To The Head

Zack Hill - Live on Sound Therapy

2008-07-08T08:09:00.000-07:00

After at least a year of packed schedules and missed opportunities, I was finally able to connect with my good friend Lando and appear on his bi-weekly internet radio show Sound Therapy. Lando is a great guy and someone who's musical tastes I really appreciate. He's turned me onto some great tunes in the past, and to finally have the chance to play a set for his show was quite a treat for me. Have a listen and be sure to check out Sound Therapy which airs bi-weekly on Sundays from 4pm-6pm PST over at http://myhouse-yourhouse.net

While you're at it, drop Lando a line and ask him to put up his House Music series of CDs online as MP3s. Talk about a great series of mix CD's!! They were fantastic and need to be archived!

Enjoy the mix, feedback is always welcomed!

Click Here To Download The Mix (320 kbps MP3)

Tracklist:
1. Taxi - People Come Runnin (Dixon Edit) - INFRACom!
2. Demarkus Lewis - Tell Me Why (Deez Main Pass) - Slip 'N' Slide
3. Essential Soul - Come On (Frankie Feliciano Remix) - Wave Music
4. Fish Go Deep - Cure & The Cause (Original Mix) - Defected
5. Soul Central - Song 4 Sharma - Kenlou
6. Lars Behrenroth & Sinan Baymak - I Miss The Things - Deeper Shades
7. Shazz - Hermosa Maria - Epic
8. Mark De Clive-Lowe - Move On Up (BITA Remix) - Bitasweet
9. Thievery Corporation - Universal Highness - 18th Street Lounge
10. Rolling Stones - Miss You - Rolling Stones Recordings
11. Skipworth & Turner - Thinkin' Bout Your Love - 4th & Broadway
12. Jazzanova - Soon (Jazzy Jeff Remix)
13. Dubtribe SoundSystem - This Is The Time - Defected
14. The Detroit Experiment - Think Twice - Planet E
15. Terence Trent D'arby - Wishing Well - Columbia

Zack Hill - An Afternoon With Nicholas

2008-04-11T18:28:00.001-07:00

Here's another mix from a couple of years ago that I never made public until now. This one was recorded one late Friday night at my old studio in Long Beach. I wanted to put something together with a real slow build so I grabbed a handful of records and went for it. I was really happy with the results and decided to keep this one limited to a select couple of individuals until now. I hope you dig it, I know they did.

Enjoy the mix, feedback is always welcomed!

Click Here To Download The Mix (320 kbps MP3)

Tracklist:
1. Muddyloop - Lov Me - Dessous
2. Pete Moss - Sun Damage - Earthtones
3. Second Hand Satellites - Orbit - Hallucination
4. Mateo & Matos - The Real Thing - Glasgow Underground
5. Succulent - Freshly - Worship Recordings
6. Walter Jones - GC's Theme - Westbound
7. Frankman - New.Wav - FM Musik
8. Morgan Geist - Lullaby - Environ
9. Alexi Delano - Round & Round (Charles Webster) - Strata
10. Black Science Orchestra - New Jersey Deep - Junior Boys Own
11. Aya - Uptown - Naked Music

Strictly Rhythm Takes A Stand

2008-03-17T15:26:00.000-07:00

I recently came across this article which referred to a DJ mix that was removed at the request of the record label Strictly Rhythm because it contained one of thier tracks. This surprised me not only because the massive amounts of DJ mixes posted across the internet on a daily basis, but also because for as long as I can remember, DJ culture has always used the mixtape as it's main tool for promotion of both the DJ and the artists who's tracks are featured in the mix.

I've personally been introduced to many tracks I've purchased by first hearing them on a mixtape. Back in the early 90's when I first began buying 12" singles, mixtapes were one of my only resources for finding out the artists/titles of the tracks I was hearing at the parties I was attending. I hadn't met many DJs yet and in a time where competition was fierce to get gigs, getting the freshest tracks and keeping your secret weapons a secret were two of your biggest advantages. I remember buying many mixtapes, and scanning the record shops for these illusive tracks which often times had been misprinted on the mixtapes j-card.

Fast forward a good 10-15 years and we're now at a point where the music is more accessible than it's ever been. Vinyl manufacturing is at it's most unstable point since it's resurrection by the post-disco club DJ, and digital music has revolutionized the way we buy, sell, and play music. At a time where the majors are struggling to catch up to a new business model, you've got a label that was one of the first independants to make it big back in the 90's and then folded, come back and start scouring the internet for filenames and mixes from thier catalog and sending out cease and desist letters for what boils down to basically promoting thier releases to a bigger audience. Any mixes I post will contain a full tracklist and if available a direct link to purchase the track from a download site or record store online. So after hearing a track from a label who's music I've chosen, and then being able to purchase it with just a few mouse clicks, I can't see why anyone would oppose this type of free promotion??

I can understand a label not wanting to give away their product for free, and it's no secret that labels are making much more from compilations and "legal" DJ mixes (with all tracks licensed), but to argue that a DJ mix posted on the Internet (in any bitrate) is hurting sales in any way is absurd. I know quite a few people who aren't DJ's that are shopping digital music sites for tracks they've heard in mixes or at clubs and purchasing them. These are your same casual listeners that a few years ago were probably using p2p sites like Napster to download the latest top 40 songs. Know why they're paying for their music now? It's simple. For $1.99 you can have a full, clean, properly labeled/tagged MP3 downloaded to your computer or mp3 player within seconds. This kind of convenience and organization has turned your average dance music enthusiast toward browsing the digital sites for their music instead of the p2p programs. Take away the DJ mixes and you're taking away the average listeners main source of exposure to your product. Sure they'll hear the tracks in the clubs, but without tracklistings and contact information, they're left on their own trying to find your product.

It surprises me that a label who based much of thier early success off of 12" singles built around blatantly unlicensed samples would come back with such a different outlook on how thier product is used and promoted. Unfortunately thier choices may ultimately result in repeating the same fate they suffered 16 years ago after falling from the top. It's certainly an interesting time for dance music.

Top 10 Chart - March 2008

2008-03-13T09:19:00.000-07:00

Jimpster - Got A Hold On Your Soul - Freerange
Freerange 100 part 2 shows Jimpster is still on top and sounding fresh as ever!
Afefe Iku - Mirror Dance - Yoruba
Hypnotic driving piano track from Afefe Iku's debut full-length on Yoruba.
Reelsoul - The Urban Sole EP - Sole Channel
Los Angeles Wonder-Kid William "ReelSoul" Rodriquez drops the EP that solidifies him as a force to be reckoned with from coast-to-coast!
Miles Maeda - Japanese Babies EP - Outergaze Japan
2007 Release on Japan's Outergaze with 3 tracks that do serious dancefloor damage.
Dennis Ferrer feat. Malena Perez - I Can't Go Under - Objektivity
Objektivity was my 2007 Label Of The Year and this is still thier strongest release to date.
Runaway - She Did It For The Money - I'm A Cliche'
Heavy twisted leftfield jam that gets freakier with each play.
Jojo Flores & Joe DiPadova - Yes Smoke - Deeper Shades Recordings
Strong debut release from Lars Behrenroth's Deeper Shades label reworks Koro Koro's classic 'No Smoke' into a late night tribal hypnotic workout.
Nuno Dos Santon feat. Robert Owens - Merging - Compost
Dark and haunting vocal trip featuring vox from the unmistakable Robert Owens.
Metro Area - Miura (Maelstrom Edit) - White Label
The controversial edit that took on the job of reworking a classic works on the floor everytime!
The Juan Maclean - Happy House - DFA Records
A familiar piano line drives this 12+ minute funk jam into spaaaaace!

Click on each title for an audio sample. Tracks are in no particular order.
Thanks to all of the artists and producers for thier respective works.

Zack Hill - Live @ Distant Beat Beach Party(August 2005)

2008-03-12T12:08:00.000-07:00

I recently discovered a live recording of my set from the Distant Beat Beach Party back in 2005. Distant Beat holds 1-2 parties each summer on a fairly secluded beach off highway 101 in Ventura. There aren't too many things better than spending a warm summer day with your bare feet in the sand playing records while looking out into the Pacific Ocean amongst friends.

For more information on the Distant Beat Beach parties check them out on MySpace.
I believe I will be playing one of the parties this summer. More info TBA.

Click Here To Download The Mix (320 kbps MP3)

Tracklist:
1. Ian Pooley - What's Your Number (Swag FM Mix) - V2
2. Tom & Joyce - Vai Minha Tristeza - Yellow
3. Dubtribe Soundsystem - What You Feel In Your Heart - Guidance
4. Greg Long - Skindiving - Imperial Dub
5. Darren Davis - Inspirational Times - Imperial Dub
6. Natural Rhythm - Eclectic Dub - Earthtones
7. Amit Shoham - The Well (Tribal Dub) - Tarantic
8. Blue Six - Pure (Jay's Undercover Dub) - Naked Music
9. Eddie Matos - Thoughts Of You - Seasons Recordings
10. DJ Ino - My Way (Charles Webster Remix) - House Cafe'
11. Shuffle Inc. - All I Do (Jazz Ride) - Moulton Studios
12. East West Connection - Tomorrow In Your Eyes (Dubtribe Remix) - Chili Funk
13. Raul Midon & Louie Vega - Cerca De Mi (Wagon Cookin' Remix) - LoveMonk
14. Idjut Boys - Whok Tish - U Star
15. Furry Phreaks - Soothe (16B Mix) - FSUK
16. Slow Motion Society - Asleep In The Sun - Unreleased

**Thanks to Neil from Streetlight Recordings for the ID on track 5!!**

Welcome....

2008-03-12T10:42:00.000-07:00

Welcome to To The Head.... The new home for Los Angeles based DJ Zack Hill of the VinylTribe. More information on me can be found at VinylTribe.com as well as my MySpace page.

This space will play host to exclusive mixes/podcasts as well as the occasional classic mix from the past, recent charts/playlists, and track reviews.

I hope you'll subscribe and keep up to date on what I've got going on, and I encourage you to post comments/feedback as well. Let me know what you want to see!

Thanks for stopping by.. bookmark us and come back soon!