Easily the most anticipated drop thus far this year, the Rane Sixty-Two's debut did not disappoint the DJs and industry folk who lined up for a fondle at Winter NAMM. The hands-on buzz was huge and well deserved: Rane has gotten it right.

The Sixty-Two is a plug-and-play package supporting two computers, two-deck digital vinyl simulation, SP-6 sample player, software and hardware effects and all the record and playback channels any DJ could ask for. Software controls for Library, Loops, Cues and SP-6 are well laid out for fast and intuitive access.

Run with the Sixty-Two and you run with a community of DJs dedicated
to the advancement of the art of turntablism.

The Sixty-Two Mixer supports both analog and Digital Vinyl Simulation (DVS) playback and comes lovingly bundled with Serato Scratch Live.

Key features:

• Control Library, Cues, Loops and Samples on two computers with more than 40 software controls.
  • Sorry TTM-57SL -- much easier to do this now on the Six-Two.
• Each USB port supports six stereo record and four stereo playback channels.
  • This is huge.  This means you can easily record and archive your mix or performances directly to either laptop or other audio devices.
• 32-bit floating point audio processing sampled at 48 kHz.
  • Why is this cool?  32-bit floating point gives you unlimited headroom and greater gain without distortion -- key considering those MP3s you're spinning are not always top shelf.
• Internal Effects Engine with Filter, Flanger, Phaser, Echo, Robot and Reverb effects:
  • Robot effect on my mic?  YES, PLEASE.
• MIDI beat clock tracking and generation.
  • BPM sync with Scratch Live.
  • TAP engine with time encoder and beat multiplier control.
• External analog insert for analog effects processor and USB Insert for software effects.
  • Plays well with effects from others.
• Magnetic crossfader and channel faders with reverse and contour controls.
  • Rane's patented magnetic cross and channel faders were introduced in the TTM-56 and 57SL and they are simply the fastest, most accurate, and longest lasting on the planet. The Rane 62 also allows for easy calibration whenever you feel they might be a little off. Sweet.

Suggested retail price? $1999.00 What you'll really pay? Less. Look for $1300 - $1399.00.

For the full 411 on the Sixty Two hit http://www.rane.com/sixtytwo.html

fun.
is putting the fun back into pop, period.

In case you haven't heard, indie is trendy. Small label acts, or indies, have been commanding a growing share of mainstream media lately, from radio to television to sportscasts. Leading the pack, indie pop band fun. is hitting their stride with their second album, Some Nights and anthemic hit single, "We Are Young (featuring Janelle Monáe)," an irresistibly buoyant track recently featured on Glee and the Chevy Sonic ad shown during Super Bowl XLVI.

The groundwork for Some Nights began in upstate New York, at Woodstock, where band mates Nate Ruess, Andrew Dost, and Jack Antonoff marooned themselves in a cabin-studio for weeks as they fleshed out song ideas.

"We all kind of go through the songs as a group, see what ideas we like, and kind of work through them altogether. But usually it starts with a sketch from Nate. Sometimes it starts with chords from Jack or I. But we all just get together, we throw our ideas together and see what sticks," recounts Dost.

Hoping to fully realize the influence hip-hop was having on their music, the band recruited producer Jeff Bhasker (Kanye West) to work on the album with them, an out-of-the-box decision that produced breakout results.

"It was really interesting," says Dost. "He's never worked with a rock band before, and we've, obviously, never worked with a hip-hop producer before, so there were a lot of mutually inspired moments."

The end result is a powerful blend of genres within well-crafted melodies that create a musical experience at once new and familiar, a journey filled with lush, theatrical arrangements and driving beats reminiscent of the grand pop style of '80s glam-rock icons Queen, topped off by the insanely gifted vocals of Nate Ruess.

Verdict: Some Nights is a melodic mix of tunes worthy of being added to your 2012 soundtrack.

For more information on the fun., including upcoming tour dates, check out the band's official site at http://ournameisfun.com/

For ideas, information and advice from industry experts, visit ProMobileDJ.com every day to better your business and income!

The Promo Only Road Show is coming Here's where you'll find our deals on wheels

Convention season is here and with it comes the Promo Only convention specials you know and love. Look for our road crew and some exclusive offers at the following locations this summer…

The 75th Annual RSA Convention & Trade Show offers useful, practical info on increasing business and sales geared specifically to the roller skating industry. With educational seminars and roundtables featuring industry leaders and experts, the RSA Convention is the ultimate in focused learning and networking. Held at the RIO All-Suite Hotel and Casino Las Vegas, Nevada April 29, 2012 - May 2, 2012.

Info: http://www.rollerskating.org/events/conv.html

The Bar & Restaurant Show, June 26, 2012 - June 27, 2012, is the essential industry event for on-premise food and beverage professionals. Presented in a tradeshow format with new products and innovations, established brands, products /services for industry professionals, show floor demonstrations, drink competitions, and more at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, New York, New York.

Info: http://www.newyorkbarshow.com/

Promo Only Summer Sessions House of Blues Show – THE annual Promo Only blast in Atlantic City rolls out this August. Previous guest artist have included: Lady GaGa, Pitbull, Ke$ha, Travie McCoy, Kelly Rowland, Mike Posner, Akon, Jason Derulo, Iyaz, Shaggy, Deborah Cox, Salt N Pepa, Cyndi Lauper, Naughty By Nature, Judy Torres, George Lamond, Lisette Melendez, Safire, and more. Specific dates and guest artists will be announced in the weeks leading up to the show, so stay tuned. And, oh, yeah, attendance is FREE.

For more info LIKE: https://www.facebook.com/PromoOnlySummerSessions

The Las Vegas DJ Show – Brought to you Sept 10-12 by the American Disc Jockey Association (ADJA) LVDJ combines the industries most cutting-edge seminars with the hottest Las Vegas nighttime (all nightly events are free with your LVDJ badge).  Stellar entertainment to be announced...

Info: http://www.adjaconference.net/Blog/

Modular Records coming
Turning Down Under Over

As one of the most revered indie labels around, we'd like to introduce you to Modular Records, the Sydney, Australia based label behind spin-worthy acts such as Wolfmother, The Presets and Cut Copy. More recently Modular has been introducing fresh faces such as Tame Impala, Bag Raiders, and Grace Woodroofe & Canyons.  

With their roster now operating on a global level – Cut Copy was nominated for the Best Dance/Electronic Album at this year's Grammy Awards for their 2011 album Zonoscope – we thought it high time to check in with Modular's Patrik North for a look at what's bubbling up Down Under.

"We're very excited about Pond's new album, Beard, Wives, Denim, which was just released March 6th. And looking forward to Ladyhawke's new album, Anxiety and the sophomore album from Jonathan Boulet, We Keep The Beat, Found The Sound, See The Need, Start The Heart. We've also got forthcoming material from Van She, The Presets and Tame Impala," says North. 

Our take on the Modular sound? Think 80's new wave with a dash of Monty Python -- fun stuff that makes for dance-floor gold.

For a streaming preview of the new Pond album visit http://soundcloud.com/modularpeople/sets/beard-wives-denim-hype-machine/

Check out the Modular catalog here.

And now a word from our sponsors...

New from Denon: The ENGINE app lets you manage your set before you perform or in the booth using a combination of lightning fast search rates, cleverly defined search fields and music sharing between linked playback and performance devices.  

Prepare music on a USB device, playback music managed by ENGINE PC or Mac software, control via networked players or load songs and monitor playback status through a wireless network connected iPad.

For more information, visit www.facebook.com/enginedjsoftware. iPad version of ENGINE available for download on the App Store.

Tip of the Month

Q: I finally decided to rip my Promo Only CD library to a laptop and become a laptop-based DJ. My December 2006 Mainstream Radio CD has 100% errored CD track info.  A few other CDs I had to manually re-do the entire CD track info off the title cards. Why is this happening?

A: Here's why you might occasionally run into trouble with our CD tracklistings: They're not on the CD.

Our tracklistings and the track info for the majority of CD and vinyl releases in the USA are provided to Gracenote, an Internet-accessible database that services iTunes, Yahoo Music Jukebox, AOL, Amazon, WinAmp, Pandora, Google Music and Promo Only, to name a few. When you load our CD into your computer your music program will log on to the Internet and pull the tracklistings from GraceNotes. Note: You MUST be online for GraceNotes to deliver the tracklistings to your computer.

Where things go wrong: Very often you'll see incorrect tracklistings for our older releases, as the ID number previously assigned to our older CDs has been reassigned. GraceNotes knows that older promotional releases sell out and will re-use that number for a newer release.

The solution: We maintain tracklisting for every CD we've ever released. You're welcome to go to our website and look up any issue, month and year and to copy and paste that info into your software.

Video of the Month
Don't try this at home...

The Hitlist

**EDITORS NOTE** The current Hitlist may still be in the process of being compiled so please check back if the one shown is not the most current.