WCC RADIO EP-028 (April 2010) is ready for download on the radio page either as an AAC or MP3 file. I apologize for not updating the blog often but I've been real busy these last few weeks with personal and professional things. I've been keeping up to date with the radio shows but I haven't been posting entries about it on this page. I did not skip a month you can find WCC RADIO EP-027 on the same page as EP-028. You will notice that there is new drops on the last two shows. They are done by our LA friend Louis Hale who does killer spoken word. Actually he and Torin (of the WCC) have done an amazing track that they are shopping right now. Can you say Defected Peak Time? This is going to destroy the dance floors this summer. In the meantime enjoy EP-028 (and 27 if you haven't download) and rate it on the radio after you've listen to it. Stay soulful!

Tags: SSRadio UK, WCC, Radio Show, Raunchy Rhythms

People are always asking where are my classic mixes from the early 2000's. The reason I don't keep everything here is mainly because of space and bandwidth but now you can find them on the new WCC site. We have completely revamp our site for 2010. You have to check it out. Big up to Kevin for doing this. Here is the description from the WCC site for The Vault:

As we’re doing a bit of 2010 ‘house’ cleaning to the website in order to make it a bit more fan-friendly, we certainly couldn’t remove ALL the mixes we’ve done over the past 10 years.  So for a limited time, we’ve decided to create “The WCC Vault” of classic mixes.
Here you can find a range of mixes from house, to downtempo, to funk, soul, and all around amazing music that we’ve put together over our journey through the past 10 years.  Hope you enjoy and certainly feel free to pass these along to all that might enjoy.

Tags: Classic House, WCC, Deep House, Studio Mix, Mixes

This is one of those mixes that just came about cause I was in the mood. It is not my most "underground" mix but I think it's pretty uplifting. To be honest I did this just for myself to try to cheer me up as music has that healing power sometimes.

With tracks from Miguel Migs, Lisa Shaw, Tortured Soul, Blaze, and Samantha James, among others, you can see the direction and the sound of it. The title could mean a lot of things but don't read too much into it. House music is about positivity and love and we all need a little bit of that in our lives sometimes. We are not perfect creatures but we have to try to do the right thing as hard as that is sometimes. You will find this one in the current mixes page. I hope you like it.

Tags: WCC, Deep House, Studio Mix, Mixes

WCC RADIO EP-026 (February 2010) is ready for download on the radio page either as an AAC or MP3 file. Second one of the year already. The first half of the show starts off and stays pretty soulful but picks up to some peak time tracks on hour 2. New tunes from Jay-J, Guy Robin, Reelsoul and others. Classic 90s garage from Butter on the great Smack label, classic Joey Negro and some amazing edits that you won't find at any store by Mario Dubbz and by Jask of Thaisoul. I hope you like this episode and as always tell me what you think by leaving a comment and/or rating the mix on the radio page.

Tags: SSRadio UK, WCC, Radio Show, Raunchy Rhythms

So who likes Deep House? Well, it seems like a lot of you because people can't seem to get enough of the City Sonar series. This was never intended to be a series but because of the great feedback it got I did a vol 2. Now vol 3 is here and it's pretty clear where the trend is going... as long as you guys dig it there will be more of City Sonar. This one has some nice old and new skool deep cuts. I think it might the deeper one of all the sets so far. It's very dubby with not too many vocals. I always try not to alienate people too much by going too underground with my mixes but since this series is really meant for the heads it doesn't matter. WCC Radio takes care of the cross over House and City Sonar just takes you deeper into that journey. I hope you enjoy the latest installment of this Deep House series. Please let me know what you think of it by leaving me a comment and rating it on the mixes page.

Tags: WCC, Deep House, Studio Mix, Mixes

WCC Radio EP-024 is here. Last one of the 2009. Two freakin' years already!! Actually if you count when the show was called "Shameless Sessions" then it's been longer than that and boy do I have a treat for you with this one. I was in San Francisco for the Thanks Giving holiday to hang out with my bud Jay-J. He was doing a gig with his old producer partner Chris Lum at Temple on friday and then on Saturday he was playing with Julius Papp and David Harness at Mars Bar for a classics night. OMG they blew the roof of that place. The music was incredible, the mixing was flawless and the crowd gave me hope about the scene again. All the old heads came out. They left the kids with the babysitter and came out for one reason only: to dance! Watching and listening to these 3 veteran of the West Coast Sound playing back to back and switching it up every 30 minutes was so inspiring (BTW Jay-J recorded the set and he will have it as a podcast soon). Hence EP-024 which are some of my favorite classics. Not the usual stuff you hear in these classics show but more like the stuff that wasn't overplayed. If you were a club rat like I was in the mid to late 90's you will go "hell yeah" and raise your hands in the air as you listen to this set. You might have to take out the baby powder for the full experience (the heads know what I'm talking about:) I had to dust off some the old vinyls for some of these tracks so I apologize in advance for the fluctuating sound quality of the set. I also need to thank Jay-J for hooking me up with some of these tracks that are virtually impossible to find anymore and will never come out as digital.

It's funny that after I wrote that entry about our scene things seem to be showing signs of improvement. The San Francisco trip certainly made me come back with a smile and new energy and hope. Here in Los Angeles things seem to be picking up also. Some new local events (that actually play soulful house) are filling the clubs. Tortured Soul played this past week end and the place was also packed with happy people that just wanted to get their groove on. We might turn this ship around after all. Thank you to all who contributed to the entry and wrote in their two cents.

Please let me know what you think of this episode. Thanks to all who have supported the show these last two years. Hope we can keep it going for a lot more.

Tags: SSRadio UK, WCC, Radio Show, Raunchy Rhythms, Classic House

WCC RADIO EP-023 (November 2009) is ready for download on the radio page either as an ACC or MP3 file. This one starts off real soulful and then picks up with a mixture of deep, classics, and jakin' tracks. I hope you enjoy the November episode of WCC Radio and please rate it on the radio page after you listen to it. Next up is City Sonar vol 3, the now popular Deep House series of mixes. Thank you all for the support.

Tags: SSRadio UK, WCC, Radio Show, Raunchy Rhythms

If you own an Apple iPhone or iPod Touch you will be interested to know that I build a web app version of my site optimized for those Apple gizmos.  It is a micro site that will allow you to stream WCC Radio and the mixes right off your mobile device.  You need to be in a wifi zone for it to work.  The web app will also work in a cellular zone if your using it on an iPhone but because of the size of the mixes' stream 3G works best.  This mobile site will be handy if you want to listen to one of the mixes and you haven't download it yet.  Besides the mixes there is a way to send me a quick message and my bio.  You can also create a button for the site that will go straight into your home screen for quick access.

There is no special address to go to either. When on your iPhone or iPod Touch just type djricardotorres.com in your Safari browser and you will be automatically directed to the web app. I still need to populate it with all the radio shows and studio mixes but the latest ones are there to get you started.

Tags: IPhone, Web App

WCC RADIO EP-022 (October 2009) is ready for download on the radio page either as an ACC or MP3 file. I think this one has turned to be one of my favorites. This show just glides with soulful tracks bordering the deep side. It really sounds like one of my live sets. I think it came out good because I didn't put too much thought into it and kind of didn't pick the tracks in advance. I had an idea of what I wanted to play but in no particular order.

Early in the set there is a very cool and soulful edit from Jask of Maxwell's "Ascenssion" that always gets people to the dance floor early. The bass line kills it. Mr Patron is also back with more bootlegs that just take you back and makes you want to sing along. Rambone Sold (not their real name but sounds just like it ;) comes back strong with a Marvin Gaye bootleg which is not your usual putting an accapella over a house beat. It's an amazing production of the classic "Heard it Through The Grapevine". My friends Yogi & Huski from Random Soul (sounds familiar?) were also visiting Los Angeles from Australia this week. They were staring their US West Coast tour and they have hooked me up with some of their amazing, yet unreleased tracks that will be coming out in the near future. Check out "Just Bounce" and "Got To Get Up" - funkin' jackin'.

The big news this month is that two people that are very close to me have brand new releases. The most beautiful girl in the world, AKA my wife Sandra Lima has 3 releases out and one of them is with my WCC brother Torin Rea. First, her track with Irish producer Scope is #4 on Beatport's Deep House chart. The track is called "This Rhythm" and you can hear it on my latest CIty Sonar Deep House mix. It's track #4. For now this release is exclusive to Beatport. She also has a new song on Reel Grooves with UK producer Greg Dorban. The Stereo Mutants kill it with their remix of "Get To Me" (track #9 on this episode). You can find this release on Traxsource. Finally Sandra has her first track out with our friend and my WCC partner Torin Rea. "My Kind Of Saturday Night" (track #19 on this episode) is a fun, funky track that will get any dance floor going. This production killed it when Torin played the first draft of it at Balance a few months ago. Torin also has another release out with another LA singer named Erin Powers called "Duplicity". I will play this one on the next show. Both of these tracks will soon be available on the Baldeelox label from the UK. They are now out as promos for DJs to get their reactions.

I hope you enjoy WCC RADIO EP-022. Let me know what you think of it by rating it on the radio page after you hear it or leave a comment here. Please also support Sandra and Torin by purchasing their tracks and keep House Music alive!

Tags: SSRadio UK, WCC, Radio Show, Raunchy Rhythms

I really didn't think I was going to make a regular series out of the last City Sonar but it seems there is a lot of Deep House fans out there who want more. So ladies and gentlemen the City Sonar series is officially a ... series. Vol 2 is now available for download in the current mixes page.

WCC Radio is not so much Deep even if I throw in a Deep House tune from time to time. I felt I have slowly gotten away from it over the years. That style is really how I started playing house music all those years ago. Also my first mixes online (in 2000!) were Deep House. They were hosted on the Deep House Networks and I know that some of you have those even if you can't find them online anymore. I'm glad there are still kats out there who are enjoying good Deep House. It seems the new generation of kids who are into house music like the harder (dare I say Electro) tunes when they go out and the Soulful and Deeper stuff is being played less and less in the clubs. It's sad but it might not be a bad thing. If anything those two styles will be pushed underground again and they will find their roots and come back even stronger. I for one am looking forward to that.

I hope you enjoy Vol 2 od City Sonar. I think this one is deeper than the last one. New and classic deep house tracks (some that I even played on vinyl). One notable mention is the Makam remix of the track Attica on Freerange. Wholly poop that track is incredible. It reminds me of the great Deep House from the late 90s and early 2000. Makam kills it as it goes from Deep to Funky and then back again. Like the boys at Stompy say it's the talk of the town. Keep it Deep!!

Tags: WCC, Deep House, Studio Mix, Mixes

WCC RADIO EP-021 (September 2009) is ready for download on the radio page either as an ACC or MP3 file. I'm not quite sure how to describe this episode. My last mix, City Sonar, was very deep and this set is a lot more "Funky House" as they say in the UK. Definitely more peak time clubby with a some updated cool edits of past popular songs. There is a nice throw back to 90s with DJ Dan's "I Don't Care" and that processed robot voice that so many funk groups were using then. In term of the new stuff I'm really digging the Soul Purpose EP which has two killer tracks (both in this show) and the new Sonny Fondera EP which I think is really bringing Jackin' to the masses. I have to admit that MJ has been overplayed lately but I couldn't help myself and I included another one of his remixes. In my defense it is the remix of the title track from my favorite Michael album "Off The Wall". The chorus "So tonight gotta leave that nine to five upon the shelf, And just enjoy yourself" is one the most beautiful melodies and I fell for it again! I promise that I will leave Michael "on the shelf" in the future episodes and let him R.I.P. After that MJ remix I kicked into Disco gear with one of my favorite feel good songs "I Feel Good Things For You", some Donna Summers and a great re-work of A Taste of Honey's "Boogie No More" by Dorfmeister vs Madrid De Los Austrias. Overall this a great set to listen to while your doing your cardio at the gym. It's a lot of the tracks that I have on my iPod when I'm at the gym.

If you are a House snob and want a more deeper and underground sound (just kidding about the House snob remark ;) you'll be happy to hear that I already picked out most of the tracks for City Sonar Vol2. I'll have that mix on the site in about two weeks just in time for my next SS Radio show. I have been getting great feedback about Vol 1 and Deep House is still my first love. The City Sonar series is making those people who thought I was getting away from Deep House happy. WCC Radio for the bumping, soulful, funky house sounds and City Sonar for those who prefer it Deeper, darker and dubbier. Everyone happy!

Tags: SSRadio UK, WCC, Radio Show

It's been a while since I've done a mix that is not a radio show. Doing WCC Radio once a month doesn't give me too much time to do other regular sets. The last one, Happy Hour on the West Coast, was done in December of last year. I decided this time to keep it strictly Deep and underground to differentiate it from the radio show. Ladies and gentlemen I give you CITY SONAR - vol. 1. This is a really moody late night set with a pinch of soul on two or three cuts. The majority of the tracks are just head bopping deep tunes with some live edit acapellas layered in. I hope you dig it and find it different. Don't forget to rate it and let me know if you like it cause I'll do more. I want to make a series of Deep sets - that's why this is volume 1. Download as an indexed ACC or regular mp3 on the Current Mixes page.

Tags: WCC, Deep House, Studio Mix, Mixes

WCC RADIO EP-020 (August 2009) is ready for download on the radio page either as an indexed ACC or regular MP3 file. I can't believe that we are already at 20 episodes into it. If you've downloaded all of the episodes you should have around 40 hours of house music from our little show. If you were a listener when the show was called Shameless Sessions than you can double those hours.

Since it's the 20th episode I took this show out of the studio to give you the live recording of when I had the chance to warm up the dance floor of BALANCE for my friend Jay-J last Saturday night. This is my full set before Jay-J jumped into the decks so this show is a little longer than usual. Almost 3 hours. You might hear a couple of songs that I had already played in EP-019 but in a different context. If you've never experienced BALANCE this will give you a taste of what that amazing club is all about. It was a great night and as usual the crowd was awesome with it's amazing dancers. The show fades out when Jay-J started his set. You will get a chance to hear him when he puts up his portion on his podcast. Just for the record you will hear a bunch of "Jay-J" drops especially near the end. He really isn't that narcissistic. That was me doing those to f@#$k with him because he is a such a low key and humble guy... I was trying to embarrass him. I didn't succeed.

The show can also be streamed or podcast on SS Radio UK but this is a two hour edit of the show.

Tags: SSRadio UK, WCC, Radio Show, Jay-J, Live Set

WCC RADIO EP-019 (July 2009) is ready for download on the radio page either as an ACC or MP3 file. Summer is officially here on our side of the hemisphere and this show reflects that with light summer tunes from the pass and present and then really picks up on the second hour. This show is meant to be played loud in your convertible car as you drive up the coast. Ok maybe that's no everyone but I'm sure you can substitute the Pacific Coast Highway with what ever is a scenic road in your corner of the planet. We tend to forget here in Southern California how lucky we are to have this scenery. I for one often get inspired just by driving or biking up and down PCH.

One of the sad things that the month of June will be remember for was the passing of Michael Jackson. I don't care what he did or did not do in his personal life and we can debate that for years to come but the one thing that no one can argue is that he was an amazing musical talent and genius. So, among the thousands of DJs that are paying tribute to him I finish the show with my favorite Michael Jackson song of all times, "Rock With You" from his "Off The Wall" album produced by Quincy Jones. Of course this isn't the plain album version but the amazing Masters At Work remix of "Rock With You". This is not a bootleg but a remix that was commissioned by Epic, MJ's label. What an honor it must have been for Louis Vega and Kenny Dope to be asked to do this. I'm sure it means even more now. RIP Michael Jackson.

Tags: SSRadio UK, WCC, Radio Show

WCC RADIO EP-018 (June 2009) is ready for download on the radio page either as an awesome ACC file or the tired old style MP3 (can you tell I'm not a fan of this format). I guess this is the first show of the summer.  When does summer start anyway?  After living in Southern California for 14 years it feels like we are in a permanent summer here.  How quickly I forget my winter cold Montreal roots.  I love my hometown but I just couldn't take those winters anymore.  It doesn't matter where you live this show has some hot tunes.  For once I do not have any white labels in this set. That means that you music collectors and DJs out there can easily find any of these tracks at the popular dance music digital retailers like Traxsource, Stompy or Beatport.  If there is any time to support the artists who make this great music it's now.  A lot of them are struggling in these hard economic times and we don't want them to stop doing what they do best.  I urge you to please go to these sites and buy the tracks you like. You can easily do that by clicking on the labels' name of the track list from that show on my site.  That will take you to where I purchased the track.

I'm very happy with this show.  I got to experiment again with some accapellas and some live edits using 3 decks.  You will hear that with Osulande's "Momma's Groove" and Jay-J's "Keep on Rising".  I have to give props to Yogi and Huski from Random Soul cause I heard them do that live edit of "Keep on Rising" and I thought I give it a try.  I also found some great house remixes of Janis Joplin and the Doors.  If you don't now who those artists are then I feel like a relic. I wasn't sure about these cause it's real hard to do a house remix of a classic rock tune that is not cheesy but Latenight Society and Mr Patron came through with two of my favorite tracks from this month.  Check out "Southern Comfort" and "Storm Riding".

About a third into the show the set gets real Jackin' and Funky with great tracks by Tommy Largo and Jazzy Eyewear but the highlight and my favorite track this month is the craziest and funkiest in the set.  It is courtesy of two guys from Belgrade, Serbia who go by the name of Gramophonedzie.  "Why Don't You" is one of most creative house tracks that I've heard in a while.  It guarantees to get the party started where ever you play it.  It's not for nothing it is in the top 5 of almost every House Music download retailer.  I played in Belgrade a few years ago with Jon Silva of Pesto Music but I don't think these guys were around then. I would have love to have met them.

The set ends with and old forgotten B-side from Naked Music and Miguel Migs.  If it wasn't for my compadre Dustin Brown of the WCC I would have completely let this track go into House memory lane.  I heard him play it during one of our jam sets and it reminded me why I felt in love with the West Coast Sound.  This Atjazz remix of "Take Me to Paradise" is everything that is right with sexy soulful House.  If you like it then you will like Dustin's new mix that will be up soon that includes this track and many more like it to bring you back to circa 2000 when Naked Music was in his glory days.

You can of course do a direct download of the show on my radio page or you stream the show online or subscribe to the podcast on SS Radio UK.

Tags: SSRadio UK, WCC, Radio Show, Raunchy Rhythms

WCC RADIO EP-017 (May 2009) is ready for download on the radio page either as an ACC or MP3 file. In this episode we have more of the same and I mean that in a good way. Lots of white labels from producer friends who've done really cool edits / mashups or unreleased mixes (thank you Jask, Jay-J, Random Soul, Zack Hill and Raul Kahn). We start off with some sexy vocals and then pick up with some great new Jakin' tracks from the Little Men, Giom and Frankie J among others. The second half of the show gets more soulful with a Random Soul remix out of Jay-J's new artist album "Love Alive" which will be out this summer. You will also find another Jay-J track in there that dates a few years back and features Latrice Barnett. "Love Is" was the big single of her debut album Illuminate but here we find an unreleased mix done by Jask of Thaisoul. Why was it unreleased? I have no idea but it should have been. As of now it's my favorite mix of that song. Check out the tracklist to find out about all the goodies this month.

You will also find a lot of these tracks (and more) in the last recording the WCC did at BALANCE on April 25th. We have another 6 hour set that will be available for download soon. The live recording from March 14th is available now. Don't forget to rate EP-017 after you've listen to it. Thanks!

Tags: SSRadio UK, WCC, Radio Show, Raunchy Rhythms

The full 6 hours BALANCE set from our gig back in March is now available for download on the West Coast Collective site. Instead of one huge file with the full 6 hours we divided the set into six 1 hour segments to make the whole thing more manageable. If you play these files back to back (especially in iTunes) you will hear no pause or fade out at the end of one of the hours. The whole thing will feel like the original 6 hour set. It is available as ACC with the tracks name imbedded in the file and indexing or as a simple plain old MP3.

The West Coast Collective will also be back at BALANCE Saturday April 25th for yet another 6 hour House Music extravaganza. We will be again recording the whole night for future postings. If you live in LA or will be visiting around that date we hope to see you cutting the dance floor with us.

Tags: Balance-LA, Mixes, Live Set

On March 14th I had the pleasure again to play with my boys of the WCC at our favorite club BALANCE.  It was one of most fun night with an amazing enthusiastic en responsive crowd that really knew their House Music.  We met some amazing people who after talking to them reminded us why we love to do this.  We did record the full 6 hours and we are going to make that set available this week on the WCC site.  It will be available as MP3 and/or ACC with track ID and indexing.  Instead of having one huge 6 hour file we broke it off into six 1 hour sets just to make it more manageable and that you can play seamlessly back to back. If you have and know your way around an audio editing program you can splice them all together as one big set.  We've posted the sets on our Facebook fan page where you can stream them to check them out.  Again they will be available soon for download. I will send a quick mail to everyone when they are ready.

We've also added short video clips of that night on our Facebook fan page but if your not on Facebook you can check out the videos on this new video page on my site.

The WCC will be back for a full night at BALANCE on April 25th.  We are going to be welcoming the summer West Coast Styleeee.

Tags: Balance-LA, Mixes, Video, Live Set

WCC RADIO EP-016 (April 2009) is ready for download on the radio page either as an ACC (better) or MP3 (booooo) file. This month we go back to our original format which is fresh tunes mixed with rare (and sometimes obvious) classics that still hold up the dance floor today. New music from Martin East of Kapa Music (my pick this month), Random Soul, Tortured Soul, Richard Earnshaw and others. Also an awesome remix of Marvin Gaye "What's Going On" from 1200 Warriors and the classic track is courtesy of Lisa Stansfield. I don't know why but lately I've been seeking out her tracks and especially her old remixes. She had such an incredible soulful voice and she reminds me of what was good and positive about the 90s. I got my hands on some of her accapellas and I'll see if I can do a bootleg of one of her tracks with the help of some of my friends who know what they are doing.

Speaking of accapellas I did some experimenting and live edits at the beginning of the mix with that real jazzy track from Stacey Mallory and over the Martin East track. And last but not least a very rare Jay-J / Chris Lum remix featuring Latrice Barnett.  From what Jay-J told me this was the first time that Latrice had worked with them. The stories goes that Latrice was at Moulton Studios to record with Chris and Jay-J the classic "Summer Time" that came out on Loveslap. Both producers were also finishing a remix of Brancaccio & Aisher's "It's gonna Be a Lovely Day". They had an idea to throw some vocals over the remix and asked Latrice to improvise over the track to warm up her voice. The result is track #17 of this episode. This remix never came out because the label didn't like the vocals. Big mistake. I think it's amazing, the best version and now vary rare. I hope you enjoy it and don't forget to rate the show after you've listen to the whole set.

Tags: SSRadio UK, WCC, Radio Show, Raunchy Rhythms

WCC RADIO EP-015 (March 2009) is ready to be downloaded on the radio page. It's March so this is the Miami WMC edition of the show and I did something different with this episode. Instead of playing some of the new tracks that will be hot at this year's conference (not that impressed so far) I did a set with 19 tracks that really floated my boat from previous conferences. These are tracks that range from the last 10 years or so. I picked these tracks because they made an impression on me when I heard them for the first time in Miami. Don't expect anything too underground. These are high energy tracks that really made people dance and have summer written all over them. Very Miami you might say. Think Defected and In The House of the late 90s and early 2000. I hope you like it and next month when I'm back from the conference with new tunes I will return to a deeper more underground sound. I will also post in a few days details of where I'm playing in Miami for WMC.

You will also notice that on the download page you will find two links for the mix. One is for the ACC and the other is for an MP3. Please only download one. I recommend the ACC for reasons outlined here. If the ACC doesn't work with your player only then download the MP3. Bandwidth costs money and I don't want to pollute this site with advertisements so I can cover the costs of the extra bandwidth.

Tags: SSRadio UK, WCC, Radio Show, Raunchy Rhythms

As promised here is the second video tutorial on how to use our new ACC format mixes with your iPod. This one is shorter and pretty straight forward. Like I showed you in the first video tutorial for iTunes you can skip the tracks, see what's playing and all that jazz. You've probably figured all this out already but in case you haven't here it is.

Tags: Video Tutorial, ACC, .m4a, iTunes, IPod

WCC RADIO EP-014 (February 2009) is ready for your listening pleasure on the radio page. This is the first mix in the ACC format with higher quality, track indexing, playlist embedding, and a bunch of other features as outlined in the previous post. Don't forget to watch the video tutorial to find out all the features and advantages of ACC over MP3. I'm also excited about this show because the classic track(s) take up the last 30 minutes of the show. It is a tribute to Eddie Perez of the Smack crew fame and who goes by the name of Mentalinstrum. Smack Productions put out some of the best and unforgettable Garage from the mid 90's. Eddie as re-release a lot of their classics on digital and I couldn't be happier since I had lost a lot of my Smack Crew vinyl that was out of print. I can't wait to play some of this stuff live again. It's going to set the roof of Balance on fire when we play there just before WMC. Enjoy the mix and don't forget to rate it after you listen to it.

Tags: SSRadio UK, WCC, Radio Show, Raunchy Rhythms

As of EP-014 of WCC Radio all the shows and future mixes will be in the ACC (.m4a) format. I am super excited about this because this format is miles ahead of the tired MP3. You are probably already familiar with this format since it's what you get when you buy music from the iTunes store. Basically this format will work with your favorite media player on your computer or any of the popular portable players that people use (iPod, Zune, etc). There are many advantages to the ACC format such as higher quality encoding but the coolest feature is that I can now index the mixes. This means that you can jump from track to track and see what's playing at the moment just like with a CD player with out affecting or hearing gaps in the continuous mix. There are other nifty features to this format and it's all outlined in this little video tutorial I created that explains everything. I will be doing another tutorial on how this works with your iPod. I hope you enjoy it and that you learn something new. The ACC format should work just like the old MP3 format but for what ever reason if it doesn't for you please let me know through the contact page and I will send you a link to an MP3 version. I will do this temporarily for the next few mixes as we go through this transition but eventually I won't offer that format anymore.

Tags: Video Tutorial, ACC, .m4a, iTunes

I had quite a few people who asked me if I could have the latest WCC Radio show ready for NYE. Seems a lot of people are staying in and having house parties this year and they want the WCC to be their personal DJs on their iPods. I think that's pretty cool. I found out that there are even bars around the world that are playing our mixes regularly on their sound systems. Personally I would prefer to be playing there live but at least they are playing our selections :) I always wonder how many people listen to our mixes regularly. I have a counter that says how many downloads there is but that doesn't count if there is a 100 people listening to the mix at a bar or lounge and how many people give the mixes away to their friends and so on. Either way I hope you get to enjoy the first WCC Radio show of the year at your NYE party and dance your ass off. This episode is meant for the dance floor. Soulful, bouncy and uplifting. 2008 was a weird year with a lot of ups and downs. I'm kind of glad it's over (like the Bush administration). The first track really sets the mood for 2009 with "I'm in a Better Place" from my friends Yogi and Husky of Random Soul. The lyrics give hope for the coming year. This feel good track is coming out in February on Barcoda Recordings and will have a bunch of remixes. This is the original mix with vocalist Kristen Pearson. From that point on the tempo stays up and if you are around my age you will love the classic track which is perfect for when the party is reaching it's peak point. I've also change the cover art for the show to come more in par with the rest of the new look for the WCC and the dark colors look dope on the iPhone or iPod Touch. The early download is on the WCC Radio Page and the podcast and streaming will be available on January 4th after it airs on Raunchy Rhythms and SS Radio UK. I will post those link as soon as they are available. I hope you have a great NYE but above all stay safe and please don't drink and drive. We don't need to lose any house soldiers during the festivities. See you in 2009 and much love!

Tags: WCC, Radio Show

I've just completed a new mix for the Soul Harmony Podcast called "Happy Hour on the West Side". You can stream and subscribe to the podcast at the website. There is also a little Q&A so you can find out a little more about me. Alternatively you can download the mix on this site in the current mixes page. This mix is a standard 77 minutes so it will fit on an audio CD for those who are still burning them. It is also at 192kbps which is a higher quality than the rest of the mixes on the site which are at 128kbps. This is my little Holiday present for all of you. I hope you get a chance to rock it during your Holiday parties and that you enjoy it. Coming up next in the first week of January is the first WCCR show for 2009. Be good and be safe during the Holidays festivities!

Tags: Mixes, Soul Harmony

WCC RADIO EP012 (December 2008) is now available for download or for streaming and podcast on SS Radio UK. WCC Radio has completed it's first year. We've had over 11000 downloads of the show from this site alone. That doesn't count the SS Radio podcasts which averages about 300 a month. I would like to thank all of you for your continuous support and spreading the word about our little show. We will continue to bring you quality house in the coming year. I hope you enjoy the last WCC RADIO for 2008 and don't forget to go rate the mix after you've listen to it.

Tags: SSRadio UK, WCC, Radio Show

WCC RADIO has found another home for it's monthly show. Besides SS Radio UK on the first Sunday of the month we are now also on Raunchy Rhythms Radio on the first Friday of the month. You will get to hear on Raunchy Rhythms the mix before it is posted and available for download. We premiere with WCC RADIO EP012 (December 2008). The shows air the first Friday of every month at 22:00 GMT. Click here to find out at what time the shows play in your corner of the world.

Tags: Mixes, WCC, Radio Show, Raunchy Rhythms

WCC RADIO EP011 (November 2008) is now ready for download. If you prefer to stream it online or subscribe to the Podcast you can do so at SS RADIO UK. There is a new feature with this mix. Torin of the WCC showed me a neat trick that allows me to imbed the tracklist in the MP3 file. In itunes you can find it under the "lyrics" tab in the info window of the mix. If you have an iPhone or an iPod Touch you can see the tracklist by touching the artwork of the mix while it is playing. Try it out it really works. Don't forget to rate the mix after you've listen to it. Enjoy it!

Tags: SSRadio UK, WCC, Radio Show

WCC RADIO EP010 (October 2008) is now ready for download. You will hear quite a few main street artists in this episode (Prince, Snoop Dog, Soul 2 Soul, etc) but don't fear! These are bootleg house remixes done by some of the finest of the house crop (that Christina Aguilera remix is so dope). Listen before you judge :) If you prefer to stream it online or subscribe to the Podcast you can do so at SS RADIO UK. Hope you enjoy the tunes.

Tags: SSRadio UK, WCC, Radio Show

WCC RADIO EP009 (September 2008) is now ready for download. If you prefer to stream it online or subscribe to the Podcast you can do so at SS RADIO UK. This episode is all about the underground. Not my usual soulful sets but a little more deeper and jackin’. I crave the days in the early 90s when our parties were in dark warehouses were the only light was from the mixer and turntables. Even if this set is nostalgic to me it doesn’t haver too many nostalgic tracks. They are pretty new. It just goes to show you that the underground is very alive. It’s just still...underground. Close your eyes when you listen to this episode and let it take you back to those days. I hope you enjoy it. Let me know how you feel about it by rating it after you heard it. I’ll know if you guys want more sets like this.

Tags: SSRadio UK, WCC, Radio Show

WCC RADIO EP008 (August 2008) is now ready for download. If you prefer to stream it online or subscribe to the Podcast you can do so at SS RADIO UK. I apologize for the show being a week late. This was due to my best friend and Great Dane "Geronimo" passing away last week. He will be greatly missed since he was such a majestic and amazing dog. Episode 08 is dedicated to his memory. Hope you enjoy the tunes.

Tags: SSRadio UK, WCC, Radio Show

A brand new mix that is not a radio show is available for download in the current mixes page. I wasn't planning on recording a new mix but this one kind of just happened. Sandra's new single is doing great, the WCC might start a new residency night on the West Side, and my VFX business is cranking out the jobs even in these hard economic times. Basically I don't have much to complaint about and I'm happy, so when I'm happy I like to jump on the decks and the result is this summer mix. I hope you enjoy it and don't forget to rate it.

Tags: Mixes

Sandra single "Higher" is doing really great in the different digital download charts. The EP came out July 10th and it has reached #12 on Traxsource, #8 on Juno in the Funky House genre, and #7 (Jay-J's dub), #12 (original), and #14 (Jay-J's remix) on Stompy's soul genre. All of these charts are out of the 100 top tracks from each respective site. The second remix package has gone out as a promo to some of the jocks and radio stations and will be available in early august. This package includes mixes by Justin Michael of Hermosa Recordings, Torin Rea of the West Coast Collective and additional remixes by Jon Silva of Pesto Music. If you are interested in purchasing the current package it is available at your favorite digital download site:

Traxsource
Juno
Stompy
iTunes Music Store
Beatport

Tags: Sandra Lima, Jay-J, Promo, Pesto Music

WCC RADIO EP007 (July 2008) is now ready for download. Episode 07 includes the usual new and old favorite tunes plus some exclusive and unrelease tracks. If you prefer to stream it online or subscribe to the Podcast you can do so at SS RADIO UK. Hope you enjoy the tunes.

Tags: SSRadio UK, WCC, Radio Show

With huge support from House jocks, radio stations and tastemakers all over, Pesto was able to place this massive summer tune on a couple of upcoming compilations already. Raisani Miami Sessions (Dubai), Ibiza Global Radio, Open Bar (NYC) and Clubstar (Germany) - they all had a reason to put "Higher" in their mixes. Finally, Sandra Lima's debut on Pesto is happening and here are six reasons to look forward to the outdoor season: DeepHouse icon Jay-J contributes two smashing mixes, Jon Silva adds some mid-90ies flavour and The Mulder is pleasing us with his top-notch DeepTech sound. Sample some of the mixes with this Beatport Player. This is the sound of the summer 2008!

Tags: Sandra Lima, Jay-J, Promo, Pesto Music

WCC RADIO EP006 (June 2008) is now ready for download. If this episode had a name I would have called it "Bass". The first half of the show as some wicked deep house bass-lines that just make you nod your head and raises your level of being cool by ten. I also did a live edit of Doobie J's "Cant Stay Away" vs Andre Harris' "10 things Not To Say To a DJ" and it turned out pretty good. I had some people asked me where I got that remix. Sometimes 2 tracks are just meant to go together.

This episode is a week earlier than schedule and that is because next week I will be in Europe for a few days. I will be in Cannes, France from the 28th of April to the 3rd of June for a friend's wedding. Then I'm off to Amsterdam for a few days. Officially I'm not going to gig but I might make a surprise stop to one of the SoulSessions night over there. I always have my music with me. If something is confirm I will post it on the blog and send an email out to let people know. If you live in the Nice area in France and know of a good house night there to check out please let me know through the contact page. Enjoy EP006!

Tags: SSRadio UK, WCC, Radio Show

Sandra's new track "Higher" is getting a pre-release on the Raisani Miami Sessions 08 compilation. This is the Jay-J dub which is a peak time stomper. For the full vocal mix plus the other remixes you will have to wait until the end of this month for the full release on Pesto Music. For now you can purchase the dub on Traxsource. Higher is track #5 of the compilation. You can also preview the full track on Sandra's MySpace page.

Tags: Sandra Lima, Jay-J, Promo, Pesto Music

Ok, ok. In all fairness it was on a Electronic Dance Music show called PowerTools and it did air at 2 in the morning. Still check it out and listen to our manly voices. I'm the one that sounds like a chipmunk. You can also catch an exclusive mix I did for the interview. Click on the play button below.

Tags: PowerTools, Radio Interview, WCC, Mixes, Balance-LA

WCC RADIO EP005 (May 2008) is now ready for download. I'm really happy with this episode. It's my favorite of the year. I don't know why it just flows. I got to listen to it while driving on the coast with my sun roof open and enjoying this 90 degrees Californian spring. For a second I just forgot al of my troubles and got lost in the music. Hope you can do the same. Don't forget to rate it after you listen to it (might be just me who like it). Enjoy!

Tags: SSRadio UK, WCC, Radio Show

WCC RADIO EP004 (April 2008) is now ready for download. I added a new feature to the track list, a link to buy the individual tracks from the mix. When you click on the track's label it will take you to digital download site (Traxsource, Stompy, Beatport, etc) where I purchased the track. It won't take you to the exact track but it will take you to the label's songs on the digital download site. It makes it a lot easier to find the song and to narrow your search. Give it a try and please go out and support the labels that are giving us such great and beautiful music.

What prompted this new feature was the whole Defected incident that happened to me last week. I figured by including this it will make the labels (and artists) happy. If they still don't want me to include their music it's their lost. You will notice that this set has 2 Defected songs even after I vowed never to play anything from them. Call me a sell out but dam these tracks are good ;) The ironic thing is that one of those tracks is one I removed from the Pesto Mix and both are, as of now, unreleased (you can find them on Traxsource but they are digital edits, these are the real thing). How did I do it? They gave me permission! Go figure... Maybe they think I have something to offer. So if you purchase tracks from their store tell them it's because of Ricardo Torres ;) Enjoy the mix!

Tags: SSRadio UK, WCC, Radio Show

The NEW PestoMix is now up and its IMPROVED since it does not have any Defected tracks in it. If you are wondering why read the post below this one. This whole thing with this major label has left a real sour taste in my mouth and I feel it has tainted something I hold sacred which is the spirit of House Music. I also found out that I'm not the only one of their ex-supporters that they have done this to. Check this out. Please go out and support small independent labels like Pesto, Barcoda, Compost, Poji, Shifted Music and many others that are keeping the spirit of House alive and let's leave Defected and its sub-labels chase bedroom DJs for compensation. I'm sure they will make lots of money and pass the profits to their artists (yeah right). I hope you enjoy the mix.

Tags: Mixes, Pesto Music, Defected

Some of you are wondering what happened to the DJ Mix I did for Pesto Music. Well within minutes after Pesto posted the FREE podcast they got this email from Defected:

"I have received a newsletter with a Pesto mix that includes 2 of Defected tracks that are unreleased. Defected has not granted you any authorisation to use them and we control the copyright. Please remove them from this mix immediately. You are giving our music away for free when you do not have the rights. We will seek compensation for this illegal usage."

First of all I purchased those "unreleased tracks" on Traxsource directly from Simon Dunmore (Defected's boss) Top 10. They don't even seem to know what tracks they are releasing or selling. Second, a big "respected" label like Defected coming after a small independent one man label like Pesto and threatening to sue them for giving them free promotion just floors me. Defected is in their legal right to do this but is it morally right? I've been a big supporter of Defected for years I have PURCHASED every single release I have from them vinyl or digital. No more. This is a slap in the face to our community. If this is their attitude then they will go down just like all the other main stream dinosaur labels that are crying that their profit margins are shrinking and are coming after the end users. I will re-do the PestoMix with out any tracks from Defected. Only tracks from labels that support and understand DJ culture. If you care to voice your opinion to them you can do to the label manager at their contact page here. The email above came from "Business Affairs and Licensing Manager". If you do contact them please be respectful. Like I said they are within their legal rights, I just feel they don't know how to pick their battles.

Tags: Mixes, Defected, Pesto Music

Pesto Music asked me to do a DJ Mix that coincides with the release of my wife Sandra's new track coming out on their imprint April 20th, 2008. Sandra's new track called "Higher" will be coming out in two EPs. The first one (Pesto 011) will include Jay-J's (Shifted Music) mixes and Jon Silva's aka The Mulder (Pesto Music). The second EP (Pesto 011R) will have remixes by Justin Michael (Hermosa Recordings), Thomas White (Natural Rhythm), and our own Torin Rea (WCC). We've already passed out some promos to a few jocks and we are getting great feedback. You can hear Jay-J's vocal mix in my set (track 11). If you are part of the Pesto community you will get this mix as an iTunes Podcast. If not you can download right here. You will also notice that this mix is at higher bit rate. The mixes on this site are at 128kps but as of the PestoMix they will be 192kps. Bandwidth is getting cheaper so I'm passing on the savings to you :)

Tags: Pesto Music, Sandra Lima, Mixes, Jay-J

WCC RADIO EP002 (February 2008) is now ready for download. If you are wondering why it's here after EP003 then read the entry below. The point is that it's here now so you are getting two shows this month :) The first hour is deeper and darker than I usually play but the mix brings the soul back in hour two. Check it out and let me know what you think of it by rating it after you've listen to it. Enjoy!

Tags: SSRadio UK, WCC, Radio Show

WCC RADIO EP003 (March 2008) is now ready for download. Some of you are probably wondering where is EP002? Last month when the radio show was schedule to air on SS RADIO the WCC was also playing live at BALANCE here in LA. We did a live broadcast from the club that a lot of people got a chance to tune into. Unfortunately the recording of the night had some glitches. Torin is trying to fix it and if he can we will post that set. I then promised that I would record a new EP002 and post it even if it was late. My life got crazy during February (read the post below) and I wasn't able to do it. I still want to do an EP002 not to break our streak so hopefully I can get that done with in the next week or two since I'm finally coming back up for air.

I'm really happy with this EP003. It's Deep, Jackin, Funky, and Soulful and I have for you a preview of my wife Sandra's new track "Higher" that will finally be out before the summer on Pesto Music. There will be remixes by Jay-J (Shifted Music), Justin Michael (Hermosa Recordings), Thomas White (Natural Rhythm) and of course Jon SIlva (Pesto Music). There are also a couple of other remixes floating around including a WCC remix by Torin Rea. What you hear in the set is Jay-J's dub mix. His vocal remix is also slammin and has the quality you come to expect from Jay-J. Justin Michael's remixes are pretty amazing also. Think "big room Dennis Ferrer" type. Thomas' version will of course be Jackin' a la Natural Rhythm and I'm sure the very talented Jon SIlva will have some nice surprises for us since he is the one that did the original mixes. I'm also looking forward to hear what Torin is cooking up.

Tags: SSRadio UK, WCC, Radio Show, Sandra Lima, Pesto Music

All of the tracks for our 6 hour set at Balance back from November are accounted for. If you downloaded the set and are curious as what those are you can check it out here. BTW the WCC will be back at the best House Club In Los Angeles on February 2nd, 2008. Mark your calendars cause it will be another epic night...

Tags: WCC, Balance-LA, Mixes, Live Set

The first WCC RADIO show has been posted and ready for download. As I told you in the last posting the format will remain the same as Shameless Sessions it is just the name that changes. The show will air once a month on SS Radio UK but I will try to bring it up to a bi-monthly edition if my schedule permits. The show is not exclusive to SS Radio so if you run an internet radio station and are interested in airing the program please contact me.

The first hour of the show is a mix of newer and older tracks and the second hour is a tribute to my favorite West Coast producer (and friend) Jay-J. It is an hour of some of my favorite remixes and original productions (he has over 300) of this Grammy nominated producer and DJ. I am also keeping the tradition to end the show with a classic track. This month is a dope Michael Jackson underground remix of Off The Wall. This was when MJ was normal and with darker skin... I found this one as I was digging through my crates.

New to the site is a rating system for the mixes. At the bottom of each track list page you are able to vote on the mix from 1 to 5 stars (5 being best). After you listen to the mix please rate it so I get an idea of what people are digging. The rating is also available for the old mixes so if you have a favorite one go vote for it.


In other news the WCC will be back at BALANCE LA in February. Stay tune for the date and details. HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Tags: SSRadio UK, WCC, Radio Show, Jay-J

First of all Happy Holidays to you and all of your love ones.  I want to thank you for the support that you have given me through out 2007. I can't believe this year is already over. It certainly flew by for me.

As a "Thank You" and a late holiday gift I would like to offer you the full set from our last gig at Balance here in Los Angeles.  This is kind of rare that you will find sets like these online because it is 6 hours long! It is our full night un-edited.  If you are looking for music for your NYE party this year you just put this on and you are good to go.  It starts off smooth and then just peeks with some old, new and rare tracks that we like to take out when we play live.

You will find the tracklist for all 57 tracks on the download page with who was playing what.  Basically Torin Rea, Dustin Brown and myself were rotating every 4 tracks so we kept it fresh.  We compliment each other when we play but we all have a little bit different style (in a good way).

This download is pretty big, 317 MB.  On a standard broadband connection it could take from 10 to 20 minutes to download so please be patient when you do.  I need to thank Pablo Godel of Server Grove Networks for letting me host the mix on his servers.  If it wasn't for Pablo's help I wouldn't be able to offer this mix to you because of the amount of bandwidth it would eat up with all the downloads that it will have.  If you need any kind of hosting solutions please check out Server Grove Networks and give them a try.

Again thank you for 2007 and have a wonderful, safe and fun New Year Eve and stay soulful trough-out 2008!

Tags: Mixes, Balance-LA, Live Set, WCC

The last Shameless Sessions radio show for 2007 is now available for download. For this one I actually took out some of my old vinyl that I haven't played in a long time. These are a bunch of old white labels that I hardly take out anymore since turntables are hard to come by at clubs these days. For the last few years I've been playing mainly digital files from CDs on CDJs. You will probably hear the sound difference from these old records when you hear them in the mix. I played the hell out of these tracks and they are a little worn out. Don't be alarm if you see Michael Jackson or Diana Ross on the track list... You might be pleasantly surprise ;)

Tags: Mixes, Shameless-Sessions, SSRadio UK

My Shameless Sessions show for the month of Novermber is available for download. It aired Sunday the 4th on SS Radio UK. This is one of my favorite one from the year. I'm getting a lot more adventurous with the accapellas ;)

Tags: Mixes, Shameless-Sessions, SSRadio UK

My Shameless Sessions show for the month of October is available for download. It aired Sunday the 7th of October on SS Radio UK. Just to make it clear; My Shameless Sessions shows airs every month on the first Sunday of the month not necessarily the first week of the month. I had quite a few emails this week asking me where the mix was. I even had one that said that "it's been more than week and where is the fuckin' October mix?". Wow, did not know that people got so emotional about these sets. I hope it's clear now when they come out. Peace and enjoy the "f@#&ing" mix ;)

Tags: Mixes, Shameless-Sessions, SSRadio UK

I posted a brand new mix that is not a radio show. It's been a while since I had done one that's your standard 70 minutes set that fits on a CD. "Glow Nights" captures the vibe of the residency I had for about a year now in Marina Del Rey, California. The tunes are high energy and they are meant for the dance floor. You will recognize a lot of the tracks in the set but these remixes might be brand new to most of you. Let me know what you think and enjoy. Also a new Shameless Sessions coming up in the first week of October.

Tags: Mixes, Glow

My Shameless Sessions show for the month of September is available for download. It aired Sunday the 2nd on SS Radio UK. If you want to the listen to the online stream with the voice overs you can do so here on SS Radio and you can also vote and leave comments on it. Fun with acapellas , some unreleased promos, and some nice classics. Enjoy!

Tags: Mixes, Shameless-Sessions, SSRadio UK

My Shameless Sessions show for the month of August is available for download. It aired Sunday the 5th on SS Radio UK. If you want to the listen to the online stream with the voice overs you can do so here on SS Radio and you can also vote and leave comments on it. The shows includes that great track from Vernon & Dacosta "As Darkness Falls" that I was talking about in the post below. Enjoy!

Tags: Mixes, Shameless-Sessions, SSRadio UK

I finished putting all the artwork together for my mixes that are online on my site. Not only does the artwork show up in the mixes page for downloading but also in the MP3 file itself. This means that when you play the mix from iTunes, an iPod or an iPhone you see the artwork in al it's glory. Pretty :)

Tags: Mixes

My Shameless Sessions show for the month of July is available for download. It aired yesterday on SS Radio UK. If you want to the listen to the online stream with the voice overs you can do so here on SS Radio and you can also vote on it.

Tags: Mixes, Shameless-Sessions, SSRadio UK

My Shameless Sessions show for the month of June is available for download. It aired earlier today on SS Radio UK. If you want to the listen to the online stream with the voice overs you can do so here on SS Radio and you can also vote on it.

Tags: Mixes, Shameless-Sessions, SSRadio UK

My Shameless Sessions show for May is available for download. It aired earlier today on SS Radio UK. The versions on my site is with out voice overs but if you prefer to hear me talk (why?) you can catch the stream right here on SS Radio and you can also vote on it.

Tags: Mixes, Shameless-Sessions, SSRadio UK

All of my Shameless Sessions radio shows are now posted. On my old site I used to replace the one that was online with a new show every month. Now I will leave them all available for the whole year. I will post the show for May this coming Monday after it airs this Sunday the 13th on SS Radio UK.

Tags: Mixes, Shameless-Sessions, SSRadio UK

I just finish posting this morning the rest of my legacy mixes going all the way back to 2002. These were available on my old site except for one that I added called "Later At The Loft". I'm also re-mastering some of the first mixes I posted on the web which were on Deep House Network back in 2001. They were only available in Real Audio back then and the quality was poor. Next up are the My Shameless Sessions for this year and the guest mixes. Hopefully I can have this done in the next few days.

Tags: Mixes

I just posted 7 mixes from the archives that range from 2004 to 2005. Included in there is my most downloaded mix, BLANC, and two live sets that I did back in the days for Planet Soul Network. Those were my first radio shows. I still have another 7 to upload in the archives and also, on a seperate page, all of my Shameless Sessions radio shows for 2007.

Tags: Mixes

Sorry for the slow update of the site but work has been crazy busy lately as we got awarded a couple of big jobs. I just posted the new main mixes page. You will find in there the current mixes. I will create other pages for the archived mixes (before 2006), guest mixes, and Shameless Sessions radio show. Check out the new interface and let me know what you think or if you have any problems. If you are on a mac (or PC for that matter) the mixes should NOT open in a blank page with Quicktime like they used to. No need to do a key combination when you click on download mix. The link should automatically download to your desktop (or where ever you download files).

At the top of the list is the live set I recorded from the Jay-J and friends party we did in Miami WMC 2007. I will also so post soon my May set from Shameless Sessions.

Tags: Mixes