Jessica Suarez

OMG this is happening right now. (at Louie’s and Chan)

Fri, 23 May 2014 22:59:38 -0400

OMG this is happening right now. (at Louie’s and Chan)

Dubbel Dutch is great, he’s produced Le1f and Popcaan...

Mon, 19 May 2014 17:28:19 -0400

Dubbel Dutch is great, he’s produced Le1f and Popcaan recently.

The303 @ Louie and Chan is cool. It’s in Manhattan and it’s classy but has plenty of trouble spots for secret meetings and rendezvous.

I am DJing early early.

Email adultsonlynyc@gmail.com to RSVP (for free entry before midnight).

Or click here: bit.ly/adultsonlynyc

“FREE DOWNLOAD: Shall Ocin - Forgive Me (Sunshine Edit)“...

Sun, 27 Apr 2014 19:40:28 -0400

“FREE DOWNLOAD: Shall Ocin - Forgive Me (Sunshine Edit)“ by Culprit LA

For Sunday night Mad Men cleaning.

(via How To Do Chicago Footwork like a pro; watch it now –...

Tue, 22 Apr 2014 12:54:10 -0400

(via How To Do Chicago Footwork like a pro; watch it now – Beatport News)

It’s time for a Chicago Footworkout video. This must burn 800 calories an hour!

I love this song and I’ve been listening to it 8x a day...

Mon, 21 Apr 2014 12:54:00 -0400

I love this song and I’ve been listening to it 8x a day for the last week. It came out back in September. Wayne lets Chance the Rapper own the track, and it’s because of him that this feels perfectly summer-like and sweet. I especially love the tongue twister of these lines:

You the best bride / And I’m the best groom / Wedding presents got my best man at the Best Buy / Buyin’ the Best of Fresh Prince for the bedroom.

The MJ sample means that I could never put it on a Songza playlist, unfortunately.

pitchfork: Completely random Friday greatness: Electronic music...

Fri, 11 Apr 2014 19:56:46 -0400

pitchfork:

Completely random Friday greatness: Electronic music pioneer and composer Wendy Carlos revisits bits of never-before-heard music from the scores for Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining and A Clockwork Orange. [via Resident Advisor]

Maybe the only thing I liked about Twin Peaks.

Wed, 09 Apr 2014 13:57:35 -0400

Maybe the only thing I liked about Twin Peaks.

oneweekoneband: Sparks on… Disco It’s not the worst music I’ve...

Wed, 09 Apr 2014 13:54:55 -0400

oneweekoneband:

Sparks on… Disco

It’s not the worst music I’ve ever heard (that’s reserved for Toby Keith’s special brand of xenophobic country songs), but I wouldn’t say that I’m a fan of disco. I would say most disco sucks. But Sparks on disco? That’s pretty good.

Prior to the No. 1 in Heaven album being released in 1979, disco had already started to feel old. Saturday Night Fever hit theatres in December of 1977. Blondie’s “Heart Of Glass” dropped the following year. And 1979, was the height of disco backlash, with KISS releasing “I Was Made For Lovin’ You” and alienating the hard rock fan base they spent years building. Less than two months later was Disco Demolition Night at Chicago’s Comiskey Park. Disco might not have been dead, but it was certainly not faring well.

And here comes Sparks’s No. 1 in Heaven album in September of 1979.

So why would Sparks release an album that fans, especially the Kimono My House crowd, would identify with a soulless style of music listened to by the vapid populace? Why jump on a sinking ship?

Because Sparks would not be making an album that sounded like the disposable disco hits of the day—that means you Rick Dees’s with your god-awful “Disco Duck” and its equally repulsive follow-up, “Dis-Gorilla.” Instead, Sparks crafted an album of richly layered synthesizers, witty lyrics, and the well-utilized falsetto of Russell Mael. At that point, Sparks didn’t need disco’s popularity, which was a good thing because that was fading fast. Disco needed Sparks to exhibit how to craft a synth-heavy dance album and not fall into the trite void that would be disco’s fate. Disco did not take heed. Disco is dead.

“The Number One Song in Heaven” “Tryouts for the Human Race” “Beat the Clock”

It’s Sparks week on One Week One Band!

katherinestasaph: Rae Morris, “Do You Even Know?” British...

Sat, 05 Apr 2014 14:40:07 -0400

katherinestasaph:

Rae Morris, “Do You Even Know?”

British singer-songwriter who’s been around for a while proves that what Ariel Rechtshaid productions secretly yearned for was violins and heavily reverbed guitars. I am shocked that this is not absolutely everywhere; it’s gorgeous.

This is smart, practical freelancer advice, especially if you are in New York City and don't have a trust fund.

Sat, 05 Apr 2014 12:54:09 -0400

This is smart, practical freelancer advice, especially if you are in New York City and don't have a trust fund.:

gracebello is a freelance writer in NYC, a Filipina, and a hustler so I was going to be a fan. But she says a lot of smart things about writing and freelancing and living in NYC in this interview. Her advice is practical. Just going to quote some of the best/most relevant Q&A parts here:

TRP: I’m curious what your living situation was like when you first got here and were trying to figure things out after college.

GB: For almost a year, I was living with my aunt and uncle in Westchester, maybe an hour north of the city. So I didn’t have to pay rent, but I had to pay for my MetroNorth commute, so it was maybe $300/month or something. So that’s still far less than you would expect to pay sharing an apartment, so I was already saving money. Which made sense because I was an unpaid intern for much of the time. So when I continued to be an unpaid intern, I was a restaurant hostess by night, so that really helped me just kind of pay my rent once I moved to Manhattan, pay my bills, pay off my college

…

I think people assume everyone comes from the same financial place, which is a really dangerous assumption. People who live in New York and do creative work are often in the 1% thanks to their parents or their spouses. When you’re in that financial situation, risk isn’t important to you, risk doesn’t apply to you. So I guess depending on your financial situation, you have to think a lot about what’s realistic for you, and how to make the math work for you.

TRP: I wish I had known more when I was in school. I think I had one professor who was really trying to influence me to get big internships. No one else ever said to me, “Ok, so it’s great that you love this little literary journal and want to intern there. But they’re never going to hire you because they don’t have any money. So try to be an intern at Conde Nast.“

GB: Yeah and I think for me in particular - so my parents are immigrants. They went to college but they went in the Philippines. They didn’t know the American system so it was even more up to me how to navigate this power structure of the university and the corporate world. It was particularly fraught for me more than like an American kid, so I think that if you’re kind of in a marginalized position that you have to try even harder, which really sucks. But that’s how it is. It is really difficult to navigate power structures without mentors or peers ot help you, and so you just have to find those people. Make friends and share what you’ve learned, and maybe if your fellow students got an internship somewhere, buy them coffee and ask how they can maybe help you get an internship there. It’s not just about finding older mentors, it’s also about finding peer mentors, because sometimes older mentors - their advice is no longer relevant. They’re telling you to call up editors on the phone and they’re giving you all sorts of outdated advice, and they’re not telling you maybe you should be seeking opportunities through social media.

TRP: What are your biggest challenges as a writer?

GB: Honestly, money.

I’m reading this book right now called The People’s Platform, and it’s about how we expected the internet to be this liberating democratizing thing and instead it kind of replicates the power structures that already exist. So Facebook monitors our data and many advertisers are in control of what we see and read online, not just advertisements but also editorial, because they’re the ones who pay for editorial, so therefore publications online are always trying to play nice with advertisers or please advertisers. So a big challenge is convincing these publications that they should spend that ad money on me - the writer - and that my content is valuable not only because it’s going to get clicks but because it’ll make their publication look really smart and timely.

It’s really challenging because once you start doing content creation for the internet you’re part of the structure where you’re just making the stuff that goes between the ads. Like I would be making more money if I were a copywriter, as opposed to writing the editorial content that runs alongside these brands.

There’s a really interesting portrayal of it on Girls right now, where Hannah is writing advertorial for Neiman Marcus or something. So basically if you want to make a feasible amount of money as a writer oftentimes you’re doing brand-sponsored content. It’s something to think about.

As idealistic as a lot of writers and creative people are, we have to figure out how to be a part of this capitalist structure. It’s not just like “follow your dreams,” it’s “how does your dream intersect with the market.” As much as we want to be creative independent people, if you want to pay your rent, you also need to see how your work is going to interplay with ad dollars and sponsored content and all that. How you’re gonna make money, in what ways are you comfortable making money, etc. Some people would never be OK with sponsored content, and other people need to pay their rent. I’m sure if you interviewed a group of writers you would have wide array of commentary on this topic.

So as writers we’re not just in the business of crafting sentences, we’re in the business of drawing clicks and driving traffic and being aggregated – and that part is very new. I don’t think it’s necessarily an evil thing it’s just, how do you navigate it?

TRP: What advice would you give to anybody interested in becoming a writer?

GB: You don’t need to be based in New York to be a writer, and if money is a problem you probably shouldn’t be based in New York, especially since now everything is done by email anyway.

Don’t write the same story as everyone else. Just because the NYStyles section is now writing about braids, doesn’t mean you should prioritize writing about braids. Write about what you want to write about, but also be aware of realistically paying for your life. I know a lot of people are saying right now ‘do what you love and follow your dream’ but I think it’s important to be realistic about your dream.

"Correction, April 3, 2014: This post originally quoted photographer Tom Sanders as saying it takes..."

Fri, 04 Apr 2014 21:30:07 -0400

“Correction, April 3, 2014: This post originally quoted photographer Tom Sanders as saying it takes him five years to get on the dance floor. It takes him five beers.”

- buried under lots of pictures of people pole dancing, a great correction (via katherinestasaph)

‘Grown Woman’ (Alternative Version) (by Guilherme...

Mon, 31 Mar 2014 12:54:03 -0400

‘Grown Woman’ (Alternative Version) (by Guilherme Carter)

via Rich Juzwiak.

"Songza, the app that brings music to you instead of forcing you to hunt for it, today announced a..."

Thu, 27 Mar 2014 13:47:35 -0400

“

Songza, the app that brings music to you instead of forcing you to hunt for it, today announced a deal with The Weather Company to integrate weather data into the app.

As it stands now, Songza uses the day, time, device type, your location, and your past behavior to deliver you expertly curated, human-made music playlists to match your mood and activity. Today, for the first time, the app will also pull in weather information to build more context around what you might want to listen to.

For example, just because you’re in Miami and near the beach, it doesn’t mean you’re in a sun-shiny mood. What if it’s raining? Maybe the rain makes you more angsty? With the Weather Company partnership, Songza will be able to tailor your options to the weather outside so you’re listening to the right stuff at the right time.

”

- Songza Inks Deal With Weather Company To Integrate Rain Or Shine Into Your Music Playlists | TechCrunch

Here’s something I’ve been working on for last few weeks: weather-related situations and playlists. We did a melancholy rain situation, but I am also into the idea of doing something to cheer you up during rainy weather. So that’s how I ended up watching Gene Kelly do “Singing in the Rain“ a ton of times and making a danceable, singable, double-rainbow-able playlist group. I just wanted to capture that feeling.

(via Great Thing of the Day - The Olsens Teach Us How to Wear...

Thu, 27 Mar 2014 12:53:57 -0400

(via Great Thing of the Day - The Olsens Teach Us How to Wear Sandals - ELLE)

I love that this is a possibility. But a possibility the same way Adidas slipper slides were once a possibility. (Which means this is not a possibility for me at all.)

Ladies First: 31 Female Rappers Who Changed Hip-Hop | Billboard

Wed, 26 Mar 2014 16:27:15 -0400

Ladies First: 31 Female Rappers Who Changed Hip-Hop | Billboard:

This is amazing work from Erika Ramirez at Billboard. Quotes from female rappers old and new. And the best part is, the quotes aren’t a bunch of media-created BEEF talk. In fact, most of these women talk about other artists who inspired them, who they like now, etc.

nprbooks: Left: Samuel Taylor Coleridge, circa 1815. (Hulton...

Wed, 26 Mar 2014 15:34:02 -0400

nprbooks:

Left: Samuel Taylor Coleridge, circa 1815. (Hulton Archive/Getty Images) Right: J. Cole, circa 2013. (Ethan Miller/Getty Images for Clear Channel)

Mental Floss pairs famous literary first lines with rap lyrics:

SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE/J. COLE
In Xanadu did Kubla Khan
Pay dues like a hair salon
(“Kubla Khan”and “The Last Stretch”)

ROBERT FROST/2PAC
Whose woods these are I think I know
Creep with me through that immortal flow
(“Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” and “Thug Passion”)

VIRGINIA WOOLF/WALE
Mrs. Dalloway said she would buy the flowers herself
Fall in love with defeat, throw my endeavors on the shelf
(Mrs. Dalloway and “The Artistic Integrity”)

OK, just one more:

ALLEN GINSBERG/2PAC
I saw the best minds of my generation
Destroyed by madness, starving hysterical naked
See me and hope I’m intoxicated or slightly faded
(“Howl” and “Ain’t Hard 2 Find”)

Brilliant.

-Nicole

I’d love to see someone make one of those poetry generators for this.

"Haggerty talks at length about how he never felt the need to hide his sexuality because of his..."

Tue, 25 Mar 2014 14:40:18 -0400

“Haggerty talks at length about how he never felt the need to hide his sexuality because of his father’s unadulterated support from a very young age. He tells of being voted head cheerleader and winning a 4-H cooking competition at the age of 14 with pride, not guilt or shame. So listening to the kind of art that erupted from a spirit unbridled by filial disgust feels like a revelation. What else are we missing because of the ingrained anti-gay elements of our society, especially among straight men? What else have we already lost? We know the answer because our statistics are overwhelmingly horrific, but still we remain close-minded.”

- THINKING TO PIECES—Country Music’s First Gay Album and Why It Matters Now | Myspace

@harmonicait on 1973’s Lavender Country album, and the man behind it, Patrick Haggerty.

BC KINGDOM - “Lock Up” - Official Music Video (by Maker Music) I...

Tue, 25 Mar 2014 13:47:30 -0400

BC KINGDOM - “Lock Up” - Official Music Video (by Maker Music)

I needed some anxious and tension-filled playlists for Songza, for a specific situation, but it was hard to get past the usual suspects (doom metal, post-punk and new wave, “Heroin,” etc). I didn’t even think about R&B that could fit, until I found this song. I love that this introduces tension, anxiety, even fear.

"A brief aside: Dev Hynes (Blood Orange) is sometimes criticized as not ‘R&B’ enough by some..."

Tue, 25 Mar 2014 12:53:46 -0400

“

A brief aside: Dev Hynes (Blood Orange) is sometimes criticized as not ‘R&B’ enough by some music writers—these writers often cite Dev’s previous work in rock band Test Icicles as indicative of some illegitimacy of intention. But Dev’s songwriting trademark—his supposed weakness—is rooted in this exact thing, the weighting of syllables. Unlike most R&B, Dev writes songs where the melody has no syncopation; they sound like hymns. Boring, perhaps, to you, but other people (myself included) hear a glorious religious calm, a stateliness.

Similarly, think about Black Sabbath’s ‘Paranoid,’ where almost every note is off the beat. ‘FI-nished with my woman cause sheeee WOULDn’t help meeeee WITH myyyy LIFE.’ It’s kind of a bad melody, no? Doesn’t suit the lyrics at all, has an vaguely ESL vibe, weighted all wrong. But the song is called ‘Paranoid’ and he is singing about how you should enjoy life and how he wishes he could do the same but it’s too late. It suits the material, works great.

”

-
Owen Pallett casually drops this gem in a great Slate article in which he uses music theory to explain the omnipresence of Katy Perry’s “Teenage Dream.” (via marathonpacks)

This is a great piece, and not boring at all (like Owen fears it might be)!

Also interesting to me is how he explains how she stretches each line into the next bar. I’ve noticed this a lot more since I’ve been trying to mix songs again. It makes pop music pull at you, but it makes it way harder to mix. Seriously, try mixing a new song in on the one, or looping part of the outgoing or incoming song when the vocal lines stretch and pull across the bars. It sounds like garbage. But it makes the song itself better and has to be respected.

I keep finding new things to love about the Wild Beasts record....

Mon, 24 Mar 2014 13:46:58 -0400

I keep finding new things to love about the Wild Beasts record. There are many language-related puns and jokes on Present Tense (like the album name!), which I appreciate as a linguistics student and as a fan of lower forms of comedy.

“Pregnant Pause” for instance, uses a lot of pregnant pauses, and turns the line “pregnant pause” into a sort of pregnant pause. Kind of the same way Dr. Frank-N-Footer says “Antici….pation."