MORNING CAME TOO SOON

Me and Bob, December 31, 2014 edition

Bob Nastanovich and I had the great honor of ringing in the New Year this year for the fourth straight time here in Des Moines. Usually we do it at my favorite local music venue, Vaudeville Mews, but this year we did it a couple of doors up at the Lift, a bar with a rotating selection of works on the wall by local artists. Here's what my notes tell me we played, with a Spotify playlist (when the tracks were available on Spotify, that is... which was a lot less often than you might think!).

A few favorites from Bob's selection: Roberta Flack's Leonard Cohen cover "Hey, That's No Way to Say Goodbye," current British garage-punks' shout-along "I Wanna Get Out of Here But I Can't Take You Anywhere," and Richmond, Virginia-based second-wave ska band the Good Guys' protest song aimed at the then-Secretary of the Interior, "(The Ballad of) James Watt," with its endlessly quotable line, "Stop James Watt / If you wanna keep the trees you got."

Thank you so much to Amedeo for having us, to John and Clint for getting us set up and putting up with us at their bar, to Dustin for making the Lift idea happen, and to all of our friends who made it out on a cold night that's famously terrible for being on the road. We always have a blast and hope you did, too!


A Sunny Day in Glasgow - 5:15 Train
Danny Stewart & His Aloha Boys - Fort St. Rag (Bob)
Shabazz Palaces - Palace Slide
Butthole Surfers - Lady Sniff (Bob)
D'Angelo - Devil's Pie
Minutemen - Fake Contest (Bob)
The Avalanches - Since I Left You
Nancy Sinatra - These Boots Are Made for Walkin' (Bob)
The Go! Team - Ladyflash
Roberta Flack - Hey, That's No Way to Say Goodbye (Bob)
Taken By Trees - The Sweetness of Air France
Slave - Volcano Rupture (Bob)
Curtis Mayfield - We've Only Just Begun
Kim Wilde - Kids in America (Bob)
The Crystals - Da Doo Ron Ron
Los Indios Tabajaras - The Washington Flowers (Bob)
Bully - Milkman
Kool & the Gang - Ladies Night (Bob)
Janelle Monáe (feat. Solange) - Electric Lady
Ming City Rockers - I Wanna Get Out of Here But I Can't Take You Anywhere (Bob)
The Smiths - Hand in Glove
Steve Martin - King Tut (Bob)
Twigs (now fka Twigs) - Breathe
Shirley Ellis - The Clapping Song (Bob)
Danny Brown (feat. Purity Ring) - 25 Bucks
Peggy Lee - I'm a Woman (Bob)
Free Energy - Something in Common
New Order - Temptation (Bob, pretty sure this was a shorter mix than the one I usually hear)
Mantis Pincers - Black Capes on Blondes
Greyhound - Follow the Leader (Bob)
White Lung - Down It Goes
Billy Joel - You May Be Right (Bob)
The War on Drugs - Red Eyes
Sun City Girls - Radar 1941 (Bob)
Lana Del Rey - Money Power Glory
The Good Guys - (The Ballad Of) James Watt (Bob)
The Poison Control Center - Give It a Try
REO Speedwagon - Take It on the Run (Bob)
Justin Timberlake (feat. Clipse) - Like I Love You
Groundhogs - Cherry Red (Bob)
Faron Young - Wine Me Up
Doris Day - Whatever Will Be, Will Be (Que Sera, Sera) (Bob)
The Normal - T.V.O.D. (Bob)
Caribou - Can't Do Without You
Sebadoh - Soul and Fire (Bob)
Constantines - Nighttime/Anytime (It's Alright)
Run D.M.C. - Sucker M.C.'s (Bob)
The Exploding Hearts - Sleeping Aides and Razorblades
The Whyte Boots - Nightmare (Bob)
Sleigh Bells - Tell 'Em
The Endtables - Circumcision (Bob)
Booker T. and the MG's - Boot-Leg (Bob)
ESG - Moody
??? (Bob)
Magnetic Fields - Take Ecstasy With Me
??? (Bob)
David Bowie - Fame
Das Racist - Rainbow in the Dark
??? (Bob)
The G-Clefs - I Understand (Just How You Feel) - Auld Lang Syne
Mac DeMarco - Salad Days
Charli XCX - Boom Clap
Madonna - Like a Prayer
CEO - Halo (Beyoncé cover)
Beyoncé - ***Flawless
De La Soul - The Magic Number 
Courtney Barnett - History Eraser
Amerie - 1 Thing
Big Tymers feat. Boo and Gotti - Oh Yeah!
Prince - Kiss
Sophie - Lemonade
Michael Jackson - Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough
Missy Elliott - Work It
Warren G (feat. Nate Dogg) - Regulate (by request)
LCD Soundsystem - All My Friends
Prince - 1999 (by request for Prince)
LCD Soundsystem - North American Scum (by specific request)
Whitney Houston - I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me)(12" Remix - Radio Edit)
Röyksopp / Robyn - Do It Again
R. Kelly - Ignition (Remix)
Mariah Carey - Always Be My Baby
TLC - Waterfalls
Drake - Hold On, We're Going Home

Deejays

A photo posted by Jessica Rae Miller (@iowawildflower) on Dec 12, 2014 at 8:42pm PST

#vscocam bob and marc doin their thang

A photo posted by Max Jury (@maxwelljury) on Dec 12, 2014 at 8:55pm PST

I HEAR GOOD TIMES CALLING ME, SOLID GOOD TIMES

If only I still had this hat...

Locals-made-good the Seed of Something held the triumphant release party for their proper debut album, English, which I am biased about but would recommend to just about anybody who likes precocious garage-rock hullabaloo, on Saturday night at Vaudeville Mews. I was lucky enough to catch a bit of their first set before DJing outside at the PBR Bar, and I'm pretty sure they played all of the new ones except for "Fire." I've had the record for a while thanks to their Indiegogo campaign, so I played that one during my own set. I also played a whole weird mix of stuff: For some reason I started reaching for the universal, slam-dunk dancefloor songs pretty early, and I was a little leery of one of my turntables because a speaker problem was causing feedback if I played it too loud, so by the end of the night pretty much every other song it felt like I was finding myself falling back on something from an LP I'd already played. I guess I should bring another crate? Or something? Anyway, thank you to everybody who kept dancing waaay too late, and thanks to Ladd for booking me, and thanks to Joe and Derek and T.J. for getting me all set up, and thanks to Tony and Sami for bringing the Lydia Loveless seven-inch, and thanks probably especially to Brian for letting me talk him into driving me home with my gear; you all are running rings around this little downtown.

What I played is below, with a Spotify approximation that probably leaves out all the best stuff because it always does:


Sparks: "Goofing Off"
Gloom Balloon: "The Face"
The Seed of Something: "Fire"
Lydia Loveless: "Blind" (Ke$ha cover)
Solange: "Losing You"
LCD Soundsystem: "I Can Change"
Creedence Clearwater Revival: "Proud Mary"
Prince: "When Doves Cry"
Gang Gang Dance: "MindKilla"
Lana Del Rey: "Brooklyn Baby"
Digable Planets: "Borough Check"
Arthur Russell: "Tone Bone Kone"
Archie Bell & the Drells: "Tighten Up"
Best Coast: "Crazy for You"
Yoko Ono: "Walking on Thin Ice"
How to Dress Well: "Words I Don't Remember" (meant to play "Repeat Pleasure," whoops)
Constantines: "Nighttime/Anytime (It's Alright)"
Wilson Pickett: "Mustang Sally"
Disclosure (feat. Sam Smith): "Latch"
Chance the Rapper: "Interlude (That's Love)"
Jessie Ware: "If You're Never Gonna Move"
James Brown: "Papa's Got a Brand New Bag"
Arctic Monkeys: "R U Mine?"
So Cow: "Shackleton"
Al Green: "Let's Stay Together"
Studio: "West Side Part 1"
Chic: "Le Freak"
Michael Jackson: "Billie Jean"
Paramore: "Ain't It Fun"
Whitney Houston: "How Will I Know"
Röyksopp / Robyn: "Do It Again"
Sam Cooke: "Having a Party"
DJ Sammy: "Heaven"
TLC: "Creep"
Beyoncé: "Partition"
Gorillaz: "Feel Good Inc."
Liars: "Let's Not Wrestle Mt. Heart Attack"
Spice Girls: "Wannabe"
Kingdom: "You"
Warren G (feat. Nate Dogg): "Regulate"
Drake: "Hold on, We're Going Home"
Wilson Pickett: "Mustang Sally"
Elite Gymnastics: "Minneapolis Belongs to You"
James Blake: "CMYK"
LOL Boys (feat. Heart Streets): "Changes"
Iceage: "You're Blessed"
Spoon: "Got Nuffin'"
Michael Jackson: "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'"
James Brown: "I Got You (I Feel Good)"
2Pac (feat. Dr. Dre): "California Love"
Whitney Houston: "Saving All My Love for You"
Dr. Dre (feat. Snoop Doggy Dogg): "Nuthin' But a 'G' Thang"
The Tough Alliance: "Neo Violence"
Chic: "Good Times"
Korallreven (feat. Victoria Bergsman): "As Young as Yesterday"
Snoop Doggy Dogg: "Who Am I (What's My Name?)"
UGK (feat. OutKast): "Int'l Players Anthem (I Choose You)"
Azealia Banks (feat. Lazy Jay): "212"
Frank Ocean: "Sweet Life"
Beyonce: "XO"

WHAT FUN DO THE MODS GET OUT OF SMASHING THINGS UP

Photo by Arin Eaton

The Vaudeville Mews is a big part of why I moved to Des Moines, Iowa, almost five years ago now. My wife and I would come back to visit her family, and we'd go to some new restaurant/bar or other. And they were pretty good! But we didn't move here until after I ended up reading about the Mews, near Fourth and Court, the small local music venue. Jonathan Richman, Bonnie Prince Billy, and Jens Lekman had been through the doors not long before I arrived.

A few years back they opened an outdoor bar, in the adjacent alley. Somehow, I'm told because it sold the most Pabst Blue Ribbon in all of Iowa, it ended up apparently being sponsored, as the PBR Bar. That was open for a couple of years, on warm weekend nights and farmers market mornings. Then the building next door got sold, and last fall they had to tear down the alley bar.

They reopened it a few weeks ago. I had the honor, privilege, thrill (is that a U2 Batman song?) of DJing the first night back. Here are some songs I played. (Spotify approximation, which lacks CEO, Chance the Rapper, Kate Bush's actual version of Kate Bush's song, etc., also below.) Thank you, everybody!



The Tough Alliance: "Setting Sail"
The Grace Period: "Mod Killer"
The Seed of Something: "Downtown"
Bully: "Milkman"
Courtney Barnett: "History Eraser"
Ray Charles: "You Don't Know Me"
Belle and Sebastian: "The Stars of Track and Field"
Sally Shapiro: "If It Doesn't Rain"
Danny Brown: "25 Bucks" (feat. Purity Ring)
Mac DeMarco: "Passing Out the Pieces"
Silk: "Freak Me"
Lydia Loveless: "Head"
Deerhunter: "Nothing Ever Happened"
The Poison Control Center: "'Torpedoes on Tuesday'"
Grace in the Jones: "Walking in the Rain"
TNGHT: "Higher Ground"
PM Dawn: "Set Adrift on Memory Bliss"
CEO: "Halo"
Beyonce: "Partition"
R. Kelly: "Ignition (Remix)"
LCD Soundsystem: "All My Friends"
Chance the Rapper: "Juice"
Disclosure: "Latch"
Sleigh Bells: "Tell 'Em"
The Go! Team: "Ladyflash"
Dwight Yoakam: "Honky Tonk Man"
Ghost Town DJ's: "My Boo"
Beyonce: "Drunk in Love" (feat. Jay Z)
Chic: "Le Freak"
Lucinda Williams: "Passionate Kisses"
Ricky Eat Acid: "In my dreams we're almost touching"
Drake: "Worst Behavior"
Al Green: "Let's Stay Together"
Kylie Minogue: "Can't Get You Out of My Head"
ESG: "Moody"
The Long Blondes: "Fulwood Babylon"
Kate Bush: "Hounds of Love"
OutKast: "So Fresh, So Clean"
New Order: "Bizarre Love Triangle"
M.I.A.: "Come Walk With Me"
No Doubt: "Hella Good"
M.I.A.: "Double Bubble Trouble"
Missy Elliott: "Work It"
Daphni: "Yes, I Know"
Amerie: "1 Thing"
Michael Jackson: "Rock With You"
TLC: "No Scrubs"
T-Pain: "Can't Believe It" (feat. Lil Wayne)
R Kelly: "Bump N' Grind"
Madonna: "Live to Tell"
Whitney Houston: "I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me)" (12" Remix - Radio Edit)
Madonna: "Like a Prayer"

Photo by John Huffman