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Mini-update + a few long lost mixes available for download/stream
Posted By: Shagz
Date:
Hey all! Obviously been a long time since I posted to the site. Lots of things have changed in the intervening years - got a new job which unfortunately sucked up a lot of my free time, had a scare with my ear health for a while which put a hold on all things DJ for a bit, COVID obviously (unlike some industries that shutdown during the pandemic, mine got busier, so no downtime for djing), but then I got married and bought a house! Life continues.
I don't know what the future holds for DJ Shagz at this point. While I continue to keep buying music (so weird to say that, "buying" music in 2023...) and have the occasional private gigs (I had an amazing time djing for my new family at my sister-in-law's wedding in 2021), I don't know if sitting down and making new mixes is in the cards. Other things have taken priority and I'm worried about the future of my hearing. But nothing has been decided, we shall see!
Anyways, as for the mixes, I was moving some files around, trying to minimize my usage of Drop Box, and realized that I had mp3s for a few old mixes sitting there which I had never linked to. I had also updated my Mixcloud account with a couple of old tapes mixes as well as never announced or promoted them!
So, happy to share these with you, years later!
A Glass of Water Side A (2001) (MP3 | Stream on Mixcloud) and Side B (MP3 | Stream on Mixcloud)
Return of the Small Town Bedroom DJ (2003) - ZIP file download
Push the Button Vol 3 (2005) - MP3 download
Stay Loose (2005) - MP3 download | Stream on Mixcloud
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Upcoming gig with Univox, An Evening of Cabaret, Apr 28 @ Burdock
Posted By: Shagz
Date:
I have the honour of djing and partying with Univox & Florivox at our cabaret fundraiser night at Burdock, near Bloor and Dufferin, on April 28th! $10 gets you into one of Bloorcourt's finest craft brew/live music venues, to hear/see vocal and dance performances by members of our talented community.
The majority of my gigs these days are private events, so here's a rare chance to hear me play out to the public. I've got, like, a year of new music acquisitions to rinse out. I'm looking forward to sharing them with you. :)
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Still here + thoughts on Veld
Posted By: Shagz
Date:
Hey everybody!
Yup, I'm still around, still alive, but as it sometimes happens, making mixes and just djing in general has taken a back seat as of late to a bunch of other life priorities. I'm still buying and listening to music, still going to live shows (Caravan Palace and Tycho this year, and most recently I was at Veld, see below), and even still buying gear - my long serving Rane TTM 57SL fell victim to end of life as did Serato Scratch as a piece of software, so I was forced (not entirely begrudgingly) to upgrade to Serato DJ and I picked up a Pioneer DJ S9 to accompany and run the software.
But yea, just haven't had the energy, time, or inspiration to work on any new mixes and get on the decks. I've also become very worried about my ear health as of late, and I'm doing less and less dj gigs because of it.
But I can still be working the "bedroom dj" angle and I'm hoping I can fix this drought of dj mixes soon.
I certainly got a lot of inspiration this past weekend at Veld, the big EDM festival in Toronto that's been running the last 5 years. I've done big festivals in the past, but never a multi-day festival and not for a while. It was a pretty awesome event, worth the expense, but now that I've done it, I don't think I have to do it again. :)
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This week! Keep Calm and Party On v3!
Posted By: Shagz
Date:
THIS FRIDAY! Chris Wright, Laird G and I will be spinning fine summer time beats, a tasty mix of house, nu disco, breaks, techno, pop 'n hip hop and all thing things fun and funky. You know the score, it's always a great time with the Univox peeps, and if have yet to experience these party people, then now you know what you're doing on the weekend. :)
What: Keep Calm and Carry On v3, a fundraiser for the Univox Choirs
Where: Tota Lounge, 592 Queen St West
When: Aug 7, 2015, Doors at 8pm
Cover: $10
See you there!
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New summatime dj mix...
Posted By: Shagz
Date:
Brand new dj mix for you, scientifically proven to make any summer time jam that much jammier! A medium-rare slice o' soul, bossa nova, breaks 'n funk, perfect for the backyard or cottage getaway.
And that's not all! Part 2 will be arriving in the near(-ish) future.
Hope you're having a great summer!
Listen on Mixcloud
Download high quality mp3
Summer 2015 BBQ Mix - Part 1 by Djshagz on Mixcloud
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Keep Calm and Party On v3!!!
Posted By: Shagz
Date:
Coming up in just a few weeks, Chris Wright and myself will be back at Tota Lounge along with guest Laird G, spinning choons for another "Keep Calm and Party On" jam! Great people, graet time, great cause!
All da deets you crave...
What: Keep Calm and Carry On v3, a fundraiser for the Univox Choirs
Where: Tota Lounge, 592 Queen St West
When: Aug 7, 2015, Doors at 8pm
Cover: $10
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DJ mix from the archives + FB music reccos + non-dj gig
Posted By: Shagz
Date:
Hey everybody!
Apologies for the lack of activity over the last several months, the day job and life and so on just got in the way and has kept me away from the decks way longer than I would have liked.
I've got a new-old mix to share with you though, something I pulled out of the archives after hearing another dj play a few of the tracks that I put into it.
Stay Loose!! is a slice of classic (and classic sounding) funk, soul and hip hop that I did for a friend of mine in 2005. I think it's one of the first mixes I ever did where I was actively using samples in between and over top of the original tracks. Enjoy!
Over on Facebook, I've been doing some music recommendations for the past few weeks on mondays and fridays, posting something that I've been really into. Could be something brand new, could be a classic from back in the day, but trust that everything is gold. :)
You can check out the posts from the last weeks over on my DJ Shagz facebook page, and hit that der "Like" button if you haven't already to get notified when I post new reccos.
Be sure to check in tomorrow for the first of several Christmas picks!
And lastly, for all the Toronto locals, this being the Christmas season, my choir will doing our annual holiday concert *tomorrow* night.
Univox, along with our sibling choir Florivox, brings a collection of Christmas and winter music, both traditional and modern, classical and abstract. We just had dress reheasal and things sound *amazing*! It's going to be a really great show!
Here's a preview of one of the songs we'll be performing, Avro Pärt's Magnificat.
Where: Christ Church Deer Park
1570 Yonge St, Toronto, ON
How much: $20 in advance (see Univox site below), $25 at the door
Deets: https://www.facebook.com/events/724970267593174/ and http://univoxchoir.org/winter-song/Tickets: http://univoxchoir.org/tickets
Season's greetings to all!
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TIFF 2010 Reviews via Twitter
Posted By: Shagz
Date:
I love this time of year, love the weather. The crisp air, the clear blue skies...there's a certain energy about it.
And it also reminds me of the Toronto Film Festival!
Each of the previous years I've tried to post my reviews of all the movies I've seen in the fest, with varying amounts of success. Last year I didn't post anything though. This is mainly because I saw so many (about 16 or 17). It was definitely too much, I was falling asleep in the theatres near the end.
So this year I'm doing things differently. I'm seeing less films (about 11) and I'm posting micro reviews on my Twitter feed. So if you love film and you want to know what to watch out for in the coming year, just follow me on Twitter and you'll get just the essential bits you need to know. :)
Happy festing!
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Film Fest 2008 Reviews...a few days before TIFF 2009 starts :P
Posted By: Shagz
Date:
So, I never did get around to posting my reviews from TIFF 2008, and the 2009 edition is right around the corner. I'm ashamed. I think I explicitly promised that I would write more frequently last year, get the reviews out of my head soon after watching the flicks instead of waiting until after the festival. But no luck, not with a packed schedule of 15 movies (a new record for me),
So, here's my quick, off the cuff reviews of the 2008 Toronto Film Festival.
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The Lost Fingers
Posted By: Shagz
Date:
Pretty cool jazz/folk band from Quebec, doing originals but spice it up with covers of 80's tunes. They turn You Shook Me All Night Long into a late night drunken sing-a-long, which is way more fun than the original...but it's their jumping gypsy-jive swing versions of Pump Up The Jam and Billie Jean that are going to get the party started!!
(Thanks to Andrew for the recco!!)
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There's some great Canadian cinema in theatres right now.
Posted By: Shagz
Date:
Not sure how this started, but I've been on a bit of Canadian movie kick lately.
First was Charles Officer's Nurse.Fighter.Boy (trailer), a great little indie urban romance that takes place in Toronto and features a heavy Jamaican influence/connection. (Dope soundtrack too)
Then Lars and The Real Girl. (ok, not *really* Canadian, but it was filmed in Canada and Ryan Gosling's a Canadian)
Today I saw Pontypool, a pretty creepy/scary, darkly comedic (in a Canadian way) "zombie" thriller starring Stephen McHattie and directed by Bruce McDonald (of "Hardcore Logo" fame). It's a great flick, I highly recommend it if you like zombie films or thrillers or Bruce McDonald. (Also check out Fido, another great Canadian zombie flick)
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The Watchmen
Posted By: Shagz
Date:
A visually stunning and ridiculously faithful envisioning of Alan Moore and Dave Gibbon's seminal graphic novel. Visually stunning...and a bit too long.
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Video Games, Music and DK Jungle Beat
Posted By: Shagz
Date:
A short missive and look back at one of my favourite games on the GC, Donkey Kong Jungle Beat by Boing Boing's video game site, Off World. Author Margaret Robertson makes an interesting (and strangely obvious, once you hear it) comparison between games and musical instruments, code and orchestral scores, players and, well, players.
I contest that Harmonix knew all along what they were doing when they made Guitar Hero, that they made the explicit connection between musical rhythm and game rhythm. I think they just transferred Dance Dance Revolution onto a fret board.
What I'd like to see is more games like Jungle Beat, where a musical instrument control device is used to play something other than a musical simulation game. Imagine a House of the Dead rails shooter controlled by guitar, or an RTS played on a 32-note keyboard?
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A Note From My Dad
Posted By: Shagz
Date:
My Dad shared a thought with me today, inspired by President-Elect Obama's win yesterday in the US Elections. He commented that for him, the big historic election was 1960 with JFK, at a time when "everyone thought that a Catholic couldn't become President".
I clearly remember my father saying something similar as we watched the Berlin Wall fall on TV back in the early 90's. And had we been in the same room, I'm sure a similar conversation would have ensued when the WTC towers collapsed. We have been, and are currently, living in very important, rapidly changing times.
Earlier today, I wasn't really seeing Obama's election as necessarily "historic" or "ground breaking". I just saw it as a foregone conclusion, I suppose. That Barack should win the US election was a given, something that just made sense with the times we were living in, he was the man for the moment. I'm not quite sure I'm explaining it right. I guess my response is less "This is amazing, I never thought I would see the day" and more "It totally makes sense that he won, the US and the world need an intelligent, calm leader at the head of the world's most powerful nation; there was never any doubt".
But my Dad's comment really brought it home: this really is a big deal. I'm not American nor am I black, but you don't have to be either to know that race issues in America are incredibly complex and dirty. The fact that Obama, being black and having a middle name of Hussien, still managed to win, says a lot, either about how much America has changed and grown, or just how desperate they are for a new direction.
Very important times, indeed.
Obama now has a lot riding on his shoulders. Regardless of the issues that come with his race, experience or age, America's in a pretty bad spot right now and there's a massive challenge ahead. I believe he's up to the task, but it doesn't stop me from hoping and praying that after all this, America made the right choice.
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