Left Coast Sessions: Show 004 (12.19.08) - Playlist & Download Link

Left Coast Sessions: Show 004
Recorded December 19th, 2008

Ida Corr - Ride My Tempo (Wideboys Club Mix)
DJ Antoine - Underneath (Original Version)
JJ Flores & Steve Smooth - Stay (Extended Mix)
Joey Negro - Must Be The Music (Nicola Fasano Remix)
No Halo - Put Your Hands On (Alex Gaudino Remix)
24 Skorpions vs Chamillionaire - We Some Players (Bryan Cox Mix)
Hatiras - The New Jam (Original Mix)
Nadastrom - Pussy (Original Mix)
Robbie Rivera - Which Way You're Going (2008 Club Mix)
Kaz James - We Hold On (Adam K & Soha Remix)
Kaskade - Angel On My Shoulder (EDX's Belo Horizonte Remix)
Sebastian Leger - Bad Clock (Broken Clock Remix)
Format B - Edding 850 (Original Mix)

To download this show:

Right-click this link and select "Save Target As". Hit me back if you have any problems with the file. Questions or comments? Feel free to email me at marcus@fulltiltremix.com.

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Thanks as always for listening. Enjoy!

- M

The Times Square of the West?

This past Saturday, Tami and I made a pit stop on our way to her brother's loft in downtown Los Angeles to check out the much-touted "LA Live" complex - situated at the north end of the Staples Center complex @ Figueroa & Olympic - which has been dubbed by many in the local press as the "Times Square of the West".

Ummm... nice, but no.

Because this...














...simply doesn't equate to this:


















In fact, the only thing in the western US I can think of that's even remotely close to Times Square, in terms of scale and spectacle, would be the Strip in Las Vegas... and even that's a considerably different creature.

What LA Live is however is something that SoCal has a patented hammer-lock, a design model done better here than anywhere else in the country.

Locally, it's what's some call "shoppertainment" - the big overblown outdoor shopping/dining/nightlife areas that can be found just about everywhere around here (3rd St Promenade, the Hollywood & Highland complex, etc).

I'm all for seeing new development in downtown LA - there's been plenty of it in recent years - but one has to wonder if this neck of the woods *really* needs yet another gathering point like this. The investment put into this project would imply so but color me skeptical. The hipster crowd is hardly going to flock given the proximity to trendier LA areas nearby and, as mentioned, the general concept here is hardly a new one. The complex isn't quite a finished project either; only a few higher-end chain restaurants and bars open currently (no shops or clubs yet), making this largely a watering hole for Laker fans at the moment

Time will tell I suppose. As disjointed as Los Angeles is, it could certainly do with a true Times Square to help pull it together... but for now, this is hardly the spot.

- M

To bail or not to bail?

That's the question that's been creeping around the back of my head as Congressional leaders met with the heads of the "Big Three" American automakers in DC this past week.

While I'd normally only watch C-SPAN to induce sleep, I found myself attentively following the proceedings a number of times over the past several days, debating the merits of the issue back and forth in my head while keeping Jack busy and attempting (largely in vain) to actually get some productive work done.

To put it bluntly, my initial thought was to let them fail. Sounds a bit harsh I'll admit but business in a capitalist society is built on a relatively simple foundation of survival of the fittest. Ultimately, it seems the American auto companies just don't have the teeth to really contend… so why should taxpayers keep the doors of presently failing businesses open?

On principle alone, I'm still inclined to say let them go. And yet I won't. I have a vested interest in this.

Letting the Big Three go under would put quite a few people out of work, adding further fuel to a fire that's already seen it's worst flames since the year I was born, and one of the people who could potentially lose their job as a result is my wife Tami. She, like millions of others, doesn't work directly for any of the Big Three but works in one of the countless related businesses that rely heavily on the auto industry for revenue. And having grown up in an old Midwestern manufacturing town, I've seen what happens first-hand (via close friends) when an industry packs up and moves away or shuts down altogether.

Should the worst happen, the saving grace for her is that she has a skill-set and resume with which she could easily find reliable employment elsewhere, though few with quite the same perks and amenities that she's fortunate enough to enjoy with her current job.

So naturally I'm a bit conflicted. As I write this, it seems that Congress has reached a tentative deal for the time being, but who can say what good that'll do in the long run. Given how out of step these manufacturers have been, it's hard to think that we're at the start of some miraculous comeback. Should we even bother?

It's been argued that it would be unfair to bail out the auto industry when Congress did just that on the banking/investment industry's behalf barely two months ago. After all, the Big Three is only asking for $34 billion, a mere fraction of the $700+ billion we doled out to the collective crumbling edifice that is Wall Street.

Frankly, it's an apples and oranges comparison IMO. Propping up a number of ailing manufacturing companies is a drop in the bucket when compared to the potential total halt of cash and credit through our economy as a whole. Let the banks fail and then see how easy it'd be for *anyone* to finance a home or a college education much less a new or used car.

I hate to be a pessimist, and for the sake of Tami's job (and the jobs of everyone else that relies on the industry) I hope I'm wrong but I can't help but think that we're just putting a Band-Aid on a major knife wound. One can hope that something positive comes out of this tentative auto bailout, but it's difficult sometimes to think that when considering the less-than-impressive resume the industry has had. I mean, people have raved about their old Toyota or their new Accord for years now. When's the last time you heard that about a Mustang or a Cavalier?

- M

Left Coast Sessions: Show 003 (12.05.08) - Playlist & Download Link

Left Coast Sessions: Show 003
Recorded December 5th, 2008

Chris Lake - The Only One (Original Mix)
Joseph - Your Love Still Haunts Me (DJ Bam Bam Club Mix)
Adam K - You're Not Alone (Adam K & Soha Remix)
Kaskade - Sorry (Dirty South Edit)
Guru Josh Project - Infinity 2008 (Klaas Remix)
Mark Morrison - Return Of The Mack (Spencer & Hill Club Mix)
South West Beats - It's Love (Trippin') (Out Of Office Remix)
Good Guys - Lose Control (Ian Carey Original Version)
Doman & Gooding - Running (Mark Knight & Funkagenda Mix)
CJ Bolland - Sugar Is Sweeter (Armand Van Helden Remix)
Robot Needs Oil - Defected (Olivier Giacomotto Edit)
Twocker - Stitch (Bass Kleph Mix)

To download this show:

Right-click this link and select "Save Target As". Hit me back if you have any problems with the file. Questions or comments? Feel free to email me at marcus@fulltiltremix.com.

Subscribe to the NEW podcast!

Simply drag and drop the RSS icon below into the podcast folder of iTunes (or your podcasting software of choice) to receive new mixshows automatically each week! :)



Thanks as always for listening. Enjoy!

- M

Left Coast Sessions: Show 002 (11.26.08) - Playlist & Download Link

Left Coast Sessions: Show 002
Recorded November 26th, 2008

Heavyfeet - One Last Time (Original Mix)
Kid Cudi - Day N Nite (Crookers Remix)
Mark Morrison - Return Of The Mack (Spencer & Hill Remix)
Liquid Nation - Breathe Life (Chris Ortega & Thomas Gold Remix)
Dave Aude - Grass Is Greener (Jody Den Broeder Club Mix)
Deadmau5 - Ghosts N Stuff (Original Edit)
Andy Caldwell - Funk Nasty (Wolfgang Gartner Remix)
Chamillionaire vs 24 Skorpionz - We Some Players (Bryan Cox Mix)
Beltek feat Simone Denny - Copacabana (Extended Mix)
JJ Flores & Steve Smooth - Stay (John Dahlback Mix)
ATFC - Praise To The JBs (Edit)
Format B - Edding 850 (Original Version)
Steve Angello - Be (Laidback Luke Re-Rave Edit)

To download this show:

Right-click this link and select "Save Target As". Hit me back if you have any problems with the file. Questions or comments? Feel free to email me at marcus@fulltiltremix.com.

Subscribe to the NEW podcast!

Simply drag and drop the RSS icon below into the podcast folder of iTunes (or your podcasting software of choice) to receive new mixshows automatically each week! :)



First hosted installment of "Left Coast Sessions" deubts later in December. Just ironing out some final details - stay tuned!

Thanks as always for listening. Enjoy!

- M