channel HOGSTYLE

Lotus Plaza plays at Wooly's in Des Moines' East Village.

So I DJed again on Saturday night at Vaudeville Mews' outdoor PBR Bar. Or at least, played records -- someday I really ought to figure out the whole beat-matching/mixing thing, but at this point I still have enough trouble remembering which discs are 45 RPM and which are 33 RPM. And that's even after I've cued my records up with my headphones. Go figure.

We're in the midst of what officials say is the hottest July in this state since the Dust Bowl, so it wasn't my most crowded DJing gig ever. For most of the night, then, I basically just played what I wanted to play. No matter how soggy-muggy it is out there, though, after midnight you get random drunk people wandering over to dance, so you play what you think might keep them moving.

Thank you so much to Ladd for booking me (under the hey-Marc-you-should-really-think-up-a-DJ-name name of DJ Hogstyle, hence my Frank Ocean-inspired post title), to Kyler for helping me get set up and keeping me from getting too thirsty and just generally putting up with me, to Derek for getting me squared away sound-wise, and to Patrick and Ashley for helping me haul my turntables and crate of records home again.

Once again, I tried to keep a running notepad entry on my phone with the names of the tracks I was playing. I did pretty well until the end, when I have one line that says "Wgotne" (did I play Whitney Houston again? I think I'd remember that) and another line that says, simply, "Bwy" (Sade's "By Your Side"? SWV? More TLC? LCD Soundsystem?). Without further stupid ado:

PARADISE BY THE DASHBOARD CONFESSIONAL LIGHT

A new friend begs to hear Meatloaf, though
I'm not sure if she had the title quite right.

Thank you so much to everyone who came out to the Vaudeville Mews' back bar on Saturday night! I had a total blast spinning records again. Despite a needle that broke on the way to the venue, I felt like the night went off almost without a hitch, and I was super excited to see so many friends' faces out there.

As promised, here's what I played.

THIS JUST IN: I'll be back DJing again on Saturday, July 21. Mark your calendars, save some Pitchfork-festival-weekend sweat, keep being awesome.

A COW PIE OF DISTORTION

FIVE ALBUMS
Beach House: Bloom
Chromatics: Kill for Love
Killer Mike: R.A.P. Music
Allo Darlin': Europe
Heems: Nehru Jackets

TEN TRACKS
Cassie: King of Hearts (Richard X Remix Edit)
Usher: Climax
Lotus Plaza: Come Back
Saint Etienne: Tonight
Carly Rae Jepsen: Call Me Maybe
Arctic Monkeys: R U Mine?
Bruce Springsteen: We Take Care of Our Own
Danny Brown: Grown Up
Tanlines: All of Me
Sun Kil Moon: Sunshine in Chicago

These past six months have been like a waking dream. In November, my wife and I had our first child, so as any parent will understand, the line between waking and sleeping has been thin. But I've also been writing every morning for SPIN -- something I wouldn't even have imagined as a possibility when I was thumbing through the magazine's 1997 year-end list for CD recommendations back in high school. And, month after month, I've been putting together sprawling "best of 2012 so far" posts without ever hitting the "publish" button.

I decided maybe I should let that be a lesson to myself. Most times, when I do these lists, I err on the side of too much information. But we're all overloaded with information these days, and I'm definitely part of the problem. So as much as I'm dying to mention all the dozens of other albums, EPs, mixtapes, and tracks that have been killing me this year -- and I did manage to make it to a few shows, too! -- I'm going to leave it here for now: five full-length releases I can't imagine 2012 without, plus 10 songs I expect to keep in heavy rotation until the next time I do one of these lists.

I'll be DJing again at Vaudeville Mews' outdoor PBR Bar on Saturday from 9 p.m. until whenever, so come out if you'll be in the neighborhood. I'm sure I'll spin some of my other recent favorites, and I'll do my best to post a setlist here.

Until then, thanks for following along!