Mix Annotations - Pleasure is the Law
Hi Friends,
My latest New Career Fantasy is Professional DJ. Right now I think my music tastes are in a place where I could DJ a lot of fun, dancey songs. I've collected a bunch of different styles, some deep cuts, some hits – generally enough range to create an overall good mix. But, given that I'm in my 30s and have never liked staying up late for big parties, I figured I should do some research to see how viable DJing could be as an actual career for me. (Research: The best part of any fantasy.)
So I ended up on this article called "The Life Cycle of a Career DJ: From 1 to 25 years," which really only goes up to Year Twenty and Beyond: Maintaining the Balance Into Veterans Status, undercutting it's own title. Probably not a great sign...
Year Five: Perseverance is the really the stand-out category for me. Like, Step 1 is Get Started, and immediately Step 2 is Fight The Urge To Quit. Between 0-9 years you just have to really push through the fact that this job sucks and you constantly want to give it all up and do something else. And they don't say things get better after 5 years. If you hold on until Year 10, then you have to start going through Growth and Change for another 5 years (assumably because you realize that your strategy from Years 5-9 just aren't working) and then you have start to settle in AND pursue other avenues because at Year 15 it's apparent that you can't sustain yourself DJing parties. And I'm as surprised to hear this as anyone, but it seems like when you're an Old DJ you generally don't care about young folks or their young styles.
This is probably not my next career move. Hospital Chaplain would never do me this wrong.
Like many people during lockdown, I've been gravitating back to music from my past. Whatever the reason (boredom, seeking comfort, nostalgia etc.), I've been re-re-visiting weird dance-punk/mutan disco stuff from the 70s and 80s that was being re-visited in the early 00s by people like James Murphy. That said, none of that music really appears in this mix. It's just an example of the more dancey stuff I've been listening to, and where all my new confidence in DJing is coming from.
[Jason Mantzoukas did an interview with the New York Times] (https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/03/11/magazine/jason-mantzoukas-music.html) where he said:
One of the true surprises of [this] year was that I listened to a lot of music that made me want to dance around. [...] All I do is sit and read, sit and type, sit and watch — I don’t need music that just pushes me further into the chair.
And so maybe I'm on the same wave as that, just craving something that puts more movement into my life.
Or it might also just be Spring Fever. However, the degree to which the Dance Punk/Mutant Disco stuff is Horny Music is another conversation I'm having with myself.
Anyways, here’s the link to the latest mix: soundcloud.com/draiser2021/pleasure-is-the-law
ANNOTATIONS
Atlantis (2001) Scott and I became real Blankies in the past year, and with them recently doing an episode on Treasure Planet we revisited some of the other sci-fi animated movies from the era, including Atlantis. It's fine. A surprising amount of people die in it.
Marianne Faithful - Sex with Strangers I think this came from a 2019 NTS mix. Not sure how this track didn't make it on to the previous Vaccine Orgy mix. Maybe it just betrays that I'm not nearly as truly horny as people assume me to be.
Nico Fidenco - La Via della Prostituzione This is from a My Analog Journal playlist called "Italian Experimental Obscurities, Soundtracks and Library Music". They have a Patreon, and I'm still trying to wrap my head around if that's something I'd give money to. I feel that same about the paid membership with NTS. While I totally agree that the DJs should be able to get paid for their work (see: DJ Career Fantasy as discussed above), I'm not aware of the musicians also getting paid for using their songs. Much to think about.
Rufus ft. Chaka Khan - At Midnight (My Love Will Lift You Up) This came from research. Scott, Bled, and I were trying to listen to One New Album A Day in February (with an emphasis on classic albums), and we ended the month on Rags to Rufus, the second album by Rufus and Chaka Khan. That album is still a little too in the Studio Rock Noodling mode for me, but I really dig their later, dancier records and landed on this track. The intro is great, and the chorus singing is great.
The Clash - Lost in the Supermarket Close personal friends.
Felt - Sunlight Bathed the Golden Glow This is another gem from the Lodge 49 soundtrack, from S01E02.
The Supremes - Stoned Love This was shared by someone on instagram. I can't remember if it was before or after Mary Wilson died in February, but RIP nonetheless.
Chris Robinson - Big Strong Man in My Life This is on the compilation Strong Love - Songs of Gay Liberation 1972-1981. Lots of neat stuff on the album, but ultimately this was the only track that stood out for me.
Limebócx - Yêu Nhau (Qua Cầu Gió Bay) This is from Yu Su's January NTS mix.
Jeanette - El Muchacho de los Ojos Triste Another track someone shared on IG.
Asha Puthli - The Devil is Loose I was really struck by the album cover on a download site. Little did I expect this track to connect so strongly! Seems like Asha Puthli was maybe a cool person, and looking her up has led me to a couple other neat albums to check out, like Ornette Coleman's Science Fiction.
The Three Degrees - When Will I See You Again Another track someone shared on IG.
Ennio Morricone - Introduction To The Psychiatrist This is off the Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! soundtrack. Apparently Pedre Almodóvar didn't love everything that Ennio did for the movie, so he used half and chucked the rest. Makes sense why he'd keep this one.
Gabriels - In Loving Memory Another track someone shared on IG. There's obviously lots to like here, but for me it's the backing vocals that really worm their way in, a lot like the ones on Irma Thomas' "Anyone Who Knows What Love Is."
Harold Budd - The Serpent (In Quicksilver) Another track from Yu Su's January NTS show. Geeta Dayal wrote this great rememberance of Harold Budd, who died back in December 2020. In his music, Geeta says she hears, "California in its wide roads and open spaces," which is a visual/sonic aspect that's been tumbling around my brain for a couple months now. RIP.
Doug Firebaugh - Empty Canvasses I think this is probably just from tooling around Numero releases on Bandcamp. I've been holding onto it for a long while, just waiting for the perfect mix to end with it.
7 Min Meditation to Start Your Day | Yoga With Adriene I just needed someone talking nice and slow, sending the mix off with some positive intentions.
While space allows, I’m stashing my recent mixes and annotations in a Google Drive folder, which you can visit here: The Archive
DRAISER 2021
This year I’m looking to raise $3000 for local orgs. My personal goal is to get 5 friends to help me with this very low-effort, passive campaign. So far only the only people who have stepped up are:
- Jade
- Shayna
It would mean a lot to me if you considered joining us. I'm happy to talk about the many low-impact ways you can do this! Let me know if you’d like to help, or otherwise you can donate here: tinyurl.com/Draiser2021. Even if you’ve already donated, please consider sharing it with your friends and family.