Slim pickins: Fatboy Slim tells the UK's Guardian newspaper that dance music is deep into a creative and financial dry spell.

"We need a new Daft Punk or someone to kick us up the arses and give us a new gag," he tells the paper. "It comes and goes in waves. But dance music is going through a very fallow period."

Content-ment: If you have you're own publication or site and you want to run any of my CityBeat articles, now you can. You can purchase publication rights for my work for non-Los Angeles markets, and you can browse other alt-weekly articles for sale, at Pulp Syndicate.

Gramm-E: Here's a story I wrote for this week's CityBeat about the behind-the-scenes efforts to get the Grammy folks to create for the first time a "Best Electronic/Dance Album" category.

Tea time: We're out next week, covering the DNC for LA CityBeat. Blogging here will likely be light or nonexistant through Thursday.

Smokenfold: Superstar trance-head Paul Oakenfold will release a 2-disc mix-CD, Creamfields, Aug. 24 on Thrive Records. The collection has Oakenfold remixing or editing every track, in the spirit of Sasha's recent Involver.

Oakenfold -- XLR8R magazine once dubbed him "Smokin' Poo Oakenfold" for bringing Spinal Tap-ian self-absorbtion to the DJ scene -- is planning a North American tour to promote the release. Below are a few of the larger-market dates:

6/30 -- Toronto, Guvernment
7/02 -- New York, Avalon
7/03 -- Boston, Avalon
7/04 -- Washington, 9:30 Club
7/07 -- Atlanta, Eleven50
7/16 -- Detroit, State Theatre
7/17 -- Chicago, Vic Theatre
7/23 -- San Diego, 4th & B
7/24 -- San Francisco, The Warfield
9/04 -- San Bernardino, Calif., National Orange Show Fairgrounds

 

Wank-a-thon: (No disrespect to their writers and editors who work hard month in and month out -- it's usually informative -- but I'm just sayin' ... ) DJ Times magazine hosts its 2004 International DJ Expo in Atalantic City Aug. 30 through Sept. 2.
 
Besides the array of manufacturers showcasing and trying to sell you on their latest wares and gear, the highlights are to include, according to a brochure sent to my office:
 
"The ultimate DJ experience."
"Made 4 U: Women on wax party ... [with] DJ Keri, featured in Playboy."
"... Famous DJs too hot to announce!"
"DJ Johnny Budz."
"Incredible parties."
 
Interested? Go to the DJ Times site. And note that WMC attendees can get a "full expo pass" for half price -- $149. Uh-huh.

OOPS: Note that I corrected this item. I meant DJ Times magazine, not the UK's DJ Magazine. Apologies if anyone was offended.

Citizen Combs: Sean "P. Diddy" Combs announced today that he's forming his own nationwide get-out-the-vote campaign called Citizen Change. The nonpartisan effort, according to his publicists, aims "to educate, motivate, and empower the more than 42 million Americansaged 18-30 that [sic] are eligible to vote on November 2nd."
 
"From here on, I'm asking questions and I want answers," the rap-mogul-turned-dance-music-fan said. "As Citizen Combs, I've got one vote and I need to know which candidaterepresents me and my concerns. Part of the responsibility I'm taking on isto write up a job description for the candidates and make sure they do their job."
 
"... Young voters in this country are throwing away their power to have a say about education, healthcare, and any issue that affects [sic] them." Combs said. "These things affect your life, so - Vote or Die!"
 
It's not immediately clear if Combs organizaion will complement or compete with Russell Simmons own Hip-Hop Summit Action Network, which is a movement to get the hip-hop generation to vote in this presidential election. HSAN, by the way, will hold its Boston Hip-Hop Summit during the Democratic National Convention Monday at Roxbury Community College outside the city.
 
P. Diddy, meanwhile, is readying his fifth and final album, PD5, for release sometime this fall. It's reportedly a housed-up affair featuring the production talents of Felix Da Housecat.

Club'd to death: A man who took one punch to the face at a Hollywood, Calif. hot-spot later died at a hospital, police say.
 
The fatal confrontation happened Friday at about 2:20 a.m. at White Lotus, a newer club/restaurant in the "Hollywood and Vine" club zone known for its celebrity clientele.  The victim was identified as 25-year-old Swiss citizen Christian Bisceglia , who had been living in Santa Monica.
 
Los Angeles police say the man was leaving the club with friends when he got into an argument and the suspect he was arguing with punched him once, causing him to fall to the ground and hit his head on the street. Bisceglia died at a hospital at 3:03 a.m., police said.
 
Police later arrested a suspect, Edvin Keshishyan, a 25-year-old resident of Glendale, and jailed him in lieu of $1 million bail. The case was referred to the district attorney's office, although it wasn't clear what charges, if any, the police were recommending.
 
The most-recently listed Thursday night event at White Lotus we could find is called "Get Bizarre," and features "hip-hop/rock & 80's" (sic).

Royal comeback: After being overtaken by pretty boy alt-rock, dance music returns this week to the top of the UK's singles charts with a No. 1 showing by the Shapeshifters' "Lola's Theme."
 
The track, a airy, up-tempo house groove is an ode to Shapeshifters' member Lola, wife of co-member Simon Marlin. Billboard has a story, here.