The wait is almost over…

Lush Nectar closed its doors at the end of September and here we are at the end of November, with an opening date planned for mid December. can you stand it? do you have nails left to bite? anxious? well trust me when i say the wait will be well worth it. the new space is jam packed with schwank and you will soon be holding a tasty awesome drank. we’re about two weeks from opening and a little less than three weeks from the first blubeat in the new space. I’m well past excited for the new digs, but still a little hung up in that rock and roll, so here’s a few more of my rocky faves before we get into the beats.

metric - police and the private cuz it's been a while since i've listened to metric and this is a pretty rad track (thanks lindsey)

fiest – my moon, my man a cool song. i especially dig the vid as i’m often on moving walkways in airports, with headphones and a bumping track playing, and well, who wouldn’t want to bust into a moving walkway dance scene? right?

a couple TV on the Radio tracks next. though “young liars” is prolly my favorite i couldn’t find a decent version to post, so here’s a few close secondsees.

TVOTR – love dog – these guys simply must be experienced live

TVOTR – staring at the sun – an oldie (relatively), but damn. one of my favorite TVOTR songs.

LCD soundsystem – north american scum – another relative oldie, but that doesn’t diminish its radness. oh and here’s a live version that i like better.

LCD Soundsystem – big ideas – cause this track just gets you moving

spoon – I turn my Camera on dig pretty much everything these guys do, but especially dig the beat in this one

mash potatoes and brown gravy…

so i’m wearing small speakers on my head. mostly to contain the volume, but also to contain both the mashwin and mashfail that i’m browsing through right now. the mashup spectrum travels all spaces between the awesome and the awful. do not try this at home. Browsing the mashup audio labyrinth should not be attempted without proper training and an updated/final will and testament. in some cases the mashers are completely illogical/awful, but in some there is no better pairing. for example, if i hear another nirvana mashup with ANYthing, i may puke nails and missiles filled with nails and missiles at the first warm and fuzzy thing i see. on the flip side, of course kanye and taylor should be mashed. of course. what better perversion of pop culture right? and the irony of biggie mashed with miley is both hilarious and awesome in equal doses. laughing and dancing at the same time could result in positive things right? and in some cases the masher turns awful into awesome. yes, often the masher is better than the original.

well anyway, it’s turkey and mash potatoes week so it’s probably proper that i filter through the latest mashers for you. and maybe even pass on a few of my old masher favs.

before you progress further keep in mind that taste is relative (as is everything else). what i enjoy may make you puke so be prepared.

newsies…

Divide&Kreate – phantom III (Clash vs. Justice)
this guy does more of a redo than a mashup

Divide&Kreate – 4 minutes (Madona & JT)
i hated the original, but this is decent

DJ Tripp - Just Stop Believin' (Lady Gaga vs. Journey)
karaoke will never be the same

Makaio - You Belong With Me (Makaio's Kanye Club Mix) (Taylor Swift vs. Kanye West)
of course!

Hathbanger - Party & Bullshit (In The USA) (Notorious B.I.G. vs. Miley Cyrus)
hilarious!

and now for a few oldies…

Lobsterdust – Saysayism (everything vs. everything)
one of my all time favs!

DJ Zebra – Come Together (NIN vs. the Beatles)
so good yet so wrong

with hip half-ravers in techno bars...

well the Vault on friday night was... different. and i don't mean different in a bad way, just different in a different way. different in a challenging yet fun way. i hadn't played there in over two years, and have spent most of those two years playing at Luscious Nectar. i guess when you get used to a certain crowd, it takes a minute to figure out a new crowd. not that things were bad at the Vault, it was fun for sure! an absolute blast actually. but there were definitely a few reality check moments. that coupled with the audio issues i had for the first hour meant a rather chaotic take off. and i guess to continue the flight metaphor, after the bumpy take off, the remainder of the flight was a smooth cruise. we touched down at 1:30 with some Pretty Lights mixed with Marvin Gaye.

and there was definitely some minor snobbery going on. i guess, according to the staff, the usual collection of friday night dj's bang nothing but house and techno (which doesn't make the staff too happy). i have nothing against house, techno or any of their sub, sub, sub-sub genres, and frankly i enjoy playing them. i love playing them and wish i could play more of them. but this is fort freakin collins! not San Francisco, not London, not Berlin, not LA, not NY and not even Denver! definitely not my beloved Portland. and it's the freakin vault! i guess this mini-rant reveals that i'm a tad frustrated. this town is a block party, not a rave. it's a disco ball, not a laser show. it's an IPA, not a redbull-vodka. needless to say, rather than the snobs getting their usual 6 minutes per track friday night at the Vault, i played over 50 tracks from 11 to 1:30. and everybody danced. and the snobs can, well, i guess they can wait until next friday when the bangin techno returns. and two people dance. and the staff wants to hang themselves. whatever.

besides the vault, it's been a rather visceral weekend, week, month. again, not in a completely bad way. trying to stay alive isn't bad, it's just carnal. here's a few tracks that give that carnal instinct voice, or at least make me feel better. hopefully you too.

let me know - yeah yeah yeahs (play button is to the right)

level - the raconteurs

non photo-blue - pinback

15 step - radiohead

myxomatosis - radiohead

lost cause - beck

back in your head - tegan and sara

little lover's so polite - silversun pickups

neighborhood #2 - arcade fire

white trash heroes - archers of loaf