Party Ben - Root for Stuff

AUGUST 23, 2004
PARTY BEN DOES NOT DRESS UP

No matter how much I would like to. Legendary bootleg clearinghouse boom selection has given me some props, which is pretty amazing for dorky old me, seeing as the site was one of the first places I found on the interweb for this whole mashy phenomenon. Before I found GYBO, even! So thanks to Dr. Boom. However, his remarks seem to link me to a bunch of great things about Club Bootie, including the dancers, the dressing up, the live mash-up band, and the amazing flyers--unfortunately I have nothing to do with any of those things. I'm just a stupid DJ in a black t-shirt! But, if people want to believe that some of Adrian and Mysterious D's fabulousness has rubbed off on me, I guess I should go with it.

AUGUST 18, 2004
MORE MEMORY FOR ME = MORE SIXX MIXX FOR YOU

Thanx, Yahoo Web Hosting! You know the Sixx Mixx, it's that half-hour show I have on LIVE 105 FM radio station in San Francisco, Fridays 6-6:30pm. People often want copies of their own, to play at other times, times in their lives when they might feel sad, or mad. Well, now that Yahoo has like 40-tupled the amount of storage in their cheapo web plans, I can start sticking some up here. Currently four (4) Sixxa Mixxas are available for you, right now. If you aren't already too depressed, lumber on over to the Sixx Mixx page for the playlists and everything.

AUGUST 18, 2004
FAITHLESS/GEORGE W MIX MAKING REPUBLICANS TREMBLE!

It's the Fahrenheit 9/11 of bootleg remixes.
Or not. Okay it was pretty obvious: put some George W. Bush speechifying over "Mass Destruction," and maybe add some echo. Now, finally, after like 7 different revisions, I've come up with something barely tolerable. It's Faithless "Mass Destruction" (Party Ben's George W. Mix). Republican morons all over the Midwest are totally voting for Kerry now. How could they resist the power of that triplet-time echo.

AUGUST 10, 2004
BOOTIE 1-YEAR: THE BEST OF TIMES, THE WORST OF TIMES

<-- Click photo to make bigger! Well, it was a great night, marred only by the theft of one of McSleazy's CD books, which of course is a pretty big f***ing mar, but the crowd of 400+ seemed to have a great time anyway. Thanks to everyone who came out to the party Saturday night, and of course huge respect to DJs Dada & RadioQuita, the boys of Smash-Up Derby, Adrian and Mysterious D, and McSleazy for coming halfway around the world to show us how it's done. If you're interested, here's my setlist:

SET 1 - 11:30p - MIDNIGHT
1. U2 vs. Lyrics Born "Callin' on Sunday" (Party Ben)
2. Daft Queen "Another One Bites Da Funk" (Party Ben)
3. Herbie Hancock + INXS vs. Beastie Boys "Intergalactic" (Soulwax)
4. Royksopp vs. Public Enemy "Bring the Eple" (Party Ben)
5. Rick James vs. Eminem "Give It To Me Without Me" (Party Ben)
6. Laid Back vs. Khia vs. !!! "Get Laid with Khia" (Party Ben)
7. New Donna "Bizarre Light Triangle" (Party Ben)

SET 2 - 1:15a - 1:45a
1. Soulsonic Force vs. Beastie Boys "Ch-Check Out The Rock" (Party Ben)
2. Basement Jaxx vs. Blancmange "Where's Your Head At" (Unknown)
3. Modjo vs. Hot Hot Heat "Talk To Me Dance With Me" (Loo & Placido)
4. Rapture vs. Tiga "Hot Lovers" (Party Ben)
5. Stardust vs. Madonna "Music Sounds Better with Holiday" (Unknown)

AUGUST 7, 2004
PARTY BEN, MAKE UH PEEPUL, COME A GEDDUR!

Yeah! First up thanks to DJ David X for throwing my sloppy Maps vs Bucci Bag [temporarily offline, sorry] into the mix on his Alternative Beat show on Sacramento's KWOD/106.5. Big ups to DC101 in our nation's capitol for dropping the Ch-Check It Out Old Skool Mix into their new music show. Bitte, ditto, to Strictly Kev who slipped it into his Solid Steel mix, and huzzah to James Hyman at London Alternative XFM's "The Rinse" who opened his show with it late Friday night (8/6)! Thanks everyone, although I can't really take credit for the genius of Fast Eddie can I?

JULY 26, 2004
U2 FAN SITE LEADS ATTACK ON PARTY BEN?!

Don't hurt me The Edge! The U2 fan site AtU2.com has discovered my dopey little U2 vs. Janet Jackson mashup "Control Bloody Control," and links over to this very web page in a not-so-nice kind of way: "...you may not like this one..." and, worse: "Party Ben, who appears to be a DJ/remixer..." Appears?! That's exactly what I don't do! Anyway. U2 fans, if you're reading this: please don't be mad at me. I made this mashup with love. Love! You wanna see my well-worn vinyl copy of "War"? Wanna see my ticket stub from the Zooropa tour? Wanna see my pages and pages of secret love poems to Larry Mullen Jr.? "You drum/And you drum/But your hair/Still sticks up/When will you notice me???" ... you get the idea.

MAY 20, 2004
OAKLAND TRIBUNE GIVES PARTY BEN TOO MUCH CREDIT

I just can't win. In an otherwise perfectly fine article about bootlegs and Bootie and whatnot, the writer gives me credit for Soulwax's Nirvana vs. Destiny's Child "Smells Like Booty," and of course I go on and on about how great it is, making it look like not only am I taking credit for someone else's work but also that I really really love myself. Neither of which are true. Kudos anyway to Monique Beeler who came on out to Bootie for the article. I'll try and live this down. I'm like the Larry David of the bootleg scene--always the victim of some sort of misunderstanding that makes me look like a jerk. The difference is I don't have 200 million dollars from my successful sitcom.

MAY 13, 2004
SF WEEKLY: PRO- OR ANTI-MASHUP? WE NEED TO KNOW!

O contrarian alternative weeklies! What Gives? First, a lovely endorsement in "Night and Day" of Club Bootie (that mentioned my Beyonce vs. Alphaville track, but credited it to Adrian and D (see below, "Second Curse of Party Ben"). Then the always ornery Garrett Kamps writes this sloppy mash-up bash-fest of an article, managing to squeeze a boastful anti-bootleg quote out of the otherwise highly talented DJ Z-Trip, and basically concludes by saying that because mashups are done on computers, and not "live," they're bad. This starts a frantic thread-posting mania on both GYBO and Z-Trip's own website. In the midst of all this, the Oakland Tribune calls me to do their own article on the mashup phenom. Their photographer showed up yesterday to, I guess, take pictures of me touching a computer mouse. Of course I'm hung over and sloppy as usual, so look forward to some attractive photos in your local paper.

MAY 12, 2004

NEW STUFF FOR BOOTIE

It's like a cry for help. Because I'm a masochistic perfectionist and stuff, I always try to make something new for each time I spin at Club Bootie. Unfortunately, my desperate need to always fill the dancefloor and somehow prop up my fragile ego means that I invariably slap together two overused party tunes that I think the kids will like, rather than do something with artistic integrity or whatever. The last two Booties are no exception! At April's event, the dancing kids got to check out U2 vs. Janet Jackson "Control Bloody Control," which people liked okay; but when I played it in May, it nearly emptied the floor. However, the slapdash Rapture vs. Tiga "Hot Lovers" was a huge hands-in-the-air hootin-and-hollerin hit, which I think proves that Rapture song could have gone a lot farther if it wasn't for that screamy dude. Take note, disco-punkers.

MARCH 30, 2004
HOWARD STERN PLAYS "KEEP STERN ALIVE"

Or at least half of it. Funny story! Apparently my now-infamous mix found its way into the hands of Liquid Todd via the Crystal Method's management, who were apparently amused (and not litigious) enough to give people copies. Mr. Todd starts off his Solid State program on K-Rock with it, then gives it to Howard. Somewhere along the line, the phrase "Party Ben" seems to have gotten lost: Howard kept saying he thought the Crystal Method had done it themselves, and if they were making money, send some to him. This continues the Second Curse of Party Ben: I never seem to receive credit for anything I do. And Mr. Stern, if you're out there, I can assure you (and everyone else) that there has never been any revenue assosicated with anything I've ever done in my life. But I'm not bitter.

MARCH 29, 2004 [UPDATED JULY 7, 2004]
"KEEP STUFF ALIVE" DIES SLOW, PAINFUL DEATH

Finally! Let's all think back to Winter, 2004. A simpler time, when people were saying crazy stuff, and it all sounded good mixed with The Crystal Method's "Keep Hope Alive." Let's remember the perennial favorite that started it all, "Keep Dean Alive!" (As seen on TV!) Plus, the bandwagon-jumping "Keep Hung Alive" (as mentioned obliquely on MTV.com!) Then, the overlooked gem "Keep Janet Alive!" (As mentioned absolutely nowhere!) And then, just when you thought the joke had already been pummeled beyond recognition, top it all off with "Keep Stern Alive," featuring everybody's favorite liberal talk radio host! They're all offline here at Partyben.com, but they live on in our memories, and on the iPods of the profoundly retarded.

MARCH 20, 2004

TWO NEW BOOTS MAKE 17 PEOPLE DANCE

As always, I like to have something new for the kids when I spin at Club Bootie (America's Only All-Mashup Club TM) and while I had nothing quite as inspired as last month's "Bizarre Light Triangle," I finally got to use that Beyonce acapella I've had sitting around for months. (My attempt at marrying it to My Bloody Valentine's "Soon" never panned out.) Later I realized that I'm in a little bit of a rut, since I seem to be using New Wave megajams for all my work. But can I help it if I came of age in the '80s? Can I change the fact that the music that made the greatest impression on me was the music I heard whilst trapped in small-town Nebraska, feeling like a freak, desperate for glimmers of hope from the outside world?!?! No, goddammit, I can't! So, anyway, find these two new items under "New Items" at right, or go to the downloads page for more fun stuff.

FEBRUARY 6, 2004

"KEEP DEAN ALIVE"
NAMED "REMIX OF THE DAY" AT DEANGOESNUTS.COM

Boy that sure was fun wasn't it, that Howard Dean thing. He was gonna, like, be president and stuff. Anyway, thanks to the short-lived Dean Goes Nuts for the props.

Tom Harkin...?

JANUARY 30, 2004
"KEEP DEAN ALIVE" GETS PARTY BEN ON TEEVEE

Today I was interviewed by Brian Banmiller of local Fox affiliate KTVU Channel 2 for a totally nonsensical piece about how the internet, which once served Howard Dean, now mocks him, and I guess my remix is an example of that. I said, "Huh??" Anyway. If you saw the piece on the 10 O'clock News, you might have noticed the Matt Gonzales for Mayor poster we snuck on the wall for the interview. Too little too late I guess. Also you noticed I have big bags under my eyes, and am a blathering idiot. All I have to say is: Brian Banmiller is gayer than Tom Ammiano. I should know, huh.

JANUARY 20, 2004
CLUB BOOTIE A WILD SUCCESS

Could it be that the Party Ben DJ Curse (Empire anyone?) has been lifted? The January 14 installment of America's First All-Bootleg Club (TM) Bootie was a great time, with Matty C, Princess Kennedy, DJ Mysterious D, and Adrian's all-mashup band wowing the nearly-packed house. Most surprisingly, there was no mass exodus from the dancefloor as Party Ben took to the CD decks, even as equipment problems knocked one set of speakers out of commission during "Hey Ya." Mad web props to A & D; check out snapshots of the evening on their website here. Also don't forget about the next Bootie coming up February 11th, featuring all the way from like Antarctica or something, DSICO That No-Talent Hack, who somehow managed to copyright a tagline that's much more applicable to me, before I got to it. Oh well.