DJ Traxx, Soul Foundation, Disko B Records, International DeeJay Gigilos, News : Renegade Rhythms

Renegade Rhythms Presents,

DJ Traxx
December 22

Traxx and Twonz
New Years Eve

New Years in a small warehouse in Olympia. What an experience! Excellent dinner, where people had their choice of roast duck, manacotti, salmon, or chicken. Kicking it at the dinner table, how cool was that? If you were not there, you should have been. Well actually, this was an invite only party. If you did not have a flyer, well, you missed out.

Who is Nestor Yulfo? He is only the coolest cat to hit the scene. He mixed it up like I have never heard before. Playing this loungy techno and house that put a smile on my face. Everybody I talked to about Nestor all said what amounted to the same thing. "I LIKE this guy!"

In stark contrast to Twonz's aggressive hard hitting mix. His mix was beating so hard, I felt waves of sound pounding my feet off the ground.

Traxx took the crowd through an Odyssey in sound. Integrating Twonz's aggression into his own style. Eventually steering the evening through memory lane, treating the crowd to some oldies.

Special thanks to Java and Missy for putting up with me for two days. Kendra, and Nathan's friend, thanks for the ride!

written by Slappy

Traxx showed the Tiger Bar his lighter side on Sunday, September 10. The place was mellow, the lighting was low, and the people were chilling. They had new and disturbing art on the walls. Renegade Rhythms would like to thank the staff for being warm and helpful; the drinks and the food were excellent. The JBL speakers produce great sound for the small room! When Traxx walked into the house, clusters of people listened to hip hop around tables and the bar. After two weekends with Traxx, it was apparent that only the serious heads came out to this show.

Traxx took over the decks at around 11:30PM. He spun out of the hip hop by spinning some light jazzy afro-latin tracks. He managed to keep the dinner atmosphere all evening. But it surpised me how he did it. All week Traxx had been spinning our heads into loops with his crazy mixing. This evening, he showed that he also understands how to be subtle and interesting. I do not think he turned up the bass all evening, keeping his entire set light. The versaitility is impressive! One track he mixed could have been been played by the Cannonball Adderly Quintet in 1967. A fiery alto sax musician was tearing that track apart! My heart rate jumped when Traxx took over the decks, and the vibe of the place was more engerized. I even noticed everybody in the restraunt smiling more. Even the staff!

One trend in Traxx's chart selection is their human warmth. His music has some synthesizers, and some distortion. But alot of his sound is earthy and soulful! His trax's with african beats and soul are deep and moving. He understands how to use density, dynamics, and tone to create a unique and exciting set. Traxx's creation stopped around 2:30AM.

Traxx bumped a packed 1201 on Thursday, September 7. This small venue can fit about 120 people tops, and the club managed to squeeze them all in. There are very few places people can hear good music for free, but Portland is such a place. 1201 is one of the clubs that will book somebody like Traxx and not charge at the door! I would like to thank the staff for providing great service and drinks.

The evening started with a local dj(?) who seemed pretty psyched about opening for Traxx. As well he should be. He started the evening playing a mixture of down beats and jungle. But as his set progressed, he started playing house beats.

Traxx walked in the door at around 11:30 PM and people started getting excited. Traxx's first comment to me was about how nice and small the place was. "I like it!" he exclaimed. The 15 foot ceilings and small dance floor give the place very intimate feel. Traxx would later show that he could manipulate, and control that intimate atmosphere with uncommon expertise.

Traxx came with his own mixer and tables. So when he came on, the music paused briefly. That pause was all that was needed to for people to know that Traxx was in the HOUSE. The change was like a giant taking you by the nape of your neck and forcing you to look at something different. His experimental tracks slowly cracked away at the crowds notion of what music is...

Sometimes, a musical artist can achieve a higher state of awareness with his audience. Where the artist has the listeners entire awareness focussed for hours. This show was one of one of those. It seemed like everybody was tuned in and energized by the music. A very rare and difficult feat to achieve, but Traxx did it! It has only happened to me a handful of times (40 shows per year). George Clinton and the P-Funk All-Stars at LaLuna achieved that state of group awareness a few years back. I hear John Coltrane regularly achieved it with his audiences. (I am a Coltrane nut too, so don't you dare accuse me of blasphemy!)

Traxx took everybody deeper, and slowly deeper into a his musical pilgrimage. Displaying for people a klaidescope of sound that continually impressed and invigorated. Who else could bust into a sample of Martin Luthar King in the middle of his set and make it sound good? Well, John Coltrane did it. Traxx's odyssey ended at 3 AM.

Renegade Rhythms would like to thank everybody who attended Traxx's addition to Urban Development. Your screams, and energy created a good vibe and turned the Ohm into a bumping mad house! We would like to thank DJ Masa and IQU for creating a great vibe. The place was hoppin by the time we hit the stage.

During Michael's set, The Ohm became packed as the techno fans filed into the house. Michael deftly changed the tone from psychicdelic down beats (the Theramon was cool guys!) to bumping techno. Michael's tight mixes and dense, beating techno revved the crowds heart rates. Then Dlyte suprised everybody by giving up his set to Traxx because Traxx was so excited about hitting the decks. He demanded the audiences attention with his mind bending techno. He engaged the mind in a journey that changed with every breath and always in suprising directions. Everybody at the party now understands what it means to JACK! I certainly was more awake after the party than before. His performance was four and a half hours of delight.

If you could not attend the show, we hope you caught the webcast. Traxx's performance was a treat not to miss. He will be playing around Portland this week, including a show this Thursday, September 7 at the 1201, Portland. We will be having a special Traxx webcast : time and date to be announced. Join our mailing list for the most up to date information.

Renegade Rhythms presented an evening of Urban Development -- Saturday, September 2nd. The show was after hours at The Ohm. Traxx hails from Chicago where he is a member of SoulFoundation, Disko B, and International DeeJay Gigolos. We promoted the evenining saying he be joined by a pair of our hard hitting and furious d-jays -- Dlyte and Michael. Traxx expressed an interest in playing as long as possible so Dlyte decided to let him play during his set. Dlyte always plays excellent, but from the energetic applause after Traxx's set, it seems that nobody was dissappointed.