This is the music-related blog for Jonathan (Scooter) Clark, also known in the electronica world as DJ Bolivia, a producer and DJ from Atlantic Canada. I listen to (and produce) a lot of folk, indie, rock, and hip hop music too!
I also run a company (Replant.ca Environmental) through which you can sponsor the planting of trees to build forest reserves and community forests, which are protected from commercial logging. Please visit: www.replant.ca/environmental
Here we are with episode number eleven of Subterranean Homesick Grooves™, a weekly electronica-based radio show presented on CHMA FM 106.9 at Mount Allison University in Atlantic Canada, programmed and mixed by Jonathan Clark (as DJ Bolivia). The show encompasses many sub-genres within the realm of electronic dance music, but the main focus is on progressive and tribal house, and a bit of trance & techno. Liner notes for this episode (011) can be seen below.
In addition to being able to download each episode from SoundCloud, you can also visit our DJ Mixes folder on Dropbox (which allows for bulk downloads). That folder hosts hundreds of episodes and other DJ mixes. Here's the link:
01. Eric Meza, Jaren, Matt Cerf, "With Me"(Signalrunners Fierce Mix).
02. Tiesto & Sneaky Sound System, "I Will Be Here"(Wolfgang Gartner Mix).
03. Morgan Page, "Strange Condition"(Inpetto Vocal Mix).
04. Schodt, "Tokyo Dawn"(Dinka Remix).
05. Deadmau5, "Strobe"(Michael Woods Remix).
06. Agnes, "Release Me"(Moguai Remix).
07. Kaskade & Seamus Haji with Haley, "So Far Away"(Original Mix).
08. Moony, "I Don't Know Why"(Jerome Isma-Ae Remix).
09. Ashley Wallbridge, "Harrier"(Original Mix).
10. Kaskade, "Step One Two"(Tommy Trash Mix).
11. Late Night Alumni, "You Could Be The One"(Sultan & Ned Shepard Remix).
12. Serge Devant feat. Emma Hewitt, "Take Me Away"(Adam K & Soha Club Mix).
This week's show features a Guest DJ Mix for the first time. Our guest for this week is Chris Blackmore, a Canadian DJ and producer who works with host Jonathan Clark.
PS: Here's the video to the original release of "I Will Be Here":
We also have a file containing complete track listings from all of DJ Bolivia's radio shows, studio mixes, and live sets. The PDF version can be viewed from within your browser by clicking directly. Both the PDF and the Excel versions can be downloaded by right-clicking and choosing the "save link as" option:
... although I don't have time to party every day.
Last night I played a rock set at my own bar. Obviously, I normally play house/dance/techno when I'm DJ'ing, so some people would assume that this was a bit of a departure. However, I tend to listen to more rock & indie music at home than dance music, and my DJ career actually started off with me playing rock sets at residence parties in university, before I even started playing dance music at the club in the mid-1990's.
I had a good crowd last night, which was mostly just sitting back enjoying the cheap draught, rather than getting up on the dance floor. I was able to be a bit more selective in my picks than I would have been if I'd had a crowded dance floor. That's good, because I can only play "Like A Prayer" or "Sweet Child Of Mine" or "Mr. Jones" so many times without it withering my soul.
Here's a set list, for anyone who is curious. I focused mostly on classic rock, and didn't actually fit in as much recent indie as I would have liked, but it was still a fun night.
01. Midnight Oil, “Blue Sky Mine” 02. Garbage, “#1 Crush” 03. U2, “Mysterious Ways” 04. Audioslave, “Be Yourself” 05. Fun Lovin’ Criminals, “Scooby Snacks” 06. Hoodoo Gurus, “Hayride To Hell” 07. Johnny Cash, “Cocaine Blues” 08. Billy Bragg & Wilco, “Hot Rod Hotel.” 09. Tragically Hip, “Nautical Disaster” 10. Jefferson Airplane, “White Rabbit” 11. Tom Petty, “American Girl” 12. Jimi Hendrix, “Hey Joe” 13. Pearl Jam, “Alive” 14. Aerosmith, “Rag Doll” 15. George Thorogood, “Memphis Marie” 16. Foreigner, “Urgent” 17. Genesis, “Mama” 18. Talking Heads, “Psycho Killer” 19. Radiohead, “Paranoid Android” 20. I Mother Earth, “One More Astronaut” 21. Live, “Selling The Drama” 22. Violent Femmes, “Add It Up” 23. Presidents, “Lump” 24. Adam Ant, “Goodie Two Shoes” 25. Spin Doctors, “Two Princes” 26. Bloodhound Gang, “Ballad Of Chaissie Lane” 27. Stone Roses, “Elephant Stone” 28. Survivor, “Eye Of The Tiger” 29. INXS, “What You Need” 30. Warren Zevon, “Werewolves Of London” 31. Cake, “I Will Survive” 32. Doors, “Peace Frog” 33. Soup Dragons, “Mother Universe”
I'm Jonathan Clark, known online as DJ Bolivia. Do you want to learn more about DJ'ing and music production? If so, visit:
Here we are with episode number ten of Subterranean Homesick Grooves™, a weekly electronica-based radio show presented on CHMA FM 106.9 at Mount Allison University in Atlantic Canada, programmed and mixed by Jonathan Clark (as DJ Bolivia). The show encompasses many sub-genres within the realm of electronic dance music, but the main focus is on progressive and tribal house, and a bit of trance & techno. Liner notes for this episode (010) can be seen below.
In addition to being able to download each episode from SoundCloud, you can also visit our DJ Mixes folder on Dropbox (which allows for bulk downloads). That folder hosts hundreds of episodes and other DJ mixes. Here's the link:
01. Metric, "Monster Hospital"(MSTRKRFT Remix).
02. Ricky Ryan, "Living Stone"(bSound Remix).
03. Way Out West, "Future Perfect"(Original Club Mix).
04. Paul King, "All The Way"(Dancefloor Whores Deep Inside Mix).
05. Demarko, "Bodyjack"(Midnight Society's Jacked Up Mix).
06. MIB, "ZX"(Max Graham Remix).
07. King Unique, "Feniksas"(Original Mix).
08. Marcie & David Akermanis, "Hoping Tonight"(Frankinelli Remix).
09. DJ Dan, "Tribute To Voodoo Ray"(DJ Dan's Spellbound Mix).
10. Morgan Page, "Fight For You"(Sultan & Ned Shephard Remix).
Here are a few notes about some of this week's tracks:
Metric(Canada) - Toronto is thoroughly represented in the opening track this week. Metric, a Canadian indie-rock band, has also been based outside of Canada at times (New York, London), but we're proud to call them our own. Emily Haines, the singer & keyboardist, also does a lot of work with another great Toronto-based indie group, Broken Social Scene. And then to top it off, this remix is by another pair of producers from Toronto, ALP & JFK, who form MSTRKRFT. As far as Canadian music goes, all of the groups above are very well known. Incidentally, for anyone who is in Halifax tonight, JFK of MSTRKRFT is playing at the Palace.
Max Graham(Canada) - Not many people remember Max from his time with a residency at Atomic in Ottawa, but Max and Atomic had a huge influence on Canada's underground scene, and Max because unofficially known as Canada ambassador for progressive house. Of course, he was propelled into mainstream awareness a few years ago with his remix of "Owner Of A Lonely Heart," but for the most part, he still concentrates on his progressive & trancey roots. He's still producing and DJ'ing these days, although he and Brad Copeland, another well-known Canadian DJ, also own iTechnique on Yonge Street in Toronto. Anyway, Max is the remixer here this week for the "Men in beats" track.
Marcie(US) - Marcie Joy has been working as a top-notch vocalist with an unbelievable number of world-class artists and producers in the past few years. Check out her discography and you'll see what I mean. Also, if you want to check out an interesting show, look up her "Behind The Lyric" series, which is a radio show & interview format with producers who explain the stories behind some of the lyrics that they've written and songs that they've produced. You can click here for a bit more info about David Akermanis.
Sultan and Ned Shepard(Canada) - These two producers are really starting to become global names these days. Another pair of Canada's formerly best kept secrets. What else can I say - combine an original track by one of my favorite producers (Morgan Page) with two great remixers, and you have a sure winner to wrap up this week's show.
- Jonathan Clark (DJ Bolivia)
PS: Here's the video to the original release of "Monster Hospital":
Go to the Mix Downloads page on the main DJ Bolivia website if you'd like to check out a number of our older mixes, or visit our SoundCloud page for individual tracks and remixes.
Here we are with episode number nine of Subterranean Homesick Grooves™, a weekly electronica-based radio show presented on CHMA FM 106.9 at Mount Allison University in Atlantic Canada, programmed and mixed by Jonathan Clark (as DJ Bolivia). The show encompasses many sub-genres within the realm of electronic dance music, but the main focus is on progressive and tribal house, and a bit of trance & techno. Liner notes for this episode (009) can be seen below.
In addition to being able to download each episode from SoundCloud, you can also visit our DJ Mixes folder on Dropbox (which allows for bulk downloads). That folder hosts hundreds of episodes and other DJ mixes. Here's the link:
When I mix these shows, I make them using CD's, rather than sequencing everything on a computer. I know, call me old-fashioned, but I like the hands-on approach. It was hard enough for me to switch away from vinyl, but of course, it is nearly impossible to get all the tracks that I want on vinyl nowadays. I think that in early 2011, once I have my new studio finished and I'm settled into a full-time career as a musician, I'll probably start putting the shows together on a sequencer. Especially since I want to figure out some way to get a slot for the show on Sirius XM next year, once I have a few dozen more shows under my belt. Think big, that's what I say. But anyway, in the meantime, you'll have to settle for all of these episodes mixed in the traditional way.
This week's show was actually a bit of a challenge to mix. I won't lie - a few of the mixes are not perfect. That's the problem with trying to be a bit diverse in my programming. I've got a variety of tracks this week which (to me) encompass everything from progressive house, trance, and traditional house, to techno influences, and more. Trying to flow smoothly between styles isn't always easy, especially when the phone keeps ringing while I'm recording. On a side note, now that I'm about to be laid off, I think that the one thing that I'm looking forward to the most is not having to carry a cell phone anymore.
Anyway, on to some liner notes. I'm just going to focus on the big four tracks here this week. I know, that seems illogical, since any devoted followers of my show probably know a fair amount about those producers. However, I think my listener base is still composed of more mainstream fans than trainspotters, so for this week, I'll stick with some of the big names:
Coburn(UK) – Well, the original that this is based on was an older track by Pete Martin and Tim Healey, from 2005. You may have seen the video for that original, “We Interrupt This Program” – it featured a lot of footage of televisions that were “committing suicide.” This track is sort of a remix. On a side note, completely unrelated to this track, I don’t actually have television at home. I have no patience with it – television is the spawn of the devil . I found a perverse satisfaction watching all of those TV’s being “turned off.” People could do so much more exciting stuff in life if they cut back on their TV watching. Everything in moderation. I’m not saying that television is completely bad, but it depresses me to think that some people spend forty or fifty hours a week watching TV when they could just as easily spend half of that time being out and about, doing other things. But whom am I to judge?
Deadmau5(Canada) - Yup, a Canadian. I really don’t know what to say here that isn’t already slathered all over the internet. There are always lots of arguments on Canadian message boards about who is the Canadian DJ with the best “brand-name recognition.” People throw out all sorts of good names: Ritchie Hawtin, MSTRKRFT, John Acquaviva, & Max Graham are the names which, in my mind, give Deadmau5 the most competition. And of course, there are a TON of other Canadian DJ’s (and producers) who you might not have even known as Canadians: Luke Fair, Christian Smith, Tiga, Brad Copeland, Chris Sheppard (BKS, Love Inc.), Misstress Barbara, Hatiras, JELO, Paranoid Jack, Sultan, Ned Sheppard, Fred Everything, Jay Tripwire, and umm … I’ll stop now. And I haven’t even mentioned any of the Atlantic Canadian DJ’s. Anyway, you’d have to be crazy to look at items like global record sales, touring schedules, internet presence, radio play, and similar metrics, and NOT realize that Deadmau5 is “the” person who is currently putting Canada on the map when it comes to production and touring. End of argument (I would personally place Hawtin at 2nd spot). By the way, I know that Deadmau5 is Canadian and it’s a small country, but no, I don’t actually know him personally.
Dash Berlin(Netherlands) – Ok, this gets a bit complicated. Pronti & Kalmani, along with another producer (DJ Jurgen) and a vocalist (Judith Pronk) were known as Alice DJ about a decade ago. Pronti & Kalmani got together as Dash Berlin in 2007. Is this the same Dash Berlin? I don’t know. Other reports say that Dash Berlin is Jeff X. Sutorius, who is the front DJ for the group. And “Man On The Run” is by Dash Berlin with Cerf, Mitiska & Jaren. Well, “Cerf” is Matt Cerf (had a track entitled “Clearwater” which I used to start a mix a while ago), and Jaren is Matt Cerf’s wife (and a talented singer). Mitiska is Shawn Mitiska from Denver. So much confusion. Anyway, this is a great track.
Paul Kalkbrenner(Germany) – Go see the movie “Berlin Calling,” if you haven’t already seen it. If you don’t speak German, you’ll probably have to deal with subtitles. Doesn’t matter – watch it. If you like EDM (electronic dance music), you’ll probably enjoy the movie.
I'll be back next week ...
- Jonathan Clark (DJ Bolivia)
We also have a file containing complete track listings from all of DJ Bolivia's radio shows, studio mixes, and live sets. The PDF version can be viewed from within your browser by clicking directly. Both the PDF and the Excel versions can be downloaded by right-clicking and choosing the "save link as" option:
Here we are with episode number eight of Subterranean Homesick Grooves™, a weekly electronica-based radio show presented on CHMA FM 106.9 at Mount Allison University in Atlantic Canada, programmed and mixed by Jonathan Clark (as DJ Bolivia). The show encompasses many sub-genres within the realm of electronic dance music, but the main focus is on progressive and tribal house, and a bit of trance & techno. Liner notes for this episode (008) can be seen below.
In addition to being able to download each episode from SoundCloud, you can also visit our DJ Mixes folder on Dropbox (which allows for bulk downloads). That folder hosts hundreds of episodes and other DJ mixes. Here's the link:
I usually try to post a few notes about some of the artists or producers featured in each show. However, I'm going to have to skip that for the most part this week. These days, I'm busier than a one-legged man in an ass-kicking contest. Although I usually record the show a few days in advance, I only found time to record this episode a couple hours ago, at supper-time on Friday. As I type this, I have to be out the door and on my way to Halifax in twenty minutes, to film Felguk at the Paragon and then DJ Dan at the Palace. It should be a great night.
However, there is one quick comment that I'd like to make this week - I need to thank the guys at the Heavy Shorts website for putting me onto the Dennis Ferrer track several months ago. I haven't been able to get it out of my head since then, and I finally broke down and included it in this week's mix. The video is available on YouTube.
Enjoy, and I'll be back next week ...
- Jonathan Clark (DJ Bolivia)
We also have a file containing complete track listings from all of DJ Bolivia's radio shows, studio mixes, and live sets. The PDF version can be viewed from within your browser by clicking directly. Both the PDF and the Excel versions can be downloaded by right-clicking and choosing the "save link as" option: