My latest remix reviews on KOMPAKT

The first installment of Justus Köhncke's "Safe and Sound" Remixes contains a hot remix of "$26" by Aaron-Carl.  Resident Advisor gives it a rave review!
Click here to read the review.

And here are more reviews:

From Boomkat.com:

Well, this is a very pleasantly unexpected surprise, Aaron Carl turning up on Kompakt?! Assigned to a remix mission of Justus Kohncke's 'Safe and Sound' album from earlier in the year, Carl lends his magic touch to '$26' and comes out with an absolute blinder, charging up a body working tougher house version with madly effective upbuilding vibes and proper Detroit flavour. Robert Babicz's remix of 'Yacht' on the flip unfortunately just seems totally tame and inefficient compared to Aaron Carl's remix, so it's really just a one track pony this 12", but that track's a proper killer!

...and from Nuloop.com:

May we have your attention, please? it won't take long... we'd only like to make you aware of this new justus köhncke 12" which in fact is a remix record following his highly acclaimed „safe and sound" album. mr köhncke himself chose the remixers and this is what he reeled in: the a-side features the dark room-ish „$26" which - in its original version - already is a tribute to motor city. so justus managed to get one of detroit's most remarkable artists on the job: aaron carl. since his groundbreaking metroplex release „down" in 1998 he never disappointed us with his trademark deep and dirty sound. his „$26" is an authentic piece of tearjerking detroit house. we love it! the flipside belongs to heavyweight champion robert babicz. his track of choice is the bacchanal hommage to grace jones' immortal „slave to the rhythm". surprisingly, his superb remix rather reminds us of another stellar moment in pop music that is michael jackson's „thriller". but hey, of course not a beep got sampled here. you might call us many things - but we're no thieves!

Gary Martin and Aaron-Carl Tonight...

Tonight on the Aaron-Carl Experience, I'm finally doing it... I'm sitting down with Teknotika's GARY MARTIN for a little one one one... It's gonna be fun. Hope y'all tune in... 7PM EST. Click the link on my page to join in... :-)

MUAH! AC

Chicago Experience

Let me first start out by thanking Sean Smith (Smooth Agent Records) for providing the atmosphere, and inviting me down to Chicago for this wonderful occasion... It was truly a night to remember... Now, to give you the lowdown:

First off, the DRIVE to Chicago from Detroit is no joke. From my house, it takes me 5 hours to drive there. My assistant Charles and I both drank those 5-hour energy drinks, and let me tell you... THEY WORK for exactly 5 hours! I'm very grateful to have Chuck along for the ride -- we certainly made those 5 hours pass smoothly; along with some fabulous music to keep us entertained. I think we played everything from Madonna to Samwell (Mr. "What What in the Butt")... Folks in Indiana (when we stopped to eat) looked at us like we were total foreigners, which cracked us up. It's like you KNEW we were from somewhere else.

Chicago is a beautiful city at night -- especially driving over that lovely Skyway Bridge... But shit! How many TOLL BOOTHS do you NEED?! You certainly cannot be broke and drive through Chicago. HAHAHAHAHA!!!

We arrived at (what I THOUGHT WAS) "Betty's Blue Star Lounge." Honestly, all I saw was "LOUNGE" on the sign, so we walked in. There was a live rock band on stage, and I thought "wow, I must be DJing the Intermission... uh, where's Dajae?" I had to climb TWO ladders to get to the DJ booth, where I sat for a few minutes in silence. There was NOBODY in the DJ area, and that rock band would NOT stop playing... Do I drown them out with House music? I sent Charles to ask a staff member if we were indeed in the right place... We werent.
The place where we NEEDED to be was a few blocks up the road!!!

Embarrassed but not broken, we finally found the correct spot -- Betty's BLUE STAR LOUNGE... Fortunately for me, I wasn't the ONLY one behind schedule. Bernard Badie was spinning on the decks -- and it's so funny because I met him YEARS ago, in Submerge. I hadn't really seen him since, but he remembered my voice. :-) I regret not getting a picture with him, but next time I see him, I'll be sure to get a photo. Veronique was in the house already!!! Looking earthy and sexy as usual, I couldn't help but notice the PLUNGING NECK LINE... Lord, have mercy. Cleavage from here to Mississippi, I tell you. And she wore it well... (I said, hell.. should I push mine up?! Just kidding...)

I then met Sean Smith -- the man who made it all possible. He was very accommodating, which was quite refreshing to me, considering that I was quite nervous about actually performing in Chicago. These were some SERIOUS house heads. They own House like Detroit owns Techno -- I had to bring my A-game, y'all... And OOOH, did I!!!

But NOT until I was introduced to "the queen herself," Miss DAJAE. Do you know how down-to-earth this woman truly is??? After I had initially screamed (hey, I've been a fan for a LONG time!), I discovered that Dajae had a very similar personality to ME. She isn't all about being "divafied," and she's just "everyday people." I kid you not, if I lived in Chicago, I would SO hang out with her. We would SO eat Kentucky Fried Chicken together, for real!

So back to the DJ set. The night was still young, so I safely played my remix of Dajae's "Truth Hurts." (She hadn't heard it yet!) I was too busy mixing to check her reaction, but I KNOW that everyone else was loving it. Then I did what any other self-respecting Detroit DJ/Producer would do... I started playing my own music. (hahahaha!) Now here's something "funny," that you all probably know, but I'm just starting to realize... I could play an entire set of music, that ONLY consisted of my original productions and remixes! Honestly, I hope that doesn't come across as arrogance... Y'all know me. I'm the OPPOSITE of arrogant. But I was going through my music, and was like "wow... I can play THIS!... and THIS!... and THIS!!!" Of course I played other folks' music as well. Come on, y'all... LOL!!! I dug DEEP as well. I played everything from 95 North to MK's remix of the B-52's "Tell It Like It T-I-IS"... It was absolutely fucking fabulous...

One of the highlights of my set was when I played "Simply." I actually played it TWICE, because when I first played it, the club was still empty @ the time. Then when I noticed that the crowd had gotten bigger -- DETROIT DJs were in the house as well, y'all!!! Rick Wilhite, Eric Johnson, to name a couple... And I KNOW they'd never heard my new stuff, so I was like "yeah... this is my chance to SHOW Y'ALL..." (We Detroiters thrive off of friendly competition... It's all love!) Baby, I dropped "I Refuse," and "Simply" (for the second time), and I heard screams... Folks were FEELING it. And that made me high...

Shortly after my set, I sat down with Veronique and mingled. I'd taken what was my FIRST picture with Dajae at that time. Y'all don't understand... "Brighter Days" has brought me through some ROUGH TIMES in my life. It was HARD to be in the presence of that woman without crying out tears of gratitude...

Next thing you know, it was showtime... Veronique and I were already on stage. We had NO TIME to rehearse, NO sound check, no anything. And you know what? It was awesome. Our chemistry on stage is incredible. I made a joke that night -- "we get on stage, grab the microphone and start shouting... voila!" Baby, let me tell you... I completely FORGOT that Dajae was in the crowd when Veronique and I started to sing -- we sang "Alright," of course. And it was magical, to say the least...

Now here's the funny part. As you know, when I'm in Detroit, I don't SING live -- I don't know why, I just don't. (Although I did @ the festival, that's a different story... But for the most part, when I'm home, I usually just DJ.) Baby, when that "prayed up, persevere..." part came up, and I hit those high notes, you should've HEARD the Detroit folks GASP! (Yeah, I heard y'all!) It was like "damn!... HE hit THOSE notes?" Again, magical. I felt proud. I felt like we represented Detroit very well, and RESPECTED Chicago's house crowd. You know what I mean? It's like respecting someone in their own home... It's something you just DO. So hopefully, Rick and Eric felt proud of me.

Moving onto the next scene... Immediately after Veronique and I sang, Dajae gave us big hugs. (Now I was REALLY melting -- OMG, I just sang in FRONT of Dajae!!!!!!) Let me tell you... Miss Dajae got up on stage, and sang "Truth Hurts." I was like a teenage fan in the front row... Singing along, screaming and hollering like nobody's business. LOL... The she did it. She sang "Brighter Days." I could've fainted right then and there. Her stage presence was amazing -- she was at home. You could TELL she was at home... And the crowd adored her. She kept it real, and she reminded me of my big sister. In my head, I was like, "go ahead, girl... DO YOUR THING!" She broke it down, and sang the Brighter Days REMIX -- vocal chops and all. It took everything I had in me, to NOT get up on stage, grab the second microphone and sing backups. (Keep it together, AC... Keep it together!) So when SHE got offstage, we all started dancing together. People took pictures of Dajae, Veronique and me. I knew that Dajae was just as impressed with me and V, as WE were impressed with HER...

Highlight of the night... Veronique confides that I joke about "in Detroit, there can only be TWO Divas" -- her and me, of course! LOL... She then said something like, "but now we're in Chicago, partying with the QUEEN herself!" Dajae hugged her and said, "Girl, YOU are a diva in your OWN right!" ...then Dajae hugged me and said, "...and YOU TOO!"

Y'all could've given me a bottle and a blanket, and tucked my ass in, because I didn't need NOTHING ELSE that night! :-)

Another 5-hour energy drink later (and a delicious Sausage and Egg Criossant Sandwich), Charles and I drove back to Detroit. Well, I drove. HE slept. LOL... But I was beaming the entire way -- even though my legs hurt like hell. When we got to my house, I crashed on the couch... Made my way to the bed... and slept like a baby ALL DAY. (Ahhh!)

Of course, it's almost midnight, and I'm AWAKE now, but hey. It's not too often I have fabulous nights like this. I can enjoy it. For sure.

Thanks for reading... MUAH!
Love
AC

Happenings...

Hello there!

I'm so glad to be able to share this news with you... In just a couple of days -- Friday to be exact, THE video for "I Wanna Go Down" will finally be debuted here in Detroit. Although it's Dan Diamond's version of the song, I'm all up in this video -- one of the main characters. I'm honored! Now mind you, I haven't SEEN the finished video yet, but as the days get closer, the more excited I become. (After that trip to Vegas, I can't WAIT to see how all this hard work paid off!!!)

Then I get the news... I'm DJ-ing and performing in Chicago next weekend -- July 6th, to be exact. And I'm in the house with none other than Miss DAJAE herself!!! You know I'm so happy -- again, honored! Y'all know I just remixed her new song, "Truth Hurts," right? Oh, just you wait. But hey... If you've been listening to my radio show last Friday, you would've heard it... MMMHMM!!! (Y'all better tune your butts in on Friday nights, 7pm - 9pm, EST... ) I've made it easy for u. The link's right here on my page -- click and enjoy!

Hmmm.. Bittersoulfulsweet is finally available for the world, if you hadn't noticed yet... To those who bought my CD already, I humbly thank you. People have been asking me when it's gonna be on ITunes, etc... Let me fill you in on some dates here. :-)

Bittersoulfulsweet RELEASE DATES: (and pay attention, because this is fierce, y'all!)

JULY 3, 2008 -- JUNO (www.juno.co.uk) exclusive album sampler hits the stores... YES, an exclusive sampler featuring extra bonus tracks, unavailable on the album...

JULY 16th, 2008 -- BEATPORT (www.beatport.com) exclusive album sampler hits the stores... YOU HEARD ME... another sampler featuring extra bonus tracks ONLY AVAILABLE ON BEATPORT!

Now, LIMITED COPIES of the full-length album are available @ Wallshaker Music (www.wallshaker.com). Yes, you can download it -- but not everyone... Like I said. LIMITED COPIES (that includes downloads) available. So, if you haven't dashed over to Wallshaker yet, I'd do it before it's gone.

OOOH, there's a secret I wanna tell so bad... but I can't. Not right now. I don't mean to tease y'all, so forgive me... But if I leaked this information right now, it would cause a riot.

One final note: I feel like giving some love right now. BRENDA, hugs!!! TRENCH, hugs!!! DJ AVIVA, JESSE, SPEEDFREAK and the gang, BIG OL' HUGS!!!! DARRELL, HUGS (and kisses too)... oh, what the heck... Hugs and kisses for EVERYBODY! MUAH, MUAH, MUAH!!!

Love on u...
AC

Real Life Explosions

It's taken me a couple days to get myself together enough to write this, BUT... Here's what happened to me the other day...

The kids and I went to KFC to order some dinner. In the drive-thru, I was one car away from the window; when my car shut off. I tried to start it again, and the car went POOF!!!.... and smoke barreled from underneath the hood. (Thank God I don't panic during situations like these -- I usually don't break down until AFTER...) I couldn't believe that my damn car just BLEW UP in the DRIVE-THRU!!! An employee came out and helped me push the car to another lane.

Embarrassed, I went inside KFC, paid for my food, and ate until help came along. Thank God for my friends Julian and Darren, who came and pushed the car behind KFC -- where it is now sitting, awaiting the tow truck. I decided to just "junk" the car -- there's no way I'm putting another dime into it, after it exploded on me!!!

When it rains, it pours, right? :-) I came home just in time to find out that my Las Vegas show got cancelled... And shortly thereafter, the power went out. LOL!!! Talk about keeping it real... hehehehe...

So, here I am... Carless, but safe. I have power, thank goodness -- although my laptop hard drive just crashed and died... I'm taking it all in stride.

C'est la vie.
Hugs,
AC

PS: This DOES give me more time to finish that remix I'm doing for Dajae!

P.P.S: There IS a silver lining here... I got an email from a fan of mine. Out of nowhere, he tells me he'd like to buy my album (320kbps MP3) because it's not out in the digital shops just yet. I almost cried from happiness -- I wrote him and thanked him for the support, definitely! Now, to make him a very special package. Oh yes, and Augustus, thank YOU TOO!!! Big hugs -- I needed those words, and I'm glad they came from you. :-)

Realness

...He promised me he'd call today. I hadn't heard from him in a long while. Yes, my friend... The one who lately never takes my calls. The one who dropped off the planet -- at least MY world, although I shouldn't assume anything's wrong. Instead of bugging out, I asked him directly. Hey... "is there something wrong?" Are we still friends? If we've grown apart, just tell me. Hell, I'm a grown man. I can handle this. I went on to remind him that people make time for what they want. Obviously, he has time for everything else except me. His woman, his job, the clubs, etc... And while I don't expect to be his ONLY friend, I still considered myself somewhere near the top of the list. After all, a partmer, a job, a child, a job -- NOTHING can come between true friendship. At least it's not supposed to... He dismissed my questions, as if to say I'm crazy for even feeling this way. "I'll call you TODAY." Hmmm... Today's come and gone. And like I half expected, he never called.

...It saddens me, but at the same time, I have to look at myself. Is this REALLY the type of friendship I even WANT? Am I so damn co-dependent that I can't be happy WITHOUT him in my life? I shake my head, and I laugh as I write this now. I can't say I haven't done my part. I can't say I haven't tried. I left the ball in HIS court. He dropped it. I'll just have to mourn my losses, grieve and move on... He didn't break me. ...I take that back. He broke me. ...but I managed to pick up my OWN pieces, and now I am here, reinfornced -- impervious to his bullshit and lies... I am stronger. YES I AM...

It's not just my so-called "friends" that got to me... Some of my peers in the industry have managed to get underneath my skin as well... ...Like the motherfucker who sings MYsong, woos me for a licensing deal, blows up my phone (and email) until he gets what HE wants, and then, POOF... Disappears. And all the while, I'm doing MY part. Sure, I'll let you take my song and record it. SURE, I'll agree to the terms of YOUR contract... SURE, I'll even listen to you as you "talk down" to me, proving to me that you have NO FUCKING IDEA how big my career really is (compared to yours)... SURE, I'll listen as you "explain" simple things to me, as if I don't understand (I'm not a fucking child, thank you). I listen because I know it makes YOU feel better about yourself. You love listening to yourself talk, obviously. I can deal with your personality, because I know that it takes all types of people to make a world. BUT... don't fake a friendship with me, just to get what you want. Don't practically ignore me once you've gotten your way; only calling me when you need me to do you yet another favor...

And oh yes... Aside from doing your HOMEWORK and NOTICING that I've been in this business a LOT LONGER than you may think -- I DID make more than that "one song..." -- could you AT LEAST spell my gottdamn NAME correctly??? It's NOT ARRON... not Aron... but AARON. AARON-CARL. Please don't let me have to remind you again...

I'm not asking for much... All I ask is this: If you're gonna come at me, BE REAL with your shit. Before you approach me, KNOW who the hell you're dealing with. Do your homework. You'll fare a lot better in my book, that's for sure...

If you're gonna be my friend, BE TRUE TO YOUR WORD. Be who the fuck you say you are... Don't paint a picture for me, that isn't the real YOU. Either you have my back, or you don't. Either you're TRUE, or you're NOT. Don't expect me to play the victim, while you run your game. I'm better than that. For real...

No I'm not perfect, I own that. I have my humanly faults like the rest of us. A lot of times, I forget to call... I might not remember a birthday... Some days I just don't even wanna be bothered with anyone... But flawed or not, I'm ME... And I'm being REAL. Love me or leave me... That's all I have to say about it...

Buy vs. Steal

I was once told by a friend of mine that "we don't make the kind of music people BUY, but the kind that people STEAL." I remember disagreeing, only to be reminded of the many websites out there like Soulseek, Bit Torrent, etc.. As an artist, sites like this never scared me. In fact, I embraced the idea of "throwing" a track out there to get it traded. My assumption, if people like the track they heard, they'd spend money to buy the CD.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not talking about these corporate so-called "album leaks." I'm talking about a legitimate campaign here -- "Listen to this new AC song... If you like it, the album comes out soon... Buy it!" It seems fair enough, eh?

This morning (yes, I know I'm late), I read an article about Radiohead. They offered a "pay what you want" type of deal with their last album. My immediate thought was "what the hell are they doing?" Don't they know how many people would simply download their album for FREE? I could just hear the many excuses today -- I'm a college student; Fuck the RIAA; The economy's tight; There's too much garbage out there... All of these are valid, of course! But AGAIN, as an artist who does this for a living, do I really WANT someone else telling ME what MY hard work is worth?

I have mixed emotions about this... I understand that times are changing. I understand that "everyone" with a computer + software is all of a sudden a producer, or DJ, or whatever. I ALSO understand that even before downloading became an issue, the market was flooded with garbage.

I AGREE that the RIAA (or whomever) shouldn't be able to force-feed me some highly-marketed bullshit, and tell me it's the hottest track I've ever heard.

But in MY situation, I'm confused... I run my own record label I'm NOT a bullshit artist. And from a label standpoint, I KNOW how much it costs to produce an album -- studio time, label designers, etc... I'm not greedy. While I do this for a living, I disagree that a CD should break the bank -- especially nowadays, when there's maybe only one or two songs you'd even like.

Long story short, I've considered following Radiohead's plan. Let the customer pay what they will, for the CD. While I'm confident that I have enough quality songs to justify paying for, I CRINGE at the thought of someone downloading my album for free -- especially after all the hard work and soul I put into this project!

Digitally, the album is being distributed through an aggregator. Physically, I'm selling the albums directly through my website. I don't like dealing with distributors too much, only because then you have to play the game... "How much do I think YOU can sell?" Again, thank God, I don't really have this issue. I've consistently sold decent amounts of records over the years, but I DO NOT LIKE the corporate GREED!!! Some of these record prices are ridiculously overpriced!

So my question is... How much IS my new album worth? If I wouldn't mind paying the "average" price of $12.99, is that too much? Not enough? (In my opinion, it's just right.)

During the festival, I sold copies for $10. (Thank you, those who bought it!) I ALSO noticed that some people weren't happy unless they got the CD for free. (I gave away a couple, yes..)

And as a side note, please remember that regardless of ANYTHING ELSE, I do my music because I LOVE it. ...it just happens to also be what I do for a living! Y'all know how I feel about that! So don't say "oh he's just in it for the money..." I'm not -- but one cannot live on compliments alone...

So I hope this sparks conversation. I'm curious to know your thought, so don't be shy...

Hugs,
Aaron-Carl

PS: And by the way... for those who are asking me where they can sample and buy the album from, it's here.