Seriously now. The universe told me to get some new headphones. So I did. Dropping in to see Porl at Musiclab, checking some cans with my old staple “Dig Your Own Hole” as a reference disc, I soon walked out with some Beyerdynamic DT770’s. I wouldn’t normally post about new gear, as a music technology writer and reviewer of new gadgets and gear every damn week, but this is a momentous occasion. One to mark with a suitable amount of respect. The passing of the Pioneer HDJ’s.

I’ve never been much of a kind parent when it comes to headphones. Being in a number of live acts over the last decade, from 145bpm breaks to 138bpm acid techno, has signalled an early retirement for many a smashed set of cans. Without checking the facts precisely, which would make for far a less interesting story, I had picked up a set of HDJ1000’s somewhere along the line. Someone else’s set of HDJ1000’s mind you. I saw them lying around a previous house, grabbed them for a Segue gig and that was that. Something wasn’t comfortable about them for the start, and by the time I had moved to Sydney to spend a year enjoying the cold charms of corporate apartments and airport back and forth antics, they were even more annoying. As I should have worked out by the very faint trace of, well, trance music, they did in fact belong to Brisbane trance DJ and apartment neighbour, Angus Gibbins.

By the time we worked this out, I had used them in a wide range of adventures, including being laughed at by a rooftop party adjacent to one of the Surry Hills apartments I stayed in for a while, writing the track that came to be known as “Cronies”. Not seeing them as I stood at the raised dinner table and laptop wearing nothing but boxer shorts, a hat and the headphones plugged in to my beleaguered X-Station. Good times.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Since then, these cans have been seriously abused on and off stage, to the point where they are remembered not for the annoying bass boost or odd dynamic response, but the many necessary gaffer tape repairs. After a particularly hectic gig (attempting to keep up rather than) playing with Silent Shadow, as evidenced in the video above, their fate was sealed. One too many times thrown to the floor, one too many layers of gaffer tape. Now, they could barely sit comfortably on my head. Or your head. Or anyone’s head. But still, they persist in usefulness, albeit with a distinct heavier tilt and the risk of one’s hair getting caught up in acres of gaffer tape and years of, yes, sweat and grime. Despite all that, it is with a heavy heart that I retire these completely terrible, poorly suited and effectively stolen headphones from the studio and, if I can build up the courage, from the stage. Rest in peace HDJ’s. Or, as the case may be, in pieces. Also, welcome the DT770′s. May they rock my mixes with the clarity of laser cannons.

Remixes:
It’s been some time since the Chemical Brothers EBW9 remix went a little crazy and gave us an education on how manic some of these MP3 blogs are, with features and file leeching all over the place. Since then we have sat on a few remixes for some great acts, ranging from test renders of Flamingo Crash, Infusion and Dizzy Gotheca, but our attention has been on a few that will be out soon. On the immediate front are Vitreous and Kris-Ko on the Amsterdam and Brisbane tip respectively. Check out our Twitter feeds or the main site for more info when we can gush what’s next!

Tracks:
So “Reset” and “Forever” had some crazy delays that are worth an entertaining posts itself, so check out the site in the next few days when they drop. The good news is they are finally out on Smash Bang Records now basically, though some last minute issues with the Beatport update have thrown some bugs into the works. With them out, and some remixes of them dropping soon after, we’re focusing on fresh mixes of a couple more of the classic live set tracks. “Downsize” is getting a lot of attention with some string parts being worked into a pretty epic mix, and various flipping back and forth.

Gigs:
2008 was a bit of a rest for Segue after coating the walls of Brisbane for a few years. Its humbling to think our interviews and photos in street press have lined the best kitty litters or been used in moving house across the state. With Dave joining Kris in live DNB act Silent Shadow for some gigs recently has come some out-of-the-box exploration of live rigs and Segue has hit the rehearsal studio again to work the new material into live shape. As ever, stay tuned to the site for some video previews. You can boo at your computer screen or shout “yeh yeh yeh!”, its really up to you!

Overseas:
Its happening. This year. Excited. Cant type. Just yet. Cheesy we know. But really. What more. Can we say.

Segue on the Internetwebz:
We caved in pressure from some of our ultimate meta-geek colleagues and made a list of possibly useless social networking and web media links relating to Segue. As our attention is largely on getting through these remixes lately, we would like to thank those who jumped in and sorted some of these out. As many acts miss the boat with potentially useful web services as there are those that spend more time updating them then writing music. There’s also the aspect of band confusion, as oblivious new producers accidently take the name of an established act, but ultimately, this is a lot of internet. We hope some of it is useful, and again thanks for the geeks who helped out:

Segue on the Web
Segue on Myspace
Segue on Facebook.
Segue on Twitter
Segue Videos on Vimeo
Segue Videos on YouTube

Dave has been pursuing interests in the field of data analytics, whilst finally retiring the beleaguered Asus M6R notebook computer that was the hub of music production for the band. Putting together a monster new DAW, Dave can also be found writing music hardware reviews and a monthly column for street press Time Off, as well as contributing to esteemed music technology site Createdigitalmusic.com amd his own Segwist site. Whilst he departs for a mountain bike trip with Oxfam Australia shortly, the fruits of various collaborations with Kris Ko will be released to close out 2008 with a promise to stay tuned in early 2009. Dave has also played with Kris’s drum’n’bass act Silent Shadow in recent months, including the Brisbane leg of Parklife Festival, as per various videos on youtube here, here and here.

Leo has moved to a focus on his DJ’ing and has pursued his interests in the minimal tech sounds. Putting on events as part of the OK Kana collective, Leo has released the first of the Kana series entitled Kana:Red, which you can check out on their site or download here. Recently playing at Quantum Relic, Leo can be found regularly supporting the local dance music scene.

Kris Ko has been the eternal collaborator with Segue and originally coaxed Dave into his previous stalwart Brisbane live breaks and tech act, D-KO. The trend continues with Kris joining Segue on drums in front of 5000 or so at the Gold Coast Big Day Out this year, and Dave joining Kris on keyboards and sampler for Parklife Festival and gigs at Uber with Silent Shadow. Kris came on board to assist in some fresh mix downs of Segue live set classics for Smash Bang Records, with the pair moving on to remix King Unique and set to drop some fresh collaborations to close out 2008 on a high. Kris is music journalist by trade and helms Time Off’s dance editorial role with suitable hyperbolic verbosity. Contrary to initial assumptions, this actually means less love for Segue in the local press. So much for cronyism!

Jaymis has collaborated with Segue on local and interstate gigs and turned the negative of being unable to VJ for the band at Big Day Out into an incredible video featuring the band’s closing track, Reset. Check the video out here and be sure to check out his other projects. A “swiss army geek” or “geek of all trades”, Jaymis is the editor of Createdigitalmotion.com and is collaborating with acts ranging from Ed Guglielmino to Hyperion. Jaymis is currently curating some VJ madness at The Qld State Library’s Game On exhibition.

As 2008 comes to a close there are some classic live set tracks reworked to drop by the year’s end, with new material and jamming underway for releases and shows in early 2009. With collaborations and side projects yielding fresh ideas, outlooks and excitement, there will be a renewed enthusiasm and productivity with the direction of Segue ahead. Whilst the influences of progressive house endure, the harder edged tech sounds have evolved with the exploration of acoustic guitars, vocalists and live instrumentation in the studio. If that scares the tech house purists, rest assured, as long as there are synths in the Segue studios, there will be acidic pew pew riffs and arpeggios ready to rock.