2003.12.06 Northwestern Advocacy & Awareness of HIV & Aids Benefit

m50...

Boobjazz	Oneness	Celebration Suite EP	STiR
Anders Ilar	Replik	Replik	Shitkatapult
Deadbeat	Fun...k?	Staedtizism 4	~scape
Chateau Flight	Cosmic Race	Cosmic Race	Versatile
Cassius	Cassius 99 Remix	Feeling For You	Astralwerks
Nelly Furtado	Gavo's Deep Fried Club Mix	Party's Just Begun (Again)	Dreamworks
Cassius	Cassius 99	1999	Virgin
Smashing Pumpkins	Vocal Mix	1979 Mixes	Virgin
Cologne Porn Filez	In Bed With Mike Ink	Red Light District IV	Djungle Fever
Losoul	Overland	Belong	Playhouse
Björk	Alarm Call - Alan Braxe & Ben Diamond Remix	Alarm Call	One Little Indian
The Streets	LP Version	Weak Become Heros	Stifle
Outkast	Album Version	Player's Ball	LaFace
Push Button Objects, Del	360 Degrees	360 Degrees	Chocolate Ind.
Prince	Delirious	1999	Warner
Slum Village	Radio Version	Disco	Capitol
Bel Biv Devoe	Do Me! Mentality Hip Hop Version	Do Me!	MCA
Chef Raekwon	Wu-Gambinos	Strictly 4 Cuban Linx	Loud
The Clash	Rock The Casbah	Combat Rock	Epic
Morgan Page	Touch Tone	Touch Tone EP	Chalant
Mobb Deep	Shook Ones, Pt II - LP Version	Shook Ones	Loud
Klute	Curley Wurley	Curley Wurley	Metalheadz
Björk	Alarm Call - Reprosession Mix by DJ Krust	Alarm Call	One Little Indian
Klute	Splendor	Curley Wurley	Metalheadz
The Angel featuring Navigator	Unda Pressure (Deep Rooted AKA Roots Remix)	Selector	Supacrucial
Young MC	Bust A Move	Bust A Move	Delicious Vinyl
Soul Capsule	Meltdown - Dub	Law Of Grace	Aspect
ESP Woody McBride	Flight's Departing	Flight's Departing	Kompute (whitelabel)
Marko Katic	Turkish Fever	[untitled]	Antenna Int'l (whitelabel)
Prince	1999	1999	Warner
Q-Burns Abstract Message featuring Lisa Shaw	Rivera Rotation Remix	This Time Remixes	Eighth Dimension
Anders Ilar	Onehow	Replik	Shitkatapult
Spacetime Continuum	Kairo - Carl Craig Mix #2	Remit Recaps	Reflective
Misc	Loverfair - Croon Inc "Say Yeah to Misc" Rmx	Loverfair	Resopal
The Latin Project	Original Masters At Work Mix	Lei Lo Lai	Electric Monkey
Nina Simone	Felix Da Housecat's Heavenly House Mix	Sinnerman	Verve
Underworld	Born Slippy Nuxx 2003 Version	Born Slippy	JBO
Kero	Grizzly Grizzeg	Geminisam 2002	Bpitchcontrol
Radiohead	Idioteque	Kid A	Capitol
Apparat	Slomotone	Geminisam 2002	Bpitchcontrol
Damon Wild	Downtown World Pt 3	Downtown World	Kanzleramt
Paul Mac	More Of The Same	More Of The Same	Ongaku
Damon Wild	Downtown World Pt 4	Downtown World	Kanzleramt
Paul Mac	Less Is More	More Of The Same	Ongaku
Damon Wild	Downtown World Pt 1	Downtown World	Kanzleramt
Paul Mac	Particular Sounds	More Of The Same	Ongaku
Dub Taylor	Before You Go	Experience	Forcetracks
Björk	Hyperballad - Disco Sync Mix	Hyperballad	One Little Indian
Justus Köhncke	Station 18	Total 4	Kompakt
Matt Dear	Pantytec Interpretation	Dog Days	Ghostly Int'l
SCSI 9	Cologne	Silkcome	Trapez
Télépopmusik	Scratch Massive attack on breathe	Breathe Remixes	EMI
SCSI 9	Silkcome	Silkcome	Trapez
Télépopmusik	Extended Mix	Breathe Remixes	EMI
Carl Craig	The Climax - Basic Reshape - Reshaped By Basic Channel	The Climax	Planet E
Dub Taylor with Renya	Ko-Hi-Nomitai	Experience	Forcetracks
Dub Taylor with Nadine	Sweet Awakening	Experience	Forcetracks
Radiohead	Kid A	Kid A	Capitol

Well, I may have a huge ego but people can be really stupid. This was definitely one of the most demoralizing sets in recent memory. This, in spite of the fact that there was above-average sound, good monitoring, and even a full dancefloor on several occasions; I must be getting spoilt. I just feel like making a DR™ styled "(as seen on tv!:) DJ is not a Jukebox" shirt or something in all red and yellow and pink and orange. Either that or coming up with a convincing skit to demonstrate that I cannot speak english and therefore cannot obey (or understand) your requests. It all started innocently enough when the most persistent music fan came up early on in the evening asking if I had any "real, bonafide songs - like some hiphop or something." Later in the night I had an asian girl come up and ask if I had any hiphop. This was in the middle of probably the longest hiphop segment I played all night, and actually during the BBD - Do Me remix where they repeatedly break down to just 1991 style nu-jack and actually SAY "hiphop, smoothed out on the r&b tip" throughout the track. A bit later on I had actually a pretty cool girl come up and ask me to play jungle, which also struck me as odd and even further exemplified the pervasive theme of not only the usual unmeetable requests, but also a majority of incomprhensible ones (because of the fact that I was playing Klute at the time! which I pointed out was jungle to which she replied "yeah, more (additional) jungle!"). Mind you, true to her word, when I stepped it up a notch with The Angel track, she got a very nice groove going regardless of the fact that it scared everyone else away. I got several more requests for hiphop, overheard the organizer hoping aloud for jungle, and got called "the worst dj ever", and go asked "who doesn't have outkast?" Later, still in the puzzling vein, a nice enough taller bloke came up and asked for something "with a beat, like euro or something because this stuff is nice enoguh to dance to, but if I get on the dancefloor to this I'll look like an idiot." Which was cool, but again really confusing because I was already playing probably the most straight-ahead, clubby minimal dancefloor cut I had. But he came through and got it on with his dame to some chillout stuff I was playing towards the end of the night and was my last dancefloor victim, so no complaints there. I did get one pretty amusing clean-cut type towards the end who came up and when he told me he had a request, I told him I didn't have any Creed, to which he replied that he didn't want Creed, but that I wasn't going to like his request either - then asking for Britney - Me Against the Music. That, and towards the end of the night that first enthusiast came up and asked if I at least had some classic rock like "Creed, or Rolling Stones would be great." I guess I just haven't really played any of that type of party in awhile, and being the DJ the whole night opens you up to more criticism than just playing a 30 minute interlude. Nonetheless, the bizarre requests kind of got me down.

About the set: I was really happy with the smoothness and transitions, it wandered through genres a lot, mostly chilling out whenever people left, and then going to something hooky when people seemed ready to dance again, and then really digging into whatever the genre was at the time and stepping it up until everyone decided to make another keg run. Started out with minimal & house for the soundcheck, then into some loopier & poppier stuff when the crowd got going, then over to hiphop when they got bored of clubbeat, then dabbling in rock and techno again, then back to hiphop, over to jungle, then back to hiphop, techno, house, club, and then just a long minimal techno section leading into dub & chillout for the makeouters at the end. Should've recorded it, but the volume level would've fluctuated a lot. I'll probably feel more enthusiastic later, but at the moment that one really burned me out on Coop parties. Oh well.

There's my LJ style entry. Speaking of which, props for this post for cheering me up the next day.

Also, laptops are awesome.