Getting down-loadable

We’re addicted and we don’t need an intervention. Our drug of choice? DJ podcasts. They’re simply the best fix for what’s happening in new club music around the world, and they’re often only a free click away.

A year and half ago, we wrote about the city’s DJs getting into Internet broadcasting, we noted some of our favorite dance and DJ-oriented radio and podcasts sites, and we talked about licensing and copyright issues putting pressure on the format. Since then, podcasting has emerged as the mainline method for DJs to express themselves and expose listeners to new music—either as a reflection of their club temperament or their home-listening choices. As nice as streaming Net radio can be, podcasts are by nature portable and, as MP3s, are a permanent souvenir of what’s going on in electronic and club music.

In Chicago, DJs flex their creative muscles by using podcasts to spread the word about their sounds of choice. Josh Ferguson, for one, has been doing the Dialogue Incorporated podcast for about eight months. A former college-radio guy, Ferguson was getting his hands on new vinyl before it hit the streets via a job at Groove Distribution. As Mister Joshua, he deejays full-time everywhere from Hub 51 to Empire Liquors to Sushi Wabi, playing anything from Kanye to space disco to Tom Petty, depending on the venue. So he launched his podcast as an exposition of his personal taste in progressive sounds, inspired by the example of some broken-beat podcasts he was digging when that was en vogue. “These days, I don’t think there’s one good forum for finding out what’s new and cool. The podcast is the perfect promotional tool for all the tastemaking work I’ve been doing all these years,” he says.

Ferguson isn’t sure how many listeners he has, but he’s hoping to join the big leagues—some DJ podcasts that track their numbers report huge followings. The iTunes store features dozens of free ones—and podcasts from popular trance acts Tiësto and Above & Beyond are in the top 20 of all iTunes music podcasts. Beatport.com, the online sales point for electronic and dance, has a popular interactive podcast that allows one to click through and purchase the tune being played. Virtually every boutique DJ and imprint has gotten in on the action—from Stones Throw to Daptone to Mad Decent. Still, the best ones, like Beats In Space and Dialogue, tend to be labors of love by obsessive tastemakers.

Mister Joshua’s podcast isn’t just a recorded DJ set; he includes interviews and “branded drops” to give it the feel of a pro radio show. Ferguson estimates he puts about six or seven hours into each show. “I’ll get the mix exactly the way I want it,” he says. Ferguson’s podcast works as a DJ résumé and a cornerstone of his lifestyle blog. But for voracious listeners, it’s just a prime outlet for new sounds that are too wild for the club.

For our favorite podcasts, check out "You want it they pod it."