des noise

5/18/19

YOU GOTTA DO IT RIGHT, ENJOY YOUR NIGHT

We might've gone too far

About a month ago Bob Nastanovich invited me to come and DJ again at the Red Monk with him and Natalie Lowe, who I'd never met before but was great! It was my first time spinning since the Monk added its fancier new bar, which actually felt like a better location for the turntables. It was a quiet night—the night before Easter?—and I had to bail early. But I felt like we were playing our best sets yet? I enjoyed what I was playing, anyway, which you can see below and stream on Apple Music or stream an approximation of (w/ substitutions for a couple of non-Spotify rarities) on Spotify.

Hany Mehanna - دلع - Dala'
Nubya Garcia - Once
Antena - Camino Del Sol
Ntombi Ndaba - Do You Trust Amajita?
Bobby Wright - Blood of an American
Deerhunter - Nosebleed
Studio - West Side Part I
Yves Tumor - Noid
Charli XCX - Backseat (ft. Carly Rae Jepsen)
Peggy Gou - Han Jan
Digable Planets - 9th Wonder (Blackitolism)
Beyoncé - Get Me Bodied
Robyn - Honey
Miami Sound Machine - Rhythm Is Gonna Get You

Have you, have you looked outside?

1/1/18

THERE WAS A CAT THAT REALLY WAS GONE

For several years, Bob N. and I DJ'd on New Year's Eve. It was a blast, but it was also exhausting, and I appreciated not having to stay out late in negative degrees last night to play records for strangers. On the other hand, Bob did invite me out to spin again recently at the Red Monk, and another great pal, the mighty Brandon Logsdon, joined us, adding some great tunes (as I recall he preempted my attempt to play Melvins' "Hooch," which I had brought along especially because I thought it would work well with his tastes, by playing his own copy himself; he also kept us current by playing the Migos). Here's what I seem to have played, followed by a Spotify approximation... (Anymore, I also prefer posting lists like these than sharing my top 50 songs/albums lists; there's just too much good music. Putting music in context is more interesting to me right now than rankings—though of course I do those too as part of my job!)

Boney M. - Rasputin

Apache Beat - Tropics

Gary Wilson - 6.4 = Make Out (Part 1)

Love Is All - Make Out. Fall Out. Make Up.

Hinds - Chili Town

Palehound - Feeling Fruit

Downtown Boys - Somos Chulas (No Somos Pendejas)

So Cow - Casablanca

My Bloody Valentine - Sometimes

Beach House - Myth

Loops Haunt - Chalk Knots

Gordon Lightfoot - Carefree Highway

Supreme Cuts - Fools

Janelle Monáe - PrimeTime [ft. Miguel]

Arthur Russell - Arm Around You

Big Thief - Shark Smile

jj - Beautiful Life

Grimes - Flesh Without Blood

Missy Elliott - Work It

UGK - Int'l Players Anthem (I Choose You) [ft. OutKast]

Desire - If I Can't Hold You

12/13/17

YOU FEEL NOTHING SO YOU GRAB ALL YOU CAN

The party is for everyone

As you can probably guess from the DJ name, I seem to have been in a weird mood back in August. Some songs from Pitchfork's 1960s list in here, some tributes to some recently fallen... The fact that I felt the urge to play Blondie's "Atomic" suggests this was when we were all worried about North Korean nuclear brinksmanship. This is hard to remember now after all the other things we're expected to worry about day after day. Anyway, thanks to the iPhone Notes app's autocorrect, I had to translate when I pulled "Atomic" out of my bag from what it incorrectly recorded as, simply, "Thanks." By the way: Thanks. Here's some music!

Julie Byrne - Natural Blue
Glen Campbell - A Satisfied Mind
The Nihau Brothers - Lolo Tina (my uncle George!)
Tracey Thorne - Femme Fatale (Velvet Underground cover)
Olatunji! - Akiwowow (Chant to the Trainman)
Jonathan Richman - La fiesta es para todos
Big Thief - Paul
Joey Casio - Debtor's Prism
The Nonesuch Explorer: Ketjak: The Ramayana Monkey Chant (Bali) [excerpt]
Francoise Hardy - Tous les garçons et les filles
Shabazz Palaces - Palace Slide
Solange - Cranes in the Sky

Plastic Bertrand - Ca plane pour moi
Frank Ocean - Nikes
Jackie Wilson - I Get the Sweetest Feeling
Chance the Rapper - Cocoa Butter Kisses [ft. Vic Mensa and Twista]
Heems - Patriot Act
Justice - Waters of Nazareth
Margo Price - Hands of Time
The B-52's - Rock Lobster
James Brown - Papa Don't Take No Mess, Pt. 1
Blood Orange - Best to You [ft. Empress Of]
The Special A.K.A. - Nelson Mandela

(joint set)
The Smiths - Still Ill
George Jackson - Hey Aretha, Sing One for Me
Candi Staton - How Can I Put Out the Flame
Nobunny - Give It to Me
Blue Sky Blue - Sleeping Children Are Still Flying
Blondie - Atomic
Nina Simone - My Way

Incomplete Spotify approximation:

4/10/17

TAKE TIME TO FIGURE IT OUT

Playing a few records with friends on Saturday. Come hang! Should I replace my given DJ name someday y/n? pic.twitter.com/znX71wTUWD
— Marc Hogan (@MarcHogan) April 5, 2017

Bob has let me play records on his DJ nights a couple of times recently, so why not do that thing where I actually type down, semi-promptly, what I played? Was in a weird mood on Saturday—perhaps best described as "I am the parent of a preschooler and midnight is late for me," so late I couldn't remember which artist's T-shirt I was wearing when asked—but had the usual blast. Thank you to my friends who made it out! This one was an hour-long solo set and what I tried to play is below.

Plus, belatedly posting what I played the last time Bob had me out, when I was also in a weird mood, perhaps best described as "DJing like a week after the election." For that one, CEO's version of "Halo" is missing from Spotify.

Hope these are of some use to somebody, because I had a ton of fun sharing them at the Red Monk.

04/08/17
Boris: Farewell
Solange: Mad [ft. Lil Wayne]
Isley Brothers: Got to Have You Back
Prince: When You Were Mine
Telefon Tel Aviv: Fahrenheit Fair Enough
Vagabon: The Embers
Jay Som: The Bus Song
Nao: Bad Blood
Aphex Twin: Flim
LCD Soundsystem: Beat Connection
Frank Ocean: Ivy
Blondie: The Tide Is High (The Paragons cover)
Jens Lekman: Wedding in Finistere
Spoon: Can I Sit Next to You
The Tough Alliance: Silly Crimes
Bone Thugs-n-Harmony: Tha Crossroads

Looking forward to playing records again at the wonderful Red Monk bar, with @BNastanovich and @annaliberamusic's Anna Gebhardt. pic.twitter.com/yAhxqsG8ey
— Marc Hogan (@MarcHogan) November 17, 2016

11/19/16
Air France: Beach Party
Leonard Cohen: The Stranger Song
Margo Price: Hands of Time
AJ Davila: Animal
Janet Jackson: Nasty
Fiona Apple: Every Single Night
Elliott Smith: Christian Brothers
DVSN: Angela
Adia Victoria: Howlin' Shame
Anderson .Paak: The Season / Carry Me
Jens Lekman: The Opposite of Hallelujah
Jonathan Richman: La Fiesta Es Para Todos
Blood Orange: Best to You [ft. Empress Of]
A Tribe Called Quest: Buggin' Out
Ashley Monroe: Like a Rose (Live at Third Man)
Courtney Barnett: Shivers (Boys Next Door cover)
Deerhunter: Take Care
Beach House: Take Care
Kate Bush: Running Up That Hill
Belle and Sebastian: The Stars of Track and Field
The Five Stairsteps: O-o-h Child
CEO: Halo (Beyonce cover)
Cass McCombs: County Line
Laura Marling: The Blues Run the Game (Jackson C. Frank cover)

11/19/16

AS REALITY IS CRASHING TO THE FLOOR

A million years ago, at the start of the summer, I played some records over at the Belgian-themed bar here, the Red Monk, with friends Bob Nastanovich and the Maytags' Dustin Smith. Bob and I are spinning again tonight, this time with Annalibera's Anna Gebhardt, so I figured I may as well go back and try to reconstruct what my phone's Notes app tells me I played. Scroll down for a Spotify recreation, which sadly lacks Lydia Loveless's Kesha cover and, of course, Prince.

Lydia Loveless - Blind (Kesha cover)
The Avalanches - Since I Left You
Frankie Cosmos - On the Lips
Anderson .Paak - Am I Wrong [ft. Schoolboy Q]
Rihanna - Higher
Paleface - Do You Mind [ft. Kyla] (Crazy Cousinz Remix)
Eleanor Friedberger - Because I Asked You
The Clientele - Reflections After Jane
Josh Ritter - Me and Jiggs
Prince - Raspberry Beret
The Joubert Singers - Stand on the Word
Whigfield - Saturday Night
Airhead - Wait
SWV - Right Here (Human Nature)
Destiny's Child - Jumpin', Jumpin'
Kingdom - You
Solange - Losing You
Rihanna - Work [ft. Drake]
The Maytags - Rita
Prince - Pop Life
El Perro Del Mar - God Knows (You Gotta Give to Get)

6/7/16

PATIENTLY, PATIENTLY

Oh yeah, also hitched with Bob to Omaha to see GY!BE (and opener Xylouris White!)...

On Saturday, January 30, Bob Nastanovich and his pal Charlie Ezell spun a few records with me at the Red Monk here in downtown Des Moines. It has been a whirlwind since then: Voting in my first-ever Iowa caucuses and starting a new job, to name a couple of things. But as far as I know Bob and I will be playing records again this Saturday night, with the superb Dustin Smith, frontman for the Maytags. So I figured I might as well revisit my notes and document what I played in between Bob and Charles's selections that night. Looking at the list now, I'm pleased with how it works as a 15-track compilation capturing whatever whims I had for my record bag that night:

Deerhunter - Fluorescent Grey
Lucinda Williams - I Just Wanted to See You So Bad
D'Angelo - Ain't That Easy
Exploding Hearts - Sleeping Aides and Razorblades
Martin Denny - Quiet Village
David Bowie - Fame
Chromatics - Blue Moon
Leonard Cohen - Suzanne
Disappears - Replicate
Amerie - 1 Thing
Super Furry Animals - Ysbeidiau Heulog
Grimes - Flesh Without Blood
Heems - Patriot Act
UGK - Int'l Players Anthem (I Choose You) [ft. OutKast]
Taken By Trees - Dreams

1/3/16

IT'S NOT SO EASY WAKING UP TODAY

A photo posted by Gloom Balloon (@gloomballoon) on Jan 1, 2016 at 2:49pm PST

New years are bittersweet things, and especially so when they bring about the live reunion of a beloved, still unjustly little-known band of friends. My first night as an Iowa resident, in 2009, I saw a mind-blowingly terrific set by a local group called the Poison Control Center, and it ended with Des Moines transplant Bob Nastanovich taking the stage to lead a spirited cover of his band Pavement's early-'90s song "Two States." On December 31 — two critically acclaimed albums, hundreds of live gigs, various real-life changes and a painfully long hiatus later — PCC played again at the same place where I had gone on to see them so many times, and again Bob joined them for "Two States." Except this time, Bob and I were also DJing for what, if my amateurish one-man blog is to be believed, was our fifth New Year's Eve set together. Pals we've seen the band with over the years have, like PCC's members, moved away. Venue booker Ladd Askland's brother Stone, who himself now lives halfway across the country as a student at Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington, led one of the opening sets with his punk-ish band Quick Piss; Iowan-via-Nashville Arin Eaton and her group Karen Meat nailed their road-honed, costume-filled set (including songs from Karen Meat & the Computer). Bob and I spun our records before, in between and after. Vaudeville Mews has at least another year on its lease in the now-burgeoning downtown neighborhood. We entered 2016 with what felt like the best evening of music that Bob and I have ever played side by side, and a spirit of gratitude for our friends who could be there as well as a recognition that, even sprawled across a continent, we're forever connected by nights like these. If you're reading this, you probably know the feeling.

Then:

Now:

Six Organs of Admittance - Saint Cloud (Bob)
Melody's Echo Chamber - Crystallized
The Stylistics - Tears and Souvenirs (Bob)
Alabama Shakes - Gimme All Your Love
Ravi Shankar - Thumri (Bob) (my Ravi Shankar obituary)
Giddy Motors - Whirled By Curses
Astrud Gilberto and the Walter Wanderley Trio - Goodbye Sadness (Bob)
Courtney Barnett - Pedestrian at Best
Victor Feldman Trio - Serpent's Tooth (Bob)
Modesty Blaise - I'm Going Out
Noelani and Ka'upena & Nahenahe Singers - Pili Me 'Oe (Bob)
Grimes - Belly of the Beat
Elliott Smith - Needle in the Hay (Bob)
Mazarin - Chasing the Girl
Steve Martin - King Tut (Bob)
The Coathangers - Chicken 30
Wwax - Inn Town (Bob)

//

Tommy Tutone - 867-5309/Jenny
Run DMC - It's Like That (Bob)
Shamir - On the Regular
Slave - The Great American Funk Song (Bob)
Deee-Lite - Groove Is in the Heart (Peanut Butter Mix)
Dennis Coffey and The Detroit Guitar Band - Whole Lot of Love (Bob)
The Poison Control Center - Give It a Try
Los Indios Tabajaras - Ritual Fire Dance (Bob)

//

Bully - Milkman
Built to Spill - Car (Bob)
Yoko Ono - Walking on Thin Ice
Hot Chocolate - You Sexy Thing (Bob)

//

Missy Elliott - Work It
Kim Wilde - Kids in America (Bob)
Jamie xx - Loud Places (this one was paradoxically quiet on vinyl...)
Zorba the Greek - Syrtaki (Bob)
No Doubt - Hey Baby
Donna Summer - Hot Stuff (Bob)
Kylie Minogue - Can't Get You Out of My Head
Shirley Ellis - The Clapping Song (Bob)
Justin Timberlake - Like I Love You (feat. Clipse)
R.E.M. - The One I Love (Bob)
Beyonce - Get Me Bodied
Brick - Ain't Gonna Hurt Nobody (Bob)
Ke$ha - Your Love Is My Drug
The Beastie Boys - So What'cha Want (Bob)
OutKast - Ms. Jackson
Hot Chocolate - Don't Stop It Now (Bob)
Prince - When Doves Cry
Sade - Cherry Pie (Bob)
Mariah Carey - Always Be My Baby
New Order - Temptation (Bob, by timely request for some New Order)
Whitney Houston - I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me) (12" Remix - Radio Edit)
Salt-N-Pepa - Push It (Bob, but we'd pushed it too far and had to cut it off)

Laughably incomplete Spotify approximation:

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