Hit by a Pitch

Sometimes, it’s Sunday night and you have nothing going on and you just need to have a dance party in your kitchen. When this happens, don’t worry. I gotcha. Even if you have a grumpy child, as long as he or she likes to dance.

Playlist: Sunday Night Dance Party
Music Sounds Better with You – Stardust
My My My (Funktuary Radio Mix) – Armand Van Helden
Good Life (Steve Silk Hurley Remix) – Inner City
Red Alert – Basement Jaxx
Walking Away (Tocadisco Remix) – The Egg
Digital Love – Daft Punk
Smack My Bitch Up – The Prodigy
Mandarine Girl (Album Version) – Booka Shade
Dream Machine – Sean Hayes/Mark Farina
Move Your Body – Marshall Jefferson
Starry Eyed Surprise – Oakenfold
I Want Your Soul – Armand Van Helden (me + Ben = this is our song)
Royal T – Crookers feat. Roisin Murphy
Fade – Solu Music feat. Kimblee
Lovesick – Lindstrøm & Christabelle
Four Ton Mantis – Amon Tobin
Right On (can 7 taste the music) – Silicone Soul
Think Twice – Carl Craig
Salio El Soul – Don Omar
Full Moon – Armand Van Helden/Common
It Comes (Extended Version) – Yuksek
Darko – Booka Shade
What I Say – Kaskade
Mars Needs Women – Mylo
Silver Surfer, Ghost Rider Go!!! – Trentemøller

Get the whole thing here, for a limited time, complete with pdf song list and everything in the right order, because that’s how much I love you. Enjoy!

At long last, here is this year’s July 4 party playlist. For one week only, get all songs and a pdf of the playlist here (free). The songs will not be in the right order when you download them; that said, the order here isn’t important — feel free to shuffle until you get an order you like. Enjoy!

July 4 Party Playlist v.2011
Ghetto Dreams – Common feat. Nas
Congratulations – MGMT
Take Me Over to Touch the Sky – Black Glove Mashup (Cut Copy x Kanye West)
We Don’t Get Down Like Yall – T.I. feat. B.o.B.
I Hate that You Love Me – Diddy Dirty Money
Summertime in the SEA – Blue Scholars
Saturday – Ludacris
Love in this Club (MSTRKRFT Remix) – Usher
6’7″ – Lil Wayne feat. Cory Gunz (the official song of summer 2011)
Doctor My Eyes – Jackson Browne
Why You Wanna – T.I.
Marathon – Tennis
I Go Away – MNDR
American Boy – Estelle feat. Kanye West
Still not a Player – Big Pun
Just a Dream – Nelly
Forget Me Nots – Patrice Rushen
Under the Bridge – Red Hot Chili Peppers
Come as You Are (unplugged) – Nirvana
Sally Go Round (Azari & III Mix) – DJ Sneak, Monoman
Hey Ma – Camron feat. Juelz Santana
Sister Golden Hair – America
Give Me Everything (Tonight) – Pitbull feat. Ne-Yo, Afrojack & Nayer
You Make Me Feel Like (Peace & Love & Happiness) – A:Xus
Gigantic – Pixies
Step in the Name of Love – R Kelly
Miss You – Rolling Stones
Don’t Fear the Reaper – Van She
Two Can Win – J Dilla
Sick of Myself – Matthew Sweet
Run Out Pon Dem – Sizzla
Doin’ Ya Thang (Original Mix) – Oliver $
ADIDAS – Killer Mike
Get Involved – Raphael Saadiq feat. QTip
I Might – Wilco
Sounds Sexy – Dude ‘n Nem
Crystalised – The xx
Wat Da Hook Gon Be – Murphy Lee feat. Jermaine Dupri
Bombs over Baghdad – Outkast
Your Love – Bon Iver
Born to Run – Bruce Springsteen
Still Sound – Toro y Moi
Music Sounds Better with You – Stardust
I Want Your Soul – Armand Van Helden
If I Ever Feel Better – Phoneix
Main Vein (Kneedeep Clubmix) – Jamiroquai
Rolling in the Deep (Jamie xx Remix) – Adele feat. Childish Gambino
This is How We Do It – Montell Jordan
Everlasting Shine Blockaz – Wick-It the Instigator
Kiss on My List – Hall & Oates
The Revolution Will Not Be Televised – Gill Scott-Heron
Tell Me When to Go – E-40 feat. Keak da Sneak
Sultan – What Made Milwaukee Famous
Back & Forth – Foo Fighters
Work it Out – Joshua
This Time (Rivera Rotation Mix) – Lisa Shaw/Q-Burns Abstract Message
Juicy – Notorious BIG
Stuck – Peven Everett
Let’s Make Love and Listen to Death from Above – CSS
Help I’m Alive – Metric
Turbulence (Original Mix) – Laidback Luke & Steve Aoki
Painted Eyes (WOLFRAM Remix) – Hercules & Love Affair
Hate It or Love It – The Game feat. 50 Cent
Believe – The Bravery
Royal Flush (Main Version) – Big Boi feat. Andre 3000 and Raekwon
Dedication to My Ex (Miss That) – Lloyd feat. Andre 3000
Dreams – Fleetwood Mac
Daylight – Matt and Kim
Girl, You’ll Be a Woman Soon – Urge Overkill
Hold the Line – Toto
Outstanding (Original Mix) – Toomy Disco
What a Fool Believes – The Doobie Brothers
The Sweet Escape – Gwen Stefani feat. Akon

Okay fancy felines, here’s your 2011 Memorial Day party playlist. It starts dirty and then gets dirtier. This is what you want to bust out after the kids have gone to bed and everybody is getting shitfaced. If all goes well, somebody will hook up and somebody will fall off the furniture and it’ll be an all-around awesome time.

Dirty Dirty Memorial Day 2011
Live Life to the Fullest – Charles Hamilton feat. Yung Nate
The Revolution will not be Televised – Gill Scott-Heron
Stomp (Ratatat Remix) – Young Buck, T.I., and Ludacris
As Serious As Your Life (Jay Dee Mix) – Four Tet
Ice Cream Paint Job (G-Mix) – Dorrough
When You’ve Got Music – Chiddy Bang feat. The Knocks
Nothin’ – N.O.R.E.
Outta Control (Remix) – 50 Cent feat. Mobb Deep
You Be Killin Em – Fabolous
Dude (Prod. Felix Beats) – KAM Royal
Til I’m Gone – Tinie Tempah feat. Wiz Khalifa
Excuse Me Miss Again (Remix) – Jay-Z feat. Kanye West
Made You Look in the Diner (Nas x Suzanne Vega) – Black Glove
Pretty Girls (Algeronics Remix) – Wale feat. Gucci Mane
Word Up – MSTRKRFT feat. Ghostface Killah
6’7″ – Lil Wayne feat. Cory Gunz
Shimmy Shimmy Ya (DJ Class Re-Fix) – ODB
Hard in da Paint (Bellizio Remix/Crizzly Edit) – Waka Flaka Flame
Civilization – Justice
Cities in Dust (Dime & Dogs Remix) – Junkie XL
Bounce – MSTRKRFT feat. N.O.R.E.
Stars (LAZRtag Remix) – The XX
Get Lucky (MSTRKRFT Remix) – New Young Pony Club
Dancing with the DJ (Chiddy Bang Remix) – The Knocks
Oops – Theophilus London
Ignition (Keep Remixing it Louder) – The Hood Internet
Believe in Magic (prod. Girl Talk) – Jim Jones feat. Lloyd
Falling Star (R3K Remix) – Kid Cudi
Lost in the World – Kanye West feat. Bon Iver
Paris is for Lovers – &Me
The Boys of Summer – The Ataris
Your Love – Bon Iver

I’m not prepared to deal with Grooveshark (I’m tired of uploading songs they don’t have (which is a lot of what I’ve been posting lately) because their upload interface is unbearably slow and then after all that work, I still can’t get the playlist widget to show up on my site) so let’s try something else today. I saved the songs and a pdf of the playlist in a folder, zipped it, and put it in my public Dropbox folder. Please note that when you get the songs, they will not be in the correct order. That’s annoying and I’m sorry, but you can use the track list here or from the folder to put everything in the right place and I’ll escape from this playlist with my brain reasonably intact. Anyway, go here to get the goods.

How do kids these days find new music that isn’t super mainstream? I think I’m out of touch because I have no idea. Radio is kind of unlistenable any more and anyway I don’t know of local Denver stations that are really on the cutting edge of new music.

Like with most things, when it comes to music, I rely on Ben and the internet. Sometimes the internet takes me to strange places, which is what happened this weekend when I discovered the world of space disco. Did you know about space disco? It’s a thing! It’s pretty fantastic.

Based on my metaphorical travels, I put together a little playlist for you. There are a few songs I already had, plus some songs from Ben and some obscure new stuff from spacediscoland. I bet they wear awesome shoes in spacediscoland. Enjoy your trip!

Weekend in Space

Wake and Be Fine – Okkervil River
All of Us – Painted Palms
Fences – Peas & Rachel Leslie
May I Walk With You – Star Slinger
I Follow Rivers – Lykke Li
Roberta Flack – Flying Lotus feat. Dolly
Beam Me Up (Original Mix) – Midnight Magic
Hungry for the Power – Azari & III
I Want Nothing – The Black Ghosts
Lick the Rainbow – Mord Fustang
Sentimental Boot – The Hood Internet
Til I’m Gone – Tinie Tempah feat. Wiz Khalifa
Light of Love (Cut Copy Remix) – The Miracles Club
Say My Name (Eli Esobar Remix) – Holy Ghost
Thing Called Love – Wolfram feat. Haddaway
Prisoner of Love – Jessica 6 feat. Antony
Portuguese Solid Summer – Chad Valley
Witout Lies (Black Van Remix) – Aeroplane
New Theory (RAC Mix) – Washed Out
Whispers (Hercules & Love Affair) – Aeroplane
Do it to the Max – 6th Borough Project
Rolling in the Deep (Jamie xx Remix) – Adele (Rolling in the Heat on Grooveshark)
Fireworks – Wolfram feat. Hercules & Love Affair
Wait & See (CFCF Remix) – Holy Ghost!
Outstanding (Original Mix) – Toomy Disco
The Bay (Errol Alkan’s Extended Rework) – Metronomy
Last Name London – Theophilus London
Cameras (Gucci Vump Remix) – Matt & Kim
Pussy Cocaine – Tiger Love
Apollo – We Plants Are Happy Plants

You can listen to the whole playlist here. I’m having a hell of a time with Grooveshark widgets these days (I’ve figured out how to get a single song widget to work but can’t get a playlist to work — the code they give you to copy and paste has something wrong with it); if I can get the widget working, I’ll post it here.

I’m in one of those ruts where I’m not really inspired by anything. I don’t know what to write about or what to suggest for dinner (I don’t usually do the cooking, so I’m support staff on that issue, except on Tuesday, when I’ll be making fried rice, which I do very well although it’s not exactly the most exciting thing ever; I can post a recipe — you have to cook the rice and the tofu ahead of time). I knew it was bad when I couldn’t even come up with an idea for a playlist, but then I realized that coming up with a playlist was exactly what I had to do.

This playlist is one of the most random things you’ll ever hear, but it’s exactly what I need right now. It doesn’t really make sense and there’s a lot of cheesy shit, but there are several of the big songs that always make me want to, like, get up and really do something. Do you have those songs? Like, remember when you were home alone in college maybe smoking a cigarette and wearing cut-off jean shorts and a plaid flannel shirt (sexy!) and trying to write something, and forgive my inappropriate use of capital letters here, Very Important, and a song comes on and instead of writing you get up and walk around the house talking to yourself and making wild hand gestures because you’re just so into it? These are those songs. They’re good songs to have.

You might not realize this, but I spend a lot of time putting my playlists together, and I try to listen to them all the way through at least once before posting. I think I do an okay job. One time I read something about how, I think it’s in Jamaica, there’s a person called the selector. The selector picks the music and the DJ plays it. I don’t know how to DJ (one day soon I will, I hope — Ben can show me, although I worry it’s like driving stick, where I’ll try for a minute, get really pissed off, and give up) but I know how to select. That’s one of my things. I think. Ben is my test audience. I get drunk, make him listen to this shit, and ask him if it makes him want to, like, shoot himself or something. If he only makes fun of a few songs, I figure I’m doing okay. Sometimes you need to listen to those make-fun-of songs, or at least you do if you’re more of a snob about music than I am. You need to have room for Nelly is what I’m saying.

This isn’t the playlist to listen to when you’re depressed (I’ll come up with one of those when I have PMS sometime soon, because holy shit). This is the playlist for when you don’t know what to write about, don’t know what to have for dinner, don’t know what to wear, or don’t know what to do tonight. You’re uninspired and not sure what comes next. I know how you feel, and I think this might help.

Playlist: I’m in a Rut

Help I’m Alive – Metric
Title Track – Death Cab for Cutie
I Just Wanna Love U – Jay-Z
Lovesick – Lindstrom & Christabelle
Like a G6 – Far East Movement
Vivrant Thing – Q Tip
She’s Gone – Hall & Oates
Window Shopper – 50 Cent
The Sky is The Limit – Lil Wayne (title is wrong on widget but it’s the right song)
What it Look Like – Spank Rock
Back & Forth – Foo Fighters
Time to Pretend – MGMT
All 4 U – Janet Jackson
Put it in the Air – Talib Kweli
Take ‘Em Up – Shit Robot feat. Nancy Whang
Get Involved – Raphael Saadiq feat. Q Tip
You’re So Gangsta – Chromeo
El Trago (The Drink) – 2 In a Room
Can’t Get a Line – Old 97s
Sick of Myself – Matthew Sweet
Dance Tonight – Lucy Pearl
If I Could Go – Angie Martinez
Home Alone – R Kelly feat. Keith Murray
Let it Whip – The Dazz Band
American Boy – Estelle feat. Kanye West
My House – Hercules and Love Affair
UFO (Van She Tech Remix) – Sneaky Sound System
Sowing Seeds – The Jesus and Mary Chain
On the Hotline – Pretty Ricky
Miss You – The Rolling Stones
DVNO – Justice
Almost Easy – Avenged Sevenfold
Just a Dream – Nelly
A Cause des Garcons (Riot in Belgium Remix) – Yelle
Boys Wanna Be Her (Tommy Sunshine’s Brooklyn Fire Retouch) – Peaches
Yr City’s a Sucker – LCD Soundsystem
Three Little Birds – Bob Marley
Too Close – Next
Airbag – Radiohead
More than a Feeling – Boston
More – Junkie XL
Still not a Player – Big Pun
Flowerz – Armand Van Helden
Don’t Let’s Start – They Might be Giants
Cher Chez La Ghost – Ghostface Killah
Lights & Music (Boyz Noise Remix) – Cut Copy
Any Way You Choose to Give It – The Black Ghosts
1901 – Phoenix
Hey Ma – Camron feat. Juelz Santana
Is that Your Bitch – Memphis Bleek feat. Jay Z and Missy Elliot
Big Iron – Marty Robbins
Go Girl – Pitbull feat. Trina

You can listen to everything here.