Love Sex Magic: A Dance Mix

I'm not sure if I mentioned this, but I'm back at my old coffeeshop job. I'm lucky because I didn't have to learn a whole new job, and Janna has been really accomodating with the schedule/carpool. Customers have been, on the whole, pretty happy to see me. The bottomless cup of coffee is great, too.

The other day, I was on the register. A young woman came in and gave me an inexplicable sort of look (just hang on- I'm going somewhere with this.) I'm a pretty good barista. I'm friendly. I pause after I ask someone how they are so they can actually give me an answer, if they so choose. I smile. I go along with jokes. This young woman was a normal, chatty customer. She got two coffees, one with room, one black, and two scones. She tells me that it was her turn to get the coffee. I look at her like, "Yeah, the give and take nature of a relationship can be SO TOUGH!" She understands my look and responds with, "I actually work at a coffeeshop in Portland, just trying to spread the love!" Then she makes a motion over the counter, as if she was a magician about to make the register vanish. The inexplicable look that she gave me when she walked in was a knowing look- a look that said, "I know customers can be dumb and sometimes you have to fake being nice, but isn't coffee just amazing??"

My response to all of this was, "Oh, that's great," and not, "Oh, that's great, where do you work?" I didn't care. Wherever it is she works, if it's on the peninsula, I've either applied for a job there, spent hours upon hours there or had close friends work there. When you've lived in Portland for five years (five??), in just about every neighborhood East to West, and don't drive, you get to know your coffeeshops. Maybe I'm taking this a little far. Although she was trying to be friendly, it was almost condescending, like Portland is where you go to really make it in the world of coffee and I hadn't. What I wanted to say was (and is also the premise for this post), "Don't you know who I am??" Here's the reason:

Looking for something to do immediately after the State Theatre and Greendrinks winter bash of 2010? Join us for for an after-party featuring dance beats by way of Jamie O'Sullivan and a handful of guest DJ's and local celebrity playlists. Your tiny cover charge gives you a warm feeling in your tummy knowing all proceeds go to Prepare Maine (http://www.preparemaine.org/), an education initiative designed to make sure that education remains a top priority on the state level.

This is this Facebook event description for this thing Slush my friend Alex Steed is putting on Tuesday. I'm one of the local celebrities making a playlist, and it was tongue-in-cheek and mostly for my own enjoyment that I thought to myself, "Don't you know who I am??" I'm flattered by the invite, and it's you, my readers, who have made this possible. You are all awesome, unique little snowflakes. Thank you for being reading this silly thing. (Note: I'm not really a celebrity; hopefully you all get that I'm joking here. Seriously, though, thanks for reading.)

When Alex asked me, I was riding the wave of positive feedback from the Breakup Mix post and really excited to help. A lot of thought went into the mix. I wanted to find the perfect balance of dance hits, my favorite songs, my favorite dance hits, and songs that you like. I spent hours and hours on my MGMT and Lady Gaga  Pandora stations, as well as purchasing new songs on iTunes. Highlights include iTunes Essentials "Indie Electronic" collection, half of which is already on my computer, with the description, "Believe it or not, cool kids everywhere have finally uncrossed their arms and started dancing." I also previewed a lot of songs from a Best of Gossip Girl list on Ping. Ping is something I still don't completely understand and it always sounds like Jerry Seinfeld is saying it in my head.

I made a rough draft and listened to it over and over. There were some songs that I really loved, but couldn't quite fit in. George Harrison "Awaiting on You All," White Town "Your Woman," and Michael Jackson, "P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)," did not make the cut. Harrison was not dancy enough, White Town was too slow, and this is the text message conversation I had with a friend, re: the mix, re: MJ.

Me: I think MJ's gotta go.
Friend: I think the world is still recovering from the postdeath overkill.
Me: I just said the same thing to my roommate and poured one out.
Friend: Poured one out?
Me: To pour an alcoholic drink on the ground in tribute, typically to pay respect to a dead or incarcerated friend. The drink symbolizes one which should have been enjoyed by the absent person.
Friend: Did you just urban dictionary me?

Yes. The track list:

"Walking on Sunshine" You all know that High Fidelity is still the most influential movie of my life. I love the scene where Barry (Jack Black) does this ridiculous dance. This song always perks me up and makes me want to do my own leg kicking, finger snapping, crazy dance.

"A Sweet Summernight on Hammer Hill" Jens Lekman is sort of new in my life, and this song also makes me incredibly happy. The claps and brass section make it a nice transition piece from "Walking on Sunshine" to "American Girl."

"American Girl" I used to despise Tom Petty as part of my all time top five most despised musicians. But then a friend performed this song at karaoke at Flask, and I realized that not only is this a great song, but that I might not hate Tom Petty afterall. I chose this song not just for it's dancability, but also for the idea that Miley Cyrus is like, THE American Girl. 

"Party in the USA" Initially, I was going to put this on repeat for 45 minutes, and have that be the mix. When my roommates aren't home, I do that sort of thing all the time. But then it was decided that it would make my playlist more of a performance piece and less of a dance party. I love this song and I still can't get over this video:

"Nothing to Worry About" I heard this song for the first time back in the days when I was hanging out at the Downtown Lounge four times a week. If you haven't already heard this, it's by Peter, Bjorn and John, the band that did that song "Young Folks," you know, the one with the whistling. I recognized it's booty-shaking potential almost immediately. 

"Say it Right" What kind of a dance mix would be complete without a little Timberland? Nelly Furtado's "I'm Like a Bird," was always mildly irritating, but I was pleasantly surprised when she threw that out and turned up the beats. I was having a difficult time with some of the transitions here, and scoured iTunes for the right song for this spot on the mix, and this is where I ended up. Sure, this song is kind of a sleeper from 2006, but I challenge you to stay seated when this song comes on.

"Cameras" At some point while compliling this mix, I wanted to try and cater to my audience as nuch as possible, which means people who generally hang out at Space. Matt & Kim definitely fit the bill, but I'll admit  the only Matt & Kim song I knew was "Daylight." I was psyched to find this super catchy track from the same album.

"Time to Pretend" It was hard to decide which MGMT song to use, which was also the case with Phoenix. Sometimes at Retro Night at the Asylum on Thursdays, they hit us with MIA, MGMT and The Knife in a row, and it always gets us going, but they always play "Kids," and I thought "Time to Pretned" fit better than "Electric Feel." We'll see...

"Lasso" Today, I was studying for an exam at the Hilltop Coffeeshop. I went next door to Rosemont Market for a sandwich, and both Hilltop and Rosemont were playing Phoenix. This means one, possibly two things. We all really like Phoenix, and it might be a little overplayed. Consider this track a breather before you throw your back out dancing to the next song...

"Hypnotize" There is a scene from 10 Things I Hate About You which adequitely sums up my love for this song:

At a time in my life when I'd never been to a raging house party or had one taste of alcohol, I was convinced that it was Biggie himself inspiring Kat to jump up on the table and let lose. 

"Love Sex Magic" Much like Timberland, I think no dance mix is complete without a little Justin Timberlake. Mandy and I used to listen to Justified in Bull Moose all the time, clapping in unison, in time with the song, from across the store. Dick in a Box wasn't quite dancy enough. I'm not sure about everyone who frequents this 51 Wharf and Oasis circles, but this song is seriously underplayed as far as I'm concerned. Yes, I believe in love and sex and magic.

"Heartbeats" New dancefloor staple. Hands down. Enough said.

"My Head" Arguably the least dancable song on the mix, but it had to be included for all of my friends who have been going into Cult Maze withdrawal since they broke up.