Category Archives: The Playlist

Get This Album Now, Music, The Playlist

Get This Album Now: Taleen Kali “Flower of Life”

Taleen Kali Flower of Life album cover
Get Taleen Kali’s new album, Flower of Life, now.

Taleen Kali has a new album out today called Flower of Life and you need to hear it.

Last August, I got to DJ for Taleen Kali’s tour kickoff show at Rubycon Records in Los Angeles. One of the joys of that night was getting to hear Taleen and the band play music from Flower of Life, an album that was, at that point, still months away from release. I remember them ripping through “Trash Talk” most vividly. There’s an immediacy to the song. I had never heard it before that night— it wasn’t released as a single until that November— but, by the song’s end, I felt like I knew it. To me, that’s the sign of a killer pop song. 

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Beatique Mix, Music, The Playlist

Listen to Beatique #3 Now

Album covers for PP Arnold The Turning Tide, Sam Redmore Universal Vibrations, Grey Factor 1979-1980 AD Complete Studio Recordings, Taleen Kali Flowers of Life
Beatique #3 includes music from P.P. Arnold, Sam Redmore, Grey Factor, Taleen Kali and more.

I just posted this month’s Beatique mix, which you can listen to either on Mixcloud or on this page. It’s composed of two eclectic sets, with the second set being a club-style mix, that includes indie dance, disco, soul, psychedelic and weird electronic tunes. Give it a listen and check out the full track list below. 

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Classic Jams, Music, The Playlist

The Five Midnight Special Disco Performances You Need to Watch

Diana Ross performing "Love Hangover" on The Midnight Special in 1976.
Diana Ross performing “Love Hangover” on The Midnight Special in 1976.

In 1972, the concept of a music television show designed to keep people glued to their television sets in the middle of the night was novel. In fact, it was so unusual that, according to various interviews with the Burt Sugarman, the veteran TV producer funded The Midnight Special himself to get the pilot on the air. That initial episode aired at 1 a.m. and featured performances from War, Linda Ronstadt, The Isley Brothers and more. The format was a hit and The Midnight Special ran until 1981. Today, there is plenty of footage to watch online and multiple DVD sets available, all of which serve as a 1970s time capsule. If you watch enough clips from The Midnight Special— and, trust me, I have— you’ll see the decade evolve from funky hippies to disco to new wave.

On The Midnight Special, viewers could check out artists from across genres. T. Rex, Kraftwerk, Minnie Riperton, The Doobie Brothers and Dolly Parton are just a few who appeared on the show. Here, though, I’m focusing on the disco clips you need to see. Check them out below. 

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Beatique Mix, The Playlist

The Beatique Mix Is Out Now

Back cover of Fun Boy Three debut album, inspiration for Beatique mix
Back cover of Fun Boy Three’s debut album. You’ll hear “It Ain’t What You Do…” on this month’s Beatique mix

If you have some time, check out the first installment of my Beatique Mix series. These monthly shows will be about an hour long and divided into two sets. The first set is more like a regular radio segment and the second is a club mix. It’s not tied to any genre or era of music. It’s just good music that has been in my personal rotation lately. Hope you enjoy it. 

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Classic Jams, DJ Diary, Got It On Vinyl, The Playlist

I Love Playing These Five Depeche Mode Songs

Depeche Mode 12" vinyl single for "Everything Counts" Depeche Mode vinyl 12" single for "Love in Itself" with "Fools (Bigger) on B side
Depeche Mode 12″ singles for “Everything Counts” and “Love in Itself” from my vinyl collection.

There’s one band I’ve played more than any other in my DJ sets. That’s Depeche Mode. The British synthpop pioneers have been a part of my gigs, often regardless of the vibe of the party, since I started DJing. I doubt this will ever change. 

I’ve been a Depeche Mode fan since I was a kid, but there are a lot of bands that I’ve loved for most of my life and don’t play nearly as often. It does help that L.A. has a lot of Depeche Mode fans. Outside of the clubs, the band frequently appears on request lists for weddings and birthday parties. But, that’s also not really the reason for so much Depeche Mode play. 

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DJ Diary, New Music, The Playlist

This New Disco Remix of “Goo Goo Muck” Is Incredibly Fun

The Cramps "Goo Goo Muck" Disco Muck Extended Mix from Mark James and Peewee Ferris
“Goo Goo Muck” now has a disco edit courtesy of Mark James and Peewee Ferris

I fell in love with a incredibly fun and thoughtful disco take on The Cramps’ 1981 cult hit “Goo Goo Muck” from Mark James and Peewee Ferris this morning. It’s not something I expected to find. In fact, I never considered playing a disco variant of any song by The Cramps. But, that’s likely going to change soon. 

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Classic Jams, DJ Diary, The Playlist

Now Is the Time to Rediscover This 1990 Jam from The Human League

The Human League "Heart Like a Wheel"
Cover of the single for “Heart Like a Wheel” by The Human League

In 2022, a 32-year-old song from The Human League started creeping into my sets. I’ve been a fan of the band since childhood and play them often when I DJ. Yet, I never played “Heart Like a Wheel,” let alone the extended mix of the song, before this year. I began playing “Heart Like a Wheel” because I heard it on a MARS FM broadcast nearly as old as the song itself.

MARS FM 103.1 was a short-lived radio station in Los Angeles during the early 1990s with a truly alternative format. While MARS was known as the “rave” radio station, they played everything from Morrissey to Arrested Development to Messiah. (Check out these old playlists.) It was wild. Years after the station’s demise, my friends and I recalled it in many conversations. A lot of us were, in some way, influenced by the sound of MARS. 

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Classic Jams, DJ Diary, DJ Life, Music, The Playlist

You Love This ’00s Indie Dance Mashup

Little Twin Stars CD booklet from 2000s
This Little Twin Stars CD booklet still holds my secret weapons from the ’00s.

One of the songs I played most in 2022 didn’t come out this year. In fact, “Drop the Numb” is an indie dance mashup that dates back to the mid-’00s. I retrieved it from my Little Twin Stars CD booklet filled with music from the heyday of Soulseek and music blogs.

I still don’t know the name of the remixer who fused together Mylo’s club hit “Drop the Pressure” with Scissor Sisters’ cover of “Comfortably Numb.” I wish I did, just so I could say thank you for this banger. 

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DJ Life, Got It On Vinyl, Music, Record Collecting

How to Build a Record Collection: You Need to Know This Before You Buy Vinyl

Record collection of Liz O. including Velvet Underground, Giorgio Moroder, Green Velvet, Cissy Houston, Throbbing Gristle, The White Stripes, Leonard Cohen, Mike Oldfield and Fun Boy Three
Your record collection should reflect how your interests have grown over time. Seen here: The Velvet Underground, Giorgio Moroder, Green Velvet, Cissy Houston, Throbbing Gristle, The White Stripes, Leonard Cohen, Mike Oldfield, Fun Boy Three

In many ways, I don’t think of myself as a record collector. I’m someone who happened to start DJing when CDJs were not as user-friendly as turntables and vinyl, particularly dance and alternative music from the ‘70s and ‘80s, fit my college student budget. Many years later, though, I’ve managed to build a record collection that I still sometimes use to DJ. Mostly, though, it’s a source of personal enjoyment.

Over years of crate digging, I’ve learned  how to build a record collection. I’ll share what I learned here, beginning with how to source records in a way that’s sustainable for you.

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Music, New Music, The Playlist

I Love These 2022 Albums From Boy Harsher, The Weeknd, Wet Leg and Lots More

Up and Away, The Runner, A Bit of Previous and Wet Leg are four fantastic 2022 albums
Vinyl copies of Up and Away, The Runner, A Bit of Previous and Wet Leg

There was a lot of great music that came out this past year, so much that making a list of the best 2022 albums is a near-impossible task. Fortunately, last year, a good friend gave me a notebook designed for keeping track of music, so I was able to keep decent notes on most of the albums I heard in 2022.  I followed the format of that notebook in putting together this list of albums I love and think you should hear. It’s not short— there are 23 full-length albums listed below— nor is it confined to any single genre. These albums aren’t ranked either. Each listing is followed by a link where you can buy the album.

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