DJ Paine

for those of you {which is most “normal” folk} who are not wrapped up in the ghetto of christian media and entertainment: Derek Webb is an american dude who had a fairly successful christian band called Caedmon’s Call. i wouldn’t call myself a big fan, though i have a few of their albums. i appreciated the band and Derek Webb because there was an essence of authentic-ness to his lyrics and even his vocal delivery… i hadn’t thought about him or the band for a few years until i heard on the grapevine about some broo-ha-ha over his new album. i looked into it and apparently it’s because he says the word “shit” on one song.
sigh.
really?
are we -{and i am using the word we because i am a christian and part of the church in the truest sense of the word.} – still so immature that when one of our artists passionately expresses himself in ART he might use a “profane” word? are we that weak that we can’t take one little artists out pouring? could it be that he HAS to use whatever is in him to convey exactly what he believes Father has shown him?
Anyway…
so i finally heard some of the new album, and blow me down, it is excellent. Right up my alley. The production is fantastic, gone are the rootsy folksy christian nashville sound of Caedman’s Call, and instead there are loops, samples and chopped up electronics. I LOVE IT.
and as for me: i believe that on so many levels:
musically
creatively
artistically
spiritually
and just honouring Father because you are jumping out into that abyss of creating and loosing yourself in it all….
this is the best stuff that i’ve heard Derek Webb do.
but what do i know hey?

here are some videos.
check out Derek Webb online here.

is it just me or is this the prototype for EVERY single christian rock song in the late 80′s early 90′s? even the lyrics….
i still like marky mark’s version better. i bought the Boogie Nights soundtrack just for his version of this song.

this is simply amazing.
this guy should win a nobel peace prize in remixing genius.
Go Here and Turn Up Your Speakers:

THRU YOU | Kutiman mixes YouTube

and because some of you illiterate num nums might not go there let me explain what i am sending you to:

this incredibly talented dude went out into the wild wild west that is YouTube and found random – unrelated videos of people doing their music, playing, singing, whatever and then he remixed their videos into incredible music! my explanation might not sound cool, but trust me, go watch it. it blew my mind.

your friendly neighborhood awesomeness,
dj paine

so i am sitting here in sydney at our excellent friend’s house claude & keren’s in the western hills suburb of seven hills… i am checking the intertubes and i wander over to my blog {this one you are reading now} and i can see that my “recently listened to” Last FM widget is listing songs by DIDDY… hmmmm… i’m not home in front of my iMac that feeds my last.fm account, so who is? i think what is happening is that benita has been playing one of her favourites Deitrick Haddon and she has walked out of the house and left iTunes playing… sigh…. let’s see what crazy stuff gets dredged up today…

i apologise in advance for the embarrassing music in my itunes collection.

if you grew up in conservative christian circles in the 80′s / 90′s then you might be familiar with the mighty mullet & moustachioed one known as Ray Boltz…

he was incredibly popular with camps and “special numbers”… i can’t tell you how many times i’ve heard someone belt out Ray’s hit “Thank You” in church services through the years…

he was in my opinion the king of “schmaltz”: soppy emotional numbers that old ladies would weep to… not my cup of tea…

he released a gang of albums {15?!} in his career, married with kids and all round super christian dude in the nsahville “CCM” scene.

anyway today i learnt that a few days he ago he “came out” publicly as a homosexual. read about it here. you can even see how he looks with no mullet these days on his website here.
you know back in the day i might have been really upset about this, and i know that thousands of his previous fans will be devastated over this, his albums and music will be pulled from radio stations, from stores and a lot of his “product” will be thrown out by his once fans… but i don’t feel upset… for one, i never really liked his gig, but big picture wise, it’s not my place to condemn him, his story is not over yet, and i know Jesus is not finished working in Ray’s life. My world view and doctrine / dogma has not changed at all {i believe that quite clearly that Father has revealed through His word in the Bible that homosexuality is just one of myriad of deviations from His designed sexuality, right up there with adultery, divorce, lust etc}… but you know what has changed in me? my understanding of how LOVING Father is, how patient He is, how Big He is…. and i know all of that applies to Ray Boltz and his journey…. Father is not finished with Ray yet, and Jesus has not called me to sit on a little throne of judgement to condemn him.
does that make sense?

Dr. Horrible.

seriously get on it now for free… it is excellent. funny super villains and heroes, great songs and a love triangle…. brilliant.

yesterday {monday 21st april 2008} and for a few scattered days over the next 2 weeks i will be doing some workshops and hanging out with the kids at The Spot.
my first introduction to The Spot was a couple years ago when my man Charlie T; “the educator” from the winnie coopers was working up here and i came up with him to check it out… now my mate Warren M; “Rezadent” from the hip-hop duo Fortune – is the co-ordinator at The Spot for the “Get Ready For Work” programme. and for the next couple of weeks the spot’s in house designer is on his honeymoon, so i’m there to give the kids a fresh perspective and do some photography with them… it should be interesting.
it is also interesting having to travel to “work” as someone who has worked from home for the last few years, it is a big hoo-har to have to co-ordinate with benita and juggle our one car. i’ll keep ya updated.
anyway, here are some shots from day one at The Spot: {taken with my phone and the spot’s beat up canon 300D}

yes i know it’s all the hype….
and i know that within a couple of weeks of it launching people are already over the hype…
but i love it.
{and doesn’t hurt that Justin Ouellette who started originally was from vimeo}

so i present you with my first muxtape:
djp.muxtape.com

there is a “meme” floating around the net – that is: there is a silly idea being talked about by web nerds and geeks…
THE SONG CHART.
here is the group on flickr.

basically you take a song and make a nerdy chart/graph/screenshot of it in action.

for example, here is what some consider to be the original:

that is Kelis’ horrible song “my milkshakes” chorus displayed in a graph.
got it?
ok.
here are my favourites, see if you can work out the artist and song.

and here are some honourable mentions, they are brilliant too.

reflex

where it is at

sweet dreams

vanilla ice

solsbury hill

quest

long short

things you gotta know

and one of my all time favourites: robert smith’s iCal

so what are your favourite ones?
can you come up with one?
i’m trying to think of an original idea….
i’ll keep ya posted.

i knew there was a good reason i had so much love for the sixty one dot com!
you can embed songs!
woot!!