New York DJ

The Velvet Underground are considered one of biggest godfathers of today's indie pop and rock music. This is largely because in the late 1960s the group introduced an often dissonant, experimental, unpolished style to rock, as well as treated dark themes like drug use and the hedonism of the New York City party scene they were associated with in a gritty, straightforward way.

Of course, not all bands and performers that were to be called "alternative" and then later "indie" in years to come incorporated these exact elements, but so many underground pop and rock groups from the past 40 years – from Joy Division to The Pixies to Radiohead – have, like the Velvet Underground, introduced what at first were strange new sounds and often unlikely and edgy themes into the world of pop music.

But due to the Velvet Underground's often bleak lyrics and dissonant, droning guitar riffs, sometimes forgotten is that many of their songs had a languorous, shimmering beauty – and along with this, a few songs even had tender and affirmative lyrics. One of the best examples of this is a tune from their first album (produced by Andy Warhol), The Velvet Underground and Nico, called "I'll Be Your Mirror." It was released also as a single, as the b-side to another track off the album, "All Tomorrow's Parties."

"I'll Be Your Mirror" is a brief, sweet song in which the singer desires to show a person how great he or she is at the times when that person can't see it. Because it's the Velvet Underground working with Andy Warhol, this pleasant but rather generic sentiment is given a memorable quirkiness due to the vocals of Nico, a tall German model-turned- vocalist who handled lead vocals on this song and a couple others on the album.

Nico's performance shouldn't really have worked. She's pretty, but her voice isn't very good – it's sometimes off-key, and her English fights through a deep German accent. And while the vocal comes across as odd and icy, it's a credit of the band (and likely Warhol, too), that the oddness sounds endearing – there's a vulnerability to Nico's voice that deepens the sentiment of the song’s lyrics.

Just this might be enough for the couples that often hire us to DJ at their weddings, since they're often looking for a first dance that's sentimental, but also has some sort of eccentric charm. But for those who might like the melody of the song and not be a fan of Nico's vocals, also posted here are two cover versions of the song. The first is from 1989, the second is from 2003 – showing not only the continued affection that the Velvets have had in other artists’ minds over the years, but that the band created a song over 40 years ago that's been sturdy enough to work well when covered in two very different styles.

The Primitives, an English guitar fuzz-pop band best known for their bubbly single "Crash," covered "I'll Be Your Mirror" on a b-side to their single "Sick of It." Their version takes the song in a dreamier, more polished direction, though a bit of ragged guitar jangle shows the Velvet Undergound influence. Singer Tracy Tracy's sweet, lullaby-esque vocals that slighly recall the sound of early '60s girl groups are the star here. I heard this version first, so it's The Primitives’ more full-sounding treatment of the song that I have memories with – though of course those familiar with the original version may accept no substitute for Nico.

Clem Snide, an American alt-country group, recorded their version of the song on a 2003 release called A Beautiful EP. This version is the most stripped-down of the three, featuring only acoustic guitar, a bit of strings, and the fragile vocal – this time a male vocal – of lead singer Eef Barzelay. The effect of this "alt-countrification" of the song is makes it very inimate and warm – listening to it makes you feel like you’re hearing it sung to you while sitting around a campfire.

Whether you prefer vintage offbeat charm, dreamy pop, or mellow alt-country, give a listen to "I'll Be Your Mirror" and consider it for your first dance – however it’s recorded, its tender foundation reflects clearly through.

The Velvet Underground – I'll Be Your Mirror

The Primitives – I'll Be Your Mirror

Clem Snide – I'll Be Your Mirror

Last Thursday, a recent nationally-syndicated interview aired that we did for NPR’s “Marketplace.” In the interview, we discuss with reporter Jeremy Hobson what makes a great retro flashback song, and how a new generation is becoming just old enough to want to hear nostalgic tunes from their childhood at the clubs, bars and events they attend  – usually after several drinks, that is. Have a look and a listen:

American Marketplace – 03/25/10

Here’s the audio of the interview (It’s a podcast, our segment starts at 23:15 elapsed):

djnyc – NPR

There’s certain songs that are commonly played at all kinds of events that get a wide range of guys onto the dance floor – especially after they’ve had a few drinks. These anthemic songs are ones that you probably know work well to get the dance-floor male bonding going – the jock jam staple “Jump Around” by House of Pain, Nirvana’s grunge masterpiece “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” or the fist-pumping, partying call-to-arms of “Rock and Roll All Nite” by Kiss.

But beyond these familiar “go-to” songs that DJs often pull out, we’ve found that on the internet there really isn’t a lot more original or fresh choices of music recommended to get guys a little charged up at events.

Sure, plenty of playlists will say you should crack out those songs that you’d think might work from seeing guys party to them in movies, like Bachman Turner Overdrive’s “Takin’ Care of Business” or Steppenwolf’s “Born to be Wild.” But in actual practice, we’ve found that these songs feel much too tired and predictable to work. Even when drunk, most guys still have some sort of judgment when it comes to being lame. They might become a bit stupid after 4.5 beers, but they usually won’t become lame.

However, there are songs that we’ve found work really well to get guys on the dance floor that you might know but haven’t heard a million times before, or might not even think would work to up the energy of an event.

Here’s a mix of ten songs in a range of genres that are “battle-tested” in that we’ve found guys love them when played at the right time. With some of these songs it’s easy to see what guys like about them: both the near-Gothic cry of “the world drags me down” from The Cult’s “She Sells Sanctuary” and the confrontational declaration "fuck you I won't do what you told me" from Rage Against the Machine's "Killing in the Name" are quite cathartic for many guys to shout along with, and “Scenario” by A Tribe Called Quest is a more raw, more "street-cred" version of “Jump Around.” But with other tunes, like Rush’s “Limelight”  or Living Colour’s “Cult of Personality” the appeal isn't as easy to pin down, other than it might be simply be that the song rocks.

Usually, our mixes are longer than only ten songs, but in this case, we tried to only include songs that, in our experience, tend to only be danced to by guys. Yes, there's plenty of songs that are nearly "guy-only," but that some girls like just as well, such as a lot of '80s heavy metal or '90s punk/ska like the Mighty Mighty Bosstones or Rancid. The songs on this mix are songs that pretty much exclusively produce a response from guys, just as "Dancing Queen" almost exclusively produces a response from girls. See? Now you get it – simply put, songs that usually strictly appeal to guys and get them dancing without any girls around, no less, are not that easy to find. But when you do find them, they're great to bring out when your event needs a little male bonding.

During events, we’ve found that for many guys, getting "into" songs such as these need not result in them being  inspired to form a mosh pit, or do an impromptu break dance cheered on by old college buddies. Sure, this amount of intensity is fun and often welcome, but also it’s just as cool to see a song allowing a bunch of male friends to have nice genuine, and even rather well-behaved moment of dancing together, or simply to inspire the nodding of some heads and maybe a little air guitar together while they have a drink at the bar or catch up while eating dinner.

Yes, despite what those new-ish punny, headline-catching books about “brocabulary” and “bromance” suggest, the act of guys having a good time together can indeed can be subtle now and then.

So go for it, guys (and girls, of course) – have a listen.

In a recent post introducing the Monroes’ song “What Do All the People Know,” I mentioned that due to about a decade-and-a-half of ’80s nights at dance clubs, as well as “flashback lunch” radio programs being commonplace now for about ten years, it seems harder and harder to hear a song from the ’80s that you loved to dance to but truly forgot about since.

Well, we’ve dug around on iTunes and put together a mix of 25 songs from the ’80s that we’ll bet many of you haven’t heard since you owned the song’s 12″ or cassingle (now there’s a word for those of you who remember the late ’80s!). And even if you have heard some of these since their heyday, we’ll bet that you’ll think they’re still fresh, and that you haven’t heard many of these songs on the radio during your lunch break, or even at the typical ‘80s club night.

Included here are mostly underplayed mainstream songs from the decade, with a nod to freestyle (Noel’s “Silent Morning”), hi-energy (Company B’s “Fascinated”) and R & B (Oran Juice Jones’ “The Rain,” Ready for the World’s “Oh Sheila”). Mixes of underplayed songs from other ’80s genres, like rap/hip-hop, hard rock/heavy metal, and alternative/underground pop, may be forthcoming but here we concentrated on mostly radio hits and dance club pop.

Some standout tunes on this iMix include the bright, faux-jazzy charm of “Breakout” by Swing Out Sister (the single’s cover is pictured); the sublime Motown-esque groove of “Town Called Malice” by The Jam; and, doing their best New Order imitation, Kon Kan with “I Beg Your Pardon” – a song that will surely give you that exhilarating shot of first-time nostalgia for it, as it was huge on the dance floors at the end of the ’80s, yet it has been undeservedly all but forgotten since.

Go here to listen to the mix.