Our first new tune under the KillaJoulez name is remix of Hot Shit’s Everybody.

Buraka Som Sistema, to the uninitiated, are a Portuguese collective of vocalists and producers. Bursting onto the world dance music scene after the release of their 2008 debut album Black Diamond they took the Angolan style of kuduro, popular in the Lisbon club-scene, and fused it with techno and electro to pioneer a whole new sound of bass music.

So it is with interest that we review their latest album, Komba. Developed over the past 11 months, the band started out in a woodland retreat in the south of Portugal working on ideas and demos before heading first to London and then Lisbon, to record vocals and bring the album together.

Continue reading the rest of our review on the Immersed Audio blog.

Unlike most DJ teams, the three of us DJ together at the same time as opposed to back-to-back. We each have our own roles: mixing, effects and triggering; but we are always looking for ways to improve on our setup.

After a lot of research and discussion we finally decided on a Faderfox FT3. In the end, it was a close call between that and the (as yet unreleased) Novation Twitch. The Twitch does look like an amazing piece of kit but eventually it was the lack of four true channels that put us off.

So yesterday, having placed our order last week, we eagerly took delivery of a brand new Faderfox FT3. And after an evening of playing with it here’s the first impressions:

It’s small, but not too small. I seem to be able to control each knob and slider easily enough. It’s light as well, which is great for lugging around but maybe too light for performing steadily. We’ll see.

The faders and knobs are pretty solid. I’m really impressed with build quality so far. The crossfader is much stiffer than our DJ mixer, but I tried it out a bit and think it will be ok. Maybe I won’t be able to do the really quick cuts that I’m used to, but I can probably map a button to cut the tune in and out anyway, like a mixer transformer button. And maybe after a few weeks of use, it’ll loosen up anyway.

Faderfox have managed to pack in a lot of controls into it’s tiny package. It has a LOT of modes: EQ, effect, global, deck etc, Each time a different mode is selected, the knobs and buttons do different things, plus there’s a Shift button which effectively doubles each control. It’s gonna take a while to put a template together that we like and then get used to.

My worry with this controller was that all the knob are endless encoders so their current position is unknown. That’s normally ok for individual DJs, because they can just look at the screen and see where they’re at. But for us, Phil might be doing something completely different on screen so I can’t quickly look to see a knob position.

Faderfox’s solution, however, is really neat. When you click on a knob, it ‘resets’ it back to zero. So you know you can always get the sound back to normal by clicking the knob. Only four of the nine knobs have this feature and the default Ableton Live template just uses it for three: EQ low, mid and high.

The unit is designed as an all-in-one controller for mixing, triggering and effects and the Live template that comes bundled is set up to achieve all that. But we’ll obviously set up the template to concentrate on the mixing aspect. There’s no need for me to be triggering clips, for instance. And that is gonna take a little while to get right.

There you go then. One evening’s thoughts on our new controller. Be sure to check back again for a more in-depth review in the next month or so.

Oh how we neglect this blog sometimes…

Here’s a free tropical basstune we released a couple of weeks ago on the KMB Bootleg series.

Moja (KMB Boot) by Kiss My Bass

KJs Build artwork - Kodo drummer

To celebrate the start of 2011, we’ve got a free download for you: KJs – Build, an energetic bass-heavy dubstep fusion of Japanese Kodo drumming and Ragga vocals. Sound interesting?

Build by KJs (aka Knob Jockeys)

Marilyn Monroe – Santa Baby (Knob Jockeys Extra Stuffed Mix) by KJs (aka Knob Jockeys)

YouTube Playlist

Whilst the Knob Jockeys moniker will still be around for our mashups and bootleg releases, we are now KJs, reflecting our move into original productions and harder, leaner mixes and performances.

Read our press release to find out more!

KJs Press Release, November 2010

We refuse to accept it’s the end of summer, so it’s chock-full of topical tunes, afro beats, samba rhythms and electro house to make the sunshine last that little bit longer.

To be in with a chance of winning we need 100 listens, we hope you like it!

The tune in name is our remix of Queen’s Fat Bottom Girls. An altogether fatter remix. We’ve been opening our sets with it and it’s been going down a storm

Queen – Fat Bottom Girls (Knob Jockeys remix) by Knob Jockeys

The mix is a representation of the sets we played at this summer’s festivals. An hour and half of electro, funky, dubstep, a smattering of d&b all washed down with lashings of bass.

Tracklist:

Knob Jockeys – Intro
Queen – Fat Bottomed Girls (Knob Jockeys large-arsed remix)
Yeah Woho! – Bass Warfare
Knob Jockeys – Broken
So Shifty – Lift Up Dat
Hyper Crush – Ayo
Bingo Players / Jace Everett- Get Up (Diplo remix) / Bad Things
Benny Benassi – Satisfaction
Kool & The Gang – Jungle Boogie (Knob Jockeys remix)
Fake Blood – I Think I Like It
Christina Aguilera – Ain’t No Other Man
Nouveau Yorican – Jackit (ETC!ETC! & Mr Vega bootleg)
DJ Shadow / Prince – Right Thing / Kiss
Afrojack & Gregor Salto – I’ll Be There
Young Nutz vs Rossco – Murder (KJs remix)
J-Wow – O Dedo
Christian Paduraru – Pentateuch (Progressive breaks mix)
Max Morrell – Back Yard Riddim
Tonka – Jack Track (Black Noise remix)
Swedish House Mafia / Milady – One / Flat Step
Knob Jockeys – Back Up
DJ Zinc / Reso – Super Sharp Shooter / Technetium
Beastie Boys – Sabotage (Alex Metric ReEdit)
Yeah Woho! – Hit That Organ (Peo de Pitte remix)
Crookers – Jump Up
Switch – A Bit Patchy
Bart B More – Brap
A1 Bassline – Close To Me
Djedjotronic – Computer Jerk
Knob Jockeys – Rythedia
Tasha Baxter – Computer Girl
Les Savy Fav – The Slip (Kids At The Bar Remix)
Major Lazer – Bruk Out (Foamo Remix)
Buraka Som Sistema – IC19 (A1 Bassline remix)
Mason – Exceeder
Kidda – Feel Too Good (Jack Beats remix)
Chemical Brothers – Swoon (Boys Noize Summer remix)
Knob Jockeys – Waffle
Project Bassline – Drop The Pressure (Jack Beats remix)
Knob Jockeys – Rise