Prince Language
is a good reason to visit New York these days. His «Negro Clash» parties and his DJ gigs at P1 are paying lots of homage to the city’s disco heritage. The Chicago-raised disco fanatic released several edits and remixes for artists like LCD Soundsystem, Stateless and The Juan MacLean.
I’m usually partially deaf and ready to pass out by then, but some JJ Cale might sound awfully nice if not.
A gorgeous Antonio Carlos Jobim composition.
Anything from Casino Vs. Japan’s «Go Hawaii» album, cause it will hopefully snap me out of it. But Tindersticks is good if you feel like wallowing.
I actually loved to play with Legos as a kid, but I don’t recall my preferred soundtrack. Maybe some Led Zeppelin.
Maybe the best Primo beat ever. The best thing about 90s hip-hop was pretty beats under thuggy rhymes.
«When Abilene was young and gay, and thunder storms filled up the day ... the cattle roamed outside the town... sleeping in the midday sun».
I was on the phone with my friend Darshan when I was at A1 Records in NYC, and he asked me to look for this for him. I wanted to buy it for myself once I listened to it! But I was a good friend, and for my trouble it took me 5 years to find another one!
Or more accurately, was raped by a sexy older woman to…
This is the first song I remember waiting to hear come on the radio when I was a kid. A fitting start for me I guess.
A gorgeous, spooky dub of «I Shall Be Released».
I dunno about that really, but I do remember the summer of 1989 when «Fight The Power» came out. That always seems like a real summer song to me – summer in the city especially.
I love it when Teddy Pendergrass shouts.
It was actually two 12”s.
I have a really hard time not playing this every time I DJ.
It is the current one, as a matter of fact.
Marcel Proust: «Swann's Way». You can pretty much re-read this one forever and ever. / Legs McNeil & Gillian Welch: «Please Kill Me». I'm a bit of a sucker for gossipy music books, and this is maybe the finest of them all. / Malcolm X & Alex Haley: «The Autobiography Of Malcolm X». I used to read this every year when I was a kid. A great reminder of the possibility of change.
I listen to this almost every night before and while falling asleep. I can’t think of a more gorgeous album. If you get a chance, check out the movie that it’s the soundtrack for («From The Earth To Moon») which is a documentary about the Apollo space program. It contains some of the most vivid footage of the moon landings ever filmed.
I’m not hugely into opera, but there is something about Puccini, especially as sung by Price, that is really arresting. Sounds really good at night.
Hard to pick just one Dylan, so I’ll go with an oddball that tends to get overlooked.
«Manhattan» (by Woody Allen). Don’t think I’ll ever tire of watching this. Woody Allen is tied with Godard and Spike Lee for my favorite director, and this is the most concise and beautiful expression of his aesthetic. «Pierrot Le Fou» (by Jean-Luc Godard). The first Godard film I ever saw, and in a big theatre no less. It made so much sense to me at the time, so poetic. «Il Gattopardo» (by Luchino Visconti). One of the most amazing and vivid (and yet utterly fantastical) depictions of historical period. Burt Lancaster is amazing as the aging prince watching the Italian monarchy crumble away. The party scene at the end of the movie is amazing. People liked to stay up all night two centuries ago as much as we do now, evidently.
How to play piano properly, especially things by Erik Satie / How to roast a chicken properly / How to be satisfied
New York Times / New York Observer / The New Yorker (I know, I’m a bit of an urban chauvinist.)
The ability to get a sandwich at 4 in the morning / my friends / the noise.
I’m not a pet guy.
I can’t relate to that idea, knowing by heart – having someting down cold. I like to think that music is always experienced uniquely and differently. Sorry for the pretentious answer!
Corkscrew / knife / and uh, man I don’t know. Do shorts count as a tool?
