Oh hey can you play...

So like I mentioned in the last post there was a Sweet Meet and fun was had.  As tradition dictates, for the last few years anyway, there is a dance that follows.  Once again I was lucky enough to be asked to DJ this dance.  Now I really do love to DJ church dances, if for no other reason than I am that arrogant guy that thinks he can do better than most of the DJs that do the church dances he attends and as such spends most of the night complaining about the music being played.  Now I do give a little bit of slack because I know how hard it is and I know that they are just doing their best, but my best is usually better unless the DJ is someone I actually know then I tend to shut up and enjoy myself.

Better than you.

 Now my preparation for these sorts of things actually starts long before the event.  From the moment I am asked to DJ the dance I begin researching the music that the kids are listening to these days.  I scour the iTunes and Billboard charts to see if there is something new out there that I should play, or that would most likely get requested.  Then I start downloading songs to fill my computer.  I want to make sure that aside from having all of the dance standards I try and keep it as current as possible.  Nothing really beyond 5 years unless it's timeless like Michael Jackson or the like is my general rule of thumb.

After downloading the songs comes culling a playlist.
You don't want it to be too top heavy.
It needs to be a steady incline in fun.
You can't focus too much on one or two genres because you then run the risk of alienating people who don't like those one or two genres.
You have to anticipate requests.
You have to include slow songs.
You have to include fast songs.
You have to properly space the songs.
You have to over plan and include more songs than you need.
You can't have any songs that swear.
You can't have any songs with inappropriate themes.
You have to achieve the impossible.

You would think this would be enough but in actuality it is only beginning.  Once your playlist is finally ready it's time for the dance to begin.  In a perfect world I could just set my laptop up to the sound system, walk away and go have fun with everyone else.  Sadly the world isn't perfect and I get to spend the entire evening (save for the slow songs) sitting on the stage trying to figure out which song I should play next to keep things going.  If your lucky your preset playlist won't change much.  If you aren't you will have changed absolutely everything by the end of the night.  On the night of the Sweet Meet I wasn't lucky.  I started with what was originally #17 on my playlist and it just went downhill from there.  Here's a link to a quick spreadsheet I put together for this blog of my playlist for the Sweet Meet.  It's color coded to show you everything I played and everything else I planned on playing.

A few notes that you might find interesting about that playlist.  You won't find Ke$ha anywhere on there.  Not only is she devoid of musical talent, she is also trash and her songs are all about being a whore aka not appropriate.  The song "Teach Me How To Dougie" was in fact played, though quite begrudgingly.  They requested it around song #5.  As you can see I held out until song #17 to play it.  The logic to that is simple really.  That song/dance is retarded.  You know who should be doing the Dougie?  Paul Wall.  You know who shouldn't?  Over privileged self-indulgent white people.  No.  Knock it off.  I only played it because they literally hounded me all night with requests for it and I wanted to shut them up.  It was futile however as with three songs left the self appointed voice of the people came up to me and said "Man you gotta play Dougie again!" I simply said "No.  No I do not." and went back to my business of playing good music.  Needless to say if I ever DJ a dance again I have learned my lesson and I will simply tell these annoying brats that I don't have their stupid song.

no.

Generally speaking everyone had a good time and thought I did a wonderful job with the music.  Or at least that is what I heard from everyone that knew I was the DJ.  Last Sunday I overheard a conversation about the dance where someone mentioned that they didn't have a good time because I didn't play enough slow songs because "that's the only reason to go to those things".  Now I have more than a few issues with this logic.  the first issue is I only played 22 songs and two of those were slow songs.  They were spaced out to fit almost exactly to the ratio of 1 slow song every 11 songs.  In my eyes that's a good ratio.  Secondly, Do you know when I got requests to play slow songs?  When I was just about to play a slow song.  I know my audience and I knew when they wanted to dance and when they wanted to slow dance.  Thirdly if you wanted more slow songs, come up and ask for them.  There were people on the stage with me all night long requesting songs.  And considering how often I accommodated their requests I would have done the same for you too.  And Finally, I received many, many, MANY compliments from the women in attendance for NOT playing that many slow songs.  It turns out that because the ratio of women to men is so lopsided at these sorts of activities many of the women spend the slow songs sitting off to the side wondering why the many boys that aren't dancing aren't asking them to dance and questioning their beauty.  Now maybe you did dance these slow dances, but I would say the majority of guys don't.  That leaves even more girls sitting alone and bummed out.  I'm not going to disappoint these women any more than I have to, and so I chose to not overcrowd the playlist with slow songs.

Pictured: How Mormon Women Spend Slow Dances

So in conclusion, shut up and appreciate the work I do to accommodate everyone and make sure everyone who is there to have a good time has one.  If your only goal at a dance is to poorly dance in a circle while stumbling through small talk YOU ARE DOING IT WRONG.

Hip Hop isn't dead it's just malnourished and underfed

About a week ago I was having a conversation about music. There hard been a miscommunication of sorts. She was under the impression that I listen to mostly punk. Now I will be the absolute first to let you know that I don't have the most genre specific music tastes. I constantly have my iPod on shuffle sliding from genre to genre with no real connection between the over 7,000 songs that I have in my collection. However I will say that my first love is and always will be hip hop. Well when she heard this in an effort to get back at me for calling her favorite band mediocre she called hip hop "crap". Now this isn't a comment that I have never heard. Shoot they even worked int into a wrestling angle in WCW where Jeff Jarrett wrote a country song called "Rap is Crap". I think Jeff is working on a gimmick infringement lawsuit on Cassie as we speak over these comments. In response I simply said "that's only because you haven't heard the good stuff yet.". So after a little bit more talking we made a deal that she would create a CD of punk songs that I would enjoy and in return I would school her in the good hip hop. Apparently she didn't think I would be done with mine in two days. Here is my playlist for you guys to look at and gain a proper appreciation for all things hip hop. I had a hard time coming up with a proper order to put the songs in so I decided to go with Alphabetical just because it seemed to work. I've included youtube videos so you can listen to the songs too, though I will warn you there will be swearing so listen at your own risk.

B.O.B. (Bombs Over Baghdad) - Outkast
I needed an Outkast song for the mixtape. It was either this one or Miss Jackson. I decided the very explosive antiwar song would win out on the apologetic song about divorce and the effects on the family.



Bleed Slow - Atmosphere
I dare you to find a better ode to the death of a love one.



Brenda's Got A Baby - Tupac
The effects of teen pregnancy in the ghetto. This is why we miss Tupac.



C.R.E.A.M (Cash rules everything Around Me) - Wu Tang Clan
The story of a youth's understanding as to how the drug game has destroyed his life and why he felt there was no way out of it.



Fight the Power - Public Enemy
One of my comments to Cassie was that she would be surprised with how much Punk and Hip Hop have in common. If this mix tape only consisted of this one song she would still have to agree with me. (also the man is evil and needs to be stopped)



G.O.D. (Gaining One's Definition) - Common
When I need a reminder as to why I go through all the crap I do in my life and that I still have things to give in this life I listen to this song.



Hip Hop - Dead Prez
Quite simply this song is the very essence of Hip Hop. It's angry, neglected people reaching out to share their message to educate those who have been blinded by the disaster that is popular music.



The Inkwell - Blue Scholars
This song made me love Seattle. There is so much out there that slips through the cracks that you have to find and cherish.



Katrina Klap (Dollar Day) - Mos Def
Hurricane Katrina was a horrible disaster, however it led to many of my favorite hip hop songs ("That's life" by Killer Mike and "Georgia... Bush" by Lil' Wayne are a couple others I suggest you listen to, well unless you liked GWB). Some will think of Mos Def as just an actor but this song will remind you just how good of an MC he is.



Keep On Rockin' - Asheru
I just found this song on Saturday and I already think that Asheru is my new favorite underground rapper.



Little Girl Gone - Devin The Dude
There is so much emotion and love in this song that it makes me wish I could find this lost little girl and save her.



Little Weapon - Lupe Fiasco
The snare drum alone makes this an amazing song but when you combine it with Lupe's delivery and the symbolism to his lyrics it becomes truly EPIC.



The Message - Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five
The sad part of this song is that while it should have served as a time capsule of the 80's and led to the clean up of the ghettos, it instead is a timeless classic that is STILL culturally relevant.



Mr. Wendal - Arrested Development
I can't not give at least my spare change to a homeless person thanks to this song.



The Nature - Talib Kweli
Perseverance and growth in the face of our problems and an ode to changing the nature of our lives and help those that are in worse conditions than we are.

Talib Kweli (Feat. Justin Timberlake) - The Nature from The KatyCapsule on Vimeo.

Sound of Da Police - KRSOne
Just in case Fight the Power left you asking more questions than it answered here comes the great KRS-One to make it a little clearer that the Man is evil. His verse comparing the slave Overseer and Officers is especially moving and poignant.


Soundtrack 2 My Life - Kid Cudi
I think I like this song mostly because I identify with it so it obviously becomes a favorite.



Turn Off the Radio - Dead Prez
Dead Prez are the only group to show up twice and with good reason: they're amazing. I chose this one showcases exactly why pop music is horrible and the only proper solution to getting rid of it is to turn it off. I haven't listened to the radio in years and I am quite proud of it.

Thank you for entering my life, now please never leave me

I have an absolute crap load of music on my computer, 7,888 tracks to be exact. If I listened to all of the songs from beginning to end it would last for over 3 weeks without repeating a song. Obviously I have never actually achieved such a feat because I always seem to get distracted and find myself only listening to the newest stuff that I have downloaded and then my favorite artists when I get an urge to listen to say the Beatles or Outkast. However when I am out away from my computer I just put the entire archive on shuffle and let it go until the batteries die. Sometimes it plays a song that I enjoy, others it plays something that I just don't want to listen to at that time, which is where the skip button comes in handy. Occasionally it will play a song that I have never heard in my life. These moments are rare because I always try to educate myself on what I am downloading to see if I like it, but when you just download the entire catalog for a particular artist you are destined to come up with something weird. I've grown used to this and it has given me a few new favorite songs by my favorite artists that I wouldn't regularly have heard.

Earlier this week though something interesting happened. I found a song that I haven't heard of by and artist I have never heard of. I don't know where they came from, how I managed to download these songs or this artist, and I most certainly have no clue what made me go through the effort to download 6 tracks by this guy. All I know is that I like him. A lot. His name is Stephen Malkmus which isn't even a name I can connect to a stray download because of a name. It's like he came out of absolutely nowhere. He isn't even the type of music I regularly enjoy or listen to and yet I can't stop myself. And so here I am on my blog rambling incoherently like I am prone to doing about him. You should all go listen to him and discover a love for him much like I have. At least you'll know where you were introduced to him.

What I am missing from my life

Now as most everyone should know I am a big time pro Wrestling fan. I watch all 3 main WWE shows every week (though I will admit to fast forwarding the recordings most of the time) and I have been to 6 different live shows throughout my life (again the last one I went to was 6 years ago but it's hard to top Wrestlemania). Yes I know it's "fake" but I really don't care. I'm not in it for the fighting, but rather the drama and the absurdity of it all. Tonight while watching RAW I got into a brief conversation involving an aspect of the show that I realized something in my life was missing.

I need entrance music.

Now in the wrestling world the entrance music captures the character and the person coming to the ring. I have set forth to find the perfect song for myself that defines me as a person. Originally I had this big long idea of what I should say about going on a journey through my iTunes, but instead I am going to just cut directly to the chase, my new entrance music is "Big Poppa" by Notorious B.I.G.



Quite simply this song is amazing and try as you might I don't think you can deny just how "Me" it is. I mean I love a T-bone steak, Cheese eggs and Welch's Grape. It's PERFECT! I now make a humble request that if you have my phone number you make the chorus of this song my ringtone.

Oh and also while you are at it now it's your turn, what's your entrance music?

The Soundtrack of My Life

Have you ever wondered what your life's soundtrack would be? In every movie there is music playing in the background that is supposed to fit the scene. In the scenes of life what music would be playing for you? For me I honestly am not sure. I mean would it be the music you listen to most? For me that would most definitely be hip hop, but honestly I'm a middle class white kid so why would songs about struggle and turmoil in slums and ghettos fit my life? It wouldn't so that couldn't be it.

Your favorite song at that moment perhaps? If you are anything like me your favorite song changes just about every couple of days. One day it's "Thug's Mansion" by Tupac, the next it's "Tiny Dancer" by Elton John. Except if you look at a movie's soundtrack there is very little variety in the sound. It sticks to one genre and then hits different points within that. So clearly that theory is out.

So after a lot of thought and scouring my iTunes music I have come up with the soundtrack to my life, enjoy. Perhaps you'll see something you'll want to hear that you hadn't thought about before. Also included is a brief explanation as to why the song was included.



1. Dear Life - Anthony Hamilton. It's the sound of it that I absolutely love. That smooth jazzy music and Hamilton's bluesy vocals. The lyrics are simply genius as well.

2. In this Diary - The Ataris. Now I am already breaking the rules for what makes a soundtrack by picking a rock song after a R&B song, but honestly I couldn't think of a better song to capture my teenage years. Because after all, being grown up isn't half as fun as growing up.

3. Knocking on Heaven's Door - Bob Dylan. Sure this song has been covered by about a billion people ranging from Bon Jovi to Avril Lavigne but nothing can compare to Dylan. This is the song I want played at my funeral. How often have we felt like the pressure is too hard on us to continue and like our life is coming to an end only to overcome it and move on and learn from the lesson? For me it's far too many to think.

4. If You Think You're Lonely Now - Bobby Womack. Quite honestly it never gets better than Bobby Womack. Only he could make a song about getting fed up with your woman and walking out on her sound like a wonderful love song.

5. Buddy Holly - Weezer. Quite simply Weezer is amazing. While I may not look like Buddy Holly, this is still the perfect courting song, and if anyone of you have read my blog for any length of time you would know I do love me some courting.

6. The Girl All the Bad Guys Want - Bowling For Soup. Let's be honest now here guys there will always be that one girl in our past that we tried too hard to impress to no avail because she was into bad boys. We do some stupid things and this song is the epitome of that era in our lives.

7. I Can't Make Me - Butterfly Boucher. At the same time there will also be that amazing girl who you know would do anything for you, and will love you unconditionally no matter how often you screw up that you just can't bring yourself to be interested in. She's your Duckie.

8. The Light - Common. This song helped me understand exactly what love is supposed to be and how to make a relationship work. It also contains my absolute favorite lyrics ever, here's just a sample - "If relationship is effort I will match your work/I wanna be the one to make you happiest, it hurts you the most/They say the end is near, its important that we close../.. to the most, high/Regardless of what happen on him lets rely."

9.Your Precious Love - D'Angelo & Eryka Badu. Another smooth R&B joint. It's a throw back to those classic Temptations and Supremes songs with a contemporary feel. I simply love this song.

10. Passenger Seat - Deathcab For Cutie. I don't know exactly why but every time I hear this song I think of my dad when I was growing up and trips up to my Grandparents home. We didn't spend a whole lot of time together then but when we did it is some of my favorite memories of growing up.

11. Father of Mine - Everclear. Like I said we didn't spend a whole lot of time together.

12. Land of Confusion - Genesis. Okay sure I am picking this mostly for the music video but honestly considering the political climate of most of my life, first with Regan and continuing all the way to Bush Jr. this song perfectly fits my feelings of how we have carried ourselves and how we need to fix it.

13. Cheeseburger in Paradise - Jimmy Buffett. Let's be honest here everyone loves a good burger. And this song is just fun.

14. Hey Mama - Kanye West. What playlist of mine would be complete without an ode to my mother. She's the most amazing woman I have ever met, and the model I use to decide if I a woman is worth my time. I would of went with Tupac's Dear Mama but this one is more positive and fits my mom better.

15. Love Me Or Hate Me - Lady Soverign. Honestly there isn't a better song to describe how people view me and my personality. Sure I am a lovable person but at the same time when you first meet me chances are you will hate me. Once you get past that first impression you will see just who I am and you will love me, but there is no middle ground.

16. Wanna Be Startin' Something - Michael Jackson. The final track on my soundtrack would have to be Michael. The man simply dominated my early childhood. I remember how absolutely horrible I felt when I accidentally left my Thriller LP out in the sun and destroyed it (that feeling only increases every time I think about how much that thing would be worth right now). The man could simply do no wrong at that point. I may not like the man now, but his music is undeniably perfection.



Well there you have it. I think I managed to follow the soundtrack rules, with a few exceptions but then again my life has always been full of exceptions so why should this be any different? So what's your soundtrack look like?

Lyrics to my soul

Every so often you come across a song that touches your heart and reaches into your soul and speaks for you when you don't have the words to do it yourself. Thank you Common.

THE LIGHT by Common

Yeah..
Doo-doo-doo, mmm-mmm-mmm-mmm-mmm..
Doo-doo-d-doo, diggy-doo
YO..

I never knew a luh, luh-luh, a love like this
Gotta be somethin for me to write this
Queen, I ain't seen you in a minute
Wrote this letter, and finally decide to send it
Signed sealed delivered for us to grow together
Love has no limit, let's spend it slow forever
I know your heart is weathered by what studs did to you
I ain't gon' assault em cause I probably did it too
Because of you, feelings I handle with care
Some niggaz recognize the light but they can't handle the glare
You know I ain't the type to walk around with matchin shirts
If relationship is effort I will match your work
I wanna be the one to make you happiest, and hurt you the most
They say the end is near, it's important that we close.... to the most, high
Regardless of what happen on him let's rely

There are times.. when you'll need someone..
I will be by your side..
There is a light, that shines,
special for you, and me..

Yo, yo, check itIt's important, we communicate
and tune the fate of this union, to the right pitch
I never call you my bitch or even my boo
There's so much in a name and so much more in you
Few understand the union of woman and man
And sex and a tingle is where they assume that it land
But that's fly by night for you and the sky I write
For in these cold Chi night's moon, you my light
If heaven had a height, you would be that tall
Ghetto to coffee shop, through you I see that all
Let's stick to understandin and we won't fall
For better or worse times, I hope to me you call
So I pray everyday more than anything
friends will stay as we begin to lay
this foundation for a family - love ain't simple
Why can't it be anything worth having you work at annually
Granted we known each other for some time
It don't take a whole day to recognize sunshine

There are times.. when you'll need someone..
I will be by your side, oh darling
There is a light, that shines,
special for you, and me..

Yeah.. yo, yo, check it
It's kinda fresh you listen to more than hip-hop
and I can catch you in the mix from beauty to thrift shop
Plus you ship hop when it's time to, thinkin you fresh
Suggestin beats I should rhyme to
At times when I'm lost I try to find you
You know to give me space when it's time to
My heart's dictionary defines you, it's love and happiness
Truthfully it's hard tryin to practice abstinence
The time we committed love it was real good
Had to be for me to arrive and it still feel good
I know the sex ain't gon' keep you, but as my equal
it's how I must treat you
As my reflection in light I'ma lead you
And whatever's right, I'ma feed you
Digga-da, digga-da, digga-da, digga-digga-da-da
Yo I tell you the rest when I see you, peace

There are times.. when you'll need someone..
I will be by your side..
There is a light, that shines,
special for you, and me..

(I'll) take my chances.. before they pass....
pass me by, oh darling..
You need to look at the other side..
You'll agree..

My soundtrack of Summer

Okay so I have so many blog ideas, and so many half written blog posts that will never see the light of day, and so what do I do? Come up with another one. And this will make 3 in a row of music related posts. What can I say? Clearly music on some level dominates my life.

Anyway, recently I joined a group of friends in a CD exchange program. The way it works it every so often you are given a theme and some loose rules for your playlist. You then make a CD and share it with everyone else in the group. It's a great way to get new music and to meet new people. The first theme I had was the theme of Summer. And below you will find a listing of all 21 tracks I put on my Summer playlist and a brief writeup as to why that song made the cut.

1. Another Brick in the Wall (part II) - Pink Floyd
Alright so if anyone doesn't see the connection to the Summer you deserve nothing but death. I can not remember a single Summer from 6th grade on where this song wasn't blared all through the last week of school to ring in the end of school and the beginging of the awesomeness that is Summer. I couldn't think of a better opening track.

2. Heart of Hearts - !!!
So there is really no reason for the inclusion of this song other than I saw them in concert at Bumbershoot this year and I fell in love with them.

3. Summertime - DJ Jazzy Jeff And the Fresh Prince
Alright so while it is true I have never experience summer in Philly which is most definitely the subject of this song, it still transcends into the heart and experiences of all the summers of our youths.

4. M79 - Vampire Weekend
I'm not sure why this song makes me think of summer but my guess is it has something to do with the warm and cheery horns and strings throughout this song. Throw in lyrics about playing in the park and you've got yourself a picture perfect summer song.

5. Raspberry Swirl - Tori Amos
I make no qualms about it - I am a straight guy that loves Tori Amos. And while her haunting melodies on Crucify are more my style the playful nature of Raspberry swirl can't help but remind me of Summers gone past. It also doesn't hurt that my friend Jes introduced me to Tori over one Summer many moons ago.

6. Be Young, Be Foolish, Be Happy - The Tams
If there ever were a song that captured the essence of a youthful and successful Summer, this would be it. You most certainly will never fail to have a great summer if you follow those three simple steps - be young, be foolish, and be happy.

7. In Your Eyes - Peter Gabriel
We've all had that wonderful Summer romance that begins in June and ends in September. It seems almost to be as sure as death and taxes. For me, this song symbolizes everything about a good Summer love should be about. It doesn't hurt that it was predominately featured in the quintessential Summer Love movie "Say Anything...".

8. My Drive Thru - N.E.R.D.
You can thank my love of this song on Converse. It was featured in one of their commercials and now I can't get enough of it. (can you tell this is the point I kinda got tired of writing this?)

9. Rollercoaster - MC Chris
Amusement parks are fun during the summer.

10. Paper Planes - M.I.A.
How could I not include the one song I heard approximately 9 million times this summer? And that doesn't include the times it played on my ipod. This song was EVERYWHERE!

11. LDN - Lily Allen
Despite being a depressing song if you listen to the words the happy fun beat and sound was enough to make me think of summer.

12. Sunshine Lollipops and Rainbows Everywhere - Leslie Gore
Oh come on this one is a given for why it got included!

13. The Outdoor type - The Lemonheads
Every single Summer without fail I go camping. I hate camping. Like I loathe it and everything it stand for, and yet I go. Why do I go? Some girl with zero interest in me that's why. This song is an ode to those mistakes.

14. Margaritaville - Jimmy Buffett
Jimmy Buffett and Summer go together like Margarita's and Salt, like Cheesebuergers and Paradise. Like Pina Coladas and another thing he sings about in that song.

15. Travelin' Thru - Dolly Parton
Everyone (but me it seems) travels over the Summer. Dolly's song from that one transexual movie TransAmerica is the perfect ode to that right of passage.

16. Let the Drummer Kick - Citizen Cope
The perfect Summer cruising song.

17. Val Kilmer - Bowling For Soup
Movies are big buisness over the Summer and quite honestly, I just couldn't resist including a song that talks about a supersoaker filled with pee.

18. Lovely Day - Bill Withers
Seattle looks like hell on earth 9 months out of the year unless you are one of those freaks that love overcast weather and rain. There is a reason we are the suicide capitol of the world. This is my ode to those 3 months when it doesn't look like butt outside and you can actually love the fresh air.

19. In This Diary - The Ataris
Just a great song about capturing all the memories from one Summer, kinda what the entire purpose of this playlist is. Plus I love The Ataris.

20. Take Me Out To the Ballgame - The Andrews Sisters
Baseball = Summer that's just simple fact. Especially because I work for the local baseball team I will forever be attached to this wonderful sport.

21. August is Over - We the Kings
I will be honest here - I picked this one for the title. I could have gone with that Green Day song but let's be honest here Summer ends in August.

Anyway that's my list I hope you enjoyed a look into my mind. Now let's see yours.