Crazy About Pycho --
I was hanging with friends a few weekends ago at the 2nd Annual T's Tea Dance and was pleasantly reminded that DJ Psycho-Bitch is one hell of a talented DJ!. A true Chicago DJing legend that was instrumental in making the old Crobar one of the hottest and most talked about nightclubs in the world, Psycho-Bitch impressively demonstrated on a gorgeous July Sunday afternoon that she is not limited to a hard-charging techno-tinged peak hours style. Her Tea Dance set was soulful, ultra-housey and funky, filled with delectable tracks such as "Big Love" by Pete Heller, "He Is" by Copyright featuring Song Williamson, and the Quentin Harris Remix of "Hate On Me" by Jill Scott. Those of us more familiar with Psycho's "bang it out" style just smiled at each other in recognition of the fact that a true master was at hand showing off her talent and versatility.

How About A Local DJ? -
Interesting news that hunky New York City DJ Scotty Thomson has been named a monthly Saturday resident DJ at Hydrate. This development, on top of the fact that Hydrate already farms out many of its Friday and Saturday DJing slots to out-of-towners and that the Nitro parties' headlining slot at Circuit seem only to be open to NYC DJs, is disappointing to many and another injurious slap in the face of the local DJing community. Not meaning to slight the talented Thomson, who's DJ star is rising on the national scene, but many in Chicago (including yours truly) can't help but wonder why Hydrate and Circuit don't show more support of local DJs with more opportunities to spin their biggest weekend nights and events. The excuse that "Chicago boyz just won't come out unless Ralphi or a 'big name' is on the bill" has often been cited; and indeed there is a certain unfortunate amount of truth to this statement. However, that is far from the whole truth, part of which is Halsted Street's two late night gay dance hall's slavish devotion to imported DJs to scratch their big night itches. If club owners, party promoters, and clubbers in other cities can nurture and develop up-and-coming DJs into strong local and even national draws (think Joe Gauthreaux & Chad Jack in NYC, Paulo & Alexander in LA, and Alyson Calagna in Miami), then surely the same can be done in Chicago. There are far too many talented DJs here in the Windy City that deserve a chance to shine, and it's my hope that some of them will be given an opportunity to do so with resident and more frequent guest DJing spots at two of Boystown's biggest and most influential nightclubs.

Singles Life --
"I Kissed A Girl" by Katy Perry - One of the most requested songs at my gigs in recent weeks, I am now able to incorporate this fantastic song into my sets thanks to a slew of remixes by the likes of Eddie Baez, Scotty K, Jason Nevins and Bobby Blanco. There's also the really cool electro Sin Synthetic Remake that's available on Amazon.com's MP3 download section.

"There Is A Place" by Andrea Carnell - Coming soon to a dance floor near you is this gem from Kult Records. The Klubjumpers Vocal Electro House Mix is my favorite, but I also expect to be serving up the deep progressive remix by Timothy Allan.

"Disturbia" by Rihanna - Yet another song from the hottest musical act on the planet (who isn't named Miley Cyrus or The Jonas Brothers) and unfortunately in my book this one is a ho-hummer in dance music form. The Jody den Broeder Remix may please her die-hard fans, but I don't think that even Rihanna's name can catapult this "B-side" quality track to the top of any chart for a sustained amount of time.