des noise: 2015

12/19/15

THAT COULD BE AN UNDERSTATEMENT

Paparazzi use backdoor — no exceptions.

On December 31, for a fifth straight year, Bob Nastanovich and I will help celebrate New Year's Eve by playing records on Fourth Street. We'll be back at Vaudeville Mews, but it won't just be us. The classic lineup of Ames-formed psych-pop heroes the Poison Control Center will return for its first live performance in recent memory, joined by current local faves Karen Meat and Quick Piss. I'm excited.

OK, this is partly a long way of saying Bob, Whitney Nastanovich and I DJ'd last month and I keep forgetting to post anything about it. There were some technical difficulties so I didn't squeeze in as many records as usual; then again, leading with an 8-and-a-half–minute Swedish jazz cover of the synth duo Suicide may have had something to do with it. On NYE I'll see if I can once again keep track of what Bob is playing, because his picks are always more interesting to me than mine.

All that said, for now, here's my November 14 setlist, which was interspersed with great songs from Bob and Whitney — thank you again to the Red Monk and the Royal Mile for hosting us, to all our local friends who came and danced, and to Jason Narducy and his out-of-town band Split Single for stopping by after their set:

Deerhunter - Snakeskin
Neneh Cherry & the Thing - Dream Baby Dream (Suicide cover)
Gloom Balloon - She Was the One That Got Away
Jamie xx - Gosh
Kendrick Lamar - Alright
Arthur Russell - A Little Lost
Carly Rae Jepsen - Run Away With Me
T-Pain - Can't Believe It (feat. Lil Wayne)
Lana Del Rey - High By the Beach
Missy Elliott - Get Ur Freak On
jj - ecstasy
Gladys Knight - Midnight Train to Georgia
Pipettes - Pull Shapes
Drake - Take Care (feat. Rihanna)
Taken By Trees - Too Young TTA Way (The Tough Alliance remix)
A Tribe Called Quest - Can I Kick It?

Spotify version (substitutes a Jens Lekman cover for "A Little Lost" and the same single's unremixed A-side for "Too Young TTA Way")

10/18/15

GROUND CONTROL TO MAJOR TOM

A photo posted by Jessica Rae Miller (@iowawildflower) on Oct 10, 2015 at 9:23pm PDT

The Saturday night before last, I had the treat of spinning some records with Eli Clark and Bob Nastanovich over at local Belgian beer bar the Red Monk. The last time I was part of a DJing gig at the Monk, we each did a couple of 30-minute sets. This time we switched off after basically every song, so you'll have imagine some excellent tunes from Eli helping smooth out the transition from, say, Franklin Bruno to Lana Del Rey. Anyway, here's what I played, followed by a Spotify approximation (the most interesting stuff on here isn't on there, though). Thank you for listening.

The Debutantes - Adams Apples
Franklin Bruno - Water Weight
Leon Bridges - Coming Home
D'Angelo - Sugah Daddy
Lana Del Rey - Terrence Loves You
UGK - Pocket Full of Stones
Arthur Russell - Arm Around You
CFCF - The Ruined Map
The Studio - West Side Part I
Jack Ü - Where Are Ü Now (feat. Justin Bieber)
Rimar - Higher Ground
Kelela - Bank Head
Candi Staton - How Can I Put Out the Flame (When You Keep the Fire Burning)
Atlas Sound - I'll Be Your Mirror
Life Without Buildings - The Leanover
Korallreven - Here in Iowa

A photo posted by jeetkunow (@jeetkunow) on Oct 10, 2015 at 9:43pm PDT

8/23/15

FREE AS THE WIND BLOWIN'

Better late than never, right? Here's what I played with Bob and Tony a couple of weekends ago. Bob showed up after his work, right before my second set, and played a batch of stunning obscurities — records I don't think I'd heard before, but which were all perfect. Polynesian music, country I think, surf, whatever else. Didn't know how to follow but luckily there was a wedding party there, so even though Bob and Tony probably had the better sets, my pop-oriented picks seemed to be "crowd"-pleasers. Too loud? Maybe.

Cheerfully turning your local Belgian beer bar into a space worthy of earplugs:

MH SET ONE

The Tough Alliance Velocity Boy (Primal Scream cover)

Bully Milkman

Earth, Wind & Fire September

Heems So NY (NOT ON SPOTIFY)

Plastic Bertrand Ca plane pour moi

Gregory Isaacs Mr Cop

Lauryn Hill Can't Take My Eyes Off of You (NOT ON SPOTIFY)

Jamie xx I Know There's Gonna Be (Good Times) [ft. Young Thug and Popcaan]

Lil Kim The Jump Off

MH SET TWO