Author Archives: dogpossum

i have yet to put on clothes

It’s currently 38 degrees, the house is all dark because the curtains and blinds are trying to keep the heat out, and The Squeeze is still asleep – I think he’s just not recognising today as a proper day at all. He went to bed at about 1 or perhaps a bit earlier and has just slept right through. I did get him up to change beds earlier because he was drowning in his own sweat in the other bedroom. In fact, I think I need to go wake him up to force some water into him.
I, however, have done some fiddling on the internet, mucked about with an article I have to get back to the journal eds by next week, wished I had access to a couple of nice DJing books (they’re not even in the library so I can’t go check em out this afternoon), listened to a bunch of music and thought about buying this, worked out it would cost me $189 or so, revised my stance. Reviewed the bands/band leaders on the set (the Chocolate Dandies, Henry Red Allen, Mildred Bailey, Fletcher Henderson, Teddy Wilson, Cab Calloway, Lionel Hampton, Billie Holiday) and decided that I might just have to have this after all. It’s seven CDs for $189. That’s twenty or so dollars each. For awesomely re-mastered loveliness. Still, there is the whole being poor thing.
Yesterday I didn’t do a very good job of coping with the heat. Usually I’m pretty tough, but yesterday I ended up having to go home and lie down. After quite a few hours at the pub in the air-con. But riding about in 38 degrees is a bit rough. Especially if you spent the night before dancing and sweating like a fool.
It’s still hot. The house is hot. I’m sitting in front of a fan and trying not to let my metabolism respond to the exciting music I’m listening to – no elevated pulses!
I think I’m going back to lie on the bed and read some more.
I have yet to put on clothes today.

i just couldn’t get it together

Friday night I played a crappy craptastic set at Funbags.
It was pretty hot, I’d been feeling a bit crook during the day and I didn’t take time to go through my music.
I was also pretty uncomfortable with the set up for the DJ. The sound system was pretty good, but the whole thing was at the same counter where the punters pay to come in near the front door. We had to sit our laptops on the counter with our backs to the mixing desk so we could see the dancers, but this meant that our cables had to hang across the entry to the behind-the-counter. And people kept coming in and out of that space all night, climbing under the cords. In addition, I was ideally placed for people to come talk to me.
I need at least ten minutes of alone time at the beginning of a set to get settled – fix the sound a bit, sort my laptop, pick out a couple of good starter songs so I can go walk the room, de-jitter, etc etc etc. But I don’t mind being visited later in the set.
I just couldn’t get it together – I had to tell people to leave me alone a couple of times and to move out of my way so I could see the floor at least three times til I gave up.
As a result, I was a bit jittery and couldn’t relax and get into gear. There was too much talking and bustling around me and it kept me on edge.
So the set sucked.
It was also a bit of an odd crowd, mostly beginner dancers with a couple of more experienced people. It also felt more like an after-class gig than a ‘social dancing’ gig, so pumping, upenergy crowd-kicking songs fell a bit flat. Those sorts of hardcore songs really go down better with more experienced dancers. The Bechet track was a particularly heinous fizzer.
sigh.
I didn’t kill the floor, though. I just couldn’t make a coherent set that really worked the energy in the room. Because it was mostly newer dancers who just love dancing, it was ok. But it wouldn’t have worked on a more experienced crowd.
I’m a bit sick of my music as well – I feel like I’m just playing the same old stodge each week. The same old songs. I haven’t bought a lot of great music lately, just a lot of stuff I really like…. well, that’s probably not true, that’s just how it feels. I actually feel like I’m a bit limited in the music I can play. I feel like I can’t pull out the less crowd-pleasery stuff. There are some songs that are just like chips at a party – they go down well, you can just keep filling the bowl and the crowd’ll just keep chewing em down. But they’re nothing special.
I want to make hoors doovers. Not chips.
I dunno, guess I need to spend more time listening to my music I spose. I think I need to find another artist that really drives me wild so I can get inspired again.
I’m actually feeling like I’d like to play a supergroove set – really pull out all the really good supergroove stuff. But I don’t want to waste a big night on that rubbish. I’d like a more mellow late night perhaps for that. A really late night… but I can’t fight my ‘drive them crazy’ arse-kicker instincts.
anyway…
Just so’s you can compare, he’s the set list. All good songs, just combined in a really shitty order.
(first set, Funpit 16 Feb 2007) song – artist – bpm – album – song length
My Baby Just Cares For Me – Nina Simone – 118 – The Great Nina Simone – 3:38
Cow Cow Boogie – Jennie Löbel and Swing Kings – 120 – 2001 – He Ain’t Got Rhythm – 2:56
Jump Ditty! – Joe Carroll and The Ray Bryant Quintet – 134 – Red Kat Swing 1 – 2:53
Oomph Fa Fa – Jonathan Stout And His Campus Five – 129 – 2003 – Jammin’ the Blues – 3:35
B-Sharp Boston – Duke Ellington and His Orchestra – 126 – 1949 – Duke Ellington and his Orchestra: 1949-1950 – 2:54
Jive At Five – Count Basie and His Orchestra – 147 – 1960 – The Count Basie Story (Disc 1) – 3:02
Splanky – Count Basie – 157 – 1966 – Live at the Sands – 3:52
Hallelujah, I Love Her So – Count Basie – 145 – 1959 – Breakfast Dance And Barbecue – 2:36
Undecided Blues – Count Basie and His Orchestra with Jimmy Rushing – 120 – 1941 – Cutting Butter – The Complete Columbia Recordings 1939 – 1942 (disc 03) – 2:55
Hey Now, Hey Now – Cab Calloway – 121 – 1994 – Are You Hep To The Jive? – 2:56
Four Or Five Times – Woody Herman Orchestra – 141 – The Great Swing Bands (Disc 2) – 3:09
Back Room Romp – Duke Ellington and his Orchestra – 155 – 2000 – Ken Burns Jazz: Duke Ellington – 2:49
Flying Home – Lionel Hampton and His Orchestra – 159 – 1940 – Tempo And Swing – 2:58
Cole Slaw – Jesse Stone and His Orchestra – 145 – Original Swingers: Hipsters, Zoots and Wingtips vol 2 – 2:57
Lavender Coffin – Lionel Hampton, etc – 138 – 1949 – Lionel Hampton Story 4: Midnight Sun – 2:47
Redskin Rhumba – Charlie Barnet – 186 – 1940 – Charlie Barnet : Skyliner – 2:41
Savoy Blues – Kid Ory – 134 – 2002 – Golden Greats: Greatest Dixieland Jazz Disc 3 – 3:00
Perdido Street Blues – Louis Armstrong and His Orchestra with Sidney Bechet – 148 – 1940 – Blues In Thirds – 1940-41 – 3:00
The Greatest There Is – Duke Ellington and His Orchestra – 133 – 1949 – Duke Ellington and his Orchestra: 1949-1950 – 2:43
Come On Over To My House – Julia Lee with Jay McShann’s Kansas City Stompers – 138 – 1944 – Jumpin’ The Blues (Disc 1) – 2:52
Six Appeal – Jonathan Stout And His Campus Five – 141 – 2004 – Crazy Rhythm – 3:29

down down down


This clip caught my eye (you can find it here on youtube) because I’m fond of the Basie version (I have a 1941 version on a collection called Cutting Butter). But watching it, the race and gender stuff was kind of interesting… note the whiteness of the girls’ skin. The two girls dancing towards the end of the clip aren’t terribly great dancers (I wonder who the blokes are?), but I suspect they were picked for their looks.
And of course the lyrics are kind of interesting (the Basie version I have is an instrumental).

i am a complete baby

Ok, so I’ve been trying to pretend that I haven’t been having any trouble with that tooth that I had the wonderful surprise root canal in last year.
I thought it was just me being picky when it continued to ache and ache in December. In January. But now, in February, it actually hurts a fair bit more, and aches up into my jaw.
Needless to say, I’ve discovered I have a new dentist phobia, and making an appointment to see the dentist has been … difficult.
But today I did make an appointment, and I’m going in next Tuesday to have my head cranked open again. Yay for brave me!
I am pretty freakin’ scared. Like, scared in a crying way.
I can’t even say that I’d much rather have them dig it out and fix it than continue to suffer through it. There’s something much worse about going in and choosing to lie there while they dig around and hurt me a fair bit than just suffering with an ache. I know it’s not rational or logical talk here. There is no ration. There is no logic. Just scaredness.
But the dentist lady said that what’s probably happened is that the crown ‘sits a little too high in the jaw’ and that my ‘bite is affected’. So they’ll just ‘take it down a bit’ (a couple of milimetres at most) so that it sits a little lower. Basically, the top bit of the root filling is sticking up and getting bumped a bit too much when I bite down and that this is causing pain that feels like nerve pain. It really does feel nasty.
But that’s all speculation. I’m actually going to believe the speculation because I’d much rather a bit of tidying up than having the whole thing dug out and done again.
I really wish that the anaesthetic had been more effective last time. I think, if I had to have another root canal, I’d choose a general anaesthetic. All the joking of my previous posts aside, that was some pretty scary stuff. And some pretty nasty pain.
I am a complete baby. But at least I’m tough enough to get myself in there for another appointment.

shouting

this (found here) caught my interest.
It’s dance, captain, but not as we know it.
My first response: oooh, man-dancing. That was just my initial response – how masculine the dance was. The performance was. Shouting, synchronised, ‘fighty’ style. I don’t know anything about Yosakoi(I’ll go read more in a tick).
But then I was interested in the synchronised-ness of it (that always fascinates me, obsessed as I am with the Af-Am lindy where you were ‘synchronised’ in that you all did the same steps, but it was almost mandatory that you add your own, distinct styling).
And then with the music (ooo, contemporary music. Interesting).
And then with the shouting.
I was thinking, last Thursday night as I ran around on the dance floor, mid-way through the Big Apple, completely lost in the steps (ie, I had no clue what I was doing), but really enjoying all the running around – we were doing the spank the baby bit where you run around in a circle… that was the best bit. Crinks had apparently decided that Brian was running too slowly, so she decided to run faster and overtake him. The rest of us, competitive instincts obviously stimulated, responded by running faster as well, and adding a few pushes and shoves. Jazz dance = contact sport. That bit with the spank the baby got kind of washingmachine-like. There was also a lot of shouting during that bit, and also during the “Charleston!” bit, and then, just random shouting bits. Not all of us knew the damn thing. That didn’t seem to bother anyone, though I was (once again), the last one to grab a partner so I ended up on my onw for the partner bit. Again. It’s because I’m a lead-follow and I’m not fast enough to grab someone. There were about… 10? of us doing it on the social dance floor – Sally had stood up, saying “I’m going to do the Big Apple” and then gone straight onto the floor and done it. It was like a siren call – people descended on her from all over the room. I still don’t know any more than the first few phrases, but that didn’t stop me.
Ok, so I was thinking, as I was running around on the dance floor, shouting, about how the shouting is quite important. Some of my favourite songs are the ones where the musicians shout out – to each other, with excitement, just because. If I hear a musician shouting ‘yeah!’ at the end of a solo, or at the excitingest bit of a solo, I’m usually with them. Frida is a big shouter – you can hear her yelling all through that Todd and Naomi clip just before. And when she shouts when she’s performing, people respond.
But not everyone feels comfortable with the shouting. Usually the people who don’t feel comfortable with the not-perfectly-synchronised-routines.
So, watching that yosakoi clip, I was struck by the shouting, and how ordered it was. Nothing like “Charleston!” and the “yaaaah!!” shouting getting around last Thursday night at CBD.

As dangerous as a midnight coffee

Glen’s started a meme over here, and it’s one that actually caught my eye.
I meme when I’m trying to be cool, but I think this one is actually quite me.

I am starting up a meme. It is called the “As dangerous as a midnight coffee” meme.
Blurb: Five songs for going nuts when IT HAS TO BE DONE. This isn’t the Nike Just Do It song list of inspiration. It is a savage beast that attacks your weaknesses, and gives you the perspective of sickness, thus forcing you to be stronger. The songs have to currently be on a portable music playing device that you listen to at midnight brewing a coffee and getting ready to attack IT (or comparable scenario).

I do own an ipod (well, The Squeeze owns an ipod, and I see it as my Sistahly duty to appropriate it and use it for previewing old skewl jass for DJing on the bus… well I did, when I was catching the bus. I also used to use it for ‘read-a-long’ sessions with Gunther Schuller (I’ve just been humming and ahing over his books on abebooks, btw: I need them. I do. I really do)), but I think this meme really lends itself to the ‘hypothetical set list’.
Midnight Coffee – hm. I’m thinking of late night after parties, when the crowd are warmed up from the first gig, but you’ve just changed venues, so you have to get them really cooking again.
So, to rework the meme-theme, here are five songs that (I’d hope) would work together to GET IT DONE. In other words, five songs that would hopefully drive a crowd of dancers into a frenzy.
Now, five songs really isn’t very much for crowd frenzying, so let’s assume I’ve spent about five songs getting them warmed up.
…actually, I’m going to do two lists. One will be a chronological list of five songs, in the order I’d play to get the crowd nuts. The other list will be five seriously hardcore-kick your muthafucking arse hardcore YAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!! dancing songs that I would never play all in a row. Not if I wanted to have the floor even partly full.
1. ‘Blues In Hoss’ Flat’ Count Basie 142bpm 195? Big Band Renaissance Disc 1 3:13
Because Basie is the only way to kick a bunch of dancers into a frenzy… well, not really, but it’s a nice place to start.
I’m imagining I’m working with the Melbourne crowd at CBD rather than at MLX or another big exchange. Because exchanges are a different kettle of fish.
This song rocks because it’s hi-fi, it’s late Basie, it has some pretty major brass and people know it and love it. It’s also a very manageable 142bpm – a nice warm-up tempo.
2.
…look, this isn’t going to work. Five songs isn’t long enough for me to guarantee mass insanity. I ain’t that good, and I need to see the floor to judge my choices.
Instead, I’m just going to go list five arse kicker songs. The sorts of songs that make me crazy. That I’ve made dancers crazy with (with which I’ve made… whatever). And they’ll probably be my current favourites.
1. ‘Back Room Romp’ Duke Ellington and his Orchestra 155 2000 Ken Burns Jazz: Duke Ellington 2:49
Man, I can’t believe I only have one version of this song! It’s the best. This is a great warm-up track.
… wait, I’m doing it again! I just can’t list five big songs without working up to them!
Ok, now I’m just going to do hardcore, arse kicky songs that I might play at an afterparty. Maybe not all in a row, because the dancers would die. But definitely within one set. Between about 2 and 3 perhaps – when people have all arrived, had a slurpy or their second (or third) Red Bull and something to eat and have the energy to burn. Let’s also say that the room is pretty warm (but not hot – just not chilly), and it’s pretty crowded. But not so crowded you can’t really swing out like a fool.
I’ll try again.
1. ‘Jumpin’ At The Woodside’ Count Basie 237bpm 1938 Ken Burns Jazz Series: Count Basie
The 1930s versions are best. This is one kick your arse song. You can tell Basie got his start with a bit of stride piano with that stomping intro. The tempo is hot (but doable), there are lots of nice layers building up the energy.
Actually, I’m into this now. Now I’m just going to list hardcore songs that I love that would kick your arse if you danced to them all in a row.
2. ‘Lafayette’ Benny Moten’s Kansas City Orchestra with Count Basie 285bpm 1932 Kansas City Powerhouse 2:48
My comments for this one read “difficult but good fast dancing; ok quality”. It comes in shouting and then pounds away at 285bpm. I’ve never danced to it, I’m not sure you could, but it’s a cracking song. I like the stompy base. Basie of course began with Moten’s band – this is hot Kansas city action (those Kansas doods were wilder and rougher).
3. ‘Hotter Than Hell’ Fletcher Henderson 275bpm 1934 Tidal Wave 2:58
This is one frickin’ fast song. But it really rocks. Henderson is the king of hot, arse-kicking music for lindy hopping.
…I’m getting really excited listening to this stuff. It’s going to be impossible to settle down and work after this.
4.’Blues In The Groove’ Jimmie Lunceford and his Orchestra 205bpm 1939 Lunceford Special 1939-40 2:35
Not everyone’s pick of the Lunceford action (I know I was torn between this and ‘Lunceford Special’ or ‘Blue Blazes’), but this one, while it doesn’t have that pounding, driving structure is one of those songs that you can’t help but dance to – it makes you jump up and jiggle around. So it’s a ‘get it done song’ because it’ll get you dancing, despite yourself. And that’s a DJ’s job – getting people dancing despite themselves.
5. ‘Rigamarole’ Willie Bryant And His Orchestra 240bpm Willie Bryant 1935-1936 2:35
This one doesn’t actually sound all that fast, but it really builds you up and makes you crazy. It says DANCE MUTHAHFUCKAH! So people generally do. Mostly like crazy fools. It has shouting in it as well, which always helps. I often play the Mora’s Modern Rhythmists version for dancers because the quality is better, but the MMR version doesn’t have the same punch as Bryant’s.
That’s it, then.
There are about a million other songs I could have listed – we’re all about hard fast, getting-you-moving music here in the swinguverse – but these are five of my favourites.
I know some people’d be suprised to see no ‘Ride Red Ride’ in there, or ‘Man from Mars’ (or Chick Webb at all) or ‘Sugar Foot Stomp’ in some incarnation. I’m also a bit sorry not to have any really hot Ellington action there something like ‘Jubilee Stomp’, a 1928 Ellington track that clocks in at 265bpm (I have it on The Duke Ellington Centennial Edition: Complete RCA Victor Recordings (disc 01)) would have been a sensible addition. But I could have gone on forever. I could have done a top 5 Basie arse kicking songs. Or a top 5 old skewl. And I didn’t even touch the dixie or ‘charleston’ music.
Anyone got 5 other good, arse kicking, ‘get it done’, ‘dangerous as midnight coffee’ music?