I stumbled across this interview outtake with Larry Leven where he tells us about how he uses his mixer. The interview was taken by Kevin Hedge.

"First you should never max-out your input level pots. Never try to get more overall volume by cranking the individual input level, which will only limit your headroom for blend volume matching.

Always use the master level to achieve overall volume levels. Remember the mixer is a pre-amp and it's driving the amplifiers, so the master level pot is the most reliable source for signal to the amps since it stays constant. This will allow you more flexibility when cross mixing between turntables.

To get the best sound and to make the mixer work efficiently Larry always used the input level pots between 6 & 8, 8 to10 give’s you the gain on the channel. This gives you a constant blend volume reference for mixing without compromising your overall master volume. Also it maintains a consistent record out level. The master gain pot does not affect the record out signal. Larry’s rule of thumb was to set the master level to the overall desired listening volume. Usually between 3 & 6 for low to moderate listening levels and between 6 and 9 for hi-volume listening levels. You never want to run at 10 on the master level pot for fear of overdriving the amplifiers.

Larry was a real perfectionist when it came to sound quality. He was very careful with his monitor levels. He never played his monitors all night long, mostly using monitoring when blend mixing. Once the blend was done he would lower his monitor volume to pay attention to the house volume and sound. Spot monitoring will save your ear fatigue as the night goes on."

Here is a mix by Larry Levan from 1982, recorded at the Paradise Garage.

1. Gil Scott-Heron And Brian Jackson - In The Bottle
2. The Clash - The Magnificent Dance
3. Cymande - Bra
4. Loose Joints - Is It All Over My Face
5. Double Exposure - My Love Is Free
6. Exodus - Together Forever
7. First Choice - Double Cross
8. First Choice - Doctor Love
9. Lenny Williams - Runnin'
10. Raw Silk - Do It To The Music (Acapella)
11. Fatback - Going Home To See My Baby
12. The Salsoul Orchestra - Runaway
13. Shades Of Love - Keep In Touch(Body To Body)
14. Positive Force - We Got The Funk
15. Roy Ayers And Ubiquity - Running Away
16. Salsoul Orchestra - Ooh I Love It (Love Break)
17. The Salsoul Orchestra - You're Just The Right Size
18. Carl Bean - I Was Born This Way

Here is another one by Larry Levan from 1985, also recorded at the Paradise Garage.

1. Jocelyn Brown - Somebody Else's Guy - Live PA
2. T.C. Curtis - You Should Have Known Better (Dub Mix)
3. NYC Peech Boys - Come On, Come On (Don't Say Maybe)
4. Cheyne - Call Me Mr. Telephone
5. Man Friday - Love Honey, Love Heartache
6. Serious Intention - You Don't Know (Paul Simpson Limited Edition Special Remix)
7. Tony Paris - Electric Automan
8. Black Mamba 'Vicious' (A Cappella)
9. Man Friday - Jump (Garage Version) / Gunshots
10. Aretha Franklin - Jump To It
11. Laid Back - White Horse

I also recommend this classic book by Bill Brewster and Frank Broughton for dj-ing (properly)!

The photos below are by Russion photographer Andre Ermolaev. They were taken in Iceland after recent volcanic eruptions when the glacial rivers started flowing through the volcanic ash. Quiet spectacular sight and nice colors. I've also included some other bits and bobs. More from Andre Emolaev here.

Together with my good friend Karl Tryggvason I just launched a free service called YouTuple to compile a playlist (a Tuple) from multiple YouTube videos that are embedded on blogs, facebook pages or other websites. We believe it's very easy to use and a nice addition to the internet! It's still in Beta mode so please drop us a line if you find anything that could be done differently.

On the YouTuple website you can grab the YouTuple bookmarklet to your browser toolbar or just paste in the link to your favorite blog.

Watch the how-to screencast below!

I recently made this how-to video explaining how I made my DJ laptop stand. This is aimed at Traktor, Serato and other Control-vinyl users. I know there are many more similar videos out there but I still thought this version was more stripped down and easier then many I've seen. Hope this helps!

I make things under the Markrún name with Steinunn Arnardóttir. You can get our pillows and many other nice handmade things at Postulínsvirkið - Laugavegur 48b in Reykjavík - or just order them straight from our website!

Markrún mountains.

Interview with Leeds DJ and Firecracker musician Fudge Fingas.

Download here!

Partyzone Radio Show DJ MIX - April 28th 2012 by PutMyHandsInYourPocket

Dj mix recorded for Partyzone, Reykjavik's longest running dance show.

1.    James Brown - Ain't it Funky (Polydor)
2.    North Pollard - Yes Let's (Audio Parallax)
3.    Double Hill & Jerome C. - I Need Love (Double Standard)
4.    Viadrina - Better (Arto Mwambe remix) (Pets Recordings)
5.    Alton Miller - Inner8 (Gerd's No Vox remix) (Clone)
6.    Rebolledo - Steady Gear Rebo Maschine (Cómeme)
7.    Put My Hands In Your Pocket - Put My Hands In Your Pocket (Audio Parallax)
8.    Cosmin TRG - Less of Me, More of You (50 Weapons)
9.    Gluteus Maximus feat. Högni Egilsson - Everlasting (Put My Hands In Your Pocket remix) (unreleased)
10.    Mark E - The Day (Spectral Sound)
11.    Arttu - Nuclear Funk feat. Jerry The Cat (Royal Oak)
12.    Stabil Elitie - Rave Maria (Italic)
13.    Francis Bebey - The Coffee Cola Song (Editions Makossa)

Thanks for listening!

I was in Helsinki and Tallinn in April. Here are some the things that caught my eye. Had a really great time in both cities!

It was still snowing a bit when we came.

The food was excellent everywhere we went. We did have some insider tips though.

I just finished this website for my mothers new guesthouse. It's called Birta and is located about 45 minutes outside of Reykjavík, Iceland. Have a look!

The title quote is taken from this interview with UK/Sheffield legend DJ Parrot aka Richard Barret. He was the main man behind the band "On" which released three EP's in 1992 (called On One, On Two and On Three) on a label called Discolated Hip. He also collaborated with Richard H. Kirk as Sweet Exorcist and together they released some amazing tracks on early Warp.

The tracks below are "Release it (Ant Swing)" and "A Woman is Singing". They are really good but impossible to get like the rest of the Discolated Hip stuff... send me a message if you have a copy!