Once again my man Hip Hop Slam correspondent Shing02 graces the Amoeblog with another in his ever informative digests in the ongoing exclusive Amoeblog reports (video above, text and pics below) from NAMM (National Association of Music Merchants) - the annual DJ/producer/music-tech trade show that happens each January at the Anaheim Convention Center. This year's was held over the past week/weekend: from January 24th to 27th, 2013. Thanks to Shing02 and all of the folks he talked to for their contributions to this piece including DJ Q-bert, OP-1, Yoga Frog, DJ Platurn, DJ Quest, Mista B, DJ P-Trix, DJ A-1, Vestax Spin2, PDJ, Numark Orbit, Apogee Quartet McDSP, Stylophone, Elektron AnalogFour, Gittler Guitar, Chord Dice, Wheel Harp, and Koichi Sanchez aka Nightshift.





The NAMM Convention in Anaheim, CA proved to be on par with previous years as it featured hundreds of exhibitors showcasing digital and analog instruments,    complete with colorful participants who packed the convention floor. Despite the cloudiness for most of the days, the feverishly festive mood is an annual destination for music industry heads worldwide.

The winner in the 2012 DMC US Finals DJ battle at Le Poisson Rouge in New York last evening was DJ Precision of the X-ecutioners, which means that as the new US DMC champion the New York-based DJ will travel to London England next month to represent the USA in the world DJ battle that was won last year by  American DJ Vajra.

Coming in second place last night was Virginia DJ I-Dee, while the third place slot was taken by Manwell, who was one of four California DJs out of the eleven contestants in New York last night to partake in the prestigious, long-running DJ competition that US DMC organizer Christie Z Pabon called "the best battle yet."

The other three DJs representing Cali were DJ Cocheze, DJ Lodus, and DJ Sol Rising (formerly known as Skwint), who represented the Bay Area after winning the 2012 DMC Bay Area Regional back in April and came in fourth place in a tie with New Hampshire's DJ Fascinate. All eleven turntable contestants delivered strong sets in a close competition that judge and 1986 DMC champ DJ Cheese called "the best I seen in years" and was rounded out by Florida's DJ Concept and DJ Immortal, Washington State's Waystyles, and Texas DJ Donnie Dee. The 2012 DMC World DJ Championships takes place in London on September 28th.

As he did for the NAMM 2010 & NAMM 2011 conventions in SoCal, once again my man Shing02 has filed a report on the this year's annual NAMM 2012 convention exclusively for the Amoeblog.  The renowned Japanese producer/emcee/multi-instrumentalist/all round hella great guy headed to the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, CA music gear/tech convention a couple of weekends ago (January 19th - 22nd, 2012) to file this report (video above, text & photos below) with help from host Yamato Kaneko in which they visit DJ TechTools, STOKYO, Teenage Engineering, Vestax, AKAI, Tiptop Audio, McDSP, KORG, KDJ-One, RANE, Emulator, SlipmatsOnline.com, Vintage Vibe, NORD, Slaperoo and some other booths too. Thanks Shing02!


The annual NAMM convention in Anaheim showcases a convention center full of eye-candy for the gear geeks, and 2012 proved no different. Although the music and recording industry seem to be stuck in an age of meticulously fine-tuning software with no big leaps in ideas and technology, some brands still managed to stand out. My personal favorite was the OP-1 synthesizer by Teenage Engineering from Sweden, which was introduced last year at NAMM, but came back stronger with upgrades. In essence, OP-1 is a synth / drum machine that feels more like an old-school game than a modern machine, which creates a fun learning curve to create unique grooves. (It actually has a game-mode built into it!)

          


1) Gangrene Vodka and Ayahuasca (Decon)

2) Drake Take Care (Cash Money/Universal)

3) Moka Only & Chief Crickets (Feelin Music)

4) The Roots Undun (MCA)

5) Lazerbeak Lava Bangers (Doomtree)


Thanks again to diehard hip-hop music fanatic E-Lit at the Berkeley Amoeba store for this week's top five chart plus overview of some of the new releases for this exciting new year in hip-hop including the brand new 20 track Lazerbeak album Lava Bangers from the gifted member of the midwest hip-hop collective Doomtree who coincidentally will be doing a special Amoeba Music Berkeley in-store on Monday, Jan 30th 2012 in advance of their Slims San Francisco show the following night, Jan 31st. They will also be playing Santa Cruz the following night (Feb 1st) at the Catalyst (show info here) and Hollywood's Troubadour on Thursday Feb 2nd on a recommended bill with 2Mex. If you are in the East Bay on Monday (Jan 30th) do yourself a favor and stop into Amoeba Berkeley for the Doomtree family in-store since, as E Lit points out in the above video, it will be a great opportunity to meet and chat with such collective talents as Dessa, P.O.S., Sims, and Lazerbeak. More Doomtree Amoeba in-store info here

The winter NAMM is an international music products event held annually at the Anaheim Convention Center. The event showcases thousands of exhibitors featuring new instruments and gadgets. Although it is not open to the general public without invitation, tens of thousands gather from all over the world every January to check out the latest trends. Basically, the four-day experience is Guitar Center on 'roids, or, to be more appropriate, a Disneyland for music geeks (coincidentally, the real Disneyland is right across the street from the convention center).

I've been coming to the NAMM show for over ten years, both as an exhibitor (for Vestax) and as an attendee. Surely the main attractions are the new products by your favorite brands. You can forecast trends before they happen, as most exhibitors debut product lines at the show, and engineers on-site are eager to hear critical feedback from musicians. It's quite impressive when you observe the long process of how products are conceived, designed, and manufactured from innovative ideas. Equally motivational as far as getting people to show up at the trade show is the camaraderie factor. In this open and crazy atmosphere, you bump into many DJs and producers, so you can chop it up with them and trade contacts. Sometimes mega-stars (Stevie Wonder, Alicia Keys, Bootsy Collins, Snoop Dogg, to name a few) come around and show face as well.