I’ve long since abandoned any debates regarding the sync button vs. beatmatching because it’s utterly pointless. However, if there’s any point that can safely be hammered home and which everyone (except idiots) can agree on it’s this: you don’t play an opening slot like it’s Ultra at 1am. Joey Negro lit up Facebook last month when he posted the following:
I’ll never understand DJs who bang it out like its 2am when they are playing to 30 people at 10pm. All these massive drops and build ups sound so inappropriate and aren’t even going to get the few people who are there dancing. It’s like they’ve only got one set, no matter what time they play. If this sounds like you, why not go onto Beatport, Traxsource, Juno and have a look for some slower groovier music. Playing early can actually be fun and give you the chance to set the mood with some cool tunes which couldn’t be played later when the dancefloor is full.”
It probably would have been in poor taste to follow up a post like that with “Here’s a great example from Z Records”… so allow me to do it. Zo! ft. Erro & Phonte’s “We Are On The Move” is really a great choice at any time in the night – opening, closing, warming up, whatever. I personally play this kind of stuff for my co-workers on my iPod while adding “this is dance music for GROWNUPS”. We all know the violators of the above policy are not grown, regardless of how old they might actually be.
This record didn’t come to me as a promo. I bought it as a promo if that tells you anything about how much I’m digging it. I’m not terribly familiar with Zo! Or Phonte, but one of my all-time favorite records is Erro’s “Don’t Change For Me”. It’s nice to see that Eric Roberson has been makin’ R&B albums steadily since then, but it’s even better to see him incorporated back into the house realm again, thanks to Joey!
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