Nuzzle these together for me: the songwriting flavor of Jack Johnson, the character of Amadou & Miriam, and the sound of the islands with the roll of an ocean wave. The Frenchman Jehro (pronounced ZHE-ro) moved to London at 20 and was absorbed by the Jamaican and Spanish influences around his Hammersmith flat. You can expect light and acoustic arrangments alongside Jehro’s chansonnier voice delivering lyrical sensuality. As for me, I expect to see a lot more of this cat.
Last Tuesday, I received an email from dj, academician and ethnomusicologist Wayne Marshall. Also known by wayneandwax, he holds down a weekly at River Gods in Cambridge, nearly a mile from me. In the email, Wayne invited me to join him to guest DJ at his last night before he heads off to for post-doctorate studies in Chicago. I accepted but admitted never DJing publicly before and not knowing much about DJ technique–luckily, Wayne assured me this would be fine. Putting together my first DJ mix was much tougher than throwing together party playlists. But for you, I wrote up my process, in case you’d like to do the same!
I finished putting together my set with just enough time to drive to the bar. Wayne was a cordial host and the audience was receptive. Playing for a crowd and tweaking dials from a balcony perch was quite a thrill. The free beer didn’t hurt either. :) After my set we had some experimental vocal indie and then some hip hop/rock accordion courtesy of Julz A. Great overall vibe in that place. Chi-town residents, seek out wayne’s future music engagements–he crafts a good time.
In case you stuck with me this long, I’ll reward you with my amateur dj mix. Some transitions are really rough, but I’m pleased with it. Enjoy.
I was asked to DJ a one-hour set, though I had no previous DJ experience. I didn’t know how to beatmatch, transition smoothly, use Ableton or Traktor, and neither do you. You just have to be comfortable with being a laptop DJ.
Know your audience
I had never been to the venue and from what the outside looked like, I figured inside was a bunch of dusty overweight 30-year-olds with massive facial hair. I took a weekday evening trip over and had a beer inside, scoping out the clientele. I learned that from the balcony dj booth (!), I’d be playing for an affluent, educated set of 20- and 30-somethings that weren’t necessarily music nerds, but seemed receptive to different sounds.
I went through my entire music collection picking out the best tunes that fit the afrobeat/tropicalia/soul/funk vibe. If your audience won’t be earnestly dancing, don’t pick vocal-heavy tunes. Keep a mental picture of the venue inside your head as you listen to your potentials.
Narrow down your picks
After my first sweep, I ended up with 60 tracks, clocking in at 3.75 hours–far more than the one hour I was given. Toss anything that will garner significantly more or less attention than the rest of your set. I had to let go of some classics like Barrett Strong’s 1962 hit “Money”.
Cut it down to size
After tossing half my selections, I still had nearly an extra hour of music. Time for the surgery. I went in using audio editing software (CoolEdit and Audacity work) and cut out extra pieces: extra repetitive choruses, needless verses, instrumental solos. I wanted to keep the song lengths between 2 and 4.5 minutes to keep the energy level moving. [As this takes a bit of know-how and technique, this step is completely optional.]
Put them in order
I used Traktor to help identify the BPM of all the tracks. If you don’t have any audio software, just manually gauge the energy level on a scale of 50-150 for an approximation. My set started with my lowest BPM (79) and gradually worked its way up (with a few tweaks) to finish with my quickest song (126bpm).
Configure your crossfade
Using winamp? I suggest the SqrSoft crossfade plugin. Using iTunes? Even easier; if you left the default settings, your crossfade is already working, though you may want to tweak it in Preferences.
Play it!
Run through it at least once, in its entirety. Watch your levels, some songs are louder than others. iTunes has a fix for this called ‘Sound Check’; try it. Write on a notecard which songs have levels that stick out so you can tweak ’em with your mixer. Otherwise, you’re ready to go!
I’ve never seen Cletus and the Burners live, but I feel like I have a pretty good idea of how it would go down. They’re from Ithaca, so the crowd would be equal parts aging hippies and youthful hipsters; the light in the room would be a dusty, dark brown; and the air would be lazily floating around, disturbed by a couple of asthmatic ceiling fans. Oh, and the music would be really good. (I’ve never seen Jill Sobule live, either, though I was once on the other side of a stone cellar wall from one of her shows. Her tiny voice didn’t carry, but the cheers from the audience did.)
Hopefully by now you’ve dropped by Captain’s Crate, the blog of Charlie Bethel, aka NYC’s Captain Planet. The Cap’n has been pushing his eclectic and diverse soundset at parties across The Big Apple for years. His sound is similar to the upbeat jams from Nickodemus, The Theivery Corporation, and Quantic, taking in the best of afrobeat, samba, dancehall, hip hop and house. ‘The Don’ is off his recently released Gumbo Funk EP and features a tight amalgamation of world dance music with serious ass-shaking bounce to it.
Yeah, it’s Dizzy Gillespie, and yeah, it’s not exactly original to associate the waggling piano and ballsy horns of his mamboish jazz with summer— but if this doesn’t make you want to pop on some shades and go to a barbecue, you are broken. And when the party’s winding down, grass swaying warm, greeny-gray in the melting sky, switch to Willie Bobo and float a frisbee over to the host (he’s tired of cooking hot dogs). Talkin’ Verve is a limited run compilation, but worth snapping up if you’re low on Verve catalogue items.
An Miel Mia Pierlé is a Belgian pianist, accordionist and singer-songwriter who had been touring with a theatre group, starring in a Belgium television series and giving solo performances before she signed her first record deal in 1998. Unlike the debut album, her second record, Helium Sunset (2002) , was released outside of the Benelux and France and received many positive reviews as well. And now she has come back with a new record An Pierlé & White Velvet (2006) written with her co-songwriter, arranger, composer and lover Koen Gisen. This is the result of everything Pierlé and Gisen have experienced and absorbed so far, the new sound of An that grows and creates something new.
Anja Garbarek, the daughter of the prolific Norwegian jazz saxophonist Jan Garbarek, as a child was surrounded by musicians but had no intention of doing something musical with her career. Instead, at 16 she went to drama college where her performance in a musical brought her to the attention of the Norwegian record industry and she was offered a deal. Anja Garbarek hates being predictable, for her songwriting has always begun with the lyrics and she is known for telling her own feelings reflecting dark stories put with comforting, hypnotic and sweet melodies. Her song “Sleep” from Briefly Shaking (2005) is based on the true story of a woman who was kidnapped and “The Last Trick” was written at a particularly dark moment. You’ll likely hear some Emiliana Torrini in Anja.
I hear you asking. “How precisely does a group of four Parisian DJs snag the DMC World Team Champion title?” (You’re asking that, right?) Well, let me let you in on a secret. It has to do with eight turntables, half as many mixers, and four Frenchmen that know how to cut, copy, paste, and manipulate songs into healthy grooves. The impressive thing here is that Nam Nam’s music is enjoyable by itself, yet similar to DJ Kentaro and C-Mon & Kypski, their performace and video techniques add the extra piece that establishs their obvious dynasty in the realm of team DJs. Peep the languid track below and then drop into the video of ‘Absesses’.
Of all recommendations from my readers, R y G has been mentioned most frequently. This worldly and adoringly cute couple emerged from Mexico’s metal scene and now resides in Dublin, making music you’d expect from Argentina. Their trademark red-hot guitar technique and harmonies spark your attention, but the timeless songwriting holds you tight. ‘Tamacun’ and ‘Diablo Rojo’ are off their newest eponymous release, while the video of ‘Capitan Casanova’ below is from their 2004 live album.
Aurgasm seeks to bring you an eclectic menagerie of aural pleasures. We scout out music you've never heard and deliver only the finest. Expect music curiously different, yet simply enjoyable...
Paul Irish is a music-loving web geek in San Francisco.
You can download most music on aurgasm – right-click the song names and select Save Target As. These files will be removed at some indefinite point.
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Take an active approach in finding music you love. Only you can find what you love. Immerse yourself in it. Buy the CD. Go to the show and meet your favorite artist afterwards. Tell them their music changed you. Support the artists whose work you adore.
Be passionate about music.
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Nuzzle these together for me: the songwriting flavor of Jack Johnson, the character of Amadou & Miriam, and the sound of the islands with the roll of an ocean wave. The Frenchman Jehro (pronounced ZHE-ro) moved to London at 20 and was absorbed by the Jamaican and Spanish influences around his Hammersmith flat. You can expect light and acoustic arrangments alongside Jehro’s chansonnier voice delivering lyrical sensuality. As for me, I expect to see a lot more of this cat.
Last Tuesday, I received an email from dj, academician and ethnomusicologist 
1. Nuff Wish – Healing In Vain
I had never been to the venue and from what the outside looked like, I figured inside was a bunch of dusty overweight 30-year-olds with massive facial hair. I took a weekday evening trip over and had a beer inside, scoping out the clientele. I learned that from the balcony dj booth (!), I’d be playing for an affluent, educated set of 20- and 30-somethings that weren’t necessarily music nerds, but seemed receptive to different sounds.
I went through my entire music collection picking out the best tunes that fit the afrobeat/tropicalia/soul/funk vibe. If your audience won’t be earnestly dancing, don’t pick vocal-heavy tunes. Keep a mental picture of the venue inside your head as you listen to your potentials.
After tossing half my selections, I still had nearly an extra hour of music. Time for the surgery. I went in using audio editing software (
I used 
Using winamp? I suggest the 
I’ve never seen Cletus and the Burners live, but I feel like I have a pretty good idea of how it would go down. They’re from Ithaca, so the crowd would be equal parts aging hippies and youthful hipsters; the light in the room would be a dusty, dark brown; and the air would be lazily floating around, disturbed by a couple of asthmatic ceiling fans. Oh, and the music would be really good. (I’ve never seen Jill Sobule live, either, though I was once on the other side of a stone cellar wall from one of her shows. Her tiny voice didn’t carry, but the cheers from the audience did.)
Hopefully by now you’ve dropped by 
Yeah, it’s Dizzy Gillespie, and yeah, it’s not exactly original to associate the waggling piano and ballsy horns of his mamboish jazz with summer— but if this doesn’t make you want to pop on some shades and go to a barbecue, you are broken. And when the party’s winding down, grass swaying warm, greeny-gray in the melting sky, switch to Willie Bobo and float a frisbee over to the host (he’s tired of cooking hot dogs). 
An Miel Mia Pierlé is a Belgian pianist, accordionist and singer-songwriter who had been touring with a theatre group, starring in a Belgium television series and giving solo performances before she signed her first record deal in 1998. Unlike the debut album, her second record, 
Anja Garbarek, the daughter of the prolific Norwegian jazz saxophonist 
I hear you asking. “How precisely does a group of four Parisian DJs snag the DMC World Team Champion title?” (You’re asking that, right?) Well, let me let you in on a secret. It has to do with eight turntables, half as many mixers, and four Frenchmen that know how to cut, copy, paste, and manipulate songs into healthy grooves. The impressive thing here is that Nam Nam’s music is enjoyable by itself, yet similar to 
Of all recommendations from my readers, R y G has been mentioned most frequently. This worldly and adoringly cute couple emerged from Mexico’s metal scene and now resides in Dublin, making music you’d expect from Argentina. Their trademark red-hot guitar technique and harmonies spark your attention, but the timeless songwriting holds you tight. ‘Tamacun’ and ‘Diablo Rojo’ are off their newest eponymous release, while the video of ‘Capitan Casanova’ below is from their