Saturday night, November 20, 2004
Michelle?s Birthday Party, Brooklyn, NY

As I entered Keri?s apartment, the sounds of Madvillian welcomed me in. I took that as a very good sign. The collabs between Madlib and MF Doom had served as a soundtrack for subway transit the past few days. Beyond that, my wife had given me the Stones Throw 101 collection as a belated birthday present, so I had that label?s work on the brain. Eddie (a.k.a. DJ Soma) was still setting up the sound system, so I made myself comfortable and watched a skate video on the TV screen. He would get things started later with a nice hip-hop set. He?s a Stones Throw head, too ? we hit it off right away. Slowly but surely, more friends and acquaintances would enter the spot. Andre (Praying Mantis) followed up Eddie with a wicked jungle set. My man Mikal came through; we shot the breeze regarding various subjects. Good to catch up with Jon [s] also. He spun some drum and bass, too, mixing in his own tracks with other selections.

Let me get this out of the way now: some guy actually asked me for Snoop?s ?Drop It Like It?s Hot.? Of course I didn?t have it and at that point, I didn?t even know what the song sounded like (Life sans MTV and BET is quite the liberating experience). I heard part of the song a few days after the party and I have to say?I?m not impressed. The Neptunes have definitely done better production. Anyway, I still had some heads nodding and a few cats busting moves. I was requested to spin house and funk. I ended up veering more to the funk side of things; heads seemed to really dig it. Lesson learned: Always fulfill a request for Soho?s ?Hot Music.? Some people still go nuts to it after all this time. I always bring it but rarely ever play it, often choosing DJ Smash?s ?What Is Jazz? (sort of a mash-up between the piano sample from the Soho joint with Deee-Lite?s ?What Is Love??). Plus you can still make the guy who asked for Snoop happy because ?Hot Music? is probably one of three house tracks that he?ll actually get with. Hate to generalize, but that tends to be the case.

I always have an idea of what records I?d like to spin prior to an actual set happening, but it?s important for me to leave room for improvisation and gauge reactions from the crowd. That was definitely true of this set; the enthusiasts swayed me into some interesting places and I was able to reach that medium where I?m pleasing the crowd and myself at the same time. I love it when that happens. There were a few joints I played for the first time that seemed to draw a great reaction from people. I tend to joke about my DJ status as of late, referring to it as a semi-retirement, occasionally emerging from it to do a birthday party, bar mitzvah, and maybe even a circumcision if the mood struck me. These days I feel like I?d rather chill at home with the wifey and some DVDs. Sets like these are good for the soul and don?t happen nearly enough. I was so into what I was doing that I completely lost track of time. The set made Michelle happy, a number of partygoers happy, and it made me happy. A win-win?gotta love that?

- it's about shaking those evil vibrations loose
and dancing with mi abuelita on a saturday night -
a dj set for michelle's b-day party / saturday, november 20, 2004
somewhere around one a.m.

melvin van peebles*break that party/the eight day week/saturday night*stax
the pointer sisters*pinball number count (dj food re-edit)*ninja tune (uk)
lyn collins*think (about it)*people
breakestra*cramp your style*stones throw
esther williams*last night changed it all*jazzman (uk)
secret frequency crew*deep blue (eli-173 remix)*counterflow recordings
djinji brown*abuelita's dance*seven heads
dj smash*what is jazz*eightball
soho*hot music*kool groove
dj smash*gettin' dizzy*new breed
bobby byrd*i know you got soul*king
kool & the gang*chocolate buttermilk*de-lite
mighty ryeders*evil vibrations*luv 'n' haight
dennis coffey and the detroit guitar band*scorpio*sussex
connoisseurs*r&b*dis-joint
liquid liquid*cavern (the cut chemist rocks a rave in a missile silo remix)*mo' wax (uk)
deee-lite*when you told me you loved me*elektra
isolee*it's about*freundinnen (germany)
tribe*tribe*abc
manu dibango*soul makossa*atlantic
konk*baby dee*soul jazz (uk)
war*galaxy*mca
nina simone*see-line woman*verve
nuyorican soul feat. george benson*you can do it (baby) - bar beats*giant step/blue thumb
the juan maclean*give me every little thing*dfa
esg*moody*universal sound/soul jazz (uk)
daft punk*harder better faster stronger (the neptunes remix)*virgin (uk)
nightcrawlers*push the feeling on (the dub of doom)*great jones/island
earth people*dance (bonus beats)*kool groove
de la soul*derwin*tommy boy
dj smash*gimmie some*new breed
major force*the return of the original art-form (dj format remix)*mo' wax (uk)
olli ahvenlahti*grandma's rocking chair - kenny dope remix (percussive explosion live edit)*jazzpuu-love (finland)
archie bell & the drells*tighten up*atlantic
the new birth*i can understand it*rca
jimmy edgar*re: city alley*warp (uk)
gold chains*nada*play it again sam