Thursday, July 31, 2008

Living Vicariously

I haven't seen a live band in quite a while...I'm almost ashamed to admit it. The last concert I saw was George Thorogood at the Tampa Theatre (quite awesome I might add), but as far as local music, I honestly can't remember.

Sad.

Part of the reason is certainly my preoccupation with electronic music. Another part is that the local music scene has been rather bland...or more likely it was my perception that it was bland. Perhaps the biggest part of it is that I simply hate waiting for a band to start playing. Alternative music bands notoriously never start on time and I feel stupid sitting around the bar with my gin and tonic just waiting. That reflects my age, I guess.

There was a time that I loved going to see local music. I would spend my weekends (and some weeknights) waiting with my gin and tonic to see bands like Pee Shy, the Baskervilles, Joe Popp, and Clang. I wouldn't see them just once...I would see them multiple times to catch differences in how each song was performed, to watch Laura Taylor do her magic on the theremin, or to sing along with Julian Koster as he rambled on about sticking two dogs together with crazy glue.

My faith in the local music scene was restored somewhat on Wednesday when I found myself at the Crowbar in Ybor City. I wouldn't even have been there if it wasn't for 4 liter Bruce. The Saturday before I found myself visiting a friend at a little neighborhood bar, when Bruce, deep into his 4th liter of beer (hence the name), struck up a conversation with me because he liked the music I was playing on the jukebox. That morphed into an almost endless conversation about how we just simply had to go see this band on Wednesday. The 4 liters of beer made him sound convincing enough that I decided to go.

The opening band (the band Bruce convinced us to see) was called Vicarious ...appropriately named after a Tool song from their 2006 album (yes, you can still call them albums) since they are a Tool cover band. I honestly don't know Tool's songs very well, but I have always had great respect for their musicality. Vicarious' members reflected that. They were tight.

Next up was Zombie Dragstrip Hookers. Think Ministry meets White Zombie, although I guess if you want to describe White Zombie you would end up comparing them to Ministry anyway. Blake, the lead singer, growls, screams and shakes his way through each song with aplomb.

We didn't stick around for the headliner, Citizen Seeks Revenge because it was a weeknight. My days of staying up past 1 and still making it to work on time are practically gone.

Lots of people I know from the Castle were there rocking out. I know I'm not really part of their inner circle, but part of me thinks I got some sort of street cred for coming out. I had agreat time...I'm glad I did.

I don't think Bruce remembered me, though....he was probably only on his 1st liter of beer.

Monday, July 28, 2008

castle playlist 7/25/08

I got a little lazy documenting the tunes I played.
Thanks to Jason Barco (jb) for coming out and spinning with me.

freur - whispering
portishead - hunter
supreme beings of leisure - never the same
the orb - blue room (7" mix)
moby - porcelain
beck - hell yea
missing persons - destination unknown
echo and the bunnymen - bedbugs and ballyhoo
the sugarcubes - birthday
pet shop boys - flamboyant (trentmoller mix)
booka shade - dusty boots
new order - jetstream (jacque le cont mix)

jb in the mix

lottergirls - never say never
gossip - standing in the way of control (le tigre mix)
mia v new order - $20 monday
depeche mode - in your room (portishead mix)
punx soundcheck f marc almond - neo burlesque (lotterboys mix)
play paul - la la land
deadmau5 - fifths
apop bezerk - kathys song (ferry corsten mix)

jb in the mix

meat beat manifesto - dogstar man / helter skelter
da hool - bow down
everyones a crook - love will tear us apart

ah screw it

tampa theatre playlist 7/23/08

As the "resident DJ" for the tampa theatre's balcony club group of young professionals, I get to spin tunes usually related to the theme of the group's mixer. This time around we did a summertime BBQ, hence the summer-oriented tunes...

john beltran - soft summer
karmacoda - awaken
unn - summersky
sarah vaughn - summertime (ufo mix)
the specials - ghost town
beach boys - kokomo (spanish)
gabin - mr freedom
the alarm - rain in the summertime
lovin spoonful - summer in the city
nat king cole - lazy hazy days of summer
dj sammy - the boys of summer
mr joshua - in praise of the sun
bob marley v funkstar deluxe - sun is shining
ziggy marley - beach in hawaii
smashmouth - walking on the sun

Sunday, July 13, 2008

Castle playlist 7/11/08

underworld - solosistim
grandadbob - pictures (quiet village dub mix)
portishead - machine gun
lindum and lindum - waiting for the night (bad knight mix)
lamb - fly
on - soluble words
royksopp - what else is there?
superpitcher - babys on fire
chicks on speed - euro trash girl
frank kusserow - the core
sono - 2000 guns (northern lite remix)
northern lite f chapeau claque - enemy
mount sims - black sunglasses
justice v simian - we are your friends (detail's 2008 re fix)
goldfrapp - number one (alan braxe and fred falke main remix)
bis - the end starts today
cake - i will survive
beck - where it's at
genesis v bloc party - phil's bloc party
aggro 1 - strange cocaine
copycat - a smalltown monday solution
the illuminoids - get it on at le disko
lifelike - like life
the lords of acid - i sit on acid (remix)
jamie summers - sex fiend
radiohead - idioteque
gary numan - cars (e reg version)
M - pop muzik
flying lizards - money thats what i want
lottergirls - never say never
everyones a crook - love will tear us apart (copy for jonathan)
simian mobile disco - hustler (armand van helden mix)
blank and jones f bernard sumner - miracle cure (remix)
krazy ben - no sex for mason
eric prydz v pink floyd - proper education
anthony rother - dont panic
fatboy slim - praise you
sister of mercy v britney spears - gimme mercy
goldfrapp v the doors - la la love her madly
copycat - fade to pretty vacant
gorillaz v tears for fears - dare to shout
a plus d - sexy peek a boo
murk - time
eurythmics - here comes the rain again (stonebridge 2007 mix)
the shapeshifters - chime
daft punk - around the world
EPA - save a prayer
starcity v real life - send me an angel
coburn - we interrupt this program (jean claude ades mix)
jean elan - wheres your head at? (klaas mix)
2 live crew - me so horny
house of pain - jump around
naughty by nature - opp
cherry poppin daddies - zoot suit riot
squirrel nut zippers - hell
the hues corporation - rock the boat
van mccoy - the hustle
the ohio players - fire

Saturday, July 12, 2008

Retro Review: Big Country


Spring 1984. The song "In a Big Country" hits the US airwaves and I find a new band to obsess over.

My first reaction to the song was "cool, bagpipes!" It wasn't long after that I found out that the bagpipe sound was created by engineering the guitar work of Stuart Adamson (lead singer) and Bruce Watson. That discovery didn't diminish my love for the song or the album as a whole. In fact, this album stayed on my turntable for weeks after I bought it.


I feverishly picked up 12" singles form the album, including what I always thought was their saddest and most haunting song called "Chance". Mixes back then primarily consisted of just lengthening the original song with a few flourishes, but Chance changed up the chorus entirely and made it even more poignant than the album version. Other standout tracks included Harvest Home, Fields of Fire (their second US single), and Parrohman. I found the CD in a bargain bin years later and snatched it up...I was never one to convert very much of my vinyl to CD (or mp3 for that matter), but this one was worth it.

I slowly lost touch with the group after their second album Steeltown. Maybe the bagpipe sound kind of lost it's charm by then.

The band stopped touring recording and touring in 1999. The lead singer Stuart Adamson's untimely death in 2001 put an end to any hope of another Big Country release.

Just like the vinyl version years ago, the CD has been in my car for a few weeks now. It's like calling up and catching up with an old friend.

Sunday, July 6, 2008

Castle playlist 7/4/08

lemon jelly - unknown track
Sono – red sky (nor elles sundown mix)
sneaker pimps - velvet divorce
Illumination – cookie raver
the postal service - the district sleeps alone tonight
party ben - walking with a ghost in paris
butthole surfers - pepper
the bloodhound gang- fire water burn
folk implosion - natural one
edwyn collins - the magic piper of love
hot chocolate - everyones a winner
the beloved - sweet harmony
dj moule - come with us and shout
love spit love - how soon is now
soho - hippychick
eurythmics - love is a stranger (coldcut mix)
northern lite – take them away
lutzenkurchen - monster in my house
Crystal castles – crimewave
kraftwerk - tour de france
herbie hancock - rockit 2002
pet shop boys - opportunities
art of noise - paranoimia
impedence - tainted love
gorillaz - dirty harry
meat beat manifesto - acid again
infusion - girls can be cruel
teenage bad girl - usb dick
girl talk - non stop party now
immuzikation - free your unbelievable mind
tone loc v peaches - wild thing
benny benassi - bring the noise (pumpk-kin mix)
lottergirls - never say never
young mc - bust a move (don rimini rave mix)
everyones a crook - love will tear us apart
nine inch nails - meet your master (faint remix)
bloc party - the prayer (does it offend you yeah remix)
the illuminoids - get it on at le disko
blondie - rapture
ll cool j - mama said knock you out
whodini - freaks come out at night
the roots - the seed (2.0)
scissor sisters - comfortably numb (remix)
yvan and dan daniel - enjoy the silence (club mix)
the killers - mr brightside (jacque lu cont mix)
the faint - glass danse (oakenfold remix)
yelle - a cause des garcons
the gossip - standing in the way of control (tronik youth mix)
moby - beautiful (benny benassi mix)
lo fodelity all stars - battle flag
Junior senior – boy meets girl
aggro 1 - rock of ages v goose girl
world famous audio hacker - never win against the wall
dunproofin - loaded epic
the wolfgang press - mama told me not to come
ELO - dont bring me down

Friday, July 4, 2008

all mashed up and nowhere to go

Mashups...bootlegs, bastard pop, whatever you want to call them...it's the blending of two or more songs into a new creation. Some people might think it's just a cheap way to rehash music. I prefer to think of it as a creative way to make something entirely new, no different than sampling.

There are numerous sites devoted to the art of the mashup, providing new tunes virtually every day from bedroom DJs and producers all over the world. A couple of places to go include Mashuptown and Mashup Industries.

There some names in the mashup "biz" that I know persistently create amazing and thoughtful tunes: AplusD, Party Ben, the Illuminoids to name a few. San Francisco has virtually become Mashup Central with monthly Bootie parties that have spread to NYC, LA, and even Second Life.

With all this buzz around mashups you would think the trend would have trickled down to little old Tampa. Not really.

Last night we ventured out with friends to the Kennedy, which is a shiny new club on, duh, Kennedy Blvd. It's the third time we've gone. Monk aka Steve McClure spins what originally was promised to be a blend of hip hip, electro, and mashups. I don't question Monk's credentials...he's been spinning since the early 90s and his name is synonymous with Hallucination Records and Rabbit in the Moon. But each time we've gone to the Kennedy on a Thursday, hoping to hear some good mashups, we don't. The music gets consistently worse and further from what was originally promoted. I wonder if Monk enjoys spinning Big Pimpin' to the South Tampa elite. And now the Kennedy promises that Chang, who is back from obscurity, will play mashups as well on Fridays, but I'm not holding my breath. Other clubs such as Push in St Pete, and Floyds at the Hard Rock, have touted mashups as part of their lineup, but it seems to be used merely as a buzzword without any weight behind it.

With all this said, I figured I'd toot my own horn, as I consistently incorporate mashups into my sets at the Castle, and have even done all mashup nights. I play them because I like them, and they generally can work with the other tunes in my set, and provide some sense of familiarity while not needing to play the same old songs. Nine Inch Nails "Closer" again? I think not. But mashed up with "Come Together" by the Beatles? Certainly!

The Castle has afforded me a lot of leeway over the last 9 years to play what I want, but that's for another blog.

With all that said, attached are a couple of mashup mixes that I've done recently:

All Mashed Up 042108.mp3

All Mashed Up 051308.mp3

One more thing about last night....
I ordered a martini called a Dead Kennedy. A girl next to me laughed because she liked the name. She had never heard of the band. Don't get me started.