New York 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

When the usual stable of Christmas pop songs are dusted off and hauled back out to the world around early November, many people complain they’re sick of hearing these same tunes over and over on the radio, in stores and at holiday parties. But when it comes to making a playlist for a Christmas party, most of us will simply throw on the radio stations that play this (at times) mind-numbing mix of Christmas classics, or we’ll make a mix CD that may include a few lesser-played or quirky Christmas songs but overall mostly contains the familiar takes of singers from Sinatra to Diana Krall on “Silver Bells,” “Let it Snow,” “Silent Night” and the like.

It’s understandable – at a Christmas party it’s hard to be a music snob. As a host, it makes sense to give your guests a fun atmosphere that’s accessible and upbeat, and, unless it’s an announced “theme” Christmas party involving a more offbeat selection of music, too much sad acoustic indie-pop or experimental noise-rock covers of Christmas songs might not add to the festiveness much, or could take away from it. And new Christmas songs, of whatever genre or style, rarely tend to be memorable, at least in a good way.

An exception to this rule that can add a little freshness to your Christmas party music playlist is the album Snow Angels by the alt-countryish band Over the Rhine. (We’re a big fan of theirs, go here for a post I did about a great song from an older album of theirs that can be used for a first dance at a wedding, or just in general as a nice addition to a wedding dinner music playlist.)

On Snow Angels, first released in late 2006, Over the Rhine has created a sturdy, cozy collection of jazzy, acoustic, and slightly bluesy pop songs about Christmas and/or winter that feel impressively like covers of classic Christmas songs but are all (save for a few actual covers) their own. There’s striking melodies of all moods in their original songs, from the melancholy remembrances of “Snow Angel” to the playful sweetness of “Snowed in With You” to the sultry slow-burn of “North Pole Man.” All these tunes, too, have lyrics that take a cue from American Songbook pop standards in that they’re sentimental without being treacly. Also, the production is clean but always kept simple and not too polished – much like vintage mid-century holiday classics – and the versatility of singer Karin Bergquist’s warm voice is able to convincingly sell the feel of the songs, whether they’re concerned with longing, promise, sexiness, playfulness, or anything else.

Of all these great songs, though, the standout is “(Darlin’) Christmas is Coming.” With its old radio-like echo of the word “darlin’” throughout, its gently bouncing verses rising into a sweetly soaring chorus, and its inclusion of charming lyrical detail like the ringing of Salvation Army bells, or beautiful images like snow “falling like forgiveness from the sky,” this is a tune that does a most difficult thing – it connects with the spirit of those long-ago Christmas classics but doesn’t sound at all derivative of them. I think Irving Berlin and Bing Crosby would be impressed.

Unfortunately, because there only seems to be room for superstar artists’ covers these days when it comes to new Christmas music being heard by the general public, this song will probably never reach a wide audience and become the classic it should be. So if you like it, help it out a little and let the world know about it.

Over the Rhine – (Darlin’) Christmas is Coming

I’ve been away from the blog for almost a month – much longer than I had intended – but this was largely because for about two weeks I was on a road trip vacation with my girlfriend. I returned eager to make a collection of songs that people could use for all kinds of road trips – weekend getaways taken with a significant other, meditative solo excursions out of town, long family vacations, and so forth.

Now, this is a blog in which I usually write about how to use music and the DJ to make events such as corporate parties, weddings, and fashion shows succeed on a higher level. So DJ advice on songs for a road trip might seem a bit out of place – after all, road trips are not really considered an event, they of course don’t feature live DJs spinning from the passenger’s seat, and the music which people bring with them in their cars for a road trip is often very personal.

But then again, our company doesn’t only DJ events that are live. We also provide carefully pre-crafted mixes of songs to clients as well. For example, when we provide music mixes to a restaurant in the city, the most important element is not beat-matching and getting people to dance, but the more mellow mission of crafting a mood or moods that enhance the guests’ time eating dinner or drinking cocktails. Plus, I took a look on iTunes and found their road trip collection – though fun – felt a bit generic and one dimensional. Sure, the iTunes collection might give some people a smile on their trip to blast “I Can’t Drive 55” by Sammy Hagar or “Life is a Highway” by…by…uh, that one guy who sung it, but there are so many other moods that music can put you in touch with on a road trip than just rockin’ out. Road trips can offer moments for pleasant reflections, for melancholy musings, for innocent joy, for quiet sadness, and a lot more kinds of feelings.

And really, a road trip is a sort of event to those embarking on it. It almost always arouses some sort of passionate feeling, usually it involves some degree of planning, and ever since cassette decks and Certron C-60 tapes came out in the early '70s, mixes of music have been almost as important as the gas money.

So I’ve assembled a mix of songs that hopefully you aren’t too familiar with, and that cover a range of emotions and that go with a variety of moments, from driving through the lights of a big city late at night to cruising along an empty rural highway under clear blue skies and bright sunshine. There’s mellow acoustic guitar instrumentals, folk, indie rock, electronica, classic rock, roots reggae, vintage country, vintage rock, synthpop, alt-country, blues, and more. From some of the songs' subject matter – cars, highways, welcome escapes, anticipated reunions – you'll be able to tell they're related to the theme, but other songs were chosen simply because they just have a certain feel – be it propulsive, sweet, lush, moody, dreamy, austere – that goes well with different kinds of road trip moments.

I'm sure there's a lot of great music out there that I don't know about that you really adore on your road trips. I encourage you to comment below with any suggestions you think would be good for people to know more about for a road trip mix, whatever the mood of the song, and if I get enough I'll make another mix incorporating those suggestions. Just please don’t include the obvious stuff that we've all seen in too many Hollywood movies or car commercials, like Foghat’s “Slow Ride” or Billy Ocean’s “Get Outta My Dreams, Get into My Car.” We all know about those songs too much, and unfortunately we can’t forget them.

Go here to check out the mix.