New York DJ

Over many years of DJ-ing non-traditional weddings in New York City and the surrounding area, we’ve seen that the increasingly popular phrase “indie wedding” - like the “indie music” aesthetic it’s largely derived from - is a wide-ranging idea that encompasses all kinds of different styles. But in general, it often eschews much of the feel of “grandness” of traditional ceremonies and receptions - from the fussy long dresses to the large catering hall to the cake cutting.

The more stripped-down and often eclectic indie wedding concept seems to partly a reaction to this traditional kind of fancier-looking wedding experience, and how it has seemingly throughout the last few generations become a one-size-fits-all package of assembly-line luxury that’s incessantly marketed and promoted from storefronts to television to the internet. Many of the couples we work for have told us that this style doesn’t appeal to them because of its generic feel, suspected insincerity on the part of its sellers, or often simply because its “blinging out” every aspect of the celebration doesn’t reflect a vibe that these couples want to portray to others, or be surrounded with.

Therefore, many couples who want an indie wedding will make things more personal (and often more inexpensive) - they’ll have a ceremony in the backyard of one of their parent’s homes instead of a chapel, or have the reception in a historical society museum instead of a “wedding factory”-style hall that schedules multiple weddings at once, or they’ll have cupcakes instead of a formal cake cutting moment. To some, this might sound reductive - and handled the wrong way it certainly could be. But to so many couples in the city we have worked with, these couples see a bit less as a lot more - more, in that their wedding will feel a lot more reflective of their spirit, as well as more fresh and less predictable to their guests.

Of course, these couples usually want music that reflects their mostly non-mainstream tastes. (Over the years we have put together a large amount of blog posts of recommendations of songs for all components of indie weddings and weddings of a more eclectic style; go here to read them.) While most couples going for the indie wedding vibe won’t go completely esoteric on their dance playlist as not to alienate guests, for the earlier parts of the wedding, they generally want to use music - especially at the ceremony - to establish their more simple and/or eclectic vibe.

But simply-constructed or obscure songs don't mean the music for an indie wedding ceremony has to feel small or unelegant - there are plenty of tunes out there that don't use orchestras, or even a ton of schmaltzy production effects, and yet still conjure a magical or expansive mood. A perfect example of this is the song “Walk With Me” by the Toronto duo Memoryhouse (from their recent debut album The Slideshow Effect, pictured above). "Walk With Me" begins with a soft, dreamy sound that chimes along for a few moments until airy but clear female vocals deliver a mix of visually concrete and emotionally reflective lyrics - skylines and heads resting on shoulders are mentioned alongside remembrances of youth and leaving behind old ways. Then, as the chorus kicks in and increases the energy and sweep of the song, the vocals center on the idea of walking together into a new, better life. The mingling of the tangible with the more abstract, as well as the ethereal atmosphere of the tune, give the song a distinct cinematic feel, as if it's meant to accompany a flashback scene from some art house film.

Have a listen, and if you enjoy the mood the song creates, I think you’ll find it quite easy to picture a wedding processional starting for the quiet but evocative verses that introduce the tune, and then the bride entering on the chorus, when the pace gets faster, the sound bigger, and the lyrics poignantly applicable to the moment just before marriage as the vocalist sings: This life could be / grace with symmetry / walk with me / do you walk with me?

Also, as a bonus, there’s a quiet break toward the end of the song, and then it picks up again and repeats the chorus to the end - a moment that could be played on a couple's kiss or an officiant’s pronouncement, so as to use the chorus' lyrics of walking together to capture the joy and festivity of a ceremony recessional.

Memoryhouse - Walk With Me

Hold on – this is not a new version of the classic doo-wop oldie by The Monotones, the one that has been way over-played in commercials for so many years.

While the indie band The Magnetic Fields' "The Book of Love" uses the same concept that the vintage song of the same title does – imagining the existence of an actual "how-to" book of love – this newer version manages, through a spare arrangement, a lovely melody, and lyrics that deftly alternate between humor and poignancy, to wring more complex moods out of the concept than just malt-shop sweetness.

We featured this song on one of our many indie pop playlists (go here for the link to that post) a bit ago. But, given that recently the song received a large dose of visibility due to Peter Gabriel covering it and that version being used in the finale of the TV show Scrubs, we figured the song deserved more attention as to why it's such a great first dance song for couples looking for an indie song that delivers a more original, eclectic take on romance – a take which we find so many couples in New York City often prefer that a DJ uses at their weddings.

"The Book of Love" was originally released in 1999, on the first volume (pictured at left) of The Magnetic Fields' triple album 69 Love Songs, and the tune has some of the album's most playful and touching lyrics. (Many indie pop fans are probably aware of The Magnetic Fields' singer Stephin Merritt, who also fronts several other indie bands and sometimes works solo, as one of the indie pop world's most respected songwriters.)

In the three verses to "The Book of Love," Merritt wryly paints a picture of an actual, physical book of love as mostly undesirable – it's heavy, long, boring, and contains a lot of outdated material. But yet in each chorus, he affirms that, since he’s so enamored of his significant other, anything – even reading or singing from such a largely unappealing book – can be pleasurable. And while the lyrics are funny and poignant, the music delivers as well. A seemingly distorted but still delicate ukelele under Merritt's warm baritone, and how the melody of the chorus gently soars hopefully upward perfectly establishes a mood of sweetness – not a sugary, doo-wop sweetness like the golden oldie, but a stripped-down, ramshackle sweetness that's quite moving.

The Peter Gabriel version, from his recent album of cover songs called Scratch My Back, (pictured at right) keeps much the same melody and lyrics, but violin and cello accompaniment add a more orchestral, lush mood. Also, because Gabriel doesn't linger on the humor of the verses as much as Merritt, the song comes across as more romantic, but less playful. However, this more polished-sounding version may have a slightly wider appeal to couples, and Gabriel's voice paired with a romantic song is almost always quite affecting and intimate, and this cover is no exception.

As a final pitch to you for using this song as a first dance, listen to the last chorus, and you'll likely think it's even more perfect to use.

The Magnetic Fields – The Book of Love

Peter Gabriel – The Book of Love

When we meet to talk with clients about music for their event, often the first thing we notice is that they've already dejectedly decided the music they really like and want to hear won't be able to be played at their event.

It may be a designer in a fashion show thinking that the music she wants to use for her fashion line will be too ethereal a sound to keep the audience interested. Or a couple who loves moody acoustic indie pop but thinks it would be too much of a downer to play a little at their wedding Or an organizer of a corporate party who worries that the employees won’t dance because they tend to like raw Southern hip-hop and their bosses wouldn’t. Whatever the case, whatever the event, it seems this kind of unfortunate premature musical censorship is everywhere.

It often comes from a good place of common sense or consideration, like an organizer at a art opening knowing that prospective buyers might not want to hear his beloved deep cuts of ‘70s classic rock all night long. But some of our clients’ decisions that their favorite songs or genres won’t work comes not from a good place at all, but instead from having met with conventional, unimaginative DJs that tend to work for bigger, more cookie-cutter DJ companies. We’ve heard from these clients that some of these DJs have told them straight up that the only way to get a party movin’ is to play disco all night.

Whatever the reason for clients' doubts in the music they love, one of the first things we tell them – no matter what their event –  is to open up their mind, revisit their CD collection or iPod, and make their “dream list” of songs they want to hear, with no censoring allowed. Put anything in you would love to hear. Not only does it make the process of selecting music easier, but also more fun. It will get you excited about the possibilities of hearing this music, as opposed to nixing songs right away and feeling frustrated that the soundtrack to the event is already not what you would like.

Now, will all these "dream songs" end up making the cut when the event arrives? Sometimes many of them do, sometimes they don't. But what always happens is that when we see these “dream lists” and talk a bit with the client to see what music is most important to them, we can then use our experience in knowing what of these songs will work given the mood that is wanted at the event, as well as what kind of guests will be there, and what kind of structure the event will have. Then we can suggest which songs to keep, which to think about not using. For example, a pair of melancholy indie songs at the more sedate moments in a wedding can feel absolutely right and even moving. So can a set of obscure hardcore punk during the more boisterous moments of a corporate party. And even a little experimental progressive rock can enhance the feeling of an art opening, if played at the right time.

By far, many more of the songs you really want at your event then you ever think you can play are actually able to be fit in, but not only that, they can be made to add to the atmosphere of the event. But to do it, you have to begin by letting the DJ know what you really want to hear. And if that DJ looks at your list, smirks, and says something about how you can't have a party without having "the Y" on your list, well, you know the time has come to find a different DJ.

These days, if you’re not that familiar with indie pop and rock, and only see and hear the bands or singers at the more popular end of the indie spectrum, it’s easy to think all this kind of music falls into one of two types: either, 1) quiet, mopey acoustic folk sung by skinny white guys with thick beards, or, 2) spastic, nervy pop songs sung by skinny white guys (or girls) wearing tight jeans. 

That may be a little simplistic, but judging from the covers of Spin or Rolling Stone for the past couple years, that conclusion doesn’t seem complete hyperbole because these are the two type of indie music that tend to be most hyped. Many who don’t know indie music much might think then that indie is either only for private listening, since the quiet folksy stuff is too sad to play at the mellower parts of an event like dinner or cocktail time, and the dancier pop stuff is just too obscure for all but a few to know.

But as a dj in nyc who is exposed to so much new music of all genres each year both new and old, both obscure and mainstream, trust me – the world of indie pop and rock is much more wide-ranging than simply the sounds of what grabs the most media attention. (If you're looking for a general and expansive list of all kinds of indie songs from the '60s until now, check out our indie playlists on iTunes by typing in "iMix", then searching "djnyc", as well as looking at the indie categories on this blog and at the dj nyc news & music blog located here.) In our list below, and playable on iTunes here there’s a huge diversity of sound and level of media visibility in terms of the artists: There’s fun, upbeat indie music great for cocktail time that looks back to the sounds of early Prince (Empire of the Sun’s “Walking On a Dream”, MGMT’s very recognizable “Electric Feel”) or the pop soul of 1960s era girl groups (The School’s “I Want You Back”, Camera Obscura’s “Honey in the Sun”); there’s melodic dance grooves that look to the future by creating fresh, lush electronic soundscapes (Annie’s “Bad Times”); there’s lovely, sentimental songs of a folksy-country mood (Laura Cantrell’s cover of New Order’s “Love Vigilantes”, The Avett Brothers’ "I & Love & You”) that will probably be the talk of your dinner party for a bit. 

In fact, the “indie” label that has become so popular and rather thoughtlessly thrown around in the past decade or so has become such a catch-all that it’s almost without meaning in terms of defining a specific sound; to many people it means a lot of different sounds. About the only thing the term is useful for is alerting you to the likely presence of a certain sensibility – being somehow new and fresh and adventurous, and going against the grain of the mainstream in a variety of ways, even if at times that newness is a retro sound that’s been off the map for awhile.

And don't think indie music can only be used here and there as an occasional filler; it often can be showcased. There’s some indie songs on our list we played this year for important signature moments, like wedding first dances: The Yeah Yeah Yeah’s “Hysteric (acoustic version)”, a strikingly simple and tender song about love enduring after difficult experiences that features a beautifully crisp female vocal, and the quite close-to-mainstream Ray LaMontagne, with “You Are the Best Thing”, a bouncy, smoky tune that echoes ‘70s Rod Stewart, from that time long ago when his music had a gritty, rough-edged sexiness to it.

And remember, the indie music you choose to play today at your event could give you some "cool points" tomorrow for being seen to be the first to break out a song that later becomes popular and loved. Not so long ago bands like the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and singers like Ray LaMontagne were considered obscure, and now they’re on Saturday Night Live.

1. Electric Feel – MGMT
2. Bruises – Chairlift
3. First Train Home – Imogen Heap
4. Walking On a Dream – Empire of the Sun
5. The’59 Sound – The Gaslight Anthem
6. Honey in the Sun – Camera Obscura
7. Lisztomania – Phoenix
8. Vanished – Crystal Castles
9. Love Vigilantes – Laura Cantrell
10. Sleepyhead – Passion Pit
11. I & Love & You – The Avett Brothers
12. Hysteric (acoustic version) – Yeah Yeah Yeahs
13. My Girls – Animal Collective
14. Dominos – The Big Pink
15. This Tornado Loves You – Neko Case
16. You Are the Best Thing – Ray LaMontagne
17. I Want You Back – The School
18. Bad Times – Annie