Remix'. I've had some really cool feedback already and luckily no snotty letter from any Swedish lawyers.

Also up for grabs is my electro re-working of the 80's classic 'I Just Died In Your Arms' by the brilliant Cutting Crew. This managed to get the thumbs up from founder/lead singer Nick Van Eede, so it's as close to a legal release as I'll ever get!

I've also added the Axwell vs. Roger Sanchez (ft Armand Van helden and N'dea Davenport) mash-up that has been getting a lot of exposure. Enjoy!

Feedback always welcome.

Right,where's my feather duster!?

:: In The Mix & On The Beat ::

As our modern lives place us for longer and longer in front of our computers, why not have some great music to accompany you whilst you click 'n' surf. Global internet radio station BEAT 365 is a project that I've had the pleasure to be involved with since its earliest conception, so I was delighted to do a live session for them last friday night.

A 30 minute segment of my live mix is available as a download. It includes some very, very upfront material that has yet to get UK airplay!

Make sure you give BEAT 365 a go. It's a wicked station, running on zero funds, so please give them some support by logging on.

Enjoy!